Before We Begin: I should be on my knees begging for everyone to forgive me, so allow me to give you this as my peace offering.

“Do you see all this? This will all be mine as soon as I depose the current ruler.”

“I hope you drown in your own blood in a shark’s mouth.” The once-decorated general known as ‘The Glacier’ frowned at the curse, the answer not the one he was hoping for. He turned away from the Serpent that hissed venom at him and scanned the white terrain in front of him, the rising spires of Port Flake slowly shifting into tangible and distinguishable forms. His army had been marching non-stop as soon as they had been able, and now with only one more obstacle to go his victory was going to taste so sweet on his tongue.

“What makes you think you’re a more suitable ruler for the Northern Provinces than Prince Xiumin, anyway?” Tora spat a small ball of acid at one of her guards who was daring to get closer, “All you’ve got are a few brutal victories to your name. No tactics, no tact, nothing.”

“Silence, you. Don’t talk about things you don’t know anything about.” The Glacier hissed, not turning away from the looming city in front of him. Tora allowed her eyes to glint dangerously. If that wasn’t a challenge, she was going to have to eat one of her own feathers.

“Everybody in the Four Points knows of your dishonourable discharge. But do they really know it was because you actually murdered your predecessor?” His hands gripped the rail of the viewing platform they were on in a white-knuckled grip, which made the Serpent smirk, “The official ruling was conspiracy, but you can’t hide a truth like that forever. You couldn’t stand the popularity surrounding his person. Everybody knew who he was, but all you were known for was the Battle of Fort Diamond. Which you merely took credit for from the deserving soldiers who fought and died there. So I’ll ask again: what makes you a more deserving ruler than-” A sharp crack echoed around the platform, Tora’s face connecting several times with the tiled ground before she came to a stop at the edge of the platform, her hip pressed painfully into the rails. The Glacier pulled back one of his meaty fists, his face ruddy with embarrassment and rage at the knowledge of the girl sprawled in front of him.

“How dare you…” he snarled, readying a second punch, “I did no such thing!”

“Didn’t you?” Tora staggered to her knees, wiping blood from her bruised lips with bound hands, “Did you really think that Prince Xiumin was satisfied with the ruling handed down upon you? He knew there were holes in your story, so he sent his spymaster to find out the truth. And boy, did I find out the truth!”

“Shut up!”

“You doped him, dashed him with your sword and dumped him in the sea for the sharks to rip apart. Those who claim you’re a hero have clearly never seen how cruel you really are.” A large hand grabbed Tora’s collar and lifted her into the air, her face schooled into a blank expression only an actor could pull off.

“Boss, we need her!” A two-star guard was the first to raise his hands, “She’s the ticket into the palace!” The Glacier snarled wordlessly at the Serpent, who didn’t even flinch, and tossed her to the side like a sheet of used paper, her head smacking against the tiles of the platform again.

“Bind her fully. She can’t be allowed to move once she wakes up.” he hissed. As the guards all murmured “Yes, sir!” Port Flake loomed into perfect view. But there was something wrong with the place.

“There’s nobody in the city…” The Glacier growled, “They’ve all been evacuated!” He spun on his heel, “Who revealed the plans to the enemy?!” Nobody spoke up, which made him growl louder and rip the stars of the nearest guard to him. The man protested without noise, but didn’t otherwise indicate his displeasure.

“Sir, we’ve reached the designated area.” a voice called from below the viewing platform. The Glacier barked back a response and frowned again at the city, sparkling innocently in front of him. He cast a quick glance at the unconscious Serpent before opening his mouth.

“Open fire!”

~~

AHCHOO!

“I don’t know who’s worse, you or Minseok.” Kris rolled his eyes at Tora’s remark, but he had no energy to refute it so he let the Serpent adjust the thick blankets that covered his chilly body. Tora pushed some of the dark strands of hair from his forehead so she could lay a gentle kiss on the skin there, then moved over to the second bed in the room which was home to a rather chilled Northern Prince.

“Am I dying?” Minseok rasped, his pale face poking above the blankets he’d pulled to his nose the night before.

“You aren’t dying, ‘Seok. It just feels that way because Kris is a baby when he’s unwell.” she replied. She didn’t have to turn around to know the Dragon had stuck his tongue out at her, “As soon as your fevers break you’ll be out of bed. In the meantime I’ll look after you both, because it’s what I do.” She didn’t want to add the fact that Minseok’s parents were breathing down his Guardian’s necks to get him better quicker, but there was only so much that they could really do. Minseok mustered the widest smile he could as the Serpent fixed the covers around his face so he could breathe better, feeling sleep claim him for the third time that day. As soon as he was out Tora moved back to the Dragon.

