A/N: As I will be gone for three weeks, I will upload three chapters at the same time. Please proceed to chapter 20 to start reading.

"Ugh!" Hana held a hand over . She had the urge to vomit so badly. Her head was spinning, and she couldn't see anything without feeling extreme dizziness. Sehun sighed and went to the girl, whose face was pale as a dead corpse. "Just let it out and you'll feel better." And Hana did exactly that.

Sehun sighed and looked around. There was a wave of unknown emotion that washed through his mind. He didn't want to feel this way, but seeing his homeland reminded him of everything he wanted to forget.

The Shadow world was as wasted as the last time he left. The trees here grew in the autumn color- dry, brownish, and dying. Sometimes they would whisper words no human understood. Just like now. The leaves hushed and the wind breezed, as if speaking about a human stepping into this parallel world. Outrageous, they whispered, and Sehun almost chuckled.

Hana looked up and stared at Sehun's observing eyes. He was looking at the orange sky, a color that would remain for a few hours before darkness consumed. In the Shadow world, night lasted a few hours longer. The sun only appeared during the noon, when it shone twice as bright, and all the day-creatures, such as elves and fairies came out and feasted.

"We have to get going," Sehun firmly told her, and Hana stood up, nodding at him. "The night is coming, and when it does, all the Shadows will come out and prey at you." Because she was such an easy target. Because she was weak.

Sehun whistled once, twice, and thrice, and the note got higher every time.

"Sehun, what are you doing?" Hana mumbled, because the air suddenly went very still. The wind stopped blowing, and even the trees became stiff and silent. Sehun didn't answer, his eyes were still glued to the sky. Hana followed his gaze, and her eyes widened when she spotted something moving very fast near the clouds.

"What... the hell... is that?" Her voice was muffled by the sudden loud shriek. Sehun pulled her by the arms, and dragged her to step back and cover herself. She followed. And hid herself behind Sehun's tall figure. The tension around them changed. The wind blew harder, as if a storm was coming.

And then... A huge creature landed with a loud thump, and the ground shook. The crash had quite an impact for her surrounding, but when Hana opened her eyes again, everything was still intact. The trees were standing perfectly like before, no ground breaking. The only difference was a huge pair of eyes, staring at her cruelly.

"That, is a freaking dragon," Hana's eyes widened. In front of her, stood the hugest thing Hana had ever seen in her life. The size of the dragon-like thing was almost twice an airplane size. The head was covered with horn and thorn, and the tail flailed around dangerously, ready to strike anyone in its way.

"It's not a real dragon," Sehun explained and went to its head, softly patting it, with Hana following timidly behind him. "A dragon's size would be so much bigger compared to this. This creature is called Dragonnian; half dragon. They're normally very violent, but loyal to those who can tame them."

The creature purred in response, as if it understood Sehun, and maybe in some way, it really did. Its smart eyes looked at Hana, sizing her up and down with such judgmental stare that Hana cowered back behind Sehun, tightening her grip on Sehun's shirt.

"We need to reach our destination faster, and it takes about two weeks before we can go there. But before that," Hana waited for him to continue, "I need to find a Witch for you before dawn." Hana watched as the Dragonnian wrapped its tail around them, concealing both from others' view.

"Why do we need a Witch?" Hana asked, her head carefully gazing back. The tail was still flailing around dangerously, but at least it wasn't attacking them. Sehun titled his head, "Because we need to seal your trace and scent. Which I believe, is a huge burden if we're continuing this journey."

"Now come, I'll help you up," Sehun motioned her to come closer. Hana bit her lips hesitantly. Did they really have to ride on that thing? It was her first time seeing such a huge creature up close, and it didn't look friendly to her. What if she fell down?

"It won't hurt you, now come," Sehun said, his voice confident and loud, and before Hana even registered what happened, Sehun already pushed her up to the Dragonnian's back, his strong hands tightly wrapped around her waist. She blinked and watched as Sehun jumped swiftly into her back.

"It's amusing how easily you blush, Hana," His raspy voice didn't make it any better. Hana guessed she must have blushed different shades of red by now. But instead of denying it like she usually did, Hana asked back, with the same monotonous tone Sehun used on her, "Is it...?"

All her life, no one had touched her as intimately as Sehun. She wasn't used to a male's touch. But instead of over-reacting, Hana clamped shut. If she spoke more, she was afraid it would embarrass her more.

"Hold on tight," Sehun whispered in her ear, and she blushed even more.

The Dragonnian stood up all of a sudden, and Hana's eyes widened because she almost fell down if Sehun hadn't caught her at the right time. She paled down when the Dragonnian shook a bit, growling at the sky, and with a loud thump, it hopped onto the vast sky. Hana swore she heard Sehun's light chuckle behind her, before every other noise died down.

