The air crackled while Qri materialized outside of the main warehouse. Teleportation was the fastest way of transportation for the mage. She was able to go anywhere as long as she could picture the place. She balled up her fists and stomped her foot on the hard concrete while screaming out in anger. She was furious about how everything went down after meeting Jiyeon.

She was determined to convince the girl that Eunjung was her girlfriend just in case the young girl decided to get fresh with Eunjung but things had turned out much different. To humble herself after just being touched by the Chosen One was the most ridiculous and embarrassing thing that could have happened to Qri. I hate her! I hate her! I hate her!

Even in her state of anger, Qri could hear the steps and heavy breathing of Sasha running towards her direction. She wasted no time and launched a fireball towards the wolf. A second one followed the first and the wolf squealed as she barely managed to dodge both attacks. Boram who was running behind the wolf whistled at her pet and called her back.

Sasha’s head hung low as she reached her master and sat next to the hunter. Boram petted the wolf’s head and shouted at Qri. “What the heck is your problem Qri?! Sasha just wanted to greet you!”

“I’ve told you before to keep that stupid wolf away from me!” Qri yelled back.

“Sasha is not stupid! She just likes to be friendly; I don’t understand why you don’t get that.” Boram defended her pet. She really did not appreciate the insults that Qri was throwing at Sasha.

“Look, if you don’t tell her to stay away from me, I’ll teach her myself!” This whole situation had increased the mage’s anger.

“Don’t you dare try anything against her.” Boram replied. As much as she found Qri attractive, the mage’s attitude could be a total turn off at times.

“Duel me Boram. Duel me so I can show you how!” Qri wasted no time and launched a couple of fireballs at the hunter and her pet. Boram and Sasha’s reflexes were quick and the two of them dodged the attacks with ease.

Boram didn’t want to hurt Qri, but it seemed like she had no choice but to defend herself and her pet. “Sasha, attack!”

The wolf understood exactly what was happening. She liked Qri, but the mage was currently a threat and it was her duty to protect Boram and distract Qri to allow the hunter to unleash her attacks. Sasha growled and launched herself towards the mage at an incredible speed.

This wasn’t Qri’s first rodeo with fighting a hunter and their pets. She cast Frost Nova to freeze the wolf on the spot and blinked away from her spot. Boram used the distraction caused by her pet to prepare a concussion shot to slow down the mage. She fired it once Qri reappeared but the arrow simply bounced off the ice barrier shield the mage had cast around her body.

Using the protection of her shield, Qri cast her next spells without interruption. She channeled her arcane missiles towards Boram who tried her best to dodge but was hit by a couple of missiles. The ice around Sasha’s feet melted quickly under the heat of the sun. Breaking free of the ice, she ran towards the mage once more.

Before she even reached Qri, the mage had cast polymorph to turn the wolf into a sheep. In her new form, Sasha just wondered around the area. The distraction allowed Boram to focus on her attacks once again.

In rapid succession, she fired multiple shots at Qri. Boram’s expertise with her bow and arrow allowed her to fire at an incredible rate. Qri used blink to avoid the first set of shots, and barely managed to dodge the next two sets. She blinked away from the fourth set, but Boram had calculated where the mage would reappear. This time, she fired only one shot, a trick shot, that hit Qri right on her left shoulder.

Qri shouted out in pain while grabbing the arrow that had struck her. She tried to cast fire blast to incinerate the hunter, but her casting was rendered ineffective. Boram smirked knowing that she had a few seconds to finish off Qri since the mage was silenced by her silencing shot. She could not cast any spells at the moment.

The sound of their duel had alerted everyone around the warehouses and everyone had made their way outside to see the fight. Soyeon and Hyomin couldn’t believe this was happening. Boram and Qri were supposed to be Guardians everyone else should look up to but instead they were dueling like two trainees trying to prove themselves.

“Yeah! Whooo!” Hwayoung cheered and pumped her fist. She loved watching duels and one between two of the Elite Six was certain to be filled with powerful attacks and great skill. The other Guardians around her followed suit and began cheering as well.

“We have to stop them.” Soyeon said as she stepped forward to stop the two but Hyomin’s arm held her back.

