Ancient maps described the place as the northern tip of a big island that once part of an archipelago of more than 7,000. The apocalypse had of course changed a lot of things, and the former archipelago was no more. It was just a cluster of uninhabited islands, a different topography than what it was once was. It did not mean though that signs of the previous people that lived there were gone. Most of nature had taken over but some of the buildings, an eclectic mix of various eras, could still be seen. Perched on top of a cliff overlooking the blue waters was their destination.

“It’s quiet,” Chanyeol whispered, as if he did not want to disturb the place’s serenity.

“Too quiet,” D.O. answered, stepping off his motorcycle. “Anyone else sense an ambush?”

“The scouts said no one else had laid claim here,” said Suho, one of the last to get off the motorcycles. “Chanyeol? Tao?”

The field control accessed his scanners through his headpiece. “Negative,” he said after a few moments.

Meanwhile, the other hunter used his ability to listen in. “Exterior’s clear. It doesn’t mean no one’s inside though.”

Tao looked up at the towering structure before them. Made of stone, it had withstood the test of time and the harsh climate in this part of the world. From what information they could dig up, it was an ancient lighthouse with a simple architecture. A couple of floors were in the lower area and then nothing but flights of stairs ending at the top portion where its former keepers took care of the light. The mission intel had these coordinates and no other structures were in the area.

The group walked near and as they approached the entrance, Suho asked, “Anything below?”

“It’s all solid rock. I can’t feel anything else,” D.O. answered. The hunter also had his own gift, being able to feel the density of anything he touches and it included even the earth under him.

As the team made their way inside carefully, Tao whispered a curse. “Ow! Anyone else have their ears ringing? It’s too loud.”

“Stop using your Gift,” Sehun quickly said. “We’re on hallowed ground. You’re not resonating well with the artifact that might be here.”

“Easy for you to say,” Tao snapped back as he brought a hand up to his temple. “Are you going to ask me to stop breathing next?”

“Stop it, you two,” Suho hissed. “Any louder and you don’t need a marching band to announce our presence.”

“But…” Tao started to pout, but the older leader just glared back at him. “Fine,” he said with a huff.

If Tao were concerned, he had a hard time ‘turning off’ his Gift. For most of his life, he had been relying on it and it was but a rare situation that he would stop using his enhanced hearing. It was almost second nature for him to use whatever abilities he might have.

With barely any sound coming from their feet, the five men made their way to the top of the old structure, its staircases also made of stone. D.O. got to the top floor first, but no one else was there. The rest of the hunters filed in and began to investigate the empty room. They were where the flames of the lighthouse were once kept. Large open windows faced the open sea while there were smaller ones from behind facing the land.

Sehun inspected the central part of the structure where the actual fire burnt.  One would think the old keepers did not know of electricity. In the middle, hanging from the ceiling, was a weird globe of metal which perhaps holds whatever it was that they used to warn ships of impending danger.

“I think there was an artifact here,” the wind guardian spoke softly as he touched the metal globe.

“You don’t sound sure,” Tao commented, moving to stand beside the other man.

“Let’s face it,” D.O. interjected, his eyes gazing harshly out to the ocean. “The past couple of sites we’ve investigated turned out to be duds. We don’t know exactly how many different site coordinates were sent on that day to all the Houses.”

“He’s right,” Sehun agreed. “Even I don’t know how many decoy sites the previous guardians left behind so that the artifacts won’t fall into the wrong hands. It just baffles me that someone who isn’t a guardian would know about these locations.”

“Well, my Gift is going haywire,” said the time guardian. “If that’s not a sign that there was indeed an artifact here, then I don’t know what is. You said so yourself, Sehun, that if these artifacts would fall into the wrong hands…”

“Guys,” Chanyeol suddenly shouted out loud, as he was looking over one of the windows. “There are a couple of people climbing down the wall.”

The others scrambled to where Chanyeol was looking over and saw two persons just as they jumped down to the ground.

“They’re heading towards the beachfront,” said Suho. “If there really was an artifact here, those two have it. We need to go after them.”

“I’ll go cut them off,” said Sehun, just as he jumped off the window.

“Wait, what the-?” Suho was about to stop the guardian, but saw Sehun land safely on his feet with dust billowing around him.

“We’re experts at this, trust me.” Tao followed soon after.

