But if they were really sold to those non-human races, into the hands of those Demons...
Then their future might hold not only endless labor, but also the possibility of being devoured by the Demons, becoming their food!
Such a cruel future was simply too terrifying for her!
And to distract herself, to stop herself from overthinking, she chose to count.
"One, two... seventeen."
The last glow of the torch flickered between the rock walls, and Teresa watched her shadow break into seventeen pieces among the stalactite clusters.
The chains rubbed against her wrists as she moved, sending waves of burning pain that made her feel a bit disoriented.
She glanced again at the other slaves, trying to distract herself by continuing to count.
"One, two..."
"Ugh, alright, stop counting."
Behind her, Quinna’s hoarse voice mingled with the light sound of chains, carrying a hint of helplessness: "Your counting is giving a headache."
Teresa turned her head to look, and beneath Quinna’s tattered linen prison clothes, bony shoulder blades rose and fell with each step, as if her bones might pierce her skin at any mont.
This woman claid to co from the Northern Lands, and she seed to be a Warrior, though she had beco this sickly figure due to a Curse.
Although Quinna wanted Teresa to call her sister, the village girl did not agree.
"Miss Quinna, did I disturb you?" Teresa asked with a bit of apology as she lowered her head.
Quinna shook her head and said helplessly, "No, no, I just got tired of listening."
The two of them were intentionally separated from the slave team due to their Curses, but they weren’t placed at the back, instead, they were wedged in the middle of the group, with gaps both in front and behind.
Because there were quite a few slaves, the procession’s advance wasn’t fast.
The mysterious owner of the caravan remained seated in the carriage, not showing his face.
"Don’t think about escaping! You won’t succeed! I will absolutely not let you escape!"
Whoosh—snap!
The sound of a whip cut through the silence, striking a slave who had fallen behind, leaving bloody welts on the flesh.
"These guys are your examples."
"You, walk faster, or I’ll whip you to death—"
Suddenly, the Guard Captain’s throat choked on his curse.
The whole caravan felt like it was pressed into a pool of asphalt by an invisible hand, even the sound of clashing chains was swallowed up by the darkness.
"Lights out!"
The Guard Captain squeezed two syllables from between his teeth, his voice carrying rare tremors.
Teresa saw the veins bulging on his neck, throbbing.
Tremors.
It was an irresistible physiological reaction, like the instinctual fear of a herbivore hearing a predator sharpening its claws.
"Gather all the torches! We must pass very carefully along this section!"
Hiss-hiss-hiss—
The rest of the caravan reacted quickly, and the sound of torches being pressed into the mud rose and fell.
The slaves didn’t know what was happening up ahead; they only felt their fear swell as the firelight grew dimr.
Teresa felt the sa; she had no idea what was about to occur.
At this mont, Quinna suddenly tightened Teresa’s wrist, quickly marking her palm: "Shadow bat nest."
Shadow bats?
Unfortunately, even though the other had told her about the situation ahead, as a village girl with little exposure, she didn’t know what this ant.
Teresa only vaguely understood that the guards, who flaunted their power in front of the slaves, had encountered Demons that made them afraid.
While she was lost in thought, the sound of liquid dripping reached her ears.
It wasn’t water droplets hitting the ground but so viscous substance dripping from the ceiling.
Teresa’s night vision beca more acute in the absolute darkness, and she lifted her head, seeing countless spindle-shaped shadows hanging upside down among the stalactite clusters ahead.
These creatures had no skin, their streamlined bodies wrapped in dark purple mbranes, where their heads should have been, split open into three rings of sharp teeth.
Was that the shadow bats?
Strangely, this usually timid village girl did not feel scared upon seeing these creatures.
Monts later, as all the lights went out and the guards completed their preparations, the surroundings of the procession fell into complete darkness; even the carriage extinguished its lamps.
Teresa didn’t know how the others felt, but once she was in the dark, she felt much more at ease.
The guards applied so special liquid to their eyelids, and monts later, they seed to gain temporary night vision.
However, this night vision wasn’t strong; it seed to only give them the ability to faintly see in the dimness temporarily.
"Nobody make any noise, no light at all!"
The Guard Captain whispered hoarsely:
"These creatures are sated; as long as we don’t make any light, they won’t attack us."
"If I catch anyone making any light, don’t bla for being brutal."
No one knew if his threats were effective; in the darkness, not even the guards could see all the expressions on the slaves’ faces.
The Guard Captain went to the front, grabbing the leading chain, pulling the people behind him forward.
"Stay close to , don’t fall behind!"
Just as the procession was making its slow way through the darkness, when most believed they would safely pass through the area... a crisp sound of a chain breaking ca from the back of the group.
Snap.
Teresa’s solitary eye suddenly constricted—in the absolute darkness, imperceptible to ordinary people, she saw three hunched figures sawing through their shackles with sharpened finger bones.
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