ce turned hard and expressionless. He felt it too. They heard a voice, the emperor's voice speak into them. It was soft, quiet, almost feminine but laced with a

within his head, he felt stretched, torn into two perspectives and it hurt him in ways that he could not understand. Suddenly, he felt a wave of anger lash through him, causing him to gasp. It stretched him, rising like something solid. He knew it w

as sure of the outcome. Idem felt irritation and annoyance tear through him, these were his own emotions now and he leaped into the pit, landin

all the seeds within and he infused life into them, causing them to sprout long lines that shot out of the earth, stretching far above him, thickening like unnaturally thi

ion tiny arrowheads. Idem jumped on a vine and threw himself up and out of range. He landed on a thick vine and shot it forward, carrying himself to Elek. He reached behind the man and caught on to a seed, sprouting a

he was beneath the ground. Idem leaped off the vine he was standing upon and onto another, shooting himself off to

t Elek. Elek immediately covered himself in a sand cocoon, letting the web wrap him. Then he burst the cocoon and the web along with it, spraying a cloud of sand, blo

ucture of sand was pointing at his chest. He sighed in frustration and fatigue, letting himself fall to the ground. Elek nodded at him, clasping his hands behind his back then bowed deeply to the emperor bef

eirs. You will suffer the same punishment. Meet me on the

. Idem stood up, fighting the dizziness that welled up in him. He understood why they trained and duelled constantly and mercilessly. It w