Shadows passed before his eyes. They swirled around his body, trapping him. He curled his lips upwards in fury, baring his long sharp teeth. He struggled against the binds of shadows. Silhouettes of deformed creatures slid past him. He opened his jaws and let out the most furious and powerful roar he could muster, but no sound came out. The silhouettes moved closer and closer, looking more and more disfigured. The shadow bindings began to continuously tighten. He let out another silent roar, but out of pain. The silhouettes were only a few inches from the tip of his nose and the shadow bindings were seconds from crushing his bones when-

Volkun felt his body move on its own. His arm lashed out and the sound of shattering glass rang in his ears. Pain stabbed at his knuckles and he opened his eyes. He briefly saw his fist dripping blood on the other side of the glass before the blinding light forced him to close his eyes. He carefully slid his arm out of the hole in the glass and hugged his arm to his chest. For a moment it felt like the smoke was returning to bind him in its cruel embrace. He heard the silhouettes speaking to him. His breath became ragged and heavy.

He jumped as he heard a loud impact right next to him. He opened his eyes to find the glass was gone. He raised his hand to cover his eyes from the blinding light. He grabbed the edge of the pod and pulled himself into a sitting position. He moved to climb out of the pod, but collapsed onto the floor with unexpected weakness. He growled in pain and lay flat on the ground. He rolled onto his back and stared at the bright lights. It took a moment before his eyes finally adjusted, but he did not move. His chest rose and fell as he almost gasped for breath. It took a little while before that too was regulated.

He lifted his arm to his face and examined his hand. Blood continued to drip from his knuckles. He proceeded to feel around each knuckle and pull out any fragments of the glass he could find. Once he was sure he removed most of the glass, he struggled to make an effort to stand up. Grabbing onto the pod again, he pulled himself into a crouch and stood up. He swayed dangerously and took a step back to maintain his balance.

He looked around and saw hundreds of other pods like his. He stared at them all in shock. How did they get here? Who took them here? He thought back, trying to remember how he was, presumably, captured, but nothing came to mind. He cursed under his breath and shook his head. He slammed his fist against the edge of the pod, wincing at the pain of his injured knuckles. He was sure if he ever found whoever brought them here, he was going to rip them limb from limb.