Note: as with the monster chapter, there's violence. I'd say more than that chapter, so once again, if you're uncomfortable with that, then you can skim over that section. 

______

“I think I’ll be able to walk on my own,” Jungeun said. She hoped she didn’t sound frustrated. Jinsoul didn’t deserve that. 

The thought made her stomach twist. There were a lot of things Jinsoul deserved, most of which Jungeun either couldn’t give, or had failed to do. 

Jinsoul’s reply took her out of her thoughts. “If a spirit catches you out there alone, you won’t be able to fight it.” She gave her a pointed look before she slipped a label on one of the many bottles in front of her. She was reorganising the potions and elixirs. Jungeun had watched her work a few times before, but she was always impressed at everything Jinsoul was able to remember. 

“Then I’ll go during the day.” She’d be tired, but at least the chance of getting in the way of a spirit was small. 

Jinsoul still didn’t look happy. 

“I have to something, ‘Soul,” she told her. “If sitting around and sleeping is all I’m doing, I’m useless.”

Jinsoul’s brow twitched. “Don’t say that.”

Jungeun could tell they were heading to a different, and difficult, subject. “It’ll be fine.” She reached out and poked her arm. “You can even coat an axe in light for me if you need to be sure of that.”

Behind Jinsoul, two people came over. 

“We can go with her,” a deeper voice said. 

The frown on Jinsoul’s face softened. Then she turned her head. 

Shuhua and Yuqi were at her side then. They usually went along with either Yeojin, Yerim, or a few others. Yuqi was preparing for patrol, while Shuhua was torn between pure patrol or going to join Soyeon. She led another group elsewhere in the world. 

“Then she’ll have enough moonlight and no spirits’ll get close,” Yuqi explained, her silver eyes bright. 

Jungeun had to smile. These two were some of the first Astra to really get Yerim to open up. That’d involved sneaking out. It still did. The two girls and the others they were close with were often the subject of scolding and close watch. 

And now they’d been eavesdropping, this time interfering to help Jungeun’s case. 

Jinsoul pursed her lips. “If you go right now and you’re back before dinner.”

The two nodded. Yuqi sent a wink at Jungeun, while Shuhua had a smug smile. 

Jungeun replied with a small bow. “I’ll make sure they’re back,” she grinned at her, “don’t worry.”

After getting a list from Jinsoul, Nuala, and a few of the other healers, Jungeun left the tent. 

It’d been impossible to miss the furrow that hadn’t left a certain healer’s brow. 

Jungeun knew Jinsoul would worry. She always did. She’d always wished she could tell her there was no point to it. Jungeun had been through a lot worse in the past. 

But if it were flipped, if Jungeun had seen Jinsoul come home wounded several times, if she’d had to heal those wounds, then she’d be scared of watching her leave too. 

Only this was different. She’d be with other people. These were also people she couldn’t protect if they did come across spirits. If there was anything that went wrong here, Jungeun would get them out of harm’s way immediately. They wouldn’t be looking for a fight. 

_____

Olivia slumped into the chair. Rai sat down beside her. If she asked him to stay, the wolf would. Even if there were others around. 

And the witch had been eager to see a spirit that wouldn’t flee or attack her. 

“You found it in Europe?” Doyeon gazed at it, something close to wonder on her face. 

“Him,” she corrected. “Yes.”

“And it—he followed you.”

Olivia just nodded. Even days after, seeing Chuu had somehow exhausted her. She still wished she could’ve turned around and faced her. Another part had wanted to talk to her. When she’d gotten home, she’d wanted nothing more than to forget it had happened. 

So she’d taken any targets she could from Doyeon’s scrying. If she’d been wanting to hide, she wasn’t succeeding. 

“Your fates must be tied then,” Doyeon said. 

Olivia frowned. “And suddenly you’re a seer?”

She raised a brow. “I don’t have to be one to make a small logical leap.” She waved a hand towards Rai, who was watching her intently. Olivia was grateful not to have those green eyes directed at her. “The spirits don’t usually track people down, right? And they don’t exactly act like the animals they represent, so it wasn’t stalking after you.”

Olivia shrugged. 

Doyeon sniffed. “Why else would he travel across continents if not because he was tied to you?”

“I turned him.” 

“If that was how it worked, then you’d have a lot of animals around you.”

“Good that it’s just one then,” Olivia muttered. 

“Has this ever happened before?” Doyeon looked hesitant. How much she knew of what happened, Olivia didn’t know. At least the witch knew not to ask. 

“Only heard of it once,” she replied. “Jiwoo had—” she broke off. Then she forced herself to keep going. She was weak if she couldn’t even talk about them. “She had a spirit that’d come to her when she was young. Then it stopped at some point. Probably turned.”

Doyeon nodded. “I’m guessing I can’t ask her that the next time I see them?”

Olivia squinted at her. “What do you think?”

She shrugged. “Just a question. They haven’t asked much about you, but I did see some others.”

Her heart almost stopped. “Others?” She looked around the house. No darkness, except for her own. And just the light of Chuu and the others, even Jungeun, but she hadn’t been here in a few weeks. 

If she looked further, there’d been some humans, the newborn vampires, one older vampire, and a werewolf. And then two other presences, one vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place the face. 

“Who?” Olivia stood. If they were close, maybe they were just waiting for her to leave. Or they’d found her new home and were waiting there. 

“An elf and a fairy,” Doyeon said, looking mostly confused. “None of them had any of those mental abilities, or they wouldn’t have asked me the things they did.”

“What did they ask?” Thanks to having more to do with people, Olivia’s voice had gradually become a bit less hoarse. 

“What you were doing here. What I was giving you for it,” Doyeon shrugged, “and if I’d seen any other elves.”

“Did you tell them?” Olivia thought of how Taegen. Had immediately tried to go after Jungeun and Yerim. 

And if these two were waiting to find Chuu and the other two—was she supposed to hope they would? A part of her thought she should. 

The other part felt disgusted at herself. She didn’t want them dead. She wanted a lot to happen, but not that. 

