When they reached the vampaneze hideout, Gannen put Kurda in one of the best rooms and had him treated like a distinguished guest. But Kurda had other worries.

"What will your lot do to Larten?" he asked anxiously.

"Ah… somebody else will be taking care of him," Gannen replied, choosing his words with care.

"I want to see him!" Kurda demanded. Gannen sighed. He then got his guards to bring Larten in. Kurda ran a hand over Larten's back and immediately 'glared' at Gannen.

"I'm going to switch places with him. He hasn't been through all these at all," Kurda old him coldly. Larten stared at Kurda in wide-eyed disbelief and so did Gannen.

"But… I won't be in charge of that…" Gannen tried to talk Kurda out off it.

"You know me, Gannen. Once my mind is made up, you can't un-change it. Oh, and by the way, can you get some medical supplies and tend to his wounds?" Kurda asked before he started walking out of the room.

"Treat him like you will me, OK?" Gannen requested. Gannen merely nodded mutely.

"As for you, sleep, recuperate with nothing in your mind, get it?" Kurda addressed Larten. Larten nodded mutely as Kurda trailed after the guards that brought Larten in.

A few days later, Larten asked to see Kurda. As instructed, Gannen brought him into a dinghy room where Larten recognized as where he was first held when brought here. Nobody paid any attention to them as they walked in silently.

Kurda was hanging in midair, but what was even scarier was the insane-looking vampaneze opposite him, sneering unpleasantly.

"Both of them were at loggerheads since Kurda first came here," Gannen explained in a low voice. "Perliat never agreed with Kurda's planes to reconcile with the vampires."

They gazed moved from his face to his hands which was gripping a blood-stained horsewhip. They then turned to look at Kurda, who was bleeding freely, before training their gaze onto the puddle of blood at Kurda's feet. The sight was so revolting that Larten turned to go out.

Just then, a pail of salt water was brought in. curious, Larten retraced his steps back into the room.

This time, though, he was spotted.

"You have a friend," he told Kurda sneeringly. "He shall serve as a very good audience."

"No! Go out! Go..." before Kurda could finish, Perliat slapped him hard. He dipped a finger into the salt and ran it slowly over Kurda's back, where his major wounds were. Seeing this, Larten tried it personally. He dipped a finger into the salt water cautiously and smeared it onto his wounds and gasped in pain. His wounds felt as though they were on fire.

Perliat, upon seeing no reaction from Kurda, took up the whole pail and splashed it straight at Kurda. Kurda chewed down on his lower lips to prevent himself from screaming aloud. Larten, as he was standing at the side, was subsequently hit a bit, and felt the pain sear through his whole body, and secretly marveled at how Kurda was taking this.

The door opened. Instinctively Kurda edged away from it and curled up his body in preparation for the blows that would be sure to come.

"It's me, Kurda," he thought he heard Darren say.

"No, it isn't! Darren doesn't know that I'm here!" Kurda yelled out loud.

"It's me, really!" Darren's voice rang out again. This time, Kurda started to believe that Darren's voice was not a figment of his imagination, that he was real, that he was standing in front of him now.

Darren stood in front of Kurda in frightened awe. He reached out a trembling hand and made contact with Kurda's tattered shirt. Kurda pulled back instinctively when Darren's hand connected. Darren withdrew his hand and to his horror, his hands were stained with blood.

At this time Kurda had flung himself onto Darren and hugged him tight. Then, to both Darren's and Gannen's surprise, Kurda broke down.

And cried.

He never knew how long he had slept, but by the time he had awoken, he could feel the weak rays of the morning sun beating down on him. Hurriedly he tried to move into some shade, but realized that his legs were not working properly. From afar, Mika and Vancha saw Kurda stumble, and flitted to his side.

"Thanks," Kurda mumbled, once they pulled him into a cave. Just then, Darren came rushing in at top speed.

"Oh good you're finally awake you slept for thirty whole hours and we're running late so we'd better go back," Darren gabbled nonsensically and tugged at Kurda's arms.

"Oh, so you found him. You should have the sense to come tell us," Vancha grumbled and set about following them back to the vampaneze hideout.

Back at the hideout, Kurda had a good wash, then a change of clothes. When he emerged in front of Larten, Darren, Mika and Vancha, he let out a confident smile.

"Finally! You look more like yourself now," Darren grinned and told Kurda.

"Oh?"

"Really, you used to smile a lot before you…" Vancha said, and then shut up as soon as he realized what he was saying.

"Yes?" Kurda prompted him teasingly.

Vancha shrugged.

"You were about to say 'before you were exposed as a traitor', am I correct?" Kurda told Vancha for him.

"You've got me," Vancha put up his hands in a mock surrender.

"On this subject, Kurda," Mika began seriously. "We all – Arrow included – wish that you can go back to your old self, the self-confident and ever-optimistic General Smahlt."

"Easier said than done," Kurda shook his head bitterly. "How? If you put yourself in my shoes, you'll be wondering why am I still alive to this day, instead of committing suicide."

Suddenly, Kurda's face lit up. He ran out of the room and knocked an eavesdropper down to the ground.

"Such a lousy friend you are, Zerrick," Kurda grumbled playfully to a young-looking vampaneze. "I bet you avoided me on purpose when you heard I was here."

"Too right you are," the vampaneze chuckled. They grinned at each other and embraced. Zerrick examined Kurda closely.

"That must have hurt," he said sympathetically. "You are so stupid; you obviously knew that Perliat would find any excuse just to make trouble for you."

"Whatever," Kurda replied.

Kurda did not expect that they could leave so early, so when he heard that they were free to go, his jaw dropped a thousand miles. But the unexpected incident that happened the next evening was even more amazing.

When Kurda woke up, he realized that his head was no longer throbbing, as it did every time he woke up from sleep. He walked to the bucket of water and washed his face. He stared into the water at his reflection and all of a sudden, it clicked.

"Get up!" Kurda yelled in Darren's ear.

"Wh… what?" Darren mumbled sluggishly, half-asleep.

"Look at my eyes!" Kurda yelled again. By this time Kurda had already awoken several vampires.

"His… his eyes are so… normal," Vancha noted and whispered in awe. Darren had also noted the change.

"He can see!" Darren whooped for joy. Kurda grinned. Almost immediately, Mika rushed over and checked Kurda's eyes.

"The blood clot is gone so his sight is fine!" Mika explained joyously.

The first thing Kurda did was to check himself in a mirror. He saw the states of his injuries, but what worried him most was actually his face!

"Ow!" he exclaimed as he touched the wound on his cheek and the nasty-looking bruise on his forehead. He peered into the mirror again.

"Why is it that I have become half the width of myself a few years back?" he pondered aloud. Everyone in the room started sniggering immediately.