“Don’t kiss me, or I’ll get you sick too.” he said as she came closer. Tora had to laugh at that.

“The last thing I want is pneumonia, you dork. Just let me lie here for a while.” She settled in the side of Kris’ body that faced Minseok’s bed, resting her head on his shoulder. Kris’ arms automatically wound around Tora’s waist, pulling his newfound heat source closer.

Neither of them saw the two eyes watching them from across the room with a smile.

~~

“They’ve always been there for me…” Minseok twisted his fingers around the icicles he’d summoned that now stuck out of the ground next to the unconscious forms of the half a dozen guardsmen that had been drinking in the recreation room behind all the cells, “The Glacier has absolutely no idea how cold I can really be.” Chanyeol poked at the guard closest to his foot with one of his gold-orange feathers, blinking at how thorough of a job the three of them had done. Suho had moved ahead a while ago to see if he could still trace Kris’ now erratic energy pulse.

“It’s our job as Guardians to protect our charge,” replied the phoenix, “If it wasn’t them it would’ve been you, but they would’ve been reprimanded by someone beyond Suho for not performing their duties properly.” Minseok snapped his head up to look at Chanyeol, his big eyes wider than they’d been since Kris told him that he and Tora were bonded together long before they’d become his Guardians.

“There’s a power higher than Suho?” he asked, almost exclaimed.

“Yeah. None of us have seen it, save for Suho because he directly reports to them, but-”

“Found him!” The High Guardian’s call echoed across the stony corridors beyond the recreation room the guards had come from. Minseok and Chanyeol looked at each other for mere seconds before deliberately trampling the knocked out men on the floor as the scrabbled to follow the sound of Suho’s voice. Skidding around a corner, they spotted Suho standing at one particular cell door in a puddle of water.

“Kris?” Minseok froze (figuratively) when he saw the Dragon prone on the ground, the onyx scales on his face having lost the lustre they had when he wasn’t looking so beaten up. There was a myriad of purplish bruises over what visible skin could be seen, which was a fair bit when he considered the torn state of the ice blue robes he’d once worn. Spots of blood marred the ice blue fabric, coming from scratches and grazes that filled in the gaps that the bruises did not. In short, Kris looked like he’d been used for strength training by the guards.

“Hey Minseok…” Kris smiled weakly and struggled to lift his head from the cold ground, “We knew you’d…you’d come looking for us…” He clawed his way across the cobbles toward the iron door, using the bars to pull himself closer once he was in range, “Th-they…took Tora to Port Flake…said that…she was going to…be some…some sort of…bargaining tool…to lure you…you out of the palace…” Chanyeol pulled another feather from his hair and began working on the lock on Kris’s door, which turned out to work successfully; the lock melted and the door creaked open with enough force to knock a lesser man off his feet. Lucky for the phoenix’s strength, Minseok and Suho were not lesser men.

“I’ll get my Guardian. Chanyeol, Suho, I’ll meet you outside.” Minseok ordered. Both Guardians nodded and disappeared down the corridor. Once their shadows had disappeared the Northern Prince threw himself at the Dragon, pressing his face into what uninjured part of his shoulder he could find. Kris winced a little as Minseok flinched erratically, which told the Dragon that his Frost Gem was crying.

“No time…for this, Minseok…” he choked out, holding in his own tears of relief, “We need to…to get back to the city…he’s already…already there…with Tora-”

“He will not take my city. He will not take my throne. He will not take the two of you ever again.” Minseok vowed, helping Kris to his feet and throwing his feather cloak over the Dragon’s shoulders.

It was as if a weight had been lifted off Kris. He slowly began to feel less pain and…and was that what having your skin healed by magic felt like? Glancing at the feather cloak, he noticed that it was made of lots of emerald green feathers.

“That’s why I collect Tora’s feathers,” Minseok looked down so as to hide the raging blush on his cheeks, “She once told me that her feathers could be used for healing.” Kris straightened to his full height and looked at the Northern Prince, noticing the black armour he wore.

“I suppose she also told you about the use for my scales, too.” he said light-heartedly. Minseok nodded, “Let’s go catch up to Chanyeol and Suho then head back to Port Flake. I’ll tell you what I know on the way.” Using his much smaller body as extra support, Minseok led the Dragon out of the cell and through the maze of corridors to the exterior of Fort Diamond, where Suho and Chanyeol in phoenix form were waiting for them next to the ice sculptures they’d made on their way in.

