Goosebumps formed on the side of Jiyeon’s waist as Eunjung’s finger tips rubbed small circles on her skin. The older girl had slightly sneaked her fingers underneath the younger girl’s sweater and shirt after wrapping her arms around Jiyeon’s waist. Jiyeon, whose back was facing Eunjung’s front, was busy playing with the zipper on the sleeves of Eunjung’s jacket.

They had made their way back to Jiyeon’s home not long ago from the park, and now they were enjoying their last few moments together for the night. No words were being spoken between them; they were just enjoying the blissful feeling of being together. The feeling of Eunjung’s fingers on her skin was starting to become ticklish and were also making Jiyeon blush madly.

Knowing that she could not handle it anymore, Jiyeon quickly turned around surprising Eunjung and causing her to lean too far back on the motorcycle. The lever that stopped the motorcycle from tipping over quivered under the pressure and caused the motorcycle to fall on its side. Startled, Jiyeon covered her ears and shut her eyes tightly as she heard the loud crashing sound.

Jiyeon opened her eyes and saw Eunjung’s legs in the air and heard her groaning in pain. The Guardian had fallen over along with her motorcycle. “Oh my God! Jungie are you okay?”

Eunjung rolled over on her side and slowly got up to her feet while rubbing the back of her head. “I’m fine.” She groaned and moved to pick up the motorcycle.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you.” Jiyeon apologized and helped Eunjung with the motorcycle.

“Don’t worry about it. We shouldn’t have been leaning on the bike anyways.” Eunjung replied and patted Jiyeon’s shoulder. She fixed the lever with her foot and the motorcycle was sitting up in its normal position once again.

Jiyeon bit her bottom lip and suddenly became nervous. She didn’t want to part ways with Eunjung and wanted to ask her to come up to the apartment and spend the night. Eunjung walked around her motorcycle and cupped Jiyeon’s face with both hands.

“I think I better go home. You should go get some rest as well. I’ll see you in the morning.” Eunjung leaned in and gave Jiyeon a kiss.

Jiyeon smiled as Eunjung kissed her and greedily kissed the older girl back. “I want you to stay…” Jiyeon whined as they pulled away from each other.

“I can’t, but I will pick you up earlier so we can spend more time together tomorrow.” Eunjung replied and moved a stray lock of hair away from Jiyeon’s face. Jiyeon nodded and then the two of them began walking towards the apartment building.

Once inside, they said their goodnights and goodbyes before Jiyeon disappeared into the elevator. Eunjung walked out of the building and took a seat on her motorcycle. She grabbed her helmet but hesitated before putting it on. The thought of what God was going to do now had been nagging at her all night.

The Guardian had a bad feeling about what was going to happen to her now. Last time she had talked to God he had left her feelings intact and was led on by her promise to not do anything, but Eunjung had failed and broken her promise. Eunjung could no longer wait for God to contact her himself; she was determined to go see him now and end it.





Boram and Qri had been witnesses to everything that had happened between Eunjung and Jiyeon outside the younger girl’s home. Both of them, especially Qri, had been surprised at how affectionate Eunjung had been with Jiyeon. The kiss between the two girls had been the most shocking of the affections.

“D-Did…did…I just see…” Qri stuttered and pointed down at the spot where Eunjung and Jiyeon had been previously. She looked over at Boram who was looking at the spot with hanging open.

“THEY KISSED!” Qri yelled out and finally Boram snapped out of her trance.

“But…but I thought Eunjung and Jiyeon couldn’t…” Boram said confused and scratched the side of her head.

“I’m so jealous! Why couldn’t I do that?!” Qri muttered a little too loud.

“Hey! I thought you were over Eunjung.” Boram crossed her arms and frowned at the mage who turned to look at her and gave her nervous smile.

“I…well…what I meant was that…um…” Qri mumbled and Boram glared at her. “Rambo~ you know I love you right?”

“Qri…” Boram kept glaring at her girlfriend who was now biting her lip. Behind Boram, Hyomin and Hwayoung happened to suddenly appear and were walking towards the two of them.

Qri grinned and quickly blinked over to the two warriors. “Minnie! Youngie! I have juicy gossip for the two of you!”

