By the time they realized the level ground was now angling up, another day had passed. Tao fumbled with a stamina potion, his tired hands sluggish with ache, and the bottle slipped from his hands, bounced along the stone and rolled—actually rolled—downward and away. It stopped at the base of Yixing's foot who lifted it with a smile. Then, for one silent moment, everyone smiled too.

"We're going up," Chanyeol murmured with fresh hope in his eyes.

They had seen nothing either of interest or excitement since slipping through the door. A smaller den of spiders, less threatening than the ones they'd killed before. Various forks in the tunnelworks and another near scare when they heard darkspawn from far off. Kyungsoo steered them away. He marched resolutely forward, only pausing when they encountered other openings for which he stopped and considered each one a full minute. Sometimes he brought Suho forward and the two of them convened, discussing what the ancient dwarven markings might have meant.

Baekhyun was pretty sure it was all just for show. Kyungsoo needed no help; his subterranean navigation skills were beyond advanced. Not just uncannily good, but extraordinarily so. It was curious.

"You think we're on the other side of the mountains now?" Luhan asked aloud.

Jongin took it upon himself to answer. "Can't be sure, but I'd hazard a guess, yes."

"I always wanted to visit Orlais," the templar muttered. "Just never thought it would be like this."

"You mean skulking underground like scavengers as we flee from just about... I don't know, everything?" suggested Baekhyun with a laugh.

Luhan shrugged.

The next time they took a break hours later as they prepared to sleep—was it even nighttime or day?—Jongin signalled Baekhyun and Chanyeol to speak. They separated from the others, far enough away to whisper and not be overheard. Jongin frowned with a severe slant to his face.

"Uh oh, you've got your thinking face on," said Baekhyun.

Chanyeol huddled closer and they traded sipping stale ale from the same pack to avoid suspicion. Baekhyun figured it was a hopeless front, but Jongin sure wanted to try.

"We need a plan," said the warrior.

"I agree. Plans are good. Let's plan. What's the plan?"

Jongin nodded, blankly accepting Baekhyun's unhelpful encouragement. "Yes. Plan. As soon as we leave the Deep Roads, we separate from the others."

"Others?" asked Chanyeol with a quick look behind him.

"You, me and Baekhyun, Sehun, and Kris, because we hired him."

"I like this plan," said Baekhyun. "Plans are great. This is swell. Now would you like to propose how we do that? Are we just going to greet the sunlight and then say our teary goodbyes, or do you suggest sneaking away in the night?"

Surprisingly, Chanyeol was on the same page as him. He frowned at the shield warrior. "Jongin, we won't know where we are. We could come out anywhere along the western mountain range, and that's if we haven't passed it completely. Have you ever been to Orlais?"

"No, but Baekhyun has. Why else do you think he's here?" Jongin fired back quick.

The elf lifted his eyebrows disdainfully. "Oh, is that all? And here I thought I got this job purely based on looks."

Outwardly, Jongin ignored his jibe, but down by their sides, the warrior's hand found Baekhyun's and while Chanyeol argued logistics, he squeezed it reassuringly. The simple motion ignited a burning, sizzling sensation in the pits of his heart. He zoned out, ears unlistening, eyes raking over Jongin's face, dirty with grime and days' old stubble and for the first time since... forever, Baekhyun felt that worrisome emotion he'd trained for years to stamp out: a fluttering of love, or something like it.

"It's a prudent move anyways. Minseok will understand. This many people traveling together is too noticeable."

Baekhyun gulped.

Noticeable is how he liked to flirt and play around, and noticeable was how much he had Jongin under the palm of his hand when they ‘played’ together.

"And the others?" Chanyeol asked. "We leave Jongdae and Suho and Tao to fend for themselves?"

"Jongdae is perfectly capable of doing whatever he wants. Tao is... well, Tao can do what he wants as well. The point is that us three have a mission and that's to get Sehun to his aunt, and right now, we are at greater risk of being caught because of Minseok and his... family drama."

