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Description



    The group of foxes had left the small forest town earlier the morning, despite warnings not to do so they headed off together proudly. They were a group of twelve and they were determined to find out the secret of the legendary lost ruin. There were two paths that supposedly lead to the ruin and the group split up to reach it. Half walked from the south through the swamp itself and the rest through the dense forest from the west. The southern group travelled through roaring hills that were like a paradise. Soon the emerald green of the hills fell away, replaced by dark browns and oranges of a massive swamp that seemed to go on until the horizon. There was a long stone path sticking up a mere two feet above the swamp.

    Rikki furrowed her nose at the smell of the dirty swamp as she took point for the group. She was a small, cute fox girl who was the second youngest of the group. She had spiky black hair and pale orange eyes. She wore a tight black sleeveless top with many pouched belts over her shoulders and top. She had black sleaves that went to her biceps and had the palms and fingers cut out. She wore baggy blue long shorts and had pale white bare feet with shiny black nail polish to match her fingers. She noticeably did not much like being in the swap. “This place stinks! I'm just glad we don’t have to walk through that stuff.”

    “A bad idea I would wager.” Lian answered matter of factly. She was thin and tall with messy orange hair and wore a splendid gold short kimono over her slight frame. She was the magic user of the group and held her head high with a sense of accomplishment. Her feet were attractive and feminine, long slender, with well formed toes and silky soft looking skin. She seemed to be amused with Rikki’s discomfort. “You wouldn't make it too steps in that stuff before we lost you.”

    “Lost me?” Rikki asked with curiosity.

    “The swamp has a reputation.” Leeka answered calmly as she leaned forward. She was the leader of the company of fox warriors. She was tall and strong, even by fox demon standards. She was a perfect blend of well muscled, tough, but still desirable and feminine. She had pinkish orange toned skin and freckles on her knees and back of her shoulders. Her shoulder length messy hair was pale orange, lighter because of recent exposure to direct sunlight. Her right ear was a little crooked due to an injury from her youth. Leeka wore a simple reinforced bikini top that connected to armored arm gauntlets. She wore a belt around her midsection connected to hip armor and short bottoms. On her belt was a curved shorts word. Leeka’s feet were rough around the edges, not small or slender but still elegant with strong arches. Her soles were naturally tough but were devoid of dead skin. Upon her left ankle rested a metal shackle with a broken off link at the end. “There might not be any reports of inside the ruin but the swamp around it is very well documented. Many have come here to find the ruin, very few have returned, and they were half mad. So be careful!”

    “They got lost in the swamp?” Rikki asked, trying to picture in her head someone fighting to get out of the bog and back onto the path. “How did they get them out?”

    “They didn't.” Leeka answered gravely. “Any who have escaped this place said they did so by not setting one foot off of the path.”

    “Sounds like the perfect place to visit.” Rina asked as she walked. She had short dirty blonde hair and long elegant fox ears. She had a quirky sarcastic face with a cute smile that always had the right retort on its lips. She was slightly older than many of the foxes, having just returned to active duty after having a foxling. She tugged on her armor at places, not remembering it being so snug. She looked back at her butt, her tail looked the same as ever, shaggy and cute but the butt looked bigger than before, and she hoped no one else had noticed. Her feet were well maintained and sporting a pale blue cream nail polish which accentuated her cute pudgy toes. Her feet looked delicate and soft but were actually strong and powerful and one of her favorite features. She looked around the swamp. “I wonder how much treasure is lost under all of this mud.”

    “No one is to go anywhere near that mud.” Leeka answered. “As long as we stay on the path, we will be fine. The ruin is the real danger but it's traps won’t be able to kill us.”

    “It is not easy to kill a fox!” Alani said with a smile. She was curvy and strong and acted as a big sister to the other foxes. She wore light armor on chest and forearms. She had short, cropped auburn hair and a long bushy tail. Her generous bosom poked above her armored corset. She wore a long black and azure pants over her strong legs and her well worn feet were decorated with bright orange polish. “I'd like to see the trap that could end me!”

    “Nothing can hurt you Alani!” Rikki said proudly of her friend, shooting down a casual glance to look at Alanis cute bare feet, hoping not to get caught.”

