“Or,” Bitterroot said, following a brainwave, “Amanita was the one the ritual was performed on and she was the one wounded back there, maybe in trying to kill and enslave the bear. Think about it: a ranger saves some poor, wounded traveler on the brink of death. The traveler somehow talks the ranger into performing a healing ritual and provides the instructions. But the ritual is some dark magic actually transfers some of the ranger’s life to Amanita, enough to get her back on her feet, and now the ranger has to stick with Amanita or she’ll die.” A bit of stretch, Bitterroot admitted, but she didn’t know anything about necromancy. And how willing would a ranger be to perform a strange ritual? One that a stranger claimed would save her life?