“No, let them finish it.” Hyomin ordered. Soyeon nodded her head and stood her ground.

Qri snapped the arrow near the entrance wound and sneered at Boram. She could already feel her ability to cast returning; silencing shot was effective but only for a few seconds. Boram shot off another arrow towards Qri, but the mage managed to move out of its way.

The arrow struck the ground near Qri and exploded upon contact causing the mage to lose her balance. As she fell, Qri managed to cast out fire blast and suddenly Boram’s chest caught on fire. Shocked, Boram dropped her bow and started to pat down her chest to turn off the flames before they burned through her clothing.

The distraction of the fire blast gave Qri a chance to counter the success Boram had. She cast her ice barrier shield once more and summoned a water elemental to keep Sasha distracted. The wolf had turned back into her real form and was making her way towards the mage when the water elemental attacked her.

With the wolf distracted once more, Qri turned her attention to the hunter and used her scorch ability to hurt Boram. Patches of charred skin appeared on the hunter’s body causing her to fall to her knees in pain. Boram needed to get a hold of her bow once more but with Qri’s shield up, her arrows would simply bounce back. Boram withdrew a dagger and started running towards the mage.

In one of the bags on her belt, Boram took out three different traps and threw them in different directions. She knew once she swung at Qri that the mage would blink away from her to avoid her attacks. Like predicted Qri blinked away from Boram and reappeared behind her. Qri switched her fireballs for frost bolts to slow down the hunter.

Boram had withdrawn another dagger and was successfully dodging Qri’s frost bolts. It wouldn’t be long before Qri would step on a trap with all the blinking and dodging she was doing; Boram just hoped it would be the snake trap or the immolation trap that the mage would step on. Either one of these traps would eat away at the shield, weakening it and giving the hunter a chance to injure the mage once more.

From the corner of her eye, Boram could see that Sasha was having trouble trying to defeat the water elemental Qri had summoned. The wolf’s bites and slashes simply cut through the body of the elemental without really affecting it. Since it was made out of water, the wolf really couldn’t kill it and the frost bolts that the elemental fired at the wolf were causing more damage.

Boram stopped her attacks at Qri and placed her daggers back in their holders. She grabbed for an arrow and prepared it while running towards her bow. Qri noticed that Boram was now intending to help her pet and she began to laugh. Boram reached her bow, picked it up, and fired a freezing arrow at the elemental.

It struck the water elemental on its left arm and froze it upon contact. Sasha growled and used both front paws to strike the frozen elemental shattering into pieces. The crowd cheered at the wolf and Qri stepped forward to fire a frostfire bolt at the wolf. Her foot landed on top of one of Boram’s traps and hundreds of snakes suddenly appeared biting at the ice shield around the mage.

Qri shrieked at the sight of the snakes and blinked away from them but when she reappeared the snakes were still there. Slowly but surely, the snakes ate away at the shield and then disappeared.

“Sasha, command kill!” Boram shouted at the wolf that dashed towards the mage and tackled her to the ground. Another cheer erupted from the crowd.

The wolf growled at Qri and tried to bite her but the invisible molten armor around Qri’s body burned the wolf’s mouth. Qri then used arcane explosion to push Sasha off of her. She stood up and used cone of cold to blow the wolf away with the cold wind of the attack. Sasha was pushed back a few feet but she wasn’t giving up on attacking Qri. She launched herself once more towards the mage.

As she neared the mage once more, a giant dragon head made out of fire appeared in front of the wolf. The head opened its mouth and blew fire at the wolf. The shock of such attack disoriented the wolf and the Guardians watching the duel looked at the dragon’s head in awe. The attack was a thing of beauty but it was also deadly.

A grin marked Qri’s face as she held the dragon’s head in front of her. Boram had used the distraction to grab as many arrows as she could and aim them towards the sky. She fired one round after the other creating a volley of arrows that flew up into the sky and then descended upon the mage. Qri didn’t even get a chance to blink away before she was struck by several arrows.