    The final fox of the unit took up the rear. Alexandra was tall and curvy with short cropped brown hair and an eyepatch over one eye. She wore a tight black and brown corset that pushed her ample cleavage up and held it in place. She wore a simple skirt with a long slit and a pair of daggers on her hips. She had long thin legs and pudgy feet with cute toes. She wore dark polish that reflected even with the diminished light of the swamp. She looked back at the path they had come from as if she worried it might disappear. “This path is stable and easy to traverse. The fact that so few have come back concerns me.”

    “In what way?” Leeka asked. “Seems safe enough to me.”

    “Well maybe that’s the problem.” Alexandra commented. “The illusion of safety that will take ones attention away from the real threats.”

    “I think you are just being paranoid.” Rina laughed. “You are always so suspicious.”

    “If you had been through HALF of what I have been through you would be as suspicious as me. I have not survived what I have survived by lack of caution."

    "Well, we got a great group Rikki commented with a grin. "We got some of the strongest foxes in the area and we are in the better half of the group."

    "You got that right!" Alani commented as she grabbed Rikki and slung her around her back to give her a piggyback. “We are going to be rich and famous really soon and nothing is going to stand in our way.”

    “I hope you are right.” Alexandra commented. “I have foxlings at home that rely on me.”

    “I do too.” Rina commented. “No matter what terrifying stuff is ahead of us we face it together.”

    “Hello?” An unfamiliar voice called out. The group froze, searching ahead and behind them for the source of the voice. When they saw no one, they were forced to consider the alternative, as unthinkable as it was. Several feet, off to the right of the path was a figure sitting in the mud facing the path. She had long orange hair, darkened by dirt and twigs. She was dressed in a dirty wine-coloured halter top and black short pants. She was sitting as if kneeling in the mud, the lower half of her legs underneath the surface. Her hands disappeared at the wrists in the stuff. She looked at the group with deep violet eyes and a look of silent desperation on her face.

    “Are you alright?” Leeka asked as she took in the situation. “Do you need assistance, I have a waterskin.”

    “I would like nothing more.” The kneeling fox replied. “Though I fear I have no way to accept it.”

    “I’m Leeka.” Leeka replied as she walked to the edge of the path, her long toes resting slightly over the edge. She almost considered stepping off of it. “This is my unit, well half of it and we can help you.”

    “I’m Grella.” The kneeling fox replied. “I got separated from my group. I imagine you are here for the ruin as we are.”

    “Well maybe we can find your group when we reunite with the other half of ours!” Rikki commented. “There’s supposedly enough treasure for a lot of foxes to get rich!”

    “Yeah we can help you.” Leeka said, her foot lifting from the edge, moving to take a step off the path.

    “STOP!” Grella shouted. “Don’t even take a single step off of the path! Once this mud has a hold of you it’s got you.”

    “You can’t get out?” Alexandra asked.

    Grella went to get up, the mud around her hands stretching up with her hands and immediately arresting her movement. Het but came up and her tails swished around and the mud shifted but her legs refused to budge. “I cant move!”

    “How did you get yourself into that?” Rina asked. “You are so far from the path.”

    “This place plays tricks on you.” Grella admitted. “I paused only for a moment, and I was alone, I tried to catch up to the others but couldn’t even figure out which way I was going. I must have gone back and forth along this path for hours until I heard my friend voices. It was off into the mud, seeing so close. There were steppingstones, dozens of them and it seemed so easy to leap across them to catch up with my group. I leapt from stone to stone but as far as I went, I could not find the end and my friends. Before long the path of stones ended up back to the path. I went to leap to one last stone, but it disappeared beneath my feet and I landed in the mud. At first it was just my feet stuck but I was locked into it up to my ankles and nothing could get them to budge. I struggled for hours but it felt like I would break my ankles before they came out of this stuff. I got careless and lost my balance and now the swamp has claimed more of my legs and my hands.”

    “We gotta get her out!” Rikki commented.

    “I know.” Leeka said as she looked around. The path was only about seven feet across and there was nothing around, not even any of the treacherous stones Grella talk about. “We just have to figure out how.”

    Alani put Rikki down and stepped to the edge. Se grabbed a hold of Leeka’s arm and leaned her out toward Grella, she strained, her hand getting within a few feet of the mud trapped fox.

    “You gotta fight to free a hand!” Leeka pleaded. “Take my hand and Alani can pull you out!”

    “I’m strong as hell.” Alani commented. “Just gotta get to us!”

