"One of you will take her." Shreya said.

"Yeah, that's what we're trying to do." Ellie turned away. She fought against the bile rising in her throat. Her father's side of the family were hunters, but it had been some time since she'd joined them. The stench reeked something awful. "We're trying to take Sunflower out of the hole."

"Shreya's talking about that." Marietta toed the bear's side with her shoe. It impressed Shreya how fast she'd recovered from the squealing mess she'd found her in.

"I can break her down for you."

"No, don't. There's no need." Ellie spoke fast. "Let's get Sunflower."

"Oh, but your friend's offering. Why pass up on a good offer?" Marietta smirked, enjoying the way Ellie squirmed.

"Because Sunflower needs us! Let's go." Ellie walked ahead.

"Yes, friend, let's go." Marietta followed after her, Shreya doing the same.

From what little Shreya knew of Marietta, it seemed like toying with people was a part of her personality. She doubted that her earlier threat had any weight behind it. She'd tried playing the same game that Ellie had the day before—a whole lot of talk about being important. How important could an animal be to a human? Not that Shreya wanted to test her statement, but she was less under the pig's hoof than Marietta wanted to believe.

"Here she is!" Ellie got down on her knees and leaned over the edge of the hole. "Are you okay?"

She'd fallen a good six feet down, if not more. Her nails were caked with dirt, from desperate attempts at climbing up the walls. It was her foot that prevented her from getting a hold. The impact had jammed it, making shooting pain jam up her ankle every time she bent it.

Sunflower's whimpers turned into growls as soon as Shreya joined Ellie. 

"She's weird with new people, sorry. She'll warm up to you."

A dog. A creature that could trace its ancestry back to weakness and cowardice. They were the ones who turned their backs on their brethren to hitch themselves to humanity. When other animals were starving, they were cozying up to the very people who had once been their enemy. Shreya wasn't so sure she'd be able to warm up to something so...so traitorous.

She'd never seen a dog before but now that she had, it made her stomach turn.

"If only the bear had fallen into this..." Marietta whistled.

"I know, right? I've seen something like this before." Ellie said. "You use it to hold animals and kill them from a distance. It would've definitely taken care of the bear."

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How many others had died in traps like this one? Abandoned. Alone. Unable to defend themselves without so much as a fighting chance. Even an intelligent animal would have trouble making it out.

"Good thing this one didn't have any spikes at the bottom," she continued. "Someone might've made it in too much of a hurry to set it up properly."

"Or they wanted their kill to be as manual as possible." Marietta said.

"That's nasty. It was probably because they were worried a person would wander into it."

"People aren't supposed to be here."

"People are here. People live and survive in the woods." Ellie glanced over at Shreya.

Shreya needed this information. "How does the trap work?"

Ellie spread out her arms. "They lay a blanket over the hole and cover it with leaves. As soon as someone steps on it, they fall through."

That was exactly the kind of intelligence Shreya needed to gather. To come back empty-handed after Shanti sacrificed herself for her would've been insulting. This made everything, including all of that nonsense with her gourd, worth it. Ellie was a treasure trove of secrets waiting to be spilled.

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A/N: This is an interactive fantasy serial. Voting takes place on Thursdays through Sundays on the story's main site. The most up-to-date chapters can also be found there, but uploading will happen in parts on RRL as well.

The next post will be Chapter 5.3.

Chapter 10 is out now on the main site. Voting will end Sunday at 11:59 PM EST. Still accepting character suggestions on Chapter 10. See the main site for more details.