//------------------------------//
// Bed 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

Steps could be heard approaching from the cavern's entrance, alongside the clacking of metal armor. Cozy considered her options. She could retreat farther, but she didn't want to go too far and risk getting lost. She could wait there and hope they didn't make it far enough to get to her, but if they got close enough to see her she was done for. She could try to find a portion of the cave that she could get through, but they couldn't, but that alone wouldn't put her out of range of their spells, she'd have to find it quickly and use it as a hiding spot, assuming they would even come there at all. How they had found the right cave, assuming those were indeed guards and indeed looking for her, an assumption she needed to make in her situation, was still a mystery to her, but it didn't matter. What mattered was her safety.
There was so much she didn't know still. She'd seen how long it had been since she'd been trapped, down to the week at least, by digging through newspaper scraps, but she still had no idea what had happened. Why was she free? What was that thing near the castle and what had it done to the city? Too many questions she needed answers for before making up a proper plan, but getting answers would be difficult while living hidden from others. Recent events were ironically harder to find information on than history, as everyone simply knew how things were and didn't bother writing it down in published books. Yes, there were newspapers, but tough luck finding proper archives of them.
Another option wormed its way into her mind. One she'd already previously considered briefly, and one that though she'd discarded could still make for a viable backup plan as she found herself cornered far sooner than she would have wanted, and far from her terms. She could surrender. Chances were they wouldn't immediately turn her to stone again. She could use her time as a prisoner to learn as much as she could, then escape.
It wasn't something she wanted to do. For one it involved getting caught, deliberately putting herself at an effective disadvantage for no major gain. It was something to only consider if she had no other option, her back against a wall. For two, she knew too little. She had no guarantee of how things would go, and especially no guarantee that she'd be able to escape once captured. She had her wits with her, but those couldn't help if her captors took no chances and didn't let her talk, and even if that didn't happen it was still not a certainty that she'd be able to play them when they already knew so much about her. Too much, and she knew too little. Information was of vital importance, but she found herself cornered before she'd been able to gain enough. Time was running out, she had to choose.