    “I’ll try my best.” Grella said, shifting her weight back so she could focus on her arms. She strained and struggled, the muscles in her bices and shoulders building as her arms went straight. The mud moved a little as if stretching but not willing to relinquish its prey. A look of desperation came across Grella’s face, she knew this might be her best and last chance to escape her bonds and she had to fight. She yanked and pulled but neither hand made any progress in coming out of the mud.

    “I can’t!” Grella replied, a look of fear and shame on her round face. “It’s like I’m locked in handcuffs.”

    Alexandra perched on the edge of the path, looking at Grella and evaluating her situation. “There are ways to wriggle out of handcuffs, try to move your hands so your fingers are together. Make as little surface area and twist, maybe you can slip out.”

    Grella nodded and focused on her task, she strained with her hands, twisting and shifting, getting more and more frustrated and her hands staying in the mud. “This is not going to work…I kinda can’t move my hands; the mud is too tight.”

    Rina looked back to Lian. “You got any ideas on how to get her out of this?”

    “I’m not a mud witch.” Lian scoffed. “What do you want me to do about it?”

    “I don’t know.” Rina commented, clearly frustrated with the magic users lack of empathy. “Something?”

    “Well she is no closer to me than she is to you.” Lian admitted. “The fact we cant get to her really limits what we can do to help her.”

    “You gotta do something Lian.” Rikki pleaded. “She’s stuck and alone out there.”

    Lian sighed. “Fine…I imagine there’s some sort of curse component in that stuff. I could try and cast a dispel spell and maybe she can bust out of it.”

    “Do it!” Leeka said as she shifted her balance, keeping her hand out toward the trapped fox girl.

    Lian stepped toward the edge, careful to keep her toes no where close to the edge as if she feared the mud would come up and grab her slender perfect feet. She reached her hands out toward Grella, a pale white mist coming out and began to snake toward the trapped woman. It went into the mud, penetrating into it and made it bubble around her hands.

    “Do it now!” Leeka encouraged. “Break just one hand free and grab my hand.”

    Grella went to task, straining with her hands and titling her shoulders back as far as they would go. The mud around her hands shifted as she tried to move her hand to the position previously suggested. She fought and strained, the bubbling mud giving her slightly more slack but still stubbornly refusing to let her go. She gritted her teeth and yanked, desperate to make some sort of headway against the mud.

    “You can do it!” Rikki shouted in encouragement. “You can free your hand! You can get out!”

    Grella growled, fighting to pull her trapped limbs out of the mud, she tried one hand then the other, fighting against the mud as her strength and the magic tested it. However, as hard as she pulled, as hard as she fought and as hard as the dispelling magic agitated the mud, her hands would not come out. Grella screamed in frustration, fighting harder and harder, she worked on her legs, trying against all hope to get up. She fought to move, wishing beyond hope that she might break free. However, her feet, her legs, her knees and her hands were held by the mud and it dimply would not let her free.

    “I can’t keep it up.” Lian said as she stopped casting and withdrew her hands back into her robes. “The curse that’s keeping that mud stuck to her is all through the swamp. It would take an army of casters to break her free.”

    Grella slumped forward. “My hands, my legs and my feet. I am never going to see them again.”

    “There’s got to be some way!” Rikki commented. “We gotta get her out of there!”

    Alani pulled Leeka back onto the path, checking to make sure her feet were safe on the stone. “We just cant get to her.”

    “Who knows what it would take to get her out of that stuff.” Rina commented. “With a whole group it would take days to dig her out of that mud.”

    Leeka paused for a moment, considering her options. “We need to reunite with the other group, but we can’t leave her here without help. Alexandra, go back the way we came and fetch people from the village to come and rescue Grella.”

    “I’m on it.” Alexandra said as she turned back the way they cand come. She went to take a step but only her heel came up and she pinwheeled in place. She stepped back toward the others and her feet came free. She went again to take a step, but it was as if her leading foot froze. “I can’t go back!”

    “What are you talking about?” Rina said as she walked to Alexandra’s side, she took the first two steps but as she got to the area Alexandra stood, her foot locked by an unseen force. “I can’t either. It’s like my feet won’t respond if I try to go more than a few steps back the way we came.”

    Leeka walked forward, hoping to be able to march past the pair but sire enough as she reached the area, they stood the last step was her last as the force locked her feet. She backed up, becoming free but any time she tried to go forward her feet got caught up. She tried some angles, trying to trick the path but her feet got caught every time.

    “Maybe you can jump past the spell?” Alani commented.

    “See what happens when you try.” Lian commented, crossing her arms.

