Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and the quest to find clues about the King’s whereabouts kept coming up short. The majority of the group had begun to lose hope about ever finding anything and it took both Kyurhee and Seunghyun’s determination to keep them going. Two of the members, a warlock and priest, had already died as they kept making their way inland. They had been killed in attacks from other Shadows that had been following them all this time.

As of late, the attacks from other Shadows had become more of a chase. Suddenly a few of them would appear, attack the group without doing much damage, and then they would run away in hopes of being followed. Their tactic had become effective at first but after a few chases, Seunghyun had asked everyone to stop.

He felt as though they were being tricked, perhaps being led into a trap, but Kyurhee had told him it was perhaps best to play their game of cat and mouse. There had to be a reason why the Shadows wanted to be followed for as long as the group could sense them. The rogue’s intuition paid off when a single enemy rogue led them to the opening of a cave in a mountainous area.

The enemy rogue had tried to escape after hiding his aura from the group but a curse placed on him by one of the warlocks had revealed his position. The same warlock who had cursed him finished him off by incinerating the rogue and then slowly draining his life with his life drain spell. One of the shadow priestess inspected what remained unburned in the rogue’s body for any clue of who he might have been but just like the other Shadows they had killed he had no identification.

Kyurhee moved closer into the opening of the cave while everyone else was looking at the dead rogue. Like any cave, the only illuminated part was the entrance for a few feet while the rest of it was pitch black. If the rogue had come this way, it had to have been for a reason and Kyurhee wanted to find out.

“Jiyong.” She called out her friend who turned to face her and started walking towards the older woman.

“Yes?” He asked as he stopped next to her.

Kyurhee looked at Jiyong and then at the cave. “I think we should go inside. Perhaps we’ll find something in there.”

“Let me send my Eye of Kilrogg inside first. It should be safer than just going in there without knowing what could be inside.” Jiyong said and started casting the spell for the eye.

A bright green eyeball formed in front of the warlock and Jiyong maintained his eyes closed as he channeled the spell. He began guiding the eyeball inside the cave, its bright glow illuminated the dark path inside the cave. Everyone else had made their way to the two of them after they heard Jiyong casting the spell.

The group waited patiently while Jiyong continued to channel the spell and guide the eye inside the cave. Even with his eyes closed, Jiyong could clearly see the image provided to him by the Eye of Kilrogg. The cave so far seemed to be empty — 
rock walls and lose gravel adorned the place. Jiyong kept the eye moving at a steady pace, letting it go as far as it could. He knew soon enough he wouldn’t be able to take the eye any further, and as Jiyong reached his limit, he finally spotted something. 

A shiny object reflected the glow of the eye back at it and it obstructed Jiyong’s view for a second. He made the eye turn to look below it and now he could clearly see what the shiny object was — it was a sword. Jiyong’s channeling of the spell ended and he shot his eyes wide open, a smile spread across his lips.

“What did you see?” Kyurhee anxiously asked.

Jiyong took a step forward and turned to face her and the rest of the group, “I went in as far as I could, and right as I reached my limit with the eye, I spotted a sword. There is definitely something in there.”

There was a new level of excitement and glimmer of hope in everyone after hearing of Jiyong’s discovery. They all reached for their flash lights and headed inside the cave.





A bow made of light was currently facing a long range circular target. An arrow made of light was currently straining against the pressure of the string from the bow while Jiyeon aimed it at the target. She released the arrow and it flew quickly and graciously towards the target. It landed in the red circle in the middle of the circular shaped target and a smug look came across Jiyeon’s face.

Jiyeon had spent the last few months training and learning about her powers as much as she could. Aside from her school work, she didn’t concentrate on anything but her newfound abilities. Jiyeon had impressed all of the Guardians with her quick learning and Soyeon, who had become her mentor, could have not been more proud of how Jiyeon’s imagination had grown.

Soyeon, who Jiyeon soon found out after training with her, was a huge comic book fan. The priestess had offered Jiyeon her collection of Green Lantern comics to help inspire Jiyeon. While she had been a bit hesitant at first about reading comic books, Jiyeon eventually learned to enjoy them and because of them; she had found her favorite superhero.

