User:Darkom/Fabula de Viro Part Three

Fabula de Viro

By Darkom Nightblossom

Part Three

Callian

Callian awoke that morning just like every other morning. He got out of bed, dressed in his usual black leather armor, put his iron halberd across his back, and walked outside. He did his morning exercises, triple the required, as usual, and had a small breakfast. He went down to the blacksmith tent and started training without waiting for Durzak.

“I see you’re overachieving as usual?” Durzak said, smiling. Callian said nothing, but continued his sequences with his spear like weapon.

‘Stab, parry, dodge to the left, swing. Stab, parry-‘

“Well, I’ll watch, but I’m guessing you won’t be making any mistakes.” Durzak shrugged and walked back to his tent.

One hour later Callian had barely broke a sweat. He left the smiths area and was walking towards the nearest sparring ring when he saw Blentyn and some strange bosmer wearing a short sword. As was his wont, he said nothing, but looked into Blentyn’s eyes with a look that was unmistakable. “Who is he?” They asked silently. Blentyn smiled and mouthed the words “A new recruit, you’ll fight him shortly.”

Callian arrived at the ring as two others were fighting; a large orc with an equally large battleaxe, and a slender bosmer woman with a rapier. The orc was swinging as hard as he could and had sound technique, but he could not hit the woman, who was parrying and dodging in unimaginable ways. The orc was tired, but the woman showed no signs of fatigue. ‘She seems to be an Exigo, but he’s just a poor Coepi. He never stood a chance.’ Callian thought as he watched the fight unfold. Within two more minutes it was over. The orc had dropped from exhaustion and was quickly picked up by a few members of the crowd and placed under a nearby tree. The other participant was cheered for and approached with words of encouragement and congratulations. Callian didn’t bother to listen and stayed where he was.

When the next fight was set to begin, Callian immediately stepped into the ring, saying nothing but challenging every member of the audience with his glare. Each member gazed back at him, each with a different expression; the initiates that did not know his name stared back like animals, prideful yet ignorant. The higher ranked stared at him with nearly the same venom as his, but none stepped up to challenge him. Finally the bosmer woman that had just fought stepped in, matching his glare with a patronizing look of confidence.

They both raised their weapons without being told, and when the referee in the audience announced the fight was to begin, neither moved an inch. ‘Even if she has managed to hide it, she must be at least a little tired. She would have to be at Exigo level or higher to be completely un-touched by the last fight. I will use an anti-aerial strategy, utilizing my long reach as an advantage.’

Suddenly Callian leapt forward, extending his spear-like weapon out to stab the woman. She parried it to her outside, just as he thought she would, and jumped to the opposite side. She was now on his right, and was now going forward to stab him with her slender sword. Callian had anticipated this and had already started his side swing to slice her through the middle. She quickly placed her thin blade between his halberd and her torso, but couldn’t stop the force of the blow, which sent her sprawling on the ground. Callian then stepped towards her, waiting for her to try and get up. ‘At the first sign of motion, she will be struck down.’

He relaxed his gaze from her eyes and sword to concentrate on her entire body. He recognized a slight twitch in her leg, but disregarded it as a feint. Moments later, she jumped the opposite direction, right into the blunt end of Callian’s halberd, which was entirely iron, designed for such a technique.

She doubled over, but still held her weapon between them. Callian kicked her hand aside and brought his weapon down toward her throat. He stopped a hair from killing her.

The referee called the match, and the woman retrieved her rapier from the ground. She was panting heavily and holding her stomach where he had struck her. She looked up at him with eyes of defeat, and Callian looked at her with cold contempt. ‘A person’s look when they have just lost tells a lot about them. She seems to have the eyes of a whipped dog. When will someone have the eyes of a demon, cold and angry?’

Callian rested the shaft of his halberd on his muscular shoulder. He looked out into the crowd and waited for the next challenger. When none stepped up for five minutes, Callian was set to leave, but he heard a shout from somewhere in the back of the group. “Wait up, Callian. Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook so easy!”

