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."

able to last longer without water than mundane humans — especially

that be

no way

and exhaled slowly, then tried

their last connection to the outside world gone, it was impossible to tell what day

their water ran out. The waterskin

...Then, came the thirst.

least he thought that a few had passed — without drinking anything,

being cut, his lips had dried and cracked, and so did

he was going to die in this cursed cage like a dog, forgotten and

out of the cage, but nothing he had done helped. The

was starting to blur. Sunny spent most of his time staring at the orange flame

Then, it disappeared, too.

dim glow

'...The oil ran out.'

Sunny closed his eyes.

Was it really hopeless?

he couldn't give up… he

that kept him somewhat sane was the fact that Cassie was right there

agony and the terror of not knowing whether

didn't know how many days had passed since the flame of the oil 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