Thunder rolled across the skies while lightning struck several miles away from the current campsite. The pounding of the heavy rain on the tent sounded almost melodic to the weary rogue sitting inside of it. Yonghwa’s friends were currently asleep hoping to regain their energy for the next day, and while he should have been doing the same, Yonghwa found it hard to sleep.

The strong wind caused part of the opening of the tent to flap wildly and the cold wind assaulted Yonghwa’s body as it entered and circled around the tent. He paid no attention to it while scanning the sleeping forms of his friends. Minhyuk and Jungshin shivered as the wind flew past them but remained asleep. The two of them had been weakened by the trip back to the enemy Shadows’ base and the insufficient nutrients they were getting from their meals.

Yonghwa hoped that this trip would end soon; he did not want to see two of his best friends die like this. Jonghyun and Jongkook, who had also become a good friend now, were fairing better than the other two but Yonghwa was the one who remained the strongest out of the five.

The rogue closed his eyes as the thunder roared and rumbled once more. He moved his arms to grasp the side of his head with his hands and flinched when he felt the cold metal of the cuffs around his wrists touch his forehead. Sometimes Yonghwa forgot that he had been captured because of how numb he had become to the entire situation.

It had been a week since Kyurhee had disappeared and Jinyoung’s men were unable to find her. The moment when the Princess had run out of the cave leaving them behind, Yonghwa had taken off behind her hoping to catch up to her. He had been too shocked to move when he had seen Kyurhee jump off the cliff with an enemy rogue. 

All five of them feared that the Princess had died but when Jinyoung had been unable to find her body, relief had washed over them. She had most likely escaped from that area long before the enemy got there and perhaps Kyurhee was now back home in Seoul.

The same day that Jinyoung had searched for Kyurhee and then had given up the search to return back to the enemy’s main base, Jinyoung had been summoned away by whoever his Lord was. Park Jinyoung had left his soldiers to walk back with the highest ranking officer in command.

Another burst of wind blew inside of the tent and this time Yonghwa looked over at the opening and noticed the entire flap open up and then close up just as quickly. The rogue frowned but felt that perhaps it was just the strong wind finally managing to open up the flap in its entirety. When a masked figure suddenly appeared in front of him, Yonghwa gasped and was about to speak but the masked figure placed their hand on the rogue’s mouth.

Wide eyed, Yonghwa stared at the masked figure that was leaning in closer to his ear. The person removed their hand from his mouth and Yonghwa quickly shut it close.

“Don’t move or say anything. I know you can tell by my voice who I am.” The figure whispered and Yonghwa turned to face the masked figure. He couldn’t even see the color of their eyes as the skull type design in front of the rogue’s mask covered everything.

Yonghwa let out a sigh and nodded in relief. The masked figure continued, “Good. I have infiltrated myself into their ranks. You must act as if you don’t know who I am and don’t tell them that I’m here. Also, give them this. It will help keep their strength up.”

The masked figure handed Yonghwa a few packets of beef jerky. “If they ask, say that you forgot you had them with you all this time. Once we get to their base, I will free all five of you.”

The figure began to disappear once again into their stealth mode but stopped when Yonghwa called them out. “Kyurhee…” He whispered and the woman turned to face him. “I’m glad to know that you’re alive and thank you.”

Kyurhee gave him a nod and went back into her stealth mode. She had killed one of the female soldiers and taken her clothes when the woman had walked away from her group to hunt for a small animal. By pretending to be the woman she had killed, the Princess would be able to gain valuable information from these soldiers.





“TaeIn…”

“Seduce the Prince. It’s the only way you will get what you want.”

“I don’t want to trick him like that mother.”

“TaeIn…”

“Your Highness…why won’t you notice me?”

“TaeIn…I have noticed you…but my father…he doesn’t think it’s a good idea for me to marry someone of a lower class.”

“Your Highness…”

“TaeIn, I’ve told you before, just call me Daesung…”

“Daesung…”

“TaeIn…come with me!”

“What is the meaning of this?! How could you run off and elope like that?!”

“Father, I love her and I’m not going to give up my happiness just because you don’t want me to marry someone of a lower class!”

“TaeIn…you’ve made me so proud. You’re even pregnant with his child.”

“I didn’t do it your way mother. He had always been interested in me…”

“TaeIn…now that I’m King, you’re my Queen and our baby girl…she’s our little Princess. I love the both of you so much.”

“Daesung…my love…”

“Daesung…”

TaeIn quickly shot up to an upright position and gasped for air. Her eyes scanned her surroundings and noticed that the room was completely empty aside from the bed she was lying on. The only light coming into the room was that of the lightning running across the thunderous clouds in the sky.

