Kai sat on the cold stone bench as the final night dragged on endlessly.
This holding cell felt noticeably smaller with every passing hour.
Stone walls seemed to press inward, suffocating the space around him.
Dried blood still clung to his skin in dark, flaking patches.
It cracked and pulled at his chest whenever he shifted his weight.
He purposefully refused to wash it off.
He wanted a constant, visceral reminder of what he was capable of doing.
He needed her to see that violence when she finally dragged him to her sacrificial altar.
Guards pacing outside his iron bars grew increasingly nervous as midnight approached.
They whispered constantly among themselves, trading terrified rumors in the dark.
"They are taking hundreds down there," a young soldier muttered.
"I saw them dragging the kitchen staff away," another guard replied, her voice shaking.
"She is slaughtering everyone just to charge those ancient runes."
