The first thing Olav bound to the bedpost was Izai’s right foot. Followed by his left foot. Then his right wrist, and lastly his left wrist. As each limb was bound, Izai felt a hazy fog cloud his brain. He was still coherent, but he felt empty, as if something was being drained out of him.

The ropes had a cold numbing sensation to them. But it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. What he dreaded was the FrostSap blanket. Just touching often sent a shiver down his spine, and made his whole joints feel like they were about to collapse.

“You ready?” Olav asked.

“Let’s get it done with.”

Olav spread the blanket over Izai. And instantly he felt the cold shiver run through his spine, and then for a moment felt paralysed, before slowly his sensation came back to him. ‘I hope that potion knocks me out quickly,’ he thought to himself.

Olav gazed around the tiny room uncomfortably. “Can’t we drag the bed out in the living room. There’s barely any room in here for me to sit.”

“You don’t need to be here all the time. Just check on me periodically.”

“Okay,” he shrugged. “Can’t we use your parents’ old room?”

Izai shook his head. He liked it the way it was. He only ever entered it occasionally to make sure that nothing had gone missing as well as to keep it clean.

“Fine,” Olav unscrewed the cap from the beaker. “Open up,” he smiled.

Izai threw his head back and felt the slimy liquid slide down his tongue, to his throat, and down his stomach. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth for a couple of times. He had expected worse. Katalia had told him that Vilena’s potion had left her stomach upset for weeks. However, this was unpleasant but not the end of Aradahi. If he had to be honest, if it was between this or the drinks he had at the one Libri restaurant he would have chosen this.

“What now?” Olav stood tapping the side of his pockets.

“We wait.”

Olav lit a cigarette. Izai watched the stick slowly burn out. And then Olav pulled out another one. “Go somewhere else with that bullshit man,” Izai turned his head to face the wall. Olav leaned over to blow one last puff of smoke directly into Izai’s face who could nothing but hold his breath and hope the smoke dissipates quickly.

A minute went by. Then about ten. Olav peered in to look if anything had happened yet. But nothing had happened. “Maybe it’s like those sap powders I keep hearing about?” Olav pointed. “You gotta wait for it to kick in.”

Izai was sure that he hadn’t just heard about those sap powders but had more than likely tried them out for himself at one point. Another thirty minutes went by before Olav began to wonder if the dosage was meant more for a Kinling rather than a regular Kin like himself.

‘She knows what she’s doing,’ Izai tried to reassure himself.

Olav returned with the book that Vilena had given him. Inside were sums like:

'1 = 0.5 + 0.5 = 1.'

'4 = 1.6 + 2.4 = 4.'

The pages had been filled with different Charmed animals such as birds, wolves, deer, and tigers. Underneath were instructions such as:

‘When to use a 0.6 + 0.4’

‘How to know the right intensity for a Pull. Should the subject matter’s weight be in consideration?’

“I don’t understand any of this, do you?” said Olav.

Izai recalled his father trying to teach him how to Push the proper way. He remembered similar sums. However, he never got a chance to receive more than two lessons. Olav left and said he’d be back in a few to check on him.

Izai’s frustration had reached a boiling point. Though the bindings and blanket weren’t too much of a hassle, more of an inconvenience now, he caught himself trying to wriggle free a couple of times. The ropes finally reached a point where if felt like where they gripped, such as his wrists and ankles, nothing was there. It’s as if his feet and hands were separated from his body.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

He closed his eyes trying to fall asleep. And then he felt a wet rag blot across his forehead.

“What are you doing?” he opened his eyes to a Pelfrio hunched over him. She was a Keranas. She looked like the spitting image of Osarok Taiga.

While he was sure he had just been laying in his bed, he now found himself sitting on a stool. His face was hurting real bad. In fact, his entire body, parts of him felt like he had been burnt, others frozen, while others throbbed. Around him Kin flashed lights in his face, rubbed salves on his skin, and poured water in his mouth.

When they gave way, he realized he was in a stadium. He wasn’t sure which stadium, however. Most of the stands had been filled with Taurs, so he guessed they were in Kara. But as he looked above at the overcast sky, flakes of snow, gently drifted down. He was now sure it was Barekara since it never snowed in Harekara.

Osarok tapped him on his shoulder. He stood, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulder. “Strategies exist for a reason,” she said, “don’t deviate. He’s cocky. You’ll break him.”

Izai wondered who she was talking about. And then from the other side of the KY ring entered someone very familiar. A Keranas. With a black coat, and a red squiggly ‘X’ on his chest. He scraped the ground with his hooves and let out a Push of fire from his mouth. He now remembered Minos.

