A/N: This scene refers back to the last chapter of the Faery.

            “Where are they?” I asked, as soon as I got back from work.

            Baekhyun had comfortably sat in front of the fireplace, his palm supporting his face and his knees were placed against each other. His eyes were dancing together in flame, but they were still lacking the thrill and excitement that a person should have had. I never understood why he always looked so sad and down, and I never wanted to prey into his personal life, as well.

            “Lady Ara and Lord Kyungsoo? I'm not sure. Taehyun should've been able to do this faster,” He sighed and motioned me to come closer. I raised an eyebrow at him and walked to his side.

            “You're still using formalities even without their presence,” was one of the rare times where I actually spoke a whole sentence to him. He gently smiled at me, and tugged on my hand, signaling me to sit by his lap. I looked at him, and his lap, and back at him, shaking my head firmly. There was no way I would comply.

            “I guess I'm used to the titles,” Baekhyun tugged my hand one more time, and when I still refused, he smirked and pulled me down with a strong grip. I couldn't resist. He had me weakened by his warm embrace. I was a melting pudding, a jelly. I cringed. I was so cheesy, it was disgusting.

            “You have a nice voice. I want to hear more.”

            He touched my nose and I flinched at the close proximity. There it went again; the abnormal beating of my screaming heart. I was blushing furiously when he sneaked his arms around my waist, and for that moment, I held my breath and dared not to breathe. I thought Baekhyun would never know the word 'shy' in his life.

            I knew Baekhyun not long after I came to know of the Shadows. We had our first encounter in the Black Market, when we were both clients for the same shop. As a teacher and a guide, Jinki didn't approve of my choice of friends. Baekhyun was a quiet man back then, not the aggressive, dominant male he was now.

            We'd met a few times after in the same shop, and we started talking a bit. A few words grew into a long hour of sharing. Mostly, it was him who told me stories and I would listen intently. He said he was the bastard son of an important man in the werewolf clan. His mother, a weak Winter Faery, died when he was young, leaving him to the care of the Court.

            The rest was history. Honestly, I didn't know why he would readily agree to help out our Clan when he wasn't related to us in any way. He'd explained that he wanted nothing to do with the Faeries and the werewolf. One treated him as a slave for life, the other abandoned him for his birth right. He found solace, safety, security and home in me. Me, a person who belonged to nobody.

            Baekhyun was a very valuable asset for our clan. As a half-Faery, he could lie with ease and not get caught with it. Things ran so smoothly because of Faery's trusting nature. We managed to kidnap ten of werewolf-newborns. Then, another ten from the vampire clan. The Faeries weren't so easy, though. They had been warned before, so obviously, they kept their guards up. When we did bring back ten Faeries after a month of hide and seek, Baekhyun knew he was being followed.

            It took a badly injured Baekhyun, broken ribs and a lot of bloods to tie down one Winter General. Taeyong was a catch, but at the same time, he was a pain in the . He was stronger than I predicted, and very, very determined to stay alive and awake.

            “How is Taeyong?” My voice was rough from not talking much. Baekhyun brushed my hair gently and rested his head on my shoulder. I sighed and ruffled his hair, a habit I picked up because he seemed to like it so much.

            “He's bleeding profusely. We have to keep a certain dose of iron in his body, enough to keep him unconscious, but not too much, or he would die from the poison.” He chuckled and pushed his head forward more. His cheeks were touching mine, but just that once, I was going to let it go.

            “Good. We need to keep him,” I replied shortly and relaxed my tense posture. I laid back onto his firm figure and found peace in there. He put his arms around my neck and chest, and wrapped his hands around mine. I felt safe.

            “They're here,” I should be alerted by the sudden intrusion, but I was as calm as ever. Baekhyun chuckled again, and even I found a smile creeping up my face. Everyone knew how strong Kyungsoo, the Winter Prince was, and they knew of Ara, but not her ability. Not even Baekhyun had heard of her “supposedly” dangerous talent. “I can feel the Namu* trees outside calling onto me.”

            “Ara and Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun asked to confirm.

