Shadows of Reform (Probably being edited)

Chapter Nine

Camellia Ravelt sat upon the wooden chair that rested in her room, in her traditional pose: legs crossed over one another, back straight, with her sword parallel to the floor, resting in her lap. Everything must be perfect before she cleaned the blade. Once she was satisfied, she clicked the latch on the sheath, and drew the piece of art from its case. It was a traditional Japanese sword of the Gomai build, with a wooden handle encased in cloth. There were characters inscribed on both sides of the blade, which Camellia read off as she wiped the instrument clean.

"Fire..." once, "Strength..." twice, "Speed..." three times, "And Wisdom."

Once she had cleaned her chosen piece, she placed it back in the sheath, sat for a minute, then rose in a flash, brandishing the weapon from the case in seconds. She then practiced her basic forms.

Any exposed part is a target... Camellia flicked the weapon downward, precede thrusts with a feign... She stabbed forward, twisting into the thrust, then away; keep the sword pointed at the opponent. Camellia parried an imaginary attack from her foe, and proceeded to chop at his wrists, disabling him.

Melody rushed through the door behind her. "Are you okay? I heard... Is that a sword?" She seemed interested in the piece Camellia was holding. Instantly she placed the blade back in the sheath, and pushed it once more onto the shelf it came from. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, you just weren't supposed to see that. I thought you were asleep?"

"Not now. I heard something crash over in this direction. So it wasn't you?"

"No..." Camellia was worried. They couldn't have found her, she kept herself well hidden. Perhaps her meeting with Julius had done something. Curse that man!

"Ms. Ravelt, are you sure?"

"Yes." The sound came again, reverberating through the room. "Get out. Quickly." Camellia reached for her protection, and drew the weapon once more. "Hurry!"

Melody rushed out the door, and Camellia turned to face the rumbling that was coming from the wall behind her. The rumbling grew louder, progressively louder, until...

There was a scream from somewhere to her back. Camellia flipped around, running through the doorway as the entrance was forced open from the other side. Melody was hiding behind the table, having flipped it onto the side. The door crashed inward, and men wearing the red and black of the Security uniform. She stabbed into the vest, puncturing the clothing, and on through the lungs. The first man through the door fell, coughing up blood. The second was more wary of the blade, and fired off a few rounds before charging in. Camellia disarmed the soldier, and let the man draw his knife before swinging her full force perpendicular to the man's knees, chopping them clean off. The wounded attacker screamed in pain as Camellia descended upon him, poised to strike.

"Are there any more?!"

"Agh! Hell no! Jesus, my legs!" he was extremely distressed, so Camellia ended his misery with a quick flick upwards, into his skull.

As she returned to Melody, she realized her younger friend had vanished. The dead man had lied to her. "Melody? Oh come on..."

The screaming continued for a few feet out the door and into the night, then disappeared. No matter how hard she tried, Camellia could not figure out where they had gone.