The Stormblade Part 2

It was completely dark by the time they reached their destination in the Dark Forest. It was a makeshift camp, made up of dozens of tents and campfires. Drake immediately stalked into the nearest tent, flinging the cloth door shut behind him.
Fox raised his eyebrows at Reba expressively, than smiled as he noticed Ming watching him. "Sorry." His tone was apologetic. "I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but I’ll talk to him later. Meanwhile," he clapped his hands. "Let’s eat!"
They followed him to a campfire where a deer-like animal was roasting. A young dark haired woman silently served them, her small hands wielding a knife to cut the meat. When she had finished serving them, she too walked away.
Ming whispered to Josh when she thought that no one was looking. "Why do you supposed Drake wouldn’t talk to us at all? Even that woman barely looked at us." She blushed as Reba caught her eye.
"Please forgive them." Reba said. "He didn’t mean to be cold, truly. And our people are very quiet. We do not usually show our emotions. The woman you saw, her name was Jade. She is waiting for news of her husband, Kiroten. He went as a spy to serve in the king’s palace. If he is caught, they will kill him."
Ming and Josh listened with their mouths opened in shock. Calvin seemed indifferent as he bit into his meat, but Fox’s eyes narrowed as he heard what Reba said.
"And if he dies, another will take his place." He said coldly. "We are almost ready for a revolt, we must not cower or stop getting information now. Besides," he added, taking another bite of his food. "Kiroten knew the risk when he volunteered. He did it for Jade-and for the child that he wants to let grow up in freedom."
"What are you talking about?" interrupted Josh. "What is this ‘freedom’ that you are talking about?"
"The freedom to live as we please." Answered a deep voice. Ming looked up. Drake stood behind them, leaning casually against a tree with folded arms. "The freedom to speak without fear of instant punishment. To be able to declare what we believe without dying. To have a government that cares for its people, and not a cruel king that wants every Dargothian on this planet dead. That is what type of freedom we wish for, work for, and die for. And may God help those that would stand in our way."
Fox nodded. "Also, we are fighting for a freedom just to live! Everyday, more and more of us are killed by the king. He hates us."
"Sounds like Hitler." Mumbled Calvin around a full mouth.
"What?" Drake asked. "Who is Hitler?"
"I’m not great with history," Said Josh. "But in our world he was a pretty mean guy. He hated everyone that wasn’t German, and he killed thousands of Jews."
Drake grunted. "That’s Xavier all the way. He thinks that Neptunians are the ‘purebloods’ and that any Dargothians who refuse to serve him should all be killed."
"That’s awful!" exclaimed Ming. "How could anyone possible do that?"
Drake shrugged. "I suppose for the same reason your Hitler killed all those Jews. For power, for the thrill of being like God-deciding who lives and who dies."
Reba spoke up. "But soon we Dargothians will be free of his tyranny. And his people, the Neptunians, will also be free."
Drake whirled on her, his eyes ablaze. "Why should we spare his people? They are the ones that carry out his orders and take pleasure in destroying us!"
"They obey orders, just as we do here." Reba replied harshly. "And it’s not only Neptunians that carry out his orders. There are Dargothians that are in his pay."
"Very few Dargothians would consent to be under Xavier’s authority. Those that do deserve the fate that they will receive." Spoke Drake angrily.
"And those that have no choice?" Reba countered. "How many Dargothians have we come across in our patrols? How old are they, Drake? Do they look happy? Most of the Dargothians that serve under King Xavier were threatened with their families very lives!"
"It would be better to die than to serve under him!" Drake scoffed.
Fox interrupted him. "For us, this is true. But there are those that would like to keep their and their families lives. Can you truly blame them, Drake? They are young, almost children. They do not know how to rebel. And if they try to run away, they go back to their houses and find only ashes and bones. Can you truly blame them for simply wanting to survive?" he repeated.
"Wait just a minute," Josh interrupted. "What exactly is the difference between a Dargothian and a Neptunian?"
"The difference!" scoffed Drake. "We are not even alike!"
Reba held her hand up to silence him. "We’re all humans, Drake, remember that."
Drake pressed his lips together and looked away.
Reba continued. "The Dargothians are what you might call the locals of this country. We are the ones who have existed here since time began. We are a hardworking people, and we strive to carry out what we believe is right. There used to be some of us who were royalty, and ruled this country with love and understanding, not fear and an iron fist. The Neptunians, on the other hand, are outsiders. We don’t know where they came from or how their clans grew so large, but one day they just, took over." She stopped, overcome with grief.
Fox continued for her. "That day was a virtual slaughter. The Neptunian leader, Xavier, insisted that every Dargothian bow their knee to he and his people. Of course, they refused, and Xavier took our city by brute force. He forced the survivors to serve him as slaves. That was two decades ago. Now, our people have risen in numbers and in strength. We will storm the city and reclaim it as our own once again. No Neptunian tyrant will rule our country if we have anything to say about it."
