28
Touch
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28
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The sheer number of the High Priest’s armor caused hesitation among the troops. But the hesitation was short lived when the fighting started. All sounds ceased to exist to you as you fought your way through the mass of skeletons. You were barely away from Soohyun shouting orders, and suddenly, Dongho was behind you, watching your back.
“It’s been a while since we’ve fought together, hasn’t it?” Dongho asked, snapped a skeleton in half. Its weapon dropped to the ground and fell to dust as it struggled to obey the magic controlling it, clawing at Dongho’s legs.
You shook your head and sent a whirlwind of fire straight down in front of you before following up with a blast of cold water. The skeletons wobbled before Dongho jumped ahead and shattered them with his sword, but as soon as they were gone, more took their place.
“Fight smart. Take out the ones you really need to.”
“Where’s Woohyun?” you asked. Your vision was obscured by nothing but skeletons swarming the castle.
“With Soohyun and the Earth powers. There’s more to this army of skeletons than we thought, and they’re devising an emergency strategy to take care of them.”
You nodded. As long as he was safe. Woohyun may have lied to you, but he was still your husband, and you knew you still loved him.
“We might have to move soon. I think I see them moving,” Dongho said, squinting his eyes. The ground rumbled beneath the two of you, and Dongho grabbed your arm before leaping into the air a split second before the ground opened up beneath you. Water filled the newly made trench and dragged as many skeletons as it could into its depths.
While in the air, you used your wind element to suspend the two of you in the air. “What are they doing?” It was obvious the skeletons couldn’t swim, but once they reached the bottom, wouldn’t they be able to climb back out.
“Sending them back where they belong. May they rest in peace.” Dongho closed his eyes in solemn prayer as the water receded, and the ground closed with a sickening crash. Unfortunately, the space filled in with skeletons a moment after, though it didn’t look quite as dense.
You glanced around the land and felt a pang go through your heart. Your eyes finally settled on the High Priest past his skeletal army, and they narrowed at him. He was sitting in a chair on top of a carriage, cheek resting on his hand with a bored expression on his face. He seemed to be watching you because after he noticed you watching him, the corner of his mouth quirked, as if in challenge.
He sat up and turned his gaze to the figure beside him and mockingly reaching out a hand to fondly smooth its hair. Your eyes widened.
Your sister.
“What did he do to her?” you whispered in horror.
--
The High Priest watched as you nearly dropped Dongho in your rush to your sister. He never understood the attachment you two had for each other.
“Would you look at that? You’re going to get a front row seat to your sister’s destruction,” the High Priest said with a smile on his face. Your sister frowned and struggled to sit up.
“You can’t... You can’t,” she said breathlessly.
“Shh, shh. Save your strength. I’ll need it later to crush them underneath my feet. But right now, I have a little pest to take care of.” He turned towards you as you landed in front of the carriage, rage burning in your eyes. “Ah, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“What have you done to her?” you cried. You tried to rush for your sister, but a barrier knocked you back to the ground. A dozen skeletons pinned you down with their weapons as the High Priest gave you a smug look and descended from the top of the carriage.
“You were always the useless one. No one could get anywhere near you without fearing for their lives, except for your sister. Pity that you’re the one that looks just like your mother.” As he got closer to you, you struggled to free yourself, but anything you did just got absorbed by the barrier.
“And now, the only person that had any care for you in the world gets to see you die by my hand. That’s what you get for disobeying my orders,” the High Priest said to your sister. She sat up feebly and reached out for you.
“No, please, don’t...”
The High Priest loomed over you with his staff in his hands. He started chanting, and you could feel energy pick up around you, swirling into a knife. “This is the end for you, and the end of Death!”
You squeezed your eyes shut as the knife fell, but there was no pain. Your eyes snapped open, and you saw Myungsoo in his full armor, cape fluttering behind him. He had the knife contained in a barrier of fire, and after a few moments, threw it back at the High Priest. The High Priest dodged it, and the knife crashed into the barrier, sending it crashing to the ground in pieces.
“Save your lies for someone who believes them,” Myungsoo panted. The skeletons started advancing on him, making you panic as he grabbed his right arm in pain.
