oOo

There was a moment of unsteady silence as everything came crashing down. A metallic clank of metal against rock, and the relieved whisper of a breeze rustling through leaves.

Wonsik exhaled shakily, his breath cutting through the silence like a knife.

Finally.

Finally.

Everything was over. Thalomir was gone. Sanghyuk was gone. Hongbin was gone.

Who knew who else was left to die in the wake of the rampage?

Now as Wonsik’s sense of purpose slowly drained out of him, he felt empty. There was no one for him to return to.

Something beat at his chest, a winged monster that clawed for freedom. It ached, but not in a bad way. The pain was more like a gentle warmth; a little painful, yes, but comforting at the same time. Pain reminded him that he was human, alive, and he embraced it.

Nearby, Hakyeon swayed on his feet, looking like he could be blown away by the softest of winds. He looked pained.

Good.

Remind him that he was human too.

But no.

That was a different kind of pain. That was a kind of pain that hurt more than it helped, ripping even the strongest of spirits into pieces.

That was… not good.

Not good at all.

Hakyeon stared bitterly down at his own two hands, clenching an unclenching them in some sort of silent contemplation.

Almost immediately Taekwoon picked up on his mood and drew closer, wrapping his arms around the smaller mage.

“Hakyeon, are you okay? Earlier… you died.”

Wonsik’s ear perked up at this, a sinking feeling that he had come to hate settling in his gut. This was very not good, very very not good. Not good at all.

Taekwoon continued, too focused on Hakyeon to sense Wonsik’s burgeoning distress. “You just collapsed. One minute you were standing, the next you were down… I checked your pulse. You were dead.”

Taekwoon tensed, eyes lost to the past and Hakyeon his only anchor.

“I was so angry. I was ready to rip the world in two as revenge for letting you die… and then you started spitting up water, like you had drowned. And then… then you were like something I’ve never seen before.” Serious golden eyes turned to meet newly silver ones. “Hakyeon. What happened?”

Hakyeon sighed, allowing himself to tremble in Taekwoon’s hold.

“I drowned and I died.”

Taekwoon visibly recoiled in surprise, eyes blown wide in shock. Wonsik was fairly certain that he was the same.

“You – impossible. How?”

“He made a deal.”

Spinning around, all three of them came face-to-face with a young woman with stormy eyes and silver-flecked skin. Her navy hair whipped around violently, nearly smacking the face of a bronzed woman with a lovely face and silver-spun hair. Next to her stood a young woman paler than the moon itself, her eyes and hair darker than the darkest shadows.

Hakyeon inclined his head respectfully. “Wendy, Yeri, Seulgi. And Irene.”

The fourth woman stood further out from the rest, a sad look etched across her face. Her hair fell in loose, shimmering waves, the colour rippling back and forth through every imaginable shade. Unlike the others, it was impossible to tell her age, nor was it possible to tell the colour of her eyes or skin.

Irene. The witch of the world.

Irene smiled at them, tinged with sadness. Everything around them seemed to dim a little with her sorrow. “Hello, Hakyeon,” she said softly.

“What deal?” Taekwoon whispered. “What deal?”

“The deal he made with Lady Druid;” Irene said, “it was a simple one. She saved you all – each with its own smaller price, of course, and in exchange, he would become hers once the Root of the World was safe.”

She nodded to Jaehwan, who gave her a cheery wave in return despite his serious expression. “Thalomir is gone and Sanghyuk has been allowed to move on. The king is dead; those that are manipulated so intimately do not survive the death of their puppeteers.”

The unspoken words raged.

Dongwoo.

Wonsik felt sick. Unknowingly, he had killed Taekwoon’s father. Unknowingly, he had killed his father.

His stomach heaved.

“In return,” Irene continued, her voice as smooth as butter, “Illipia – or rather, Jaehwan – will stay here and purify the infection. Wonsik must bear the weight of Hongbin’s death forevermore