Action scenes are not my thing…

Chapter 27 – Escape This Place

“Jaehwan!”

The guard almost chokes on his breakfast, surprised by the loud voice. Chewing hurriedly Jaehwan looks around for whoever called his name, eyes finally landing on his father.

“Dad?”

His father exclusively worked guarding the king at night so it was extremely odd to see him at breakfast. Other than for work Jaehwan rarely ever saw his father, not since his mother had been sent to the front lines, so he wasn’t expecting it to be a social call.

Jaehwan quickly shoves the rest of his breakfast in his mouth and then hurries over. “What’s wrong?”

“You’ve been summoned by the king.”

“You don’t normally get sent on errands,” Jaehwan states, joining his father on the walk to the king.

“He needed you quickly.”

In the last year Jaehwan had seen the king less and less, being assigned to guard Minho almost exclusively. It had been a while since the king had ordered him to be his guard for the day and while Jaehwan was a little glad, it also made him think the king was beginning not to trust him.

When they enter the king’s office Jaehwan bows deeply. “Your Majesty.”

King Jihun looks annoyed and Suhee looks plain angry. A sorcerer Jaehwan recognizes as someone on Hakyeon’s team sits before the king, eyes downcast and fists clenched.

It’s Suhee that speaks first. “Jaehwan, you used to guard Cha Hakyeon, correct?”

“Correct,” Jaehwan answers.

“Did you ever notice anything suspicious about him?”

Panic instantly fills Jaehwan’s body but he controls his expression. “Not at the time.”

Suhee’s eyes narrow. “Do you think he’d ever impede the progress of the teleportation potion?”

Oh dear, Jaehwan thinks. They’re screwed. He knows that Hakyeon hasn’t broken the spell yet, how are they supposed to leave? How was Jaehwan going to warn them? How much time do they have?

“I… don’t know.”

Jaehwan doesn’t know exactly why he’s being asked. Was this the first time they were suspicious and were just figuring things out, or was this just them confirming everything? If it was the former then conflicting reports would make him look suspicious himself and it if was the latter then it really didn’t matter what he said.

King Jihun and Suhee exchange a look Jaehwan has seen only a few times before and then turn their gazes to the sorcerer.

“You did a good job,” Suhee states. “Go back to work.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the sorcerer replies, standing and then bowing before leaving the office.

It’s the king that makes the next order. “Jaehwan, I want you to keep an eye on Cha Hakyeon, make sure he stays in the potions’ lab. You too, Jungho.”

Jaehwan and his father bow their way from the room and, filled with a sense of dread, begin the walk to the potions’ lab. He wants to know why they have to keep Hakyeon in the lab. He wants to know how long Suhee and the King have been suspicious of Hakyeon for. But more than anything, Jaehwan wants to know how he’s supposed to warn Hakyeon and Minho.

Cha Hakyeon is many things but unobservant is not one of them. After he enters the lab and locks Leo in the cage he begins going through his normal checklist, checking combinations, gathering ingredients, inspecting results, monitoring progress. It’s when he’s gathering the day’s worth of ingredients that he freezes. Way more of Leo’s hair and nails have been used than normal. The moment he notices this the lab door opens and Jaehwan enters.

For a second Hakyeon freezes, eyes meeting Jaehwan’s before he forces himself to look unaffected. He doesn’t recognize the other guard, an older man who would probably pull rank on Jaehwan if the younger tried to talk to him, and it only makes him more nervous.

“Back to work,” the guard states.

Leo’s eyes are wide and he’s gripping the bars of the cage tightly. He and Hakyeon exchange a panicked look before Hakyeon does as he’s told and continues down his checklist.

The morning is unbearably slow but Hakyeon’s mind is racing. He can only think of one reason why there would be guards stationed in the potions’ lab, and that was to keep him here while other things were prepared. He thinks Leo must have had the same thought because the Anyethi looks as nervous as he feels.

As the clock slowly ticks Hakyeon tries to think of a way to escape but he’s still got nothing when the lab door flings open to reveal a number of guards. It is only then that Hakyeon realizes he doesn’t need a plan, he’ll do anything to get Leo out of this place.

The first spell he casts is an impact spell and it’s startlingly effective. It sends the sorcerers on the various teams along with Jaehwan and the other guard flying backwards while the guards who had been entering the room are pushed back into the hallway, door slamming. Some of the sorcerers collide with tables, others with walls or each other, but Hakyeon doesn’t really stop to watch, too busy sending a cushioning spell in Jaehwan’s direction.

He then wrenches open Leo’s cage with one hand and burns the rest of the Anyethi’s hair and nails with the other. There wasn’t any point in escaping if they could still work on the potion after Leo was gone. Once Leo is free of the cage – slightly ruffled looking thanks to Hakyeon’s spell – he lets the older man drag him to the door.

“We’re going to run,” Hakyeon tells him. “Ready?”