She moved her left hand to rub her temple and tried to clear her head of the memories she had witnessed again before waking up. They were a mixture of some of the good and bad times from her past when she was younger and had first met Daesung. Her husband had been one of the reasons why she had crossed over into the north.

“Where am I?” She quietly asked herself as she scanned her surroundings. Her eyes landed on the small window to her left where TaeIn could see the rain falling from the sky and the dark clouds making the night even darker than it already was.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake.” Kwangsoo’s voice echoed inside the room as he entered it followed by a shadow priest.

TaeIn turned to face the older man and gritted her teeth while tightly grabbing the covers on the bed. The High Priestess tried to move in order to attack the warlock but the shadow priest that had walked in with Kwangsoo got to TaeIn first. The woman pressed her palm onto TaeIn’s forehead and cast Mind Soothe in order to calm the High Priestess down.

Sleep began to overpower all of TaeIn’s senses and she fell back onto the bed. Kwangsoo approached her and smiled as he looked down at her. The hint of deviousness was apparent on the smile. “You’ve recuperated but you’re still not at one hundred percent. Continue to rest until you’ve regained your energy.”

His words were barely audible as TaeIn began to fall back into a deep slumber. The shadow priest adjusted the Queen’s body on the bed and moved the covers to cover her up once again. The woman turned to face Kwangsoo who didn’t take his eyes off TaeIn.

“I need her to regain all of her energy back. Continue to watch and take care of her. Place these special cuffs around her wrists before she wakes up again. It will prevent her from casting any spells.” Kwangsoo ordered and handed the cuffs to the shadow priest. The woman bowed and then followed Kwangsoo out of the room.





During the past week the status of Eunjung and Jiyeon’s relationship had been revealed to all of those who knew them. Jiyeon’s parents, especially her father, had been happy to hear the news of their daughter finally dating Eunjung. They both knew that the older girl made their baby girl happy and knowing that the two of them were girlfriends would finally stop them from worrying about Jiyeon seeming depressed all the time.

Not that she was depressed, but as of late Jiyeon did seem a bit down and not as lively as she used to be. Now that she was dating Eunjung, Jiyeon’s energy level suddenly sky rocketed. When Jieun had found out that her best friend was finally dating Eunjung, she let out the biggest sigh of relief. It was about time the two of them hooked up.

The rest of the Guardians had been happy to see the two of them become a couple and everyone had congratulated Eunjung or Jiyeon whenever they got the chance. Eunjung knew that she had the support of Soyeon, Boram, Qri, and Hwayoung but Hyomin was the only one who seemed apprehensive about the entire ordeal.

The two Guardians had talked privately about the consequences that Eunjung would most likely have to face. Hyomin insisted that it was best to stop anything from developing now before their relationship got into anything deeper but Eunjung had refused. She was no longer afraid of what might happen.

Eunjung had also given up on another order given to her by God. She was no longer keeping her distance and Jiyeon’s away from Jaehee, but they were also not as close as before. Conversations were kept to a minimum and were mostly held during their time in school. It would have been hard to prevent Jiyeon from talking to Jaehee in the first place since the younger girl considered the taller woman a friend. Jiyeon was also friends with Gyuri and Jieun who in part were friends with Jaehee as well. The entire situation between everyone would have become very awkward if neither Eunjung nor Jaehee were around.

It was now midday and even with the cold weather, the sky was clear and sunny. The group of five girls was schedule to meet at their usual lunch area, under the oak tree that currently had no leaves on it. It was the last day of school before the winter break and everyone was taking their final exams for the semester. Lunch time would really be their only free time during the entire day before school ended.

Jieun had arrived first and taken her seat on her usual spot, by the trunk of the tree. Eunjung and Jiyeon arrived shortly after. The sight of the two walking up to the spot while holding hands was sweet, but after sitting down and eating, Jieun found the sight of Jiyeon feeding Eunjung some grapes to be sickeningly sweet.

Jieun rolled her eyes and pointed at her open mouth with her index finger to indicate how gross the scene was. She was happy for both of them but when they had their couple moments it made Jieun wish her boyfriend was there too. Her only hope of salvation from ‘EunYeon’ as she had named the couple was Jaehee and Gyuri.

Those two were a couple as well, but their public displays of affection were minimal compared to the other two. Jieun tried to concentrate on the rest of her meal but had to place her sandwich down when she saw EunYeon giving each other a flurry of kisses. Someone get me away from these two! Gross!

Jaehee and Gyuri were too caught up in their own conversation when they arrived that they did not notice Eunjung and Jiyeon making out. Taking their seats, both girls greeted Jieun who had a look of annoyance on her face.

“Jieun what’s wrong?” Jaehee asked as she looked at the younger girl and handed her girlfriend one of the lunch boxes they had brought in a plastic bag.

