A gasp startled him awake.

"What is it, Meulin? A vision?"

"Death is upon thee. He shall be taken from us." She quickly spoke, before the possession fled and she fainted into his arms.

"Meulin? Meulin?! Who?! Who shall be taken!?"

Just then, the tent flap opened, and Rufioh poked his head in before entering fully.

"Kankri.. My boy, I'm afraid I must be bearer of bad news."

"Who has been wounded, Rufioh?"

The troll sat with his back to the door where Rufioh stood, still cradling the unconscious Meulin on his lap.

"I am not sure how you already possess that knowledge, but...oh, Lord forgive me..Kankri, it's Mituna."

"What..? How did this happen?!" Kankri turned to face Rufioh, horror turning his pallor a pale white.

"He was struck down while we were fishing. We never saw his attackers, but no-one followed us, I can assure you."

"But Mituna, how is he?! Will he live?!"

Rufioh sighed.

"The Dolorosa says it's far too soon to tell. His wounds were very grave, Kankri. It's a wonder we've managed to bring him back to camp. It will be a miracle entirely if he survives the night."

"I must see him. Where is he?"

"Dolorosa's tent."

"Look after Meulin until she wakes, would you? I don't believe I'll be returning any time soon."

(Page Break)

"Damara, hold him steady! I have to close this wound, or we may lose him yet.."

The rust-blood had her hands pinned firmly on The Psionic's shoulders, forcing him to keep still as Porrim sewed. Mituna groaned and screamed, sweat pouring from his brow as the wound in his chest was stitched.

Damara desperately wished that they'd had a sleeping draught. At this rate he would wake the entire camp.

Suddenly The Signless came dashing into the tent.

"Mother! Mituna, is he dying?"

"Not if I can help it, my son, but these wounds just won't stop bleeding."

Mituna's screams slowly died down into exhausted sobs as The Dolorosa spoke with her son, his thrashing growing steadily weaker as his yellow blood flowed freely from his various lacerations.

"He won't calm. Please, Kankri, speak to him. We have precious little time left."

"Yes..of course..I-"

He choked a little on that last part, Mituna making a similar noise and hacking up a slimy golden blood clot.

The Signless knelt at his follower, nay, his friend's side and held the hand which Damara didn't have wrestled into the dirt.

"Oh my poor Psionic. I am so sorry that this should befall you..You are ailed by so much in your moments of health already, that I wish not you had to go through such times of injury and illness."

"Who..where..Kankri..?"

"Yes, my friend. I'm here." He squeezed Mituna's hand and The Psionic squeezed back weakly.

"Kankri, my dear man, I can hear you..urgh..w-wonderfully..but...AAAH!"

"Sorry love. I'll try to be gentle." Porrim apologized, rethreading her needle for another go.

"Mituna, what were you saying a moment ago? You can hear me fine, but-?"

"I was blinded in the attack. Not that it mattered to me much. I couldn't 'see' very much before the fact either."

"Oh Mituna, I- Wait. What do you mean you couldn't 'see' before the fact?"

Just then shouting was heard outside the tent.

"Leave me be Rufioh! I need to know that he's alright!"

"I told you, Disciple! The Dolorosa is attending to Mituna's injuries as we speak!"

"I'm not talking about him, I'm talking about Kankri!"

"For the thousandth time, The Signless is not the one who was wounded! It was The Psi-"

"THE PSIONIC IS DEAD!"

"Signless, go control your Disciple. Mituna is in good hands, and you know it." Damara gazed at him with white, unblinking eyes, startling enough the send him out the door to fetch his lover.

"Meulin, what's all this nonsense about Mituna I hear?"

"He's dead, Kankri! The Orphaner Dualscar cut off his head..! That was what my vision was about. Kankri, you know my visions have never been wrong before!"

"Yes my love, I am aware..but sometimes, they do tend to be a bit over exaggerated. Care to have a peek and see what I mean?" He gestured towards Porrim's tent.

"And you can swear on your life that I will not see a decapitated body?"

"Guarantee."

"Alright."

Kankri led Meulin into the tent, where she found Mituna not only alive, but speaking.

"Look, there they are now!" Meulin gasped in horror when Mituna turned his head her way. Long, bloody claw marks marred his eyes.

"Duelscar blinded you." She whimpered, kneeling in the dust at his side, now understanding the true meaning of her dream.

"Be not afraid, Meulin. I can still see. In much the same way I did before the fact. I was trying to explain this to Kankri before you came to the tent."

Kankri sat next to Meulin at Mituna's side.

"Yes, the Psionic was trying to explain to me that he's been..blind..all this time."

"Not blind, Vantas. Greatly visually impaired. My red and blue eyes have been deformed since birth, thus I have never been able to see properly with them. So I saw with my third eye. My mind's eye. I relied on my telepathic powers for vision, but doing so drained me, which is why I was always plagued with illness during our travels. Now I shall have to learn to see in other ways until my body mends fully..If-..my body mends fully.."

"You shall heal, friend. I promise." Kankri placed a hand on Mituna's forehead, lulling the troll into a more tranquil state.

"Rest easy, Mituna, the pain is nearly over. I merely have to dress your wounds, then you can sleep." Porrim soothed.

The Psionic sighed, and then went limp so Porrim could nurse his injuries without fuss. Damara stood to fetch the medicine basket, and then backed into the corner of the tent, no longer in place within the 'family'.

"You should have left my body at the river, Dolorosa." The Psionic sighed as Porrim washed the blood from his face and wrapped a long bandage around his head, then moving on the clean the gashes that marred his chest.

"Nonsense, child." Porrim eased Mituna up a bit with Kankri's help, encircling his torso wounds in gauze wrappings. "You've been like a brother to my son all this time, there was no way I would let you perish."

"I thank you for your kindness, Dolorosa."

"There is no need, Mituna Captor. You will always be welcome with us. And please, my boy, call me Porrim." She murmured, placing a kiss on the weary troll's forehead when she finished tying off the last bandages.

"Sleep now, Mituna. Talk can wait until morning." Kankri soothed, laying Mituna flat on the ground once more.

And so he did sleep, with Kankri and Meulin's intwined hands holding his left one, all throughout the rest of the night.