Dragon Venom

The elder extended the bamboo vial in his open palm. The smoke from the incense diverted itself around his arm and dissipated.

"This is called Dragon Venom. It flows through the blood of it's recipient, but does not attack the vital organs. Instead it extends it's tendrils throughout the victim's entire body wracking him in extreme pain. This poison will not end your enemies life, but if you do not have the mercy to end it, your enemy most certainly will.

"It is said that the potency of Dragon Venom is fueled by the hatred of the one who wields it. Legend has it that at it's most potent, this poison will jar its victim's soul from the confines of his body causing his ghost to walk the world in anguish for eternity.

"Obviously this is not something to be used at one's idle whim. Are you prepared to deal with the consequences of carrying such a dangerous substance?"

Ima looked down at the long rectangular scroll that lay before her. It's archaic characters were so carefully and meticulously written. She considered everything she had gone through to get up to this point. An entire decade of training and killing flashed through her mind in just seconds. All of the pain and suffering she had been through to sit in front of this man now would be for nothing if she declined.

"I am"

The old man closed his hand around the vial and carefully set it on the floor next to the incense and the dagger. He picked the dagger up, slid it out of it's, sheath and extended it toward Ima.

"To complete the pact, you will need to draw enough blood from your thumb to make a line across the length of the scroll."

Ima was beginning to get irritated. She didn't have the patience for this ritualistic nonsense. Every second she sat in front of this man was another second of revenge being wasted. She took the blade from the man and held her breath as she cut a tiny slit in her thumb. She set the blade down and drew a neat line through the characters on the scroll and looked up at the elder.

"By now, Ima, you should be aware that I am not the superstitious type." The old man said as he handed Ima a bandage. As Ima wrapped her thumb, a slight burning sensation began to spread to her hand.

"The purpose of this ritual was to ensure that you understood the consequences of delivering this poison, and by tomorrow morning, you will know better than I do." He motioned his two guards to approach. The burning grew into a searing pain and spread up her arm. Ima glared at the old man.

"What did you do!?" She hissed as she sprang up to deal with the guards.

The old man calmly rolled scroll around the vial and placed it in his lap. "Calm yourself Ima, the guards are not here to harm you, they are to prevent you from harming yourself." It felt like Ima's arm was enveloped in flames as the searing pain spread to her shoulder. Ima fell to her knees. "The ink in this scroll was laced with a dose of the Dragon Venom. By drawing your blood across the scroll you were given a dose."

The guards grabbed Ima by her arms and forced her to the ground. The Dragon Venom worked it's way to Ima's chest. Breathing became a test in masochism as every breath Ima drew felt like her ribcage would burst from her body. The guards held Ima down with all of their might as she thrashed and screamed.

"What if-" Ima gasped "What if it kill-" Ima moaned "-Kills me!?"

The old man walked slowly toward Ima and kneeled down beside her. "If you do not have will enough to live with the poison in your body, how can you be expected to properly judge who deserves it?"