Fynn woke up groggy and with no recollection of his inner tribulations.

He found himself in unfamiliar surroundings with his body feeling like it was on fire. It took him long puzzling moments before his brain finally caught up, and when it did everything came back in a deluge. The two bullies had ambushed him and had absolutely gone to town on him. Were they still around? In a moment of panic, he tried to look around but found he could barely move without pain shooting into his brain. After reassuring himself that they weren't, he began to try and figure out where he was. The ceiling and walls were odd, made of wooden rails and canvas and he could see the light of the sun filtering through. It quickly became apparent to him that he was tucked into a makeshift bed in the back of someone’s wagon. There was an assortment of things in there with him, tools, containers, hanging dried herbs and the like, the sort of things that you would find, perhaps, in the back of a soothsayers wagon. Putting things together he wondered if the soothsayer had rescued him from Samson and Jak and brought him back here.

In the midst of his musings, a face peeked in through the canvas and he found himself staring into the blinking blue eyes of a young girl he knew very well. Anya.

Before he could say anything though, he saw her expression instantly change from grave concern to bewilderment. Her eyebrow shot up and then she just, screamed. Just as quickly as her face had appeared, it disappeared again leaving Fynn behind with a terrible pain in his head from the earth-shattering scream. Why did she do that, he wondered baffled? He found that he still couldn’t move so he just lay there until her little head appeared again.

‘Fynn, are you awake? Are you really awake?’ She asked in disbelief, her voice trembling.

He tried to respond, but all that came out was a rasping sound. He need not have bothered, however, because Anya, now with tears streaming down her face, threw herself onto him embracing him in a hug. She sobbed as she held him, all the while berating him for something or another.

Fynn groaned and tried to tell her that she was causing him an immense amount of discomfort and pain. She eventually seemed to understand his strange rasping sounds because she sat up.

‘Oh I’m sorry Fynn,’ she said sheepishly wiping away tears. ‘It’s just that you surprised me is all. I’m so glad you are finally awake. Everybody thought you were going to..,’ she stopped catching herself. ‘Well anyway, I didn’t. I knew you would wake up. Sentor said you are stronger than anybody knows and that if anyone could do it then it was you.’

She continued talking like this and eventually, Fynn managed to get one mumbled word out of his parched throat.

‘Wather.’

‘Huh? Oh, water! I’m so sorry Fynn, how silly of me, of course, you must be so thirsty.’

After Anya had helped him quench his thirst, overwhelming exhaustion dragged his eyelids shut and he couldn’t stop himself from falling asleep, but not before he mumbled his gratitude to an ecstatic Anya.

The next time he awoke it was dark and his head felt a bit clearer. Anya was nowhere to be seen and he could see the light of a fire through the wagon’s canvas sides. An all-consuming delicious aroma wafted in and though he tried to get up, he just couldn’t muster the energy. After what seemed an eternity of waiting, with his mouth salivating away, the soothsayer’s face peeked through the canvas.

‘Ah Fynn, great, you are awake.’ The soothsayer's gravelly voice was gentle and kind. ‘And just in time too, you must be absolutely famished. I have just made some rabbit soup if you would care for some?’

‘Yeth pleath Han,’ Fynn nodded eagerly.

He found his voice had recovered somewhat, though it still came through in an odd way. His tongue explored his mouth and found numerous unfamiliar gaps between his teeth that explained the lisp.

My teef,’ he groaned.

The soothsayer chuckled and helped him into a seated position.

‘Yes, we had to take a few of them out as they were broken and would have rotted had we left them as they were. Don’t worry though; some new ones will come through soon enough. For now, we will start you on soup which will be easier for you to eat.’

It briefly crossed Fynn’s mind that he had already had his adult teeth come through so there was no chance of that happening. However, he chose not to call the soothsayer out as he was obviously just trying to make him feel better. He was also distracted as he had only then begun to realize the full extent of his injuries. His whole body ached, his right arm was in wooden splints and there were swelling and bruises all over his face. It also hurt if he breathed in too deeply and his head throbbed with the movement of sitting up. He wondered what he must look like.

‘Now you are going to have to take it a little easy, to begin with,’ the soothsayer said. ‘But you will feel a whole lot better once you get something in you.’

Despite the soothsayer’s protests that he should take his time eating, he practically gulped down the rich hot rabbit soup. It was served in a mug, which he held in his good left arm. With a sigh and a wry chuckle, the soothsayer got him a second serving and Fynn repeated his previous performance. After his third serving, Fynn finally felt that he had had enough and once again tiredness began to overcome him.

