--

15

--

Seungho watched as the two armies advanced. What was the High Priest’s aim, attacking Rivedon at night? There was no way Armalis could win over Rivedon when it was dark. Seungho pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes.

This had to be a trick of some sort. Something about this just didn’t feel right.

--

Woohyun and Soohyun stood at the head of their group of soldiers, leading them towards the opposing army. Soohyun’s face was hard as his eyes narrowed when they got closer.

“Can you smell that?” he asked, raising his arm and stopping his troops. Woohyun stopped next to him and took in a breath. Woohyun didn’t need to breathe, being a vampire. He only breathed when he needed to talk, so he figured he wouldn’t need to during battle. But when he in a breath of air, his senses were overtaken by a sharp, pungent odor.

“Is that... formaldehyde?” 

Soohyun signaled for his troops to take a few steps back and take cover from the archers, noticing his fellow knights following his lead.

“I don’t understand,” Woohyun said, taking a defensive stance. The soldiers from Armalis marched forward uniformly, maybe a little bit too uniform. Woohyun couldn’t see past their helmets.

When the soldiers from Armalis passed through the town, Seungho definitely noticed something odd. He noticed that they plowed through everything with no heed, some with a strange strength that even the lower level demons didn’t possess in Rivedon.

You watched them curiously through the mirror before zooming up on the High Priest and your sister in the back. Your sister looked tired, and for some reason, much older than she should look. You narrowed your eyes and stuck your head closer to the mirror, making Dongwoo and Sunggyu place their heads next to yours to see what was so strange.

“My sister. She’s not moving. And she looks so tired.”

“That’s your sister? She looks so much older than you. Aren’t you supposed to be twins?” Dongwoo asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“Yeah, I don’t really understand what’s going on. That’s now what she looked like when I last saw her!” You moved the picture in the mirror back to Seungho at the top of the tower. When he could see the front lines of the soldiers exiting the town, he signaled for the archers to fire.

“Watch yourself,” Soohyun said, reaching out to pull Woohyun back a few steps. An arrow dug into the ground where he was just standing previously. “It’s inevitable that some of the arrows will knock into each other and fall to the ground short.”

Woohyun was silent as he took in the bit of information. This was the first time he was in a castle styled battle. He’d fought individually, but this group fighting was something new to him.

Myungsoo watched as the arrows pierced through the Armalisian soldiers’ armor and frowned when only a handful of them went down. The rest marched on with the arrows sticking out of their bodies.

“They’re not bleeding,” Myungsoo said quietly, but it was loud enough for Eli to frown with a grave expression on his face.

The arrows kept flying, but it seemed to do next to nothing to stop the soldiers from advancing. Seungho frowned and moved quickly down from the top tower, riding the wind until he was in front of the castle gates, moving quickly towards the halted first line.

Soohyun signaled for Woohyun to stay with the troops as he followed Seungho, Kiseop flanking on the other side to watch Seungho’s back. 

In one swift movement, Seungho knocked off the helmet of one of the soldiers and recoiled quickly, covering his nose and mouth with a free hand. Soohyun made an expression of horror as Kiseop took a step back in surprise.

Your eyes widened as you zoomed in on the soldier.

“... It’s a dead body.”

“Seungho! How nice to see you again,” the High Priest called out. His voice was faint, but Seungho’s ears picked up his words in the wind, making him gag again as the smell of rotting flesh and chemicals overwhelmed his senses.

“What kind of abomination is this? What have you done?!” Seungho asked, leaping back with Soohyun and Kiseop.

“Just trying out my army of undead. They listen to every order I have, have no complaints, and are quite easily replaceable.” Seungho watched as the army swayed unsteadily on their feet, gripping weapons in their hands. He couldn’t believe it. The High Priest was messing with the order of the world by bring these back to life, especially for a purpose like this.

“Are you purposely trying to destroy the world? Do you know what kind of consequences this could bring to both of our worlds?” Seungho asked, summoning an energy sword with his free hand.

“No, but I’m curious to see. Aren’t you?” The High Priest let out something that was nothing short of evil laughter and raised his and pointed towards the castle.

“Attack.”

--

You watched the silent conversation between Seungho and the High Priest, desperately wishing you could hear what they were saying.

“The High Priest is attacking Rivedon with an army of the undead? If anything spells disaster, that certainly does.” You watched as Seungho flew back, and then suddenly, the undead army surged forward.

