With a lonely moon slowly creeping across the sky, the four brothers slowly made their way towards the decaying ruins of Sumin’s once humble refuge as the fear in their hearts grew with apprehension of the shadows lingering just inside the darkness of the surrounding forest. The ground, unforgiving and brittle beneath their feet, held no warmth; saturated with ever-lingering despair as it had existed for centuries; while the scent of ash and faint hints of smoldering brimstone swirled within a nearly still breeze. 

“Be on your guard.” warned Changmin softly, his sharp and heightened eyes narrowed, as he scanned the clearing before them in search of eminent and unseen dangers “There’s no telling what’s waiting for us in the shadows.”

From deep within the forest, the sound of a lone wolf howling at the glowing moon above echoed through the eerie silence mere moments before an errant, forceful wind blew through the clearing kicking up ash and sand. Shielding their eyes from the near blinding thickness of the wind, the four brothers suddenly felt the stale air shift and turn deathly cold. Billowing through the clearing only for a moment, the phantom wind dissipated leaving the princes almost breathless as they slowly breathed in and out, releasing small puffs of mist with each exhalation, and tried to calm their thundering hearts.

“Haunted...” came Junsu’s cautioning voice as he raised his family sword and noticed the faint glow from the shard of Miseara deep within the blade.

 Yoochun, Yunho, and Changmin each glanced at Junsu, then to his sword, and then to their own.

“The shard is here.” breathed out Yunho hesitantly “We must find it.”

“What must you find?” came an echoing, disembodied voice from the darkness.

Startled by the sound, the four brothers instantly crowded together back to back with their swords at the ready. Scanning the surrounding clearing, the each searched for the origin of the sound until Changmin’s sharp and determined eyes noticed a shadow flittering through the darkness just beyond the encroaching black razor sharp vines that enveloped Sumin’s once humble refuge. 

“Who’s there!” demanded Yoochun forcefully.

“The master of this realm...” replied the voice, deep and resonating and laced with despair “And one not to suffer intruders lightly...”

“We do not seek to intrude...” offered up Yunho, hoping that the mysterious apparition before them would venture reason rather than violence “We only to seek to reclaim what is ours.”

“Ours?” questioned the deep voice almost mockingly “No such item exist in my realm, all before you exists for my torment and my torment alone...for all eternity.”

“Torment?” questioned Junsu softly “What does he mean?”

“Trapped spirit, maybe?” whispered Changmin suspiciously.

“Could it really be...?” questioned Yoochun disbelievingly “a trapped soul?”

“What torments you spirit?” questioned Yunho wearingly as he watched the lingering apparition as it seemed to sway back and forth.

“A sacrifice undone...a sacred heart lost to the darkness...a life unfulfilled....lost to the ravages of time...” moaned the voice slowly, heartbreak and agony lacing every word, as the air around the four princes grew colder and colder “tormented...twisted...imprisoned...a faithful heart...shattered beyond repair...lost to the glory of the heavens...by one swift hand of a broken man...Sentenced to linger...in despair...in the world it created...for all eternity...”

“You’re a prisoner here?” questioned Yunho apprehensively.

“Sentenced to linger in despair...in the world it created....for all eternity...” the spirit repeated “Longing...longing....longing...”

“What do you long for spirit?” questioned Yoochun curiously.

“An end....release....forgiveness...” the spirit moaned despairingly.

“Reunion...” it whispered breathlessly, the word reverberating through the clearing ominously.

“Reunion?” questioned Junsu confusedly as a sudden heart wrenching thought flickered across his mind and he reached up and grabbed Yunho’s shoulder in dismay “Could it be...?”

“Sumin?” interrupted Changmin softly, coming to the same conclusion of his brother almost instantly “It’s possible. No one knows what became of him. Perhaps, he still lingers here...perhaps he truly is the source of the curse upon this place.”

Tearing his eyes away from his brothers, Yunho settled his vision on the apparition once more.

“Why have you been imprisoned here?” Yunho questioned with concern lacing his voice.

“My punishment...” answered the voice, its voice changing into a deeper tone of regret and misery, as it seemed to sigh with an errant wind “My love...I could...I could not save him...”

“Misery...loneliness...despair...” the voice softly echoed “alone...alone...alone...lost without him...world in darkness...life lost...by my hand...”

“It has to be Sumin...” prompted Yoochun softly “What do we do?”

“I don’t know.” breathed out Yunho wearily.