“I mean, yeah,” Doyeon said. “You always knew if the rest were here, so I couldn’t risk them knowing the rest. And lying like that doesn’t help with your people or the elves.” She frowned. “And I don’t even know where the lunar elves are. All of you only ever come here.” 

“Where’re they now?” Olivia asked. 

Doyeon looked confused. “Why do you care?” Then she frowned. “Are they dangerous?” Surprisingly, she started to look worried. 

“Think about what happened to the nobleman. And his guards.” 

Immediately, the witch stood. “Give me an hour. And space.”

Olivia was surprised that she cared. Then again, mortals formed relationships a lot faster than they did. And those ties weren’t any less valuable than what immortals had. Sometimes, she thought they were even more so. Parents were much more conscious of the time spent with their children, and vice versa, as those children grew. Olivia still wished she'd been more conscious of the time she'd had with hers. She wished she'd treasured the years she'd lived with them—not after she'd lost them. 

She nodded and left. She kept her eye on the darkness of the day. Other than a few small surges—lies or petty thieving—there was nothing. This town had largely good people. Few who’d even be capable of killing. 

As she went to do her rounds for food, she thought about why she was worried. The Astra didn’t deserve her worry. They barely deserved Doyeon’s. 

Flashes of death filled her mind. A man whose heart was taken from him. Several men taken from their families. Faces followed. Yerim, Yeojin, Heejin, Haseul—and others. Even those three. She didn’t want to be the reason why green eyes filled with fear. 

Was it weakness that made her worry? The weakness that showed her she hadn’t been able to go? 

Olivia shook her head. She needed to get food for the next few days. Then she’d see what Doyeon had found. 

And after that, she’d decide what she needed to do next. 

______

“So what’re we looking for?” Shuhua asked. 

Jungeun chuckled. “You’ve never been sent gathering before?” 

“She managed to get out of it every time,” Yuqi told her. 

“With your help?” 

“Soojin’s,” she smirked, “before she left.” 

Jungeun could feel how the amusement warmed her heart. Dahyun had been right there. “Well, it’s really simple. We just have to get everything they asked us for. Yerim made different areas for all of it and I’ll tell you which ones we need.” 

The other two seemed excited, clearly not phased by the fact that they were just harvesting ingredients. 

Jungeun soon found out why. They eagerly asked her about her patrols and what she did. They even asked about her time before the Astra, what she did there. 

Jungeun was torn between telling them the full truth, because they’d heard the same stories as everyone else, and describing other aspects of her life. Contrary to belief, she hadn’t constantly been at war. 

So she told them about her smaller adventures to different parts of the world, sometimes being chased away by mortals who'd found her appearance strange, other times being allowed to stay with an entire coven of vampires. 

“Yeojin’s getting trained by Haseul,” Shuhua said after Jungeun described going to a group of elves in one of the world’s deserts. That'd been for her own training. “Yuol gives us monthly sessions, but that’s nothing.” 

“Have you asked Hyunjin?” For better or worse, she’d been training Heejin. It’d be better if she started training the others too. If they actually recognised she was good at what she did. 

“We want to,” Yuqi frowned for the first time, “but she looked like she was having a bad day.” A pause. “Every time we wanted to go to her.”

“I can ask her when she’s better,” Jungeun said. She let that sink in. “And when I’m healed, you’ll have a weekly one with me.” 

“Both of you?” Shuhua’s eyes widened. 

She stopped them at the second patch. Then she directed them to picking the herbs for bringing people into a gentle daze. 

“I didn’t stop with one teacher,” Jungeun said. “Hyunjin didn’t either.” 

“And how long did that take?” 

“Years,” she admitted. “Forever if you ask the wrong person.” 

As they finished that segment, Jungeun told them about one of her other teachers. A fairy with the same ability as her. He’d managed to change the colour of his flames at will. Not just related to the heat of the flame. 

And he’d also showed her how to add a degree of weight to the flames she made. The speed of the flames and how close she packed it’s components together achieved that. She didn’t know how, only the way to do it. 

“And he just showed you?” Shuhua frowned. “An elf.”

Jungeun nodded. “Not everyone makes that big a distinction. And there was a lot he didn’t show me. I would’ve had to be there for at least a decade.” 

“How long were you there?” 

“Five years.” And she’d come back with a better perspective. One that had both told her how much stronger fairies could be than them. But also how wise they could be. It made sense that any splinter groups were quickly dismissed by the rest. A lot of the fae just wanted to further their magic, not use it against people. 

That made the fairies great allies, but the worst type of enemy. She’d almost died several times at the hands of a fairy. 

“Was that Railanth?” a new voice asked. Worsa—elves from the mountains. The most revered magic from there was mastery over stone and earth. 

Jungeun whipped around to where the voice came from. The movement didn’t hurt. She might’ve not had the light, but she wasn’t that weak. 

“Who’s asking?” She couldn’t see them. Illusion magic. As useful as it was, she hated that magic.  

Both Yuqi and Shuhua had summoned moonlight. Yuqi sported a spear. Shuhua had a wickedly curved sword. 

Jungeun had only a steel axe. It would do a lot of damage. If she could see them. 

“Put those away,” another voice said. The accent gave him away. A fairy. The tone seemed to circle the words he said, rather than following a proper line of speech. Jungeun recognised the voice too. She wasn’t sure if she liked the memories attached to it. 

“We’re not here to fight," the Worsan said. "I can promise you that.”

Jungeun hated the phrasing. It meant they could still hurt them. 

“Drop the illusions first.” Jungeun resisted the urge to send out a wide flame. It would do what she wanted to do without all the taking. 

Suddenly, the two people were there. A bright light above them appeared then. They didn't have a torch. Jungeun would've sensed that.

The light, as well as that of Yuqi and Shuhua, revealed their features.

The first was a tall woman with a warm smile and pale blue eyes. Her hair was white as snow. 