“No! Myungsoo!” A bolt of lightning crashed from the sky. The skeletons around you disintegrated, freeing you as you flew to Myungsoo’s side to support him.
“Lightning. Well. You could be useful after all,” the High Priest mused.
“Myungsoo, you shouldn’t be here. You can barely walk!”
“I saw you in trouble. I couldn’t- I couldn’t just stand there.”
“And as much as I enjoy this touching reunion, I’m going to have to cut it short. Attack! But bring the girl to me, alive.” The High Priest moved back to his carriage, and his defenders immediately started weaving a spell, presumably to restore the barrier around him.
As the skeletons closed around you two, Myungsoo pushed himself up to his feet, willing his body to obey him to fight.
“We’re not going to die here. Not by a longshot,” he said.
“But my sister! We can’t just leave her here!”
“We have to, for now. But we’ll save her.”
--
You pressed a cold rag against Myungsoo’s forehead as the fight raged on around you. His breathing was labored, and he could hardly sit up. “You’re so stupid! What did you think you were doing?” you muttered underneath your breath. Despite being short of breath, Myungsoo managed a laugh.
“Saving your life. You’re welcome, by the way.” You managed to get him back to the barricade at the castle walls before he collapsed onto the ground, energy running out. His body was still weak from you draining his life, and he hated it.
Seunggi, unsurprisingly, was wandering around, examining the skeletons with much interest. He was so absorbed in his study and notes that Kiseop had to keep him from getting impaled by various weapons.
“Seunggi, do you really think this is the best time for this?” he asked through gritted teeth as he knocked a skeleton ready to bash the other man’s head.
“There’s always time for learning and research. Come on, Kiseop. I’m not done yet!”
--
When Myungsoo finally fell asleep, you joined the battlefield once more, concerned for your sister’s safety. Everyone was too busy with their allotted duties, so you knew you would have to be the one to save her, even by yourself.
You need a plan. Brute force wasn’t going to take down the High Priest, and his numbers outnumbered yours vastly.
“Do you remember,” Seungho began, “when you first came here to Rivedon? We played a game.” You two stood next to each other, staring out at the mass of fighting beings. The wind shifted, and you covered your face as dust blew around you.
“Dodge the fireball. How can I forget?” you said sarcastically.
“I’ll bet you these guys are bad at it.” You knew Seungho was getting tired by the fine sheen of sweat on his forehead. He was in no condition to be fighting, let alone challenging you to a game of Dodge the fireball. “But let’s play a variation of the game. It’ll be like ten pin. See how many you can take out with just one.”
--
People dodged out of the way as you and Seungho went barreling into the fray with vicious attacks. You blew a line straight through the middle of the battle field, running as fast as you could before it could fill up again.
The wind shifted once more, bring the putrid smell of rotting flesh to your senses. You choked on the air and covered your face, missing your next shot drastically. Suddenly, there was a monster right in front of you with a sword in its hand, ready to strike you.
You couldn’t react fast enough with your burning eyes and braced yourself for impact. The blow never came. You blinked your eyes clear to see Woohyun in front of you, straining to keep the sword from hitting you.
You sent a blast of fire at the rotting monster, making it fall to the ground. Woohyun turned to make sure you were okay, but a sound caught your attention. Your sister was calling for you, clear as day. Her sobs were mixed with the High Priest’s laughter, making your anger flare.
You summoned a gigantic burning flame from the palms of your hands and pushed your way through, hurrying towards the carriage with abandon. You were so angry you almost didn’t hear your sister’s warning cry.
“No! Stop! He’s coming for you!" Her words barely registered in your mind before you felt a sharp pain on the back of your neck, sending you falling to the ground. The High Priest hovered over you and chuckled, setting invisible bonds to hold you to the ground.
“And this is how it ends. Pity. I thought it would be much more dramatic.” He drew his staff, prepared to stab the pointed end into your chest when Woohyun dived at him, sending the two of them rolling on the ground. The High Priest swore and sent blasts of dark magic at him, making Woohyun cry out as his staff connected with his side and drew a long gash.
“Go! I’ll hold him off! Save your sister!" he shouted, using his wind to send the High Priest flying away from him.
