Sol’s POV

The sun was high above us in the sky and shined through the forest in various places. Nephthys had proposed that we stick to the shadows to prevent heating up as much as possible - I didn’t disagree. Even when we had stuck to the shadows, sweat was constantly rolling down our bodies with no sign that the heat would let up - it had only gotten hotter all morning. We barely had anything to eat and could only rely on the vegetation we found along the way - the way to somewhere, we didn't quite know where we were headed. Not even an entire day had passed since the great escape and we were already exhausted from moving around. We would need to find something to satiate us quickly, else we would only last for a few days at most.

We continued to wander around with no concrete plan. The only goal I had was to regroup with hopefully both Rosa and Nor. Rosa had not been with us during the escape, so I was worried about what had happened to her. But she was a werewolf so I hoped that she was able to escape safely. On the other hand, I was trying my best to adjust to a lifestyle of using only one hand - it was especially hard because I lost the hand that I used most often. More often than not, Nephthys was supportive whenever I tried to do anything that required both hands, which was surprisingly a lot more than I imagined. Not only had I lost an arm, but I also lost the ability to balance in general which made everything that much harder. I felt ashamed for not being able to carry myself and also sorry for Nephtys who had to help in nearly everything I did, but she did not seem to hate me for it.

As the sun continued to move along in the sky, we came to a halt to take a break. In the end, the only foods we could find were berries and other vegetation. We could survive a few days on those, but eventually, we would need something that would actually fill us up. Neither of us had experience hunting, but Nephthys was surprisingly handy with the dagger - so we decided to try catching some small beasts to eat that day. I had not gotten decent food to eat in years, but even then there was a limit to how long I could go while eating minimally. Nephthys on the other hand seemed like she was doing much better than me - although a little pale. Perhaps she didn’t need as much nutrition as me, or perhaps she was a race from the beastman - possibly a plant-eater, which would explain why she looked ok without any meat.

While I was thinking to myself about the various ancient beasts Nephthys could have heralded from, she called out to me from nearby.

“Are you ready Sol?”

“Yeah…I guess”

We went our separate ways in the woods to look for any animals laying around. Naturally, I wouldn’t be doing the catching, instead, I would lead the beast into her area where she would do her best to kill it. I carefully watched my steps to make sure there were not any protruding areas where I could trip - it was much harder without someone next to me. We had still not managed to procure anything to protect our feet so we had to live with getting our feet pierced anytime we traveled any distance. I crouched down once I felt I was far enough from Nephthys. Time ticked by and all I could hear was the distant howls and shifting of various beasts. Just as I was starting to get restless, I saw a rather small beast poke its head out of the shrubs. I slowly crawled towards it making sure not to make any noise which was rather hard to accomplish. When I figured that I had gotten close enough to scare it towards Nephthys, I discreetly snapped a twig to alert the small beast. It scampered away… towards Nephthys; all I could do now was hope that Nephthys had it in her to kill that small beast.

I waited in silence so I wouldn’t distract her. Not much later, I heard two successive thuds and the other beasts around quickly ran off in other directions - we had caught our first meal in over a year. As I slowly got up, I was reminded about the time when I was living just to survive in the slums - it did not feel much different now. But I also felt like I wouldn’t be able to live as I had back then - I had gotten to experience human connection and it was hard to imagine living without it. I rolled onto my left arm in order to push myself up into a sitting state and then I used the palm of my hand and pushed away from the ground in order to stand up. It was still weird how I felt pain in an arm that was no longer there, but it had become something I could ignore most of the time. I walked towards the direction Nephthys was; when I reached where she was, she was holding the beast out to me as if she wanted me to eat it all. It was marked dead center with a sharp object that seemed to have pierced it - perhaps a knife that she had thrown at the beast, killing it in one shot… I shivered at the thought.

“You can have it… I’ve had my fill”

“... Are you sure? You don’t need to be so reserved”

“I’m sure”

The conversations I had with her were still awkward, but I figured we would overcome that as time passed. Also, I had a growing suspicion that Nephthys was almost certainly not of the human race. On top of that, I had seen fangs inside her mouth as well as those very marks on the beast I was now holding on to. She even wore a leaven hat for some reason. Although I didn’t know what she was, as long as she didn’t cause me any harm, I saw no reason to force it out of her - especially after everything she had done for me without wanting anything in return. As I held on to the beast Nephthys had given me, I wondered how I would even begin to eat this. The pelt outer layer was far too stiff to even chew on, let alone eat. I decided I would first remove the outer layer before trying to cook the center.

