Sunny ran as fast as her legs could take her, distancing herself as far as she could from the dangers behind her. In her hand, she tightly clutched Hyomin’s whom she could hear pant heavily as she tried to keep up with Sunny’s pace. They had ran into the deep wilderness of the forest – massive trees, exotic plants, bushes, vines; Hyomin would’ve thought they were in the jungle.

Soon Hyomin’s legs began to falter from exhaustion, struggling to take further steps. Her legs finally crumpled and she fell to the ground on her knees, her hand tearing away from Sunny’s.

Sunny immediately halted when she no longer felt the other girl’s hand in her own and turned to find her breathing heavily, her head bowed down.

“Are you ok?” Sunny crouched down in front of her, grabbing her shoulders. She did not respond but continued to breathe deeply, keeping her eyes on the ground. “We can’t stop,” Sunny said she tried to lift her up, “we need to keep-“

“No…” Hyomin quietly muttered, resisting against Sunny’s grip.

“We can’t stay here, it’s not-“

“Were they dead?” Hyomin asked, finally looking up, allowing Sunny to see the tears trailing down from her panicked eyes.

“What?” Sunny asked, caught off guard by her question.

“Were they dead?!” Hyomin cried.

“Yes,” Sunny nodded, holding onto Hyomin’s shoulders again, “we killed those things. But we may still be in danger-“

“No,” Hyomin meekly muttered shaking her head, “the soldiers. Are they dead?!”

Sunny stuttered, now understanding Hyomin’s question and tears. Back on the battlefield, where Yunho remained with the troops, battling against the dreaded beast from the ground; when Sunny had ran to Hyomin’s side, she was alarmed at the many bodies she ran past. Broken, mangled and bloodied.

Sunny closed and gulped, unable to answer Hyomin who continued to stare back at her with b eyes. What was she to say to her? That the men who had sworn to protect her were slaughtered within only hours? What protection would she find if those who are to protect her cannot defend themselves?

“Hyomin, listen, we have to keep moving,” Sunny ushered her once more, standing back up.

“What’s happening?” Hyomin’s strained voice asked as she let Sunny lift her up, “what was that thing?”

“Don’t worry about it. Right now we just need to-“

Sunny trailed off when Hyomin let out a loud scream, her eyes directed behind Sunny. She spun around to find one of the underground creatures from before spring at her, allowing her no time to react.

Just as the face as the creature was before her own, it was blasted far back in flames, crunching as it hit the ground. Sunny twirled back to see Tiffany, Hyoyeon and Yoona run their way, saving the two of them just in time.

Sunny turned her attention back to Hyomin who had fallen to her knees again, her trembling hands grasping at as she stared wide eyes at the frightening creature.

“Hyomin,” Sunny quickly grasped her Hyomin’s shoulders again, placing herself in front of her so she could not see the creature anymore. “It’s okay. It’s alright,” Sunny gently spoke to her.

Hyomin took heavy breaths, muffled behind her hand as she tightly grabbed onto Sunny’s arm as she lifted her back up. The sickeningly looking creature now laid many feet away from them, though it still sent a chill down Hyomin’s spine, a beast she has never seen the likes of before. She couldn’t take her eyes away from it, unaware of when Tiffany, Hyoyeon and Yoona finally joined their side.

“Are you guys ok?” Tiffany immediately asked. “Hyomin, are you alright?” she asked as soon as she noticed the shock on the Earth girl’s face.

“We’re fine,” Sunny assured her. “Just a little shaken up-“

Hyomin loudly gasped and her eyes, still directed at the creature, grew wider than they already were. The mages turned to see the creature that was struck down slowly lifting itself up again.

“I’ll take care of it,” Yoona said as she jogged up to the creature, pulling out a dagger from her belt as well. It viciously snarled at Yoona as she approached it and quickly swung her dagger at its face, pushing it back. As it squirmed on the ground, Yoona raised her dagger, aiming it for its throat.

“Hyomin, look away,” Tiffany said as she turned Hyomin around, facing away from the scene, but that did not shield her from the gruesome sounds of Yoona decapitating the creature. Hyomin felt her stomach churn and she fought the urge to retch.

“Hey,” Tiffany softly spoke to her, bowing her head lightly to look at Hyomin’s lowered face, “it’s okay, everything’s okay.” When her words did little to calm Hyomin down, she took her into her arms and lightly embraced her, where she could feel her fall slightly limp in her grip.

“I knew at one point things could go bad,” Hyoyeon spoke, “I didn’t think it’d go this bad so soon.”

“What are we going to do now?” Yoona asked as she regrouped with the others.

“Did you see Taeyeon and the others? We need to wait-“

Sunny was interrupted by a loud rumble and shriek as another creature burst through the ground nearby, the girls’ heart momentarily freezing from the sudden startle.

“Oh you son of a…” Hyoyeon extended her arm and immediately fired a powerful blast that successfully scorched through the creature’s head, rendering it dead in seconds. When the noise subsided, they could her Hyomin’s cry which had become more audible and panicked.

“It’s okay, Hyomin!” Tiffany assured the girl, caressing her head as Hyomin clutched onto her tighter.