You cried out and almost dropped the mirror as Seungho, Kiseop, and Soohyun were forced back.

“They’re like ants,” Dongwoo said, frowning as his eyes moved rapidly over the mirror.

“Are they going to be okay?” you asked frantically, turning towards Sunggyu. Sunggyu stared at the mirror with hard eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

“They’ve been in tighter spots. But all we can really do is watch.”

--

Bodies were flying, and Myungsoo was trying not to breathe too much due to the smell. After fighting off a few of the undead, he realized that they would only go down after you destroyed the brain or severed the head. Otherwise, they would keep moving with whatever limbs they had left, obeying whatever orders the High Priest has for them.

The knights kept the undead back with their magic attacks, taking down whatever they could, but as soon as one went down, two more took their place.

“This is impossible! It’s like trying to stomp out ants,” Woohyun said through gritted teeth as he used razor sharp wind to slice through helmets, heads, and rotting limbs. After a whole group went down, more just flooded in to take their place.

Jaeseop, another one of the knights, raised a barrier of earth to impede the undead’s movements, and for the most part it worked. It seemed like they could go straight through things, but when immovable object were in their way, they were halted, shoving at it uselessly.

“I have an idea,” Soohyun said, “but I’m going to need some help from other water and earth users. Eli, Myungsoo, and I should be enough on the fire end, but water and earth...” Seungho blinked a few times before turning and looking up.

You gasped when you saw Seungho looked up, because he looked like he was looking at you straight from the mirror. You saw him mouth two names: Dongwoo and Sunggyu.

“Looks like we’re needed. You’ll be okay here on your own, right? Don’t do anything dumb. We can all take care of ourselves,” Sunggyu said sternly. You nodded and sat down, staring at the mirror.

“Let’s go,” Dongwoo said, and the two of them disappeared out of the room. You saw them appear in the mirror, Dongwoo smiling before Seungho said something with an annoyed look on his face.

Myungsoo and Eli appeared in the mirror a few seconds later, and you could see a sense of urgency on Soohyun’s face as he hurriedly explained something. Everyone listened intently before nodding and breaking apart to go do their respective tasks.

“You ready for this?” Soohyun shouted to Myungsoo. Myungsoo popped his neck and held out his hands. 

“I’m not the best trainee for no reason,” Myungsoo said with a grin. Soohyun rolled his eyes and held his hands out.

“On three! One! Two! Three!” Fire burst from the three fire users. Soohyun’s extended out farther than Myungsoo could see, and Eli’s wasn’t far behind. He felt a burst of wind behind him, spreading his fire out. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Woohyun with his hands out.

“The sooner the better,” Woohyun said, avoiding Myungsoo’s gaze.

You gasped again as you watched them set fire to the mass of the undead. You couldn’t imagine what it looked like out there, and it made the pit of your stomach drop. You felt a little bit sick watching it happen.

Dongwoo, Jaeseop, and Seungho stepped up next to them and raised the earth, encasing large groups of the undead into earthy pods until there were none left. The High Priest frowned slightly as the water users stepped up and sent floods of water through the field, melting them away into dirt and ash.

You sighed in relief and sat back in the chair. Seungho had a satisfied smile on his face while Soohyun grinned, pretending to brush dirt off of his cape. Something wasn’t right though, the way the High Priest started to smile.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” Everyone frowned when the High Priest held up his staff and tapped it twice on top of the carriage he was riding. A wave burst out from it and rippled through the land. Everyone shielded their faces as an ominous wind passed through them.

And from the ground, skeletal hands burst out, clawing at the ground to drag themselves out of their tombs.

“How is this possible?!” Myungsoo asked, looking around as the troops took a few steps back, unsure of what to do next.

“The Arch Priest,” Seungho said suddenly, whipping towards the carriage. Your sister looked so tired. She looked so aged that Seungho almost didn’t recognize her. “The High Priest is channeling her power and using for his own. That’s why she looks so tired and so aged. He’s using her healing power to resurrect the dead!”

From the mirror, you zoomed over to your sister and almost cried. What was the High Priest doing to her?

--

The soldiers of Rivedon did their best to take down the skeletal army. All they could do was break limbs off until they couldn’t move anymore. Fire users and water users teamed up to crack bones with hot and cold, while the earth users did what they could to bury the skeletons again.

Everyone seemed to lose track of the time, because you suddenly noticed a glare in the back of the mirror.

