Jet had watched the sky turn dark once again. He had only slept for the first bit of the journey and woke up to see that it was just barely turning night. He let out a groan.

"Do you have a problem, Jet?" Rujar asked. He was still fully awake and attentive.

Hesitant to answer, Jet shifted where he sat. He was still unsure exactly how to talk to adults, even though he felt he could talk to Rujar about anything. "I guess I'm not used to traveling in this manner...let alone traveling at all really."

"I understand that. You were hidden away in Calbar, stuck under the Emperor's control."

Jet realized that he felt a bit uncomfortable without a place to call home. He was beginning to feel that in Lonav, until the Soul Army appeared. Jet wasn't sure if any place could be called home now.

The carriage's inside smelled dusty. Jet wondered if the carriages were always in use so they couldn't get cleaned all the time. The wood creaked every few seconds. Jet was thankful that the seats at least were cushioned with dark green pillow-like embroidered sections.

"I'll be glad once we get to Shnela," Jet replied.

Rujar nodded. Heyvl looked over to Jet. "I really hope they'll set you up here in the Kingdom. I'm not going to leave until you're alright," Heyvl explained and then turned to Rujar, "Is the Kingdom's postal service quick? I'll probably need to write my folks."

With a laugh, Rujar nodded. "Probably one of the best. If our scouts will be an indication of how quick we get our people around, then I'll assure you that our postal service will get a letter to your parents in no time."

Heyvl looked content with that answer. Jet shot him a smile. It was nice to have a friend for once. He wondered if Heyvl considered him a friend too. He thought maybe he'd ask later when Rujar wasn't around.

Jet decided to look out the window. The lantern lights on the carriage revealed some of the surrounding area. The farms slowly started to become far and few. Jet assumed they were eventually going to be in the mining area of the Kingdom. He tried to look forward to see if there was any change in scenery. It looked to only be dark land with a dot of light in the distance.

"What's that?" Jet asked.

Heyvl tried to lean over to Jet's side but couldn't see so he looked out his own side. "Is that a light?" he asked.

"There shouldn't be any light on the road for a least several more hours," the Crystal Elementalist explained. He then gave in as he watched the two boys continue to look outside. He looked out Jet's window from the opposite bench he sat. "Oh," Rujar continued in surprise, "that is a light."

The three of them sat in silence as they waited for the light to come closer. It was another hour before they realized it was lantern light from a carriage. Their driver stopped the carriage when they came close. It looked like a crashed carriage.

"What the?" Rujar asked out loud. "You two stay here."

Jet frowned. He looked to Heyvl, who had a sly smirk on his face. Jet smiled back and the two boys got out of the carriage anyways. The crashed carriage wasn't just any carriage. It was a cart.

"Heyvl...doesn't that look like the cart we stocked?" Jet asked. The air was beginning to smell of smoke. Jet could tell the cart was burning somewhere.

Rujar jumped at Jet's words. "I told you two to stay in-" He was cut off by a loud yell. All three of them looked around. It was hard to tell where it came from. "You two need to stay here-" Rujar tried to say but again was cut off, but this time by a person crashing through the cart.

Jet stood up straight after having shielded himself from possible debris. Dust began to settle but seemed to be replaced with smoke. The lanterns on the crashed cart were now full exposed to wood and produce. Among the scattered pieces of wood, there was the girl Heyvl and Jet had helped. Jet quickly ran over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, not wanting her to be too hurt. She was the one who crashed through the cart. She didn't seem too hurt though. He looked over his shoulder. There was a rug-ish looking man standing on the other side of the cart. His arms were on fire.

"Stupid girl, now all the produce is ruined," the Fire Elementalist spat.

Almost as if the bandit's words were a trigger, the girl began to sit up. Jet was taken aback by her sudden movements. "You're the one who ruined it," she mumbled.

"Let me take care of this," Rujar said as he stepped in front of her. The girl shook her head and began to stand up.

"There are more of them all around us," she stated.

She was right. Jet began to feel each of the bandits' presences, their Elements giving them away. He could make out several of their silhouettes in the darkness. He looked over to Rujar, "What do you want us to do?"

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Rujar seemed to think for a second as he withdrew his sword and shield. "If you can fight, it would help."

Jet was shocked. He hadn't ever been asked to fight before. He turned to Heyvl, who was picking up a piece of wood with flame on the end of it. Heyvl returned a look to him that said he could handle himself. Jet nodded and stood up next to the girl. He watched her ready her fists. As she did, crystals sprouted from her arms. With each burst of crystals, her hair and eyes would flash pink. She was a Crystal Elementalist, like Rujar.

It only was a second later when Rujar charged with his crystal-looking sword ready. Fire was already being blasted at his shield. The Crystal Element absorbed the Fire with ease. Jet wondered how much it could take from another Elementalist. He couldn't think on it for long, because another bandit had approached him.

"These kids think they can take us on," the bandit laughed, his voice gravelly.

