No I'm not dead, I'm just busy. I haven't stopped making stories and I don't intend to do so right now. Chapters are going to be slower coming out than usual, so I bid you a happy read.

Kaer Trolde has been set to sleep hours ago by its main residents. All dwell in their rooms with closed eyes, drifting off and away for Vaermina to play with if she so pleased. But with a sudden interruption of doors slamming shut, the light sleeping Hoen wakes up from his table where mead had been spilt.

Hoen jolted and jumped at the sudden thunderous boom of slammed doors. He turned to the guard who slammed the door "What was that for?" He asked in a drowsy state

"Nilfgaard is in our waters." The guard replied urgently

"They're the men with the black boats I assume?" Hoen asked for confirmation

"Aye." The guard responded with a nod

The guard left to grab Cerys and Hoen put his head back down on the table. Leaving the room once more, another pair of large doors were slammed open and shut once again, preventing Hoen from going back to sleep.

After another few minutes of silent pondering, Cerys came out with the guard in toe. She walked over to Hoen and shook him a bit to wake him up fully. "Hoen, I need you for something." She said, quite exigent.

"What is it?" Hoen asked drowsily

"I need a bodyguard at the very least. Nilfgaard has people coming this way and besides him, you're the only one awake in the castle." She quickly explained

Hoen stared at her with baggy eyes "There isn't anyone else to do this bodyguard thing?" he lazily asked

"No one I can get at a quicker notice than you, seeing how you don't often leave Kaer Trolde." Cerys said

The doors swung open again, sounding a large boom through the main hall. In came a man in attire resembling that of a merchant. Beside him were two armored men, each one heavily armed.

"They look like idiots in that armor." Hoen quietly laughed

One of the bodyguards glared at Hoen, obviously have been able to hear his comment. "I can say the same about yours." The bodyguard commented "You dress like a bear and not to mention that you smell like one too."

The two men fiercely gazed at each other with daggers for eyes. In the meanwhile, the diplomat and Cerys had a negotiation on things regarding Skellige.

"I'm surprised you have the stones to speak to a guest like that." The bodyguard continued on

"More like invader." Hoen corrected

"We only seek to civilize these isles of barbaric raiders." The bodyguard answered back

Hoen chuckled slightly "Go fuck yourself. These isles don't need nor want your rule. They can take care of themselves."

"I knew it." The foreign soldier replied

"Knew what?" Hoen curiously asked

The guard got closer to Hoen, still maintaining a respectable distance however "You're not Skelligan. You refer to Skellige as they rather than we, unlike a Skelligan would. Then there's your accent: it's close to a Skelligan accent but it isn't an accent I've ever heard before."

"It really took you that long?" Hoen mocked "Does the armor represent the state of your intelligence?"

"What does that mean?" The Nilfgaardian asked

Hoen laughed slightly, but kept the rest in "Black, the color of your armor, can often represent emptiness, such as your mind; a vast expanse of emptiness where no sign of intelligence can be found."

The bodyguard took a deep breath and stepped closer towards Hoen. "Are you so childish that you would mock a man's mind?" He mocked the Nord. "You make childish jests but have nothing to back any of that up. Are you scared or something?"

"What does that mean?" Hoen asked.

"You're a dog who's too scared to bite."

"Keep moving your lips and I might just bite them off." Hoen growled at the man.

The guard stepped back slightly. He took his left hand to his right gauntlet and undid its straps. When undone, the guard threw is gauntlet to Hoen's feet. The room turned to the act. "Clearly you have pride you wish to maintain, if you wish to die with it, you'll accept my challenge."

Hoen starred at the man. "So, if I pick up your brace, we fight to the death?"

The guard nodded proudly; his posture maintained properly.

Hoen knelt to pick up the gauntlet. He lent out his hand, giving the warrrior his brace back. "Tomorrow at noon."

The guard left his envoy, the diplomat hanging his head in embarrassment. "Queen An Craite, I do apologize for the actions of my comrade. He will be disciplined for his behavior."

"No." Cerys replies to the diplomat, "I should be the one apologizing. The man your friend spoke to may not be a native to Skellige, but he is under the employ of my family. I should have stopped him from speaking when I had the chance."

"It doesn't matter." Said the diplomat back. "We have an event to attend tomorrow that cannot be changed. May the next time we speak be at a better time."

The diplomat dismissed himself and remaining guard back to the fleet. Cerys turned towards Hoen, her face signaling dread "What is wrong with you?"

"How am I to blame? He's the one who picked a fight, I just accepted it." Hoen said in defenses

"That's not the point!" Cerys exclaimed. "I am trying to make peace with Nilfgaard and your actions aren't helping!"

"If anything, they'll just be pissed at me. I'm the one who's going to land the killing blow, not all of Skellige." Hoen explained with confidence.

Cerys took in a deep breath, she looked more agitated than before "We will discuss this after tomorrow's event, if you're still alive."

Cerys left for her chambers and Hoen continued to sit but more unnerved. The slamming doors no longer affected Hoen. He sat there and drifted off into a sleep that lasted until he woke.

Next Morning

A loud slamming noise sounded just next to Hoen's ear. The sudden noise forced him to jump awake. Wide eyed, Hoen turned to the direction of the noise. "Hjalmar." Hoen said with a quick and panicked exhale "Why did you do that?"

