Chapter 4 - 3 Slave
Behind the large tree that served as the village chief’s home, the laughter of children rang out—cheerful, yet unsettling. About five elf children—two girls and three boys—sat in a circle, playing a game that resembled rock-paper-scissors. Their hair was golden blonde, their eyes a warm brown, and their faces bore the innocent look of childhood... yet their expressions were full of cruelty.
"Haha! I win again!" shouted a boy named Rain, dressed in a clean white shirt and brown trousers. His long hair was tied back, giving him the air of a leader among them.
"Why do you keep winning?" grumbled one of the girls, Leah, her face sour.
But this wasn’t just a game. Whoever won earned the "honor" of throwing the first stone at the creature locked inside a small iron cage—no larger than one used for goats. The creature huddled in a corner, small and motionless.
Reyhan, not far off, felt a strange unease. He drifted closer, trying to get a better look. And when his eyes finally pierced through the bars...
The world stopped.
The creature they were tormenting... wasn’t a monster.
It was a little girl. Maybe six years old. Her hair was silvery white, long and tangled, sticking to her face and neck, dirty with blood and dust. Her eyes—icy blue like frozen crystals—were blank, as if the soul inside them had long since died.
She was Sylphia Astheris.
She wore a once-white shirt, now a brownish mess of dried blood, sweat, and dirt. Her pants were long, but the right leg was torn off up to her thigh, a fresh rip still visible. Around her neck was a black iron collar engraved with foreign runes that seemed to devour the surrounding light—cold and heavy, like a curse.
Reyhan moved closer. Instantly, a rancid stench hit him—blood, festering wounds, dried urine, and feces from the corner of the cage. The scent of suffering soaked every inch of the iron bars.