Soonyoung turned his head to the sky, brushing damp blonde locks out of his eyes to check the status of the sun. He had finally found enough wood to craft his bow and to make new arrows to be infused with magic and it was only midday, plenty of time left to work. He was just about to search for a place to relax to begin his crafting process when he remembered the strange encounter from earlier with the dark magicians. Before he could stop himself, he had backtracked to where he had first entered the camp and slowly stepped across the barrier.

Now that he knew of the spell, it was like walking through a waterfall. Dark magic seemed to wash over him, surrounding him but feeling more like a friendly embrace than an attempt at smothering his entity. After only a few moments the air seemed to clear and the world cleared up and returned to normal. Th dark magicians hadn’t seemed to move much while he had been gone, now all gathered in the clearing to cook their food around the fire and eat their dinner. Most looked up when he arrived, as if sensing his light magic in the air, but Soonyoung quickly bowed in greeting and they turned away to let him be, unbothered.

Soonyoung edged around the camp, spotting a particularly nice tree stump to sit on. He was just separating his supplies when a shadow fell on top of him, blocking the sun from shining in his eyes.

It was Jihoon. The silver haired magician was chewing on a piece of meat impaled on a stick, staring at him rather impassively. He blinked down at Soonyoung and it was only then that he realized that the other man was holding out a piece of meat on a skewer for him. A grateful smile formed on his face at the peace offering and Soonyoung took it, blowing on it to cool the skin. He expected the other man to return to the others but Jihoon instead took a seat a few feet from him on the grass, crossing his legs and laying his weapon at his side to join him.

They lapsed into silence, neither able to seem to come up with conversation to make. Jihoon didn’t seem like a very conversational person, so Soonyoung didn’t pressure him. Instead he turned to his work, eating with one hand while arranging his materials with his other hand. At the side Jihoon alternated between watching him work and glancing back at the dark magicians, as if overseeing them to make sure they were behaving.

Finished with his meal and with his supplies arranged neatly, Soonyoung went to work. He began preparing his wood and waxing it down, before starting on the bow. Infusing magic into the pads of his fingers, he began to gently curve the wood, bending it into its desired shape. The necessary incantations and spells rolled of his tongue from years of practice, and soon the wood began to glow a soft white at the words of power. “I call upon thee, the east of the rising sun, to lend me your strength and power.”

Like unleashing a torrent of water, magic spilled from his body, flowing around him through the air and into the bow which burned with white light. A strong breeze sent his blonde locks waving in the air and Soonyoung had to close his eyes to keep himself from being blinded. With long practiced ease his fingers moved deftly across the bow, drawing the thick waves of magic from the air and locking it within the wood.

Magical crafting with a tricky sort of magic. Uncommonly taught, most magicians never even attempted the practice. In such a pure form, magic acted almost animalistic, always trying to escape his grasp and return to the atmosphere. That was the dangerous factor, uncontrolled magic could spiral out of control. But with the numerous years of intense practice Soonyoung easily tamed the energy and contained it in his weapon.

When he finally opened his eyes, he wasn’t sure how long he had had been working. Magical crafting took an enormous amount of concentration, and he knew in the past he had a habit of spending hours working on a project only to realize the sun had set and he had skipped meals.

Unbeknownst to him it seemed he had gathered an audience. Jihoon was still snacking on his food but four dark magicians had taken places in a loose half circle to observe him. They looked younger than him and Jihoon, still teenagers with their whole world in front of them and not looking at all ready for war. They shared the same wide eyed look of amazement and Soonyoung felt his face flush red at the attention.

“How did you do that?” One of the children gasped, the others joining in with their own comments of wonder.

“Magical incantations,” Soonyoung explained, fingers moving automatically to begin stringing the bow. He tested it a couple of times and was satisfied with the tightness of the string. The movement helped to refrain him from stuttering in embarrassment. “I draw magic from my body and the environment, and then gather it and draw it into my weapon.”

“You can do that?” Someone exclaimed and Soonyoung nodded, an amused smile slipping onto his face. He was touched that so many people seemed interested in his work, many people in the palace had grown tired of him gushing over the details of his hobby. “You should teach us!”

Soonyoung paused, but not because he didn’t want to. He loved teaching and there weren’t many who were interested in magical crafting, as it was usually pushed aside for fighting and spell work. But weapon crafting took weeks to even scratch the surface of the fundamentals and years to create something seemingly half decent. Not to mention young magicians using such dangerous magic outside of a controlled environment didn’t seem like the best of ideas.

