Jahl lives with his people, the Hamica, in the jungles of a nameless world. They live at one with nature. It’s a simple existence, centred around family and community. One day all this is snatched away when Jahl is captured by slavers. But he’s a proud man from a proud people, and he never shows his fright or anxiety, despite what he feels inside. They take him through the jungle, through swampland and farmland, to a town that has seen many like him come before. In a strange, wooden building in the middle of the town square, Jahl is put into a harness, naked and spread-eagle for all who have gathered there to see. It’s humiliating and degrading, especially when the bidding starts. For the first time, Jahl is truly frightened. Who will purchase him? And for what purpose?

Goodbye to the Jungle

They led him along a maze of paved roads to a large square at the centre of the town. On two sides, wooden carts, stalls, and kiosks sold fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, and flowers. Bunches of herbs hung from the rails of one cart, while another cart sold glass containers filled with coloured liquids. Women with baskets milled around, chatting to one another as they perused the goods on sale. Children played and shouted nearby.


At the centre of the square, blocking part of the markets from view, stood a wooden building. Not wood and mud, like the other structures, just wood, painted darkest brown. Inside, once Jahl’s eyes adjusted to the scant light, he found it largely empty.


He waited, his men hovering behind him.


“Hello,” he called again, his tone gruff and impatient. “You there, Amar?”


A man of equal size and proportion to Dank strolled from the shadows, unhurried and unafraid, as the other men were, of Dank. “You wanted something?”


Chapter 5