Plate armour slammed against the ornate vases sat atop the wooden sideboard. The person within the armour bounced off the wall and fell lifeless to the floor. Dareia moved onward, without so much as a glance to their brief obstacle.

Jano observed the man and his hollow eyes. His limbs contorted at strange angles and the armour looked uncomfortable even in death. They moved on. He could already hear noises around the corner when he realised that he had been left behind.

Rushing to catch up, he almost fell around the corner losing control of his feet. Jano could see a group of soldiers pushing against something to get to her. Dareia had thrown two of them back, but they must have charged at her. A dark red shield just by her outstretched hands prevented the soldiers from getting to her.

Jano started running straight for them. He had no plan on what he would do when he got there, but he had to help. He couldn’t save Alsace if Dareia died here. He watched another soldier fly back, as though he was pulled on a great rope. Dark shadowy tendrils reached out through the room, snapping at the soldiers as they tried to push through Dariea’s shield. More soldiers rounded on them from the other side. Jano wasn’t sure what kind of essence she was using for her shield, but surely she couldn’t hold them off forever.

The soldiers attacked the shield fervently. Guards traditionally used essence to strengthen their physical bodies. But Jano could sense that a huge amount of force was battering against Dariea. Even if he couldn’t tell what it was. There must have been almost fifteen now and by the sounds of it, more were coming.

Jano reached Dareia and saw the situation a little more clearly. Her shield wasn’t wholly solid, but the shield absorbed the attacks; giving way a little more each time. The soldiers knew this and were pushing their way forward, creating tiny bubbles in the red essence which surrounded them. If he wasn’t looking directly at swords, shields and lances, he would have been fascinated by the spectacle. He knew that Mages used essence for fighting, but he had never really seen it. Magic was something practical to him. To be used for work. One of the soldiers, dressed in black robes at the rear, was firing balls of black fire towards the shield, which seemed to be doing a considerable amount of the damage.

Jano began to think back to his lessons in the Dome. He thought about how he could use his talent in an offensive way. Without thinking too hard; He drew on the stone essence surrounding him and began to gather it. Forcing his will on the group of soldiers, he reached towards the soldiers and collapsed the side wall, tossing the huge ancient bricks onto the attackers gathered against the shield.

Plate armour sprawled under the weight of the heavy stone. Without having to concentrate on keeping the wall together or being careful with extraction, it was remarkably easy. The soldiers were buried and Dareia grabbed the black fire soldier and crushed him, using an overwhelming force that Jano could feel from where he stood.

Nevertheless, Jano felt pretty happy with himself. He looked at the Mage and smiled. “Pretty good, if I say so myself.”

Dareia smiled and looked upwards, inviting Jano to see something for himself. She was holding back a mass of rock, just above their heads. The invisible force she could draw on holding it, like a giant blanket which you couldn’t see. If she hadn’t, they’d be dead along with the soldiers. He hadn’t realised, but he’d collapsed the whole corridor. “Apologies. I… I didn’t realise.” Were they the right words for almost unwittingly killing us both? Jano shook his head and Dareia just laughed.

“Still need to learn a little more control, I think. But you had the right idea. Come on. Let’s wreck a little more of this place. Nobody is coming through that unless you move it, so let’s head back on ourselves, there’s another way and it sounded like we had more company coming.”

They headed back on themselves and Dareia let the extra rock drop with a huge crash. The sound reverberated through Jano as he thought of his own carelessness. He could have been stuck under that if it wasn’t for her.

They ran past more plush rugs and fancy artworks. These were things that were much too expensive and precious for people like him to see. He passed them in a blur, still struggling to keep pace with Dareia. She skidded to a halt and fired another two soldiers straight into a wall. Blood seeping out of their steel helmets as Jano passed.

They passed through room after room; each part of the keep was filled with wealth that was probably worth more than the entirety of the Middle. It was extravagant. It made him sick to think of the difference that sharing an ounce of this with people from the Slums could make. Why should they, people like him, live in squalor and one man, who is barely in the City, retain such resources for himself. Just because he is the strongest amongst them. This is what power can buy you, he thought as they ran. He thought of the wealth in the University. Anger began to replace just a little of the fear.

