~Chapter 51~

Dagger of Resentment

Taemin’s POV~

            Instead of giving Jimin and Taehyung a tour, we gave them a day to rest and play with the dragon babies. Minho hyung cooked a nice dinner for us to share with Jimin and Taehyung. Since we spent the day talking to them about what happened in the past year, we didn’t get to complete our usual tasks. Minho hyung and I had to tend the monsters after dark. I sigh as I walk back to the dragon den, exhausted from doing the extra work. Minho hyung isn’t back, so I took a quick bath by myself. I put on my pajama pants and remain shirtless as I swing the towel around my neck so the water from my wet hair can drip down. I put start boiling water to prepare for Minho hyung’s bath when he gets back. As I pour the water into the large bath, I sense someone some in the room. I swing around and see Taehyung standing at the door shyly. “I’m sorry for interrupting…may I come in?” I nod and wave for him to come in.

            “What’s up? Where’s Jimin?”

            “He has to write down some of our records so he’s in the guest room. Thanks for keeping us around,” Taehyung says. “I know we stopped in pretty much unannounced.”

            “It’s okay, we’re all friends here,” I reply, shaking it off. Taehyung sure is polite, but for some reason I find him cuter when he is talking to me when I’m Taemin compared to the White Masked Hero. “Is that why you wanted to talk to me? Just to thank us?”

            “No, I actually wanted to ask you something,” Taehyung says as he looks down. I pat on a chair and have him sit while I keep moving water to the bath. “It’s okay if you feel uncomfortable and not want to answer…”

            “Ask away,” I say. “It can’t be that bad.”

            “How…how did you get close to Minho hyung?”

            “Oh?” I smile, “You want to hear about how everything started?” Taehyung nods. “Well during that time, I just joined Heroes’ Rebellion and Minho hyung snook into the clan for God knows what. He got injured, I hid him in my room, and I lead the clansmen to another direction. When I came back to the room, he was gone. Then, one day he showed up and practiced fighting with me at night, so I can get better. He then would sneak into the clan to see me more often and I guess we bonded through training. I was then sent to recruit heroes for the clan and I got severely injured because of it, but then he joined the clan. I guess we got even closer then because Minho hyung was watching over me.”

            “Oh…” He nods slowly.

            “Why am I feeling that you’re not satisfied with my answer?”

            “I guess I should’ve asked the question differently?”

            “Try me.”

            “How are you and Minho hyung able to form a bond?”

            “Huh? Like fall in love?”

            “N-no,” a blush creeps on his face. “What do you do when Minho hyung is down to cheer him up and how are you able to get him to trust you? You both started off as strangers, became close friends, and now…you know,” he says. I guess he is still too embarrassed to openly talk about my relationship with Minho hyung.

            “Well I guess it all has to do with figuring each other out. By that, I mean that you have to be aware what the other is doing and what they may be feeling. If they’re slightly down or upset, you have to first be aware of that to then decide what to do.”

            “And what should one do?”

            “Well, some people like words of affirmation, some like to rant, some would want you to cheer them up, and some people just want to ignore their issues and try to deal with it another time,” I say. “As for Minho hyung…hmm…I do different things.”

“What if communicating verbally is difficult?”

“Sometimes just being there is enough. Minho hyung has been internalizing a lot of his experiences and fought both physical and mental battles on his own for a while. To show him that I am there for him, I think it’s a good way to build trust.”

            “Such as?”

            “Maybe I’ll stand closer to him, hold onto the hem of his clothing, hold his hand, give him a hug…sometimes all of the above.” He nods again in deep thought. I wonder if he is trying to find a way to get close to Minho hyung. I mean they used to be close as kids and are both adults now. It must be hard trying to mend a broken relationship. “Since not everyone who is going through a hard time would openly ask for help and support, it’s your job as a person that cares for them to take the first step.”

            “If I care?”

            “Yeah, if you care about the person, you should be aware of their feelings, so you can be there for them even if they don’t ask for it.”

            “Can you be honest with me?”