“Tao, wai- Oh these brats!” Suho grumbled in frustration and just ran towards the stairs down. “Let’s go!”

Even though the two had a head start, Tao and Sehun were quickly able to gain on their targets. The concrete and paved stone walkways around the lighthouse soon gave way to hard ground, where thickets of palms and short fruit trees were growing. The two guardians were awed as the people they were chasing after suddenly jumped over the edge, as the palms gave way to a view of the ocean.

They paused for a bit to look over and saw that it was just a short drop to a long beach of fine white sand. Sehun looked ahead and pointed out to his companion a couple of jet skis that must belong to the other two.

With a nod, both guardians jumped over and landed on the soft sand, giving chase once more. Tao, with his martial arts training, wasn’t hampered by the softness of the ground he was running on. Sehun, on the other hand, had his feet barely touching the sand, using his powers to glide over them.

When they were closing in, Tao called out, “Hey! Stop right there!”

One of their adversaries turned to look back, just as Sehun vaulted over them, cutting the two off from the front. The two stopped in their tracks and Tao saw the insignia of their House.

The elite hunter was somehow glad it wasn’t a blacklisted House, but at the same time, he was apprehensive about the symbol of a triangle pointing down with an intricate spiral sun in the middle. It was the sign of the House of Amaterasu, their biggest rival. Both were garbed in common hunter gear, but they had hoods and masks on which barely revealed only their eyes. The color scheme of their gears was different though, as one was in predominantly grey and the other, dark green.

“I think you have something that belongs to us,” said Tao.

“We have no idea what you are talking about, hunter,” said the one in grey, slightly shorter than the other.

Although Tao knew of some hunters from Amaterasu, especially the ones with high ranks, the mask muffled the voice which made it hard for Tao to recognize it, considering that he was back to using his Gift as soon as they left the perimeter of the lighthouse.

“Cut the crap. Our scouts had already staked our claim to this area days ago,” the elite hunter answered back. “You guys know about the agreement.”

“Well, no one was around when we got there,” the same one spoke. “So technically, your House is the one imposing on what legitimately belongs to us.”

The four suddenly heard a shout from far away. Suho, D.O. and Chanyeol had made their way out of the thicket and were about to reach the cliff side.

“Talking is pointless. You want this?” The one in dark green suddenly held out an intricate jewel which seemed to form an eight-pointed star in the middle. “Well, you can’t have it!”

With a flourish, the item disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared on the hunter’s right hand. “It’s mine,” he said.

The two hunters from Amaterasu launched themselves towards their adversaries. Tao faced off with the one in grey, as Sehun deflected kicks and punches from the one in dark green. The wind guardian was doubly careful as he was facing someone who resonated with a lost artifact, and he did not know which of the Twelve it was.

The two pairs seemed to be equals but Tao and Sehun were slowly caging the other two in, to give time for their companions to catch up. The Amaterasu hunters found themselves back to back, but before Tao and Sehun could attack again, the one in dark green waved his hands in a circle and pressed his palms out towards their foes.

Tao and Sehun were left in a daze, as a couple of dazzling prismatic rays erupted from each of the enemy hunter’s hands. They were blinded for a couple of seconds, but it was enough time for the Amaterasu hunters to make a run again towards their jet skis.

“Damn it,” exclaimed Tao, as the two of them gave chase once more. “We can’t let them get away.”

The head start that their foes had were enough for them to reach their vehicles. Before they could get in the water, Sehun took a stance and punched the air as a column of wind rushed towards the enemy hunters. The one in grey looked back and was able to dodge it, but the other was hit squarely from behind.

“An artifact user too, eh?” the grey one glared at the wind guardian, as he helped up his comrade. With a nod to the other one, he said, “Go, I’ll take care of them.”

The hunter in dark green nodded back. He climbed up to his vehicle, and took off.

“Stop right there and put your hands on your head!” D.O. shouted from the back. The three other hunters were just able to catch up, and D.O. had his gun out aimed at the two Amaterasu hunters.

“Guns,” the remaining foe scoffed. “Useless.”

Tao and Sehun, who were nearer, were awestruck as the man’s eyes began to glow blue. Barely a sound, the man motioned as if he were throwing a shuriken. Tao heard the zip of the projectile as it flew past his ear. Moments later, D.O. screamed out a curse and dropped his gun. It was frozen solid.

