It was as if time had stopped for everyone as they all stared, dumbfounded, at the young boy.

No one moved, nor did they say anything, and the tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. 

Then I blinked, and it wsa as if the spell was shattered.

"I'll be damned," I heard Yixing mutter from beside me, ending the suffocating silence.

"What just happened?" I whispered to the taller man, hoping that he could explain why and how Sehun just created an extremely strong gust of wind.

"I think... He's-" Yixing bit his lip, blinking rapidly as he tried to wrap his mind around the answer that he was about to give me. Howvever, just as he opened his mouth to complete his response, a low growl was emitted from one of the enemies'mounts.

"Attack!" One of the men suddenly shouted, raising his fist into the air.

Luhan turned, raising his hand so mutliple pebbles and stones pelted them as they made to jump over the chasm. He was still too exhausted to be able to move anything bigger, however, and I knew we had to get him out of there as quickly as possible.

"Luhan!" I called out to him, about to tell him to just run, but the winds picked up again,  ruffling his hair anc clothes.

One of the men made the leap across the gap, but just as they reached him, the winds formed into a miniature tornado with Luhan at the center, knocking the man off his path and sending him flying to the side.

A glance at Sehun told me that he was indeed doing this, the look of concentration from amnipulating the air around his friend and the determined focus he had on Luhan said it all. 

"Someone needs to go get Luhan out of there," I spoke, glancing at Yixing.

He nodded slowly. "Tao's our fastest but..." He looked at the boy's crouched position behind Sehun.

"I'm pretty fast," Kai suggested, having overheard our conversation.

"You're not going anywhere near there," Suho warned.

Kai rolled his eyes. "Just tell Sehun to cover me," He said with a wink and sped off towards the windstorm.

"Kai!" Suho shouted, but his call went unheeded as the boy just continued running. "He's going to get himself killed."

I bit my lip, noticing that Kai was moving even faster than usual. I noticed that h\is hair flew forward into his face instead of backwards, and  smirked. It appeared that he was being pushed along by the wind. "I think Sehun's got him."

"How is he doing this?" The older man frowned, looking at the youngest boy.

"I have a theory but... It's the only thing that makes sense, as weird as it is," Yixing said.

"You don't think he's-" Jongdae gasped.

"He has to be," Yixing snapped.

"What?!" I was growing impatient now.

"There used to be twelve of us, you see," Minseok explained, glancing at his two friends. 

"Yeah, Luhan told us."

'Then he told you about the five that are now dead?"

"Yes."

"One of the five could control the air, create tornados and wind storms," Jongdae said.

"And you think.. Sehun?" I glanced at Sehun, then at Zitao who was still on his knees, gripping the back of Sehun's shirt.

"He was Tao's other," Yixing said. "And it appears that Sehun has drained some of the energy out of Zitao. Like Chanyeol would need Kris' blood to regain his powers, it seems that Sehun needs Zitao's energy."

"That's impossible!" Suho argued. "How can Sehun be one of you?"

"We never knew what happened with the ones that died," Yixing explained. "Chanyeol was never really killed, but even when his human form died, he was reborn. We'd always thought it was just a property of his Phoenix powers, but..."

"So Tao's other was reborn into Sehun," D.O. clarified.

"It's the only reasonable explanation," Jongdae sighed. 

"I'm kind of jealous," Minseok said with a pout.

Yixing nodded, and Jongdae smiled sadly at the ground. Then I remembered what Luhan had told me, how they felt a great loss when their other was killed. 'Like ripping our souls in half', he'd told me. I originally thought he meant that literally but... I understood Kris' connection to Chanyeol even more now. There wasn't just a spiritual or physical connection between the two, but an emotional one. They completed each other. I felt a great sense of sadness towards the others.

"But I'm happy for him too," Yixing finally said with a smile. "Now let's make sure Zitao won't lose him again."

Jongdae and Minseok nodded determinedly, turning to see how the battle was progressing.

