“I want to check something out,” Baekhyun says out of nowhere. Jongdae and him are in the comfort of their dorm, about to go to bed.

“I’m not going to try to sneak into the east wing again,” Jongdae replies with a sigh.

“We won’t,” Baekhyun assures, tossing Jongdae his coat. “I was thinking… there is a demonic mark in both wings, right?”

“We don’t know for sure.”

“You saw how the headmistress acted. I think it’s safe to say that I’m right about that.”

Jongdae shrugs, “It’s questionable, but okay. Go on.”

“Well, to execute a mark with demonic intentions it should be in the shape of the devil’s star. Don’t you think there would be more than two?”

Jongdae’s lips pull into a fine line, fear engulfing him whole. “You think someone wants to curse our school?”

“Probably something worse…” Baekhyun then shuts his mouth, his gaze becoming distant. “We’re half-bloods. Lots of people want us gone. I wouldn’t be surprised if the mark would be something like death inducement.”

Jongdae frowns at that. “The hate for us is bad… but no one would be willing to go as far as to infiltrate a school, act like either an employee or a student, and then put demonic marks all over the place. Don’t you think it’s a bit far-fetched?”

“People are capable of awful things. You’ve experienced it yourself, Jongdae.” The somber tone to Baekhyun’s words causes Jongdae to go quiet, his gaze falling to the wooden floor.

Baekhyun’s outer appearance has given him many years of suffering. While normally a half-blood is not so easily recognizable, one look at Baekhyun’s intensely colored eyes would tell you what he is.  Before entering Jeolban, Baekhyun was bullied for years on end. School transfers didn’t help and the teachers didn’t care. He rarely talks about it, claiming that’s a Baekhyun he wants to forget about. Jongdae doesn’t blame him. He doesn’t like to remember the night of the assault either.

“I need you for this,” Baekhyun then whispers. “You’re the only one who can awaken the mark. It didn’t glow before you came in contact with it.”

Jongdae has one small moment of hesitance before he nods. “Alright, let’s go.”

After Jongdae puts on his scarf, gloves and coat, and Baekhyun practically nothing, they move out into the cold. Baekhyun struts with determination, the leaves crunching under the soles of his shoes.

“Where are we going to look first?”

“Up north. The devil’s star has five ends and if two of them are in the east and west wing, the top is bound to be in the north.”

“That makes sense,” Jongdae commentates.

The meters-tall metal doors making for the school’s entrance are at the front of the north wing. Jongdae gazes at them with awe. He rarely moves through or past them, as the dormitories as well as the pathway to the town are behind the school. The doors stand out – the hardness of the metal contrasts against the soft-colored bricks of the castle. It’s one hell of a secure door, though. Jongdae thinks this could be the only security measure the school ever spent money on.

Baekhyun suddenly stills in his steps, putting his hands on his hips. Also halting his walk, Jongdae watches as Baekhyun gazes around him.

“Where do you think it could be? I doubt it’s somewhere hidden between the leaves.”

Jongdae shrugs, “No idea.”

“Can’t you sense it with your demonic powers or something?”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Jongdae explains with an unamused tone. “First of all, I don’t use my powers so I wouldn’t know how. Second, the last time we found the mark it was you and Kyungsoo who noticed it, not me.”

“Fair enough,” Baekhyun replies. “But that doesn’t help us.”

“Hmm… if both marks were in the tower… maybe this one is hidden in— oh, I know!” Baekhyun jumps up at Jongdae’s sudden moment of enlightenment, startled by the raise in volume. “The gardener’s shack! It’s right by the gate!”

A grin stretches Baekhyun’s lips. “You’re a genius! We don’t need Kyungsoo anymore!”

Jongdae lets out a laugh at that before strutting in the right direction, Baekhyun following right behind. Though the temperature is below freezing point, Jongdae fails to feel it, too consumed by determination. The shack stands a few feet away from the gates. It is right by an oak, shielded by its leaves in the summer. Baekhyun approaches first, fumbling with the chain around the handle.

“Locked,” he mumbles with a sigh.

“I’ll take care of it,” Jongdae replies.

A questioning look is sent his way before a red light emits from his body, blinding Baekhyun’s line of sight. After a shortening of limbs and lots of hair growth, a small goat stands on a pile of Jongdae’s clothing. Baekhyun tries to hide his laughter, but he doesn’t do so well. Jongdae angles his horns towards his friend threateningly.

