What Makes a Good Trap?

Pasht awoke just before dawn. Stood up, stretched and then put on the cloths she couldn't sleep in. And walked out into an already actively busy camp. Quite a few men and women worked through the night to ensure today would go off with out a hitch.

Pasht felt the pressure mounting on her, but all she could do now was hope in Victoria's plan. She hated leaving any detail up to others and found it much easier to do everything herself. She even felt her heart skip a beat as she entered the command tent, knowing she would not leave it until the night even if everything went well.

The command tent was Victoria's domain and she looked radiant in it. Even though she probably didn't listen to Pasht and worked through out the night to make sure everything was ready. The four test subjects were sitting in the same spots as before, but now dressed as slaves. Looking more tired and ragged than before. Luckily that helped out with their plan.

Victoria addressed the four about how the crystals worked. "You will place one of your hands on a crystal and pour in a little magical energy. The crystal will then track your mental state."

Auri spoke up. "Will it track everything we think of?"

Victoria smiled. "Yes and no. The best way to describe it is to show you. Please place your hand on the crystal on the table with your name in front of it."

The four stood up and walked towards their designated spot on the table that held the map until today. They then placed one hand on to the crystal in front of them.

Tullia looked worried "How will we know if it works?"

Pasht scoffs "We will know big tits."

Tullia's crystal shined with a vibrant pink hue. Then the light dimmed and started to mingle with several other specs of color sterling around the center of the crystal. Albus's crystal started to shine faintly with a deep red hue.

Pasht glared at Albus. "Do you have a problem with what I said, elf boy?"

Albus's crystal shined a brilliant dark red as he took his and away from the crystal. Noticing that the hue didn't change Albus took a deep breath in and out to calm his nerves and the light faded to then mingle with the other colors swirling in the center.

Pasht smirked "Now all we have to test is small tits and beast boy."

Auri's and Brando's crystals shined red for a moment before fading to the swirling center.

Victoria sighed at Pasht. "Not the way I wanted to test the crystals. But now pick up the paint brushes beside your crystals and walk over to the canvas to your right."

The canvases were lying flat on the table where the map use to be. "Take your brushes and dip them in this ink. Then draw a line from one corner to its opposing corner. Then do the same with the other corner. And don't forget to pore in some magic while drawing. When you are done please come to me."

The four did as told and walked away from the canvases and over to Victoria in a line.

Victoria held a silver bowl with a rod of silver in the center sticking straight up. "You will touch the rod with one finger, then touch your mouth with that same finger, then one of your ears with the same finger, then the rod again with your finger. After you touch the rod for the second time don't make a sound in the tent and just leave."

The four nervously completed the task and left the tent for their position in the trap.

Victoria picked up a crystal and placed it in a metal stand on top of the canvas to its right. "Can you help me with this Pasht?"

"Sure, it's been a while for me though."

As Pasht picked up a crystal and placed it on to a stand on the canvas to its right. Victoria dipped one brush in to the ink and drew a line through the gap from the center of the canvas to the bottom of the crystal. An image started to form in three dimensions over the crystal. A head formed in the center and the edges of the image showed the surroundings the head was looking at.

Pasht finished with her crystal as the same happened with her crystal. "Why are you not showing them this part?"

Victoria started connecting another crystal to the canvas to its right. "They only need to know we are watching not how."

Pasht started on the last crystal. "Where is Victor?"

Victoria carefully lined up the canvases in the center of the table. Making sure the name tags were placed correctly. "I ordered him to leave the tent for eight hours. I couldn't force him to sleep but he needed it."

Pasht got the last canvas in line facing their direction. And the images merged in to one and showed the location of all four of the test subjects. "That sight never gets old."

Victoria placed the silver bowl in the center and pored some water in. Small vibrations in the water were changed in to the sounds around the four. "Can you hear me?"

The four stopped and responded out of order. "Yes"

Pasht took a seat facing the table "Good, we will send in help if you need it."

Tullia got a little spooked. "What if they understand that we are talking to you?"

Victoria took a seat beside Pasht "That shouldn't happen. Only you four can hear us. And we will work around words if they understand them."

"Sorry for doubting you."

Pasht leaned back. "Don't be, you are facing death while we are sitting back and watching. I would continually doubt any person proposing that deal to me."

Victoria couldn't hold back a smile. "We are trusting this operation to just you four. I just ask for trust in my orders. If you do what I say when I say it, you will make it out of this ordeal with your lives."

"Yes your holiness." They all responded out of order walking towards the trap location.

- - -

Nick and Hasso watched the sun rise cover the valley in an orangish hue. As they contemplated an interesting question.

Nick looked at Hasso. "How much did we feed Jaeger yesterday?"

Hasso shrugged. "I don't know how much he ate, but this result is more than I could have expected."

They both looked over at Jaeger that appeared to have grown about one half the size he was the day before. "Hasso I have heard of growth spurts but this is insane. He went from about a medium dog size to a large dog size, over night."

Hasso shrugged again. "This is a new world to us, with giant toads and bugs. We shouldn't assume our old worlds laws of nature are correct here as well."

Nick shook his head. "That is the best example of an unsatisfying answer I have ever heard."

Hasso started walking towards the path "Well, we are not going to find a better answer here so lets get going."

Nick caught up to Hasso as Jaeger fallowed behind. "What about the other energy reading from him?"

Hasso didn't stop walking. "It's higher but he is also bigger. I don't know which one caused the other. Or if there is something else we just don't know about."

"Well I guess it could be worse."

- - -

Nick, Hasso and Jaeger were walking for a while up the path. The foliage got denser and green started to fill their view more and more.

Hasso stopped for a moment. "Does this foliage mean a watering hole is near by?"

Nick kept walking "The likelihood is high. There are animal paths because animals won't die from thirst or hunger on them. At least not as much as not fallowing a path. Floods and droughts have a hand in..."

Nick, Hasso and Jaeger stopped as they heard what sounded like someone screaming off in the distance.

Nick shook his head and started to walk. "Nope, don't like it. Lets keep going."

Hasso hesitated. "What if they are really in trouble and we can help?"

Nick stopped ant turned to Hasso. "Yesterday we were being fallowed by people that disappeared with out any reason. And today someone suddenly needs our help? Not buying it."

Hasso lowered his head in defeat as Jaeger barked then bolted towards the sound of screaming. "Should have tried convincing him also."

The source of the screaming was a short distance away from the animal trail. It was in a clearing with tents in tatters and a campfire completely dead. The tent was raided by something that chased off all sines of life except for a cart with a wooden cage and four individuals looking like slaves. Jaeger was barking at the cage.

Nick stayed on the outside of the camp. "Grab Jaeger and let's go."

Hasso stood just inside the camp "I am reminded of a moral question."

"Great, we can talk about it after we get out of here."

Hasso shook his head. "Would you let innocent people die to insure your safety? Or would you take on hardships to prevent atrocities?"

Nick was getting aggravated. "Now's not the time Hasso."

Hasso slowly faced Nick. "Now is always the time to choose who we want to be. Which one do you choose to be?"