Everything in my body felt like it was throbbing so powerfully that I may have very well been vibrating. I opened my eyes slowly. They felt heavy, like I was awakening from a deep sleep full of dreams, and were unwilling to focus. I blinked several times. Each blink brought with it a shooting pain in the back of my head, though I didn’t know how that was possible. Finally, I began to make things out clearly, and, when the scene started unfolding before me, my stomach lurched.

I was in a cage. It was primal in structure, quite rustic and reminiscent of the types I used to see at museums or in old-fashioned movies about castaways being captured by island natives. The bars were not made of iron or steel but of wood; thin strips of gray wood that appeared no stronger than a basic fruit crate. When I pushed my palm against one of the strips, however, I realized they were much sturdier than they appeared, and there wasn’t even a slight give with my effort. My stomach flipped again with an increased sense of fear as I peered through the slats.

It was still clearly night as the sky above was only a slightly lighter shade of navy, but I was bathed in brilliant orange light from a massive bonfire roaring in the center of a wide stone circle. The flames reached toward the branches that hung overhead from the shading swamp trees, climbing even higher than the walls that surrounded everything. Clots of opaque smoke mushroomed through the leaves to the heavens above. I smelled the heartiness of a campfire, but there was an odor lingering beneath, a strong and tangy scent I could only assume was from the type of wood being burned.

Bodies moved erratically around the bonfire, though I could only make them out as silhouettes because the glow was so bright. They bounced, jerked, twisted, leaped, spun, punched, and even dropped to the ground as if they had been shot without warning before hopping back up unscathed. Each time a figure passed in front of the flames, my vision was dimmed before being blinded once more as the illumination poured forth upon their rotation.

At the very center of the fire, only visible when a creature was not blocking my view, was a sphere. It was as large as my head and as white as the Albaterran sun or A’li-uud eyes, and it glowed even more brightly than the flames. If I didn’t consider myself a sane and rational person, I would have believed that someone had actually plucked the sun from the sky and was heating it up in the bonfire. The orb appeared to hang in midair, unsupported and unprotected, completely still and immobile. Somehow, it was more disturbing to see than the cage around me.

My ears were flooded with the sounds of the creatures’ screeching. I knew where I was now, though that was of little consolation. I was in the Novai camp. The bodies orbiting the fire were those of the white-faced, no-eyed Novai in a freakish tribal dance of either celebration or rage, and I was apparently their prisoner.

Fear started creeping up the nape of my neck, prickling my scalp. I almost wished I was still unconscious and blissfully unaware of my circumstances. My mind went to Isabelle, how I would now be unable to go to her and ensure her safety. The irony that I was worrying about her while she probably slept safely in our shanty as I was locked in a cage by the very race the A’li-uud seemed to be so wary of was not lost on me. I pushed again on one of the wooden bars, but it didn’t bend in the slightest.

Though I had awoken with throbbing, the pain was beginning to fade. I stretched my arms as best as I could and rubbed my legs, searching for any sign of injury. There appeared to be none. The Novai who had captured me had evidently brought me straight here without stopping for a quick torture-and-maim break, which I appreciated in a twisted way. I grazed my scalp with my fingernails and winced as I reached the place where my head had hit the side of the boat, but, other than the large lump that had formed there, I was fine. Terrified, but fine.

More screeches caught my attention, but these were different than the other constant ones going on around me. These were more articulated, punctuated by breaths and changing with various lilts. I realized it was language rather than unrestrained shouting. Two silhouettes were gathered to the right of the bonfire, and I could see the black outlines of their arms outstretched toward me, pointing. They were bouncing on their heels and speaking to each other excitedly, gesturing at me over and over, likely exclaiming that I was awake. I tried to ignore them because their sounds were just as unnerving as their sightless faces and looked around for any possible escape.

On either side of my cage were identical captivities, at least three on either side. All were empty, but I noticed the door of a single cage on my left was slightly ajar. There was nothing obvious inside to indicate it had recently been used, but a sudden glimmer caught by the firelight grabbed my attention. I moved as close to it as I could, wrapping my fingers around the bars keeping me in and pushing my face up against the slats to peer at the sheen. A body had moved in front of the flames, blocking my light for a split second, but, as it moved, I caught the glisten again on the floor of the neighboring cage, and nausea cut through my forced calm.

It was blood. Cherry-red, shiny and obviously fresh, the small pool trembled innocuously with the pounding of the Novai’s dancing feet on the ground. I didn’t know what color A’li-uud bled, and I definitely didn’t know what color the Novai bled, but I knew about humans. Humans bled red.

The weight of the situation and the danger I was in finally took hold of me, reeling me into a full-fledged panic. A scream bubbled at the base of my throat before bursting out in a heart-stopping shriek to rival that of the Novai, and I stumbled back against the opposite wall of my cage with quaking legs. Every nerve in my body was on fire with the sudden rush of adrenaline. I was going to die. They were going to kill me.

The same two Novai who had pointed at me when I’d awoken were still watching me, and I slammed my body against the cage door. I didn’t know why they’d taken me, if they knew I had something to do with their friend’s death or if this was just some kind of sick sacrificial thing, and that made it all the scarier.

“What do you want?!” I bellowed, clawing at the door and ramming my body against it as hard as I could. I had no plan if the door were to burst open—likely just to take off at the fastest run I could muster—but I could no longer control myself. “Why did you bring me here?!”

The Novai watching me cackled and screeched at each other. Either they couldn’t understand me or didn’t care to respond, but I was beyond reason. I jammed my shoulder against the slats, ignoring the rocket of pain that plunged down my arm, and continued to scream.

“Where’s Isabelle? What did you do with her? Who was in that cage?” Question after question poured from me as I desperately hoped they would answer one, just one. “What do you want from me? Let me go!”

Again, I smashed myself against the door. This time, the entire cage felt like it rocked a little. Perhaps only an inch or two, but enough to give me momentum. I repeated the action with equal force, and the cage rocked a little more. The two Novai turned their faces toward one another, though I couldn’t be sure they were even able to see one another, and I banged my body into the door for a third time. The cage tilted, throwing me off balance so that I stumbled back and nearly fell onto my rear, but I didn’t let it deter me. I launched myself forward yet again.

With synchronized screeches, the Novai raced toward me, and I prepared myself for their fury.