“Just look at these two! It’s so disgustingly sweet how in love they are and just flaunt it to the world. It…it makes me miss my Taeyang.” Jieun sighed and pouted while looking at Eunjung and Jiyeon who were still kissing. Jaehee and Gyuri looked over at the couple across from them and smiled before turning their looks back to Jieun.

“You’ll see him later today though. And we’re going on winter break so you don’t have to worry about EunYeon.” Gyuri told the younger girl and started giggling. Jaehee smiled at her girlfriend’s comment as she chewed her food.

Jieun grinned at Gyuri’s words. “You’re right! We’ve planned to spend a lot of time together during my winter break. Also, I wanted to thank you two for not being as affectionate as these two.”

Jaehee and Gyuri eyed each other after hearing Jieun’s words. There was a hint of playfulness in the way they eyed each other and before Jieun could take another bite of her sandwich, Jaehee and Gyuri leaned in closer to each other and began kissing.

“NO!” Jieun cried out and threw her sandwich on the ground. Jaehee and Gyuri pulled away and burst into laughter. This finally caused Eunjung and Jiyeon to pull away from each other and eye all three girls with confusion written on Jiyeon’s face and a blank expression on Eunjung’s.

Jieun glared at Jaehee before jumping up and tackling Jaehee to the ground. “Why do you do this to me unni?” Jieun yelled out while slapping Jaehee’s shoulders. The older woman placed her arms in front of her face like a boxer defending himself but continued laughing.

Gyuri was still so amused that she continued laughing and fell on her side from leaning too far down. Jiyeon and Eunjung eyed each other for a second and turned back to their friends. Jiyeon finally decided to speak up in hopes of finding out what happened.

“What’s going on? Are we interrupting something?” Jiyeon smirked and Eunjung raised an eyebrow.

Gyuri sat up and took in some breaths of air to try and calm herself down. Jieun turned around to face her best friend but then lost her balance when Jaehee sat up causing Jieun to fall backwards. Gyuri once again burst into laughter.

“Ow!” Jieun cried out while rolling to her side and trying to sit back up. Jaehee reached for the shorter girl and aided her in sitting back up.

The Shadow apologized to Jieun and then turned to the two girls across from them. “I think the one’s who interrupted something is us.”

Jiyeon noticed the smirk on Jaehee’s face which caused her to turn red like a tomato. She knew the older woman was talking about what she and Eunjung had just been doing in front of them. Eunjung rubbed her girlfriend’s back and gave Jaehee a wink. The Shadow grinned and turned back to her food.

Precious moments like this are what Eunjung wanted to treasure from now on. She wanted to create new memories to remember in the future since she didn’t remember much from her past. Hopefully these would last another lifetime.





Traveling with this group of Shadows had caused Kyurhee’s impatience to grow. Another week had gone by already and they had only made it three quarters of the way back to the enemy’s main base. It had become obvious to Kyurhee that they had no intention of making a speedy return. This was good for her friends though, it allowed them to get some rest in order to regain their energy.

Being infiltrated into their group also helped Kyurhee gain some information. She was able to confirm that Nobleman Kim Kwangsoo was indeed the true leader of the enemy Shadows. Kwangsoo had also given the title of General to Park Jinyoung so that the death knight could lead the army Kwangsoo was assembling.

According to the conversations Kyurhee heard amongst these Shadows the army was composed of Shadows from around the world. Kwangsoo was the one representatives in her father’s court that had traveled to most of the world so it didn’t surprise Kyurhee that Shadows from around the world would support him. He had most likely created ties with a lot of different groups around the world.

“Boss! It seems like a winter storm is headed our way. We should bunker down here now. I don’t think we can continue when the storms hits us.” One of the scouts informed the guy who was the leader of this group. He had just returned from the nearest town and received the news of the incoming weather change.

Kyurhee was standing close enough to hear what the scout and the leader were talking about and this made her angry. If they stopped now, who knew how long they would have to wait until the blizzard subsided. She wanted to arrive at the main base as soon as possible to see if her parents were there already. Hopefully her mother had escaped from those she had surrendered to as well.

The Princess looked up at the sky and noticed the dark clouds in the horizon. Her patience was going to be tested once again.





When TaeIn opened her eyes once again, she found herself in the same room as before. How long she had been in there was a mystery but the high priestess now felt much better than the last time. TaeIn could tell that she had regained all her energy back and that her wounds had been healed as well.

The pink haired woman felt a cold hard object around her wrists and looked down to see the cuffs wrapped around them. She tried to move her hands and wrists to pry them off but they were too tight. By the looks of them, TaeIn could tell that they were magical and prevented her from using her powers.

Kwangsoo had probably placed them on her before she woke up in order to ensure that she could not fight back or escape. The door to the room suddenly flung open and Kwangsoo walked in with two men behind them. TaeIn looked at him for a brief second before turning to face the window on the other side of the room.

