“Oof!”

Asura’s shoulder and head collided with the rock floor as she rolled from being thrown. A murky darkness enveloped her and dizziness threatened to overtake her consciousness. She breathed in, then out slowly to battle the encroaching stars in her vision. Her hands were tied behind her back, the burly cat-like man had wrapped the ropes so tightly around her wrists they were burning her skin with the friction. Her fingers had grown numb to her fingertips in the few minutes she had been bound. 

Clack!

The man, whom she assumed was a guard of the merchandise, closed the bars shut and wrapped the chains around the adjacent edges of the metal. Rust covered the lock, and multiple bars; a side effect of being so close to the coast. 

“Untie her. Or don’t. I don’t give a fuck.” The shadowy figure that had captured her shrugged his shoulders, then spit at the side of the cell in her direction. Rummaging could be heard, no doubt he was digging in the bag she had brought with her as he walked away, taking the light with him.

His words brought a sliver of awareness that she wasn’t alone in this cell. A flash of fear shot through her as she wriggled her wrists. She sucked in a hiss as the rope dug into them anew. The scraggy twine felt like needles against the tender flesh. 

Where the fuck is Kiln?

Blinking her eyes hard, she attempted to grasp where she was. 

In a cell so dark, she could barely tell what was up and what was down, until she heard the scuffling of feet come towards her. 

“Are you hurt anywhere?” A young girl’s voice reached Asura, and she felt herself breathe a sigh of relief before she stiffened with realization. 

“Don’t worry, they’ll light the torches soon so you can see more.” A tenor voice, a boy by the sounds of it, carried over a short distance. 

She could pick up the labored and ragged breaths of another. It sounded like they were laying down on the floor like her. She wondered if they were injured like her. 

Quinny could be among these children. 

A shuffle of feet whispered to her left, and there she saw the blurred outline of yet another, one that hadn’t said anything, but she could feel the eyes of the child on her. The undivided attention she was receiving made her hesitate. 

“I’m fine.” Her words came out in a rasp, as if she was suddenly parched. She cleared her throat.

“Barry, could you untie her?” The tenor voice from before requested, and someone from behind her stirred. 

Just how many children did they stuff in here?

“I’m going to touch you now, okay?” A gentle voice from behind, Barry, touched the ropes on her wrist. She could feel the heat of his body and the smell was surprisingly earthy. 

She winced as he jostled her knots, trying to get a feel for them in the dark. They felt like burning blades as he tugged at them. 

“Sorry. I want to get these off of you, it’s just hard to see.” An apologetic lilt revealed itself in his voice. 

“…Thank you.” 

The constant sound of dripping water somewhere was grating on Asura’s patience. Each drop sounded like a drum stick tapping on her tender head. 

After several moments of silence, the tenor voice from before spoke up. 

“Barry, will you let me have a go?”

“Sure, Cliff. He tied it as if to chop her wrists off.” Barry scoffed in frustration with a hint of resentment. 

A scuffling ensued and Cliff huffed as he settled himself on the floor next to her. 

Hot breath tickled her skin and burned her raw wrists, and a strong tug was felt on them. Finally, their grip loosened and a wanton relief rushed through her hands, followed by the prickly feeling of blood returning to them. 

“There, that should feel better.” Cliff murmured. He sounded tired. 

Before she could prop herself up, one of the children ran up, shushing the others as they did so. Everyone retreated at once, save for one who covered Asura as best they could. 

Choppy light flickered across the walls accompanied by the hollow sound of boots, and a man holding a torch approached the cell. The harsh shadows on his face made him an unrecognizable herald of dread.

He stopped at the bars and tilted his torch towards the contents before he roughly placed a large cup of water and a half loaf of bread that cracked like a rock against the bars. The children hadn’t moved at all, waiting for his intrusive gaze to recede. 

His light lingered on a child laying on a pile of scraps before he stepped away, lighting the torch on the opposite wall before trailing back the way he came. He never spoke, but Asura caught a half ponytail at the back of his head and the stubble of a man who hadn’t shaved in several days. 

The weight that was pinning Asura down lifted, and sat next to her. Asura propped herself up, wincing at the movement of her injured body. 

Silence engulfed the cell momentarily as the children laid their eyes on Asura with newfound light. Her braid had loosened, and hair fanned across her face. She felt her hair stick to the side of her aching head. 

