Word had spread quickly throughout the Shadows’ temple about what Junseop and Hyori had done. For the priests in particular it had been odd to not see Hyori at the temple when they had arrived that morning. The priestess was usually the first one there every day, more so than High Priestess TaeIn, so Hyori not being there was a surprise to them.

The rogues had also seen and some overheard the chat Kyurhee, Seunghyun, and Sangchu had with Tablo so that led to the rumors spreading faster. By the time the three cars pulled up to the temple, everyone, even the representatives from around the world, were gathered to see if the princesses and the two warriors had found their allies.

Jaehee was the first to step out of Kyurhee’s car and the sight of the princess taking out the body of the dead human girl from the back seat of the car surprised everyone. The Shadows parted to two sides to allow their leader to walk towards the temple’s main doors. Jaehee’s eyes were shining a bright green, her horns made it seem like she towered over everyone else, and there was a grave look on her face.

Gyuri’s lifeless body was limp in Jaehee’s arms as she walked past everyone. The human girl’s head fell back while Jaehee’s arms supported Gyuri’s neck and legs; Gyuri’s arms swayed back and forth as Jaehee continued to walk towards the temple. Everyone lowered their heads as their leader walked past them. Behind Jaehee, Sangchu was carrying Junseop in his arms the same way Jaehee was carrying Gyuri. Seunghyun was supporting Hyori’s driver as he was able to walk and Kyurhee was supporting Hyori.

The priests that worked in the infirmary followed behind the injured in order to offer their aid and everyone else remained outside the temple after Jaehee and company entered the temple. Inside the infirmary, Jaehee laid Gyuri on one of the beds and gently adjusted the lifeless girl’s body. The three others who were injured sat on their own beds as the priests attended to them.

Hyemi was attending to Hyori when Jaehee called the young priestess over to her and another priest took over attending to Hyori. The young priestess bowed before Jaehee and looked over at Gyuri with a saddened look on her face. Hyemi had met the human girl a while back when she would come to the temple with Jaehee, and while she didn’t talk much to Gyuri, she felt no ill will towards the relationship Gyuri and Jaehee had.

“Hyemi, please clean her body for me. I’m going to go and get some of her clothes from home. No one is to touch her except you.” Jaehee told the priestess whose eyes went wide with shock.

“Princess…I’m not really qualified to…” Hyemi tried to explain but Jaehee shook her head and grabbed Hyemi’s arm and led her outside of the infirmary.

“You’ve trained under my mother not only to be a shadow priest, but also to provide the best healing care available here. You’ve been taking care of me when I was unconscious right?” Jaehee asked and Hyemi nodded.

“I trust you Hyemi and despite being one of the younger and newer priests, you’re more than qualified to do the funeral when it’s time. Please do what I’ve asked of you.” Hyemi nodded and bowed before Jaehee.

“Thank you princess. I will take care of her.” Hyemi felt a boost of confidence and Jaehee smiled at the young priestess.



Kyurhee had walked back to the outside of the temple after she had helped Hyori into the infirmary. After seeing everyone gathered around, the rogue told everyone to go back to their posts and continue with their daily training. Any questions they had would be answered at a later date. She heard some groaning from the Shadows gathered outside but they still did as Kyurhee asked and walked away.

The last few were walking away from the temple when Jaehee walked outside and stood next to her sister. Kyurhee turned to look at Jaehee and noticed the dark aura emanating from her sister’s body. Jaehee had spent some time crying extremely hard over Gyuri’s body until she finally stopped, picked up the girl’s body and walked towards Kyurhee’s car.

The rogue knew her sister was not okay. Jaehee had not reverted back to her “human” form since she had started mourning and this worried Kyurhee. She knew certain thoughts had to be running through the death knight’s mind and the aura also made Kyurhee feel uneasy.

“I’m going home to change and get new clothes for Gyuri.” Jaehee told Kyurhee and started walking towards her sister’s car.

“I’ll drive.” Kyurhee responded and followed after her sister.




“I have to admit that without the Shadows attacking, it’s been kind of boring around here.” Hwayoung said and then threw the dart in her hand towards the dart board hanging on the wall.

“After that attack I’m glad there hasn’t been any more.” Boram responded and threw her dart which unlike Hwayoung’s actually landed in the middle of the board.

“Don’t get me wrong Rambo, that attack was horrible, but I miss the whole ‘getting to kick some ’ aspect of it.” Hwayoung explained and was about to throw another dart when someone snatched it from her hand and threw it for her.