Another burst through the ground behind Tiffany, before Hyomin’s eyes and she screamed at the horrid faceless being. Before any of them could react or the creature could lunge at them, a dagger suddenly through its head from behind, its blood spilling out. The creature fell lifeless to the ground and the girls saw their remaining companions running up to them.

“Are you all alright?” Sooyoung called to them from the distance.

“We’re fine!” Sunny responded.

“We need to get Hyomin somewhere safe,” Tiffany urged, clutching onto the tearing panic-stricken girl.

“We need to keep moving forward,” Taeyeon spoke urgently as she and the remaining joined the others.

“Shouldn’t we stay in one place until Yunho-“

“No,” Taeyeon interrupted Hyoyeon, “it’s not safe for Hyomin and us to be here right now. The Tyrant has been watching us.”

“What?” Sunny asked in disbelief.

“I’ll explain later, right now we need to keep moving,” Tiffany instructed her friends, taking the lead and jogging forward.

“Do you know which way we’re going?” Jessica asked as she and the others began to trail behind Taeyeon.

“Don’t worry, I have a map,” Taeyeon said gesturing towards the bag slung over her shoulder. “We’ll stick to our path and head east till we reach the Light Way Road.”

-

Seohyun inhaled deeply as they progressed further through the wilderness. She took a look back at their group who were just as exhausted as her, trying to catch their breaths as they were put on the run immediately after battle. Some were beginning to struggle, most especially Hyomin.

“Taeyeon,” the youngest called to their leader, catching up to her side, “perhaps we should stop to rest for a moment.” Taeyeon looked back at the group but did not immediately stop. “Hyomin is tired,” Seohyun said, hopping to convince her.

Taeyeon looked back to Hyomin and saw indeed she was struggling to keep up. They were all physically exhausted and perhaps mentally in Hyomin’s case. Taeyeon looked at their surroundings, they had travelled deep into the forest and had not encountered any danger for a while. A momentary rest would not deter them.

“Ok,” Taeyeon said as she finally came to a halt, “let’s stop here a moment.”

Her group let out relieved sighs in unisons as some seated themselves down. Tiffany guided Hyomin towards a fallen tree, seating both of them over the log. Hyomin released a deep sigh, letting her tense muscles relax. She lowered her gaze to the ground when a sudden a thought occurred to her and she immediately retracted her legs up, folding them on top of the tree. Tiffany was confused by her sudden actions at first but was quick to realize.

“It’s okay,” she said to her, patting her knee, “there shouldn’t be any more of those things here.”

“How do you know?”

“Trust me,” Tiffany smiled reassuringly.

“What were those things?” Hyomin addressed the rest of the group.

“We don’t know,” Yuri solemnly responded, seated against a tree with Hyoyeon. “We’ve never seen anything like them before.”

“Nor that giant worm thing,” Hyoyeon added.

“Where did they come from then? Why did they attack us?” Hyomin frantically asked.

“From the Realm of the Reaper most likely,” Sooyoung answered.

“What?” Hyomin looked to the taller girl.

“When the Tyrant escaped,” Taeyeon spoke up, “he brought out with him many of the imprisoned fiends. We never seen such things because they’re likely creatures thought to be extinct.”

“Or just something completely new from the Realm,” Jessica said, arms crossed, leaning her shoulder over a tree.

“What’s going to happen now then?” Hyomin asked.

“We just keep moving. We’ll rendezvous with Yunho at the Light Way Road. We discussed if anyone were to get lost, we stick to our path,” Taeyeon said.

“But… what about the soldiers?”

“They’ll be with him of course.”

“Not all of them though,” Hyomin sadly spoke. Taeyeon opened to respond but paused, coming to understand what Hyomin was implying. Before their eyes, many had been slaughtered and they could do nothing but carry on with those that remained. “Will Yunho just leave them there?”

“We have no choice Hyomin,” Taeyeon softly spoke, “we need to keep moving.”

“So we’re just going to leave them there?” Hyomin asked, slightly raising her voice. Taeyeon could see Hyomin was growing upset, she was just as distraught over their lost men but this was exactly what the king warned them of. It was their own fault for not being physically nor mentally prepared enough.

“Yunho will take care of it. Don’t worry about it,” Taeyeon simply said.

“How can I not worry about it? They died because of me!”

“Hey,” Taeyeon walked up to stand in front of Hyomin, slightly leaning down to be at her eye level, “they knew what going out there meant, but they still did. We all chose to be here. For you.”

“I never wanted anyone to die for me,” Hyomin said, eyes watering.

Taeyeon released a solemn sigh. She patted Hyomin’s shoulder as she stood up straight. “You can see this is why we desperately needed you here,” she said before walking away, occupying herself by scouting the area.

