I wake up not where I fell asleep. Instead of a harsh breeze biting my cheeks, there is warmth coming from above me. The black scene stained with khaki green that I left is gone and instead I am in a metallic white cell. I see no door or windows, but just a single flickering bulb hanging over my head. My bed is a netted hammock tied from wall to wall and there is a linen sheet that has been flung over me. But I feel different. I stare at the ceiling and into the golden light coming from the bulb. However it is dissimilar to what I usually see. There is usually a ribbon of light, a ray even, but now I see it as particles, tiny shreds, like fireflies. I reach up to touch it and the particles nestle on my fingertip, then seep into my skin. They then travel down my hand and I can see it shooting down my veins. What has happened to me? I've changed, I'm... different. A clatter outside interrupts my daydream and one of the walls is pulled open by two enemas hands. Several people stand outside and are shadowed by a hulk of a man. But they are unlike the civilians from the city. Some have blue scaled skin, some have billowing furry tails, some are small and some are huge. "Savages..." I say under my breath, terrified as my nightmares have turned up at my door.

"You are right, we are", says one at the front. He has deep purple skin and a ruby red gem in the centre of his forehead. His attire is quite common-looking, but his eyes are pure white. "My name is Firestone and you are probably wondering why you are here. But, if you don't mind me saying, you are mightily impressive".

"Thank you?" I answer cautiously. "But I just need to go back to my house, because, well, I have something to do".

"No, no. You cannot go back. They will never accept you now. But, don't worry, you survived the Aldagor Fog. That's one thing", he says defiantly

"Right, wait, what's the Aldagor Fog and why won't I be accepted?" I ask.

"I'll get to that later. Its all mutagenesis and vampires and you just won't get it yet. Secondly..." he pauses and grabs a shard of a mirror from a woman standing in the darkness. "This is why you won't be accepted". I grasp the mirror and stare into the reflection staring back at me. No, that can't be right. That's not me. My skin is more tanned than my usual pale self, but it is freckled with tiny black spines. The white of my eyes are now tinted with midnight blue and my curly hair is now straight and a jet black colour. Horrified at what I have become, I drop the mirror from my trembling hands. I stare at them and scream for the spines have spread to my fingers and have contaminated them with a grey tinge.

"What am I?" I gasp.

"You're a Savage. Don't worry too much about the spines, they'll grow on you eventually. Your metamorphosis is almost complete though. You touching that bulb kickstarted it", he explains and wanders off with the rest of the Savages.

"No, you don't understand, I can't be like this. I have a family to go back to", I lie.

"You don't though, do you? Your father was killed in the Vallitsmallh festival and your brother was killed when a spear struck him in the chest. As for changing you back, do you really think that if there was a cure, we would take it? I don't think you quite realise what you're dealing with here" he replies nonchalant. I follow them and pull on his violet cape. My eyes are full of rage at his casualness.

"No, I don't think you realise. Look I may not have a family to go back to, but I don't wan to live like this. I don't want to be a Savage".

"Oh, you'll get over it..." he murmurs.

"NO!" I shout and a log flies from behind me, hitting someone in the shoulder. Did I do that?

"She's more powerful than we thought", a Savage standing next to Firestone mutters. Firestone nods in agreement and puts a hand on my quivering shoulder.

"Come with me", he whispers. I follow him through the forest towards a shack strung between two trees. He stands at the front of it and ringing his hands, he takes a deep breath, staring at me with innocent eyes. "Centuries ago there was a cult. And this cult saw this planet and set out to make it better. They were from another place, another time, called 'Earth', and they set out to bring their civilisation to Shade. Among these people was Zena-Zla, or, as the cult called her, Talia May. And she did something terrible. The native people, the Saokags, were seen as freaks, as they had powers, abilities, that the cult didn't. They could control fire and move things with their mind, but they had appearances that were different to theirs. Zena-Zla accepted a trade with a sorcerer living in the mountains beyond the forest: immortality for the genocide of the Saokags. And she did it. Everyone of them were murdered in their sleep, apart from the most recent born child. Zena-Zla then took the throne of the civilisation that had been founded by the cult, but she kept the baby and raised it as a slave. You know her army, her soldiers, that carry out the Vallitsmallh so coldheartedly, they are copies of that child, raised to know no kindness. She then ruled peacefully for well over a hundred years, but then a group of people, The Valduw, people that admired the Saokags, stole a sample of the child's blood and used it to create a fog-like substance. This fog could create Saokag abilities out of the regular man because of the child's connection to them. They tested it on themselves and became powerful, too powerful for Zena-Zla to handle. So she sent her soldiers into the forest to kill them, repeating history, but one of the Valduw had changed into a vampire-type creature, and bit Zena-Zla. This is why she needs to do the Vallitsmallh ceremony, not because of Lluna, or any other reason, she takes the people into the temple and feasts on their blood because she needs it to survive. That's also why the planet is of eternal darkness, she has adapted it for her own survival. I'm sorry if you don't believe any of this, but it is true. We have been working for twenty four years to find out everything I'm telling you and we are using it to bring her down. This planet does not deserve her".