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Stand Together or Fall

Chapter Six

Roku slowly stood, brushing the dust from her clothes and hair; she could hear the soldiers on the other side of the wall calling her name and smirked. A shock wave crumbled the barrier and day light flooded back into the castle. Roku knelt down to retrieve her knife and felt a pain shoot through her stomach; she set her jaw to keep her from crying out and laughed instead. Tonya would be a fine addition to her army.


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“Where are we heading?” Raduko demanded while glaring daggers into Tonya’s back as she pushed aside a branch.
“To a village, they were the first to flee when Roku claimed the throne.” She felt Raduko’s glare deepen and sighed. “Storm is injured so he’s our first priority, unless you have a better idea?”

“A village further away from the castle would be better.” He growled.

“Well I think the closest one would be better. I’m sure you won’t want to carry Storm when he passes out from the pain.”

“Well let’s hear what he has to say!” The pair turned to Storm who was trailing behind; he looked from one to the other and ran a hand through his hair.

“Well…for starters you two really need to learn to get along, second, I think we could reset my arm here, and third, I really don’t care where we go.” He watched Raduko cross his arms and Tonya sigh, stepping forward and volunteering to fix Storm’s arm.

“It’s going to really hurt.” She stated and Storm nodded. “On three. One…Two.” She reset the arm Storm clenched his teeth and breathed deeply through the pain.

“You said three…” He said through his teeth.

“I figured you’d want to get it over and done with.” She shrugged.

“How much further is it to this village?” Storm asked while cradling his arm.

“Not much further.” She set off again and Storm followed with Raduko reluctantly trailing behind, they were walking for another hour before stepping into a clearing. The houses were dilapidated, windows where broken, doors hung off their hinges and old clothes and rubbish were all over the streets.

“This will be the first place they’ll look.” Raduko growled.

“They might not.” She looked around carefully. “Look just give it a chance, they’ll be so busy with Roku they won’t bother looking for us just yet.” She turned to face him and noticed Storm heading towards an old tavern. “Storm?”

The swordsman opened the door and slowly stepped inside; he strolled over to the bar and scanned the empty shelves with a sigh. Nothing. Not one single bottle. He turned his head when he heard his companion’s footsteps on the dusty wooden floors.

“The place is empty Storm.” Tonya shook her head. “They drank it all.”

“Maybe…” He made his way behind the bar when the floor creaked and the floor sunk a little. He looked down at a dusty red rug and pushed his weight down again, he kicked the rug aside and lifted open a trap door. “Or maybe not.” He smiled.


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Storm strolled down the dirt path between the trees, his sheathed sword tucked into his sash. After a long day of training he was glad to be heading back home for a well deserved rest. As the path broke through the trees into a small village Storm stopped to take in the scene; clear blue skies, smiling faces, nothing could ruin the day. He started off for home again when he heard the sound of horses in the distance. About three dozen horses charged into the village, past Storm and headed for the center, he followed them. The leader was a woman with deep red hair, green eyes with the ring of the Telek. Next to her, on her right, was an older man wearing black armor. The woman dismounted her steed and looked around at the crowd that had quickly gathered.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Children of all ages! I am Roku, your new Queen and as you can see I am of the Telek race!” There was a murmur throughout the crowd and Roku raised her hand for silence. “I have decided to take the throne simply because it was there to be taken.” She began again. “For too long you humans have mistreated my race for being who we are, for the blood that runs through our veins. You’ve tortured us, beaten us, even killed us, but did we do anything to provoke such actions? No! And for that you shall perish!” The crowd slowly backed away and Roku grinned manically. “Feel the wrath of my army! The Seifuku Army!”

The crowd dispersed and the men gave chase, cutting down men, women, children and the elderly. There were to be no survivors. One soldier dismounted from his horse and charged at Storm, he had shoulder length that was tied back and emotionless eyes; he drew his sword and swung. Storm drew his sword and blocked the attack, jumped back and swung his blade downwards, the attacker jumped back and lunged forwards once more, Storm blocked once but the second attack sliced his right arm near his shoulder. The attacker swung again, Storm ducked under it and slashed him across the stomach. The attacker stumbled back and put his hand to his wound then looked at the blood, a smile tugged at his lips for a split second and he looked to Storm.

“What is your name, boy?”

“It’s Storm and you?”

“Jin. You are a worthy opponent, nobody has ever marked me.”

“Lucky me.” Storm smirked. “Shall we dance again?”

“Later.” Jin moved quickly, and before Storm could move to attack the other swordsmen was already behind him, there was a sharp pain in the back of Storm’s head and everything went black.

Storm woke to the smell of burning wood and pushed himself into a kneeling position. All the buildings were burning; bodies lay scattered all over the ground and clothes, jewelry and other household items that were looted from homes were thrown all over the place. Storm rose to his feet and made his way to his home, as he suspected it was burning, the flames low and down to its last flicker. He watched the fire die away and wondered why Jin had let him live.


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Storm felt a hand on his shoulder and opened his eyes; Raduko sat next to him and stared out of the window. “You should rest if you’re tired.”
“In a while.” He looked over his shoulder. “Where’s Tonya?”

Raduko snorted. “The Telek has gone to find a lake to wash up in.” He pointed in the direction she went in.

“What has she done to you, Raduko?” The older male just stared out of the window and Storm sighed. “You blame her for her sister’s actions, don’t you? It’s not her fault.”

“Then who’s is it?”

“Ours…us humans.” He slowly stood. “From what Tonya has told me our hatred for their race has caused Roku to act this way…maybe if we were a little more accepting this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Maybe.” Raduko watched as Storm headed for the door. “Where are you going?”

“To find Tonya, we can’t let a girl wander around on her own now, can we?”

“She can look after herself.” Raduko returned his gaze to the window.

“Suit yourself.” Storm shrugged and headed outside, he headed in the direction Raduko had pointed out and soon came to an opening in the trees. In the distance he saw a figure standing on the water’s surface, venturing closer Storm noticed the figure was Tonya. She had removed her boots and her shirt, leaving a piece of fabric wrapped around her chest, something Storm had never noticed she had on, her hair was free and the leather strap was wrapped loosely around her left wrist. She twirled on the water and thick swirls of water surrounded her, twirling around her arms as she extended them, the swirls of water then wrapped around her body as she raised her arms above her head.

Storm watched her from the trees, the way her slender body moved fluidly like water. Her figure was similar to Roku’s with less of a build; she had curved hips like her sister but Storm never noticed how long her hair was until now, it came down to the middle of her back.

Tonya spun on the water once more and threw her head back, the water around her rushing upwards as she did. The lake settled and Tonya opened her eyes, surprised to find Storm there.

“I…Erm…” The heat rose in her cheeks.

“It was beautiful.” Storm smiled.

“It’s just a way to let off excess energy without damaging anything…” She rubbed her arm nervously.

Storm looked up to the sky, it was clear. “Does it bring rain?”

Tonya followed his gaze then returned to Storm, their eyes locked. A smile pulled at her lips and a small laugh slipped past them. “No it won’t.”

Storm smiled. It was the first time Tonya had smiled at him.