Light hit Ranvir and the world disappeared.

He staggered back, his full weight on his injured leg, and collapsed. It started slowly, then came frothing to the surface with a scream. His leg blazed with pain so hot and hard that it reached up and curdled his stomach. His face felt like it had been dunked in boiling water and his eyes… Oh Goddess, his eyes.

Time passed in a blur, the all he registered were the cries and shouts from the crowd. The pain became his world, keeping measure of time by the throbs of agony.

And he couldn’t see.

They just had to get the healer, and then everything would be fine. The panic grabbed at him, throwing him against the walls of his mind and screamed until he thought he was going deaf. With a panicked strength that lent the exercise an ease he’d rarely felt previously, Ranvir tore open tether-space and sunk into.

He was vaguely aware that he was crying and people were talking to him, but he didn’t dare let enough of the outside world in to understand it. In tether-space he could still ‘see’, his tether clear as day. All the crisp detail he was used to. Slowly, he spun it up, hoping to pass time faster.

The edges of the space were worrisome. When he’d seen sensed it before, he’d been aware there was an edge to the space but not exactly where it was. He’d only known that it existed, and some places were within those walls of the space and others weren’t.

Now a boiling red, orange, and yellow mist shrouded large swatches of the walls. Mostly, the mist had been without detail, though he could make out what seemed like dozens of three-fingered hands pressing against the glass-like walls that protected tether-space.

Ranvir turned his focus back on his tether, spinning it even faster. He was still nowhere near the limits of what he could handle from tether-spin, but he needed time to pass and he wanted to forget and never remember.

Someone shook him hard enough that tether-space broke apart. Ranvir was thrust back into his body with a gasp. His calf burned and throbbed. Something was wrapped against his eyelids. Reaching up with a hand, he felt the slimy cool texture of a rag treated in some sort of sap, or oil, or other sticky substance. It took the edge of the pain.

“What’s going on? What is this?” He asked, his voice rough.

“I’m sorry. I was told that you were meditating and I should only wake you when I was done. All that is left now is for you to have a drink of this…” He paused. “Sorry, you can’t see it. It’s just a bit of medicine that’s gonna take the worst of the pain away, okay?”

He had a calming voice, unfamiliar, but Ranvir only really knew of Master Stjarna among the healers. Pashar had said that someone else was here instead of him, so maybe they healed differently. Ranvir didn’t know much about healing, only that it was related to the second stage advancements of ice and light.

Ranvir nodded, forcing himself to sit up slightly, holding out a free hand for the cup. It was pressed into his palm, though the man kept a guiding hand to ease the drinking process. Ranvir strangled a cough as the medicine went down. He’d been expecting something like tea, instead it had been viscous and itched all the way down, like strong alcohol.

“There, that’s okay. It should help in a few minutes. I’ll let the teachers and your friends in now.” The man said, as Ranvir coughed quietly. He heard footsteps on the stone floor, following by the opening of a door.

More footsteps, people calling out for him. Everything got very confusing for a while, only worsened as the medicine started kicking in and numbing both senses and body.

“Ranvir, there’s something you need to know.” Someone said, it wasn’t one of his friends, a teacher maybe.

“Ayvir?”

“Yes, Grimar played it foul. He either had a contingency for losing, or he never planned to win at all. It’s not even been three hours, and he’s already been named his uncle’s heir to the Serpent-Vein seat at the Lord’s Council and as head of the family.”

“What about my eyes? My leg? How soon until they are healed?” Ranvir asked, disregarding Ayvir’s words.

There was a long moment of silence. “After the majority of the academy left for the front lines, there were supposed to have two healers left at the compound.” Ayvir said, slowly. “Master Stjarna is missing, and Master Arni left alongside Grimar.” He growled the last Master’s name.

Ranvir reached out blindly until someone caught his hand. He felt oddly muted, colors and emotions falling away along with the pain. “Get another healer. There has to be someone in the city.” He slurred.

“We’re looking into it, but at short notice, the only one we could find was Master Hevir, and he’s no tethered.” Ayvir continued speaking. Idly Ranvir noted his voice moving like he was pacing even though the hand holding his kept still.

Other people are here, right.

“What happened?” Ranvir asked. “Someone blinded me. What happened?”

Silence. It stretched on, laying heavily on Ranvir. His already closed eyelids grew heavier as the pain medication did its work.

“I did.” Ayvir finally said. Ranvir let out a long breath. “You were lost in a rage, the kid had already surrendered… and you were going for his throat. I did what was necessary to save him.”