“I’ll not have my victory spoiled by a lovesick puppy!" he snarled, blasting a powerful spell at Woohyun’s chest. Woohyun knew he couldn’t outrun it, so he braced himself for an impact that never came.
The spell was deflected and flew towards the ground, blasting skeletons and monsters alike, leaving a large enough crater to make a small water pool.
“And you were just going to let that hit you? Even I have a higher sense of self preservation," he heard Seungho say as he dusted off his hands. He turned his attention back to the High Priest and narrowed his eyes. “It’s time you and I settled our differences. I can guarantee you, neither of us will make it out of here alive." Woohyun started to protest at Seungho’s words, but he held up his hand and motioned for him to go. “There’s no need for you to get caught in this. This is between me and him."
The High Priest laughed and started weaving a spell that grew exponentially as the seconds passed. “I fear you have that wrong, Seungho. One of us will make it out alive, and it won’t be you. I can guarantee that.”
Seungho concentrated his energy in his body, summoning powers he vowed he would never use again. These powers once destroyed everything he loved once because he was foolish. But this time, his sacrifice would be for the greater good. He was going to give Rivedon a chance to prosper under a new era, even if it killed him.
“You fools will never understand my ideals! And that is why you must die!” The High Priest’s maniacal laughter was all Seungho could hear before he launched his spell at him. Seungho sent his own spell of equal power, and they collided in the middle, combining and forming a massive explosion in the field.
He felt his body disintegrating slowly, starting from his toes and his fingers. He opened up his eyes to see the High Priest screaming in agony. The pain was nothing Seungho couldn’t endure to see the High Priest’s life ended.
Take the last of my powers, Myungsoo. And lead this kingdom to prosperity.
--
You ran as fast as you could, striking down whatever was in reaching distance. Your sister was so close, you could almost see the pleading in her eyes as she reached for you with a trembling arm. You reached the carriage and jumped, bouncing off of a skeleton as you scrambled for the edge of the top. You pulled yourself up and ran to her, hugging her tight.
And then the next thing you knew, there was a bright flash of light and a quake before everything went dark.
A strong rumble in the ground brought everyone and everything to their knees. Eyes were frantic in their search for the source. It seemed like the entire world was shaking, and everyone was holding on for dear life.
When the rumbling stopped and the light faded, collective gasps went into the air. Floating in the air was an angel. One black wing, one white wing, and eyes that were two different colors. It surveyed the land and frowned before bringing up a staff tipped with a star inside of a crescent moon.
“An injustice upsets the balance of the lands. He who dares to control life and death will be punished for eons to come.” Myungsoo shivered at the sound of its voice. It sounded just like you and someone else combined, but not quite mixed together. He could hear the separation in the voice and fought the urge to curl up and cover his ears.
“Return to your slumber!” The angel let go of the staff, and everyone screamed as bolts of lightning shot in all directions from the bottom. The rotted bodies and skeletons fell to dust and blew away in the wind, finally in peace.
“The world is balanced. I take my leave."
“No, wait!" Myungsoo turned to see Woohyun on his feet, holding his wounded side. It was taking longer to heal from the enchanted weapons, and he staggered forward, wiping dirt away from his eyes.
“You can’t leave her here with us? Can’t you just separate back into the twins? There’s people that love them here. I love her.” He coughed and fell forward, but Myungsoo caught him in time, careful to avoid his injury.
“Woohyun, I’d be careful about what you say. That’s the legendary Arch Angel. I never thought I’d be able to see her in real life. I can’t believe it,” Seunggi said, mouth wide open as he stared in awe.
A deep rumble of laughter mixed with a high pitched tone Woohyun recognized was your life echoed through the deathly quiet kingdom. The Arch Angel only knew three things: life, death, and the delicate balance of the two.
“Let me ask you something. Would you rather have peace in this land, or risk the wrath of the Gods for your lover back?"
Myungsoo felt Woohyun tense. He had no idea what to chose in this situation either.
“Be reasonable here,” Seunggi said. “I’m sure she would have sacrificed herself for the peace of the lands.”
But Woohyun shook his head. “No. I love her. I want her back. Whatever happens to the lands, we can face it together. I am only where I am today because I love her. Give her back to me!” Woohyun shouted.
