Fourteen 

Jungeun grinned. “I can almost hit him now.” She was bleeding from her forehead, but that's the only injury she'd had.

Her father had been training her. An hour-long session each morning and evening, right before or after she'd slept. She either tried to land a blow on him, or evade each one aimed at her. She was good at dodging, terrible at getting within a metre of him. 

Her mother ran a hand through her hair. “Pretty soon you’ll be able to take him,” Leah said. “But first you’ve got a round with Reyna and Pollux.” 

She nodded, flexing her fingers. She made rounds within the camp, fighting each person her age and older—at least anyone who'd agreed to it. 

“Deep breath,” Leah told her. “Just keep focused on this.” She tapped the wooden poles. “And then you won’t use the other weapon.”

Jungeun gripped them tighter. She'd spent the first years just learning how to not burn herself when wielding it. Only after at least two sessions was she allowed to train her actual magic. 

She headed to the next ring. 

“Nice job over there,” Reyna smiled, “feel up to this?” She had a club. She was just a few years older than her. 

“We’ll see.” Pollux smirked. He twirled a wooden sword in his hand. A waterskin hung at his waist. 

Jungeun was shorter than both. She was younger too, just a few years past her first decade. She was very much at a disadvantage. 

Jungeun didn’t reply. She instead focused on the weapons. She couldn’t use her magic for this one. She hadn't been able to fight anyone with fire. Not yet. 

Pollux struck first, the air around him propelling him forward. 

Jungeun dodged and whacked him with the right pole. He hissed. 

Reyna came next, her club slamming into her arm. 

Jungeun dropped the pole she held in that hand. 

She dodged the next blow and aimed for her side. 

A rib cracked when she got her. 

Jungeun felt the air in her lungs start to leave. 

She grit her teeth and ran for Pollux, planting her feet firmly in the ground as the wind tried to knock her away. She stumbled once, but managed to tackle Pollux to the ground. She held the pole to his neck. 

“Dead,” she muttered. 

Jungeun rolled away then, narrowly avoiding the club sailing over her head. 

She didn’t get up immediately. Instead she scrambled across the floor, pushing herself into a crouch, before sweeping the pole across the ground, pushing into the back of her knees. 

Reyna crashed down in the next moment. 

“Gotcha.” Jungeun pressed the pole to . 

Then the air left her lungs completely. 

Jungeun gasped, but pulling any air in hurt. She coughed. 

“If the opponent has any life left in them." That voice had already chastised her this morning. “They’ll use it to kill you.” Her father appeared. “Get up.” 

Jungeun grit her teeth, her lungs aching for air. She forced her hands to push herself up. 

A blow to her back, knocking her back. 

Jungeun rolled away, lungs screaming now. She got to her feet, dodged the next strike aimed for her head. Then she held her baton to Pollux’s throat. 

The air went back into her lungs. 

Her father threw the club her way. It curved in an arc. 

Jungeun grabbed it from the air, feeling three of her fingers give way as she did. 

She dodged the earth sent at her head, but missed the way the ground rippled beneath her. It wrapped around her ankle, nearly twisting it. 

She landed on the ground, but scrambled up in the next moment. Then a staff of dirt struck her head. 

Jungeun pushed herself up again, scrambling away from the next strike. She shoved to her feet, staying low enough, before aiming the next strike at his knee. 

A wall of earth rose up, shattered her pole. It collided into her in the next moment. She wasn’t sure what broke first, her shoulder or her ribs. 

“Okay,” her father said. “Won the first part, lost the second one.” 

Jungeun nodded, pushing herself off the ground, groaning as her body protested. 

Reyna and Pollux were looking at her. One of them seemed vaguely amused, but still concerned. Reyna looked worried. 

“Round two,” Jungeun told them. She got the other pole, meeting her father’s eyes. 

“I’ll leave you to it,” he said with a small nod. Then he walked off to the rest watching. 

Jungeun had stopped feeling embarrassed about failing. It was just a sign that she had to do better. The others just had to stop treating it like an exception. 

