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Description

Foxtraps.

By FOXCARROTS

Chapter Six:

“Just another fox in the wall.”

    After losing yet another team ember to a seemingly permanent trap the group moved on. Riffen, Rikki, and Mango struggled at the back of the group, the sticky residue making every step arduous. They were frustrated but determined, knowing their sticky residue would never come off but not wanting to be left behind.

    Even for the foxes that weren’t cursed with stickiness there was no longer any spring in their step. The dungeon had claimed so many of their friends already and they knew it could be only a matter of time before someone else or themselves became trapped.

    The group moved through a long hall that took a hard right turn. It was like a labyrinth but one that had no choices and guided them precisely where it wanted them to go. There were seams in some of the corners of the path as if there were other ways through. However, these walls had no keyhole or way to open them so the group was forced to move on to whatever the door they were meant to try next.

    Eventually they made it to another door and it opened with no tampering or effort. Leeka nodded and stepped in first, her feet padding softly on the floor with cautious agility. She deep down felt fear of something sticky or a mechanism reaching up to trap her foot. However, at least with a couple of steps she was unbound.

    “You need not fear.” An unfamiliar voice called out from within the room. “The trap for this room has already been sprung.”

    “There’s already someone here.” Leeka called back. “Form up!”

    As the rest of the foxes filed into the room Leeka moved forward to find the source of the voice. The room was like an ornate storage room with paintings on the wall, benches and even a lit fireplace to one side. It looked almost like the trophy room in some kind of elaborate manor that a meg rich lord might decorate. Were it not for the experiences leading to the room, Leeka could almost think it was a pleasant room.

    There were all manor of trophies mounted on the wall. Animals, predators, monsters, all stuffed and lifeless. Leeka looked around for the voice, almost thinking it was not real before she spotted her. On the wall, near the fireplace was the frame of a painting and in the center was a woman’s head and hands. It looked as if one of the other trophies, one that the seemingly deranged hunter might have kept but this trophy appeared to still be moving.

    “I can guarantee you I am very much alive.” The woman in the wall replied. She had short cropped red hair that showed clearly where her neck disappeared into the wall. Her hands rested on either side of her head the wall claiming them to behind her wrist. She seemed able to move her hands and neck but nothing else could be seen. She looked at the others with vibrant gold eyes. “I am so happy to see…well anyone. I have been staring at the other wall for…well I can’t even tell you how long.”

    Leeka looked back as the last foxes entered and the door slid closed behind them. She looked back to the wall bound girl and nodded respectfully. “I am Leeka. I presume you are from the group with Grella and Yara?”

    “I’m Edyra.” The redheaded fox replied with the best nod she could offer. “I presume they have no more luck getting free than I have?”

    “None.” Leeka admitted. “We encountered your companions on the way in. We tried as hard as we could but could not set them free any more than those in our group that have gotten stuck. There is no unspringing these traps once sprung it seems.”

    “Seems like it.” Edyra replied. “I don’t suppose you might give it a try for my sake. My group went to look for a mechanism to free me and went past the door and can’t get back.”

    “Do we have time?” Shina said as she walked up next to Leeka. “Can we afford to stay in one place long?”

    “This trap already has it’s victim.” Lian added. “Besides the sticky residue is taking its toll on the others. They could use a rest.”

    “You don’t have to worry about us!” Mango said as she struggled to take a step, the sticky glue on her soles resiting before snapping and allowing her to put her foot back down. “We can go on.”

    “Speak for yourself!” Riffen added. “I’m in agony over here. I feel like my calves are going to burn off from all the struggling.”

    “I don’t want to hinder us.” Rikki chimed in. “But I must admit that my feet are absolutely KILLING me.”

    Leeka looked to Shina, looking for a consensus with the other leader of a team. Eventually Shina nodded. “We take a little break and see what they can do for Edyra.”

    “Thank you.” Edya replied with a smile.

    Drell walked up to the portrait, examining it closely. The wall was flawless and flush to the girl’s skin. It was like she was always part of the wall. “Can you tell me how you got into this situation? There doesn’t see to be any seams or mechanisms.”

