“We’re almost there, probably only another few hours,” Kyungsoo said happily. They’d been traveling for many weeks now and it was beginning to annoying Kyungsoo. Typically, it did not take this long; however, he underestimated how much the added weight of 3 young adults would slow down the horses.

“Wah, really? Finally! It feels like we’ve been traveling forever!” Sehun said as he flopped down on the caravan.

“Because we have,” Kai groaned. “I’m so sick of traveling already.”

“Well, you asked to come,” Kyungsoo shrugged, “But maybe it’s too tiresome for you spoiled kids.”

Kai immediately sat up with a pout and looked around for something to throw at Kyungsoo. After a quick second, he found a small rock and tossed it towards Kyungsoo’s head earning a shrill yelp from the older.

Kyungsoo turned around with fire burning in his eyes as he glared at Kai while rubbing his head, “I should dump you right here and continue on without you.”

“As if you had the balls to do that,” Kai scoffed.

“Halt,” Kyungsoo said while pulling on the reins of the horses.

Kai’s eyes widened and he quickly began to stutter with a comical face, “Yah I- I didn’t mean that. I appreciate everything you’ve done so far. I- Um. I- I think you’re great and-”

Seulgi and Sehun giggled under their breaths while Kyungsoo smirked at Kai as he continued to stutter.

“That’s better,” Kyungsoo said coolly before making the horses continue once more.

Kai sighed in relief before plopping back down where he was before and closing his eyes. He couldn’t wait to get the cave Kyungsoo had mentioned to see the Cephalonian beasts for himself. Granted, there was a small part of him that didn’t believe Kyungsoo, but for the sake of an interesting trip, he hoped it was true.

The rest of the ride was silent, everyone just minded their own business and patiently waited to finally reach their destination.

The road they were taking appeared as if nothing more than abandoned road prints. The road was barely visible and deteriorated to the point of not actually looking like a road anymore. It was still dawn which had come quick and cold. The air was dry, so much that all of them could feel the skin on their lips beginning to crack.

Each person on the caravan was heading to the same place, but inside they were all in very different places, whether or not they were aware of it at the time.

Taeyeon tends to keep to herself. She chimes in on conversations every now and then and gives her unwanted opinion, but typically she’s noticed that no one really listens to her. Kyungsoo is seen as the authority despite Taeyeon technically being older, but she couldn’t really complain because he was a better merchant. Taeyeon made enough to survive, but without Kyungsoo she would definitely not have the equipment or capabilities to travel, so she let him have authority.

She was anticipating finally getting to see these supposed beasts in person. Old fables have described them as being magical and truly beautiful and she was sure they would not disappoint.

Kyungsoo, the natural leader, sat at the head of the caravan leading the built horses and wondering exactly what lay ahead. Somehow, he ended up with a kinda-but-not-really freeloader and 3 royal children from his home Kingdom. Without a doubt, if anyone connected to King Suho or Queen Irene discovered that he was helping the royal heirs instead of turning them in, he’d surely have a bounty on his head. While excited about their journey, and the prospect of getting to know them all, he would be lying if he said there wasn’t a sliver of fear deep-rooted into his brain.

He had not met Queen Irene personally, but one does not need to in order to know of her harsh ways. Years ago, she was known as one of the most elegant and graceful queens, but when her children vanished she went on a rampage. Searching each and every house, even those of the lords, and torturing anyone who seemed even slightly suspicious of knowing where the heirs resided.

Kai, the strong one, had been spending most of his time worrying about what would happen if anything were to go awry. He was fairly confident in his ability to protect everyone here from basic thieves and the likes, but he couldn’t help but feel it was a lot of pressure. As far as he knew, he was the only one really trained in combat. Seulgi was getting better but was not at a point to where Kai could trust her to win any fight she encounters. Sehun was getting better as well, at least at defending himself. He was not competent at offense, but Kai didn’t care. As long as he could stand his own. He had no clue on Kyungsoo and Taeyeon’s fighting ability but assumed they couldn’t because well…they look squishy.

