Kael woke up with his back fully drenched in sweat and his chest rose and fell quickly. His hands were tightly holding a blue scarf.

  The same dream, or was it a nightmare?

  He was not sure. The little boy had woken up again with his heart aching, just like he had been for the last few months.

  It was an inexplicable emptiness tormenting him as though something crucial slipped away each time he woke. He struggled to remember but he would always fail.

  He realized he had fallen asleep on the floor under his bed, and his shirt still had a few stains of blood from yesterday. He didn’t waste time and crawled out, climbing to the mattress and waiting for the first meal of the day.

  It wasn’t much more comfortable than the floor, but at least it was off the dirty ground.

  He stared at the ceiling, his stomach growling like it had woken up hours before him, but so was the fire in his eyes.

  “Today’s the day,” he whispered to himself. “Today, I’ll make it big!”

  Soon, the noise around the shelter showed the day had started for the other people there as well.

  When he saw the shelter’s workers coming in with the boxes, trays and everything else, his pair of brown eyes shone like he was seeing a great treasure coming his way.

  Kael noticed someone familiar there. As the workers began filling the plates on the other side, he walked towards one of them with a big smile on his face.

  “Uncle Teren, it’s been so long now. I really missed you, I was about to ask around for you,” he called out, forcing his voice to seem as sweet as possible.

  The man in front of him, older with white hair, looked down at Kael.

  “Missed me? What did you miss about me?” He scanned the boy for a second and asked

  Kael hadn't expected that question, and for a brief moment, his smile froze. He cleared his throat and quickly recovered.

  “Well, you know... the way you serve the food, and, uh, your . company too, of course.” He replied and chuckled.

  When he laughed, a sharp pain in his ribs reminded him of his wounds, but he didn’t dare showing it and his face hid it perfectly.

  “Did you fall again?” Teren looked at Kael’s shirt and the bruises visible on his body, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes... they really should do something about those streets. Poor innocent people like me keep falling almost every day,” Kael said with a serious expression, shaking his head as if he had been undignified.

  “Uncle Teren,” he continued, and asked with a different tone, “How about two scoops today? I’ve been working so hard lately, don’t you think I deserve a little extra?”

  Teren looked at him for a moment, then sighed. His hands reached for the pot and, with a complicated expression, he poured two scoops into Kael’s plate.

  “You’re the best, Uncle Teren. The best! Thanks!” Kael’s eyes lit up as he accepted the plate.

  The rest of the people soon got to the tables as well and everybody sat down. Kael ended up at a crowded table, squeezed between two older boys who took up more space than necessary, but he was still as happy as he could be, and began eating his share.

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  He tore off a small piece of bread and dipped it into the soup, watching as the hardened crust slowly softened.

  His stomach was empty, but he forced himself to eat slowly. Rushing through it would only make the portion disappear faster, leaving him hungry again.

  Suddenly, he heard something loud coming from his sides. It reminded him of a horse trotting on cobblestone.

  "What’s making that noise?!" Kael thought, and looked around with his mouth still holding a piece of bread.

  He glanced over at a few people, trying not to be too obvious, and saw a man biting on his bread like it was a piece of leather.

  The man exaggeratedly chewed with his mouth half open, going through that rock-hard bread with his teeth.

  “Oh God… Where do they find these people…” He wondered.

  Kael subconsciously pressed his finger in one of his front teeth, as to make sure it was still there.

  The boy looked down at his bread and gave it a firm squeeze, but as expected, it didn’t even bulge. He sighed and dipped another piece into his soup, watching the edges soak and soften.

  “Isn’t he afraid of losing his teeth? Brother always said dentists are worse than devils…” Kael muttered internally.

  When that man was done with his meal, he grabbed his tray and looked over. Kael quickly forced a smile.

  The man’s eyes stayed on him for a second too long. Kael felt a chill run down his spine, and without thinking, he turned his head away.

  Once he was finished eating, Kael stepped outside into the city. This time, things would be different. They had to be different.

  The shelter stood on one of the edges of Solara Low, close to the local dump, and from there the slums stretch out in almost all directions. Narrow streets twisted through the area, together with rundown buildings and makeshift homes.

  Trash littered the ground, and the air carried a smell of smoke and wet wood. In the distance, the walls of Solara stood as tall as ever.

  Kael stuck to the less-traveled streets, avoiding the eyes of guards or even the chance of someone recognizing him, which for line of work, it couldn’t be anything good.

  “Hey!” A voice called out.

  Kael looked back and his heart skipped a beat. He froze, his thin legs stiffening.

  “See? I told you. This is the time he usually goes out to the city,” the voice continued, speaking to someone else.

  Two men, both in their late twenties, came out from somewhere in the bushes. One had a cruel smile and the other one cracked his knuckles as they approached.

  “It’s been so long, little Kael,” Said the first man, with a friendly tone.

  “I was beginning to think you were trying to avoid us. But you wouldn’t do that, right?”

  Kael opened his mouth, but the words caught in his throat. He stumbled back a step and his small frame trembled.

  “I told you, Brok,” the second man said, grinning. “He wasn’t avoiding us. He’s been looking for us to pay our money. Right, little Kael?”

  “Y-yes, I just need some time to-”

  “Time?” the man called Brok interrupted, grabbing Kael by the front of his shirt. His grip lifted the boy slightly off the ground.

  “More time? You think we’re running a charity here?”

  “I-I’ll get it! I swear!” Kael squirmed, his breaths coming in short gasps.

  “You know, we even split your debt into installments, but you still won’t pay us on time… sometimes I don’t think you love your brother enough” The second man growled.

  When Kael heard that, his eyes became fierce and he tried with all his might to get rid of Brok’s grip, kicking and punching the air in vain.

  Seeing the boy’s struggle, the men chuckled and dragged Kael into some debris behind the brushes, away from the eyes of the few locals who weren’t already at work.

  Kael’s cries echoed as they threw him to the ground. Kicks landed on his legs, his chest, and his back. He tried to shield himself, but their blows didn’t stop.

  Brok sneered and grabbed Kael 's thin arm, which the boy was using to try defending himself. With his free arm, he covered the boy’s mouth to muffle his screams.

  “We were getting tired of looking for you, little Kael”

  Kael cried as loud as he could as the man bent one of his fingers back until a crack echoed from his hand. Tears ran down his face, mixing with the dirt and blood on his cheeks.

  “We’re really not bad people, but sometimes we’ve got to make sure you understand what happens when you break a deal with us”

  Brok had an almost casual tone as he released Kael’s broken finger and grabbed the next one.

  When Kael looked up, his blurry vision caught a figure on the road. A familiar face, a man with long black hair wandering on the streets, his head turning from side to side as if deciding which way to go.

  “H-he’s got... the money...” Kael’s voice came out weak, barely anything at all.

  The man didn’t hear him. Kael swallowed hard but his throat was dry. He tried again, louder this time.

  “He’s got the money! He took it, the money I was going to pay you!”

  Brok paused, as he stared at Kael. His eyebrows furrowed before walking to the road, following Kael’s gaze to the man.