Ranvir ached inside. He could barely remember what happened at the end of the fight. After Skufi stuck him in the leg, he’d just lost his mind. Ranvir wanted to talk about it, complain, but he was getting tired. He vaguely heard Ayvir continue talking, though the words seemed to make less and less sense as the claws of sleep settled into Ranvir. Something about winning, maybe.

“You can’t be serious! Look at him!” Someone yelled.

“That’s really not my problem. You got what you wanted. He won. Grimar’s gone. The fact that your tool is wounded isn’t my problem, Administrator.” Someone else, a deeper voice, apathetic and bored, replied. “The rules are the rules. Everyone goes through the tests. If they fail, they fail. It doesn’t matter what they did the day before.”

Ranvir kept still as he listened, he leg was throbbing something fierce and he still had bandages tied over his eyes, alongside what felt like a new coating of the paste underneath them along with the most of his face.

Something was beating his eyes and brain to the rhythm of his heart, and he barely stifled a groan.

“You’re in their pocket! It’s true, you’re being paid-off.” The woman, the first person, yelled. She sounded familiar to Ranvir.

“Silence, whore!” The second voice demanded. “You don’t know what you’re talking about! This isn’t Ankiria, where your kind can dance around alongside true warriors. That the Council let you in says enough about how corrupt they’ve become.”

“That’s rich coming from someone who’s getting paid off by the Lord’s Council.”

The man snorted. “And you can’t do anything about it. I don’t have to listen to you. In fact, you won’t have long yet at the academy.” There was a noise of cloth rustling and the sound of footsteps moving off.

The woman sighed, before her voice called out slightly louder. “I know you’re awake.”

Ranvir let out a groan. “Pashar?”

“Yes.”

“What was that about?”

“The principal admitting that he sold out to the Lord’s Council. It’s not for you to worry about. There’s a far bigger problem.”

“What’s that?” Ranvir shifted, sitting up slightly. He felt anxious that he couldn’t see the room he was in, that after so long, he still had no idea where he was.

“Your first exam begins tomorrow and you’re pretty fucking far from ready.”

A cold shiver of icy blue fear chilled his spine. “You mean, I’m getting healed soon?”

She let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry, Ranvir.”

“That’s bullshit!” He exclaimed, his eyes throbbed with more just the pain of their injuries. This couldn’t be happening, not now. He was fucking blind! How could he possibly take any test?

“It’s how things have fallen out, Ranvir. There’s nothing we can do about it.” Pashar sounded tired. Ranvir shook his head, causing the pain in his eyes to rise even higher. He struggled, pushing up against the wall to his back, only once he’d done realizing that he hadn’t known for sure if there was anything behind him.

“’How things have fallen out’, what the fuck does that mean? Shit! I’m fucked in this test because I got fucking blinded and crippled? What the fuck kind of bet was this? I must be a fucking idiot in a league of his own. Here I thought you knew what was going on and had at least a slight understanding of the situation! I trusted you!” Ranvir levered his feet out from under the bedspread, settling them on the cold stone floor.

He wasn’t wearing shoes, and the floor was freezing. His wounded leg hurt like it was being stabbed all over again. With a growl, he pushed himself to his feet, laying his weight onto his good leg. He stumbled, losing his balance. Blindly, he flailed for a wall or something to catch himself against. He took one step to regain his balance, his weak leg crumbling under the strain.

Strong hands caught him under the shoulders, staggering with his fall for a step before supporting him. Ranvir caught the faintest whiff of ash before Pashar—with an unladylike grunt—shoved him back to his feet.

“I understand being mad, but that is taking it too far.” Pashar scolded him sternly. “You cannot see, so you can not go off on your own. You don’t even know which way the door is, do you?”

Ranvir paused, gritting his teeth, leaning against her. Then he pointed to his left. “The principal left through there.”

One of Pashar’s hands left his torso to touch his forearm, directing it point more or less directly ahead of him.

“Maybe the door’s that way? Maybe it’s this way.” She moved the arm again. “The problem is you don’t know and you can’t easily find out.” She pulled slightly on his arm, moving him in a disorienting turn. “Here, rest against the wall. I’ll get you a crutch to take the weight off, then I’ll walk you to your friends.”

He leaned against the wall, listening to her footsteps fade, then the opening of a door. The sounds faded even faster until the door thudded shut and they disappeared entirely.