The other was a man with ears slightly longer than hers. The fairy. He had dark green eyes and brown hair. Jungeun remembered choking on dirt. She remembered clawing at the earth, the desperation having sent her into a panic. 

“What’re you doing here?” Jungeun scowled. That'd been years ago. She was older now. Stronger too. 

He raised his hands up. “We parted on good terms. You better than I, I’m sure.” 

It wasn’t true. The battle had been broken when Jungeun’s side had called for a retreat. Too many had been badly wounded. 

Jungeun had been dragged under the earth. She’d burned it and gotten out. Then he’d been gone. 

After that, they’d managed to get a truce. 

But now he was here. With an elf. 

“Go back,” Jungeun muttered. 

Yuqi shook her head. Shuhua looked just as defiant. 

“No need for that,” the elf said. “We just came here to speak to you.” She smiled at the other two. “And we could add you there too.” 

“For what?” Yuqi frowned. “How’d you find us?” 

“We dropped the illusions, lose the weapons.” The fairy fixed his eyes on them. 

Jungeun wanted to fight him then and there. She remembered the look in his eyes when he’d wrapped her in dirt and started crushing her. She didn’t want him anywhere near the camp. Especially not Yerim. He was exactly the person she didn’t want to become. 

But they had revealed themselves, even though they'd had the advantage. Jungeun had almost always been able to detect those illusions. This time she hadn't. That fact alone made Jungeun’s stomach twist. What if they’d attacked then? What if Yuqi or Shuhua had gotten hurt?

They hadn’t. So that meant they weren’t lying. Not right now at least. 

Jungeun slid the axe into the loop at her waist. On the other side was her sword. While she hadn’t expected anyone to be there, she hadn’t gone out defenceless. 

It also wasn’t a new thing for people to come after her. Either as assassins shrouded in illusion, or ambushes. Many wanted to remove her as a threat entirely. Others wanted to take their revenge for what she’d done. And the list of people whose lives she'd stolen was long. 

So what did these two want? 

Shuhua and Yuqi had both absorbed their weapons. They’d summoned them quickly in the first place. That was good. 

Jungeun just hoped they’d run if things got messy. They'd come with her to fend off spirits. They weren't ready for elves, let alone fairies. 

“Good,” the elf smiled, “my name’s Hanna.” 

“I’m Maven.” The fairy looked to Jungeun. “No need to say your name, your reputation’s a bit more widespread than mine.”

Jungeun looked to Yuqi, hoping that neither she, nor Shuhua wouldn’t give their names. Certain witches could achieve a few things with names. Like tracking. Was that how they’d found her? 

“Why're you here?” Yuqi looked very different to the cheerful girl she usually was. 

“We’re making you an offer,” Maven said. “Like the one we got.” He looked between them. “Freedom.”

Jungeun snorted. “You can take that offer back.” 

“Do you think you’re free?” Hanna spoke as if she sympathised with her. As if she was the one who knew the right answer and was convinced Jungeun was wrong. 

It reminded her of how the Astra had been in the beginning. How some of the elders had been in Jungeun’s old clan. 

It made her angry. 

"Freedom's difficult to offer," Jungeun replied. "I live with people who can tell me my future and my past, so don't pretend either of you can escape those things, because you can’t.” And even if your decisions could change your path, they never changed what had already happened. 

“So you believe what the seers tell you?” Maven scoffed. “Even if they expelled people who they said were family?” 

That told her exactly who these two followed. Why had they come here before Hyejoo? 

Or, Jungeun’s stomach twisted at the thought, had they already found her? 

“Those were the judgements made about the future," Jungeun said. "They were wrong.” 

Neither of them responded. Maven looked vaguely insulted. Hanna just contemplative. 

“So you’re here for what,” Jungeun started, “recruit me? Recruit these two?” 

“You,” Hanna nodded, “and these two if they’d like to.” 

Shuhua scoffed. “And leave my family?” 

Jungeun brushed her fingers on her arm. If these two were going to get away unharmed, they couldn’t antagonise themselves. 

“She’s right, you can take that offer right back.” Yuqi sneered. 

Maven scowled. “You won’t even question it.” He glanced at Hanna. “He was right.” 

“Alluin?” Jungeun raised her brow. “The one who makes you steal from the defenceless? Kill them too if the money is right?” 

“They’re all guilty,” Maven snarled. “They steal from each other. They plot against each other, sending others to their deaths.”

So she’d hit a nerve. Jungeun knew that feeling well. It meant a part of him doubted what they did. And the potential to be ashamed made him defensive. 

And if he was defensive, he’d get violent. 

She still had two people with her. People who weren’t supposed to get hurt. 

“Go back,” Jungeun said to them. 

“Not happening,” Yuqi retorted. 

“Yes,” she snapped. “You’re not siding with them.” 

Their eyes widened. “Are you?” 

That hadn’t been what she’d wanted out of this. But what if it got her what she wanted? 

“Just go,” Jungeun said. If they thought she was turning on them, they'd turn their backs on her faster. They'd leave faster. 

She watched the light dim ever so slightly in their eyes. 

She made a promise to herself that she’d convince them she was lying. 

“Leave.” She let her anger show. She knew that look surprised people. 

And it did now. Shuhua and Yuqi looked at her, betrayed. 

Jungeun nearly looked away. She hadn’t given them a reason to doubt her. Or had it always been there? In the beginning, many had doubted her loyalty to the Astra. She wasn't sure what they said now. She'd stopped listening. 

“Go home.” 

“I can’t believe this,” Yuqi whispered. 

“Believe it,” Shuhua hissed. She gave Jungeun a withering look. 

She didn't let herself flinch, even if seeing that hurt. There were some times when she couldn't lie. That was with the people who knew her best. 

Here, she could lie and put on the right mask. Even then, it hurt to watch them go. 

“They didn’t try to convince you,” Hanna said softly. “He said they wouldn’t.” 

And there it was. She was seeing the hope for them. That they’d turn her against the Astra. 

Jinsoul would never go. And if they were on opposite sides, Jungeun would rather fight her own allies than hurt her. 