Blentyn made his way to the front of the circle of assassins, with the bosmer man walking behind him. He had a long sword at his belt this time. The bosmer looked confused, if excited; his left hand caressed the grip of his new sword.

“Well, you seem to be in high spirits. You just beat someone, I’m guessing?” Blentyn asked, ‘With that same smile he always wears.’ Callian replied with a slight nod.

“Great, then you can fight this one.” He said, pushing the bosmer inside the ring.

“What?” Blentyn’s friend asked “I’m fighting him?”

“Yes,” Blentyn said “He is possibly the best fighter here, in open combat; he can beat Mwhyll and me at the same time. He is only an Exigo, like me, but can fight on par with most Iudex. Unfortunately, he can hardly use magic or stealth so he can’t get out of this camp.”

The Coepi seemed to be awestruck, “He can beat you and Mwhyll at the same time?”

“Yes, he has.” Blentyn said, staring into Callians eyes. Callian gave another slow nod, and stared right back at Blentyn, angered he had brought up his difficulties with magic and stealth.

“Will you be fighting?” The referee asked Callian and the bosmer.

“I suppose.” The Coepi said.

“What is your name? We need to record these fights.” The Iudex referee asked. Callian was mildly interested in knowing his opponents name, so he listened intently.

“Viro, Viro Latro.” The elf Callian now knew as Viro said.

“Okay then, begin when I give the signal.”

“Alright.” Viro said, taking his new sword out of its sheath. Callian brought his halberd into a ready position and got into a fighting stance. Blentyn joined the crowd around the ring, but made sure to get a spot up front. The spectators, after realizing a Coepi would be fighting Callian, started cheering for Viro. ‘Hard to determine if they are afraid, jealous, or both,’ Callian thought ‘Perhaps they’re just cheering for the underdog.’

The referee brought down his hand and shouted “Fight!” and the cheering died quickly. Viro brought his sword up in front of him to a basic guard position.

‘A sound guard, but it has too many holes. There is no way he can protect his right arm quickly enough like that. Therefore, that shall be my target, however, I must remember not to cripple him; Lupus said if I damaged another person permanently again I would not be able to fight anymore.’ While these thoughts ran through Callian's head, he was, by instinct, protecting himself completely. His long reach and in-human reflexes ensured a three hundred and sixty degree protection from any attack.

Viro feinted forward, and was about to dodge back to prepare a counter when Callian caught his left foot with curved portion of the halberd blade. He left a large cut along Viro’s calf as Viro fell to the ground. Callian was about to deliver the final blow when Viro rolled back and jumped to his feet. Callian smiled, but quickly returned to his usual scowl. He looked at Viro’s new stance with a look of approval; he had changed his grip to provide a better defense, while moving his feet to increase his reaction speed. However, his offense would be decidedly slower unless he changed his stance. ‘I’ll use this opportunity to set him up for a head strike, by making him think low with repeated leg assaults.’ He looked into Viro’s eyes, and saw a look unlike any he had seen while fighting. Viro was not blinded by rage, or too comfortable knowing his life was not in danger, but he perceived every motion of Callian’s in a calculating stare that actually sent chills of excitement down Callian’s spine.

A few moments later Callian pushed forward off his back leg to jump forward towards Viro. He used the bladed end of his halberd to sweep towards Viro’s legs, and Viro was forced to parry downwards with his sword. Callian repeated this, coming from the other direction, and Viro was forced to parry again. This time he attempted to use Callian’s momentum against him and sidestep, but he miscalculated and only fell off balance momentarily. However, the moment was not lost to Callian, as he stabbed forward with the blunt end of his spear-like weapon. Viro backpedalled, attempting to move off to one side, but Callian had him. He stabbed forward again, this time with the pointed end, and succeeded in giving Viro a shallow wound.

Unfortunately that was all it took; Callian was victorius yet again.Viro was upset, but not surprised, at the outcome of the match. He had realized his loss was somewhat by small mistakes of his own, but mostly was Callian’s own skill. He knew he was simply outclassed. He looked up into Callian’s cold eyes with a look of anger and frustration at his loss, more at himself than Callian.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad.” Blentyn said, stepping into the ring to help Viro up from where he had fallen. Viro felt his chest where he had been stabbed and Blentyn said, “Don’t worry, that’ll scar up in a day or two and won’t trouble you anymore. Did you at least learn something?”

