Her eyes jumped up. That lifted her head enough for me to see her lips were parted and she was panting hard. She also had her fingers curled into little fists. Tight ones that pressed her ring hard into her skin.
"Kanik, hold her hand," I told him. "That will help her body remember she can still feel."
He reached over, and Ayla clasped his scaled palm desperately. She didn't lean into him, though. He also didn't try to get closer. Well, little steps. She was touching him, so she wasn't avoiding him. For now, that would have to be enough.
"You see," I went on, hoping that listening to me would help her relax, "a lethal dose of venom numbs the injection site. The barbs on our tails aren't small. About the size of a small dagger."
"Or kitchen knife," Kanik offered.
"Probably a better analogy," I agreed. "Getting stabbed by something that size usually hurts, but Moles never react to the sting because the venom numbs it. Then, after a few seconds, it burns. Why? Because the nerves around the puncture are being over-stimulated. They fry themselves, burning up in the process. If a man was fast enough to cut off the limb, he might survive." I chuckled. "Might."
"Yeah?" she breathed.
"Because the neurotoxin spreads fast," I explained. "It gets in the bloodstream and courses through the body. Within a few minutes, it's all over. And, just like how it fries the nerves around the puncture, it also destroys the ones that tell your lungs to work. A man - or animal - will stop breathing. The heart will pound so hard it seizes, like a heart attack. The body temperature increases, making a fever in a weak attempt to burn the venom away, but by then it's already too late."
"Is it sticky?" she asked, finally pulling in a full breath. That meant she was almost over it.
"Is what sticky?"
"The venom."
My brow creased as I thought about that. "More oily. Like cooking oil, but thicker."
Pushing out a heavy breath, Ayla flopped back onto the couch and let her eyes close. For a moment, she just breathed, her chest rising and falling as her lungs filled and emptied easily.
Then, without lifting her lids, she said, "You should put it on the arrows."
My entire body went still. Kanik's head snapped around to look at her. We both stared as we tried to process her idea. Fuck, it was a good one too!
"Poisoned arrows," I breathed.
"Wouldn't really be hard," Kanik said.
"No, it wouldn't, and it'd take down a lot more of them. We'd just have to get enough venom to be able to dunk the tips."
"Have everyone expel into a bucket?" Kanik suggested. "Even the non-combatants could help with that. Hell, even the kids. It'd make them feel like a part of the defense."
"Yeah. Why didn't we think of this before?" I asked.
Kanik chuckled. "Because we thought we needed our venom to defend ourselves. Why put it on arrows when we use it from our tails?"
"Because you're so used to being a Dragon you forgot that not everyone is," Ayla said. "But if you share, then people like me could be as strong as a Dragon."
"And because you're used to thinking about how to get around things," I said. "It makes you very smart, Ayla. Smarter than all the rest of us, I think." But I leaned forward. "How are you feeling now?"
"Better," she admitted. "Tired, but better."
"Too tired to walk up the stairs yet?" I asked.
Her eyes jumped to Kanik, then back to me. "To the men's area?"
Kanik huffed a laugh. "It's just the second floor."
"But it's the place you sleep," she countered.
"Mhm," I agreed. "Although I slept where you're sitting last night. Upstairs, Rymar and Kanik have rooms just like the one you've been using at night. There's also an office and an area where we repair our weapons and arrows." I smiled. "And a calendar."
"The one I have for school?" Kanik asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. I thought she might want to see our calendar, so maybe we can figure out where hers fits."
"When does it start?" she asked. "Because our first day of the year is on January first, which is supposed to be in the middle of winter. It's seven days after the birth of Christ, although I don't know if that is a holiday you use."
"Christmas?" I asked.
She nodded. "When God's son was born on Earth in an attempt to show us the way, but we didn't listen."
I scrubbed at my face, telling myself not to tackle that yet. "We celebrate Christmas, Ayla. Our calendar has thirteen months and a holiday week that starts on Christmas and ends on the last night of the year. The next day is the start of the next year. We call it New Year's Eve and New Year's Day."
"Us too!"
"Gonna guess you don't drink a lot and kiss for good luck, though," Kanik teased.
Ayla gave him a confused look. "For the new year?"
"For the new year," he agreed. "What do Moles do, Ayla?"
She licked her lips. "We pray."