Boram blinked after Qri suddenly disappeared and turned around to see her girlfriend talking to their friends. The hunter gritted her teeth and with a glare pointed at the back of Qri’s head she walked over to the three girls.

“Ooh! Tell us.” Hwayoung grinned and Hyomin looked at Qri expectantly.

“Eunjung and Jiyeon-” Qri started off the news but Boram finished it. “Are most likely an item now.”

“What?” The two warriors asked at the same time. Qri moved her left hand and opened up a portal to their headquarters. With her right hand, she grabbed Boram’s hand and pulled the shorter Guardian towards the portal.

“They are dating!’ Qri yelled out and pulled Boram with her as she entered the portal. Hwayoung moved to stop them so she could hear more about what the two of them had told her but the portal closed in front of Hwayoung’s face.

“Damn it! I wanted to know more.” Hwayoung whined.

“It doesn’t make sense. Qri had to have been drinking too much conjured soju.” Hyomin rolled her eyes and walked over to the edge of the building. It’s not that she didn’t believe the mage, but she did have her doubts. It also seemed odd that Eunjung would just kiss Jiyeon like that.

If what Qri said is true, then what was going on in Eunjung’s mind? She knows Jiyeon is off limits to everyone.




Eunjung stood in front of the entrance to the secret cave and stared at the opening. The rock that hid the entrance had moved as soon as she approached it. The Guardian gripped one of the handles of her sword that was attached to her back and then moved both hands to touch the guns on each of her thighs. Knowing that her weapons were ready, Eunjung walked inside the entrance and the rock moved to close it behind her.

The short corridor and the small room with the altar were dark and the only light illuminating the room was the faint glow from the light well. Eunjung kneeled before the altar and waited for the room to fully light up and for God’s booming voice to start speaking to her.

To Eunjung’s surprise, the room remained the way it was. The light well did not become brighter and the torches did not light themselves up. The Guardian lifted her head to look around and the anxiety inside her grew. She looked back down at the floor and waited another minute in hopes that God would finally speak, but nothing happened.

Eunjung stood up and looked directly at the light well. “My Lord…can you hear me? It is Eunjung.”

The seconds passed and nothing. Absolutely nothing happened and Eunjung’s nervousness continued to grow. God had to have seen and known about her actions. At this moment he should have been punishing her for her sins, but there was no response from him.

Frustrated, Eunjung gritted her teeth and balled up her fists. “I know you can hear me! I know you saw what I did!”

There was no reaction again and Eunjung fell to her knees. She punched the floor in anger until her knuckles started bleeding. God was obviously playing with her now. Eunjung stopped punching the floor and panted heavily. She smeared the blood on the floor and then stood up.

Her eyes moved to look at the light well once again before turning around and walking out of the secret cave. The rock closed behind her once again and Eunjung never turned to look behind her. Inside the secret cave, the light well and all of the torches lit up in a bright glow. It seems history is always meant to repeat itself…






“Soyeon I’m serious! Eunjung and Jiyeon were kissing and hugging. They were all over each other. They have to be dating!” Qri explained once again to Soyeon while throwing her hands up in the air.

She and Boram had arrived at the warehouses over an hour ago but Eunjung still had not made it back yet. Qri had told Soyeon the same thing three times already but the High Priestess had her doubts about what the mage was saying. Boram had tried to convince Soyeon as well but the short brunette wasn’t buying her friends’ words.

“Despite how Eunjung must feel about Jiyeon; I doubt she would act that way.” Soyeon replied and continued sipping on her cup of tea.

Qri rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. Boram shook her head. “We’re not lying. Ask Eunjung when she gets here.”

“I will.” Soyeon answered and took another sip of her tea. Qri got up from her chair and started pacing back and forth. The mage wanted to know everything about what she had seen. Eunjung was taking too long to get back to the warehouses and explain everything. Watching Qri pace back and forth made Boram restless as well and she began tapping her foot on the ground.

The loud rumble of a muffler alerted all three Guardians. They knew that sound very well because it only came from Eunjung’s motorcycle. Qri’s reaction was the fastest and blinked and ran her way towards the doors to the main warehouse. Boram took off running behind Qri and Soyeon just walked behind the two of them.