After being able to use her powers without having to meditate and spend too much time concentrating on them, Jiyeon had begun creating all kinds of weapons and things with the light. She started off with simple weapons like a sword and daggers and then she moved on to creating a bow and a crossbow. Lately Jiyeon had been creating larger things since her powers were increasing; one those things turned out to be a T-Rex made out of light but it wasn’t much taller than her.

Boram had also kept her promise of teaching Jiyeon how to use a bow and arrow. At first they had started with an actual bow made out of wood, and arrows made out of wood as well with a metal tip, but as Jiyeon became more powerful she began using a bow and arrows made out of light. This meant that unlike Boram, and the other hunters, she had infinite arrows to use.

Like any beginner, Jiyeon’s ability to use a bow and arrow was not good at all. Her stance was all wrong, she didn’t have the strength to pull the arrow back enough and the position of her hands could not keep the bow and arrow stable. Her aiming was dreadful and the arrows could not even fly far enough. 

It took a lot of encouragement from Boram to build Jiyeon’s confidence and after much training her skills grew. And now Jiyeon couldn’t help but keep a smug look on her face as she shot arrow after arrow at all the targets in front of her.

“Excellent shots Jiyeon! Your aim has improved so much that I hardly doubt you could miss any still targets. We can now move on to hitting moving targets. Those will be much harder so I think you’ll find the challenge enjoyable.” Boram told her and clapped excitedly for the younger girl.

“Really? I can’t wait unni!” Jiyeon jumped up excitedly and Sasha joined her while wagging her tail back and forth. Jiyeon turned to Boram and gave the short hunter a tight hug. Boram grinned and hugged Jiyeon tightly as well.

“Ahem!” Qri coughed as she approached the two of them. “Hands off my girlfriend Jiyeon. You stole Eunjung, but I won’t let you steal Boram.”

Jiyeon and Boram turned to look at Qri and let go of each other. Jiyeon giggled at Qri’s comment and stepped closer to the mage. “But what if I wanted you instead of Boram unni?”

Jiyeon blew a kiss at Qri and gave her a flirty wink. Qri scoffed and shook her head. “Gross! No way!”

Jiyeon and Boram burst into laughter and Jiyeon waved her hands. “I’m only kidding! You’re not my type.”

“Good to know because Qri is all mine.” Boram grinned, stepped closer to the mage and wrapped her arms around Qri’s waist. The short hunter reached up to give Qri a kiss on the cheek and the mage pushed her away.

“Stop it Boram!” Qri yelled out and crossed her arms while frowning. Boram reached for her again to try and kiss Qri once more but the taller girl pushed Boram away. Jiyeon started chuckling at the two and found their interaction adorable.

“I didn’t steal Eunjung though…” Jiyeon muttered as things settled down between the mage and the hunter. Qri managed to hear what Jiyeon said and gave the younger girl a knowing look.

“Speaking of Eunjung,” Qri said and Jiyeon looked at the older girl. She must have heard what I said.

“She asked me to come and see if you were finished and ready to go back home.”

“Oh…” Jiyeon replied and looked down at the ground. “Yeah, I guess we’re done training for today. Right unni?”

Boram nodded and Jiyeon nodded in acknowledgement. “Is she in the main warehouse?” Jiyeon asked and Qri shook her head.

“She’s out in the parking lot by her motorcycle.” Qri replied and Jiyeon nodded. She said goodbye to both girls and began walking towards the parking lot in front of the main warehouse to meet Eunjung.

In the months that had passed, the relationship between Eunjung and Jiyeon had changed a lot from the way it had been the first week they had spent together. Jiyeon didn’t want their relationship to be really strained so she decided to just be friendly with Eunjung without taking it any further. Her feelings for Eunjung had not changed, Jiyeon was still in love with Eunjung, but any hopes of Eunjung giving in once again seemed to be non-existent.

