Chapter eighteen

 

 

His eyes shot open, bright white and wide; yet his body was at ease, peaceful and remained quiet. He stared at the white ceiling and inhaled slowly.

He was in his room, the darkness had fallen.

 

He blinked and sat up, threw the blankets off him and slung his legs over the ground. The lights in his room when his feet hit the ground and he walked to the desk in the corner of his room. Another light when he saw down on the office chair and opened a drawer, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, drawing the route through the tunnels now that they were still very clear in his mind.

 

He did it all with leisure.

 

It took him less than ten minutes to draw it, every single path, even the paths he didn’t go through, he knew where they were.

It was like a maze, once you got in, you hardly get out.

 

Once satisfied, Baekhyun stood up and made his way downstairs, grabbing a knife from the kitchen before he made his way down the stairs into the black gap. He stopped in front of the tunnel and pinned the map against the wall with the knife.

He stood still for a few moments.

 

 

 

 

His eyes became a bit smaller, less bright. His conscious returned and Baekhyun stood frozen in front of the black gap. He listened.

His ears twitched.

 

Deep in the darkness, he heard noises, screeching, far and high-pitched, as if the dead was fighting the dead. It sounded horrifying, yet Baekhyun didn’t move, his expression stayed a deadpan. The brightness in his eyes disappeared completely and his eyes became blank as he listened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘’They’re coming.’’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘’Sir, I’ve got some news that might interest you.’’

‘’You better give me some good news or else you’ll end up like the men before you... DEAD!’’

‘’Yes sir, better than good even. Amazing news!’’ He caught the boss’ attention. His annoyed expression became a smirk.

‘’Well, tell me then.’’

The henchman smirked smugly and threw the thick pack of papers on the boss’ desk. The boss turned his chair to the pile and grabbed the first file, opening it. The picture of a young boy laid on top of another, thinner pile of papers, a profile. The boss moved the photo away and looked at the profile.

‘’You got a hand on EXO’s new pupil-list?’’ He asked, unamused.

‘’Yes sir, and not only that, we put each profile next to each other and compared each one of them with the features of the one we’re searching, and guess what?’’ He reached out to grab the first two file off the pile and opened them next to each other.

The boss grabbed them in both hands and looked at each, mouth ajar.

‘’We got two matches.’’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘’So what’s the planning for today? I heard you guys found a new room in your room?’’ Jongin said as he barged into their dorm.

‘’You told him?!’’ Chanyeol directed his attention at Kyungsoo who was sitting on the dining table in front of him, munching on a slice of bread with jam. Kyungsoo spared him a wide-eyes glance before he shrugged and took another bite.

‘’Why wouldn’t he?’’ Jongin asked as he closed the door and made his way to the kitchen, grabbing something to eat. ‘’How’s Baekhyun?’’

‘’Baekhyun’s fine, major headache, but fine.’’ Chanyeol answered and grabbed the second slice of with cheese covered bread and took a great bite.

‘’Let’s go in after school.’’ Jongin suddenly suggested. Chanyeol choked.

‘’You wanna die?!’’ He yelled, voice high-pitched as he slammed his chest, coughing.

‘’Not really but I mean, we should at least check what the ’s in there?’’ Jongin shrugged as he took the seat beside Chanyeol’s, placing his with food filled plate on the table as he patted Chanyeol’s back.

 

It had become a normal thing to eat in the largest dorm, which happened to be Chanyeol’s and Baekhyun’s.

 

While Chanyeol tried hard not to choke to death, Kyungsoo finished whatever he had on his plate and stood up.

‘’I’m checking on Baekhyun before we leave.’’ He said, dropping off his plate in the sink before he made his way up the white stairs. The two of them – Kyungsoo and Chanyeol – had already decided that the boy would stay home for today, maybe tomorrow as well. The school didn’t have to know about their discovery yet, and Baekhyun’s wounded head wouldn’t really help keeping the secret a secret.

