Rey was doing his rounds on the third floor. It had been two days since Unokir's arrival, and yet they didn't know who or what had attacked the good doctor. Thankfully, after the bucket in the well, there hadn't been any more incidents.

  It was like the others had almost forgotten that there had even been an attack on Bahar, but Rey wasn't taking his chances. Things were getting tense. This was precisely how it had started last time, minus the attack on the doctor. Good thing, there was no Phil to make things worse for them. But even still, Rey could not take it easy. He had to keep vigilant.

  He used Gravitational Attraction and pulled a small stone into his hand, and shot it at the wall with Repulsion. Brought it back and shot it harder this time. He had to do it a couple more times before a notification popped up.

  [+1 Magic Affinity]

  [+1 Magic Power]

  Thanks to them hunkering down, he had accumulated a few of these points, and he was going to need as much as he could get his hands on before Unokir broke through the castle. Or someone let him in because of desperation.

  As he was about to head down the stairs, he felt a slight breeze. He almost disregarded it, but after the still air of the castle, it was unmistakable. He moved towards it, checking every room, and found it was coming from the room with the ladder to the watchtower. There was a slight coolness to the air that wasn't present anywhere else in the castle, and that wasn't all. Reddish light filtered down from above. Light that could only belong to the red sky outside.

  He looked up and almost shat his pants. The trap door that led to the watch post stood open. Rey didn't have his scythe on him, and he didn't have the time to fetch it. He raced up the ladder as fast as he could. He reached the top and found the post empty.

  He jumped out and looked around, and there was no one in sight. No demon, no human, no demons that had once been humans. The large group of demons still surrounded the castle, and their leader slept on a mound of corpses. Unokir had his hands under his head as he slept on the demon bodies. Demons, he, no doubt, had killed himself.

  Rey breathed in deeply and smelled the unmistakable smell of smoke.

  What now?

  He descended the ladder after closing the trap door and locking it shut. He wasn't sure if the demon had run away after performing one last mischief, which was setting the whole castle on fire. He slid down the ladder as fast as he could.

  The smoke was coming from downstairs. He flew down the stairs, nearly tripped over his feet, and cartwheeled down the steps. But somehow, he saved himself. It was actually Ajay who saved him, but who cares about the minor details? Ajay most definitely didn't.

  Together they ran towards their kitchen on the second floor. It was lit up like the world's greatest bonfire.

  "Ajay, can you put out the flames?" Rey asked.

  He shook his head. "I can only create them."

  "Did you create these?"

  "Of course not," He snapped.

  The others were running towards the fire when they should have been running in the opposite direction to fetch some water. Rey took that initiative himself.

  "Who set the kitchen on fire?" Filomena asked as Rey ran past.

  "Your future boyfriend did."

  "I did not!" Ajay shouted.

  "I never said you were her future boyfriend," Rey shouted back. Then turned just in time to see poor Ajay turning the shade of tomatoes, which was a feat given his dusky complexion.

  He stopped by the edge of the railing that looked down to the main hall and jumped down. He slowed his descent with a quick burst of Repulsion and shot off towards the well. He used Attraction on the wall and flew down the length of the corridor.

  He had been practicing how to propel himself using Attraction or Repulsion, and he had gotten quite good at it. This time, he didn't even trip over his feet and face-plant into the ground. He just tripped and landed on his knees, and mostly just limped his way to the well. Filled up the bucket and flew down the corridor, and saw Sergei, Kassandra, and a few others running towards him.

  Sergei took the bucket from him and ran to the fire. Rey huffed and rubbed his knees as Kassandra stopped by him.

  "Rey, all our food is in the kitchen," she said.

  "I know."

  "Who could've done this?" She asked, rubbing her temples. "We already had so little food. We'll starve at this rate."

  "It was going to come to that sooner or later," Rey admitted.

  "So now what?" She asked, sweating, not from the heat but from stress. It was her telltale sign.

  "Now, we put out the fire, and then we'll see how much time passes before we chop up Jerry and put him in one of his broths."

  She stared at him for a long moment. "Please don't make these kinds of jokes given the situation we're in."

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Rey chuckled as he ran to take the bucket from Sergei. "I have to do something to keep the stress from getting to you, beautiful."

  She blinked, and he realized a moment too late what he had called her. So, he just played it off as nothing while she stood there, with rosy cheeks. But he didn't miss the small smile she gave him as he ran back to the well.

  He knew he shouldn't have called her that. That was the opposite of getting away from her. He put it out of his mind and focused on putting out the fire in the kitchen. It didn't take them long to get it out. By the time they finished, they had lost nearly a third of the dried meat and all of the meat Jerry had set aside to make a broth.

  "We've lost nearly half of our food," Jerry reported.

  "How long can we last on the food we've left?" Rey asked.

  "If we continue to eat like we were going to, then maybe four days."

  "Half rations for everyone," Rey declared. "And no one goes anywhere alone, and move all this food downstairs, where we all will have eyes on it."

  They were all so exhausted that no one even bothered to fight back. But this was not good. He had hoped that Unokir would tire of the wait and leave, but at this rate, he would break them even sooner.

  ******

  Twelve days later, Rey was picking on the last of his rationed jerky, as Unokir raged around the castle. Over the last week, his attacks had become more frequent. Maybe he thought, if he tried hard enough, he could destroy the castle. Maybe he thought he was making progress. Or perhaps he was using the castle as a punching bag to get his frustrations out and rank up some stats.

