Damien stood and stared at the blacksmith. His head being relatively clear now, he realized that his chances of actually winning were abysmal. His left arm was most likely broken and pulsing with pain. His sides were both bruised from the hit and the landing. There was also the fact he was still a child and the blacksmith was a grown man who was in fairly good shape.

‘So what is in my favor’, Damien thought quickly assessing the situation as the blacksmith stood up. The blacksmith wasn’t uninjured Damien noted as the man pulled the horn out of his back. That was a bad idea as it would only increase the bleeding. The wound wouldn’t heal anytime soon as he pushed fae energy through the makeshift blade when he stabbed him. Damien needed help.

“HELP!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice rasped near the end of the word as he strained his throat. The moment he shouted the blacksmith rushed him down, hoping to silence him. Damien prayed someone heard them as they were in the outskirts of the forest and there wasn’t too much distance between the forest and the town.

Damien scrambled off to the side hoping to gain some distance, but the blacksmith easily caught up to him. Being tackled to the ground, Damien felt his eyes tear as a sharp pain shot up his arm. The man was shouting at him but he was too busy trying to focus to pay much attention. As the smith’s arm came up to swing Damien quickly elbowed at his face in hopes of disorienting him.

The blacksmith didn’t expect the blow as Damien’s elbow smashed into his nose. As the man recoiled, Damien frantically struggled to crawl from underneath him before he was stuck again. Next thing he knew his world was dark and painfully as his head was smashed into the dirt. Damien sobbed from the pain as his thoughts became more and more panicked. He tried to turn around but a fist slammed into his cheek for his efforts. Realizing the futility of his actions, Damien used his good arm to cover the back of his head in an attempt to cover himself. As he did this he received several more punches to his arm for his effort.

Fear gripped Damien as he felt the blacksmith start to wrestle the horn out of his hand. Pain be damned, Damien forced himself to kick and struggle. As the back of his foot his something soft, he felt the grip release. Rolling over he saw the man clutching his groin in pain. Damien saw an opportunity and took it. He stabbed at the blacksmith aiming for the neck. As the point met its mark, a strangled gargle emitted from the blacksmith before the man went limp. Damien stabbed several more times in a frenzy before collapsing. As he calmed down the pain hit him in its full magnitude and Damien started to cry in earnest. As he sobbed rapid footsteps sprinted towards him. Damien was picked up and carried away as he cried harder from the jostling aggravating his injury. This nightmare was finally over.

Several days after his fight with the blacksmith Damien finally recovered enough to leave the house. His mom had done extensive treatment on him and Kera using a variety of salves, potions, and magic in their healing process. As he left he immediately sprinted to the forest and searched the area for his horn. During the past few days, he felt extremely uneasy without his weapons and needed them back.

Damien spent a half an hour before he found one of the horns but there was no sign of the other. In all likelihood, someone from the village had taken it. Damien tried not to think too hard about the events that occurred, he was still shaken. Having his weapon again, a sense of safety washed over him that he hadn't felt since before he had to kill the smith to save Kera. This horn had saved his life along with a child's. He never found out what occurred but at this point, he was positive he didn't want the full story. Damien quickly rushed back home, having no intentions of spending more time than necessary in this cursed forest. Damien was glad to be able to retreat to the safety of his home.

As Damien entered his house, Kera's mother, Lameria, was eating with his mother. She got up as he entered the house and walked over hugging him.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she smiled sadly before leaving the house. A somber mood overtaking him, Damien felt many emotions manifest as he battled to keep it down. Damien walked upstairs, as he let the storm inside him settle.

The next few days Damien stayed in his room reflecting on his life so far. All the problems so far he could have fixed if he was just a bit better. Slightly fast, a bit stronger, a tad more clever, or he was smarter. He started slacking off from his daily “training,” and had not really pushed himself as far as he could while he was doing it consistently. He needed to be all these things now, lest another Kera incident occur that this time he isn’t able to stop. Remembering the incident in its entirety made Damien cringe, and he popped up grabbing some books head to his desk to distract himself.

Damien had never felt so scared before in his entire lives. He had felt extreme levels of fear against the animals he fought, and during the illusion but there was always a disconnect. While fighting the blacksmith he wasn’t just scared for his life but Kera’s also. He had died once, the memories were fuzzy but he accepted death was something that would happen again. Was he looking forward to it? No. But he knows it will come eventually. But he hadn’t really considered the fact that things can happen to those around him. He had refused to process it until now. He could not accept that. He wanted to protect them from that, but as it is he is still a prepubescent child who is only alive due to a lucky shot to the groin.

As his thoughts aggressively bounced around Damien felt nervous energy build up inside him. He hopped up to take a walk through the town. He needed some fresh air.