Chapter 21; Force of Light

A dull pain disperses from the back of her head outwards, and it throbs with a vengeance. Su Min groans loudly as her eyelids flutter open, but her sight is blurry and she finds it hard to adjust to the light. As if on cue, the light suddenly dims, and within seconds her surroundings are clear to her. Glancing around, she takes in the hard stone that makes up the cave she’s stationed it. Sharp stalactites jut out from the ceiling far above, and the dim light that’s emitted from the torches bounces off of them, illuminating the room in a soft, warm glow. “The boys,” she hisses, moving to sit up, but finding someone’s hand pushing her back down.

“You’re not well,” an aged voice tells her simply.

Jaw clenched, Su Min directs her attention to the person beside her--an old woman outfit in a blood red hanbok stares down at her with dull brown eyes. Her hair is pulled back into a tight bun, and likewise, her skin seems to be pulled taut across her skull. Despite this, she has a few scattered wrinkles around her eyes and the corner of . She would be pretty, but a swirling tattoo on her forehead convinces Su Min otherwise. “Witch,” Su Min breathes. “Where are my companions?”

The woman blinks, unphased by the crude title Su Min gave her. It’s true, anyways. “Your companions,” she begins, “are with my son.” She smoothes down the fabric of her hanbok, her slim fingers playing with the intricate floral designs on the hem temporarily. Su Min is tempted to retort with a bold statement about how witches can’t have children, but the short look the woman sends her convinces her not to. “Stay still.” she orders, eyes glancing over to meet Su Min’s before she proceeds.

Her hands, wrinkled and callused from years of hard work, hover over Su Min’s body, as if she can sense injury in her body. The woman seems almost perplexed by Su Min’s state, as her eyes narrow and hangs agape. Eyebrows furrowed, she pulls her hands away and tucks them beneath a flap on the front of her hanbok. She opens to speak, but stops upon hearing approaching footsteps. “Su Min!” the four boys call out, rushing forward to greet their friend. Another boy lopes behind them, watching bemusedly.

“We thought you were a goner,” Kyungsoo announces.

Su Min narrows her eyes. “Wow, thanks,” she spits. Tao sits by her side on the bed, his hand comes to rest on her forehead as he brushes her bangs away. The others chat to no one in particular, and after a few seconds, Tao removes his hands. “I’m fine.” Su Min laughs, swatting his hand away and ignoring the concern etched across his face. Kai moves to the front of the group and smiles endearingly, eyes curving upwards as he does so.

“Su Min,” he says before looking behind him and moving the others out of the way to clear a path towards the last boy. “This is our new friend. He saved us.” Kai announces. Su Min looks down the small aisle the boys made, and her eyes come to rest on a slim male figure. He isn’t muscular, no, but he’s languid like Kai. There’s a certain elegance to him that can’t really be described, and somehow, it has Su Min staring in awe. His skin is pale and smooth, and his face seems to possess luminance similar to that of the moon’s. His dark brown eyes are bright and full of life, and his soft pink lips seem almost perfect as he mumbles a greeting.

Biting her lip, Su Min simply nods his way. “Thank you,” she mumbles. “For saving us.” she adds afterwards. Xiumin pushes past the younger boys and gestures towards the boy in a rather accusatory manner. The boy blinks once as he looks from Xiumin to Su Min.

“He’s a Divine Force,” Xiumin states. “The Force of Light.”

Su Min blinks. “That’s how you saved us,” she assumes. “But how do you already have your powers?” she asks, looking to the boy. He opens his mouth to speak, but is cut off as his mother steps forward, pushing past the boys so she’s standing in front of Su Min.

“I knew he was one when I took him in,” she says, “I trained him from when he was a child.” She pauses to look back at her son, who doesn’t seem all too pleased with her interference. “Furthermore, I want you to leave him out of your little mission. I know your intentions, and I don’t want him to be hurt. Once you’re all healed up, I want you to leave. Especially you, there’s something about you.” she spits, dull eyes suddenly ilite with a dark blaze. Her gaze is directed at Su Min, and then she turns to the others. “Please give her time to rest.”

They look hurt as they trudge out, and Su Min quickly turns on her side to avoid contact with the witch. The boy hisses something incomprehensible to his mother before stomping out, obviously angered. Finally, gaining the tiniest bit of courage, she decides to speak. “What did you notice about me? What’s wrong with me?” Su Min asks quietly, blinking her eyes a few times, as if to rid them of tears. A ragged sigh escapes her lips as she pads towards the exit, but she pauses to say something to me.

“I can’t tell you,” she says, “that would mean messing with fate.”

- - -

Fate, Su Min wonders, her fingers playing with the ends of her hair. What fate? The question hangs loosely in the air like a floating lantern, it fills the room with a light unlike a lanterns, however. It’s a ponderous and lonesome light. Intrigued by the idea of fate, Su Min was unable to fall asleep and has been lying stiffly on the bed for hours now. Lips dry and cracked, she glances around weakly, wondering if there is any water around.

Her gaze soon falls upon a wide vatt that sits open-mouthed on the other side of the room. Maybe there’s water in that, she figures, shifting slightly so she’s sitting up. Afraid that her hosts will come in, Su Min doesn’t dare to move for several moments. She soon realizes that it’s well past midnight and it’s likely that everyone is fast asleep. Still tentative, she stands up, bracing herself on the edge of the bed. Her legs feel wobbly, similar to how a newborn calf’s must feel.

