24 Return (2/2)

”Wait! Do you need that crystal? Can I keep it?”

The draft turned around with a puzzled look on his face. He glanced between the thing in his hands and Daneel's expectant face, and with a shrug, he tossed it in his direction and muttered, ”It's your neck. If they find you with it, you will die. But the king did say to fulfill your request wherever possible, so… here you go.”

And just like that, he was gone. Daneel caressed the sharp edges of the crystal in his hand, dazzled by this treasure that he had just obtained. It was ten times larger than the tiny ones that he usually absorbed. It was still only a pebble in his hand as it had been the size of the fist of the dwarf, but he held it to his heart and grinned before tucking it carefully away in his secret pocket.

Before leaving, he made a mental note of the location of the crack in the wall. As he began to walk down the passageway, small caverns started to emerge, and soon, he came upon the central tunnel of the Pit.

For a moment, he pondered on the idea of going to his cavern and hiding away the crystal and the meat, but then, he shook his head.

'No. Best to get over with it right now.'

The idea of children crying for food rankled within him. He found that he couldn't sit still, knowing that such a thing was happening.

With long strides, he headed in the direction of the specific corridor where he knew Xander's cavern was supposed to be. It was at the very edge of the Pit, situated right before a dead-end.

As soon as he turned into the corridor, he caught a whiff of something that was far worse than everything he had encountered in the Pit so far. Covering his nose, he walked forward and came upon the first small cavern.

Unable to stop himself, he ducked into it… and saw a skeleton lying on the stone bed. At least, that was what he thought at first…until he saw that the thinnest layer of skin was still present on the bones, and his ribs were still heaving up and down as he drew breath.

”W-water, pl-please…”

Hearing that someone had come, the man's eyes slowly opened and he mumbled so quietly that Daneel almost couldn't hear him.

He looked around, but there was no water or food. Intending to find water in the next cavern, he went to it, and found a similar sight.

He felt anger begin to build inside him as he went from cavern to cavern and found men and women close to death. He even found a few dead ones, and in fact, they were much better off than a few who are clinging on to life by eating their own fingers.

It was horror after horror, and as he saw that he was reaching the end of the corridor, he knew that he would find Xander's woman, soon. He had found no children, yet, but what he had seen already was enough to make him decide that both of them deserved a fate far worse than death.

Finally, he came upon the last cavern and was astonished to see that it had somehow been expanded to a room that could fit ten people inside.

There were two individuals quietly talking at the very end of it, and before they noticed him, Daneel looked to his left and right.

There they were. Chained to the walls and with rags stuffed in their mouths, little kids were looking around blindly. There were six of them, their ages ranging between ten and three. The sight of the youngest of them was heartbreaking; he kept crying to himself, silently, unable to understand why he had come into such a cruel world.

With red eyes, Daneel fixed his gaze on the one he had come to find. She finally saw him and her eyebrows raised, but Daneel wasn't looking at her to see this happen. Instead, he was eyeing the other occupant of the cavern, and as he recognized him…he screamed.

It was wordless, fraught with all the frustration he felt. He had believed that Sebastian was one of the best men in the Pit based on his interactions with him, so far…but he had been betrayed, again.

His mind went empty. Rage took over, so with a snarl…he raised his hands and pounced on his prey, eyes screaming death, death, death.