Nephthys seemed like she was interested in what I was doing as I tried to cut open the beast. She gave me a stony knife she seemed to have gotten from somewhere in order to assist the cutting of the beast. My work was sloppy and blood spouted everywhere as I tried my best to cut into the outer skin - I used my two legs to keep the meat in place while intensely stabbing at the outer skin. Eventually, I got it off - although extremely messy - and started to cook it. During this firing process, I realized that I had been using conjuring powers without the assistance of a stone. Perhaps I had used it so much it had become second nature to me in some ways; perhaps as a result of being able to use magic without the stone, I didn’t need to sacrifice my blood, although if I wanted a stronger and more accurate product, I needed to slit myself and let the blood run onto my hands. I imagined that there was a cleaner way of using my blood, but that was the least of my worries.

After conjuring the rather flimsy flame, I attempted to cook the meat I had cut from the beast. In all honesty, it did not seem very appetizing, but the food was food and I couldn’t let this meat go to waste. I hung the meat on some branches of a decaying tree in order to accomplish two things at once - letting the blood drain and being able to cook it with one hand. Once again, I conjured some weak flames and held it beneath the chunk of meat to cook it - I thought to myself that it would take a long time. Smoke rose from cooking the meat and drifted around - although it did not smell delicious, it still smelled somewhat of fresh meat that I could enjoy. After what felt like an entire day, the meat looked cooked enough to be consumed. I took it off the branch of the tree and bit into it - it was delicious. Although it did not have any flavors, texture, or tenderness, it was still food that I had helped catch and prepare, which made it all the more satisfying to eat.

Nephthys sat down next to me as I quickly ate the meat - I quickly developed a stomach ache. I regretted eating so fast, but at the same time, I was glad to have been able to eat something outside of the mines - perhaps we would be able to survive in some way. Then, I wondered how everyone else was doing. Were they able to survive as well? Were they captured… killed? Were Rosa and Nor still safe? Would I be able to see them again? Perhaps because I had satiated my primal desires of hunger, these overwhelming thoughts came back to me. However, I was not alone anymore with Nephthys by my side, otherwise, I may have gone insane or died trying to escape without the help of Rosa or Nor. I looked into those deep, crimson eyes once again, but I did not turn away from her this time, rather I was captivated by her. For some time after that, we talked thoroughly about what to do from now on.

* * *

We were surrounded. It happened so suddenly and without any sign that we had been caught completely off guard. The sun was already setting and one of the two moons had started to rise. Although I did not know exactly where they were, Nephthys had woken up from her short nap to warn me about the situation - how she knew… I did not know, but now was not the time to think about such trivial aspects. We still lay there on the ground to not alert those that had surrounded us. Luck had finally run out for us and we were the next targets of this group of people - perhaps guards from the mines or maybe some other group entirely. In any case, it was a matter of time before we were caught and we would have to do something to escape.

“What if we burnt the tree?”

Nephthys quietly whispered a crazy idea that would never work with the flames I produced - even with blood. The trees around us would take much too long to start burning and cause a distraction.

“The one you used earlier was decaying, it will catch on fire easier”

“... I see. That might just work”

“Would you like to use my blood?”

While I was thinking if such a method would work, she asked if I wanted to use her blood. I didn’t even know that was even a possibility, but even if it was, I didn’t want to because she was already so pale even though she physically looked fit. I didn’t know the reason behind this, but I didn’t want to take any chances so I told her no.

“Can you pass me the dagger from earlier”

“...are you going to use your blood?”

“What else would I use?”

She reluctantly handed over a dagger with a face that seemed to be worried. I reopened the wound that had closed on my dangling right arm and caught the blood with my left. After I felt that I had enough, I quickly conjured the flames, hotter than any other I had created before. Before the people around us could react to the flame, I sent it flying towards the decayed tree and accurately hit it square on its trunk - it caught on fire immediately.

“They’re starting to panic, let’s make a run for it”

“Alright… can you help me up real quick?”

I had tried to get up again with both arms before realizing that I couldn’t. Nephthys nodded and helped me up to my feet and she grabbed my left arm as we ran towards an opening in the formation of our pursuers - we ran because our lives depended on it. I heard shouting from behind, but I did not turn around, and we continued through the facade the dark night brought.