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."

had one full waterskin left. As Awakened, they would also be able to last longer without water than mundane humans — especially Sunny, whose body was strengthened by three cores, Blood

that be long

no

eyes and exhaled slowly, then tried

one came to bring them food. With their last connection to the outside world gone, it was impossible to tell what day it was. Sunny and Cassie remained in the barely illuminated darkness alone, waiting for something to happen,

wasn't long before their water ran out. The waterskin wasn't

...Then, came the thirst.

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

absolutely maddening, torturous, and suffocating. His throat hurt as if it 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

this cursed cage like a dog, forgotten and discarded. Maybe one day someone would open the heavy door, and find his desiccated corpse reaching hopelessly

think of to get out of the cage, but nothing he had done helped. The only result was that his condition

and mouth 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

Then, it disappeared, too.

the ghostly, dim glow of

'...The oil ran out.'

Sunny closed his eyes.

Was it really hopeless?

he couldn't give

that kept him somewhat sane was the fact that Cassie was right there with him, going through the same hell. At least… at

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

lantern died out. Time lost its meaning a while ago. All he knew was the thirst, the pain, and the stubborn, spiteful will to hold on just a little