he hadn't seen a single soldier. They must've gone to bed, he thought.
Sinesh pushed him quickly to the doorway and helped him up high enough to peek through the small window. It looked like it led to a large, empty room.
He pulled the door open and she wheeled him inside. His eyes were immediately drawn to it, shining brightly on a table in the middle of the room.
Then Emret froze. They weren’t alone. Someone else was in the room. Someone that he apparently didn't see through the window. Fortunately the stranger had his back to him. It was a Petra. Smaller than the soldiers. He was walking towards the table with the Token.
Emret didn't know what to do. He could hide, but his chair would be seen. They'd know he was there. He could try to make it back out the door but turning his chair was noisy and slow.
His eyes scanned the stranger as he debated his next move. There was something familiar about him, about the way he moved. He had only known one Petra in his life. Rinacht. But Rinacht was miles from here.
Then the stranger spoke as he reached out a hand to pick up the Token. "So incredible," he said.
Emret couldn't believe it. The voice. It was Rinacht! "Rinacht?" He wheeled backward to the door just in case he was wrong.
The Petra man jumped into the air. "Wha!" He dropped down low to the ground. "Who's there?"
Emret pushed himself forward into the lamp light. "Rinacht it's me!"
Rinacht ran around the table to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Emret! What're you doing in here!"
"What are you doing here?" Emret retorted with over exaggerated surprise.
Rinacht laughed and grabbed him in a tight hug. "It’s good to see you my boy! How you feeling? Where's Moslin?"
"Yeah I'm fine. I don't know where they took Moslin. They took her and left me in a tent with two guards. But this is Moslin’s daughter."
Rinacht turned to Sinesh and took her hand. Ah, as lovely as her mother. How are you my girl?”
She smiled.
"How'd you two get in here?" Rinacht asked.
"We snuck out," he explained then put on a more serious look. "Rinacht, how did you get here? Is my dad with you?"
"Patience, child. I'll explain everything. First, we’ve got get you out of here. There's supposed to be guards posted outside this room at all times. They're only gone because of an incident in front of the building. Who knows how soon they'll be back."
He rushed around behind Emret’s chair and spun him back towards the exit. As he did, his back whipped around wide and knocked into a small glass bottle that was sitting on a corner desk.
It fell to the ground with a loud crash. Rinacht froze with a look of horror on his face.
The door from further inside the building slammed open, and two massive stone soldiers tumbled through. “Who’s in here?” One of them roared.
“Hey,” the other shouted, pointing at them.
Rinacht grabbed at something on his belt.
“Rinacht, what are you doing? Get us out of here!”
The soldiers stomped towards them. “All of you, lay down on the ground and put your hands out in front of you!”
Rinach!” Yelled Emret.
Sinesh tried to push Emret’s chair, but Rinacht was standing in the way.
Finally, Rinacht succeeded in removing what he was fumbling with. He pulled out a long dagger with a glowing purple blade. He immediately stuck it out in the air in front of him, pointing it at the soldiers. Then he screamed, shutting his eyes tight. “STOP!”
The purple glow from the dagger expanded to fill the room. The charging soldiers slowed in their approach as though they were being pushed back by a heavy wind.
“Put down your weapon immediately!” One yelled.
Their feet scraped across the floor as they started to lose their purchase, their strong legs strained against the unseen force.
Rinacht opened his eyes, to see the soldiers slam up against the far wall, their arms pinned up above their head. He laughed and looked down at the glowing dagger.
“It worked! It worked!”
He turned to see Sinesh and Emret watching with a look of complete bewilderment.
“What was that?” Emret asked.
“I’ll explain later.” He pushed Emret’s chair through the door as he held it open. Outside they made a hard push to cross the clearing between the command center and the rows of tent barracks.
"We’ve got to get to the forest as fast as we can." Rinacht explained as he ran, pushing the boy's chair in