Asathen woke up. In this fact alone there was no major event, except that it happened. And that it happened would not had been noticeable except that no one present expected it to happen. And that is why it was so significant. But we are diverging.

When Asathen woke up, he immediately regretted it. He had a stinging headache, and no lack of pain anywhere else, except his left arm, where there was no feeling at all. He lay there silently for a moment, in the dark, before realising he still had his helmet on. Consequently he decided to take it off. There is a knack to taking helmets off at the best of times, but trying it when you only have feeling in one hand is near impossible. As soon as his right hand moved it was caught, and laid back down gently but firmly. The hand that had touched his was so smooth, and so soft that Asathen had no intention of letting it go to take another try at his helmet.

"He's woken up." A voice said quietly. Asathen could not see the source of the voice because he could not turn his head, and he could only see the pale yellow material of the tent, subtly backlit by a rising or setting sun. He could hear footstep approaching now, and then he saw the face of and heard the voice of his best friend, Ricold, looking as though he had just come in a joust, asking if he was all right.

"Do I look alright?" Was what Asathen tried to say. But he choked on something in his mouth, and only coughing was heard.

"Hey, still and quiet" Came the quiet soothing voice of Ricold "if you must communicate, small movements only." Asathen wondered how this might be achieved. His head was held solid, it would not move at all. He could not feel his left arm, and he was still holding the soft hand in his other, and he did not think communication with two very painful legs would work, especially under bedding, so he lay still and listened.

"Presuming you want a run through of the last few days, you shall have it." Started Ricold "You don't really get much choice, but I want to take some of this equipment off first." Asathen could see Ricold had a shield, a practice sword, and his staff on him

"It all started three days ago, when that large guy, what was his name? Hmmm… Vannick! Yes. It was when Vannick challenged you to a joust. He was not exactly slim or agile, and you thought you could beat him easily. So you accepted the fight, and it was scheduled for that after noon.

"We'd decided to sit and watch you, especially knowing how proud you are of your jousts, and we had prime seats for the show. *We* are Asa, Montgomery, and myself. And so, the joust began.

"You scored a massive blow with your first pass, but somehow Vannick stayed on his horse. On the second pass something went wrong. Your shield arm dropped as you approached him. He hit you heavily and squarely on your left shoulder, and you were thrown to the ground. You got up, staggered, and he approached you with his sword drawn. You drew your axe in reply, but from the audience you looked like you did it in a tone that suggested an easy win.

"You lined up swords with one another, and started to circle. He swung out, and you blocked it easily. You returned the blow, and he just deflected it. You both circled, almost all the way around. Then you hit him, and he retaliated, his sword solidly hitting your hip, and then again that hit your gauntlet, and again hitting your head, and again, and again. You stood up well against him, but after about six or seven shots you just collapsed.

"We immediately jumped the barrier, and came to your side. You had passed out by this point, and, even as we removed the quick, easy pieces of armour, blood started to seep from the bottom of your helmet.

"Asa went off to find a mage, and you were brought back here. You have severe bruising all over, a badly damaged left arm, and a split skull. The mage did all she could, and Asa, Montgomery and I sat here and waited.

"Talk about worrying us, that was two days ago! But we were warned it might take you a while to wake up. Your skull is still very tender, and you are bruised all over." Asathen could feel the last one plainly, but he wanted to know something still.

"Who's Asa?" he whispered. It was a quiet whisper, but he opened his mouth a second before, so Ricold knew it was coming.

"Maybe I should let her introduce herself?" replied Ricold.

And then Asathen heard another voice, and it was not one he recognised. It was soft, and sweet, but it was more than that. It was the kind if voice that lullaby's are made of, and the sort that are made of silk. It was a female voice, and it was quiet. But Asathen got the idea that it was probably always like that, and it was such a nice voice that it made no difference to him. "I am Asa" was all it initially said.

Surprising him, the hand let go of his, followed by a quick shuffling of legs, then a face appeared in his vision. In Asathen's opinion, any descriptions of this face would be inadequate. For it was a small, elven face, and was made of pure beauty. "I am Asa," said the golden voice again, and suddenly Asathen realised it was she, the face, the hand, this Asa, that was speaking.

Asathen did not hear the rest of what Asa said. For he was listening to the voice, and looking up into her face, and nothing else mattered. It was as though the words did not exist, as though his pain did not exist, it was just the voice and the face of Asa. And then it faded. Not fast, very slowly, but if faded. And of that day Asathen remembered no more.

When Asathen re-awakened, all he could see was the tent roof. Looking at the light levels, Asathen reckoned it must be nearly mid-day. He groaned because he could not stand being so dependant like this. He expected some sort of a response from his groan, either from Asa, Ricold, or Montgomery. But nothing happened. All was silent. He groaned again, he did not think he was up for speech. There was still no response.

Asathen thought about trying to get up, but he suspected that the helmet was tied down, and he did not wish to increase his headache by fighting against what was obviously not going to move. So he tried to make his right arm move. Slowly and painfully he managed to lift his lower right arm, then the whole arm, and get it into his vision. His wrist was bandaged, but his hand seemed not to be in too bad a condition. He felt around his helmet, and realised it was not *his* helmet at all. It was one of the helmets that are designed for the beginners, and had a quick release catch on it somewhere, if Asathen remembered correctly. So, he slowly felt his way across the outside of the helmet to where he thought the catch would be. He was right, and he started to try and release the catch.