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ConquerChapter 19; Trolls
“But, Su Min, this is more of a punishment for me...” Joomin mumbles.
Su Min’s eyes narrow as she laughs darkly. “What? Did you think you would get off scotch free?” she asks, looking at the older girl with raised eyebrows. Joomin shrugs before smiling down at the emaciated young girl standing in the threshold of her home. She’s rather pretty, but her skin is splotched with dirt and her smell is reminiscent of rotten fish. Maybe she had been searching around in people’s waste for food. “It’s a rather simple task, really. Just take care of this girl. Hell, you can even teach her how to be a seamstress so she can help you.”
Joomin suppresses a pout as she nods, ushering the younger girl into the washroom so she can get cleaned up. With that taken care of, Su Min averts her eyes from the now closed door to look at Kai. “You,” she sighs. “Have to come with us. I’m not giving you a choice. Oh, and everything is not okay between us. If you step out of line, even slightly, I’ll sock you one.” Su Min spits before pushing past him and exiting the store.
Kyungsoo pats the younger male’s shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t worry,” he laughs, “Su Min only holds grudges for...ever. Good luck, kid.” That said, he smiles before following Su Min out. Xiumin and Tao kindly help him to pack his things, instructing him on what to bring and what not to bring. By the time they join Kyungsoo and Su Min outside, the two have already loaded everything up.
They stand by a small gathering of horses--five of them, in fact. By Su Min is an elegant black steed with a coat that shines in the morning light, it’s a rather handsome stallion with the build of a palace horse. Su Min pats it approvingly before looking up at Kai and smirking as she turns to the last horse in the line up--an old, slightly overweight beast with gangly hooves and an angry spirit. It seems to challenge Kai who looks at it in distaste.
The final creature is a mule, whose sole purpose is to carry the group’s gear. Su Min pauses as Joomin runs out of the shop, throwing her arms around her brother in a tight embrace before pulling away and rubbing his cheeks endearingly. “My lovely brother,” she begins, tears springing from her wide eyes even as she tries to suppress them. “Promise me that you’ll come back. Please.”
That’s a promise that can’t be made, Su Min thinks sadly. Kai, however, doesn’t seem intent on telling his sister the truth. “I will,” he promises, hugging her once more before swinging his legs over his own stout horse. Joomin moves down the line, stopping upon reaching Xiumin. The boy has yet to board his horse, and he doesn’t seem in the right mind to do so as Joomin leans in and places a light kiss on his cheek.
“You have to come back too, Minseok, my savior.”
With that, she waves to the others before disappearing inside the shop. Su Min blinks upon finding herself glaring at the spot where Joomin was standing. Strange. “Kim Minseok, do you honestly think that we have all the time in the world?” she snaps. “Get your up on that horse!” Xiumin obeys and scrambles to scale the large being before hanging his head and wondering just why Su Min has to be so bipolar.
His own horse is a gorgeous white mare, with a long mane that shifts ever so slightly in the wind. She seems reluctant to obey the weak looking Xiumin, but does so anyways. The five of them them set off, with Kai taking up the back--mostly because his horse refuses to go any faster. Su Min, of course, takes the front with her own horse looking as regal as ever. As they exit the town on horseback, people watch them pass, mildly interested in the strangers.
Who are they? What is their purpose?
They have but one purpose, and that is to save the world. Glancing up, Su Min’s eyes narrow ever so slightly. It’s not like they have all the time in the world to find the Divine Forces--the Great Lord waits for no one. If he’s ready, he will attack, and without the help of the Forces, the human race will become instinct. The sky seems to have darkened into a pale, eery blue--an oppressive color that hangs in the air like smog. Lowering her head, she looks at Mirae, who reflects the sky.
“Force of Fire. Force of Light. Force of the Sky. Force of Health. Force of Air. Force of Flight. Force of Water. Force of the Mind.” she lists quietly. “Where could they be?” Su Min wonders silently as she glances behind her shoulder at her companions--a hodge podge group of boys who have yet to grow up and have no idea of where they’re going. Whether they’ll survive this cruel earth, she doesn’t know. But, they’re the worlds only hope. They have to survive.
They travel on in silence, the only sounds coming from the snap of twigs and the heavy breathing of the horses. “Su Min,” Tao calls as he urges his own horse into a trot. It’s a gorgeous Buckskin, a rather rare breed of horse. She glances over her shoulder at him as he approaches. The tall boy looks brooding--with his short hair that falls just over his inset eyes, that dark complexion of his, and the incessant frown he wears. But, he’s innocent, so much so that it’s admirable. He’s a warrior, yes, but he has yet to experience the cruelty of being one. His time will come. “Do you want to hear about the, er, incident?”
