Dance into the Fire

~*~

I’m waiting for you

Where are you?

Come home?

Please

~*~

Chapter Twenty-Four

The battlefield was a chaotic mess, men from both sides were engaged in battles that raged from simple sword wielding practices to nearly impossible to follow gun fights with specialist weapons thrown into the mix. If Yongguk had not been versed in the methods of war, then he would have probably felt out of his depth but he kept a calm level head as he surveyed the carnage that was being thrown upon the armies. There was already far too much blood splattering the ground, too many bodies and too many broken families for which Yongguk felt he held a responsibility towards. This attack should have been predicted, should have been prepared for and the armies should have been moving civilians to a safer location days ago,

A hand landed heavily on his shoulder, a pair of dark eyes meeting his own as Zico shook his head, “Stop thinking like a responsible adult. Think like a ruthless General and we may be able to bring this to a quicker end.”

There was a fire in the Prince’s eyes, fuelled by the feeling of betrayal and a high concern for his brothers back in the castle. Yongguk easily recognised that look and nodded, pushing aside all thoughts of anything that could make him weak right now. He would not think of the bunker where his precious wife would be being comforted by his brothers and friends, because if he did he would turn a cowardly tail and run straight back to the arms of the man he most loved in the world. There would be time for that later, right now he had to dispatch the threat that was imposing itself on his home and make sure that none were left who had been the perpetrators of the crime.

His eyes narrowed dangerously just as Daehyun appeared, splattered with mud but still standing, “They’re attempting to breech the outer walls by going underground.”

“Underground?” Zico hissed, feeling his insides twist, “No one knows of those roots except the most trusted people.”

“Well then we must presume that someone has sold secrets,” Yongguk growled, grabbing the pair to haul them out of the way as shrapnel ricocheted off the small hidden hole that they had ducked into to try and form a plan. “We need to secure the Castle as much as possible and make sure that they don’t caught off our supplies,” the General continued, already realising that the Capital was probably lost to this battle.

Daehyun grimaced, “They don’t want to take the Castle. They have one of the Princes here and they’re going to do something terrible, I’m sure of it.”

Yongguk turned to his cousin, “What do you mean?”

“I recognised one of the ships as it landed out of the docks before they blew it up,” the Captain replied, shaking his head, “It’s Kai’s.”

“Meaning what?” Zico snapped, angry and growing more concerned by the moment.

Daehyun choose his words carefully, “He can teleport.”

The colour drained from Zico’s face at those words and the prince gulped audibly, “. Jihoon!”

“Wait, Zico!” Yongguk yelled as the prince turned heel and ran out of the hidden bunker, straight back into the battle which continued to rage. The General and the Captain followed as fast as they could, slicing into anyone wearing Exoian colours who dared to come near the Prince whilst they tried to catch up with the running man. A Exoian solider gutted a Matoki Gunner and took control of a large battalion gun, firing it with ease in their direction and only missing purely by some trick of fate. A bullet did however graze Zico’s cheek causing him to stumble down to the ground, just as another explosion rocked the street which they had been running down before.

Yongguk managed to grab Zico before he could scramble back to his feet and hauled him down, “Zico!”

“They’re after Jihoon!” Zico yelled back, “They know the truth and he’s too.”

“Watch out!” Daehyun yelled, pulling them both down to the floor once again as a small hand grenade landed next to them before shorting out at the last moment rendering it harmless. Daehyun grabbed it and threw it back towards the direction that it had come in, “We need to get everyone rallied together! This is just…”

Large brown eyes opened in shock and surprise as he stared towards the end of the street where a strange black smoke was forming that was anything but the familiar smoke that came from the battlefield. Daehyun stared as a hallow sounding crackle came from the smoke as streaks of lightening formed a small black portal before a figure emerged. The next second Kai was standing in the remains of the smoke, looking completely and totally drained with blood dripping down from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. His clothes were torn, ripped and blood splattered and it was probable that he was on the verge of collapsing at any second.