After school they had planned to take a look at what’s inside the gap, maybe take Jongin with them in case they got lost inside.

 

He opened the door and peeked inside, unsurprised by the sight of the boy asleep, back turned towards him.

‘’Baek?’’ He softly called out.

The sheets moved a bit. ‘’I’m asleep.’’ Came a hoarse reply.

Kyungsoo softly chuckled. ‘’We’re leaving for school, mind us when something’s off, okay?’’

Baekhyun murmured something back in reply before the room settled down in soft snores. He shut the door and went back downstairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The door was shut and Baekhyun’s eyes opened. He stopped the fake snoring and waited until he heard the chatter downstairs leave before he got up.

He was already dressed, dressed in black jeans and a big, black T-shirt. It was probably Chanyeol’s shirt, totally mismatching his ‘light’ style, but that didn’t bother him, neither the fact that he might be wearing his roommate’s shirt.

There was no way he was going to let them go down on their own, not before he himself had checked if it was safe. Baekhyun knew something was very off with that place, he also knew it had something to do with him; the voices in his head never lied.

He just couldn’t place the pieces in the right pattern.

 

He stepped out of his room and made his way downstairs. The delicious scent of food hung in the air and the lights were still on, despite it already being light outside. The black gap in the wall had fallen into a deep silence, unlike last night when every second, even in his sleep, Baekhyun would hear something or someone screeching.

It wasn’t just screeching he heard. It was a story, a story he had heard somewhere before. It sounded very familiar, which was why Baekhyun was going inside.

For the knowledge

The safety of his fronds.

And for the key he knew had to be down there.

 

He made his way down the stone stairs and the lights behind him turned off. He held up his hand and made a light ball float above it, providing him from light.

He wasn’t scared for what might be inside.

 

 

He entered the tunnel.

 

The map flew up a bit when he walked past it, a single sparkle was left on it, the place where Baekhyun was going.

 

 

 

 

 

With every tenth, a small light ball pushed itself into the dirt wall, lighting up the place, making a visible path. The further he walked down the tunnel, the darker it seemed to become too, the more his eyes lighted up. Baekhyun was conscious of it, yet he couldn’t find a way to stop it. It was the only thing he barely had any control in.

The screeching became louder and less frequent, Baekhyun knew it didn’t came from somewhere in the tunnels, it came from the place the tunnels led to.

 

It was the sixth turn he took when he saw a large gap in the middle of the tunnel, a great light emerging from it. Baekhyun dropped his hand and ran towards it, the light ball disappeared into thin air and Baekhyun was greeted by a much more powerful kind of light instead.

As soon as he stepped into the brightness, he felt a wave of energy entering his body. He suddenly felt incredibly powerful, like all the wounds seemed to heal, like all the scars never existed.

 

It was like he was where he belonged, his personal source of energy.

 

The brightness ebbed away and Baekhyun stepped inside the newly-found room.

His eyes widened at its greatness.

 

A humongous library, probably bigger than the whole dormitory, with green and white lights radiating from the bright, absurdly high cupola. Many bookcases stood untouched, a long row of tables in chairs in the middle of the hall and huge, greenish chandeliers above them.

Dust floated around in the bright air, on the tables and bookcases. Like the place had been there for ages.

 ‘’Wow,’’ he breathed out in awe and made his way inside. Baekhyun felt like he was glowing, that was how powerful he felt. Lie he could take over the whole world on his own.

 

It was an amazing feeling, Baekhyun had to admit. But also a very dangerous one. Power manipulates people, makes them want to have more; and people do everything to gain more empire.

 

His light steps barely made it to an echo through the quiet hall as he made his way to the shelves, reading the big carvings in the sides.

History.

The first one read. Drawings of the first appearance of magic in the world carved around the word.

Kinds.

The second one read, surrounded by the four main elements. And just like that, there were about thirty (if not more) more.

Protection.

Danger.

Prevention.

Death causes.

Hurting.