“Yes,” Viro said, smiling “I think I did.”

“Good, that’s what it’s all about. Unfortunately, you’re not done yet, but first let’s get you wrapped up.”

“Alright, are we going to the medical tent, with Alumna?” Viro asked.

“Yup. She’ll take care of that, without magic, mind you, and you can fight another two or three rounds.”

“Let’s go, then.” Viro said, walking out of the ring and through the crowd towards the large, white tent.

“Sounds good.” Blentyn said, following him.

“Wait!” Someone shouted from behind them. They both turned around and looked to see that it was Callian that called out to them.

They both looked at him in surprise at the fact he actually said something. “Does he do this often?” Viro whispered to Blentyn.

“No, I don’t think it’s ever happened before, he usually just either leaves or stays in for the nest round, and he never talks to anyone.” Blentyn answered as Callian made his way through the crowd towards the pair with his halberd strapped across his back.

“I would like to come with you.” Callian said sheepishly, almost fumbling with the words, as if they were unfamiliar to his mouth. “May I walk with you two?” He asked, equally shyly.

“Certainly, Callian, we were heading to the medical tent to get Viro wrapped up. Do you need anything?” Blentyn asked, still shocked at Callian speaking, not to mention his respectful and shy tone ‘What in the Nine is going on? Callian never speaks to anyone; I even tried to talk to him many times with no success. Why is he talking to Viro all the sudden?’ Blentyn asked himself.

Together, the three of them were walking towards the tent when Callian suddenly spoke again “I would like to compliment you, Viro, on your fight. You adjusted your posture quickly, and would not have suffered substantial injury from that last attack.”

“Thank you,” Viro said “You are a very good fighter. Not even Mwhyll had such concise movements and strategy.” Blentyn watched the two speak with a look that almost bespoke jealousy.

“More than your fight though, your eyes at the end impressed me. People’s eyes can speak volumes, you know. Happy or sad, angry or calm; you can almost predict what people will do next based on their look.” Callian explained as he stopped outside the entrance of the medical tent.

“Is that why you seem to know what I was going to do?” Viro asked, smiling.

“Partly, it certainly does help.” Callian said, returning Viro’s smile.

“Well,” Blentyn said, opening the tent flap “Let’s get Viro bandaged and maybe you two can fight again.”

“No.” Callian said stoically “We shall not fight again until Viro is ready. However, I am willing to train you, Viro, if you are willing.”

“It would be an honor. Thank you.” Viro said, looking Callian in the eyes once more

“No,” Callian said “Thank you.”

‘What is going on?’

Two minutes later Viro was sitting on the large table within the tent, with Alumna examining his naked torso.

“It’s not bad, but it will need to be cleaned and bandaged every few days.” Alumna said, stepping away from Viro to get a roll of gauze. The tent was much like Viro had seen it the day before: the potions and scrolls were still strewn about, the chairs had been moved, and Bralos was still lying in bed wrapped with bandage.

“Good to see you back.” He said dryly, not bothering to lie up and look at Viro or the three people standing around him.

“Hello Bralos, getting better?” Viro asked politely.

“Hardly,” the dark elf said “It’ll still be about a month before I am ready to resume training.”

“And be happy you are healing that quickly,” Alumna said, frustrated with him “Most people would have died from those injuries.”

“I don’t mind dying, as long as I was a person of strength and worth beforehand. Meaning you had better heal me so I can resume my training!” Bralos yelled, throwing off his blanket and putting his legs over the bed. Viro and Blentyn all looked at him with interest; they had never seen him so emotional before. Callian looked at him too, but with a different expression, one of pity.

“You cannot walk yet, so don’t even try it!” Alumna yelled at him.

“Really?” Bralos asked, his red eyes narrowing in rage “Let’s see.” He said as he placed his feet on the ground and pressed himself upwards, with a look of masked pain on his face. He was almost to a complete stand when he suddenly cried out and fell back onto the bed.

