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hardly needs help with that." Namitus
pointedly stared at the ribbon wrapped around Alto's arm.
    Alto glared at his friend. Aleena had seen
them off, giving Alto the favor to tie about his arm for good luck
and adding a kiss that still sent warmth to his cheeks days
later.
    "Neither do you, from what I hear," Tristam
added. He turned and gestured. "Let's get started then; not much to
the lumber mill here so a quick check and then on from there."
    Alto and Tristam led the way into the mill.
It was little more than a barn open at both ends. In the middle, a
large saw was hooked up to a watermill for splitting and cutting
logs. They found more evidence of wasps chewing on wood, but there
was nothing beyond that of interest.
    It wasn't until they'd cleared two houses and
the smithy that they saw any sign of the wasps. Namitus had been
the first to come out of the smithy and glanced up when a shadow
passed over him. He glanced up and threw himself back, but not
before the five-inch stinger of the flying wasp jammed into the
right side of his back.
    Namitus fell away and rolled back to his
feet. He grabbed for his scimitar and pulled it free, only to send
it flying as his fingers cramped up. Namitus stumbled, surprised by
the agony spreading down his arm, and then had to throw himself
back farther when the wasp tried to land on him and sting him
again.
    Alto smashed it aside with his sword, hewing
through the body of the wasp and sending it into a twitching spiral
on the ground. It spun in circles, legs reaching for something to
right itself while its pincers sought out something to bite. Alto
waited for the right moment and then kicked it into the wall of the
smithy and hacked its head off while it lay stunned.
    Karthor had emerged from the blacksmith's
shop and was stopping Namitus from trying to climb back to his
feet. He rolled the part elven man over and frowned at the sight of
blood on the back of his shirt.
    "You all right?" Alto asked his friend.
    "You ever been stung by a bee the size of
your leg?" Namitus snapped at him.
    Alto grimaced at the rebuke. "Sorry," he
muttered before turning to watch Karthor examine the wound.
    "Not much blood," Karthor admitted. "The
poison swelled it shut."
    "That's good," Namitus said through teeth
gritted against the pain.
    "Not really; bleeding would have forced more
of the poison out."
    "Oh." Namitus bowed his head and tried to
flex and relax his right hand. It remained twisted and contorted in
spite of his efforts. Sweat broke out on his brow in spite of the
cool weather.
    "Use your magic," Kar snapped.
    Karthor glanced up at him. "I can't heal what
I don't understand," he badgered back. He returned to studying
Namitus's injury and then admitted, "I don't have much experience
dealing with poison."
    "Funny, me either," Namitus hissed back.
    "All right, let me see what I can do."
Karthor placed his holy symbol against the puffy hole in Namitus's
back and began to chant. The amulet began to glow and then the
light faded from the pendant and merged into Namitus's wound.
    The rogue gasped and stiffened, and then
began to shake. He grabbed his right arm with his left and pulled
it tightly against his belly. Several seconds passed where the only
sounds were Karthor's chanting and Namitus's labored gasps. They
knew it was over when Namitus slumped forward and let out a moan.
From the wound in his back, a mixture of blood and a clear fluid
seeped out and ran down his back.
    "Hold still," Kar said as he swooped in and
held a steel vial under the wound. He scooped up as much of the
clear poison as he could and then pressed a wax stopper into the
end of it. He rose and looked at the others. "What? This could
prove to be valuable stuff! I've never seen a wasp this size, might
be potent venom. Useful for potions or other magical spells."
    "I think I deserve a cut," Namitus
breathed.
    "Nonsense, you already had a poke," Kar
cackled. Namitus groaned.
    "Enough fooling around. Can you walk?"
Tristam