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“Ugh…uh” Pain was the first thing my waking brain registered. It was so sharp I could hardly make a breath. More of it came as I tried to open my eyes so I canceled all pitiful attempts for a time being.

“..haha…hah” I laughed and suffocated at the same time. It’s funny how many muscles, tendons and bones are there in our bodies we don’t even know exist, until they hurt like hell. With laugh tears went down my cheeks as my ribs felt like cracking all over. I almost fainted because of pain. Almost. I wish I could, but some part of me fought to regain control over my body. Pain continued to come in waves as my chest raised up and down. A torturous breath in. A blissful exhale. Wave after wave I learned how to breath again. Some may say that feeling pain is a good sight, means I’m alive. If that’s the case, then I’ve never been so lively. My whole life shrank to a single rhythm. Inhale, exhale. Something simple as that took all my willpower and then some more.

  I opened my eyes just barely but didn’t see a clear picture at starts. Took me few minutes of blinking before the blur I saw turned into trees and leaves. It was dark and quiet here, which was strange. With slit irises and cat ears I almost forgot what darkness and quietness were. Even wind has its own voice, but it didn’t reach here too. What surprised me even more was that I was standing. What I previously assumed to be solid ground behind my back turned to be a tree to which I was tied with ropes. They covered me from head to toe. What the hell happened to me? Was I kidnapped after all? The last thing I remember was….killing a man that held me captured, so why? Was there another assault? It’s hard to imagine someone who could bring Korhal, another branch holder and the rest down.

”Ugh…” Slowly but surely I started to move my body, one part at a time. The pain did not decrease one bit, but it has got easier to coup with it. It’s marvelous how adaptive leaving creatures can be. What doesn't kill – makes stronger, right? All my senses screamed danger so I had to do something. I grabbed the rope that circled me and waited until senses returned to the tips of my fingers. While moaning involuntarily through tight clenched teeth I searched for any knots I could untie. There were none. Exhausted and angered I hung limp on my ropes for awhile, until energy returned again.

  “What now?” I thought. “The rope doesn’t allow me to move much, so there is no way I can leave without undoing it first. Can I cut it with my claws?” I placed a nail to the rope and kept moving it back and forth until I felt few threads sticking out. “Good. That’s the start. I can drag myself out of this.”

Around half an hour later the rope ripped and I started to wiggle around to let myself out. Had to make short breaks to catch a breath and let the pain calm down a little. It hit me with waves just like before. After another five minutes I managed to free myself, but my legs gave away and I fell on the ground. The hit shook me hard and I had to screw up my eyes and bite my lover lip to not let myself howl like a coyote. I could only guess whom might my voice drag. Damn. Why does it hurt so much? Was I beaten? What kind of sick moron would beat an unconscious girl, than tie her to a tree?

“Awhoooooooo!” A piercing cry of a wolf somewhere not too far cut the silence in shreds. Cold sweat appeared on my forehead as I cursed my bad luck. The fear of being eaten alive is by far the most dreadful feeling I ever experienced. It forced me on my feet in a heartbeat, but I fell on my knee after just  one step, as another wave of pain came.

“Awooooooo!” Another cry much closer rang. I stood up again and had to endure spasm that assaulted my leg. The growth around was unnaturally thick, so much that no light came through leaves. Luckily, the only passable path leaded right in the opposite direction from where wolves were.  Some bushes were recently rooted. I bet whoever brought me here used the same path and I risk to stumble upon him, but that’s the least of my problems right now. Kidnappers want you alive at least. I wonder what kind of beating did they use to make my body feel pain with every single move? Without wasting any more time I limped ahead as fast as I could. It's hard to describe a pain that assaults you with every step, goes through your spine and spreads through whole body like electric shocks. I wouldn't even dare to make another move, if not for fear and urge to live through another day.

“Ugh…no….”I said as sounds of four pairs of paws hitting the ground reached my ears. I wish I could say I was all brave and collected, but that would be a blunt lie. Constant pain was wearing me down fast, so I made my steps smaller and more frequent, just the way I did while wearing ropes Korhal put on me. While tilting my centre of mass forward I brought into running. Surprisingly, I sped up quite a bit without increasing the rebound on my body.  The path I used turned to the right, where rays of light were seen through the growth.  The light made sharp contrast with dim darkness and I couldn’t really see what’s there. What drove me near was both hope and despair. I heard low growl few steps behind me right before making one last jump. A second later I understood my mistake. As leaves hit my face, as a brief moment of blindness caused by bright light passed, I realized my end is inevitable. There was no ground below me, and what appeared to be a clearing was actually a verge of a cliff. Time froze for a brief second. My arm shoot backwards to grab something. Anything. It was too late, though.

“So that’s how I die?” the thought crossed my mind. While falling down I looked up at two wolfs’ snouts sticking from the edge of the cliff and blue skies behind them. I wish I could see my mother, cooking for dad again. I wish I could share a story with him, have him as a listener just once.

I did not scream. I wasn’t afraid any more. My last two tears were for those two I left behind.

