The sun was high in the sky as he exited the woods carrying the bucket of water back toward the house. There was a thin plume of smoke that rose from the small chimney. The southern breeze blew the fragrant smell of his mother’s stew toward him and set his mouth salivating. He walked towards the house and the front door opened revealing his father holding a cigar and looking very healthy.

“Ho Lad.” He called out with a raised hand as he saw Painin.

Suddenly his father was standing in front of him and Painin rushed forward to hug him the water bucket laying forgotten behind him. Tears streamed down his face as he breathed in the scent of his father the smell of leather, sweat, and smoke that he associated with him.

“I’m so happy to see you!”

His father ruffled his hair and returned the hug while holding the cigar away from him to not burn him. Stepping back Painin rubbed the tears from his eyes as he simply took in his father and noticed his siblings standing on the porch waving to him enthusiastically. He waved back to them as his mother walked out to stand behind them. He tried to run to them but found himself being held firm by his father’s iron-like grip.

“You can’t go to them lad. It isn’t your time yet.”

“But I don’t understand. I want to be with you all. I miss you all and want to be with you.”

“I understand that son, but it isn’t up to you or me. It is not your time yet to be here. We can’t change the path that the universe has laid out for us. No matter how hard we try. Just know that we love you and we are here waiting for you.”

Painin began to cry again knowing deep inside on a basic level that his father spoke the truth. He could not deny the overwhelming feeling of being pulled backward that he was experiencing. The feeling seemed to grow in strength the longer that he was present in the space with his family. He raised his hand and waved it at his mother who smiled warmly at him and blew him a kiss before gathering the children back inside the house. He looked up at his father and noticed that they were now separated by space, but he could not remember moving.

“I am sorry that you have to go through this son. I just hope that we have prepared you well enough. Remember that we love you, be tough, but also be kind.” He raised his hand as Painin found himself even further away now.

He threw himself forward and dug his feet into the ground pushing with all his might as he strained forward his hands reaching outward. He pushed with all his might, but his feet slowly began to slip on the ground under him as he continued to go backward.

“Dad!”

“I love you, son. I am proud of you.”

The world around him blurred and he lost focus as everything went black. Gone were his family’s lands and home. He became aware of an intense pain that seemed to wrack his entire body seemingly everywhere at once. Voices floated around him at various levels, but they passed him by. He tried to force his eyes open but found that his muscles failed to react to his demands despite the effort put forth. Everything faded away until there was nothing left, and he found himself floating in a black void.

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The void of darkness did not go away all at once and he could best describe the feeling as if one was walking out of water. The sensations and light slowly built until they could no longer be contained. Master Pierce’s face dominated his field of vision as a blurry blob slowly came into focus.

“He is awake again. Hold his head again so that I can get more potion into him.”

His head was grabbed in a fierce hold that caused more pain to lance through his body as his mouth was also held open and cool liquid flowed down his throat. The cooling feeling spread outward through his body as it had done so many times before. This time however the feeling traveled slower, and he felt the flush of cold in multiple places all over his body before it slowed down. Again, and again the liquid was poured down his throat each time spreading further out into all parts of his body and slowly he began to regain control and feeling within his body besides just pain.

His eyes focused more, and he saw Master Nich holding his mouth open as Pierce poured the remaining contents of the vial into his mouth. Dropping the bottle Master Pierce began checking over his body and sighed deeply.

“Well that didn’t go as planned but I am glad that we got you back there boy. It was kind of scary for a bit there after the Prince lost it went after you once you went unconscious. It didn’t help that his men also joined in when we were trying to get him off you.”

“They did retreat when they became overwhelmed by our response. That one-man Berm I thought would fight to the bitter end. No matter how much the odds were stacked against them.”

“Sorry… I lost.” Painin croaked out through his parched throat a by-product of the healing potions for some strange reason.

Master Pierce just stopped and looked at him with a look of confusion on his face.

“What are you talking about boy? You didn’t lose, you won.”

His face must have given away his utter disbelief at hearing the news. The last thing that he remembered was laying on the sand of the ring being struck by the flat of the Prince's sword. Master Nich laughed at seeing his face as he was trying to process the information.

“When he had you down on the ground beating you, he still had not drawn any visible blood. However, when you reached out to grab his leg you managed to scratch him drawing a thin line of blood from the wound. This is what caused me to call the fight for you.”

“He went even more crazy when Nich saw that blood on his leg and declared you the winner of the duel. He ended up damn near taking your head off before we could get him separated from you and things were not easier when his men jumped to his defense. Finally, though they departed from the Keep in a hurry not wanting to stay around afterward.”

“The fight might still be going on if Commander Novik had not stepped in and reminded the Prince of the rules of the duel and challenge his honor. He had finally reigned in his men and left to head back to Culum but not before making several threats to all those involved.”

“Fuck him the pompous little ass.” Master Pierce mumbled before taking a sip from his cup.

“Now how are you feeling lad? I am leery of giving you more of the healing draught tonight lest it leave you more drained.”

The Masters left him alone in his room and he could see that it was night time and he fell into a deep slumber brought on from the quick healing and the after-effects of the potions used on him. As he drifted off his mind kept trying to make sense of that he had somehow won the duel and those thoughts carried over into his dreams.

Master Nich left Pierce in the hallway outside of the room and walked down toward his private quarters next to the practice ring. The signs of the fight were still present in the sand of the ring and the surrounding area. With slow and deliberate moves, he took the wooden rake from its place against the wall and began the slow and arduous task of raking the circle free from items that may have been hidden in the sand. Once he had raked it clean, he flipped over the rake and began to smooth it back over until it was uniform and unblemished.