Jinsoul shook as Nuala lowered Jungeun on the bed. She hadn’t been able to still her hands. Hadn’t been able to the entire way back. Nuala had offered to take her—no, she’d actually just taken her. 

And Jinsoul was still shaking. 

Nuala was tending to Jungeun’s wounds. Not Jinsoul. 

Because she was shaking too much.  

She stared at Jungeun’s still bloody lips. There was dried blood all down her chin and neck. It was mixed with something else that Jinsoul didn’t want to think about. 

When she breathed, the air itself sounded strangled. 

The light around her was a faded grey. 

Jinsoul pushed down a sob looking at it. 

Never had she ever seen Jungeun this close to the brink. She’d seen her hurt, yes, but she’d never been close to dying. 

She was still close to it. She could still stop breathing. 

There was a chance that she’d never open her eyes again. 

“Jinsoul.” It was Yerim. Her eyes were full of anguish and fear. What was she seeing? 

She opened her arms and let Yerim sink into them. 

Yerim was stiff. That could sometimes be as bad as shaking. 

Jinsoul didn’t ask what she was seeing. She could guess enough from her expression. And she hated what that suggested. 

She just tightened her grip on Yerim. 

“We’re healing her,” Jinsoul told her. “We’ll figure it out.” 

Yerim didn’t reply. 

“Jinsoul,” Nuala said. “She’ll still need tending to her lungs. It’s not healing fast enough.” 

Yerim immediately let go. 

Jinsoul got to work. She took up a waterskin and opened it. Her hands weren’t shaking anymore. 

Calling the water forth, she tilted Jungeun’s head up. Then she opened , allowing the water to pour in. Nuala held a sleeping powder beneath her nose. 

Jinsoul didn’t put in too much and she quickly drew the healing sigil. Had Jungeun been conscious, this would’ve been disastrous. It wasn’t ideal now.

Then she took the water away. It came out with blood clots and other things she hastily put into one of their basins. 

She took the next waterskin and focused on the wounds still needing to heal. There was the stab wound at her chest. The one where more darkness had come in. It hadn’t gone to her heart. 

Pulling the water and settling it over the puncture, she put what light she had in it. She felt the twinge as too much light left her, but ignored it. Jungeun couldn’t afford more darkness getting to her. If her lungs didn’t kill her, that would. And it would take longer, getting worse as the days went on. 

Jinsoul grit her teeth and took out more of her light. Something started to hurt. Like earlier. 

“Wait.” Nuala put a hand on her shoulder. The skin turned warm. She was giving Jinsoul her own light. 

It eased the strain, when Jinsoul had been close to losing all of her light. That didn’t hurt you, but it made you a lot weaker. 

Jinsoul completed the sigil, watched the water harden. The light in it almost shone as bright as the moon. She left it there. 

“That’s all you can do now,” Nuala told her. She was putting the empty waterskins on a large pile. 

Jinsoul would be filling those up again. Once she replenished the light she’d expended. 

“Go rest.” Nuala was talking to all of them. “It’ll be day soon.” 

Jinsoul heard them shift, but didn’t look up. She just focused on the light around Jungeun. She wanted to believe it had brightened, but she didn’t let herself hope too much. 

Then she looked away from the light and just at Jungeun herself. She’d lost whatever colouring she’d had in her face, be it a healthy warmth or a flustered blush. It wasn’t there. 

Her heart was still so slow. She could’ve easily been mistaken for dead. Jinsoul had almost thought she was. 

It was something she’d feared, but expected to happen eventually. Jungeun considered her survival second to the lives of those around her. She didn’t want to die, but sometimes Jinsoul thought she didn’t mind it. She didn’t fight for it as hard as she’d seen others do it. 

That scared her. She didn’t really know if Jungeun would come back sometimes. She knew that it didn’t matter if she prayed to the moon, the river, or the sky—Jungeun’s fate was, more often than not, in her own hands. She chose to go off alone, or send someone away to protect them, just as she’d sent Yuqi and Shuhua off. She chose to jump between an enemy and an ally. She chose to fight even if she was too weak to win. 

“You should go sleep,” Yerim said. 

Jinsoul wiped at her eyes and shook her head. “I’m staying. You need sleep more than I do.” 

She took her hand. “I thought we were doing things as three now.” She tapped the back of her hand until Jinsoul looked up. Then she nodded back to Jungeun. 

To her right, the cots had been pushed directly against her bed. 

“You’re in the middle,” Yerim told her. 

Jinsoul realised then that the rest had gone. Nuala was going from person to person, checking their wounds with glazed over eyes. She didn’t look worried about them. 

That meant she didn’t need Jinsoul. 

“Get cleaned up, and then we’ll sleep.” 

Jinsoul was taken aback by the authority in Yerim’s voice. When had that come around? 

But she did as she’d said. 

When she came back, Yerim had settled into her bed on the far right, leaving the middle for Jinsoul, just as she’d said. 

“It’s looking better,” she whispered as Jinsoul settled into the cot. 

“You’re not just telling me that?” Jinsoul looked to the light around Jungeun again. Was that a shade of silver she was seeing? It crept through the darker grey now and again. 

“I didn’t tell you what it was like before.” Yerim was speaking arcesh as well. “Because she was too faint, and I could barely find the light.” Her voice was steady, but Jinsoul saw how shaken she’d been. 

Her breath caught. She took Yerim’s hand in hers. “So she’ll be okay.” She tried to feel that confidence, if only so that she could give Yerim the same reassurance. 

Yerim squeezed her hand. “Yeah.” It was both a question and a statement. Even knowing the future didn’t help quell the worry. 

______

Jungeun’s entire body hurt. Each muscle that could ache ached. Every breath seemed a chore, but she was breathing. And she was freezing. 

There was an overall pressure on her. And she did feel something by her head. Fire. She tried to take some of its warmth. It helped, only slightly. 

“Jungeun?” A small set of noises followed, scrambling across the ground, before there was a small creak of wood. 

She opened her eyes. She winced at the light above her, but just blinked several times, trying to get accustomed to it. It was daytime. 

“Can you hear me?” Yerim asked, both hope and worry apparent in her voice. 

“Yeah,” she said. Her voice sounded terrible, even to her ears. 

“Jinsoul!” Yerim’s voice was half-whisper, half-shout. 

“Wait.” Jungeun tried to move her hand, but it was stuck to her side. “Shuhua and Yuqi?”

