Chapter 17

The Story of The King's Guard

The next few days were resting days for Sungjin and Wonpil as the others made sure they ate. When they weren't resting they did stretching exercises to bring their stamina up a bit more.

"Alright," said Dowoon as he turned to Kihyun. "We're gonna need you to get used to at least one of us riding you," he said. Kihyun scratched the back of his head. "I mean, if it makes it easier for all of you," he said. "If we can keep the load off of Wonpil and Minhyuk's backs we'll be able to do a lot more with our lineup," he said. "I was thinking that I'd be on your back since Brian was already in front when he was on Minhyuk's back," he said. Kihyun nodded.

"So how do we do this?" He asked. "Well, we do what I did with Minhyuk," said Dowoon. "Test your speed with me on your back, then we do target practice with you moving while I'm on your back until I get a bulls eye for every single target," he said. "It usually doesn't take long," he said. "I just have to get used to your speed and then I'll be all set," he said.

Sungjin came over, using a crutch of sorts to keep his balance as he walked. "Overworked yourself again?" Asked Dowoon as he turned to Sungjin. "No, it's just slightly easier to walk around with a crutch," said Sungjin.

"You want to be our guy to run to?" Asked Dowoon. "Sure," said Sungjin. "How far you want me to go back?" He asked. "Can you manage 100 feet?" Asked Dowoon. Sungjin nodded. "As long as I'm not running," he said. "Okay, go back 100 feet, no need to worry about telling us you're there, Brian'll let us know," said Dowoon as Brian walked over. Sungjin nodded and headed 100 feet in one direction.

"He's getting worse," mumbled Brian as he tilted his head to the side. "I know," said Dowoon as Kihyun stripped down and changed, shaking out his fur after he was in wolf form. "How's Wonpil?" He asked. "Fine," said Brian. "He's bouncing back quickly but not as quick as he usually is, I think the trauma got to him," he said. Dowoon nodded and climbed onto Kihyun's back, adjusting a little as he got comfortable.

"Tell me when," he said to Brian as he tested his bow to make sure it was still good. He then slung it onto his back as soon as Brian nodded. "Alright, go," he said, urging Kihyun forward. Kihyun pushed his body forward as he ran, sprinting to where Sungjin was.

"Slightly slower than Minhyuk, 25 seconds," said Dowoon as they reached Sungjin, who was leaning on his crutch. "Hm," said Sungjin. "Yeah, Minhyuk was faster by about 5 seconds if I remember," he said. Kihyun huffed in annoyance. "I don't think he was sprinting either, and he had two people on his back," Sungjin said with a snicker causing Kihyun to nudge Sungjin with his snout in annoyance.

"You want to hitch a ride back?" Asked Dowoon. "Sure," said Sungjin. Kihyun leaned down and Dowoon helped Sungjin climb on in front of him. "Alright, let's head back," he said as Kihyun stood before walking back as to not jostle Sungjin.

Minhyuk had set up some targets as they got back and Sungjin slid off of Kihyun's back with Dowoon handing him his crutch. They waited until Sungjin was a safe distance away before Kihyun faced the targets. "Just run through them, I'll shoot at each one alright?" Asked Dowoon. Kihyun nodded. "Go," said Dowoon and Kihyun jumped forward and ran. Dowoon was quick to start launching arrows at his targets. They continued to do this for the next couple hours until Dowoon was sure he got bulls eyes on all the targets. Kihyun was tired, his legs nearly buckling from exhaustion but he let Dowoon off his back. Shownu threw him some clothes as Kihyun changed back to human form and got dressed before joining the others in camp.

Sungjin was going to sleep earlier and earlier each night, which worried everyone as they thought something hadn't been healed right. Kihyun swore up and down that he had healed Sungjin to full, but it had been due to malnutrition that kept his body from catching up to the already healed wounds. One day Sungjin wasn't going to wake up, and that worried everyone.

Sungjin went to sleep before dinner that night, promising to wake up in a couple hours to eat. The others looked on worriedly as Wonpil said he was also turning in early. Other than that dinner went smoothly, and they saved Wonpil's and Sungjin's portions for later.

Kihyun was the one sent to wake up Sungjin and Wonpil a bit later, shaking Wonpil awake before going to shake Sungjin awake. "Sungjin?" Asked Kihyun as he shook Sungjin, careful to use his healing magic to check his vitals when he did so.

"Guys!" He called, causing Brian and Jae to run into the camp. "I need Brian to send shocks through Sungjin, he's not waking up," he said. Brian came over and rubbed his hands together to gather the lightning magic. "Okay, clear!" He said as he laid his hands on Sungjin's chest, shocking him.

"Why is his body shutting down all of the sudden?" Asked Kihyun as he checked Sungjin's vitals. "His body can't catch up to the healing," mumbled Wonpil as he walked over. "What?" Asked Kihyun as he turned to Wonpil. "I remember seeing how pale he got before you guys came to rescue us," said Wonpil. "I froze his wound closed and kept it clean but his body was not reacting to the healing, he just got worse," he said. "Is Sungjin allergic to anything?" Asked Kihyun. "Not that I know of," said Brian as he shocked Sungjin's body again.

Brian's and Wonpil's orbs summoned by themselves as Minhyuk ran into the tent. "I think we got bigger problems than Sungjin right now," he said. They heard Shownu's howl and Kihyun ran outside, seeing that they were surrounded. "Damn it," said Kihyun. Dowoon had his bow withdrawn and an arrow ready to fire with Junhyuk beside him growling. Shownu bared his teeth, daring the enemy to attack.

Wonpil came out of the tent cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders. "We need to protect Sungjin-hyung," he said. "I know," said Jae as he withdrew his knives. "Let's go!" Said Minhyuk as he changed, going to stand with Dowoon. Kihyun changed and stood with Wonpil and Jae, snarling. With a mix of howls and battle cries they all attacked the enemy.

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akirasanogame
Wow. this alternate ending was fun to write. Hope you enjoyed the story. Until next time o/

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-SBRPG
#1
interesting