Jet and Nadreen prowled through the large empty halls of the castle. The tapestries were all worn and tattered. Hardly any chandeliers were lit. It was all unkempt and messy.

"So this is what living in a castle is like? I'll take the desert any day."

"It didn't used to be like this. Seems the Emperor has neglected it since he started the machine. He doesn't exactly need an old castle when he could have the power to force everyone to build him a new and better one."

Nadreen nodded. Jet couldn't believe the Emperor would throw all of this aside. He must have had a lot of faith in his machine. There were histories told in these walls of the days when the Empire wasn't so menacing. Perhaps the Lord of Souls didn't think that the Empire should be remembered in that way.

"I want a large force in front of Calbar, now!" a voice echoed through the halls. It was the general. He was speaking to himself as he marched down the main hall. Jet and Nadreen dove behind some of the more intact tapestries.

"We're going to try to scare the army before they reach the city limits. We don't have time to try anything else. I'm trying to get one of their leaders to turn to our side. Damn brat is stubborn."

The general was surrounded in the Soul Element as he talked. Jet watched the general carefully through a small hole in the tapestry. He clenched his fist at the sight of the man who captured him. He had been helpless at the wall. Jet knew he was probably going to be helpless now too. His Element was weak. He hadn't recovered much at all throughout the morning.

The general continued to leave the castle. He didn't notice the two desert dwellers.

"I wonder if that means the Emperor is that way," Nadreen said to Jet.

"Maybe. I want to check his tower first. The general had told me and my brother that he spent most of his time there."

"It's worth a try."

The two continued through the castle. Jet remembered the path to the tower as if it were yesterday he and Dustan were taken there. Soon they reached the long hallway that led to the study. Jet swallowed hard and instinctively moved ahead of Nadreen as Dustan had done to him. Jet may be in a weakened state, but he wouldn't let the Emperor harm anyone else close to him.

"Don't worry," Nadreen whispered to be safe, "We'll distract him well enough, just the two of us."

Jet gave her a smile. He was glad that they were both trained in their Element. If only Dustan and Jet had been before. The two moved down the hall at a steady but cautious pace. The hall was the same as the other ones; run down, and falling apart. Jet and Nadreen were almost at the door when he noticed it was ajar. He moved more subtle as they neared it. Trying to not make any noise, he began to push the door open.

The study was empty. Jet let out a sigh of relief. It gave him a bit more time to conserve his strength. The study was similar to how it was the night Jet learned his Element. There was no machine in here but the dusty bookshelves and the writing desk remained. On the desk was a bright green scarf.

Tears began to fill up Jet's eyes as he walked slowly over to the desk. The scarf was completely intact, minus a bit of ripping where the Emperor held it.

"That looks Ahrurian," Nadreen said.

Jet couldn't reply with words. He nodded as he embraced his family heirloom. "It was my dad's," Jet choked up.

"The Emperor took it from you?"

Jet heaved in his tears once more and managed to pull himself together. He turned to Nadreen. "He used it to hold his grip on me. I managed to be free of it when he threw me out the window."

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Nadreen eyed the boarded up window. Shards of glass were still on the floor beneath it. "And then you entered the Spirit Plane," Nadreen finished as the story began to connect as it stared back at her.

Jet began to take his soldier uniform off. His Ahrurian desert attire was still as it was before. He wrapped the scarf around his neck and smiled at Nadreen.

"Like a true Ahrurian," she said with a smile back.

"Let's find the Emperor," Jet replied, feeling rejuvenated with his scarf back.

Nadreen gave him a nod and the two ran back down out of the tower.

Heyvl didn't expect a forward party so quickly. He sensed them forming and the rest of the army falling back. He informed Rujar, who made new orders as the large group of Soul Elementalists rode directly at them. Their Elements trailed in the snowy breeze. It was a scare tactic. The Empire probably knew that their army didn't have many Elementalists among them. Heyvl was still ready.

