Hungry. So hungry.
This hunger went far beyond the limits of the body. It was an unbearable, utter emptiness, and you knew perfectly well that simply eating could no longer make up for it or fill it.
It was more like an addiction, one you knew was almost impossible to quit from the moment you acquired it.
You were thirsty, and all you had before you was salt water.
Yet after this feeling had distinctly emerged and persisted for a long time, it slowly faded again. No, it went into hiding, all but explicitly announcing that it was preparing for an even fiercer outbreak next time.
Kallen suddenly recalled something Dis had once said:
"The God of Order is hungry."
"The Captain's awake! The Captain's awake!"
Aisili's cries brought Kallen back to awareness.
He opened his eyes and saw that his Clerical Robes had long since been removed, leaving him in only a simple shirt. Aisili and Blanche held towels; they had just been wiping his body.
The earthenware basin beside the towels was filled with bloody water. That must have been blood that had flowed from his body, from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose to every pore across his skin.
Earlier, while in that state of consciousness, Kallen had felt that it was not only his consciousness being affected, but his body too. Now it seemed that had indeed been the case.
Kallen had no reservations about being tended to like this, and neither woman showed any embarrassment.
Peige and Fanny had said long ago: when you were actually out on a mission, who had the time to care about such things?
"Captain, you've been unconscious for a day and a night."
Unconscious for a day?
Kallen spoke, his voice very hoarse. "What happened..."
"The Pool of