“Safe.”

“The elf?”

Yerim grimaced. “Still imprisoned.” 

She felt a weight settle in her stomach. “There’s going to be a trial?“ 

“They still want to search her mind,” Yerim said. “I had to make new elixirs, but they were waiting until you woke up. They’ll decide tomorrow.” A pause. “But a lot think she’s had enough time to find a better path, but hadn’t.” 

Before Jungeun could even think of a response, she heard someone rushing over. 

The next thing Jungeun saw was a flurry of blonde hair. Then blue eyes were staring down at her. They were shining. 

Just seeing them brought a wave of emotion over Jungeun. She couldn’t look away from her. 

You’re safe. She remembered Jinsoul’s voice and the relief she’d felt even through the pain. 

Two warm hands took hold of her face, their grip extremely gentle. A rush of warmth flowed through her at the touch. 

“Hi,” Jinsoul whispered. There were tears in her eyes. 

“Hey,” she croaked out. “Why am I trapped in a blanket?” 

“You were still freezing after hours by a fire,” she replied. “So we put you in a blanket.”

“Can I get out?” 

“You can’t move around much.” Jinsoul’s expression turned stern. “We managed to get you in the blanket with minimal movement.” 

“I won’t be getting up any time soon, I think.” 

“You know,” she corrected. “Your lungs are still healing. And the stab wound you got hasn’t sealed either.” 

Jungeun smiled. “So I’m closer to a mortal’s healing this time.”

It seemed to strike a chord, because both expressions turned sombre. 

Jinsoul just shook her head. “Yerim, help me.” She pulled her hands away from Jungeun’s face. She missed the contact. 

Together, the two shifted Jungeun, while also lifting her up. The movements tugged at many places in her body, none of the sensations good. 

Then she was free of the blanket and back on the cot. 

Someone then wrapped their arms around her, gingerly avoiding her chest. She smelled of flowers, fruit, and earth. 

“Hi Yerimmie.” Jungeun patted her arm. Even that movement pulled at something. 

“I thought it was going to happen,” Yerim muttered. 

“Thought what?” She was slightly too aware when Jinsoul lay down on her other side. 

“That you were going to die.” 

Jungeun felt her heart sink. She hadn’t been there for any of it, but Yerim would’ve seen how her fate was changing. 

“How’s it look now?” 

“Better,” Yerim said. “But not great.” She huddled closer into Jungeun’s side. It sent a twinge of pain through her, but she didn’t flinch. Yerim needed to know she was there. 

Jinsoul did too, because she leaned her head gently on Jungeun’s shoulder. She was looking up at her. Jungeun didn’t trust herself to look down and meet her eyes. She’d either see the pain or worry Jinsoul had been feeling, or the sheer relief that Jungeun was awake. 

“I’m sorry,” Jungeun said. She lifted her other hand and Yerim’s hair. 

“They went after you,” Yerim replied. “It wasn’t your fault.” 

“But—” 

“Don’t blame yourself,” Jinsoul cut her off. “Alluin sent them here. The only thing you did was go and gather herbs.” 

“It’s not like those other times,” Yerim said. “This wasn’t for revenge.” 

She felt the urge to protest, but she realised it wouldn’t work. Not only were they right about this time, but they weren’t going to let her say anything against herself today. 

The second she decided not to argue, the tension left her body. It still hurt, but she felt at ease. Two of her favourite people were beside her. Yerim could be around the light of the sun without getting hurt. They were safe. 

“Drink this,” Jinsoul said. “It’ll take the pain.” A pause. “And help you sleep.”

Jungeun took the vial. “Want me to shut up?” She let herself smile. 

A warm hand tilted her head up, supporting it as she downed the pale blue liquid. “Maybe.” More warmth seeped in from the touch. Moonlight. 

As Jungeun’s head met the pillow, she felt the fatigue settle over her. Her eyes grew heavy. 

“Jungie?” Yerim said. 

Jungeun hummed. 

“I love you.” The arms around her tightened ever so slightly. 

The cold didn’t feel as bad anymore. Jungeun smiled. “I love you too, Yerimmie.” 

Then sleep took over her completely. 

______

A groan woke her up. 

Jinsoul opened her eyes to see Jungeun stir. Tears streamed down the sides of her face. 

“I’ll get something for the pain,” she told her. Then she leapt out of the bed. She got something for the pain, as well as a sedative. 

When she got back, Jungeun was holding a hand to her chest, eyes wide. Her breath was strained. At least it didn’t sound as bad as before. 

Beside her, Yerim was still sleeping, stuck in whatever dream she was still having. Jinsoul was glad she wasn’t seeing this. 

“It’s okay,” Jinsoul whispered. “Here.” She tilted Jungeun’s head up. “Just let me give you this.”

Jungeun didn’t respond, but she opened . Her eyes opened. There wasn’t any light there. She couldn’t even recognise the colour. 

Jinsoul forced back her worry and took hold of the liquid in the vial. She tugged it out, letting it flow into Jungeun’s mouth. 

“Should work pretty fast,” she said. “If it doesn’t, I’ll try something else.”

Jungeun swallowed. “You don’t have to.” Another strained breath. “It’s not that bad anymore.”

“You don’t have to pretend,” Jinsoul replied. “No one else is going to hear, but me.” She let moonlight into her skin, then made it go to Jungeun. In the light, she finally saw the dim red of Jungeun’s eyes. She wasn’t looking at her. 

“I’m not.” Jungeun gave her a small smile. “It’s already getting better.” She leaned her head back, eyes trained on the ceiling. 

“Were you reliving it?” Jinsoul asked. Now and again, if Jinsoul woke Jungeun from a nightmare from the past, she’d see flashes of what Jungeun had been experiencing. Jungeun had made it a point to sleep in a different tent if she went through something like yesterday. This time, she hadn’t been able to. 

“Not that,” Jungeun said slowly. 

Jinsoul waited. If she wanted to say more, she would. If she’d keep it to herself, Jinsoul wouldn’t press her either.

“It was after mom died.” That was the tone that said: this is all I’m saying. 

A very different weight came over her. 

Jinsoul pressed a kiss to her temple, trying to give as much moonlight as she could without draining herself. 

I’m here, she wanted to say. “How’re you feeling?”

There was a long pause. The slow breathing of the rest came over them, coupled with Jungeun’s strange one. 

“Weak.” 