Knowing he’s been found out, Baekhyun lets full-blown laughter escape, throwing his head back dramatically. Jongdae blows hot air out of his nose to get Baekhyun’s attention back.

“Oh, come on! It’s funny, Jongdae! I’ll never get over it, you know that.”

If Jongdae could roll his eyes in this form, he would. Focusing back on the task at hand, Jongdae aims his horns at the wooden shack. He builds up his takeoff by taking a few steps back, then charging at the shack full-force. His horns crash through the weak wood no problem, the planks crashing into and around the shack. Jongdae crawls out of the debris, unscathed – though with some splinters stuck in his coat. Baekhyun skips over to him with a grin, ruffling the dust out of his hair.

Jongdae morphs back, immediately reaching for his clothing. He shivers as he pulls up his pants, the cold already seeping into his skin. Great, he’s going to get a cold for sure.

“Look! It’s already glowing!” Baekhyun points out happily while Jongdae is still dressing himself. After zipping up his coat, Jongdae follows Baekhyun’s eyes, seeing the same dark red glow illuminating the debris.

Their expressions turn serious as they approach the mark, gently removing the broken planks. The shack is completely empty inside apart from the mark covering the ground. No gardening equipment of any sort – the hooks on the wall hang empty, devoid of tools.

“The necromancer knew no one would look here,” Jongdae observes, his shocked look mirroring Baekhyun’s. “They have to be really familiar with the grounds to know something like this.”

Baekhyun turns somber, his gaze holding distance again. Jongdae feels the realization of this situation creeping up on him again. Finding these marks is not a good thing at all. Jongdae looks back on their earlier cheerfulness and determination, and a bitter taste is left in his mouth. It’s no longer a mystery – someone really has bad intentions for the school and its people.

The silence between them is heavy. The discrimination half-bloods face has never been taken this far.

Jongdae takes a deep breath. “Let’s just take this to the teachers.”

Without another word, the two of them trudge into the school, heading for the office. As soon as Mr. Yang lays an eye on the two, he heaves a deep sigh.

“What is it now?” he grumbles, returning his eyes to the screen. “You don’t even have classes.”

“We need to talk to the headmistress.”

“I’m afraid Mrs. Kang doesn’t want to be disturbed,” Mr. Yang replies robotically.

“It’s important,” Jongdae insists, tone serious.

Mr. Yang rubs his eyes tiredly before leaning back in his chair. “Listen, I’m halfway through a late shift and I really don’t feel like—”

“It’s about those demonic marks,” Baekhyun chimes in, his voice stern.

Mr. Yang finally looks up from the bright monitor, a frown contorting his eyebrows. “Fine,” he nearly spits. “Go on.”

Jongdae wastes no times and barges into the headmistress’ office. The woman is palming a pencil nervously as her eyes gaze into the darkness outside, lines of worry and fear creasing her face. Those emotions fade the instant her gaze falls upon Baekhyun and Jongdae. Irritation crosses her eyes before she sees the seriousness of their expressions.

“We found another mark, Mrs. Kang,” Jongdae supplies.

Immediate devastation comes over the woman. She doesn’t even try to hide her pain as she buries her head into her hands, shaking from tip to toe. Jongdae looks away, not wanting to see the woman like this. She’s always been a stern, strong leader who emitted nothing but power, and to see her in a state like this is not exactly pleasant. Eventually, she rises from her curled position, jutting out her chest and regaining her stern look. Her hair and eyes look messy, but Jongdae isn’t about to comment on it.

“Where,” she demands, venom in her tone.

“The gardener’s shack.”

“We think the marks are aligned in the position of the devil’s star, Mrs. Kang,” Baekhyun tells her softly.

She nods briefly. “That makes sense,” she mutters. Then, her eyes turn to steel. “Neither of you is to say a word about this to anyone and you will leave this matter alone. Now go.”

Jongdae and Baekhyun scurry out of the small office. As they pass Mr. Yang, the man doesn’t even spare them a look, eyes glued to the screen.

Jongdae gives Baekhyun a smile in hopes of cheering him up at least a bit, but it doesn’t end up looking very happy.

