As the sword inched closer to my face, my life seemed to flash before my eyes. Long-forgotten memories reappeared with unbelievable quality. My mom’s face appeared a lot—a woman with soft features, hairless, with a square jaw and sharp eyes. A passing memory of her funeral welled up emotions in me, raging and wild ones.

  I gotta live, that’s my promise to her!

  An idea popped into my mind: to use my social standing to make the watching crowd act. Tribesmen didn’t usually intervene in such fights for many reasons. But if I explained that my attacker was an assassin, they’d take action immediately. My pride surged, trying to dissuade me from that, to convince me to die as a warrior. But…

  To hell with it!

  Before I opened my mouth to shout for help, a loud thunderous voice spoke.

  “Halt!”

  The voice sounded to my right, but I didn’t dare look, fully knowing any wrong move could cost me my life. Also, the assassin’s sword tip had reached my forehead, cutting it and making hot blood flow down onto my eyes—basically blinding me.

  Through my blurry vision, I could see that the assassin’s attention had turned away from me to the voice. So, I immediately acted.

  AHHhhhh!

  With a struggle that shook my legs and a shout that came from deep within, I pushed the man away. Then I jumped back, more like stumbled away—ungracefully. My legs gave up under me, but before I could hit the ground, a man from the crowd held me under the armpits.

  My vision started to swim, and as I looked down, I could see that my shirt had turned red from blood. The sound of steel clamor could be heard in front of me, but through my dulling senses, it sounded distant—muffled as if passing through tar.

  This is bad, was my last thought before all the lights were turned off.

  ***

  “Argh.”

  I slowly opened my eyes to one of the worst headaches I’ve ever had. Blinking a couple of times cleared my vision of the gathering around me. My father and three younger sisters were all here, looking at me over the shoulder of what I assumed to be a healer.

  “He’s awake!” My eldest sister, Rama, shouted.

  Trying to sit resulted in intense pain in my abdomen.

  “Stay still, kid. You’ve lost too much blood. The last thing we want is for your wounds to reopen,” the healer said, putting his hand on my abdomen as it glowed in a soft green colour. A warm tingling sensation started to spread from my side until it covered my whole body, making me feel super hot—especially closer to the wound; it almost burnt, but in a good way, if that made sense. My pain lessened considerably, and my mind became less fuzzy and clearer.

  I tried to speak, but what came out was an unintelligible mess. In the end, I opted for a head nod.

  Moving my somewhat blurry eyes, I looked at my father. The man held himself highly with a fierce aura around him, but under all the sternness, I could see a hint of anger on his usually composed face.

  My father had cascading wavy black hair that reached his shoulders—just like mine. But unlike me, the man had a lion’s mane of a beard. His height was even more imposing than mine, as he towered a head above most tall men. Another difference between us was his build; while I was fit, my muscles were on the leaner side, unlike his, which were bulging under his shirt. But his most striking feature was his golden eyes, a trait of our family which I unfortunately hadn’t inherited.

  “Good job, Yomon,” My father said in a deep voice.

  I tried to speak again, but was hindered by a mass in my throat. Gathering a bit of strength, I spat a clump of phlegm and blood onto the ground before speaking hoarsely.

  “Wat… er.”

  My middle sister, Simama, went around the healer, being extra careful not to disturb his work, but there was no need as the man seemed to be done; the green colour slowly dissipating and with it the warm sensation. Simama handed me a baked mud cup, which I gulped like a ravenous animal.

  I immediately demanded another one after finishing the first. Asima, being the youngest, went on to fetch me some.

  “That whore! I’m gonna…” After shouting profanities for a few seconds—more like whispered angrily as I had no strength to shout—my nerves calmed down. The situation had caught up to me, and I couldn’t help myself.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The Healer raised an eyebrow, whilst my sisters looked taken aback—especially since I rarely cursed. Only my father kept his composure, but seemed a bit displeased with my language.