“See?” Alumna said in a tone that reminded Viro of a mother that watched her child make a mess and must now clean it up. “I’m going to have to ask you three to leave, he needs attention. Viro, please take that gauze, do you know how to wrap yourself?”

“Yes, but I think I may need help.” Viro answered, taking the bandage off the table where Alumna had left it.

“You have two people right there, Blentyn and especially Callian should be able to help you.” Alumna said, lying Bralos back down comfortably and placing the blanket back on to him. Viro saw a red pulse travel from her chest to her hand, where it entered Bralos’ body and dissipated. Bralos’ look of pain left immediately, replaced by a look of anger and frustration. Viro was still amazed at his newfound power. Callian saw the expression on his face, and as they walked out he asked him if there was anything wrong. Viro put his cloth shirt back on and started for the exit.

“Well, it’s complicated.” Viro said, looking at Blentyn for help as they walked away from the tent.

“He has the power to see magic as it happens. However, he has a horrible weakness to it as well. We know not where it came from or why it came to him, but Lupus is going to get an expert on magicka and powers to determine the best course of action.” Blentyn explained, in a serious tone.

“That is a mixed blessing. Well, it doesn’t impact your ability to fight, does it?” Callian asked, seemingly unsurprised at the news.

“Um… not physically,” Viro said as they walked further out of camp and into the swampy woods “But I want to one day be able to attack a magic user without fear, so it must be solved quickly.”

“Ah,” Callian said “Who was the man inside the tent. Bralas, wasn’t it?”

“Bralos and he is a Coepi who recently lost a fight to decide rank. He is severely wounded, but I have never seen him act that way.” Viro explained, staring into the distance blankly, reflecting on the short time he spent around the man.

“Hmm, those can be extreme; many do not live through the encounter. Bralos, however, seems to be very upset that he lost. His eyes spoke of pain that can only be afflicted by one’s own self.” Callian said, very seriously and pensively.

“That is…” Viro ended, unable to think of something to express his thoughts ‘Callian can tell that much about Bralos in a glance? I had no idea Bralos was upset over the loss, I took him at his word, but what he did just then really proved what Callian said.’

“Here is a good place to address your wounds. Private, yet clean.” Blentyn said, indicating a stump that seemed to have but cut for the purpose of sitting. Viro removed his shirt once more and sat down on the remains of a medium sized tree, placing the roll of gauze into Blentyn’s outstretched hand.

“No,” Callian said “Allow me; I was the one who injured him, after all.” Blentyn looked at Viro quickly before he handed the bandages to Callian. He quickly set about cleaning Viro’s wound, placing a small cloth pad on it that he retrieved from a bag at his waist, and wrapping gauze around Viro’s chest. After he had finished, Viro stared in amazement at the proficiency and speed at which he had accomplished the task.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Viro asked, standing up.

“Alumna taught me; back when I was just a Coepi. I lost many fights and was injured often in the process. I have trouble with restoration magic,” Callian said sheepishly “But I learned first aid and how to create potions instead. She didn’t say anything because she was busy with that Bralos fellow, but we have known each other for years.”

“Wow,” Viro said “You would be a handy man to have in a fight, in more ways than one.” Blentyn looked at him for a moment, but Viro did not notice. “Please sit down again, your calf is still injured.” Callian said in a very professional tone.

“Ah, sorry.” Viro said, returning to his spot on the stump, rolling up his pant leg to allow Callian to treat it as well. After he had wrapped it with the same speed as before, Viro said “Well, thank you very much, but I believe we should go back and see how Bralos is doing.” “I am curious as to his state of health as well.” Callian said intelligently.

“Wait, Viro, you have to get to your next fight in the arena if you want to stay on schedule. After that you must see Mwhyll, if you win, that is. I’m sure you’ll have enough time to see Bralos later.” Blentyn said with a small hint of a smile. “Oh,” Viro said, disappointed “I guess he can wait.”

“I will go check upon him and tell you how he’s doing before your fight with Mwhyll starts, if you’d like,” Callian offered “I wouldn’t want you to miss a fight or interrupt your training.”

