Was it possible to have two minds inside one body? Suho felt like he was fighting to stay within his skin even as a sharp pain in his chest increased unbearably. He felt like his lungs were about to explode and his consciousness flickered in and out. He tried to fly but his right wing refused to move and the broken bone twisted at an odd angle leading to blinding pain so bad that he mercifully passed out.

---

“SUHO! SUHO!” Jongin can hear Xiumin calling for his missing brother in the distance. But the placid river continued in its journey with no sign of the havoc it was about to cause less than an hour ago. He could see Sehun frantically wading through sludge along with his own brother.

He teleported here and there but with no idea of where to search, he knew he was not effective.

“JONGIN!”

Jongin heard Xiumin’s call and instantly teleported next to the eldest Northern prince.

“We can’t find him like this. I am going to call Empress Heywa my step mother and… Suho’s mother for help. Ask our brothers to stay well out of the path of the river.”

Jongin nodded and in an instant teleported to Tao and Sehun and took them once again to the hill top. Then he did the same for Xiumin, who then proceeded to chant a spell. Instantly, the river swelled into a mighty wave and crashed on the banks, receding back in an instant leaving behind a beautiful and tall women wearing the most exquisite of white silk. She looked up at Xiumin and with a smile, walked towards him.

The three princes rushed to her side and Sehun, urgently explained what had happened.

“Hyung is missing, please help us find him.”

She sighed and said, “my wayward son seems to be unable to stay out of trouble. Hum… let me see.”

She closed her eyes and let her mind search through the veins of the river. The deepest parts of a river hide so much from the surface, but for the Empress who lorded over water, there was nothing she can’t see. There under a crevice in the deepest part of the river, she found her son.

“There! Just below the cliff on the far left…”

She summoned a gentle current, which rolled Suho’s inert form from under the rocks and gently pushed him to the shores. Sehun was the first to run down the hill towards Suho but Jongin just teleported to the unmoving dragon first.

The dragon had silver skin covered in diamond scales that shone in the dawning Sun’s rays. The glorious translucent pearl wings that easily spanned across the space of a huge palace lay inert on his sides, one wing was twisted in an odd angle. The long majestic neck led to a majestic face that to Jongin’s worry lay unmoving and eyes closed.

“SUHO! SUHO! Wakeup!” Jongin shook the inter figure but there was no movement.

“Tsk… what a shame!” The empresses knelt down next to her son.

“The son of the Northern empress and ruler of all the waters in the world cannot swim!” She berated. Then she held her hand towards Suho neck. Her hand glowed and out came a stream of water coughed out by the dragon.

Jongin reached out to pat the dragon in comfort but the empress pulled him back just in time before the dragon thrashed violently and let out a terrible roar.

“That my prince was close. My son is nothing more than a beast right now. It would do us both good to stay clear.” She pulled him back further away even as the dragon’s body shuddered in pain.

“Suho hyung!” Sehun, Tao and Xiumin finally descended from the hill and landed next to Jongin.

“Sehun, as mannerless as always! Greet your elder first child.”

Sehun turned around confused, as if for the first time he realized the presence of the empress. He then smirked and did a mockery of a bow and said, “Greetings my empress, hope I have your permission to attend to my hyung now.”

“Sehun! That’s enough” Xiumin scolded his brother and then turned to his step mother. “Greetings second mother. Thank you for heading my call. If not for you, Suho would probably be dead.”

“Oh, let’s not be formal here. I am responsible for my son aren’t I? Anyway, I am no use here anymore and I have to return to court. He won’t turn any time soon which does not bode well for the villages nearby. I will cage him temporarily for now. The rest is up to you and that brat.”

She looked at the dragon still thrashing and struggling in the muddy banks of the river. Then she chanted a spell which created a shimmering barrier of water roughly fifty meters around the dragon.

“Prince Jongin, I must apologize for the havoc my son is causing in your kingdom. I would like to talk to your father now, please lead the way.”

Jongin was too stunned by what was happening in front of him. Suho saved the capital city and his mother was apologizing? His heart gave a painful twist.

“If I may empress, my brother probably is of more help here. I would like to have the honor of escorting you to my father please.” Jongin was never more thankful for his observant brother.

“Ah, such a polite child. Lead the way prince.”

---

“Prince Jongin?”

Jongin turned still confused towards Xiumin.

“She… she left him?” To Jongin, whose mother fussed over him for the slighted of stomach aches, what he saw of Suho’s mother made no sense.

Xiumin shifted uncomfortably.

“You must understand. Suho… Suho never grew up with his mother. In fact his inability to survive in his mother’s dominion had led to a lot of gossip about the empress’s virtue. And in time, I believe they both dissociated from each other so much so that, she is more a mother to me than she ever was to Suho. It’s… complicated.”

Jongin nodded but did not grasp everything Xiumin implied.

“You must return though Prince Jongin. There is nothing you can do now for Suho. Sehun and I will stay here watching over Suho.”

Jongin’s mind was buzzing. He looked at the struggling dragon and his heart squeezed. The pained moans and chocking wheezing noise it made tore through the early morning quiet. The dragon kept trying to get up only to crashing in pain again and again. Blood splashed every time it thrashed its tail, possibly from an injury.

“No! I am not going anywhere.”

“Prince Jongin, there is nothing you can do here. Sehun and I will take care of him.”

“NO! NO! I am not leaving him again.” Jongin’s voice cracked.

“Jongin hey, it’s alright. Suho… Suho will be okay. I have seen this before. Trust me, Sehun is the only one who can help him now and he will bring Suho back.”

“NO! I… I need to be here. I don’t know why, but I must.”

“Prince Jongin…. He… he won’t know. The dragon doesn’t know anyone except Sehun.”

Something broke in Jongin. His eyes welled in uncontrollable sadness and his heart shuddered in fear. He did not understand himself but one thing he was sure of was that he wanted to be there with the brothers, even though one of them was lost at the moment. Xiumin, threw an arm around him in comfort his own eyes watering as the pained whimpers from the dragon increased. The only other sound was Sehun’s low voice singing softly.

“In the fair lands beyond the sea

There is fire warming your home

So you must find a way

Find a way back to us your home.

If you can’t see the way

Fear not for I am here to lead

If you can’t hear the wind

Fear not I will whisper a song

Follow the pine trees to the North

There is corn your clan has grown

Painting the land in Gold

So, find a way back to us your home.