"How is he not dead yet…"

Bastian's confused mutters were the first I heard as I slowly came to. My head was pounding like crazy, and I felt an infernal itch on my shoulder. It was so bad I couldn't stop myself from reaching up to scratch.

"No, don't!" Bastian hissed, and I felt two hands lock around one of my arms.

I groaned as I opened my eyes. Everything was covered in an odd ruddy tint, and Bastian's eyes seemed to glow with an inner red light. It looked positively demonic, and I sucked in a breath as I tried to struggle free.

"Calm down," Bastian whispered. "My hiding spell won't last if you make too much noise."

He was staring at me intently, and I nodded, trying hard to ignore the glowing red eyes. My first thought was that something was wrong with him, but it seemed something was up with me instead.

"The poison?" I asked, but it barely came out as a whisper.

Bastian blinked then slowly grinned, turning his face into a demonic scowl with long canines and upturned eyes. It was probably supposed to be reassuring, but I preferred him not doing it.

"You have to tell me what your demonic poison resistance is! I've never heard of anybody surviving a Sarcouzia bite for a day without treatment."

Without treatment? I thought groggily. Wasn't he saying something about treatment before I lost consciousness? Wait… a day?

My thoughts must have shown on my face because Bastian's smile faded.

"I couldn't get to a safe spot fast enough. When I finally did, you were way beyond anything I could do to help."

Something about what he said seemed off, but I couldn't put my finger on it due to the pain in my head and the weariness. Instead, I was momentarily distracted by the fact that my armor had been removed, lying to the side.

"Where are the other Sarcouzias?" I asked, deciding to figure out our situation first. My mind was slowly clearing, and I would think about his previous words later. For now, I was more interested in getting rid of the infernal itch.

Bastian looked around. "They've been roaming this area for hours now, sometimes coming close to finding us. If I hadn't prepared a sanctuary spell, we would have never made it."

"A what?" I muttered, deciding to play stupid while trying to look at my shoulder and failing as my head didn't seem to want to turn properly.

"It's a spell that makes an area look empty and undisturbed even if there's a whole campsite there. It won't work if someone wanders in, though, and sounds are only muted, not completely blocked," Bastian softly explained. He was looking as if he wanted to ask something, which I ignored for now.

Right, I thought. Sanctuary was as I'd expected, and I wondered if I could get him to teach it to me later. For now, we needed to get out of the trouble we were in.

Soft giggling came from the corridor beyond ours, and then something climbed across the bookshelf opposite the one against which I was leaning. I instinctively held my breath, but it moved fast, and within seconds it disappeared again. I let my air escape in a woosh, causing the itch on my shoulder to increase.

Annoyed, I tried to look at it again, and this time managed. I wished I hadn't. The skin of my shoulder was covered in overlapping, translucent blisters the size of my thumb. Some had popped open, showing a reddish hole below, and for a second, I thought something squirmed inside the largest hole, then it vanished, and the hole grew closed at an astonishing rate. For a moment, a small patch of pristine skin sat amidst the carnage of my left shoulder, then one of the blisters popped, and a reddish fluid leaked across the skin. It itched infernally, and a new blister formed.

I forced my attention away and swallowed back some bile.

"Don't worry. Although I don't know how, it's healing. But whatever you do, don't touch it. It will spread." Bastian said, his gaze on my shoulder. As his intense eyes turned to me, he frowned. "Est. What is your demon poison resistance?"

"Three," I said, deciding it didn't matter if I told him. Still, I wasn't going to tell him it was three of four.

Bastion's eyes went round as saucers, and a wide grin grew on his face.

"That is incredible…"

Bastian looked around, and I could almost see his ears twitch. When he didn't seem to hear anything, the big stonite looked at my shoulder with an odd grin.

"I thought you would be dead when I removed your armor and saw those wounds. There's this old legend about a Graz that had two demon poison resistance. He came across Sarcouzias and died horribly in a day, covered in blisters like that."

I wasn't sure how any of this was supposed to make me feel any better or how it was really relevant. I was about to shrug but caught myself just in time. Better none of that, I thought.

"Do you have any idea how long it will take?" Bastian asked.

If I knew that… I thought.

"I don't know. Will your sanctuary last long enough?"

"It should," Bastian said. "And otherwise, I can recast it. But Est… how come you weren't affected by the Sarcouzia's spell?"

I'd wondered when he would ask about that, and unlike with his previous questions, I decided it was better to keep my MindScape to myself.