Outside the warehouse Eunjung parked her motorcycle, turned it off, and reached for the two halves of her buster sword. She attached them together and with one hand she dragged the buster sword on the scaring the ground. The Guardian was headed for the training area of the warriors to relieve the anger and frustration inside her.

God had refused to answer her call. Her plan to finally face him and give up her position in order to be with Jiyeon had been ruined. As long as the straps around her body remained and as long as she was a Guardian, Eunjung would continue being God’s vessel and he would still have control over her. It would not be hard for him to remove her feelings once again and make her an empty shell.

Eunjung could no longer live like that; she wanted to regain what was left of her as a human and spend the rest of her life by the side of the woman she loved. Jiyeon had instilled a new life and spirit inside Eunjung and she wanted to enjoy it and live her life free of God’s grasp.

It was uncertain how long God would let her be as she was now, but Eunjung knew that sooner or later he would eventually take everything from her. Strengthening her grasp on the handle of the sword, Eunjung started running towards the first target dummy she saw. Once she was near it, Eunjung jumped in the air and swung the sword downwards, this time holding both handles, and sliced the target dummy in half.

Eunjung turned to the next dummy after she landed and swung her buster horizontally, effectively cutting off the upper part of the dummy. It fell on the ground with a loud thud, but Eunjung ignored it as she had turned towards her third target. This time, she flipped her sword around so that the handle of the short sword was in her left and the other one in her right.

With a quick twist of the handles, she broke them apart and threw the shorter sword at the third target dummy. The sword nailed the dummy in what was its head and with the longer sword, Eunjung cut that target down too. Her eyes turned to the fourth target dummy and Eunjung was about to run towards it when she heard a familiar voice.

“Eunjung!” Qri shouted out. The mage was running towards Eunjung with Boram and Soyeon following closely behind her.

Eunjung let out a heavy sigh and turned to face the three Guardians. The three girls noticed how heavy their leader was breathing and how the sweat on her head had caused some strands of hair to stick to the side of Eunjung’s face. Soyeon’s eyes went directly to Eunjung’s hands and noticed that they were both bloody. The taller girl’s right hand was bleeding more than the left and that was mostly likely caused by how tight Eunjung was gripping the sword.

“Eunjung…what’s wrong?” Qri asked worriedly as she stopped a few feet away from the taller girl.

“Nothing.” Eunjung replied and turned around to face the fourth target dummy.

Soyeon stepped closer to Eunjung and placed her hand on the taller girl’s shoulder. “Your knuckles are bleeding, you seem frustrated, and Qri and Boram claim you and Jiyeon are a couple now.”

Eunjung spun around to face Soyeon. “Their claim is correct.”

Soyeon gasped and Boram smiled. “I told you!” Qri stuck her tongue out.

“Let’s go inside the main warehouse. I’ll treat your wounds and you can tell us everything. Sometimes talking can relieve your frustrations as well. Plus, Hyomin is going to have a fit over the target dummies you destroyed.” Soyeon told the taller girl after composing herself.

Eunjung nodded and went over to collect the other half of her sword before leading the way back to the main warehouse. Once inside, Soyeon healed the open wounds on Eunjung’s knuckles then used a cloth dipped in warm water to clean off the dried and fresh blood leftover on Eunjung’s hands. Boram brought Eunjung a glass of water and Eunjung wasted no time in gulping it down.

“I know that what I’ve done is wrong of me. I went to go see God…he had no response.” Eunjung started off her explanation. It caught the attention of the three Guardians who looked at their leader.

“So you’re going to show your affections for Jiyeon now?” Soyeon asked.

Nodding, Eunjung replied. “Yes. I’m in love with Jiyeon and I can longer hold back my feelings.”

“Qri and I are happy for the both of you.” Boram commented and Qri nodded.

“Our Lord might have not responded to you now, but you know he will eventually. I’m worried about what might happen when he does.” Soyeon said with a sad look on her face.

The Priestess was happy for Eunjung and Jiyeon. The love the two of them had for each other was evident, but Soyeon also knew that it was a forbidden relationship. The consequences of both their actions was going to bring a great reprimand. All of the punishment would most likely fall on Eunjung’s shoulders.