Now that Jiyeon’s abilities with her powers had grown, she had been trying to use them to get any kind of reaction from Eunjung. Jiyeon knew that her powers, even just her aura, had to affect Eunjung in a way even if Eunjung wasn’t showing it. A part of Jiyeon did feel as though her attempts were in vain and that she should just listen to Jieun’s words and move on — find someone else who would appreciate her.

When Jiyeon finally got to the parking lot, she saw Eunjung wiping her motorcycle down with a towel. There was a bucket filled with dirty soapy water next to the front tire of the bike and Eunjung’s exposed arms, due to the tank top she was wearing, gleamed with the sheen of sweat on them. Jiyeon subconsciously her lips at the sight of the older girl.

“I finished my training for today.” Jiyeon said as she approached the older girl.

Eunjung stopped wiping the motorcycle and turned to look at Jiyeon. “Okay. Just let me finish wiping the bike down and I’ll take you back home.”

Jiyeon nodded and waited a few minutes while Eunjung finished wiping down the motorcycle. When the older girl finished, the motorcycle was completely spotless and the black finish shined nicely. Eunjung threw the towel in her hand on the bucket near the motorcycle and motioned for Jiyeon to come over and get on it. After the two of them had settled onto the motorcycle, Eunjung turned it on and pulled out of the parking spot to head over to Jiyeon’s apartment.

The sun was beginning to set on the ride to Jiyeon’s apartment and when they finally arrived the night sky had taken over the city of Seoul. Eunjung parked in front of the apartment building and looked up towards the roof of the building. She noticed Hwayoung standing up there looking down at both of them and she saluted Eunjung. As of late, Hyomin had been changing the Guardians schedules around and Hwayoung’s group was in charge of watching over the area where Jiyeon lived from the evening until midnight.

“My dad was hoping that you would join us for dinner tonight. FC Seoul is playing tonight and he wanted us to watch the game together.” Jiyeon told Eunjung as she got off the motorcycle and took off her helmet.

“It has been a while since I last saw him and your mom.” Eunjung commented.

“Over two months…” Jiyeon mentioned. “So are you coming up or will I have to apologize to them on your behalf?”

“I’ll go ahead and park. I’ll meet you inside.” Eunjung replied and pulled off towards the parking lot. Jiyeon turned around and headed inside the building. The last time Eunjung had joined her family for dinner turned out to be very awkward. Even though Jiyeon’s parents had been friendly and welcoming towards her, the situation between Eunjung and Jiyeon was still bad.

Jiyeon was still mad at Eunjung back then but since now they were on friendlier terms, both girls were hoping the situation would be mellow this time.






TaeIn had spent the majority of the afternoon preparing dinner for her daughter, Gyuri, and herself. Tonight would be the night when she would officially be introduced to the human girl her daughter was dating. In the past few months Jaehee had gone on dates with both Hyori and Gyuri, and even though she had gotten to know Hyori a lot better, Jaehee still chose Gyuri over Hyori.

Jaehee had not made the relationship between her and Gyuri official yet, but she was hoping that after her mother met Gyuri, the older woman would approve of the human girl. TaeIn still didn’t like the fact that her youngest daughter seemed to be picking the human girl over Hyori who she had arranged to marry Jaehee, but she was willing to give Gyuri a chance.

TaeIn didn’t actually want to force Jaehee into marrying someone she did not love, but she did want her daughter to follow the rules that had been set for her since the day her father named Jaehee the heir to the throne.

The timer sitting on the counter behind TaeIn suddenly went off, and the High Priestess turned around from the plates she was fixing to open the oven and take out the pie she had baked. She set the pie on the counter next to the timer to let it cool off and turned around to see a fluffy black cat taking one of the pieces of bulgogi off the plate she had set the cooked meat on.

“Bi! Off the counter!” She yelled at the black cat that looked over at her and jumped off the counter with a piece of meat in . “Aish! Jaehee needs to teach you better manners.”

Bi quickly ran out of the kitchen to much to TaeIn’s annoyance. Jaehee had adopted the cat after she had rescued her from a tree at the university. It had been a rainy day and the black cat was not only really skinny because she was starving, but she was also drenched from the heavy rain falling that day. Jaehee had climbed the tree and asked the freighted cat to come over to her and much to the surprise of Gyuri, who thought the cat would just jump down, the black cat had willingly walked over to Jaehee.

