Soul's Eye

Chapter 6: Caged (2)

The footsteps receded again, fading into the stifling silence of the cage.

It was the fourth time they had taken someone away... and no one had ever returned.

The darkness seemed to grow thicker with each departure, numbing us in an icy torpor. 

The air was saturated with sweat, dried blood, and excrement. It was hopeless.

Every breath was an effort, every second a struggle against collapse.

A few meters away, the boy I had met earlier huddled against other children.

Their eyes shone in the darkness, but it wasn't hope. It was the flickering glow of candles about to go out.

"Hey..."

My voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper, immediately drowned out by a painful coughing fit. My throat was too dry, burned by exhaustion and the bitter taste of bile still clinging to my palate.

I had spent hours running. Vomiting. I was suffocating.

I swallowed with difficulty. My mouth was almost completely dry.

Pathetic.

I was the son of a lord. I'd grown up in comfort and luxury. My destiny was all mapped out, crystal clear...

And yet, here in this squalid jail, I was just another body. A hungry, feverish carcass, barely able to open its mouth without choking.

I was drained. My mind was an opaque mist, with no bearings, no way out. I couldn't even cry.

My face was frozen. Empty.

Even their suffering no longer affected me.

I hadn't been able to protect them, I wasn't even able to share their pain.

A shiver ran through me.

I hated myself.

From the depths of my being, I hated myself.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my face in my arms.

At that moment, I wanted only one thing: to disappear.

To let my thoughts evaporate and escape this nightmare.

To escape...

'Hmm?'

A movement caught my attention.

A hand reaching out to me.

It was dirty. The nails black with grime, the palms streaked with cuts and calluses.

Brownish stains of dried blood.

Fingers blue from the cold.

I slowly raised my head.

"Come... you shouldn't stay alone."

It was the same boy from before, the one who 'welcomed' me when I got dropped in this cage.

His skin was pale, but strangely clean, unlike mine, which was covered in ash and vomit. His jet-black hair fell in messy strands around his tired face. But what struck me most were his eyes.

Red.

A deep blood red that almost blended in with the burst blood vessels in his pupils.

He looked at me without hostility, with an expression that was impossible to read. Neither cold nor compassionate. Just... calm.

I tried to speak, but a hoarse voice answered me. My throat was so dry that the words seemed painful to utter.

He let out a long sigh, then held out his hand to me again.

"I have some water, if you want it... It's not very cold, but at least it's clean."

I stared at him, not really knowing how to react. His voice rang out clear and soft, as if he were a stranger to this place, as if he didn't belong here.

My arm trembled as I raised it. My hand timidly sought his. My gesture was clumsy, hesitant, as if it were my first time, as if I had forgotten how. 

His hand closed firmly around mine. His skin was cold and rough, but his grip was strangely firm.

Without a word, he pulled me up to my feet and led me in a shady corner of the cell, toward a small group of children. I hesitated, almost froze but my legs were already moving.

As we draw closer, their faces slowly revealed themselves. 

They were like me.

Exhausted, pale, and hungry, yet none of them seemed to have given up. I could see it in their eyes.

We arrived in front of them.

There were four of them, five with him, two girls and two boys besides us.

One of them, who seemed to be the oldest, spoke up.

"Nil, is she the new one?" He looked at the boy I assumed was Nil with a mixture of sadness and relief, his voice remaining steady.

"Yes, that's her. Her name is..." He turned his gaze to me with a slight, embarrassed smile on his lips and nodded as if to convince me to continue.

I forced myself to do so despite my thirst and embarrassment.

Even at Ahren, I had never been particularly sociable, and talking to strangers really stressed me out, but in my situation, I couldn't act like I used to.

I took a slight breath through my nose before responding politely

"A-Abel, pleased to meet you. And…" I added, a little embarrassed and with a slightly evasive look. "I'm a boy."

The boy blinked at me for a second before flashing a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, Abel, nice to meet you. My name is Egnel."

Nil, who was standing nearby, quickly helped me sit down a little away from the group before starting to chat with Egnel.