“No, no, no! The sun is coming up!” And from your view, it seemed that the High Priest noticed it too, because he glanced over his shoulder with a evil smirk on his face.

You dropped the mirror, and after grabbing your cloak, you left Seungho’s study and ran for the battle field.

--

Seungho knew something was wrong. The High Priest was smiling too much.

“So, Seungho. How many of your troops can stand in the sunlight?” Seungho’s eyes snapped up, and he saw the rising sun on the horizon before mentally cursing. The knights were used to fighting in the sunlight, half of them were vampires, and the rest were an assortment of mages, and demons.

It was the rest of the vampire and demon population that he was worried about. A lot of them hadn’t had training for combat in the sunlight, and Woohyun was one of them.

And Dongwoo and Sunggyu would definitely be out of the fight, because neither of them had armor.

“Hoon! Get the ones without experience in sunlit battle back to the castle!” Soohyun yelled. Hoon didn’t miss a beat and turned around with Jaeseop following after him. They split up and called orders among the troops, sending them back into the castle as orderly as they could.

“Run, run, as fast as you can,” the High Priest said in a mocking sing-song voice. He laughed and watched as the Rivedon army started to scatter and dissipate. None of the soldiers tried to stop you as you pushed your way through the flood in. You dodged them unnoticed and made your way out of the gate, looking around frantically.

“Woohyun. Woohyun!” you yelled. He didn’t make his way back in the castle, determined to stay and fight. 

The sun came up, and the rays of light shone bright, despite it being early in the morning. The knights covered their faces with their helmets, shielding them from the light. Seungho and Myungsoo stood with their helmets off, squinting in the sunlight.

The skeleton army advanced again, and you gasped, pressing yourself into the shadows of the castle gates. 

The High Priest’s eyes seemed to zoom in on you before his smile became wider. “I was wondering when you were going to show yourself. I always knew you were a useless waste of space, but I didn’t realize how useless until now. Why would you show up when you can’t even stand in the sun?”

Woohyun was fighting off a skeleton when he heard the High Priest’s words, and alarmed he turned back to see you pressed up against the wall, an expression of horror on your face as the High Priest’s voice rang out to you. He yelled your name, but you were too terrified to move.

Myungsoo caught a skeleton sneaking up to Woohyun out of the corner of his eye in his moment of distraction as he yelled your name. “No! Woohyun!” Myungsoo threw off the skeleton on him and made a dash for Woohyun.

The next thing Woohyun knew, his helmet was coming off. Then he was sent to the ground, waiting for the burst of flame when his body burned in the sunlight, but it never came. Myungsoo came flying out of nowhere and threw his cloak over Woohyun’s body, shoving him away from the skeletons.

“Myungsoo! Woohyun!” you yelled, running towards them. Myungsoo told you to help Woohyun out of there, making you stop and squat down to help Woohyun up to his feet. He’d never felt more useless in his life.

Suddenly, the flow of attacked shifted, and the skeletons started to march towards you, completely ignoring everyone else.

“No!” Seungho shouted as the knights made a break for you. Myungsoo shielded the two of you with his body, glancing around at the incoming skeletons.

“Now, I’ll finally be able to get rid of you. You were a useless waste of space, only meant to destroy what the lords created. You weren’t special,” the High Priest said with a sneer.

“Wait... No... Please don’t... You said... You said you wouldn’t hurt her,” your sister said weakly, grabbing onto the High Priest’s robes. He sighed and pushed your sister’s hand away.

“Shh, save your energy,” he said in a mockingly sweet voice. You heard your sister’s voice and started to tremble. Myungsoo felt energy surge behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see you standing up, your eyes shining an icy cold blue.

He said your name in curiosity until you moved him out of the way and held out your hands. The sky immediately darkened, and there was a crash of thunder. The High Priest raised an eyebrow as he glanced up.

Soohyun pulled the cape off of Woohyun ‘s head and dragged him inside the castle while the sun was blocked by the clouds.

“Don’t you dare treat my sister that way,” you said as the sky flashed dangerously.

“Or what? You’ll kill me? I’d like to see you try,” the High Priest scoffed.

You let out a cry of rage by the time Seungho reached you, and everyone around you had to shield their eyes when an earsplitting crack rumbled through the land. A large bolt of lightning struck the ground from the clouds, splitting in all directions.

