Kai had lost all sense of time by the second day.
There were no windows, no clocks, no sunrise or moonlight, just the sterile glow of enchantments and the wet echo of silence pressing in from all sides. But he remembered Orlin's voice, sharp and steady in the back of his mind.
"When you can't tell time anymore, count. Count. Count until your mind stops shaking from it. Eventually, you'll always be counting. Without even thinking about it."
So he did.
'One… two… three…'
Each second felt like a drop of water into a rusted bowl.
He tried to focus on the numbers, but it was difficult.
Beside him, Aliza and Kleo withered slowly.
They were given nothing to eat, nor drink. Kai, luckier than them, needed neither, but still felt the dryness in his mouth.
While the two girls got to know one another, he formed plans to leave, and scratched at the bars with his finger nails in an attempt to remove the sigils.