“I’m glad to see you awake and at one hundred percent. Men, grab her and follow me.” Kwangsoo smiled and ordered his men. The two bulky men moved to grab the High Priestess and drag her out of the room as she struggled against them.

Even down the hallway TaeIn was trying to free herself from their hold but stopped when she heard Kwangsoo speak to her. “There’s no point in struggling High Priestess. You cannot free yourself or escape. The less you fight, the easier it will be to join your essence to that of your husband’s.”

Kwangsoo held up a small black orb to where TaeIn could see it as they walked down the corridor the exit of the building. TaeIn looked at the black orb with a horrified look on her face. If that orb was created from Daesung’s life essence then it meant that he was most likely dead. The thought finally made the High Priestess hang her head in defeat. A life without her husband was not a life worth living.






After waiting four weeks for TaeIn to finally reach her full strength once again, Kwangsoo was excited to personally the High Priestess to the cave located in the back of the main base. He had moved King Daesung back inside the cave a few days prior so that he could see his wife suffer the same fate as him. During this time, Kwangsoo had also ordered Jinyoung to summon everyone who had offered their aid to his cause to come to the base.

His followers had responded quickly and had arrived at the base as fast as they could. The size of the base had to be increased due to the overflow of Shadows arriving on a daily basis. Jinyoung had wasted no time in making sure everyone was training in their particular skills in order to prepare for their next plan. With an army as big as the one they had gathered, their plan seemed to be fail proof.

The group that Kyurhee had been traveling with all this time had arrived at the base a week prior. Kyurhee had informed Yonghwa that she was going to scout the entire base before she freed him and the others. The rogue wanted to create a map of the base so that when she returned home she could give all of the valuable information to Jaehee. Kyurhee’s plan was to bring Jaehee and the Royal Army to attack this place before they could attack the south themselves.

Luckily no one seemed to suspect her at all and moving around the base had not been difficult. The people living here were constantly on the move completing their everyday duties or training. The map Kyurhee had created was halfway finished and currently she was working on the area past the big open space in the middle of the base. 

She had not walked by this area until she and a few others were ordered to place the prisoners they had brought with them in the chairs newly bolted to the ground. The entire time Kyurhee had been there, purposely sabotaging the way her friends were tied to the chairs, she felt an odd feeling. It was as if someone she knew had been in this area before. Kyurhee had a feeling that it was her father who might have been here but so far she had not seen him.

The rogue looked at her friends from the corner of her eyes and continued walking past the area. She needed to make her way deeper into this part of the base and hopefully make it to the cave she had seen when she was hanging around Kwangsoo’s living quarters. Kyurhee was walking through the maze of tents when she heard deep booming voices asking everyone to move out of the way.

The woman carrying a large wooden box suddenly stopped in front of Kyurhee and bowed her head as she saw Lord Kwangsoo walk past Kyurhee. The rogue turned around to see who the woman was bowing at and suddenly froze as she saw her mother walk by with two big men walking alongside her on each side. If it wasn’t for the hood and mask that completely covered Kyurhee’s face, everyone around would have been able to see the shocked look on her face.

Once Kwangsoo and her mother walked past everyone, the Shadows continued on with what they were doing but Kyurhee stood in the same spot for about thirty seconds. Her eyes were scanning the ground in front of her and her mind was racing. Kyurhee had a bad feeling about what was going to happen to her mother and even though she wanted to run towards her and save her, Kyurhee’s instincts told her that it was best to remain undercover for now.

With the amount of enemy Shadows in this base she was at a disadvantage. Letting out a sigh, Kyurhee continued walking in the direction she was originally headed and looked up at the sky for a second. It was still morning, but small specks of snow were beginning to fall again. This path was the one Kwangsoo had taken and it seemed to lead to the cave. Kyurhee would carefully follow them and see what exactly Kwangsoo was planning to do to her mother.






Jaehee stretched her limbs after waking up and then moved her hands to rub the sleepiness away from her eyes. Smiling, she turned to her side to place her arm around Gyuri’s waist but to her surprise the spot where her girlfriend should have been was empty. Jaehee frowned and sat up to look around her room for the younger girl but she did not spot her.

Because the covers had fallen off her chest down to her waist, Jaehee quickly covered her bare torso with her arms and looked down on the floor to find her tank top. She mentally chastised herself for not putting on anything other than her underwear the previous night after she and Gyuri had slept together. The winter morning was cold and it had seeped into her room.

After putting on the black tank top that was lying on the floor and then the jeans that were next to it, Jaehee walked out of her room and into the living room of the apartment. The scent of food wafted its way to the taller woman and she smiled. Gyuri was in the kitchen preparing something for them to eat this morning. 

