It was like someone threw him into an especially cold lake. The feeling went away just as quickly as it came, and Kaleg looked at his father, confused.

"What… What did you do?"

"Come on son," his father said to him. "You are more clever than that. I told you that I am a time traveller. You felt the Water, right?"

Kaleg shook his head disbelieving. He time traveled. But, everything looked the same as before.

"How much time… I mean…"

"Twenty minutes," came his father's answer as he stepped to the cell door. "Just a small jump, really. Now, we will have time to talk later. Come we've got a lot to do."

"But the door…"

... disappeared. As Zonorien touched it, the cell door simply became thin air, or so it seemed.

"Quickly, son."

Kaleg followed his father out of his cell. He turned back, and soon his suspicion was confirmed as the door reappeared.

"You sent it into the future," Kaleg said.

"Indeed. You are taking it quite well."

"That's one way to put it, dad. A mythical creature forced me to kill one of my friends, it turns out that my commander and my cousin is an elemental… Void, even my father is one. I wonder if I am human."

"You're. I mean, we are both human, but yes, you are a golem. You remember how Zehno's tracking chip stopped to function when they implanted it under his skin? And the one after that. They needed to give him one inserted into a watch."

Kaleg nodded.

"What about it?"

"Elementalism and electricity do not really work together very well. Didn't you notice how the lamps flickered when Zehno used his ability? Or when I did? Implanted chips do not work for elementals at all. Your tracking chip on the other hand, had no problems. So, you are a golem."

To his surprise, Kaleg didn't feel relief at his father's words but disappointment. In fact, he feared that his father was disappointed in him too.

"I see…" he said. "Well, now that's clear, I think we should move on. Zehno might have already informed the commander."

"That's unlikely. I like him, but he is far from being as decisive as you… or even me. No, likely he is still in his room, trying to figure out what to do. But yes, in the end, he will tell the commander. Which is just as well. Alright, let's go."

Zonorien went to the window, which was barred of course, but he made two of the bars disappear. Then he glanced at Kaleg, sighed, and sent another two bars into the future.

"You shouldn't spend so much time growing all those muscles. I was just strong enough to drag you through time."

He crawled out through the window. Kaleg shrugged and followed him. As for his body frame… well his father and Zehno had their powers, he had his muscles. And his tracking chip…

"Oh, darkness beyond… my chip! We were just discussing how my Void-tainted chip is still working. My tracking chip."

Zonorien looked at him.

"That's a problem," he said finally. "I mean, it most likely didn't like my little time traveling trick, but I doubt that it was enough to fry it."

Kaleg was just about to search for a solution, when he realized something.

"What are we doing, dad, anyway? I mean come on! Escaping? From Jukava? From the Protectorate?"

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To his surprise his father nodded.

"That's exactly what we are doing. I have… friends, who can help us. I will come back for Zehno later, but it is important that the commander read his mind, so she sees that we time jumped. She couldn't know how much time did we travel into the future. It's unlikely she will waste her limited resources to chase us, if we could be years away. Of course, I can only travel a few days in a single jump, but she likely doesn't know that."

Kaleg only nodded, he wasn't really paying much attention to what his father said after the first sentence. Leaving Jukava, Galthra itself! It was just too much, especially after all that happened. And the commander… Wait, what did his father say?

"How do you know about the commander? Her mind reading ability? I didn't tell you."

Zonorien stopped talking. He took a deep breath.

"Well, I am, kind of a… well, a spy. It's my job to know."

"A spy?" He asked incredulously. "Are you serious? Just who the Void are you!?" He was shouting at the end.

They were still at the back of the precinct, and they heard a dog barking, and shouting in the distance... and footsteps getting closer.

"Oh, great," Zonorien said. "Come, I still have enough strength for one last jump." He reached for Kaleg's arm, but he stepped back, out of his reach. He couldn't take any more of his lies.

"No," Kaleg said. "I had enough of this. Go back to your vampire masters, traitor!"

