I woke up, barely able to see in the darkness.
My throat burned, dry and raw, and my sides ached with every breath I took. The air was thick with the smell of rotten fish and ammonia, sharp enough to twist my stomach and make my head swim. For a moment, I couldn't tell if I was awake or still drifting somewhere between sleep and pain.
Crying and shouting echoed from every direction.
"Woah!"
"Help!"
"I wanna go home!"
The sounds overlapped, bouncing off metal and wood, pressing in from all sides. My ears rang. I tried to move, to push myself upright, but my body didn't respond the way I expected it to. It felt weak. Heavy. Like it wasn't fully mine anymore.
When I forced myself to shift, pain flared along my ribs, deep and grinding. A sharp breath tore out of me before I could stop it.
Something brushed against my chest.
Then arms tightened around me.
A small body clutched me hard, shaking as quiet sobs soaked into my clothes.
"Wh… who?" I croaked. My voice came out rough and cracked, each word scraping my throat like broken glass.
The person against me stiffened.
"Lu-Lucian?" the voice sobbed. "I thought you were dead."
She broke down completely, crying louder as she clung to me, fingers digging into my chest like she was afraid I would vanish again.
I blinked slowly, my eyes struggling to adjust to the dim light. Shapes swam in front of me at first, then settled.
Lizzy.
Her face was pale and streaked with dried tears. Her eyes were red and swollen, wide with fear. Her hair was tangled, and her hands trembled so badly I could feel it through the thin fabric between us.
"I'm… okay," I whispered, though I didn't feel it. I reached up and gently patted her back, trying to soothe her.
As I looked around, it seemed we were trapped inside an iron cage. Thick bars surrounded us on all sides, cold and unforgiving. The wooden floor beneath was wet and rocked gently, like it was floating on water. A single torch flickered on a nearby wall, its weak flame casting long, shifting shadows across the space.
A ship.
In the flickering light, I saw other cages too. Rows of them, filling the cargo hold. Some held children. Others held adults. Some people cried quietly. Others stared ahead without moving, their eyes empty, like they'd already given up.
The whole place felt cold and hopeless.
I shifted and reached into my coat, looking for my pocketknife.
Something was off.
My fingers touched fabric, but it felt wrong. Loose. Too thin.
I looked down.
The clothes I was wearing weren't mine. The coat was gone, replaced by loose fabric that felt damp against my skin.
As I moved, my hand brushed along my side.
A cloth was wrapped tight around my arm and across my body.
Bandages?
I froze.
"Wait, wh-what day is it?" I asked, my voice was rough and low.
"I don't know," Lizzy whispered, still clinging to me.
"It's been three days," a man's voice said from the next cage. "Three days since we were shipped."
I turned toward him. He was older, maybe in his thirties, but looked tired and beaten down. I didn't know him, but I recognized that look on his face.
Despair.
Far above, I heard loud, heavy footsteps approaching.
The iron door groaned open, and a blast of cold air swept through the dim cargo hold.
A large man descended the stairs, boots thudding against the metal with each step.
He carried a wooden tray stacked with bowls and a cloth sack slung over one shoulder. He said nothing as he walked down the row of cages, his face hard and expressionless, eyes dull as if this were just another chore.
When he reached our cage, he stopped. Without looking at us, he tossed a piece of hard bread through the bars. It landed near my feet, damp from the floor. Then he pushed a shallow bowl of watery soup through the gap, some of it sloshing onto the wood.
I reached for it slowly, careful not to seem like a threat.
Behind us, a child began crying again, loud and panicked.
The man turned sharply. "Quiet! He barked, slamming the tray against the bars of the nearest cage. The crying didn't stop fast enough.
Without hesitation, he stormed toward the source of the sound. There was a scuffle, shouting, metal clanging, then the thud of something heavy striking flesh.
Lizzy's breathing hitched against my chest. I felt her start to shake harder, her mouth opening like she was about to cry out.
I tightened my arm around her and pressed her face into my shoulder.
"Don't," I whispered.
She froze.
We stayed like that, barely breathing, until the footsteps faded.