“I’m willing to face anything he throws at me. No punishment will be greater than the joy of being able to love Jiyeon.” Eunjung responded with a determined tone.






Around midnight, the Shadows transporting TaeIn to their headquarters had made it to the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang. The capital was the most populated city in the north, but unlike Seoul where it was lively day and night, Pyongyang was empty. The only thing lighting up the city was the street lights and the buildings but absolutely no cars could be seen driving around.

It was truly an eerie place to be in at night, and TaeIn was positive that even during the day the city would seem empty. TaeIn eyed the two women sitting next to her, she was seated in the middle of the back seat in the SUV, and noticed that they didn’t seem bothered by the empty streets.

“I thought the capital would be your headquarters.” TaeIn commented while looking at the rearview mirror. She could see the driver’s face but the man never turned his sight to look at her.

“The capital is filled with human scum. This route is the quickest way of getting to our headquarters.” The woman to her right replied.

“Thank you for the information.” TaeIn smirked.

“It doesn’t matter if you know that. You won’t make it out alive once our Lord gets done with you.” The woman to TaeIn’s left replied.

The High Priestess eyed both women from the corner of her eyes and then looked at the two men sitting on the front seats. Neither of them said anything or reacted to her question. Behind her, there was the third man and he too seemed to not be bothered by her question. TaeIn smirked knowing that it was these five who would not make it out alive.

The drive through the city was a short one even though the city was not small. Without any traffic or cars in the way, they were able to make it out of the city quickly. The highway outside the city was empty as well. Small bushes divided the two sides of the road and tall pine trees were on each side of the highway. To her left, TaeIn could see the outline of the mountains.

The Priestess observed the stars in the sky and noticed that they were headed north of the city. The drive down the empty highway went on for another few hours and by the looks of it, they were most likely going to reach their destination before dawn. This was confirmed when the driver finally turned his sight to look at TaeIn through the rearview mirror.

“We have a little over ten kilometers to go.” He gave the Priestess a smirk and turned his eyes back to the road.

TaeIn smirked as well. The driver was most likely trying to scare her or at least make her nervous with the information. They had made it clear with their comments that she wouldn’t make it out alive from their main base. TaeIn’s wrists had been tied together with a thick rope but with the ability to still move her hands and fingers slightly, the Priestess began to cast a spell.

She lifted her arms and turned her hands to face the man sitting behind her, “Mind Blast!”

The man yelled out in pain and moved his hands to cup the sides of his head. The attack felt like someone had struck the back of his head with a jackhammer and caused his brain to explode. TaeIn’s attack had been quick and unexpected. The two women next to her reached for their daggers but the Priestess elbowed the one on her right in the face then did the same to the one on her left.

The driver couldn’t react because he had control of the vehicle, but the guy on the passenger seat unbuckled his belt and turned to reach for the Priestess. TaeIn’s body suddenly became incased in a translucent purple aura and she let out a howling scream. 

Psychic Scream, while it could be done without the use of actually having to scream, TaeIn enjoyed let out high pitched screams when she cast it. Terror, beyond their imagination, engulfed the vision and minds of all the enemy Shadows in the vehicle. While the Shadows screamed in fear, and the driver lost control of the vehicle, TaeIn laughed and cast Power Word: Shield to protect her for the incoming impact.

The SUV swerved on the road from right to left a few times before going straight in the direction of a large tree on the left side of the road. The ditch before the tree prevented the vehicle from crashing directly into the tree, but it did cause the vehicle to flip over and roll into the tree on its side. Smoke and dust surrounded the crash site and the tires of the vehicle spun slowly to a stop. The vehicle landed on its roof.

It was unknown if any of the enemy Shadows were dead or unconscious, but TaeIn’s shield had protected her completely from the crash. TaeIn reached over to the body of the woman on her right and took the dagger the woman had attached to a holder on her belt. Using the dagger, TaeIn cut the ropes around her wrists and then cut the seatbelt holding her back on the seat. She fell on the roof, which was now the floor of the SUV and moved over the woman on her right to get out of the car. 

The left side of the vehicle had struck the tree, but luckily the Priestess was able to easily open the right door. Once she made it out the vehicle, TaeIn moved to pull out all of the bodies from the SUV. The Priestess needed to know if the Shadows were still alive or not and also make sure that the communication orb remained intact.

