He was losing blood, and fast.

Sehun dragged his body forward, as fast as a wounded soldier in full armor possibly can, and his eyes darted to his left and right. If he did not move soon enough, the hunters of the forest will soon be on him, and fear left a bitter taste in his mouth. A rustling of dried leaves and the sound of twigs snapping made him turn around so quickly, it made his head spin a little.

He was certain that he wasn’t being followed, if the traitors were to find him, they were definitely not going to be subtle.

The instructions of the great emperor Lee Soo Man still rang in his head.

Keep Prince Kai safe.

The boy’s jealous older brother, the Crown Prince Yunho, had not wasted any time since his father became bedridden. He had been eager to eliminate all possible competition to the throne, especially his father’s illegitimate and charming son, the young Prince Kai. Sehun’s heart ached when he remembered the fear on his dear friend’s face when a group of soldiers in the emperor’s official livery had entered his chambers in stealth at the dead of the night, with instructions to leave with them with only the clothes on his back. He had been reluctant; and only agreed half-heartedly when presented with the ring that his father had given them to support the truth in their claims.

He angrily brushed the tears aside, and he blamed the radiating pain of the wound on his side, but truth be told, it was because of anxiety for the fate of his brothers-in-arms.

They had not gone very far when they were attacked, and his blood ran cold at the thought that they had failed their mission, just outside the palace grounds, no less. His mind raced as to who could have given them away, their undertaking had only been known to a chosen few.

When the emperor had summoned him to the royal chambers, he had been surprised to see the personal bodyguards of Prince Kai; the foreigners from the North, Wu Yifan and Huang Zitao, one of the emperor’s closest adviser, Minseok, the scholar that the prince favored above all else, Kyungsoo, and his assistant Baekhyun, and members of the emperor’s own defenders, Chanyeol, Jongdae and Yixing in the room, their faces somber.

“The crown prince knows,” the emperor had said, “that I am about to strip him of his title because of his atrocities. His own sister, the princess Bo Ah…”

He had faltered and all present held uneasy looks on their faces. Everyone knew what the beast Yunho had done to his own sister.

“Protect Prince Kai, at all costs. Send him back to the east, to his mother, just past the Rugged Mountains. She will know what to do when she sees this,” The patriarch of the great house of Lee reached inside his robes with feeble hands and produced a ring that resembled a dragon on its back, encrusted with diamonds and other precious stones, with an egg-sized ruby encased in a fine filigree of golden claws, “tell my son to be strong, if I do not see him again after tonight, my throne will only wait for him, and him alone.” All present had sworn with their lives to protect the rightful, future emperor of Yagsog Ttang.

The scuffle that broke as soon as they stepped out of the kingdom’s boundaries had been swift and brutal. Sehun had been severely wounded, and was left for dead, or so they thought. When he came to, his friends’ lifeless bodies were among some of Prince Yunho’s cohorts.

Baekhyun, his lithe body still and pale, and all Sehun could remember were the times when they were all students in the library, together with Prince Kai, laughing and throwing feather quills at their harassed teacher. Not too far was Chanyeol, an arrow on his back, and he knew that the look of shock on his face would haunt Sehun’s dreams for a long, long time. Then there was Jongdae, cold as the night air, his armor torn and his tunic stained red with the blood that spilled from his chest.

That left the prince with his royal guards, his favorite scholar who was also rumored as his lover, the royal adviser, and the last of the King’s guard in their entourage, Yixing.

If it was one of those people, the prince was in danger, and so was the future of the entire kingdom.

And then it hit him. It was much like walking under the rushing water of a fall; everything is a blur and when you resurface, all is clear again, but the thundering could still be heard in your ears.

Yixing had been showing signs of addiction to the most recent recreational drug that the accursed Crown Prince had brought back from his travels; glassy eyes, restlessness, and he was constantly mumbling while he wandered aimlessly about in the stables, patting the horses. Sehun had seen it all, but he made the mistake of choosing to keep it to himself, hoping that the older boy would come to his senses and leave the harmful substance be. Dabbling in such things would have resulted to Yixing’s removal from the royal cavalry and he knew how much it meant to his friend.

He did not know how crucial that mistake was until tonight.

He had run away from the dead bodies, to escape to the land of Prince Kai’s mother. By morning, the palace would be in chaos, and he hoped with all his might that there might be mercy in Prince Yunho’s heart, and the emperor would be spared. Yixing was probably there now, updating the usurpers of the recent development of events, he thought bitterly.

Spots started to cloud his vision, and he knew it would not take very long for death to come and pay him a visit. He started to feel so, so cold, that his teeth began to chatter. He felt so tired, so much so that when he heard and felt so many things all at once, he felt like he was going out of his mind.

“So, so pretty!”