After drying her up and feeding her, Jaehee had brought the cat home to take care of her until she was healthy. Once Bi had regained her strength, Jaehee took her to the vet to get her checked out and then she and Gyuri had named the black cat Bi, the Korean word for rain.

As Bi walked by the door of the apartment with the meat still in , Jaehee opened the door and entered the home with Gyuri following behind her. “Mom! We’re here.”

TaeIn quickly wiped her hands on her apron and took it off. She walked out of the kitchen and offered both her daughter and her date a smile. “You made it back just in time. I just finished with everything.”

The older woman walked over to both girls. “Jaehee, you need to teach that cat of yours to stop jumping up on my kitchen counters.”

She hugged and gave Jaehee a kiss on the cheek before turning to look over at Gyuri expectantly. “Bi is an explorer mom.” Jaehee whined.

“Don’t complain and introduce me to this lovely young lady standing next to you.” TaeIn scolded her youngest daughter and Jaehee nodded while rolling her eyes.

“Mom, this is Park Gyuri who I’ve told you about.” Jaehee grinned and looked at both women.

Gyuri bowed respectfully at TaeIn and greeted her. “It’s nice to finally meet you Mrs. Kang.”

TaeIn gave her a smile and bowed as well. “Please call me TaeIn dear. It’s nice to meet you as well. My daughter is crazy about you.”

Gyuri blushed and looked up at Jaehee who was blushing madly as well. TaeIn giggled at both girls and asked them to take a seat at the dinner table. They sat across from each other, leaving the end of the table for Jaehee’s mom. The older woman began setting down all the dishes on table and after taking her seat, they started serving themselves.

TaeIn spent much of the dinner asking Gyuri about herself and her plans for the future. Jaehee felt it was more of an interrogation but Gyuri had no problem answering any question TaeIn threw at her. The older woman was impressed by the human girl’s confidence and charming personality. She could see why her daughter was interested in the girl and it did not have to do with her incredible beauty.

By the end of night, after enjoying a slice of the delicious apple pie TaeIn had baked, Gyuri found herself sitting on one of the couches in the living room petting and playing with Bi. Jaehee meanwhile was in the kitchen washing the dishes with her mother.

“I can see why you like this girl so much Jaehee. She has left a good impression on me and I can tell by the way she looks at you that she likes you just as much as you like her.” TaeIn told her daughter as she dried a plate.

Jaehee smiled at her mother’s words as she scrubbed a plate. “So I have your approval?”

TaeIn sighed and nodded. There was nothing wrong with Jaehee dating Gyuri for now because Jaehee didn’t need to get married just yet. Even though Jaehee was the current leader, she was not their Queen, therefore; there was no need for her to be rushed into a marriage. Jaehee could have her fun with Gyuri for now and hopefully in the future she would fulfill her duty and marry a Shadow instead of a human.

“Yes, you can ask Gyuri to be your girlfriend. Don’t worry about having to date Hyori anymore even though I know you already turned her down.” TaeIn told her daughter.

Jaehee grinned in excitement and hugged her mother. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome but get off! You got my back all wet!” TaeIn yelled out while gently pushing her daughter back. Jaehee laughed and grabbed a paper towel and started patting her mother’s back with it.

All the ruckus going on in the kitchen made Gyuri get up from her seat, and when she saw Jaehee patting down her mother with paper towels and the older woman slapping Jaehee’s arms, Gyuri burst into laughter. The two women turned to look at Gyuri and stopped what they were doing.

“I’m going to go change. Finish the dishes Jaehee.” TaeIn said and walked out of the kitchen. Gyuri chuckled and walked over to Jaehee to help her finish her task.

“You don’t have to help me Gyuri. You’re my guest; I can finish these by myself.” Jaehee told her when she saw Gyuri pick up one of the newly cleaned plates and started drying it.

“I don’t mind at all. We’re going to be doing things like this in the future anyways.” Gyuri said and smiled while looking at Jaehee who was looking back at her. “Right?”

