A riot of deep scarlet and bashful rose tinted colors harmoniously melded together to mark the breaking of a new dawn. This nonpareil glow that transcended the beau ideals of mortal conception bathed a scape of flowery pastures with its soft, heavenly tinge. Footsteps fell on a dirt path that divided this meadow. A pair of feet sauntered with an arrogant disposition while a second pair slavishly trailed behind, burdened by a third person on his back.

This triad of travelers had trekked past tame terrains that behaved with dalliance wherein skipping deers and fat quails made for easy meals. Scarcely had the gilded blade off Myungsoo's back been unsheathed except to claim said meals and break firewood into adequate sizes. Hostility was absent through the vales and plateaus the trio had crossed, but he always treaded with an eye scanning for Sanritem threats or demonic assaults.

On this fourth morning of their journey to Diciar, Dongwoo's thews were no longer a galvanized steel, they were a ruddy corroded metal. His thighs had melted to a slushy compound under Sungyeol's weight. With Myungsoo never once offering his help during their peregrination, he had been yoked with the task of carrying him.

 "Myungsoo, carry him, please?" Dongwoo pleaded as he collapsed with Sungyeol still on his back. On his knees, beads of perspiration swiftly rained down his face to create a small puddle of mud. His eyes winced from the stinging sensation of sweat as he glanced at Myungsoo.

The corners of his mouth pitched up to become a cocky smile, "I told you already, he's a burden."

 "But."

 "You did him a great favor by bringing him this far. Just lay him down there."

 Sungyeol's countenance became a blanched canvas colored by the invisible paints of anguish and despair. Myungsoo's remark had changed him to resemble a gaunt ghoul. "Please, for your god's sake! Don't leave me to die here!" he urged Dongwoo with a squeeze on his wet shoulders.

 "Hold on," quoth Dongwoo with a pant. Then with a deep grunt of effort and a strain in his thighs and back, he got up on his two legs. A gusty exhalation was vented out his mouth and following a short pause, Dongwoo carefully sat Sungyeol on the sward.

 "What are you doing?!" 

"I knew you had it in you," Myungsoo applauded.

 Dongwoo swayed his head as he dropped to his hind. The space between his words were marked by long huffs of air,  "I just wanted to rest a while." With a languid rotation of his head, he met Sungyeol's distraught eyes and patted the grass, "Don't worry, I only need a moment's respite..."

Arms tightly folded, Myungsoo puffed a breath of air. Following a groan that was reminiscent of a panther's quiet growl, he closed the distance between him and Dongwoo. A downward glance was enough to reveal his broken down estate. Dongwoo had passed out.

Myungsoo fumed as his attention redirected itself to Sungyeol. "You are slowing us down. What reward have we in saving your pathetic life? Why should I suffer you?"

Sungyeol's lips quivered. His mouth moved and he seemed to mutter a language, but all Myungsoo heard were dry, wheezing breaths.

Words were stuck in Sungyeol's uvula. With no convincing reason to win Myungsoo's help, he was sure he would be abandoned.

As he unsheathed the sword off his back, Myungsoo remarked with a cool voice, "Your city lies far from here and your guardian is asleep. I'm certain that not even your dying screams would awaken him."

 Sungyeol winced and squealed. Eyes firmly shut with nails dug into his palms, he prepared to die. 

Seconds passed, minutes passed, but no edge had severed his head. He experienced the passing of eternity. Finally braving to open an eye, a golden shimmer flared inches above his bowed head. He screamed, "For your god's sake! Spare my life! Don't kill me!"

 Myungsoo's canine teeth were bared and the veins on his temple stuck out like thick cords. He was angry, seething. His sword, though hungry for blood, would never dare to sink into his sister's tender flesh- even if said sister was a mere phantom. The meddler had appeared to intercede again.

With a curse, Myungsoo addressed the ghost, "Woman! Ought you not be in heaven? Why dabble in mortal affairs?" He grumbled as he replaced the blade in its scabbard. 