  While he was getting stronger, everyone in the castle was getting weaker, in body and resolve. Everyone's food had run out two days ago, and he was getting some jealous looks. This was Rey's last bit of food. Soon, he would have to start eating the grass around the well. Though he doubted the others would think of it as a five-star meal. He had been sneaking in a bite or two, here and there. After all, he had to keep his fibre intake up. He didn't want to be constipated, like everyone else.

  He could've always gone to the third, and as of yet unopened door. It held the answer to their troubles. A last gift from Tibras and their dear host, the great cuckold supreme, who was so great a cuckold his own family didn't want to be associated with him, and also because of his button-sized penis.

  They all sat in the main hall as no one—especially Jerry, who held the keys to the kingdom—was allowed to go anywhere alone. Even if you were going to take a leak, you had to take a buddy to make sure you shook it off properly and came back right away, without sauntering off to have a chat with some demonic fellows.

  Rey feared that things would come to a head with Unokir soon. Someone would try to dash outside, either to escape or join the other side. Rey could feel it in his bones; he just didn't know who would make the first move.

  The hunger was driving them insane. He could see it in their eyes, and it had only been two days. They also hated the fact that Rey had eaten so little that his share had lasted longer than theirs, especially Jerry's. He looked at Rey like a bull looked at a matador waving a red flag.

  Rey shoved the last of the meat in his mouth and chewed loudly. "Ah, that hit like a tenth of the spot. Who wants to go eat some salad with me?"

  "Screw your salad," growled Jerry. "I know you took more meat than your share. How else did your food last longer than ours?"

  Rey shrugged. "I just ate less, like I told you all to do."

  "Liar!" Jerry came for Rey.

  He let him come closer and wanted to fling him away, but Kassandra got in the middle of them.

  "Jerry, stop." She held up a hand. "We can't fight, not at a time like this."

  "We're stuck here because of him," he snapped. "We could've fought, but he wanted to run and hide. Now, that fucking beast is rampaging outside, and we can't step outside without losing our lives, which is only slightly better than dying of starvation."

  "I can ease your passing, but when you return, you'll just be a mindless demon, because you wouldn't be able to get to your soul," Rey replied.

  Kassandra turned to him and gave him a stern look. "Rey, you're not helping."

  "How is it my fault that he couldn't ration his food?" Rey retorted. The hunger was getting him too.

  There was a way out of this, but he would have to lose one more person. Normally, that would be of no concern, but thanks to Zalathar's deadline, everything had been made so fuckedy fucked.

  Jerry came for him again, but Ajay and Sergei stopped him. Sergei would've been enough by himself. No one was outmuscling the Russian Hulk. Even Sergei seemed lethargic and out of breath as he stopped the angry leather-clad road warrior.

  Filomena stood. "You said you had a way out of here. Something about a sacrifice."

  Rey looked away. "Things aren't that desperate for me to go that route."

  "What?" Tia looked his way. "All this time you've had a way out of here and you've been sitting there watching us starve."

  "It's not like I've been chowing down on big, fat juicy steaks and drinking single malt scotch," Rey shot back. The moment the words were out of his mouth, he missed drinking whiskey so much. The alcohol down here was great for getting a high, but holy was it one of the worst things that he had ever drunk.

  "Then what is it?" Jerry countered. "Where is this magical place that is supposed to save us, because I'll be honest, that demon's offer is sounding more and more tempting every second."

  That quieted everyone. All the doors and windows were sealed shut with iron bars that only he could open.

  "What?" Jerry said. "That's right. You heard me. So, oh, mighty savior, you better wag that tongue and save us from this predicament, or I'll open all the doors and windows."

  Rey stood slowly, glancing at Sergei, Ajay, and Kassandra. The people he could trust. Nothing needed to be said. They would move once Rey gave the signal. Thankfully, Rey's Mana was quite full. The good thing was that Jerry couldn't undo his steel rods without touching them. So, if they could confine him in a room, they could neutralize him.

  Rey walked until he was nose to nose with him. "Do that and I'll kill you where you stand."

  Rey channelled his inner demon. The one who had gone to sleep since he had travelled back in time. Now, Rey invited him back out. His eyes bore into Jerry's, and the fat biker blinked first.

  "H-Hey, Rey, I-I was just joking," he stammered. "I would never even think of doing that to you all."

  "Good," Rey said, then smiled a viscous smile. "If you want to know what I've been hiding from you. Then listen up." He turned to the others. "The third door holds supplies, a few travelling packs filled with food, and best of all, a tunnel that leads under the castle and into the forest beyond. We could escape under Unokir's eyes, and he would never know we were gone."

  "And the price…" Kassandra asked.

  "Blood. One of us has to make a withdrawal from their vein bank and give the door a new scarlet paint job. Oh, and whoever does so will forever be tied to the castle. Unable to leave, unable to move on."

  They were stunned to silence. No one said anything for a long minute. Last time, it was Sergei who had made this sacrifice so that the others could leave. This time, he wouldn't let him. There were others who could make this sacrifice, if it came to it, if he couldn't figure out another way out of this shithole.

  "What? No one is keen on condemning themselves?" Rey asked. "Thought so. Now shut up and let me think."

  "If we can't use the door, then we either fight or we die of starvation," Filomena said ruefully.

  "You know that might not be a bad idea." Rey smiled.

  She frowned. "Which one?"

  "Neither."