"Sanghyuk?" Taekwoon called out. He jumped down from the tree he was sitting on, flapping his wings a little to allow him to land quietly, to approach his brother. It had been quite a nice morning so he was enjoying himself outside.

Sanghyuk is in full armor with some of his soldiers right behind him. He's aware there had been some trouble at the south, a few fights that has been breaking out with the kingdom next to theirs, but not something big enough to send their general. Or maybe it had turned big already so it requires Sanghyuk's presence.

"Hyung!" Sanghyuk answered, stopping completely and turning to face Taekwoon's approaching form. There's frost forming at the tips of his dark blue hair, a sign that he's likely conditioning his body for a fight. His weapon, a giant metallic fan, was also secured on his back. Just looking at his face though, no one would be able to guess, that this young demon commands an entire army and is regarded as one of the strongest demon in their world. 

"Is it going bad?" he asked, his eyebrows frowning a little. He knows that Sanghyuk is strong, but it doesn't stop him from worrying every time his brother will go out and there is a chance for a possible engagement in a fight. Not to mention the people and the soldiers that would undoubtedly be caught up in it.

Sanghyuk just smiled, a boyish innocent smile. Then there's ice forming at Taekwoon's fringe and his frown turned into a scowl. He brushed off the ice with his fingers. Thankfully, they came off quite easily, bits of ice falling off to the ground and melting quickly. It was just Sanghyuk's usual form of teasing. 

"Stop worrying. I'm going so it won't get any bigger." He smiled again, the frost on his hair is now climbing up to the base of his horns. Taekwoon is sure that by the time Sanghyuk reaches the south, his entire armor will be covered in ice and no one will be able to touch him unless they're covering themselves with fire.

"Is Hongbin coming with you?" he asked, noting that the said demon was nowhere in sight. It just seems natural that Sanghyuk should bring their best strategist. Even if there will be no fight, Hongbin being there will still help a lot about deciding what next step they should do.

Sanghyuk shook his head. "I think he ate something bad. He's resting in his room now."

A soldier, the one a little behind Sanghyuk stepped forward, "Sir." he said, trying to sound as respectful as possible. Taekwoon knows it must be hard for him to interrupt the conversation between the two princes of the kingdom but they really should be leaving now. Taekwoon had held them off long enough.

"If you guys need back up..." he let the words hang, knowing Sanghyuk would know what he meant. 

"It's in the middle of a village." There was a light shake of his head. "We'll be sure to take care of it. Just stay alert here."

The dragons prepared for their travel were already waiting near the castle gates. The one at the middle was one of the very few dragons that actually breathes ice rather than the usual fire. A dragon specifically chosen for his brother. After all, Sanghyuk was the only demon known with the power of ice, a rarity among rarity for demons such as them who are more inclined to powers that involve heat and fire.

Taekwoon stayed on the grounds until the dragons were out of sight, silently hoping that whatever it was that was happening there wouldn't result in a war. If it ever comes to that, they would need to evacuate the village fast and send the kingdom's troops, if it gets more dangerous than that... then Taekwoon would mind it when the time comes.

~*~

"...woon!"

"...ekwoon!"

"Taekwoon! Wake up!"

He furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding at first why he can hear someone saying his name when it should be impossible for that to happen. He let a few beats pass and then the voice was back. "Damnit, Taekwoon! You better be awake right now or I swear..." And then it clicked because... Hongbin. That's right. Hongbin would be the only one that should be able to penetrate his silent bubble, not because Hongbin is actually calling his name, but instead sending the message directly to his mind.

Taekwoon wanted to reply to him but stopped himself. Hongbin can only read the minds of those he can see and if he's cursing Taekwoon right now then that would mean he isn't actually within the vicinity of Hongbin's sight.

"I ing hope you're awake right now. Anyway, be alert! Cancel your silent bubble and watch out for enemies. The castle has been infiltrated."

Taekwoon immediately did as he was told, removing the little bubble he always keeps around him when he sleeps. Other than that, he remained motionless on his bed. Now that he's aware, there really are far too many set of feet walking round the castle at this time of the night. The nearest he can hear were two set of footsteps approaching his room. One has the normal kind of pressure while the other was too light, too silent, as if the owner of it is sneaking... Too late.