Jaehee was a little surprised by Gyuri’s words but quickly recovered and smiled back. “Yeah…I mean…I’m sorry for not asking you earlier, but I guess right now is the best time do it. Will you be my girlfriend?”

Gyuri placed the plate down on the counter and looked up at Jaehee. Her serious face gave Jaehee no answer and actually made her worry for a second, but when Gyuri grinned and nodded; a huge weight was lifted off the taller woman’s shoulders. “Yes! Of course!”

Jaehee put the plate she had on her hands down and quickly dried them on her pants before scooping up Gyuri in a tight hug. The shorter girl hugged her back and then they both pulled away for each other. Jaehee leaned down and captured Gyuri’s lips with her own.

“Are you done yet?” TaeIn asked Jaehee and the two girls jumped away from each other upon hearing the older woman’s voice. Jaehee looked at her mother and shook her head. She turned to the last plate that she had set down earlier and finished scrubbing it and rinsing it. Gyuri took it and dried it and placed it with the rest of the plates which Jaehee grabbed and placed back inside the cupboard.

Jaehee looked at the clock her mother had above the fridge and turned to Gyuri. “It’s getting late and we have school tomorrow. I should take you home.”

Gyuri nodded and walked out of the kitchen with Jaehee. TaeIn handed the human girl her jacket and bid farewell to her daughter’s girlfriend. They both waved at TaeIn and headed out the door. The High Priestess looked at the two of them walk down the hallway towards the elevators and smiled. She was genuinely happy to see her daughter in love with a lovely girl, even if Gyuri wasn’t a Shadow.






The sword that Jiyong had seen was the beginning of the big discovery the group of Shadows found inside the cave. After reaching the sword and picking it up to inspect it, all of the Shadows were surprised to see that it belonged to one of the King’s men. The Royal insignia was engraved into the blade itself at the bottom by the hilt. It was the first clue they had found in all the months they had been in North Korea.

As they made their way deeper, just a few meters in, the group found the discovery of eighteen bodies. They had mostly rotten away, and the stench wasn’t as strong now, but a bit of remained. Eight of the dead bodies were King Daesung’s personal bodyguards and the other ten were Nobleman Kim Kwangsoo’s men. Seunghyun had identified them because he recognized the armor they wore and the insignia that belonged to the Nobleman’s family.

Since there were only eight of the King’s men, this meant that the two who had made it back to the South were part of the ten men the King had taken with them. The bodies they had found meant that someone had definitely attacked the King’s group and probably taken the King and the Nobleman hostage.

Kyurhee ripped the insignia off one of her father’s men and held it tightly in her hand. Tears of anger rolled down her face as she thought of what they could have possibly done to her father. She wanted to find the bastards that had done this and personally slay every single one of them.

“Kyurhee…” Jiyong called her name as he crouched down next to her.

Kyurhee turned to look at her friend and stood up. She wiped her tears and looked at everyone else. “Let’s head back out and rest near the entrance of the cave. We will figure out our next step in the morning.”

Everyone bowed at her request and they started to head out of the cave. Once they made it to the entrance of the cave, everyone threw down their backpacks and started setting up their spots where they would sleep at. Using the light from the moon that shined down on them, Kyurhee traced the insignia with her index fingers before falling asleep.





The dinner at Jiyeon’s house had gone by quicker than Eunjung expected and luckily for her and Jiyeon, everything had been good. Eunjung had enjoyed watching the game with Jiyeon and her dad. She had made her way back home after it had ended and now she found herself sitting on a branch of a tree next to Jaehee.

It was Monday; the beginning of a new school week, and right now it was lunch time. Below them, Jaehee and Eunjung could see Jiyeon, Jieun and Gyuri eating their lunch while sitting under the shade of a tree and on top of a blanket. Even though it was fall, and the air was cooler than during the summer, the three girls still enjoyed sitting under the shade. Gyuri had become friends with both girls during the last few months and it was no longer a rare sight to see all three of them talking to each other.