Jinsoul felt a pit form in her stomach. If Jungeun needed one thing, it was the ability to protect the people around her. Now she couldn’t move, she still didn’t have her light, and she’d be forbidden from fighting for a long time. 

“Let’s go outside,” Jinsoul said, getting up. 

“I thought I couldn’t move.” 

“You can’t,” she replied. “Unless you’re moving the slowest you’ve ever moved and don’t twist your body at all.” 

“Will do,” Jungeun said. She sounded a lot lighter. Not happier, at least not yet. 

“And tell me if you get dizzy.” Jinsoul stood close to the bed as Jungeun shifted to the side. The chances that she could fall were high. 

Jungeun hissed a few times, but it wasn’t terrible. The elixir she’d given her was one of the stronger ones. 

Still, when Jinsoul took her arm, she let a bit more moonlight go to her. 

“You don’t have to keep doing that,” Jungeun said, voice tight. She slowly rose to her feet. 

“I’ll get it back,” Jinsoul replied. “You won’t be for a while.”

She didn’t reply. Her current lack of magic was more than a sore spot, but a wound. Jungeun felt as if she was powerless. In a few ways, she was. 

When they got outside, Jungeun relaxed. There were a fair amount of people still awake. It must’ve been in the middle of the evening. Both Jinsoul and Yerim had been exhausted once they’d brought Jungeun back. She’d lost track of time. 

“Let’s stay here,” Jinsoul said. “And I’ll get a blanket.” And water, she added in her head. 

Jungeun just nodded. Her eyes were on the flames. They didn’t give much away. In Jinsoul’s experience, that was sometimes worse. 

When she came back, Jungeun was still looking into the fire. The flames hadn’t risen to greet her. 

“It hurts if I try to control them,” Jungeun muttered. 

Jinsoul felt a distant pang in her chest. It came from Jungeun. 

Or at least that was what it felt like. Jinsoul still wasn’t sure what that meant. She wasn’t sure what it had meant yesterday, when she’d known Jungeun was hurt. She just knew that she’d felt a fraction of the pain Jungeun had had. 

“Tell me something.” Jinsoul sat down beside her, moving closer to the fire. Then she put the blanket over them both. Warmth didn’t radiate from Jungeun’s side as it always did. Jinsoul wrapped her arms around Jungeun’s shoulders, pulling her closer. 

Jungeun blinked, the blank look slowly turning into a confused surprise. “About?

“Anything,” Jinsoul said. “Tell me about yesterday if you want, tell me about how much you hate fish, or how much you hate mortal politics, anything.”

“I’m not one for words.” Jungeun smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. 

“Say nonsense then,” Jinsoul squeezed her shoulders, “just don’t stop talking and start thinking.”

“You’ll have to ask me questions as well.” Jungeun began to talk slowly. She spoke of her favourite place among the humans, a people who’d taken to living in the mountains. She told her about their customs and the way they’d welcomed Jungeun despite her being an outsider. “The one problem was changing my hair.” She laughed softly. Some of the darkness in her eyes had cleared. They were still devoid of light. 

Jinsoul nodded. Pale hair was either sacred or something from nightmares for people on this side of the world. 

“But what I loved the most was when they showed me how to navigate the places above,” Jungeun said, an easy smile breaking across her face. 

“Why?” Jinsoul knew Jungeun would let herself be led by others, she’d trust their judgement, because she knew her own was almost always led by impulse. She adored that part of her, but knew that it had limits. The past years had proved exactly that. 

Jungeun looked at her. Her eyes seemed slightly brighter. Jinsoul was relieved to see it. At least the darkness wasn’t completely eating at her. Sometimes it could change the person. It was a brief change, but sometimes painful. 

“Once they taught me where to find water, a few places to get fruits, either cultivated by them or they’d just sprung up there,” Jungeun sighed, “and then I was able to get around myself. Sometimes I fell, but with time, I got it, reaching the peak of that, then another. According to the humans, the ones I reached had never been done before.” 

“Did you tell them you reached it?” 

“Once,” Jungeun chuckled, “and they told me to jump off the next mountain peak I reached. Then they offered me a drink.” She looked at her. “Air sickness, they said, had addled my mind.”

“Wasn’t just the air sickness,” Jinsoul pinched her cheek, “your mind’s always been like that.”

She laughed. It was a weak one, but still hearty. “But now I can say I’ve reached my fair share of the highest places of this world.” 

“Does it feel different?” She wanted to ask why Jungeun hadn’t take her with her. The red-eyed elf had only ever come back with cuts, sore limbs, or bones almost broken. Jinsoul wished she could have known, seen the peaks of those mountains with her and been there to catch her when she fell. 

Jungeun nodded. “Even before the moon shone on us, I felt strong even if I was freezing or couldn’t breathe right.” She let out a long breath. “And I only ever went when the sky was clear, because I felt good on those days.” 

Jinsoul knew that feeling. It’d only made sense after she’d started to control moonlight: they’d always had a connection to the moon. 

“How many times did you go up when you didn’t feel your best?” 

Jungeun had disappeared many times after a trying fight. After one of the fights with the fae, she’d been gone for four months. 

She smiled. “You’d say too many.”

Jinsoul sighed, tightening her grip on the other elf. “You do that too much.” You’ll get yourself killed one day. It was a thought she didn’t dare say. Her chest twisted just thinking about it, as if something inside it longed to get out—reach out. 

“I don’t go up mountains anymore,” Jungeun murmured. “So you don’t have to worry about me.” She was still looking at the fire. 

Several objections came then. Jinsoul wanted to say all of them. She wanted to tell her how terrified she’d been yesterday. 

But that wasn’t what Jungeun needed to hear. Not today.

“I wasn’t talking about mountains.”

Jungeun didn’t respond for a long time. She didn’t close her eyes either. “Yesterday was different.” 

“You nearly got yourself killed protecting someone else,” Jinsoul retorted. “How is that any different from when you got hurt on patrol with Chuu? When your head almost got torn off by that vampire? When the wolf almost tore you in half?” She could’ve said more. She could’ve listed off the many times Jungeun had saved her own life. 

But Jungeun would just tell her that Jinsoul had saved her life many more times. It was something she was completely convinced about. Jinsoul could barely say anything to dispute it. 