Elementals

Abnormals

Rares

 

The latter made Baekhyun stop his slow pace. He was considered a rare as well, his ability one of a kind. He took a step back and walked around the shelve, observing the books. Each one of them had a different color, different size, depending on whichever ability it was – Baekhyun thought.

However, unlike all the other shelves that contained dozens of books, this one had a number of thirty thin books only.

They were arranged in alphabetical order and it took Baekhyun merely a second to find his own book; probably the thinnest on the whole shelve, that was how much the world knew about him. Baekhyun took the book out of the empty shelve, it wasn’t bright white like the ability of  ice, it was a mix of light green and white, just like the whole hall radiated.

He blew the dust off the pale cover. Glowing, silver letters appeared, writing dainty light.

 

Baekhyun stared at the cover for a few minutes before his feet slowly dragged him to the large, greyish wooden tables and sat down on a chair. He laid down the book on the table and opened it.

 

Page one, History...

 

The page was empty.

 

Page two, Capabilities

 

‘Light bending is the ability to create, shape, generate, absorb and manipulate light. Commonly referred to simply as light, is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight.

Light can do a lot of things. It can welcome, it can warm, but it can also make laser beams that slice through steel.’

 

The rest of the page was empty. It didn’t sound new to Baekhyun. He knew he was able to do all, he had practised well in all.

He flipped the page.

 

Page three, Applications.

 

‘       Create/generate/increase, absorb, shape and manipulate light and colors.

Bend and/or create short light particles.

Eternal light.

Holographic projection.

Invisibility.

Visual illusions.

Light negotiation’

 

Page four...

 

Empty. That was it. That was everything they knew about his power, which was nothing compared to what they knew about elementals.

Baekhyun closed the book and stood up, walking back to the ‘Rares’ shelve to put it back when he stopped his actions, leaving his arm hanging in the air. Instead, he dropped his arm back to his side, clutching the book tightly in his hand as he turned back around and continued observing all the other shelves.

It might was a better idea if he kept the book... for now.

 

He walked past the many shelves, past an enormous staircase to a second floor which contained much more bookshelves and walked to the very back of the hall, to where a big hearth was established. An immense painting of a dragon hung above it, covering the whole wall. The hearth was off and looked cold, just like the painting.

 

It was a green dragon with darker green cuts in its tail and lighter parts around its collar. It wasn’t a thick dragon and its wings weren’t that large either, but the length of the animal was humongous and looked like it was flying straight towards him, its bright, turquoise eyes staring straight into Baekhyun’s own, bright ones.

Its collar was made of greenish spikes and its expression was one of anger. Surrounded by green fire.

 

Baekhyun unconsciously took a step closer, mesmerized by its beauty and familiarity. It reminded him of something, something he couldn’t quite figure out.

Dragons did exist. They were just like him, rare, one of a kind. The last one seen years ago, but it wasn’t the one he saw on the painting.

 

It was then Baekhyun saw something different in the painting than a dragon only, literally. It was the glister in its eye, it seemed too real. Baekhyun scrunched his eyes together and took another step closer.

It wasn’t drawn into the painting, it was literally stuffed into the fabric the dragon was painted on, and now that Baekhyun had noticed, a smug smile bloomed on his face.

 

It was the key.

 

Not wasting a second, he dropped the book on the ground and ran towards the hearth, climbing on top of the stone as he grabbed the painting to keep his balance. The eye was in one of the lower parts of the painting, giving Baekhyun a huge advantage. He reached out for the key when his fingers suddenly stopped right in front of it, trembling slightly.

There could be an electric force around him, or the key itself could be made from the same metal as the chains were. It could hurt him.

 

Baekhyun hesitated with doubt as he slowly reduced the distance between his index finger and the key and lightly touched it.

 

No shock.

 

A nervous chuckle left his mouth as he grabbed the key and jumped back down, looking at his trouvaille. The key wasn’t that big and fitted perfectly in his hand, was silvery from color but covered with a lot of rust, making it look old and gross.