Jet's hands and arms lit up with Element. The bandit seemed to be taken aback by it. Jet wasn't even sure what to do with his Element. He lifted his hands, palms pointing towards the bandit. The bandit didn't respond with an Element. He readied a ruddy buckler and dagger. Spirit Element flew out of Jet's hands and pushed through the bandit, taking him by surprise. The bandit fell backwards and knocked himself out on a piece of cart debris. "That works," Jet said with a half-smile.

He saw Heyvl warding off two bandits with his flaming torch. Rujar was still fighting the Fire Elementalist. There still seemed to be more bandits all around them.

"Don't just stand there!" the Crystal Elementalist girl shouted at Jet. She had just punched a bandit in the face before she looked over to him.

"I don't know how to fight," Jet explained.

The girl frowned. "You're kidding right?"

Jet shook his head. The girl sighed and turned to another bandit that was approaching. The bandit's arms were coated in Earth Element, a hard mixture rock and dirt. The girl waved her hand up. It caused a wave of pink crystals to shoot up from the ground in a straight path from her to the bandit. The crystals came up like spikes from the ground and encased the bandit's feet.

The Earth Elementalist bandit wasn't fazed by the Crystal Element. Without breaking a sweat, he swung a massive rock fist at the crystal to shatter it. "You're going to have to try harder than that little-" the bandit tried to boast. He was cut off by the girl slamming her crystal-covered fist in his face.

"You were saying?" she asked sarcastically to the knocked out bandit.

Before Jet could say anything, a female bandit came up from behind the girl and grabbed her. The bandit held a knife to her throat. "You should've just let us take your supplies," the female bandit told the girl.

"Never."

The bandit sneered. Jet could see that she was about to press the knife into the girl. He shouted, "No!"

The world seemed to blur and spread out in a bright white and green color. Jet found himself in a familiar area. It was the land covered in green mist; the Spirit Plane.

"You are back, then?" the same voice from before asked. It echoed all around Jet as if the mist could carry the voice everywhere.

"I don't know how," Jet admitted to the ancient. He looked around and saw nothing that had changed from last time. It still looked like an endless flat land covered in the spirit-green aura mist.

The land gave Jet a feeling of dread once again. He was suddenly flooded with emotions from Calbar. He fell to his knees as the feelings overwhelmed him. "Do not let the past return, Jet. You must focus on what is before you." As the ancient spoke, the mist cleared and spirits appeared before Jet. They were in the positions of the bandits and the others before Jet came back to the Plane. Jet could see spirits representing dozens of bandits out in the darkness.

"There are so many of them."

"They aren't just typical raiders and bandits. They are organized. They wanted something from that girl."

"Her stock?" Jet questioned the ancient.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps the girl's life."

Jet watched as a spirit approached where the girl was. "How can I save her?"

"You are still learning your Element, as any young Elementalist would be. You may feel helpless with it, as the Spirit Element seems more defensive. You can do more than just send the Element out."

Jet looked to his hands carefully. The green aura swayed around his skin. How could he be on the offensive with such a passive Element? As Jet eyed the spirits around him, he began to feel something in him. The same feeling he had when he used the Element to run quickly away from the Imperial soldiers.

"That is the feeling you need to pursue your Element's capabilities. You can do so much more with it than you think, Jet."

The ancient was right. Jet could feel it. He felt power. He felt like he could do something. "Send me back," Jet demanded.

The ancient laughed. "I'm not the one bringing you here Jet. You are. You can leave on your own."

The similar pain from the first time he was there began to shoot through him. It was time to go. Jet quickly waved his hand, feeling more confident in his Element. The world changed before him.

Jet opened his eyes to the same scene he had left. Almost no time had passed. He wondered why that was. The first time he had entered the Spirit Plane, months had gone by and he appeared across the world. Now he was exactly where he wanted to be. Time seemed to only exist if he wished, or maybe if it needed to.

"What are you going to do about it, boy?" the female bandit laughed. She was responding to his shout from earlier. Jet smiled and clenched his fists.

"You're going to let her go, or I'll make you."

The bandit simply laughed and turned her attention back to the Crystal Elementalist. Jet frowned as his hands lit up with his Element. He raised his hand, letting Element shoot out in between the bandit and the girl. Almost instinctively, Jet somehow managed to trade places with the Element. He appeared between the two and caused them to fall in opposite directions.

"What the?" the bandit mumbled as she scrambled to her feet.

Jet looked at her and flicked his hand, causing a ball-like object of Spirit Element to fly at her. The Element disarmed her with a strong impact. She stood stunned at what just happened.

"What are you even?!" she demanded.

"A Spirit Elementalist. And now I want you and your friends to go," Jet said feeling a bit odd but confident.

The bandit hesitated. Jet could tell she wasn't sure if he was serious or not. He had to try something. The feeling continued to build inside him, the power of his Element. "Now!" he yelled as Element followed his voice and burst from him, causing a massive Element circle to shoot out from Jet. The power seemed to pass right through Rujar, Heyvl, and the girl, but pushed back all the bandits. Jet then felt dizzy and fell to the floor.