---

“They just announced it. The east wing, west wing tower, school gates, and both dorm storages are off limits. It’s basically confirmed,” Kyungsoo tells Baekhyun and Jongdae shortly after entering the library. He plops down on a chair next to Jongdae, dropping his bag on the table.

Although against the headmistress’ orders, they have decided to not leave the matter alone. None of them want to be kept in the dark, and if the school is not willing to tell them they will find out themselves.

Jongdae his chin. “So… it’s true… It really is a devil’s star.”

“Yeah, and that’s not good news,” Kyungsoo commentates, crossing his arms. “Whatever spell or summoning they’re trying to execute, it’s something destructive or deadly. Or both.”

Jongdae connects his gaze to Baekhyun’s, who looks worried. It’s rare to see Baekhyun wear such an expression. Lately, more of these sullen looks have painted Baekhyun’s features. Jongdae feels concern. A Baekhyun who is anything other than annoying is not a good Baekhyun.

“What do we do now?” Jongdae asks Kyungsoo, knowing he’s always got something ready.

“Let’s find out more about the marks. Maybe we’ll stumble upon a way to destroy them.”

“That seems like a good start.”

The three of them head straight for the only category that matters in their research – dark magic. The selection is rather small as most of the library is dedicated to regular study books, and frankly does not have enough room to store an entire aisle on such dark matters. Besides, it’s not like many half-bloods possess enough power to learn anything from what’s in those books.

Jongdae’s fingers glide over the spines, eyes trying to find a title that will resound with their object of interest. A lot of them do, fortunately. Most of the books are informative books filled with general knowledge about dark magic. Jongdae keeps a few titles in mind while he looks for something a little more specific. Suddenly, his eyes are drawn to a copy of Demon Physiology. He resists the urge to immediately rip the book off the shelf. Instead, he softly the spine with two of his fingers. He’s never really done much digging into the demon part of his being, but ever since his demon side awoke at the markings he’s been feeling more curious to that part of him.

Just when he’s about to pull the book out of the shelf, Kyungsoo speaks. “Found something!” he announces in a whisper. In his hands he displays Magic Markings. “I immediately noticed we wouldn’t find much useful information in the dark magic category so I searched through regular magic instead.”

“Always smarter than us,” Jongdae commentates with a grin.

Kyungsoo shrugs, “Can’t say I disagree.”

Back at the table, Kyungsoo takes out his notebook, placing it underneath the book. Jongdae studies the cover curiously as Kyungsoo prepares their research. The book is all black, only its title and the author’s name pressed in faded gold. The edges are worn-out and it smells like an untended attic. Feeling rather interested, Jongdae flips it open. The musty smell hits a lot stronger this time, making all three students turn away in disgust. Jongdae’s eyes immediately fall on the ragged brown pages and he sends a questioning look to Kyungsoo, whose nose is scrunched up.

“…I’m going to get another book.” Kyungsoo is gone within a second.

Jongdae gets used to the smell after a while, finding the courage to flip through the pages. The ink-drawn illustrations capture his attention instantly. While Jongdae studies them with wonder, Baekhyun has given up, his head resting on Kyungsoo’s bag.

As Jongdae shuffles through the pages, the chair opposite of him is pulled out with a screech. Jongdae looks up to find Joonmyun peering at him.

“Strange to see you two here. Last time I checked there’s no tests,” he commentates,

pulling several books out of his bag. He adjusts his knitted vest and his fringe, giving Jongdae an expectant look.

Jongdae sends a silent plea to Baekhyun because it’s true. They never come here unless there’s tests to be made. Now they have to make up a believable excuse. Why does Joonmyun always get in the way of things?

“Is everything we do suspicious to you?” Baekhyun asks. Jongdae winces. That’s not a good reply.

“Well, my job is to assure safety on the school grounds. And since the two of you have caused more than enough trouble I think it’s safe to say that anything you two do that is out of the ordinary is suspicious to me.” Joonmyun explains, his eyes glancing at the book on the middle of the table. He points a finger at it. “What’s that?”

Jongdae slams it shut. Only seconds later he realizes what a mistake it is as Joonmyun is reading the title. Jongdae quickly covers it with his hands, but his effort is in vain.

“Magic Markings?” Joonmyun splutters in shock. “Jongdae, that’s against the headmistress’ orders! Don’t you know how mad she’s going to be if she finds out?”