After pulling out the driver, TaeIn dragged his body to line him up with the rest of the Shadows who she had already dragged out of the vehicle. The man that was sitting behind her and the driver were the only dead ones after she inspected their bodies. Using the dagger she took from one of the women, TaeIn slit the throats of the two women and man that remained alive.

Luckily for TaeIn, the driver was the one who had the communication orb in a pouch attached to his belt and the orb remained intact. A grin marked the pink haired woman’s face as she held up the orb in her hand. It was an old way of communicating that wasn’t used anymore but it made sense for the enemy Shadows to be using them. Unlike cell phones that would stop working in rural areas, communication orbs could be used from anywhere and transmissions were always clear.

TaeIn held the orb up to her face and smiled. “Lord Kwangsoo…”

The orb began to glow brightly and after a few seconds, Kwangsoo’s face appeared on the orb. He had a grin on his face but it disappeared and turned into a grim look when he saw High Priestess TaeIn’s face on his orb. TaeIn gave him a slight smirk and narrowed her eyes on the traitor.

“It’s good to see you again Kim Kwangsoo. My suspicions have been confirmed now that I have personally seen you through this orb.” TaeIn offered the man a satisfied grin. She could see that Kwangsoo was upset and angry.

“Did you really think I would surrender so easily? You’re a fool if you believed it. I’ve killed your men, and if you want to capture me, I suggest you try to do it yourself. Ten kilometers stand between you and the prize you desire.” TaeIn’s satisfied grin remained on her face and she ended their transmission by slamming the orb on the ground. It shattered into hundreds of pieces.

TaeIn headed back to the overturned SUV and grabbed her bag that one of the rogues had thrown in the back of the vehicle. She reached inside the bag for what looked like a small wooden stick. The upper part was curved slightly to the right and the top of the stick looked like a horn. TaeIn tapped the curved part of the stick and it suddenly ignited, the embers seemed to burn the wood away but it remained solid. 

She turned around and started walking up the slight hill that led to the highway. Slowly the stick in her hand began to get longer, turning into a staff, and the one horn turned into two. Metal began to adorn the staff and as she walked the illustrious designs on the staff got larger. Watching the staff slowly form into its true form made the High Priestess smirk. Ten kilometers stand between your death and my triumph you bastard.






Kwangsoo’s rage could not be contained after TaeIn disappeared from his communication orb. The Priestess had played him and his men and Kwangsoo admitted to himself that he had been fooled by her sudden willingness to surrender. He had been too satisfied with the way things were going that he failed to see through the pink haired woman’s plot.

The warlock yelled out in frustration and walked out of his room and out into the open space of the main base. Torches kept the base lit up at night and white tents surrounded the entire perimeter of the open space in the middle of the base. Kwangsoo’s quarters were the only ones built into an actual building and directly across from his quarters was the cave he had used to drain King Daesung’s life essence.

The cave was a good kilometer away, but the main base did house the majority of the army he had built. There were others on his side, his reinforcements but these groups were scattered around North Korea, South Korea and China.

In the open space in the middle of the base was where he had set up King Daesung for everyone to see. Kwangsoo had made sure to keep the King alive so that he could see the demise of his family once they were captured. King Daesung currently sat tied to a chair that had been bolted into the ground on the edge of the open space. Kwangsoo planned on adding more chairs around him once he had captured the Queen and the two Princesses.

“Captain Song!” Kwangsoo called out for one of his most trusted men. Captain Song was an older man, well versed in battle because of his age and experiences, who led a group of highly skilled warriors. Selecting Captain Song and his men seemed as if he was planning to kill TaeIn, but even with this group of warriors, Kwangsoo was positive that TaeIn would not fall easily.

He was not trying to kill her, not yet; he just needed to capture her. Captain Song was stationed in one of the tents near Kwangsoo’s quarters and upon hearing his name, the man came out running and knelt before Kwangsoo.

“My Lord, how may I be of service?” Captain Song asked.

“Gather you group and meet me at the main gates in half an hour. I want them armed and ready for a battle. Our target needs to remain alive and our goal is to capture her. Make sure your men are well informed of this.” Kwangsoo explained to the older man.

