Letting let out a harsh breath, Jungkook kicked a Frikg that was aiming for Jimin. It's different from the ones he had fought thus far. It whipped around and he recoiled as he got his first real look it. The creature in front of him had pale gray skin, nearly white in patches. Rather than two wings on its back, it had four, sickly looking where the veins stood out lividly against the pale gray skin. Its horns were an ill-looking yellow. Worst were its eyes, dark, black rather than the usual red. He barely got his sword up in time as the thing moved, snarling and hissing, swinging faster than Jungkook could keep pace. He had never been so bitterly aware that he was merely a knight with normal elfin magic unlike his mate. Though he was adequate in battle, he had never been of the same caliber as Jimin. Jimin on the other hand got abundant of magic, and could fight probably more than Jungkook could. The thing snarled in fury as he was struck from behind. Jungkook used the opportunity to lodge a boot in the damn thing's gut, sending it stumbling back and giving himself a chance to breathe and figure something out. He glanced past the Frikg to where Jimin stood– the sea elf had joined the fight at some point and had found Jungkook amidst thousands of people, and he wasn't even surprised how he did that. Jimin's eyes shimmered green as he draw from nature, channelling the strength to spells—dozen of them arrayed in the air in front of him, each glowing a different color, ready to be used on a moment. Even as Jungkook readied himself for round two, a ruby spell shone bright and in the next breath, a brilliant burst of fire engulfed the Frikg. It roared and turned to go for Jimin again, who stood his ground. Jungkook pulled a dagger and threw it, catching it in the back, piercing one wing in the process. Jimin's flames had further damaged them, but as the flames finally faded off, the thing did not seem otherwise harmed. Maybe because that wasn't dragon fire that end them instantly. Jimin's eyes flashed some more, matching the colour of his soft green scales and a sharp burst of light filled their side of the field. Jungkook ran at the creature, swinging his sword, but it turned and caught the blade as if it was little more than a stick, yanking it out of Jungkook's hands and throwing it aside. It lashed out and Jungkook only dodged enough to avoid the gashes across his chest cutting deep enough to be fatal. The scent of fire and magic filled the air and the anomal Frikg let out a scream as it was consumed in white fire. Had Jimin become more powerful or had he always been this way? It turned toward Jimin again, tail lashing back and forth, wings moving restlessly on its back. It made a sound that reminded Jungkook of laughter in a chilling, frightening way. More Frikgs were coming their way when they hadn't even finish this one. Oh Sadok. Grimacing at the pain in his chest, the blood that seeped into his clothes and dripped down his torso, Jungkook caught Jimin's gaze and gave the barest nod, signaling he was ready for whatever would come next.  Jimin's eyes flashed again as he cast more spells and send them to the half of the smaller Frikgs that had reached him. Power rippled, shone, and the area they were began to shake, not in the way it had done when the dark elf had called out those creatures, but slightly and the vibration ended with the Frikgs disintegrating. Despite unused to it, Jungkook maintained his footing and ran for the Frikg that still refused to go down, pulling out another dagger, throwing himself on the disoriented creature's back, and shoving the dagger into its neck all the way to the hilt, just as Jimin's spells hit the remaining Frikgs. Screaming, the thing bucked him off. It turned, eyes glowing, with a grin that displayed all of its sharp teeth, pulled the dagger from its neck and threw it aside. It stalked toward Jungkook, who tried to scramble to his feet, pulling another dagger and bracing—only to be abruptly snatched up and thrown. Jungkook slammed into a tree, then collapsed to the ground in a heap. He tried to move, to stand up, but could only moan and curl up in a ball of pain. His chest injury had barely healed, but now had reopened. He heard the thing coming and struggled again to rise, but could barely drag his eyes open. Then he heard a crack and a bolt of light struck the creature. Its scream ended nearly as soon as it began, and the charred remains fell to the ground mere steps from Jungkook. "Jimin over here come help him up." It was Junmyeon, oh the thunder bolt made sense. "Get him out of here, I think he's not healing on his own and he needs medical assistant." "Jungkook are you alright?" Jimin ran over to him. He dropped to his knees and ran his hands frantically over Jungkook's body, fear in his eyes. "It will be all right, hang on, I am gonna get you to the healers." "Jimin …" He tried to say more– tried to ask the sea elf to look out for his father that had insisted on being in the battlefield when he was no fighter– but pain overtook him again and Jungkook succumbed to the dark, something happening for the first time in his life. He had brought shame to the Knights.   *** Sizzling whips in both hands, Eunhyuk leaped up, bringing the magical whips down. The damn thing snatched a whip from his hand—and screamed as a shower of sparks erupted on its face from where the whips had hit it. Blood poured from its eyes as Eunhyuk ended it with his sword. Another one was waiting , he drove his sword into the creature's chest. Leaving the sword, he called back his whips and wrapped one around its neck and slit its throat, shoving it to the ground. He yanked his sword out while the thing writhed in agony. Tightening the whip, he pulled hard, beheading it and watched with cold eyes as it disintegrated. Panting and wiping sweat from his face, he glanced to see that Donghae was well, then finally pushed on through the gates of his palace. The creatures were everywhere, some on the ground, and still more in the air. Kai had learned what the creatures were form Baekhyun and had shared the knowledge into their minds and how to deal with them. Thanks to the wolves, they wouldn't have to bother with the spirits, or things would have been bad.  "Stand back, Majesty," Taemin shouted and Eunhyuk immediately obeyed. Being a blue dragon and having a mage for a mate gave Taemin the ability to take on the creatures in numbers. Eunhyuk had seen how he did it and it was impressive, but strength consuming. "Can you get the others out of the way?" He asked. They were mostly elves fighting close to the castle. The proximity made it easier to draw from the Tree of Life. "Withdraw!" Eunhyuk bellowed. Someone heard him and repeated the order without hesitation. The elves backed off and Taemin stepped forward, his skin changing to blue scales, eyes flashing. Lightning cracked, spread out in deadly fingers, and struck all of the creatures in ark. Taemin dropped to his knees as the lightning tapered off. "Will you be all right?" Eunhyuk asked. This was third time the dragon had almost exhausted himself and it take at least half an hour to recover with the help of a silver dragon. "Yes," Taemin said, nodding faintly, already rising to find a healer. Mouth tight, Eunhyuk nevertheless went, helping the others finish what the lightning had begun. "Majesty!" "Eunhyuk!" He whipped around at the sound of voices—and went down hard as a Frikg slammed into him, throwing Eunhyuk atop a pile of bodies and pinning him there, nails digging deep into Eunhyuk's shoulders, making him scream. Vile eyes glowed and a long, wet tongue s out. The Frikg's fangs were slicked with blood and its breath smelled of rotted meat as it lowered its head to tear Eunhyuk apart or probably drain him. Then he heard another roar, and the Frikg was abruptly gone, snarling in fury as something pulled it away. It was red dragon in half form. Hyoyeon. She had wings that tore off a part of her clothes to make room for them, red scales, tail and yet retained her hominid physique. Hyoyeon's tail lashed back and forth, and her claws dripped blood, hands covered in gore as she faced off with the large Frikg. Both hissed, and then fell into the most brutal fight Eunhyuk had ever witnessed, and he couldn't take his eyes off them. If he ever doubted Hyoyeon had what it takes to be the warrior she had been born as, now that doubt was gone  Eventually though, the Frikg  began to lose. Eunhyuk had no idea how, because it definitely seemed the Frikg was the stronger. Snarling as she tore off one of the Frikg's wings, Hyoyeon slammed a fist into its face, then launched into the sky with it, climbing high and then letting it fall again. The Frikg screamed until it struck the ground and Eunhyuk turned away from the results of the fall before it turned to ash. "Are you okay majesty?" Someone yanked him up away from the mess. He gazed up into an elf's eyes. Familiar. For a moment Eunhyuk stared, until his brain registered whose arms were holding him. Taegun was gazing at him with the same expression he wore since the moment they met after decades– mixed with concern. Taegun was no fighter, not at the level of a knight. However he had insisted on joining the battle, and he had been by Eunhyuk's side since it began, only straying when he had a lot to deal with. Despite everything that happened, Eunhyuk still regarded him as friend and would continue to do so. What happened in the past could not be changed. Yet the Royal chef had refused to forgive himself. With time, Eunhyuk would make sure he did. Nodding, Eunhyuk took a step back. "I am alright." He said, turned around, scanning for his husband and spotted Donghae, surrounded by a group of Frikgs. He rushed over, whips at ready. Lashing out, he caught two around the neck and pulled them back, enough for Donghae to have a fighting room. With a cry, Eunhyuk jerked the whips, taking off their heads. If they didn't stop the dark elf, the waves of creatures would never cease. They would be fighting an endless futile battle.  Eunhyuk felt the hair at the back of his neck stood up. He swirled just in time to step away from a Frikg that was intending to away his life essence. Raging for not having its way, the creature stalked him, and Eunhyuk tripped, losing his balance in an attempt to get some room.   ! He cursed, something he rarely did. It was coming fast and he wasn't fast enough to get an attack ready. He was exhausted god-damned it. They all were. Just when it stretched out a hand to grab him, a katana pierced its chest. It didn't go down, which meant the attacker had missed its heart. Roaring, it yanked the katana out, flinging it away, before turning with an angry cry to grab – oh Sadok, Taegun. Eunhyuk jumped to his feet, calling out to the trees nearby for help. They answered, extending branches to grab the Frikg and free Taegun that dropped down with a groan. With Eunhyuk's command they tore it into pieces. Making sure it was dead, he bent over to catch a breather. Using this type of power take a lot of his energy, especially now that he had expelled plenty due to the battle. Despite being a god descendant, Eunhyuk didn't have the powers tied to one. His son had been the one born with a part it, and his grandson Dae seem to have more. So far only Sehun had that much power to get help from nature and wouldn't even break a sweat. On other hand, Eunhyuk had more connection with the Tree of Life. It had given him almost half of its powers just before the battle began. And talking more wouldn't be an option. Many elves depended on the remaining to keep them going. The moment Sadok was exhausted, so would the elves. "Majesty." Taegun called. Eunhyuk waved his hand at elf, lifting his head to glance at him for a moment "I am fine, just need a moment."  "It's unwise to be in the middle of the field. Let's get you –" Taegun let the words hang for a long moment. Eunhyuk straighten up to see what had Taegun stopped mid sentence. His eyes widening in horror as he watched blood gushed out of Taegun's chest. He let out a muffled startled scream when a rattling pop accentuated the blood bubbling from the holes in his chest and Taegun's elfin heart fell off his chest, literally. Whatever it was had pushed the heart out. Taegun's wide eyes dimmed, his mouth twitched like he wanted to say something, before crashing on the ground, unmoving. Eunhyuk was too shock to react. If not for Jimin that for some miracle rushed to his side, he would have meet his end at the hand of the same creature that killed Taegun. "No," he shook his head, tears blurring his vision as his legs finally moved, shuffling to the dead elf and dropping on his knees. "Oh mercy Sadok." He wheezed, hands hovering over the dead elf. "I am sorry." Jimin said, a hand on his shoulder squeezing. "I saw it too late." Strong familiar arms surrounded him, and Eunhyuk let out a loud cry that was drawn out by the sound of the battle, vaguely hearing the words Donghae whispered and Jimin that chose to protect them against anything that came their way while he took a moment to mourn his best friend. Oh Jungkook. The young knight would be devastated for the loss, after recently getting his father back.
*** Wei Ying blinked at the sight across him. Though not his friend, he had known Taegun for as long as he had been friends with Eunhyuk. It was truly sad to watch him die. Wei Ying had come to Lyfe knowing he would lose people close to him or probably his own life. But that still didn't make it any easier to see. The pain in Eunhyuk's eyes was heart breaking.  With a sigh, focused on the battle. Catching sight of his daughters, Wendy and Ire– Seulgi battling side by side, watching each other's backs like they it was supposed to be. Seulgi didn't seem to need a weapon, her body was a weapon of its own. And her gracious baby bump didn't deter her from fighting viciously. The creatures had taken noticed of her strength and tend to avoid her like they did with king Namjoon. However she followed them, tearing them with her bare hands, while Wendy alternated between her gun and daggers. Wei Ying on the other side couldn't watch his back as he fought. He felt the presence of another Frikg, but before he could react more Frikgs were upon him. He screamed as he was grabbed hard from behind, claws digging into his skin even through layers of fabric, that caused him to lose his weapon. He was hauled into to the sky at a dizzying rate, the wind stinging his eyes and making it impossible to see. He struggled anyway, drawing breath for a fresh scream, pulling on every scrap of his energy in the hopes it would be able to do something, call the attention of someone to help him —and screamed in stark-white terror when the Frikg let him go. Then it grabbed his arm, left him dangling, and Wei Ying winced. The thing's claws bit into his wrist, but there was nothing he could do to escape the pain. He could feel warm blood trickling down his arm beneath his sleeves. "I—" He thought better of the demand and instead shouted,"What do you want with me?" It was big, almost the size of a teenage dragon and seemed sentient enough. It wouldn't have taken him if it wanted him dead. It only growled and offered a smile that made Wei Ying shudder, it wasn't going to kill him, it wanted to take him somewhere. Then he heard a more familiar snarl– a dragon, right before a shadow slammed into the Frikg. It let him go and rounded on Minseok, who raked his claws across its face and threw it aside. Minseok dove, catching Wei Ying up before heading rapidly toward the ground. Wei Ying cried out as Minseok abruptly dropped him, but it was cut off when he landed in a pile of snow and sank down into it. It had been snowing for a while, and Wei Ying found it hard to believe how the weather had changed rapidly. Then Minseok was gone again, growls filling the air. W