    Alexandra shrugged, stepping back to where her feet were free and attempted to jump. Though her feet were not locked up the second she tried to have her feet sperate from the path the force took over and locked her feet in place. “We can’t jump!”

    “But I was leaned out over the swamp.” Leeka said as she looked down at her feet. “It didn’t lock me there.”

    “Our feet seem magically bound to this path.” Lian said with a sigh. We didn’t notice it at first as it only needs to keep one foot at a time to the path. But try to jump or go back it asserts its hold on us.”

    “But Leeka’s feet?” Alani insisted. “And Grella walked back and forth and off the path.”

    Lian pondered for a moment. “It would seem that the path can decide where it will and will not let you go. It wanted Grella to get lost and confused so it let her wander back and forth. I also imagine it would not stop us from stepping off the path into the mud. From one trap into another.”

    “Can you dispel it?” Rina asked. “We cant reach Grella but we can reach our own feet.”

    “I tried the moment I saw Alexandra’s feet lock up.” Lian admitted. “It won’t dispel we have to solve it?”

    “Solve it?” Leeka asked. “What do you mean solve it?”

    “I can’t be sure.” Lian commented. “The path seems to challenge people that walk on it to reach the ruin. If we can stayt free of other traps I imagine we can step off the path at the other end.”

    “Then forward is the only way we can go.” Leeka commented.

    “What about Grella?” Rikki asked. “We have to help her.”

    “We cant reach her and we cant free her.” Rina commented as she looked at the trapped fox. Grella seemed to be resigned to what was going to be suggested next. Rina sighed. “I think the only solution is to keep going and free our feet from the path. Then we can see what can be done to get help for Grella.”

    “But who knows how long that would take!” Rikki argued.

    “It’s ok.” Grella admitted. “There’s nothing you can do to set me free so forwards my only chance. I’m strong and resilient, I can last quite a bit longer in this stuff.”

    Leeka nodded. “Were going to press on but we will be back, we will set you free.”

    “I believe you.” Grella commented. “Good luck.”

    The group turned and headed off on the path. It was difficult for all to keep going and none risked a look back. It hurt to leave someone trapped behind, but they could only hope that they could solve the riddle of the ruin without anyone else getting stuck.

-

Description



    The group of foxes had left the small forest town earlier the morning, despite warnings not to do so they headed off together proudly. They were a group of twelve and they were determined to find out the secret of the legendary lost ruin. There were two paths that supposedly lead to the ruin and the group split up to reach it. Half walked from the south through the swamp itself and the rest through the dense forest from the west. The southern group travelled through roaring hills that were like a paradise. Soon the emerald green of the hills fell away, replaced by dark browns and oranges of a massive swamp that seemed to go on until the horizon. There was a long stone path sticking up a mere two feet above the swamp.

    Rikki furrowed her nose at the smell of the dirty swamp as she took point for the group. She was a small, cute fox girl who was the second youngest of the group. She had spiky black hair and pale orange eyes. She wore a tight black sleeveless top with many pouched belts over her shoulders and top. She had black sleaves that went to her biceps and had the palms and fingers cut out. She wore baggy blue long shorts and had pale white bare feet with shiny black nail polish to match her fingers. She noticeably did not much like being in the swap. “This place stinks! I'm just glad we don’t have to walk through that stuff.”

    “A bad idea I would wager.” Lian answered matter of factly. She was thin and tall with messy orange hair and wore a splendid gold short kimono over her slight frame. She was the magic user of the group and held her head high with a sense of accomplishment. Her feet were attractive and feminine, long slender, with well formed toes and silky soft looking skin. She seemed to be amused with Rikki’s discomfort. “You wouldn't make it too steps in that stuff before we lost you.”

    “Lost me?” Rikki asked with curiosity.

    “The swamp has a reputation.” Leeka answered calmly as she leaned forward. She was the leader of the company of fox warriors. She was tall and strong, even by fox demon standards. She was a perfect blend of well muscled, tough, but still desirable and feminine. She had pinkish orange toned skin and freckles on her knees and back of her shoulders. Her shoulder length messy hair was pale orange, lighter because of recent exposure to direct sunlight. Her right ear was a little crooked due to an injury from her youth. Leeka wore a simple reinforced bikini top that connected to armored arm gauntlets. She wore a belt around her midsection connected to hip armor and short bottoms. On her belt was a curved shorts word. Leeka’s feet were rough around the edges, not small or slender but still elegant with strong arches. Her soles were naturally tough but were devoid of dead skin. Upon her left ankle rested a metal shackle with a broken off link at the end. “There might not be any reports of inside the ruin but the swamp around it is very well documented. Many have come here to find the ruin, very few have returned, and they were half mad. So be careful!”