Noticing the distressed look on Taeyeon’s own face, Tiffany gave Hyomin a comforting side hug before standing up to join Taeyeon’s side, in hopes to offer her some comfort as well. Seeing Tiffany walk away, Sunny decided to move closer to the lone Hyomin, who now remained quiet, keeping her eyes lowered. She did not seem to notice Sunny’s presence now beside her or perhaps chose to disregard it. Sunny sat down beside her, keeping her eyes on her whereas Hyomin’s remained on the ground. Sunny suddenly felt awkward, unsure of if she should offer her some consoling words or any form of actions. She felt sorry for Hyomin, who had showcased to be very cheery and bright but now here she sat beside her, with a broken expression. Sunny felt responsible for the torment she was suffering. They should’ve never let her see what she did back there.

Sunny decided to not say a word and simply sat still beside Hyomin, keeping close as her guard.

Seohyun looked over her group, dismayed expressions adorning all their faces as they rested their bodies, consumed completely in silence.

Silence?

“Is the Light Way Road supposed to be up ahead?” Jessica asked Taeyeon.

“Yes,” Taeyeon answered. “We had gone north when we entered the forest but should be back eastward now.”

“Taeyeon,” Seohyun softly called out to her but she was oblivious to her soft call.

“We just have to keep going straight from here onwards,” Taeyeon said.

“I think Yunho would be on the move now,” Sooyoung said.

“Taeyeon…”

“I think so too,” Taeyeon nodded. “If they can’t slay the monster, they would’ve likely retreated.”

“Granted the monster didn’t slay them,” Jessica commented.

“Everyone…”

“Don’t get all negative now, Jessica,” Hyoyeon said.

“I’m just saying,” Jessica shrugged.

“Everyone!”

The mages abruptly looked up to the youngest who had suddenly yelled out.

“What is it, Seohyun?” Taeyeon asked her, surprised.

“Do you hear that?” Seohyun whispered to them. The mages and Hyomin began listening to the air, attempting to trace any oddity that had caught Seohyun’s attention. After several moments though, none of them could hear a thing.

Jessica looked about her companions, seeing if anyone had any better luck than her. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Exactly,” Seohyun said. “It’s gotten quiet.”

Taeyeon focused her listening once more, through the sounds of nature, birds, and insects chirping. Except, there were absolutely none. There was nothing but a void that filled their ears. Taeyeon looked around them, not a single movement aside from their own. Not a rustle in the bushes, or a pest on the ground.

“You’re right,” Yuri said, having picked up the odd silence as well. “Something’s not right.”

“Why?” Hyomin asked. “Shouldn’t silence be good?”

“No…” Jessica said, very slowly pushing off from the tree she was leaning on, her eyes cautiously observing their surroundings, “not in this case.”

“We should probably get going,” Yoona said, gradually lifting herself from the ground as well.

“Let’s move everyone,” Taeyeon instructed her companions. “Carefully.”

All the mages, cautious of their surroundings, slowly followed behind their leader. Hyomin watched the mages become tense, putting themselves on guard for whatever danger the silence was supposed to bear. She however voiced no protest and followed along as Sunny ushered her.

“Hyomin?” Tiffany called back to the Earth girl.

“I’ve got her,” Sunny said, from the end of the group where she trailed with Hyomin. Seeing she was by Sunny’s side, Tiffany returned her gaze to the path ahead.

The mages and Hyomin trekked slowly and carefully, irked by the lack of noise that persisted even after many moments but they were wary not to make too much noise of their own.

“Stick close to me Hyomin,” Sunny whispered, her eyes watching the plants and trees as if waiting for something to jump out and attack. Sunny almost fell over when she was ‘attacked’ from behind; Hyomin had literally latched onto Sunny’s back. The short mage looked over her shoulder agitatedly as Hyomin gazed back innocently. “Not that close!”

“Oh, sorry,” Hyomin apologized, stepping back a few meters. As they continued on, Hyomin furrowed her eyebrows at Sunny’s back, starting to miss having Tiffany beside her instead.

“Do you think something else’s out there?” Sooyoung whispered.

“We’ll know as soon as it jumps out and eats us,” Jessica responded.

“Jessica…”

“I’m jus’ saying!” Jessica exclaimed, albeit in a hushed tone. Hyomin heard the two speak, fright slowly rising in her at the mention of another impending attack. She began to realize the silence was indeed eerie, as if something had scared all life away. She looked around her, they were surrounded by trees, large plants, bushes, vines; anything could be hiding out there. She took a glance behind her and froze.

Hyomin’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of two thin trails of seemingly thick smoke that slithered through the ground like snakes, making their way up to her. She blinked her eyes several times, dazed by the unnerving manifestation. The two tentacles of smokes came closer but she was too stunned to move or call to her guardians. Her heartbeat hitched as the tentacles came up to her feet, her hands trembling furiously, hoping the mysterious entity to leave her be. One tentacle then slid around Hyomin’s ankle, fastening itself around it followed by the second tentacle on her other ankle.

Hyomin felt faint and slowly turned her torso around to Sunny who continued walking forth, not noticing the presence of the shadowy tentacles.

“Sunny…” Hyomin’s voice barely croaked.

“Hm?” Sunny turned around to find Hyomin, half turned towards her, her face completely pale and petrified.

Suddenly, the tentacles forcefully pulled at Hyomin’s ankle, throwing her to the ground and swiftly began dragging her away.

