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"No! You let him go, Drosera!" I commanded the larger than usual plant. It was taller than the highwayman and rivaling some trees in height.
"Do you know just how long I've been starving?" The Drosera nymph demanded. "Then, along comes something that I can finally eat."
"You can't eat him! Let him go!" I repeated my demand. My throat hurt like it was roughly rubbed against an oak tree's bark.
"Am I supposed to feel tingley?" the highwayman asked as the Drosera's tentacle wrapped itself tighter around him.
"How much food do you have on you?" I asked my highwayman. How could I let him die when we've gone so far already? But I also didn't know how much food he had stored away. If it isn't a decent amount, then he might starve later.
"Enough to feed this thing," he replied in a vague way. There were seedlings of worry but other than that he was sure in his choice.
"But-"
"Dump the contents out of the side that is furthest from me," he instructed while he gestured to his bag.
As I did what he ordered, I wanted to believe that there was another way. But we hadn't seen any animals since we entered the bog.
"Let him go and I'll give you three pieces," I bartered, moving the three largest pieces forward.
The nymph hesitated. It burned energy it needed to catch him and now I was asking it to burn more.
"How much energy are those worth?" it asked in a cautious tone.
"At least half of what you'd get out of him."
"I'm starting to feel a serious tingle right now and I don't like it," he called.
With great effort, the Drosera let my highwayman go. As I had promised, I gave it the three pieces of meat.
"I still feel a tingle. Is that normal?"
"Go to the creek we saw a few miles back and at least rinse yourself off. The acid is still trying to eat you," I instructed him.
Without a word, he left me with the nymph.