“Thank you Callian, you wouldn’t mind?” Viro asked politely. “Not at all.” He replied, smiling.

Blentyn had another flash of jealousy go across his face, but it was replaced with a smile quickly “Alright then, let’s go. Bye Callian.”

“Goodbye Blentyn, Viro. I’ll see you in about fifteen minutes; make sure you win your next fight.”

“I will.” Viro smiled. They separated into two groups and went their separate ways, Callian heading towards the medical tent where Alumna and Bralos were, and Blentyn and Viro back to the sparring ring.

Trunco

Callian entered the medical tent to find both Alumna and Bralos gone. Callian did a quick search of the tables and beds for any clues; finding only Bralos’ empty bed and blankets strewn on the floor, he left the tent. He took measured strides, carefully searching each area with a quick glance. He found himself crossing one of the many bridges in camp towards the fight rings where Viro was. ‘First I’ll ask Viro and Blentyn if they’ve seen anything, then alert the guards.’ Callian thought.

Arriving at the ring, he pushed several onlookers aside to get to where Viro was. Once he saw the person across from Viro, however, he stopped dead in his tracks. “I am here to fight you.”

Viro, had only gotten to the ring minutes before Callian, and had not yet started his round when he noticed the crowd moving aside to allow someone to get through. This surprised Viro, who had so far seen the crowd move only for Callian, so he assumed he was who was approaching him. Viro was awestruck when he saw who it really was.

Alumna, moments after Viro, Callian, and Blentyn left, had settled Bralos down. She put him back in bed, covered him with his blanket, and cast a quick restoration spell to ease his pain. Then she talked to him softly, reassuring him about his state of health “These things take time, Bralos. Even with magic and alchemy your wounds were severe, and will take weeks to heal. Without them, you could well be dead.”

Once he was asleep, Alumna did a quick check in her mind over his wounds. Finding everything to be as she promised him, she set about grinding venison, boar meat, and cairn bolete caps in a mortar and pestle. ‘This should make him feel better.’ She thought. However, when she reached for her cairn bolete caps, she found them missing ‘Hmm, guess I’ll have to go restock. They really should make coepi do this, but I guess the muscle heads here at Fen don’t find mushroom-picking an important activity.’ She thought with a small frown as she left the tent and entered the swampy forest around camp.

Bralos, seeing her leave, took the opportunity to try to prove everyone wrong ‘I’ll show them,’ he thought, with a malicious grimace on his face as he threw the blankets off his bed, onto the floor ‘Let’s see how Viro and his lot feel when I am up and walking, good as new.’ Bralos struggled to rise, once more feeling pain, but no longer concealing it. After ten agonizing seconds, he rose to a full stand. He momentarily considered the crutches in the corner, but thought it would ruin the image of power he wanted to convey.

He managed to walk to the exit of the tent, and open the flaps without much difficulty, but the sunlight hurt his sensitive eyes. He shielded them with one hand, using the other to grab a handful of fabric to steady himself. After a short pause, he made his way to the bridge connecting the medical tent area to the fighting rings where Viro was. He supported himself on the side of the bridge, but stopped after he realized the people in front of him might notice. He took the moment to think back to his training, the pain exercise he did daily. ‘Block the pain’ he thought.

He approached the throng of people, knowing Viro should be in the middle, had to be in the middle. As the audience recognized him from the fight the other day, one by one, they stepped aside. He waited, a look of determination on his face, forcing his legs to stop shaking. Once a path was clear, he made his way through towards the center. There he found Viro, awestruck at Bralos’ presence, and forced a grin. However, when Viro approached him with a concerned look in his eye, Bralos took on a dark smirk.

“What are you doing?” Viro asked, openly concerned for Bralos’ well-being.

“I am here to fight you.” Bralos said, just as Callian arrived with an equally shocked face.

“You should not be walking, nonetheless fighting!” Callian yelled, his look of shock replaced with one of anger “I cannot believe you are so irresponsible as to leave your bed! Where is Alumna?!”

