CHAPTER FOUR

Wood Elves

 Not long after they started off again, they saw the flicker of flames in the distance and paused to listen. They heard the sweet sound of the flute accompanied by a mystical type of singing that resembled whistling – soft yet wondrous.

“Wood elves.” D.O. deduced quickly, “They’re having a celebration of some sort.”

In the parts where Vampires lived, wood elves were uncommon – they knew little of their customs save the fact that they were powerful when surrounded by nature. They started off again, towards the direction of the music and the torches, hoping to find something that could aid them but as soon as they came near what seemed like a party – the torches blew out, the whistling stopped and in their night vision, they saw nothing but a vast expanse of forest land again.

They stopped and Soojung couldn’t help but inch closer to Sehun. Instinctively, he placed a hand before her, ushering her behind him in the darkness and she couldn’t help but smile to herself.

“What’s going on?” She whispered.

“Just stay still.” His voice was soft, melting in with the passing breeze. His gaze hardened, searching the grounds around him.

There was a soft thud that seemed to resonate from the trees above and they looked up, hands on their weapons. Then came another and another followed by many more that seemed to act as echoes for each other, and with them a shower of leaves started to descend to the forest floor. It came slowly at first – one, then two then they seemed to come down faster, until it seemed the trees were shredding all its leaves.

They did not know what was happening but in the midst of this leafy mess, they realised the leaves were scented and before they could deduce anything more, they felt themselves become overwhelmed with fatigue. By the time the wood elves jumped down from the trees armed with spears, the twelve men had little strength to fight back and Soojung was already fast asleep on a bed of leaves.

 They remembered little of their journey into the Elvish Kingdom – it all seemed like a blur and when they finally came to their senses, and the potion had worn off, they were seated in the great hall before the Elvish King himself. He was a little fellow, about half their size with pale skin and pointed ears. His eyes were a deep green and he had a childlike demeanour except that his long, straight hair came down in sleek silver strands.

The hall was brightly lit with torches and had been elegantly decorated with beautifully carved wooden furniture – not the type you would purchase at any department store but the type that looked like artefacts from a distant past. Polished timbers were paved under their feet and before them was a large oak table, stretching all the way to the King’s throne.

For a while, they sat in silence, staring at the King and the Elvish guards lining the walls but then the King rose and with a wave, the guards began to leave the room.

The doors to the great hall closed with a resonating thud and when they were alone, the King began, “I have been expecting you.” His voice was airy and pitchy but they listened nonetheless. He grinned and lifted his gaze, “To see that you are still alive, I do not know how to feel.”

Xiumin swallowed and without fear said, “If you are here to kill us-“

“Oh no no no no no.” The King waved, grimacing at the thought, “We come in peace. There is enough bloodshed in these parts.” He walked around them, running his long nails along the wood of their chairs, “There is something that I want from you though.”

“What is it?” Luhan asked on his brothers' behalf, a guarded look in his eyes. 

He pressed his ring-clad fingers to his lips first before extending his arms out to the side, “I can offer you a roof over your head, a safe place to hide before you decide what it is you plan to do next but I want your word. I want you to promise me that you will bring those filthy Eligorians to justice and when you do, you will not rule as you did.”

For a while the princes sat there, listening to the King blabber on about a plan they did not have and they wondered if he had found the wrong people.

“We have no ties with the Elves. We never have.” Chanyeol stood up from his seat and watched as his brothers followed suit, “We fear that you have found the wrong peo-”

Brows furrowed the King w