ow many had he killed now? Dozens? Tens of dozens? Chanyeol had lost count. It was good that he had brought with him many arrows. There seemed to be a never-ending rush of new targets.

Chanyeol’s heart tore with each additional kill. In one sense, he was satisfied by the revenge he tasted on his tongue whenever another Shanxue soldier fell to his bow. In another sense, his heart pained at the venom that was spreading through him. Chanyeol felt himself becoming corrupt with the endless killing. His heart – he felt it hardening into stone or steel. Chanyeol was becoming heartless.

That was wrong.

He couldn’t help feeling as though his actions were immoral. As he watched the men below him fall one by one to the ground of mother earth, his heart desperately tried to stop his hand. Chanyeol knew, he knew, that the men he killed had loved ones too; had people waiting for them back home. His arrow slashed through not only the heart of the one he shot it through, but also the hearts of all who waited for them, all who hoped in them and loved them.

Chanyeol was crafted to be a general – from his skill to his courageous nature, he held natural talent – but at the same time, he could not have been less suited for the job. He was too merciful, believed too much in the benevolent nature of earth and cared too much for humanity as a whole. He didn’t believe in war.

It was ironic that he, one who despised bloodshed, was fated to lead battles that would end only when the fields they commenced on were flooded in oceans of red. It was laughable that he, himself, was the one causing most of the red to drip in this particular battle. But Chanyeol had no choice, or so he told himself. The Shanxues had started it, it wasn’t his fault.

If he showed mercy to them, he would, in effect, become merciless to his own men, to his kingdom, to Tao who lay dying within the village walls. Chanyeol carried a heavy burden on his shoulders and that burden required him to forget his humanity for the moment. Humanity was not a virtue in battle – it was a flaw.

So, in light of his duty, Chanyeol shot one arrow after another. And even though he was safe from the bloodshed, far from the splatters of falling blood that were starting to merge into a storm of red, he could feel himself becoming stained with it. The moment one killed, one became entrenched in the trap of insanity a bit deeper. With each additional kill, the trap became a bit harder to escape.

Soon, Chanyeol rationed, soon, he would lose himself to the cycle of killing as well. At that time, what would be left of him? After this war, there would only be another; peace was an illusion. There would always be conflict in a world that was hungry for power and where there was conflict, he would always be needed. How many battles would he be able to survive before his soul became obliterated?

Suddenly one of his men came rushing to his side, joining him on the unstable wall. Chanyeol continued to release arrows as he turned to the soldier that was heaving heavily.

 “What’s wrong?” He asked, voice concerned due to the clear fear in the eyes of his man.

“Sir, the general of the Shanxue troops has left his horse.” The soldier automatically pointed to an area on the battlefield.

Chanyeol smiled sadly to himself; the Shanxue general was known for godlike sword skill. There was no doubt that more would fall with the addition of the general’s sword to the already bloody battle.

“General! You need to stop him. He’s already depleted much of our troops. We’re losing morale…and quickly at that.”

Chanyeol nodded and shifted his eyes to the general area his soldier pointed at. He identified the man of concern at once. It was not different to find the enemy commander amongst the crowd of regular soldiers. Only Shanxue’s general would be capable of blurring his sword with such speed that the steel of the sword surrounded him with a fury of blinding white.

Chanyeol brought his hand to his quiver, retrieving another arrow. He would end this, once and for all. Once he killed the general, he would have to kill no other. Just one more kill and then he could stop killing. The bloodshed would all end.

Chanyeol placed the arrow softly onto the arrow rest and set his hand on the bow string. The arrow was held taunt as Chanyeol drew the heavy string backwards. The white tail feathers of the arrow tickled his cheek slightly as he brought his bow upwards, placing it underneath his eye in order to aim. Chanyeol aimed only for important kills such as this one – or for worthy opponents.

When Chanyeol aimed, he never missed.

He slowed his breathing so that the pacing of it became one with his heartbeat. The archer willed his body to become an extension of his beloved bow until the same essence flowed through him and his choice weapon. The highest art of a fighter was the ability to become one with the weapon; only at that state could the weapon’s potential be truly reached.

Chanyeol silently bid his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. As the sun hit the gold of his bow and flashed flames in its design, Chanyeol’s heart suddenly stopped. His hand released. But his bow did not lodge itself in the back of its target.

For the first time in Chanyeol’s life, he had missed.

The arrow flew through the suddenly still air and landed harmlessly in the ground, far from the man Chanyeol had originally aimed for. Never, never in his entire life had he ever shot an arrow from the Bow of Courage that did not make its mark.

But this time, when he released the bow string, his hands had fallen, changing the original angle and pathway of his arrow. His heart had frozen within his chest and commanded his hands to drop. Chanyeol had followed without hesitation because in the moment the sun shined like dripping fire, the enemy general had turned.

The general had stared directly into Chanyeol’s eyes and Chanyeol could think of nothing else but the general’s face.

To hell with glory, to hell with battle, to hell with victory. At this moment Chanyeol’s mind could make out only one coherent word.

Baekhyun, it whispered, Baekhyun.

Chanyeol turned from the wall and ran, ignoring the confused cries of the soldier that echoed from behind him. He sprinted off of the wall he was tasked with protecting and rushed head first into the battle. All around him fighting commenced but Chanyeol heeded nothing.

He ran, desperately, to the spot where the man he had moments ago aimed for stood engaged in battle. Chanyeol waited for nothing. Completely blinded by the feeling within his chest he disregarded the fact that the sword was still swinging, that the battle was still commencing and pulled the man into his arms.

The sword stopped.

Confusion passed over the eyes of the soldier who the Shanxue general had been fighting moments ago. But the man could not stare at the two generals for long, already engaged in another conflict with a different soldier. Everywhere around them the battle continued, but for Chanyeol, everything had stopped.