“By the time those guards wake up it’ll be too late to send a message to Port Flake,” Suho said as he clambered on Chanyeol’s back, “We need to get back there to help Luhan, Kyungsoo and Jongdae.”

“Let’s not waste any more time then.” Kris declared, “I have a personal score to settle with the Glacier, after all.” Chanyeol let out a loud singing caw and took off into the sub-zero winds.

~~

Luhan didn’t know exactly how many natural defences Port Flake had until they all began to take a severe beating from the siege weapons throwing fire and rubble upon the city. He ran through another rebel and stepped back so as not to catch all the man’s blood on his tunic, hurriedly glancing at the sky for a glimmer of magical fire.

“They won’t be back for a while!” Taemin called over the battle sounds, “It’s a good four hours to Fort Diamond. I daresay that having Prince Xiumin’s Guardians so far away was supposed to serve as a demoralising exercise for him!”

“I don’t think he counted on how much stubbornness that man actually has!” the Eastern Prince fired back, pulling at the Mint County spy’s sleeve and rolling them out of the path of another large boulder hurled at them with no real accuracy behind the shot. Above all the commotion inside the city the voice of the rebel leader boomed out commands for Minseok to show himself so that the crown of the Northern Provinces could be decided in open combat or else his precious city was going to be flattened into nothing by the end of the day. The catapults were certainly on their way to doing that, but Luhan wasn’t sure if they had four hours to spare until Chanyeol, Suho and Minseok came back – with or without the Northern Prince’s Guardians.

Both he and Taemin were suddenly whisked to another part of the city, thanks to Kai. “He’s got Tora up on that platform with him.” the teleporter informed them both, “Sehun spotted her hair as he barraged a nearby catapult with wind scythes.” Luhan looked up at said platform, where he could see The Glacier watching the mayhem beneath him with something akin to glee on his face. He squinted, and a flash of orange flickered in the winds Sehun was conjuring nearby.

“Get me up there.” he ordered. Both Taemin and Kai stared at him.

“Are you nuts? He’d push Tora off the platform just because you showed your face.” the teleporter argued.

“Then get me to Sehun; I don’t care! We can at least get Tora medical attention and keep her safe until Minseok gets back with Kris.” Luhan’s voice offered no room for any other argument, which made Kai sigh loudly.

“Taemin, keep Siwon, Kyungsoo and Jongdae informed of Luhan’s mentality.” He grabbed the Eastern Prince around the waist and activated his power, moving them through the space with little effort until they reached the wind walker, who had just finished cleaving another catapult in two with a large tornado which had erupted from underneath it. Sehun balked when he spotted his Prince appear behind the remains of the first catapult he’d destroyed, and distracted a group of rebel soldiers with a small snowy typhoon while he ran to Luhan.

“What are you doing here?” he griped, “I thought you were supposed to be inside the city!”

“I’m going to rescue Tora. We can’t wait much longer for Minseok to come back; sooner or later we will need to launch the offensive.” Sehun gaped at him, but pointed to the tallest defence tower standing in the middle of two trebuchets.

“They’re up there. I can get you to the tower, but it’ll be up to you to do the rest.” he explained. Luhan nodded and tightened the grip he had on his sword.

“Let’s go.”

~~

Chanyeol let out a small chirp as Minseok began pulling on his feathers, which had the result of the Northern Prince releasing his grip a little. Port Flake was up in flames, and not because the phoenix had accidentally sneezed on some wooden structure. The rebel army couldn’t seem to get any further than the landlocked walls of the city, which had been fortified by the port’s natural defences. Though from what Minseok could see, those wouldn’t last for much longer unless they interfered.

“There!” Kris pointed to the tallest defence tower standing between the only two trebuchets the rebels had brought with them, “That’s The Glacier’s defence tower! Tora’s with him there!”

“Do you have enough energy to get me there?” Minseok asked. The Dragon pulled the emerald cloak from his shoulders and handed it to Suho, preparing himself to fall off Chanyeol’s back.

“I have enough energy to get my Serpent back.” he growled, allowing his body weight to slide him off the phoenix’s golden orange feathers.

“Kris!” Suho called.

“He’ll be fine. You two get to Luhan and tell him to get Yixing ready for all casualties.” Minseok slipped of Chanyeol’s back amidst a loud squawk from said Guardian, allowing the cold wind to caress his available skin and charge his own frosty powers. He had a feeling he’d need them against The Glacier.