Kai had almost made it to Luhan, and the whirlwind faded, leaving the two on the edge of the chasm unprotected.

Nine men still stood facing them, with another on the ground yards away. I noticed all the mounts preparing, readying themselves for attack.

"Are they all going to attack at the same time?!" I gasped in alarm. Sehun couldn't possibly handle all nine of them, especially if he didn't even know what he was doing in the first place.

It seemed that I had jinxed it, as they all attacked, leaping across the gap easily.

Sehun raised his hands and the winds moved into action, but as I'd predicted, he was unable to keep all of them off by himself.

One of the mounts swatted at Kai, flinging the boy back onto the ground.

"Kai!" D.O. shouted, his eyes wide.

Luhan turned to Kai, about to run to him, but one of the men rode in front of him, staring down at the boy with a smirk.

He reached down, grabbing a fistfull of Luhan's hair and tilting his head back, baring his neck as he raised his sword.

Kai groaned, lifting his head, saw the two of them. He climbed to his feet.

"What's he doing?" Suho hissed. "Tell me he's not going to attack that guy."

Kai grabbed his shoulder which was probably worse for the wear now, and stood shakily. The man who'd attacked him smirked, circling Kai threateningly.

Kai glanced to the side at Luhan and took a deep breath as the man moved to stand in Kai's path.

Within a split second, they had both made their decision, charging at each other with great speed. The man raised his own sword ready to bring it down on Kai's head but Kai dropped to the ground at the last moment, ducking under the mount as he rode right over him. The man slowed and turned, momentarily perplexed, but Kai didn't hesitate. He continued running forward towards Luhan as the one holding him brought the sword to his neck.

"Luhan!" I heard Kai shout as he ran straight into the boy, ripping him out of the man's grip. The two tumbled to the ground but they never hit it.

I blinked. "What?"

A thin wisp of black dust dissolved into the air where they stood, and the two were now gone.

"No way," Yixing whispered.

I was about to turn and ask what was going on, but a loud crash at my feet startled me.

"Ah!" I looked down in shock to see Kai and Luhan lying on the ground, coughing.

"Oh I'm gonna vomit," Kai groaned, rolling off the shorter man who looked dazed.

Yixing helped Luhan to his feet, patting him off gently. "You okay?"

Luhan merely slumped against his friend, nodding mutely.

Kai was bent over, supporting himself with his hands on his knees, and I really hoped that he wouldn't follow through on his earlier statement.

"Kai?" I asked nervously. 

He simply waved me off. "I'm good, I'm good."

"It would seem that Kai and Sehun have a lot in common," Jongdae noted.

"You mean," My eyes widened. 

"Luhan's other half had the ability to teleport."

"Who, me? Sick," Kai groaned.

Yixing chuckled before beginning to explain to the young boy what we'd been talking about while he was rescuing Luhan.

I glanced at Suho and D.O. Who'd have thought that our 'kids', as we liked to call them, were actually the reincarnates of supernatural beings from another land? Definitely not us.

Suho shook his head at me, as if he'd read my thoughts, and D.O. shrugged. 

"Well, well, well," The man who'd been attacking Luhan spoke, his voice echoing across the battlefield. "It seems as if the gods of Exo have returned to us. How interesting."

The others laughed, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Of course, we will just kill you off again," He added. "All of you, this time."

Suho clenched his jaw and I could tell that we were thinking the same thing. 'Gods of Exo' or not, they were still our 'kids' and we would protect them to the end, along with our new friends.

I glanced up at the castle. "Chanyeol, where are you?" I muttered quietly.

"Any last words boys?" The man asked, advancing with his friends. The one who'd been knocked out had awoken, and was now joining his friends making a  group of ten. 

We were no longer outnumbered, but Tao and Luhan didn't seem to be in a good enough state to fight, leaving only five more people with special abilities, Jongdae and Minseok already exhausted.