“I don’t know.” Bralos said condescendingly “She left the tent after she started grinding a potion, so I’d have to guess to get ingredients.”

“You shall return to your bed at once, before she returns and starts to look for you.” Callian ordered him. Viro looked on in silence, unsure of what to do.

“No, I am going to fight Viro.” Bralos said, almost pouting.

“You selfish child! You have no idea what this little excursion will cost you! Injuries that would have taken days will now take weeks to heal! Even Alumna cannot fix the damage you have done already!”

“I-I don’t believe you. I feel fine.” He lied.

“Like oblivion you are!” Callian yelled “Do you even feel it?!”

Bralos allowed the pain to return, just for a moment, to see what his body was saying. He was knocked backwards it was so great. His vision was starting to go hazy, and Bralos could not focus on Callian’s voice as it called to him from above. ‘Above?’ Bralos thought ‘Why is he above me? Oh, I’m on the ground…’ Bralos passed out.

“Too many people blacking out around here, first it’s a weirdo with no magicka tolerance, and now a crazy guy. Alumna, what’s going on?” Bralos heard a stranger in the room before he saw them. She, as it sounded like a female, seemed both concerned and annoyed. Bralos tried to open his eyes to get a good look at her, but found he was unable. ‘Must be a powerful sedative…Paralysis elixir, probably.’ Bralos thought, too tired to be upset. He heard Alumna sigh and give a reply he couldn’t quite make out as he fell back into darkness.

Viro lie awake in his cot. It was dark, but Viro could not guess how many hours he had spent worrying about Bralos. He also spent a good deal of his nervous thoughts on himself and about the organization. ‘The organization, hmph, I don’t even know what we’re called. Don’t even know why these people do this insane training and fighting. Don’t know why they hurt themselves…’ Viro, alone in his small tent at night, began to cry. He cried for himself, he cried for Bralos, he cried at the stupidity of it all. However, Viro did not cry himself to sleep, he stopped crying after one thought, a memory of the night before. We do what we must to keep Tamriel a peaceful place, so that it may one day be able to go without us. ‘Do what you must, Viro, do what you must…’

Alumna spent the next week inside the medical tent with Bralos and her new Breton assistant, Lillie. She was assigned the new help so there would always be someone there to watch after the patients, namely one freshly injured Dark Elf. Alumna, like most caring people, blamed herself for Bralos’ “escape”. ‘How could I have let that happen? I knew he was depressed and he had made the attempt not two minutes before, why did I leave the tent?’ Alumna thought to herself an average of once every five minutes. However, after that week, while Lillie was checking Bralos’ vitals, she noticed a change.

“Alumna, Ms. Alumna! I think he’s doing better!” Lillian shouted.

“By the nine, girl, don’t shout, I’m right here!” Alumna shouted back “What is happening?” She asked in a softer tone, walking up beside Lillian from the other corner of the tent.

“See his pupils? The size has gone down, and the color is back to normal in the afflicted extremities. I believe that means the healing is near complete.” Lillian said excitedly.

“Hmm,” Alumna said, checking the dark elf again “Yes, I do believe you’re right, Lillian. We’ll take him off the sedatives and check on him in an hour. I want you to wait here ‘till then, I’m going to make him another health restoration potion.”

“Yes ma’am.” Lillian said, realizing it would be a long hour, but also thinking how important her new job was. ‘So much better than my last position.’ She thought.

Bralos awoke to Alumna’s voice beside his bed “Bralos, Bralos; wake up. You should be fine now. You have company. Bralos, wake up…”

“Bralos!” Alumna shouted, jarring Bralos from his peaceful nothingness

“Wha- huh, ow…” Bralos woke with a start, sitting up quickly, causing his head to pound and his body to ache. He began rubbing his shoulder “You really should try to wake people up a little more, gently.” He said with a look of annoyance.

“I did, you didn’t wake up. You have company.” Alumna said, leaving with a scowl.

Bralos cracked open one eye and looked around the tent to find Viro, Callian, Blentyn, Mwhyll, and a girl he did not recognize standing near his bed, with the exception of Mwhyll, who was sitting up against the wall.