 Sungyeol, too busy finding himself alive, paid no heed to Myungsoo's maniacal complaints and instead boldly proclaimed his conversion, "Blessed be your god, Nesher!"

 "Quiet you!"

 ....

Dongwoo was frightened. Eyes were open yet it was as though he was immersed in a nightmare. His whole body floated above a dirt path, constantly rocking up and down. His waist was bound by a mysterious force that squeezed with the awesome strength of an anaconda. A quick crank of his neck revealed it was an arm that coiled around him. With the intention of freeing himself, he jerked his body but the hand only adjusted its position for a more secure grip. 
 
Twisting his head to glance up, he discovered who the hand belonged to. "Myungsoo, why are you carrying me?"

 He answered with a grunt.

Peering to his side, he saw Sungyeol smiling, "After you passed out, he took it upon himself to carry the two of us."

 "Really?!"

 Myungsoo grumbled a curse and refused to look down at the two men that were being carried in his arms as though they were empty luggage.

 "Thank you, frie-" Dongwoo hesitated to finish the word but the feeling of warmth that welled in his heart pushed him to oust it from the tip of his tongue, "friend..." Then he coughed and grasped at Myungsoo's tight grasp, "Can you ease your hold? It's choking me."

In the blink of an eye Dongwoo found himself lying on the dirt, his limbs sprawled in every direction.

 "Good. If you're awake, then you're not as helpless. Get up and walk! I wanted to make it before noon, but alas! This stupid mongrel became sick and expulsed a deluge of vomit! I would've continued running otherwise!"

At first flustered, Dongwoo couldn't help but smile and laugh. After regaining his composure, he caught up with Myungsoo who left him behind after the first chuckle. 

 "Thank you for carrying me, friend."

 Myungsoo rolled his eyes and the two finished their journey hours after night had descended like a black curtain.

........

The length of 160 feet separated Sungyeol from the walls of his city. This rampart that barricaded his country stood over 15 feet in height and was yellow-hued. Its inhabitants were a mixed race of peoples born from the mingling of nations. Over these people, a single house had its standard billowing in the wind. This royal family had ruled since before Oscuridaon's invasion and the lone descendant, a queen, bore the crown with grace and benevolence. She was the sole reason why her kingdom now delighted in times of peace and rest. All her subjects, Sungyeol inclusive, looked to her with a deep admiration. 

Today he came with hands devoid of stolen Sanritem armor but even then he knew his queen would not scorn him. Contrariwise, he knew she would look to him with pity at the sight of his broken leg. Perhaps she would laden him with gifts to console him, he daydreamed.

  In the instant he was plopped to the grass, cutting short his imaginations.

"This is close enough. We will leave you here," Myungsoo grunted.

 "But..." 

 Dongwoo swiftly knelt to check up on him and when he was done he pulled Myungsoo aside and shared with him his yearning to meet more people.

 "Why do you want to meet with strangers? What have they to offer you?"

 "Please? Maybe we can make more friends?"

 Myungsoo narrowed his eyes at the comment. "There is at least one Sanritem emissary dwelling there and I don't want to disclose my existence."

 "What? Have you something to hide?"

 "Oh! I have nothing to hide. They know what I did quite well. Now, let's leave! I can't loiter around here. Didn't you say Nesher gave you a mission? Will you fail to see it through?"

Before Dongwoo had a chance to answer, Myungsoo pulled him by the arm and began walking in the direction they had come from. The two walked some several yards ahead when Sungyeol's voice shot through the quiet night. 

 "He's crying for help," Dongwoo said as he paused and glanced back.

 "Of course he is, he can't exactly walk his way to the gate. Forget him. Someone in the city is bound to answer his pleas."

 "Are you sure? I'll just drop him off inside the wall."

 "No! I thought I told you already."

 Dongwoo grunted in frustration and took matters into his own hands. Why shouldn't he help, he questioned. Myungsoo groaned, insulted him and watched on as Dongwoo carried Sungyeol on his shoulders all the way to the city walls. The large bronze doors of the gate opened and Dongwoo sat Sungyeol against the rampart. He was running back in Myungsoo's direction but suddenly stopped. Suspecting the appearance of a sentry, Myungsoo dropped to the ground and continued to observe Dongwoo. He was approached by a person and then brought inside the city. 