The skeletons turned to dust and fell to the ground, finally able to rest for the rest of eternity. Myungsoo’s eyes went wide as he surveyed the area. The only people left were the knights, Seungho, and the Arch and High Priest. Your sister looked better, much younger and much more alert.

Seungho frowned. Just how much energy was the High Priest taking from her? He pushed the thought to the back of his mind while he watched your eyes fade back to their normal dark blue, and they rolled into the back of your head before you passed out.

The High Priest pursed his lips before nodding and retreating.

“That’s all I wanted to see, really,” he said airily. Myungsoo growled and made the movement to go after him, but Seungho held him back, shaking his head.

“There are more pressing matters at hand,” he said, staring at you as Kiseop carried you inside the castle.

--

The knights met with Seungho, along with Sunggyu, Dongwoo, and Woohyun. Myungsoo was supposed to be in the meeting as well, but he refused to leave your side. Joon insisted that he could take care of you so he could go, but Myungsoo wouldn’t budge from your bedside.

“An army of the undead,” Seungho said, tapping his fingers on his desk. Despite the number of large people in his study, everyone seemed to fit comfortably. Woohyun knew that Seungho was a powerful mage, he just wasn’t exactly sure how powerful he was.

“It’s ridiculous! Can you imagine how much energy it would take to sustain an army like that for that long?”

“The Arch Priest’s powers are no joke... and I’ll bet that the High Priest has something in that staff of his to multiply her powers.” Seungho began to muse some more outloud, but this time to himself. The others only caught a few words here and there.

“He didn’t seem too serious with this attack,” Soohyun said with a frown. “It felt like he was waiting for something.”

“He was waiting for the Arch Mage,” Woohyun said, letting out a huff of air.

“I suppose he wanted to see how far she progressed in her powers. This was just a test of our strengths and weaknesses. And a test of his newfound undead army.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to ask this, but is there a way to make them stronger? Could they actually be stronger than what we faced today?” Soohyun asked, frowning.

Everyone turned to Seungho for an answer as he thought. “I have no idea,” he said after a few moments, “but if there’s a way, then the High Priest will figure it out. Who knows when he’ll be back again? It could be tomorrow, it could be a few years, it could be a few hundred years.”

Soohyun pursed his lips. “No matter when it is, we’ll need to be ready to face whatever threat is coming. Who knows what else he’ll come up with? I propose that Byunghee finish his training with the knights in training here in the next month. Then we’ll take them out for knight’s training.”

“What happens if we’re attacked in those hundred years you’re gone?” Seungho asked, raising an eyebrow.

“There are enough people here to defend the castle if something like that happens. We’ll catch word and get back here as soon as we can.”

Seungho pursed his lips. A month, then the knights in training would leave. Myungsoo would have to decide between you and his training, and after what happened today, Seungho could almost tell for certain what Myungsoo was going to choose.

“Alright. I’ll let Byunghee know to step up the training. They’re all close to completing their training. They’ll leave with you in a month’s time.”

--

When Woohyun went to go check on you, Myungsoo was nowhere in sight. For once in his life, Woohyun actively searched for Myungsoo and was a little bit miffed to find him sitting in the sunlight on your favorite bench in the garden.

“Would you mind coming into the castle? I need to talk to you.”

Myungsoo sat there for a moment before the sun threatened to burn his skin, and he stood up and made his way slowly over to the covered castle without another word.

“I’m only going to say this once. Thank you for saving my life.”

Myungsoo scoffed, kicking at the stones that lined the walkway. “I don’t think it would do well for her to see you die twice. Don’t think it’s because I like you or anything.”

A grin tugged at Woohyun’s face. Typical Myungsoo. Myungsoo sighed.

“Have you heard?”

“Heard what? That the knights in training are going into overdrive to finish training in the next month and leave? Yes.” Woohyun was quiet, waiting for his next sentence, if Myungsoo had one.

“I’m leaving.”

Woohyun nodded.

“It’s going to break her heart. And you’re going to have to be there to pick up the pieces. I know for sure she’ll accept you, especially after my last words to her before I leave.”

Woohyun frowned slightly. Myungsoo ran his hands through his hair. He wished things didn’t have to be this way. He wished he were a vampire so you could marry him, he wished that you were a normal person so he could find you and fall in love with you without any of these problems, just like normal.

He had a month to prepare for this, but he didn’t know how he could prepare to break your heart.