Chapter 23

Jonghyun has heard many stories about dragons. His father told him tales of how dragons would dive down and attack his people. Back then, the dragons used to live a lot closer to the vampires, but after the tradition started, they left and the vampires felt a little safer. Now that he has seen a dragon and it belonged to someone who intended to do harm to his protected, there was no way he was going to take this lying down.

The guard pets the dragons head with affection and the dragon’s serpent like tongue darted out as it hummed in approval, “now then, shall we begin?” The guard muttered. Jonghyun looked at Key who brought his gaze back to the vampire. He felt Key’s pain, the impact to his back was too harsh, and it was possible that something broke. “Jonghyun,” Minho’s voice broke his thoughts. Looking up at the vampire, Jonghyun’s attention was brought to the younger, “You need to find your father, and we’ll keep an eye on Key.” Jonghyun looked at the human who nodded, agreeing with the vampire. Jonghyun placed his protected back on the ground, gently. He stood up and began to back away before darting to the gates; the dragon was faster and barricaded the only exit. Jonghyun stopped and he froze he needed help, the three of them wouldn’t be able to take on a large dragon. The large beast hissed pushing him back to the others, but he couldn’t stop there he needed more help. He eyed the beast carefully before noticing the gap between its legs that was his only chance. He took a few steps back and charged, his legs moving as fast as they possibly could before sliding between the dragons legs and leaping out of the way to the other side. He couldn’t turn and look back he needed to find his father and quickly. He ran off before the dragon had the chance to set its sights on the vampire.

Jonghyun found his way back to the area where he was kept in, he figured he should release the other guardians. When he got closer, he noticed that the door was slightly ajar. He peered in side to see his father opening the cells to release the other guardians. “Father.” He spoke, slightly out of breath. The older vampire turned to his son and smiled, complete relief washed over him. “Jonghyun, you’re safe, that’s a relief.” He spoke coming closer to his son and looking him over to make sure that his son was not hurt. He noticed something different about his son, he seemed to be worried, his eyes were showing slight pain, and his eyes were darting around slightly. “What is it, Jonghyun?” He asks. “Father, please I need your help, the captain of the guard was responsible for this, he has got Minho, Onew, and our protected trapped in the execution area. His guardian is a dragon; we can’t fight it on our own.” The vampire was shocked to hear all of this, but then something caught his attention, “our protected? You have a protected?” Jonghyun nodded as if it was something that he should be ashamed of. The vampire seemed to relax slightly, “we will talk about that later, right now you need to come with me to get the king, and we need to deal with this dragon.” Jonghyun nodded a smile spread across his features. They finished releasing the other trapped guardian’s before leaving the dungeons and into the palace to find the king.

Onew and Minho were dodging the dragon’s attacks, two vampires against one large dragon was not a good match up. Taemin and Changmin stayed behind by the wall to look after Key. “How do you feel hyung? Are you in pain?” Taemin wondered. Key gulped, the numbing feeling in his back was beginning to worsen, and he knew at that point that he either fractured or broke something. “My b-back hurts…” He panted out. Taemin looked at Changmin who looked concerned, getting hit like that by a vampire into a brick wall was bound to leave some sort of damage. Changmin got Key on his back and said, “Taemin, I need to get Key out of here, you’re coming with me. It’s getting way too dangerous here, if that dragon tries to attack, we are in big trouble.” The younger human nodded, Key was an accident waiting to happen in his condition so while the dragon was occupied with the two vampires the two humans backed away toward the gate from which they came. However, the guard caught them in their tracks, smirking almost irritably sweetly he said, “now, now, where do you think you’re going?” Kicking Taemin out of the way and into the gate making Minho turn around rush toward his protected, the guard turned his attention to Changmin who was carrying an injured Key on his back. He knew he had to be careful if Key received another blow to the back, he might get into even worse condition. “Y-you wouldn’t hit the weak would you?” Changmin asked the guard as he backed away slightly. The guard pondered and then showed his most wicked smile, “yes I would.” He lunged with Changmin just barely managing to dodge it with the younger boy on his back.

Jonghyun and his father found the king pacing back and forth in the throne room. “Your majesty, what is going on?” The king looked at his guardian and then at Jonghyun, “who is that?” The older vampire bowed and said, “This is my son, he wanted to speak with you.” The human nodded and Jonghyun spoke, “Your majesty one of your guards is attacking guardians and their protected he was the one who kidnapped all of the guardians, you know the crazed guardians and-“ The king stopped him immediately, “take us there immediately.” Jonghyun nodded and led the way with the king and his father following suit.