“We don’t have to—“ Reyna started. 

“Come on,” Jungeun raised a brow at Pollux, “this’s the only time you’ve got a chance with me.” 

Then they started again. Jungeun won. 

______

The patrols with the others were fine, fun even. Jinsoul was able to get to see even more of how they acted with one another, and how they acted towards her without the thought of a particular elf. 

Jinsoul found herself getting along with Sooyoung and Chaewon the most.  The level of annoyance they brought to the night was a necessary change from everything else. She cherished how Jiwoo could bring a smile to anyone’s face just by her own brightness. Hyejoo’s more reserved side made it hard to talk to her, but she opened up with certain topics. And if things were actually lighthearted, which they mostly were, Hyejoo joined in with several remarks towards her friends. 

While it was a large group of friends, Jinsoul couldn’t help but see how there were groups within it. Sooyoung seemed to lead one, while Haseul was with the other. 

The green-eyed elf was clearly a leader as well, but she took it more seriously than Sooyoung did, at least it looked like that. When she wasn’t helping Jinsoul with her magic, she was in discussions, going on some sort of journey to another clan, be they elves, fairies, or even vampires. With every meeting, Haseul came back from them looking exhausted. 

That was hidden once she reached her friends. 

Heejin was also involved in a lot, but she openly admitted when she was tired, especially when Hyunjin was there. It gave her an excuse to nap at her side. 

Jinsoul didn’t need to ask what that was all about. 

Heejin was pretty lively, opinionated too, but she never made discussions into an argument. Jinsoul actually liked eating with them to hear what Haseul and Heejin could tell them about what was happening. 

She’d learned then about how Heejin was still learning about the various groups around the world. One night she’d been going through the different Warsa and which mountains had imprisoned which people. Jinsoul had never seen someone have to have lessons about that sort of thing, but the Astra did that. She wondered how much of the information was true. 

Hyunjin was someone she couldn’t read that well. She was both a vital part of the friend group, being the cause of a lot of laughter too. But then she was also distant at other times. Jinsoul had been with her on guard duties and seen how quiet Hyunjin could be. She’d let the silence persist, knowing very well how necessary that could be, even if Jinsoul wanted to fill it. 

And then there was Yeojin, who looked like Haseul, but younger and very different. She wasn’t going to be an elder, but she knew almost as much as Heejin did. She also had a strong moral compass and was stubborn enough for it to almost never change. When it came to certain decisions the elders had reached, be it about a prisoner or another conflict, she’d blatantly say it was wrong and argue with Haseul at length about why. Hyunjin also got involved with those conversations, most of the time defending them. 

Jinsoul had learned then that Haseul seemed to be the most flexible when it came to what she believed. Sooyoung followed, then Hyunjin, Chaewon, and Hyejoo. After that came Heejin and Jiwoo, then Yeojin. 

When she thought about where Jungeun fell there, she still wasn’t sure if she was above Haseul, or closer to Yeojin. What she’d done should've meant her morality had plenty of exceptions within it.

After meeting her, lots of what Jinsoul had seen made her think the exact opposite. 

She still didn’t know which she was supposed to believe. 

The strangest thing of all was that how different being with the Astrans was without Jungeun. Jinsoul didn’t like how time had made a place for her. She expected to see Jungeun at the fire, or when others came back from patrols or guard. 

She also didn’t like how patrols felt different. There wasn’t supposed to be a difference, but there was. 

And of all the things Jinsoul wanted to be doing on said patrols, confronting a vampire coven wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t large, but it wasn’t small either. And apparently they were a bit on the older side. 

“Don’t you think five is a little small?” Jinsoul asked. “They’re faster, they stronger, they’re—“

“We’re smarter.” Chaewon leaned into Hyejoo’s side. “And they don’t have our magic or experience." 

She didn’t feel comforted by that. “How often does everyone get away unscathed?” 

“They don’t,” Sooyoung said. “But if they do get close enough, we definitely manage to kill them then.” 

