A/N: Hello guys~! We're down to the 2nd to the last chapter. I'd just like to say THANK YOU to everyone who had supported this fic. Thank you all for your comments. I hope you've enjoyed every bit of this fic. I loved writing it and I would surely miss writing it. Enjoy the chapter before the last ^^

-Shinhye’s POV-

Someone screamed and the next thing I knew, I was being jerked awake. I opened my eyes and realized that I dozed off in the carriage. I struggled against the hold of the person that was holding me and found Chin eyeing me with concern. I swallowed hard and stared hard at her, making sure she was real. I held on tight to her arm and closed my eyes, breathing in. That was one nasty dream. Jinhae and I were seven or eight-year old kids and we were playing the pool when she suddenly fell into it. There wasn’t anything scary about it, but it felt so creepy.

“Are you alright?” Chin asked me. “You look pale.”

I straightened up on my seat, noticing that we were already near the river. I could see the dark wall of water looming over as the carriage passed by. I nodded and exhaled. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Her brows knit together as she looked at me. “Are you nervous?”

I arched a brow at nothing in particular. “How wouldn’t I be?” I spent a whole year of pain and nightmare just to get to where I was now. I was excited to see my sister and finally meet the nobles. I was wondering what she was doing since I couldn’t hear her thoughts anymore. I guess it was the river preventing that from happening, but that never really happened before. I just couldn’t find her thoughts in the sea of voices that I hear every single day. I guess she was busy with Lu Han.

Despite of the excitement, the uncertainty was still present, making me uneasy since the precious night. I’ve acted brave and tried to conceal the primeval fear that surged through me the moment the sun began setting. I couldn’t find comfort in anything, not even Sehun or the thought that I would see Jinhae again. The prospect that we were going to face creatures from the depths of the goddamn river made my blood curdle. I knew this would be a different experience altogether. The enemies were stronger. I could feel it just by being near the river, pulsating with life and power. It was the home of the Guardians after all.

Still, I wouldn’t be backing down anytime soon. I wasn’t going to waste all the experiences I’ve got as long as the power I’ve honed over time in Elyxo. I was doing this for the people who were important for me, the people who aimed for peace and unity among Meropians and Korinths. This is what I was born to do along with my twin and I wouldn’t run away from it. Those Guardians better make a run for it once I get started. They’d better not hurt my sister or they were going to get it. I wouldn’t hesitate to exhaust my power just so I could protect my sister.

“That’s natural, I guess,” the elderly woman said to me.

I was reminded of the previous day when the nobles’ families came to Genro just to wish me luck. It was too bad that I wouldn’t be able to see the empress and the emperor again. Taemin came, too, with Lady Miyu. I was overwhelmed with joy seeing the people I’ve come to know and learned to love as I was making my journey through the fulfillment of the prophecy. They all had been very kind to me.

A lot of people also came for our entourage, coming from different places all over Korinthia. They all claimed to want to witness the downfall of the river. I was nervous about that. I didn’t want to fail these people and I was sure Jinhae shared the same sentiments. They were expecting a lot from us and I had to admit that I have never been more aware of it until that moment. I have known of their hopes for their beloved land, but it never weighed on me this heavily. It would be the first time I would feel pressure greater than anything I have felt before. It was unnerving to say the least.

“I’ll get us through this, I promise,” I murmured.

She shook her head. “We all will. Don’t bear it alone.”

I smiled and looked out. The river was ominous, exuding a dark force that I couldn’t quite put a finger on. Lightning crashed over the clouds that it exceeded and I could clearly see shadows of whatever dwelled in it. It was as amazing as it was frightening. I looked down from the side of the road which was a cliff and could see the bank from where I was seated. It was a sandy patch of land with occasional shrubs dotting it here and there. It was like a miniature beach complete with palm trees after the thick woods. The bank stretched onto infinity just as the river did. It was an endless wall with no passage to go around it.

We came to a spot on the cliff where the river was near enough to touch. For some reason, I felt my sister’s life force become stronger as we neared it. It made me wonder if she was also waiting for me at the other side of the river, probably reaching out as well…or was this a kind of bluff? I stretched my hand out, my fingertips grazing the cool water, but Chin stopped me. In that brief moment, I felt something come out of me in an overwhelming wave that made me back away immediately, but through it, I felt Jinhae. She was there. I was sure.