“If you want some ‘ kicking’ I’ll gladly do it for you.” Hyomin said and winked at her girlfriend. Hwayoung let out a snort and shoved Hyomin to the side. Hyomin smiled and shoved Hwayoung back.

The playful shoving got a little more aggressive between the two and Boram rolled her eyes and stepped back. She just hoped the two warriors wouldn’t knock anything over because cleaning up was not in her plans this afternoon.

“What’s going on?” Jiyeon asked as she and Eunjung walked up the three other Guardians. She and Eunjung had gone out for ice cream only to return to the two warriors wrestling each other on the ground.

“Hyomin is trying to ‘kick’ Hwayoung’s .” Boram replied.

“I win!” Hwayoung shouted out as she pinned Hyomin on the ground and raised her arms in victory.

“Aish…get off me!” Hyomin pushed her girlfriend off of her and stood up.

Giggling, Jiyeon lifted the gallon of ice cream in her hand towards the three women in front of her. “Jungie and I got ice cream. Let’s go eat.”

Hwayoung stood up and clapped excitedly as Jiyeon led the way towards the cafeteria so she could get the stuff needed to serve the ice cream. Boram followed behind the two girls, leaving Hyomin and Eunjung behind.

“Eunjung, I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while now. Have you spoken to God?” Hyomin asked.

Eunjung turned to look at the warrior and shook her head. “He’s been silent for a long time now. Perhaps it’s for the best.”

Hyomin narrowed her eyes as she turned to look at Jiyeon and Hwayoung serving themselves a giant portion of ice cream. “Before Jiyeon…I don’t think you would have ever said that.”

Hyomin didn’t allow Eunjung a chance to respond and walked towards the girls eating their serving of ice cream. Eunjung looked at Hyomin walk away and didn’t try to respond. Perhaps not, but I’m glad to have Jiyeon with me.




Qri narrowed her eyes as she stared at Soyeon who was praying in front of the altar where the Light shined before it benevolently. Ever since this morning, Soyeon had been acting weird and Qri didn’t understand why. The other Guardians didn’t seem to notice or just didn’t bother to, but the mage was too inquisitive to let it go past her. Soyeon was hiding something and Qri’s intentions were to find out what it was.

When Soyeon finished her prayer, she got up and turned around to head out of the temple but was surprised to see Qri standing near the entrance staring back at her. Soyeon maintained her composure and walked towards Qri.

“Is there something you need Qri?” Soyeon asked and the mage just looked back at her.

“You’ve been acting weird all day. I know you’re hiding something Soyeon and I intend to find out what it is.” Qri replied and her bluntness didn’t surprise Soyeon. The mage always liked to get straight to the point.

“I’m not surprised you’re the only one who noticed. After knowing you all these years, I learned you’re the one who can see through everyone’s…”

“Lies and bull…yeah, that’s me.” Qri finished Soyeon’s response. “Just spill the beans Soyeon.”

Soyeon chuckled and motioned for Qri to follow her back towards the altar of the temple. Whatever it was that was bothering Soyeon, Qri couldn’t wait to hear about it.



Bi’s purring made Kyurhee smile as she ran her hand down the cat’s body. The black cat had taken a liking to the rogue since she had returned home, and knowing that Bi was happy laying on her lap distracted Kyurhee long enough to not think about what her sister was going through. The ride back to their apartment had been a silent awkward one. Jaehee had gone into her room after walking into the apartment and the sound of the shower running had lasted for a few minutes.

By now, Kyurhee was positive that her sister was trying to decide what clothes she wanted to change Gyuri into. The sight of the dead human girl haunted her thoughts for a moment and she stopped petting Bi. The cat looked up at Kyurhee curiously and then jumped off the older woman’s lap when she heard Jaehee step into the living room.

Bi rubbed her body on Jaehee’s legs before Jaehee leaned down to pick up Bi with her free hand. She brought the black cat closer to her chest and Bi adjusted herself slightly to get comfortable. Jaehee looked over at Kyurhee who seemed to be staring into space.

“Kyurhee, I’m ready to head back to the temple.” Jaehee told her sister effectively snapping Kyurhee out of her thoughts.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah…I’m fine.” Kyurhee stood up from the couch and headed towards the door of the apartment. She opened the door and turned to look at Jaehee who had a bag in her left hand and Bi in her right arm.