And just like Gyuri had friended Jiyeon and Jieun, Eunjung had become a lot closer to Jaehee. She actually considered the Shadow a friend and nowadays Jaehee was becoming more of a confidant. Eunjung knew that having a close relationship to Jaehee was not a good idea, but she had learned to trust Jaehee and enjoyed her company. So far, God had not spoken to her nor had Eunjung gone to speak to Him in the hidden cave.

“So what did you want to talk about that you requested we come up here?” Eunjung asked Jaehee who was biting down on a sandwich. Jaehee motioned for Eunjung to wait and quickly chewed her food before swallowing it.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about my sister and my friends. I have not heard anything from them since they left and I’m worried about them. But mainly, I feel like I should have gone with them. I don’t think it’s fair that I get to sit here and just tell people what to do and enjoy my free time while my sister and friends are in danger.” Jaehee explained and took another bite of the sandwich.

Eunjung nodded. She understood the self doubt that Jaehee was having with her situation because Eunjung as of late was having doubts as well. “That’s the life of a ruler though. I understand how you feel, but there is a reason why Kings and Queens through out the ages have always had other people go out and do what they can’t. Soldiers can be easily replaced, but it’s harder to replace a ruler.”

“Some would disagree with that.” Jaehee commented and smiled slightly at Eunjung’s words.

“Not everyone who becomes a ruler is a good one. Perhaps I should have worded that differently, but what I meant is that you can replace soldiers easily, but replacing a good ruler that the people trust is harder. You’ve told me that your sister and friends are excellent warriors, so you have to be optimistic and trust their abilities. I’m sure you will get your chance to do something as well other than just be a leader.” Eunjung replied.

“Have you ever felt this way Eunjung? I know you’re with Jiyeon constantly because you’ve chosen to be her personal Guardian, but you’ve mentioned how some of your Guardians have been killed in recent attacks. Don’t you ever feel like you should be out there too?” Jaehee asked.

“Yes.” Eunjung replied. “I don’t like loosing any Guardians, but I can’t be everywhere at the same time. I could be scouting with one group but yet another can get attacked and I might not make it in time to help them. I just have to trust in their abilities and that they will be able to defend themselves and stop the enemy.”

Eunjung’s words eased Jaehee’s doubtfulness so she decided to change the topic to a lighter happier note. “Thanks for hearing me out Eunjung. And guess what? I finally asked Gyuri to be my girlfriend and she said yes.”

Eunjung turned to look at Jaehee and then she looked down at Gyuri. “That’s great. It’s about time you two made your relationship official. Congratulations.”

Jaehee grinned. “Thanks! How are things going with you and Jiyeon? When I met the two of you, you guys seemed to be falling for each other fast. Lately, I don’t see that anymore.”

Eunjung shook her head. “Nothing can happen between the two of us. It’s forbidden. I’m just meant to be her Guardian, nothing more.”

Forbidden? What the… Jaehee thought. That sounded ridiculous to her. “Eunjung…”

Eunjung looked at Jaehee once more who was looking back at her. Jaehee continued, “I don’t understand why your God would forbid that, but all I can say is that even with your constant expressionless face, you always look at Jiyeon with so much love and care. If I were you, I would just forget about that stupid rule and go for it. I know Jiyeon loves you. I see it in her eyes too.”

“It’s not that easy Jaehee.” Eunjung replied and Jaehee smiled.

“That just tells me that you want to be with her though.”

Eunjung didn’t say anything nor shook her head. She looked down at Jiyeon and faintly smiled. Eunjung knew that as of late Jiyeon had been using her powers to try and get a reaction out of her. She had not given Jiyeon any clue that it worked, but the reality was that they had. Jiyeon’s training had made her stronger and Eunjung knew that her restraints were once again failing to stop her from feeling anything. Jiyeon’s powers were slowly working their way back and the more Jiyeon used them on her, the more effect they would have.





While Eunjung and Jaehee had their conversation up in the tree, Jieun was busy telling Jiyeon and Gyuri about her date last night with Taeyang. Jaehee had run a background search on Taeyang and found out that his real name was actually Dong Youngbae. He was from Gyeonggi-do Province and had trained at the temple outside the city of Suwon. Gyeonggi-do Province was the region that Seunghyun’s father represented and this made Jaehee become a bit more lenient with Taeyang.