“SUNNY!”

“HYOMIN!”

Sunny immediately raced after Hyomin as she was being pulled away across the surface so fast she would’ve been out of her sight has she not made chase instantly.

At their screams, the other mages swiftly turned around and saw Sunny’s retreating back and Hyomin being pulled away into the distance.

“Hyomin!” Tiffany yelled as she and the others quickly raced as fast as they could behind Sunny.

“TIFFANY! TAEYEON!” Hyomin cried out till ached. She yelped and cried out as she was powerfully dragged across the ground, her whole body aching as she was lugged past and through rocks, logs and anything in the way. She tried to reach out and grab anything to stop herself but at the speed she was being hauled, she could barely grasp anything.

Sunny clenched her teeth and she pushed her legs to take her faster, jumping over anything in her path, chasing after Hyomin who would slowly disappear from her vision if she did not move faster. She started to feel the presence of her companions around her as they too ran with all their might.

They weren’t sure how far they had run but they eventually reached a more open area and could see in the distance a creek, directly where the tentacles were dragging Hyomin. Sunny clenched her teeth and quickened her pace, not wanting to let Hyomin be taken into the river but her attempt would be futile as she watched Hyomin get dragged into the water and disappear. Sunny did not stop and with Taeyeon having reached her side, they both sped up to the river. As they drew closer, without hesitation they immediately dived in.

The remaining mages halted by the river edge, breathing deeply as their eyes looked about frantically over the torrents, awaiting for their friends to reemerge.

“Should we go in?” Sooyoung looked to the others.

“I think we should,” Yuri said as she prepared to jump in.

“Wait! Look!” Yoona pointed down the stream, where they spotted Hyomin caught between two boulders, saving her from being pulled further down the stream. Taeyeon and Sunny were swimming her way.

The two mages kicked their feet and swung their arms as fast as they could to get to Hyomin before she could be pulled away from them. The stream had pushed her between two rocks, her face turned away from them but from her lack of movement, they concluded she had been knocked out. As Sunny reached her, she grabbed onto her body, pulling her back, trying to hold up her dead weight.

“Hyomin!” Taeyeon called her name, moving away the hair plastered over her face. She spotted a red contusion and scratch over her forehead. “She’s out cold,” Taeyeon told Sunny as she helped her hold up Hyomin.

Yuri looked around anxiously, searching for anything or way to pull them out of the water quicker, seeing as they were struggling to carry Hyomin and swim at the same time. A short distance away, she found a fallen tree and was immediately struck with an idea. She extended her arm, aiming her hands towards the log and willed it to move with her mind. The log crunched as it pulled away from its root and was levitated towards the river. Seeing the enchanted tree make its way over to them, Sunny and Taeyeon kept back as it was dropped onto the water before them with a splash. They immediately lifted Hyomin up and over the log after which they lifted themselves up as well. Yuri then carefully elevated the three over the log and brought them over land. As soon as they touched down safely, the mages ran up to them as Sunny and Taeyeon picked Hyomin off the log and placed her on the ground.

“Hyomin!” Sunny cried out, lightly tapping the unconscious girl’s face. She was completely drenched as they were, her skin pale, a cut over her forehead and lips. They spotted another over her neck; she had likely received several injuries while being dragged across the ground but they could not find any through her clothing as the mud and blood had been washed away.

“Is she okay?!” Tiffany cried as she crouched down beside Hyomin along with the others.

“Is she breathing?” Hyoyeon asked.

Taeyeon placed her ear near Hyomin’s slightly agape mouth, listening for her breaths. She internally panicked when she could not feel a thing. She lifted herself back up and placed two fingers over her neck searching for a pulse. A great relief washed over her when she felt a light beat.

“There’s a pulse but she’s not breathing,” Taeyeon told everyone around here.

“Here, let me,” Sooyoung said moving forward by Hyomin’s head. She parted Hyomin’s lips with her hands and took a deep breath. She then moved over Hyomin’s and breathed air into her lungs. The others watched anxiously, their hearts beating furiously as they waited for Hyomin to make any form of movement.  Sooyoung moved from Hyomin’s mouth to press her palm over her chest three times. When Hyomin remained unmoving, Sooyoung took another deep breath and tried again.

“Come on,” Sooyoung grunted after breathing as much as she could into Hyomin, pressing her palms onto her chest again, “wake up, wake up!”

At the forceful push of Sooyoung’s hand, Hyomin was jerked awake as water was pushed out of her lungs and out of . She loudly coughed, grasping for airs as she rolled onto her side, spurting water out of .

“Oh thank God,” Hyoyeon exhaled the breath she held on to and enveloped Sooyoung in her arms in gratitude.

Yuri patted Hyomin’s back as she continued to cough. Once they had subsided, she took deep breaths, her eyes shut tight as she tried to soothe the pain in her chest.

Hyomin felt cold and muddy, her whole body stung at various points and her hearing was muffled. She rolled onto her back letting the sunlight pour over her face.

“Give her some space,” she vaguely heard.

