She was in trouble.


    Ever since she had fallen victim to the monster’s magic her body would feel warm whenever she pictured the encounter.


    She had been desperately searching the Pages since then, trying to find out how to dispel or resist the magic that had been cast on her. Her plan to tame the monster would not go well at all if she couldn’t even get close to it without her body threatening to rebel.


    Every sleep the tunnels seemed to grow colder and the memory of the monster’s hand seemed like they were the perfect way to get warm again. It was clear that the monster had done more to her at that time than she knew and it was only slowly becoming clear what.


    It was now a race to see if she could tame the monster before its magic finished whatever else it was going to do to her.


    Which was going to be difficult, as she needed to stay far enough away to not be tempted.


    It seemed that the monster was also trying to find her, though she could see no reason as it only had to wait for its magic to do its work. It gave her an opportunity though, as she could let the monster see her, drop a treat and run away.


    Hopefully the monster would see her as the one who had the treats. It might only eat grass and other plants in the rain room but she knew from its display of magic that it would eat the treats wherever it was. She hoped that it was only the treats that it ate outside of the rain room and not other things as well, or she may be in more trouble than she thought.


    She really needed to watch it when it was in the rain room to see what it actually ate, though that was proving impossible.


    It very rarely entered the rain room.


    The only way she had managed to see the monster in there at all was by taking a few treats and sitting in a tight place close enough to hear when the monster entered the room. It took a few sleeps and an uncomfortable time stuck in the tight place, eating the treats to calm her angry belly, but she managed to catch the monster in the rain room.


    It seemed to use its magic to create white air, rain and then it finished by calling a storm. She assumed it was a storm at least, as it was loud and she could see how the rush of air affected the monster, just like the Pages described a storm. She had been asleep when the monster entered the rain room so she missed what it ate, but seeing more of its magic assured her that it was too strong to be defeated by her alone. Taming it remained the only option.


    She would need to follow it all the time now. Until it was tamed she couldn’t afford to return to her home and waste time, allowing the magic to do its work in the background. It would be tiring but if she got close enough to be woken by the noises the monster made, she should be able to find where it rested. Once she knew that, she could use the time it was mesmerized by the wall markings to tame it and simply rest when it went back to its own …


    home?


    Nest?


    Where did a monster live?


    <hr>


    The monster lived in the wall it seemed.


    She had managed to stay awake long enough to follow the monster to its lair. She had decided that lair was the correct word for a monster home.


    She watched as it used its magic to open the wall, leading into a large cave. Bigger than most of the other caves around, though that made sense as the monster was huge as well. She guessed that it had used its magic to clear the wall away to make the cave and had taken things from the small caves around it.


    The strength needed to do so was impressive, she could pull the blankets off, but the beds were too heavy to lift and it seemed the monster had found a massive bed larger than it was. She couldn’t imagine how heavy it must be.


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    Her tiring journey had also shown that it was the monster who made the disks she had been eating as well. After finding its lair she had followed it to the food place where she had watched from afar as it used even more magic to make the disks. It seemed to make them multiple times a day, but only once would it make too many to eat and leave them to be scavenged by others.


    This made her less certain the monster was a moose as she had suspected, but as she had no idea what it was, she would stick with moose until she could find a real match. She decided that rather than when the moose monster was staring at the walls, as it might not even see her, the best time to tame it would be when it was making the disks.


    So she gathered her courage, took a treat and got close enough to be seen clearly by the monster. When it looked up at her she placed the treat on one of the long surfaces in the food place and quickly backed away to hide near the entrance while keeping it in sight.


    Unexpectedly, the monster didn’t use its magic to grab the treat, it instead finished what it was doing and brought a flat thing with a disk on it to the treat and exchanged them. Leaving the flat thing and disk behind it took the treat she left and walked out of the back, opposite where she was hiding.


    Unsure if this was a success or a misunderstanding, or simply another trap, she very carefully approached the disk. As she didn’t hear any noises and couldn’t see the monster anywhere, she grabbed the disk and quickly left. The disk was strangely warm, almost too warm, but she ate it anyways and thought about how to make the monster understand her.


    She stopped.


    The disks had been ok before, but when they were warm they tasted much better. Was the lingering magic changing the taste?


    Could… Could she resist it if it was magic?


    Perhaps she had been too hasty deciding that it wasn’t a trap. It seemed the moose monster was a tricky kind of monster. Her belly grumbled at her, seeming eager for more of the warm disks. She may have less time than she thought before her body simply rebelled and gave in to the magic. The People in the box seemed to speak some of the words in the Pages, maybe she could speak to the monster.


    She had had to learn the sounds of the words from the box people, perhaps she could make the monster understand in a similar way. It seemed fascinated by the words on the wall, maybe words were a better method than treats, though she would keep trying both.


    Waiting for the monster to fall for the wall words again, she quietly got as close as she dared. Hopefully far enough away to run but close enough to not draw anything else to them with the noise. She didn’t want to get caught up in a fight between monsters.


    With her heartbeat loud in her ears it was hard to tell how quiet things were, but she had to try. She would start simple, no reason for a lot of words it didn’t understand.


    “Moose monster.”


    She jumped back as the monster’s head quickly swung to look at her. Its eye locked with hers and she felt her heart sink.


    She had made a mistake, already the monster’s magic was starting to warm her face as its eyes became impossible to look away from.


    She wanted to turn and run but her body had rebelled again. Something drew her to the monster and the deep rumbling noises it made in response made the warmth spread further and her ears began to tingle. It lifted its hand and rumbled again, pointing with its finger.


    She needed to stop the magic.


    Maybe it was a magic word? She had read about different kinds of magic and how some words had power. She tried to copy the monsters rumbling as best she could while the rest of her refused to obey. A treat slid to a stop near where she was crouched in the tunnel, unexpected enough to cause her to look down in shock.


    She grabbed it quickly and looked back up, careful to avoid its eyes, though that didn’t help much with what her eyes did land on. The monster’s hand was stretched out, hanging in the air as if inviting her to touch it. It caused her to remember the tingling warmth she had felt the last time and her will nearly failed her.


    It was only the crunch of the treat in her hand that saved her in the end. The noise causing her to jump slightly, breaking the spell and letting her turn and run.


    She was truly lost now.


    Speaking the monsters rumbling aloud seemed to cause a treat to appear. She had clearly messed something up as the monster’s spell was much more powerful, but the chance that she used it correctly the first time was low to begin with.


    Had the monster caused the treat to appear in order to draw her close or had she actually managed to use the monster’s magic?


    Maybe she had dismissed the wall words too soon. She knew the monster was smart and she had felt its power herself. If the words spoken of in the Pages had magic in them she needed to test as many as she could.


    Though the box people had never done magic with their words.


    Maybe, just maybe, the box people were speaking wrong and the monster was trying to learn their words the right way to learn even more magic. It would explain why it stared so long when it was as strong as it seemed.


    She would need to listen to every noise the monster made from now on. If she could learn to copy the way it rumbled, she might be able to break the hold its magic had on her.


    If even that failed….


    She hoped she would get to feel the tingles one last time.