            “I’ve been honest this whole time,” I nod. “Promise.” 

            “Do you think that a master and a servant can be friends?”

            “Are you referring to you and Jimin? I thought you were asking me about my relationship with Minho hyung because you wanted to get closer to him. Are you and Jimin okay?”

            “Hyung…answer the question…” Taehyung looks down at the floor, clearly not wanting to admit it.

            “Okay, okay,” I nod. “Well I think no matter what relationship people have, they can always advance. I think if we treat everyone like human beings and show that we care, it’s a great way for people to build relationships. The main reason a master and servant may not be friends is because their hierarchy is dominant over their humanity. The servant will care more for the master and treat themselves as less than, whereas the master may not feel the need to treat them kindly since it is their job. You would have to have the master treat the servant as their equal and have the servant learn self-love, that may be a good step. It’s mainly because the servant puts themselves under the master and if the master doesn’t make it clear that they care about the servant, they will never see themselves as friends.”

            “So, you think it’s my fault?”

            “You, my friend, tend to be trapped in your own mind and that blinds you from showing others your true emotions. Jimin is always around you, so you’re used to him. Have you done anything to show Jimin that you care and want him to be just a friend? Also, has Jimin treated you like a regular person and not the crown prince he is serving? There’s a saying: it takes two hands to clap. Obviously, it is not solely your fault.”

            “You think if I try the things you recommended…like physical contact…would he know that I care for him?”

            “I mean I’m not a psychiatrist, how would I know?”

            “Psychiatrist?”

            “Uhh…they’re professionals that know about your mental…uhh…stuff,” Gosh, I really at defining things…“What I meant is that I cannot know for sure what will work. I can only encourage you to try different things to show your emotions since you’re not too good with talking about your feelings.”

            “Now I know why Jimin likes you so much.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Jimin rarely makes friends, but he was able to click with you so easily. It’s because you can read people well and you’re not afraid to try new things to express yourself. That’s why he trusts you so much.”

            “Do you trust me then?”

            “I don’t know yet, but as of now, I don’t have a reason not to.”

            “What about…the White Masked Hero?” I say. For some reason, I feel like when I was around him as the White Masked Hero, Taehyung was never too close with me. I want to know what he is thinking but it is so hard to read him since his face is always blank.

            “I get mixed feelings from him,” he admits.

            “Why is that?” 

            “I’m back!” Minho hyung yells and rushes into the room. He freezes as he looks back and forth between us two.

            “I’ll take my leave now. Thank you for the talk. Goodnight,” the crown prince says and exits. Minho hyung walks close to me and look down at my shirtless body. I see his eyebrow twitch a bit as he exhales slightly heavier than usual.

            “Why were you two in the same room and why were you shirtless?”

            “Hyung!” I exclaim. “Are you getting jealous?”

            “No, just suspicious,” Minho hyung circles me. “Taehyung never leaves Jimin, yet he is here with you alone while your hair is damp and shirtless.”

            “Hyung, I just took a bath and I wanted to fill a tub for you when you got back. I was shirtless because I was too lazy to dry my hair and I didn’t want my shirt wet. You’re definitely thinking too into this.”

            “First you give Jimin a communication whistle and go on missions with him. Now you have private talks with Taehyung…I just didn’t expect this.”

            “I know you won’t admit that you are jealous, but you sure do sound jealous right now, hyung,” I say in a light tone.

            “So what if I’m jealous? I’m not allowed to care about you?” Minho hyung childishly says. I smile at him and take a hold of his hand, swinging it back and forth.

            “Hyung~ I got so many pales of water for you from the well and hiked back so you can take a bath after a long day. Are you really going to make all my effort go to waste because you’re upset? You know I only love you~”

            “Who said I’m not going to shower,” he says and immediately strips. “I’ll feel better if you scrub my back…” he mutters with a pout.

            “I’ll scrub it well!” I salute and help him into the tub.