Jaehee turned to look out the windows that adorned the living room and smiled at the sight of the small specks of snow falling from the sky. They were beautifully blanketing the entire city. Jaehee then continued her path to the kitchen where Gyuri was digging in the fridge for some ingredients she needed. Smiling once again, Jaehee waited until Gyuri closed the refrigerator door before wrapping her arms around the shorter girl’s waist.

“I think I can get used to this every morning.” Jaehee whispered in Gyuri’s ear causing the shorter girl to shiver slightly. Jaehee’s skin was cold against hers.

“Well don’t because I expect you to do the same.” Gyuri replied and smirked while escaping Jaehee’s grasp and turning to the eggs cooking in the pan on the stove. Jaehee started chuckling and reached for the plates located in the cupboards above the sink.

“But…I thought you were the wife.” Jaehee whined.

“Don’t try that with me because I’ll have you sleeping on the couch.” Gyuri replied and held back her giggles. She knew that her girlfriend was most likely pouting behind her.

“Also, set down four plates. I invited Jiyong and Seunghyun over for breakfast.” Gyuri added. After she said that, there was a knock at the door. “And there they are.” Gyuri smiled.

Jaehee turned around to stare at the back of her girlfriend’s head. She was positive that the two of them were going to spend the morning together and not with company. Sighing, Jaehee walked out of the kitchen, set the plates on the edge of the table, and then walked over to open the door.

A very lively Jiyong stepped inside the apartment carrying a pitcher filled with orange juice and headed directly to the kitchen. His greeting to Jaehee was barely audible but luckily Seunghyun greeted his best friend properly. Jaehee offered him a smile after greeting him and the two of them headed towards the table.

“Gyuri! I brought the fresh squeezed orange juice like promised. Do you need help with anything? And what do you think of my new apron?” Jiyong asked as he modeled the apron for Gyuri who turned around to look at him and giggled.

“I love it Ji and I have everything under control.” Gyuri replied.

“I knew you would. I’ll set up the table then.” Jiyong turned around and headed out of the kitchen. He saw Jaehee about to grab the plates sitting on the table and stopped her.

“You two take a seat; I will set the table while Gyuri finishes cooking breakfast.” Jiyong told them and grabbed the plates to begin setting up the table. Jaehee took her seat across from Seunghyun and the two of them watched as Jiyong started setting everything up.

“I got the responses from the representatives from around the world. We’re getting a lot of support and the American’s are probably preparing to make their way here by now. Once their men arrive, I will integrate them into our army and train them.” Seunghyun explained to Jaehee and she smiled at the news.

In the past few weeks, Jaehee had ordered Seunghyun to summon everyone who had ever trained at the temple to report for military duty. She had personally explained to everyone who had answered the call why they were being called into active duty and even gave them the chance to back out if they wanted to.

Luckily Jaehee received the support of most of the people who had arrived at the temple. Most of the representatives from Korea had stated their support for Jaehee’s plan to build up an army in order to make sure the country was safe from a possible invasion by the enemy. Only Kim Kwangsoo, Park Jinyoung and two other representatives had missed the gathering.

Jaehee knew that three out of the four were mostly likely traitors and Kwangsoo was still a question since he had disappeared with her father. After the representatives had stated their support and sent their men to train at the temple located outside of Seoul, Seunghyun had contacted representatives from around the world on Jaehee’s order.

“So has everyone agreed to help?” Jaehee asked while looking at Seunghyun expectantly.

Seunghyun smiled and nodded. “Yes. Everyone is on board so I’ve asked them to send some of their soldiers. I don’t want them to leave their own countries defenseless in case this thing goes world wide.”

Jaehee nodded in agreement but had to end their conversation short since Gyuri and Jiyong started setting the food down on the table. Luckily, it was Saturday so they could enjoy a nice breakfast together and take care of business later.






Jiyeon woke up in Eunjung’s arms this morning. She had come to spend the weekend with her girlfriend with the promise that she would use the time she was here to train with Soyeon. In reality Jiyeon was just hoping to spend the weekend with Eunjung and she was going to put her aegyo skills in use to get out of training. 

Smiling Jiyeon cuddle deeper into Eunjung and started planting light kisses on the older girl’s lips and then down to her jaw. Eunjung began to stir as she felt Jiyeon’s lips on hers and barely opened her eyes to spot the blurry image of Jiyeon. The brightness of her room made Eunjung quickly shut her eyes once again. Jiyeon was still kissing her so Eunjung began to respond to the younger girl’s kisses.

Eunjung slowly opened her eyes, this time her vision was clear, and noticed that her room looked different. The walls were made of wood instead of sheet rock, the nightstand next to her bed was missing, the Jiyeon in front of her was Jiyeon but like the last few times this had happened to her, Jiyeon seemed to be someone else. Eunjung also felt different, both she and Jiyeon were not wearing clothing.