“You’re taking Bi with us?” Kyurhee asked and raised an eyebrow.

“She was very fond of Gyuri. It wouldn’t be fair for Bi to not see her one last time.” Jaehee responded and headed out of the apartment. Kyurhee nodded and walked out closing and locking the door behind her. As Jaehee walked down the hallway towards the elevator, Kyurhee let out a sigh and followed along. Thoughts of what Jaehee was thinking kept running in the rogue’s mind.



The serene feeling from the dark energy encased Hyori completely. The priests had healed all her wounds and bruises once they had tended to her in the infirmary. Now she sat in a corner of the dark room basking in the dark energies. Across from Hyori, her driver sat leaning against the wall letting the dark energy invigorate him. Junseop was lying on the stone podium asleep. A priest had healed his head injury but he had still suffered a concussion, so sleeping while letting the dark energy finished healing his body was the best thing for Junseop at the moment.

Hyori’s thoughts went to the previous night and how good it had felt to finally end Gyuri’s life. And now that Jaehee had found them and seen her girlfriend dead, meant that Hyori was one step closer to getting what she wanted. She needed to contact Jinyoung soon and let him know that Jaehee was finally broken. They could complete their plan now and after that Jaehee would finally be hers.

Hyori stared at her driver and smirked. He had played his part well too. No one would find out the truth. In a short time, there would be no more temple, no more Guardians, and no one else to stand between her and Jaehee.



The drive back to the temple had been just like the drive to their apartment, silent. The two sisters walked alongside each other towards the temple and infirmary where Hyemi was most likely waiting on Jaehee to return with Gyuri’s clothing. Kyurhee petted Bi, who she was carrying in her arms, while she walked next to Jaehee. The younger woman had dressed in minimal clothing, her usual tank top and jeans, and the bag she was carrying seemed rather light.

Inside the infirmary, Hyemi was just finishing up cleaning Gyuri’s body and making the human girl look presentable. The priestess had removed Gyuri’s blood stained clothing and muddy shoes. She had also cleaned all the mud and blood on the girl’s skin and closed the entry wound by sewing it. All that remained on Gyuri were her underwear and bra.

“You did an excellent job Hyemi.” Jaehee told the priestess after walking into the room and seeing Gyuri.

The priestess, who was washing her hands, turned around from the sink and bowed. “Thank you princess.”

Jaehee set the bag she had in her hand next to Gyuri’s legs and turned to grab Bi from Kyurhee’s arms and placed the cat on the side of the bed Gyuri’s body was on. Bi sniffed the human girl and walked over to face and looked at her. Bi let out a whimper and then meowed before curling up next to Gyuri’s body.

“I know Bi…” Jaehee said and rubbed the cat’s head. “Hyemi, please dress Gyuri in the clothes that are in the bag. I’ll be back later.”

Hyemi bowed at Jaehee as she walked away from the infirmary. Kyurhee bowed her head at Hyemi and turned to follow her sister out of the infirmary. Jaehee’s steps were quick as she made it out of the temple and headed in the direction of the armory. Kyurhee followed a few steps behind her sister and the feeling that Jaehee was about to do something she might regret later lingered in the air.

The wooden doors of the armory creaked as Jaehee pulled both of them open and the cool wind outside swooped in and swirled around the room, whistling loudly as it zipped past them out the door. Down the corridor that divided both sides of the armory, in the back wall, stood a black heavy metal armor. The helmet was perhaps the most striking piece of the armor. It looked like an enraged skull with sharp teeth and two giant horns, similar in shape to Jaehee’s own and equally as imposing.

Next to it on the wall was a massive two handed axe. Its handle was long and sturdy with a ram like skull adorning the top of it. The eyes on the ram skull glowed a dim light green and to the left of the ram was the smaller side of the blade. Its edge looked sharp, but it was actually dull as that side was used as a blunt weapon. To the right of the ram skull was the main blade which was wide and long. It was as sharp as it was beautiful and the runes etched alongside its curve glowed the same way the ram skull’s eyes did.

Jaehee walked towards her armor and weapon and stopped before them. Kyurhee stood a few steps behind her sister and looked at the armor and weapon as well. Kyurhee put her hands in her pocket and let out of sigh.

“Jaehee…”

“Don’t you dare try to stop me Kyurhee. You saw what they did to her. Everyone…everyone deserves to pay.” Jaehee’s words were full of anger, frustration, and vengeance.