    “Well it was just a bare wall when we first came in here.” Edyra explained. “We didn’t know what to expect as we just came in from outside. However two of our members had gotten trapped outside when we got split up. We knew there were traps. When we reunited we were just so happy to get inside where we thought it was safe.”

    “The same thing happened to us.” Mango added. “We came on two different paths and met the members of your group. We thought it was safer inside but one of us…Alani got her feet glued to the floor.”

    “I take it the stuff wouldn’t come off?” Edyra asked. Like the mud or the trees the others got stuck up with.”

    “The glue was unlike anything we had ever seen before.” Lian commented. “There was also a worsening bondage trap and a hardening jelly we also lost people to.”

    “I can only imagine what other traps my group has encountered.” Edyra sighed. “There are three others.”

    “We will try and find them and help them as well as the others when we can.” Leeka promised. “I am starting to think the only way to free anyone is to solve this place.”

    “You might be right.” Edyra replied. “When my group set foot on the path here we realised one of us had left some equipment behind hanging from a tree. She tried to go get it but her feet just wouldn’t go.”

    “We encountered that too.” Leeka nodded. “The path had bound us the second we set foot on it and could not go back, only forward. We seem be driven toward traps and the only solution is likely at the center of this maze”

     Edyra nodded. “But you have to understand this trap is agony to be in and any help you can render right now would be greatly appreciated. Even if you cant get me completely free I would greatly appreciate any more of me free that you could manage”

    “Explain to us how this trap left you like this.” Lian asked as she examined the wall. “Walk us through it.”

    Edyra nodded. “Well as I said we took refuge here. We rested, regrouped and everything seemed to go fine. The door opened on the other side for us to continue and we all went to go…Except that I couldn’t.”

    “The other door likely only rigged to be openable once the trap was sprung.” Drell added. “Even if you didn’t realise it yet.”

    “Pretty much. Edyra admitted. “My tail seemed like it was caught on something. At first I thought it was just snagged but as I turned around to look it was like it caught by the wall itself! The fur and the tip of my tail was just…going into the wall. I gave it a tug and at first it seemed like it was coming out but it was strange.”

    “Strange how?” Lian said asked as she examined the area around Edyra’s hands to find it completely solid.”

    “It was like rubber.” Edrya continued. I pulled against it with my tail for an inch and it snapped my tail back and pulled it in two more. After a few yanks half my tail was in the wall and once it claimed part of me it wouldn’t give it back. My heel only touched the wall and sank in and before I knew it the wall had one of my feet. The others all came to me, grabbing a hold of me to pull me out before the wall claimed any more of my body. They pulled as hard as they could but the wall just stretched with me, refusing to give anything back. As their strength faded and they lost their grip I was sucked into the wall. It then shifted, allowing only my hands and head free in this position and then the frame emerged.”

    “It was set to trap someone just like you are.” Lian nodded. “It is a very powerful enchantment and your fate was seemingly sealed the second your tail touched the wall. It was designed to do this, including the frame and the plaque.”

    “There’s a plaque?” Edyra asked. “What does it say?”

    “You didn’t know?” Mango asked.

    Edyra gave Mango a sharp side eye. “How exactly would I be able to see something below me on a wall I’m stuck in?”

    “Fair point.” Mango added, taking a sticky step closer to the plaque. “It says. Fox demon female, adult, Faeletan. Caught third moon of the season of flame.”

    “It’s like I’m in a zoo.” Edyra commented. “Just fabulous.”

    “Well we are going to do our best to get you out of there.” Leeka assured. “Let’s start with brute force.”

    Titania moved in and began to hammer at the wall with her weapon. Even after several savage swings and sweat beaded on the large fox girl’s brow there was no damage. “I can’t even scratch it.”

    “It’s indestructible.” Mango sighed. “Just like the other traps.”

    “Maybe we can get at the other side of her.” Drell said as she looked around. Maybe there’s a compartment where the rest of her body is.”

    “I am afraid to admit there is not.” Edyra sighed. “There is no free space behind this wall, Everything you see is what’s free, the rest is sealed.”

    “Can you move at all?” Lian asked. “What is in the wall I mean?”