Ever so slowly, Hyomin cracked open her eyelids. Her vision was blurred but began to adjust, the colors and shapes starting to take formation. She was surrounded by nine figures. She scrunched her eyes to bring the figures into focus and realized them to be those of her nine guardians.

“Hyomin? Can you hear me?”

Hyomin turned her eyes to the source of the voice, belonging Tiffany. She tiredly nodded her head.

The mages all released a huge sigh of relief, Hyomin having returned to their safety.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Jessica spoke up, “but this road trip .”

-

Yunho sat forlornly on the ground, his arms resting over his knees as he watched his soldiers collect all the dead bodies. At the center of the clearing lay the massacred corpse of the giant beast they had slain. Not before it had slain many of their own.

“How’re you holding up?”

Yunho looked up to see Siwon standing beside him. The Commander was covered in cuts and blood just as he was.

The General let out a sardonic humph. “I took our courageous men out here today and got them killed. I feel like a failure.”

Siwon crouched down beside Yunho and placed a hand over his shoulder. “There was absolutely nothing in our power that we could do,” he spoke softly for his friend. “The fact that we even survived with a little more than half our men is miracle.”

“Do we have only miracles now to count on?”

“It’s all we’ve got.”

Yunho sighed and dropped his head in his hands. Even if through a miracle they could make it through this, how would he ever face his King and tell him he let so many brave men die? How would he face their families and tell them their loved ones were not coming home?

“Yunho, we need to keep moving. The girls are still out there.”

Yunho’s sorrow were instantly diminished for the time being as his priorities as their leader resurfaced. “You’re right,” he said, lifting his head up. He pushed himself up, standing up tall and straight and faced Siwon. “Get me a telesphere.”

-

“Does that feel better?” Seohyun asked, having cleaned a cut on Hyomin’s neck. The Earth girl however offered her no response. With a blanket wrapped around her body, an anguished face and empty eyes, she stared dead straight at the fire in front of her, lit to warm her body.

The nine mages took Hyomin away from the river, to a safer spot where they could let her rest as they healed her wounds. She barely spoke a word to any of them though, traumatized from the recent events that almost took her life.

Seohyun looked up to the others with a defeated expression, having tried her best to get Hyomin to speak to them. They all shared the same defeated glance with one another.

Sunny painfully sighed, sitting a further distance from Hyomin this time. Though her companions did not speak of it, nor perhaps humored the thought even for a second, this was her fault. She did not keep Hyomin close, she let her almost die. For all her will to accomplish this mission, she had already failed at her duties. Her obligations aside, Hyomin was completely disturbed. Whatever sweetness and liveliness she had left in her was completely diminished. All because of her. She wish she had not been so strict, that she showed Hyomin more care like Tiffany who sat closely beside her now.

Taeyeon turned to address the mages while Seohyun and Tiffany sat closely with Hyomin. “We almost lost her.”

“Not really the best of guardians, are we?” Sooyoung muttered.

“We need to step it up, that’s for sure,” Hyoyeon said.

“What was that thing that grabbed her?” Yoona asked.

“Probably another fiend from the Realm. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tyrant is controlling them to do his biddings,” Taeyeon said.

“Would explain why those things back there so suddenly attack us,” Yoona said.

“Take me back.”

The mages turned to the soft voice that finally spoke up. Hyomin finally look up to them with almost lifeless eyes. “Take me back.”

The mages exchanged cautious glances with one another. Seohyun stuttered, ceasing attending to Hyomin’s wound. “But, Hyomin…”

“Take me back,” Hyomin repeated, facing Seohyun.

At a loss for words, Seohyun looked towards her elder friends. Seeing as no one could muster a response to Hyomin, too caught off guard by her words, Taeyeon addressed her.

“Hyomin,” Taeyeon started softly, “we can’t go back.”

“You never said it was going to be like this.”

“We’re sorry Hyomin,” Taeyeon genuinely spoke, “we had no idea ourselves to be honest.”

“Then isn’t it a bit crazy to be out here?” Hyomin said, raising her voice that now carried slight anger.

“It was either this or let more innocent people die.”

Hyomin averted her gaze from Taeyeon. She wanted to further argue but she would only feel selfish to put herself above the lives of innocents.

“And we can’t go back now Hyomin,” Taeyeon continued. “You said it yourself, those men died for you. Would you let them die in vain?”

Knowing she could not argue with Taeyeon, Hyomin became increasingly agitated. Becoming suddenly restless, Hyomin abruptly stood, throwing the blanket on her off and turned away the group.

“Where are you going?” Yuri said as she and the others instinctively stood up as well.

“I’m going for walk,” Hyomin said nonchalantly, stepping away from the campsite.

“You can’t go out there alone!” Hyoyeon exclaimed. At that, Sunny stepped forward to volunteer to accompany Hyomin.

“Tiffany can come with me,” Hyomin said, continuing on her path without stopping. Tiffany stuttered for a moment but then instantly got up and chased after Hyomin.

“It’s okay, I’ll watch her,” Tiffany assured the group.

“I’ll come with just in case,” Jessica said, quickly chasing after the two.

Sunny dejectedly stepped back and sat back down. Hyomin was better off with the others than her she decided.