Jihoon surprisingly seemed to catch up on his hesitance. “Alright now, he’s probably very busy. Magic crafting is a very difficult skill which you can’t learn in a couple of hours and you shouldn’t be bothering him anyway.”

The younger magicians seemed to deflate at the gentle scolding and Soonyoung felt a twinge of disappointment. “Here, how about this,” he said quickly, gathering their attention again. He pulled out an arrow that he had brought along to use as a template and a thin knife. “Now, everyone understands glyphs, correct?”

There were quick, focused nods as everyone gathered around and even Jihoon moved closer to watch. Soonyoung balanced the arrow on his lap and carefully began carving the glyph for speed, which was a rather simple spell but could become stronger depending on the amount of magic infused into it. Once he was done he held the arrow out for them before placing two figures at the edges of the symbol.

“Now, you just focus on moving the magic from the environment around you, through your arm and into your fingertips.” He inhaled deeply and focused enough magic so that the light would be visible to the human eye. A translucent swirl of sunlight was drawn from the sky and it twined around his arm before snaking down his fingers. The glyph began to glow white as the magic was absorbed into the wood and magic begun to thrum from the weapon.

There were a chorus of oohs and ahhs and some excited clapping. Once he had infused enough magic, Soonyoung cut off the flow and the glowing stopped and the weapon went still. “If I could ask, Jihoon, would you do the honors of being my assistant,” he asked, coming to his feet. He grabbed his bow which was still unfinished, but it would do the trick for the demonstration.

Jihoon gave him a curious look when Soonyoung asked him to put up a barrier about twenty feet away, but still did as told. The other man did so easily and a dark field spread out in front of them.

Soonyoung could feel the thrum of power even from their distance and he was momentarily stunned by the amount of magic that Jihoon could command in such a simple spell. “Maybe just a little weaker,” he said lightly, trying to hide his surprise with amusement. It was a well-known fact that dark magic was the strongest form of magic, but Soonyoung could tell at a glance that Jihoon was probably one of the strongest magicians he had ever met.

Jihoon did as told and the magical barrier seemed to spread out, becoming longer but thinning out until it was almost completely transparent.

Soonyoung picked up one of his regular arrows and knocked the bow, before carefully aiming it toward the dark magic. He let loose and it immediately broke against the barrier, shattering upon impact. The barrier shook for a moment but it didn’t break.

“Now, watch,” Soonyoung instructed. He picked up his magically enhanced arrow and knocked the bow and pulled the string back. He let go and it flew through the air. There was an obvious difference, this arrow flew fast and viciously and sent a gust of wind behind it in its wake. It collided with the barrier and this time the dark magic shook before shattering under the pressure, breaking into dark pieces of glass that soon disintegrated. The arrow embedded itself in a tree behind it and when Soonyoung went to retrieve it there wasn’t a mark of strain on the arrow at all.

The young magicians gushed around him, all asking him to continue teaching them. When Soonyoung looked up, he expected to see Jihoon smiling or looking on in amazement as well, but the boy was stunned.

Unsure of what to say, he was about to ask what was the matter when Jihoon seemed to snap out of his surprise. “Alright everyone, give him some space.” Jihoon scolded, tone firm and leaving no room for argument. The younger children looked disappointed but no one seemed to want to argue with their leader. “It’s getting late. Go back to your tents,” he ordered.

Reluctantly, the magicians bowed respectfully to Soonyoung before scampering back to their spots.

Soonyoung smiled, heartfelt at the young magician’s interest in him, before gathering his weapons. He had just about gathered all his supplies when the look in Jihoon’s eyes made him stop. The young man hadn’t gone back to the camp, nor had he gotten comfortable on the ground again. He seemed to be staring intensely at him, eyes narrowed and body tense. Jihoon had treated him with a polite kindness, but at that moment he was radiating caution, and his body was poised to attack at any moment.

It was then that Soonyoung realized, Jihoon had offered the help of his magicians from the Southern Isles to Valahad, but Jihoon was still the leader of his own people. And this man would protect his people no matter what. And he had just found a threat.

“What’s the matter,” Soonyoung asked quietly, though he already knew the answer.