    “I can breath.” Edyra commented. “It is letting me do just that…the rest of me is…well frozen. I can’t move a muscle or even wiggle a toe.”

    “Can you break the spell?” Shina asked to Lian. “Maybe we can make it soft again.”

    “I can try.” Lian said as she stepped forward and hovered her hands over the wall. She summoned magic carefully as a glow began to affect the wall. It seemed to ripple as if it was struggling to become liquid once again. “I think it’s working!”

    The group cheered, encouraged by the idea that one of the traps might be able to be reversed. However the elation was short lived as the wall rippled and spat blobs out at Lian’s hands. She stepped back as she looked at her hands. She tried to move them but as her fingers curled into fists the white goop, almost to her wrists hardened instantly.

    “Lian!” Titania said as she stepped forward.

    “Don’t touch her hands!” Rikki warned. “It might spread to you like the slime did to us!”

    Lian walked over to fireplace and began to smash her hands against the mantlle, not one crack formed or one flake came off, her hands were ridged and sealed. “I cant get this off!”

    “The traps are rigged?” Edyra replied. “You cant even help me?”

    “Some seem to be.” Leeka admitted. “The first few traps we were able to do whatever we wanted to them. Even the bondage trap only trapped the victim more. But the last one and this one seemed rigged to punish anyone helping.”

    “There has to be some way!” Lian said as she raised her hands in front of her face and focused her magical energy. However her hands just stayed still, no light, no magic no loosening. Lian sighed. “It’s just no use. My hands are fucked.”

    Shina sighed. “This place truly is a nightmare. This room is as bad as any of the others. We cant linger here.”

    Edyra nodded as best she could. “You are probably right. Thank you for trying to help me. If you find the others and they aren’t stuck too, please tell them I’m ok.”

    “We will!” Leeka nodded as she gestured for the others to get moving. “We will free everyone.”

    “Or get stuck trying.” Lian nodded dejectedly.

    Without any further discussion, the group moved on, leaving the trophy room and its sole occupant to stare at the opposing wall once again.

-

Description

Foxtraps.

By FOXCARROTS

Chapter Six:

“Just another fox in the wall.”

    After losing yet another team ember to a seemingly permanent trap the group moved on. Riffen, Rikki, and Mango struggled at the back of the group, the sticky residue making every step arduous. They were frustrated but determined, knowing their sticky residue would never come off but not wanting to be left behind.

    Even for the foxes that weren’t cursed with stickiness there was no longer any spring in their step. The dungeon had claimed so many of their friends already and they knew it could be only a matter of time before someone else or themselves became trapped.

    The group moved through a long hall that took a hard right turn. It was like a labyrinth but one that had no choices and guided them precisely where it wanted them to go. There were seams in some of the corners of the path as if there were other ways through. However, these walls had no keyhole or way to open them so the group was forced to move on to whatever the door they were meant to try next.

    Eventually they made it to another door and it opened with no tampering or effort. Leeka nodded and stepped in first, her feet padding softly on the floor with cautious agility. She deep down felt fear of something sticky or a mechanism reaching up to trap her foot. However, at least with a couple of steps she was unbound.

    “You need not fear.” An unfamiliar voice called out from within the room. “The trap for this room has already been sprung.”

    “There’s already someone here.” Leeka called back. “Form up!”

    As the rest of the foxes filed into the room Leeka moved forward to find the source of the voice. The room was like an ornate storage room with paintings on the wall, benches and even a lit fireplace to one side. It looked almost like the trophy room in some kind of elaborate manor that a meg rich lord might decorate. Were it not for the experiences leading to the room, Leeka could almost think it was a pleasant room.

    There were all manor of trophies mounted on the wall. Animals, predators, monsters, all stuffed and lifeless. Leeka looked around for the voice, almost thinking it was not real before she spotted her. On the wall, near the fireplace was the frame of a painting and in the center was a woman’s head and hands. It looked as if one of the other trophies, one that the seemingly deranged hunter might have kept but this trophy appeared to still be moving.