"Taekwoon! Leave! Someone is in front of your room and he's holding me! Get the out of there before he comes in!" Hongbin practically screamed in his mind. Then the door was opening, revealing a three-horned demon, holding Hongbin effortlessly with one arm. Strength, Taekwoon thought.

In their world, a demon's power can be sorted into three different categories, based on the number of horns that they have. Three-horned demons are the most common. Physically-enhanced types. It can be overwhelming strength or speed or anything that has to do with their physical body. Two-horned and single-horned demons are the Magic types. Two-horns possess magic that has a physical appearance, like Sanghyuk's ice or their father's thunder and the most common magic type which is fire. The rarest, the single-horns are those that possess magic with no visibility, like Hongbin's telepathic abilities and Taekwoon's...

The demon lunged at him, Taekwoon tried to dodge, flying off of his bed, but he miscalculated. He thought that with it holding Hongbin, its movements would be slower than Taekwoon's but he was wrong. Three-horns really excel too much at physical combat, he thought bitterly. 

The three-horned managed to grab Taekwoon's leg, crushing it within its grip. He saw the demon smile at him, fangs shining brightly with amusement and then he was getting dragged down harshly and slammed on the floor. His back hit the ground first, his outstretched wing giving an unnatural sounding crunch that even has Hongbin unconsciously shutting his eyes. 

Taekwoon tried to summon his power so he can fight back, but then his thoughts cleared again and Hongbin... "Just do it! Don't mind me!" He didn't even got the chance to shake his head before the three-horned threw him on the floor again. He can't even feel his leg anymore, the bones there no doubt crushed under the tight grip of the stupid muscle head. This time, his shoulder received most of the blow and he cried out. His vision was getting hazy now, the pain shooting down his back and on his shoulder. He can still hear Hongbin screaming at him "Taekwoon! Just do it! Please!"  begging him to just knock down the enemy. But he can't. Not with Hongbin in the immediate vicinity and who knows who can be nearby that might get caught in it.

Figuring out Taekwoon won't use his power with him so near, Hongbin redirected his attention to the entire castle instead. "Hibiscus!" Taekwoon heard. It won't mean anything to the infiltrators but every soldier and servants in the castle will know. That Taekwoon, the eldest prince, was in trouble and needed help.

Hongbin kept screaming the word, so much that even the three-horned yelled at him to "ing shut up!" and held him by the neck instead of holding Hongbin's mouth, finally realizing that shutting Hongbin's mouth was useless. Hongbin struggled, kicking and punching, but of course it was futile. If three-horns are the strongest physically, then single-horns like them are the weakest.

He can't even think how many more times he got thrown around until the three-horned finally let go of his leg. In his barely conscious state, Taekwoon saw it retrieve a knife from its side. He recognizes the black metal of the blade. It's a knife specifically used to kill demons. Since their kind wouldn't die by just simply piercing the heart due to their ultra fast regeneration abilities, especially three-horns, the only way to kill a demon is to either pull out their hearts or to use a blade made from shadow, an element that can only be retrieved from the black inferno. Wounds made with a shadow blade reduces a demon's regenerating capabilities down to a tenth of their power, which means a strike directly to the heart using the blade would be equivalent to death.

He saw the demon raise its arm, no doubt aiming for Taekwoon's heart...

"Hibisc--"

The next thing Taekwoon knows, Hongbin is crawling up to him to see if he was okay. More than before, everything hurts now. Everything is so loud, too loud. He can hear everything but in magnified volume. Even the way the dragons were flapping their wings as if they were just right next to him. Even the way Hongbin was breathing was too loud.

He groaned, trying to block his ears with his arms, even if they were battered and bruised from getting thrown around earlier. It helped, but not by much.

"His horn..." he heard Sanghyuk say. So that was why the room had gotten cold. He tried to look around, seeing a huge block of ice in the middle of the room, the three-horned barely seen through the thick ice that envelopes its entire body. Then his brother was kneeling next to him with Hongbin. The sound of Sanghyuk's armor clinking was piercing his ears making him shake down to his bones.

"Hyung..."

Taekwoon groaned again. The sound of Sanghyuk's voice was too loud even if he was speaking softly. 

"What's wrong with him?" Hongbin asked telepathically, understanding that for some reason, sounds are hurting Taekwoon more than his wounds. Thankfully, Sanghyuk didn't give a verbal response, just touched Taekwoon's head and that was when the both of them realized the damage to his horn. A couple of inches from the tip was cut off by the shadow blade earlier, probably from the three-horned missing Taekwoon's heart because of Sanghyuk's sudden arrival.