“I guess she could use a little space,” Sooyoung said, as she and the others seated themselves back down.

“Taeyeon!”

Taeyeon looked towards the youngest who called her name. “What is it?”

“There’s a glow emanating from your bag!” Seohyun said, pointing to Taeyeon’s bag beside her. Looking down at it, there indeed was a faint blue glow stemming from behind the cloth. Taeyeon opened her bag, releasing the glow as it resonated on her face.

“It’s the telesphere,” she told the others as she reached in to pull the device out. She held it out in front of her and answered the call from the enchanted stratagem. An image began to resonate above the orb and formed into the face of their General Yunho.

“Yunho! You’re okay!” Sooyoung exclaimed, scooting closer to Taeyeon.

“We’re fine, and you girls? Where are you? Is Hyomin with you?” Yunho asked urgently.

“Um,” Taeyeon cautiously looked towards the direction Hyomin walked off, “she’s fine. She’s with us. She’s safe.”

“Good,” Yunho breathed in relief. “Where are you girls?”

“I can’t say how far we may be from you but we’re on the path to the Light Way Road. We thought to rendezvous with you there,” Taeyeon explained.

“Excellent, that’s excellent. You’ve done well girls,” Yunho said, showing a satisfactory smile.

Taeyeon smiled in return to Yunho’s compliments though she was unable to take them to heart. She felt awful for what they allowed to happen to Hyomin, something she’d be too afraid to share with the General.

“Keep to the path, we’re making our move now as well,” Yunho said.

“Yunho,” Seohyun interrupted, coming up beside Taeyeon, “what of the soldiers?”

Yunho’s smile dissipated, taking on a more somber expression. “We lost many. Remain with perhaps 80 or 90.” There was a momentary silence of condolence amongst the girls and the General. “They will be honored,” was all Yunho could say. “Don’t worry about it for now girls. Just get to the Road and wait there for us. Understood?”

“Yes, Yunho,” Taeyeon nodded.

“Good. Be careful girls,” Yunho finally said before his image began to dissipate and the telesphere’s glow ceased.

Taeyeon dropped her hands, taking in a huge breath. She then noticed Sunny, sitting across from her, tearing slightly. “Sunny, are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah,” Sunny sadly chuckled, wiping at the corners of my eyes. “It’s just… hitting me. Some of the soldiers we were travelling beside just earlier in the day… are dead,” she spoke, a slight shake in her voice.

The thoughts of the other mages began to wander, the weight of Sunny’s words touching their hearts as well. Those whom they stood among, fought by their side, took their last journey with them today. It was a daunting feeling, to have death surround them, so closely. Until now, the mages had never had to dabble in affairs involving death. They began to feel they had completely overestimated their abilities, recent events showing their lack of experience.

Hyoyeon looked over the defeated expressions of her companions, a solemn atmosphere falling over the campsite. “Come on,” Hyoyeon said, wiping at the corner of her own eyes, “let’s not get emotional now. Sure, this hasn’t been easy but we’re nowhere near beaten yet.” With a new found energy, Hyoyeon pushed herself up to stand. “Let’s get to that Road and then Hyomin to that Tower and finish this. What do you say?” Hyoyeon said, walking up to Sunny and pulling her up by the hand.

Sunny giggled at Hyoyeon’s sudden ambitious attitude. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

“Yes, I know we can do this,” Sooyoung said, standing up as well.

“I’m ready to go,” Yuri stood up smiling.

“Yeah,” Yoona said, standing up straight, feeding off the other’s energy, “let’s do this! Let’s-“

“RUN!”

The mages spun around to the source of the scream to find Jessica sprinting from the direction she had left with Hyomin and Tiffany.

“Jessica…”

“GET YOUR ASSES MOVING!” Jessica screamed as she ran through the campsite and onwards, the others watching on in confusion.

“I HATE THIS PLACE!” Hyomin suddenly appeared screaming, running through the campsite as well, following behind Jessica.

Yoona watched the two run for their life. “What on…”

“GUYS! RUN! RUN!” Tiffany appeared, stopping in front of the others for just a second before running in the same direction as Jessica and Hyomin.

Needing no further warning, the mages quickly grabbed their belongings and began to make a move, only to stop when they felt the ground rumble. This time however, it was much different from the quakes they experienced before. It was not underground, more of something pounding on top of the ground. When the rumble increased, they turned around to see trees and plants shaking and being toppled in the distance, but could not spot the cause from behind all the large leaves. What they could tell, was that it was getting closer.

“I think we should get moving,” Taeyeon said, taking steps backward. The girls began to run but were suddenly thrown to the ground by a large rumble as a monstrous beast jumped out through the trees. Over 9 feet tall on all fours, its face like a lions but with a longer snout, blackish red mane extending over its spine, its entire body a blue black. The massive beast glowered at the girls and let out a loud roar.

“Run!” Taeyeon yelled, grabbing Seohyun who was nearest to her and made a run for it. The beast lunged at the girls but Yuri quickly swung a blast at its face, momentarily hindering it as they all got a head start.

