BAEKHYUN

I set out into the night and followed Shinhye despite of her warning. What happened just confirmed everything. She read Sehun’s thoughts and her denial just supported it. I remembered her telling me that she didn’t have any family when I asked, but she confirmed that her father was Ahn Han Seul. She said his name with such disdain that it was as if she was already accepting that her father was in fact the Lake Guardian. I wasn’t expecting things to turn out this way. I was being surprised with every time she unfolds a side of her to us.

Whenever we speak, she has limited words for everyone, but one would definitely see how wise she was. When she’s excited about something her passion shows. Little did she know that I have been watching her at the clearing for some time now and she was really skilled in that department. It was a different story altogether when she was furious. No one can argue with her when she’s set to take her stand. She doesn’t want to be the prophesied maiden.

I ran through the woods where I saw her going, running as fast as she could, putting all the distance she can between her and the manor. I sympathized with her, but Sehun was right. When was she going to face it? She was the one, there was no doubt. I looked around me, but I couldn’t find her. She was fast as well. Just seeing her move with her swords at the clearing suggested so – swift and precise, I was afraid she nearly killed me today. I ran back to the manor and up the stairs to my room. I rummaged around my drawers and looked for the box that my father had given me before leaving for the capital. I opened it. It was an enchanted ball of silver yarn that rolls infinitely to where you want to go. All I had to do was follow it and it would lead me to Shinhye.

I ran out again and dropped the whole yarn on the forest floor, holding the loose end as I whispered her name into the crisp night breeze. It soon rolled swiftly across the forest while I rolled my end of the yarn. It led me to the lake at the southern side of the forest. It stopped right in front of an old oak tree and I picked it up. Sure enough, she was there. I smiled to myself, thanking my father silently as I watched her. 

She stood in the middle of the grassy field, crying as she shouted out loud. “Come out!” she snarled at the lake. “If you’re really the Lake Guardian, come out and face me, you blasted liar!” She was summoning the Lake Guardian. I guess that she believed us at a certain point.

Suddenly, she bent down and picked up stones, throwing them against the glassy water of the lake. “Damn it, face me!”

I was impressed at her boldness to speak in such a manner to one of the Elyxian Guardians and her father at that. I guess they’ve had a really rough relationship even while they were in the human world. It tore at me to see her all miserable.  We rarely saw her smile or laugh and her bitterness towards both worlds showed in every word she utters. It often made me wonder what kind of life she had back where she came from. Had I known, I would have done something to protect her. Shinhye was, in all sense of the word, more fragile than she let on.

“How could you? How could you lie and make us suffer the humiliation?!” she bawled, but all I could do was watch her. It wasn’t the right time to interfere. Then I realized something. She said ‘us’. I wonder who she meant aside from herself. “Father!” she implored and I found myself turning away. I couldn’t watch.

Just then, a strong wind blew past, never relenting and I saw her struggling against it as the lake came to life. Whirlpools formed and at that same instant, a huge sphere rose from the water and trapped her inside. I watched her struggle, but I was too stunned to even take a step forward. When I finally mustered the strength to go after her, a barrier rose up from the edge of the lake, preventing me from coming in. I tried to blast it with my light spears, but they just disintegrated the moment they touched the barrier. The sphere soon sunk back into the water with Shinhye.

“Oh no!” I gasped.

Seeing no other choice, I ran back to the manor as fast as I could, kicking the door open the moment I got there. Chin met me at the foyer, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Young master, you shouldn’t be –” she said, but I cut her short.

“Where are the others?” I asked frantically. Suddenly, Kai and Chan Yeol came out of the drawing room, looking frantic as well.

“What happened?” Chan Yeol demanded. I guess he felt it as well.

“Shinhye…” My voice trailed off as the prospect of her being taken by the guardians sank in. At the mention of her name, they tensed up. Sehun came down the stairs followed by Suho and Kyungsoo. 

“What was that?” Sehun demanded. “I felt something.”

I stood there in a trance and Chan Yeol grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “Where is she?!” he yelled at me.

I swallowed and met his enraged gaze. “The lake took her.”

Suho paced around in front of us. “This can’t be happening!”

“How could you let that happen?” Sehun said quietly.

I shook my head. “I couldn’t enter. There was a barrier.”

Kai stepped up. “What are we still waiting for?” he asked all of us ominously. He nodded at us and we all held onto him. We were standing by the lake in that same instant. When we got there, the lake was starting to form the whirlpools again.

“Now what?” Kai said through gritted teeth, looking around him.

A glowing sphere came out of the water again and Chan Yeol took a step forward, his hands bursting into flames as he glared at the light. He shot fireballs at the lake, but water rose up from the lake like tentacles, dousing each and every fireball that he produced.

Kyungsoo ran forward and that very instant, pillars of earth and stones rose up in the air, aiming at the sphere, but as it hit the barrier, it crashed down as if nothing happened. It didn’t even reach the water. “Damned barrier!” he growled into the air.

We all looked at Suho. “You can control the water. Strike at it!” Sehun yelled over from where he was.

The Water Noble nodded and created a big wall o