Right, Su Min thinks, Tao is one of the Forces. Nodding her head, she turns to look at him, only half-paying attention as the two ride along. “Kyungsoo and I were running away from those people,” he begins, looking out at the woods as if his memories lie within the wide trunks of the trees. “It all seemed to go by so fast. One second, we were far ahead of them, the next, Kyungsoo was pinned down with a knife to his neck.”
“He could have died,” Su Min clarifies, eyes hard as she imagines the scene.
Tao nods, looking grim as he continues. “The following events weren’t nearly as fast. They were slow--so very slow. Power--electricity--flowed through me as my mind was occupied with one sole thought. To slow everything down and save Kyungsoo.” he explains, looking back to Su Min, who seems perplexed. Electricity. Like what she felt upon first touching Mirae? But she listens on. “Everything slowed down to a crawl. Pushing those perps away, I grabbed Kyungsoo and ran, that’s when everything went back into real time.”
Placing a hand on the soft coat of her own horse, she stares at Tao. It’s strange how these boys who look so normal, are so extraordinary underneath the surface. “Is that what it is, then. Desire? The desire to do something causes you guys to discover your powers. That sure is something.” she sighs, finding the idea of having powers to be unbelievable. Tao nods as they continue along in utter silence.
The tingling scent of smoke soon fills their nostrils as they continue deeper into the woods, and eventually, wispy tendrils of it curl towards the group. “Smoke?” Kyungsoo wonders, blinking as his horse comes to walk alongside Su Min’s. Pulling the thick hide reins, she urges the black steed to a stop and jumps down, the action reminiscent to a floating feather.
The others follow suit, eyes glazed over as the smoke fills their mind. Su Min slaps her cheek lightly to keep from falling into a sleepy lull, but her thoughts are cut short as she lets out a wild shriek upon being pulled up by a small trap. Before she can croak out an order, the others are pulled up as well. Blood flows into her head, and despite her desperate struggle to swing herself to the base of the tree, she passes out before anything can be done.
Encompassed in darkness.
- - -
“Su Min, Su Min, will never succeed--”
The previously unconscious girl shifts awkwardly, but a sharp pain in her neck causes her eyes to flutter open. Looking to herself, she recognizes the same sprite from the night at that ghost town. “You,” she growls. “Get out of here.” Su Min orders, flicking the creature’s head aggravatedly to emphasize her point. The tiny ball of light lets out a loud grunt before zooming away.
Thick twine cuts into Su Min’s body, encasing her in an intricate net. Growling, she twists around, somehow making her way into a hasty kneeling position. Gripping the net, she tugs at it helplessly, finding it to be surprisingly rigid. “Damn,” she curses, pressing her face against the net to get a better look around. There are other nets, some hold dead animal carcasses, others hold her companions. Down below, an angry flame blazes, and tied to a nearby tree are the group’s horses.
Her own horse shifts uncomfortably, letting out soft yet anxious neighs then and again. Judging from the gargantuan footprints in the ground, they’ve been captured by trolls. Part of her wishes that she had that sprite stay, it could’ve been useful. Then again, creatures of light are known to be deceitful and mischievous. And something tells her that that one wasn’t a fan of her. Looking into her robes, she quickly realizes that the beasts seized Mirae, and she struggles to suppress a scream as a result. Those trolls messed with the wrong person.
“Tao,” Su Min calls, trying not to be so loud. “Huang Zitao, get your lazy up!”
There’s rustling as the boy awakens, annoyed upon finding his long legs pushed up against his chest. “What the hell--” he growls, flipping himself over in attempt to gain some kind of ground. But, he is in a net. “Su Min?” he calls back to the aggravated female voice that awoke him. She sighs in relief, and seconds later, the two are staring at each other's faces through the shroud of darkness. “Where are we?” he asks nervously--he’s never been one for darkness nor eery campgrounds of death.
“You can’t tell?” she chuckles darkly. “Hell, obviously.” Her joke is obviously unwanted as the younger boy growls in response. “A troll encampment, which isn’t all that better, to be honest.” she explains, sounding distressed as her eyes struggle to make out the defined features of Tao’s face. The boy says nothing as fear overtakes him--Tao does not like monsters. Hell, as if seeing Su Min every morning wasn’t scary enough, now he has to deal with a real troll? Wonderful.
With half of the group incapacitated, and Tao scared out of his wits, the group is surely doomed.
Author's Note;
►It's been too long, guise. I missed you, did you miss me? -cries- I've been studying for final exams. Le sigh. Anyways, I've been fangirling over MinMin and KaiMin a lot recently. But, I've been forgetting about my first ship; KyungMin. And of course, TaoMin. I'll try to bring you guys to the dark side in the next couple of chapters--muahaha. Well, remember to subscribe, comment, and upvote as well!
►Peyton
P.S.
HAPPY
BELATED
BIRTHDAY
TO OUR LOVELY
BABY BAEKKIE
-You're not my top bias because that spot is occupied by the Chensing Machine
-But, you are my second bias and I love you and you make me happy.
-And you heve ruined my life forever
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