Leo nods, gripping Hakyeon’s hand tightly. “Ready.”

Hakyeon pulls the door open, casting another impact spell as he does and then sprinting down the hallway. The guards, who had quickly recovered from the first spell, are not so lucky with the second, crashing into each other and the solid wall behind them.

Hakyeon curses under his breath when he sees the second group of guards further down the hallway. Still cursing he pulls Leo down a hallway he knows loops around.

“Get us to the front of the palace,” he instructs the Anyethi, wrapping his fingers around the silver band on his wrist. “I have to break this spell.”

Jaehwan groans as he stands up. Everything hurts from his landing but he knows he’d gotten it easy thanks to Hakyeon’s cushioning spell. He doesn’t check on anyone in the room, not even his father. Minho had given him one clear order and that was that when Hakyeon escaped he was to make the most of the distraction.

Feeling bruised all over Jaehwan ignores the pain and hurries into the ingredients’ room. There must be dozens if not hundreds of creatures kept in here but he can only do so much with his level of magic and with the time he has.

It takes longer than he thought it would to break open the first cage door but once he has he knows what he’s doing. The creature inside stares at him in disbelief but when the door opens that look changes to one of hope. Without hesitating Jaehwan strides over to the centaur and begins breaking the chains.

He repeats this with a number of top-level creatures, as many as he can help, and then gives then directions out of the basements. From there they would be able to jump out a window and run.

When Jaehwan resumes his position on the floor from where he’d been thrown by Hakyeon’s spell, others in the room are just beginning to regain consciousness.

Feeling regretful that he couldn’t do more and that he couldn’t help Hakyeon, Jaehwan closes his eyes and wishes them all luck.

Leo gets them out of the basement with no trouble, evading the guards easily. Hakyeon knows he must be hurting Leo’s wrist with his fingers wrapped around the band the way it is. One part of the spell was broken easily, the part that cut off Leo’s intuitive magic. It would be a while before he could use it again, but at least the thing restricting it was gone.

The second part of the spell was the thing that stopped Leo from being able to transform and Hakyeon still didn’t know how it worked. None of the books he’d read helped him understand how Leo could transform or how it could be restricted. In the end it was the part of the spell Hakyeon didn’t know how to break.

The last part was the easiest to break but held a risk. All Hakyeon had to do was break the silver band and the spell would end. But, with the second part of the spell still working there was no guessing what the outcome would be.

Holed up in a small coat room near the front of the palace Hakyeon swallows nervously. The palace is loud with guards yelling and everybody is on high alert, on the lookout for Hakyeon. He can practically feel Suhee’s rage and determination getting closer.

Grasping the silver band as tightly as he can, eyes locked with Leo’s as their time ticks down, he makes his decision to break the spell.

It doesn’t break easily and Hakyeon swears as he channels more and more of his magic into getting that metal to snap, to shatter, to stretch, anything. Leo doesn’t complain or make a single sound of discomfort, but the bruising on his wrist is bad.

Finally, as if startled by the door opening, the silver band breaks and the spell follows suit. Hakyeon is also startled by the door opening, casting an electrocution spell before he even looks to see who’s standing there.

This time it’s Leo that pulls them from the room. The palace is in lock down but they get through the guards with little trouble now that Hakyeon can focus on taking them out. Until now he’s rarely used offensive and defensive spells but he likes how easy it is to cast them, even if they do use a lot of his reserves.  

Before they even know it they’re running out the palace doors, dodging a couple of spells and attempting to lose the guards that manage to follow.

Suhee is still seething when she enters the king’s office. She bows without meeting his gaze. “Your Majesty.”

“Well?” he demands.

“He got away.”

King Jihun tuts his annoyance. “Have guards pursue him.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Suhee answers.

The king goes to return to his maps but the look on his magic advisor’s face stops him. “What?”

Suhee is torn between being really, really angry and dreading the next words that come from . “He released a number of high level creatures and took the Anyethi with him.”

“What?!”

The room shakes with his rage and Suhee bows deeply, remaining that way.

His family has been maintaining and growing that collection of creatures for four generations, adding to it and increasing the kingdom’s knowledge and power. And he’d finally caught an Anyethi. After they’d searched for more than a hundred years the kingdom had managed to get an Anyethi, only to have it stolen after two years.

It had been more than an ingredient. It had been a symbol of the monarchy’s wealth and power, after all, it’d cost more than the other creatures combined and had the most powerful magic. As soon as the sorcerers had figured out a potion that worked then the war would have been won. Nobody could fight an army that could teleport.

He overturns his desk and throws the statue from behind it across the room, smashing the wall in.

“Find him!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The capital is too dangerous to stay in, Hakyeon knew that from the start.

The first day they get more than halfway across the city. There is a curfew at night and being outside would just draw the attention of guards so they duck into an unobtrusive hotel, promising a batch of potions as payment.

“You don’t look well,” Hakyeon says as they eat dinner.