But she’d never be on the other side in the first place. To oppose Yerim, Haseul, Hyunjin, Jiwoo, or even Yves—she wouldn’t do it. 

Hanna was watching her. She thought she was considering it. 

Alluin seemed to think that just because they shared a few aspects of their past, that Jungeun would turn on the Astra as well. 

“My magic isn’t exactly fit for assassinations.” It was Jungeun who’d had assassins sent after her. They’d never worked, even if they’d come close. 

She listened for the two’s footsteps. They were quick. Someone was muttering their disbelief. Another was sniffling. 

“He won’t ask you to murder anyone,” Hanna replied. 

“Then what‘ll I have to do?” Jungeun narrowed her eyes. “Olivia didn’t want to kill him. And he sent her to do it.” She didn’t use Hyejoo’s real name. Did they know what it was? 

“Taegen had to clean up her mess,” Maven said. The ground trembled. “He was going to bring her back. She wouldn’t have had any more jobs like that. And then she killed him.“

The anger there. It also showed in Hanna’s face. 

If Jungeun could do one thing, she could tell them turn some of their attention away from Hyejoo. Would they believe it? If it was as quickly as the other two, then they would. 

“No she didn’t.” Jungeun thought of how he would’ve come for them. How Yerim had sensed his desire to kill them. She thought of what he’d done to those mortals. How he’d killed the ones who’d just defended the target. “I did.” She couldn’t hear Shuhua or Yuqi anymore. 

Both were silent. Both looked surprised. Had they known him for a long time? Had they known how cruel he could be? 

“He wanted me and another dead,” she said. “He attacked. I killed him.” She left out what happened in between. She let her face stay calm, dismissive even. If it enraged them, then she'd have succeeded. 

“You’re lying,” Hanna said slowly. “There were no flames on his body.”

So it’d gone to them. Not the fae. 

“I didn’t need them.” Jungeun placed a hand on the hilt of her sword. “And I used what I could.” 

“He had her darkness too.” Maven narrowed his eyes. 

“She couldn’t go through with it,” Jungeun met his eyes, “I could.” She put on a smile.

The ground below her softened. Jungeun stamped out the panic she felt. Fire bloomed from her hands. 

“Wait,” Hanna held her hand up, “he told us your kind would never be treated as equals.” Her gaze softened. “Just like he was less than them, because he was meant for something else.” 

So Alluin really did want to recruit her? Turn her against all the people she’d know for years? 

But did he really think words would convince her? Did these two actually think it would work? 

Or was it just a way to try? And if she said no, they would kill her. 

“Why me?” She reached for the flames, let them warm her skin. The heat came easily. She realised then she wanted a fight. 

“You’re their best,” Hanna said slowly. 

There it was. She was the threat they needed gone. Either with them, or dead. 

And if that’s what they thought, then all the Astra would need to win was the help of their allies. If Alluin thought they’d be able to attack if Jungeun wasn’t there, then they were being underestimated. Once their wounded healed, the Astra would be able to hold their own. 

Jungeun opened just as she pulled out the axe. Flames shot from her lips and towards Maven. She made them form a whip.

The ground gave out from under her. She heard a roar in the next moment. She’d gotten him. 

She scrambled to reach the earth that was intact. She pulled on the fire she’d wrapped around Maven. 

She saw him try to rip it off, before tearing his hands away. 

She sent out an arc of blue fire. 

Hanna dodged it, but Maven was too late. The fire struck caught his chest and neck. The sound that left him made Jungeun want to call the fire back. 

The light that hovered in the air disappeared. 

She scrambled to her feet, looking to where Hanna had gone. She saw her several metres away, her white hair and bright eyes giving her away, even in the faint moonlight. 

Jungeun let the axe sink and threw the flames in a large wall. The fire illuminated the forest around them, casting long shadows. 

Then Hanna lifted her hands. Frost entered the air. It made for a white canopy. 

The fire engulfed the surrounding trees, but Hanna emerged from frost, unharmed. 

She controlled ice. 

Jungeun had fought against it enough to know how dangerous that was. She didn't have moonlight and there was a chance she'd lose the fire in this fight. It was good she'd trained enough to not need her magic. 

So she ran towards her. Range didn’t matter here. For neither of them. And now they both had enough light to see, cast by the fires Jungeun had caused. 

She threw fire in a direct spurt. She watched her dodge. Then she threw the axe. 

The shriek told her she’d hit her target. 

And then something drove itself into her chest. Suddenly, Jungeun's body was filled with ice. 

Jungeun stumbled. She scrambled to get a grip on the now frozen ground. She tried to take out what had hit her. She found nothing. It'd melted. 

But the wounds were still there. Jungeun couldn’t breathe without agony bursting through her chest. 

She forced herself to look up. 

Hanna was on the ground, the axe protruding from her shoulder. She pulled it out, face contorted in pain. 

Jungeun forced fire to leave her hands. She missed. 

Hanna’s eyes locked on her. The firelight made her look gaunt. 

Something formed within Jungeun's lungs. Frost. It grew. 

Jungeun’s gasp turned into a scream. She forced fire to enter her lungs. She only managed small flames. Something was stopping her. 

Then something began to curl around her. It made a light crumbling sound. Earth. 

Jungeun tried to move, but her arms were being held down. And the pain that hadn’t let up wasn’t letting her force her way out. 

She heard someone dragging themselves over. 

“Told you,” Maven coughed, “we should’ve killed her then and there.” His voice was joined by the roar of the flames. 

The earth had reached her chest. Would it go into her lungs as well? Her body could take a lot, but everyone could die. Even immortals. 

It took several moments. Then the response came. “He told us to try.”

The cold in Jungeun’s lungs grew. If she breathed in, it stung. 

Maven appeared in her line of sight, one blurred by tears. She still saw that his skin had been marred by fire. He looked to be in as much pain as she was. 

“How much like fire are you?” he leered. “Do you snuff out once there’s no air?” 

She tried to summon flames. It yanked at her lungs, but she managed a spurt of it. It was pathetic, but Maven flinched away. At least she’d made him afraid. 