            Gun Tae-ah, can you come meet me outside for a bit? I communicate with him with my mind. Within a minute, I hear the tapping of his foot on the ground as he gets closer. Gun Tae has changed back into a human and hugs me tightly. “I miss you so much, hyung!” I hug him back as well and pull back to examine him. Within a year, he has gotten taller and his features are slightly more mature. I ruffle his hair and pat his back.

            “I miss you too. You’ve grown since the last time I saw you.”

            “Eh he, I did, didn’t I?” He embarrassingly rubs the back of his hair. “Hyung, ever since you went missing, I wanted to go find you, but I thought you’d want me to stay around the palace to take care of our friends. I’ve been staying by the crown prince’s side and even visit everyone at night to make sure they are okay.”

            “That’s very sweet of you,” I smile. “How has everyone been?”

            “They’re very occupied because the king is trying to annihilate the dark clans and hunt down the Peacekeepers.”

            “But that means he wants to kill everyone? Although they might’ve done destructive things, they are still the citizens of this country. They’re members of families and there are people that care about them. How can he just do that? Our hyungs are okay with it?”

            “They’re not, but they have to do it anyway. The thing is, I’ve seen them let a lot of people go as long as they show the will to live. Unfortunately, there are clansmen that refuse to surrender to the thing and chose to take their own lives. Our hyungs lost a lot of sleep over this. It’s the king that gave the order, but they’re the ones watching it unfold. So much bloodshed, so much chaos…The king is finally showing his true colors. He uses the safety of our citizens to slaughter people that do not agree with him.”

            “See, we live quite far from the capitol and everyone is at peace here thanks to the monster population being benign. None of us have even heard about what’s been happening in other areas since it’s not like modern times with technology and the news to give us updates.”

            “Speaking of monsters…” Gun Tae hesitates. “Hyung, I’m quite worried.”

            “What is it?”

            “I wanted to tell you sooner but Taehyung hyung had trouble sleeping last light and was with me the entire time, so I wasn’t able to slip away.”

            “Okay, well it’s not too late to tell me now.”

            “I think it might be…” Gun Tae bits his lip and looks down. “Jimin was called by the king separately and when he came back to see Taehyung hyung, he had a hint of frustration in his eyes. It’s almost like he was preparing himself to do something he doesn’t want to do. Then within a few days, we were sent to check out this area, bumped into Peacekeepers, and found you two. I’m afraid that it wasn’t a coincidence.”

            “Well what’s the worst that can happen? Taehyung and Jimin are our friends. It’s not like they’ll come here with an army and-” wait…would they do that to us? I sit down with a plop and shove my face in my hands out of frustration.

“Do you think they’re working for the king?”

“No,” I say slowly. “They wouldn’t do that to us.”

            “I’m sorry hyung, I just can’t tell anymore. Everything that’s happened to us so far was the king’s plan. I don’t want you to start hating them or anything, but I’m just afraid that giving them a tour may be a bad idea. They already know how to enter your territory. If they were to go on a tour and know every part, they might be able to form a map and bring an army back to sweep the population clean.”

            “I dare them to send an army here,” I slam my fist onto the ground. “It’s not like I can’t handle a few soldiers. I was able to scare the dark clan army and help the crown prince escape. I’ve fought large monsters and killed demons. What can a few humans do to me?” Gun Tae puts a hand on my shoulder. I exhale and get up. “Sorry, I was just angry. The damn king is getting on my nerves.”

            “You mean your father-in-law~” Gun Tae jokes.

            “Hell no, I do not consider him that. He doesn’t even deserve to be called a human.”

            “I should get back to the crown prince. I just wanted to tell you that.”

            “Okay, thank you Gun Tae-ah. Just know that if things get worse for you in the palace, you can always come here.”

            “Thank you, hyung.”

            “Oh right, I almost forgot,” I pull out a pouch with multiple whistles and paper with music notes and their meaning on it. “I was thinking that since we won’t be around our friends, it would be nice to be able to communicate or at least check up on each other. Can you give our hyungs a whistle and a note? When they play the whistle with a certain tune, it will have a different meaning, so we can at least communicate with basic sentences,” I explain.