Two small children huddled together on the back wall, their hair matted. The clothes that they were brought in were muddy and worn, with holes in the knees and collars. Two older boys were settling back where they were, one grabbed the hard bread and water while the other went to comfort the little ones. 

At the far end of the cell, tucked away, was a boy no older than any of the others, his breathing ragged. He had clothes underneath him along with dirty hay, and he was covered by what looked to be a coat. 

“Sorry, if we say or move while he’s here, he throws things at us.” A small voice, unsure, spoke from beside her. 

A girl peeked up at her from where she was, crouched. Her hair was also matted, like the others, but her steel gray eyes pierced through the softened darkness at Asura. The sharp gaze whipped at her heart. It stole her breath and stung her eyes. 

Quinny!…

Asura’s eyes roamed the bruises on Quinny’s face, her torn clothes and scrapes. The hollow faces of the children were mirrored on Quinny’s cheeks, and Asura’s lip quivered. 

Awash with several emotions, she placed the crook of her elbow across her own face, pretending to wipe the blood from her temple. Her she was, right in front of her, but she couldn’t hug her or rejoice or anything that her heart screamed at her to do. The frustration threatened to overwhelm her. When her breath returned to her, she couldn’t look Quinny in the eyes. 

“I see. Thank you.” Her eyes flickered to the unrelenting gaze before she dug in her pocket. 

“It’s not much, but here.” She pulled out dried fruit and three meat sticks that were stashed in her pocket as provisions from the wagon she rode earlier in the afternoon. 

Quinny’s eyes widened before resting on Asura’s face inquisitively. 

“Me! Me!” The little girl squealed in delight and ran over, grabbing the dried fruit and meat from her hands. 

“Elise!” Cliff’s voice chided the child, bringing his finger up to his mouth in a shushing motion. 

All was still as the children listened for any of the crooked sentinels returning. When the crackling fire was the only sound in the space, their movements resumed. 

Asura laughed, finding the little girl’s actions funny for some reason. 

Quinny frowned at her for a moment, and Asura struggled to focus her eyes on her. Her head hurt so much. 

“How… how long have you been here?” Asura asks, her voice sounding tender, almost wounded. 

How have you been? As if it wasn’t obvious. 

“We don’t know. They don’t share information.” Quinny got up, stretching her legs and gesturing to the path the slaver had come from. 

“What are you doing here?” Quinny asked cautiously, as if she was thinking about what to say before she said it. 

Asura giggled, earning herself another frown. Cliff and Quinny exchanged a look. 

With a ridiculous grin on her face, she proudly announced her goal.

“I’m here to rescue you.” 

Quinny’s face lifted with unbridled surprise and the other children had varying reactions, save for Cliff and the sick child. 

“And… how are you feeling right now?” Cliff asked Asura. 

Confused and slightly offended, Asura was about to retort when Quinny’s hand went up, signaling everyone to be quiet. She quickly waved it, signaling the children someone was coming. 

Soft footfalls approached, but no light flickered as before. 

“…Hey, you.” 

The timber voice of the one who had abandoned her slipped through the bars above her. 

“Kiln! You left me behind, you bastard.” She gritted her teeth in annoyance. 

Goddess, my head hurts.

“I’d say you were the one that left me behind.” Kiln returned her expression, dropping her bag just outside the chains. Squinting, he reached through the bars and touched her temple. 

Asura swatted at his hand, but not before he had already touched a fingertip to her bleeding temple. 

“You need treatment.” 

His eyes swept to the rest of the children, dressed in rags and malnourished, resting on the child with the difficult breaths. 

“Goddess, you all need treatment.” 

He turned back to Asura. 

“Can you… handle getting them out of the cell?” His doubt was not hidden behind his questions, and Asura grew more irritated with each stretched vowel. 

“Of course I can!”

“Tsk!” His verbal disapproval of her tone felt like he was scolding a wayward child, shocking some of her consciousness back in place. 

She held her head in her hands, then pinched her nose. 

“I- I think I can. Can you buy me five… no, better to make it ten. Ten minutes?”

A flicker of approval on Kiln’s face was all the confirmation she needed, and she dug through her bag for several things. 

Quinny tensed next to her. 

“I’ll be back.”

Kiln abruptly got up, pulled the mask up on his face and unsheathed twin daggers from a belt strapped across his waist as he walked into the muddy corridor out of sight. 

Gripping a cloth and a bottle of liquid, she laid them out in front of her, trying to think around the buzzing in her head. She was unprepared because this was supposed to be a scouting mission, but she would make it work.