    “They got lost in the swamp?” Rikki asked, trying to picture in her head someone fighting to get out of the bog and back onto the path. “How did they get them out?”

    “They didn't.” Leeka answered gravely. “Any who have escaped this place said they did so by not setting one foot off of the path.”

    “Sounds like the perfect place to visit.” Rina asked as she walked. She had short dirty blonde hair and long elegant fox ears. She had a quirky sarcastic face with a cute smile that always had the right retort on its lips. She was slightly older than many of the foxes, having just returned to active duty after having a foxling. She tugged on her armor at places, not remembering it being so snug. She looked back at her butt, her tail looked the same as ever, shaggy and cute but the butt looked bigger than before, and she hoped no one else had noticed. Her feet were well maintained and sporting a pale blue cream nail polish which accentuated her cute pudgy toes. Her feet looked delicate and soft but were actually strong and powerful and one of her favorite features. She looked around the swamp. “I wonder how much treasure is lost under all of this mud.”

    “No one is to go anywhere near that mud.” Leeka answered. “As long as we stay on the path, we will be fine. The ruin is the real danger but it's traps won’t be able to kill us.”

    “It is not easy to kill a fox!” Alani said with a smile. She was curvy and strong and acted as a big sister to the other foxes. She wore light armor on chest and forearms. She had short, cropped auburn hair and a long bushy tail. Her generous bosom poked above her armored corset. She wore a long black and azure pants over her strong legs and her well worn feet were decorated with bright orange polish. “I'd like to see the trap that could end me!”

    “Nothing can hurt you Alani!” Rikki said proudly of her friend, shooting down a casual glance to look at Alanis cute bare feet, hoping not to get caught.”

    The final fox of the unit took up the rear. Alexandra was tall and curvy with short cropped brown hair and an eyepatch over one eye. She wore a tight black and brown corset that pushed her ample cleavage up and held it in place. She wore a simple skirt with a long slit and a pair of daggers on her hips. She had long thin legs and pudgy feet with cute toes. She wore dark polish that reflected even with the diminished light of the swamp. She looked back at the path they had come from as if she worried it might disappear. “This path is stable and easy to traverse. The fact that so few have come back concerns me.”

    “In what way?” Leeka asked. “Seems safe enough to me.”

    “Well maybe that’s the problem.” Alexandra commented. “The illusion of safety that will take ones attention away from the real threats.”

    “I think you are just being paranoid.” Rina laughed. “You are always so suspicious.”

    “If you had been through HALF of what I have been through you would be as suspicious as me. I have not survived what I have survived by lack of caution."

    "Well, we got a great group Rikki commented with a grin. "We got some of the strongest foxes in the area and we are in the better half of the group."

    "You got that right!" Alani commented as she grabbed Rikki and slung her around her back to give her a piggyback. “We are going to be rich and famous really soon and nothing is going to stand in our way.”

    “I hope you are right.” Alexandra commented. “I have foxlings at home that rely on me.”

    “I do too.” Rina commented. “No matter what terrifying stuff is ahead of us we face it together.”

    “Hello?” An unfamiliar voice called out. The group froze, searching ahead and behind them for the source of the voice. When they saw no one, they were forced to consider the alternative, as unthinkable as it was. Several feet, off to the right of the path was a figure sitting in the mud facing the path. She had long orange hair, darkened by dirt and twigs. She was dressed in a dirty wine-coloured halter top and black short pants. She was sitting as if kneeling in the mud, the lower half of her legs underneath the surface. Her hands disappeared at the wrists in the stuff. She looked at the group with deep violet eyes and a look of silent desperation on her face.

    “Are you alright?” Leeka asked as she took in the situation. “Do you need assistance, I have a waterskin.”

    “I would like nothing more.” The kneeling fox replied. “Though I fear I have no way to accept it.”

    “I’m Leeka.” Leeka replied as she walked to the edge of the path, her long toes resting slightly over the edge. She almost considered stepping off of it. “This is my unit, well half of it and we can help you.”

    “I’m Grella.” The kneeling fox replied. “I got separated from my group. I imagine you are here for the ruin as we are.”