"Rathica gave me protection versus mind spells," I said, which was sort of true. In a truth-bending way.

Bastian sighed. "I wish The Stone had given me that. But the mind is the path of Lischen… well and Rathica, I guess."

"They will find us soon…" I said with a sigh. "Anything you got up your sleeve when they do?"

"Up my sleeve?" Bastion looked at me in surprise. "That is a weird remark, but I think I know what you're getting at. I have something I might be able to do, but it depends on how much time I get. Just let me rest for a while, alright?"

"Okay," I said and nodded. I hoped whatever it was, it would be something good.

Unsure what to do if they did come, I drew my bag towards me and rummaged in it. When I found the small insects I had carved, I blinked, and a wicked smile came across my face.

They enjoy insects, do they?

I removed the insects and put them on my lap, looked at them, then stopped. What if I pulled another Aucerion into one of them? Or something worse, if that even existed. I pondered it for a while, then pocketed two on my leg armor and placed the rest back in my bag.

Hours later, Bastian was on his knees, meditating to replenish the sanctuary and working on whatever else he was doing. I just sat there, yawning as I tried to keep myself from scratching. My wound just kept healing and popping open, and I was starting to get worried. For a moment, I wondered if I was going to have to live with this until my resistance leveled up again when I realized I hadn't heard a pop in a while. Almost too afraid to look, I took a peek at my shoulder. The blisters in the center were shrinking slowly. One seemed on the brink of popping but then shivered and shrunk.

Ten minutes later, the last of the blisters was sitting like an angry, upset crater on my shoulder. It was starting to itch more than the popped ones when it finally burst open. Almost immediately, a centipede-like creature popped out, its ugly little mandible head lilting around. I swallowed a screech and, without thinking, snatched it with my fingers and squished. It popped like rotten fruit, an awful stench spreading immediately. I flung the goo from my fingers and rubbed them against my pants, looking at the skin in fear of new blisters. None came, and after a moment, I sighed in relief. As I did, the red taint that had covered everything I saw faded.

"Yuk," Bastian said as he stared at the still writhing thing on the ground. "That smells like-"

"Whaaaat do I smellllll," a loud child's voice sang from far away, interrupting Bastian.

"Theeeeere they are! Get them," another voice screamed.

I scrambled up and grabbed my armor and ax while looking around. Footsteps came from two sides. They would be here within a moment!

"You better have that trick ready," I hissed as I looked at my armor.

It wouldn't block their attacks, and without it, I would be faster. I dropped it and gripped my ax. Uncertain if It was the right thing, I grabbed another of the insects and looked at it. If I wanted to use it, it would have to be now. Those things would be here any minute, and it might take longer to draw a Vengeful Spirit in.

I can't kill those things without help, I decided and began drawing in a Vengeful Spirit. My attention was split between the incoming Sarcouzias and the insect statue. I blinked when I almost immediately got a reaction, and a spirit began shooting towards us. It seemed a normal one, and oddly enough, it seemed to come from nearby.

"I smeeeeell them! They are heeeeeere!" a soft voice sang from the hallway beside ours. A moment later, I heard something climb across the bookshelf behind me, then another one.

"But I don't seeee them!"

"You are stuuuuuuupid! They are hiding!"

"Where?"

"Nearby…"

I swallowed and looked at the small insect in my hand. It was staring at me, and I felt a deep hatred inside. Unlike with the other normal Vengeful Spirits, I could actually feel it directed at the beings above us. The insect was almost rearing at the bit to charge.

"Est," Bastian whispered, so soft I could barely hear it.

"What waaaaas that?" one of the voices sang!

"Heard it toooo!" the other howled, and I heard them shuffling above us.

Bastian was holding up his hand, and two Runes hovered above them. They were sharp and angular compared to the previous one.

One chance, Bastian mouthed to me. At least that's what I thought, and I nodded.

To my shock, Bastian sucked in a deep breath, and before I could stop him, roared at the top of his lungs.

"Over here, you ugly bits of demon excrement!"

Excrement? I almost laughed at the silly taunt despite the situation.

The screaming of children came in response, and two Sarcouzia came into view over the edge of the bookshelf. They were copies of the previous one, and their brown eyes were flashing around, searching for who had screamed.

Bastian stepped forward and tossed the two runes forward. They streaked through the air howling like banshees. The sound caused my ears to ring, and seeing the waves ripple towards the Sarcouzia I shivered at what it must sound like to them.

