Just as Dara had suspected, the leader of this group was a mage. She found him hiding behind a rock. She had gone through six of his armed men and two mages, one that used ice to attack and the other one that could turn its opponent into stone to get to him. There were still others, but Junsu and Bom were swiftly disposing them.

"Your stick won't be enough to defeat me, woman!" his voice reeked with viciousness. Dara's fighting pole shattered!

The mage's face was covered by a white hood, yet Dara could imagine his lips curling in an evil grin.

Something about this man reminded her of Choi Bong-sun! Bong-sun had no conscience and enjoyed the suffering of people.

The mage facing her also had that same aura. She unsheathed her sword.

The mage laughed.

"Do you really think that you could defeat me with a sword? I could easily break that, the way I did your stick."

"What kind of magic do you have?"

"The kind that will kill you."

"Nonsense, if you could do that, you would have done that instead of shattering my stick. In fact, if you really are such a powerful mage, you should be fighting in front of your men and not hiding and sniveling behind this rock." She studied the situation. Ten paces separated her from the mage. If she attacked, he could easily use his power against her before she could even reach him. Even if she tried running, there wouldn't be enough time to reach and overpower him.

"If you are so sure that I couldn't hurt you, then come closer!" he challenged her.

Come closer...

Dara looked at her sword, it was much shorter than her fighting stick. Her fighting stick shattered when its end got eight paces near the mage! This mage didn't have the kind of magic that could be used to attack from a long distance!

To prove this theory, Dara slowly approached the mage. Her sword pointed in front of her. Jaejoong and Yoochun assured her that this sword was almost indestructible. That it couldn't be destroyed by magic. Before she could reach the mage, the sword in her hand began to vibrate! Its point also encountered some sort of barrier. She pulled it back immediately. The mage had created a barrier around him that would destroy anything that came in contact with it because of its vibrations.

"If you are not going to attack, then I think I better leave," he scoffed.

"What about your comrades?"

"Their sacrifice will be remembered and avenged. And it's better to run and live another day than to stay and die," he explained before clutching the hem of his robe and running away from her!

Part of Dara wanted to run after the mage. But it would be useless, unless she could penetrate his barrier. And she wasn't here to fight everyone, she was here to rescue Jaejoong.

She turned her attention to the cave before her. It was clear from the campfires near the cave that something inside was being guarded.

Gripping her sword with one hand, she snatched one of the burning logs in the fire and cautiously entered the cave.

A few moments later, she glimpsed a light before her. She pressed her back on the walls of the cave and carefully looked into the lighted cavern.

Her eyes widened as she saw a Jaejoong kneeling beside Lady Krystal who was lying on the floor!

Jaejoong looked up and saw her.

"This isn't what you think," he said.

"Put some clothes on, Kim Jaejoong!" she bellowed before she turned her back from him.