“Those two weren’t coming for the others,” Jungeun said. “They came for me. Just like the southern Arcsa sent five after me. Just like the Crosa of the west sent fifty in the past two centuries.” Her eyes flicked to Jinsoul’s. “That’s not me protecting anyone. I would’ve been fighting them anyway and both of them’d be dead if I’d been a little more free with the fire.” 

“But one lived,” Jinsoul said. “Shuhua said you spared her.”

She straightened. “How is she? Shuhua.” The guilt in her eyes was evident.

“Healed fast,” Jinsoul told her. “Just shaken from the attack.”

She nodded. A few seconds passed. None of the guilt faded. “I hurt her,” she whispered, her voice almost shaky. 

Something in her twisted just hearing it. When Jungeun’s abilities had first been manifesting, several people had gotten hurt by it. For magic like lightning or fire, that wasn’t unusual. Most didn’t take it well, Jungeun included. 

“She knows it was an accident,” Jinsoul said. “You should too.”

Jungeun shook her head, but didn’t say anything else. 

“Jungeun,” she tightened her grip, “you saved her life.” 

“It wouldn’t have been—”

“Stop.” Jinsoul turned her head to face her. “Don’t say her life was in danger because of you, because it might’ve happened anyway. And don’t start thinking you could’ve stopped it, because that was the only way you saw that could save her.”

Dark red eyes met hers. That was when Jinsoul saw it. Her eyes weren’t reflecting the flames. The orange and red tendrils would dance in her eyes. She never saw that with anyone else. She always liked watching it too. 

 She realised then how the darkness was affecting Jungeun this time. Instead of making her irritable, it was drawing her mind into her darkest thoughts. 

“There were a lot of reasons why I didn’t want to die there,” Jungeun said softly. “I didn’t want Yerim to feel that way, I didn’t want my father losing more of his family.” She blinked once and Jinsoul could sense how the tears were starting to form. “And I didn’t want to be someone you hadn’t gotten to in time.” 

Just the thought tore at her. Jinsoul fought the urge to turn away. She didn’t want to hear this. She didn’t want to know that Jungeun had known she’d die. She didn’t want to hear that Jungeun had gone through the different reasons why she didn’t want to. 

“But I did,” Jinsoul replied. “We did,” she corrected. 

Jungeun shook her head. “I remember when you came,” she said. “It didn’t hurt that much once I knew you were there.” Her head came to rest on Jinsoul’s shoulder. 

“I gave you something for the pain.” The ache was coming back. 

“Still,” Jungeun sighed, “I felt safe.” Jinsoul felt her relax.

Jinsoul pressed her lips to the top of Jungeun’s head. She stayed there, breathing in the scent of ash. It always clung to Jungeun. There was also the faint scent of blood, but Jinsoul ignored it. “You’re safe,” she said. 

They stayed in silence then. Jungeun’s strained breath slowed. Jinsoul listened to it. She ignored how it still wasn’t easy. She ignored how cold Jungeun still was. She ignored the darkness that was still inside Jungeun.

She let more moonlight flow into Jungeun. She drew on what light there was in the sky. 

Jungeun’s body fully eased into Jinsoul’s side. And then she was asleep. 

______

“It’s simple,” Freya said. “Were you here to kill Jungeun?” 

The elf began to nod, but her face twisted with pain. “Yes,” she whispered. She looked small. Hardly the person Vivi would expect to have nearly killed Jungeun. 

That was what trials did to a person, especially when they were wounded. Vivi almost thought the girl was lucky. They could’ve brought a mental fae to search her mind. She’d had that happen to her twice. Both times, Vivi hadn’t been able to be around one for several months. To have someone directly scour your mind for your secrets, it felt more invasive than any interrogation. 

“Why?”

“She—he,” Hanna took a deep breath, “the weaker you were, the easier it’d be.” Then she flinched, swallowing hard. “We’d have an easier time getting through you.” 

Something about the wording bothered Vivi. She decided not to comment on it. 

“Getting through us,” Yuol repeated. “That’s his aim? He wants all of us dead?”

“Not all of you,” Hanna said. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“What were the alternatives?” Hyojung frowned. Her and the rest of her group were still there. They’d gone on occasional missions or patrols. Jungeun, Yerim, and occasionally Jinsoul were the ones responsible for a lot of those. “You came for Jungeun, but there were two others with her. Had all three not agreed to come with you, they would have all died, right?”

The elf’s eyes widened. She began to shake her head. 

Someone else spoke before she could. “They left before it could come to that,” Jungeun said. She looked the same as she had yesterday. The only difference was that her eyes were now open. Her hair and skin were still a sickly shade of white. “But when Shuhua came back, she still wasn’t going to kill her. Maven was.” 

Vivi watched as surprise appeared on the faces of many. 

“Is that true?” Freya asked. Her voice was still harsh, but something in her eyes had softened. Maybe she’d be more likely to listen this time. 

Hanna nodded. Vivi knew exactly when she looked at Jungeun. A flash of fear appeared in her eyes. 

Vivi saw the same thing in Jungeun’s eyes. She was also able to watch as that fear was brushed away in favour of a cold gaze. 

She also didn’t miss how Jinsoul’s jaw was clenched. It seemed that she wouldn’t be so inclined to defend the elf who’d almost killed Jungeun. Vivi still didn’t know what those two were to each other. She’d asked Yerim in the subtlest way she could. She’d gotten a very straightforward answer. 

They know they love each other, she’d said. But one won’t do anything and the other just lets her do nothing. 

“I killed Maven by accident,” Jungeun said. “But he got the sentence you all want to give her.”

Silence. Then murmurs. People either voiced their disagreement, or surprise. Vivi had always thought that the non-Astrans wouldn’t have a voice in discussions like this. 

And yet the elders were all hanging back. They weren’t even looking surprised. Freya in particular seemed to look at Jungeun with something surprisingly close to respect. 

“You’ll be merciful when you burned his heart?” Priad frowned at Jungeun. 

Vivi saw Heejin bristle as he spoke. She’d learned of the bond between her and Priad not too long ago. This was certainly not the way someone was supposed to look at their soulmate. 

“She was going to spare their lives,” Jungeun replied. “He wasn’t.” 

Hanna looked stunned by her words. Had they not been discussing her death, it would’ve been almost comical. 

Jungeun looked to Freya, her gaze hard. It was the look one would expect from a girl whose weapon was fire. “One of us could’ve easily died, and the other would’ve wanted it to happen.”