    “Well maybe we can find your group when we reunite with the other half of ours!” Rikki commented. “There’s supposedly enough treasure for a lot of foxes to get rich!”

    “Yeah we can help you.” Leeka said, her foot lifting from the edge, moving to take a step off the path.

    “STOP!” Grella shouted. “Don’t even take a single step off of the path! Once this mud has a hold of you it’s got you.”

    “You can’t get out?” Alexandra asked.

    Grella went to get up, the mud around her hands stretching up with her hands and immediately arresting her movement. Het but came up and her tails swished around and the mud shifted but her legs refused to budge. “I cant move!”

    “How did you get yourself into that?” Rina asked. “You are so far from the path.”

    “This place plays tricks on you.” Grella admitted. “I paused only for a moment, and I was alone, I tried to catch up to the others but couldn’t even figure out which way I was going. I must have gone back and forth along this path for hours until I heard my friend voices. It was off into the mud, seeing so close. There were steppingstones, dozens of them and it seemed so easy to leap across them to catch up with my group. I leapt from stone to stone but as far as I went, I could not find the end and my friends. Before long the path of stones ended up back to the path. I went to leap to one last stone, but it disappeared beneath my feet and I landed in the mud. At first it was just my feet stuck but I was locked into it up to my ankles and nothing could get them to budge. I struggled for hours but it felt like I would break my ankles before they came out of this stuff. I got careless and lost my balance and now the swamp has claimed more of my legs and my hands.”

    “We gotta get her out!” Rikki commented.

    “I know.” Leeka said as she looked around. The path was only about seven feet across and there was nothing around, not even any of the treacherous stones Grella talk about. “We just have to figure out how.”

    Alani put Rikki down and stepped to the edge. Se grabbed a hold of Leeka’s arm and leaned her out toward Grella, she strained, her hand getting within a few feet of the mud trapped fox.

    “You gotta fight to free a hand!” Leeka pleaded. “Take my hand and Alani can pull you out!”

    “I’m strong as hell.” Alani commented. “Just gotta get to us!”

    “I’ll try my best.” Grella said, shifting her weight back so she could focus on her arms. She strained and struggled, the muscles in her bices and shoulders building as her arms went straight. The mud moved a little as if stretching but not willing to relinquish its prey. A look of desperation came across Grella’s face, she knew this might be her best and last chance to escape her bonds and she had to fight. She yanked and pulled but neither hand made any progress in coming out of the mud.

    “I can’t!” Grella replied, a look of fear and shame on her round face. “It’s like I’m locked in handcuffs.”

    Alexandra perched on the edge of the path, looking at Grella and evaluating her situation. “There are ways to wriggle out of handcuffs, try to move your hands so your fingers are together. Make as little surface area and twist, maybe you can slip out.”

    Grella nodded and focused on her task, she strained with her hands, twisting and shifting, getting more and more frustrated and her hands staying in the mud. “This is not going to work…I kinda can’t move my hands; the mud is too tight.”

    Rina looked back to Lian. “You got any ideas on how to get her out of this?”

    “I’m not a mud witch.” Lian scoffed. “What do you want me to do about it?”

    “I don’t know.” Rina commented, clearly frustrated with the magic users lack of empathy. “Something?”

    “Well she is no closer to me than she is to you.” Lian admitted. “The fact we cant get to her really limits what we can do to help her.”

    “You gotta do something Lian.” Rikki pleaded. “She’s stuck and alone out there.”

    Lian sighed. “Fine…I imagine there’s some sort of curse component in that stuff. I could try and cast a dispel spell and maybe she can bust out of it.”

    “Do it!” Leeka said as she shifted her balance, keeping her hand out toward the trapped fox girl.

    Lian stepped toward the edge, careful to keep her toes no where close to the edge as if she feared the mud would come up and grab her slender perfect feet. She reached her hands out toward Grella, a pale white mist coming out and began to snake toward the trapped woman. It went into the mud, penetrating into it and made it bubble around her hands.

    “Do it now!” Leeka encouraged. “Break just one hand free and grab my hand.”

    Grella went to task, straining with her hands and titling her shoulders back as far as they would go. The mud around her hands shifted as she tried to move her hand to the position previously suggested. She fought and strained, the bubbling mud giving her slightly more slack but still stubbornly refusing to let her go. She gritted her teeth and yanked, desperate to make some sort of headway against the mud.

