Some people might remember me trying to do this once before...and it got the better of me. Well not this time!!!

Enjoy :)

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Prologue

Five years ago the Queen of Bolian mysteriously disappeared and with no husband or an heir to the throne it was open to anyone who wished to take it. The Kings of the neighboring countries argued for five years over who should rightfully take the throne for themselves, causing conflict between them and their countries, but by the time they settled their differences it was too late. The throne was claimed and the new ruler of Bolian meant business.

Stand Together or Fall

Chapter One

She watched it from a cave high up in the mountains, the downfall of another village. Thick black smoke rose up into the sky, blanketing it with darkness; soon the rain would fall and help extinguish the fires. She shook her head with a heavy sigh and wondered how it had come to this.

It was just a gang. She kept telling herself. Just a stupid gang.

The girl was seventeen year old Tonya from the first village that fell after the throne was claimed. She had long purple hair tied back with a leather strap and light blue eyes with a dark blue ring around the pupil, a sign that she had the traits of the ancient telekinetic beings, a dieing race that is feared throughout the lands. Her clothes were simple, black pants dotted with dirt tucked into a pair of brown boots, and a black shirt with a rip diagonally up her torso, from her right hip to her left shoulder. There was a dagger tucked into the back of her pants, the hilt bound with leather, which was given to her by her sister. With another deep sigh she stood, brushed the dust of her pants and made her way down into the forest, following the narrow path that spiraled down the mountain side.

The forest was lush and, for now, was untouched by the Seifuku Army, ‘Queen’ Roku’s special army. Seifuku meant ‘conquer’ and that’s exactly what they did, they went from village to village in the Bolian region and crushed it, taking prisoners that would eventually serve Roku in her army. It had only been a few months since she began her reign but Roku had wiped out almost half of the country, the Bolian people were peaceful and didn’t fight back. It was their biggest mistake ever.

Tonya thought about the village as she walked, wondering how many people the army had taken and how many had resisted and were killed. She decided she would help any survivors bury the dead and help them through their loss, after that she would join the leaders of the neighboring countries in a secret meeting to discuss Bolian’s current Queen. Nodding in a silent agreement with herself she continued on deep in thought.

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Meanwhile hidden deeper in the trees was a rugged man stalking his pray. His short, yet shaggy black hair slightly covered his brown eyes and a small amount of stubble dotted his jaw line. He wore a white shirt that was open, due to missing buttons, and was covered in grass stains, brown pants, also covered in grass, and scuffed black boots. In his right hand was a sheathed sword that he carried around because the strap would always break. He was knelt down in the thick bushes watching as a large rabbit hopped towards a treat he had left out for it...or so the rabbit thought. In seconds the rabbit was dangling by its foot from a snare and the man leapt out of his hiding place, unsheathing his sword and ready to slit his prey’s throat when another rabbit hopped out of the bush, a younger one. The man looked from one to the other and with a deep sigh cut the snare and set the adult rabbit down.

"Go...before I change my mind." He watched his dinner hop away and grumbled to himself as he headed back to his camp. It had been weeks since his last meal and he was beginning to regret letting the rabbit go. His camp consisted of a fire pit and a small tent, with odd bits of cutlery he found in abandoned villages that he used for snare alarms, which went off a few moments after he entered the camp site and by the sound of it, it was a big catch. Running through the trees he made his way to his catch only to find it wasn't what he had expected, a young girl with long purple hair hung upside down with her arms crossed and a knife on the ground below her. The man stepped out of the trees and studied the girl, instantly noticing her eyes. "Levitating problems?"

"The blood has rushed to my head." She explained and quietly mumbled. "Plus I’m not that good at it."

"You look familiar."

"We've never met." She quickly insisted. "Can you get me down please?"

"Sure" He climbed up the tree and drew his blade. "Get ready it's quite a drop." He waited for a moment before running the blade along the snare. The girl dropped a bit but stayed in mid air for a moment with her eyes closed, she then cautiously opened them and let out a relieved sigh. Unfortunately it wouldn't last and she dropped to the ground next to her knife, the man chuckled and watched as the girl picked herself up and dust of her pants before joining her. "You're right; you're not that good at it."

"I'm glad you noticed." She picked up her blade, tucked it into the back of her pants and studied the man again. "I'm Tonya, from the first village that fell."

"Storm, from the third." He extended his hand to her and she took it. "Where are you heading?"

"To the village that was attacked, I was going to see if there were any survivors."

Storm raised his head to the direction of the village; the smoke was still rising but had thinned as the fires died down. “You’ll be lucky, they don’t leave survivors.”

“Well you never know.” She shrugged.

“Are you sure we’ve never met?” He studied her again, tilting his head to the side.

“I’m sure.” Her eyes narrowed at him. He shrugged, looking to a bush, and suddenly dived behind it, reappearing with a large bird in hand.

“Finally some dinner!”

She shook her head. “Rabbit are tastier.”

“Well I let the last one go.” He frowned and set off for his camp, Tonya followed closely behind him.

“You have something against the Seifuku, right?”

“Of course, why?”

“Well…I happen to know that the Kings from the neighboring countries are having a secret meeting, they’re going to discuss a way to defeat Roku. If you want you can come along, I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

“You’re going to need it? Were you planning to take her on?”

“Someone has to, all that the Kings have done to help the situation is argue and point fingers at one another.”

“True.” He thought for a moment and shook his head. “No, I don’t want to be involved in this war.”

“No offence, but you were involved in this war when Roku sent her Army to your village.” She frowned. “At least think about it a little more first, the meeting will be held up in the mountain in a day’s time.”

“Fine, I’ll think about.”

She nodded and set off down a separate path through the trees looking over her shoulder occasionally to see if she was being followed, by who she didn’t know, and felt at ease each time she knew nobody was there. When she reached the edge of the village she stepped back behind a tree to witness the continuous onslaught of the people and silently prayed for their souls as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Please stop this Roku, it’s not their fault.”