It was then that Vivi spotted a flicker of vulnerability. It passed quickly, but Vivi knew it well. It gave that gave away how shaken you were when you were supposed to still look strong. She’d seen the state of Jungeun’s injuries when they’d come. It’d been clear how close that fight had come to losing the fire elf. 

She risked a look at Jinsoul, whose eyes were only on Jungeun. She wasn’t hiding her feelings so well. There was pain, but also something else. Something that could only be fostered through years spent together.

“But if she brings back something on where we are?” Freya asked. She didn’t look mocking. 

“We were on the trail for the elixirs,” Jungeun replied. “That’s as close to finding us as you can be.” 

“So how did they?” Yuol stepped forward. He looked at the elf as though she were something foul. If she was as bad as that other one, the murderer of several mortals, then she’d earned that look. 

But if she wasn’t, then she didn’t deserve to be executed. 

“How did you find them?” he asked. “A witch? Had your leader already known? Or is there another among your ranks? Someone who’d know where you’d need to go.” 

Hanna looked between them. Her eyes lingered on Jungeun. The fear made her look much younger. 

“Witch,” she said. “We took an Astran to him. She used the blood to find the rest.”

Vivi could feel the disbelief of the rest. The fear. 

“Where did you find them?” Freya’s voice trembled. “Are they dead?” 

Hanna looked away, but nodded. 

“Were you the one to do it?” 

She shook her head. 

“Look at me and say it,” Freya hissed. 

Hanna flinched. “I didn’t kill him. He did.”

“Alluin?” 

She shrank away. “Yes.” 

Silence. 

Vivi didn’t even know who’d been killed. He must’ve been in one of those groups that went out into the Earth. And whatever abilities Alluin’s group had would’ve aided in their assault. 

“Take her to the witch,” Freya finally said. “Find whatever incantations they still placed on her.” A long pause. The elder looked between the others. She even met Vivi’s eyes at one point. Her golden ones were troubled. “And then we’ll let her go.” 

The disagreements had started as murmurs. Now they rose to shouts. 

“It’s too great a risk!” 

“She’ll lead them back.” 

“She went along with his plan,” someone hissed, breaking the gathering’s circle. 

“She’ll be on their side when they attack.” 

Vivi chose to look at Jungeun. She didn’t seem to be listening, her eyes on Hanna. They no longer looked like rubies, but rather like dried blood. Vivi didn’t like that comparison. 

Jinsoul had come to her side, but she wasn’t reaching out to her or talking. Just waiting. For what?

“We’ve spared others for worse,” she heard Heejin say. “Some of us have done worse. And we’re all alive.” 

“The ones we spared didn’t endanger our entire people.” It was either Priad or Teveril speaking. 

Vivi looked over. Even through the many discussions taking place around her, she had no trouble finding them. 

“So the moon tells you to make her path disappear?” Heejin whirled you face Kolina. “Or does it show her path not hurting any of us?” Anger had come back to her. 

Vivi looked to where Hyunjin was, only to find her whispering something to Yeojin. The shorter elf looked just as livid. Hyunjin was telling her not to step in. Vivi hoped she’d listen. 

“It’d work better if we had a mental fae.” Haseul was now beside Vivi. “Then they’d all know the 

“She’s afraid,” Vivi said. “And has no hatred for us.” 

She nodded. “That’s what Freya sees. If she’s spared, she’ll remember that.” Then she paused, eyes suddenly thoughtful. “Follow me if you want.” Then she was walking off, right towards the elf in the centre of the chaos. 

Vivi stared after her, watching the determined step. Then she followed. 

Hanna watched as Haseul walked towards her. The fear replaced her confusion. 

“Where’re you from?” The green-eyed elf knelt down in front of her. She was speaking worsesh. “Mountains I know, but which?” 

The other elf’s eyes widened. “Originally the Alps.”

“By that one mortal empire or further north?” 

“North.” 

Haseul nodded. “Did they force you out too?” 

“I left,” she said. Quickly. “I didn’t like how they handled things.”

“And how was that?” Haseul tilted her head. “Too tame? Not risky enough?” 

Hanna’s brow furrowed. “Unjust.” She closed her eyes, a small sigh. The elixir was still working. Either that or it was starting to wear off. If the latter, the elf was noticing just how much information she was giving away. The potion Yerim had brewed wouldn’t get everything out, but it was doing well enough. “We never faced something like you had with Olivia, but if we had, she would’ve been executed.” 

If the words affected her, Haseul didn’t show it. “So you mean we’re more merciful?” 

“But still close-minded,” she muttered. “And still cruel.”

“Deserving of a slaughter?” Haseul’s voice was quiet. “Do we deserve being killed for banishing them?”

Vivi knew she should’ve been watching for weakness in Hanna, but she couldn’t look away from Haseul. She wasn’t getting angry and she wasn’t treating Hanna with hostility. She was just calm, asking questions with an edge to them, but nothing accusatory. 

Around them, people were still arguing. Freya seemed to have dug her heels into her decision. Yet there was still dissent. Even from Yuol. 

Hanna shook her head. “N-no.” 

“But you were still helping it along.” The words weren’t an attack. It was just a statement. 

“Yes.” Shame coated her features. 

“Could you do it?” Haseul asked. “Could you freeze the blood of these people?” She leaned forward, lowering her voice. “People you don’t know. A lot of whom didn’t even know Alluin existed until Taegen killed those humans.”

Hanna said nothing, but her eyes gave her away. The will to murder wasn’t something she had. 

“If I’d been told the right story,” Haseul paused, a distant look on her face, “I probably could.”

Why had she let Vivi see this? Did she think Vivi wouldn’t know worsesh? Or did Haseul assume she did, and wanted her to watch this? It was obvious Haseul didn’t need her here, so why would she want Vivi to hear something like this? 

“He said we didn’t have to do that,” Hanna said quietly. 

“You think he meant that?” Haseul frowned. “Look at yourself. One person killed two of yours. She didn’t even have the moon on her side. With her was someone much younger than her, not yet fully trained.” Her gaze sharpened. “If Alluin does plan to attack here, he’ll need every single person in your group. It won’t matter if they’re at full strength or not and he‘ll know that.” Then she straightened. “You’re weak now. If you’re sent back, you’ll be the first to fall in the attack.” 

Hanna didn’t respond. 

“If they let you go, find the mountains this side of the world,” Haseul said. “The elves at the base of it will take you in, even once we tell them what you did. They’re also fair.” 