“Yes sir!” Captain Song responded and got up and ran off to gather his men. Kwangsoo begin casting the spell to summon his Dreadsteed and once the fiery mane horse appeared, he mounted the horse and took off towards the main gates.





Spotting the High Priestess had been easier than Captain Song expected. Lord Kwangsoo had explained to the man that their target was the Queen of the Shadows. Captain Song had never met her and Lord Kwangsoo did not offer him a detailed description except that she had pink hair and was a shadow priest.

The woman could have easily hid in such a rural area that surrounded the highway but TaeIn had been standing in the middle of the road. The illustrious staff attached to her back shined brightly in the dark night. The staff’s flame had turned into a blue glow that sat above two small horns and another pair of ram like horns adorned the staff. The glow was so bright that it revealed the Queen’s face despite the staff being behind her.

Captain Song and his men were currently hiding behind the trees in the wooded area across from the crash site. Behind them, Lord Kwangsoo approached them on foot and observed the High Priestess. “Captain Song…”

“Yes sir?”

“You and your men should not underestimate the Queen. She’s the most powerful shadow priest in the world and by the looks of it; she has attained the legendary staff Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest. It increases the power of her abilities so capturing her will not be easy.” Kwangsoo explained and the soldiers behind him looked at each other before turning their view to the woman.

Captain Song turned to look at the warlock. “We must capture her as soon as possible then.”

“Yes.” Kwangsoo responded and turned look at the captain. “But I have also called for reinforcements if we cannot. If that happens, then you and your men must hold off until they get here. Now, begin the attack.”

Captain Song saluted Lord Kwangsoo and turned to his men. “We must capture the Queen quickly. She is a shadow priest and a powerful one so do not underestimate her.”

The men saluted their captain and drew their swords. Captain Song eyed his men, all of which were soldiers, and felt as if perhaps he should have brought more casters with him. Lord Kwangsoo was there with them though, and as a powerful warlock, perhaps he would be the one to capture the Queen. The captain’s men would have to serve as a distraction.

“Attack!” Captain Song commanded. The men took off running towards the road and the captain withdrew his sword and followed behind them. Their battle screams alerted TaeIn that a group of soldiers was headed her way so she turned around to where the sound was coming from.

A grin marked her face as she saw the men charging towards her. Wasting no time, she turned into her shadow form; the purple aura surrounded her body. The next spell she cast was her shield in order to protect herself from the men’s swords. The warriors swung their swords at her as they charged but they could not cut through the shield.

TaeIn needed the men to scatter, so she cast Psychic Scream sending all of them running away from her in terror. Her damage over time spell was the next thing she cast on the enemy Shadows. Shadow Word: Pain struck all the men she aimed it at and then she started casting Mind Blast in order to build the dark orbs that would help her cast an even more powerful spell.

Some of the men began regaining their senses after being frightened by her Psychic Scream spell and turned back to face the Priestess. The first soldier to run towards her was struck by Mind Flay, a spell that channeled a blue stream towards his head and made him run slower than usual. The spell also drained away his energy and life.

Captain Song charged at the Priestess after seeing her first attacks. The protective shield had faded and she was now vulnerable to his sword. Sensing the attack coming towards her, TaeIn broke the channeling of Mind Flay and reached for her staff. Quickly, TaeIn turned around and blocked the swing of Captain Song’s sword with her staff.

The captain tried to push his sword through the staff but TaeIn kicked him in the gut, sending him back a few steps. She then swung her staff around and struck a warrior in the face with the bottom part of the staff. His metal helmet clinked as it hit the ground and made the man go unconscious. The Priestess cast her protective shield once more and avoided the swings of the warriors once again.

Once again, Psychic Scream was effective in making the men scatter again. TaeIn needed to continue weakening these men so she finally cast Vampiric Touch on all ten of them. The spell would slowly drain away their energy and life and return it to the Priestess, therefore; increasing her stamina and ability to survive.

She refreshed the cast of Shadow Word: Pain and upon seeing the three dark orbs surrounding her body, TaeIn turned to Captain Song. The man was running around terrified of whatever vision he was seeing caused by her Psychic Scream spell. Grinning, TaeIn cast the devastating Devouring Plague spell on Captain Song. The orbs surrounding her disappeared and she heard the man scream in horror.