“Did you...” ventured Junsu almost forcefully as he took a step towards the distant spirit “take your own life...?”

“By my own hand...” repeated the voice “to return...reunion...but cursed...imprisoned...tormented... lost...”

“Sumin...” gasped Junsu heartbrokenly, suddenly shaking as the realization that his brokenhearted forbearer somehow still existed in such a form; his consciousness, his soul tormented in such a dark and lonely place;  as he looked upon the spirit with desperately pleading eyes “took his own life?”

“And was cursed for it?” added Yoochun questioningly.

“Yes...” came the disembodied voice echoing once more as another errant gust of wind carried his pain stricken moan through the clearing.

“By the Divines.” whispered Yunho softly.

“Release me...” wailed the voice as if in unbelievable pain “Must return...must...return...Release me...release me...”

Before Yunho could ask how they could possibly relieve the spirit’s misery and set him free, the apparition suddenly vanished as deep, resonating, guttural growl ominously emanated from the darkness of the tree line to their right.

“What was that?” questioned Yunho instantly as four sets of eyes shot to the edge of the tree line milliseconds after Kiera immediately growled in warning.

Suddenly, a flicker of reflected moonlight sparkled in the shadows as another low growl echoed from behind them and the deathly cold wind stirred with the smell of smoldering brimstone once more. The four princes, senses heightened, returned to their battle stances and watched the shadows as they slowly began to move just beyond sight. Several flickers of reflected moonlight sparkled from the shadows once more, this time far more succinct and visual than the ones before, and as if on instinct Junsu flinched as a memory of his childhood flashed across his mind.

“It can’t be...” he whispered.

“What?” questioned Yoochun.

“No...” dismissed Junsu softly “they were destroyed...it can’t be...”

“It can’t be what?” prompted Yunho worriedly.

“DRAGONKIN!” suddenly screamed out Changmin as the first of the lingering shadows hiding in the darkness ventured out into the errant moonlight; eyes fierce, venom dripping from its lips; as it uttered a nearly inaudible but ominously resonating growl.

“Drakes!” countered Yoochun as he took in the relative medium stature of the second dragonkin as it emerged from the darkness and instantly recognized the immature form of the mythical creature’s life cycle.

“What do we do?” questioned Yunho.

“Don’t underestimate them...” warned Changmin as he tightened his grip on his sword “they may be smaller than full sized dragons...but they are unbelievably clever and extremely dangerous.”

“They’re unable to breathe fire at this size...” advised Yoochun knowingly “but their acidic venom is lethal.”

“Don’t get bit.” nodded Yunho “Got...it!”

“Not just...” countered Yoochun just before the four young princes suddenly dropped to the ground instinctively as one of the drakes, marked by deep green scales, spun harshly and whipped its spiked tale over their heads with a deep and vicious roar.

“It looks...” chuckle Changmin, almost with pleasure, as he slowly pushed himself up from the ash covered ground “like they’re determined at least.”

“What’s the plan?” questioned Yunho.

“Distraction and diversion.” replied Changmin “Chunnie, you’re with me. Yun, you and little girl take the other.”

“What about me?” questioned Junsu.

“Go for your bow.” replied Changmin “Drakes have a weak spot under their chin. The scales covering their throats are still soft at this age. Aim for there, while we keep them busy!”

“Got it!” nodded Junsu.

In a flurry of movement, Changmin, Yunho and Yoochun peeled off from the group with their swords expertly controlled and instinctively squared off with their targets. The second the creatures were distracted, Junsu darted for the horses tied out just outside the clearing. Coming to a sliding stop by his horse moments later, the young prince snatched his bow from his saddle and grabbed a quiver of green-feathered silver headed arrows from his back saddle bag. Clutching the quiver in his hand, he quickly thanked the While Lady in his head for providing him with such special ammunition before he slung it over his shoulder and made a beeline back to the clearing as the sound of an ungodly roars, screams of exertion, and clanging steel echoed all around him.

