Trigger warnings for this chapter: violence and blood. Just a bit.

Chaewon had her eyes closed, breath shallow as she tried to get some rest while also keeping her stance, albeit many hours passed by without a single noise, she knew better than to let her guard down.

Patience was indeed the virtue of the wise.

The red-ish light that passed through her eyes, coming from the candle’s flame wavering, turning everything black for a moment, and the warrior just knew something bad was about to happen. Holding onto the guard of her sword tightly, she moved swiftly to assume position, her eyes like daggers as they adapted to the darkness. Her ears perked at the shuffling above her head, the noise of boots on top of wood informing her that there was no time left.

“Minjoo,” She called quietly as she approached the princess and stood in front of her like a shield, knowing that Minjoo was also aware of the change in the atmosphere. The princess had her own sword in hands already, eyes wide open as she listened to the bodyguard. “They are here.”

The general barely had enough time to say it before the roof was thrown open, revealing a group of masked silhouettes dressed in black, the men dropping on by one to the floor around them, surrounding the two women as they drew their swords and prepared to fight. Chaewon knew something was off, but she didn’t think they would be so bold to attack directly after all that show earlier.

Now, they had no choice but to fight to stay alive and she had no plan of losing.

At first all Chaewon could feel was the warmth of Minjoo’s body at her back and the weight of their stares over them. The enemies didn’t dare to make a move as she hissed at them – her lips going up to show the prominent canines as she pretty much roared the name of her friends, calling for help, assuming her combat posture. The blade of her sword shining like the moonlight as she allowed her body to become one with it, her spirit’s energy running through the sword like the blood inside her veins. “I am warning you, if you take another step you will be committing treason!”

As her voice reverberated through the room, deep and stronger than ever, the men made their decision to attack, swords high and eyes full of bloodthirsty as they went ahead ignoring Chaewon’s warning.

The blades of their swords crossed, the general charging at them with full range, the silver of her blade hitting hard and sending the men several feet away with each blow. Her moves were precise, the tiger-eyes wide open as she noticed every single move and reacted to it fast, her light feet moving quickly from side to side as she acted like a shield to the princess and did her best to keep the mob away. Chaewon was strong and confident, full of strength born from her sense of honor and protectiveness, born from the care and affection she had for the woman she should protect now.

She lost the count of the number of times she crossed swords with the enemies, not only using the blade to attack the men but also moving fast to hit them with strong kicks and even using her elbows to hit whoever she could reach. Yet, it was still not enough when men kept falling from the sky, like a curse.

“Remember your promise!” Minjoo’s voice sounded from behind her, one moment before she could feel the lean back of the princess against hers as the younger Kim decided to assume an offensive posture, covering Chaewon’s back while her sword faced the sea of enemies.

The general couldn’t oppose it, seeing Minjoo sending a man flying with a strong blow of her sword – her duty was to keep the princess safe, in all ways, but tonight she would have to accept her help. “Stay in control.” Was the last thing she could say before her focus went back to battle, her hands gripping tightly to the sword as she decided it was time to change her strategy – killing wasn’t something she took pleasure in, but saving their lives was more important than taking mercy on the enemy.

For the princess, it was her first and maybe the last battle she took part in. A battle she didn’t choose, but she wouldn’t run away from.

All the times she practiced with Wonyoung and the others came back to her mind, all the words Chaewon had told her – her body remembered it just fine, her movements quick and sharp as she swung the sword as if it was part of her own body. For the first time she didn’t have to think much, the energy simply growing inside of her as fear and anger slowly turned into a courage that prompted her to act.

The group of men was pressuring them, bodies on the floor from the many wounded enemies were forgotten as new ones took their place, restlessly attacking them. Outside, Minjoo could hear the strong steps hitting the floor, the shouting and screaming as another battle took place – Yena’s shouts could be heard, just like Yujin’s, yet they couldn’t reach them and Minjoo just knew it was Lee's plan all along.

Her powerful sword hit another one so hard that it broke and the blade flew away giving Minjoo the chance of kicking the man away and moving to the next one.

Her eyes were gold, just like the flames inside of her that warmed her body now, the raging flames that made it hot and so alive, as the energy begged to be release and slowly started to sip through the jewels on the guard of her sword, spreading through its blade and giving it a new power – like it had happened to Chaewon’s, the material had a special shine to it now, burning red and gold, as strong as the will of the one who hold it.

Another masked man appeared in front of her, shorter than the rest, the black sword he carried was aimed right at her neck as he it down with all his power albeit he was far too slow to even pose her a real threat. The guard of her own sword received the attack with ease, however Minjoo could feel something evil emanating from the blood-ish blade of his sword as the man insisted on his attack, prompting her to expand her own power to push him away.

“Hey there, little fox.” The man greeted as his eyes smiled, giving Minjoo a sickly feeling.

They locked eyes – dark, empty eyes looking back at her with nothing but cunning shining inside of them. Minjoo would recognize it anywhere. Of course, that bastard never wanted to marry her in the first place. He wanted her blood instead.

Her sword was of a bright orange when she attacked him this time, the man jumping back as he tried to hide behind his soldiers. The blood evaporated on the surface of her sword as she adamantly looked for him, blindly in search of the heir of the Lee family.

Her attacks were stopped once the doors were thrown open, the battle outside coming inside and more enemies approached, the explosion of noise making the smell of blood intensify – this battle was now a war.