“Leave him be, Luhan, the one that you played with previously did not last very long,”

“Ah, but this one is made of much stronger substance, look at his eyes, so bright and smart!”

“Luhan,”

“Ssshh, be quiet Junmyeon, I think it saw us,”

Sehun wondered if he had already crossed the threshold of Death’s door, for it was suddenly so quiet. He looked around and saw that he was still in the forest, the stars scattered against the dark backdrop, twinkling like diamonds in the sky. No sound of insects that became alive at night, which was very, very odd, but he was certain that he was still lying on the ground, when he closed his fists around dead leaves and the back of his hand felt the cool earth beneath him. He closed his eyes and soft, shallow breaths fell from his lips. His wound still throbbed, and when he clutched at it he winced when he felt how warm and wet with blood the leather part of his armor had become.

More rustling of leaves and another broken twig. He opened his eyes to mere slits, and gasped.

“Fairy,” he hissed.

The creature in front of him glowed, his fine hair the color of leaves before they fall to the ground in the late autumn, with eyes that sparkled with mischief. Its left shoulder was bare, so were its neck, arms and legs. The rest of its alabaster skin was covered in fabric that shimmered like gold, and flowers of the purest white wound around its head and neck. His full lips were apart, and he seemed to be talking, but all Sehun could hear were birds singing, the waves of the sea crashing against each other, the soft sighs and moans of the young maiden he has had his way with just a few nights ago in the dark, empty kitchen, the sound of the emperor’s laughter, nights of drunken revelry with the other soldiers. He then smelled old books and his favorite stew, freshly-washed linen and lemon meringue, and then he heard his mother’s admonition to always, always be careful. Especially of people so beautiful, that it seemed like a dream.

The fairy in front of him looked like a dream.

And then something seemed to be pulling him away from all the pleasant sounds and memories, and he almost gave in and closed his eyes when he heard a voice as sharp as the sword that he had lost in the scuffle, not too long ago.

“Throw away that nasty, old piece of bread out of your pocket so I can come close and help you,” the fairy said.

“Tut, tut, Lulu, letting a mere mortal hear you speak, dirtying your precious mouth with their foul language!”

“Be quiet, Junmyeon, and stay behind that tree. We don’t want to frighten him,”

“I want to play with him,”

“Leave him be, he’s mine. Find your own.” The other fairy huffed and started to leave, but the next word out of Sehun’s mouth had him rooted on the spot.

“No,”

“Foolish, foolish boy,”

“Do it or you will die,” The fairy in front of Sehun snarled.

“I would,” Sehun started to cough blood, “rather,”

“I know where your precious Prince Kai is.”

Sehun snapped up his head and stared at the creature with wary eyes. His breathing became more labored by the minute. He was so very confused; one moment he would hear pleasant sounds and smell things that reminded him of his childhood and in the next they would vanish, once the fairy opened its mouth to speak.

“Fairies…full of mischief…half-truths,”

“I swear on the fairie queene’s life.”

The earth trembled a little and there was a gust of wind that made him shiver. Sehun ed his pocket, and took out the rye bread his mother had insisted he keep on his person before he left their home from a quick visit this morning. “For protection,” she had said, and the frown on her face when he laughed was so severe that he stopped at once. He held it in his fist and the fairy stared at it with hatred and he wondered how much his mother truly knew about the fair folk.

“Oh my heavens, Luhan, using the queene’s name in favor of a mere mortal!”

“Promise me, that you will not toy with me once this leaves my hand,”

The fairy laughed, and it was not the pleasant, tinkling sound Sehun had heard earlier. It was harsh and unforgiving, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand.

“We fair folk do no such thing,” The fairy said, and started to walk away.

Sehun felt all hope die within him, and threw the bread away at once. The glowing creature paused. “Please, help him,”

“What?” The fairy asked sharply, turning around to face him.

“Prince Kai, please…help him,”

“And what of you, young mortal?”

“It doesn’t matter, just please,” He felt so tired and sleepy, Sehun felt his lids were made of lead, drooping on their own, “help the prince,”

With that, Sehun fell silent and his eyes fell close. His breathing slowed and the Luhan floated next to him, and removed his robe of mischief. He placed it on the boy’s shoulders and was pleased with how the golden threads looked on the young boy. He held him close and inhaled deeply, the lavender scent was so very pleasant.

“Luhan,”

“Junmyeon, I think I know this boy,”

“This is a dangerous game you’re playing, healing him like that!”

“There’s something about him,”

“Luhan, you know the rules with regards to humans! It’s time for me to leave you here. It was nice playing with you for the past three hundred years,”

Junmyeon started to walk away, his feet nimble on dead leaves and grass. Luhan placed his cheek against Sehun’s, and waited while his powers mended the boy’s broken body.

“Ah, but this boy is one of us.”