Shadow Slave

Sunny looked at the stream of blood that was getting closer and closer to the cage, then glanced back at the door and waited, wondering if someone… or something… would burst through it and enter the cell.

But nothing did. After that first loud bang, everything stayed eerily quiet. Seconds passed, then minutes. Finally, he slowly turned away from the door and looked at Cassie.

"Do you smell it?"

She lingered for a moment, then nodded.

"...Blood."

Sunny remained motionless for a bit, then walked back to his usual place and sat down. His face was grim. After a while, he said in a dark tone:

"We are going to need to start rationing water."

Humans could survive for a long time without food, but water… water was much more precious. Without it, a healthy human could die in a matter of days.

And there were very few more agonizing ways to go.

Cassie turned her head, then asked somberly:

"Why? Do you think that they are going to just leave us here?"

Sunny opened his mouth to retorn that she was the one who could see the future. But in the end, he held his tongue.

"...Just in case."

to last longer without water than mundane humans

that

no way

closed his eyes and exhaled slowly,

their last connection to the outside world gone, it was impossible to tell what day it was. Sunny and Cassie remained in

ran out. The waterskin

...Then, came the thirst.

after spending several days — at least he thought that a few had passed — without drinking anything, he learned that there was

being cut, his lips had dried and cracked, and so did his tongue. His head was full of pulsating pain, and his muscles were experiencing excruciating cramps. All he could think about was water,

dog, forgotten and discarded. Maybe one day someone would open the

the cage, but nothing he had done helped. The

felt as though they were on fire, and his entire body ached terribly. He felt weak and lethargic, and his vision was starting to blur. Sunny spent most of his time staring at the orange flame of the oil lamp, because it was more or less the only thing he could

Then, it disappeared, too.

the ghostly, dim glow of the runes illuminating the iron bars

'...The oil ran out.'

Sunny closed his eyes.

Was it really hopeless?

couldn't give up…

suffering and despair, the only thing that kept him somewhat sane was the fact that Cassie was right there with him, going through the same

heavy burden of past sins, sharing his pain with someone had made if not bearable, then at least a little easier. Neither of them would have been able to endure the agony and the terror of not knowing whether they were going to live or

had passed since the flame of the oil lantern died out. Time lost its meaning a while ago. All he knew was