“So what? You’re just gonna run into the North and try to take a whole army by yourself?!” Kyurhee couldn’t believe what her sister was planning.

Jaehee let out a chuckle and turned around to look at Kyurhee with a dark look on her face. Her green eyes shined brightly but this time the shade of green was much darker.

“Those in the North will feel my wrath, but you forget there are others here. They were supposed to protect her. SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HER!” With Jaehee’s loud and dark voice a crack of lightning was heard outside and thunder rolled through the skies of the temple.

Jaehee looked incredibly imposing before her sister at the moment and the dark aura that surrounded her intensified. Kyurhee lowered her head and stepped to the side. She was not going to stop her sister even if she wanted to. No one could stop Jaehee right now.

The death knight turned to her armor and wasted no time in putting it on. The armor began to glow with a dim green light, but the shoulder pads and eyes glowed the brightest. The dark green of the shoulder pads and eyes, mixed with the dark aura surrounding Jaehee, caused Kyurhee to admit that her sister looked like a true death knight at the moment. Darkness, death and vengeance emitted from Jaehee and it only intensified when she grabbed her axe with her right hand.

Shadowmourne seemed to come alive as Jaehee held it firmly in her hand. The death knight made her way outside the armory and summoned her undead steed. Quickly, Jaehee mounted the undead horse and took off at an incredible speed towards her destination. Kyurhee watched her sister ride away and sighed. I hope you’re doing the right thing…


Jiyeon gently ran her fingers through Eunjung’s hair while the older girl rested her head on Jiyeon’s lap. The television in front of them served as background noise as the two girls enjoyed their moment together. Without having to worry about any attacks on the city, the two of them had been spending a lot of time together and enjoying quiet peaceful moments like this. Eunjung had begun to doze off with the nice feeling of Jiyeon’s fingers running through her hair.

While other Guardians lingered inside the main warehouse, some watching TV, others playing video games on the computers; most of the Guardians were outside playing a game of soccer and others cheering them on. Jiyeon turned to look up at the closed doors of the warehouse when she heard loud cheering outside.

“Jungie, I kind of want to go see how the game is going outside.”

Eunjung opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling before getting off Jiyeon’s lap and sitting up on the couch. “You can go out there Jiyeon. I think I’m just going to go sleep early tonight.”

“Aww, come on Jungie! We can go to sleep later.” Jiyeon whined and pouted.

Eunjung looked at Jiyeon with an amused glint in her eyes and nodded. “Fine. I’ll meet you outside. I’m going to go get something to drink.”

“Ok!” Jiyeon replied excitedly and headed out of the warehouse while Eunjung made her way towards the cafeteria.

Outside, Jiyeon was met with the sight of the Guardians who were watching the game clapping and whistling in excitement. Apparently, one of the teams had made a good attempt at the makeshift goal but had missed it. The two teams were made up of the hunters on one side and the warriors on the other and it was a mixture of male and female players. Among the players in the hunters’ side was Boram.

The tiny hunter seemed out of place with the much taller and some bulkier warriors and hunters but her size made her effective when dodging those trying to recover the ball from Boram’s feet. Sasha who had been running around the crowd came to a stop when she spotted Jiyeon and took a seat next to the girl. Jiyeon smiled down at Sasha and petted the wolf’s head.

Not long after Sasha had taken a seat next to Jiyeon, the wolf seemed to become uneasy. She was whimpering slightly and moving her head around sniffing the air. Jiyeon noticed how strangely Sasha was acting so she followed the wolf’s line of sight up to the sky. Dark clouds were suddenly covering the entire area of the warehouses and the thunder and lightning that roared above the Guardians seemed unnatural.

The dark and hostile aura that suddenly enveloped the area caused everyone to stop what they were doing and look towards the entrance of the compound. A dark figure mounted on a horse was approaching them quickly. The Guardians ran off to each side of the parking area, where the soccer game had taken place, and watched as only two warriors remained standing right in the middle of the path the dark figure was taking.

The warriors were big bulky guys and both had wasted no time in preparing to defend their allies. If this dark figure was going to try and come into the main warehouse, they would stop them. They crouched down slightly hoping to stop the horse in its tracks.

The death knight on the horse flipped the axe in her right hand to were the backside was facing the two warriors standing in her way. Before either of them could try and grab her mount, the death knight struck both warriors and sent them flying backwards and crashing into the doors of the main warehouse. Everyone inside the warehouse stopped what they were doing and turned to look to the doors when they heard the loud crash and cool wind rush inside.

