When Owl woke up a few hours later, Lilax and Aryk struggled to keep their eyes open. They wore fresh clothes, the room was pleasantly warm, and their stomachs were stuffed with good food.

Each one of those things was a rare occurrence for a street urchin. Experiencing all three at once while sitting on something soft and clean, without the noise of traffic, and with no fear of rats, was something they had never experienced their whole lives.

That and the stress from the kidnapping drained their malnourished bodies of their energy. If not for the instincts ingrained in Aryk and Lilax from the years of surviving on the streets flooding them with adrenaline, the two youths would have fallen asleep in a matter of minutes.

Truth be told, they were not the only ones.

The rest of the prisoners had also formed small groups and took turns resting. Trust was hard to come by, but rest was inevitable.

Everyone gambled by associating with the meanest, biggest, and most tired people they could find, insisting on taking the first turn of sleep to regain their strength while their “allies” grew weaker.

The protection offered by the warden and his promises of retribution only helped so far. The homeless and destitute of Dekari didn’t feel safe while surrounded by so many people and with no way out.