The reason he went by Taeyang nowadays was because he was a choreographer at YG Entertainment and was actually quite popular among fans of the groups and singers under the entertainment company. He turned out to be a nice and honest guy, and he and Jieun had been a couple for three months now. After discovering that Jieun liked to sing and play guitar, he had been trying to help her get an audition at the company.

“So Taeyang took me to this really nice restaurant for our date last night. I thought we were just going to eat and then go watch a movie, but guess who joined us for dinner?!” Jieun excitedly asked her two friends.

“I don’t know.” Jiyeon shrugged.

“His parents?” Gyuri guessed.

“No!” Jieun yelled out and threw her arms in the air. “YG HIMSELF!”

“Huh?” Jiyeon asked and Gyuri giggled.

“Aigoo…Yang Hyunsuk! Yah! Dino, don’t you know who he is?” Jieun asked her friend Jiyeon shook her head. “He’s the CEO of YG Entertainment.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, well, he joined us for dinner because Taeyang has been telling him a lot about me and so he wanted to hear me sing. He was really nice and funny, and after dinner we went back to the YG building where I auditioned for him. There was no one else there, just Taeyang, Mr. Yang, and myself!” Jieun excitedly said.

“Wow! That’s…I’m impressed Jieun-ah.” Gyuri said.

“Really? Wow Jieun! That’s so cool. What did he say after you auditioned?” Jiyeon asked.

Jieun grinned from ear to ear. “He loved me! He said I had a natural talent for singing, he liked the fact that I can play guitar and so he asked me to come down to the studio today. You guys know that singer Seungri? Well, apparently he’s working on a new album and he has a song that’s meant to be a duet. They want me to sing it with him and see if our voices work well together. I might be featured! Kyyaaa!”

Both Jiyeon and Gyuri were in shock of Jieun’s good news. Jieun laughed at her friends expressions. “So I was wondering if you two want to come with me today. Taeyang is picking me up so he can give all of us a ride.”

“I would love to Jieun, but I have to be at my new internship today. It’s my first day.” Gyuri pouted as she turned her friend’s offer down.

“Oh, it’s okay Gyuri, I understand. What about you Jiyeon?” Jieun turned to look at Jiyeon expectantly.

Jiyeon gave her best friend a smile and nodded. “I would love to go with you.”

“Yay!” Jieun clapped excitedly. This was going to be a wonderful day for her. She just knew it was.





Seunghyun’s and Kyurhee’s next plan of action was to continue their path along the mountain range. According to the map they had, there were more caves along the route they had chosen to take and they would stop at each one to see if they could find anything inside of them.

They had traveled quite a distance from the cave where they had found the bodies and as midday turned into afternoon, the direction of the wind suddenly changed. A very cool breeze brushed past the group and suddenly Kyurhee felt a chill run down her spine. The sound of horses galloping alerted the group that there were others and not just them in this wooded area of the mountain.

They huddled close to each other as they tried to pick out from which direction the sound of the galloping was coming from. The speed of the wind picked up and the air seemed to get colder by the seconds. Suddenly, balls of fire started falling from the sky landing all around them. Everyone started dodging and moving out of the way to avoid being hit.

“Rain of Fire!” Someone yelled out and then the balls of fire stopped falling. The sound of a horses stopping after their riders pulled the reins caused them to turn in the direction they were first walking towards.

Dark brown horses, with armor on their heads and chest and fiery manes and tails, lined up around them in between the trees. Their riders were the warlocks who had summoned the Rain of Fire spell. Behind them, what looked like warriors, rogues, and shadow priests pulled up on their own horses and in the middle of all of them, a death knight clad in heavy dark gray armor sat atop his undead horse.

In his hand he held a sword that had runes etched into the blade. The runes shined blue and the intensity of the glow grew as he stepped closer. Underneath the horses’ feet, the land seemed to freeze upon contact. The death knight pointed his sword directly at Kyurhee and then he spoke.

“Your journey ends today…”