-Youngjae's POV-

We traveled for hours without stopping. Lee had only planned to stop twice, to give the horses a break. But we ended up stopping a couple of more times because Min and Tae kept having to go to the bathroom. So, we took those breaks as opportunities to eat a little snack and stretch.

Kris was right. By the time night fell it began to get chilly as the cold wind blew past us. “Ooooh~, winter is coming soon.” Tae shivered.

Not much was said between anyone. Everyone was focused, thinking to themselves. At any moment now we’ll be facing Karina.

 

 

We didn’t arrive at the Kingdom until a few hours after midnight. We were greeted by guards who directed us to the large palace.

Nobody was outside. Not even a single critter could be heard or seen. The only people out were the guards, taking on their night shift. Everyone else either must’ve evacuated already or some stayed locked in their homes preparing to leave.

“Wow~, it’s so empty,” Min whispered as we entered the palace after the guards took our horses to place them in the stables. The halls were completely empty with not even a single servant to be found. “They must have sent them with their families,” Lee stated.

“Wow, it’s been a while.” Jongup stretched.

“We should start heading to bed now. Who knows when they’ll show up, and we’re going to need the rest.” Kris suggested. We all nodded in agreement before heading our separate ways. We went to the rooms we had stayed in before, while Min and Tae gladly showed Kris to his own room.

“Ah~…This feels so nice.” Daehyun breathed, laying on the bed after we finished changing. I crawled into the large bed under the duvet. “Are you that tired?” I asked, snuggling comfortably into the covers. “Of course. First I was training hard, and then we had this long trip. And on top of that I was worrying about you like crazy when the DM attacked.” He said. “You didn’t have to worry about me.” I said, closing my eyes. “Of course I did.” He said.

“If you were so worried then why didn’t you come get me, huh?” I teased, but all I got was silence in return.

I peeked one eye open to look at him. There was a frown on his face. “They wouldn’t let me.” He pouted. I couldn’t help but chuckle at this. “What are you going to do when we face Karina and them?” he suddenly asked.

I opened both my eyes looking up at the ceiling. “I’m going to fight back with you guys.” I said.

“Youngjae…you know you can’t.” He said. I could hear the frown in his voice.

“Yes I can. Bom healed me to make me strong enough for the fight, yesterday. She just told me not to use any magic until the fight, so I don’t over exert myself. And she gave me medicine in case anything happens.” I assured him. However, he wasn’t convinced.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” He said. “There’s no way I’m going to sit around and watch you guys fight.” I told him, letting him know that there was no talking me out of it.

“But you haven’t even trained.” He argued.

“Actually…I have been training. I was looking through the spell books and studied them and watched the other mages perform them.” I said proudly. He just sighed.

I turned over onto my side to face him. “Jayde said working together is key to winning. So how are we working together if I’m just sitting around? You have to trust me Daehyun.” I urged. He let out a small smile. “Okay, fine. I’ll trust you.” He gave in.

“Good, so stop worrying about me. I can take care of myself gee.” I said turning my back. “Just make sure you eat breakfast.” He said. I playfully rolled my eyes. “Okay Daehyun. Good Night.” “Night Jae.”

 

 

The next morning nobody woke up until late in the morning, getting as much rest as possible to recover from the late night trip.

“Everyone sleep well?” Kris asked as we met in the dining area. “Food!” Tae, Min, and Daehyun exclaimed at the sight of the abundant amount of food that was spread along the long table. The 3 of them immediately ran to the table, instantly filling their plates.

“Tch…they act as if they hadn’t have food in days.” Lee remarked. “Yeah, but the food is way better here.” Tae said, his cheeks stuffed. Min and Daehyun nodded in agreement.

“Wait. If everyone left the palace, how is there all this food?” Zelo questioned. “Maybe one of the guards can cook.” Jongup said. “Or one of the chefs decided to stay back.” Himchan suggested. “Or maybe someone has magical food powers!” Tae squeaked. The rest of us shrugged before joining the other 3 at the table.

“Mm, this is really good.” Kris said after biting into a roll. “Told you.” Tae said proudly. “So what are we going to do today?” Jongup asked.

“Everyone is pretty much free to do whatever. If you want to train, fine then train, but don’t tire yourself out. And make sure you have your weapons on you at all times. Karina most likely knows we’re here, so it’s only a matter of time when they come.” Lee instructed.

