"Truth is in his hands, while knowledge is at his side." - The Prophecies of Light

The hallway of the Marcher Lord's Keep was dimly lit, yet Wonwoo found that he had very little difficulty in maneuvering it. He had been in darker places before and with much more at stake, and so had learned quickly how to traverse in such places. Silently, too; he moved with as much noise as a mouse along the cold stone hall, sticking close to the wall out of habit.

It had been almost a week since the run in along the passes, and though Mingyu was still nursing an injured ankle, Wonwoo was beginning to get bored. To use up the nervous energy that he felt building within him, he had taken to exploring the Keep, even if he had been told to stay in his rooms. 

He had been shaken and afraid when Mingyu had gone down under the demon's attack, but though he tried to get his horse to stop, he couldn't manage it. The beast took the bit in it's teeth and ran, no matter what he tried to do. The relief that flooded through him when Hyesung had pulled his own horse to a halt and turned around for the mercenary was enough to make him almost forget the danger that he was in, being stuck on a runaway horse. 

As quickly as that thought had crossed his mind, it fled. They had just crested the top of a hill and his horse slammed to a stop at the sight of the army, unseating him and throwing him toward the ground. It was by pure luck that he held on, one hand twisting tightly into the horse's mane and the other still clinging to the saddle. And so it was that when he got his first look at Youngsaeng, the Marcher Lord and one of the most powerful men in the realms, it was when he was hanging off of the side of a horse like some contortionist.

The Lord had been completely unimpressed with him at first, but when he said the word 'demons', the man was all ears. He took Wonwoo by the shoulder and led him back into the ranks of the army, asking many questions about who he was and why he was there and how did he know what demons were. When Hyesung arrived, with Mingyu doubled on his horse, Wonwoo had been relieved, and not just because the other two were safe. The Marcher Lord and all his questions had shaken him; something about the man just didn't sit right with Wonwoo.

They had been escorted to Youngsaeng's Keep, a massive, stone castle built into the side of a cliff. Hyesung had cast a healing spell for Mingyu, though it couldn't heal the mercenary completely, and the action had drained both men to the point that when they arrived, Wonwoo was the only one fully coherent. He had never seen a Mage cast a healing, and he hadn't expected it to take such a toll on the older man. He simply hoped that both of the others would be alright.

Youngsaeng had had them shown to chambers, and though Mingyu and Wonwoo were taken to a shared suite on one of the lower floors, the Marcher Lord had insisted on keeping Hyesung near him. Wonwoo had protested, just because the feeling that he got from Youngsaeng wasn't right, but both of the older men overruled him. And so it was that he found himself holed up with Mingyu, sharing the same sitting room, both with their own small bedroom just off of it. He'd never been in such a luxurious bed chamber before, and though he should have been elated, it felt far too much like a prison cell. 

Mingyu spent the last several days resting in their conjoined sitting room, both the magical healing and the physical healing that he still needed to do taking a toll on him. Wonwoo had kind of always assumed that if a Mage wanted something done, it happened, but since meeting Hyesung he was coming to realize that that was not the case. Apparently magic could only do so much, especially when it came to healing. The break had been corrected, but now Mingyu had to rest to let the remainder of the injury heal.

He was using the rest wisely, though, and had convinced Wonwoo to appropriate some books for him from Youngsaeng's library. Wonwoo had never been very interested in books; barely knowing how to read would do that to someone. Besides, the desire to sit and squint one's eyes at a page with black marks all over it, he just couldn't understand the appeal. But if Mingyu thought that he might find some clues in writings, then he was definitely welcome to peruse them.

Getting to the books had been no easy task, but when Wonwoo had returned with several of the prophecy tomes tucked in a bag, Mingyu's smile made it worth it. The thief thought that he might want