The water came from a crack in the wall where the rock was damp and cold. Not a stream, just a slow weep of moisture that dripped into a natural basin worn into the floor.
Eren crouched next to it and drank with cupped hands. The water was metallic and gritty but his body needed it so badly that it tasted like the best thing he'd ever put in his mouth.
His feet were raw. The skin between his toes was red and cracked and there were blisters on both heels that his Pain Resistance was turning from sharp stings into dull warmth. The soles of his feet were tougher than they'd been a month ago, thick calluses built from twenty-eight days of barefoot forest living but ninety minutes of full sprint over rocks and roots had pushed even that protection past its limits.
He drank more water and pressed his back against the tunnel wall. The stone was cold through the dried filth on his skin and it felt amazing.
