Wapun Meadow thus always to tyrants

her pulse strove like a snared animal and a furious embarrassment leaped into the breach between panic and her unhesitating run for it. phaedra clenched her jaw and stamped. 

nice job mastering your fear. idiot.

she held her breath to listen and watched as her destiny transmuted into a shifting, hunching shadow. unconsciously she took a step back, hugging the friend she found in sudden darkness. 

bear. grizzly sow? the girl glanced about her feet, dread like cold water, staggering her momentarily at the realization that this might be a bear's wintering den. she may even have cubs around.

a few heartbeats passed. this was the world's stealthiest bear, for she could hear no huffing or jaw popping. there may have been a scuffle of feet or something else earthborn, but she struggled to hear anything at all. and the longer she hid in the grotto the more cowardly she felt, and the madder she grew. 

no! you're trapped here with me!

phaedra heaved herself into the light: some freshly accomplished mephistophelian horror springing from the soil. in was easy -- climbing out was trickier. she bellowed an unladylike curse, arms clinging to some roots a whisker away from val.