            “That’s a good idea!” Gun Tae says and puts the pouch around his neck. “Hehe, I won’t be able to hold onto them when I’m a wolf.”

            “True,” I smile and pat him on the head. “Go to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day.”

            A series of monster cries awaken us. We jump out of bed, get changed, and sprint to the location with our weapons. Minho hyung is stronger than me and is a faster runner, but I am light and quick on my feet, making us match pace and run side by side. As we both get closer to the location, a stench burns my nostrils. It smells like straight up mold…eww. I cover my nose and mouth with a hand and try to take smaller breaths just to avoid taking in the smell. The air is thick, moist, and smells like musk. The thick air is making the location darker than the other parts of the area. As we passed through the thick fog, I notice an outline of a large being. I jerk back a bit as the sight shocks me. I’ve seen many monsters, but this one was a complete surprise. The monster looks like a horned blob, looking both dangerous yet similar to a balloon. The monster’s eyes bulge out and is glowing, making it stand out the most. I blink a few times and try to focus my eyes, but turns out, what I saw is what the monster is. The monster looks like a spiky alien balloon…with twelve arms. I feel goosebumps appear on my skin as its body reminds me of a bug.

            “What the hell?” I shout. “What is this, a blowfish? A bug? A fruit?!” I can feel myself beginning to get jittery and squirm since I do not like bugs. Minho hyung stands in front of me, slightly shielding me from the monster. He places his flute on his mouth and blows out a sharp tune. The monster goes berserk, knocking over trees and tossing boulders around. Luckily, the monsters that lived in the area is far away, so they are not in any direct danger. I guess I have to attack, but I really don’t want to get any closer to the monster. I would leave if I could, but I know I should stay to help Minho hyung out.

            I look at my spear which is glowing with its own spiritual energy. I send it some of my energy as well and the spear goes flying straight to the monster. I use my energy and control the spear from a distance, not wanting to get closer to the bug-like monster if I don’t need to. I moves my arms around, almost like how I would be if I were physically controlling my spear. Minho hyung shoots me an impressive look and continues playing tunes on his flute. My spear punctures the monster in many areas, yet it has not gotten its vital area. I continue controlling my spear and send it flying to the monster’s head, right through its body. With the use of Minho’s monster suppressing music and the physical damage my spear is inflicting, the monster is noticeably weaker.

            Suddenly, the monster cries and a huge puff of green miasma explodes from its body. Minho hyung’s breath hitches as he didn’t have enough time to react and breathed in the poison. He drops his flute, falls over, and clutches onto his neck while squirming on the ground. I continue sending energy to my spear, so it can continue attacking the monster. Meanwhile, I use my energy and create a bubble of pure air around Minho hyung. I summon energy to my fingertips and draw a line on my palm. Blood squirts from the line and my palm is now drenched with my own blood. I send my energy through the blood and send it to Minho hyung’s body. My blood is the universal poison antidote after all. Within a few seconds, Minho hyung stops shaking and gasps for air. The tension on his face dissolves as the poison completely leaves his system. He gives me a grateful look and sends out the deadliest tune with his flute. The monster then falls over, lifeless. I reach my non-bloody hand out and pull him up.

            He tears a piece of his clothing and uses it to wrap my hand up. Since the monsters around us are usually non-violent, we don’t carry around a first aid kit, so this just has to do. We both sigh as we see the damage that monster caused. There is a huge area with fallen trees and crusted plants. Some monsters’ nests have been smashed to pieces and the miasma killed the surrounding plants that were lucky enough to not get smashed driectly. “Your hand’s cut up. Let’s come back later to clean up,” Minho hyung suggests. Before we turn around to leave, we feel a strange source of dark energy from where the monster died.