Wordlessly, they carried Taekwoon out, well, actually, Sanghyuk carried him out while Hongbin walks ahead to watch out for enemies. 

There were still so many sounds. Things happening at the same time. Blades clashing, people getting thrown around, screams, doors getting barged open, people walking the hallways. Everything is so loud, too loud. He feels like his head's about to split open. He can deal with the pain and the injuries but the sounds... He was kneading his forehead on Sanghyuk's back, trembling from the sounds assaulting his senses.

He felt Sanghyuk stop. The passageway was blocked by a group of two-horns. Taekwoon peeked over Sanghyuk's shoulder and saw flames the arms of the two-horns. Sanghyuk's skin suddenly turned icy cold, frost building up on his hair and Taekwoon knows Sanghyuk is getting ready to fight. His little brother transferred him to Hongbin, trying to be as quiet as possible, then sent a look to the other single-horn before letting the ice cover his entire form. 

"Sanghyuk..." Taekwoon whispered, even his own voice too loud for his own ears right now.

"Escape with Hongbin, hyung. I'll hold them here in the castle. Come back when your horn grows back." Sanghyuk gave him that innocent boyish smile again, like the one he gave him just this morning, but this time Taekwoon can see the sharp edges of Sanghyuk's form. Ice spears that he now holds between his fingers and the unmasked anger boiling under his young face. He squeezed Taekwoon's uninjured shoulder, then stepped in front of the two single-horns.

"Be ready, we'll run once Sanghyuk strikes them down." 

Taekwoon braced himself for it. There was barely a flicker of Sanghyuk's wrist, followed by the five two-horns falling to the ground with the ice spears sticking out of their chests. Those would keep them down, but not for long. Even Taekwoon can now move his wings, the bones there almost completely healed. His shoulder was also feeling  less sore. His leg though, it was far too beaten up, the bones there crushed over and over again. Stupid three-horned.

They manage to make it out, avoiding the infiltrators scattered everywhere, most of them are engaged in a fight with their soldiers but it was obvious that their side is terribly outnumbered.

"Where are we going?" he asked even as Hongbin kept on going. There was obviously a place he has in mind, probably something he discussed with Sanghyuk during that brief moment they looked at each other.

"The human world. Your horn was cut by a shadow blade. It will take months for that to fully grow back and we need you in this fight as soon as possible. The human world can give you those months with us just losing a few days."

Once they found a secluded enough area and wide enough to make a circle, Hongbin let Taekwoon down, drawing a circle for a portal with amazing speed. He was also still explaining to Taekwoon even as he was busy. "That trouble at the south was just a show to lure Sanghyuk out of the kingdom, probably just long enough for them to infiltrate."

Hongbin bit his arm, his fangs sinking into the flesh then held it out and let a few drops of blood trickle down to the center of the circle. The lines lit up as soon as the drops get absorbed, opening up the portal to the human world. Hongbin stepped out of the circle to help Taekwoon up again and lead him back to the portal. 

Taekwoon was yanked out of Hongbin's hold just as they were about to step in. Another three-horn was holding Taekwoon by the neck of his shirt. "I don't think you're allowed to go anywhere." it said, a deep gruffy voice so close to Taekwoon's ear that he feels like his head is about to explode. Hongbin looks at Taekwoon, and then back at the circle, the light already flickering. They won't be able to make another if this one closes. They can only open cross dimensional portals once a day and with Taekwoon's condition, he'll just mess up any attempts at magic that he'll do.

"Go!" he tried to tell Hongbin. If at least Hongbin can escape...

"I won't be able to do anything if I'm the one who escapes, you know." Hongbin's smile was the last thing he saw after he got pushed to the portal at the last second. The three-horn being thrown at the ground when Hongbin body slammed it, which in turn made it let go of Taekwoon and Hongbin pushed him just in time.

The human world was far louder than the demon world. Too many people talking, moving, the sound of horns, all these human things making such a racket at the same time. Then there was the screeching sound of rubber, a crash, the sound of glass shattering, a cat hissing and Taekwoon can't handle anything anymore. He gave a soundless cry before collapsing to the ground. He saw a set of feet in the dark before his consciousness faded, the noise of the human world still echoing painfully in his ears.