The intensity of the pain working through Tiddles’s body was like nothing he had ever experienced. He would not have been able to describe it in words. It felt worse than the System upgrade, and he grimaced and snarled as he lay on the garage floor.

He could feel it spreading ever so slowly inside him. It felt like he was losing his body to the toxin gradually taking over one cell at a time. His naturally high resistances were trying to fight it, and he could feel his element burning fiercely inside him, also trying to combat the invading toxin. His elemental fire was a sensation that usually flooded him with a sense of well-being and strength, but not today.

"Dad, Dad! Are you OK?" Rosie cried, looking at Tiddles's painful face.

He could not respond; his eyes scrunched closed, and he was lost in his world of all-consuming pain.

All three cubs had come over from their bed area and looked at him with concern. They were all talking to him now, asking if he was okay, but he did not respond.

Tabs returned with the ingredients Elizabeth had requested with a pestle and mortar. "Here." She said, handing them to her.

"Thanks." She replied, taking them and going to work to make the paste. It was the paste she had made previously for Tiddles's other wounds and the strongest she knew.

Crystal watched as Elizabeth mixed the ingredients. "I use a different moss normally," Crystal said.

As she finished mixing the paste, she replied, "I find bracken gives it a better consistency and is easier to spread. The main ingredients do the healing."

Sniffer was down by Tiddles's side, holding the paw of his wounded leg. He was worried he had never seen Tiddles react like this to any damage he had received previously.

Elizabeth walked over and knelt by Tiddles. "This may sting a little." She said.

Tiddles's eyes had remained closed, and he did not respond.

She slowly and gently began to apply the paste to the wound. Tiddles did not react at all to the paste being placed on the wound, already fighting the intense pain he was feeling.

"This is strange," Elizabeth said.

"What?" Sniffer asked.

"The paste, it is not taking." She replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Normally, it begins to harden almost immediately as it is applied. That is why I always make it fresh. This isn't, though."

Sniffer watched as the paste became more of a liquid and started running from the wound area.

"Did you mix it correctly?" Sniffer asked.

"Yes, I am sure."

Crystal had observed Elizabeth mix the paste and knew the properties and reactions expected from creating the paste and that Elizabeth had mixed it expertly.

"I have never seen Paste react like that before," Crystal said.

"Nor I." Elizabeth again tried to apply the remainder of the paste, but it just liquified and ran from the wound again.

"I will go grab some tonic to rinse it out with. Tabs get some more ingredients, please." Crystal said.

Both girls hurried off.

"There has to be something in the wound, but it looks clean," Elizabeth said, concern etched on her face.

"So, what can we do?" Sniffer said.

Crystal came back in carrying a small bottle. "Here." She said, handing it to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth took it, popping the cork from it, and slowly poured the contents over the wound.

Tiddles's eyes flew open, and he let out an earth-shattering howl as the liquid touched his wound. He could not describe the pain even if he had wanted to. It took him all his willpower not to turn and bite Elizabeth.

He looked at his leg and saw the yellow strands. It was the bottle from upstairs, and he watched with gritted teeth as the yellow strands seemed to be attacking and fighting with the dark aura surrounding the wound. They were wrapping themselves around the darkness, slowly reducing them.

"What is that?" Sniffer asked in shock as a fine black vapour rose from the wound.

"No idea. I have never seen anything like it before." Elizabeth replied.

Tabs returned with more ingredients, and Elizabeth stood to remix them.

They all watched as the fine black vapour slowly rose from the wound before disappearing.

Tiddles watched as the last of the yellow strands extinguished. It had fought the darkness, but there had not been enough to defeat it entirely. He could still see the aura permeating parts of his wound. The slight relief he had begun to feel as the aura reduced left him again, and with a crescendo, the intense pain returned.

He snarled again, closing his eyes. It felt like the aura again worked its way back inside his body. Multiplying and growing again as it once again began to spread. He could feel his cells slowly being consumed by the darkness, and he knew he was dying.

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"Do you have any more tonic?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not here. We have more in town, but Lars took the truck to work." Crystal said.

"Here, take mine," Sniffer replied, digging in his pocket frantically for his key and throwing it to Crystal.

"I will be back as soon as I can." She said.

Tabs knelt by Tiddles's side and stroked his head tenderly. The three cubs nuzzled into him and cried at him.

Tiddles knew that poison was still flowing inside him. Whatever this necrotic toxin was, it was powerful and nothing he had ever faced before compared to the pain. Physical fights were something he knew and could win, but he currently felt helpless. The only sign of freedom from this prison of pain had been the mana-fueled tonic, and he knew that nothing Elizabeth did would help him without it. Elizabeth finished mixing the new paste and began to apply it again. At least this time, it appeared as though some of the paste managed to form and firm, sealing the wound closed, but parts of the wound just liquified again when it touched it.

Elizabeth was angry and frustrated all the years she had been practising medicine, and being a doctor seemed to have been a waste if she could not heal Tiddles. She felt useless not being able to help Tiddles. How could the paste not be taken, and what on earth was the black vapour released from the wound? She had never witnessed anything like it before, and she was angry.

It took Crystal over an hour to get back from town with more tonic. She came running into the garage area carrying a small case. "Here, use what you need." handing the case to Elizabeth. Elizabeth grabbed the case and immediately began to pour more onto the wound. Tiddles had been gradually worsening again, snarling and groaning more as time passed, and Sniffer had not left his side.

Tabs had initially taken the cubs out of the garage area to their whines and crying, but they had eventually settled down in the main house.

"I hope Dad is ok," Sneezy said.