Oh right, the mission that Baekhyun has been paid to attend to. Protect the nobleman's bastard, see him to safety, and then they can all go their separate ways. Chanyeol and Jongin were already a part of Sehun's household. Baekhyun was no one.

"Minseok's family drama. What a succinct way to put it. But you forget that Sehun has enemies all on his own."

"I haven't forgotten."

"They might have followed us. There was nothing to stop them from crossing at Gherlen's Pass. They could be anywhere on this side of the mountain by now."

"Chanyeol, we don't even know where we are. Which means, they won't either."

"Point taken," the tall swordsman agreed. "My next question is, where is Sehun's aunt and is her home actually safe?"

Safe and sound. When Sehun is safe and sound, Baekhyun's role is done. He'll be released from his contract and set to wander the worlds again. Alone. As he'd always been. Or, as he'd been since his clan kicked him out. Had they kicked him out? So many of Baekhyun's memories had grown fuzzy with the years. He remembers being awful. He remembers causing a small riot on purpose. He also doesn't regret it. The clan had meant home in so many ways, family, even to those who weren't blood-related, and Baekhyun wasn't blood-related. He was an orphan, or at least that's what the elders and the Keeper had said. He had no parents, which Baekhyun took to mean they were either dead, or they'd given up their clan heritage and struck out to live a different kind of life, or both. Elves who voluntarily left the clan were considered dead. Perhaps Baekhyun was always meant to be like them, the parents he had never known. A wanderer, a seeker for something else. It was just his luck, or perhaps misfortune, to fall under the hands of the sect which took him in and taught him nearly everything he knows. Namely, don't get too close. Don't get attached. Don't fall in love.

"I can find her estate easily enough."

"Which means, Sehun's kin can find it as well," Chanyeol mumbled in concern.

"Your point taken as well. But that's why we have us, and Baekhyun and Kris can remain with us for as long as it takes to keep Sehun alive."

"Oh, so I'm just a commodity?" Baekhyun laughed. "Sure you can continue to afford my services?"

Jongin squeezed his hand again, this time harder, but aloud he cocked his head and said, "Hey, if we have to let Kris go to keep you on, I guess that's what we'll have to do."

Baekhyun hummed with exaggerated dissatisfaction. "Well, seeing as how I don't get paid until we actually return to West Hills... or perhaps the aunt will pay? Who are you to assume I won't get tired with you lot and give the venture up as a lost cause?"

He meant it as a joke, but Jongin turned towards him sharply as if he couldn't believe the suggestion. "You... you wouldn't... would you?" he asked shakily.

And Baekhyun, serious for just this moment, inhaled slowly through his nose, then let his breath go. "I suppose I wouldn't, no."

"Glad that's settled," Chanyeol startled them out of their rapport.

For all their time underground, they'd certainly heard a lot of things. Scrabbling sounds along the stone, the screeching of spiders, the war cries of the darkspawn and a host of smaller ghoulish creatures. After an estimated two days of upward mobility, however, Kris, feared qunari and legendary mercenary of a thousand or so (exaggerated) raids, heard a sound that made his blood run still.

They all did.

And they all froze in their tracks.

"Was that..."

Another shrill cry echoed down the stonework tunnel from somewhere up above. It must still be a great distance away, yet the animal was impossible to not know.

"Dragon..." Kris thundered ominously.

But there was no other way to go. Kyungsoo remained adamant that all other paths behind them would not secure their passage out of the mountain. Forward was the only way to go.

"Past a dragon?!" Even Tao was terrified stiff.

"No," said Yixing. "Not a dragon... but a drake."

"And what in this worm's den of a mountain is the difference between a dragon and a drake?!" cried Baekhyun.

The elf had already retrieved his bow from his back and was fitting an arrow to the slot as if he expected to be attacked at any second. Only Kris's deeply driven warrior training kept him from doing the same with his greatsword. Another piercing howl, no closer than the first, but still loud, had most everyone clutching their eardrums in fright.

