Elizabeth could scarcely believe what she was hearing.  Was the woman attempting to<em>bargain</em>with that cretinous thing?  Either Rae knew something she didn't, or she was woefully ignorant of the creature she was attempting to reason with.  Humans could always be manipulated or bartered with.  They had easily definable emotions and patterns that could be exploited.  That was a steadfast rule that had served Elizabeth well for many years.  But when one was dealing with a beast, one could never predict what might come next.  There were no laws or creeds that they obeyed, and no clear cut way in which to dissuade them from the hunt.  They were alien in every aspect.  Utterly and undeniably inhuman.  Attempting to bargain with something like that was like bargaining with the Devil himself.  It could only end in death.<br/><br/>Apparently the woman's insane request was unexpected enough to make the Flayer pause, for the frenzied whipping slowed just enough to allow Elizabeth to make it to the floor just below Rae.  She pressed herself against the solid metal plates, palms and feet pressed firmly in order to pounce or roll away at the slightest twitch of the Beast.<br/><br/><em>"Trade?  How...curious."</em>Flayer rolled his shoulders, a fluid gesture that mimicked that of the predatory cats prowling even farther above.<em>"That would imply that you have in your possession something that I cannot merely take.  Presumably you seek to give me something in order to preserve your own life.  Tell me, Miss Rae: what do you have that is worth a human life?"</em>