            “Let me go check,” I say. “Just in case there’s poison.” Minho hyung nods and places his flute on his mouth, ready to blow if anything attacks me. I step closer and closer to where the monster’s body dissolved and notice a black and rusty-looking dagger. Its blade is blacker than any black I’ve ever seen, almost like it in any kind of light from around it. The handle is bonelike, and the hilt looks like it is seeping out miasma. Was this dagger in the monster or did the monster turn into this? I reach out and immediately feel my hand get in by the dagger. I fly forward, and my hand feels as if it was being melted as soon as I took a hold of the handle. “Ahh!” I wail as I feel the energy get right out of me. Minho hyung drops his flute and darts right by my side. He tries helping me tear my hand off the handle but it’s as if my hand is attached to the dagger. My knees buckle as I feel my energy empty out of my body. My ears feel as if it is blocked as I hear a faint “Taemin,” from Minho hyung who is starting to look blurry. My body feels like it is floating, and my senses are shut down. I hear another faint “Taemin” before I lose consciousness.

No One’s POV~

            Minho pulls out the whistle around Taemin’s neck and blows on it frantically. Within seconds, Mr. Dragon comes flying in and stops in front of Minho who is holding an unconscious Taemin in his arms, shaking. “H-he’s not breathing,” Minho’s voice cracks as he breaks into a full-on sob. “Please, please help him.” Mr. Dragon pulls Taemin in a sitting position and places his hands on his back. He sends his energy into Taemin’s lifeless body and Taemin’s body starts shaking, almost like the energy is recharging it. Mr. Dragon sweats as he tries his best to send as much energy to Taemin as possible, hoping that it will help his heart beat again. Taemin’s body jerks as a gasp is heard. Mr. Dragon stops his energy transfer and examines Taemin’s vitals.

            “Don’t worry, he’s breathing again. Luckily you summoned me or else it might’ve been too late. What happened?”

            “W-we killed a monster and this dagger appeared. Taemin tried to see what it was, and it him in. He fell unconscious and the dagger finally fell from his hand,” Minho says through his sobs. “God, I thought he was going to die.” He embraces Taemin and cries some more as he tries to calm down. Mr. Dragon looks down and finally sees the dark dagger. He reaches forward but immediately retracts his hand before the dagger can him in. He pulls out a glowing white cloth and wraps it around the dagger and puts it away. “I just wrapped the dagger up with a talisman, so it shouldn’t be able to up our energy. If I’m not wrong, this is the Dagger of Resentment. I need to go talk to my friend about this. Taemin just needs to rest for the time being. Can you take care of him while I’m gone?” Minho nods back weakly. “If you need anything, just blow the whistle,” Mr. Dragon says and flies away.

            After Minho stopped crying, he carried Taemin back into the den and left the baby dragons for Jimin and Taehyung to play with. He is in no mood to give them a tour or to converse with anyone. Taemin is his main priority. The day has passed and Taemin is still unconscious. Minho knows that there are things he should be doing right now, but he can’t find the energy to leave Taemin. He thought he just lost him again after all. Minho remains by his side, tenderly holding onto Taemin’s uninjured hand. His eyes are swollen thanks to the heavy crying and his hands are slightly shaking from the overwhelming emotions. “Why do you keep getting hurt?” Minho whispers into Taemin’s hand. “Am I really useless?” Minho’s heart aches as he remembers each and every time Taemin got injured. He closes his eyes as tears threaten to flow once more. “Is it really impossible for me to protect you?”

            Taemin groans as he places a hand on his head. He furrows his eyebrows before he forces his burning eyes to open. After a few blinks, his vision clears up and he breathes out in relief, happy that the dagger didn’t completely strip away all of his senses. His massages his temples with his uninjured hand as he feels a slight headache. Where’s Minho hyung? Taemin asks in his mind, still too tired to speak. After waiting for a few minutes, Taemin tries to get up but stops as his aching body objects his sudden movement. Curse that dagger…causing me so much trouble. He turns his head as he hears the door creak open. Minho runs over and checks on him.

            “How are you feeling?” Taemin nods back, still too tired to talk. Minho tries to help Taemin up, but he immediately stops as he notices how much his body is objecting the motion. He then starts massaging Taemin’s body with care, helping it ache less. “Mr. Dragon took the dagger. He discussed it with his friend and they confirmed that it is the Dagger of Resentment. It contains the resentful energy of those that were devoured by monsters. In other words, the dagger has so much dark energy that it can be used to destroy any pure energy force. I think the monster might’ve ran into it and the dagger it in, making it go berserk. When you touched it, the dagger up your energy too…you…you stopped breathing.” Minho’s voice cracks slightly as he tries to act strong. “Mr. Dragon saved you just in time.”