The crowd looked on in shock as the arrows pierced the mage’s skin and Qri doubled over in pain. She wasn’t going to let Boram defeat her, so she began to cast another attack. In front of her, Boram had her last arrow already aimed at the mage. Its tip was bright red marking it as a kill shot; the deadliest one she had.

She fired it at the mage before Qri could finish casting. The arrow flew so close to Qri’s face that it cut her cheek before landing on the ground near some of the Guardians watching the duel. The shock of the kill shot flying towards her, and the pain caused by all the other arrows that struck her, caused Qri to faint. Boram had purposely changed the trajectory of her last shot. She didn’t want to kill the mage.

“Boram wins!” Hwayoung shouted as she cheered and ran towards the hunter to congratulate her. The crowd cheered as well and Hyomin and Soyeon ran towards Qri.

“Hyomin help me remove the arrows from her body. The shield I’ve placed on her should absorb the pain they’re causing.” Soyeon told Hyomin as she broke one of the arrows and prepared to pull out the sharp end.

Boram looked at Qri with worry. Her intention had never been to hurt the mage like she had but Qri had gone on a rampage. The Dragon’s Breath attack she had used on Sasha was strong enough to kill the wolf. She took a step forward to walk towards Qri, but she lost her balance and began to fall. Luckily for her, Hwayoung and one of the priests caught her before she hit the ground.

“Whoa, the duel took a toll on you too. Take it easy unni.” Hwayoung told Boram while holding her up. Exhaustion was taking over the hunter’s body and the pain of her scorched skin was increasing.

“Her fire spells have burned a lot of your body. Let me heal you. Hwayoung, please help her sit.” Hwayoung nodded at the male priest who was helping her hold Boram up. They sat the hunter down and he cast a greater healing spell on Boram. The spell instantly healed every part of her body that had been burned by Qri.

One of the priestess came up to them with Sasha behind her. The young priestess had healed the wolf. Sasha took a seat next to Boram and her face. Boram giggled at the ticklish sensation and looked up at the priest who had healed her. “Thank you. Hwayoung, please make sure Qri is okay.”

“With Soyeon healing her, I’m sure she’ll be fine in no time. Let’s get you inside so you can rest.” Hwayoung helped the shorter girl up and began leading her inside. Boram turned to look in the direction of Qri and smiled when Soyeon gave her a reassuring nod.





Jiyeon laughed loudly while watching Jaehee and Jieun chopstick fight over the last piece of bulgogi on the grill. Jieun thought she had Jaehee beat until the bottom part of her chop stick broke off and Jaehee managed to snag the last piece. Jiyeon laughed harder when Jieun slammed the remains of her chop sticks on the table and pouted.

Jaehee laughed as well and then moved the piece of meat close to Jieun’s mouth. “You can have it. Fighting over it with you was fun.”

Jieun narrowed her eyes at Jaehee in annoyance but then allowed the taller girl to feed the piece of meat to her. Jiyeon clapped her hands together and grinned.

“So cute! Right Eunjung?” She nudged the older girl and Eunjung just nodded. She had been quiet for most of the lunch and had let Jiyeon and Jieun talk to Jaehee. She was studying the Shadow to see if there were any hidden intentions but Jaehee showed none.

“Shut up!” Jieun whined and continued chewing her food.

Jiyeon laughed once again and turned her attention to Jaehee who was now making quick work of the kimchi stew. “Jaehee, I’ve been meaning to ask what happened to you. That’s a weird spot for a band aid.”

“Oh this,” Jaehee touched the band aid and smiled, “Cat scratch. My friend Jiyong’s cat can be a very vicious kitty at times.” It was a lie, but none of them needed to know she had spent the morning fighting against revived armed skeletons.

She turned her attention to Eunjung who had been quiet this whole time. She had not even laughed at the chopstick fight. “So Eunjung, did you start school today? I saw you yesterday outside the Admission’s Office when I was filling out my forms.”

Eunjung’s eyes widened. She noticed me? She probably knows I was watching her. “Yeah, first day today. Did you start today as well? You said you weren’t sure.”

“Nope. I start tomorrow; hopefully we will all have classes together.” Jaehee smiled and pushed her chair back. “I’m gonna go take care of this bill or do you guys want anything else?”