Seulgi, the smart one, was thinking of ways to get out situations they’d inevitably get in. Such as getting rummaged by thieves, getting attacked by wild forest animals, and many more horrific things. Kyungsoo seemed nice but not particularly cunning, Kai was…well dumb but very strong. Sehun…bless him. She will just have to protect him. Taeyeon is someone Seulgi couldn’t read, she wasn’t sure if Taeyeon was just quiet and goofy or aloof and calculating. There was this vibe she got form Taeyeon that she wasn’t as ditzy and useless as she portrayed, almost as if she’s just waiting for the perfect moment to reveal her true self. For now, Seulgi wanted to keep her distance from Taeyeon until she learned more about her.

Sehun, the youngest, was just thinking about how he could be of more use to everyone. He was really looking forward to being a blacksmith, but Kyungsoo told him that would not be for many weeks or even months because there was no guarantee they’d be able to get one to agree to take him on as an apprentice. Even if he did find a mentor, there was no guarantee they would stay in Pagos long enough for that really to be an option. So he was pretty bummed out, but he still had faith he would find ways to be useful before that.

Before long, Kyungsoo could see the cave he remembered and giggled with glee. “We’re here!”

Everyone jumped up from where they were lifelessly sitting and looked onward to where they were headed. They were approaching what appeared to be the entrance of a dark and solemn cave.

“Before we enter the cave there is something I must inform you,” Kyungsoo started while looking back, “We aren’t simply going to enter the cave and see the beasts.”

Seulgi arched a brow and somehow knew there was more to this than what Kyungsoo had initial implied. Just going up to some magical cave where mythical beasts resided didn’t seem to realistic, and even if it was real, that seemed too easy.

“What do you mean?” Kai asked, confused.

“Well… I’m not entirely sure,” Kyungsoo answered sheepishly.

“You…did come here before right? And you saw the beasts yourself?” Seulgi asked.

“Well yes, I think,” Kyungsoo said.

“You think? What does that mean?” Seulgi questioned.

“I don’t remember the exact details you know? Like I remember it being magical, but there is this blank. Like I remember approaching the cave, and then I remember being inside the cave, and I remember seeing these incredible beasts but it was only for a few moments before I was suddenly outside again.”

“That’s incredibly anticlimactic. You made it sound so much more interesting in your overblown stories,” Kai sighed.

“This time will be different, I wouldn’t have bothered if I didn’t feel like this time will be different. It’s going to be great.”

“What makes you say that?” Kai asked.

“Because of you guys,” Kyungsoo said while looking into Kai’s eyes with a creepy grin.

“Um, am I going to have to kill you?” Kai asked while backing away from him.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, “I don’t mean anything malicious like I’m going to trade you over or something, I mean I remember this faint but marvelous voice saying I’m not worthy.”

“Sounds about right,” Seulgi commented earning a glare from Kyungsoo.

“Anyways, after hearing Sehun’s dream I just had this overall feeling that it’s related to this cave.”

“Explain it because I’m finding zero correlation,” Seulgi commanded.

“I am a merchant. I’m a commoner without much real skill or talent. I have no royal blood or anything of the sort. There is nothing about me that would impress the beasts. You guys, on the other hand, are full of extraordinary talents and you have royal blood coursing through your veins. I think maybe they’ll actually pay attention to you, or I’m hoping us, by association,” Kyungsoo explained, slightly hopeful.

“So, you’re looking to use us?” Kai asked.

“Let’s not make it sound so bad, you’re seeing them too and I basically just inflated your ego and I can see it in your face,” Kyungsoo said, arms crossed.

“So you’re saying there are these beasts who knocked you out, took you into their cave, realized you were worthless, then threw you back out?” Seulgi questioned.

“You know sometimes I can’t tell if you’re nice or not,” Kyungsoo said.

“Let’s agree that I can be both. Mostly nice, unless you’re offensively stupid.”

“Fair enough,” Kyungsoo shrugged. “Anyways, I get the skepticism, but I do believe what I experienced last time was true. I did come here. I did see them, but I just didn’t get to do much else. Hopefully, that chang