"It's a drake," Yixing insisted. "You can tell by the pitch of its voice. Trust me, I'm something of a draconologist. Kyungsoo, I know you have a secret map imprinted in your brain you've been reluctant to share with us, but tell us straight right now, right this second..." the mage paused heavily until he was assured the smaller man listened, "Does our route through the mountains take us past Hryngnar's Lair, yes or no?"

It was a conflict no one foresaw, the mage and the dark-smudged man locked in a battle of wills as each stared the other down, hard.

"Yixing?" Minseok tried to intervene. The other mage held up a hand, demanding silence until Kyungsoo answered.

Kris had heard nothing about a secret map, but if the man had one relegated to memory, it made perfect sense. Otherwise they would never have delved so far into the Deep Roads. To admit it though out loud... on this everyone waited. Then, finally, the small man nodded.

"Hryngnar's Lair... yes."

A veritable uproar exploded as one by one, the members of their party began to argue and ask questions. What was this lair, why was there a drake. Did Kyungsoo know of this? Did Minseok know of this, since he apparently put so much trust in Kyungsoo's navigational plans. Question after question after accusation, and this while yet another horrific shriek send vibrating sensations cascading through the tunnel.

"Silence!" Yixing yelled, louder than all the rest. "Unless you want to announce our presence this soon!"

In the vacuum that followed, only Jongin stepped up. They had a decision to make. Inquire about Kyungsoo's motivations, or learn about what they would face ahead. "Yixing... explain."

The mage sighed heavily and began to speak. "It's an old Avvar fort, tucked into the western ledge of the Frostbacks. A ruin, now for centuries. Legends, however, told of its mountainside caverns and a connection to the Deep Roads, to Orzammar, back in times when the Avvar traded secretly with the dwarves. I had thought, until now, that any such passages had long been severed." He looked once more at Kyungsoo with a suspicious tilt of his head. "It appears, I was wrong."

Kris cleared and throat and hesitated to ask, "And the drake?"

"Worse than that." Yixing met his gaze with clear, cold eyes. "Most likely more than one. Could be several. Hryngnar, since it was abandoned, has been infested by all kinds of species. Ice trolls, most famously in the Storm and Blessed Age. As of fifty years ago... it's been the roost of a mature dragon. She's made it her lair. The drakes are her wingless males. They remain with the nest, with the eggs. They will protect those eggs to the death. And Kyungsoo here has us trotting right through the center of their lair..."

All eyes turn to Kyungsoo. Even he, usually so strong and bold appeared to wither before their glares.

"I... I didn't know."

Unfortunately, it was too late now. This was evidenced most forcefully a minute later when Chanyeol dropped the load of supplies he was carrying in the center of the tunnel and sat down in the dirt beside it. Kris thought he was giving up, or was laying down to die. However, Chanyeol peered around at each person calculatingly, drew out a few blank pieces of scroll and parchment and said, to no one in particular, but to everyone, "Well then. Let's map out a solid plan, shall we? Strategies, let's discuss."

Only after they'd sketched out a rough map of the lair with Yixing's and Kyungsoo's joint knowledge, and every person in the party was given a specific task to bring about the successful attack of whatever they might find there inside, did Chanyeol and especially Jongin relax. And only then did Minseok draw Yixing away privately into the shadows of the tunnels to talk. Kris didn’t thought it especially odd that the two mages might yet have secrets to discuss, but how of all the people gathered there neither Luhan nor Suho seemed pleased about that. Both of their heads, from opposite sides of the tunnel followed the mages’ path with unveiled fear in their eyes.

"You can't do this."

Minseok whipped around to stare at Luhan. "What?" he said, ripping his shoulder away from where the templar held his sleeve. "Do what?"