Entering the clearing in a dead run, Junsu instantly came to a screaming halt. Snatching an arrow from the quiver on his back, he locked it in, and drew the bowstring taught as he trained it on the green scaled drake squaring off with Yunho and Kiera. As the faithful war hound attacked one of the creature’s front legs, Yunho parried and dodged the drake’s quick snaps of it venom laced jaws and deadly whips of its agile tail, skillfully. With its head lowered, focused on Yunho and throat protected, Junsu had no line of sight. Quickly racking his brain for a way to get the monster to shift so he would have a clear shot, Junsu watched the creature’s movements for a moment as his heart raced. Suddenly a thought flashed across his mind, and with a quick nod to himself, he trained his arrow on the creature’s face and just as the drake dropped his head and let out another deafening roar he loosed it. The arrow shot across the clearing at unbelievable speed and hit its mark, the drake’s left eye, just as Yunho landed an uppercut to the creature’s snout with a swing of his sword. The second the drake’s head reeled back from the combination blow of his first arrow and Yunho’s determined strike, Junsu instantly trained a second arrow and loosed it. Seconds later the drake was dead upon the ground, bleeding out from the arrow strike and Yunho’s responsive retaliatory strike to its throat thereafter. 

“One down...one to go.” muttered Junsu under his breath as he pulled a third arrow from his quiver and watched Yunho and Kiera dart across the clearing towards to Yoochun and Changmin.

Poised to strike with precision, Yoochun held a low guard as he watched the movements of the red scaled, slightly larger, drake before him. Far more cunning than its counterpart, the creature was well matched against the two princes. With narrowing and intense eyes, the creature focused on the warrior princes with deadly efficiency. Spinning in place, kicking up ash and sand, the drake whipped its spiked tail at his prey viciously. Diving away from the strike, just as the tail thudded upon the ground beside him, Changmin rolled expertly to his feet and in one swift and perfectly aimed strike sliced through the tail’s tough hide before peeling away from the creature’s reach as Yoochun swung his sword towards the drake’s snout. Dodging the blow to the face, the monster shook his head left, then right, and then suddenly slammed his head into Yoochun’s chest, knocking him across the clearing some thirty feet, before instantly sweeping its injured tail and taking Changmin’s legs out from underneath him.  Kiera, in a full-on sprint lunged, teeth bared, at the drake’s right hind leg, sunk her teeth in, and locked her jaw; unwilling to release the monster who would mean death to her beloved masters; as Yunho came to a skidding stop in front of the drake’s right front leg and cleaved a heavy blow.

Junsu watched on, arrow drawn tightly and trained on the creature, as his brother’s dodged, parried, swiped, and lunged trying to take the drake down. As the chaotic moments began to build, Junsu’s heart suddenly felt unbelievably heavy. He believed in his brother’s, their ability as warriors and their unshakable determination, but worry for their lives crept in to his heart as the passage of time seemed to slow to a crawl. He didn’t know what to do. The drake was far too cunning. With three warrior princes and a highly trained war hound doing everything they could to destroy it, the creature seemed to almost revel in the battle, as if it knew that they were no match.

“What do I do?” questioned Junsu softly as his eyes followed the flurry of moments before him.

Suddenly the drake reared back on its hind legs, almost in frustration, and swiped its massive claw at Yunho. Grabbing his blade with his left hand, Yunho raised his sword to block the well timed strike. Straining against the ungodly strength pressed down upon him by the drake’s claw, muscles screaming in protest, Yunho summoned every ounce of his fortitude to stop the attack from taking his life.  With the drake’s attention finally, succinctly, focused on Yunho, pushing and pushing, determined to crush the lowly human before it, Kiera tightened her bite on the creature’s hind leg while Changmin reared back and plunged his sword into the monster’s side. As the pain registered in the creature’s mind, the drake reeled his head back and let out a deafening roar.

“NOW JUNSU!” screamed Yoochun as he clutched his bruised ribs and desperately tried to push himself up of the ground.

Releasing a held breath he didn’t even realize he was holding, Junsu closed his eyes and surrendered to the moment as he loosed his arrow. As the shot flew across the clearing expertly, Yunho pushed back against the drake’s pressing claw and forcefully sliced through the soft flesh as it fell away. The second his sword was free, he spun his body flaringly and came in contact with the soft scaled throat of the drake seconds after the arrow buried itself in the creature’s skin. Letting out one last strained roar, the creature fell upon the ground with massive thud. Eyes closed. Breath stilled. Its blood seeping out upon the ash covered ground as Yunho breathed heavily.

“Yoochun!” called out Changmin as he withdrew his sword from the slain beast and eyed his brother lying on the ground straining to sit up “Alright there?”

“Aye!” Yoochun answered in his usually gruff voice as Junsu came to his side.

“Let me help you.” said Junsu softly as he reached down and grabbed Yoochun’s arm “Can you stand?”

“Aye...” he breathed out gently with a nod.