Myungsoo muttered a curse and rubbed his temples. Two choices presented themselves, wait until Dongwoo comes back on his own or bring him out himself. His two hands gathered small tufts of grass in his anger and he pounded the ground with vexation surging through his veins. On his knee, he glared at the stone barricade and uttered more profanity, each word more vulgar than the last. He was fed up. Had Dongwoo not be a necessary guide to Laroo, he would abandon him without a care.

The fleeting vision of his unabashed smile perforated Myungsoo's mind. His digits were busy tugging at his hair and his lips kept on spitting a monologue of imprecations. He questioned Dongwoo's intelligence and ineptitude to carry out a single task. All he had to do was bring Sungyeol closer to the barrier, but he failed. 

With a shooting star flinging itself across the black expanse, Myungsoo sensed, as if by divination, that this night would unfavorably transpire.

Under the same black heaven he puffed out a long breath and stealthily made his way to the rampart, huddling against it until he became one with the shadows. His keen hearing allowed him to eavesdrop on a small chatter of voices, one of which was Dongwoo's. Myungsoo smiled once he heard Dongwoo reject Sungyeol's invitation to stay the night over. He sighed with relief, but the moment was short-lived. His whole body tensed after a distinct thud sounded inside. The unique sound of a body collapsing followed the thud.

 "He's been abducted!" 

 His hand naturally coiled around the hilt of his blade, but he restrained himself. This fiasco was not worth risking the disclosure of his still breathing heart. But he could not be idle. He skulked around the perimeter of the wall until he reached the far south side. He jumped and stabbed his sword in a convenient crack. With the sword now in place he was able to use it as an assist to land him just on top of the rampart.

Before he could retrieve his sword a small shuffle of feet was heard coming from inside the barrier, directly below him. He laid himself flat on the rampart and glanced downwards. It was a little girl that bent to retrieve her ball. He sighed with relief and jumped down the alley, the child observing his every action with aquiline eyes. 

The two stood face to face, with the child just tall enough to reach his knees. There was an aspect to the girl, as if ensorcelled by the wispy smoke of a witch's cauldron. She was silent, only standing in place like a porcelain doll. A streak of moonlight reflected off her eyes and she began to recede.

Was she running away to inform her parents about this stranger? His corded muscles twitched and he placed his hand on the child's shoulder who showed no resistance. 

 "I won't harm you," he whispered, trying his best to make his intonations a gentle sound. "But why are you alone at this late hour?"

 The girl squeezed her ball and averted his gaze as though charged with guilt, "I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to play."

 "Is that so?" Myungsoo chuckled with a hand her downy tresses.

Immediately, her eyes locked with his. "Would you marry me?" the girl replied with a sweet timbre. 

Myungsoo restrained a chuckle and replied with a dubious smile as he knelt on a knee to match her tiny height. "You're still a child, fair maiden."

The girl intertwined her dainty fingers and stared at her pudgy toes as her shyness began to overpower her. "But you're handsome!" she muttered as she twirled her small body so that her long gown danced with every twist. 

 He hushed the girl and answered with another whisper, "Even devils are handsome. But forget that. Now, have you seen a man donning golden armor? He was brought in not too long ago."

The girl nodded and pulled him by the finger, leading him just outside the alley. She pointed to a flat-roofed house not too far off in the distance.

 "Thank you," he said as he ruffled her short hair. "Go to sleep now."

 The child nodded again and as she turned around, Myungsoo stopped her. "Do you want to kiss now?" the girl said with eager, puppy eyes.

 "No, but does your father happen to have a knife lying around? I lost my mines."

The girl smiled and fulfilled his request with alacrity. After some minutes inside her house she came out with a small dagger. Myungsoo thanked the girl with a smile as his eyes clung to the glinting sheen of metal. A short exchange of farewells ensued and he was now free to make his way to Dongwoo.