Then she was walking off. Vivi had to quicken her step to keep up. She didn’t ask what Haseul was going to do next. She wanted to see it for herself. Almost everything the elf did filled Vivi with more admiration for her. 

Haseul went straight for the elders. They peered at her, half of them expectant, while the rest seemed frustrated. 

“She’s not a threat,” Haseul said. “We get her to the mountain elves, but not her old people. Then we tell them to keep her there for a decade, and she won’t be a problem for five.” 

One of them looked at Vivi first, before frowning at Haseul. “So after that, if she comes back, what do we do then?” 

“Send me after her,” Haseul replied. “If the seers see something wrong, then I’ll make it right again.” 

Vivi tried not to look surprised. Haseul had questioned Hanna until she knew she was genuine. Now she’d promised to amend a false judgement, well within the ear of the prisoner in question. She’d promised to hunt her down if something in the future changed. 

Vivi risked a look at said prisoner. Hanna’s eyes were still wide, but she looked far less scared than before. Almost hopeful. 

She hoped she wasn’t mistaken. 

Someone else came to the elders. Yves. Vivi tried to look into the light. She saw that Yves’ light was circling her, almost nervously. 

“We need to stop this,” she said. She was looking at those still stuck in discussion, some of them now in arguments. “There’re too many spirits around. Bright, as well as dark.” 

Freya nodded. Beside her, Yuol also did. 

“We’ll take the risk,” he said, nodding to Hanna.

The other elders, even the ones who’d seemed just as outraged as the rest, muttered their agreement. 

Haseul had turned around. She met Vivi’s eyes once. Something cracked then, and fatigue showed through. She started walking away from the elders. 

“I really wish we had a mental fairy,” she said softly. “Then we wouldn’t be having any of this.” She looked at the people arguing, disappointment evident. 

Vivi reached out and brushed her hand, but didn’t take it. “You’re doing incredible without one.” And she meant it. 

Haseul smiled. Vivi felt proud for getting it out of her. “Thank you,” she mouthed. Then her expression hardened. 

They reached Heejin and the others. Still arguing. 

Hyunjin had hung back, but Jinsoul was beside Heejin. Her eyes held a warning, one that was clearly being ignored. Vivi wouldn’t have been surprised if Jinsoul was ready to hold her back. She looked for Jungeun then. She was next to Yerim, who kept shooting worried looks at her. 

“It’s decided,” Haseul said, voice sharp. “She’s going to be brought to the mountain elves. There she’s not going to be a risk.” 

“You can’t know that,” Kolina said, frowning. 

“But you will,” Vivi said. “You have the sight.”

The elf scowled at her. “It’s more complicated than that.” 

Heejin scoffed. “As if you’re the one to listen to for that.” 

Kolina’s hands turned to fists. “Don’t you dare start with that.”

“Why not?” Heejin’s brow rose. “You barely know anything about what rules our lives.”

Kolina took a step forward. 

Hyunjin did the same. Surprisingly, Heejin looked back when she did, face softening ever so slightly. 

The silence that followed was uncomfortable. So much so that Vivi didn’t even want to try and break it. 

But she still tried. “There’ll be the right precautions taken,” she said. “And the Warsa will know what happened here. They will know to hold her.” Her clan had sent people to them in the past as well. It was almost like a mortal’s prison, but their lives were still valued. 

“And you know it’ll work?” Teveril narrowed his eyes. 

“Yes,” Vivi replied. 

“Don’t you think your perspective is skewed?” Kolina asked. “A fae upbringing can’t have taught to value our lives.” 

Heejin responded before Vivi could. “That’s another thing you’ve no right to speak about.” Her eyes shone with anger. As did her skin. “You’re further from our ideals than she is.”

The first blow came. Only a strike of the fist, but it didn’t land. 

Heejin had ducked. “Did I offend you?” She looked smug. 

Behind her, Hyunjin stepped forward, her hands was half raised. The light around her had faded. Strange. 

“Hey.” Priad lifted his hands, stepping between them. When had he come along? “Calm down. We’re listening now.”

“That’s rich,” she hissed. “You’ll say that, but you won’t mean it. None of you ever do.”

Priad actually looked hurt. “That’s not fair.”

Heejin’s brow rose. “Is it wrong? All of you prefer to going to town for their latest brew. Then you sit around fires and hunt the spirits that won’t put up actual fights?” Her lip curled into a sneer. “Don’t you dare tell me you’ve been listening to what I’ve been saying.” 

The elves opposite her were both stunned and quickly growing angry. It was the outrage felt when you were realising you were wrong, but would never admit it. 

The others were looking from Heejin to the others. The air around Hyunjin still felt strange. It made Vivi feel uncomfortable, as if she was looking at a dead animal. 

“Spirit!” Chuu’s voice shot through the noise around them. “Run.” She was beside Jungeun and Yerim then. “Go!” She pushed them. 

Shouts of alarm came next.

And then Kolina gasped. She was looking straight at Hyunjin. 

There were the sounds of thuds, each in quick succession. Too quick to be a person running. 

Vivi felt a surge of warmth. Then disgust. 

A flash of bright light appeared. Several people in the distance shouted. The people near her screamed. A bright glow illuminated them, as though the sun had just started to shine on them. 

Vivi saw Hyunjin’s eyes narrow, before widening. She watched the yellow-eyed elf push Heejin in Vivi’s direction. She barely caught her. 

She stumbled backwards, falling over her feet. Heejin and her tumbled to the floor. 

Heejin was scrambling to get up the moment they landed. 

Then someone shrieked. Their voice was filled with agony. Hyunjin. 

A strangled cry left Heejin. She was on her feet in the next second and running in the direction of the scream. 

Vivi sat up, summoning stone. She blinked several times, trying to rid of herself of the dizziness and nausea. 

What she saw nearly made her panic. 

Someone was pinned to the ground and a spirit had sunk its teeth into her neck. Its claws were dug into her sides. 

Metres away, Heejin screamed. Priad and Teveril had her held between them. She was unharmed, but the sounds she made told another story. Her skin glowed too brightly. Too harshly. 

Vivi looked away and directed her attention to the spirit. Everyone was more stunned than anything. How had it gotten past them?

There was another spirit. Vivi vaguely saw others fighting it. Others stood to the side, weapons of light in their hands. They were gaping at the spirit in their midst. 