"I heard we got visitors last night. Apparently, it wasn't a part of Cerys' plan to get me up." Hjalmar says, "So what happened?"

"I got in an argument with one of the envoy guards." Hoen answered "I'm supposed to meet him around noon today."

"Just don't die, Hoen. It'd be boring without you." Said Hjalmar.

The doors swung open with a force, and in came a familiar face. It was the same man from last night, same black armor, same rigid face, same voice, "Where are we to fight?"

"Just outside the village seems fine." Hoen answered

"Alright then. Let's go." Said the fighter.

Both Hoen and Hjalmar left the keep and then the village, with the Nilfgaardian following. Once leaving, they headed further up the path to a vacant field. Hoen agreed to lose the sword due to its enchantment.

A few others followed them out to look at the spectacle. Cerys quickly followed and met Hjalmar at the closest part of the ring. Hjalmar's face had a large smile, where Cerys looked of mainly disappointment.

"Are you ready?" Asked Hoen to the competitor, to which Hoen received a slight nod of approval.

When the fight began, both Hoen and the man rushed forward at each other. Hoen brought down his axe onto his opponent's block, putting a massive dent his enemy's shield in one heavy blow. He came down with another heavy strike which was dodged, resulting in Hoen accidentally lodging his weapon into the ground with the immense force of the strike. The soldier attempted to take advantage of the opportunity given, only for Hoen to yank his great axe out of the ground to knock back his attempt.

Hoen stood upright, his posture straightened perfectly. Hoen readied his weapon and charged forward at his opponent. The bodyguard set himself in a guard position ready for Hoen's attack. When Hoen stood a mere yard from his opponent's face, he sidestepped Hoen. Using a small spin, he landed his blade an inch from Hoen's nape. Hoen ducked slightly to make the blade hit his helmet.

Hoen spun around quickly and reversed the grip closer to the blade of his weapon. He stood sideways with his axe blade facing the ground, and opposite of its target.

The Nilfgaardian swung upwards and Hoen came upwards with a swing from his axe. Knocking the man into a stagger, Hoen jabbed his opponent's stomach with the bottom of the grip. The man was forced backwards. Hoen took advantage of the situation and came at the fighter with an underhand swing, taking his helmet off and sending him to the ground.

The Nilfgaardian recovered from the blow and stood back up. On his face was a large cut from his chin, reaching across his cheek and stopping at the ear. Both fighters eyed each other. Hoen lead the first strike to the side of his enemy, hitting the sword instead of the body. "You missed." Said the man cockily. Hoen responded with a smile, setting his sight to his opponent's eyes.

A quick strike was made to the Nilfgaardian face, a strike blocked swiftly by his sword. When struck by Hoen's axe, the sword chipped. This did not go unnoticed by the Nilfgaardian. In response, the Nilfgaardian made a slight thrust into Hoen's chest. The thrust bounced off Hoen's chest plate, yet left Hoen surprised and caught him off guard. Hoen's opponent took the offensive this time around. He locked his guard with Hoen's and pushed back until Hoen had his back to a tree. Hoen spat in his opponent's eyes, leaving the man blinded for a split second. The Nilfgaardian was left open for no more than a second as Hoen planted his foot right into the man's lower armor plating and kicked him back. "I've never been this challenged in a fight before in my life!" Hoen shouted excitedly towards the man, his voice trembling in anxious pleasure.

The Nilfgaardian noticed Hoen's eyepatch. The bodyguard stepped into Hoen's blindside and slashed through his under armor, tearing through the material and his skin. Hoen was caught off guard, forcing him back a bit.

Readied once again, Hoen made another charge to his opponent and watched as he sidestepped again. Hoen pivoted to face the man and brought up his axe once more. By the time the man was able to block, Hoen's axe was already halfway there. The resulting blow shattered the sword. Hoen made a heavy strike to the man's armor to where it dented inward impressively. The fighter was left wide eyed and stuck in a daze. The man looked down at his breast plate and saw it caving in towards his chest. He looked up at Hoen while shaking off the look of awe in his face only to see the axe coming right at him. The crowd behind the man were splattered in blood. The man's head flew into the chest of an old man.

Everyone glared at Hoen. Not in amazement, or fear, or hate, but wonderous awe. The man caved in a steel breastplate with a single swing. What kind of beast is Hoen?

The crowd began to laugh in amusement, even the friends of the man Hoen had just slayed.

Later

The tavern was packed with drunkards and sailors. Hoen was almost completely blackout drunk and the topic of the house. Hoen had too many people surrounding him, too many people coming up to him giving him congratulations. It wasn't necessarily overwhelming, yet at the same time he'd not prefer it.

Hoen, as usual, left. Skellige has nice people but they were a little too friendly for his taste. Hoen stumbled his way on over to the bridge, tripping over anything and everything. He eventually made it to the bridge, bottle in hand.

Looking over to the far reaches of the Skelligan shores, there they were. Big, black, and an eyesore on the horizon. The sky could have been enjoyable if not for the false suns waving in the early afternoon sky. "Fuck off you bastards!" Hoen shouted while throwing his bottle into the sea.

Hoen retired to the keep. "I've had enough of today." Hoen said to himself. The guards were left to do their job and Hoen went off to find another place to sleep as usual, maybe actually use a bed this time.