Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Stand Together or Fall

Chapter Ten

Raduko leaned against a tree, breathing heavily with sweat rolling down his face. It wasn’t long after he took cover in the trees that he was face to face with Dukaro the Strangler and knowing he couldn’t take on the necromancy master alone he fled.

“Raduko.” Dukaro sang. “Come out; come out where ever you are.” Raduko managed to dive out of the way as the tree he was hiding behind was split into two by Dukaro’s sword. “There’s no need to hide from me brother.”

“You.” Raduko raised his sword. “You are not my brother. MONSTER!”

“Me? The monster? The only monster here is you!”

“Me? I’m not the one killing innocent people!” Raduko swung the sword in frustration.

“Those ‘innocent’ people ridicule each other because they don’t understand! Our queen wants to stop that.”

“Your queen! I will not bow to her!”

“You will, willingly or forcefully you will bow down to her.” Dukaro raised his sword and held it with both hands, his dark eyes fixed on his younger brother; he would fight him fairly-with his own skills and nothing more-no necromancy. He studied the sword Raduko held in a perfect stance, he knew his brother never had a sword but knew how to handle one, so he assumed it belonged to the younger Telek. “That’s not your sword, is it Tonya’s?”

“Don’t you speak her name!” Raduko snarled.

“I thought you hated her.” Dukaro swung his sword and Raduko blocked it with his own.

“I do.” Raduko leapt back and swung the sword to the side. Dukaro jumped back to avoid it. “But that doesn’t mean you have the right to call her by her name.”

Dukaro brought the blade down from the left and then spun down to the right, Raduko parried the first attack and dived out of the way of the next; he swung his blade low and caught Dukaro’s leg as the necromancy master leapt back, Dukaro charged forward and locked swords with his brothers; pushing him back against a tree and pinning him there, the tip of the blade against Raduko’s neck.

“I thought you were the immortal guard for the Equoya king, you’re making this too easy.” Dukaro smirked as Raduko struggled against him and pressed his blade further into the guard’s neck, then with one swift movement he pushed away from him. Raduko raised a hand to the wound and narrowed his eyes at the Seifuku soldier. “What you waiting for?” Dukaro teased. He saw a flash of anger in his brother’s eyes and Raduko charged forward, swinging his sword in all directions.

“Tell me where the Telek and Storm are!” Raduko stopped when he noticed Dukaro was dodging his attacks and pointed his sword at him. “If you tell me I won’t kill you…”

“Was that why you were holding back?” Dukaro laughed. “They’re alive and well for now.”

“For now?”

“If Shyna gets too bored she’ll probably use Storm as a play toy and probably kill him.” Dukaro explain nonchalantly and grinned. “Hopefully I’ll have the honour of killing Tonya when the Queen is through with her.”

Raduko clenched the sword and grit his teeth, rage burning through his veins, were lives of others so meaningless to the Seifuku? Was killing everyone that stood against them really their way of bringing their so called peace? Did all those people really have to die? At that thought he imagined Serena infiltrating the castle and meeting her end at the hands of Roku. “Serena…” His free hand joined the other at the hilt of the sword, rage was quickly consuming him and he would use it to kill his brother.

“Thinking of who could have been your future wife?” Dukaro teased again then looked to his left, Raduko followed his gaze that fell onto a small girl. She looked to be around thirteen with long dark hair that fell in front of her eyes, she wore a long white, sleeved dress spotted with dirt and was bare foot.

“What are you doing?” She asked quietly, tilting her head in Dukaro’s general direction but not looking at him. “Why are you fighting?”

“Don’t you know who I am, girl?” Dukaro snarled.

“Dukaro the Strangler of the Seifuku Army.” She smiled slightly. “You’ve taken over our village and have two people captive.”

“Run child!” Raduko yelled. “Quickly before.” He was cut off as two black skeletons rose up behind the girl.

“Seize her!” Dukaro snapped. The girl tilted her head back a little and rolled out of the way of the skeletons hands and staying in a kneeling positions she grabbed two short pieces of wood that were strapped to her ankle and fixed them together with a twist, she stood again and faced the advancing skeletons.

“No, run!” Raduko protested. He watched as she spun the pole in her hand with ease and reduced the skeletons to a pile in a few swift movements.

“Pesky child!” Dukaro sheathed his sword and strolled over to her. Without any warning or turning to face him she swung her pole and hit Dukaro on the temple, she ran over to Raduko, grabbed his arm and dragged him through the trees.

“Hurry up!” She snapped. Raduko stared at the back of her head for a moment before finding his own pace and running beside her. He followed her movements as she ran in and out of the trees in a slalom fashion and soon came to a small house. “He’s not catching up; good.” She walked to the small house and opened the door. “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come in and let me see to your wound?”

Raduko frowned and followed the girl inside, closing the door behind him. The place was small, more like a shed than a house with a small stove on one side near some cupboards and a sink, and a bed on another, there was no light except from the light that came from the moon that was half hidden by clouds. There didn’t seem to be anyone else living there. “Don’t you know how to respect your elders?”

“Not really.” She rummaged around in one of the cupboards and pulled out a small tin full of bandages and cloth. “Just sit on the bed.”

Raduko wearily sat on the small bed that creaked under his weight and watched the girl wet a piece of cloth in the sink and walk over to him. “Where are your parents?”

“Dead. The Seifuku killed them.” She stated simply.

“I’m sorry…” He tilted his head to the side to let her clean the wound and leaned Tonya’s sword against the bed.

“Don’t be, I hated them and they hated me.” She gently dabbed the area, not really looking at it.

“I’m Raduko from Equoya.”

“Tasma.” She nodded.

Raduko narrowed his eyes at the girl and leaned forward to get a better look at her face. “You’re blind?”

She nodded. “Since the day I was born, my parents thought it was an omen or something.” She frowned.

“But you were able to defeat Dukaro’s minions and…and you knew I was wounded.” He stared at her with a mixture of shock and amazement.

“I can feel the vibrations in the ground, it’s how I see, I knew you were wounded because the blood was dripping off your arm.” She explained as she gently wrapped a bandage around his neck and tied it. “That should do it.”

“Where are the people I came here with? A girl and another man.”

“In the village, they’re not heavily guarded or anything but if you need some help then I could come too.”

“That won’t be necessary.” He placed his hand on her hand. “But thank you Tasma.”

Tasma moved her head from his hand with a frown. “You don’t think I can help, do you? You’re just like everyone else!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean.”

“Everyone in the village thinks I need things doing for me because I’m blind, they don’t know I taught myself to fight and they baby me because I’m a kid.” She turned her back to him. “I can defend myself and I want to help win this war! They took my parents’ lives so I want to take theirs!”

“I understand Tasma but…”

“I hit Dukaro, or didn’t you see that? Not many people can hit Dukaro the Strangler.”

“The answer is still no, you’re a child and the battlefield is no place for a child.” He slowly stood and grabbed the sword before opening the door. “Good luck to you Tasma.” He said as he closed the door behind him.

Tasma listened to his footsteps fade away and growled, picking up the tin and throwing it across the room.