A breath. Cold, sharp.

  Ray opens his eyes, but sees nothing. Everything around him is white. A blinding white, without shadows, without boundaries. His eyelids tremble, his head throbs, his ears ring incessantly. He tries to move, but something holds him back. Chains, heavy and cold, bind his wrists and ankles.

  The air smells of nothing. No scent, no sound. Only his own irregular, labored breathing.

  Then, suddenly, a noise. A soft sound that tears through the silence.

  A door in front of him seems to dissolve into nothingness, breaking that boundless white space.

  Two figures enter from the threshold. One wears armor while the other wears more solemn robes. They have wings that seem to come from dreams: white, pale feathers that almost blend with the walls of the room.

  People call them angels, but Ray feels no holiness in their steps. They seem more like judges than saviors.

  "Where is your father?" asks the robed angel.

  The words shatter against his silence.

  Ray looks at him, confused, eyes ringed with exhaustion and pain. "My father... is... dead."

  The other, covered in armor that reveals no glimpse of a face, approaches and strikes him violently across the face, making his nose bleed.

  The robed figure's voice breaks the silence again: "Seems we got off on the wrong foot. Pleasure to meet you, Ray. I'm Xavier, and we'll be playing together for a while."

  Ray raises his gaze. It seems like a good smile, kind. A smile you could trust blindly. And yet... that subtle unsettling sensation foretold something else entirely.

  "Was it you? Did you do all this?" Ray stares into his eyes, fear masked by courage and rage.

  Xavier slaps him, making his head turn. "Little Ray, I don't recall giving you permission to speak... or am I mistaken?" The voice crawls under his skin. "But this once, I'll be kind and answer your question." Ray is afraid. "Personally, I didn't do anything. However, it was so entertaining to watch from above." Ray's eyes widen. He lifts his head slightly and sees a smile stretching from ear to ear. Ray's pupils tremble and his skin grows rough. He wants to scream at him, wants to curse him, but even his voice seems terrified.

  "Now that you understand your place, why don't we try again? So, where is your father?"

  "What the fuck are you talking about? If you watched everything, you already know! He's dead! You bastards killed him!" Ray screams. Rage has overtaken fear at the mere sound of that question.

  Xavier takes two steps back. The soldier takes two forward. He grabs Ray's hand. Ray writhes, tries to free himself, tries to escape, already sensing the worst. At Xavier's signal comes a sharp sound, like a green twig snapping, immediately followed by a piercing scream of pain. The soldier breaks his first knuckle.

  Then again. Question. Answer. Screams.

  Like a vicious cycle. Another knuckle breaks.

  And then another.

  And another.

  And then one more.

  He smiles. Smiles as if it's a game. As if life itself is just a game.

  "Why won't you cooperate? Why do you insist? You'll gain nothing from this, it's just bullshit. You're throwing your life away for nothing, so why won't you tell me where your father is?!" Xavier is getting frustrated. It no longer seems like a game.

  "What are you talking about? I have no idea what bullshit you're saying! My father is dead!" Ray is out of breath, saliva dripping from his mouth.

  Xavier's expression changes. He looks at him with disgust, from top to bottom, as if he were nothing but a worm. He makes a different gesture than before, more decisive. Ray notices. Shivers run down his spine and in his head, the idea to lie, to lie just to make it stop.

  "Wait, wait!" Xavier signals the soldier to stop. "Wait, please. He... he's in the south. On an island... an island that doesn't appear on maps, where no one can find him. You have to believe me, please!" Xavier says nothing. He simply makes the same gesture. Xavier doesn't believe him. Among Ray's desperate nos, his chaotic movements searching for escape, and tears in his eyes, the fingers of the opposite hand all broke at once. Then he ripped them off by force.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "Let's up the stakes, seems this isn't enough." Ray feels his skin crawl. Shivers. Shivers everywhere.

  The soldier draws the sword from his side. He touches the blade and as if by magic it becomes red-hot. Xavier changes questions but the procedure remains the same.

  "Where are the other members?" And again, "Are there infiltrators in our ranks?"

  All questions whose answers from Ray don't satisfy him. The soldier drives the burning sword into his back again and again. It tears and burns his flesh. The room gradually changes color. A pool of blood on the floor. The smell of burning in the air. Ray does nothing but scream. He even stops answering the questions. He has no breath left. His vision blurs. He starts spitting blood and it seems life is leaving him when, suddenly, the torture stops. Xavier sees him on the verge of death and signals the soldier to stop. They leave the room and Ray loses consciousness.

  A full day has passed. Ray regains consciousness. The awakening seems like a copy of the previous one, but he no longer feels pain. His hands are unharmed. His back returned to normal. The blood on the floor gone. As if nothing had ever happened. Then again, the door, their footsteps, his voice. That disturbing calm he finds upon waking is replaced by terror, anxiety, panic, anguish. His breathing becomes heavy and his body seems to have accepted its fate.