"This, attacking a drake and possibly a dragon with-"

"Luhan, I thought we agreed we had to either sneak daintily past a wakeful drake, or else kill it." Minseok laughed, but the underlying frustration on Luhan's face was worrisome. Had the templar finally cracked? This many days underground, it wasn't unheard of.

"I mean with Yixing. I mean, with Yixing leading the assault."

They drew quiet. Ahead of them, the other mage and half their warriors crouched low as they peered around a large stone marker. They had left narrow tunnels behind hours ago. This now, was the cavern, the back entrance to Hyrngnar's Lair. For all intents and purposes, their presence had yet to be noticed by the brooding drakes inside. Three of them, Yixing had counted three of them. He'd also promised to stun each one as best he could. It wouldn't kill the drakes, it would barely even knock them out. But any advantage in this situation would help.

And now Luhan was questioning this entire endeavour? How... why did he say this?

Minseok glanced behind them. Tao, Sehun and Suho made up their rear. Luhan was supposed to remain with them, to be the back shield and guard. So was Minseok. It was the reason they straggled now.

"We don't have time for this," Minseok started.

"We should make time for this." Luhan's eyes narrowed, a harsh glint to his eyes where usually they were soft. "Minseok, I know... I know what he is. So must you. So tell me, can you trust him... in this?"

Minseok didn't gasp. He didn't even breathe. He held the templar's glaze steadily, one hand on his staff. Another screech of the drake sounded through the cavern, and this time they all felt it. Hot, warm breaths, like a steam bath but smelling much more foul. Another drake echoed the cry of the first.

"They know something's here," Yixing called from the front. "We have to get a move on, now."

And yet Minseok stared at Luhan, refusing to flinch. "I can. He can be trusted," he said in between clenched teeth. "How do you know? When did you find out?"

Some part of him wanted Luhan to be confused, or to have mistaken some other truth. Perhaps it was a ploy either way, to get Minseok to confess to knowing. By the gleam of Luhan's smile now though, Minseok knew he had backed himself into a corner with this.

"So you do know..." said Luhan.

Minseok held his silence until Baekhyun hissed for them to move. Tao and Sehun went hurrying past. One glance ahead told Minseok that it was now or never.

Only Suho held back. He put his elbow on Luhan's forearm and stared hard at Minseok as well. How much had he overheard? How much had he divined? The expression of his face spoke of all Minseok needed to know.

"You too?" the mage whispered.

Luhan peered down in shock at the dwarf, verifying yet another fact. The two of them hadn't shared this discovery with each other. Which meant Luhan knew from some other way. He really needed to guard his expression, Minseok perceived. Perhaps Minseok would teach him, later. If there was a later.

The worst thing about about battles for Suho, was that he never knew where to go or what to do. He was useless still, even after all his lessons. Even after all the training Jongdae, and then Chanyeol and even Kris had put him through. He carried a large weapon, to be sure, but how to wield it? How even to defend himself? In the last skirmish with the darkspawn, he had nearly died. There was no getting around that small little fact. Sehun had saved his life, and thus almost died himself. And that was just against mortal men. Demonish creatures to be sure, but humanoid, tainted, men.

These though... these were dragons. Or close thereof.

Suho crouched low behind Baekhyun's small form. His job was to follow the elf wherever he went and, hide behind him. They skirted the far wall now while Baekhyun looked for place to fire his bow. On the opposite side of the cavern went Jongin, Chanyeol and Jongdae, Yixing and Kyungsoo covering from the rear. Right, and left, with a drake in between.

It was terrifying. Three times the height of the qunari, teeth as long as Suho's body, and the piercing horror of its eyes when it realized their attack. Its scales, dark blue and black, were as large as Suho’s whole head. If he made it out alive with his britches still dry, it would be a miracle. How people could ever go up against a creature like this and live to tell the tale was beyond him.

And these weren't even the real things.