“We should work on more transformations.” Kris suggested. “Oh yeah! And power combos!” Tae chirped excitedly. “Yeah!” Min agreed. “I call being Youngjae’s partner for the power combos!” he cheered. “Wait, what?” Daehyun said caught off guard.

“I call being Zelo’s partner!” Tae announced. “I don’t think you can do a power combo with my powers.” Zelo chuckled.

“Sure you can! See, I can turn into a wolf and you can make me fly. I’ll be a flying werewolf! They’d never expect it!” Tae said, the more he spoke the more enthusiastic he became.

“Yeah, yeah! And Youngjae you can turn me into different animals. Like a tiger! Or…or a dinosaur!” Min said getting just as hyped as his twin. “Taecyeon and Minzy are going to be so jealous.” The two laughed deviously.

All Zelo and I could do was laugh, but they were pretty good ideas. “Also, no one should be alone. Wherever you go make sure someone else is with you, in case they come.” Lee said, getting back to business. The rest of us nodded in agreement.

“Oh yeah. Zelo, Youngjae, didn’t you guys have something to tell us?” Kris mentioned. Everyone’s attention turned to us. Lee raised an eyebrow at this. “What is it about?” The vampire asked. “We think we figured out a lead to finding Karina’s weakness.” I began. Everyone’s eyes slightly widened at the news.

Zelo and I both explained what we had talked about back at the camp. Once we finished, the others were silent, thinking to themselves. “We haven’t exactly figured out how to defeat her. So we were hoping that maybe Kris and Lee might know something, since you two knew Jayde the longest.” Zelo added.

The said people thought hard to themselves, reflecting.

“What you guys said sounds right on the money…but I don’t have anything. Jayde never really spoke about her powers or weaknesses until this war started, nor did she ever really fight any other Sphinxes.” Lee admitted.

“Yeah, I only know as much as you guys when it comes to their weaknesses. No one knows about Jayde’s past, but everyone does know that she and Karina don’t like each other. Jayde hated even hearing Karina’s name, so she never spoke about her.” Kris admitted as well.

Mine and Zelo’s shoulders sunk in defeat. “But…she did talk a lot about not using her emotions.” Kris spoke again.

“Maybe we can try to get to Karina’s emotions to weaken her enough to where we can defeat her with what we have.” He suggested. “How are we going to do that?” Himchan asked this time. “You should probably leave that to Kris. He’s good at that.” Lee remarked, but the shadow seeker ignored him.

“It doesn’t seem like we can get to her emotionally, or at least sensitively. So we should try to irritate her.” Kris suggested.

“That might actually work.” Bang spoke up.

“Told you.” Lee smirked, but Kris continued to ignore his remarks.

“So what’s the plan?” Himchan asked.

“There is no plan. Whatever we do she’ll know. So when we face her we have to act as if she’ll doesn’t know. So do whatever you can to get to her. I’m sure all of you know how to be annoying.” Kris smirked.

After breakfast, Lee, Bang, and Kris went to scout the area. The rest of us stayed by one of the training areas. We trained for a little, but rested for a majority of the time, not wanting to over exert ourselves before facing Karina.

Zelo, Daehyun, Jongup, Himchan and I sat around the fence chatting about whatever. Tae and Min had turned into pups and were napping peacefully on top of each other. “Who knew we’d end up here? Like this.” Jongup said, laying down on his back. We nodded in agreement. It all seemed unreal. I still can’t believe that I’m even friends with a group of royals, especially after hating them for so long. And never would I have imagine that I’d even forgive Daehyun. “…So what do we do after all this?” Himchan suddenly asked.

“That’s if we win.” Daehyun sighed. “And we will.” Zelo urged, earning everyone’s attention.

“We have to. We just have to.” The youngest member spoke firmly. “Too many people have suffered, and too many more people are depending on us. We already let them down once. We can’t do it again.” He went on. I nodded in agreement. “It just seems too unrealistic.” Himchan sighed sadly.

“Karina is the most powerful being on earth, and we’re not all that experienced in fighting magical creatures.” He stated.

“We made it this far, right? And we didn’t even know that vampires or whatever even existed. So, I think anything is possible at this point.” Jongup shrugged. Himchan slightly nodded. “I just don’t want to fail again.” The elder said quietly. “We won’t.” Zelo promised with much determination.

At that moment we heard the sounds of people screaming and crying from afar. “What the…” Jongup said, about to look over his shoulder when something or someone else caught his attention and the rest of ours.