Then he drew out a black dagger. It didn’t glitter. It looked as though it had been carved out of the night sky. 

Then he sank it into her chest. Just like how she’d killed Taegan. This was his revenge. 

Both cold and heat filled her. She’d never been burned, but this came close.

She opened , but no sound came out, only sputtering. Red frost passed her lips. 

“Good fight,” he rasped. “But you shouldn’t have left me there.”

Jungeun could feel the darkness sink into her. It reached into her mind. 

And she saw the faces of those she’d killed. The ones she burned alive. The ones who’d killed her mother. 

The rage of that day filled her. It was joined with her grief, as fresh as the moment she’d heard the news—when she’d seen her mother’s body. 

She remembered how good it had felt to see them suffer as much as she had. She remembered how horrified she’d been when she’d seen the aftermath.

Maven twisted the knife. Blood was filling her lungs, but she realised then that he'd missed her heart. 

The way his eyes were fixed on Jungeun’s, she saw how much he enjoyed this. Had Taegen meant so much to him? 

Jungeun’s ears filled with the frantic pounding of her heart. She could only feel the heat of a fury that wasn’t hers. She felt Alluin’s pain—was this from the moment he’d been turned away? 

Then a white blade buried itself in Maven’s shoulder. 

He let go of the darkness in Jungeun’s chest. He ripped the blade of moonlight out of his arm. 

It wasn’t Jungeun’s. 

She looked to where it had come from. 

Shuhua’s face was something she hardly recognised. Fully determined, eyes burning with anger. She held her sword. Then she charged. 

The ground gave out from under her, swallowing first her legs. She collapsed, the ground trying to pull her down further. 

If Maven was still strong enough to fight, then he’d do everything he could to kill Shuhua. Be it through the darkness or the stories, he shared Alluin’s hatred for the Astra. 

Jungeun felt a startling clarity then. She found the fire she’d missed. 

And it erupted from her skin and into the air and soil. Unrestrained, her magic felt so good. 

She pushed herself from the earth, her skin aflame. She directed the fire straight at Maven. 

She turned away, only to hear him scream. She reached for her chest to pull the blade of darkness out of it. 

But it'd vanished. She'd taken all of it in. 

It hadn’t yet weakened her. It had only given her anger. And that strengthened her. 

She found Hanna. Her eyes were on Shuhua. 

Jungeun grabbed the inferno that'd overcome the trees. 

The flames shot towards Hanna. A spurt struck her back. She flew across the ground. 

Jungeun followed, not letting herself breathe. Hanna relied on range for her magic. She’d be a safe distance away while the rest choked on the ice, or the remnants of ruined lungs. 

“Don’t!” she heard Shuhua yell. Her voice was strangled. She’d been hurt. 

Jungeun didn’t know why she was here. She didn’t question it. 

Hanna was surrounded by a white whirlwind. She’d extinguished the flames, but they’d taken her by surprise. Her hair was partially singed, the white strands covered in soot. Her clothes were intact. Enchanted to resist flames. 

They’d expected this fight. 

Jungeun drew out her knife and threw it. It was surrounded by fire.

Hanna had dodged, but still cried out. Droplets of molten metal struck her. She clawed at her skin, trying to rid herself of it. 

Jungeun lunged, her hands aflame. She closed them around Hanna's neck. 

The ice in her hardened. The whirlwind around Hanna scraped at Jungeun’s skin. Something stabbed into her side. Another piece of ice sank into her leg. 

But Jungeun’s hands still burned. 

Then she was thrown off. Her back met frozen ground. The impact seized a series of coughs from her. Those hurt more than anything else. 

“Go back as she told you,” Hanna growled. “Or they’ll be mourning two of you.” 

Still mercy, even if Shuhua had come back to fight. 

Shuhua didn’t respond, but the crackling ice told her she was moving.

“Get back!” Jungeun tried to stand, but her hands slipped. She retched, something rising up . 

She could only watch as ice rose to envelope Shuhua. Jungeun screamed. She felt something tear in her chest. Something else snapped in her mind. 

The fire was deafening. It still coated the trees. She felt each pulse as though they were a heartbeat.

Then fire exploded from her skin. 

Jungeun realised too late that it was going towards Shuhua, just as much as it was to Hanna. 

Two screams filled the air. 

She pulled the fire back. 

She looked to where Shuhua was. The ice had largely melted. She was clutching the side of her face. She was crying. 

All of Jungeun's anger disappeared. She’d hurt someone again. 

More whimpering filled her ears. 

When Jungeun looked, she saw Hanna on the ground. The frost had risen all over her skin. Beneath it was red. Even some black. 

She was still alive. 

Every breath felt short, but Jungeun felt numb. At some point, the pain usually stopped, either through the thrill of battle, or something else. What followed after, Jungeun didn’t want to think about. 

She forced herself to near Hanna. She saw Maven to the side. His body was a sight all too familiar. No sound came from him, not even a heartbeat. Dead.

“Yuqi went to camp,” Shuhua said, voice strained with pain. “She’ll bring help.” The sound of fire had lessened to a crackle. 

After a few seconds, Jungeun realised that Shuhua had come back. She’d realised Jungeun had lied. She'd known that Jungeun wouldn't turn away. 

That brought a strange strength to her. Was it happiness? Dahyun had said that was stronger than she gave it credit for. 

She reached Hanna, who was looking at her, terrified. The burns had made her look grotesque, but Jungeun doubted she looked any better. 

As to how her eyes were still open, how she was still breathing, Jungeun didn’t know. Probably the same way Jungeun was still able to move. Through a desperate attempt to live, her immortality keeping her from suffering the same wounds a mortal would. Even witches wouldn’t have survived a fight like this, their bodies would have begun to give up the moment something pierced their lungs. 

It was probably for the best. Jungeun almost wished she wasn’t in so much pain. She wished she wasn’t still awake. 

When Hanna spoke, seemed to have been made raw from the heat of the air. Or her own voice. “Is this the light that heals you?” 

