The sun aligned with the canyon connecting the harbor to the ocean. Light streamed through into the harbor to illuminate the water rushing in through bottom. Waves softened as they spread until clamly lapping the shore. Smiling eyes lined with inky black lashes watched the sun stream into the harbor from atop the canyon. Lips hid behind the uchiwa waving gently in her left hand. She raised it to reveal a coy smile. Left fang poked a delicate pink lip.

As the uchiwa waved, the embroidery moved. Dragons swooped to devour demons on the mountain. The demons plunged spears into the bellies of the dragons. With a chuckle she vanished into a sparkle of droplets glimmering against the sunrise. The cloaked figure in ninja garb clutched a crystal tightly within its clawed hand before placing it back in a small satchel. It retreated from the ledge as the centipedes returned.

Darrell ran with the jug. A small bag of discarded clothes bounced from his left hand. Vestor slowed himself a bit to stay behind and watch for any ambush. They made it to the road safely, turned the corner and saw Josh breathing heavily while holding his arm. In front of the entrance to the woman’s sleeping chamber, Dew wiped sweat from his eyes. Two piles of centipede corpses leaked foul gasses at his sides.

The stone walls of the canyon trembled. Bits of loose stone broke as they hit the stairs. Cracks appeared in the wind beaten carvings of robed women just above the entryway as hazy blue light broke through centipedes blocking the door.

“They’re still fighting!”

Vestor snatched a gown from the laundry bag. He crumpled it into a ball and held it up while wincing with a stiff upper lip. The liquid soaked through the cloth as Darrell poured. It made his fingers itch as he prepared to pitch it.

“Josh, catch!”

Josh caught it with his good hand while backing away from the diminishing horde of centipedes. Once he had the garment, he noticed they immediately became more reluctant to approach. He waved the garment across them; smacked their flattened red faces one by one. Vinegar sprinkled over their carapaces. Antanae stiffened as they turned on each other. Pincers pierced the armor or their companions. The larger devoured the small as they bunched into a ball and rolled down the steps.

“What is this? Vinegar? Poison?”

“The monsters don’t like it!” Vestor yelled, “Wear it like a cape and they won’t get too close to you.”

Josh smacked a long centipede across the face with the soaked garment. It screeched in protest. The liquid sizzled as discoloration faded its chitin.

“There’s less of them. But I don’t want to let my guard down. How much of this stuff we got?”

“We’re almost out.”

A pair of shorts smacked against the back of Dew’s neck. The centipedes enclosing upon him backed away. They hissed and shook as vinegar-soaked socks flew in their faces. Dew scraped his sword along the stone. The entire length of the blade was now chipped and dulled. Darrell came to his side, took the sword off his hip, and offered it.

“It looks like your weapon is done. Can you use this?

“I can manage,”

Dew threw his katana aside. It smacked against chitin without piercing before the hilt bounced off a step. The battered sword rested on its side. He took the heavier long sword and adjusted his stance before darting forward. He yelled an incomprehensible battle cry as he fell face first. Stone gashed his forehead. The long sword remained clutched in his palm as he tried to force himself up.

The welting wound drained from above his ankle. Jaundiced purple bruising spread up his leg. He forced himself to stand while pressing the tip of the sword into the stone to lean against the hilt. Darrell caught him by the arm. The corpses released a foul miasma that hung heavily over the steps before rolling slowly downward toward the harbor.

Dew tensed. Vinegar trickled into his robes from the shorts clinging to his back. His sword raised with another incoherent battle cry. Darrell lifted the vinegar jug over his head and threw it toward the blocked entrance. Ceramic shards shattered as the remaining vinegar splattered over the creatures. They hissed, curled, and rolled away from the entrance. The barrier flickered as Nadia held her bleeding hands out while Awlena embraced her. Dew braced himself. He turned to the left. A slash downward spit two centipedes, one atop the other, laterally. Nadia nodded to Awlena, who nodded back. She broke the embrace to retrieve her sword.

“Give me the sword,” Nadia said.

“But your hands?”

“Give me the sword.”

Awlena offered the hilt for Nadia’s dominant hand. Finally able to let the shield down, Nadia closed her fists and let her left hand fall to her side. Right palm squelched with bubbles as her fingers tightened around the hilt. The shield fell. Centipedes charged from the far wall and deeper chambers. Awlena sidestepped, then backed into Dew, who caught his sister and refused to let go. Nadia leapt between them and two centipedes flexing their giant pincers.

“Argghhhhhh!”