“Ugh, of course you two would be sleeping at a time like this.” A female voice said as we witnessed the Min pup being kicked across the training circle to the other side of the fence. Min whimpered in pain, being jolted out of his sleep.

The 5 of us quickly stood to our feet. Minzy bent down and picked up the still sleeping Tae pup by his neck. “How pathetic.” She sneered in much disgust.

The pup’s notes twitched as a tiny smile grew on his “sleeping” face and then he suddenly sneezed in his sister’s face.

“Gross!” Minzy squealed, tossing the pup.

Tae quickly transformed into a full grown wolf, before landing swiftly on his feet.

Just then Jasmine climbed over the fence, walking up to Minzy’s side, handing her a handkerchief. I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Thanks.” Minzy murmured after she finished wiping her face. Pup Min barked before transforming into his regular form. He extended his fangs and his irises turned red. “That hurt!” he spat.

Minzy rolled her eyes. “Stop being a baby.” She remarked. Tae barked at her, growling viciously. “Let’s get this over with.” Minzy said tossing her handkerchief to the side.

The female hybrid threw 5 blades at us, but Himchan held out his hand and burned the blades, melting them.

Jongup’s eyes slightly widened. “You can melt metal?” He asked, sounding somewhat surprised. The elder shrugged, “I learned how to make my fire hot enough.” “Oh~…hot.” Jongup winked, causing the elder to blush.

“Really guys? Now?” Daehyun said pulling out his sword.

Tae charged at them. Jasmine muttered an incantation spell to wrap cines around his legs, but I quickly muttered my own, and reversed the spell. She glanced at me. I glared back at her. Daehyun also looked at me and we made eye contact.

“Trust me.” I reminded him.

“Yeah, Yeah, whatever.” He said. “…and after this I’ll do whatever you say.” I promised. He raised an eyebrow at this. “Now I’m even more motivated to win.” He smirked. I rolled my eyes. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

 

-3^rd Person POV-

Bang and Kris tried to make their way back, being careful not to run into the panicked people.

“What’s causing all this panic? I mean, they’re probably here, but nothing is attacking them.” Kris said more to himself. Bang glanced back over his shoulder. “Is Lee sure about going on his own? He did say not to go anywhere alone.” He said. Kris shrugged. He went with some guards somewhere. So he’s not completely on his own.” The shadow seeker assured. “Hey cutie.” A third voice joined from behind.

The two turned around to be met with Aires. “Who knew we’d be stuck with his sister though.” Kris said as the two stood in their fighting stances.

“I don’t want to have to fight you.” Aires said, speaking only to Bang. The new born bared his fangs at him. “That’s rude.” Aires scoffed. “But I like me a bad boy.” She smirked.

“You should ditch these losers and come with me. I’m way more fun. Huh?” She went on.

“I’ll never join you.” Bang hissed, his irises turning red. Aires’s nose twitched as she sensed another scent on him, somebody else’s scent. “Hm? Are you with somebody else?” She asked, slightly throwing the new born off guard. “Are you going to fight or talk?” Kris said, his eyes turning black.

Aires jumped into the air, flipping onto the other side of them before her shadow could grab her. The two spun around to face her. “Your tricks won’t work on me shadow boy.” She said sounding unimpressed.

 

 

“Why is everyone panicking? No one is attacking them.” Lee asked one of the guards, waiting for a report. “There’s an army heading this way sir. And it’s large.” The guard stressed. Lee nodded, not very impressed. “Get a group of guards to calm the people and them somewhere safe.” He ordered.

“Sir we’re not going to be able to get everyone out on time, before the army comes.” The guard said. “Then gather as many guards as you need and get as many people as possible into safe hiding spots. Make women and children your top priority. Hide them in the underground dungeons beneath the palace if you have to.” Lee spoke sternly. The guard nodded and ran off to complete his order.

The vampire then turned to the other group of guards. “Get everyone else and prepare them to fight. I want guards on every corner. Do whatever you can to shrink their numbers. We’ll handle the scraps.” He ordered. They all nodded and marched off.

Lee turned around, about to go back and join the others when Taecyeon jumped in his path, landing only a few feet away from him.

“So what happens when you die? Is the war over?” Taecyeon question. “Tch…that’s a stupid question. We’ll still keep fighting if that happens, I’ll fight you as a ghost.” Lee scoffed. “…but I’m not gonna die.” He smirked and with that he sent a side kick to Taecyeon’s abdomen, but the hybrid blocked it with ease. Taecyeon pushed his foot back a little, forcing the vampire to move back a few inches. The hybrid then threw a few punches in which Lee swiftly dodged.