The plague running through his body would consume him completely until there was nothing left, not even his bones. With their leader taken care of, TaeIn turned to the men and noticed that two of them had recuperated from her Psychic Scream but seemed too weak to even walk towards her. A simple cast of Shadow Word: Death took care of them and both men fell to the ground.

TaeIn began to cast another spell after killing those men. The warrior nearest to her began to charge at her but her Shadowfiend jumped onto the man and began ripping at him with his ghastly maw. TaeIn then assumed a defensive position with her staff. Apart from training as a shadow priest, TaeIn had also trained in martial arts and was proficient enough with a staff to fight back these men.

She could not continue to make the men scatter with her Psychic Scream because eventually some of them would be able to resist the attack. Even though her shield could protect her from the attacks, eventually it would fade and the priestess would not be able to recast it in time to avoid an attack. Three men swung their swords downwards and the priestess used the length of her staff to block their attack.

TaeIn pushed them back and then ran and jumped towards the first man and struck him in the head with the top part of her staff. After she struck him, she turned the staff to lock the two horns on it around the second man’s waist. TaeIn pointed her right hand at the man, while holding the staff with her left, and cast Mind Sear on the man.

A blast of dark shadow energy struck the man on his chest and then it exploded around him striking the rest of the men running towards them. Pulling her staff back, TaeIn swung it around to strike the man behind her. The top of her staff struck his head hard and knocked him down. The Priestess turned back to the man she had hit with Mind Sear and cast the spell once more on him.

Once again, the remaining men were struck by the spell. Her Shadowfiend ran past her and jumped on one of them men to begin devouring him. Behind the five men that were still standing, TaeIn could see her Devouring Plague attack finishing its job on the captain and that made the Priestess grin.

A Shadow Bolt suddenly struck TaeIn’s right shoulder and another flew past her, inches away from her face. The bolt caused the Priestess to fall back a few steps but she was still able to dodge the rest of the Shadow Bolts flying her way. Once she stood on two feet again, TaeIn cast her shield around her and then turned to see a group of five warlocks join up with the five warriors that were still standing.

The Felhunter of one of the warlocks ran towards her Shadowfiend and bit into the ghastly body of the purple tentacled creature. TaeIn didn’t bother to attack the Felhunter because her own pet had already served its purpose. The sound of clapping hands made TaeIn turn towards Kim Kwangsoo, who had stepped out of the wooded area, and was now walking to join up with the remaining warriors and warlocks.

“I have to say that I’m highly impressed with your abilities your Highness. No Shadow Priest could have done what you just did. And Dragonwrath…who knew you would be the one to possess it. I wouldn’t mind taking it after I’ve captured you.” Kwangsoo told her with a big grin on his face.

TaeIn chuckled and narrowed her eyes on the man. “Dragonwrath would never serve the likes of you. You betrayed my husband’s trust in you and now that I know you’re the one behind this, I won’t leave this place until you’re dead. I think your head would make a nice trophy.”

Lord Kwangsoo burst into laughter. “You certainly won’t be leaving this place your Highness. You, your husband, and those precious little daughters of yours…ALL OF YOU WILL BE MINE! CAPTURE HER!”

The warriors began running towards the Priestess and the warlocks began casting their spells. TaeIn remained still and closed her eyes for a second before opening them back up. Her eyes were glowing brightly, almost neon pink, her ears were now pointed and her horns adorned her head. With a grin on her face, TaeIn lifted her arms and eleven tentacles shutout from the ground grabbing onto the entire enemy Shadows. The tentacles wrapped themselves tightly around the bodies of the Shadows making it hard for them to free themselves.

Even Lord Kwangsoo was struggling to free himself from the grasp of the tentacle that grabbed him. The Priestess placed her staff in front of her and stared directly at the small glowing crystal floating above it. She needed to end her confrontation with all these Shadows now and only the essence of Tarecgosa could help her now.

“Tarecgosa, just as your essence is bound to mine, mine is bound to yours! I seek your aid in battle for the righteous cause!” TaeIn had closed her eyes once again to summon the spirit of the great dragon.