They were freaking flying, in a fast pace, but not to the point that everything went blur. When the Dragonnian wanted to fly up higher, Sehun patted its skin, signaling it not to go higher, because human wouldn't be able to take such heights. Hana on the other hand, sat rigid as a stone. She dared not to move and she clutched tighter to Sehun's hand around her waist. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to let her sit in the front.

"Next time..." Hana mumbled, too soft to be heard, but Sehun heard it anyway,"... If we're riding this again, you must sit in the front."

There was a soft vibration against her back, and if Hana didn't know any better, she would think that the cold, emotionless male was laughing behind her.

***

"A Portal?"

Jaejoong sat very still in front of a male Witch, a friend of his. The witch, Sungjae, nodded, confirming Jaejoong's suspicion regarding an opened Portal to the Shadow world.

"Is it my brother? Was he the one to cross over the Portal?" Jaejoong asked again, his eyebrows knitted together in unison. His eyes were blood red, a sign that he just drank blood recently. He looked frightening as usual, but more beautiful, more dangerous.

"I can't tell you that," Sungjae shook his head, "It is not the Shadow that opens the Portal, therefore I can't track down who crosses it."

"So it's the Fallen, isn't it?" Jaejoong's face instantly darkened, "And moreover, someone's helping my cute little brother. Well, I think this might be the time to test out Kris' commitment to us." Sungjae watched with passive eyes, for he no longer wished to be involved in the war of these brothers.

"I don't need to know the future to remind you this, my old friend," Sungjae looked at Jaejoong with what seemed to be boredom, "Your revenge bears no success if you aim for the satisfaction of your hatred. What God has written cannot be changed by mere underlings like us."

"I will remember your words well, Sungjae," Jaejoong nodded at him as a sign of appreciation, and with one blink of eyes, he was gone. Sungjae simply smiled at the empty air, because at last, after a hundred years, there would be a slight change in history; one that he couldn't foresee.

***

"How much longer is this going to take?"

Hana straightened her back, and Sehun shifted her hands a little. An hour of ride in the sky wasn't exactly the most pleasant feeling ever. The clouds seemed to shift a little, at least that was what Hana thought. The sky changed to an even darker shade of orange, and Sehun began to worried that night might come faster than what he expected to be.

"A little bit more. The Witch should be expecting us by now."

"Have you made an early appointment with her or something?" Hana sarcastically asked. She didn't expect Sehun to reply, but he did anyway.

"I do not. And it's a 'he'. I need not to make an appointment. If he wishes to help, he will come out of his cave."

"Cave?" Hana's eyes widened. "Cave as in a cave, with lots of bats and snakes and unknown things inside? The dark, scary place that...?" Hana started mumbling, before Sehun interrupted her impatiently, "Yes, that cave. Cave, as you human know it."

The Dragonnian let out a loud shriek, and took a sharp turn down. Hana's hands flailed around nervously, before she found a secure place in Sehun's arms, which held her down to sit tight, and another one to grab onto the scales of the creature.

And the ground shook when it landed, just like before, but this time, with Hana and Sehun on the back, and they had to experience the extreme nausea and shake when they reached the solid ground, which might not be so solid, because the Dragonnian had appeared on the edge of a cave, in the middle of a dangerous swirling water.

"Are we going down here?" Hana asked with trembling voice. She had another urge to vomit, but there was nothing left in her stomach. Sehun hoped down from the Dragonnian's back and offered her a hand. "Come! Jump and I'll catch you!"

Hana felt a little hesitant. But the Dragonnian's growl left her no choice but to jump down into Sehun's waiting arms. Her knees almost gave up on the weight, but thankfully, Sehun pulled her up just in time.

"The Shadows usually call this cave the Witches' lair," Sehun let go of her waist and stared at the dark entrance. The wind was blowing very softly, as if the cave was breathing on its own. The pillar would move once in a while, and when it did, Hana's eyes stared at it with amusement. She had never seen such wonders in the human world before, but then again, human world created an illusion to cover up the magic inside.

"A very old Witch lives in here for unknown times. Some say that this place only appear to the ones in despair. Of course," Sehun breathed in before he continued, "That is only a legend among the Shadow creatures."

"If it isn't the younger one of the two," a voice whispered from the dark. The sound traveled through the soft echoes of the wall. Hana's eyes narrowed at the shadows that covered the cave. "What a pleasant surprise..."

A silhouette was formed, and not long after, a solid shape followed. It was a shape of so tall, thin man, who had a soft smile on his face, but his ryes were vacant as a white canvas would be. Sehun stepped forward a bit, feeling a sense of relief in his chest. "Sungjae..."

"Welcome, Sehun, at last I see you again..."