Before the four brothers could even catch their breaths, a sudden gust of wind blew through the clearing carrying with it the scent of ash mixed with dragon’s blood and faint hints of brimstone and swirled around the two drakes ferociously until the sight of their corpses faded behind a wall of spinning and swirling ash. A few intense moments later, the wind instantly died. The once spiraling ash softly floated to the ground revealing nothing left in the wind’s wake. The slain beasts’ corpses were gone in the blink of an eye. No remnants, not even a drop of blood, left behind.

“Another test?” questioned Yunho softly as he looked at the confused faces of his brothers.

“Perhaps...” breathed out Changmin as pulled a piece of cloth dangling from his waist strap and wiped away the last of the drake’s blood from Dawnbreaker’s still glowing blade. Glancing down at Dreamseeker dangling in his hand, Yunho sighed at the matching blue glow deep within its steel.

“The shard...” he breathed out, turning his eyes back to the dilapidated hovel covered in black thorns.

“Let’s get this done...” grunted Yoochun as he pushed himself from Junsu’s hold “before any more surprises show themselves.”

“Right.” nodded Changmin in agreement.

With the battle still fresh in their minds, the four princes made their way towards the doorway of the hut slowly. Eyes steadfast and alert, they watched for any signs of more trouble as Yunho reached out a grabbed the edge of the slightly ajar, rotted remnants, of the once sturdy wooden door and slowly pulled it open with force. The unforgiving wood nearly rooted to the undergrowth around the small hut creaked and moaned at the movement long forgotten and shimmed with the force’s reverberations, releasing ages upon ages of ash and dust within a soft cloud into the air. Frustrated by the wooden door’s stubbornness and hesitation to move freely, Yunho buried the tip of his sword into the ash laden ground at his feet and tugged the door open with both hands. As the undergrowth finally gave way, the door opened, allowing the errant moonlight from up above to filter in. Grabbing his glowing sword and setting it free from its earthly captor, Yunho raised it in front of him and hesitantly stepped inside as Changmin retrieved a flint from his belt and lit the long-since cold torch hanging silently on the wall beside the entryway.

Stepping in slowly, each of the four brother’s took in the interior of the long abandoned remains of the once safe haven slowly. The bare and unforgiving walls, dilapidated by the ravages of time, rotting and falling apart at the seams, held no sense of comfort or solace; allowing the errant moonlight and stale cold air from the decaying forest to filter in unrestrained; leaving behind nothing but lingering despair and a palpable loneliness that chilled the four princes to the bone. The single solitary hearth, sitting stoically against the back wall, no longer held the warmth that it once had and seemed to whisper of things left unsaid with every soft gust of wind from the world outside.  Near one corner sat a makeshift bed, carved from Birchwood and linked in rusted iron castings, covered with a pile of long-since abandoned brittle straw draped by a decaying and crumbling wool blanket under a deep layer of undisturbed ash. Long abandoned furniture, trims, and trapping laid scattered all around the small room, in disarray as if carelessly tossed aside with no thought, all covered in the same deep layer of ash as the floor beneath their feet.

“Search thoroughly.” ordered Yunho as he glanced down at his glowing blade once more “It’s got to be here somewhere.”

Before the princes could take even one more step to begin their search, the hearth suddenly flickered to life with a gentle fire that slowly began to illuminate the room. As the glow intensified, a harsh gust of wind slammed into the walls of the hut, causing it to shimmy and creak in protest. As dust as ash fell from between the remaining roof slats up above, a deep rumble was heard seconds before the apparition cloaked in shadow appeared once more, floating quietly above the bed in the corner of the room. Without a word uttered, the creature waved its hand towards the ground; calling forth a soft gust of wind that crawled across the ground of the hut stirring up the top layer of ash. As the gust traveled across the floor, spinning and swirling within itself, the four princes watched it in fascination and confusion until the manifestation reached the far side of the room. Sweeping softly, the wind suddenly revealed several sets of footprints, buried by the ravages of time within layers upon layers of settled ash, that seemed to lead to the pile of rotting and dilapidated broken barrels and crates carelessly stack up in the far corner of the room. 

Tearing his eyes from the newly revealed trail, Yunho looked up at the apparition only to see it vanish into thin air. Shaking away an errant thought that the ghostly presence was trying to help them in some way, Yunho motioned to his brother to follow as he traced the steps buried in the ash to the corner of the room. Crouching down, he studied where the footprints seemed to disappear into nothingness for a moment before reaching out and slowly dusting