Haseul was beside her in the next moment. She yanked Vivi to her feet. Her eyes glowed, as did her skin, the moonlight curling off of her like smoke. 

“Don’t touch it,” Haseul hissed. Then she launched herself at the spirit. 

Vivi followed in suit. She drew up the rock from the ground, before throwing it at the spirit. 

The sound of the contact was faint, but the spirit flew back. Vivi counted herself lucky that it didn’t pull Hyunjin with her. 

She reformed the stone into several spears. Then she drove them into the spirit’s side. It had taken the shape of a large panther. Its coat was bright yellow. 

“Let me go!” Heejin snapped. 

Vivi watched as she shoved Priad off of her, eyes ablaze with both anger and terror. Teveril stumbled as the girl freed herself from him too. 

As Heejin rushed towards it, Vivi saw the spirit’s eyes lock onto her. They were a familiar shade of pink. They held a very familiar anger as well. 

Heejin pounced on it in the next moment, her skin now a blinding white. She dug a blade deep into its neck, another into its eye. That would expend a lot of light. The creature howled, but did not change colour nor lose whatever ferocity was in its eyes. 

Vivi didn’t think, she just took more stone from the earth. She pushed Heejin away from it before the spirit could rear its head and bite her as well. Vivi slammed two pieces of rock against Heejin’s blades. They sank in deeper. 

The spirit shrieked and jumped away. Then it ran, vanishing as it did. 

Vivi expected to face Heejin’s fury for interfering. She saw something worse. Vivi’s heart hurt just looking at her

Heejin walked past Vivi and went straight to Hyunjin. The wounded elf had curled in on herself. Her skin was glowing softly, but the colour was a sickly yellow.  

“You’ll be alright,” Heejin now said, voice gentle, but shaky. “Just stay awake.” Tears streamed down her face. Her hands were pressed to the ugly white wound on Hyunjin’s side. There were glowing claw marks down her neck.

“Are you hurt?” Hyunjin’s voice was strained. “Is it gone?”

“We’re all fine,” Heejin choked out, “and Viian got it.” Her eyes met Vivi’s once in acknowledgement. Then her focus was on the fallen girl again. 

The rest were around them now. The other spirit seemed to have followed its partner. There were no others, but Freya was already sending people to go look for more. 

No one knew how they’d come here. 

Jinsoul knelt down on Hyunjin’s other side. She didn’t summon water. Probably because they only had water filled with light. She started drawing healing sigils in the next moment. Vivi joined her. She’d at least learned how to make decent ones. They kept the worst at bay until actual healers came along. 

Hyunjin’s eyes opened for a second before they snapped shut, a cry escaping her. Her hands went to her neck, covering it. 

“Don’t…move me,” Hyunjin said. “It burns.”

Heejin looked up then. Her eyes were fixed on Jinsoul, pleading. She looked more troubled by the attack than anyone else. 

“I’ll get something for the pain,” Jinsoul said, a reassuring smile on her face. It even reached her eyes. Gone was the stunned girl from before, whose gaze had been fixed on Jungeun, terror apparent there. This was the side of her that could remain absolutely calm when everything seemed to be in chaos. 

“No light,” Hyunjin gasped, “won’t help. Light h…hurts.” She flinched away from Heejin, who was still glowing. 

“We don’t need any more healing sigils,” Jinsoul said. “Just have to wait until,” her brow furrowed, “we can move her.” Then she was gone. Had someone else been hurt? Vivi hoped not. 

Heejin’s expression crumpled. “I,” she stammered. Her eyes met Vivi’s. “I-I don’t know,” she trailed off. “I…I don’t know what to do.” The light in her skin had vanished. She looked lost. 

Vivi understood. All that Heejin knew was light. She didn’t know how much else was used. She didn’t know how else to help Hyunjin.

“Can I cover you’re skin?” Vivi asked. “It’ll just be a thin layer of stone? It’ll protect you from the light.” 

Hyunjin didn’t answer. It probably burned too much. 

So Vivi looked too Heejin. She was the one who’d acted first. Recklessly, but she’d gone too Hyunjin’s side. And those screams…Vivi didn’t want them to, but they still rang in her ears. 

Pink eyes still filled with tears were now tinged with confusion. No distrust. 

“So she doesn’t,” Heejin trailed off, “so it doesn’t hurt.” Then she looked away, eyes finding Hyunjin again. 

Vivi nodded and focused on the rock. Calling on the rock, she let it come in droplets. “You’re alright with it?” she asked. “It will feel strange, perhaps suffocating around your wrists and throat.” The rock settled on Hyunjin’s hand.

She jumped, winced, but then spoke. “I’ll survive.” Then she shifted to lie on her back, hissing as she did. Vivi was surprised she could still move. 

Heejin wiped away the tears of the other elf. For a moment, Vivi couldn’t believe the tenderness she was seeing. Had she missed this? Or had it just been hidden very well? She really didn’t understand these elves as well as she’d thought. 

Then she kept putting the rock over Hyunjin’s skin. The others around them had dispersed. In the distance, the elven elders looked on. Haseul and Yerim were with them. Jinsoul was speaking to the ones who’d fought the other spirit. Jungeun was beside her. She was looking at Jinsoul with a mixture of concern and awe. Another thing that wasn’t hidden so well.  

“It feels alright,” Hyunjin said slowly. “You don’t think you could do my face next?” She smiled slightly. Then she groaned. “I feel sick, leave the mouth free.” 

Vivi did as she asked. 

Hyunjin began talking. “I’m okay.” A cough. “It feels like my blood’s a lot warmer than it should be, but it’s not killing me.” She retched, but didn’t vomit. “I think I’ll live.” A weak smile appeared. 

“Shut up,” Heejin said weakly. “You’re going to be fine.” 

“Probably. If this rock thing keeps feeling this great.” Hyunjin’s smile grew. “Who would’ve thought I’d actually be living under a rock?” 

A weak chuckle made its way through Vivi’s lips. 

Heejin glanced up. It was barely there, but the corner of her lip tugged up. Then she looked back at Hyunjin. It was as if she feared taking her eyes away. 

Vivi left ample room for Hyunjin to breathe normally, but covered her eyes. She also avoided covering the hand that Heejin held. The lack of exposure would help, but she knew neither would want to be separate, especially one. Only when all else had been covered did Hyunjin relax, despite her wounds. 

