A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi

A precipice in front, wolves behind.

Once they had landed in that small, off the map town in Thailand, Junhong reluctantly led all  three of them through the jungle and to Yongguk’s temple. He wasn’t exactly sure how Daehyun talked his way into getting Rani on the plane, but he must have been extremely good at phrasing his words because she sat in his lap the entire flight.

The trek through the forest was awful, to say in the least. Junhong had gotten them lost at least five times, and since he hadn’t been in such a leafy, humid place in so long the sweat was coming off him in buckets. However, Daehyun didn’t even have those infernal little droplets on his brow. He seemed just fine walking through the brush and avoiding branches and vines. Hell, he was so calm that the bugs didn’t even notice he was moving! What was with these magic guys and their resistance to nature?!

Finally, though, the temple in all of it’s cold sincerity came into view. They all felt a breath of cool air brush upon them as they walked among the various stone Buddhas that were deep in meditation. It wasn’t Yongguk who came into view, but it was Daisy. She ran at them, at first threatening, but slowly she turned to joyous as she tackled Junhong with her huge, lumbering form and squashed him into the dust. Her tongue was wet and slimy as she his face and gave him a large bear hug with her big, strong arms. There was no doubt that she had missed his presence at the temple.

Daehyun was also ecstatic. A grin spread across his face as he opened his arms. “Daisy, my girl! It’s been so long! You’re as beautiful as ever.”

Daisy turned to him and stood up, momentarily forgetting about her first victim who, by the way, was attempting to wipe the slime from his face. She gave Daehyun a gentle embrace and, despite towering over him, laid her chin atop of his head. Once that was over with, she sat back and held her arms open for Rani. Junhong really didn’t expect the two of them to get along, but the little chinkara trotted over to the big bear and the two shared an endearing hug before Daisy headed off. Before he could say anything, Daehyun chuckled.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen that bear tackle someone.”

When they went inside, Junhong immediately ran to the kitchen, his footfalls echoing off of the high stone walls. The moment that he laid eyes on Yongguk quickened his pace. Said man was quite preoccupied sketching out new tattoos. However, the beautifully etched lines were long forgotten when Junhong came rushing into the room with a big smile on his face. He had really missed his friend.

“I wasn’t expecting you back for another month,” Yongguk said with a wide grin. “What brings you back so early?”

Before Junhong could breathe a word about what had happened, Daehyun rounded a corner and entered the small workroom. “Tragedy, my friend.” He said in a somber, resentful sort of way.

“Daehyun.” Yongguk shot up from his seat. Junhong didn’t know what possessed him to act so strangely. He seemed like the type of man to not be scared by anything, but in turn have others be scared of him. “Why are you here? What happened?”

He chuckled softly, yet the sound that came out was nothing short of pitiful. “I will fill you in later. For now, I do believe Junhong has a bounty full of tales for you. Am I right?” He sent a wink in Junhong’s direction before excusing himself from the room, leaving Yongguk and Junhong to deal with the heavy tension that had settled around them.

“What-”

“Daehyun’s village is dead.” Once it was out, there was no taking it back. Of course, he didn’t want to say anything and let Daehyun do the talking for himself, but apart of him knew that he wouldn’t tell the occurrence in it’s entirety.

“They were overcome with this disease, all of them.” He continued. “And Daehyun tried so hard to save them all, but he couldn’t. Eventually the government just… Killed them all.”

A thick silence hung between them before Yongguk finally sighed.

“Such is man, I suppose.”

———

Despite Junhong and Daehyun’s final maudlin moments in India, the latter still grieved quite intensely. He had found an empty temple room to call his own and settled himself there, hoping to spend some time in solitude. Whenever Junhong walked past his room, he was either on one of the many mattresses that Yongguk owned with the blankets drawn all the way up to his chin or he was deeply immersed in his studies, whatever those were. He refused to disclose the matter. Yongguk had requested that Junhong leave him to his own devices, but that didn’t stop him from constantly checking up on him when he had the time. Rather, if he had time.

Ever since Junhong had returned, Yongguk had once again put his occupation aside and made teaching his first priority. Just before he left the first time, Junhong discovered Yongguk’s strange, yet utterly intriguing job. The tattoos that lined his arms were, as Junhong previously had hypothesized, all self done. Each and every one of them were enchanted with a special sort of ink that he wouldn’t tell the recipe of. When Junhong wasn’t practicing at the temple, Yongguk was serving clients. He gave them their own enchantments in the form of exquisitely done tattoos. According to him, he was among very, very few who did so. Thus the job was quite profitable. Junhong had begged him many times to give him his own magic tattoo, but Yongguk always refused. Apparently, he wasn’t ready for one. Whatever that meant. Right now, training was priority.

