135

❤️ Rumi ❤️

The yelling of the guards woke up Storm from his deep sleep. He came out and ran towards the place the noise was coming from.

Are they fighting? Were his thoughts, he came to halt when he saw the guards outside the gate fighting some unknown people, Storm recognized the armor they wore and knew who they were from.

His eight Ninja assassins came to meet him.

"What's going on?" he asked them.

"We are under attack. They came out of nowhere and started fighting us." One of them answered him.

"Kill them all, I think I know why they are here." Storm ordered and they left him, fighting their way and killing Dean's armies. Taking Kira away from him will be hard for Dean, it will be over his dead body. Storm thought as he watched them slain Dean armies.

They returned back to him leaving the guards to pile up the dead bodies to burn them up.

"Where is Juno and Gwen? Have they not returned yet?" He asked tilted his head and checked the sky. They could have returned by now. What can be delaying them?

"They haven't returned yet. Kel and Andrew went with them though. They made sure she didn't know they were being followed."

Storm was not satisfied with the answer.

"They could have been back by now. If Dean could send his armies down to the palace then imagine if they are already in the homes of others, destroying it. Go at once to the market and search for them right now." he ordered, two turned to go when he shook his head. "All of you, I meant all of you. Go to the market place and search for them, bring them home." he told them and they left him. "Eve should just pray nothing happens to them." he said to himself and walked outside the gate. Stopping to watch as the guards gathered the dead ones.

He noticed Kando walking towards him and his jaw clenched.

"Let me guess, you sent them here to get them killed?" Storm asked.

"If you put it in that way, yeah." Kando said with a little bit of guilt.

"Why are you here?" He asked, trying to control his anger.

"I came here to talk to you. I have about two thousand armies who are destroying this Kingdom as we speak," he touched his forehead, "I mean, one thousand nine hundred armies, hundred have been killed here so that shortens it." Kando told him. "Dean's orders and not mine."

Storm widened his eyes in shock and ran inside without talking, he saw Morgan who was just mumbling to himself and Emera who was heading towards him.

"Morgan!" he yelled but the Prince ignored him. Storm continued. "We are under attack, you need to take some armies with you to kill the ones Kando has brought inside the kingdom right now." by now Emera has gotten to his side.

At the mention of Kando, Morgan stopped walking and looked towards their direction and with a shaking fist he marched towards them.

"What's going on? Are we under attack?" Emera asked and then his eyes saw the dead bodies. "What happened? I heard noises and that's what woke me up." He added.

"We are under attack." Storm told him.

"You!" Morgan snarled out at him. "It's all your fault, because of you she is rejecting my love and marriage to me. Because of you." he added as he closed the distance between him and Kando and tried to punch him but Storm pulled him away. "Leave me alone Storm, let me teach him a lesson and a warning to stay away from my woman." he added fighting to get out of Storm hold.

Storm let him go and turned him around so that Morgan was facing him and slapped him hard on his right chin.

Morgan froze and stared with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Now that I have your attention, we are under attack and according to Kando, there are still more outside this palace, killing innocent people. So why don't you take some of our armies with you and search for the Intruders in the whole Ashland and kill them, you can vent out your anger on them afterwards you come back and you and Kando will sort it out once and for all. By then Gwen will be back and she will choose between the two of you." Storm told Morgan holding the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.

Glaring at Kando, Morgan left them and walked angrily towards their army camp.

"Let me go with him so that he doesn't do something stupid." Emera said and left, walking faster to meet Morgan.

"Be careful!" Storm yelled after him. He could have followed Emera but he wanted to be here when Kira and her sister return, he wants to be sure they are safe. "What brings you here?" he asked, facing Kando, crossing his arms across his chest as his gaze never left Kando's eyes.

"Dean has declared war on Ashland." Kando said.

"As if I haven't noticed." Storm said, rolling his eyes. He thought Kando meant the two thousand armies that came with him that would soon be dead.

"These two thousand armies are just his warning, he is coming here since you refuse to give him back kira, marching with his five hundred thousand armies and if my calculations are right, Ashland doesn't have half up to that amount." Kando told him. "I risk it all to inform you that we will be attacking Ashland tomorrow."

"Are you calling us powerless?" Storm asked with narrow eyes. "Because if I remember vividly the guards were the ones who had put down your men without much fight."

"No I did not mean that, I just want to give you a heads up on what is going to happen tomorrow." Kando told him.

"Thank you," Storm said. His mind wasn't here, he was worried about Kira and Gwen. They should have returned by now.

"I heard you the first time, Kando."

"That will be all, I will be on my way." Kando said and turned his horse around but Storm stopped him.

"Do you love Gwen?"

Facing him once again. "What?"

"Gwen, how do you see her?" Storm asks changing the subject, his eyes on Kando. "Talk to me." He added wanting to know his feelings about Gwenevere.