Padding forwards, Su Min finds herself longing for a single drop of cold liquid. Anything would do, really. Even that sickly sweet substance her father used to feed her as a child--a serum, of sorts, made of tree sap and fruit. It was awful. her lips, Su Min peers into the vatt with wide, expectant eyes. The substance in question is clear, completely and totally transparent. It reflects her own intrigued eyes back in startling clarity, but the image there startles her.

Stepping backwards, Su Min shakes her head a few times, desperately trying to stop her body from trembling. That--What was that!? Am I--her thoughts are cut short as she hits into something firm yet malleable. Looking up, she finds her gaze being met by the bright eyes of the witch’s son. Concern flashes across his features for a mere second, but it is soon replaced by a clever grin. “You’re not supposed to be out of bed. Moreover, you’re not supposed to be snooping.” he quips.

“I--” Su Min begins, struggling to regain her composure. “I was not snooping!” she retorts.

His eyebrows raise questioningly. “Then, what were you doing?”

Rolling her eyes, Su Min crosses her arms over her chest. “I have no need to tell you,” she snaps. “Anyways, what are you doing here?” Su Min demands angrily. The boy, whose name she is still unaware of, seems to shrug off the fact that she never answered his question as he clears his throat. Displeased with the boy’s demanding demeanor, Su Min taps her foot quickly. “You know what, forget about it. I’m not in the mood to deal with a child, anyways.”

Appalled, the boy glares at Su Min as she proceeds to go lie back down, back facing towards him. “If you must know,” he growls, “your ‘friends’ sent me to come get you. Evidently, you’re not interested in seeing them.” Su Min bolts upwards, eyes narrowed. This boy knows how to get to her--it’s aggravating. A loud sigh escapes her lips as she gestures towards the door. Honestly, she’d rather not be affiliated with those boys. They’re a disgrace to her status. However, she can’t return to her old life without finding all of the Divine Forces first. Somehow, she’s beginning to despise them all.

“Show me to them,” she says, causing the boy to raise an eyebrow. “Please.” she adds begrudgingly.

He barely glances back as he exits the room, what Su Min does notice, however, is the clever smirk planted on his lips.

- - -

“You have a name?” Su Min mumbles after several minutes of heavy silence. The boy, who is walking several strides ahead of her, glances back. The torch light that bounces off the walls of the tunnel illuminates his brown eyes, making them alight with a playful luminance. Su Min widens her eyes slightly, as if to scare him into answering.

The boy shrugs as he mumbles his name, “Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun. The name seems achingly similar, then again, it has always been hard for her to distinguish between names. “Mine’s Su Min,” she announces. “Bang Su Min, daughter of the Leader of the Night Children.” she continues proudly, and suddenly the medallion stuffed in between her robes seems to burn against her skin. Baekhyun seems intrigued by this as he slows down to match her pace. Glancing over, he takes in the petite girls dainty build with mocking eyes.

“I’ve never seen a female Night Child,” he states. Su Min sneers, remembering how she was looked down upon for being the only female warrior in the clan. What a brute, they’d say. She belongs in the kitchen, they’d say. Her family must be so disgraced, they’d say. Eyes burning with a dull flame, Su Min glares up at Baekhyun. “There’s nothing wrong with something being different, though.” he adds carefully.

Su Min nods. “I can keep up, and as far as I know, that’s all that matters.”

Baekhyun opens his mouth to voice a thought, but stops as the two emerge into a wide cavern. There are several sleeping mats laid out and the walls are lined with the thick fur coats of various beasts. Torch light illuminates the room, and sitting in the center are four boys. Xiumin. Kyungsoo. Kai. Tao. They look up as the echo of footsteps draws nearer, and smile upon seeing the ravaged looking Su Min. She looks tired, really, but that doesn’t stop Kyungsoo from enveloping her in a hug.

She shifts awkwardly in his grasp, letting out choked sounds as he mumbles between bites of food. Xiumin takes the risk of ruffling Su Min’s hair, finding it simply hilarious to see how she squirms. Kai attempts to kiss her forehead but is dragged away by Tao who keeps whining about how Kyungsoo won’t bathe with him. Pushing away from them, Su Min finds herself standing in the middle of the room, hands on her hips as she screams at them, “Shut up!”

Everyone silences as they look to her. Except Baekhyun, who seems worried. “You’ll wake my mother up!” he hisses through clenched teeth. Su Min shrugs and sits down, grabbing a bowl of food and eating. The boys stare at her in silence, watching as she eats in a rather barbaric fashion. She tears at the meat aggravatedly, savoring the slightly sweet taste. The boys soon join her, offering up their food to Su Min as she runs out of her own.

Full, she lies back and stares up at the stalactite covered ceiling of the cavern. The jagged rocks sparkle like the night stars, and the sight is so serene, she nearly passes out right then and there. But then she smells it. The smell of burnt hair and rotting flesh mixed with the sickly sweet stench of something worn by military officials. Seconds later, Su Min is pulled onto her feet as the witch runs ins, eyes wide and teary.

“They’ve found me,”