            “And Taehyun, yes,” I told him and played with his fingers. He had a big hand for a guy his size. In his index finger, was a wooden ring, crafted with the most delicate design. He said it was one of the very few things his mother left for him. Baekhyun had it as a reminder that he once had a family, so that he wouldn't ever feel alone.

            “Baekhyun,” I called his name, and he seemed to like it, because he hugged me tighter. Not the kind of hug that suffocated you and was overpowering and overwhelming; but the kind of hug that meant that he didn't want to let go. “Tell the water creatures not to make any move on them. At least, not yet. We need them in one piece.”

             “We have a Dragon down there,” he reminded me.

            “He's asleep. I do not wish to wake him up for trivial matters.”

            He loosened his grip on me, and I felt myself breathing again. I stood up so that he could stand. Baekhyun pinched my cheeks before walking over to the window. He whistled a high-pitched sound, a language only supernatural creatures understood and grinned. “There, I see them jumping down the wall. They should be here anytime soon.”

            I stared at Baekhyun, pondering what he was thinking at the moment. I knew that Baekhyun had a deep attachment to his Prince, Kyungsoo. He could betray the rest of the clan and not feel bad about it, but leaving Kyungsoo behind was bittersweet. Baekhyun had a love-hate relationship with the younger Prince. He was grateful that Kyungsoo was nothing like his parents. But then, every time he thought about the King and Queen, anger and hatred boiled up inside him.

            I walked towards him and cupped his face. “You should do this. Tell them what they need to know. Declare war.”

            “I know,” Baekhyun put his hands on mine and smiled. “Don't you have anything to say? Perhaps a kiss?” He was back to his cheeky self. I knelt him, quite hard and he groaned in pain. I might be a tiny little creature, but my strength could be awfully surprising.

            “You should take your payment after you have everything done,” I gave him a meaningful glance, and his face finally brightened up. I would have laughed at his adorable expression. He looked so much like a puppy.

            “After... everything is done... I can get what I want?” His eyes was shining with hope and mischief.

            I tip-toed and leaned close to his ear, only to whisper words he must be dying to hear, “Anything.”

            I laughed and walked away, but he caught my wrist and spinned me around. He drew a soft growl and his eyes flashed dangerously with lust and love. I stared up at him innocently and I saw his face grim with needs and wants. I got him wrapped around my fingers, and he had me on like a little puppet on strings. We both loved the forbidden aspect of our relationship. It got us nowhere, but it did bring heavenly pleasure to our lonely hearts.

            “God, you drive me crazy!”

            When I was young, Jinki had told me the effect I had on guys. I didn't understand back then, because I didn't have any man to communicate with. But I thought I did, now. With years, come experience. And I learnt from the best teacher, though Jinki could be strangely and adorably clumsy at times.

            Someone knocked on the door. I pulled away from Baekhyun and straightened up my dress. We both looked at each other and nodded. There was argument outside, and I could hear Jooyoung's voice, and another woman- Ara's voice. Then a familiar lowtone, Kyungsoo. I looked back and Baekhyun tensed.

            “My Lord does not wish to see anyone but you, Lady Ara,” Jooyoung insisted. She sounded desperate.

            “He will come with me,” The voice replied. Even from the sound of her tone, she was strong and intimidating. I couldn't imagine how she would look like in person, but I did see a glimpse of her before. “He is my Knight.”

            I looked at Baekhyun again, but he turned his back at me. He must be ready for this. I wasted no time in speaking up, “Let them in. I will take my leave, anyway.”

            I quietly slipped through the darkness and took my leave. Baekhyun could handle them. I had other matters to take care of. Jinki was still waiting for the searching party. It had been two hours since then, and I started wondering just how deep the water was that they couldn't find it after diving in for so long.

            Below the water, our clan built a prison. It was a perfect, no-escape prison. Not even the strongest of warrior could break through this isolation unless the Higher Demons gave permission to. In here, I kept all the 'catch' from different clans. It was a little cruel to call them 'catch', but I didn't know how else I should address these Shadow prisoners.