Collecting itself, the beast gave chase to the girls, closing in on Yoona and Hyoyeon.

“Look out!” Yoona yelled grabbing onto Hyoyeon’s arm to stop her as the beast jumped over the two. Missing its target, the beast stumbled over its arms but quickly picked itself up and ran forward after the others.

“Hyoyeon! Yoona!” Sooyoung screamed behind her while still running. “Are they okay?!”

“I don’t see them!” Yuri responded, trying to look behind her as she ran. The beast started getting closer again; thinking quickly, Yuri spun around and shot a blast from her hand at a large tree, throwing it in front of the beast’s path. The beast skid to a halt before it could collide into the tree and grabbed it in its mouth. With a mighty force, it flung the tree towards the girls.

“Tree! Tree! Tree!”

Taeyeon, Seohyun, Sooyoung and Yuri split up to avoid the oncoming tree. Yuri barely escaped as it whizzed past her but lost her footing and tumbled to the ground, hitting her head over a rock. Yuri winced, holding onto her sore head, unaware of the beast that had crept up behind her.

“Yuri, look at out!”

Yuri turned to see the beast ready to pounce her but before either could make a move, the beast suddenly began to struggle against an unknown force. Yuri watched as the beast attempted to claw at its own back, turning to and fro. It was then Yuri spotted Hyoyeon over the beast’s back.

Hyoyeon yelped as she avoided another swing from the beast’s claws, grabbing tightly onto its mane. In a fit of fury, the beast roared and began running, trying to shake off the disturbance on its back.

“Hyoyeon get down from there!” Sooyoung screamed. “This ain’t no joy ride!”

“Oh! I couldn’t tell!” Hyoyeon sarcastically screamed back, bouncing over the beast’s back, trying not to fall off. Securing herself tightly as she could with one hand, Hyoyeon grabbed her dagger from her belt and placed it in by the handle. She climbed up the beast’s back by its mane, struggling to keep up as she started feeling a wave of dizziness.

Hyoyeon angrily grumbled with the knife held in , reaching up the beast’s head. She grabbed the dagger from , raised it up and forcefully brought it down on the beasts head, piercing its flesh and erupting a great roar from it. She retracted the knife and stabbed the beast’s head again and again. The beast thrashed its body more violently causing Hyoyeon to begin to slip but not before she got one last powerful stab, successfully crushing through the beast’s skull. With a deafening cry, the beast swung its neck, throwing Hyoyeon off. It attempted to make a run for it but could only dizzily limp. The beast closed its eyes in pain, as it staggered over its legs, unaware of the steep slope it was making its way to. The beast’s whole body became wilted, taking painful slow steps until it reached the slope from where it tumbled down.

Taeyeon, Seohyun, Sooyoung, Yuri and rejoined by Yoona ran towards the slope to see what became of the beast. Reaching the edge, they looked down to find it lying lifeless, blood and Hyoyeon’s dagger protruding from its head.

“Wow…” Yoona breathed.

Hyoyeon breathlessly joined the group and gazed down defeated beast. “Did I kill it?”

“Why don’t you go and check?” Taeyeon gestured down the slope.

“Yeah-no…” Hyoyeon said before she let herself collapse on the ground onto her back.

“We must regroup with Jessica, Tiffany and Hyomin,” Seohyun said.

“Yeah,” Taeyeon nodded, giving the dead beast one last look, “let’s go.”

“Hang on,” Yuri spoke up, “where’s Sunny?”

-

Hyomin huffed, turning her back every so often to watch out for anything chasing her. Or for the whereabouts of her guardians. Her legs were exhausted and she could run no more as she crumbled to her knees. She had been separated from Tiffany and Jessica as they were making their run from vicious beast. She was lost.

Hyomin clenched her eyes shut as tears fought their way through. She was so afraid, even more so now that she was completely alone. She felt her death was imminent. She wanted to go home.

Hyomin looked up and found a massive tree, its bark perhaps more than 20 feet wide. She willed herself to stand and make her way to the tree. She weakly stumbled towards it, tears still flowing from her eyes as she sat down over its immense roots, taking solace under the tree’s shade. She brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly as she observed her surroundings. There was nothing but wildlife and not a hint of where her guardians.

In a world that seemed so magical at first, now terrified her. Where she surrounded by beauty and wonders, now death and monsters.

Her mind kept wandering to the fallen soldiers. They told her she could save lives, yet soldiers have died because of her? Though it was what they had committed themselves to, it has left her conscious haunted.

Hyomin let her tears continue to falls as she dropped her head into her arms, her painful sobs echoing through the forest.

‘Soyeon… Eunjung…

I want to go home.’

Hyomin was shaken from her thoughts by a growl. She lifted her head up to find a wolf snarling right at her. It barred its sharp teeth, back arched and claws protruding. Hyomin gulped, her heart freezing as she stared back at the wolf’s deadly red eyes.

