The darkness gave way to a dim light. A dim bluish light that was shimmery, not stable. I recovered my senses somewhat. I was in the water, holding my breath. I swirled around feeling the resistance of the water. The blue of the water gave way to pitch black within a few metres. It was entirely silent. I was alone in the ocean with the unknown on all sides and below as well. The magnitude of the ocean frightened me and I looked up. in that direction the dim light didn't end. Frightened of the silence and emptiness around me I started kicking my legs to propel me upwards. But the water held me back! I struggled, kicked, pushed with my arms but made little progress. I started getting tired. My chest burned from the frantic effort. I was approaching the limit of holding my breath. Panicking I kicked harder and harder. Then I began feeling light-headed. I ran out of breath. and opened my mouth in a desperate final scream.

There was black again. Except the darkness gave way to a dull yellow light. There were rocky walls all around me. I was holding at torch. I was in a cave. I looked all around me. To my back and my sides there was only rock. Only ahead of me was the path clear. I walked forw­ards. The path was straight but it became narrower and narrower. Eventually even this path became a dead-end. But no wait, there was a small hole in the wall in front of me. I crouched down and peered into the hole. It was a tunnel. There was natural light far off into the distance. I left the torch at the entrance to the tunnel and crawled inside. I was on all fours at first but it became tighter and I had to get on my stomach and slither forward. The walls kept closing in. There was light at the end of the tunnel but the walls were scraping my back and stomach now. Eventually I got stuck. I panicked. I tried back­ing out but I was held fast at my torso level. I thrashed about but I couldn't wiggle free. I couldn't raise my head. I couldn't extend my arms. Stuck, stuck, stuck. Stuck for all eternity, like a living corpse. I th­rashed about and screamed.

I woke up screaming and sat up straight in a bed. My head brushed the thatched ceiling causing dust and detritus to drizzle down. Somewhere next to me something howled a long pained howl. I was panting hard and soaked in sweat.

"Calm, calm," said a female voice to my left. I got my bearings eventually. I was in a small thatched hut, covered with a stringy blanket and lying on the floor. I barely fit into the space. I looked to my left and saw an old woman sitting on a wooden pallet and next to her a mangy dog. Her name was Lolo, I remembered. She was howling away, her snout lifted towards the heavens.

"Lolo. Lolo enough," I said with a hoarse voice. .

Lolo's howling decreased into whiny yips as she lowered her head to look at me. I beckoned her over with sooth­ing noises. Still whining she slowly padded over to me. She smelled me at first and nuzzled my hand before her tail started wagging furiously. She licked my face a few times - I was too weary to fend her off - then she plonked herself on my lap, turning over and presenting her belly to me to rub. I chuckled softly at her antics.

"She's been by your side throughout. A loyal beast," said the elderly woman in her gravelly voice.

I looked at the woman. She was tiny and even seated on the pallet she was hu­nched over. Her hair was white and wispy. Her skin was greyish and extremely wrinkled. Bat her eyes held my gaze without wavering.

"What happened? "I finally asked the woman.

"You don't remember the battle? "she countered.

I probed my memories and recalled the bandits.

"I went out to face the bandits," I said.

"Hmm," she hummed in acquiescence.

"They fled and the villagers gave chase," I continued, thinking back.

"Hmmm"

"I got shot!" I remembered the arrow sticking out of my throat. My heart started pounding and adrenalin coursed through me as I lifted my hands to my thro­at. I felt around and hit a near-circul­ar patch of thickened skin.

"Hmm. Yes, you fainted with an arrow sticking out of your throat." The old woman's tone stayed cons­tant as if it was normal to be shot in one's throat and survive.

"I'm alive? "I asked aloud, incre­dulously.

“Hmm. It seems that your body is hardy," the elderly woman said in what I thought was a massive understatement.

The nub of thickened skin on my throat was tough, I could feel that much. I was in shock, not so much at having survived but more from memories of the arrow whistling tow­ards me and of not being able to breathe. It was terrifying me even now.

"You have some demons Giant, "said the old woman, breaking the fearful spell that had come over me.

I looked at her placid face. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"We carried your body, or rather what we thought was your corpse inside after the battle was won. The arrow broke off midway during the journey. By the time we put you in my hut the wound had started closing. You healed fully within the hour."

"Wait, wait..." I said struggling to comprehend. "Is there a piece of arrow still inside my throat?"

She shook her head, "No. We checked and it was a clean break. Your healing flesh seems to have broken the arrow neatly and forced the two halves out from either side of your throat."

I feet around my throat. I had no issues swallowing and apart from the hardened skin there didn't seem to be any hard lumps in my throat.

"So I've been unconscious for an hour?" I asked the old woman event­ually.

“No,” she replied. "As I said. You have some demons. You were healed but you're been in some sort of fever dream for a day. Thrashing about and moaning."

"A day!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Hmmm,” she nodded. ''How do you feel?"

I paused and tried to move all parts of my body. Nothing hurt.

“Thirsty. But otherwise okay,” I replied eventually.

"Hmmm," she said and then with agonising slowness lifted herself up off the pallet.

"I will arrange water," she said and then started tottering towards the exit. It took her a few minutes to leave and I sat there feeling awkward from the elongated departure, wondering if I should offer to help.

I received a hero’s welcome from the village when I finally emerged from the old woman's hut. Her name, she told me later, was Kishni. This decr­epit creature with the steady gaze had watched over me for a day. She had been my only companion apart from Lolo.

I found out from the group of adoring village men who surrounded me after I left the hut, that my screaming at the bandits had caused them all to flee. The villagers pursuing them had caught up to only a han­dful of the bandits, who had gleefully been put to the sword. Crucially the bandit leader had been caught and executed as well. The exaggerated tales of violence that the men regaled me with made me feel sick as I remembered the gore I had witnessed just before being struck by the arrow.

The backslapping and bonhomie around me continued well into the night when an impromptu celebration was arranged. I was garlanded with stringed flowers by numerous children and blushing women. I was plied with delicious fried foods and sweetmeats the likes of which I hadn't imagined were possible. Villagers left gifts at my feet - fabrics, household knickknacks, treats for Lolo. Through it all, I could only focus on one thing... the memory of not being able to breathe.