A loud roar broke the Northern Prince’s reverie as he landed on Kris’ onyx back. “Glad to have you back, my friend.” He patted the dark scales of Kris’ head, which resulted in the Dragon flapping his large wings once to gain height and match Chanyeol in the air. The phoenix shared a look of camaraderie with him before trilling loudly and taking off for the city, Suho sitting astride still holding onto the feather cloak.

“Let’s go find our Serpent.” Minseok ordered, hanging on as Kris sped up toward the defence tower. Below them the snow had been disturbed by the heavy machinery dragged across its icy surface, footprints and large drag marks sitting deep in the powder. The thickest marks came from the defence tower, and it was these marks that the pair followed until they were just out of sight of the rebels that circled the base of the tower. They all seemed to be looking up at something, though what it was Minseok didn’t care about right now.

“Take them out.” he stated. Kris opened his mouth and let loose a blast of fire that ripped through the circling guards, their screams still echoing around the plain long after they were all burned out. Minseok stayed on the Dragon’s back and gently scratched his scales once, Kris beginning to slowly ascend in the air as he followed the tower vertically.

“Luhan!” the Northern Prince suddenly breathed, catching sight of his Eastern Prince climbing onto the viewing platform and disappearing out of sight, “Keep it slow, Kris. No one needs to know we’re here yet.” Kris nodded once and slowed his ascent the closer he got to the viewing platform.

“You’re here for her?” The Glacier sounded incredulous, “You’ve no connection to this servant of Xiumin’s.” There was the sound of scraping of hard soled boots against smooth ground, which indicated that Luhan had shifted his position.

“I am the Eastern Prince, and it is my duty to help all those who require it.” he stated, the sound of metal ringing through the air meeting Minseok’s ears.

“So what happens when there’s no one to help you?” Minseok had to fight to keep himself from jumping onto the platform when he heard The Glacier pull out a weapon of his own, “You’re here all alone. She cannot help you.” He must’ve gestured to Tora, the Northern Prince thought. He dug his heels into Kris’ side, the Dragon getting the hint and lifting himself up just enough so Minseok could see onto the viewing platform.

“No…no!” In a fit of rage, the Northern Prince pushed himself onto the platform and into the path of The Glacier’s sword, using a thick sheet of ice as a shield to block the attack. Luhan stared wide-eyed at his lover standing in the path of the weapon, his own sword raised ready to defend himself against the onslaught that hadn’t come. Minseok frowned at The Glacier, pushing him back and standing against him.

“Luhan, get Tora out of here. Kris is waiting underneath the platform.” At his words, a loud noise shook the entire tower, followed by the darkest plume of smoke Luhan had ever seen. A black blur skyrocketed upwards, twisting in the cold wind and accompanied by a loud roar that the Eastern Prince recognised immediately.

“What about you?” Luhan asked as he began to use his psychic energy to pick up pieces of rubble and piece them together in a makeshift jigsaw platform, “I don’t want to leave you here alone to face…that.” He jerked a thumb at the reddening rebel leader.

“I’ll be fine. I’m not alone, after all.” Pressing a swift kiss to his lover’s lips, Minseok nudged him toward the floating platform that Kris hovered nearby. He jerked his head at Tora, then flicked it back toward himself. Luhan nodded, and managed to spare some of his energy levitating Tora onto the Dragon’s back. Once he was sure she was securely positioned, he clambered onto his ride and moved away from the platform. Minseok watched them go, and once he was sure they were a safe distance away he conjured the fastest blizzard he ever felt bubbling in his body, the turbulent winds slicing through the two trebuchets and blocking their position from all view.

“Now it’s my turn.” he spat. The Glacier seemed to like that idea, if his sinister smile was any indication.

“I’ve been waiting years for this opportunity,” His sword shined in what light battled its way through the snow storm, “and now that I have it, it will not be wasted.” Minseok glared, the storm around them intensifying. He could feel snowflakes slipping between his fingers, ready to be thrown at his enemy.

“I will chill you to your bones.” snarled the Northern Prince.

Author's Note: So we've had a siege, we've had a rescue, and we've had Minseok freezing over in preparation for a fight against the guy who wants his throne. Go Minseok! Fight the good fight so I can write the wedding already!

No, that's not a hint; I said THE wedding, not MINSEOK'S wedding.

-GuardianOfTheDawn :3