 

 

“There’s no point in 7 of us fighting 2 of them.” Youngjae said, seeing that they were practically fighting 2 or 3 at a time. “We need to be together in order to fight together.” Zelo added. “We need to get the others then.” Jongup said.

“You guys go find them. I’ll stay here with Tae and Min.” Himchan said, dodging one of Minzy’s kicks. “Try to lead them to the front of the palace, that’s where we’ll bring the others.” Zelo instructed. The elder nodded, and with that the remaining 4 ran off to find Lee, Bang, and Kris.

Min side kicked Minzy in her stomach, causing her to barely hunch over. The elder swung to hit him, but Tae quickly jumped from behind her and bit her arm, forcing her down.

Jasmine held out her hand, about to cast a spell on the large wolf when Himchan kicked her wrist. “Ah!” Jasmine winced holding her hurt body part. “I don’t think so.” Himchan narrowed his eyes at her, stepping between her and Tae.

Jasmine scoffed, “Oh, now you guys are friends?” “Shut up.” Himchan hissed at her, his fists lighting on fire. “You don’t look hesitant to fight me.” Jasmine noted, seeing the fierceness in his eyes.

“Why would I be? You’re a traitor.” Himchan swing his fired fist at her. Jasmine jumped back, avoiding the hot flames. “Yeah, but it seemed like the others were holding back before.” She said. “Tch, don’t flatter yourself.” Himchan swung again. Jasmine casted a dodge spell that forced him to miss. “…plus, I never liked you.” He said, this time tripping her, forcing her to fall on her behind.

“So, I’m going to probably enjoy this fight the most.” He glared at her. She narrowed her eyes at him, standing back up.

 

The 4 ran through the palace in search for the rest of their team. Youngjae looked around, noticing that Karina was nowhere to be seen. He slowed down thinking to himself. “Jae you okay?” Daehyun was the first to notice and stopped. “We need to find Karina.” The younger stated boldly.

Daehyun blinked, stunned, but he knew exactly what he meant. “You and Jongup go find the others. Zelo and I will look for Karina.” Youngjae said. Zelo and Jongup nodded, but Daehyun was reluctant. However, Youngjae didn’t wait for a response from him, so he and Zelo ran off to search for the Sphinx. Daehyun sighed and ran after Jongup. All he could do was pray. There was no time to argue.

 

Bang blocked Aires’s kick and pushed her away. She slid back on heals. A black hole then appeared from under her. She quickly grabbed onto a nearby tree branch and pulled herself up before she could fall in.

She pulled out 3 daggers and threw them at Kris, but they went right through him. The female vampire raised her eyebrows in slight shock, earning a smirked from the shadow seeker. “Tell us what’s going on. Why is everyone panicking?” Kris questioned. “As if.” The vampire scoffed.

She jumped off the branch and flipped backwards into the air, while simultaneously throwing blades at the shadow seeker. While he was distracted she pulled on his collar bringing him down as she landed. But before he could hit the ground he turned into a shadow on the ground. He then tried to grab the vampire’s ankle, but she moved her foot and stepped on the shadow’s face. The shadow winced in pain and kicked Aires’s shadow in the side.

“Arg.” She flinched holding her side. “Where’s Karina?” Bang asked this time. “What? Am I not good enough for you?” Aires pouted her lips.

'Aires' Karina spoke in the female vampire's mind.

'I need you to find the other 2 boys. Get rid of them and this entire thing will be over.' Karina instructed.

"Yes ma'am." Aires answered out loud. Confusing her opponents. 'I'll guide you to them.'

 

"Whelp, looks like I have to go. I'll see you soon." Aires winked at Bang before dashing off at vampiric speed.

Kris changed back to his human form. "What was that about?" he questioned. "We should go after her." Bang said, not having a good feeling about it. "We should find the others first." Kris told him. Bang was reluctant, but gave in anyway.

 

Lee lifted Taecyeon in the air and flipped him onto his back. But the hybrid immediately pushed up onto his hands and spun his legs around in attempt to trip Lee. He took the vampire out from under his legs but Lee landed on his hands and flipped back onto his feet.

"I don't have time for this. Where's Karina?" Lee questioned as Taecyeon stood back to his feet. "You think I'm going to tell you?" Taecyeon spat. "Oh yeah, I forgot. You have to ask permission." Lee remarked, pulling out two daggers.

