Kyungsoo took a deep breath once the village vanished from sight. Finally, he felt free. Relishing in the feeling of absolute freedom and absence of things in need of attendance for just a little bit longer, he gripped the buckets and started walking swiftly in hopes of reaching his destination as fast as possible. He could walk the whole way blindfolded by now, he had every little detail of his route memorised, every turn, every ascend and descent of the dusty road. He knew where it was muddy in autumn and where flooded from a nearby stream in spring. He knew where it was best to wait for traders with horses and carriages filled with goods to catch a quick ride back.

 Whistling softly to himself a melody he and other members of the village’s choir were taught that week, time seemed to flow by and he couldn’t be happier. Kyungsoo absolutely adored the feeling of solitude and since he lived in a small village, it was a luxury he could not afford very often. Apart from his regular trips to the spring he was never completely alone and at peace. It was that time, though, that he cherished the most. Every day right after dawn and then later again before sunset, he would set off leaving his village and everyone in it far behind. And he loved it, enjoying the cold sharp morning air waking him up. And then in the evening, it was the calmness of the forest falling asleep and the dim light of the stars appearing as he walked down the Northern road which lead him back in the village, that made him truly happy if for only a little while.

 That was his ritual. Half an hour up the Northern road towards The Dwarven Mountain and then up the Great Stairs, all five hundred steps, until he reached the crossroads and then left because there was only a long abandoned shrine turned shack on the right, then a brisk walk through the forest of decidious trees, a rarity in the north, and then there was the spring. Although majority of the villagers believed the forest was haunted by evil spirits of dwarves who used to inhabit The Mountain, he still dared to go up there. And not without a purpose, it was his job after all. Every day he would bring the precious healing stream water to the village‘s Healer as it was the primary tool of his craft.

 The Healer was a man in his forties, still in full strength but unfortunately swarmed by the enormous number of necessities he needed to take care of. Kyungsoo volunteered to help him out with this particular task even though he was pitied by the villagers and scorned by his family because of it. He didn´t care for that at all. Anything to be able to escape.

 The life in the village was all the same, thought Kyungsoo as he made his way up the Stairs, the empty buckets bouncing against his calves. The villagers hated each other yet somehow they couldn´t stay away from each other. Kyungsoo didn´t understand that logic, it confused him when his mother cheerfully made her way to the village square to meet up for wine with her friends every single day even though she expressed so much disdain for them the day before. Human relationships always puzzled him, he much prefered listening to the forest than listening to rumblings of the market square.

 His train of thoughts was interrupted, as he approached the stairs made out of stone. He was, as always, stunned by the view. From now on, it took only five hundred stairs and then some to reach the spring, guarded by the forest temple. Kyungsoo always took time to appreciate the beauty of the stairs. It was such a flawless work, each step carefully carved in stone, beautiful statues of patrons and patronesses placed here and there, each holding a desk with engraved prophecies in it.

 His village was quite a popular pilgrim place because of Great Stairs. Well, used to be, before the war started and everyone stopped caring for poems and  things made out of stone. People from all around the country used to come there to relax, to feel a bit of that sacred atmosphere or for spiritual enlightement. They didn´t stay for long, though. The villagers soon made them dread the place. And no wonder, the forest looked scary in sunlight but at night it looked downright terrifying.

 But Kyungsoo wasn´t afraid. He used to run to the forest even as a kid whenever he´d had enough of his parents arguing and the villagers screaming at each other. He would run there and lie in the moss, sometimes soaking his feet in the cold fresh water of the stream. And that is what he intended to do today too.

 The stairs were steep and high, but Kyungsoo´s legs were now used to it after walking up so many times before. He almost skipped up the mountain, stopping only to read his favourite poem. He already knew almost all of the poems by memory but there was one that had a special place in his heart. The desk it was carved in was held by a young boy, who wore a simple tunic of monks, kneeling on one leg.

 His statue was special because the boy was the only one who held the desk in only one hand. His other was placed firmly on the ground. They boy´s eyes were closed. Kyungsoo always thought there was something magical about the boy, the way he was grasping the desk and his lips curled as he soundlessly uttered a plea. He prayed for peace, urged for a hero to step up.

 When Kyungsoo was younger, he used to imagine it was him the statue was speaking to. He even confessed that at the weekly confession led by the Healer, explaining how certain he was about being the chosen one to stop the war, to stop everything bad in the world. How none of the other prophecies meant anything to him, just that one. However, he soon learned the so called prophecy wasn´t a prophecy at all.

The Healer smiled gently at him when he explained how the carved words on the desks were written by a high ranked priest not even as much as three hundred years ago. Kyungsoo´s mother held him later that night when his hopes of being the one the kneeling boy was calling turned out to be impossible to be true after all and he cried himself to sleep.

