Kai wasn't sure how long he'd been in the cage. It felt like days, but it was more realistically less than a full day.
There was no sun, no moon, no rhythm to the outside world here. The only thing that reminded him of the outside world was the soft trickle of sewer water echoing somewhere far beyond the concrete chamber.
The stench of old blood and iron was the only thing that filled his nose.
The growing silence from the cages beside him dulled his senses.
Aliza barely moved now. She sat with her back against the bars, her once-glossy black hair growing dull with grime and sweat. Her skin had lost its usual warmth, her cheeks hollowing by the hour.
Kleo stopped speaking entirely.
Whatever this place was, and whatever that thing in the headmaster's skin was doing, it was eating away at them slowly. Not just physically, but spiritually. He could feel their life force draining.