 

He smiled and lowered his hand to tuck it into his pocket when out of the absolute blue, the ground started to shake, throwing him off his feet, the key slipped out of his hand.

A deafeningly loud screech echoed through the hall. Baekhyun covered his ears and pinched his eyes together as if it could reduce the painful noise. But it couldn’t and his head felt like it was being split apart.

Just as sudden as it began, it stopped and the room fell into a screaming silence. Baekhyun released his head and opened his eyes when out of the blue, a piece of the ceiling came falling down. His eyes widened as he crossed his outstretched arms in front of him, creating a shield on which the large chunks shattered before they fell down around him.

Pillars started cracking, bookshelves rumbling back and forth, chunks falling from the ceiling... a large shadow disappearing with the speed of light into a tiny gap in the wall, far away from where he was, but close to the way out.

 

Baekhyun was given no time when the ground started to shake again. His hand grasped the key from the ground as he got up, just before a large crack formed in the stone floor.

He didn’t hesitate and ran to the exit.

 

Everything was shattering, the sound of breaking filled his ears as one of the bookcases fell down on another, creating a domino effect as everything fell apart on the ground. The light the ceiling produced slowly became less.

A crack appeared in the staircase before Baekhyun had passed it and he watched with large eyes how the whole left staircase ruptured into pieces on the ground, creating a curtain of dust.

Baekhyun covered his eyes with his arm when little stones flew his way and stopped running, squatting down as he covered himself with a thick shield before large chunks of stair came crashing down on it.

 

He felt every chunk punching against his skull when it hit the shield. He knew he couldn’t stay in here3 for much longer.

 

As soon as the rain of bricks stopped, he stood up again and dashed to the hole in the wall, to the tunnels. It looked so far away...

 

He jumped over a fallen piece of ceiling before another pillar came crashing down. Baekhyun raised one arm to shoot a large beam at it, shattering it in the mid-air before it could hit him.

 

The light in the room was disappearing in a fast pace, hence Baekhyun threw small yet bright balls in the mid-air in front of him, creating a line of balls which disappeared when he passed them.

The ground started to shake harder. Baekhyun fell how he lost balance before his shoe hit a crack in the floor and he tumbled forwards onto the ground beside a pile of books.

‘ I left the book.’

Time to go back to the painting and pick it up wasn’t available and Baekhyun was fast to get on his feet again.

 

The ceiling started to crack and Baekhyun knew it was only a matter of time before the whole thing was going to collapse, whether he was still inside or out. He ran back to the large gap in the wall, shooting one a falling chunk from the ceiling before he jumped inside, just before the whole ceiling collapsed.

He fell on the ground, hastily pushing himself backwards until his back hit the wall, panting heavily as he watched how chunks fell down right in front of the gap, blocking the entrance. Everything became completely dark, and this time, he didn’t bother to brighten up to deadly silent tunnel where only his own loud panting was heart accompanied by the beating of his heart.

 

His head rolled backwards against the cold wall, giving him a refreshing feeling as he listened to his own pants, feeling how the wild adrenaline in his blood slowly ebbed away.

He had no idea what exactly happened, but it had definitely something to do with-

‘’The key.’’ He breathed out, eyes opening as he opened his hand. The key was still in it, which was a huge relief regarding what he just went through.

He slowly got up from the ground and walked away from the spot, his legs trembling from the after-shock.

 

 

He heard a loud breath.

 

 

One that wasn’t his.

 

 

One behind him.

 

 

Warm air hitting his back.

 

 

Baekhyun stopped his tracks, looking at the wall in front of him. It suddenly seemed so far away, the tunnel enlarged. The hairs on his arms erected, goosebumps appeared in his neck.

His head screamed ‘NO’, yet his legs slowly turned around.

He couldn’t stop his eyes from getting wider, his breathing sped up as his head moved up its long, long neck.

He instinctively took a step back, looking straight into the eyes of the dragon he saw on the painting, before the turquoise eyes came dashing forward.

 

‘’NO!’’