They turned to see two warriors flying through the air and crash landing onto the concrete floors. A figure in black heavy metal armor came rushing through after them on top of an undead horse. The death knight stopped her mount next to where the warriors had landed and turned to face the open doors. Hyomin had drawn her swords and was running towards the death knight at full speed. She swung both swords at the horse but the figure at top of it pulled the reins and made the horse dodge the attack. With the horses’ rear now facing Hyomin, the horse lifted its hind legs and kicked Hyomin back before she could attack it again.

The horse's hooves struck Hyomin in the chest and sent her flying backwards, landing hard on her back. The death knight dismounted her horse, which disappeared after she did so, and stood her ground waiting for the warrior to attack her once again. Hyomin recovered quickly, despite the pain in her chest, and ran towards the death knight swing her swords at full speed.

The death knight dodge, parried and blocked the attacks Hyomin threw at her and when the last one clashed against her axe, the death knight blasted Hyomin’s face with a burst of cold air and ice. Disoriented from the attack, the warrior dropped her arms and the death knight connected her right fist against Hyomin’s jaw. Hyomin flew backwards and only avoided landing on the ground because Hwayoung caught her just in time.

All of the Guardians and Jiyeon who were outside ran inside the warehouse to get a better glimpse of the enemy who was attacking them. They were defensive but unsure if anyone else should attack the death knight standing before them. Whoever this death knight was, they were powerful and their armor was imposing. They had taken Hyomin out with ease.

The death knight eyed the Guardians through her helmet and then turned to face Eunjung who had stopped a few feet away from her; a glass of water was the only thing in the Guardian’s hands. The death knight pointed their axe at Eunjung and the Guardian turned to look at her sword which was leaning against the back of the couch she and Jiyeon had been on just earlier.

The death knight’s head turned towards the sword and then she looked back at Eunjung. The Guardian put the glass of water up to her lips and drank the entire content of the glass in one go. Eunjung threw the glass behind her and took off running towards her sword. The death knight ran after Eunjung and swung her axe down to try and knock the sword away, but Eunjung grabbed the sword in time causing the axe to hurl through the couch, splitting it in two.

The death knight pulled her axe back out of the couch and then swung the axe upwards to try and clip any part of Eunjung that she could, but the Guardian blocked the death knight’s attack. The two then went on, swing their weapons at each other and continuously parrying and dodging each other’s attacks. The battle was filled with powerful waves of light and dark energies bouncing off each other and out into the room. Hyomin was leaning against Hwayoung clutching her jaw where the death knight had punched her. She wanted to jump back into the fight but Hwayoung was holding her back.

Jiyeon looked on worriedly at Eunjung fighting against the death knight. She knew Eunjung was skilled and this battle really brought out everything Eunjung had. The Guardian was effective at blocking and attacking with the giant buster sword but she needed to be faster to be more effective against this death knight; who for the most part had kept her attacks strictly to just using her weapon and no magical attacks.

The Shadow had caught Eunjung’s sword blunt side and was pressing it down on the ground with her axe. Luckily for Eunjung, the axe was below the point of where she could split her sword into two blades. The Guardian flicked her wrist quickly, causing the handles of the sword to turn and separate the sword in two. Eunjung pulled back the shorter blade with her left hand and swung at the death knight.

The blade caught the piece of armor that protected the death knight’s bicep so the slash caused sparks to fly everywhere as the two metal items collided. The death knight pulled her axe away and smirked behind her helmet. This was getting better and better.

Eunjung switch shorter blade to her right hand and held the larger blade in her left. She launched herself at the death knight, this time swinging both swords faster than before and causing the death knight to mostly dodge and block the attacks. The attacks were pushing the death knight back, but the Shadow was not going to give up so easily. She turned her axe upside down and then brought it up to catch the shorter blade in Eunjung’s hand as the Guardian swung it downwards to try and cut the death knight’s shoulder.

The sword got caught in the curve of the axe’s blade and the Shadow used that to pull the sword away from Eunjung’s hand. The death knight pulled her axe back and the sword flew out of Eunjung’s hand and landed a few feet away from them. Eunjung seemed unaffected from losing one of her swords and simply swung the longer blade to the death knight’s neck. Luckily for the Shadow, that part of the sword was blunt but it still hurt when it struck her neck. The death knight lost her balance for a moment and took a few steps to the left.

