Trouble is as a trouble does, when it's on a troubled mind
Reasons come and reasons will go when the blind are followin' the blind
There were no shadows to greet her this time, as there had been seasons ago. Before she'd been hounded by illusory shades, bent on driving her mad. She'd surpassed them somehow, but that was to be her only victory. Face to face with the Magnus Metus (not magnamite mangoose as she had mistakenly once thought), she'd been battered around like a leaf in the wind, and had simply cried off from the challenge instead of facing the eye-less beast.
And then she'd simply done nothing. Otem had been in a mental hibernation since that fight, drowned in her own self pity. But then she'd found an itch beneath her skin, deep down where the glistening remnants of her soul lingered near some ever-burning fire. Perhaps it was her curiosity to know what it was Kisamoa had planned for them, perhaps it was her unconscious love of the spirit of the Rift that had given her so much, or perhaps it was mere boredom, but something inside of the girl blossomed and she found herself willing to try at least one more time.
But this time would be different, because this time Otem knew what the creature was.
"HEY." She shouted boldly into the stiffening and oppressive silence of the labyrinth. "HOW DID I TASTE LAST TIME?"
With a deep breath, Otem flew into the air. It was difficult because her body still felt oddly drawn towards the ground, as if there were rocks in her hooves, but she struggled against it. She wouldn't be caught unaware like last time.
If the creature was drawn by her taunt, she would do her best to watch the bushes below to try and determine where it was. It would have an idea of where she was due to her flapping and smell (probably), but hopefully like last time it wouldn't know exactly where. If it appeared, she would conjure her tree spirits, hoping the additional sounds would confuse the creature.
Green Labyrinth