A mature dragon. This was the lair of some mature dragon. Suho controlled his breathing as he and Baekhyun scampered along the high cavern walls. The rock felt slimy to his hands. The entire place reeked of filth and decay, the breeding, literally mating grounds for the entire dragon species.

The drake screeched. It bucked its body and arched its head. Suho had half a second to gasp and cry out, before he realized it wasn't even looking at him. Jongin's armor glinted in the hazy, murky light. Beyond them was the sunlight. After so many days, there it was. And a drake blocked the way.

It curved its long neck and slashed its teeth, but did not yet attack. Instead, incredibly, the great beast wheeled its head around and slowly began to back up. Great clawed-feet, it was half serpent half dragon, with all the terrifying features of both. Just because it could not fly did not mean it was any less dangerous.

"What's it doing?" Tao whispered from behind Suho's head. The boy held a newly found dwarven sword in his hands, but like Suho he was unused to wielding it. Even Sehun was better than he with the dual knives he held between clenched fists, although none of them needed them yet. Baekhyun let an arrow fly. It missed the drake's eye by inches and pierced its neck instead.

"Barely even passed through the skin, this is going to be fun!" the elf cried in frustration. His arrow was a mere pinprick to the giant beast.

From their vantage point, it was the perfect time to strike. Jongin realized it too. He and the others in the forward guard pressed towards it in a semi-circle, shields and weapons in the air. The drake's head careened about, but it had yet to strike back. Instead, it continued moving steadily into a corner.

"Why, why's it doing that?" Tao still wondered.

And that's when Suho saw it. Baekhyun remarked at the same time, "The eggs. Look at them. It's backing up to protect his eggs."

Three monstrous ovular shapes gleamed against the dark rock of the cavern wall. Behind it, old markings carved by the ancients held it in magnanimous backdrop.

"It's going to die like that, if they corner it," said Sehun.

Baekhyun shook his head. “Perhaps. But it won’t go easily. It's because it's a trap. But we already knew that."

"The other drakes," Suho said suddenly. "Where are they?"

A split second before Jongin lunged, Yixing struck a massive spell of blinding light right towards the first drake's eyes. It cried and convulsed, but was blinded long enough for Jongin to strike. Next to him, Chanyeol and Jongdae seized forward too. The sound of their metal slicing through leathery flesh and scales ripped a cry of anguish from the drake. Still blind, it's head bowed forward and a half blast of fiery wind burst from its mouth. Jongin ducked. His shield took the hit as he rolled to the side. Jongdae dived the other way, and before the drake had recovered, the nimble assassin was back on his feet with his daggers slicing through the chest of the beast.

Baekhyun let another arrow fly. This time it struck deeper in the drake's neck. It landed next to a crosshair from Kyungsoo's weapon. Suho couldn't even see the man, he blended in so well with the shadows.

The first drake seemed already on its last leg. Yixing was sending spell after spell towards it, weakening or else draining the creature of its strength and defense. It was easier now that they were actually fighting it. It would drop any minute now, especially with Minseok's spells combining their bombardment.

And then, another drake howled through a shadowed arch from another tunnel of the cavern, and Suho’s body shook anew.

"Round two!" He heard Jongdae cry in excitement.

"Round two?" Baekhyun hissed mockingly. "We're still on Round one, this is not as much fun as I thought it would be!"

The first drake seized upon the second's surprise launch, and dived towards the qunari. Kris careened and dove away, but not before a parcel of razor sharp teeth sliced through his shoulder. It missed his neck by inches. He gave a mighty cry of war, grunting as he hit the ground. Jongin was before him by the time the drake could restrike, and this time, teeth meshed with metal, foiling its final kill. Chanyeol used the reverberations to sneak beneath the beast and plunge his greatsword deep through its heart. It wailed as it died. The serpentine tail skidding across the rocks, tearing off pillars and pieces of the ruins. Kyungsoo cried out as his body was whipped through the air, caught in the circular spin of the drake as it gnashed out and crumbled to the ground.