Calvin butted in with an arrogant attitude. "What is so wrong with this Xavier dude being king? A king is a king, no matter his bloodline. Surely he rule just as well as anyone that you would put on the throne."
Ming was surprised that Drake managed to restrain himself from throttling Calvin then and there. Though Fox’s glare forced him to remain still, his rage still burst forth.
"Xavier is a tyrant! He kills our people for his sick pleasure; he is constantly inventing new ways to torture us!" Drake’s face was twisted in pain. Ming suddenly wondered if the scar that ran down his face was the cause of one of Xavier’s ‘tortures’.
"He hates us as much as we hate him. His sole purpose in life is to have control, to have power. I have spent my entire life working for the fall of this man simply because he wants every one of us dead. That is why he cannot and will not remain on the Dargothian throne." Drake held his sword hilt as if he could crush it.
Calvin was silent. There was barely anything holding Drake back now, and he had no wish to tempt fate.
Ming listened to all of it in silence. She felt compassion and pity in her heart as she heard of the pain that the Dargothians had to suffer. She nudged Josh gently and spoke up, hoping that he would take her cue. "Is there anything that we can do to help?"
Josh gaped in astonishment for a few seconds before he recovered enough to protest. "You, what? But, you can’t-"
Fox leaned forward eagerly. "That’s why you’re here!" he interrupted Josh. "You can help us in a way that nobody else can."
"Which is how?" asked Calvin.
Drake glared at him in disgust. Ming saw that there was now an instant dislike, maybe even hate, between the two.
"By joining us." He said.
"Joining you!" Calvin exclaimed. "Why?"
Fox sighed. "I know that none of this makes sense right now and I’m sure you find it all stupid, or crazy. But if you joined us, if would give our people hope that there are others supporting us. But, please, it’s been a long day today, and you don’t have to decide now. Perhaps things will make more sense in the morning. Reba," he added, gesturing to her. "Please show them their tent." He rose and bowed stiffly to them, from the waist up. "Good night." He and Drake turned and walked away.
Reba got up. "Follow me; I’ll get you all settled." Josh looked at Ming and shrugged. They set down their food and followed her.
Halfway to the tent where they would stay, a short, bent over old man shuffled near them. He studied them with his head bent slightly sideways. He chucked, a queer dry sound and then spoke.
"Outworlders! What a surprise. And might I ask just why you are here?"
Reba answered politely, though she obviously did not wish to converse with him. "Greetings to you also, Thoran. If you will excuse me, I have to escort these ‘outworlders’ to their tent."
"Ah, have you no need of healing, my young friends?" Thoran questioned the three, who glanced at each other with raised eyebrows. "Surely you are weary from your long journey, step inside my own humble tent and I will gladly relieve you from any pain that you may possess."
Reba made to step past him, but Calvin suddenly spoke up. "Well, now that you mention it, my back kind of hurts. It’s actually been bothering me for quite a while, you know?"
Josh stared at him suspiciously, but Thoran crackled happily. "Yes, yes! I will heal your back. Come, come!" He led Calvin away, assuring Reba that Calvin would be returned shortly.
Ming looked at Josh and shrugged. Reba watched the two until they disappeared into a black tent further back near the woods, then she sighed and shook her head. "Come on." She said to them. "He’ll be along later."



After Calvin had returned from his back ‘healing’, and the three were alone in the tent, Josh turned to him and spoke coldly, his resolve strong. "All right, you’ve got exactly five minutes to tell us what’s going on here. How we got here, why we’re here, and why you didn’t want us to tell these people it that our presence here has something to do with the medallion."
Calvin backed up, his hands in front of him. "Josh, please. Just calm down; we’ll find a way back."
Ming stared at him. "What do you mean, ‘find a way back?’ Do you mean that we’re stuck here?"
"No, no." answered Calvin hastily. "Not at all. We can go back anytime we want, but we just have to find the other medallion to do it."
"What!" Josh exclaimed. "Maybe you’d better start from the beginning."
Calvin sat down. "Ok, fine. Last week I was up in our attic. My mom and I had put a bunch of boxes up there when we moved in last year. I was looking in them for my old roller blades.
‘I opened up one box and there was a chest in it. I didn’t remember packing it, so I lifted the lid. Inside, I found the medallion I had you both look at this afternoon. I didn’t think much of it at the time, since I don’t get into that sort of stuff, but that night, I began having weird dreams about the attic.
‘I finally decided that perhaps I was dreaming about the attic for a reason, so a few days later I went back up and opened the door. As soon as I stepped inside, that box with the medallion had a really bright blue light shining out of its cracks. I was totally freaked out, but since my mom was at work, I had to check it out on my own.