Unless they snap your neck, Jinsoul thought. She didn’t say it. Either she’d be deemed even more of a pessimist, or they’d try harder to prove her wrong. 

“And it won’t be five.” Haseul was walking over. She was wearing something that looked like actual armour. Except it was just padded leather. At least it reached over some of her neck. She was carrying a few of the same. 

Heejin and Hyunjin were beside her, also with that leather armour. 

“No,” Sooyoung sighed, “we’re not doing that again.” 

Jinsoul spotted several lines, some smooth, some jagged. They’d been torn apart before, and now sealed again. 

“Yes we are.” Haseul handed Jinsoul one. It was heavy. “Either that or I’m tying a piece of steel around your neck.” 

“That’ll just help them tear my head off.” Sooyoung crossed her arms. “We don’t need it, Seul.” 

Then the shorter girl had dropped the armour. She all but tackled Sooyoung. “Remember this!” Her hands went for her neck. “You couldn’t move your head for weeks!” She shook her slightly. 

Something else happened and Haseul and Sooyoung were both in the ground, wrestling. 

“That,” Sooyoung grunted, “was just a dumb mistake.” She tried to get her in a headlock. 

“You could be saving your life,” Haseul bit back, socking her in the side. 

Jinsoul looked to the others, wondering if this was normal. Hyejoo and Chaewon looked a bit too excited by the fight, while Jiwoo’s eyes were filled with concern, but she was also holding back a smile. 

“Haseul’s getting her way.” Hyunjin was beside her. “They both know she’s right.”

“Wrong!” Sooyoung muttered. She threw Haseul into the dirt then. The other girl proceeded to actually tackle her. 

“Do they always fight it out?” Jinsoul asked. 

“Used to be worse!” Chaewon said, skipping over to them. “Sooyoung dislocated her shoulder twice, and then Seul actually broke her jaw.” She winked at Jinsoul. “They’re a lot better now.” 

“She’s choking her.” 

Then Sooyoung elbowed Haseul in the chest, knocking her back. 

Someone finally interfered. Jiwoo pulled Sooyoung up, wrapping an arm around her waist. 

“At least cover your neck,” Jiwoo whispered. 

“We’ll just laugh at you a little.” Hyejoo sent her a smile. 

“You’re not helping.” Hyunjin gave her a look. “But yeah,” she winked at Sooyoung, “we’ll laugh.”

Sooyoung snatched the armour from the ground and tore off the top part. She held it in front of Haseul’s eyes. “I’ll wear it, happy?”

Haseul nodded. Then she handed two to Chaewon. “You too.”

Both looked like they were about to protest, but neither did. Jinsoul probably wouldn’t have if that glare was directed at her. 

“It doesn’t stop your movement,” Hyunjin said. “We still don’t use it enough, but if it’s against that many, then we need it.” She patted her own bit of armour. 

Jinsoul looked at it. “I always used ice.” 

“You still can if you want.” Haseul wiped at the blood trickling from her lip.

“Is there enough water where we’re going?” 

“Take it with you,” Hyejoo said, patting the swords strapped to her waist. “Don’t start learning how to fight vampires, that’ll just make this worse.”

Jinsoul had also learned that Hyejoo couldn’t control moonlight. She wasn’t the only one, but it was rare. She still fought, while others usually didn't. 

Whenever they went on hunts, Chaewon would cover the blades in moonlight. Hyejoo usually ended up taking down the most spirits too. 

“Question first,” Sooyoung said. She was looking at the piece of leather she’d taken like it was something rotten. “You know we’re attacking, right?” Her gaze was slightly accusatory. “This isn’t a last chance at negotiating.” 

“I know,” Jinsoul replied. There was still that edge to Sooyoung#s voice. She understood why it was there too. That made it easier not to take the bait. “And if I didn’t agree with it, I wouldn’t be going with you.”

She nodded once, before turning to Hyunjin. “We’re taking the leader,” she said, meeting Haseul’s eyes as if they hadn’t just been fighting over a piece of leather. “And it'll be Hye, Chae and Jiwoo pulling the younger ones out.”