“What are you doing, child?” she asked.

Before I could answer her, the carriage came to a sudden halt, making us both jerk forward. It was followed by screams coming from the people who were leading the convoy. Chin began to panic. I tried to keep her calm, giving her hand a tight squeeze.

“It’s going to be alright,” I told her. I wasn’t convinced, but what was I to do? “You stay here. I’m going to check what’s happening.”

Her eyes bulged out of their sockets, mirroring the horror that I felt inside me. “No, Shinhye! You mustn’t.”

I shook my head. “I can help them. I will have you brought to safe ground.”

“No!”

I let go of her hand without paying any heed to her then hopped out of the carriage. I just realized that we were dangerously hanging about the edge of a cliff and the coachman was trying his best to keep the steeds on the safer side of the road, but being there wasn’t what caught my attention, but the fact that some of the men were being pulled into the river in successive swirls of water that reached out like hands to crush and devour them.

I hurriedly looked at the coach and instructed him to untie one of the horses. He hurriedly obliged and handed the reins to me.

“Save yourselves,” I told him as I mounted the horse. I kicked the side of the horse and set it bolting towards the people, forming a barrier against the river as it raged on them.

Bright lights of blue and white began darting here and there. The nobles have phased, keeping the people out of trouble. The earth from the sides of the cliff began rising, forming a wall that would shield us all from the river. Some collapsed as the water pillars began pounding on the walls, but they’d rise up just as quickly as they fall. I took the initiative to fortify the walls with another layer of barrier.

“The river is starting to roll back,” Suho oppa, who had just appeared beside me, said frantically.

“It’s going to flood,” I finished for him. With a harsh grunt, I pulled on the reins of the horse I was on and violently turned it around to where D.O. was. He was still trying to strengthen the walls. I rode towards him and met Sehun on my way there. He was also instructing people to get into the safety of the mountain wall.

“Kyungsoo-ah!” I called.

He looked at me and as if he read my thoughts, the earth beneath us began to shake as it rose high. When it exceeded the wall, I saw the river again. This time, the wall was rolling back, flooding the banks below. Gone were the shrubs and palm trees, submerged in the flood that it formed. As it began to thin, I could see six orbs of light from the other side of the river, darting to and fro. We’re almost there.

“It’s at its last legs,” Chan Yeol murmured behind me as he followed the direction of my gaze.

I merely nodded, watching as a huge slap of stone that arched over the river began showing from the center. The things that lived within the river began falling with it. Thunderous roars began to engulf the whole surrounding as the sky began parting.

“The bridge…” Baekhyun pointed at the huge stone slabs that were emblazoned with glittering gems. Aquatic plants were hanging on it as the water receded to reveal the whole arch, but before it was fully viewable, I saw a dark, massive shadow near the surface of the water. Just when I thought it would resurface, it went down with the water.

In the middle of the stillness, the clouds in the sky parted in a bright flurry of light that grew more intense as it grew in size. It spread through the sky, the clouds rolling as thunder and lightning struck the ground randomly, charring everything on its path. The cloud of light grew into something more pronounced like a wall that stretched throughout the land, lighting the fields, mountains and caves in a brief moment before it settled in a single beam that pierced the heart of a the river.

As the lights touched the ground, twelve beams of light rose into the sky, six of them red and the other half a blue hue. It pierced the sky and disintegrated once more into smaller glows in the middle of the bridge that formed the shape of two human-like figures which disintegrated immediately.

The river became restless, spewing water here in there as the winds blew and swirled around the plains. The earth rose into mounds and rocks floated into the air as the sky began stirring its brew of a perfect storm above the lands. Thunder and lightning crashed until rain fell, heavy droplets hitting the surface of the earth. The droplet froze as they fell into tiny crystals and from the sky, a pillar of fire began to devour all that was left of the banks, burning trees and the like, quick and missing nothing before it reached the river and disappeared out of sight, leaving just a clear sky and peaceful surroundings as the sun peeked from the clouds.

The water began to dry out as the river began to take its original form, something that the people of Elyxo had longed to see for thousands of years now. The view became clearer as the mist that the water droplets drizzled about, hitting and damping the earth as it revealed the east bank. The bridge stood dazzlingly under the rays of the sun, a glimmering beacon of light after the years of darkness and suffering.