Jiyeon pulled back to face Eunjung after realizing the older girl was no longer kissing her and seemed frozen in time. She noticed how her girlfriend seemed to be in trance, her eyes looked glazed over and her lips were slightly parted releasing short breaths of air.

“Jungie…” Jiyeon whispered her girlfriend’s nickname in a very low voice. She didn’t want to completely startle the older girl.

Eunjung’s mind was running as the vision in front of her seemed to move normally, like she was living through it at the moment. This Jiyeon she was seeing was looking at her with the most loving and caring eyes. Eunjung reach out and caressed Jiyeon’s face, unknowingly doing the same to the actual Jiyeon on her bed.

“Eunjung…” Her voice, the Jiyeon she was seeing, she sounded just like her Jiyeon. Eunjung’s eyes widened and she quickly sat up, shut her eyes and shook her head.

“Eunjung are you okay? What happened to you?” Jiyeon’s worried voice brought Eunjung back to reality and she rubbed her face with her hands before facing her girlfriend.

“I-I…I’m fine. I think I just had a bad dream.” Eunjung replied hoping to ease the younger girl’s worry.

“But your eyes were open. You seemed to be in a trance.” Jiyeon explained and waited for an answer.

“I don’t think I was completely awake even with my eyes open.” Eunjung replied and moved to get out of the bed. “You should get up and go shower and get dressed. I’m sure Soyeon will begin your training soon.”

Jiyeon was going to respond to Eunjung’s comment but the older girl walked out of the room before Jiyeon got a chance. Sighing and pouting, Jiyeon moved the covers away from her and got out of the bed. Training was not how she wanted to spend this weekend with Eunjung. It was the first time since the winter break, holidays and New Year that she had gotten the chance to come over and stay with her girlfriend for the weekend.





Eunjung walked down to the room that used to belong to Hwayoung before the younger Guardian moved in with Hyomin. She needed to use the bathroom inside this room because she had left the one in hers for Jiyeon. Eunjung the cold water on the faucet and splashed the cold water on her face.

In the past weeks Eunjung had been getting glimpses of some kind of past life that involved a girl that looked exactly like Jiyeon. They had been short, sometimes vague, but the one from this morning had been the liveliest one out of all them. This time she actually felt like she was in the past instead of just seeing the image.

It was starting to become stressful seeing all these images because Eunjung didn’t remember ever being in what she saw. Her past was so blurry nowadays when she tried to think about it. Even moments from a few years past were beginning to erase themselves from her thoughts. 

Eunjung raised her head to face the mirror in front of her. The cold water on her face was rolling down to her chin and dripping down onto the sink alongside the drops from her wet hair. Eunjung observed her facial features which remained with out a wrinkle or scar; the only thing that changed her complexion was the dark circle under eyes. Aging was something that the Guardians did not go through and scars were rarely found on their bodies due to the healing abilities of the priests.

Jiyeon…are your powers making me see these images? You’ve become so powerful. And God…how much longer will you continue to keep your silence.





After dropping Gyuri off at her internship, Jaehee had made her way to the temple to observe the training the soldiers of the Royal Army were doing. The army consisted of soldiers specializing in every class; rogue, warlock, shadow priest, and warrior. Death Knights were the only class missing because they were the fewest, but Jaehee had called all of those she knew or had trained with in the past. They were not many, but their abilities would be helpful in battle.

Jaehee smiled at the sight of Seunghyun training alongside all the other warriors. The numbers for his class had increased the most as of late and that made the current leader of the Shadows happy. Her father was a warrior, and it was the class she had chosen to follow until she realized that the dark and cold magic of a death knight came to her naturally.

Jaehee turned around to walk back to her own training grounds but stopped abruptly as Hyori was standing right in front of her now. Hyori eyed the warriors training and turned back to face Jaehee. “I don’t see your girlfriend around.”

The way Hyori had said her comment sounded cynical to Jaehee. Gyuri had been coming with Jaehee to the temple a lot lately. It mainly had to do with the fact that Gyuri was now living with the taller woman because after coming out of her parents during her family’s Christmas dinner, they had kicked Gyuri out of their house. They did not accept the fact that their daughter was a lesbian.

Jaehee didn’t mind that Gyuri accompanied her most of the time; she actually like the idea of having Gyuri around and letting everyone know that she was her girlfriend. Having a human mate raised some controversy but Jaehee’s people needed to get used to it.

“She had to work at her internship today.” Jaehee simply replied.

Hyori smirked and nodded. “The representatives had a lot to say about her last week after they had seen her at the meeting you had with them in the throne room. Most of them are shocked that you are dating a human and they don’t seem to really approve it.”