Jinsoul almost asked what that meant. She bit the question back. She could ask on the way. 

“So let’s go.” Sooyoung waved them over to the forest. 

Jinsoul started putting on the armour piece. 

“Let me,” Haseul said, walking behind her. She started to secure the ties. “How often have you mixed up with them?”

“Enough to know how,” Jinsoul replied. “Not enough to be used to it.” Even though it was just a piece of leather, something a vampire could tear through easily, it was comforting to have something covering her neck. “What exactly are those three doing?” She nodded in Chaewon’s direction. She was discussing something with both Jiwoo and Hyejoo. It sounded like a plan for what was to come. Something about pulling them off to the side? 

“We’re not killing them all.” She finished securing the leather. “They know someone’s coming for them. They’ll have a few more turned as a shield.” 

“How many is a few?” Jinsoul asked. Those vampires would be completely new to the thirst, to the bloodlust that would take them over. They’d try to kill them, but that wasn’t because they were killers. And they’d have been vulnerable to whatever their creators had told them. 

“I don’t know,” Haseul sighed, “the others’ve tried. That’s why we’re even going this far west.”

“And you think eight people are enough for that?” 

“Chae’s light drains,” Haseul told her. “Most of the time at least. She and Jiwoo’ll mark all the ones with more good in them than evil. They’ll incapacitate them, but if one attacks you, you need to do everything, but kill.”

Jinsoul frowned. “Since when can you tell that?”

“You learn with time,” she said. “Don’t look too long, but when we do get there, look out for the biggest differences.” She met her gaze. “This’s what we do if we don’t have a seer."

"You can't get one to come with?" If the priority was to keep them alive, then having an actual seer would've been the best option, wouldn't it? 

Haseul sighed. "We only get them in battle if they're absolutely convinced they're needed.” She looked frustrated, as if this’d been a problem for a long time. “Jiwoo’s always been able to pick up on that, Chaewon trained to figure out the differences. She’s got a better eye for the darkness too.”

“But can’t we all see that?” Jinsoul asked. 

“A little,” Haseul nodded, “but we mostly feel it, and see the overall picture. Some can actually pick out the types.” She shrugged. “I can’t. Vampires and all that have a lot more than most—that’s actually how we all find them, but not all of that means they’re evil.” 

“It’s just the darkness tied to their being,” she finished. “Werewolves probably have that too, don’t they?” She’d only seen new wolves—people who hadn’t been changed long enough to even be able to decide what they’d use that form for. They all had a darkness and the bloodlust to go with it. Except when they changed back. Then they were just mortals, terrified of their minds being lost to the moon—and of hurting the people around them. 

Another nod and a small smile. “So they’ll take those out. We focus on killing the rest.” Her eyes darkened. 

That look meant one thing: the vampires had had their chance to change. They’d lost it now. 

______

Jinsoul’s stomach lurched. She bit down on the bile that rose up. The sunlight blinded her the moment they surfaced. Wherever they were, it wasn’t winter here.

Travelling through the earth always meant her world would be flipped upside down. While it took so much less time than walking or running did, she always preferred the long way. Most did too, but if they were going across spans of earth the mortals called countries, or empires, then they needed to. The journeys would take weeks instead of days. 

Jiwoo wretched. As did Heejin. 

Jinsoul wrinkled her nose at the smell. Then she threw up as well. 

“Weak.” Hyejoo snickered. 

Jinsoul looked up to see the girl get to her feet, stumbling as she did. She looked slightly cross-eyed. 

Chaewon caught her, giggling. “What was that?” She looked completely unscathed by the process, except for her eyes being dull. Some people got lucky. Others very unlucky.

Sooyoung was still lying down, asleep. She’d been the one to use most of her magic for the transport. 

When Jinsoul’s people had done it, which was rare, they’d tried to share it among all of them. It made sure that none of them were completely drained of energy. 