"We can do this, right?" Minseok asked.

"If we can't, there isn't much else to lose," Jongdae replied flatly.

I glanced at them, they were obviously very dejected. I remembered that Jongdae's other had been the last to die, Minseok's being one of the first. They were both probably upset, but I knew that we couldn't give up yet.

"We can and we will," I said, glaring at the two of them.

They sighed and nodded, preparing themselves for battle, again.

The next few minutes passed by in a blur. The ten of them attacked, we tried our best to fight them off, but with Luhan and Zitao both unable to stand, it was difficult. We'd set Luhan down next to his friend and moved in front to defend them, but we were using most of our efforts on keeping our defenses up instead of actually attacking. If this went on for much longer, they'd have weakened us greatly while we barely made a scratch on them. 

Jongdae was suddenly knocked back by one of the men, straight into D.O.'s arms. 

"Are you okay?" D.O. asked in alarm. Jongdae didn't reply, his head limply hanging forward.

The man who'd hit Jongdae smiled, wiedling a large mace. He looked at D.O. menacingly, raising the mace above his head. 

I wanted to get to them and help out, but me and Suho were both currently occupied with keeping another man away from Luhan and Zitao.

Still holding our weapons, we blocked each blow, attempting to get our own attacks in.

Minseok stood behind me, sending frozen shards of ice flying at our enemies.

Yixing and Kai were fighting off another two, the both of them using swords that they had picked up off the ground.

Sehun was using the winds to slow most of them down if not knock them over, but still with our combined efforts we were barely making a dent in their offense, and it looked like D.O. and Jongdae were doomed.

The man brought his mace down, D.O. unable to move fast enough to dodge while supporting Jongdae's unconscious body, and the heavy studded ball collided with his shoulder.

D.O. let out a cry of pain, falling to the ground. I flinched, that really looked like it hurt. Blood instantly soaked his sleeve as he shut his eyes tightly, his face contorted in agony.

"D.O.!" Kai shouted, his attention having been drawn by D.O.'s scream.

The man chuckled, raising his weapon again and I knew that this time, nothing would stop it from making contact with his skull. 

"No!" Kai suddenly appeared between them, leaping upward without a second thought so his arms were around the man's torso.

Well, I hadn't accounted for that, I thought briefly, watching in shock as Kai teleported once more, transporting himself along with the man and his mount straight into the air above the canyon.

"Kai!" I screamed, halting in my movements.

D.O. sat up, his eyes widening as Kai and the man began to fall straight into the pit.

"Kai teleport!" I shouted to the boy but he either didn't hear me or he was to weak to do so, as he simply continued his descent into the dark crevice.

"Kai, no!" D.O. slammed his hand down onto the ground, a large crack erupting from where it made contact. With lighting speed, the crack travelled all the way to the edge of the canyon and a loud crash was heard.

The ground shook and to my surprise, Kai was lifted up from the canyon, a piece of earth growing out of the ground below him until he was level with us.

Kai's body moved, slowly sitting up from his collapsed position on the ground, and he looked at us slowly. His head fell again and he disappeared, before reappearing in front of D.O.

"Kai, you idiot!" D.O. hissed as the chunk of earth that had been supporting the boy sank down into the canyon again. He laid Jongdae down, grabbing Kai's limp body and hugging him tightly. Teleporting himself along with his opponent and mount seemed to have taken a lot out of him, as he didn't even stir.

"D.O., did you just-" I said in suprise and the big-eyed boy seemed to have just realized what happened.

"I..."

"Jongdae's other, with the power of earth," Minseok said.

I glanced at Jongdae's body, lying unconscious on the ground next to D.O. I'd thought that it was the hit that knocked him out, but perhaps it was D.O. taking his power when they came in contact.

I wasn't able to think any more on this revelation, as D.O. looked past me his jaw dropping.

I turned and gasped.The man who had attempted to kill Luhan,  had dismounted and made his way behind Minseok, raising his sword to attack him. Minseok hadn't noticed yet, his attention too focused on D.O.