Nobody else was outside in these midnight hours. Skulking his way to the house in a half-hunched position was a breeze for Myungsoo. Within the span of minutes he was across the indicated house, huddled against the side of another building. Gripping tightly onto the small blade, he scowled and questioned the relative ease of his trespassing. He suspected a trap of sorts.

Even so, his patience was waning and the shimmering steel in his hand inspired murderous fantasies of Oscuridaon dying in a pool of blood. He cursed himself for failing to kill the tyrant when he had the chance. Had he not lost his sanity at the time, he would've at least attempted to kill him.

It was now the time for him to act. His feet glided across the paved street and brought him to the low windowsill of what he assumed was Sungyeol's house. Dongwoo was sleeping atop a a bed of vague color, his armor off and nowhere in sight. Sungyeol was missing, Dongwoo was the only one inside.

Myungsoo fumed and again considered the possibility of a trap. Yet, this grand opportunity of Dongwoo being alone had presented itself. He would be stupid if he waited any longer. He quickly walked around the backside of the home and made his way in through an opened window.

Dongwoo was fast asleep, floating amidst clouds of queer hues within a dream. Myungsoo, however, was fully awake and more than angry. He shook him with a rude force by the shoulders, but his eyes staid shut. Sleep reigned over Dongwoo's body.

 "Stupid fool! You had to let yourself be abducted and now I'm forced to look after you. You even got your weapons and armor stolen." After spitting on the ground, he grabbed hold of Dongwoo and bore him on his shoulder. Then, just as he turned around to head out the very window from which he came, the door made a subtle creaking noise and was opened.

Myungsoo closed his eyes and sighed. 

 "Are you the friend he talked about?" a voice inquired.

Myungsoo smirked as he swung around to meet the person. It was a short woman that carried Dongwoo's belongings in her supple arms. A mop of hair in conjunction with the darkness of the unlit house obscured her face. The moonlight coming from behind the door only vaguely outlined her round features. One thing remained clear, the black of night was not enough to hide her pointed ears. Her hand closed shut the door behind her and she set off Dongwoo's possessions to the side.

The smirk on Myungsoo became a permanent fixture on his face. He abruptly dropped Dongwoo onto the floor and pulled out the dagger he had sheathed on his thigh. Fate had gifted him another Sanritem to kill. Before the woman could react, Myungsoo leapt at her, sending her to crash on the floor with a pained cry.

Mounted on her, Myungsoo bit onto the dagger and used his hand to force her quiet. His eyes were slits and filled with a twisted mirth. He wanted to relish in this moment of sickening ecstasy. Moonlight stole through the window and streaked his dangling hair with silver. He was now afforded the opportunity to study her facial aspects.

 She was a winsome woman of slightly tanned skin with clear eyes, small lips and a beauty mark on her chin. Using his free hand he cleared the strands of hazel-colored hair that were strewn across her plump cheeks. She remained quiet; her eyes were visibly calm. The devil smile on the barbarian's face turned into a grimmace. He hated her unmoving peace. There was no catharsis for him, only a swelling apathy and disdain.

With the hand he used to brush off her hair, he took the blade from his tightly clenched teeth and whipped it in circular motions. "I will kill you now."

The woman stared at her assailant with a cold, detached pair of eyes. Her lips tickled his hand as she mumbled something. With the pointed steel at her gullet, he removed his hand and told her to speak. 

 "I understand your hatred, but don't do this. I am not Oscuridaon."

 Myungsoo smiled, "Of course you're not! He has no s! But that doesn't change anything. You are of the same kind!"

 "No," she said with her soothing tones, "I'm not. I love all of life. Not only the Sanritem, but the Adamah as well."

 "Mines inclusive? I have killed countless people. What's one more to add to my growing list? What's one more Sanritem life, scum?"

 "That won't bring back your sister."

Myungsoo stabbed the dagger into the space beside her head. It pierced through some of the woman's hair, but it was not enough to frighten her. His hands then wrapped around her soft neck with a loose grip and he purposefully increased the severity of his clutch by small increments.