  "Little Ray, I hope you slept well because we have a lot to do today." Ray says nothing.

  "What's this silence? Yesterday you were screaming so much. Come on, if you behave maybe today I'll let you taste the sweet sunlight." Ray doesn't fall for the provocation. He continues to stay silent.

  "Suit yourself, and here I was trying to be nice. Anyway, I suppose you've noticed your wounds are completely healed. It's all thanks to this room. The light it emits heals any wound, no matter how severe." Ray doesn't look at him, continues to remain silent. Xavier approaches, grabs him by the hair and forces him to look. "And do you know what that means? Not even death will take you from me. So we can play and stay together for a very, very long time. Isn't that wonderful?" Ray pales and fear blocks his words.

  The day proceeded like the previous one, but Xavier implemented new tortures. Sensations of drowning, suffocation, flaying. Without peace, without even time to think. Ray passed out again.

  Upon waking the third day, nothing changes. Wounds gone. Room clean. Same chains. But one thing has changed. Xavier is no longer there. Beside the soldier is now a woman.

  Ray doesn't look at her, accepts the idea that the situation won't change. Yet when the soldier turns his back to the woman, she kills him. The blade enters and exits his throat in a single fluid motion and the soldier falls backward without making a sound. She lays the body on the ground silently. Ray looks at the body in disbelief, then slowly raises his gaze. Same pale wings, but a completely different emerald gaze. Black hair, wavy and loose. She wears light armor. Practical, without ornaments, resembling a soldier more than someone of Xavier's rank.

  "It's alright. You don't need to worry anymore. The room can't heal death, he won't wake up." The woman tries to comfort him while freeing him from the chains. His legs and arms are completely numb, but finally he's free to move.

  "It's just me, only those at the top know about you. But as soon as they learn of his death, they'll come here. You need to leave as soon as possible, far away or somewhere safe," the woman says while helping him stand.

  "I... I don't understand. What's happening?" It's been so long since he spoke, until now he only screamed.

  "Shh, don't strain yourself, you haven't eaten or drunk in days. There's no time for explanations. Tell me something, how old are you?"

  "How old am I? I'm... fifteen." Ray doesn't understand why she's asking this. Truth be told, he doesn't understand any of this situation.

  The woman takes his hand and drags him down the corridor. "Ah, not much longer then. In due time, you'll have all the answers you seek."

  Ray doesn't know whether to be afraid or relieved by her arrival. Doesn't know whether to ask questions or stay silent. Doesn't know if he can truly trust her.

  "Why... did you... save me?" he barely manages to ask.

  She doesn't answer immediately. Stays silent. Then she stops, turns, and looks at him.

  "In a way... I need you to survive." The woman resumes walking. They reach stairs leading upward. They lead to a hatch that the woman pushes open forcefully. Beyond it, the forest. A forest Ray knows well. The sun is setting, darkness will fall soon.

  "Go on, what are you waiting for? I'm giving you freedom. If you don't leave, it will all be in vain." Ray still doesn't know what to say, what to do. He starts looking around frantically as if searching for something.

  "Come on." The woman urges him again.

  Ray remains silent but continues looking around. He's figured out which part of the forest he's in and starts moving slowly. A hesitant step, as if checking he's truly free to go. Then a slow, uncertain walk while staring at the woman. Then he starts running. He feels again the rustle of leaves. The call of birds. The wind rushing against him.

  He runs until his breath runs out.

  He runs as the shadows lengthen.

  He runs until finally, he glimpses Satus.

  He stops. Breathing hard, then heads toward his house. The air smells of iron. Ray covers his mouth with his hand as he advances. The smell is bad but not unbearable. The streets are still covered with pale bodies. No one came to recover them. No one came to bury them. Even in death, Satus remains insignificant.

  He glimpses his house. May is still there. Her body has the color of ash. Flies buzz around her. On the ground, the soil is darkened with blood. Adam is in the same condition.

  Night envelops everything.

  He removes the lance. Moves the rubble. Ray's tears fall onto May's face as he holds her in his arms. He wraps the bodies as best he can and says a final goodbye before burying them.

  Then, silence.

  The rustling of branches. Hands dirty with earth. That silver lance on the ground he doesn't have the courage to take. A shard of glass a few steps away.

  He picks it up and sits beside the graves. It's sharp.

  In his head, only tragedies. He closes his eyes. The glass moves closer and closer to his throat. It seems the only path to relief.

  But suddenly... footsteps, heading in his direction. The fire of a torch drives away that darkness. The warmth of a hand stops his. He wonders if they've found him. Then a female voice speaks.

  "What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?"