“What is it?”

Alysha asked as she sat next to Raijen, putting her head on his shoulder. Glancing at her Raijen briefly contemplated why she had become so clingy over the last month, but ultimately ignored it.

“Picture.”

“I can see that! But what are you drawing?”

“No idea.”

She looked at Raijen with raised eyebrows, one side of her mouth rising in a mocking smile.

Why does she look at me as if I was an idiot? I know what I’m drawing I don’t understand what I’m looking at.

“What do you see Alysha?”

Alysha shook her head, in a way that gesture for some reason irritated Raijen. She picked that habit over the last two weeks from Yana when she didn’t approve of something Raijen did or if she didn’t agree with him. Yet she still sat on her knees in front of him and looked at the pictures.

“Just some strange lines and not round circles?”

“What about this one?”

Raijen pointed with a finger at the edge of the picture with one long vertical line and two smaller horizontal lines connected to it. Watching the mist of low red light rise from the lines when he touched the symbol made his heart beat faster with anticipation.

“I don’t like that one, I like this.”

She pointed at a different array of lines and circles which looked prettier but didn’t glow when he touched them. A rush of expectation runs through his gut and his heart beat against the small chest in a frantic fashion.

With shaking hands Raijen drawn more and more runes which he saw in any fantasy literature or history books in his old world he could think of.

After five hours the excitement turned into disappointment as there was only one more that glowed orange.

Is it because I can’t recreate the original or is it was something else?

One benefit of people not paying attention to him was that he could stay awake hoverer long he wanted, deciding to sleep on the rune mystery Raijen went into bed.

Laying the back he felt the sheets shift around him, turning on the side he saw Alysha sitting on the bed next to him. In the low light of the torches her eyes focused on his, her shoulders were shaking and her small hands clenched on the surrounding sheets.

Considering the girl for a moment Raijen lifted the sheets next to him. Not wasting a moment Alysha squeezed in next to him, grabbing on the rags of his shirt she pulled on it. Not understanding what it was this time as she sneaked into his bed for the first time he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and could feel her trembling. Thinking she was cold Raijen pulled her closer, it didn’t take long before sneezing penetrated his ears and the ice hand of realization she was crying before she came to him clenched in his chest.

Running fingers in her hair to calm her down Raijens lips parted near her ear.

“What is it, someone was mean to you?”

He could hear the weak attempt on a smile in his voice waiting for her response.

Why do I care so damn much about this girl? I don’t even know her that well, I will have to leave this place eventually and will never see her again.

Squeezing her hair harder in the fist she shook her head but said nothing. Deciding to let her sleep he closed his eyes holding onto her.

“You won’t leave me alone right?”

The question was muffled by her talking into his chest, but he could still hear her clearly.

Moving away and lifting her face he looked into her black eyes and something almost broke inside of him. In the pale light of the night, her face was a mess, red eyes, red running nose and messed up hair. She looked ready for another cry but was staring in his face with wide, wild eyes.

“Of course, I would never leave you,”

Raijen's voice was strained trying to sound with as much of conviction as he could muster considering his inability to ever deliver on any promises he made to her this night.

“Why would you ask that?”

Her hands squeezed the rags of his shirt, even more, turning her knuckles white.

“It is, I’m just not…”

She trailed off looking down, but then looked up again.

“When you play with others, I thought you don’t need me anymore.”

Raising a brow and considering her for a moment he whispered back.

“I will always need you to be with me, that will never change. You should make some new friends though, but we will always be the very best friends. Sounds good?”

Nodding her head she looked down again. After a few more minutes, another whisper escaped her mouth.

“Can I stay here tonight?”

“Yeah, you know what? You can just stay here every night you want. I can use someone to hug to since winter is coming.”

The words escaped his mouth without much thought.

“What is winter?”

Blinking Raijen realized the adults were talking about it only between themselves.

I wasn’t sure if I have ignored the winters before completely or if there ever was one, to begin with. But it looks like it is a big deal since the women are becoming antsy, and more concerned each day.

Deciding not to scare her too much he caressed her hair before wrapping both of his arms around her and snuggling close.

“It gets cold at night, so I need someone to hug.”

Smiling into her hair Raijen closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to take him, he could smell the smoke and stone in this room in her hair which brought him a strange sense of comfort.

Feeling her fingers grab his back she snuggled her face into his neck and in a few moments, her breathing calmed.

Even after the whole room went quiet, and all he heard was the regular breathing with an occasional snore, the sleep eluded him.

One day they will take me out and I will leave Alysha to whatever fate awaits for her.

At the thought of what would happen to this little innocent girl, his stomach churned from more than just hunger. The more he tried not to think about it the more it wormed its way into the front of his mind, keeping him awake most of the night.

It isn’t only about Alysha, I have a pretty good idea what will happen to her and any other women once they leave. But I have no idea what awaits for me. Will I even have any chance to choose or decide the path my life will go? Most likely not, they can force me into labor, then again why would they bother to raise us like this if only to kill us in mines or something.

Are we specifically raised to accommodate any perversion the men or women outside had? If so what life was that, to go from day to day knowing there will be never anything more?

Are we to be sent far away, to some strange land? But then would it really matter since we don’t know anything else anyway?

Or is it something else entirely?

Not having any idea about the purpose of any of this was probably the scariest thing for Raijen.

What kind of second life is this, I didn’t want it to be like this. I want to get out of here soon and be done with it. To face the reality they prepared for us and deal with it, I want my chance to build my life in whatever mess is waiting out there.

This forced him down another rabbit hole.

Who are “they” anyway? Other then the guards taking women out and back and a few other slaves who carry our food, there is nothing to go by.

Wondering about the future which scared him more then he thought possible Raijen slowly drifted into a restless sleep. Though this time feeling another body next to him, provided him with something constant he could be sure would be here unchanged when he opens his eyes in the morning.