The Sarcouzia screeched like children with a finger jammed in the door and fell down, arms flailing. One managed to grip a plank of the bookshelf and hold on, and I saw its hate-filled brown eyes focus on us. The other hit the ground with a sickening crack, and its left arm folded the wrong way.

I knew an opportunity when I saw one, and I jumped across the three meters separating me from the Sarcouzia on the ground. As I did, I felt the pressure on the barrier around my mindscape, and a loud thud came from behind.

There was no time to look if it was Bastian, and I brought my ax down on the screeching Sarcouzia. It saw me approaching and tried to scramble out of the way, but I had seen how fast the other one was. My ax-blade slid into its thin but muscular back, easily splitting the skin and snapping the bones. A splurt of a pungent white liquid shot from the wound, splattering across the bookshelf next to me.

The small burst of action had cost me half of my energy, and I was out of breath. But not as much as the Sarcouzia.

A bubbled breath, mixed with more of the white liquid, came across the Sarcouzia lips, and then it slid forward.

"Noooo! Agwaaaaaaaa!"

The howl from behind was closer than I had expected, and I jumped to the side spinning around. The third Sarcouzia stared at me with murder in his eyes, and he climbed sideways across the bookshelf. There seemed to be no ill effect from Bastian's attack.

"Fro! Comeeeeee," the Sarcouzia screamed, and I knew right away he was calling for the fourth and last of the Sarcouzia. That spelled trouble. Two hands on my ax, I still had the squirming vengeful spirit imbued insect in my hand, hiding it from view. I wanted to throw it, but those Sarcouzia were so fast… I needed a distraction.

They sound stupid, I thought, and without even thinking about it, I faked large eyes and raised eyebrows as I looked behind the Sarcouzia.

"Bastian, don't!"

The Sarcouzia probably knew I was faking it, but it still blinked, started to turn and look before it caught itself. It was too late, though, and I tossed the insect forward like a small, oddly shaped baseball.

The insect struck the Sarcouzia's shoulder and began biting into its flesh, digging its way inside faster than the Sarcouzia could slap it away.

"Eat his brain," I yelled. Not something I had ever expected to say. I could hardly believe my silly trick had worked, even if only as a distraction.

The Sarcouzia screeched, scratching with its long nails across its arm and shoulder, raking it open. When a small bump reached its neck, its brown eyes widened, and it began slicing at it in wild panic. I stayed away, keeping an eye out for the last of the Sarcouzia while grabbing another of the insect statues. I began drawing another vengeful spirit in it, fully ready to abandon the action if the other showed up.

A gurgling cough erupted from the Sarcouzia, and it erected itself to its full length, both hands halfway to its head. For a moment, it seemed to turn its eyes to me, then the right eye began bulging outwards, and it popped out. The Sarcouzia sagged onto the ground as if all its strings had been cut.

"Nooooo my brothersssss," a distant scream came from the direction we had come from, and a moment later, a howling followed that began drawing nearer.

Another vengeful spirit surged into the small insect in my hand, but I barely noticed. My gaze was on the Sarcouzia, whose eyes had both popped, and the white stained wooden insect that was crawling out and onto the face. The wood was crumbling as it moved, parts breaking off and turning to dust.

"Thanks," I muttered as the vengeful spirit faded and the skeleton returned to an inanimate, crumbling statue. A moment later, all that remained was brown and grey dust.

A groan came from behind me, and as I turned, I saw Bastian push himself up.

"Did the screecher runes help any?" he muttered as he looked around.

"They did, but next time tell me what to expect!"

Bastian nodded as he got to his feet. "Yeah, it's just that she always told me not to be so free with my knowledge."

I knew he meant his daughter, but there was no time to reminisce now.

"You hear that howling? The last Sarcouzia is coming here, and he ain't happy. Can you make more of those runes?"

Bastian groaned as he shook his head. "Not that fast."

"Then we better find another way to ambush it," I said, taking another insect statue and drawing another vengeful spirit in it.

A spirit had just reacted when a loud, high-pitched scream came from the direction of the howling.

"Stop killing my beasties, or I'll kill the last of your two friends!"

As if in response, a loud howl of pain sounded before it was cut off.

"Did she just say, friends? She is talking about Richal and Ellis, right?" I asked as I turned to Bastian.

The massive Stonite just grinned evilly.