    “I can guarantee you I am very much alive.” The woman in the wall replied. She had short cropped red hair that showed clearly where her neck disappeared into the wall. Her hands rested on either side of her head the wall claiming them to behind her wrist. She seemed able to move her hands and neck but nothing else could be seen. She looked at the others with vibrant gold eyes. “I am so happy to see…well anyone. I have been staring at the other wall for…well I can’t even tell you how long.”

    Leeka looked back as the last foxes entered and the door slid closed behind them. She looked back to the wall bound girl and nodded respectfully. “I am Leeka. I presume you are from the group with Grella and Yara?”

    “I’m Edyra.” The redheaded fox replied with the best nod she could offer. “I presume they have no more luck getting free than I have?”

    “None.” Leeka admitted. “We encountered your companions on the way in. We tried as hard as we could but could not set them free any more than those in our group that have gotten stuck. There is no unspringing these traps once sprung it seems.”

    “Seems like it.” Edyra replied. “I don’t suppose you might give it a try for my sake. My group went to look for a mechanism to free me and went past the door and can’t get back.”

    “Do we have time?” Shina said as she walked up next to Leeka. “Can we afford to stay in one place long?”

    “This trap already has it’s victim.” Lian added. “Besides the sticky residue is taking its toll on the others. They could use a rest.”

    “You don’t have to worry about us!” Mango said as she struggled to take a step, the sticky glue on her soles resiting before snapping and allowing her to put her foot back down. “We can go on.”

    “Speak for yourself!” Riffen added. “I’m in agony over here. I feel like my calves are going to burn off from all the struggling.”

    “I don’t want to hinder us.” Rikki chimed in. “But I must admit that my feet are absolutely KILLING me.”

    Leeka looked to Shina, looking for a consensus with the other leader of a team. Eventually Shina nodded. “We take a little break and see what they can do for Edyra.”

    “Thank you.” Edya replied with a smile.

    Drell walked up to the portrait, examining it closely. The wall was flawless and flush to the girl’s skin. It was like she was always part of the wall. “Can you tell me how you got into this situation? There doesn’t see to be any seams or mechanisms.”

    “Well it was just a bare wall when we first came in here.” Edyra explained. “We didn’t know what to expect as we just came in from outside. However two of our members had gotten trapped outside when we got split up. We knew there were traps. When we reunited we were just so happy to get inside where we thought it was safe.”

    “The same thing happened to us.” Mango added. “We came on two different paths and met the members of your group. We thought it was safer inside but one of us…Alani got her feet glued to the floor.”

    “I take it the stuff wouldn’t come off?” Edyra asked. Like the mud or the trees the others got stuck up with.”

    “The glue was unlike anything we had ever seen before.” Lian commented. “There was also a worsening bondage trap and a hardening jelly we also lost people to.”

    “I can only imagine what other traps my group has encountered.” Edyra sighed. “There are three others.”

    “We will try and find them and help them as well as the others when we can.” Leeka promised. “I am starting to think the only way to free anyone is to solve this place.”

    “You might be right.” Edyra replied. “When my group set foot on the path here we realised one of us had left some equipment behind hanging from a tree. She tried to go get it but her feet just wouldn’t go.”

    “We encountered that too.” Leeka nodded. “The path had bound us the second we set foot on it and could not go back, only forward. We seem be driven toward traps and the only solution is likely at the center of this maze”

     Edyra nodded. “But you have to understand this trap is agony to be in and any help you can render right now would be greatly appreciated. Even if you cant get me completely free I would greatly appreciate any more of me free that you could manage”

    “Explain to us how this trap left you like this.” Lian asked as she examined the wall. “Walk us through it.”

    Edyra nodded. “Well as I said we took refuge here. We rested, regrouped and everything seemed to go fine. The door opened on the other side for us to continue and we all went to go…Except that I couldn’t.”

    “The other door likely only rigged to be openable once the trap was sprung.” Drell added. “Even if you didn’t realise it yet.”

    “Pretty much. Edyra admitted. “My tail seemed like it was caught on something. At first I thought it was just snagged but as I turned around to look it was like it caught by the wall itself! The fur and the tip of my tail was just…going into the wall. I gave it a tug and at first it seemed like it was coming out but it was strange.”