‘I went over to it, and as soon as I touched it, it sprung open by itself, and I saw the medallion. It stopped glowing after a few moments, so I picked it up. There was a big book underneath, so I pulled that out too, and looked at it. It was really cool!" He added, his eyes wide with excitement. "It had pictures and the whole history of that medallion. I read the whole thing, and it said how it came from a place called Dargothia, and-"
"Wait a minute," Said Ming. "You knew all this, but you didn’t tell us before it shipped us here?"
Calvin winced. "Well, I wasn’t exactly expecting that, and I was going to tell you, but I didn’t have enough time."
Ming glared at him. "Calvin, we are on what seems to be another planet, apparently out of our galaxy, and you are just finding time now to tell us how we got here?" She was furious.
"Calvin, your medallion didn’t light up until Ming touched it." Josh said. "Did your book explain that?"
"Welllll," Calvin winced again and shifted uncomfortably. "Kind of, but not really..."
Josh waited.
"I knew that the medallion could be used as transportation." Calvin finally admitted. "But the book said that that could only happen if the one who touched it had royal blood, Dargothian royal blood."
Ming gaped. "That’s ridiculous!"
Calvin shrugged. "Maybe, but we’re here aren’t we?"
"Fine, we’re here." Ming snapped. "How do we get home? The medallion didn’t come with us."
"I know. But I think I know what to do," Calvin replied. He laid down on the cot he was sitting on and sighed. "I talked to that healer, Thoran. He used to serve in the king’s palace as a spy. He said that eighteen or nineteen years ago, his former wife stole a medallion to get even with him for dumping her for another woman. Apparently, there are two medallions, and only two. Somehow, the Xavier’s wife activated the one she had, and took it to earth with her. And while I hate to believe that it was that little piece of costume jewelry that got us here, I do believe that Ming really did do something to it, royal blood or not. Do you practice witchcraft or anything?" he asked her curiously.
Ming glared at him. "No." she stated frostily, offended.
Calvin shrugged. "Anyway, I struck a deal with Thoran. He said that the second medallion is still in the palace, and if we found the medallion and gave it to him, he would make it take us home."
Josh scowled. "How do you know that we can trust him?"
Calvin shrugged. "Like you said earlier, you have to trust somebody."
"How do you know about there being only two medallions?" asked Josh.
"It was in the book." Calvin said sheepishly. "And when I talked to Thoran, he said the same thing."
"I think you are crazy." Josh stated.
"He seems like he may be, doesn’t he?" asked Drake, stepping into the tent. Josh started, and Ming gasped.
Calvin stared up in shock. "How long have you been listening?" he demanded, his face turning red.
Drake grinned, mildly amused. "Long enough to find out how you got here." He narrowed his eyes. "You know about there being two medallions do you? Did you ever wonder how the second one just happened to show up at your house?"
Calvin didn’t say anything, apparently, the idea was still sinking in.
"What are you implying?" Josh asked angrily. "That Calvin‘s mom is Dargothian?"
"No." Drake shook his head. "If that were so, the medallion would have sent him here as soon as he touched it." He turned to Ming. "How old are you?"
Ming looked startled. "Seventeen."
Drake looked thoughtful. "Interesting," he mused. "Very interesting." He stalked outside without another word.
Calvin looked over at Josh. "Now what?"
"It‘s not my issue!" Josh flipped out. And, despite Ming’s efforts, he did not calm down for a long while.



What the teens didn’t know was at that moment, Drake was arguing with Fox. They had been doing that a lot lately, and their relationship was tense. Fox had recently married his sister, Reba, and Drake was unhappy about it and jumped at every opportunity to let Fox know it.
"They are a threat to all of us!" he hissed. "The boy who found the medallion, Calvin, already wants to find the medallion and give it to Thoran, that crazy medicine trader. If Xavier gets his hands on any of these outworlders, especially the one who activated the medallion, he will be able to use her for his pleasure-mainly to destroy us. You need to send those children back where they came from!"
Fox held up his hand. "They are not ‘children’ as you call them, and I would not send them home even if I did have the other medallion." He said calmly. "They are here for a purpose; Xavier has not been able to activate his medallion for nearly two decades, but three teens could? It is Dargothian fate."
"Fate!" scoffed Drake. "What do you know of fate? It wasn’t fate that got them here, Fox. Somehow Xavier found the medallion and used it! Did he not have scouts out searching for them? You must either kill these beings or send them back, and get on with destroying Xavier and giving us our freedom!"
