Fallen Prince, Risen King - The Risen King

The Spartan Empire-Part 1

"It's unbelievable," stated a man outside the walls of the capital of the Ninja Empire. "We had thousands of years of peace amongst the empire. No lord or lady drew their swords against each other or against the emperor. Yet in the last twenty-five years, we had civil war after civil war after civil war. Noblemen wanted to be kings and old royalties wanted to be kings, but there's only one king that stood above them all. It's a story that in order to understand, you have to learn where he came from, and how he had fallen deep into the darkness before rising like a Phoenix. His quest for peace began when the second civil war began."

"Bring that wall down or have it ready to.

"Run!

"No!

"Brother!

"Come on! Let's go!

"You may have gotten away, brother, but don't think you're safe." echoed through ranges of mountains. The wind howled as the snow rushed down covering them. The Iarnă Mountains are a barren snowy wasteland, barely anything grew and a few wildlife prowled. There were caves that could be used as shelter but while there were many, they were hard to find. Those who traveled through the mountains were merchants who didn't want to travel by sea, people who were exiled, and citizens fleeing from an empire to the Spartan Empire.

As the wind howled, a foot smushed the freshly laid snow. The person responsible looked around trying to find signs of life. He turned to see his fellow companions, two boys and seven girls, were fighting through the wind like him. One of the girls stumbled and fell down, she was exhausted and couldn't get back up as another one bent over her. "We need to find shelter," suggested one of the boys.

The person scanned to find somewhere to make camp when he discovered a place. "There's a cliff up ahead to block the wind." he stated. He led them to it and all the girls collapsed from exhaustion. The wind still blew but wasn't as strong and the snow barely came down. The other boy unpacked his bag to retrieve the few sticks they had left. "Use whatever we have left." he ordered.

"Are we close?" asked the first boy.

"Very close, Jack," confirmed the person as he pulled out a map. "We should arrive very soon." he pointed out.

"We might want to rest and get supplies then." stated Jack. John soon had the fire going with the remaining twigs they had. All the girls huddled as close as they could to the small fire to get warm. They opened up their supplies to find a piece of dry meat that was smaller than a bite-sized left.

"Let me worry about the supplies," said Zhōng as he handed Jack his last piece. "You two get some rest."

"He wasn't talking about us when he suggested rest." stated John who joined them. "You've been staying up and taking watches ever since we entered the Iarnă Mountains about a month and a half ago."

"I'm fine, I've been doing this longer than two months. I've been doing this since I lost the empire." stated Zhōng.

Jack and John looked at each other and then back at Zhōng. "We aren't just worried about your sleep schedule but your connections with her majesty, your sisters and their friends." stated Jack.

Zhōng looked up to see the girls huddling closer to the fire and tighter, but one was looking at them. Her red eyes were scared and worried, her hair outgrew in some parts as the dyed strand of her hair began to fade. Her mouth didn't frown or smile as she looked like the last bit of light was going out like the fire. "You two both know why I can't get close anymore." stated Zhōng as he turned and walked away. "I'll come down to be relieved."

"Do you think he means it?" asked Jack.

"We both know that he isn't the same Zhōng from before the attack." stated John, he returned to the fire and Jack followed. Princess Zhen watched Zhōng go, it was hard for her knowing that it was her fault for saving him.