The next two days passed by in a similar fashion and consisted of him waking up, having something to eat or drink and promptly pass out again. It was only when he woke up to find himself stark naked and an unfamiliar woman cleaning his backside with water from a nearby bucket that, through sheer embarrassment, he finally mustered the will to get up.

It took a few attempts and the help of the soothsayer before he was able to stand, however, once he was up, although unsteady, he was able to walk with the aid of an impromptu walking stick held tightly in his good hand.

Another few days saw remarkable improvement as he quickly regained his strength. Over this time he also learned about how he had been found and was shocked to discover that he had been unconscious for nearly a week before he suddenly woke up. The soothsayer had apparently chosen to bring him to his wagon stating that he could better look after him there, and he had even delayed his departure till his charge was sufficiently recovered. Fynn felt immense gratitude towards the soothsayer.

Anya was his constant companion during the day and her antics and boundless energy helped keep away the dark clouds of worry that were increasingly intruding on his thoughts. He knew that he would soon have to discuss exactly what happened on that fateful night and on a few occasions he had heard Anya’s father visit and talk quietly with the soothsayer, he had no doubt about what. Despite this, the soothsayer had yet to bring it up, however, he knew it was only a matter of time.

Other things were bothering him too. In spite of the serious injuries he had received, he was feeling remarkably well. His body and mind felt invigorated and he was recovering at an incredible rate. He was no expert, but he was certain that this wasn’t quite normal. In addition, to his great surprise, and relief, he felt the emergence of new teeth from his previously empty gums. Was that even possible? He wondered. Perhaps everything he had learned regarding this had been wrong.

And finally, the thing that bothered him perhaps the most, was that he hadn’t seen or heard from his parents and from what he gathered they hadn’t visited at any time since the incident. It brought in him a deep sadness, but he couldn’t say he was really surprised.

He had, however, received numerous visits from other residents of Tenbi-waypoint, many of whom he didn’t even know personally. The incident had apparently caused great shock in the community and speculation was rife as to what could have happened. The theories varied wildly. Some had even resorted to asking him leading questions before being unceremoniously chased off by the soothsayer.

One evening it finally happened. He had just finished eating a generous helping of the soothsayer’s infamous rabbit soup and was leaning back on a log and staring contentedly into the fire when the soothsayer cleared his throat.

‘Fynn, I am very glad to see you recovering so well. I know this will be difficult but I do need to ask you if you can recall what happened the night you were attacked? There are also other things we need to discuss, but let's get the unpleasant business out of the way first. Take your time and leave nothing out.’

Fynn found his heart beat uncontrollably. He swallowed hard and nodded. He had prepared himself for this and once he began, it all came out easily enough. When describing the torture though, his voice shook and as he recalled the ordeal and he could scarcely believe the words coming out of his own mouth. Throughout the telling, the soothsayer said nothing, merely nodding encouragement when he stumbled.

When he was finally done the soothsayer spoke.

‘Samson and Jak, huh,’ he mused almost to himself, and then he said suddenly. ‘Listen Fynn, you have a decision to make here. If you want, I will pass all this information to the chief clerk, but you need to be aware of the consequences. After an interrogation, it is very likely that the two boys will be handed over to the local Lord’s magistrate’s court for trial and following your testimony I’m afraid there will only be one outcome for attempted murder. The law does not factor age into its sentences and it is likely that they will hang for this.’

He let that sink in before he continued.

‘Of course, I would understand if despite this you want me to go ahead and…’

‘Han please don’t tell the chief clerk,’ Fynn burst out.

The soothsayer looked at him intently and let him continue.

‘It’s just that…. I know they hurt me, but I’m okay now. In fact, I feel better than okay. I feel different, like…,’ he struggled for words. ‘I don’t know, braver, more focused…. determined or something. And I know that they will have to pay for what they did but I want to be the one that pays them back. Han, I want to get stronger. Strong enough that no one can ever look down on me. Strong enough to protect myself and others from people like them.’

As he said this, tears began to stream down his face.

‘I don’t want to be ignored anymore.’

He buried his head into his knees and sobbed.

The soothsayer got up with a smile and put a consoling hand on Fynn’s back.

‘Well said my boy. And this brings me nicely to the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. What do you know about wielders?’