Clearly, they didn’t do that here. 

“Set up with me,” Haseul was saying to Hyunjin. She had a huge pack on her back. The two of them had been making sure no spirits would attack them. Actually sinking into the earth took time. They were vulnerable to attacks. 

“You brought a tent?” Jinsoul asked. 

“Did you forget we live at night?” Heejin asked. “We’ll all get a sunburn if we stay out here, including you.” She wiped , grimacing. “Who had the water?”

“Me,” Jiwoo coughed, “I’ll get it soon.” She clutched her stomach as she slowly walked out of the now ruined earth. Jinsoul was relieved that mortals didn’t go very far into the woods. Otherwise they’d see several stretches of mysteriously dug up earth. 

Jinsoul pushed herself to her feet. She wasn’t too dizzy, just nauseated. 

She went to the edge of the disrupted earth, looking for water as she did. There was a large lake in the distance. She’d have to look further for the rivers. Trying to do that made her head hurt. Another thing she hated about using the earth to travel. 

Jiwoo was carrying Sooyoung out of the ground. It was a strange sight. Jinsoul would’ve expected it to be the other way round. 

Hyejoo was leaning up against a tree, eyes drooping. Her head was on Chaewon’s shoulder, their hands clasped together. 

Jinsoul looked away. Like Sooyoung and Jiwoo, she didn’t fully understand those two. The only people whose relationship was actually clear were Hyunjin and Heejin. They still seemed to be navigating whatever that was. And she wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be known among the Astra, so she hadn’t asked anyone about it. 

Love among immortals wasn’t rare, but it was hard to find. There was the love that lasted several years. Jinsoul had experienced that a few times. 

But then those years extended into decades. While people didn’t tend to change, that was sometimes the problem. Deeper flaws would be revealed, either from Jinsoul, or the other person. Either that, or Jinsoul’s healing duties would be seen as “too much”. Even with all the time they’d have together, the people Jinsoul had loved had felt as though she’d kept them on the periphery of her life. Maybe they’d been right. She still didn’t know. 

No, in the lives of immortals, the people you spent your life with needed to be strong against time. Whether that be time apart, or time spent together. 

With the people around her, they seemed to spend a lot of time around each other. They’d either overcome those challenges of time, or grown parallel to them. Somehow, Jiwoo and Sooyoung, as well as Hyejoo and Chaewon, managed to be around one another almost all night. They purposefully worked together for everything, but also spent time outside of their duties together. Somehow, they didn’t get fed up with one another. And if they did, they were just extremely vocal about it—without leaving. 

She pushed the thoughts from her mind. She went to help with setting up. 

Haseul sent her a smile when she joined, but didn’t say anything else. Her thoughts were very clearly elsewhere, probably thinking about how they’d attack. 

______

“How many’re hurt?” Jungeun asked. 

The fairy looked at her, half frightened, half relieved. “Sekar got the worst. They saw him as the greatest threat.” 

She debated whether or not to comment that this fairy in particular seemed to have gotten a beaten as well. There was blood soaking through whatever bandages she’d put on, and one of her eyes was swollen shut. 

Instead, Jungeun nodded and went over to the other fairy.

Immediately, she could see he was an emotional fae. His hair was pale blue and green. That meant calm and happiness were what he usually felt. A good sign. 

And then there were his eyes. They were a deep angry red. When he saw her, they flashed with yellow surprise, joined by grey soon after. Fear. 

“Why are you here?” Sekar asked. His eyes turned gold. 

Jungeun tried not to focus on the colours. Being around certain fairies already gave her a headache. She didn’t need to spend ages trying to talk to him and figure out his emotions. Haseul was a lot better at that than she was. 

“They asked me to come,” she replied. “I was close enough that I made it in time.” She’d been among the neighbouring Warsa. Then she’d gotten word from her father that Reyna was here. 

A group of fairies had been ambushed. For what, she still didn’t know. She probably wouldn’t be asking. 