She didn’t respond. She wasn’t sure if she could. Around them, the earth was either white or black, frozen or burnt. The trees were still in flames. 

Hanna watched her. She looked both scared and shocked. 

“Why couldn’t you say yes?” Hanna asked weakly. 

When Jungeun tried to respond, she ended up coughing. Red flakes and droplets scatted across white. The burnt ground below her been covered in white. A brutal painting. 

Then she managed to get out the words. “You wanted,” Jungeun gasped out. “To hurt them.” She hacked something else up. She didn’t look. “My people.”

“They’re not your people.” Tears were mixing into the blood on Hanna’s face. 

“Doesn’t,” Jungeun got out, “matter.”

Then Hanna shot up, her expression a mixture of pain and desperation. Her hands wrapped around Jungeun’s neck. Only frost went across Jungeun's skin. When she whimpered, Jungeun knew that her own skin was as hot as Hanna’s was freezing. The frost melted as quickly as it came. 

It wasn’t to strangle her, but to press on the already ruined flesh. The frost in her chest sharpened as well. 

She tried to move the hands off of her. Her arms felt like they'd been wrapped in iron.

Jungeun clawed at Hanna’s hands, at her arms. She couldn’t get a proper grip. 

When she looked into Hanna’s eyes, she saw that the elf was feeling a similar pain to her. Every move would hurt. Every touch of Jungeun’s would make it worse. 

The only thing they could focus on was killing the other. 

Jungeun couldn’t summon the fire. It had left her. Even the fire all around her. It wouldn't come. 

She batted at the elf again. Her hand struck the wound in her shoulder. Then she dug her fingers into it. 

Hanna shrieked. Her grip loosened. The frost subsided. 

Jungeun pushed her off. She watched as Hanna fell to the side. Her head hit the frozen ground. Hard. 

The elf’s entire body went limp. The hold of the frost disappeared entirely. 

Jungeun joined her. Her head hit the ground. She registered that pain. 

Then the rest came. She could hardly cry out. The sound that left her didn't even sound human.

Jungeun heard someone call her, but didn’t move. 

Shuhua was alive. Yuqi had gone back to camp.

Leave me, she wanted to say. Instead, she forced different words out of . “Don’t,” she swallowed a clump of something, “kill her.” 

She didn’t hear Shuhua’s response, only the crackling of the flames. It was familiar. Soothing. 

The only danger now was a spirit catching wind of the fear and anger. Of the death. 

Shuhua hadn’t used that much light, as far as Jungeun knew. She could fight her way back to the camp. The others would come. 

Jungeun still had no light. She’d be useless if it came to a spirit. 

At least this threat had been dealt with. 

And with Hanna still alive, perhaps they’d learn more about Alluin’s plans.

She hoped they would. 

Exhaustion came over her. It struggled with the pain, but her body wanted to be free of hurting. Jungeun didn’t want it either. 

She closed her eyes. She could feel the fires still burning around her. Yerim would hate how the trees looked. How they too had been charred. How they'd also fallen to Jungeun's magic. Also dead. 

Yerim. She was strong now. She had reconciled with Jiwoo. Jungeun hoped she would find a friendship again with Gowon. At least one was forming with Yeojin. What if she found Hyejoo again? That would be an even greater comfort. 

Jungeun’s mind went to Jinsoul next. She thought of her smile, heard the echoes of her loud laugh. A little bit of warmth came to her. It was drowned out by cold. Jinsoul had always healed her. She’d blame herself for not healing these wounds. She always carried the burdens of all the people she hadn’t saved. 

Jungeun didn’t want to be one of them, but she imagined she would be. Unless there was a little bit of life left in her when they came. 

She hoped so. For Yerim, she wanted to be there, to help her adjust to the future. For Jinsoul, she didn’t want her to remember Jungeun as a person she couldn't save. 

There were more reasons why she wanted to stay alive. She knew there were, but Jungeun couldn’t think of them. 

______

The pain came first. Then her legs gave out. 

Jinsoul put out her hands to catch herself. Her palms scraped against the ground. She didn’t feel the pain.

All she could feel was the cold in her chest and how much it hurt. 

One person filled her mind. She knew this was happening to them. 

“What is it?” Nuala was pulling her up. Her hands felt hot. Or was Jinsoul just cold? 

”Jungeun,” she said. “She went gathering.” Shuhua and Yuqi had been with her. “We need to find them.”

She ran out of the tent, several people calling after her. 

She ignored them and sprinted in the direction they would’ve gone. Jungeun always took the same route. 

Jinsoul prayed to the moon that she had this time. 

People were watching her, trying to find out what was wrong. She didn’t stop to tell them. She couldn’t. 

Never had she felt when Jungeun was hurt. Not until now. 

Briefly, she wondered if it wasn’t real.

But even if it wasn’t, she couldn’t risk it. 

Jungeun was still weak. Jinsoul shouldn’t have let her go. She should’ve just told her to wait it out. It wouldn’t have mattered if Jungeun was irritated or hurt by it, just as long as she was safe until properly healed. 

The forest flew by her. 

She tried to sense if she was going the right direction. She couldn’t. Was it because she was panicking? 

Jinsoul tried to breathe properly. If she couldn’t find Jungeun because she was letting the fear overcome her—

She drove the thought away and looked towards the light. It was the only tie she knew there would be. 

She saw a bright figure to her left. Their light was bright grey. There were flashes of green. Yuqi. 

Jinsoul drew away from the light and ran in that direction. She heard her yelling, but couldn’t understand it. 

She came to a stop when she reached her. “Where are they?” 

Yuqi’s eyes were wide. “Shuhua went back. I came here to get the rest of you.” 

“Where are they?” Jinsoul could know what happened later. 

“Fifth patch,” Yuqi said. 

“Go get the others, take them there.” Jinsoul wanted to give her more comfort, but she knew every word that would come out of her wouldn’t do that. 