Several long minutes passed before someone approached me. It was Egnel. His features were drawn, and his jaw was covered with a thin layer of stubble.

Strands of brown hair fell over his temples, and his steel-gray eyes stared at me with a mixture of alertness and fatigue. 

"Here, but it's just a single serving, so it's not much."

"T-thank you!"

He handed me a rolled-up piece of cloth containing a piece of hard bread no bigger than a fist and a small dented container, which he must have picked up somewhere. The water he offered me was lukewarm, almost stagnant... but it was water.

The first I had drunk in... I didn't know how long.

"He's the one who manages the sharing and everything else. He's kind of the leader." Nil added in a casual tone that clearly embarrassed Egnel, who seemed to blush, but I didn't pay any more attention to it than that.

The liquid slid down my throat with excruciating pain, as if each sip was scratching the walls of my esophagus. But I couldn't stop.

I drank. Every last drop, taking small, regular bites of bread as if to make it last. 

When I was finished, I returned the empty gourd, tilting my head to thank him, a gesture he returned.

A younger girl had quietly approached and crouched down right next to me, startling me. She had long brown hair tied back in a frayed braid. Her hazel eyes seemed to study me like a wounded animal, yet her gaze was gentle.

"My name is Isen. I have some medical knowledge, just in case."

She pointed to a small rusty metal box next to her that contained some strips of cloth, pieces of soap, and other products, as well as small piles of herbs.

"So if you have any problem come to me, okay? Do you need anything?"

I gave her a smile before answering.

"Thank you but actually, I'm just tired."

After that, there was a long silence. I was about to ask if I had been rude in any way when a new voice spoke up.

"I'm Lio! But they call me 'shut up'. I don't know why."

He smiled despite the obvious. He was small, no more than six or seven years old, with missing front teeth and emerald eyes too big for his head. Behind him trailed an old cape that met his blond hair.

Nil snickered discreetly.- "It's obviously because you're a chatterbox."

"Hey! You talk a lot too," protested Lio, "so why don't they ask you to shut up?"

"Because I'm serious, you're just noisy."

While Lio argued with Nil, my eyes turned to the last person in the group who had remained silent.

She was sitting against a wall, her arms holding her knees, and a long fringe of her black hair hid everything above her nose. 

But I could feel her staring at me.

Egnel pointed her out with a nod.

"This is Erine. She's not very talkative, but she has the best eyesight of all of us."

I waved to her, but she didn't wave back before turning my gaze to the others. I didn't dare speak to her. I could sense that she wasn't hostile, but her silence weighed on me like a fog.

Nil pulled me toward her, and she lowered her eyes as we approached, without a word.

I looked around the room.

There were several other small groups in the room, mainly children with a few adults.

They were mostly humans, but there were a few efrits, sylphs, and elves in different corners of the cage.

Egnel explained.

"We've been here for... we're not sure how long. Days, maybe weeks, so we have to be careful and stick together. It's not great, but it's better than being alone."

I nodded. He was right, at least I wasn't alone.

Erine, who hadn't said a word until then, stood up suddenly to speak.

"They're coming."

My heart skipped a beat as panic washed over me. 

I looked down. I didn't want to hear that. Like everyone else here.

I could feel fear spreading across the faces of everyone in the cage as the sound of rusty metal hinges creaking on the door echoed through the room.

The place fell silent.

Only the heavy footsteps of the guards broke the deathly atmosphere.

The guard, a tall, imposing man, spoke, pointing to two people with his hand before armed men stormed into the room.

They were an elf and a young human.

I could see the fear in their eyes.

They were screaming at the top of their lungs. They were begging, they were looking for help, but no one came.

We were all paralyzed with fear.

The screams grew louder, more fragile. 

My heart was pounding.

I knew I had to act, that I had to, but my legs refused to move.

In a final moment, my eyes met those of the elf.

They were sad, resigned, and hateful. 

Her golden eyes looked at me, on the verge of tears.

And the door slammed shut.

I truly hated myself.