They stood face to face. Or face to chest, as Izai had only been about 6 foot while Minos was around 8 feet. A referee came in-between them for a moment, “GentleKin, there will be no calls for Mercy as per the rules of the Sudden Death round. We’re going until Cell-Lock. Agreed?”

They both nodded. And stepped back from each other. The bell rang and before he could even take a breath, Minos had already delivered a blow to the side of his ribs, followed by a backhanded smack which sent him to the floor.

“Haro Wake-Up, you have no choice” Osarok said to Izai.

‘Haro Wake-Up’ thought Izai. The referee began to count. He felt a black void open below him, swallow him up, and then found himself standing just to the side of Minos, who had been mid-jump towards where Izai had just been laying. Minos’ fists crashed onto the ring.

Izai had just shifted.

Osarok yelled to the referee who had been by her side, “That’s a disqualification.”

To which the referee replied, “he missed didn’t he.”

Minos adjusted his stance so that were facing off again. This time Izai took his time using jabs, crosses, and kicks, though his range could only strike Minos’ legs and torso. While he expertly ducked under the Keranas’ attempted punches.

Minos tried to crouch down to land a better shot but Izai used this opportunity to catch him underneath his jaw with a powerful uppercut that sent the Keranas flying into the air and slamming into the ground.

“You’ve got him,” Osarok yelled. “Burn your meter.”

As Minos clambered back to his hooves, Izai saw doubles of himself standing to either side of his flank. They nodded to him, spread their feet apart, slightly bent their knees, with their hands cupped to the side. He did the same also.

He felt his Essence. This time it felt different. Burning hot from the get-go instead of the normal boiling up it does. It felt more refined, more powerful, and yet easier to control. The Essence travelled from their core to their cupped hands where a tiny speck of light began to grow. As it increased in volume, the three, in unison, outstretched their hands to face Minos who was now almost fully on his feet. A Push of Solar came out in a straight line towards the Keranas who vanished into a plume of smoke.

Izai then felt Minos’s arms tightly grip around his chest. Soon, both were up in the air, and as they landed hard on the ring, Minos made sure that the base of Izai’s neck took the brunt of the fall. When Izai finally staggered up, his doubles sprinting to remerge with him, Minos grabbed him again, and began to squeeze. His grip felt tighter than any Vine that a RiverWood could Push to constrict a Kin.

Minos was much stronger than him for sure. And no matter how much he tried to wiggle free, he could not. He could feel his Pulse lose its weakness. He felt his normal Push Essence swirling within him. Slightly warm, unrefined, harder to control. However, it quickly boiled up in his stomach, travelled up his throat, and gust of fire enveloped Minos’ face.

After being dropped, he stepped back and Pushed a puddle of Frost on the ground. The black inky liquid like Frost substance stuck on to Minos’ hooves who found it hard to break free.

Izai’s doubles reemerged again and grabbed either of Minos’ arms.

“Now,” Osarok’s voice rang.

He sprinted towards the Keranas who was now on his knees, being held back. He dove into the air, aiming for Minos’ head with an outstretched knee. When it made contact his opponent dropped to the ground like a statue. His body was perfectly stiff, yet his eyes were darting from side to side in a panic.

“Cell-Lock,” an announcer’s voice rang out from the speakers.

Suddenly Izai was holstered up on somebody’s shoulders. A title was given to him. He inspected it, ‘WKYE World Oja Championship.’ He felt the instinct of raising it up into the air to the annoyance of the mainly KinTaur crowd.

However, as he celebrated, he made out a Folk couple sitting amongst the tens of thousands of KinTaurs. Specifically, a Hanu Folk couple. They reminded him a lot of the photograph he kept in his safe. He gently skipped over a dozen KinTaur heads, making sure he doesn’t step on any horns.

The couple was now leaving the stadium. He rushed after them. And soon he found himself in the streets of North Polassa. It was a cold evening. A young Olav stood behind a crowd of Kin that had gathered around something.

Izai stepped in for a closer look. Before Olav’s father grabbed him by the arm and tried pulling him away. However, he easily broke free, and waded past the crowd. When he finally reached the scene that had captured everyone’s attention he noticed his mother. She had a vine that snaked around her body, going into her mouth and coming out of the back of her throat. She lay bloody in Izai’s father’s arms who looked at Izai and before he could speak, a bolt of lightning struck the couple.

It was so bright everything turned into white.