  At that moment, a familiar face entered my room. A guy I’d met a few hours before, although now he had changed his usual garb and outfitted himself with chain armour. Amidus looked a bit haggard, as if he’d just returned from a hard training session—his breath ragged.

  “Report,” my father said, not even giving the man a chance to gather himself. Although Amidus didn’t seem to mind, being of the same mindset as my father.

  “O-of course, sir, but how is Yomon’s condition?” Amidus asked as he saluted, a fist to his chest.

  “He’s stable. We don’t have time. Tell me what you found.”

  Amidus sighed, his shoulders visibly relaxing at the news of my condition. The man looked in my direction, our eyes met, and he gave me a nod.

  “K-kamala and her entire family had escaped, sir. It seems they’ve been working on this for some time, as my team couldn’t find any evidence in their place, nor could we follow them; they left no trail. Upon asking their clan to clarify, they said they had nothing to do with it, adding that they condemned such actions and hoped for the fast recovery of Brother Yomon.”

  My father usually had subtle reactions that only his close aides, friends, and family members could catch on. But I’d bet that anyone with zero social skills could see his undiluted fury in this moment.

  Still, my father was nothing if experienced, and he quickly reined in his emotions.

  “Send out all available hands to search for her. I also want you to inform all elders of an urgent meeting in an hour. Make sure they all come, and if anyone refuses, tell them they're out of the competition.”

  “I’ll be on it, sir!” Amidus saluted with a hand to his heart before taking his leave.

  “Brother Heler, does Yomon need your direct care?” My father, Khalad, asked.

  “No, he’ll be fine. Although he should stay rested for at least a week,” Heler said, looking at me for confirmation.

  I hesitated for a bit, as I’ve never spent that much time in my life confined to one place. But a hard stare from my father made me nod in compliance.

  “I’m not joking here, Yomon. If I weren’t close, you would’ve died. Who knows what might happen if your wounds open and I’m somewhere far? If that happens, no one here can help you; you’d die because of your foolishness. Plus, a week isn’t much. Usually, you’d need three months for the tissue to be fully mended, but I used a skill on you, so be grateful.”

  “Thank you, elder. I’ll make sure to keep that in mind,” I said with a bit more vigour as a week didn’t seem so bad after knowing I could’ve spent a whole three months strapped to my bed.

  Come to think of it, this man doesn’t seem like a local, I thought upon taking a closer look at him. Although he had the usual brown skin, his didn’t seem… natural if that was the right word. It seemed to have a red undertone, and his eye colour looked a bit green. Even his grey hair had a tinge of yellow to it.

  A foreigner?

  “Then I’ll be taking my leave,” the healer said. As he stood up, the sun reflected off his hand, catching my attention to a sleek milk-white bracelet. No blemishes could be seen on its crystalline surface, making one wonder if it was cut from a piece of marble.

  A Bracelet wielder, a man with a Purpose. Cool!

  Even though I was extremely tired and annoyed, I couldn’t help but smile as I remembered the gift my father had for me.

  “I hope you have a good day at our humble abode, Brother Heler. If you need anything, ask, and it shall be yours,” My father said as he clasped the man’s hand.

  “Of course, I’ll be enjoying my stay. Especially since I’m with the generous Baras.”

  After the man left, followed by my dismissed sisters, my father turned to look at me.

  “You did a good job defending yourself, Yomon. I swear to God that I’ll bring whoever wronged us to justice, and a Khahandarian never reneges on his oaths in front of God.”

  “Of course, father. But… I think I might not live.”

  My father, uncharacteristically, put his gigantic hand on my shoulder, expressing worry.

  “Say no such thing. Healer Heler is one of the Holy—Farantina Kingdom’s best. I’m sure it’s just a wedge in your journey to greatness.”

  I didn’t drop my act, although my father’s reaction made me hesitate for a second.

  “Alas, Father. There is no cure for my pain except one thing,” I said with a dramatic voice, my eyes closed tight as if in pain.