"Enough!" Thundered Fox. "You will have your ‘freedom’ soon enough. Meanwhile, you are under my command, and you will do as I say, and not as you feel! You know as well as I do that Ming may be the missing heir of King Hayden. If she is, then we have every chance to win this war, once and for all! These teenagers hold the very fate of Dargothia in their hands.
‘The outworlders are to be treated with respect. Do not even speak to them again if you cannot do it without acting like a fool. Do you understand?"
Drake glared at Fox; there was a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Aye." he said finally, quietly. He turned and stalked away, his back straighter than a steel rod.


Fox watched him stalk away, and he shook his head and sighed. He did not want to make Drake into an enemy, but Drake was already headed that way.
And as much as he did not wish to follow through with it, Drake had given him what seemed to be a very good idea.
He headed towards the tent where the teens were. He stopped outside the tent flap and cleared his throat loudly. The flap opened slightly, and Ming’s anxious face peered out.
"Fox!" she greeted him. "Come in."
Fox almost smiled at the irony-invited to come into his own tent. Nevertheless, he stepped inside. He cleared his throat again, nervously. "Are you comfortable?" He asked, taking advantage of the Dargothian habit to beat around the bush.
"Yes, fine." Answered Josh hastily. Calvin glowered in the corner.
Fox fidgeted with his knife hilt. "Drake was just telling me what Calvin said, and I think that we can help you. I, and our people, of course," he added hastily. "Hoped that you might join us. It would be quite convenient."
Josh glanced at Ming and glared at Calvin. "Well, see, we don’t know how to get home now."
"Just a quick question," added Fox, hoping to sway their decision in his favor. "I heard that the medallion had words; might I know what they said so that I can be sure that the other medallion I know of is a match?"
"You know where the other medallion is?" Calvin exclaimed. He fell silent when Ming turned and glared at him.
"I know where A medallion is, yes." Fox replied. "But I am not convinced that it is the same that you need."
"The words?" questioned Josh. "Let’s see, oh yes, I can remember them:
‘Death only comes to the weak;
The brave and strong know no fear.
Come and find what you seek,
The storm that rages is never meek.
Fulfill the prophecy by living the past
Believe in a peace to come.
You’re not the first, neither the last
Merge together, as one."
"It is the same then." Fox spoke after an awkward pause. "The medallion you seek is in Xavier’s palace."
He hoped that they wouldn’t see through his lie; anybody else who knew anything about his war would have. After all, if Xavier had the medallion, he would have used it long ago, and not just to call three children to Dargothia.
"The very place where I plan to attack. If you help us, you can find the medallion when this is all over."
Ming took a deep breath as she turned to Josh. "Josh, I think we should listen to him."
"What?" asked Josh. "Why should we help rebels?"
"Why not?" she retorted. "They’ve already explained their cause, which I agree with. It seems to me that we won’t get another chance to find that medallion if we refuse this one; I don’t trust that Thoran. Besides, Josh, we are in a totally different world! Don’t you want to explore it even a little?"
Calvin spoke up. "I don’t see why we shouldn’t. It’s not every day that you get the chance."
"You stay out of it, Calvin." Ordered Josh. "You’re the one that got us into this whole mess;" he suddenly turned, his brow furrowed in confusion. "And you were just dealing with that Thoran dude, why do you suddenly want to break that and join Fox?"
Calvin shrugged. "The deal with Thoran is off, and I don’t see the harm in following Fox, after all, he’s our only chance out, now."
"He’s right." Ming intervened. "I’m going to stay anyway."
Fox smiled, hiding his guilt, while Josh simmered.
"Fine." He said. "We help them, explore a little on the way, find the medallion, and go home." He glanced at Fox suspiciously. "So, what exactly can we help you with?"


"Moral support?" Fox suggested lamely, after watching the teens try to handle a sword. They had tried valiantly, but failed miserably in the attempt.
Calvin was the only one who had any potential with a blade, and he had trouble even lifting it. Ming was actually doing quite well with a bow and arrow under Reba’s instruction. Fox was still trying to find Josh’s strong point.
"Here." He said, handing both boys a javelin. "Try this."
"What is it?" Calvin asked, while Josh just looked at it doubtfully.
Fox stared at them. "A javelin. Don’t you have them in your own world?"
"No…" they both answered.
Fox sighed. "All right. Hold it like this," he demonstrated. "And throw it towards that target. Simple." He winced as both javelins floundered to the ground, still many feet from the target. He rolled his eyes as he heard a snort behind him.
"That’s the best you can do?" Drake asked in disbelief.
Fox turned around slowly. "Drake…" he said warningly.
Drake glared at all of them before turning on his heel and walking away.
"Why does he hate us so much?" Josh asked innocently.
Fox let out a deep breath and avoided eye contact. "You aren’t the first outworlders that have come to Dargothia." He replied. The teens tried to get him to say more, but he refused.