Leo can feel his muscles twitching unpleasantly. It’s a feeling he hasn’t experienced in years but it doesn’t feel quite right. He wasn’t wanting to change and yet his body was already trying to. Before he can begin to even try and explain it to Hakyeon the twitching increases and he’s forced into his cat form.

He’d forgotten how painful changing could be, especially after a long time. It was a long time ago but he remembers how when he was with his parents and they’d change forms at least once a day. It had been different for him back then, he’d had less control over when he changed. But that was different too. It had still felt like he was changing, not that he’d been forced to change.

Hakyeon instantly knows that something is wrong when Leo changes without warning. It surprises and worries him but he puts that aside when he realizes that the Anyethi is in pain. He doesn’t know what to do and Leo can’t tell him and after several minutes of panic Hakyeon settles on firmly patting the black cat.

Leo continues to randomly change between his human form and his cat form over the next several days. They discuss it a lot when they have the chance but the only thing they can conclude is that this was happening because of the spell. The sorcerer doesn’t even know where to begin with fixing it.

It makes Hakyeon feel guilty but Leo tries to assure him that it’s fine, it’s better than being locked in the palace with no magic. His intuitive magic takes a little while to kick back in and he surprises Hakyeon with his control. Hakyeon’s magic on the other hand is unstable from overuse and Leo bans him from using it outside of emergency situations until they find somewhere safe.

It isn’t until their third run in with a group of guards that Hakyeon finally decides to go to Dohyun for help. He doesn’t know where his teacher stands on a lot of things, he’d been too absorbed in his magic before he left.

It’s a lot of walking before they reach the town Hakyeon grew up in. For a while he considers going to see Ravi and Chunja first but dismisses it. Dohyun was the one he needed help from.

The house looks exactly the same as Hakyeon remembers, hidden away in the forest with only a tiny dirt path to follow. Cat-Leo is perched on his shoulder, happily enjoying a free ride after days of walking.

Hakyeon doesn’t know what to expect, he hadn’t said very nice things when he’d left, but he certainly didn’t expect the house to be empty. He’d forgotten how gut-wrenching it was to fall through the floor – a spell created to stop him working on potions and spells all night when he’d been in his early teens – and end up in his teacher’s bedroom.

The look of terror on Leo’s little cat-face was almost worth the winded feeling. Almost.

Coughing a little Hakyeon gets to his feet. The first thing he spots is the letter on the bed addressed to him. Feeling apprehensive Hakyeon picks up the letter.

Hakyeon,

I know that when you left we weren’t on the best of terms. You thought I was disappointed in you and that I wanted to be chosen to work in the palace. But really I just didn’t want you to go. When I took you in I promised someone that I’d keep you away from that place and when you were chosen to go I was upset. It’s all my own fault you ended up there, though. I know the dangers involved in magic better than anybody. My intention in the beginning was to help you control your magic and that was it. But you loved it so much and I couldn’t take it away from you.

I don’t know if you’ll ever read this but if you do I want you to know that I’m proud of you. You’re a genius, yes, but you’ve put more work into your skills than any sorcerer I’ve met before. I want you to find that same passion for something else so that you can have a long, healthy future.

You’re probably wondering where I am. I’ve gone to the palace. I’m sure you can deduce what it is I’m going to attempt. Maybe you won’t ever read this letter, I might find you at the palace after all. Or maybe you won’t ever come home. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you do well and live by your own design.

My only hope is that you have a future free of corruption and that you find people you can trust. It would be my greatest pleasure to see that. Depending on the outcome of my plans this is goodbye. Hopefully it’s just for now.

Dohyun.

P.S. I’ll leave instructions on how to reconfigure the spells on the house so you can stay here. Make sure you go see Ravi. He misses you.

It takes a long time for the contents of the letter to sink in. Trying not to cry Hakyeon frowns at the date. It was from a few days before he and Leo had escaped the palace which means Dohyun would be at the palace by now.

“Oh, it’s Dohyun,” Suhee states when she enters the king’s office.

She hadn’t seen the sorcerer since before the queen had died and she was pretty surprised to see him now. No doubt he was here to ‘avenge’ her death or some rubbish like that. She can still remember the days when the queen was a young sorcerer who would mess around with those idiots Dohyun and Chunja. She certainly doesn’t miss them.

King Jihun scowls. “He got all the way to my office, Suhee, tighten up security.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

The king stands up and begins striding towards the door. “And get rid of that,” he says, kicking the body as he walks past. “Before it starts to stink.”

“At once,” Suhee replies.

“There was another sorcerer with him but she got away.”

Chunja, Suhee scowls.

“Should I send guards after her?”

“No. Focus on Cha Hakyeon.”

Oh man, I killed off Dohyun. He was always going to die, from the very beginning. It was set in stone but he was supposed to have more of a role in this chapter. Unfortunately the length made me cut that out. :(