While the longer blade still remained on the death knight’s shoulder and neck, Eunjung used both hands to pull the blade back towards her, knowing that the indent where the shorter blade connected was actually sharp. She was trying to at least cut the Shadow’s neck or decapitate them, whichever came first. Sensing the blade moving, the death knight leaned her body forward and her head completely down to avoid the attack.

The indent of Eunjung’s blade caught the helmet the death knight was wearing and it pulled it off their head causing it to fly towards Eunjung. The Guardian took a step back and the helmet landed inches from her clinking as it made contact with the concrete floor. Everyone gasped and looked at the helmet which now seemed less creepy since the eyes weren’t glowing green anymore.

The death knight stood straight up after losing her helmet and stared at Eunjung, eyes still glowing with intensity. The sound of shock was louder when everyone saw who it was and what they looked like. Jaehee stared at Eunjung and paid no mind the murmurs of the Guardians around them. Despite not being able to express it in her face, Eunjung was just as shocked as everyone else. Jaehee was the one who had attacked them, and even though her face was the same, she now was sporting pointy ears, massive horns that sprouted out from the sides of her head, and green eyes staring so intensely filled with anger.

The Guardians had always heard the urban legends of demons spotted by people throughout the years. Beings with pointy ears, glowing eyes and horns jutting out of their heads; they were called demons by the humans, but now Eunjung and the Guardians knew that those demons were actually Shadows.

“Jaehee…” Jiyeon finally breathed out as she recovered from her shock.

Jaehee looked down at the ground and held her axe even tighter in her right hand. “You were supposed to protect her…YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HER!!!!!”

Eunjung held her sword before her, waiting for Jaehee’s attack as the woman yelled and rushed towards her. No one understood why someone they had considered an ally up until now had attacked them. And what she had yelled out did not make since either. 

Eunjung withstood Jaehee’s attack as both of their weapons clashed but the strength Jaehee had at the moment was more than the leader of the Guardians could handle. Eunjung fell down to one knee and strained to push Jaehee’s axe back. The dark aura around Jaehee intensified even more and Eunjung lost her balance and fell back onto the ground and dropped her sword.

“Nooooo! Eunjung!” Jiyeon yelled out and ran towards Eunjung to stop Jaehee’s next attack that was already swinging down to strike the fallen Guardian.

A sudden bright light encased Eunjung and Jaehee’s attack bounced off the shield that was protecting the Guardian. Jaehee turned around to see Soyeon launching a holy attack towards her and Jaehee could not avoid the fire made out of holy energy that encased her body. The death knight screamed in pain and dropped to her knees briefly.

The light burned but her determination was greater, so just as quickly as the light burned her, the dark aura around Jaehee healed her. Jaehee stood up and ran towards Soyeon ready to strike the priestess. She was on a rampage now and would not allow any of the Guardians to stop her. Soyeon ducked out of the way of the axe swinging towards her, and before Jaehee could turn around to swing at the priestess again, Qri blinked before Jaehee and smirked. The mage froze the ground underneath Jaehee’s feet encasing the death knight’s legs in ice.

Qri blinked away and quickly launched two fireballs which struck Jaehee’s chest and the death knight groaned at the heat that struck her. More fireballs were headed her way, so Jaehee used the ice spell Qri had casted on her to her advantage. Jaehee raised the ice into a block that completely encased her body causing the fireballs to bounce off the ice block and dissipate on the ground.

The ice block covering Jaehee began to crack and the death knight extended her arms out to crack it open and away from her body. She ran towards the mage and swung her axe down to strike Qri, but the axe just went right through the mage and then she disappeared. Behind Jaehee, there were two Qri’s and both were preparing different attacks.

Jaehee ran towards the one closest to her and before the death knight could bring her axe down to strike this Qri, the mage shot three purple missiles at the death knight. Jaehee raised her arms to block the arcane missiles from hitting her face. She closed her eyes and withstood the attack the mage had thrown at her. When she opened her eyes, only one Qri remained and she stood right before Jaehee.

Suddenly a giant dragon head made out of fire appeared before Jaehee and blasted her with a giant powerful flame. The fire burned Jaehee slightly but the cold blood running through her body protected her from most of the flames. Still the flames cause Jaehee to become slightly disoriented and she stood in her spot shaking her head trying to adjust to her surroundings.

Qri blinked away from the death knight and nodded at Soyeon who had powered up her next attack with a massive amount of holy energy. The Guardians waited anxiously to see if the high priestess attack would finally stop the death knight. Jaehee, who had closed her eyes once again, opened them and before her stood Soyeon, holding back her attack.