“Meropia.” Shinhye took a deep intake of air as she broke into a smile, but she still couldn’t get over the fact that she saw two figures by the bridge before the sky broke into blinding sunshine. She momentarily forgot about it when she saw a crowd of people by the far end of the bank. A mountain on the other side faced them and just by the tree line that separated it from the forest, she could see six figures standing by. She felt tears stinging her eyes when she realized who they were. “The nobles…”

Baekhyun and the others left her side and slid down the cliff excitedly. Kai merely teleported, taking each and every one of them by the edge of the bridge. A warm hand seized mine. I looked at the person beside me and saw Sehun. A warm smile spread across his face.

“We made it…” He chuckled. “You made it.”

I breathed in, overwhelmed with joy. I smiled back at him, bent down from the horse and reached down to give him a peck on the cheek. “You helped me,” I whispered. “All of you.”

-Kris’ POV-

We embarked on our journey towards the bank of the Elyxian River. Jinhae was still nowhere to be found. We were all distraught that though the prophecy would be realized, she wasn’t with us to witness it. We didn’t have any clue as to where she could possibly be. The previous week was spent searching for her and until that point in time, no one gave up hope that we’ be able to see her again.

Lu Han was upset and he hasn’t been resting. None of us were. We needed to find Jinhae. How would the nobles form the other side of the river react once they learn that we managed to lose her so soon before the river goes down. We’ve sent entourages to the river ahead of us in hopes that we would be able to meet her there just in case she decided to leave for some reason, but there wasn’t any news aside from the river weakening and killing all the people it could while it still stands. Ruthless. There wasn’t any word that would describe how matters were with the river. If it had taken Jinhae then we could only hope that she would be able to fight off until the time it falls. That was all we had to cling onto. Hope.

We arrived at our destination early in the morning and since then, we have been trying to defend all those that were on our side alongside the Oracle Minister. The river had been sending hordes of creatures on us and so far, we have been managing to ward them off. Hour after hour, we would be at war with the river’s allies, facing its wrath. It was an oppressive battle and we cannot fully concentrate on it, still plagued by the thought of Jinhae’s disappearance.

It didn’t last long before we heard loud rumblings, shaking the earth beneath us. The river also began taking people into its depths even as the water that formed the walls began collapsing into massive batches of water falling onto the ground, causing the banks to flood. We had to search for higher ground and we had to stop the river from taking more lives. It was already as worst as it could get and still, Jinhae hasn’t showed up.

The river caved in and sent a shower of water arrows towards us. It was only in a nick of time before Lu Han was able to construct a barrier across the bank to protect us all. As the flow of the water from the river began to produce strong current and even huge waves, a storm began forming overhead, or so we thought. Twelve beams of light came about from the clouds, descending upon the river in huge pillars of light that blinded us. As it disintegrated, short-lived plagues from every element began, but though they were brief events. The force was strong enough to ruin the whole surrounding and spring back to life again.

The Guardians were descending from their pedestal. They were no longer immortals. They were able to fulfill the tasks they were given and now, it was our turn. We were the last heirs to the elements and unless we decide to pass them on to the next generation, that would remain as it is. It was our turn indeed, but we never even succeeded in protecting the center if our existence.

The bridge began to reveal itself as the water subsided before our eyes as if it was never there to begin with. As the bridge rose up from the water, I saw Lu Han turning away into the woods and eventually, he sat down on a fallen log. He had been looking more miserable than ever. I followed him and stood right by the log.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He looked up at me and continued staring at the forest floor. “You’re asking me?” he hissed.

“I know how it feels, but think positively about it. We will find her, do you understand?”

His eyes glistened with tears. “My wife’s missing and I don’t want to be reminded of the reason why it happened in the first place. I don’t care about uniting Elyxo as long as she’s with me,” he argued.

I straightened him up, not caring if he’s older than I was. I was still the leader and I wouldn’t have him behaving in such a way on anyone’s account. “Look, here, Lu Han. This isn’t the time for you to lose hope. If she’s really gone then this wouldn’t have worked. She’s somewhere there and she’s in here.” I jabbed a finger at his chest then mine. “She’s strong, Lu Han. Don’t underestimate her by losing hope.”

“Kris?” I heard Lay’s voice from behind me, interrupting our conversation. He eyed Lu Han sternly. “Get your act together. The other nobles are coming.