The three girls shook their heads. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Jieun eyed Jaehee as she walked over to the main counter to pay for their lunch. Next to the counter was the display of different baked desserts Jieun had noticed when they first walked in and her mind quickly went to the slice of chocolate cake she wanted.

“Wait! I remember I wanted dessert!” Jieun stood up and ran off towards Jaehee. Jiyeon laughed at her friend and turn around to watch Jieun point at the cake and shake Jaehee’s arm like she was a little kid begging for the sweet treat.

“Isn’t that adorable? I think Jieun and Jaehee would make a cute couple. Don’t you?” Jiyeon asked Eunjung and nudged the older girl with her elbow. Eunjung didn’t respond and just continued eating the last bit of food left on her plate.

Jiyeon frowned and nudged Eunjung again. “Is something wrong? You’ve been really quite all this time. Do you not like Jaehee?”

Eunjung placed her chopsticks next to her plate and turned to look at Jiyeon. “I don’t trust her.”

“Why?’ Jiyeon asked and turned to look at Jaehee and Jieun who were talking to the ajumma behind the counter.

Eunjung eyed them from the corner of her eye and looked at Jiyeon. “She’s one of them and I can’t figure out her intentions. I’ve never known them to be this friendly towards anyone. I’m also sure she knows about you and me.”

Jiyeon was confused by Eunjung’s words. She shook her head, “What are you talking about? What do you mean ‘she’s one of them’?”

Eunjung leaned closer to Jiyeon and whispered, “The people that attacked you the other night. They were Shadows. She’s one of them. Jaehee is a Shadow and a very powerful one.”

Jiyeon frowned and mouthed ‘what’ at Eunjung’s words. Shadows? What or who is a Shadow? Eunjung certainly had a lot of explaining to do but it would have to wait because before she was able to ask anything else, Jaehee and Jieun approached the table once again.

“This cake is awesome! I got you a slice too Ji.” Jieun placed the plastic container in front of Jiyeon and grinned with a mouthful of cake.

“Thanks Jieun. Thank you as well Jaehee for lunch.” Jiyeon smiled and bowed at the taller girl who smiled back.

“You’re welcome. Are you guys ready to go? I wouldn’t want to be at fault for you guys being late to class.” Jaehee chuckled.

Jiyeon and Eunjung nodded and grabbed their stuff to head out of the restaurant. Once outside, Jieun once again called shot gun on the front seat because she wanted to ride in style. Jiyeon shook her head at her friend and Jaehee laughed in amusement. Jieun reminded her a bit of Jiyong so she understood how the friendship between the two girls worked.

The ride back to the university wasn’t long since the restaurant was only a few blocks away. Once they exited the car, Jieun wasted no time in hugging Jaehee and thanking her once more for lunch. The taller girl was surprised on how much the shorter girl’s attitude had changed since the morning when she wanted nothing more than to rip Jaehee’s head off.

“You don’t have to keep thanking me Jieun. I was just repaying my debt but I’m glad you enjoyed lunch.” Jaehee said while still in Jieun’s embrace. Jiyeon face palmed and Jaehee winked at her.

“Jieun we have class like in five minutes. Let’s go.” Jiyeon pulled Jieun away and waved at Jaehee. “It was nice meeting you and hanging out with you. Thanks again.”

“It was my pleasure. I’ll be seeing you guys around.” Jaehee waved at the three girls who waved back at her. She kept her gaze on Eunjung while the girls walked back inside the school. Who are you really Eunjung? There has to be more to you than an empty shell.





The rest of the day went by quickly and after school Jiyeon found herself once again on Eunjung’s motorcycle. She had called her mother to tell her that she was going to study at Jieun’s house so that her mother wouldn’t worry about her when it got too late. After lunch, she had been dying to know more about what Eunjung had told her. The older girl had promised to tell her everything that she wanted to know so this ride they were currently taking was building her anticipation.

A little bit of worry grew inside Jiyeon when she noticed that they were leaving the city limits and heading towards a more rural area. Despite the events that happened when they first met, she had quickly grown to trust the older girl. But Eunjung’s kindness and protectiveness could just be a cover up for her true intentions. Jiyeon was feeling a little doubtful now. What if she’s been planning to kidnap me all this time to kill me?

