[You Have Died]

The days sun wore them down exponentially until their pace slowed to a crawl. Daniel's consciousness began to flicker as the sun set. Ales worriedly noticed that Daniel's complexion had become deathly pale yet his skin had become almost scale-like and broken out into blisters. 

After hours of silence, Daniel's hoarse throat managed a whisper, 

"it's cold."

 Ales wrapped an arm around his shoulder to assist him in walking. Ales's voice trembled as she spoke, "it's still quite warm, my lord." Daniel swallowed thick mucous and nodded. Ales stopped abruptly and Daniel looked forward with a horrified expression.

Ales was the first to speak, "That can't be the cave we came from. It must be a different one." Daniel nodded and pulled Ales forward. As they drew near the cave, they realized that it was, in fact, the same cave. Tears filled Ales's eyes as Daniel pushed her inside. Daniel quietly began to rebuild the stone wall, albeit much slower than last time.

After 45 minutes, he collapsed. Ales looked towards the wall and bit her lip. The stones weren't built in a wall at all. They were arranged in a strange circle of abstract art. She wasn't sure if he was conscious of it, but it seemed to be a snake. 'Is that… me?' Ales's eyes filled with tears and she moved to Daniel and quickly pulled him into her embrace using her tail.

She moved her nails to his neck and felt for his pulse.

His heartbeat was present but faint. For now, he was just asleep. But, if they didn't find water soon, she knew what would happen. Daniel's eyes struggled to open but to no avail. Sleep ruthlessly dragged him into darkness.

-

"I hate you"

"I hate you"

"I hate you"

Daniel whispered the words like a broken clock as he looked at his uncle's wicked smile. His uncle laughed and threw Daniel's clothes back at him. "Here, get dressed. I'm done with you for today." Daniel immediately pulled the clothes to his body and covered himself. He looked down at the blood on the floor and bit his lips as tears fell. His uncle began to reclothe and looked at Daniel with a dark stare. 

"Come on, what are you going to do? Just think of it as rent for me giving you a place to stay."

Daniel stared daggers up at his uncle, but his uncle only sighed in response. As his uncle moved to leave the room, a sinister smile formed on his face as he let out a soft whisper, "How old is Michael now? 7 years old, right? Maybe he should pay rent too." Daniel's eyes exploded open but his uncle slammed the door shut before he could say anything. Daniel's vision blurred and before he realized it, his feet were moving. Daniel pushed the door open to Michael's room and stared at Michael painfully as Michael stared back at him in shock.

"We're leaving."

Michael's face contorted as he said this, but he didn't refuse. Daniel quickly grabbed his hand and the two clumsily made their way outside. After opening the doors, the bright lights and automated sounds of Mars' capital city of Elon burst forth. As Daniel held Michael's hand, he felt it began to shake and tears fell from Daniel's eyes. Michael spoke shakily, "Where are we going, Danny?" Daniel bit his lip and grabbed Michael's hand firmer.

After a few seconds, he pointed to an object in the distant night sky.

"Home."

-

As Ales's eyes opened, she felt Daniel's body weight seem to increase. She hesitantly brought her hand down to his neck to check his pulse. However, it was silent. A brief bout of cold overcame her as she came to the haunting realization that she was holding her lords corpse.