The reaction to the traps was not great. When the pack returned, they immediately noticed the loose ceilings. Not wanting to sound like a total idiot, putting all that effort in a failed attempt to kill one lousy bat, the hive said that it was putting some traps on the second floor as it was too empty.

Even then, it had not gone down well.

The loose ceiling was, in the words of the wolfgirl, too obvious. The outline of the trap could clearly be seemed and the area where the ceiling was to fall was sagging, clearly lower than the rest of the ceiling. It looked like while the hive had knowledge on how to make traps, there was a difference between making traps, and making good traps! Maybe that was why the bat had avoided the traps so easily. The traps weren’t good enough to fool…well, anyone.

If the hive didn’t know better, it would have thought the pack was silently laughing at it. No, no chance of that. The hive had to waste a little more energy to make the traps a little better but it got the feeling that none of the wolfmen thought much of the traps either way. The hive guessed there was nothing it could do but wait for the next intruder and see if the traps would work or not. Then the wolfgirl came to it with a most unusual request.

*A bottle?*

“Yes, Creator.” As usual when she came to speak to them, the wolfgirl was on her knees with her hands clasped to her chest. “The bottles were empty and in my saddlebags. This slave took the saddlebags off the horses and placed them in one of the rooms of the first floor. The next day, it was gone. This slave does not believe her wolf brothers took them so…”

*You want the saddlebags back?*

“Yes, Creator. To be exact, this slave wished to get back the items inside the bags but the bottles especially. This slave could create more potions but would need the bottles to store them.”

*Why?*

“I…this slave wish to be of help, Creator.” The wolfgirl said. “This slave knows potions but all my equipment to make them were in the bags. This slave beg the Creator to return them to her so that this slave could be of help to her pack.”

Hearing the wolfgirl’s request, the spirits within the hive went into conference. The request itself was not unreasonable, but the problem was that the hive…well, the hive had no idea what happened to the items they absorbed.

“Anyone has any idea what happened to the items we took?”

“I/we believe they are all broken.”

“They are?”

“It make sense right? We need to break them down to absorb them.”

“I/we always thought they were deep within the tunnels somewhere.”

“It’s not as if we got a bag to hold the items? Just tell her we destroyed all the items already.”

“Wait a moment,” a spirit protested. “Don’t tell her that!”

“Why not?”

“Look at her! She’s worshipping us. Let’s not do anything to destroy that.”

“Oh by the 99 Gods,” another spirit exclaimed. “For the last time, we are not a god! There is be no worship.”

“Let us agree to disagree on that.”

“There’s nothing to disagree on! We are not gods!”

“Some of us disagree. We can create life and according to the humans only gods can do so that make us...”

“WE ARE NOT GODS!”

“I/we say we are!”

“Prove it! Create something! Better yet, create a bottle for the wolfgirl to replace the ones we absorbed!”

“Life! We create life, not…bottles!”

“Then we’re not gods!”

“That’s a stupid argument. Gods are not supposed to create bottles, so it makes sense we can’t also!”

“What happened to we can create…”

Ignoring the useless argument that would no doubt ensued, a group of spirits gathered within the hive. They considered themselves the most competent, useful, and sensible of the spirits within the hive and honestly, they had no idea what the rest of the spirits would do without them.

They were considering the wolfgirl’s request and were intrigued. They remembered the bottles the wolfgirl had mentioned. Made of dried clay, the wolfgirl had thrown and used the bottles to great effect during the fight but that was not what interested the group of spirits. The bottle was made of clay which seems like a type of earth and when the group of spirits heard the challenge of creating the bottles, they wondered if they could do it.

They gathered the energy needed and moved the earth beneath the wolfgirl. They remember the shape of the bottles and moved to shape the earth to the required shape. It was surprisingly easy. They knew what they wanted and the shape they wanted it. Once the group of spirits tried, the earth moved as they wished and the group of spirits hardened the earth.

It was almost perfect! The group of spirits moved the bottle out of the ground beside the wolfgirl. Everyone was surprised. The wolfgirl was happy to see the bottle and as the group of spirits moved to create more bottles for her, the other spirits got into the action.

“Hey, who did that?”

“That would be us.” The group of spirits said.

“Earth spirits? Why did you do that?”

“To see if we could.” One of the earth spirits said. “The bottles were made of clay which is a material of the earth. We wanted to see if we could make and shape it. It seems we could easily do so.”

“So that proves we are not a god.”

“What? How did…oh!”

“Hahaha! Got caught in your own boast right?”

The rest of the bottles were done and the rest of the hive, the earth spirits made 9 more empty bottles appeared beside the wolfgirl. She was delighted and the earth spirits then decided to do more. They decided the next bottle they create would be different. No longer happy with just another simple clay bottle, the earth spirits moved the earth and changed the shape, size and even the color of the bottle.

The new bottle popped out of the ground. This time, the bottle was fatter on the bottom with a smaller top. It was darker in color with a shine to it that the normal clay bottles do not possessed. The wolfgirl did not look pleased. Her eyes widen and her mouth opened. She moved her hands to the new bottle and gingerly held it with both hands. She lifted it up and looked at it intently. By now, the whole hive had noticed and all of them were wondering why.

*Wolfgirl? You are displeased with this bottle? We know it’s different from…*

“No!” The wolfgirl also shouted. “I…this slave means she is delighted with this item. Great Creator, this bottle…it’s a treasure!”

*Treasure? What do you mean?*

“This slave is no potter but looking at this bottle, this slave can safely say this bottle would not be out of place in the house of any noble family. The craftsmanship; the color; the amazing shape; this is amazing! Creator, this...this is a treasure. This bottle is a work of art!”

*So you can used it to sort your potions?*

The wolfgirl looked horrified. “No! This slave would never even dream of using this great treasure. This is too great! This slave would place it in her room for safe keeping; it is a treasure.”

*So you liked it? You would use it?*

“This slave is not worthy of this treasure. This slave would keep it till a more worthy servant of the Creator appear and gift it to him as proof of the Creator’s ability and greatness.”

*Okay….we would like to ask you a different question then.*

“Anything Creator!”

*We had heard you call yourself this several times. We would like to know; what’s a slave?*

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