“You’re dangerous,” Jihoon stated with no room for argument. “And I’m trying to figure out if you’re a threat or not.”

Soonyoung wasn’t quite sure how to respond so he raised his hands away from his weapons as a sign of peace. “There’s no reason for me to attack you,” he attempted.

“Maybe not now, but it’s your country that worries me,” Jihoon answered flatly.

“You saved my life. I wouldn’t be so dishonorable as to try to take yours.” Soonyoung understood where Jihoon’s concerns came from, but he tried to show his sincerity. After spending time with the dark magicians, Soonyoung had no reason to dislike them. And there was no reason for distrust to form between them now.

“For now,” Jihoon said coolly, but there was still unease in his gaze. “But who knows what will happen after this war is over. Your kingdom has promised me nothing to protect us. These are my people and as their leader I must protect them.”

Soonyoung dipped his head, “And I respect that.”

Jihoon still didn’t look comforted, but the blonde-haired magician didn’t blame him. He knew he must look strange; a light magician suddenly taking interest with their sworn enemies, even if he had saved his life. But Soonyoung truly had no malicious intent, and he was sure Jihoon would understand that soon enough.

“The dark magicians are planning something.”

Soonyoung’s head shot up, a frown falling onto his face. “How do you know that?”

Jihoon chuckled, obviously seeing the look of mistrust flash across his face. “Don’t start suspecting me now,” he said, though his smile was bitter. “I’m merely stating an observation, one which I think is quite obvious. There hasn’t been any major activity for days. The last battle ended badly for them, but it wasn’t enough for them to go so quiet. They’re regrouping and waiting for something, and we don’t know what that is, or when it will happen.”

Soonyoung felt a pang of guilt wash over him. Jihoon had a point in his observations and he had been polite enough to point them out to Soonyoung. “I’m sorry,” he said honestly and Jihoon seemed to deflate a bit, relaxing in his posture. “You’re right. It is strange that the dark magicians haven’t attacked us yet.”

“The crown hasn’t told us much of how they’re preparing or what they’re planning,” Jihoon said spitefully. He looked frustrated and Soonyoung could understand, the tribe was offering their help but was not gaining any trust in return. “I’m training my magicians to be ready at any moment.”

“We took a pretty bad hit at the last battle. We’re taking this time to heal our injured and regroup. There hasn’t been much talk of strategy,” Soonyoung attempted, though he knew it was a poor defense. It was obvious that the Circle was keeping the dark magicians at a distance.

“But they haven’t included us in anything!” Jihoon finally snapped, throwing his hands into the air in his annoyance. “Do they not understand how much we can help this war?”

Soonyoung smiled, but it was tinged with sadness. “It’s just… They can’t trust you,” he said honestly. “After the Fall of the dark magicians, there has been too much bad history between our races. The dark magicians have too much blood on their hands for them to ignore.”

Jihoon scowled, fists clenched at his side. He looked hopelessly angry and lost and Soonyoung’s heart went out to him. He wanted to smooth down the panes of his forehead, relax his tensed shoulders, but he kept a safe distance between them. “What do they want from me? For me to take an arrow for them?”

At that Soonyoung chuckled, though the idea wasn’t at all amusing. “That may help, but they’d still think it was a trick.” He reached out a hand and held out the arrow which he had magically enhanced. A peace offering. “It will take time,” he said honestly. “Years of pain cannot be forgotten in a few days.”

Jihoon stared at him, the calculating look still in his gaze. He carefully took the arrow and ran a slender finger over the glyph scratched into the wood and it flashed white in response to his magic. “This kingdom does not have the time to overcome years of hatred for my kind.”

“But it never will unless you try,” Soonyoung countered.

“And why should I be the only one trying?” Jihoon asked vehemently. “Light magicians have done just as much harm to dark magicians as those that practice dark magic. Neither of us are at fault here.”

Soonyoung’s smile was sad. “History has always been written by the hands of those victorious. But the past cannot be changed, only the future. We must move forward, not dwell on what has happened behind us.”

Soonyoung gathered his things, knowing the visit was coming to an end. The moon had risen while he was focused on working and a soft moonlit glow fell down upon them. A cold wind ruffled their clothes and Jihoon’s hair looked even more like starlight at night. Up close Soonyoung couldn’t help but thinking he could get lost in his dark eyed gaze.

“I believe that if there is anyone that can cross this rift, it is you, Lee Jihoon.”

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