 The very next day, he decided to just accept his future of an average village boy. He took on the duty of a messenger since he was young and full of energy. Later on, he volunteered for the job of the Healer´s assistant. And so there he was.

 Finally, the peak of the mountain was visible and Kyungsoo almost ran the few remaining meters to get to the crossroads. The right path would take him all the way up to the cabin. It looked neglected;  no one had walked that way pretty much since the war had started.

 Kyungsoo took the left path, leading straight in the forest. The trees looked peacefull that day, bathing in the raising sunlight. Kyungsoo too let the sunshine rays pat his face and he smiled as wild happiness overtook him.

 He skipped towards the spring, threw his shoes off and stepped right in the middle of the cold water. Instantly, the feeling of absolute calmness and peace filled his heart and he let out a sigh. He lay in wet moss next to the stream, still bathing his feet, not caring about making his clothes dirty.

 When he was done bathing, he quickly filled the buckets, put the shoes back on and made his way back towards the village. This had been his morning ritual for past three years and he didn´t feel like changing it anytime soon. The way back usually took a bit longer because even thought he was now going down, he had to make sure the water in the buckets didn´t spill. And that was quite difficult.

Kyungsoo breathed a sigh of relief as he finally climbed down the stairs and headed to the Northern road to continue his morning routine and take a ride back. However, this morning, his routine was deemed to be broken since no trader showed up. Kyungsoo frowned at that. The traders usually came that way since early sunrise to late noon, but it seemed like everyone vanished that day. Kyungsoo felt shivers run down his spine as he thought of war, but convinced himself this had nothing to do with it. The war way too far away to actually affect them, or so he tried to make himself believe. There was no way it would reach this far when just yesterday the news of the most recent battle reached the village, estabilishing the location of hostile armies near the southern border. And that border was located hundreds of kilometers away from their village. There was no way.

And yet, as he got closer to the village, he heard no shouting nor screaming like he usually would. It seemed as if the life in the village completely froze. There was no one wandering around the square, no merchants, nothing. Doors were closed, windows too.

 Kyungsoo approached the village warily, but just as he reached the square, carefully looking around, he heard a soft voice calling his name. He turned around to see one of the village´s children, a boy named An Hojin, in the doors of one of the houses, calling his name and motioning for him to come inside. The house was one of their family friends and Kyungsoo hesitated for only a second before he hastily followed the boy inside. Once the door was closed, Hojin immediately grabbed his arm and started pushing him towards the living room, spilling a few drops of the stream water on the wooden floor of the house in the process.

„Hojin, let sir Do go!“ hissed Hojin´s sister Jiwoo from the hallway. Kyungsoo shot her a grateful look and put the buckets down before following the siblings in the living room. He was surprised to see his parents were present, his mother chatting away with the siblings‘ mother and the butcher´s wife and both of their fathers smoking together with the butcher. An´s youngest, Myungsook, was playing with the slightly older butcher´s boy. It was an unsual sight since the An and the Do families were both townspeople, not usually meddling with the tradesmen.

 Kyungsoo´s brother was leaning against the door from the opposite side to which the former came from and once he´d seen the the Do´s youngest, he immediately hugged him tightly. The conversation in the room stopped abruptly.

„Kyungsoo!“ exclaimed the wide eyed boy´s mother, clasping her hands together. Everyone in the room motioned her to be quiet and she mouthed a quiet apology.

„We thought the dragon took you!“ said Jiwoo shakily. Kyungsoo was confused.

„A dragon?“ he asked, puzzled.

„Yes, yes, a huge dragon!“ half shouted Hojin and was immediately shushed. He settled to waving his arms in the flying motion.

„Sit down, Kyungsoo,“ the Do father pointed to one of the chairs. Kyungsoo immediately obeyed, wanting to find out what happened. The An siblings sat next to him.

„Early this morning,“ started Kyungsoo´s mother, her voice shaking slightly, „people saw a massive shadow fly over our village. We didn´t understand what was happening, but as it got closer, we recognised it. It was a dragon Kyungsoo! Here, so far away from the frontlines!“

It was no secret the country´s army used dragons and dragonriders as one of their main weapons and so did the enemy. But to the majority of the population, dragons were dangerous and lethal creatures. No one in proximity to the village knew how to tame a dragon, Kyungsoo was sure of that.

„The Healer immediately ordered everyone to take shelter in the nearest building to them.“ That explained the presence of the butcher’s family.

„It was truly horrible. That dragon kept flying around and we just stayed here, silent, trying not to draw its attention,“ said the An´s mother shakily. Kyungsoo thought that there were few things which could draw attention more than the mere presence of the village, but kept quiet.