Jiyeon furiously shook her head. No, she could not think like that. Eunjung was a good person and would never hurt her. Just being around her made Jiyeon feel safe and she knew she herself affected Eunjung in some kind of way too. She held on to Eunjung a little tighter. Eunjung moved one of her hands to place it on top of Jiyeon’s to reassure her of whatever might have been running through the young girl’s mind.

Jiyeon sighed in relief feeling Eunjung’s hand on hers. By this time, an old abandoned factory and various warehouses appeared in the two girls’ line of view. Eunjung veered her motorcycle off the main road and towards the warehouses. Once they neared the warehouses, Jiyeon saw bits of life around them. She spotted several people going about their business and some waved at Eunjung as she rode past them.

The biggest of the warehouses was in the middle of the other ones and off to the right of it there were a few vehicles parked. Jiyeon was surprised to see Hyomin’s car parked along side the other cars. Eunjung parked her motorcycle next to Hyomin’s car and jumped off the motorcycle after turning it off.

“We’re here.” Eunjung said while helping Jiyeon get off. Jiyeon took off her helmet and looked around to take the view of everything in. Her eyes finally landed on Eunjung and noticed that the clothes the girl had been wearing had disappeared and her body was covered by the leather straps.

“So this is here but what exactly is this place? And what happened to your clothes…” Jiyeon stopped talking when she noticed Eunjung dislodge part of a giant sword from one side of her motorcycle.

She was even more shocked when Eunjung dislodge the second part of the sword, put them together, and placed the giant sword on her back like it weighed nothing. “Wha-Wha-What the…”

“Come on, let’s go inside.” Eunjung took a hold of Jiyeon’s hand to lead her inside.





Boram had been sitting next to Qri’s bed for a little while. She had come to apologize to the mage for hurting her in the duel, even though Qri had been the one to start it and both knew they would get hurt having one, but the mage was asleep when she arrived. Soyeon had healed her of every injury but had suggested Qri get some much needed rest.

Boram rubbed the younger girl’s hand with her thumb and placed her head down on the mattress to feel even closer to Qri. Her moment was cut off by the sound of Hwayoung opening the door and calling out to Boram. “Unni, hurry, Eunjung has brought the Chosen One.”

Boram quickly lifted her head and turned to look at Hwayoung close the door. “I’ll be back Qri.” She placed a kiss on Qri’s forehead and headed out the door and towards the entrance of the main warehouse. A crowd had already gathered around the middle of the warehouse when Boram got to the bottom floor. Using her small frame, she squeezed through the crowd and made it to the front.

Eunjung and the Chosen One were surrounded on all sides by the Guardians who looked on at Jiyeon with awe and hope. Some of them were still making their way inside to catch a glimpse of the girl and whispers could be heard through the crowd. Jiyeon gripped Eunjung’s right arm tightly while looking at everyone around her. She felt uncomfortable from all the gazes staring her down. The only person she recognized was Hyomin who was standing across from them.

“Jiyeon…” Eunjung looked at Jiyeon and placed a reassuring hand on top of Jiyeon’s. “Please don’t be afraid. They mean no harm.”

Jiyeon gulped and looked around once more, still hiding behind Eunjung a bit, until her eyes landed on a girl much shorter than her. The girl had an elegance about her that Jiyeon had not really seen one someone. The girl gave Jiyeon a slight smile and stepped closer to the two of them.

“Chosen One, you honor us with your presence. I, High Priestess Soyeon, am at your service.” Soyeon bowed as she introduced herself then kneeled on one knee before Jiyeon. The rest of the Guardians followed by kneeling before Jiyeon as well, even Eunjung was kneeling.

Jiyeon gasped and covered . Soyeon, she remembered that name from earlier; she was the one who had gotten the keychain for Eunjung. And Eunjung, Eunjung was kneeling too. This was too much for Jiyeon. She did not understand why they knelt before her like if she was their Queen. She started feeling a little light headed and the last thing she saw before fainting was the bright light from the lights above her.