Suho turned his head, noticing the man, and moved quickly. "Watch out!" He pushed Minseok out of the way, but that didn't deter the man. He lunged forward, this time his sword embedding itself deep within Suho's stomach.

"Suho," I gasped. 

Suho coughed, blood spurting from his mouth as his fingers scrabbled at the man's chest, trying in vain to push him away.

My stomach churned at the sight of the dark red liquid pouring down his pale skin.

"Suho!" Minseok grabbed his shoulder, panic evident on his face as he tried to pull the boy who'd saved him away from the man.

Suho grunted in pain when his body moved on the blade, his hand grabbing blindly in front of him and coming in contact with the man's mouth.

Suddenly, Suho's eyes seemed to focus, if only slightly. He pushed his hand over the man's mouth, clamping down as hard as he could. I frowned in confusion and was about to ask what he was doing, when the man's eyes suddenly bulged. He reached up, clawing at Suho's hand deseperately, but for a dying man, the pale boy held fast.

I glanced at Minseok for insight and noticed that Minseok's face looked strained. 

"Wait..." I looked back at D.O. and we were both wondering the same thing.

"Yixing," I called back, and Yixing grunted in reply, both arms holding up a sword that he was using to counter his opponent's attack. "Minseok's other, what did he control?" I asked, watching as the man's flailing attempts to get away from Suho slowed, and his eyes closed.

Suho released his hand and a suprising amount of clear liquid gushed out of the man's mouth before he fell to the ground.

"He controlled water," Yixing shouted back.

Suho turned his head, looking at me with wide eyes as if he couldn't believe what he had just done. The surprise on his face wasn't there for long, however, as his eyes rolled backwards before shutting, and he fell to the ground.

"Suho!" I ran to him, Minseok collapsing into a sitting position next to him.

I touched his neck and was surprised to still be able to find a weak pulse.

"No, I can't lose him," Minseok muttered, his words slurred and groggy.

"You won't," I promised, pulling the sword out and trying not to vomit at the large amount of blood that poured out of the wound.

"You aren't supposed to do that, it'll just make him bleed more!" D.O. chided me.

"I don't think that matters when he's skewered," I hissed back, tears blurring my vision. This would be the second time that Suho was fatally injured for trying to defend his friends, one day, this protective habit would be the death of him, I just hoped that it wouldn't be today.

"Yixing!" I called back. "We need your help!"

"What-" Yixing finally turned, and his eyes widened when he took in the scene behind him. "Oh my-" He ran to Suho's side, immediately placing a hand over his chest. "He's still breathing... I can help but-" He cut himself off, looking at the other men around us.

There were still eight of them, and nine mounts, all surrounding us.

"We'll handle them," I said, relieved that all was not lost.

Yixing nodded, lifting Suho and pulling him back where Zitao and Luhan were.

I gulped. Now that Minseok and Jongdae were unable to help, and Yixing was busy, that only left D.O., Sehun, and I to handle the remaining eight men.

We were screwed. The three of us moved together, as our enemies also made a line in front of us. We faced each other down, my heart pounding with anxiety. "Kris, Wu Fan, whatever your name is," I muttered under my breath. "Now would be a great time to stop being such an and helping out your friends."

Seconds passed with neither sides moving, before the mounts seemed to grow restless, shifting nervously from side to side.

The men looked a lot more afraid than I'd have expected seeing as they were going up against three teenagers, but it only took me a few moments to realize that they weren't looking at us, rather, past us.

"I don't know," A deep voice suddenly whispered in my ear, startling me. "You seem to be doing well without me."

Sorry guys, if this was a bit of a hectic chapter. Things are finally coming to a close now, with maybe a few chapters left. I hope you enjoyed this one and it wasn't too rushed or anything. As always, please leave a comment as those always brighten my day and make me excited to write more! See ya next time :)