He held the man in his arms tightly, not caring that the blood the man was dripping with seeped into his own armor. Chanyeol was willing to stain himself a thousand times over if it meant being able to hold this man he called his own.

A miracle. Chanyeol had always hoped for a miracle. Today, the heavens had finally bestowed upon him the miracle that he had spent years desperately hoping for.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol whispered, his voice barely heard above the clashes of war that continued on around the two, “I missed you.”

Chanyeol could not deny the happiness that was inherent within his chest. Finally, after years of waiting, he had finally been reunited with the man he had given his heart to. Blessed was he that Baekhyun was still alive and well; for that Chanyeol thanked the heavens. But at the same time, his heart shattered.

Chanyeol spun Baekhyun around so that the two were facing each other. He stared deep down into the eyes of the other. When had Baekhyun’s eyes become so void of light? Why did Baekhyun seem so soulless?

Heaven had a way of breaking people in the most heartless ways possible. While heavens goodness had granted him back his love, it had down so in the most merciless way ever. Baekhyun was finally back in his arms; but broken, bloodstained, and as an enemy.

“Why Baekhyun? Why here?” Chanyeol wrapped his arms around the man again, clutching him back within his grasp. He held onto the enemy general as though his own life depended on it.

“Tell me Baekhyun, why here of all places?” The already shattered pieces of his heart were dissolved into ash one by one. The man his soul belonged to had betrayed him. Baekhyun…perhaps Baekhyun had never loved him in the first place. Perhaps everything was all just a plot, a simple illusion.

“Please, Baekhyun, tell me this is just a lie! Please tell me you aren’t the general I’ve worked thus far to kill…”

But Baekhyun said nothing and for Chanyeol, that was answer enough. Silent tears dripped from his eyes and fell onto Baekhyun’s back. Chanyeol couldn’t decide if it was worse living the rest of his life without being able to ever hold Baekhyun again or to live as he did now, aware that Baekhyun was never who he thought he was.

Chanyeol had always believed that he fought and protected his kingdom for Baekhyun. His source of bravery had always been Baekhyun. But now, everything shattered. Baekhyun never did share Chanyeol’s dream…Chanyeol’s dream was the opposite of what Baekhyun sought in life.

Chanyeol laughed silently and bitterly to himself as he realized that his bravery, all of it, had been built on top of lies. There was once when he promised himself that he would become brave so that he would be able to protect the common kingdom between him and Baekhyun; only today did he realize, him and Baekhyun, they had never truly shared a common sky.

His king, his people, his world; Baekhyun never cared for any of it. As Chanyeol realized this, his entire vision of reality shifted. Between him and Baekhyun, if both continued in their current roles, one would eventually have to kill the other. In this battle, they have been fatally pitted against one another.

Chanyeol should kill the man in front of him while he still could, before Baekhyun tried to do the same to him. The general felt his hand unconsciously edging towards the quiver of arrows that hung on his back. He could end this quickly. No more of his men would have to die – Chanyeol owed it to the spirits of his men that had already sacrificed in battle to kill the man currently held in his embrace. He owed it to his king, owed it to Zitao, owed it to everyone who waited for his victorious return.

But Chanyeol could not.

His hand drew away from the quiver and wrapped once again around the man. Chanyeol had never truly fought for anything else besides the man he held at the moment. Baekhyun had been the root cause of his everything; back then, now, and in the future. That would never change.

Years ago, he had told Baekhyun that for him, he was willing to die. That fact still stood today. It would still stand tomorrow, and the day after, and a thousand days after that. Chanyeol’s love for Baekhyun was stronger than all other obligations; for Baekhyun, Chanyeol was willing to be selfish, Chanyeol was willing to desert everything around him.

He had always been majestic and brave and just; just this once, couldn’t he give in to his own selfish, cowardly desires?

“Baekhyun, I loved you, and I still love you. Despite whatever lies exist between us, I believe that our love was and still is real. Come away with me Baekhyun, we can leave this battle behind.” Chanyeol’s voice was desperate, “Please Baekhyun, escape with me from this endless bloodshed. Let me teach you how to smile again…let me wash the blood from your body.”

They could fix things. Together, they could rebuild their bonds. They could pick up right where they ended. Chanyeol could play the guzheng in the deep of night and Baekhyun could dance with his bloodless sword and they could be perfect.

He only needed a single word from Baekhyun and Chanyeol was ready to risk it all.

But the response Chanyeol waited for never came.

“Let go of me.”

Chanyeol did not release his arms. “Please, Baekhyun! Things don’t have to be like this.”

But Baekhyun only shook his head, his voice almost emotionless, “What don’t you understand, Chanyeol? We are in a war and we are on opposite ends! Kill me while you still can.”

Chanyeol would have been fooled by the conviction in Baekhyun’s voice, except for the audible crack in Baekhyun’s words when he uttered Chanyeol’s name. That was evidence enough that Baekhyun’s heart still lingered for him, just as Chanyeol’s did for Baekhyun’s.

“We can leave it all behind. This war, we can pretend it never existed. If you still love me, then…”

If you still love me, nothing else matters.

But Chanyeol never finished his thought for at that moment, he felt the sharp of Baekhyun’s blade slash across his arm. He drew back automatically, clenching the dripping wound on his arm. Blood dripped in long streaks from the open cut.

He looked into Baekhyun’s eyes with hurt, once again Baekhyun had betrayed him. But Chanyeol could not find the strength within himself to conjure up anger towards the male. His love for Baekhyun was too strong…and even if it were not, there was no way he could be angry at Baekhyun when Baekhyun’s own eyes were red with tears.

Thank you everyone for your support! The story is now drawing towards it's . Hope you guys are enoying it :3

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