The glow of the staff suddenly increased and TaeIn could feel the spirit of the great blue dragon encasing her entire body. The loud roar of Tarecgosa signaled that the dragon’s spirit had reacted to the Priestess words. The blue dragon began flapping its ethereal wings and lifted TaeIn into the sky.

Seeing such a majestic creature in the sky circling them as it flew made Kwangsoo more determined to free himself from the tentacle that was currently trapping him. If TaeIn had been able to summon Tarecgosa’s spirit from within the staff that meant that the Queen had bound her essence with that of the staff. Even if he wanted to, he could no longer claim the staff as his and his best bet was to destroy it completely.

Encased in the dragon’s ethereal body with the staff, had caused TaeIn to concentrate on the most powerful attack she could perform with the staff. The ethereal dragon began to breathe in as much air as possible in order to deliver the finishing blow. The glowing crystal above the staff began to glow so bright that it could blind TaeIn is she opened her eyes. The same glow was now forming in what was the dragon’s throat.

While the Priestess prepared her attack, Kwangsoo managed to burn down the tentacle until he fell on the ground. Groaning from the pain of falling, Kwangsoo stood up and started running away from what would be the radius of the attack. Feeling that he was far enough away from the attack, Kwangsoo turned around and began to cast one of the most powerful spells he had.

The ethereal blue dragon opened its maw and released a powerful breath of cold breath freezing the tentacles and those they were holding onto. TaeIn finally opened her eyes and turned the staff around so that the top would be facing the ground now. Tarecgosa’s spirit disappeared back into the staff and the Priestess began falling down at an incredible speed.

She slammed the staff onto the frozen ground causing a big wave of energy to spread away from her. The tentacles along with the enemy Shadows cracked into thousands of shiny pieces of ice and fell slowly onto the ground. The entire scene seemed like the first fall of snow on a winter morning.

Panting and exhausted from her final attack, TaeIn stood up and turned her staff back around to its normal position. A sense of victory overflowed her and distracted her from the massive meteor falling from the sky. Kwangsoo had cast a spell known as the Hand of Gul’dan and an explosion caused by the meteor would send the Queen flying away from the area of impact.

He had targeted the attack to land near the Priestess so that it would injure her but not kill her. The heat from the meteor finally alerted TaeIn causing to look above her. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the massive burning rock. She began to run away from the meteor but it landed before she could get a good distance away from it.

The explosion sent her flying forward, landing on part of the ice, and skidding down towards the concrete. Pain wrecked across her body and blood started to drip onto the road from all the scratches on her face and body. TaeIn tried to reach for her staff that had landed a few feet ahead of her, but she found it hard to even more her arm.

Kwangsoo walked up to her and kicked her in order to make TaeIn roll over onto her back. Grinning, the man leaned down to look at her closely. Her beautiful face was now covered in blood because of the scratches on her face. TaeIn began to cough up blood and managed to spit some on Kwangsoo’s face.

Annoyed by her actions, Kwangsoo swung his left hand to slap the Priestess’s left cheek; which was the side that was not scratched and bloodied. “It seems like I win in the end.”

Lord Kwangsoo reached for the special handcuffs to bind TaeIn’s wrists that he had packed in his bag, but the Priestess struggled with him with the last bit of energy she had. Kwangsoo slapped her again and stood up to cast another spell. Drain Life began to up whatever energy TaeIn had left until she fell unconscious.

Kwangsoo summoned his Dreadsteed and then placed the unconscious woman’s body on the saddle of the demon horse. He walked over to the staff Dragonwrath and studied its beauty for a second.

“It’s such a shame I can’t use you, but you will make a fine addition to my collection of legendary weapons.” The warlock told the staff as he looked at it. Kwangsoo turned back around and began walking back to his mount.

He pulled out his communication orb and contacted another of his captains. He asked the woman on the orb to bring her group and clean up the mess left out on the highway. Since this area was uninhabited no one would see it, but it was safer to leave the place looking normal for the humans. They did not need to know of their existence, at least for now.

With the Queen now unconscious and in his grasp, Kwangsoo smiled triumphantly and led his steed back towards the main base. There he would heal the woman’s injuries, restore her strength and then drain her of all her life essence just like he had done with the King.