ZaiWin woke up with a startle. He had the anguishing feeling he had been seeing a nightmare, but the images immediately disappeared from his mind the moment he opened his eyes.

The air felt colder and moister than it had been the previous days and he immediately realized he was soaking wet. And yet … he was alive, he concluded with startled admiration. In fact, not only was he alive, he felt alive as well. And although his wet pants kept sticking to his legs, his body actually felt warm to the touch.

Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, he turned his head to take a look around.

He was sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree, and some strange construction made of tree branches and large leaves had been assembled to cover him.

He had an idea of how he’d gotten there. He recalled dragging himself through the forest, the pain so unbearable he thought he would faint with every step he took. He also recalled being very cold and being under the rain. And then he recalled the dark-eyed child feeding him a muddy, disgusting root. In fact his tongue was still covered in dirt and tasting bitter.

Where was the kid?, he wondered, looking around, but the child was nowhere to be seen. His backpack was still there, resting beside him. Maybe he’d went out for water or food, he considered praying that the little one wouldn’t get into trouble.

Taking a deep breath he opened and closed his hands. Even though he was far from having recovered completely, he could clearly feel the energy coursing through his body again. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to check on his daitai. He had to do it every day, in order to make sure they remained balanced and under his control.

Only when he was finished with his meditation did he allow his mind to worry about other things.

Taking into account that the sky still looked rainy, it was probably midday, maybe even later than that. Which meant he had slept the entire night and through morning hours. He only hoped he hadn’t been sleeping for an entire day on top of that.

And yet, even though many hours had surely gone by, there were still no signs of the Calzai’s men. Had they given up on finding him? He had no idea what kind of orders they’d received regarding such cases. But he hardly believed that telling the parents of noble kids that their children had been lost in the forest never to be found again, would be acceptable. Of course those kinds of arguments didn’t apply in his case, he bitterly reminded himself. He had no parents to mourn his death or to request a compensation. And even though ZenTar would probably demand an explanation no one would ever take him seriously, since he had no legal rights to him.

With a sigh, ZaiWin straightened his back and rotated his stiff neck and shoulders. He was feeling incredibly good, taking into account all he’d been through. And only then he managed enough courage to actually take a look at his damaged leg.

He’d risked his life to save FeiWan. How stupid could he be? And even though he had not died, carrying a limp for the rest of his life were sure to increase his chances of being murdered in cold blood the moment he returned home.

Pressing his lips shut he took a look at it. Everything was blackened, he realized, his heart hammering against his chest. He’d been right. Not even a limp. He’d lose his leg for sure. He’d never be able to fight with a sword again. He’d never be able to run, or jump, or climb. He’d have to depend solely on his daitai to defend himself. ZenTar was going to kill him. The royals would make fun of the cripple mud-head for the rest of his life. He really wanted to cry.

A sudden itch cut his sob halfway. His foot was itching and he’d reflexively moved his toes. Moved his toes!! There was no way he could do that with his foot broken the way he recalled it to be!

Focusing, his eyes filled with unshed tears, he tried to move his toes again. And he was immediately and unbelievably successful. Not a sliver of pain. Everything felt … normal, like it should feel. He must be dreaming! But even though he knew that must be it, his hands still quickly started untying the trips of blanket holding his improvised splint in place.

It didn’t hurt! It didn’t hurt at all! His heart was racing. Before he could think about what he was doing he’d flexed his knee to reach the blanket strip tied near his ankle. His leg felt stiff but no more than his shoulders had felt. Touching it he couldn’t believe his own eyes. Slipping his hands through the rips on his pants he touched his own skin. It felt sticky but it felt warm, and whole. And he could feel his own hands as well. This simply was not possible!, he stared wide-eyed at his own leg, freely moving his foot back and forth. Turning back, he held on to the tree for support. He wanted to get up! He had to get up!

He felt a bit dizzy, and his entire body felt heavier than normal, but ZaiWin managed to get on his feet with enough ease to leave a smile on his lips.

Trying his injured leg, he tentatively gave a few steps, than walked a bit faster, and then he was running in circles around the tree and laughing like mad person. He only stopped when he was out of breath.

Taking a few moments to catch his breath he couldn’t stop grinning. He was still weak from the blood loss and from walking around on an empty stomach for more than a day. But that apart he felt exceptionally good. Even the other pains were gone, he realized, feeling his own chest and back where he’d been kicked by RouZen and where he’d hit against that tree while practicing his daitai. Nothing hurt. All the bruises were miraculously gone. And then he remembered!

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t eaten anything. That horrible root the child had forced him to swallow! He’d told him it would make him good again. And even though he was finding it very hard to believe that such a miraculous cure exited, he also had no way to deny it. That must have been it!, he concluded and immediately looked around, searching for the child again.

He waited for him to return the entire afternoon, ending up eating some of the food he’d kept in his backpack. He felt kind of bad, eating the food he’d already given to the little one, but he promised himself that, once he returned, he’d hunt him something even better for him to take home. He didn’t, though. And ZaiWin spent another night in that place, not wanting to move from that spot for fear he might miss him when he came back.

The following morning there were still no signs of the child, and so ZaiWin decided to go and look for him himself. He also needed to find water to fill his flask. And he really needed to wash his bloody tunic so he could wear it when he made his way back to the others, by the end of the Gathering.

Even though he could find a few traces of the child’s presence, the rain had wiped most of it away. And after spending an entire morning looking for him, he had no other choice but to consider the possibility that the child might have finally obeyed him and decided to returned home.

Sitting on a large stone so he could get a few moments of rest, he couldn’t help feeling sorry at the thought that he might never be able to meet him again. He really wanted to thank him for everything he’d done for him. The little one hadn’t even taken the food ZaiWin had given him. As he walked through the forest he had even started planning taking the kid with him, back to Nox. Of course ZenTar would take some time convincing. But if the little one was truly alone in the world he really wanted to help him, maybe find him a nice home, a family that would care for him like a child his age should be cared for.

In the end, no matter how much he searched, he couldn’t find him again.