When she leaves you hanging...

The sunlight pierced Byul’s eyes with so much intensity it hurt to even have them shut. That blast had hurt her head more than she knew. The steady bumps of the carriage ride no longer shook her, so she could only assume they had stopped at some point. 
The warmth at her feet with a steady rhythm told her Arcadia was there. Byul groaned and tried to sit up, pain shot through her skull like an electric shock and she almost fell back. “I take that as you are awake.” TaeOh’s voice came from somewhere in front of her. 
Byul tried to pry her eyes open, the thought alone hurt but she forced them open. She was in a room, walls made of wood. “Where am I?” She croaked. Something dawned on her and she shot up so fast she almost threw up from the pain, she closed her eyes to keep the pain at bay. “Where is YongSun?” Arcadia had moved from her feet and was now sniffing her face, trying to figure out what was wrong.
She felt TaeOh’s hands on her shoulders. “She is fine, we can go see her in a minute, drink this.” She felt him put the rim of something to , she didn’t question it, she just drank. The liquid was warm and bitter but she swallowed it fast. The throb in her head subsided slightly. “We are back at the Knight.” He said evenly.
Byul whipped her head towards his voice, a bad idea as her head felt like it was about to explode. Byul was still unable to open her eyes. “What?” That couldn’t be possible, even if they pushed the horses as fast as they could it would take them the better part of a week to get there. 
As if knowing exactly what she was thinking, TaeOh explained. “You’ve been out for six days, the blow to your head caused fractures, normally you should have been kept awake, in case you had a concussion.” His voice sounded haunted. “But Blue sent along a doctor, someone with magic.” He paused, letting her take in the information. “He gave us the tonic to keep you asleep to speed the healing.” 
That couldn’t be possible, after the blast she woke up, she caught YongSun and she walked them out of there. “But I was fine.” She could feel the bulk of the pain subsiding a bit more, enough that she felt she could open her eyes a fraction. 
“Adrenaline.” TaeOh was sitting in a chair near her bed. “It was the same thing that kept me going after getting stabbed.” Byul could see the bandages still wrapped around him, under his shirt. “As soon as we all got into the wagon we collapsed, WheeIn and Luna saved us, even if we made it out of that blast ourselves, we would have most likely died, well maybe not YongSun.” 
“And Eric?” Byul remembered him being there. 
TaeOh made some sort of noise in the back of his throat. “I don’t fully trust him, he was raised by his father after all, but he proved himself...for now.” Which means they won’t be sharing a cup of ale any time soon. 
Byul was able to see Arcadia now. She seemed to have gotten even bigger, she didn’t even look like a pup anymore. “How is YongSun?” 
TaeOh sat back in his chair, he didn’t look like he was concerned. “Magical burn out as WheeIn calls it. Basically, whatever happened to her to put her in that state, it took all of her strength.” Byul figured she had probably fully harnessed the power of the Solarous, she wasn’t sure how but that was the only explanation she could come up with. “She is still sleeping, she is in the next room.” Byul moved to get out of bed but TaeOh stopped her. “Give the tonic time to set, or you will only make yourself worse, she is fine, she is in better shape than the rest of us.” 
Byul looked at him, he looked like he was in pain. “Who got hurt?”
He took a breath. “HyeJin.” Byul swallowed bile, TaeOh caught her look. “She is alive, we all are… somehow.” He rubbed his face. “She lost a leg, right above the knee.” He motioned on his own leg. “She is awake but she is still in shock about it, obviously, WheeIn is trying to be strong for them both.”
Byul nodded slowly, they had both known men who had lost a limb or more, it was life-changing, shocking, something you never got over. “She is strong,” Byul said. “She will adapt.” 
TaeOh nodded. “I agree, but for now we have to make sure they have everything they need, they have done so much for all of us since we met, it is time to return the favor.” 
Byul agreed. Silence hung in the air around them, the topic neither of them wanted to bring up was the only thing left unanswered, besides the deaths of JongKook and the King.
TaeOh and Byul had both killed enough men that sadly it wasn’t going to affect them much, but Byul would have to pay special attention to YongSun when she woke up. 
Byul picked at her blanket, Arcadia had settled at her side, sleeping again. “So…” She drew it out. 
“You’re a powerful magic source,” TaeOh said in such a way it had them both laughing slightly. He blew a large breath of air out. “Who knew all this time…”
Byul nodded. “Yeah,” Silence found them again. “Do you think the reason YongSun and I…”
TaeOh held up a hand. “No, I don’t think that is the reason you and YongSun are drawn to each other, I think it only means you will be a force to be reckoned with.” 
Byul managed a smile. “I hope you are right.” She wasn’t completely reassured, they were born to work together, it was more than a coincidence they ended up together.
He crossed his arms in a big brother kind of way that made her want to hug him and slap him at the same time. “I am.” 
Byul rolled her eyes, she slid to the edge of the bed and TaeOh helped her stand. Her head was still smashing, vision throbbing with the pain but she could move, it was a really good tonic. As soon as she stood she wrapped her arms around TaeOh and pulled him close, her forehead resting against his chest. She felt something deep in her body settle, some form of relief, like it, was all over, they were together and everything was fine… for now. “I am glad you’re okay.” She said barely above a whisper. 
TaeOh pressed his face into her hair. “We all are.” And with those words Byul started to cry, she couldn’t help it, all those months of being on edge, just waiting for one of them to die. It was like she was back in the war, waiting for another message about a fallen comrade, but the battle was over and they were all alive. They must have used up all of their luck in the process.
She felt TaeOh squeeze her tighter and felt his tears slide down her head. They stayed there for a long moment, just being comforted by each other.
They pulled back and laughed, mostly as relief but also at each other. “Can I go see YongSun now?” She asked, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. 
TaeOh wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him. “Let’s go see your girl.” 

YongSun was indeed still asleep. TaeOh leaned against the doorframe, that was his way of giving them space while making sure Byul didn’t hurt herself. Byul sat down in the chair next to the bed, the one whoever was taking care of her sat in. She leaned in and moved a long strand of her hair off of her face. She looked peaceful which was comforting. Byul couldn’t help but flashback to the waves of what looked like pure light covering her whole body, her eyes of light as they burned the King from the inside out, it was terrifying yet empowering. Byul would have to make sure she was there for YongSun when she woke up, there was a specific trauma when you took another life, deserved or not. 
Byul just looked at her for a long time, drinking in the fact that she was there, relatively unharmed. They were both safe again. “How long do they think she will be asleep for?” She cast the question to TaeOh without looking away from YongSun.
She heard him shift. “Ernesto said it could be a few more days, no one really knows how deep her well of power is, it is different for every Solarous.” 
Byul YongSun’s cheek. “Wake up soon.” She whispered in her ear. “I’m waiting for you.” She kissed her temple, then turned to TaeOh. “I want to go see HyeJin and WheeIn.” TaeOh helped her up, Arcadia flanked her side, seemingly determined to not leave her alone. She didn’t want to leave YongSun so soon but if she was going to be out for a while then Byul needed to check on the others. 

To Byul’s relief, WheeIn was at HyeJin’s house instead of the other way around. Byul had a lot of questions for SoMin but she wasn’t ready to ask them yet. WheeIn answered the door on the fir