An upward slash from the right, a downward slash latterly, and then a slash across the segments opened the beasts. The strong scent of vinegar spread through the room. It overwhelmed even the odor of the toxic blood. The mass of centipedes became thinner as they retreated to the depths. The beasts pushed into the narrow halls within the darkness to find the cracks they came from. Nadia gave chase, but Dew grabbed her by the arm before she could enter the deeper shadow.

“They’re retreating. Let them go, we gain nothing by chasing them!”

His grip weakened as he slipped to the floor. His sword clattered over the stone. Nadia slid on her knees to catch his limp form before he fell too hard.

Outside, Vestor pointed at the centipedes crawling away from the advancing sunlight. They ran into shadow. When shadow received sun, they crawled up the canyon into the caves. Josh took a deep breath as the burning scar over his arm retreated while Awelena and Nadia exited the chamber carrying Dew between them on their shoulders. His head slumped as they drug him toward the cart. The stairs were clear of sludge there, so they laid him across the wide step. Nadia leaned over him. Darrell remained on guard.

“This toxin isn’t like Nostrum’s spell. It feels different.”

Dew arched his back. The back of his head pushed against the stone as his hands flopped. Nadia pushed her palm against his forehead. It burned. The bruising flesh traveled further up his thigh as his foot jaundiced into a sickly bluish orange. Nadia shifted to his legs and put a hand over the oozing wound above his right ankle. Her hand glowed, the coloring improved, the wound closed, and yet as soon as the power stopped flowing the poison continued its work. Not only that, his lower leg bloated.

“I should be able to heal it. It should be fine. Don’t worry, I can fix this. I just need to use more power.”

“We might have to chop off that leg,” Josh said.

“We’re not chopping off his leg!”

“We’re not chopping off my brother’s leg!”

“Then we need to do something about the poison fast. Because he’s dying.”

“Try kissing him,” Awlena said.

“What!?”

“If you concentrate all your energies into your healing ability, a kiss will amplify it. Just like when I… amplified your magic! It can’t hurt to try; you can’t hate my brother so much you’d let him die!”

Josh folded his arms, “Ah, at that point it’s pretty much sounding like cpr for mana or something like that.”

Darrell kept his back to all of them as he scanned their surroundings, “It seems quiet, the monsters went back into hiding with the sun. But I want to get out of here. Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast. I’ll remind you he saved our lives.”

Nadia stood up and kicked the cart, “Why is everything I care about always taken from me! Fine, I’ll give it a try.”

Nadia leaned by Dew’s side and then leaned over his prone body. She concentrated her powers on her lips. She thought of a cute girl with blonde hair and blue eyes that she liked more than anyone else. Lips tingled with a gold energy as she brought her face closer. Dew’s hand caught her shoulder and gripped to push her away.

“I don’t care if die,” Dew said, “My lips will not touch yours until I’m sure we are both in love. I will not steal a kiss from the woman I love. Not when she doesn’t love me in return. You think I can't sense your heart being elsewhere!”

Nadia continued to push against him, her lips still tingling as the pendant glowed, “This is to save your life, it doesn’t count as anything!”

Dews other hand shot up to push at her other shoulder with all his remaining strength, “You underestimate the meaning of a kiss! I won’t allow it when you don’t love me! I’ve already done enough to make you doubt me.”

“You’re burning up with fever! You’re being stupid!”

Awlena glanced up the stairs at the long straight path up the canyon into the highlands of the continent to hide her sudden blush, “It’s his wish. It can’t be helped. It’ll be too risky if he’s going to fight against it.”

“He’s not losing a leg while I have an ounce of power in me!”

Nadia sat up, her heart beating fast. She sat between Dew’s legs. Fingers squelched to stain his right leg with a red print as they wrapped just above the ankle. Her pendant shone under her shirt, even against the morning sun. Muscles tensed as Nadia twisted the flesh around his ankle like wringing out a rag. One had twisted right, the other twisted left to tense Dew's bloating skin.

The skin popped like a boil where it was most swollen. A sickly-looking liquid squirted over the stone. Then blood gushed out before dripping more slowly. Nadia’s hands glowed, her own open cuts itched as healing power shrank and clotted them. Her power pulsed through Dew’s limb. The split in his skin sealed with a thick scab as she clamped it. Dew tensed in pain, but a healthier tone returned to his toes before he passed out. Awlena stroked her brother’s hair and took a long sighing breath at the sight of color returning to his toes.

“See, I told you I could heal him, now let’s get him washed up. That stuff on your clothes can’t be healthy.”

“I’m all for it,” Vestor looked dizzy.

Awlena shifted back as Nadia grabbed Dew by the shoulders and started tugging him up. The high canyons spun as she saw a gull flying overhead. The sunlight slowly went dark along the sides of her vision. She heard a soft pitched cry for help before she completely passed out.