„The beast was looking for a feast,“ the An´s father spoke, his baritone sounding with an uncompromising definitivness. Kyungsoo wanted to roll his eyes.

„So we kept quiet, but-“

„We were so worried the beast got you!“ exclaimed Jiwoo, blushing when all the eyes in the room rested on her.

„We were worried you were dead.“

Kyungsoo suddenly felt terribly guilty. He bowed his head in silent apology.

„We´ve never really liked the idea of you going to that dreaded mountain every day. And twice! As if the mornings weren´t enough,“ his mother lamented, leaning back in her chair. „Well, now my nerves can rest in peace, since I know you won´t be coming up there anymore.“

Kyungsoo´s eyes widened even more. He didn´t think of that at all. He suddenly felt really angry at the dragon for ruining his trips. He remained grumpy until the afternoon when a gathering of the villagers was organised.

 They were all advised to stay in their homes, not to come out and wait for other news. The Healer promised to inform the province´s regent and wait for his commands.

Most of the villagers took the announcement well, feeling even quite joyous about it. However, for Kyungsoo it meant prison and despair crept into his heart.

***

Kyungsoo didn´t come to the spring that evening. After endless discussions, the villagers finally went home to get some sleep. Only a few were to keep watch. Kyungsoo quickly volunteered to do just that, ignoring his mother´s pleads to stay home and rest. He was given a sword and it felt weird and heavy in his hand. The dragon didn´t appear again, still the night was spent in fear.

The Healer prohibited Kyungsoo from coming up the Mountain or keeping the watch and the boy was forced to spend the entirety of two days sitting in the living room of the An´s house, which, his parents decided, was the safest place in the village.

Jiwoo kept trying to distract him but in vain. Every day, his longing after getting out of the house grew stronger. On the third day, he found himself pacing back and forth in the living room, which suddenly felt strangely claustrophobic.

„Sit down with us, sir Do. Here, have some wine,“ suggested Jiwoo, handing him a glass full of red liquid. Kyungsoo shook his head.

„Thank you, but I´m afraid I´ll have to pass,“ he apologised and quickly moved to the front door.

„I´m going to see if the Healer needs any help, father!“ he shouted, making his way out before anyone could stop him.

The outside air smelled of freedom and Kyungsoo took a deep breath. He noticed there were townspeople on watch at the gates, along with the official village´s guard squad, which consisted of a few farmers who´ve never seen a battle, providing you don´t count the occasional pub fights.

Kyungsoo swiftly walked to the Healer´s house, but even after several knocks on the door there was no answer and Kyungsoo grew frustrated.

„What are you doing here, Do?“ Kyungsoo turned around at once, seeing the soft voice belonged to general Yong, the middle aged leader of the guard. Kyungsoo quite liked him and the villagers trusted him, but he doubted Yong could ever lead an attack. He bowed before replying.

„I am trying to find the Healer, sir. I haven´t seen him since two days ago.“

„Well, you are looking in vain,“ smirked general Yong. Kyungsoo´s eyes widened in confusion.

„In vain?“

„The Healer left yesterday, along with his apprentice. He is going to inform the province´s regent.“

„About the dragon?“

„What else? It´s crucial the regent knows about this.“ Kyungsoo nodded, understanding.

„But why did the Healer have to go?“

I could have gone, he thought. His assistant, who brought him healing water every day.

„The Healer has connections at the court, as you probably know,“ general informed him. Kyungsoo nodded numbly. The Healer told him countless times about how well known he was among the court and how many friends he had there. Kyungsoo knew the Healer was an important man.

But he couldn´t help it but feel betrayed. The Healer always promised him to take him Glacielle, the province’s capital, the next time he goes, and now he went and didn´t even tell Kyungsoo. Instead, he ordered him to stay locked up inside of a house full of annoying people. And left with his apprentice.

„Sir?“ Kyungsoo asked, suddenly feeling very determined and rebelious. General nodded.

„Can I take on the watch duty again? Starting today?“ he pleaded.

„But of course,“ general´s eyes lit up, „we could always use more men and the village guard is very tired by now.“

Kyungsoo thought the village guard was pretty drunk by now but didn´t want to risk his chance by being cheeky.

„Do you have any place you want to keep watch at?“ general asked and Kyungsoo pretended to think about it.

„Is the Northern Road still available sir?“ He could practically see the relief in general´s eyes. He supposed he was correct in his assumption that not many villagers wanted to keep watch next to the haunted stairs.

„Very well. Be there an hour before sunset. Now go to your hiding place.“ General released him and Kyungsoo happily skipped home.