 "Of course it won't. Nothing will."

 "Then why shed my innocent blood? I didn't kill her, nor did I ever  harm any slave."

 "Because it'll satisfy me some, woman!"

 "Will it? But will it bring pleasure to her resting soul?" 

Myungsoo scoffed in disgust. A glance upwards brought him to see a familiar eidolon. He cursed as he scowled at her with the glowing eyes of a wolf.

 "You see her, don't you? You see your sister above my head?"

  was released from his grasp. That calloused hand of his now fancied the luster of keen metal, swiping the dagger from the wooden floor it had pierced.

He chose not to answer, but with a short and suggestive motion, he aimed the small blade just above her chest. 

Suppressing a shriek of horror, she garnered the courage to continue her argument, "Are you able to kill me then?"

 "Of course I can!" His hands betrayed his intentions, however. Although he poured every bit of force into his arm, the dagger failed to puncture her bosom. He cursed and cursed, yet his words were not enough to kill her. Eventually, after several minutes of a sustained poise, he stood up and backed away, his sight glued to his sister's ghost as though she were really there.

While she regained her composure, Myungsoo slung Dongwoo over his shoulder and passed by her to retrieve his belongings. Their gaze failed to cross paths and he was making his way out the window when the woman said, "Stop!"

 Without turning back, Myungsoo made known his reply. "Be happy I let you live! But if Sanritem pursuers come after me, I swear I will find you and kill you after I've slit their necks."

 "Hearken! I know you seek to dethrone the king, but you can't."

 Myungsoo scoffed and whirled his body to confront the short maiden. "I don't seek to dethrone him. I could care less about the throne. I seek to kill him!"

 Her hands at her sides were damp from sweat, in fact her whole body was moist with a fear-induced perspiration. The misty darkness was the only thing that masked her fear, yet with the cause of her dread up close, even that failed to obscure her visible anxiety. Myungsoo was within an inch of her, his head dipping to stare directly into her dilated eyes. Every hot breath of air that went down from his nostrils to tickle her face seemed to mock her. Yet she stood her ground with unrelenting courage.

 "You can't. A single man, even with all his strength can't take down a whole army. You failed once when the opportunity arose, so why would you succeed when the odds are turned against you?"

 He snarled in reply, her words were sharp arrows that pierced his heart. Backing her up against the wall, he used his free hand to clout the space next to her head. In her mind, as she swallowed a ball of spit, he seemed like a dragon out of hell with a reptilian coldness emanating from his eyes. There seemed to be no warmth, no compassion, no sign of humanity in him. Was Oscuridaon that mighty? To not only be a devil, but to turn others into similar monsters?

 "I know. I know. But by my sister's life, I'll have his throat!"

 Her heart racing and a knot in , she ousted a reply, "You can't do it alone."

 His knuckles grinded the crater it had earlier created so that a small cloud of dust was produced. It snuck into her nose and caused her to cough and tear up. Seeing her vulnerable disposition, he lifted her chin and spoke to her with a grim tone, "Alone? I have over a century's worth of hatred to aid me."

 "Just listen to what I have to say..."

 "Why? I'd rather listen to the dying whimpers of a midget whose flimsy members totter with fear."

She scowled at him but remained unmoved otherwise. By now she was able to recognize that the barbarian before her was fully aware of the panic he induced. If she gave in then the bravery she had mustered would all have been for naught.

 "I have an offer. I know I'm not the only Sanritem that opposes the king. Moreover, if you assist this kingdom in something, then you will gain their favor and thus secure their army to help you overthrow Oscuridaon when the time is right. You will gain the nation's favor if you fulfill my petition."

 He scoffed. "What need have I of mongrels? Why should I care about you?"

 "You need us! Please let me explain!"

Amused by her insistent pleas, he smirked and laid Dongwoo on the bed while he took a seat on the edge. "Humor me, woman!"
 
 "We need you to rescue the queen."