Day seven

Lim opened his eyes. He was lying on a cold, stone floor, his hands and feet were tied with rough ropes. There was darkness around, and only a faint light source glowed dimly ahead. His head was buzzing, and his body was whining with fatigue and pain.

He raised his head and saw her.

She stood right in front of him, huge and majestic, like the embodiment of night darkness.

Her body was covered with black feathers, her face seemed to be cut out of bone, with long, black hair framing it. She had crooked horns sticking out of her head and one piercing green eye looking straight at him. She exuded strength and malice, as if the darkness itself had found flesh.

Good morning, little man," she said, her voice sounded like the rustle of bat wings, soft but frightening. - My name is Turella, and I am the mother of these creatures.

Lim was silent, holding his breath. He looked at Turella, and fear stuckled his whole body. He realized that he was trapped and that he was in the hands of the monster.

- You're in my nest now," Turella continued, and her eyes slid around the neighborhood.

Lim looked around. The walls of the cave were covered with some sticky growths, and bones were lying on the floor. Dice similar to children's. Lim turned away, trying not to look at this horror.

- I use you to make offspring," said Turella, her voice cold and cruel. - I'll hold you until you're ready, or if you're not able to, I'll just eat you.

It got cold inside Lim. He realized that this was the end. He is waiting for either a terrible life or an even more terrible death.

Turella seemed to enjoy his fear. She let out a quiet, creepy laugh and took out an exhausted, dirty rat from behind.

- This is your lunch for today, - said Turella, throwing the rat at Lim's feet. - Tomorrow I'll come to you again.

After these words, she turned around and left, disappearing into the darkness.

Lim was left alone in the dark, tied up and helpless. The cold permeated his body, but the pain in his soul was much stronger.

He looked at the rat that was squirming at his feet, and disgust overwhelmed him. He had eaten rats before, but only when he roasted them on fire, giving them at least some taste. But now, alive and dirty, she was terrifying.

The hunger was unbearable. His stomach twisted, and weakness stuckled his body. He understood that he needed strength to survive, to wait for salvation. And although he was disgusted, he reached for the rat.

She was sticky and dirty, her hair was fallen, and her eyes were burning with desperate horror. She looked at him as if she was beeping for mercy, and it made her even more disgusting.

He closed his eyes and tried to bite off a piece, but he couldn't. My stomach twisted from the mere smell. He looked at his wound, which was inflicted by a crow and, closing his eyes, tried again. He didn't want to starve to death. He overcame the nausea and started chewing.

The taste was disgusting, lively, and he felt her entrails bursting in his mouth, but he ate, absorbing her as if she were the most desirable dish in the world. Ate to survive.

He ate, and the images of Reik flashed in his head. He remembered his strength and confidence, his eyes full of determination.

Lim clung to this hope as if to a lifeline. He believed that Rake would come for him, that he would not leave him in this terrible place.

He thought about how they got to the cave together, about how Rake killed monsters. He believed that he would be able to kill Tourella, that he would release him from her captivity. He was waiting. He hoped.

But time passed, and Rake didn't show up. Night was replaced by night, and fear began to penetrate his heart. What if Rake left him? What if he died? What if he just doesn't want to come back? Thoughts, like worms, gnawed him from the inside.

Lim lay, pressed against the stone floor, and clenched his fists. Despair began to fill his soul. He remembered his parents, his past and how hard it was for him to live alone, but this past seemed like a paradise now, compared to this darkness and horror. He was alone, tied up and abandoned to the mercy of fate, in the monster's lair. And the hope that warmed him began to fade away like a spark that burned in the dark.

He didn't know how much time had passed, maybe a day, maybe two. He couldn't hold back his emotions anymore.

Tears flowed down his face, and he cried silently. He was just a child who fell into this gloomy world, he was weak and helpless, and he did not know how to get out of this situation.

He was crying, and hope was dying. He felt abandoned, betrayed and lonely. He understood that, most likely, a terrible death was waiting for him, and that no one would save him.

*

*

*

Rake opened his eyes, and a sharp pain pierced his head. He was lying on the cold stone floor, and he felt that his hands and feet were tied. He tried to move, but the ropes got into his flesh, causing even more pain.

He looked around. He was in the cave, but not in the one he was in with Lim. This place was gloomy and cold, as if the darkness itself had thickened here. The walls were covered with some kind of sticky slime, and the smell around was disgusting, like a mixture of decomposition and dampness.

He didn't remember how he got here.

The last thing he remembered was how one of the dark guides grabbed Lim and carried him deep into the cave. He rushed after him, trying to catch up, but then his vision became dim. Severe pain pierced his head, and after that he didn't remember anything.

He tried to remember what happened next, but his mind seemed to be foggy, and all the memories disappeared into the darkness. He understood that he had been seized, and that he was now in the hands of the creature that was the mother of dark guides.

He clenched his teeth and strained his muscles, trying to break the ropes, but they were too strong. He knew that these were not ordinary ropes, that they were created by that creature, and they would not succumb to his power.

He realized that he had lost this time.

He couldn't believe what happened. He was a monster hunter, he survived hundreds of battles, he defeated monsters, and he could not believe that he was now a prisoner.

He was thinking about Lima, and his heart tightened with guilt. He had to protect him, he had to protect him from danger, but now he was helpless.

Rake heard footsteps approaching him, and he saw her. She stood in front of him as if the embodiment of darkness, and her green eye looked at him with mockery. Her black feathers swayed like sinister banners, and her horns towered above her head like bone fangs.

- Good morning, hunter, - said the creature, her voice sounded like a grinding of stones. - Did you really think that you would defeat me so easily?

Rake was silent, he looked at her with fury and hatred, but he understood that at the moment he was helpless.

- You'll be my guest, - the creature continued, - until I decide what to do with you. In the meantime, enjoy the hospitality of my nest.

And with these words, she disappeared, leaving Reik alone in the darkness, bound and helpless, and despair filled his soul.