He charged at the elder hybrid and swung the sharp blades at him. Taecyeon dodged the swings and threw in his own punches to have them blocked. The hybrid was actually highly impressed by the vampire's skills.

"I guess they didn't put you in the Council Of 5 for no reason." the hybrid said. "Damn right." Lee growled, finally cutting the side of his opponent's neck.

Taecyeon hissed at the contact. "But your ego and temper is your biggest weakness and will cause you to fall." Taecyeon side kicked Lee in his chest hard, forcing him to slide backwards.

"So what? You want me be a puppet like you? And let a bunch of girls younger than me, boss me around? I don't think so." Lee remarked.

Taecyeon went in for another punch. Lee was about to block it but, "Lee!" Daehyun called, him and Jongup running into the scene. Lee was socked hard in the face. "!" Lee growled, the hit stinging the entire right side of his face.

"This better be good." Lee hissed at them. Taecyeon stopped fighting and listened curiously. "We're all meeting at the front of the palace. We need to fight together." Daehyun informed. "What about him?" Lee pointed to the twins' elder brother. Jongup shrugged. "He can come too, I guess."

'Taecyeon, don't follow them. Wait until they gather.' Karina spoke in the hybrid's mind.

"Naw, I'm finishing this guy first." Lee said. He turned around to face his opponent again, only to see that he was gone. "Where the ?" the vampire was now confused, but decided to follow the other 2 instead of wasting time.

 

Karina gave the same instructions to Jasmine and Minzy, ordering them to fall back. Before leaving Jasmine muttered a quick incantation.

Himchan's eyes widened as his fire began to feel cold. "What did you do?" he snapped. But the female mage didn't respond as she began to back up away from him.

"See you later." Minzy said. She elbowed Min hard in the neck and kicked Tae in the nose before back flipping to Jasmine's side.

Jasmine muttered an incantation and the 2 of them vanished. The remaining 3 stood there, unsure of what was going on.

"Where did they go?" Min asked, rubbing his neck. "I don't know. But we should start heading to the palace. The others are probably on their way." Himchan said, backing up slowly, he had an uneasy feeling about the situation.

The twins nodded and followed behind him.

 

Youngjae and Zelo jogged around the area for Karina. Less people were out as the guards were quickly getting the women and children to safe places. Some of the men insisted on staying back and fighting, so the guards provided them with weapons.

"I wonder what's going on." Zelo said quietly seeing as everyone was in panic and the guards in a rush.

Youngjae turned the corner and froze as he was met with the large golden gate entrance that was now sealed shut.

Zelo lagged behind a little, in thought, before turning the corner. "Youngjae, are you..." his voice trailed as his eyes widened on the sight in front of him.

A large army dressed in all black with a white Dark Magic emblem on the left arm of their sleeves, marched only 20 feet away from the front gate.

Youngjae trembled, remembering the uniforms from a dream he had a while ago, after he had regained his memory. But the uniforms aren’t what made him tremble. “Youngjae…” Zelo gasped.

Leading the large army were two profound and familiar generals. Jiho’s father and, “That man.” Youngjae whispered seeing his own father.

The guards guarding the gate held out their weapons and marched up towards the intruders. The incubi flew into the air and shot arrows down at the large army. Zelo was stunned, the army was huge. They outnumbered them, even with the guards and civilians helping them.

Youngjae bawled his fists and bit his bottom lip. His eyes watered as he became filled with hate and anger. He took a few steps forward, when Zelo quickly stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Youngjae. What are you doing?” The mage tightened his fist. “He killed my mother.” He barely whispered.

“Youngjae, we can’t fight them on our own. We have to warn the others.” Zelo said. “What about Karina?” Youngjae questioned.

Zelo just stood there, unsure of what to say or do. They had to find Karina, but they had to warn the others. “You guys must be really dumb if you think you’ll be able to find Karina. You’re not going to find her unless she reveals herself.” A new voice butted in.

Zelo and Youngjae turned around to see that it was Aires. “Hello. Remember me?” she smirked. Zelo narrowed his eyes at her. He hadn’t forgiven her for what she did to Bang.

Aires raised an eyebrow as her eyes landed on him. Her nose twitched a little, smelling Bang’s scent on him. “So, you’re the one who Bang is with.” She said, throwing the younger off guard. “I guess we’ll have to fix that real quick.” She smirked, her fangs extending and her irises turning red. “This will be easy.”