Clutched in his arms, as tightly as he could manage, was a young boy with dark hair that looked completely terrified.

“Jihoon!” Zico yelled, trying to stand up despite the fact that Yongguk was holding him down, “Don’t you dare! Give him back!”

Kai blinked painfully and turned to glance at the struggling duo, smiling sadly towards Daehyun, “You shouldn’t be a Captain, it’ll only get you hurt, Daedae.”

“No, Kai!” Daehyun yelled loudly, just as he saw the bloodied eyes close themselves before there was a sudden rush of black smoke that enveloped the battlefield completely followed by a single high pitched wail before a harrowing silence replaced everything.

Down in the bunker, Youngjae raised his head in surprise as the sounds of battle literally stopped with a moment’s notice and left nothing behind. Not even the distance noise of bodies falling to the ground and something stirred within the Captain.

“Himchan,” he spoke quietly, the still upset Bride’s hair as he held him in a tight embrace, “I need you to go to Jongup. I’ll be straight back.”

Tiffany and Jongup were the ones to prise Himchan off of Youngjae, the carrier in floods of tears and practically collapsing to the floor. It was a heart-breaking sight to behold, even Youngjae admitted that but his solider instincts had kicked in and something was not right.

A hand reached out to grab his arm and haul him back but Youngjae dodged it easily and turned to one of his men who had remained behind in order to help protect the civilians. The man nodded without needing to hear the silent order and quickly signalled to two of the other soldiers to form a sort of barricade over the stairwell that the Captain began to ascend.

Youngjae was no fool, it was still far too quiet for his liking and he increased the grip on the stock of his gun as he reached the doors. He paused long enough to listen carefully for sounds that only a solider would hear and still found himself hearing nothing in the slightest. Taking a deep breath in order to steady his nerves, the Captain gripped the handle of the door and pushed it open.

For a second he did not recognise the war-torn city in front of him that had been practically turned into a grey mess that stretched far and wide with nothing or no one in sight. Then almost as if the world had released a held in breath, a breeze blew through the ruined city to lift the grey dust and leave behind nothing but the destruction. Youngjae blinked and took a few steps outside, staring around in a horrified awe as he took in the world that he knew so well and tried to piece together what was still standing and what would not be.

“They’re gone,” Jonghyun’s voice came from behind, the man having managed to easily get past the others to reach Youngjae, “They’re all gone.”

Slowly Youngjae nodded, “It would appear so.”

For a second the two men stood side by side and observed the strange image in front of them before Youngjae shook his head and reverted to his training. “Gather as many abled bodied men as you can, we’ll organise a scouting party and see if we can find a way out of the city that is safe for the civilians,” he ordered, knowing that the man next to him was not strictly under his command but he had to do something to ease the burden. “We’ll also need to…”

“Talk to Himchan,” Jonghyun said slowly, glancing around as more people started to creep out of the bunker, “Reassure him.”

Turning to look at his brother in law, Youngjae felt the heavy burden on his chest as he saw the forlorn look in Himchan’s eyes and he nodded before appointing orders to his officers. “Himchan?” he asked once he neared the other, gently taking hold of the other’s hand, “Do not fear, your Yongguk is strong and will come back for you.”

For a few seconds Himchan was quiet, tears pooling in his eyes. “I wish I could believe you,” Himchan finally spoke, his voice laced with fear and a sadness that made him seem small and diminished, “But happiness is not mine to have and will always be fleeting.”

Youngjae made to hold onto Himchan but the bride had turned away and started walking, where to no one knew but Key was quick to bundle baby Taemin into his husband’s arms before taking off after his protégée before he did something stupid. Youngjae could only remain where he was, watching as the figure of Himchan collapsed with the most heart rending sobs ever escaping from his lips and found himself closing his eyes in prayer.

“Yongguk!” Himchan wailed to the sky, “Come back! Please…come back out of the flames! Don’t leave me on the edge of the fire! Let me dance with you in it! Yongguk…Yongguk…. Yongguk…”

계속하려면

gyesoghalyeomyeon

To Be Continued