Baren’s POV

“Korhal? I think you are seriously sick. No, that’s far beyond sick. At this point you’re dangerous for those around you. You know, there is a rumor about an elder in Lerosh  village, who deals with mental issues. I could take a vacation and show you the wa-”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“There is no need to waste your vacation, old rat. And what exactly makes you think there’s something wrong with me? ”

“What shall I start with?” My eyes almost jumped out from sockets because of ignorance this sadist showed. “First you make my man mow the grass with their swords for a whole week.”

“But we cleared the whole path. No human is dumb enough to cross this canyon without cover. It’ll take another five years until grass grows as high. In fact, you should mow it every now and then.”

“Then you brought two wild wolves and made MY student run from them for six days. As if hurting your own wasn’t enough. He got bitten thrice!”

“Nonono. I made him train wolfs, see the difference? You got two tracking dogs and your student took both, taming skill and a blow to his pride. He won’t stick his nose so high anymore. Your soft demeanor made him too prideful for his own good. Maybe when wolves give offsprings each and every man in your squad'll have a dog. You may not thank me.”

“As if!! You tied your own student to a tree. She hung there the whole time!”

“But her body was struck with kamela poison. Those pain convulsions are no joke, you know? She could dislocate her own limbs while unconscisious. Or worse, bite her tongue off. I did her a favor by fixating her so well.”

“Rubbish. You poisoned her dagger in the first place!” My mind went blank. This situation is complete, utter nonsence.

“I made it clear to her that the blade should not be touched. She poisoned herself.”

I had nothing to add. It’s been almost forty years since we met last time. I heard rumors about how fast students ran from Korhal, but paid no attention. Was he already sick back then, or got his mental state just recently? Is it some extreme form of dementia? The fear went down my spine, as I’m not getting younger too.

“What kind of teacher makes their students fall from the cliff?”

“Oh, finally a good question! I fell once too,” he started and I immediately felt it explains much. “From the cliff, I mean. Fell, but survived,” he continued. “The moment I realized my end is near the time almost froze. You see, upon death our brain overloads to the max to let us find the way out. That's a self-preservation reflex, so to say. And guess what? My reflexes got so much better after that accident! That was the fastest breakthrough I ever experienced. Wish I could fall again.”

"Oh, I could help you with that."

"Nah, the element of surprise is needed. Such things don't seem to work out on purpose. Checked already."

"Did a thought she could run a different way even cross your mind?"

"In times of urgency we choose an easiest path. It' wasn't hard to calculate where to dump all that grass. It's weird she even fainted upon landing, one could dive into that heap headfirst and stay perfectly fine. Few of your men took a liking of that attraction and are jumping down right now. They went as far as calling it the leap of faith. You wanna have a go?"

"No, thank you." I had enough of his bullshit. My heart almost stopped when I saw poor girl's fall.  "Her being able to make all the way to the cliff is a miracle by itself," I said aloud.

"Yeah. A nasty stuff, that poison. Wanna know how it works?" He stuck his chest out, obviously being proud to know stuff.

"I'm not sure. But go ahead, tell me." I guessed he'll tell me anyway.

"You see, our body produces thousands of concoctions, that all have some influence on us. Along with your body, kamela poison numbs a part of brain and blocks some of those substances, including pain relievers, from being produced. As a result, you start to feel how your bones rub against each other, how your muscles rip little by little under pressure, etc. That makes this poison perfect to train a pain fortitude. She won't even flinch from any non fatal strikes from now on and having this poison on her blade'll surely teach her to be careful with weapons. A win - win situation, don't you think?"

"That's if you'll still have a student by tomorrow. If I was her, I would flee from you as from plague. You really think she'll stay after this?"

"She will. No other teacher will take her in anyway."

"Yeah, noone is crazy anough to teach martial arts to blood-eyed tribe. As if they're not dangerous anough. You probably forgot all the stories from childhood."

"Those are partly myths and prejudices, since blood-eyed tribe also left a positive handprint on our history."

"Yeah? Mind giving an example?"

"That's a long story for another time, old rat. I better go and check how my student is doing. About time for her to wake up."

Korhal's POV

She gave a moan five minutes after I entered the tent. Means she wakes up again. With a wave of my hand I let the healer go. He gave me a scornful look, but left us alone nonetheless.

"Are you there, little raskal?" I asked, while sitting on the chair on the opposite side of the tent..

"Ugh....Korhal? Is that you?" She blinked few times before her sight focused on me. With one hand she palpated warious parts of her body. "I'm still in one piece, it seems," she told, then gave a deep sight of relief. "What happened?"

"To make things short, you poisoned yourself with a dagger I gave you. The pain should have lessened by now."

"I did?"

"Uhuh. It was just a scratch but the size doesn't metter when it comes to poisons." She raised herself on her hands and took a sitting position.

"And then?"

"Before you get upset with me, I want to let you know everything was for your own good. I set the whole thing with ropes and wolves," her face turned into one massive frown. "Just wanted to give you....experience," a tiny killing intent tickled my senses. Good. That's the way she should be. "You did well, by the way." To be frank, I felt proud for both, myself as a teacher, and her as a student. I stood up and went for the exit, but turned around before leaving and fetched a small rock out of my pocket.

"Catch." I threw the rock twice as hard as before. With one clumsy but fast move she placed her hand between rock and her face, letting it land right at the centre of her palm.

"Get well." Without saying anything else I left the tent with a smile on my face.