Painin shielded his eyes from the brightness of the harsh desert sun and scanned the horizon for his target or anything else that might wish to do him in. He sighed, noting how far off in the distance the mound of rocks he had selected appeared to be. The mountains had been growing steadily, and he knew that Commander Novik would not be pleased if he was killed by a monster out looking for a meal. Looking behind him, he could no longer see the Keep in the distance and he wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the desert or if he truly had walked that far.

“This… This is the last time that I will perform this kind of errand again.” He said taking a drink from the water skin that hung off his shoulder. It awoke his senses as he swallowed the water and felt it slide down his throat. Even though it smelled and tasted of old leather it felt amazing and he could almost feel it surging through his body.

Continuing on his way Painin began to see some green mixed into the distant rocks and began to quicken his pace. He was amazed that anything grew out here in this land of sand as the splotches of green slowly began to take shape. During his years living in the Keep and being in the desert, he had become more tolerant of the heat and dryness affecting him less and less.

The green ahead did not look like the large palm trees that grew near water sources that were so rare and precious. Painin had even enjoyed the fruits that were produced by the trees and harvested called figs. He approached the tree or as Master Pierce named it a cactus, it rose from the rocky ground and sported two large branches from it. He found it funny that at a distance it looked like a man if not only green in nature.

Sharp needle-like spines covered the outside of the cactus and he began to knock the spines off the lower branch with his small knife. He then carefully cut the branch’s top off and caught it carefully in his free hand before slowly lowering it to the ground. Painin continued to cut off the remaining spines as best he could, and he wrapped it in a length of tarp. He picked up a pile of the spines from the ground and wrapped them in a piece of cloth before putting them into a small box to examine later.

He was putting the wrapped chunk of the cactus into his pack with the little box on top when a snort and shadow snapped him out of his work daze. Painin fell backward and was engulfed in a cloud of dust as a group of riders reined in before him. The foremost rider slowly pulled off his gloves and slapped them on his jerkin sending dust flying into the air around him.

“Run ahead to the Keep and announce us, boy.” Said the leader in a tone that spoke of being accustomed to being followed. He pulled a canteen from his saddle and took a long pull of water holding it in his mouth and swishing the water around before spitting it onto the ground narrowly avoiding Painin.

‘I’m sorry sir but I am currently running an errand for Master Pierce at the moment. Seeing as how you are mounted, and I am not you would be sure to arrive long before I would.” Painin found himself flying backward and laying in a cloud of dust some feet from where he was standing. One of the riders slowly replaced his heavy boot into his horse’s stirrup.

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“No one speaks to his lordship like that! Especially not some low-born peasant.” Snarled the rider that had kicked him, and he charged his horse forward to where he had landed. Painin was forced to roll out of the way to avoid being trampled. His reaction was slowed by the previous kick and the pain that now flooded his chest. One of the hooves of the horse still managed to clip him in the head opening a large cut on the side of his head.

“Now we can’t expect everyone to know who we are Berm, least of all some sodding sand dweller on the ass of the world.” He pulled his gloves back onto his hands and rode off without a backward glance and took off at a fast trot. The other riders followed him with only Boot now known to be Berm staring down at the dazed boy bleeding on the ground.

“You’re lucky his lordship has a soft spot for fucking peasants.” He said as he spit on Painin before he rode his horse off to catch up with the group. Painin rolled out of the way as he charged past and tried to catch his breath and staunch the flow of blood on the side of his head. The world swam as he sat up on the ground and looked at the group of riders heading off into the distance in the general direction of the Keep.

He took some of the cloth that he had left over and held it to his head while he stuffed the wrapped parcels further down into his pack and slung it over his shoulder. The trip back towards the keep seemed to take forever and the sun had already begun to set in the distance as he approached the gates. The gates were barred, and he rang the small bell at the top of them by pulling on the rope that ran to the ground below. A face peaked over the side of the wall looking down at him.

“Gate is closed till morning under the order of the Prince.”

“Drom. It is me Painin. Now open up so I can deliver these items to Master Pierce and get someone to check my head.”

“Sorry Painin, but orders is orders and we were told to bar the gate until further notice. No exceptions.”

Painin looked up at the man and sighed to himself as he sat down next to the gate with his back against the still-warm wall. He pulled his pack closer to him and settled in for the evening. The moon rose and lit up the area and Painin found it hard to sleep with the air around him growing chillier as the night progressed.

He pushed himself to his feet and began to slowly walk around the sandstone walls of the Keep’s outer wall. He traced the groves in the stone with his fingers and began to climb up the outside of the wall. It took several attempts before he got into a rhythm that allowed him to slowly make his way up. Pushing his fingers and his boots into the small groves he slowly made his way up the wall until he was able to grab ahold of the top and pull himself over. He sat there against the wall and caught his breath shocked that he had made it to the top.

He made his way along the top of the wall and waved to Drom as he passed the man as he made his rounds along the wall. Drom looked very confused as he walked past him on his way down into the Keep proper and his room and bed that awaited him within.

“How did you…” Drom started to ask but found himself all alone on the rampart and decided to not push the question further and returned to his rounds.

Painin opened the door and placed the pack on the ground next to his bed and tossed one of the fire sticks he had gotten from Master Pierce onto the pile of tinder in his small fireplace. The tinder quickly caught light and he laid down on the bed after kicking off his boots and was asleep before the tinder had fully caught fire.