She felt a hand reach out for her, but she didn’t need to turn around to know it was Chaewon – the coolness of the tiger calming the rage of the fox as the older Kim dragged her away from the battle, taking this chance for them to escape.

“Jump!” The general ordered as she kicked a wooden chest through the floor, gesturing for Minjoo to use it as support so she could jump and reach the opening in the ceiling – they would leave the same way the enemies had entered.

Minjoo didn’t question her words, her feet light as she climbed the chest and made the jump easily, like she had done it all her life. She looked from one side to the other, noticing someone afar watching them at the top of the roof, but she didn’t move, instead she extended her hand so Chaewon could use it. “Chaewon, come on!”

But, of course, by now the general was already surrounded by a new wave of enemies, kicking and punching her way out, sword cutting open wounds as she tried to stay on top of the chest. She looked up and for a moment Minjoo could hear her thoughts, hear her telling her to go away first, but she ignored it and leaned over the edge. “Chaewon!”

As if luck was on their side, suddenly there was a new commotion as the royal guards made their way inside the room. “Chaewon, go and keep the princess safe!” It was Hyewon who shouted as she and the others struggled to fight the enemies and give Chaewon enough space to move – what she did without a fail, projecting her body like a cat as she jumped and hung by the edge of the roof before swinging her body back and forth and landing perfectly beside Minjoo. Chocolate and golden met the silver and chestnut of Chaewon’s eyes that looked lighter than ever.

Minjoo looked at her both relieved and impressed, but she didn’t have the chance of saying anything as the figure she had seen from afar was now fast approaching and they didn’t have any time to waste.

Holding onto the general’s hand, they run together, quick steps sprinting through the roof, keeping the delicate balance as they try to keep the distance between themselves and the man who was so insistently following. They kept running, jumping from one place to the other, in search of a safe place to get down – yet the battle was still on going at the floor and there was no option but to keep going up.

Unfortunately, the dark figure was still behind and his insistence was made known as a metal star passed by the side of Minjoo’s face – her fast reflexes and acute hearing being the only thing that protected her from ending up with the sharp object stuck inside her skull. Looking back, she could see not only the man, but other enemies struggling to climb up the roof and hunt them down as well.

Minjoo and Chaewon were fast, but clearly those men knew the path much better. Chaewon pulled her to keep going, now heading to the end of the roofs and the far back from the house where they could jump beyond the wall and go into the forest – it was their only hope now.

By the time they reached it, two masked men were already there and they were forced to stop to fight them, the general powering through the battle with sharp and quick strikes that left blood on her sword and the men on the floor. Meanwhile Minjoo noticed another man trying to climb up and she ran to the edge, kicking his face mercilessly and watching him drop to the floor – gone was the kind princess, there was no mercy to traitors.

The princess was ready to jump into the forest, but the dark figure who was still following them had caught up to them by now, and she only had enough time to scream. “Chaewon, watch out!” But it was too late, the man had already thrown more sharp star-shaped daggers at Chae and the woman only had enough time to jump aside avoiding one of the objects, yet receiving the impact of another on her right shoulder.

The general let out a painful scream, but she didn’t stay down running towards the man to strike down her sword at him – the man could barely receive the blow, his arms struggling to hold his sword in front of his face. Kim’s eyes glowed in the dark night as she noticed the black tattoo on the man’s arm and she gritted her teeth – it was the security chef, In Yeop, the one who had been watching them all along. She took strength in the light of the moon that guided her steps to push back, seeing the man slowly step back, surprised with her sudden attack.

Chaewon took advantage of it to kick him out of the rooftop, dooming the man to fall into the cold ground infested with sharp rocks, to rest forever in the land of the lowly people he tried to defeat. The general didn’t celebrate the victory, she kept her lips tight to avoid a painful cry as she took out the metallic object that was going deep inside her flash. Blood flew from the wound and she breathed heavily, covering it with a hand to try and stop the bleeding, knowing that once the adrenaline ran away it would be much worse.

Minjoo came to her meeting, pulling Chaewon along with her so they could make an escape before more enemies appeared, the princess not hesitating before making the both of them jump inside the forest without looking back.

They landed with a quiet thud, Minjoo supporting Chaewon’s body as the woman almost lost her balance. There were still people behind them, but the princess couldn’t afford putting them through yet another battle ,therefore she did the one thing she wasn’t allowed to do ever since her mother died.

She showed her true self.

Gold and orange involved her body, the flames dancing inside her eyes as the much bigger and imponent silhouette of a nine-tailed fox was traced behind her, showing her true spirit. Chaewon beside her watched in awe, her pale face amazed yet not surprised.

Raising her hand, Minjoo closed her eyes and felt the wind rushing through the forest, the trees trembling upon its power as the skies cried announcing a storm – it was Minjoo ordering nature to answer her prayers and close the path. The rain fell heavily, the wind blowing strongly and pushing off the men from the roofs and the trees growing three times their size, much higher than the walls of the Lee’s household, closing for good that entrance to the forest.

Minjoo held on tightly to Chaewon as the spirit of the fox guided them, showing the way through the forest and to safety.

Geumyeou was the home of the golden fox, the land where the legend was created and should prosper – and Minjoo was the last one of her kind. She wouldn’t allow the Lee’s to doom her to the same tragic fate her mother had.

A/N: Hi there, action is not my forte ik ik. If you think this is too sudden, check back the other chapters and you will find numerous clues indicating what would happen. My co-authors weren’t informed about this, so it might be a surprise to them lol