King of the Tempest

Chapter 4

An army marches

Despicable sadism

No hero will come

Tenshi scowled, laying on the floor of his room in the inn. Another day gone by. These men are futile, their movements too slow. My fighting is mine, unable to be replicated. Why can the king not realize that. He stood, walking to the window. He pushed open the curtains.

The moon shone, illuminating the city. Even at this time, there was a small amount of business deals and thieves and life in general. His face returned to a more neutral appearance, his scowl faded. I wonder how Jiao is, I haven't seen him in the past month. Since the day Magic came to the continent.

I still don't understand what, or how that happened. It originated inside the castle, and it spread. There's reports from travelers saying Magic was everywhere, even Bruzian refugees reported some having Magic. But it's always some. Not everyone, only a few have it. Less than twenty in city. Of course, Rotham has them under close watch, in case they get too powerful, but... Is it random selection that they got their Magics, or is it through bloodlines?

Tenshi sat on the bed in the room. "It worries me..." he muttered. "Why has this happened, why now, why is the world changing like this?" He closed his eyes and laid down. "Men with new power will never be satisfied. Is this the darkness I felt? Was it Magic, that sent me the feeling of an oncoming darkness? But I still feel as if there is more to come..."

He woke to the sound of screams in the city. He could smell the stench of blood, a lot of blood. Tenshi rolled out of the bed, tying his kimono and picking up his katana from beside his bed. He opened his window, and what he saw was horrific. Thousands of men in black armor marched. They weren't going out of their way to kill citizens, but anyone in the streets were killed without a thought. He swung himself out of the window, grabbing onto an ornament attached to the outside wall. He used it to scale the wall up to the roof.

He looked around, and as one would expect, they were going to the castle. Based on how they weren't destroying everything, this was a civil war. An uprising meant to replace the king. And they were going to overthrow the king, the castle didn't have enough forces to stop an army of that size. Tenshi took off, leaping across the rooftops, towards the castle. Time to cash in the promise I made him. Rotham... He grinned.

Tenshi was at the walls of the castle within ten minutes. He arrived slightly ahead of the army, as he expected. It would take time for the army to reach the castle due to their large numbers; however, he'd only have five minutes to do what he wanted. He had to get there and do it fast. He scaled the walls quickly within moments. Our two hundred years of peace has made our defenses weak, we were arrogant. He didn't expect to be attacked. Naïve king.

He hopped down to the ground inside the walls. The soldiers were all panicking, running around, trying their best to prepare for a battle they would not win. He walked through the chaos to the castle, not being stopped only because he was well known and respected. He has slack guards, too. At a time like this, anyone not wearing a uniform should be stopped. He couldn't help but smile to himself. Too easy.

He pushed open the doors to the castle. Three of the royal guards were waiting at the entrance. "Tenshi? I am sorry, but you must leave. You cannot be in the castle right now. Not in all of this chaos."