The young Lonavian held his sword to his side. The blade now completely purple. Irina was beside him and behind them was an equal sized group to meet the Soul Elementalists. Their army was getting close to Calbar. They would be in the streets within hours. The sun looked to be on its way into the evening. Though it was hard to tell through the clouds and flurry.

The forward party swung their weapons as they rode faster at them. A large mass of Soul Element began to fly at them. Irina built a shield in front of several of the men and women around her and Heyvl. Most of them had to take the Element directly. Those who weren't bracing for it were knocked down. Others it simply felt like they were being hit all over. Heyvl left Irina's shield so others could be protected. He gritted his teeth as the purple cloud rushed through them. It was as if they all screamed in his head.

The Soul Elementalists then met up with the backswing of their Element by plowing through the ranks alongside Heyvl. Heyvl swung his crystal sword as one of the riders approached. The horse avoided him, letting Heyvl's sword catch the rider. The Soul Elementalist fell a few paces behind Heyvl. His own party were now all over the place. The horses and the Element had caused them to break formation.

One rider began to stick out to Heyvl. It was the general.

"So you're out here, huh?" Heyvl called out, his own purple Element flaring.

The general's eyes locked with the boy's. "You actually made it out of the Empire alive? Pity. I suppose I'll have to kill you now...unless you plan to change sides. You could spare a lot of people that way."

Heyvl readied his sword. He was done hearing the general's words slither around him. The general pulled out his own rapier in response. Without hesitation, the general had swung his rapier and cut Heyvl's shoulder. Heyvl took a step back and examined the cut. It wasn't deep but he could already feel the warm blood seeping out. The general laughed. "I should have tossed you off the wall and watched you splatter in the snow. You're no Soul Elementalist."

Heyvl didn't reply. He didn't want anything to break his focus on fighting. He stepped forward and their weapons clashed. The crystal sword was more durable and more powerful than the general's rapier. Heyvl was sure he could probably break the Elementalist's weapon.

As their weapons clashed again, the general followed up with a fist into Heyvl's side. Heyvl backed away, feeling his breath knocked out of him.

"You have a lot of courage standing in that army of yours boy. You're going to die far away from home."

"We're...going to stop you. Your Emperor will not use that machine."

"It'll be too late for that," the general chuckled but then stopped as he saw the boy laughing.

"My friend Jet won't let him." Heyvl stood up with a sprint towards the general. The general was taken surprise by Heyvl's swiftness. He backpedaled the boy as their weapons slashed at each other back and forth. "I don't know the Jet you're talking about."

Heyvl made his swings powerful. He was told by Rujar to keep his opponents on the defense and he'll always have an upper hand.

"Jet is a Spirit Elementalist that the Emperor tried to have killed."

"He's had a lot of Spirit Elementalists killed, boy!"

The general tried to use his Element, but Heyvl managed to cut the general's free arm deeply. He staggered back and looked up at the boy.

"The Emperor killed his brother and threw him out a window. But he lived. And he's going to make sure that the Emperor is stopped at all costs."

The general's eyes widened. It was as if he had recognized Jet from earlier as the boy he had led to the Emperor that fateful night. The general smiled. Heyvl raised his sword, noticing that the general wasn't fighting back anymore. The rapier fell into the snow.

"And now the Emperor knows," the general said, his eyes filled with purple aura. Heyvl yelled as he swung his blade one more time to kill the general. He was surprised but also relieved that the general hadn't known all his secrets.

The general's body fell to one side and Heyvl fell to his knees. He had forgotten their connection to the Emperor in the heat of the moment. Jet was now in danger.

Irina appeared out of thin air next to him. Crystals sprouted from the ground. He looked around surprised. "You killed the general!" she exclaimed.

The rest of his men had been successfully in holding back the forward party. Most of them were retreating back to Calbar. "I endangered Jet. We have to get to Calbar now!"

Irina nodded and helped her friend up. It was time to get moving once more.