“Bralos? How are you feeling?” Viro asked tentatively.

“Unn…” Bralos closed both eyes again, then opened them, blinking twice in rapid succession.

“You fainted after your legs gave out. Alumna and Lillian said that you snapped a few tendons in your knees and hips.” Viro said softly.

“Told you.” Callian muttered, with dying anger, looking at the floor.

“And?” Bralos said, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

“You will take quite a bit longer to heal. We estimate you won’t recover for at least a month, with constant potions and un-interrupted rest.” Lillian said, softly and compassionately.

“And you are?” Bralos asked, not giving any signs he heard her.

“Lillian, Alumna’s assistant. Assigned here after you hurt yourself.” She said, in the same feminine tone.

“Whatever. Leave, come back in a month.” Bralos said, turning his head away. He tried to turn on his side, but found only a flash of dulled pain and decided to stay as he was.

“But Bralos…” Blentyn said, looking at the man with pity.

“Come. Let him be.” Mwhyll said as he opened the tent flap and motioned for them all to go outside.

Callian stalked out immediately, Viro and Blentyn looked at him for a moment before they too left. Mwhyll was out last, shaking his head ‘Poor soul. He has talent, but he’s too reckless.’

The group was standing on the trail at the base of the hill that the medical tent was situated on in a circle. They all had adopted different postures and expressions: Callian with his arms crossed and face resolute, Blentyn was looking down with a sad face, Viro continuously looked back at the tent, then returned his attention to the other people in the group. Mwhyll looked straight ahead, eyes unfocused with his right hand tracing scars on his left with its index finger.

After a short period of silence, Viro asked “What was Bralos like before he was injured?”

Viro looked up at each person’s face in turn, and Callian solemnly said “I only saw him a few times, but he always fought recklessly and without concern for his body. His skill, however, was admirable. His eyes were always ablaze with rage, reflecting the blood of his opponents with a bone-chilling sheen.”

“Yes, he fought like a demon. I was his proctor for the initiation test, he took about thirty minutes longer than you did, but that was because he never heeded anything I said. He fought the same the whole time, swinging at me like a madman, until he was dead tired. After that, he slept for an hour and then continued the assault.” Mwhyll said, his eyes still glazed, his voice a serious monotone.

“After that day, he never talked to me again. He always walked right past me; I never tried to start a conversation either.”

Blentyn nodded his head silently while Mwhyll was talking. Once the Argonian had finished, Blentyn said “He trained at the archery range little, but he was a great marksman. He hit a bull’s eye almost seven times out of ten, better than most people training to be archers can do.”

Viro nodded his head silently “No wonder he was so upset when he couldn’t train anymore. How do you think he’ll do for the next month?”

“He is defeated, submissive. He no longer has delusions about not needing to heal. His psyche is injured, but it too will heal.” Callian interjected.

“Good, good. I wish him the best.” Viro said, trailing off.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air, lasting almost a minute until Callian gave a small farewell and walked away. Blentyn followed suite, and Mwhyll sat down where he was. Viro shook his head, sighed, and walked back to his tent.

Lightning broke the sky in two with a jagged white line. Thunder woke Viro from his peaceful sleep. The dirt floor under his tent was damp, and he did not want to step on it until he put on his new black leather boots, so he lie awake, listening to the rain on canvas, broken only by the occasional thunderclap.

‘One month. Is that all? It feels like it’s been a year, a year of daily training, daily fights, daily lessons.’ Viro thought back to the beginning of his training, those eventful days full of new people and difficult lessons. However, Viro was thankful for it.

Viro could finally use the training bow. He could complete the morning exercises without breaking a sweat; he could fight on par with Callian. On par, that is, when Callian was going easy on him; Viro smiled to himself. The only part of his life he wasn’t happy about was the mysteries: what was the organization, who was the leader, and why was he chosen?

What was his special magic sensing gift? Where did it come from, and where was Lupus with the expert he had promised, so long ago?

Viro’s internal questioning only ceased once he drifted off once more to peaceful sleep, one of many skills he had learned, to sleep without guilt or dream.