Clutching her deep, bloody wound with her left and drawing her sword with her right, Seulgi parried the General’s sword away, weakly. Grunts escaped from her lips as she whisked away one blow after another. Her mind was in a state of confusion. What is exactly happening? It finally occurred to the Colonel moments later; the General was making use of this situation to settle personal enmity.   

“General, what is the meaning of this? Aren’t you afraid that the Crown Prince would pursue matters with you after he is well?” Seulgi asked, trying to keep the weakness out of her voice. Sweat beaded on her forehead and was beginning to trickle down. The Colonel had to force her mind to focus on surviving. Defend, attack, live, defend, attack, live.    

“The Crown Prince is not getting any better. You know it. This has always been a tradition of Wei’Ya, we send the Crown Prince’s favourite aide to be buried with him,” The General spoke snidely, his mouth twisted into a cruel grin.

Seulgi knew the General was lying. This was no tradition of Wei’Ya’s but a personal grudge. It was for the shame the General suffered the previous day for discovering that the Crown Prince was in trouble too late, and getting insulted before the others, amongst numerous other bad blood between them that had accumulated over the year. Why did it have to be tonight?! Seulgi blamed the heavens for dealing her such a cruel card. Karma…

The stab to her abdomen was hindering her, the pain was intensifying as time dragged on and her limbs were beginning to weaken. Seulgi could not waste any breath on this stupid General, she had to end it quickly and make her escape. If this was a personal grudge then the General must have been alone on this.

The sword came stabbing at her again and Seulgi whisked it away but was not quick enough to avoid the diagonal slash that bit deeply into her face and opened another bloody wound. She was slowing too much, Seulgi was becoming afraid that she might not make it.

No, she could not lose this match, the Colonel scolded herself. She had promised Joohyun that she would return but the wound in her abdomen was weakening her mind. Will, she had to find the will to outmatch the General.

“Trust me, Joohyun, I will be coming back alive, just trust me.”

“You’d better. I will never forgive you if you don’t.”

“What will you do if I really don’t?”

“Stop joking around. I will die, immediately, then the country will go to shambles and it will be your fault.”

 I will die, immediately. Those words kept repeating themselves in Seulgi’s head, in Joohyun’s insistent voice. The next image that came to Seulgi’s mind was the leather piece that she had gifted to her Strategist. Enduring love… Then, Seulgi found her will to escape.

If the General should sneak such an unscrupulous attack on her, then she would do the same. Feigning a stab to the extreme right side of the General’s abdomen and causing him to overcommit, Seulgi then released her hold on her wound and slid out the dagger which had been in her left sleeve, punching the dagger into the General’s left eye. A yowl of pain sounded and Seulgi knew that would be her only chance at escaping. The Colonel took nothing along with her as she made it out of her tent. The chilly wind stung her face and Seulgi became painfully aware of how she would likely die from losing too much blood if she were to run in the state she was in. Yet, she had to do it.

Come on, Kang Seulgi, you must make it… you promised Joohyun…

Gritting her teeth, Seulgi sprinted, as best as she could, and stumbled, a few times as she made her way to their meeting place, at the mouth of the camping site. She was late but the Prides must still be there because that was what they promised each other, leave no man behind. Leave no man behind because we are brothers…

The pain was becoming unbearable and her vision was blurring but she had to press on. Just a bit more. Seulgi could almost hear the sounds of the Pride’s laughter, feel their welcoming embrace and slaps to her back, taste the alcohol that they had so often drunk on cold and tiring nights.

Dark patches formed in her vision, her lips felt dry, and her stab wound was searing. Just a little more… Joohyun’s face came to her mind, the cunning curve of her lover’s lips, those teasing words from , her bold yet soothing touches. Seulgi must live, she must live to see and hear all of those again.

It felt like eternity as she ran, pressed on, blood leaking from between her fingers which was pressed against her wound. The world was truly beginning to spin around her and the Colonel was finding it difficult to orientate herself. She thought she should have reached the mouth of the camping site already. Why did it feel so much further than usual… Seulgi did not know if she was hallucinating or not as she spotted men a distance before her. Was she here already?

Then, she truly smiled when she saw the silhouettes of the four men, her fellow Prides but she failed to reach them as her pain became too agonising and her legs refused to pay heed to her biding. Perhaps this was what she deserved, for taking other people’s lives so easily during the past one year, why shouldn’t her own live be taken too? Karma, she had asked the heavens to punished her and now she would receive judgement. Those were Seulgi’s last thoughts as darkness claimed her.

“There he is! Finally, let’s get on our horses!” Chanyeol instructed, much to the exasperation of Jongin.

He had been worried the entire time while they were waiting and the feelings of anxiousness only became more pronounced as Seulgi failed to turn up past their meeting time. Then the weight on his heart was finally lifted and relief settled in when he saw a running silhouette. The short and skinny stature was unmistakable, it was the Colonel, the others too, also let out the breath they had been holding.

It was when Chanyeol instructed for them to get on their steeds, that Jongin realised that something was amiss. Why was Seulgi running so unsteadily? Then he reacted immediately when he saw the Colonel collapse to the ground.

Jongin got on his horse immediately and rode to where Seulgi had collapsed and laid limply. “Seulgi!” Jongin shouted as he leapt off his horse uncaring