“Thank you,” Haseul was beside her, “we’re useless when it comes to having no light.” She sounded tired, the spur of the battle wearing off again. That drop was always difficult to stomach. 

Vivi nodded. She looked down at the rock encasing Hyunjin’s skin. What little Vivi could still see flickered that strange light. It was bright, but not in the way moonlight was. Somehow, even Vivi could tell it was unnatural. It was the light hurting her. 

“No light,” Vivi repeated.

“What was that?” Hyunjin’s voice sounded weaker. Exhaustion. 

“Nothing important,” she replied. 

Heejin’s head turned again. Her eyes narrowed. 

“Later,” Vivi mouthed, letting her gaze flicker to those still around them. If they heard what she wanted to say, there was the chance she’d ruin more than she’d heal. 

The otherwise spiteful girl just sighed and sat down beside Hyunjin. 

“Are you hurt?” Yeojin asked. She was beside Heejin, rubbing her back with a comforting hand. 

“Wounds I’ll recover from,” Heejin’s voice was shaky, “don’t worry.” The hand that wasn’t holding Hyunjin’s was balled in a fist. That skin also glowed strangely. 

“I’ll just be lying around here,” Hyunjin interjected. “So I can’t exactly see if you’re here or not.” A small sigh. “So don’t be stubborn, Heekie. Get the damn healing.” 

The response was a short, ‘no’. 

She laughed slightly. “At least I tried.”

And that was when Vivi realised she was intruding. She stood. 

“We’ll get some water without light.” She nodded to Yeojin and Haseul. 

“Thank you, Vivi,” Hyunjin called. “I’m feeling a lot less terrible, honest.” 

“Glad to hear it,” Vivi replied. She meant it wholeheartedly. 

Then the three of them left.

“Are you hurt?” Haseul asked when they were a fair distance away. 

Vivi shook her head. “It didn’t get to me.” She might have pulled something. Those types of injuries hurt, but they healed quickly. Even without the help of moonlight. “How’d it get in?” 

Haseul’s mouth pressed into a line. “I still don’t know. It went so fast.” She sighed. “Fast enough that the seers didn’t see it. And as much as I don’t like them, they’re the ones we rely on to pick up on that.”

“Did something change?” Vivi asked. “Like a defence that weakened?”

She shrugged. “Maybe.” Then she closed her eyes and sighed. That sigh was familiar. Haseul was disappointed in herself. 

“What is it?” 

Haseul looked at her. “It was us,” she said. “We drew them here. With all the anger and fear.” 

“Do they feed off of it?”

The elf shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know that it’s the reason why they were drawn to Hyunjin when Yerim and Yeojin were with her. She was filled with that. And then you had this.”

“It went straight for Hyunjin this time too?”

Haseul shook her head. 

“Heejin?”

A nod. 

“But she’s been angry before,” Vivi frowned, “had it been drawn to her light too?”

“It was anger,” the young elf said. “It called to it.” 

Anger. 

Vivi knew the girl in question would be riddled with guilt. Her resentment and bottled up anger had come to the surface today. The price of that had nearly been Hyunjin’s life. 

They needed to find a way to heal Hyunjin or else that guilt would surely consume Heejin. And she didn’t want Hyunjin to remain in pain. She only knew a hint of that pain that was coursing through the yellow-eyed elf.

Haseul looked at Yeojin, both surprise and pride in her eyes. 

“Did you learn this on your trips as well?”

Yeojin smiled slightly. “No, that was just my intelligence.” 

Vivi chuckled, but was still in her thoughts. Hyunjin didn’t want to face the light. It made her sick. It hurt her. And the wounds were glowing, either draining or poisoning her. She wasn’t sure. 

They reached the river. Vivi drank the rest of her water, removed the moonlight that clung to the inside of the water skin, and then plunged it beneath the surface.

“What’re you thinking?” Haseul was doing the same with her waterskin. 

“I think I know a way to heal her,” Vivi said. 

Her eyes widened. “Then why didn’t you say it immediately?”

“Because your elders wouldn’t approve,” she replied. Would Hyunjin and Heejin approve?

The realisation crossed Haseul’s features in an instant. “We’d have to bring her to where she is.”

“Or a closer meeting point.” Vivi wasn’t sure what Hyunjin could handle. “Will she,” she wasn’t sure how to phrase it, “want to help?” Hyejoo was a good person. She’d seen that easily enough, but what about her own buried anger? 

  “Yes.” Her voice had no trace of uncertainty, nor did her eyes. “But you’re right, no one else can know.” 

“Know what?” Yerim was at her side then. 

Vivi jumped. The rocks in the river rose, but she forced them to fall back down with splashes. 

“Sneaking out and eavesdropping,” Haseul frowned at her. An edge of the strictness entered her voice. It was almost comical from the otherwise endearing girl. 

Yerim blushed. “How else am I gonna know what happens around here?”

Vivi saw a flicker of hurt cross her features. It reminded her that elves like Yerim were still seen as lesser. They were certainly not included in any inner circles, save for the one that Haseul had formed. 

“We might have a way to heal Hyunjin,” Yeojin said in a surprisingly quiet voice. “But we’ll need Hyejoo.” She said that part even softer. 

Purple eyes widened. “We could see her again?” Hope filled her eyes. 

Haseul shot her a look, one that was disappointed. Then she looked back at Yerim. “If too many of us go at once, there’ll be talk.”

Her face fell. “And they could follow.”

And catch Hyejoo. Would they force her into whatever situation had been there before? Or something else? Something worse?

“Who tells Heejin?” Yeojin asked. “She won’t let Hyunjin out of her sights any time soon.” 

Vivi hesitated. “I’ll try.” Though she wasn’t sure the girl would trust her. 

“She’ll believe you,” Haseul said. “And we don’t have any other options. At least not yet.”

_____

Author's Note

Finally the next update! When I tell you I've been busy, I definitely mean it. Uni lectures have begun and I usually have two three hour lectures a day. It's tiring, but fun—but really tiring. But this story has been a highlight for me when I get back from them. 

As for the story itself, things are really coming together. Hyejoo is coming back into their lives a little bit more, while Alluin's presence is also stretching over them some more. I hope you're looking forward to that, because I certainly am. 

The next update will come pretty soon. I just need to get it finished up. On another note, I'm so excited to see what 12:00 era will hold for us! 

Let me know what you thought! I hope you're all doing well. See you then.