…
More days passed before the ship finally docked somewhere. I lost track of how many. Time blurred together, broken by hunger and restless sleep.
When we were dragged off the ship, I knew instantly this place was wrong.
The clouds above the island were dark, stained with a reddish hue that made the sky look bruised. The port looked like a battlefield. Buildings were half-collapsed, their walls cracked and blackened. Dead bodies floated near the docks, bobbing gently in the water like trash.
And yet, people live here.
Pirate and merchant ships sat docked along the water, their sails tattered and stained. Makeshift stalls lined up on ruined road. Traders sold strange things. Body parts. Stones. Charms. Items wrapped in cloth that pulsed faintly.
As we were herded into another cage, voices drifted through the noise.
"…too skinny."
"Move the big ones!"
"Age matters more than size."
"Check the girls. Buyers don't like damage."
My stomach tightened.
Lizzy squeezed my hand, her fingers cold.
"Lucian, I'm scared," she whispered.
"I know," I said quietly, keeping my eyes on the road ahead. "Just hold my hand."
The cage rattled forward, dragged by a strange flightless bird. Its leathery skin stretched tight over muscle, its eyes glowing faintly as it hauled us through the ruined streets.
Thin, pale faces watched from the shadows. Some looked sick. Others looked hollow.
Not all of them were the same.
Guards in mismatched armor patrolled silently, weapons strapped tight. Farther down, hooded figures stood in a circle, murmuring in a language that made my thoughts feel sluggish just listening to it.
Pirates laughed nearby, drunk and loud, tossing bones into the dirt like dice.
Suddenly, someone threw a knife.
It missed me by inches and struck the boy beside me.
He collapsed, screaming, blood pouring from his neck.
Inside the cage, no one screamed.
Not even me.
I just gripped Lizzy's hand tighter.
"Shut the fuck up, kid!" one of the drunk pirates yelled. "I'm losing!"
"You damaged the goods!" shouted the big man guarding the cage.
He charged at the pirate, but as soon as his hand lifted, the rest of the group closed in around him. The street erupted. Fists slammed into flesh. Weapons clattered. Blood spilled freely.
The guards didn't stop it. They just watched.
Then the carriage began to move again, rattling over broken stone, carrying us deeper into the town.
…
We stopped at a large, broken-down warehouse.
The smell hit me immediately.
Blood. Sweat. Rot.
Cages filled the space. Some held people. Men. Women. Children. Others held beasts. Some snarled. Others just watched with glowing eyes.
Screams and roars echoed from every direction. Some were loud and panicked. Others were weak and fading. My chest tightened, my breath turning shaky as pain flared again along my ribs.
A chill crept down my spine.
Then a man walked up to our cage.
He wore a thick coat. A deep scar cut across his cheek. His eyes looked like they hadn't felt anything in years.
He pointed.
"Get the girls. The buyer's waiting."
The guards opened the cage and grabbed Lizzy and four other girls.
"Lucian!" Lizzy screamed, reaching for me. "Don't let go!"
I grabbed her hand and held on.
"I won't!" I shouted.
A boot slammed into my side.
Pain exploded through my ribs. The air was forced out of me as I hit the floor hard, gasping. Something warm filled my mouth.
Blood.
"What a sweet little lovebird," the man laughed.
They dragged Lizzy away while she kicked and screamed. I tried to crawl after her, but my body wouldn't respond. The pain was too much. I lay there shaking, dizzy and breathless.
"Stupid body," I whispered, my voice trembling.
A few minutes later, they returned and opened the cage again. This time, they pulled the rest of us out. Chains were slapped onto our wrists.
Every step sent pain lancing through my side.
We were forced across the warehouse, past more cages filled with people and beasts. Some snarled. Others stared without blinking.
We stopped near the back of the building.
A tunnel waited ahead, dark and damp, leading deep underground. A single torch flickered beside the entrance.
I looked at the man shackled beside me. He was older, with a shaved head and blank eyes.
"Where are they taking us?" I asked quietly.
He didn't look at me.
"Hell," he said softly.
The line moved forward.
Chains dragged across the concrete.
I stayed quiet, watching the torchlight flicker along the wet stone walls ahead.