Then they’d been imprisoned and forced to help with whatever it was the rest had needed. Reyna had met her at the periphery and they’d snuck in to the base area. Reyna’s hold over the earth helped a lot with that. 

And now they were here. 

Sekar nodded. “Thank you.” Then his brow furrowed, dark blue coming into his eyes, but there was still a lot of gold. Sadness and curiosity—or confusion. 

He was looking into her emotions. She’d met a fair amount of emotional fae in and outside of fighting. She’d liked most of the ones she hadn’t fought, but even they ended up searching her emotions. Apparently she had a lot of inconsistencies. 

She looked to Sekar’s injuries then. A broken leg under the knee. His arm was also deformed, but it didn’t seem like a normal break. They’d left burns all across his skin too. Had he been afraid because of that? 

“Can we go?” Reyna had gathered the rest, all of them seemed hopeful. Probably because of whatever she’d said to them. 

“Just a minute. Maybe two.” Jungeun summoned two short pieces of moonlight and placed them on either side of the leg. “This’s gonna hurt.” She summoned a third and held it to his mouth. “Bite down.” She put her hands on the pieces of moonlight. "Do I need to do your arm too?"

He looked at her and nodded once. "Just the leg." Then he did what she'd said. 

She shoved the pieces onto the leg and pulled, straightening the worst part. 

A muffled scream. 

Another stretch of moonlight curled around all of it, making a large cast. She tightened it. 

Then she carved in a quick healing rune into the light. There was a rush of magic. It felt very different to the fire, almost cold. 

A sigh came next. 

Jungeun took back the light he’d bitten down on and then helped him up. 

His eyes had turned yellow. He was keeping himself awake. “I’m actually glad you didn’t warn me.” He wiped at his eye. “Your rune was messy too.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Did it work?” She helped him walk over to where the rest had gathered. Someone immediately gave him one of the weapons Reyna had brought. It’d work as a crutch. 

Reyna was currently looking at her, eyes wide. 

Jungeun didn’t think much of it. “Who’s got the best defensive magic? Illusions, maybe ice?” She glanced at Reyna. No offence, she thought. Reyna used it well offensively, but that wasn’t the norm for people with earth as their magic. The weapons used were usually brittle. 

Two raised their hands. 

Jungeun went over with Sekar. “You’ll be able to walk in a few minutes—maybe run if things get bad. Just keep them off you and I’ll—we’ll handle the rest.” She looked to Reyna, who still seemed surprised. “Who’s going to fight?” she asked. “Because even if you don’t, we will get all of you out alive.”

Only rarely had that promise been broken. The last had been two centuries ago. 

A few came forward. After asking their names and magic, she had a lightning wielder, one with air, and an emotional fae. 

“Dahyun’s told me about you,” Seulgi said, her eyes a combination of several colours. “She’d trust you to get us out.” Her hand tightened around the sword they’d brought. “So will I.”

Jungeun nodded. “Thank you.” She pulled out her axe. “Come on.” She sent the injured down one path, leading the others down the main route. Some would be able to get out of harms way, but once their captors realised they’d broken out, some would follow. It was easier to go after the ones escaping than the ones fighting. 

There were shouts of alarm as the ground fell away, revealing the fairies’ captors. 

She counted fourteen. Only a few held staffs of ice, others stone, while the rest had metal. 

Jungeun sent a wide stretch fire at all of them. Then she lunged for the nearest one with ice, sinking her axe into his chest. She dodged the blow someone else sent her way. 

She let the flames coat her skin and sink into the ground. They rose up around the next elf, wrapping around her legs and pulling them down to the ground. 

She was still aware of who was around her and if they were winning or losing. She stopped someone from mauling the air-wielder at one point. 

A familiar peace filled her mind as she took down each threat that tried to take her. Her thoughts faded from her mind. She only pulled on the fire, letting it fill the air, pushing it where she needed it. 

The sounds of fighting continued. Had her magic been emotion, Jungeun would’ve seen how grey filled the air. Instead, she just saw the shadows of fear expanding around her.