The priestess extended her arms and her Holy Nova attack spread through the entire warehouse, healing those who got hurt, and burning with great intensity through Jaehee’s body. The Shadow dropped her axe and fell to her knees and hands.

Jaehee screamed in pain; pain that seemed to strike deep into her soul and when it subsided, she struggled to stand up but the bottom of Soyeon’s staff connected with her face and Jaehee fell face first onto the floor. The Guardians erupted into a cheer seeing Jaehee finally go down. Jaehee tried to push herself off the floor again, but Soyeon held her down with her staff.

“Stand down! Attacking us will not bring her back!” Soyeon yelled at the Shadow and finally saw the resolve in Jaehee disappear.

Everyone in the room looked at each other curiously, except for Qri who knew what Soyeon was talking about. Jaehee looked at the ground and then shut her eyes and took in a huge breath of air.

“How do you know?” She asked Soyeon while looking back at the ground.

Soyeon pulled her staff away and let out of a sigh. Jiyeon and Eunjung approached Soyeon and stood next to the priestess. “What are you talking about unni?”

Jaehee slowly pushed herself up to sit on her knees. The pain from Soyeon’s attack still ran through her body and her breathing was ragged. Jaehee tried to take in some more air but started coughing. Once she managed to get her breathing back to short breaths of air, she looked up at Eunjung and Jiyeon.

“Gyuri…she’s…” Jaehee’s voice was breaking just like her heart. “She’s dead.”

“What?” Eunjung and Jiyeon gasped out at the same time. Everyone around them gasped in shock as well.

Soyeon looked over at Qri and noticed the mage had moved to stand next to Boram and had lowered her head. Boram, along with Hwayoung, Hyomin, and the rest of the Guardians had surprised looks on their faces. 

“Jaehee…” Soyeon began to speak but Jaehee interrupted her.

“I asked you to take care of her Eunjung! To watch over her until I could come pick her up! You let her go! You let her go…” Jaehee was trying to yell at Eunjung but her sobbing made it harder, “You let her go and now she’s dead…”

Eunjung felt a knot in as Jaehee sobbed in front of her while looking at the ground and lightly punching it with her right fist. Eunjung felt like she wanted to cry too, but she couldn’t. Her restraints held that back but they couldn’t hold back the guilt and regret she felt at the moment. Jaehee was right, she had trusted Eunjung, and Eunjung had failed her friend.

She regretted her decision of letting Gyuri go so easily, but the reason the two priests had come to pick her up was a good one. Eunjung had been worried about Jaehee as well. The Guardian walked over to Jaehee, dropped to her knees and bowed down lowering her head to the ground.

“I’m so sorry Jaehee. I broke my promise and in turn, allowed Gyuri to leave to her demise. I know that nothing I do now will make it better or find your forgiveness.” Eunjung kept her head down as she apologized to the Shadow before her.

Jaehee looked up at Eunjung but before either of them could say something, Soyeon spoke up. “We all felt that Gyuri going to see you was the right choice especially since you had not woken up. I know now it was the wrong decision. I’m pretty sure we all realize this now…”

Jaehee sat up on her knees and looked up at Soyeon. “How did you know before I even mentioned it?”

“Even though I felt the reason for her leaving was valid, something about the situation made me uneasy. I couldn’t even sleep right thinking that something was amiss. I left early in the morning, before dawn, and headed towards your temple. Somewhere along the drive, I sensed a weak Shadow aura and it led me to the location of their bodies.” Soyeon paused and everyone now was curious as to what the priestess had experienced.

“You found them?” Jaehee asked and Soyeon nodded.

“Yes, but when I arrived whoever had attacked them were long gone. I couldn’t do anything for the Shadows but when I saw Gyuri’s body I ran up to her and began to cast one of my most powerful healing spells. Resurrection was supposed to revive her.”

“But it didn’t?” Jaehee stood up and placed her hands on Soyeon’s shoulders and lightly shook the priestess. “Why didn’t it revive her?!”

“Did you check her eyes when you saw her body?” Soyeon asked and Jaehee shook her head. She had been too shocked and broken to do anything but mourn.

“The ones who killed her…they…” Soyeon closed her eyes and shook her head at the horrific thought, “they ripped her soul out of her body right after she died.”

Jaehee’s jaw dropped and once again she fell to her knees, completely in disbelief.