Kando didn't know what to say, he didn't know if he should say the truth or lie about his feelings. He decided to go with the truth.

"Yes, I love Gwen with all my heart." Kando answered sincerely.

"Good, because you will soon become a father."

"What did you just say?" Kando asked with his mouth wide open.

"I know you heard me, you will soon become a father, Gwen is pregnant for you. Her stomach is big, it looks as if she will pop the child any moment." Storm explained.

"Gwen is pregnant?" Kando asks, not believing him. It can't be possible, can it?

"Gwen is pregnant, you will see it for yourself and she loves you. She told us how you rejected her love when she confessed her feelings to you."

"Where is she? I want to see her." Kando said.

Storm opened his mouth to talk but stopped when his Ninja's Brothers were seen coming towards them. He saw they were carrying something, he hoped it was not what he was thinking.

Kando saw the horses the eight people coming towards them were in and knew straight away they must have beaten some of Dean's armies and collected the horses from them.

They stopped right in front of them and came down from their horses.

"Where is Juno and Gwen?" Storm asked impatiently as he stared at each of them. "Why are they not with you?"

"We couldn't find them in the market, but we saw this," one of them answered and the ones carrying the dead burned bodies dropped it on the ground. "That's the body of Kel and Andrew."

Staring at the dead bodies on his feet made Storm clenched his jaw. The burns were like the ones he has seen. The one that had burned the woman they made to deceive him that it was his mother and the assassins that came to attack him that night. Which means it was one person who was doing all this. Who could that be?

Whistling loudly, his horse came to him and without another word, he rode towards the market. Kando followed him. The remaining eight Ninja's all stayed back to protect the palace just in case they were attacked again.

___

Arriving at the marketplace, Storm came down from his horse and walked towards the shed that he and Kira had been in a few days ago. He stared hard at the shed.

"Where are we going?" Kando asked.

"They left already," Storm said all of a sudden, going back to sit on his horse again, "I smell magic here." he added a second later.

"Has something bad happened to them?" Kando asked confusedly. He doesn't understand what Storm was saying but he understood that Gwen wasn't here and she and Kira ought to be here.

"I hope not," Storm said and kicked his horse, going towards Emera's horse. The magic hasn't faded away yet and there was no time.

__

Emera House:

Rumi had just finished sewing her dresses when she heard the neigh of horses approaching her house. She left her room and went outside.

As soon as she was in the compound Storm and Kando entered and seeing them came as a surprise to her.

"To what do I owe this visit?" Rumi asked. "I can understand if Kando comes to visit me, but you Storm, why are you here all alone?"

"Something has happened to Juno and Gwen." Storm answered her. The very thoughts of Kira and Gwen being in trouble angers him the more. If he had known it would result like this, he could have followed them.

"I didn't do anything to them, I can't hurt them so you are at the wrong house. It's true that I did some nasty things in the past but not when I have known the truth. I can't hurt my sisters." Rumi reminded him. She can't hurt her sisters anymore. She was trying to make Kira trust her and won't ruin it.

"I didn't say you did, I said something has happened to them and I sense magic. Please, you've got to help me find them."

"Find them? Are they missing?"

"I don't know yet but you have to come with me to the market place so that you can see for yourself." Storm told her. "Get on the horse, let's go." he added and one look from him made Rumi hurried and climbed his horse and they left.

Holding onto Storm for her dear life as he rode like his life depended on it and only let go once they got to the spot. She saw the dead bodies of people on the ground but ignored it.

Looking at the place Storm had brought her, she remembered here, the place they had met that dwarf woman who had spoken in a different language to Kira and Storm. She came down from the horse.

"They came to see Eve." Storm explained.

"Who is Eve?" Rumi demanded.

"That dwarf lady we saw years ago, they came to see her but they're out, I just don't know what happened afterwards." Storm responded.

"How are you so sure they are not with Eve right away?"

"I am so sure and besides, there is magic still lingering around and Eve won't be so careless with her powers."

Taking a deep breath, she noticed an odd smell and didn't fail to crinkle her nose. She closed her eyes and bent down to touch the ground. After a minute or two, she straightened up and stared at Storm.

"I saw them leaving with you." She told him in anger. Was he messing with her?

"Me? I have been in the Palace since, sleeping. I know you don't know that we are at war."

"They left with you," Rumi still insisted. "Is this some kind of joke for you to come and mess with me? did Juno out you up to this?" She asked.

"She did not and if you don't help me find them I swear to the last drop of my blood I will make you suffer." Storm threatened her. "I won't kill you but I will make sure you and your generations don't have peace."

Glaring at Storm, she closed her eyes again and this time around focused on the odd smell she had perceived before and followed it. Why was he disturbing her to find them when she clearly saw him taking them away on his horse. Was Kira testing her?

Storm and Kando quietly followed Rumi.