"Kris!" Both Jongin and Chanyeol knelt by the man where he lay. Baekhyun stood up on his rock to better see, but he wasn't looking at the fallen warrior.

"Get up you three, it's coming! The second one is coming now!" he roared.

And through the archway, rumbled the second drake. This was one larger than the first, and twice as angered. Its scales were blacker, but tinged with a shade of red as if anticipating the carnage it would wreak today.

Luhan was there to meet it. So was Minseok, and Alistair, his great war dog, eyes glinting cruelly through the humid haze, and his teeth bared out in menacing disarray. It should have frightened any beast. But the drake, massive in strength and power, didn't even see it. It focused on Luhan's sword and shield instead, on its fellow drake which lay bleeding across the rocks.

Luhan struck forward. Minseok, a few steps behind, waved his staff high above his head. Suho, still clutching his own measly weapon, had to blink and shield his eyes. The staff transformed, tip to base like a sword but with with the same magic behind it. It sliced through the drake's chest as easily as a sword, distracting the beast enough that Alistair could slink between its legs and attack from the belly.

Suho clenched his eyes and looked away. It was a massacre. He hated the beasts, and granted, they would rip off his head as soon as they pleased, but inside the cavern it was still a massacre. Jongin and Chanyeol had regrouped. Jongdae remained behind to lift Kris off the ground. Tao, taking the bait, raced behind their protective stone barrier to help. Kris was alive. Injured and suffering badly, but alive. With so many bodies, it seemed only a matter of time until the second drake was dead too.

Baekhyun wasn't looking at it though. He stood atop a rock, and then climbed even higher up another ledge, hand shielding his eyes as he stared around the lair.

"Where is it, come on. Where is it. Where're you hiding?" he grumbled.

They'd only encountered two drakes. And right now, that was a good thing because there was no way they could have survived two or three at once, and a mature dragon on top. It was to their benefit that they'd come one at a time. But there were definitely three. And if the third one was still hiding, it could not mean good things.

Something rustled behind him. Suho jumped because of course he feared the drake, but it was Sehun rushing past him.

Baekhyun cried out. "Sehun, get back here now!"

The second drake wasn't even dead. The warriors still fought. Yixing had joined the fray, but they lacked Kris' muscle and Jongdae’s blades. They were also lacking Kyungsoo. Suho squinted and stared across the ground. The smaller man was nearly invisible, laying in the shadows. But he wasn't getting up. Sehun, oblivious to all other possible dangers, raced to his side and crouched there in a panic.

"Stubborn brat, you'll get yourself killed," Baekhyun grunted as he hopped down from his perch. "Come on, quick," he gestured for Suho to move. The two of them sprinted across the ground, avoiding the fallen drake, pausing only to check that Kris was alright. Jongdae smiled briefly, a reassuring expression that did much to calm Suho's nerves. He kept following Baekhyun. Sehun knelt beside Kyungsoo's fallen form, tears already in his eyes.

"We need a mage. He needs help," Sehun cried.

Kyungsoo's eyes lolled around, his vision swimming. He couldn't focus on Sehun even though the boy was right overhead. Suho quickly examined his body. The drake's tail, spiked and deadly had crashed right into Kyungsoo's lower back, both knocking him off his feet and tearing the skin, maybe even more. He was bleeding through his robes. But when Suho reached for him, Sehun cried even louder.

"What are you doing?! You'll hurt him!"

"I have to see what's wrong first!"

"Sehun, calm down," Baekhyun's even-toned voiced cautioned from above. He stood with his arrow still ready to fire, ever watching for the third drake, but also letting one or two fly towards the second drake, which was already on its side, panting, but still snapping its teeth. Jongdae and Kris quickly maneuvered towards them too, the two injured bodies lying side by side. Kris at least could sit up.

