Sitting in a deep dark cell, scared and not knowing where in the world he had been dropped into, Salin thought about how his life had come to this. He had been living the best life he could dream of, being regarded as important wherever he went. He saw the apprehension in people whenever he walked in, the knowledge that an empire's Hidden protector was in the premises sent shivers down their spines.

  People whose names appeared in the Empire's hidden organization's book of death never saw him coming; one moment, they were alive, unaware that their lives had been put on a timer, and the next, they were gone—dead, with a snap of the finger. And the ones who knew of his arrival always lived in terror wherever they ran to, thinking they could somehow escape his blade, their deaths were always lousy when it came.

  It had all come crashing down when he'd met that man—A Spirit lord, as he'd been unfortunate to discover. Now that he knew better, he shouldn't have followed the man; he should have run to the other side the moment he suspected something was wrong. Now he was paying for it.

  Stuck in a boxed-in cell with no entrance that he could see or feel and in a location he knew nothing about. There wasn't even any sign of the critters that usually graced all kinds of prison cells. The only sign that he wasn't alone was the high-pitched screams that kept jolting him every few hours. Voices of plea in different languages. Ironically, that had been the thing that clued him in as to where he was.

  The Warren.

  A place where the Empire kept its high-level prisoners, both in power and influence. He hadn't been allowed in the place before, even his status as a hidden protector couldn't get him the clearance. The Warren was a place of myth, where the empire kept its worst prisoners, either to be tortured continually for information or be left alone to wither and die, their only company, the constant screaming and begging of their fellow prisoners. And now he was sitting there, not as a visitor but as an inmate. Cheers, you couldn't get any lower than this! He thought to himself.

  He had woken up next to an emotionally and spiritually crushed Spirit lady. His torturer hadn't even paid him any kind of attention when he came too. Despite his evident terror when she was the first thing he saw waking up, the knowledge of what had been inflicted on him was still hot and new in his mind. He shivered at the memory.

  When other pillars had then started appearing, he had learned what had happened. One of the most feared and powerful people on the planet was left crushed and broken, never to rise again. The other? Dead, torn to pieces. All done by a single man.

  He was immediately taken into custody, no questions asked, they simply knocked him unconscious and threw him into this dark hole of terrors, leaving him here for days to stew and simmer in the screams that always pierced the everlasting darkness.

  When he'd had the time to sit and think coherently, he finally understood what he had escaped from. The fact that he had encountered that monster and then left unscathed was a cause for jubilation, but his current situation didn't leave room for any sort of celebration.

  He was still in his head when he suddenly felt himself being dragged through space, unable to contest the mountain-sized will dragging him. "I thought teleportation was blocked in this place", he said to himself before he was whisked away, leaving his dark room once again empty.

  When he appeared, he immediately collapsed down on his knee, pressure pressing down on him. The sheer presence filling the room was so powerful that he felt the air refuse to enter his lungs as if the air itself didn't want to be associated with him. He couldn't think, and his vision was beginning to darken. I'm going to die, he thought, terror filling him. Tears were just beginning to fall from his eyes when, as suddenly as it came, the pressure lessened. It wasn't entirely gone, just there, a constant reminder to the powers in the room. Given a reprieve from the crushing presence, he immediately drew in huge gasps of air, filling his lungs. It was at that moment he finally took notice of the other occupants in the room.

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  Pillars.

  Eleven of them stood on both sides of the throne room in which he now found himself. The auras emanating from them were so crushing that it felt like he was holding up a mountain. The feeling almost made him collapse from sheer mental and bodily exhaustion.

  They were dressed in different outfits, from crisp militaristic to casual, and then to the opulent dresses that glittered with different pearls.

  His status in the empire as a hidden protector allowed him certain information, information which was only known by the top kingdoms—the Empire's enemies. It was mostly uncertain information on the numbers of Spirit lords fielded by the Empire, but he knew for a fact that the Empire fielded a dozen Spirit lords, minus the Emperor, himself.

  It was a feat unaccomplished by any of the other kingdoms. So it was confusing at first to count only eleven spirit lords standing on both sides of the throne room, until he remembered that the Empire had recently lost a Spirit lord. Elora Darkfang stood in a corner of the room, head down. If he didn't know for a fact that she was a Spirit lady, he'd have thought her a servant, judging from how she stood apart from the rest, like a lesser.

  The attention he drew when he appeared didn't seem to be a good one, judging from the thinly veiled bloodlust radiating from most of the lords present. Even his patron, who was standing to one side, seemed to have a changed opinion about him. And there goes my only path out of this mess, he thought.

  The man with the single most powerful aura in the room was the Emperor. He was a fit man, if a little bit short by most standards. He had a toned body and face that looked sculpted, unnaturally handsome.

  Sitting on a golden throne with a sunburst sigil on the headrest. The throne was placed on a dais, with two guards standing on both sides at the foot of the platform—both powerful Spirit lords. The Emperor was putting on a red garment with black linings on the wrists and neck. A golden circlet rested on his red hair, matching his similarly golden eyes. Salin was forced to quickly avert his face when his eyes met those glowing golden eyes.

  "Come." His authority-filled voice was the only thing Salin could hear, and he dared not disobey. He crawled on his knees towards the foot of the throne, not daring to walk.

  When he stopped, he looked up to see the Emperor regarding him with barely contained anger. His leaking aura was filled with such heat and crushing force that Salin didn't know if he was going to be burned first or crushed to death. Thankfully, the Emperor immediately reigned in his aura when he noticed Salin's sheet-white expression.

  "Do you know why you have been brought here?"

  Salin nodded. "I unknowingly revealed classified information to an enemy of the Empire," he answered truthfully. It didn't take him long to figure that one out; Elora Darkfang had accused him of it just before she had set one of her dark-wrought children down on him.

  "Not just any Empire enemy, the man you revealed classified information to possibly one of the greatest enemies of the Empire." The Emperor's tone was measured, controlled.

  He turned deadly pale.

  "Your deeds led to the death of an Empire's pillar and the partial destruction of another's path." He gestured towards Elora whose head went down more in shame. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

  Quickly taking the opportunity presented to him. "Your Highness, may your name be forever exalted. I tell no lie when I say that I warned about the man when I was captured." Many would have hesitated at the leeway given, but Salin had been trained to take advantage of opportunities like this.

  The Emperor raised an eyebrow; he turned to regard Elora, who had begun shifting with apparent nervousness.

  "Continue," he said to Salin.

  "I was given a warning to pass on to my superiors. He warned us to stay away from any of his interests and he would do the same." Salin didn't spare any details, exposing the truth that he was now sure Elora had failed to mention. "When I met with the Spirit lady and lord who came, I informed both of the warning I was told to deliver. My warning was discarded and I was subsequently tortured afterwards."

  "Is that so?" The Emperor said, looking at Elora with hardened eyes. She practically shook from all the attention diverted towards her.

  "Nevertheless, a reply must be sent, even if we were the ones that caused it due to sheer idiocy," he said, eyes smoldering with anger as he looked at Elora. "We must reply, otherwise our enemies will see us as weak."

  The Emperor looked up to coolly regard the other Spirit lords in attendance. Eyes glowing and voice hard.

  "Prepare yourselves, we go to battle."