Thinking I could get to Isabelle was stupider than I’d thought. I didn’t know my way around the Capital, and I definitely didn’t know my way around Pentaba. The extent of my experience with the kingdom was limited to carousing around the colony and wandering off the grounds only about a mile. How I was going to make it from Khrel’s house to my shanty was a mystery, but I was determined to try. I’d gotten this far.

Thankfully, making it out of the Capital was not as difficult as I’d anticipated. Having spent many a day gazing out over its streets from the living room window, I’d gotten a general mental map drawn up. I also remembered my trek to the Elder palace and to Khrel’s house very clearly. Once I was past the gates that separated the city from the untamed swamps of Pentaba, however, things became much more complicated.

I ventured to the boardwalk, and I was pleased to find a great number of boats tied to the many docks. I’d never thought myself a thief before, but this was potentially a matter of my friend’s safety, and I felt justified in my needs, so I jumped into the nearest watercraft. Unlike the boats I was used to on Earth, however, this one boasted no steering wheel or protective window to shield from the elements. There were only three slender seats and a long black cord coiled on the floor. I knew what to do, but I had never done it before, so I grabbed the cord with tentative fingers and rolled it between my palms for a moment before mustering the courage to go ahead and pull it.

The moment I yanked on the thing, the boat leaped forward like it had been thrown by a giant. It fired through the boggy water at a speed fast enough to whip my hair around my face, and I had to squint to prevent my eyes from streaming. By the time it started to slow again, the boardwalk was merely a pinprick in the distance, and I tugged again. Once more, I was thrown forward, my body rocking so violently I nearly tumbled over. I understood why the Pentabans were so muscular now; the boats were their preferred method of travel, and to pull repeatedly on the cord was not an easy task. It resisted each jerk as though it were attached to something below that clung to the muddy ground yards or even miles beneath the water’s disrupted surface. I realized after going a fair distance that I had no clue how to change direction and turn as desired, so I experimented by jolting the cord to my right this time. The moment I did, the craft veered into the smattering of swamp trees that lined the depths of Pentaba.

Though I didn’t have the slightest idea which direction was the Polder Quarter, I allowed my gut to take the reins. I dimly remembered the journey from outside the Novai camp to the Capital with Khrel, Isabelle, and the deceased attacker, but it wasn’t nearly enough to give me a solid judgment. I wasn’t going to give up, though. I had to find Isabelle, to make sure she was all right, and to bring her back to Khrel’s house to stay with me where she would be safe. Even if Sevani didn’t care enough about her well-being to at least put a guard on the shanty, I did.

Everything was rapidly growing darker, which seemed impossible because the sky was about as dark as it could get. I looked up, and as I zoomed through the marsh and overhead, I saw the silhouettes of wide, leafy branches hanging below the velvety midnight. Only snatches of sky could be seen, and the moonlight was practically quenched inside the swamp’s grasp. Without a hint of light to guide me, I was no longer sure even my gut knew where to go, so I took the best guesses I could and continued.

The boat glided through the water with surprisingly little noise, allowing me to hear the sounds of wildlife around me. I heard rustling in the reeds that smattered the bogs and odd crackling chirps above of what were likely Albaterran birds. Perhaps on any other night, it would have been peaceful, and it would have reminded me of growing up in Louisiana. Tonight, however, it was ominous and foreign and unwelcome. I wanted silence to quell my fear.

Suddenly, there was a great screech. I couldn’t tell from where it came, as the numerous trunks around me cast echoes in all directions, but I felt its vibrations in my belly and knew it was close. I recognized that screech. It was the Novai. A second one rang out on the tow of the first, and they blended in my ears to make a truly terrifying cocktail. I hadn’t seen the walls that made up the exterior of the Novai camp, and the water through which I was traveling was still much deeper than the water surrounding the camp and my colony. That meant there were at least two wandering free, just like the night of my attack, and my heart leaped into my throat.

I heard a screech again. This time, I knew exactly where it came from. It was directly above me, and, a second later, I was thrown to the floor of the boat as a body came crashing down on me. A second plummeted down within the breath, his feet thudding against the wooden boat as he landed. I tried to scream, but the creature who had pounced on me slammed his palm over my mouth, and all that could be heard was a muffled groan.

If I had ever doubted my survivor instinct before, I didn’t now. I kicked with all my might, hooking my legs up into the Novai’s pelvis and shoving him back. His white face, eyeless and sickening, appeared unfazed as he shot toward me again. The second was just as persistent. He jumped over his friend as though playing leap-frog to land behind me, and I felt a pair of arms snake around my waist. He lifted me into the air, and I began flailing. My legs ran in midair like I would find an invisible ramp upon which to gain leverage, and my arms whipped back and forth in hopes of catching my captor with my elbow or forearm. The Novai before me grabbed my ankles with such quickness that his movements were a blur and jerked me toward him, yanking me from his cohort’s arms and sending me crashing onto my back.

All breath left my body from the impact, and I gasped desperately for air. The same Novai who had my ankles released me and bent, and I realized he was moving to pick me up over his shoulder. Before he could, though, I gathered what strength I had left and rammed my fists out. They connected with his cheeks. He stumbled backward, and his clumsy movements began to rock the boat so violently that I seized the nearest seat in hopes of steadying myself. My efforts were to no avail. He screeched again, tripped backward over another seat, and the motion sent the boat twisting until it capsized completely.

My body lifted from the boat’s floor as water crashed into my nose and mouth. I sputtered and gagged, blinded by the onslaught, and then I felt the back of my head slam against the port side with enough force to boom over the Novai’s screech. Everything went black, and I knew no more.