"I am sure he will be," Rosie replied.

Pouncer was lying silently.

"Pouncer, don't be sad. Dad will be okay; nothing can stop him. You have seen what he can do." Rosie said.

He turned, looking at his sister, and if Spylore could cry, he would have been; his eyes glistened with moisture, but no tears fell.

"He will be fine. I am sure he will," Rosie said more for her benefit than her brothers.

"What if he isn't? Who will take us hunting and teach us?" Sneezy said.

Tabs stroked the cubs, and all three had settled, resting against her where she sat. Their warm fur-covered bodies felt soft against her hand, and she could feel their fast-beating hearts. She would not have believed if anyone had said that she would be sitting down cuddled up with three Spylore cubs at some point in her future.

Crystal walked through to the house from the garage. "How is he looking?" Tabs asked.

"The tonic I brought back does not seem to be working," she replied.

"The one upstairs was the special one, though. Did you bring the other one back?" Tabs asked.

"No, I just brought the normal tonic; I did not even think of that," she said, looking at Tabs, her eyes wide at the realisation. When she grabbed the one from upstairs, she had not considered that it had been the imbued tonic, which could be why it had initially worked; it had only been the remainder of the bottle she had used previously.

"Shit, shit, shit," she said in frustration.

Elizabeth entered the room where they sat and threw herself down on one of the chairs, her face showing anger and frustration. "Why is it not working?" she leaned forward, placing her head in her hands.

Tabs looked at Crystal and then turned to Elizabeth.

"I think I know why," she said.

Elizabeth glanced up from where she sat.

"It is hard to explain though." Tabs said.

"What is hard to explain?" Elizabeth asked.

"The tonic that you used first was imbued." Tabs replied.

"Imbued with what?"

"Mana."

"What is Mana, and where the hell can I get some if that is what I need?" Elizabeth asked.

"That is the problem. You cannot just get it."

"Ok. But how can I get it?" she repeated the question, her anger flaring.

"We can't," Tabs replied flatly.

"So where did it come from," Elizabeth replied, frustration etched into her voice.

"Kyto," she replied.

"What is a Kyto, and where can I find it then?"

"No, no. Kyto is my partner, but he is not here currently. He is still travelling back from the fishing district; he should be back tomorrow." Tabs said.

"Your partner has mana and is returning from the fishing district. So, he will be here tomorrow and can give us this mana you talk of?"

"Hopefully, yes." Tabs answered.

"What does the mana do though?"

"That is the part I really cannot explain. Kyto would have to tell you about that." Tabs said, trying to back out of the conversation she had started.

"I just hope he lasts the night," Elizabeth said, lowering her head to her hands again.

"I think we may have another imbued bottle in town. I will go back and check." Crystal said.

Elizabeth looked up quickly at her with a pleading look. "Anything that may help."

Crystal left again to head back to town.

Sniffer had never seen Tiddles like this over the time that he had been lying in the garage. The usual heat that he gave off had been lessening. He was so used to the unnatural heat that to feel Tiddles at an average temperature was unnerving. It was like a fire inside him was slowly being quenched, and he could not lose Tiddles. He was closer to Tiddles than he had ever been with Missy and trusted him with his life. He had always been with him to protect him and assist him.

Sniffer sat with tears in his eyes as he stroked the paw of the giant beast. Tiddles's eyes were closed, and his breathing, although deep, was sounding raspy. Sniffer knew that whatever had poisoned him was still in his system. He could sense the pain he was in, and it scared him more than anything else; for Tiddles to be in this much pain, it must be excruciating. He usually brushed off any wounds he sustained without giving them a thought or even noticing them half the time. He sat watching Tiddles's life slowly being drained, and he sobbed.

Tiddles could feel the aura pressing against his very soul; it was seeping into every inch of his body, and the pain had become unbearable. It pushed at the edge of his mind, clawing and working its way in. He felt paralyzed; he had not known what fear felt like until today, and he now had a new appreciation for it as he began to lose himself.

The darkness had started to arrive, and Tabs returned to the garage with an oil lamp, setting it on the floor by the pair of them. Elizabeth came in with a couple of blankets, draped one around Sniffer's shoulders, and then sat down next to him, leaning against him and reaching out to rest her hand on Tiddles.

"Sorry," she said.

"It is not your fault," Sniffer said, squeezing her free hand.

"How are the cubs?" he asked.

"Restless but ok." Tabs replied, "They are sat on one of the chairs huddled together."

Sniffer half smiled at the thought of the three thugs. They were a handful, and he had been set against them initially, but in the short time they had been with them, they had become part of the family.

Not long after, Crystal returned from her second run to town, rushing back to the garage.

"Here," she said, handing it to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth grabbed the tonic and popped the top, immediately leaning back over Tiddles and carefully pouring onto the still-open areas of the wound. Tiddles stirred but did not react like before. He was unconscious. A wispy, fine black vapour escaped as the liquid seeped into the wound again. It continued for a couple of minutes before it stopped. She quickly made some more paste and again applied it. It looked hopeful as it began to form over the wound, and just as she was about to cry out in excitement, an area again began to liquefy.

"Why will this just not heal?" she said, frustrated. She had been so hopeful when the vapour started to appear again, but she felt distraught as soon as part of the paste turned to liquid again. Elizabeth began to cry.

Tiddles's breathing had eased slightly initially after the tonic was applied, and a deep sigh had escaped his jaws. Again, though, this became a subconscious grimace as toxins once again returned to his body.

Elizabeth just hoped Tiddles would last until this Kyto person arrived tomorrow.