    “You can do it!” Rikki shouted in encouragement. “You can free your hand! You can get out!”

    Grella growled, fighting to pull her trapped limbs out of the mud, she tried one hand then the other, fighting against the mud as her strength and the magic tested it. However, as hard as she pulled, as hard as she fought and as hard as the dispelling magic agitated the mud, her hands would not come out. Grella screamed in frustration, fighting harder and harder, she worked on her legs, trying against all hope to get up. She fought to move, wishing beyond hope that she might break free. However, her feet, her legs, her knees and her hands were held by the mud and it dimply would not let her free.

    “I can’t keep it up.” Lian said as she stopped casting and withdrew her hands back into her robes. “The curse that’s keeping that mud stuck to her is all through the swamp. It would take an army of casters to break her free.”

    Grella slumped forward. “My hands, my legs and my feet. I am never going to see them again.”

    “There’s got to be some way!” Rikki commented. “We gotta get her out of there!”

    Alani pulled Leeka back onto the path, checking to make sure her feet were safe on the stone. “We just cant get to her.”

    “Who knows what it would take to get her out of that stuff.” Rina commented. “With a whole group it would take days to dig her out of that mud.”

    Leeka paused for a moment, considering her options. “We need to reunite with the other group, but we can’t leave her here without help. Alexandra, go back the way we came and fetch people from the village to come and rescue Grella.”

    “I’m on it.” Alexandra said as she turned back the way they cand come. She went to take a step but only her heel came up and she pinwheeled in place. She stepped back toward the others and her feet came free. She went again to take a step, but it was as if her leading foot froze. “I can’t go back!”

    “What are you talking about?” Rina said as she walked to Alexandra’s side, she took the first two steps but as she got to the area Alexandra stood, her foot locked by an unseen force. “I can’t either. It’s like my feet won’t respond if I try to go more than a few steps back the way we came.”

    Leeka walked forward, hoping to be able to march past the pair but sire enough as she reached the area, they stood the last step was her last as the force locked her feet. She backed up, becoming free but any time she tried to go forward her feet got caught up. She tried some angles, trying to trick the path but her feet got caught every time.

    “Maybe you can jump past the spell?” Alani commented.

    “See what happens when you try.” Lian commented, crossing her arms.

    Alexandra shrugged, stepping back to where her feet were free and attempted to jump. Though her feet were not locked up the second she tried to have her feet sperate from the path the force took over and locked her feet in place. “We can’t jump!”

    “But I was leaned out over the swamp.” Leeka said as she looked down at her feet. “It didn’t lock me there.”

    “Our feet seem magically bound to this path.” Lian said with a sigh. We didn’t notice it at first as it only needs to keep one foot at a time to the path. But try to jump or go back it asserts its hold on us.”

    “But Leeka’s feet?” Alani insisted. “And Grella walked back and forth and off the path.”

    Lian pondered for a moment. “It would seem that the path can decide where it will and will not let you go. It wanted Grella to get lost and confused so it let her wander back and forth. I also imagine it would not stop us from stepping off the path into the mud. From one trap into another.”

    “Can you dispel it?” Rina asked. “We cant reach Grella but we can reach our own feet.”

    “I tried the moment I saw Alexandra’s feet lock up.” Lian admitted. “It won’t dispel we have to solve it?”

    “Solve it?” Leeka asked. “What do you mean solve it?”

    “I can’t be sure.” Lian commented. “The path seems to challenge people that walk on it to reach the ruin. If we can stayt free of other traps I imagine we can step off the path at the other end.”

    “Then forward is the only way we can go.” Leeka commented.

    “What about Grella?” Rikki asked. “We have to help her.”

    “We cant reach her and we cant free her.” Rina commented as she looked at the trapped fox. Grella seemed to be resigned to what was going to be suggested next. Rina sighed. “I think the only solution is to keep going and free our feet from the path. Then we can see what can be done to get help for Grella.”

    “But who knows how long that would take!” Rikki argued.

    “It’s ok.” Grella admitted. “There’s nothing you can do to set me free so forwards my only chance. I’m strong and resilient, I can last quite a bit longer in this stuff.”

    Leeka nodded. “Were going to press on but we will be back, we will set you free.”

    “I believe you.” Grella commented. “Good luck.”

    The group turned and headed off on the path. It was difficult for all to keep going and none risked a look back. It hurt to leave someone trapped behind, but they could only hope that they could solve the riddle of the ruin without anyone else getting stuck.

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