"Ugh…"
A low, pained sound escaped from a man's lips as consciousness slowly crept back into his exhausted body.
His eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, and every muscle in his frame screamed with the kind of deep fatigue that comes from pushing way beyond human limits.
Trying to raise himself up, he immediately noticed something odd.
He was wearing clean clothes.
A soft blanket covered his body.
And he was lying on what felt like an actual bed instead of cold, hard ground.
"Where...?"
His vision was still blurry as he attempted to focus on his surroundings, but the shapes around him gradually became clearer.
Stone walls. Rough-hewn but carefully crafted. A small opening that let in natural light.
This wasn't a cave exactly, but some kind of primitive stone house that had been built with surprising skill.
And he was completely alone.