“Of course I know,” Jongdae replies with a snort. “But she won’t find out.”

“How are you so sure of that?”

“Well,” Baekhyun begins, “you’re not going to leak this to her because you’re curious too. I know the headmistress is keeping you in the dark, and I know you’d like to know.”

“Th-that’s absurd!” Joonmyun’s face is red by now as he denies the accusation. “I don’t want to know about those—those evil things!” With a huff, he packs up his stuff and struts out of the library.

Jongdae and Baekhyun stare at his retreating figure before sending each other a knowing look. Joonmyun is too easy to read.

---

Jongdae is barely paying attention in math class when he hears commotion coming from the hallway. Rushed footsteps and panicking voices. The other students notice it too, their heads turning towards the door. Mrs. Yun halts her explanation of an equation as the door creaks open. Mr. Yang from the front desk looks distressed, sweat beading down his temple and his dress shirt all ruffled.

“Mrs. Yun, please send the students back to their dormitories.”

A look of worry immediately passes over Mrs. Yun’s face. She straightens out her plaid dress and her face as well. Clearing , the attention of the students returns to her.

“You heard Mr. Yang. Follow me back to the dorms,” She orders sternly. Jongdae sees the anxiety underneath her seriousness as she waits for the students to line up – the darting of her eyes and the fumbling of her fingers.

Jongdae feels concern creeping up on him as well. If the ever strict and proper Mrs. Yun isn’t anything other than uptight there is something really wrong. With his lips pulled into a tense line, Jongdae follows his classmates. In the hallway are other classes being escorted as well, their faces full of unease.

Mr. Yang suddenly returns, heading straight for their group. He whispers something in Mrs. Yun’s ear, which causes her immediate distraught.

“Joohyun, could you please follow Mr. Yang?”

Joohyun, half a wizard, looks up in shock. “Wh-what for?”

Mr. Yang gives her an uncomfortable smile. “Please come along. We need your abilities.”

“O-okay,” she agrees timidly. While following Mr. Yang, she looks rather anxious.

Jongdae feels rather scared with the current situation, and it doesn’t help when he remembers Joohyun has excellent healing abilities. Chewing his nails, Jongdae can’t help but think someone must have gotten injured.

The walk back to the dorms is filled with hushed chattering, rumors being thrown around. Jongdae ignores all of it and just hopes his friends are safe. Once inside the dormitory, Jongdae immediately rushes to his room. The moment his eyes connect with a vivid yellow pair, relief floods over him.

While Jongdae smiles softly, Baekhyun’s look turns rather grim.

“A girl was attacked,” he tells Jongdae sadly. “She’s comatose.”

Terror strikes Jongdae. “Who did it?”

“They wouldn’t tell. But I think it might be a nymph. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.”

“Do you think the attackers are behind the marks too?”

“Pretty sure,” Baekhyun answers with a nod.

A silence falls over them. Jongdae plops down on his bed, gazing at a visibly upset Baekhyun.

“Are you okay?” Jongdae dares to ask. His voice is soft, careful. This is the first time he’s ever had to ask, so he rather thread this subject with caution.

“Not really,” Baekhyun replies with a sad laugh. “It’s just… memories of the bullying are coming back with all this violence against us. I don’t understand why they just can’t leave us alone.”

“I’m sorry,” Jongdae murmurs, sending his friend a comforting look.

“It’s fine. Let’s just hope the teachers will do something before it gets out of hand. This attack should wake them up.”

Jongdae watches as Baekhyun dives under his blanket, only a tuft of hair sticking out.  With a bitter smile, Jongdae directs his gaze to the ceiling, his mind wandering.  

The situation has gotten a whole lot worse and Jongdae is itching to find out more about who is behind all this and why Jeolban is being targeted. Although he has a hunch on both, nothing is too sure, and that’s what scares Jongdae. Their knowledge is too limited – who made those marks? When were they made? What are the intentions behind this? The school could face another attack tomorrow and they wouldn’t be able to stop it.

With a bitter taste left in his mouth, Jongdae turns on his side and tries not to think too much.

---

The start of a new day has Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo returning to the library. Kyungsoo eagerly opens Magic Markings, no longer minding its awful odor.