They walked into a large room with an elaborate mural on the floor. A person holding up a civilisation all by himself. They were fair haired and seemed to be smiling, as though it was nothing at all. It was an oppressive force by itself, and it took all of two guesses to figure out who it was meant to represent. There were several robed figures standing to the side of the mural and a horde of ragged Slummers rounded into a corner. They were sitting on the floor, and Jano noticed that most seemed confused rather than scared. He looked, but he couldn’t see Alsace amongst them.

They were standing in the throne room. At least that’s what Jano thought, judging from the massive golden throne in the centre with golden steps running down both sides. The steps were accented with black gems. It radiated wealth and status and Jano suddenly felt less confident in what they had set out to do. Faced with such a symbol of the Empire.

Now they were faced with a group of Mages on one side and soldiers on the other. Dareia had more time to see them this time. With a movement which Jano barely even saw, she slammed the soldiers into the air and scattered them in all directions. Steel went flying and light scattered off their bodies as they flew. They never made it to the walls. Something caught them and slowly lowered them down, placing them delicately on the ground. Dareia clearly knew what was coming and dark tendrils flared from her robed arms. They consumed the Mages. Or they would have, but a shield fought the tendrils back. A shield similar to the one Dareia used earlier. Dark red. A menacing red.

It was so strong. Jano couldn’t help but feel the overbearing nature of it. Much like he had in the Dome, when Dareia had revealed herself. Oppressive and almost forcibly pushing him to the floor. He resisted and stood, but he didn’t know for how long he could hold himself. Jano realised that the soldiers had now regrouped and were standing to attention, facing the throne. He pushed on the stone beneath his feet, drawing on its essence for support. But it felt like his spine might snap.

A small man with long blonde hair walked out and smiled. He was dressed in ornate white robes with simple black designs. As though he was a Mage rather than the Emperor. Jano briefly thought that perhaps it was another Archmage, but that was extinguished pretty quickly when he watched Dareia’s face. It wasn’t immediately obvious, but he could see the fear etched into it. Living in the Slums made a person pretty good at seeing behind a person’s mask.

“Ah Dareia. My old friend.” The man said. His voice was calm but strong. As though it was being projected, though it could just have been because the room was deathly silent. “You have brought one of your pets too it seems. The one you sent to steal my precious artefacts. I tried to come back as quickly as I could when I realised what you were up to.” He approached them both.

It was hard for Jano to marry the image of the Emperor which he had always pictured, to the man before them now. He looked boyish in appearance, as though he was no more than twenty and even then, one who looked young for his age. But the power was undeniable.

“You’ve grown stronger my friend. Better at hiding from me. Not strong enough though it seems.” He smiled, his grin malicious and creeping. “Attacking the City, trying to thwart my Empire.” He paused. “Destroying our homeland.” He walked away from them both, moving towards the soldiers and the Mages. Visually he checked on them, but said nothing.

“I know what you’re planning Eradin…” Dareia began.

“DON’T address me like that.” The Emperor was striding towards them once more. His smile was gone entirely. His demeanour had changed and darkened.

“Don’t you think that you can betray this Empire. This City. Betray me and think you can call me that name.” He spat, losing his composure for a second. He gathered himself, straightened his robe and smoothed down his hair. “You know nothing of what’s coming. What we can achieve here.” He grabbed Dariea’s face. “The Hollow is just the beginning.”

Dariea managed to break free of the Emperor’s hold. She fired a whirlwind of black spears towards him. They moved with a tremendous speed. A dark red wall appeared before the Emperor and swallowed them whole. In a flash, the wall morphed into a torrent of red power, it crackled and snapped with black veins. It consumed Dariea, picking her up and slamming her into the floor.

She let out a small groan and the Emperor walked closer to her. He grabbed her chin and lifted it towards him. He let it drop and Dariea didn’t move.

He turned his attention to Jano. “So you’re the little Slummer who broke into my Palace? I’d be impressed, if I didn’t allow the whole thing.” Jano’s heart was beating so fast with this new attention on him, that he thought it might escape his chest. Which, if it resulted in a quick end to this situation, might not be such a bad thing.

“See, I needed to find our mutual friend here. So I could draw from her. She is one of the most potent Mages after all. You led me straight to her.” He smiled and condescendingly patted Jano on the shoulder. “I should thank you. So I have.”