            “Where’s Taehyung and Jimin?” Taemin asks, thinking back at the warning Gun Tae gave him that night.

            “I sent them off. I wanted to take care of you and I didn’t know when you would wake up, so I told them to leave.”

            “Did you show them around?”

            “No, I was too busy thinking about you. I did tell them that they can roam around before they leave. The monsters and people here are very kind after all.” Taemin curses to himself as he regrets not telling Minho about what Gun Tae said sooner. He was planning to talk to Minho about it in the morning, but the monster distracted them both. If what Gun Tae was worried about was true, that means they likely know how to navigate through our dens.

            “Hyung, my wolf warned me that the king might’ve sent them here to find out how to navigate the area and later send an army here to harm us.”

            “Taehyung and Jimin would never,” Minho says. “You’re worrying too much. I know Taehyung. He’s a sweet kid and Jimin is a great guy.”

            “We all thought your dad was a great guy too and what did that get us?”

            “Well I know Taehyung and you’re close to Jimin. I don’t think they would do that.”

            “Fine…maybe I’m just worried since the king is so damn manipulative.”

            “Let’s not think about him and bring down the mood. You still need to heal.”

            “Okay,” Taemin pouts. “What’s for dinner?”

Onew’s POV~

            I had a meeting with Jonghyun and Key in secret and we figured that if the king continues doing what he wants, he may turn into a powerful demonic monster. When that happens, we won’t be able to take him down. I agreed to sneak into the queen’s bedchamber to see if I can talk her into giving me useful information. I didn’t want to go, but in my defense, Jonghyun and Key said I give off a sweet vibe, so she will trust me easier. I take their word for it and sneak in. I mean, Jonghyun and Key are the head guards of the queen’s hall anyway, so it’s not like I’ll get caught. I jump down and enter the queen’s bedchamber but is astonished to see no one around. Isn’t she supposed to be bedridden? Where is she?

            I walk around the room and look around, but still don’t see her. I sigh in disbelief as I can’t believe they have been guarding an empty area for this long and haven’t question it. Right before I decide to head out, I meet eyes with Naeun who walks out of a wall. Yes, you read that correctly, she walked out from the wall. There must be a special switch here somewhere, as the wall closes itself right after Naeun turns the vase next to where she entered. Her eyes widen as she notices me in the room and she drops the basket of plates that she was holding. I catch it right before the dishes hit the ground to avoid the guards from hearing the commotion. The plates in the basket are covered in blood. Maybe she had raw meat in it? I pass her the basket and she gingerly takes it back. Not ready to talk to me yet, her head remains down as she looks at the floor. “There’s no point in lying to me,” I say. “I already know how to activate the wall.” Hearing this, Naeun sighs and looks at me.

            “If he finds out about this, I’m going to die,” she admits. The king never shows mercy.

            “Then let’s make this our little secret,” I say. I hesitate for a bit and add, “Well, this obviously includes Key and Jonghyun since they told me to sneak in here.”

            “Right…” Naeun nods.

            “So…uhh…is the empress down there?” I ask. Naeun nods slowly. “You fed her the raw meat?” She nods. “I’m taking that the king is locking her up for an ulterior motive?” Naeun nods. “Will you bring me inside?” Naeun nods out of impulse, but quickly shakes her head as she realizes what I said. “I just want to ask he a few questions.”

            “She’s not in the right mind. She won’t be any help to you.”

            “Then let me at least try,” I say. “Naeun-ah, you know that if you don’t bring me down, I’m going to have to sneak in myself later.” I confess. Naeun sighs again, knowing very well that I was telling her the truth. She slowly reaches her hand out to the vase, turns it, and the wall opens up.

~Comments are loved~