"The five shall hold fast and the four shall end it." - The Prophecies of Light

Seungcheol fell to one knee, his sword stabbed into the ground being the only thing currently keeping him from ending up facedown in the snow. The red horse stepped close as if he was going to nuzzle his master, but at the last second, he opened his mouth to try and bite Seungcheol's shoulder. The blond man smacked his nose and the red backed off with a snort, shaking his head in irritation. Seungcheol felt almost bad, but his face hurt, the blisters from the fire feeling like they were burning through the bones, and his eyesight was still blurry; he didn't want to deal with a horse bite, too. But he did owe his life to the wicked thing. "Thank you, horse," he said softly. His voice was rough, too, but other than his burns he felt relatively well. Unlike Hyesung, he hadn't been embroiled in a fight that stole from his own energy just to cast magic.

Hyesung!

The memory of the man being struck by his own spell pulled Seungcheol from his stupor. He stumbled to his feet, determinedly ignoring the headless body of the ArchMage where it lay on the ground, and moved in the direction that he'd last seen Hyesung. Everything seemed like he was looking through freshly blown glass, blurry and bubbled, but apparently his memory served correct because soon he stumbled across the High Mage.

Hyesung lay spread eagled on the ground, his eyes closed and his chest still. Seungcheol let out a cry as he dropped his sword to fall to his knees beside the prone man, his hand reaching out to catch his face. "No, Hyesung," he breathed out. It just wasn't right to have him die, by the hand of his traitorous lover, no less! Seungcheol couldn't help but to cry, though no tears came, due to the damage his eyes had taken in the fire. 

He sat in the snow for a moment as his grief threatened to overwhelm him, but then he remembered his duty. He had to go help the other three. If they were still alive.

He climbed to his feet and turned to go, when a harsh cough stopped hiim in his tracks. He turned back to see the High Mage gasping for breath, each one labored, but at least he was alive. "By the Light," he gasped, and moved to take his place by the Mage's side again.

"No!" Hyesung told him, though the older man's voice was weak and shaky. "They need you, Seungcheol. 'The Seals shall break the seal and free the Light from its prison.' You have to be there, man. Leave me, I'll be fine."

He couldn't honestly say that he believed Hyesung, seeing the condition he was in, but he had to do as the man asked. "I'll be back for you," he told the High Mage. Then he took his dropped sword and turned for the cave.

The first thing he realized was how dark it was, and he found himself wishing for a Magelight or a torch. As he progressed, though, he realized that he could find his way... if only by listening for the sounds of battle

Wonwoo felt like his arms were going to fall off, the exhaustion of constant battle wearing him down. He wasn't used to it, and he found himself in awe of how Mingyu still danced through the forms of his swordplay without showing too much sign of weakening. There was a deep scratch across his neck where a strike from some demon had gotten awfully close, but other than that, the mercenary seemed fine.

Jeonghan was a different story. The three companions had been making their way into the cave system, steadily advancing despite the demonic hordes that seemed to come from nowhere. Wonwoo hadn't realized how much they had been relying on Jeonghan's magic until the immortal gave out, the Magelight above them winking out and casting them all into darkness, just when they were faced with a handful of demons. 

It had been a frantic battle for a few moments, panic being the main emotion amongst the Seals, but then Mingyu had shouted out for Jeonghan and Wonwoo to hit the floor. The thief didn't even question, just threw himself to the cold rocky ground. Above him he could hear the sickening sound of fierce battle, but by the time Jeonghan had managed to conjure up another Magelight, every demon but one was dead. Said demon spun on it's heels to attack Mingyu then, the mercenary's sword dripping with the blood of its fallen compatriots, and that was when he'd gotten the cut on his neck.

He'd killed that demon, though, coming out with just the cut. Jeonghan, on the other hand, was completely exhausted. Wonwoo knew it was from drawing magic from himself instead of an outside source, but the immortal's fair face was wane and drawn, and his breathing came labored. His eyes still shone with determination, though, and when he found the thief looking at him in concern, he had waved it away.

"We will have to be smarter now," he had said, and he was right. No longer could they rely on him to throw magic at the demons as they charged; they would have to wade in and fight with their weapons and limbs. Now, after three such battles without the immortal's magic supporting them, Wonwoo was definitely feeling the effect. 

Mingyu looked back at him now, a grim smile on his bloodstained face. "We can do this," he said softly. Wonwoo had to shake his head at the seemingly unending optimism from the other man, but though he nodded in agreement, he no longer felt as if it were possible. They were going to die there in that dark cavern, and with them, the world would fall, too.

Jeonghan stumbled to his feet from where he'd been resting; he'd sat down on a rock as soon as the last demon of their latest horde had died. His long fingers were coated in blood, similar to Wonwoo's, from the way that they had to fight in such close quarters with their short bladed weapons. "We need to keep moving," he said softly. "I can feel the Well. it's so damned close, if only I could tap into it!"

Mingyu shook his head and crossed the few feet separating them to clap a hand on the other's shoulder. "You can't beat yourself up about it. Come," he looked at Wonwoo to show that he was including him, as well. "Let's finish this. If the Well is close, then we are doing something right."

Wonwoo groaned as he moved to follow, his legs and arms aching from the battles. If he lived through this night, he was going to go to bed and wasn't going to move for the next tenday. 

Jeonghan took up the rear, likely because despite the surprising physical strength he'd shown during their fights, he was still the weakest of the three. That fact made Wonwoo increasingly nervous as he realized that Mingyu was probably the only one of them who even stood a chance of escaping this alive. "Hells," he whispered to himself. He wasn't ready to die.

They stepped out of the main corridor and into a large chamber, probably twenty feet wide by thirty feet across. The one Magelight didn't even reach to illuminate the entire area, flickering weakly as it was. But Jeonghan's breath sharply into his throat as soon as they entered, and the thief l