“Your opinion matters not. You were not meant for this land, but here you walk. Instead, I’ll give the decision to Myungsoo." A smirk appeared on the Arch Angel’s face. For something so beautiful, Myungsoo knew there was more power than anyone could comprehend waiting to be unleashed. He looked around at the ruin that was the Kingdom of Rivedon. The town was destroyed. Bits and pieces of skeletons still littered the ground. The knights were knocked out. Seungho was gone. All that remained was gathered there in what used to be a beautiful field.
Myungsoo closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. He felt Woohyun’s glare on him. He didn’t bother to listen to all the curses he was shouting at him for even hesitating with his decision. Did he pick what was best for the world, or did he pick what he wanted?
“And what is your choice, Myungsoo? Do you want the Arch Mage back, or do you want eternal peace for Rivedon?” the Arch Angel asked. Myungsoo took a look around him, locking eyes momentarily with a pleading Woohyun. His gaze returned to the Arch Angel before he closed his eyes again.
For once in his life, he wanted to be selfish.
“I choose peace.”
--
Epilogue
--
Myungsoo’s eyes snapped open. Moonlight shone bright through his window. He sat up, groaning as his muscles protested. He was in a room in the castle. His belongings were placed neatly, his clothes and armor sitting in the corner of his room. His sheets smelled clean, his room looked too big, and he was dressed in the clothes Seungho always wore. What in the world?
He got up out of bed and pulled his door open, peeking into the hallway. The usual crowd of servants made their way through the hallway, some of them giving him a boy and a greeting. Myungsoo could only blink a few times when they addressed him as the High Mage.
Stepping out into the hallway, Myungsoo made a beeline for Seungho’s study, bumping into Joon around the corner. “Oh, hey Myungsoo. It’s about time you got up. Seungho was sending me to wake you up.”
“Where is he?”
“Probably wandering around the castle with Gyuri. You know how he is when she’s around,” Joon said, rolling his eyes. He missed the shocked look on Myungsoo’s face. “Well, I’m off then. I’ve, uh, got a date.”
Joon left Myungsoo standing in the middle of the hallway, clearly confused. He turned the corner and headed towards Seungho’s study. Turning down that hallway, he heard Seungho’s laughter, and he saw Seungho walk right past him with a grin, Gyuri on his arm and Woohyun trailing behind them, whining about how he was never included.
“I am so confused.” Myungsoo stood still for a moment before opening the door to the study and looking around. The spot where Gyuri’s portrait occupied was occupied with a different picture. Instead, there was a portrait of you and your sister. You were sitting in a chair and your sister was standing. “I’m going insane, aren’t I?”
--
The next person Myungsoo wanted to find was you. If Seungho was still alive and Gyuri was here, then it stood within reason that you would be here somewhere. He hurried to your favorite spot in the gardens, eyes scanning the benches and flower beds for you.
The peach tree Sunggyu gave you was in full bloom, sending a relaxing smell over the gardens as it mixed with all the other smells. But you were nowhere in sight, so Myungsoo ventured farther out of the castle and into the marketplace.
Everything looked exactly like it was supposed to. No destroyed buildings, no ruins, no skeletons anywhere. He spotted Joon with Mir, talking and laughing, and Myungsoo did not miss their intertwined fingers. He checked your favorite place to eat, but still no sign of you. The chef noticed him looking for you and chuckled.
“She just left. I bet you’ll find her at the clearing.”
--
Myungsoo raced for the clearing, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw you standing in the field, hair blowing in the wind with the grass rippling around you. You heard something and turned around to see Myungsoo before waving happily at him.
Out of impulse, Myungsoo waved back, and something on his ring finger sparkled in the moonlight. He looked at his hand in confusion as you made your way over to him and wrapped your arms around his waist.
“You slept in pretty late. It’s not befitting for your image as the High Mage,” you said, grinning at him. Then you gave him such a passionate kiss, he was almost knocked off his feet. There was no pain. He didn’t feel his life draining. After the initial shock, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the kiss until you pulled away with a smile.
“Oh. Well. I was just dreaming of saving the world. You know. No big deal.”
--
And such is, the inevitable clash between the living and the dead. Two halves of a whole will fight to keep balance between the lands. Tragedy will strike, and bonded, they will bring peace to the world.
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