The door opens and a guard pops his head in and glances inside the cell lingering for a few seconds as he looks at Alex. Alex had heard the guards approach, so was stretched out on the shelf one arm propping him up, facing the door. The guard steps back and he can see Hordric through the doorway.

The guard then snaps at Hordric as he thrusts something at him. “Remove the hair from this monkey after you have finished with his back.” Alex unconsciously lifts his hand to his head and feels stubble. Then Hordric steps through the door holding two orange bottles and a jar that Alex recognized as the hair removal ointment.

Hordric moves to the corner placing the bottles down and then pick up a package. He walks over to Alex and positions himself to block the guard’s view, then looks at Alex’s back and scowls. He opens the packet and begins to scatter the powder on Alex.

After Hordric finishes, he opens the jar of ointment, then kneels and begins to smear the ointment on Alex’s arm as he leans close and mutters. “You need to make sure the guards don’t see your back. It's healing too fast.” Hordric does not say anything else for a few minutes while smearing on ointment and focusing on placing a thick layer on Alex’s lower arm.

Hordric then turns to the guard behind him. ”I’m going to need some cloth and another jar as there is too much hair.” He says, waving the jar in the air.

The guard nods and steps from view and Hordric quickly turns back to Alex and mutters. “Has the guard gone?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, you’re going to be put back with the other trophy merchandise in three days. I’ve heard that you are being prepared for someone important off-world. So, there’s a chance you can get to a council controlled area. If you can, then you have rights even as merchandise. I would not recommend shouting out about being illegally held from the start as this will probably be ignored. What you should do is formally protest about your owner’s treatment of you. Council law states that if pure-blood merchandise is maimed without just cause they can be freed and the owner made to compensate them and if they kill then they will be prosecuted. This will at least get you into council custody and then you can tell them about being illegally held.” Hordric says keeping his voice low.

“Why are you telling me this?” Alex queries quietly.

Hordric taps Alex’s arm next to his wrist. “You don’t have the council mark. As a pure-blood criminal, you should have it, which supports your story about being abducted. So, if you manage to get free I want a favor in return.”

“Which is?”

“Get a message to my brother Vonek Goducan.”

“How do I do that?”

“You go to any dwarven-smith guild office and leave a message using both my name and my brothers and they will make sure the message gets to him.”

“And the message?”

“Just tell him my contract is held by House Quinala and that he still owes me two dozen bottles of the finest gut rot.”

“That’s it?”

“That's it.”

“Why now?”

“Things are going to be bad for a while, especially since the overseer has not been seen since the party. The rumors are that he’s under house arrest and they are going over everything that happened here. After you leave this cell I’m not expecting to see you again.”

Hordric then goes silent when footsteps approach. The guard stops in the doorway and places a cloth-wrapped bundle on the floor and then kicks it towards Hordric who reaches down to pick it up. He opens the bundle, removing another jar of ointment and then begins to use the cloth to rub the ointment and hair off Alex’s arm. The guard stands and watches while Hordric uses the ointment to remove the hair from the rest of Alex’s body and finishes with his head.

Hordric then leans over Alex and mutters “Slowly.” Before he begins to exaggerate helping Alex shift into a sitting position on the shelf, throwing in the occasional grunt, and then finally standing back declares. “You can sort your own junk out.” He hands Alex a jar of ointment and the cloth, then he turns and leaves with the guard.

Alex hears the footsteps recede and he then sorts out his junk, just in case the guard’s return. He sits and begins to meditate as he pushes the prana into his skin to reduce the pain and heal his back. He slowly stands and moves over to the bottles of basic and he opens one and begins to drink. He again notices as the basic enters his stomach, he can sense his prana thicken. A few seconds elapse and he then detects the tasteless or neutral prana begins to enter his channels. He again perceives this new prana move with his own as it cycles around his body. When it reaches his wounds, it’s absorbed and the cooling sensation removes the pain.

He recognizes that Hordric has left some of his prana floating in the air around the cell. Focusing on the alien prana he begins to take deep breaths to try and inhale as much as he can. The first few that enter his lungs, causing him to cough at the painful reaction until his own prana surrounds them. After this, the pain reduces for each prana and he realizes that his own prana is again slowly changing the more of Hordric’s prana he absorbs. A few hours later there was no more of Hordric’s prana in the cell.

He spends a few more hours cycling his prana and pushing it into his wounds. He then observes the flavor of his prana begin to change back to what he recognizes as his own. He tries a few experiments and finds that he can slow the speed that the prana reverts. Also, if he pictures the flavor of Hordric’s prana he can make his own prana migrate back towards that flavor. He pursues a few more experiments and confirms what to do to change the direction of his prana flow. The change of flow feels rough but nowhere near as painful as when the prana rushes back to his core.

He drinks some more of the basic and relishes the resulting reduction in pain from his back. He tries to understand this new prana but can’t work out why it does not cause a painful reaction when it’s in his body. He continues to slowly drink as he attempts to drive his own prana into imitating this tasteless prana. He loses track of the time as he gets closer and closer, but he suddenly snaps back to reality as he hears footsteps outside his cell. He scrambles to lie on the shelf and barely manages to get into position as the door opens.

Hordric steps into the cell and squints at Alex then he minutely shakes his head before walking over and getting a packet from the corner. As he moves towards Alex he glances at the door and notices the guard is stood outside the cell looking in. Positioning to block the guard’s view of Alex’s back, he sharply inhales at what he sees.