“I don’t care about their opinions. Things are going to change when I’m finally crowned. And I will ask you for the last time Hyori, leave Gyuri alone. I will not allow you to bring problems back into our relationship once more.” Jaehee stepped closer to Hyori and stared her down.

Hyori sheepishly looked at Jaehee and nodded. She did not need to get on Jaehee’s bad side if she was going to be her wife one day. “I have no intentions of doing that anymore. You’re happy with her and seeing you happy is enough for me. I just wanted to let out know about the representatives.”

Jaehee back away from the shorter woman and sighed. “I’m glad to hear that. Now if you excuse me, I need to go ahead and get my own training started.”

Hyori turned to look at Jaehee after the taller woman walked away from her. There was a slight look of longing in the shadow priestess’s eyes but the smirk that suddenly appeared on her lips changed the look on her eyes.






Another month would go by before Kyurhee was able to set her plan to fruition. The day she had seen her mother walk by her being escorted by Kim Kwangsoo, Kyurhee had witnessed what Kwangsoo had planned to do with her mother. She had used her stealth mode to disappear completely from view and followed the men as they took her mother inside the cave. Thanks to the crystal she had taken from that rogue on the cliff, Kyurhee remained undetectable to everyone inside the cave.

The rogue could not believe her eyes at the sight of her completely weakened, almost dying father. Whatever they had done to King Daesung, they were about to do to Queen TaeIn. Kyurhee witnessed as they clasped magical steel cuffs around her mother’s wrists and ankles. The pink haired woman’s arms were raised and held up by the chains attached to the cuffs.

TaeIn had tried to struggle but it had all been in vain. There was no way for her to free herself or cast any spells. Kwangsoo had suspended a small black orb in the air and then cast a spell to have the High Priestess’s life essence be up by the orb. Kyurhee had clenched her jaw and gripped her daggers tightly as she tried to fight off the urge to come out of hiding and kill all three men in the room.

Killing Kwangsoo at that moment would have been ideal but in vain in the end. After killing him, she would have been able to free her mother and father but with all the soldiers outside in the base, death would have surely caught up to them. That day Kyurhee waited until Kwangsoo and his henchmen had left the cave and the area surrounding it to reveal herself to her parents.

They were surprised to see Kyurhee but worried about her at the same time. Daesung was too weak to speak, so TaeIn had asked her daughter not to do anything reckless. Kyurhee told them that she would find a way to free them both but it would take time. With that agreement, she had made her way out of the cave and became more determined to plan and finish the map she was working on.

With the constant influx of people and the growing base, it took Kyurhee much longer than she had wanted to. Her now finished map even contained key spots surrounding the base. The rogue had also come up with a plan to free both of her parents and her friends. Kyurhee had watched those that guarded her friends carefully. She had picked out one guard, a woman, to disguise herself as and get closer to her friends to give them signal she had told them about when they first arrived.

Kyurhee had purposely left the lock on the metal band holding the guys’ left arm down on the armrest of the chairs unlocked and supplied them with a small pin to undo the lock on the right and their feet. Even though Kyurhee had planned out to free her friends and her parents in a few days, the amount of Shadows in this base made it impossible for her to do it without really being seen or becoming suspicious.

On this clear but cold night, Kwangsoo had called out the majority of the Shadows in the base to another stage area he had created on the newly expanded land to the west of the base. While everyone was distracted by the speech Kwangsoo was giving, Kyurhee took the opportunity to go through with her plan.

Before the female guard could get ready to go and guard the prisoners, Kyurhee had sneaked into her tent and knocked out cold with no resistance. Quickly, Kyurhee changed out of her current disguised into that of the woman’s. The mask this woman wore did not cover up her eyes like her previous one, but luckily she and the woman shared the same eye color. It was one of the reasons Kyurhee had picked her.

Casually, Kyurhee walked out of the woman’s tent and headed for the area where her friends were. The two guards who were previously guarding her friends walked past her as she neared the area and this let the rogue know that the man who guarded them along with the woman she was disguised as had already arrived. Kwangsoo’s order to have just two people watching over her friends was going to benefit her greatly.

The man guarding her friends was currently walking back and forth in front of the five prisoners. He saw Kyurhee, who he thought was his partner, and nodded at her before turning around to walk the other way. Luckily for Kyurhee, all five of her friends looked up to face her. The Princess smiled behind the mask covering and gave the five men her signal. They quickly eyed each other and then gave Kyurhee a slight nod letting her know they understood.

Kyurhee took of running towards the man walking away from her and jumped to knee him on the back with both knees. He groaned as he felt her knees hit his back and the man flew forward landing face first. Kyurhee didn’t even give a chance to react. She grabbed his head as soon as he landed on the ground and twisted the man’s neck as hard as she could effectively snapping it and killing him.

