Just how much longer? I've been walking this path for so many days, yet I still can't find the exit from this endless darkness. Where am I? How did I end up in this place?
"Huh! Water... I need water..." His knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, the thirst gnawing at his throat.
Suddenly, a sharp, pulsing pain in his head grew more intense with each passing second, and he gripped his skull, wondering if it would burst from the pressure.
He squeezed his eyes shut, praying the pain would fade, begging for relief. But no—the agony only worsened, shooting through his head like a blinding, splitting force.
"Ahhh... gasp... gasp..." Cassian jerked awake with a scream, his body heaving as if his lungs had just rediscovered air. "Huh! I'm alive..." he murmured, his hand instinctively reaching for his face—a sign he was truly here, truly awake.