Hordric murmurs. “What’d you do? Your back has visibly healed since this morning.”

“I just pushed prana into it.”

Hordric takes the packet and slides it into his tunic. “Your wounds have already scabbed over so, you won’t be needing the powders anymore. You need to make sure no one sees your back until they return you to the other trophies.”

Alex nods.

The guard leans through the doorway. “Stop talking. Hurry up and finish.”

“Yes, sir. I’m finished.” Hordric says, then turning leaves the cell.

The next three days pass with Hordric arriving each morning with two bottles of basic and a jar of hair removal ointment. He leaves each evening with a packet concealed in his tunic. The guard announces each visit with a declaration that there is to be no talking. Alex settles into the routine of cycling his prana and sipping the basic to alleviate the pain in his back. He makes progress in both the ability to absorb the prana left by Hordric and also in emulating the prana contained in the bottles of basic.

On the second day, he checks the wound on his chest, which has now fully healed leaving only a faint white scar. He resumes performing his kata’s and using strikes using his forearms and shins against the wall and the shelf in order to gradually harden and condition his bones. He starts slowly and builds up the speed and power and this with the effects of the tasteless prana allow him to rapidly heal any minor injuries he accumulates. He recollects his Sensei advising him on the positions of each limb, the distribution of his weight, and the need to be able to pay attention to multiple factors at once and hold a mental image of the perfect strike.

On the third day, Alex found himself remembering the occasions when his Sensei had advised him on how to use his ‘Ki’ or ‘intent’ to adopt stable and balanced body structures, stressing that there are no ‘set’ positions in combat. He was shown how to utilize the mind’s natural ability to unify one’s strength towards an envisioned purpose. He had failed to comprehend what was required at the time, but now he felt he understood the concept.

On the fourth day, Alex was already in the kneeling position when the cell door was brusquely thrust open. The guard glowered at him and thrust a single bottle of basic in his direction; Alex took it and noticed it still had the two white stripes. There was no sign of Hordric and the guard slammed the door shut. After the guard’s footsteps faded in the distance he sat back and began to cycle his prana pushing it into his back. He felt a brief flash of discomfort, which was followed by an itching sensation., but the pain was no longer present.

He slowly drank the basic and made his own prana take on the same tasteless flavor. Observing as the prana was absorbed into the injuries on his back, shins, arms and hands. This continues for over an hour until multiple footsteps could be heard approaching. He stops and assumes the kneeling position with his head resting on the floor. After a few minutes, the door to his cell opens.

“Put this on and follow.” A guard states curtly dropping a tunic in front of Alex.

He picks up the tunic and slips it over his head and then rising walks through the doorway. Three guards are waiting and he instantly senses three different alien prana floating in the air. Before he realizes he breathes some in and he braces for the pain and the coughing fit. However, there is only a brief flash of burning pain in his lungs, resulting in an inhibited cough.

“Move it scum.” Another of the guards orders whilst waving a baton.

Alex turns and follows the leading guard. As he walks, he notices that he can sense the alien prana in the air as it floats around him. Breathing in the prana he can sense it in his lungs, but it does not cause any form of discomfort. His prana does not need to surround it to be absorbed it just flows directly into his channels. There is a strange sensation as the prana flows to his core, but no pain.

He’s led to the entrance of the same picturesque garden where he knelt on the lawn in front of Mistress Lyrei while she reclined on a platform. As he enters, he notices an overwhelming volume and variety of prana in the air and it seems to be making him more sensitive. The largest assortment of prana seems to be similar to what he felt when he walked through the garden at the party. He stumbles as his senses are inundated with the overpowering variety and he feels light-headed.

A guard grabs his arm to stop him from falling and pulls him towards the platform in the middle of the garden. They come to a stop in front of the platform where Master Ardreth is standing facing forward and behind on the platform is the resting form of Mistress Lyrei who is looking at Alex.

“Remove the tunic and show me what damage the brute did.” She instructs. Alex barely registers the request, but after a few seconds manages to struggle out of his tunic. He stands distracted by the prana in the air. “The damage to his chest seems to have healed nicely. Now show me your back.” Alex slowly turns until he faces away. “Remarkable. I saw the state of his back after he was whipped and it’s only been four days. Was he given a high-end healing treatment?”

The guard replies. “He was given two bottles of basic containing a double dose of restoration and two low grade healing powders each day.”

“Internal powders?”

“No, external only.”

“His wounds have sealed and although there are unsightly red welts, I see no raised scarring. Continue with the basic but stop the powders.”

“Yes, Mistress Lyrei.”

Mistress looks at Alex. “Eilaes start meditating.”

It takes a second for Alex to realize he has been addressed then he slowly lowers himself to his knees.

“No, you are to face me.” He turns with difficulty to face Mistress Lyrei as she watches intently. “Master Ardreth.”

Master Ardreth turns and faces Mistress. “Mistress Lyrei.”

“I want to get him back into the same condition he was before, but I need him able to commence his domestic training in the afternoons. How long do you expect to take?”

“Mistress Lyrei. Based on how badly he was abused and the amount of healing he has received I would estimate it’ll take at least a tenday.”

Alex stopped listening as he began to meditate and cycle his prana, which still has the tasteless quality. After a short time, he observes that he is absorbing an ample amount of prana from the air. This influx of prana begins to saturate his channels and he starts to feel the ache and discomfort build. He resists forcing the prana into his back and instead focuses it on repairing the damage to his bones and ligaments. Eventually, he is led back to his old cell.