The Do father wasn´t particularly estatic about his son´s plans for that evening, just as he rarely was estatic about anything his youngest was doing. His mother was downright lamenting and even Jiwoo caught his wrist just before he left, pleading him to stay in the safety of the house.

How unrespectfully he was treating his soon to be wife, he thought as he gently released his hand from her grip and walked out of the door with only a backpack containing water and food his mother packed him.

 He knew of the reason their mother had been meeting so often lately. There´d been a word around the village about the soon to be married couple. For both of them it was an amazing match, they said.

According to Do Kyungsoo, marriage was puzzling. He liked Jiwoo, but he couldn´t imagine their marriage to be a happy one and he´d feel incredibly guilty about it. The girl was always trying to befriend or please him, while he rarely ever did anything nice for her. She was a beautiful girl, but he couldn´t understand her and although he knew she was trying, she couldn´t understand him.

He swore to himself to treat Jiwoo more nicely from now on though.

When he reached the Northern road, general Yong was already waiting for him. He handed him a sword, just in case, he said, and made a haste retreat back to the village.

Kyungsoo didn´t blame him. Everyone would feel uneasy so close to the Stairs.

The sun was setting and Kyungsoo knew it would be dark in a short while. Thankfully, he didn´t have a companion, correctly assuming there wouldn´t exactly be a line of people volunteering for guarding the haunted place.

 Looking around and seeing no one to check up on him, he hastily made his way up. The whole journey usually took him a little over an hour, but that day, it only took him about forty minutes. Panting, he finally climbed the last step of the stairs. With a mighty grunt, he threw off his backpack and sword and practically ran towards the spring.

Even though it´s only been a few days, the stream felt out of this world for Kyungsoo. He happily soaked his feet, washed his face and rolled around in the soft moss.

And then suddenly something started to feel off.

Kyungsoo tried to ignore it, but the feeling grew stronger and stronger. He sprung in the sitting position, feeling paranoid all of the sudden. He looked around and for some very weird reason it felt like the trees were whispering to him, like they were trying to tell him something, louder and louder.

„What?“ he snapped, mentally slapping himself for questioning a tree.

And suddenly, he knew.

There was an intruder.

Kyungsoo quickly got up. There was still sunshine up in the forest he was in but he knew it would already be dark at the Northern road. And the sun was setting fast.

He mentally cursed himself for throwing away the sword. He´d feel so much better with it in his hand.

He started walking swiftly towards the stairs, constantly turning around. But he saw nothing.

 Finally, he got to the crossroads. His pulse quickened as he noticed the unattended foot path towards the temple now looked used. Recently. Or perhaprs it just looked like that in the light of the setting sun?

He ran the few past meters without slowing down, grabbed his backpack and sword, and ran down the stairs. And while he was running as fast as he could, he could swear he could hear someone laughing.

***

Once Kyungsoo neared his assigned place at the Northern road, he immediately froze. He could hear two male voices, speaking in a haste manner.

„What if something happened to him? What if he´s dead? His parents are going to kill us!“ The first voice sounded like its owner was on a verge of a panic attack.

„Calm down, I´m sure he´s okay.“ The second voice interrupted him. General Yong´s voice, Kyungsoo realised in horror.

„Not even talking about the province! We´re not even supposed to allow citizens to do this job!“ half screamed the first voice. Kyungsoo decided it would be better if he revealed his presence.

He stepped out of the shadow and cleared his throat. Both men turned towards him.

„Kyungsoo!“ general shrieked, while the other man glared at him. Kyungsoo recognised him to be one of the village guards.

„You aren´t supposed to leave your spot. You can´t just walk away.“ Kyungsoo hung his head.

„I´m sorry, I probably fell asleep. It won´t happen again.“

The guard kept eyeing him suspiciously but general Yong nodded.

„At least you stayed in your area. Just make sure you won´t wander off again, okay? We´ll come back at the end of your watch.“

With that, the general nodded and started walking back along with the guard, who kept glaring at Kyungsoo. The black haired boy could still make out a snippet of the conversation as they were leaving.

„Don´t be mad at the regulars. They´ve never known responsibility.“

Kyungsoo let out a sigh as he lowered his body on the ground, preparing for a long watch.

The episode with him almost being caught completely took his mind off the uncomfortable experience he had at the stream. Now that he actually thought about it, he felt a bit foolish about that.

He ran away almost screaming because a couple of trees told him so. How silly.

Kyungsoo signed at his mental incapability and because this whole experience made him hungry, he took out his backpack, intending to at least have a good time eating.

As he slid the zipper open and opened up the backpack, he froze.

The food was gone.

***

Hi there,

this is the first chapter! To the people who subscribed thank you so much, it really brightened my day and I hope I didn't disappoint you!

Hope you enjoy this and share your thoughts!

Onion