The Planes Walkers

34. Avenged

    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."