While Daehyun wore his best mourning grimace, Yongguk taught Junhong quite fervently. The two would have little skirmishes daily, though the results never shifted. There was always a clear winner and a clear loser. The one on top always turned out to be Yongguk, which, unsurprisingly, was completely predictable. No matter the slough of fire, electricity or whatever else he could conjure, Yongguk always left Junhong panting and exhausted in the feat of his loss.

Finally, though, Junhong reaped his first victory.

It had been just after a heavy rain, and restless from the days on end of nothing but studying, Junhong immediately challenged Yongguk as soon as the rain let up. He even invited Daehyun to watch who, surprisingly, took him up on the offer. The three settled outside, two with their respective familiars. Daisy sat back on the steps next to Daehyun and Rani as the sun began to shine through the dark clouds. Yongguk and Junhong lined up in their individual positions and waited patiently for the beginning of the match. The moment Daehyun shouted “Go!” the two took off. It was a flurry of attacks and defense, and Junhong managed to hold his own.

Unlike every other time they had dueled, he began with fire instead of the light. Simple evocation magic, yet something he would use in a different way. One that he knew Yongguk wouldn’t expect. After using all of his concentration to conjure up a flame that sat hot in his hands, he charged at his elder. Yongguk threw his hands in front of himself and brought about a large protection shield using abjuration. At the last moment, Junhong dropped to his knees and directed his attack beneath the shield. The fire singed Yongguk’s eyebrow as it exploded onto his chest in a flurry of hot ash. There wasn’t surprise on his face as much as there was pride in his smile.

Yongguk then winced, the shield before him dissolving into the air. Junhong stood, eyes wide and full of worry. There was a prominent burn wound on his chest where he had been hit. “Are you alright, Yongguk?” He asked, terrified that he had really hurt his best friend.

Suddenly, Yongguk’s smirking form was getting farther and farther away as Junhong was swept off of his feet and landed with his back on the ground. He groaned at the sudden pain, yet a grin grew on his lips. “I hit you!” He beamed, hands in the air. Back on the steps, Daehyun was clapping with a soft smile. As the elder offered a hand to him to help him up, Junhong hatched a rather devious idea. Focusing all of his energy into the palm of his right hand, he took what was offered to him, effectively shocking Yongguk with a charge of electricity as he was helped up. Though his class was necromancy, he was quite skilled at evocation as well.

They continued like this. Parrying and blocking and attacking and defending. It was exhausting. Yongguk hadn’t completely shown off his arsenal of charmed tattoos, but instead opted for hands-on conjuring. He was almost hypnotic in the way that he recited those spells so fluently. The way that he synthesized those words together gave birth to enormous feats of glorious magic. He wielded it as if it was nothing at all and handled all of it with the expertise of a master. Junhong had been hit more than once, but he managed to deflect most of it. The power was hot in his hands and the energy and adrenaline that flowed through him was formidable and motivating. He couldn’t find it in himself to be weary.

Finally, the came.

The two had been drawn away from each other, Yongguk in front of a large, hulking carcass of a tree and Junhong in perfect view of the temple. None of his magic would hit as long a distance as that, and his legs were starting to feel the heavy pull of exhaustion. However, as soon as he was about to give up and start running, he figured out just how to win this battle. Getting to his knees, he placed his hands onto the ground and began focusing on the twisting, grey tree behind his opponent. Junhong placed all of his energy into the palms of his hands and did nothing more than will this particular trick to work.

Suddenly, the grotesquely warped branches of the tree began to creak and groan as life was breathed back into it. The colour returned to the thick trunk in a hazy, faded sort of way. Yongguk had no time to turn around and process what was happening before the long, rough arm of the tree forced him onto the ground and into surrender. What a sight. A massive tree pushing an imposing man into the dirt.

“I won!” He rejoiced, taking his hands off of the ground in celebration. A wave of fatigue hit him and he fell backwards with a heaving chest. A lazy smile grew on his lips as he panted and perspired. As his eyes drifted closed, all he could think of was the raw pride he felt and he pictured the face of a woman smiling in the eyes of his victory.

It was his mother.