His father was visibly stunned by his words, and couldn't speak for a moment. And that moment was enough for the military police to arrive.

"Freeze!" A soldier shouted at them, pointing his rifle at their direction.

Zonorien sighed and raised his arm, just as Kaleg did.

"I am not working for the undead," he said quickly, while one of the two soldiers handcuffed Kaleg. "I will explain everything later."

With that, he disappeared.

***

Kaleg couldn't help but remember the time when they talked with Darem and some other soldier's about how they would prefer the company of the zombies over the wrath of the commander. It was only a few days ago, when Zehno mysteriously disappeared at that warehouse. Many of those guys were dead, by the zombies hand. Or, in one case, by his.

Regardless, Ulmra Zarin's ire was still an unpleasant thing.

"This level of incredible stupidity I might have expected from you, Zehno," she said, "but, you, Kaleg… in you I am deeply disappointed."

Kaleg actually sneered at that. On second thought, who cares about the commander's mood or opinion? She is just an elemental, who cannot hold any rank or title. A nobody.

"To answer your question, Corporal Kaleg," she said, "Lord Protector Seidon is the one who cares about my opinion… maybe not my mood, though."

"Get out of my head, fireling witch!" He said angrily.

Only he, Zarin and Zehno were present in the commander's office. Colonel Haden Tunem was missing, though as a security officer, he should have been present.

"I give you one chance, Corporal. Just one, to apologise or I'll have you dropped into a solitary cell."

"Good, I could use some solitude."

Ulmra Zarin sighed. Zehno wanted to say something, but a single look from the commander was enough to silence him. The idiot! Kaleg thought. Letting an elemental order him around… Oh, but of course he was an elemental too.

"Look, Corporal, I know it is a lot to take in, but…"

"I don't have to follow your orders. I know the law."

"The lord protector's word is the law, Corporal. He was fully aware of my… talent, when he appointed me as the commander of Jukava."

"I don't believe you, Ulmra. If it were true, where's the lord protector's son? He should be present, isn't he?"

"Yes, and he is aware of my secret too. He is gone, but will be back soon."

"How very convenient… Well, I am not believing you."

"So?" Asked Zarin. "I don't really care what you believe. I don't need to convince you, merely to silence you. One way or the other. Do you understand me?"

And he did.

Silence him... She could have him executed if she wished. No one would believe him, if he told them the truth. And if the lord protector really was privy of her secret…

"I… I do," he said, then added: "Commander."

The commander nodded.

"Good. I can see, and I mean that literally, in your mind, that you understood me. But I heard no apology, and it was too late for that anyway, so you will spend a little time in a solitary cell… with an UV lamp above the door."

"UV lamp? I don't understand it, ma'am."

"Private Zehno, explain it to him."

So Zehno told him that he couldn't use his ability in sunlight or in an UV lamp's light. He learned that from the commander. Apparently she was teaching him about elementalism.

"Sunlight negates elemental abilities?" Kaleg asked, intrigued by the prospect.

"Only the dimensional aspects," the commander said. "Mental aspects, like my telepathy, are unaffected."

Well, that was too bad. But maybe there was another weak spot of the commander's mind reading ability… A problem, to be solved later, when the commander didn't read his mind.

"Good luck with that, Corporal," she said. "Now, as for you, Zehno, your situation is even worse, than Kaleg's. He can be excused, somewhat, by the shock and traumas he suffered, but you, you betrayed my trust. And no, I don't care that you told me about Zonorien's escape. It would have been too late, if not for their noisy argument. So, while we still need your ability, we could do without your attitude and untrustworthiness. I will speak with the lord protector about what we should do with you, once Colonel Seidon returns. Until then you will also have time to think about your actions in a solitary cell. And if you try to escape… Don't forget that I know more about your power and it's limits than you do. Am I making myself clear?"

"Y-yes, ma'am, crystal clear," Zehno said.

With that, the commander dismissed them.