‘Go away… please go away…’

When the wolf began to inch closer, Hyomin slowly lifted herself up fearfully, her back kept pressed against the tree. Ever so slowly and lightly, she stepped sideways against the tree, distancing herself from the predator. She slid around the tree, her eyes never leaving the growling wolf that kept its eyes locked onto her. She continued moving around the large tree until she was on the other side, finally out of its sight. Her terrors remained, as she held her breath, waiting to see if the wolf would follow. Her hands trembled as she tried to control her breathing, her pupils quivering.

After many moments, the wolf did not reappear. Hyomin closed her eyes and released a sigh of relief, calming her rapidly beating heart. However when heard its growl once again, she looked to the other behind her and gasped when she saw the wolf walking around to her side.

Hyomin panicked and brusquely started stepping backward. The wolf, alarmed and not wanting its prey to slip away, took its chance and leaped at her. Hyomin screamed as the wolf jumped onto her causing her to stumble onto her back. She quickly lifted her hands against the wolf, trying to push its face away from her own but it violently latched onto her hand. Hyomin cried out as the wolf sunk its teeth into her hand, blood spilling out.

Suddenly, Hyomin’s eyes were almost blinded by a bright burst of light in front of her but one that had pushed the wolf off of her and flung many feet away. The wolf scrambled to its feet and immediately scurried away whimpering, terrified by the unexpected presence of a superior force.

Hyomin crawled backwards on one elbow in dread of the wolf returning, holding up her trembling, blood soaked hand.

“Hyomin!”

A wave of relief fell over Hyomin at the familiar voice. She looked behind her to see Sunny running up to her. As the short mage scrambled to her side, Hyomin immediately lifted herself onto her knees and threw her arms around Sunny’s neck.

Sunny held Hyomin tightly as she wept on her shoulder. “Are you okay?” she tenderly asked her. Hyomin gave no response but continued to cry into the crook of her neck. Sunny spoke no further and silently caressed the back of Hyomin’s head, feeling a quick dampness over the skin of her shoulder.

They remained like so for a while, Sunny never loosening her grip for a second.

“I want to go home,” Hyomin sobbed, “I don’t want to be here.”

Sunny sighed, resting her own head over Hyomin’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Hyomin. I’m so sorry.”

Hyomin clamped her eyes shut as more hot tears poured from her eyes. She understood Sunny’s answer. There was no way she could go back. Not anymore.

“I’m going to die here,” Hyomin whimpered.

“No,” Sunny firmly responded. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

Hyomin took no relief in her words. Sunny wanted desperately to cease Hyomin’s crying, to cease her fears. She felt like a failure to have allowed this to happen to her, she who didn’t deserve to be put through any of this. She who once smiled so brightly, but now only wept. In that moment, Sunny made a resolve.

“Hyomin, listen to me,” Sunny softly started, “I know we already said we’d protect you and I’m sorry we couldn’t till now,” Sunny pulled Hyomin back, holding her face in her palms to face her, “but I swear to you from now on, I won’t let anything touch you. I won’t let anything or anyone near you.” Sunny spoke resolutely, staring into Hyomin’s glistening eyes. Her face, her once bright visage was now covered in cuts, abrasions and trickles of her own blood. Sunny was determined to not let her be hurt anymore. “I swear it on my life.”

Hyomin’s lips quivered as she stared back into Sunny’s unwavering eyes. She felt the weight of Sunny’s word but her fears had yet to be distilled. She simply laid her head back onto Sunny’s shoulder, and cried her remaining tears.

-

The group of ten were soon reunited and made haste to resume their journey to rejoin Yunho and the battalion. They encircled Hyomin, guarding her from all corners while Sunny held onto her hand. They trekked far, the sun beaming over their heads indicating the afternoon, their bodies drained. Relief would soon come to them when the sound of water reached their ears.

“Do you guys hear that?” Yoona asked, stretching her neck to look further ahead.

“I think there’s a creek up ahead,” Tiffany said.

Soon enough, the group cleared through the trees and came upon a small waterfall, its fresh white water crashing against the rocks and into a creek. The girls breathed in the cool fresh breeze of the open air, no longer trapped within the confine of trees.

Tiffany closed her eyes and took a deep soothing breath. “It’s beautiful.”

“No…” Taeyeon uttered.

“Oh come on Taeyeon,” Hyoyeon said, smiling as she admired the waterfall, “take a moment to smell the flowers.”

“No, no, no!”

“Well fine don’t smell them…”

“I mean, no!” Taeyeon turned to her companions, her eyes troubled. “This isn’t right! There isn’t supposed to be a waterfall here!”

“What do you mean there isn’t supposed to be a waterfall here?” Sooyoung asked, eyes growing tense by Taeyeon’s own apprehension.

Taeyeon dropped her bag, quickly opened it up and dug around for her map. She fished it out and unrolled it, laying it out over a large flat boulder. The others gathered around her as she studied the map.

“Taeyeon,” Tiffany spoke up, “are we lost?”

“We’re not lost!” Taeyeon exclaimed, looking back to her companions. “We’re just… somewhere we shouldn’t be.”

“Oh, of course,” Jessica said, exasperatedly throwing her hands up, “like how I’m not going to kill you but just stop you from breathing.”

-

A/N: Your thoughts appreciated!