The rogue turned to her friends who were trying to unlock the lock on their right arms and ran up to Yonghwa. She pulled out the keys she had taken from the woman and unlocked his feet at the same time Yonghwa undid the lock on his right arm. Quickly Kyurhee moved to the rest of the men and freed them as well. She handed each of them a vial filled with a red liquid that would replenish their strength.

“Thank you Kyurhee.” Yonghwa spoke after drinking the red liquid from the vial. He began to feel reenergized and stronger all of the sudden. The other guys thanked Kyurhee as well and she gave them a nod.

“So what’s the next step?” Jongkook asked.

“What about our weapons?” Minhyuk asked.

“I don’t know what they did with your weapons but I took these daggers from the armory.” Kyurhee told them as she pulled out four sets of daggers from the bag she was carrying with her. She turned to Jongkook and apologized. “I’m sorry Jongkook, but it was too difficult to hide a weapon for you.”

“It’s fine Kyurhee. I’ll take the sword this guy was carrying even if it’s too small for me.” Jongkook said and walked over to the dead guard and took his sword. The rest chuckled at his comment because it was true. For a guy as big as Jongkook, a regular sword was not fitting.

“Our next step is to free my parents. We must go now and move quickly.” Kyurhee told them and took off running towards the direction of the cave. The guys were surprised to hear that the King and Queen were here. They didn’t have to time to ask any questions so they took off behind Kyurhee.

On their way to the cave, they took out a few guards walking around and in the back ground they could hear what Kwangsoo was telling everyone listening to him. His voice boomed through the entire area of the base.

“Soon we will launch our first full on attack on the South! They will not be expecting us so the resistance should be minimal. We will crush them beneath out feet!”

Kyurhee came to a halt after hearing what Kwangsoo had just said. The guys stopped behind her and turned to face in the direction of where the voice was coming from.

“Are they really planning on doing that? We need to warn everyone back home.” Minhyuk commented and looked at everyone with a worried face.

“Minhyuk is right.” Jonghyun added and Jungshin nodded in agreement.

“We do, but first we need to get my parents out of here. Let’s keep moving.” Kyurhee told them and took off running once again.

In a matter of minutes the six of them were standing in front of the cave. Kyurhee let out a sigh and took a step to head inside the cave but the sound of a maniacal laughter stopped her mid step. All of them turned around to face the person who was laughing behind them and their eyes went wide.

“So you’ve been here all this time? I should have known! Men, kill them and capture that woman!” Jinyoung ordered the men with him while pointing at Kyurhee with his sword.

The men behind Jinyoung started running towards them with their weapons drawn ready to kill. Kyurhee and her friend began fighting the enemy Shadows even though they were greatly outnumbered. The rogue was furious as she kicked a warrior and then turned to stab another one in the neck with her dagger. Jinyoung was supposed to have been with Kwangsoo at the moment not here trying to capture her again.

After taking out the last guy that had come her way, Kyurhee turned around to face the entrance of the cave. She needed to get her parents out of there but before she could even enter the cave, she felt a massive hand grip her waist and send her flying into the air. The evil grin of Jinyoung greeted Kyurhee as she landed in front of him.

Jinyoung then swung his sword to strike the rogue, but Kyurhee managed to roll out of the way in time. While crouching, Kyurhee swept her right leg to knock Jinyoung off his feet. He landed on his back and Kyurhee jumped over his while swinging one of her daggers. The dagger struck the right side of Jinyoung’s face, effectively cutting through his cheek, and Kyurhee rolled and got up to her feet.

“We’re outnumbered! We can’t win against them! Run!” Kyurhee yelled out to her friends after realizing that there was no way to save her parents anymore. She took off running towards the east side of the cave where the base ended and the path lead up the mountain through a wooded area.

The guys followed behind her and what now seemed like the entire population of the base was running after them. Jinyoung had summoned his steed and was chasing after them as well. The evil grin that he had given Kyurhee still marked his face even with the blood running down the right side of his face. This time Kyurhee would not escape.

He sped through everyone else running on foot and caused Jonghyun, Minhyuk, and Jongkook to fall over as he rode by them on the undead horse. Kyurhee started sprinting faster than before trying to avoid Jinyoung at all cost. Behind her, Kyurhee could hear the sound of her friends being tackled down to the ground or trying to fight off the enemy.

Once again they were becoming her scapegoats and she mentally apologized to them. Kyurhee reached for the hearthstone she had in one of the pouches around her belt and pulled it out. The stone began to glow brightly and right before Jinyoung’s hand could grab her; Kyurhee disappeared with a bright flash.

“Nooooooo!” Jinyoung yelled out in frustration. Once again Kyurhee had gotten away and this time by slipping right from his fingers.