Suho tore into Kyungsoo's robes. His hands would be stained, tainted no doubt, but if anyone was going to die right here, it wouldn't be because Suho didn't try. Both mages were occupied. Suho still couldn't believe that Yixing was doing this, but it was not his priority right now. He tore the fabric and pushed Kyungsoo onto his side, wincing at the wound marks and tattered flesh. His back was as blotchy as the rest of his body, and maybe he was a dangerous creature under too much suspicion but here, crying in agony, Kyungsoo was just a man.

"Here," said Kris, who dropped his pack of supplies. He began fumbling with the tie but produced a small potion of ointment and a bundle of rags. "Use this."

"Thanks," said Suho, grabbing for the bottle.

The second drake gave another screeching roar, followed the sound of his long neck and head hitting the ground. The whole cavern rumbled, but one look over showed that none of theirs were seriously injured. Sehun continued his sniffling, but now the drake was dead, his attention went completely to Kyungsoo. He held the man's gloved hands and whispered soothing words. Kyungsoo wavered in and out of consciousness.

"We can't stay here," said Yixing, without looking down. "Kris, you're okay to walk? There will be another one soon and-

"We're not leaving without Kyungsoo," Sehun grunted through clamped jaw.

"We may have to... Is he even capable of being moved? We can't carry him away. This lair is thousands of feet up the mountain, and we still have to skirt our way down. Quickly!"

"I'm not leaving without him," Sehun repeated. "Aren't you a healer?! Then heal him?"

Minseok knelt by Suho's side. "We can bind these wounds with a healing spell, but he'll still need to be carried. Who can do that now. Chanyeol? Tao?"

"We can try," echoed the two.

"Then let's get ready to move."

Yixing looked frustrated, but he didn't contradict Minseok's decision.

The twelve of them and Alistair shuffled awkwardly towards the sunlit ledge. The old ruined fort was massive. It meandered out before their eyes, ledge after ledge of leveled and crumbling stone stretching halfway down the mountain. Any other day, Suho would marvel at the horizon. A setting sun illuminating hills and valleys and a great forest beyond. The lands of the Dales, of the Marches, and of the great kingdom of Orlais.

But now was not that moment. Not when a lone, smaller mountain range lay between them and the forest, and a great valley in between. And not when a great commotion of wind and turmoil and the shrieking of something louder and more fierce than the drakes was coursing through the air.

"Dragon!" Kris screamed. It flew towards them at an unhurried pace, ghosting through the air like it had all the time in the world to rain down fire and destruction.

It did too. For before them were perilous steps and ledges. And behind them, came the third and final drake.

"Yixing..." Minseok stuttered. "Yixing, I think now would be a good time to..."

The two mages exchanged a measured glance. Then the older of the two nodded once. He threw his staff towards Minseok's palm who caught it, and began shouting orders. "Everyone, down now. One step at a time, and we keep going no matter what."

"But," said Jongin, his hand waving at the ominous dragon in the sky.

"Come, listen to Minseok," Luhan interrupted him. "Now."

They moved as one, shuffling into formation, two abreast down the slippery steps of the ruined fort, Chanyeol with Kyungsoo in his arms, and Tao with Kris leaning upon his shoulder. Only Yixing remained.

Suho turned back to watch. Despite their fear, they all did. So they all watched as Yixing threw aside his robes, shredding them to the ground. He stood bare and on the ledge of the ruin, a massive drake crawling forward as his backdrop, and a furious dragon circling up ahead. The sun beat a shimmering glow upon his skin.

Then his body convulsed, his back hunched, his neck cracked and popped. His arms grew long. Skin ripped apart flesh from flesh, and a sinuous membrane of bone and scales burst through his body as he grew, and contorted.... and transformed.

Suho knew. He had seen it happen once before, and it had terrified him then as it still did now.

A dragon stood where Yixing had been.

5,360 words

*coughs* Ahem.

I would talk about more, but... I'm pretty sure all anyone's going to remember from this chapter is Yixing getting and turning into a dragon so- discuss!