    “Strange how?” Lian said asked as she examined the area around Edyra’s hands to find it completely solid.”

    “It was like rubber.” Edrya continued. I pulled against it with my tail for an inch and it snapped my tail back and pulled it in two more. After a few yanks half my tail was in the wall and once it claimed part of me it wouldn’t give it back. My heel only touched the wall and sank in and before I knew it the wall had one of my feet. The others all came to me, grabbing a hold of me to pull me out before the wall claimed any more of my body. They pulled as hard as they could but the wall just stretched with me, refusing to give anything back. As their strength faded and they lost their grip I was sucked into the wall. It then shifted, allowing only my hands and head free in this position and then the frame emerged.”

    “It was set to trap someone just like you are.” Lian nodded. “It is a very powerful enchantment and your fate was seemingly sealed the second your tail touched the wall. It was designed to do this, including the frame and the plaque.”

    “There’s a plaque?” Edyra asked. “What does it say?”

    “You didn’t know?” Mango asked.

    Edyra gave Mango a sharp side eye. “How exactly would I be able to see something below me on a wall I’m stuck in?”

    “Fair point.” Mango added, taking a sticky step closer to the plaque. “It says. Fox demon female, adult, Faeletan. Caught third moon of the season of flame.”

    “It’s like I’m in a zoo.” Edyra commented. “Just fabulous.”

    “Well we are going to do our best to get you out of there.” Leeka assured. “Let’s start with brute force.”

    Titania moved in and began to hammer at the wall with her weapon. Even after several savage swings and sweat beaded on the large fox girl’s brow there was no damage. “I can’t even scratch it.”

    “It’s indestructible.” Mango sighed. “Just like the other traps.”

    “Maybe we can get at the other side of her.” Drell said as she looked around. Maybe there’s a compartment where the rest of her body is.”

    “I am afraid to admit there is not.” Edyra sighed. “There is no free space behind this wall, Everything you see is what’s free, the rest is sealed.”

    “Can you move at all?” Lian asked. “What is in the wall I mean?”

    “I can breath.” Edyra commented. “It is letting me do just that…the rest of me is…well frozen. I can’t move a muscle or even wiggle a toe.”

    “Can you break the spell?” Shina asked to Lian. “Maybe we can make it soft again.”

    “I can try.” Lian said as she stepped forward and hovered her hands over the wall. She summoned magic carefully as a glow began to affect the wall. It seemed to ripple as if it was struggling to become liquid once again. “I think it’s working!”

    The group cheered, encouraged by the idea that one of the traps might be able to be reversed. However the elation was short lived as the wall rippled and spat blobs out at Lian’s hands. She stepped back as she looked at her hands. She tried to move them but as her fingers curled into fists the white goop, almost to her wrists hardened instantly.

    “Lian!” Titania said as she stepped forward.

    “Don’t touch her hands!” Rikki warned. “It might spread to you like the slime did to us!”

    Lian walked over to fireplace and began to smash her hands against the mantlle, not one crack formed or one flake came off, her hands were ridged and sealed. “I cant get this off!”

    “The traps are rigged?” Edyra replied. “You cant even help me?”

    “Some seem to be.” Leeka admitted. “The first few traps we were able to do whatever we wanted to them. Even the bondage trap only trapped the victim more. But the last one and this one seemed rigged to punish anyone helping.”

    “There has to be some way!” Lian said as she raised her hands in front of her face and focused her magical energy. However her hands just stayed still, no light, no magic no loosening. Lian sighed. “It’s just no use. My hands are fucked.”

    Shina sighed. “This place truly is a nightmare. This room is as bad as any of the others. We cant linger here.”

    Edyra nodded as best she could. “You are probably right. Thank you for trying to help me. If you find the others and they aren’t stuck too, please tell them I’m ok.”

    “We will!” Leeka nodded as she gestured for the others to get moving. “We will free everyone.”

    “Or get stuck trying.” Lian nodded dejectedly.

    Without any further discussion, the group moved on, leaving the trophy room and its sole occupant to stare at the opposing wall once again.

-