“I don’t remember what the mark looked like in exact detail, but I found a few that look pretty much alike,” Kyungsoo tells them, flipping to a bookmarked page. The illustration closely resembles what they stumbled upon in the tower. “This mark is made to summon a demon. If made in the shape of a devil’s star it could potentially summon several demons, but I doubt this is the one. The only reason I suspected this could be our mark is because demons react when touching it on our side.”

“It looks a lot like the mark that we saw, though.” Jongdae commentates.

“A lot of demonic marks look like this. It’s the scripture in Demonic that makes them different,” Kyungsoo explains.

“I’m starting to think you know more about demons than me,” Jongdae jokes, causing his friends some laughter.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo says, moving on by slipping to the next bookmark. “This one is used as a portal. This one seemed likely because it holds the power to transport dozens of people at once. If they’re planning an army-driven attack, this would be of use.”

“Where will they come through, then?” Baekhyun asks. “On the marks themselves or somewhere in the middle? I mean, I don’t really see an army climbing through the gardener’s shack.”

Kyungsoo purses his lips, peering over the page. “It doesn’t say anything about that. But it’s a good point. I’ll keep it in mind,” he says, turning the pages in the book. “This mark is also likely. Very likely, I must say. It’s a destruction spell. Basically, everything within the devil’s star will be destroyed by a magic blast.”

“I have a feeling that this is the mark we saw,” Baekhyun suggests bitterly. “It’s convenient and effective. Wiping out both us and the school.”

“You could say that,” Kyungsoo affirms. “But this spell is easily deflected by force fields. In fact, it says right here that even a force field generated by a half-blood could stop it.”

Both Jongdae and Baekhyun look up at that. It’s rare for half-bloods to have effective and strong magic.

“Are there more?” Jongdae inquires, gaze falling back to the book.

“Well, there are a lot of similar ones. Mostly variations of the ones I’ve just mentioned. A powerful demon mark is very difficult to execute well, and they look a lot different too so I excluded those. The ones that are left are strong but easily deflected or come with downsides.”

“How strange...” Jongdae mumbles to himself.

The three of them get lost in their own thoughts for a little while. The somber expressions painting his friends’ faces tells Jongdae what they’re thinking about. All these spells have no friendly intention. There is someone out there who wants half-bloods dead.

The three of them are snapped out of their thoughts as someone clears their throat loudly. They turn around to find Joonmyun staring at the library tiles, holding a hand behind his back. There’s a nervous look on his face, and his body language accompanies it – his free hand fumbles to straighten his hair and his lips keep twitching.

“I-I…” Joonmyun begins, his voice soft, “I found something.”

Kyungsoo raises a questioning brow.

“I found something that might h-help you,” he adds, holding out the hand that was previously behind his back. A crinkled sheet with inked words. Jongdae snatches it out of Joonmyun’s grip the moment he recognizes the jagged scripture as Demonic.

“What is this?” Baekhyun asks, peering at the paper in fear.

“It’s a letter I found behind our dorm,” Joonmyun answers softly. “I translated it and it says… bad things. About us.”

“Bad things?” Jongdae repeats, frowning.

“Well… first off it explained the plan with the marks, what the recipient was supposed to do… and then there was a chant that went something like… banish all half-bloods back to hell… or something like that.”  Joonmyun’s words get softer at the end, and Jongdae feels the dread set in. The threat feels very real right now.

“Did it say who it was addressed to?” Kyungsoo asks, taking the letter from Jongdae.

Joonmyun shakes his head. “No. I don’t think they would be that stupid. The letter did contain a self-destruct seal but the spell obviously failed.”

“What about a sender?”

Joonmyun his lips nervously, pointing at an elegant scribble on the bottom of the letter. “This signature right here is the leader of these attacks…”

Jongdae scans the signature, only noticing now that, unlike the rest of the letter, it’s not in Demonic. It’s a curled and neat lettering of someone’s name.

“Luhan…” Baekhyun gasps.

---

A/N: dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what an exciting update, don't you think??????? we got goat!chen and our first cliffhanger ending!!!!!
I hope you guys are liking this or find it interesting because the lack of comments just leaves me to guess!!!! so if you like this please leave a comment, it would mean a lot to me and help me with my motivation -- which means ull get the next chapter faster!!!!!!!!

anyways, thank you for subbing, voting and especially commenting!!!!
see you guys next time<3

pls comment authornim is starving