  Sigh

  Why is he sighing?

  “When will you grow and stop your games. Just hurry up and say what you need. I want to move on to you telling me about what exactly happened.”

  This time, I didn’t hesitate, speaking immediately. “My Bracelet, but with none of your ‘prove your worthiness’ missions.”

  Father shook his head slowly. “Unfortunately, I can’t do that. And before you go and make another prank of yours, let me clarify. We received the latest versions of the Hanshins’ bracelets, or at least that’s what they said. Nevertheless, they asked a high price for them, leading to the Elders and me gathering lots of our savings and purchasing ten pieces.”

  My mouth fell open at the ridiculousness of what my father had just said. The Elders and Khalad had a lot of funds to play with, from missions, tariffs, and many other sources. Although they didn’t receive any money from taxes, as those were outlawed. The Baras—tribespeople, simply refused to pay when it was introduced by some chiefs. Anyways, all those income sources still led to a respectable amount, and father just told me it all amounted to only ten Bracelets.

  Father seemed to notice my shocked expression as he explained. “Yes, we used to buy triple the amount for the same price. They said the new price was due to high demand and presumably better technology. Either way, the Elders and I agreed to give four of these Bracelets to the rising generation, and as you could guess, no preferential treatment. Every teen from our tribe will have the chance to get their hands on one, and that includes you.”

  “Is it the same competition you were telling Amidus to use as a bargain against the Elders?”

  “Perceptive, unlike your usual self. At least you’re taking this seriously,” my father said, giving me a nod of acknowledgement.

  Of course, I’m gonna take this seriously, who wouldn’t when a freakin’ Bracelet was on the line.

  “Yes, it's the same competition. A month from now, the strongest, smartest, bravest, and most important of all, the top winners, will receive a Bracelet. Each Elder will make his heir join the competition in hopes of securing the prize. That’s how we Baras have done it since ancient times, and now it won’t be any different. The best takes it all.”

  I wanted to cringe a bit at how my father worded it, but in truth, I found it a bit inspiring. No matter your background, prove yourself, and you’ll get what you deserve. Even though I was starting to form lots of opinions on how my people acted, in the end, I still appreciated many of their more… primal qualities.

  But I should still take advantage of my position.

  “So what’s the competition going to be?” I asked cheekily, already expecting the ‘no’ answer.

  My father just stared at me for a long moment, making me doubt my earlier assumption. But it only lasted for a second before he crushed all my hopes.

  “As the Chieftain’s son, not only will you be granted no privileges, but you’ll also be given a handicap. Hard conditions make strong men.”

  I tried to interject, but Father just raised his hand.

  “Now, tell me exactly what happened to you. I want to know everything.”

  After explaining what transpired, recounting everything with boring detail, my father asked a question—his expression neutral as if what had been said hadn’t happened to his only son.

  That’s more like him.

  “Who do you think did it?”

  “I mean, isn’t it obvious? Kamala and her family.”

  Father just glared at me, refusing to fall into my trap.

  “Okay, okay. I’m not sure. I mean, I’ve always been respectful to Kamala, her family, and everyone I know, so it can’t be out of revenge, probably. Maybe it has something to do with the change that’s happening?” I asked, fishing for information.

  My father seemed to tense a bit. “Who told you, Amidus? No matter, I was going to tell you anyway… when the scene became clearer.”

  “So what’s going on? A tribe is going to attack us. Maybe a new Holy Empire is trying to colonise us? Or is it a new religious war?”

  My father shook his head solemnly, making me dread what I was about to hear.

  “As I’ve said, I was going to tell you when the scene became clearer. But there are signs, like the Hanshins selling more Bracelets and the human kingdoms increasing their diplomatic efforts and presence in our region. There are also all the recent developments regarding the Elgore royalty. I’m not certain, but… whatever it is, we should be prepared for the worst.”

  That’s… unexpected.