Nadia shut the screen behind her, grabbed her school bag and rummaged through it. Her clothes were folded neatly at the top; they smelt of the lavender they had been washed with. The seams had been repaired wherever frayed and the holes in the pants and jacket had either been sewn shut or patched with similarly colored cloth. Her t-shirt and boy's briefs were inside as well as the one sock she had left.

It didn't take long to unroll the sash of her kimono and slide it off her shoulders so she could hurriedly dress in her old cloths. The sandals she decided to keep for now. They fit, and even though uncomfortable they were better than going barefoot. She felt around the back of her head, feeling the pin that held her hair in a bun and deciding it was best to keep her hair out of the way. The straps of her bag were still strong. She grabbed them both with one hand and slid open the screen leading to the rice fields with the other.

Women were screaming. The sound was from the interior of the village, inside the gardens where Nadia had been moments earlier. Nadia turned around and walked to peek behind her building to see what the fuss was about. They couldn't be that angry at her behavior, could they? What she saw were several slimy arms winding several meters up from the plowed earth as they swayed back and forth in searching sweeps. They were composed of multiple earthworms coiled together.

Their fluids acted adhesively as they pushed up humps of soil in the recently harvested fields. More arms burst forth. An old man found his legs wrapped by the coils as he stood; they slid upwards to wrap his torso before pulling him underground. A geyser of red burst from the sinkhole. The flaying creatures wrapped ankles and grappled wrists to drag their prey down.

Dew gathered men brave enough to help. Armed with swords, they flayed the slimy arms extending from the soil. As they fought the beasts several villagers were freed, and many more ran for shelter. However, the village elders moved too slowly. Dew and his swordsmen were escorting them when a bladed tentacle of worms rose. A few deft swipes from the beast rendered the escort into deadly disarray.

Dew and four others proved capable enough to survive the initial attack and remained to fight the beasts. They parried swinging tentacles with their swords to keep the escape route open, falling back only when necessary. A collection of gray worms rose; they fattened into a bud that peeled open to reveal a woman. Dark worms, like tar, slithered up her legs and around her torso. She stared with pitch-colored eyes like eggs of coal. Seven tentacles sprang around her as one of Dew's warriors dropped his sword and ran.

Awlena found herself amid the chaos as she hastened the retreat of the elders, escorting one at a time to the outer perimeter of the village. Crimson soaked through the center of Lady Garasa's robes; the elderly woman lagged behind and was about to stumble, so Awlena darted to support her. Trickles of reddish saliva ran down her chin, yet she pushed Awlena away with all her remaining strength.

"Please mother!" Awlena screamed tearfully.

A slimy cord wrapped Awlena's ankle and pulled her away as Lady Garasa fell to the ground and went limp. Dew dove between the two women. The band of worms that grasped his older sister was slashed by his sword. Severed pieces of the coil separated into individual worms, which began squirming their way back into the soil. Awleena's ankle suffered a band of raw flesh caused by the rough ripples in the body of the worms, though the wound appeared shallow despite the blood running down her foot.

Another worm coil gave Dew no time to check his sister's wound. It thrust forth from broken earth and swerved back in Dew's direction. The tip slammed into the edge of Dew's blade. Earthworms scattered in every direction as they were separated from each other by the sharp edge.

Dew lunged at the tentacle viciously. Small geysers of fresh red spouted around him as he swung wildly at the flailing arms. The flesh of the worm arms hardened into a sharp bone-like substance, which the sword clanged against but was unable to cleave.

Every time an arm swung against his sword; Dew found himself pushed back. He was at risk of losing a limb, or even his head the longer he fought, but he knew if this creature was allowed to live the entire village would be lost. He parried the next attack and darted forward to the woman controlling the worms. She had to be the weak point, he thought, if he could take the fight to her he might have a chance.

As he approached a slew of arms burst forth to surround him from every direction. Dew assumed a defensive stance, but they didn't attack; instead, they formed together into a hedge that enclosed the pavilion of the village feast.

Taking a quick look around, Dew found that the worms were building upwards and inwards; they were working to enclose a dome around him and the spirit. Archers launched arrows from the rooftops into the growing wall of worms, but their arrows slid in-between the wall as if they had been shot into wet clay only to be pushed out by the slithering flesh.

Two formations of swordsmen approached from either side and were sliced in half. As Dew struggled for his life, the few men attempting his rescue were forced to flee or die. A wicked smile crossed the deathly pallor of the spirit's face as she stared down. She extended her left arm and opened her palm; a fat coal worm with a round mouth circled by jagged teeth protruded from the center. She aimed it at him. Dew dodged to the side quickly, keeping his sword frontward.

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"You fight well prince," she said, "I think I'll make you a servant."

A bead of sweat fell down Dew's forehead. The ground opened. Bony tentacles whipped for his arm. Dew rolled away and slashed them so forcefully that one of the tentacles broke. The spirit aimed her palm calmly as the evil worm squirmed from a gangrenous opening under the lifeline. Dew couldn't tell how much longer he could avoid her aim.

"Stop toying with me!" he growled.

The fleeing swordsmen simply ran past Awlena as the girl screamed for them to fight for the sake of their village protector, but those who would fight were already dead; Awlena was ignored, so she pried a sword from the coiling fingers of an arm before running forward to attack the monsters.