“They’re dangerous.” She reached for her hand. "And there's too much—"

“Just go get them.” Jinsoul turned her to the camp. “Now!” 

She pushed herself to keep going. 

Jinsoul reached the river. She dove in. She was against the current. She forced it to take her up river. 

Her fatigue disappeared the moment she was submerged. The slow rush of water filled her ears. The panic faded, but she was still terrified.

Jinsoul looked into the light again. She found something leading away from her. Up river, just as Yuqi had said. 

It was weak. Fading. 

Jinsoul forced the water to push her on further. 

Then she was there. She emerged from the water, feet sliding across the floor. 

She felt ice. And she saw fire. 

At least a hundred metres of the forest was in flames. 

Just in front of her were five metres of blood, ice, and burned earth.

“Jinsoul!” It was Shuhua. She had a burn across the side of her face and neck. “I’ve given her all the light I can.” Her hands were shaking. 

Then she saw her. 

Jinsoul stumbled towards her. 

Jungeun’s lips were blue. Her eyes were closed. Blood had coated her chin. Countless cuts were scattered across her face. 

And her clothes were in tatters. What cloth was left was soaked in blood. 

There was barely any light in her. What little breath was left was strained. Her heart beat weakly. 

Jinsoul felt cold. 

She pulled on the water. 

“Draw this sigil,” she said, letting it appear in the water’s surface briefly. Then she made the river water circle around Jungeun’s chest. She filled it with moonlight. 

Jinsoul uncapped the waterskin at her waist. She drew out the water, tipped Jungeun’s chin open. Blood coated her teeth. 

Jinsoul ignored it. She forced the water to fill Jungeun’s lungs. 

The first sigil was drawn. The water hardened. 

Jinsoul drew another. 

She got more water. Repeated it. She didn’t look at Jungeun’s face. 

She paused to let her breathe properly. She hated how it sounded. 

“What happened?” Jinsoul asked, her voice steady. 

“They came here,” she said softly. “They wanted to bring Jungeun to their side. Alluin’s.”

“They?” She finished the next sigil. There’d been no change to Jungeun’s breathing. No change to the light around her. 

Jinsoul didn’t look closer. She couldn’t. Not when she knew that darkness ran through her. 

She put a hand to Jungeun’s chest, over an ugly wound there. She forced light to go through. 

Immediately, she felt her body resist. It didn’t want to give up more light.

She forced it to. 

“An elf and a fairy,” Shuhua said. “The fairy’s dead. I restrained the elf.”

Jinsoul looked. She saw a man largely burned. She turned her head away and towards the other one. 

The elf was breathing more easily than Jungeun. 

“She let her live,” Shuhua whispered. She drew the next sigil. The she gasped. The healing magic was getting too much. 

“Stop,” Jinsoul told her. She took more water from the river, infused it with moonlight. Then she wrapped it around Jungeun again. 

Drawing the sigil, her hands had started to shake. 

She forced herself to keep going. When she looked at Jungeun, she saw that her brow was furrowed. 

“Jungeun?” Jinsoul leaned closer. “You’re safe,” she whispered.

Then Jungeun moved. She jerked away from Jinsoul. She screamed, the sound broken by hacking coughs. 

Jinsoul felt droplets of blood on her face. It burned her skin. 

“Hold her.” Jinsoul took hold of her arms and held them down. Jungeun was stronger than her, but she was weak now. She was in agony. 

Shuhua was holding her legs in place. “They’re here,” she said. 

Jinsoul didn’t look up. Jungeun’s screams had died down, only whimpers now. Tears streamed down her cheeks, marking the ash there. 

Each sound tore at her. 

“It’s okay,” she tried to say. 

“She needs to be sedated.” It was Nuala. 

Jinsoul nearly said no. What if Jungeun didn’t wake up? 

She just nodded. Jungeun had stopped fighting. She just lay where she was, shaking. 

Nuala gave her a vial. It was bright blue. Very strong. 

Jinsoul took it and then put her hand to Jungeun’s jaw. She tilted open again and poured it in. She used her magic to force it down. 

When Jungeun tried to move away, Jinsoul tightened her grip. She hated that she had to do this. 

And then Jungeun opened her eyes. They were a darker red than they’d ever been. They weren’t looking at anything. 

“The pain will stop,” she told her. “It’ll stop—I’ll make it stop.”

Jungeun closed her eyes, but she nodded. More tears came. 

“It’s okay,” Jinsoul knew she’d was speaking arcesh, “you’re safe.” She wiped away the tears, even though it was futile. 

Around her, Jinsoul heard them talking about the other two. She heard them asking Shuhua to tell them what had happened. 

“—lucky she didn’t kill them both.”

“How long were they here?” 

“‘Soul?” Jungeun murmured. She coughed and blood dribbled down her chin. 

“Here.” Jinsoul wiped that away too. Then she put her other hand over Jungeun’s heart. The skin beneath her hands was like ice. She forced more light through her touch. It ached. Then she felt a wave of cold. She watched as some of the darkness in Jungeun wreathed her wrist, before disappearing under her skin. She felt hatred and rage. Even though the darkness was cold, a part of her burned with the emotions. 

Jungeun hummed. The tension in her face vanished. 

Even with the darkness in her, Jinsoul could only feel how that ache had lessened. It was still there. Jungeun was still hurt, but she was in a little less pain. Jinsoul would take any burden to take it completely away. 

“We have to get her back.” Nuala put a hand to her shoulder. 

Jinsoul felt the elder’s light flow into her. She pushed it to Jungeun. “Give it to her, not me.” Her voice sounded harsher. She hadn’t ever felt a simmering rage before. Was it because this was directly from Alluin? 

“She’s still dying.” Nuala forced her to stand. “She’ll need your magic and your light.” She turned Jinsoul’s face away and held her gaze with calm eyes. “And with what you just took, you’ll need all the light I can give you.” 

______

Olivia ran. She saw the darkness that only ever came with murder. And she could feel Alluin’s grasp in all of it. 

