Chapter 6: Caged (3)
"Hey, Abel, are you okay?" Isen's voice broke the heavy silence of the group. "I mean, you often seem distracted."
"Yes, I'm just a little tired," I replied. "But what about you, haven't you slept yet?"
"Not really, no. But I'm managing to stay alive. That's something, right?"
A faint, bitter smile spread across her lips, too big for her still childish face.
I didn't know how to react. For a moment, I thought I saw a future version of myself in her.
Someone broken, but still standing.
I whispered: "What's going to happen to us now?"
"I don't know," replied Egnel, without really trying to engage in the conversation. "We just have to do whatever it takes to survive. Okay?"
We all nodded, and my gaze shifted to another group in the cell. They were in a pitiful state.
I didn't know how long they had been there, but I could see the despair in their eyes. I rested my face on my knees, my throat tightening.
"Why are they doing this? Why us?" He looked up at the ceiling, his pupils lost in the void.
He looked up at the ceiling, his pupils lost in the void.
"Maybe they're looking for something. Or someone." I don't know. We're just pawns to them. They test, they fail, they try again," said Nil. His voice was resigned. As if he had accepted it long ago.
That wasn't the case.
I couldn't accept it. Not yet.
I clenched my fists against my chest.
"Where are you from?"
Lio's question came out of nowhere, like a stone thrown into still water.
I blinked, surprised. My heartbeat quickened slightly.
"From... Nahjis."
I hesitated to say more.
But his eyes had widened.
"Nahjis... that's not a city, it's a state, isn't it?" "
"Yes, it's huge, from what I've heard. They say the sands sing during storms. What part of it did you live in?" Isen replied, suddenly interested.
"A city in the heights. It was called Arhen."
I had lowered my voice, as if saying the name could take me back there.
But there was nothing left.
"Called?" asked Egnel.
"Yes, the city fell shortly before I was taken."
"Do you think..." He paused, as if searching for a gentler way to express his thoughts.
"I don't know, I..." I put my hands over my face.
He nodded, as if he had engraved the name in a corner of his memory.
"I come from north of Altar. We lived near the frozen forests. My father said that in some places, you could see lights dancing in the sky on certain nights. Have you ever seen that?" The dawn of Irneff?"
"Lio!" exclaimed Isen. She seemed shocked by our friend's lack of tact, but I didn't mind; on the contrary, there was something reassuring about this appearance of normality.
I shook my head.
"No, just the red sky in the desert near Zhaerith."
He frowned, then slowly nodded.
A silence fell. Not an awkward silence. More of a fragile silence. As if talking about the outside world made us almost forget the walls surrounding us.
"What about the Nereids?" he asked suddenly. I couldn't help but smile. The question seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Yes, they were often passing through. They came from the south, I think. They didn't talk much. They shone a little. Well, not really shine, but you know what I mean?" "
He nodded vigorously, his eyes shining with sincere interest.
"Yes, I see. My father said they lived in a kingdom built on water. So far away that you can't see the ground." But I never knew if it was true. "
I rested my chin on my crossed arms.
"Do you think I'll ever see him again?"
He remained silent for a moment, waiting for an answer. I looked at all the members of the group, who had become quiet again, before Nil replied:
"I think we'll see everything again when we get out of here."
It was naive. Perhaps. But I needed to hear it.
I nodded. And in that suspended moment, as our gazes wandered to some invisible place, the world began to exist again.
Even within these walls.