“Alsace, come here my love.” He shouted. Jano’s body tensed up. His blood curdled at hearing those words. Alsace came out of the same doorway the Emperor did. Like some show animal, brought out on demand.

She was wearing fine silk clothing, and she was dressed up finer than he had ever seen her before. He couldn’t believe it. She looked beautiful. He had never been so scared. This is how she always looked to him. Radiant, exceptional.

She walked gracefully to the Emperor’s side. Up close, Jano could see the fine jewellery which now adorned her neck. A golden necklace with a red gem set in the middle. Earrings accented to match those black gems from the throne. She even wore some radiant perfume. It drifted over to Jano and all he wanted was to grab her and run.

“Isn’t she beautiful? I can’t believe you’ve been keeping a noblewoman in the Slums hostage all these years. That alone should be punishable by death. Never mind the rest of your actions.”

Jano struggled but he found that he still couldn’t move. Alsace looked at him, but she didn’t move towards him. Instead she held the Emperor’s robes. Tight.

“Alsace here cannot believe what you’ve been conspiring to do. She has unbelievable loyalty to the Empire. So much so that she’s agreed to work for me. She’ll be living in the Palace and helping me recruit an army from the Slums. Together, we will further this Empire before any of our wildest dreams.”

“Hgggghgggg” Jano tried to speak, but his jaw was shut. Only a garbled mess came out.

The Emperor moved closer. “Sorry, what was that?” He leaned in even closer and whispered. “You’re going to die. And I’m taking what you love most. What you probably did all this for? Just because I can. Though of course. She truly is beautiful.” The words raised every hair on his body and fury bubbled up inside. He tried to move, to rip the Emperor apart with his hands. Instead, he couldn’t even move his lips to speak.

He casually walked back to Dareia, like he was walking in the sun without a care in the world. She was still groggy and groaning after being slammed against the floor. “You’re going to watch as I execute your pet. Then, we’ll chain you up. And I’ll take your power. Day after day. I’ll be able to summon the Hollow by the day’s end thanks to you. Who knows what else we might be able to achieve together.” His smile was now etched across the entirety of his face. A smile which shouldn’t have been able to have looked so wicked. Almost the opposite of what a smile was designed for.

The door to the throne room came crashing down. The Emperor looked up and pushed Alsace and Dareia back towards the doorway he had come from. The power holding Jano released and he looked to the door. Tens of Guards came tearing in. All glowing a variety of different colours. Jano recognised Nara leading the charge.

“Kill them all. I’ve got what I need.” The Emperor shouted and carried the two most important women to Jano away. He was followed by a small group of soldiers and a few Mages. Jano wanted to run after them, steal them back and kill the Emperor. But he found himself panting on the floor. He had only a moment to grab his scythe and use it to block an attack from a soldier who ran at him rather than the attackers.

The soldier moved quickly and jabbed his sword down Jano’s arm. The pain rushed through him. Jano swung wildly and the soldier was forced to block. Jano stood up and tried to run towards Nara. The soldier grabbed him by the feet and pulled him backwards. With a quick jerking motion, Jano spun round and drove the scythe into the soldier's head. He went down with a thump.

Jano watched Nara and her Guard slam into the remaining soldiers. They fought the robed Mages and it was chaos. Jano remembered the Slummers and ran to them. “Come on. We have to leave.” They didn’t move immediately. Jano realised they were scared of being associated with him. Of fighting against the Empire. Which somehow he’d come to represent. Accidentally, but that didn’t matter.

“Come on. If you stay you’ll probably die anyway. I assume it isn’t a good reason you’re all huddled here. If you come with us, you have a chance.” He said. This time the words rang true and they scarpered out of the room.

Nara grabbed him. “Where’s Dareia!?”

“The Emperor took her and my wife.” He said. “They went that way” he pointed towards their exit. More soldiers began to flood into the room, blocking their way forward. They started to attack and push forward. There were too many of them and even Nara could see that they would lose.

“Fall back!” She cried. “Fall back!”

Nara grabbed Jano and began to glow once more as she raged through the streets. He felt weak, useless as she ran. Her body was fortified by essence, making her stronger and faster. The streets of the Palace passed by him, the stone of the Northern Quarter and the fog, now dissipating, revealed the bodies strewn across the floor.