Olivia pushed her legs to go faster. She didn’t know who’d be there. It didn’t matter. She’d take down the attackers, then she’d do what she could to heal whoever had been attacked. She wouldn’t be able to heal the physical wounds. She wasn’t even sure what effect her own darkness would have on an Astra. 

But she’d be able to take out the darkness. 

It was quiet, save for the crackling flames. She saw the fire rise from the trees. Anger and fear hung in the shadows of those trees. 

She dove into those shadows. She hoped that the silence didn’t mean that the wrong people had won. 

From the flames, she knew exactly who’d been fighting. 

Then she heard a scream. She saw the shadows surge towards it, attracted to the pain there. 

Olivia pulled them back. 

She looked to see if spirits were coming. Some dark spirits were making their way over. No bright ones. 

She dug into the darkness. 

Go, she tried to force their attention elsewhere, not here. She pushed harder on the darkness within them. If the words changed nothing, the sense of unease—danger—would.

The spirits turned. She'd have to remember that she had some control there. 

Olivia moved closer, past burning trees and across frozen earth. Alluin had wanted to find Jungeun. He’d sent someone with the exact ability to counter her. The elf’s abilities didn’t fully make her weak to the cold, but something else happened. Jungeun had once told her about her not being able to make a fire several days after she’d climbed a mountain. 

It would be like this too. 

She saw the light of two. She saw only darkness in the third. There was another to the side, surrounding by death. The other had been engulfed by fear, but had two segments of moonlight around her. If the even breath was anything to go by, she was unconscious and restrained. 

The thought reminded Olivia of when she’d been trapped by the Astra. 

This is different, she told herself. They’d come only to kill Jungeun. They hadn’t even come for Olivia first. Their focus had been on the Astra. 

Jinsoul and Shuhua knelt on the ground. Both of them glowed. The person in between them did not. That was Jungeun. Every now and then, a glow settled over her body. The surges in light meant healing. 

But Olivia couldn’t see it taking an effect. The darkness barely subsided. 

She tried to pull on it from where she was. It didn’t work. It’d latched onto Jungeun. 

Olivia began to go closer. She’d have to reveal herself, then she’d heal her. 

That was when she saw more beacons of light coming closer. More Astra. Olivia was certain that few would welcome her presence. If anything, she’d distract from them getting Jungeun back. 

Olivia sank deeper into the shadows. She just watched. 

And what she saw surprised her. While other Astra were taking in what had happened around them, seemingly in shock at what had happened, Nuala was calm beside Jinsoul. She was reassuring her, even giving her light. 

Olivia saw then that some of the darkness in Jungeun had gone to Jinsoul. It wasn’t in her heart, but there was still the chance that it’d move there. And if Jinsoul realised she could take away more darkness than she already had, Olivia was sure she’d try to take more. 

And then the Astra would have a severely weakened healer. 

She watched as Jinsoul lifted Jungeun. She watched as someone else picked up the dead attacker, while another took the unconscious one. 

If she’d wanted to help, that opportunity was gone. 

Olivia grit her teeth. She’d been too late. And now she’d not even risked being seen to help. 

If Alluin planned to attack, they needed Jinsoul at her best. They needed Jungeun healed as well. 

Olivia didn’t know if they’d be able to. The light was best for injuries caused by spirits. Time healed the worser wounds. She wasn’t sure if they still had that. 

Alluin had once told her that the darkness they wielded had the potential to work like a poison. It could take over a person. Olivia had once accidentally made it happen. She’d watched Alluin do it as well. Darkness would surge through a person’s body, filling them with whatever was most potent in that magic, be it anger, fear, or something else. And then their eyes would fill with darkness, marking the moment the person was lost. 

It wouldn’t take long until they realised their attempts at healing were futile. And then they’d lose her. 

Olivia couldn’t move, but a part of her felt she needed to. That part screamed at her to go after them. It shouldn’t matter that they’d try to attack her. If she could make them believe that all she wanted was to heal Jungeun, then they had to let her. Didn’t they? 

Jinsoul would let her help in a heartbeat. Nuala probably too. She’d devoted her own long life to healing their people. She wouldn’t deny Jungeun aid just because she was supposed to have nothing to do with Olivia. 

But what about the rest? What if they tried to stop her? What if the moments they lost now would hurt Jungeun more than help her? Olivia couldn’t risk that. 

No, she needed to find a way to help them, but she couldn’t be near the camp for that. 

She thought of Viian. She was the only person who knew where she was. 

And the only person she was in contact with was Doyeon. 

There had to be a way to get word to Jinsoul that Jungeun could be healed. Then she’d meet them, either in the nearby town or the cave and help. If Yerim or Hyunjin were still hurt, she’d be able to heal them too. 

Olivia got to her feet. She needed to go see Doyeon. First, she’d let her know what happened. Then she’d tell her that she’d have to send on a message. 

To the first Astra she came into contact with. 

______

Author's Note

Action hasn't always been my strong suit, but I've read a fair amount of scenes for it. I've also written a few, so I'm hoping it's not too messy. Battles in fantasy are sometimes tricky, especially if the characters have a heightened healing factor. I've seen scenes where someone can keep going after they've lost an arm and been torn between attributing it to an adrenaline rush and/or shock, or just accepting it at face value. Here, I went with the theme that one's magic makes you stronger. On the more 'moderate' level, Jinsoul being in water clears her mind and strengthens her. On the other hand, Jungeun being surrounded by fire, charged by the anger held in the darkness, is also revitalised. 

As for the rest of this chapter, Olivia's role in the story is made more prominent as the Astra and Alluin's group start to really clash. For obvious reasons, she hates the Astra, but that doesn't apply to all of them. I can't say much to the future events of the story, but I do want to stress that the characters afflicted with darkness become increasingly vulnerable to spirits. It's one of the reasons why, if they know it's there, the Astra go to the site of a battle.

Regardless, I'd really like to know what your thoughts are about current/future events. Currently, life is really getting to me and I have even less time than before. However, I'll do my best to see this story to the end. 

See you in the next chapter.