            “Let me go,” One of the werewolf prisoners cried out and tried to reach beyond the glass door.          His efforts were obviously in vain. The glass would not break no matter what. I saw the scratches on his body. As a newborn, he must have wounded himself while he was transforming. I silently pitied them and promised myself to get Taehyun down here to help.

            Taeyong's cell had been emptied. I saw dried bloods on the floor and my right eye twitched involuntarily. He had been tortured badly. It was time for him to go home with Ara. He didn't belong in a dark place like this. His home was in the Faery land, where the light was.

            Jinki did the kidnapping for the vampire clan. One of them was a high-ranked official from one of the infamous Twelve houses. I forgot his name. Or maybe I just never asked. His light brown hair was the signature of the Park family. Only this family had such a natural light shade. He sat in the corner of the cell, his eyes diligently followed my every movement.

            “Why are you doing this to us?” He quietly mumbled, only for me to hear. Did I feel bad doing this? Yes. Did I like being the bad guy in this story? No. However, despite my yes and no answer, I felt no regret. I told myself all the time. This was my sense of duty. I owed him a debt of life, and I was repaying it slowly with my own.

            “Because I need to,” I whispered and came closer at him from the outer corridor. “I need your blood.”

            We had the vampire clan, werewolf clan and the Faery clan. The only thing we needed now was a vessel for the soul. We needed to retrieve his original body, and this task seemed more difficult than fighting a Dragon in its territory. There were so many hints, but every time we tried at it, it revealed to be a fake location; a concealment of the real one.

            No one had known where. Not even the Forbidden library. The only clue I had was the old tale from songs.

            “What for?” Park-guy continued to pester me. “Why blood? Are you really bringing him back?” He looked at me like I was crazy. I didn't blame him.

            “Don't talk as if he were dead. We are simply calling back our leader from his deep slumber. What is wrong with that?” No one, except the ancient knew what his name was, so we referred him as either our Leader, the Great Demon, or a respectable term of him. Of course, he had many other names, too many to be recorded and remembered. That was why we often called him Leader; a name that unite us all.                 

            “This is madness!” He shouted and I cringed when he tried to hit the glass door. “That person cannot be awakened! He will go after the entire Shadow world! We'll be left in nothing but dust!!! You must stop this instant or you will suffer the consequences!”

            I had heard the same threats over and over again. I wasn't scared. I didn't like repeating myself to every single person who asked that. “I will ask him myself. When he wakes up, of course.”

            I rolled my eyes when I finished speaking and paid him no attention. So, I continued walking, examining the condition of every prisoners. There were screaming from the younger werewolf, since they hadn't known about how to transform for the first time. Blood Moon, full moon that came once in a few centuries, was in two days. These werewolves must be growing restless because of that.

            The ground suddenly shook. Not just once. It was like an earthquake had come. But I knew better than that. The Faeries must be the cause behind it. Maybe Baekhyun couldn't handle both Ara and Kyungsoo at the same time. Such a disappointment.

            I clicked my tongue and made my way back to the upper level. Once I opened the door to the first floor, everything was already in ruins. The house was messed up. The walls were cracked. And the floor from the second level looked like it had been hit by enormous force. I narrowed my eyes to slits. Where was Baekhyun? I could only hope he was fine.

            I heard a thundering growl from outside, and realized too late that the sleeping Dragon had been awakened. I ran outside to see the mess myself. I wanted to yell at everyone this instant. Three figures fell into a self-made Portal that hung mid-air. They must be Ara, Kyungsoo and Taeyong. How dare they disrespect me by creating a Portal in my place?!

            The thing I hated most was calming down an angry Dragon. You knew how displeased it was, having been awakened from its peaceful sleep? This Water Dragon had been cultivated from the egg by Jinki and our Leader to be the perfect predator. And so, no one but those two knew how to ease its anger. Jinki wasn't here.

            Troubles. Troubles everywhere.

            I groaned in frustration.

            I was too tired and anxious to function. I wished Jinki was here and I was there, watching the searching party, instead. It would have been way easier for the two of us...