Jacob sighed and studied the bars more carefully. It looked like they had some sort of enchantment on them, possibly suppressing everyone’s power or energy. Instead of looking at the bars, he tried to look around to see if anyone else was in his cage. There was a woman who looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember who she was. He walked up to her slowly and crouched down in front of her.

"Pardon me ma’am, but do I know you from somewhere?"

As the woman looked up to meet his gaze, Jacob almost fell on the ground in shock. It was none other than Sarah Frost, the butcher who would always treat Maria and himself to amazing delicacies before they met Slimo.

"Sarah?! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Sarah looked at him with a fake smile.

"Those stupid masked people came up to my stand wanting food. However, when I turned my back to grab them something they wished for, a weird hand touched my shoulder and I was teleported here. It just doesn’t make sense. Why would they want a random butcherer off the streets of Iron Kingdom? I don’t see any other civilians in here except me!"

Jacob rubbed his head, lost in thought. He was under the impression that the masked people only went for the noble clans. The fact that they also took Sarah with them was out of the ordinary, even for them.

"I wish I could tell you. We learned a bit more about these freaks on the road, but not enough to justify why they are doing all of this."

"I see. How are you and Maria getting along? Have you two kissed yet? I was too afraid to ask her when she appeared in the cage next to us."

Jacob started blushing.

"You haven’t seen me in weeks, I’m trapped in a cage with you, and that’s the first question that comes to mind?"

"What else would I ask about?"

Jacob sighed to himself.

"Yes. We have."

Sarah seemed to put on a genuine smile hearing this.

"That’s the first good news I’ve heard in a while. Thank you."

Even with the lighthearted conversation they had, there was still a feeling of dread looming over everyone in their cages. In the cage next to him, he could hear soft wails coming from a man. As Jacob walked over to study who it was, he saw Maria trying to comfort Harold.

’She must have told him the news about Slade.’

Slade and Harold were like illegitimate brothers. They never left each other’s side. However, the one day they decided to let it happen, he ended up losing his best friend. Jacob’s heart hurt hearing the sounds coming from Harold as he grieved. It looked like they were sharing a cage with Zoey, Caleb, and Abby. All of them, except Zoey, were quiet and slouching on the ground.

"The bars can’t hold me forever, you bastards!! I’m going to char you to a crisp once I get out of here!!"

Zoey was holding on to the bars and tugging on them with all her might.

’It seems like she didn’t change that much.’

In the cage to his left, he saw Lidia, Doc, William, Sydney, Serena, and Bryce. Their cage seemed to be a bit more cramped with all the people. Lidia was holding William in a massive bear hug, squeezing the life out of him.

"Mom... you’re going to kill me if you don’t let go!"

"Am I not allowed to hug my own family?! Just for that I’m holding on a bit longer!"

’At least Miss Lidia seems to be in good spirits.’

Suddenly, Jacob heard one of the cages across the room from him get into a screaming match. He squinted his eyes to see what the chaos was about. Across his cage, he saw Squabee, still in her dark robes, locked behind the bars of a massive cage with her mask sitting on the stone floor. The others were Bart, Lee, Emma, Steel, Bo, Jack, and Lucy. Everyone around the cage was surrounding her, threatening her life.

"Why shouldn’t we kill you right now?! Your people were the ones who put us behind these bars!"

"Let me cut her up! I need to cut something!"

"You know we can’t do that. These stupid bars are suppressing us."

"Why don’t we just beat her to a pulp right now? Who’s going to stop us?"

"Yah, let’s do it!"

Jacob screamed across the room.

"Don’t hurt her! She’s on our side!!"

Bart pushed his face against the bars to meet Jacob’s glare across the room.

"You’re trying to tell us this disgusting cultist is on our side?! Like hell I’ll believe that!"

"It’s true! She was the one who led us here! We wouldn’t have been able to find you all without her help! And think about it, if she really was on their side, why is she behind the bars with all of us?!"

Bart hesitated for a moment.

"How do we know she isn’t the reason you got teleported behind bars in the first place? How do we know she didn’t just lead you all to your deaths?"

"Again, what would be the point of putting her behind the bars with us if she was really against us?"

"To gain our trust, that’s why."

"You have to believe me! She left this camp months ago! She knew that they wouldn’t accept her when she came back, but she still guided us anyway! Please, you have to listen to us! Ask Maria or Lidia!"

Lidia slammed her hands against the bars.

"Don’t you lay a hand on Squabee or I’ll have your ass on a plate!!!"

Bart seemed to pale a bit seeing Lidia so defensive over the cultist. With a deep sigh, Bart helped create some distance between everyone in the cell and Squabee.

"I trust Miss Lidia more than my own life. Her word is final. Just leave her alone."

Lucy, Jack, and Emma seemed to follow Bart and give her some space. However, Steel, Bo, and Lee were still hesitant. Bo was the first to say something.

"Tell us why you joined the cult in the first place, then we’ll leave you alone."

Squabee twirled her hair.

"I saw a cute boy join, so I knew I had to totally follow him."

Bo seemed dumbstruck hearing such a response and slowly backed off.

"She’s not a threat guys. There’s no way someone so stupid could possibly be a threat."

"Hey! What do you mean I’m stupid?!"

Steel and Lee also gave her space, seemingly disappointed.

"I wanted to cut her."

"What a letdown."

"You’ll be sorry if we ever escape these cages!!"

"Yah yah, whatever you say boy crazy chick."

Squabee wanted to retort but chose to keep her mouth shut, as to not dig a deeper hole for herself.