Book One – Chapter 8

A beast attuned to the dangers lurking in the middle and right tunnels would inevitably be coerced into choosing the ostensibly safer left tunnel. Midnight, too, felt the compelling pull toward that deceptive safety. She was a predator, disposed to stalking, hunting, and fighting, not trapping. Her commitment to caution, her capacity to resist these primal instincts, and her ability to discern traps were skills honed through her wizard. By nature and disposition, he was a trapper, cultivating acute awareness of traps as an artefact hunter and weaving deceptive realities both to safeguard their hideouts and in the heat of battle. More often than Midnight would ever want to acknowledge, he even trapped himself with his own illusions. A crucial lesson from all he shared resonated in her mind — things should never, suddenly, feel too easy.

This paradoxical wisdom struck Midnight as she surveyed the rocky obstruction. It posed as an obstacle, yet, in its devious design, encouraged progression by not making it too easy to advance. A tunnel too readily accessible would arouse suspicion due to the lack of webs. The rock allowed her to reason against this suspicion. It provided a plausible barrier that could readily be misconstrued as a territorial boundary. In addition, the breath of the cave suggested the prospect of an exit.

Midnight, too, felt the growing allure of the left tunnel as the best of her three choices. Fixating onto her trapper’s acumen, she forcibly suppressed the instinctive pull. With a decisive turn, she retraced her steps, selecting the fourth choice: to go back the way she came.