A bladed tentacle slashed open her shoulder, then pushed her to the ground. The tentacle lashed for her neck. A push from the side prevented Awlena from being beheaded. As Awlena grasped her wounded shoulder she looked toward the girl in patched clothing holding her backpack out lengthwise to catch the attacking coil.

"Get lost!" Nadia yelled, "Do you want to die here!?"

"I have to save my brother," Awlena yelled.

With all her might, Nadia pushed the tentacle back using her backpack before knocking it back with a strong blow. She grabbed Awlena by the back of her kimono, dragging her back a few yards. A village swordsman found enough courage to intercede against the pursuing tentacles, though he was soon dispatched. Nadia turned around forcefully, forgetting for a moment how badly opened Awlena's shoulder was.

"Would your brother want you to kill yourself?" Nadia said, "Look at your shoulder stupid. I think you should get out of the way! I have powers, I can handle this. I promise you I'll get him back!"

Nadia knocked the steel katana from Awlena's hand and took it up for herself. The torn backpack landed a few feet away. School books spewed across the ground. As Nadia went forward two men grabbed Awlena from behind. They wrapped their arms under each shoulder to drag her away from immediate danger despite her screaming and kicking.

There were a few gaps where the barrier of worms had not yet closed. Nadia could still see Dew fending off attacks from multiple directions. Going directly for the beast would be fool hardy, so she ran to the bath house, climbed a few barrels, grabbed the eaves, and pushed herself to the rooftop. From there she could see that the worms had not totally enclosed the canopy at the top. There was an opening close enough to jump into from the direction of the bath house wall. The worms were pushing Dew backwards to corner him.

All his efforts to injure the maiden were in vain. Every time he finally managed to hack away a tentacle another sprung up in its place. Nadia took a deep breath, then dove for the opening, rolling over the ground until she stopped at Dew's feet. He gasped to see her land by him as she stood.

A fierce scowl formed on her lips as her eyes narrowed. The squirming formation was uncontested from the outside and steadily shrinking around them. This newly created sanctum of worms began closing from the top. It swallowed the light of the picnic lanterns, creating an eerie atmosphere. Both combatants parried tentacles and boney blades as they were assaulted.

"Nadia?" Dew asked, dodging a thrust for his neck, "Why did you risk yourself to come here?"

"Because I knew I could at least handle it better than your sister."

"I thank you then," Dew panted, "I hope she is safe."

A tentacle that lunged for Nadia from underneath the worm platform on which the spirit stood to catch her off guard. Dew sliced through it before it could cause injury. Worm walls continued to close in around them. The lanterns inside fell and the flesh of the wall began to burn with a putridly sweet odor. Formation of worms thinned around where the fire started and the tentacles retreated to give them a brief repose.

"We have to cut our way out of here," Nadia said.

She hacked at the burning worms with her sword. Dew came to assist her by watching her back, and together they managed to create the smallest of openings. But worms were stifling the fires with a sticky liquid and closing the hole at an accelerated pace. Nadia knew that even working together they couldn't keep it open much longer, so instead of wasting their work she grabbed Dew and kicked him through the opening she made.

Outside, Dew sprung up and dove back toward the closing hole, only to be thrown backwards when a boney blade swung against his sword. He continued the fight from the outside, but became too busy defending his own life to attempt getting back to Nadia.

"Dew," Awlena yelled from the shelter where men were holding her back, "You must retreat!"

"No," Dew yelled, "Nadia saved my life, I won't leave her behind."

Inside the enclosure, the burning bodies of the worms provided an eerie light and a putrid stench, a sickly-sweet odor of burnt flesh. It was far too hot to get near the walls, so Nadia was trapped close to the worm spirit herself. She lunged with her sword, but was parried by thinner versions of the bladed worms. The center of the worm spirit glowed darkly as she held out the palm containing the black worm.

Something was wrong, the spirit hesitated and her lips moved, telling Nadia where to strike. Worms came from the ground and clutched Nadia's legs. She cut them apart quickly and continued toward the spirit while slicing away any resistance. The sword was getting dull. This couldn't go on much longer, as each swing required more effort.

Nadia lunged against the darkness centered on the spirit's chest. Coils of moist flesh wrapped her ankles from behind. But she was not going to be deterred, she stretched with every bit of elasticity her joints could muster. When that wasn't enough, she arched her back and flung her arm forward, then dove with all her power toward the darkness in the spirit's chest.

The worms coiled about Nadia's ankles sharpened themselves into serrated bone as Nadia stretched forward. Red spurted down Nadia's bare feet as her toes clenched the slimy soil. With the very tip of her sword, she managed to break through the darkness as if piercing the surface of a bubble. The darkness overcame Nadia's senses; she screamed. The formation of worms encasing the goddess began to fall apart. A coal dust cloud circled the worm spirit to become a great whirlwind that released a sooty powder.

The worms released Nadia's ankles. They fell apart and returned to the soil. Stinking soot billowed forth as the worm spirit collapsed. Nadia, covered with soot and coal dust, threw down her sword and pushed herself next to the maiden of the worms. A fossilized black leaf lay near her prostrate form. Dew rushed by Nadia's side. He tore the belt of his robe in half to wrap it around Nadia's wounded ankles.

"It was an enchantment?" he asked. "How did you defeat it then?"

"I think... no... It had something to do with this," Nadia coughed.

She held up the black leaf in her stained hand for him to see before she collapsed.

Dew cradled her limp body.