“Stand back,” said Suho. “Ice? Why does this seem familiar?”

Suddenly, Sehun struck by summoning a blade of wind that he let fly towards their foe. The Amaterasu hunter was barely able to dodge it this time and Sehun’s power cut through his hood and mask which revealed his face.

“I can only forgive you once for striking me, Aku hunter,” the man growled. Out of the blue, he had a bow of ice in his hands and let loose a frozen arrow, aimed towards Sehun.

Tao heard Suho gasp, but a few moments later a felt as if everything around him was moving in slow motion. He turned towards Sehun and saw that the frozen projectile had pierced his chest, his blood turned into crimson icicles following the path of the arrow.

Tao saw his lover crumple to the ground, and the hunter felt time stop. He felt his vision spinning, and he felt as if the scene before him played once more. It was still the same.

No, Sehun is strong. He cannot die. He must not die.

The scene before him kept repeating and repeating. A bow made of ice; an arrow in flight piercing through Sehun’s chest; and the wind guardian crumpling to the ground.

This isn’t true. Sehun is strong. Sehun is not dead.

Jonghyun was strong but you know what happened, Tao. You were there. Jonghyun was strong, but you weren’t. You got him killed. You got your old lover killed, just like your new one.

Tao’s vision warped before him and he was taken back to that moment three years ago at the Yellow River Basin. Bullets were raining all over the area, as torrential rains raged on. The river was threatening to flood but none of the Houses would budge. This was going to end in a bloodbath or not at all.

The Yellow River Basin was an archaeological goldmine. Even the tiniest bit of technology that could be recovered there would cost a high six-figure pay. Many Houses had laid claim and subdivided the whole Basin. Of course, the bigger Houses, who had more hunters and workers, were able to lay claim over large swaths of the Basin. Yet a week ago, the rumor mill started clanging about a planned coup by the smaller Houses. Four days later, the first shot was fired.

As what had been circulating throughout the intel, the smaller Houses had banded together and tried to drive out the bigger ones by trespassing over their claims. The first to fall was the site of the House of Raijin, many workers and hunters killed by the onslaught of five small Hunter Houses in the night. With their first success, more of the smaller Houses joined their unholy alliance and over the span of two days, three sites were overrun and the renegade Houses were encroaching on the fourth. It was quick and easy for the renegades as the other large Houses only defended their sites, thinking nothing would happen so long as they were not disturbed.

The river, known for the color of the silt it carries, had turned the color of crimson. Encouraged by their victories, the renegade House turned their sights to the larger ones and were even audacious enough to knock on the doors of the High House of Aku. With their numbers, they were able to strike at multiple sites at time, surprising the other Houses who thought they could carry out a few more extrication activities before evacuating. It was a decision a lot of them would pay with the lives of their people.

The renegades had laid claim to the long stretch of the riverside, and had effectively isolated all the other Houses from each other. Even if their individual commanding officers had decided to help each other out in battling the renegades, breaking through the lines of the Houses who turned rogue would be like slamming one’s body against a steel door.

On the fourth day, reinforcements from the headquarters arrived at the site of the High House. Tao and Jonghyun were among hunters dispatched. They thought that most of the battle would have already died down but were proven wrong when they saw that the renegade Houses were able to breach into the outer third of their claim site. The House Leader himself was in command and their primary objective was to push the renegades back and reestablish contact with the other Houses.

Many hunters were at the frontlines, including Tao and Jonghyun. They had almost laid claim to their riverside when a second wave of renegades came in and they were pinned down. The battle grew worse when the slight drizzle that morning had become a full-blown thunderstorm brought about by the monsoon.

“Damn it,” Tao cursed out loud as he fiddled with his headpiece. “This rain is messing up the communication signals.”

“No wonder really,” answered his partner. “The renegades blasted off the local comm towers a couple of days ago. They’re really getting to be a pain in the .”

“This is bull,” Tao grumbled. “Mission control, come in. Mission control.”

“Take it easy,” said Jonghyun, as he raised his gun above the wall of sandbags they had taken cover in and shot blindly towards the general direction of renegade hunters.

“I can’t, damn it,” the younger hunter continued to fiddle with his headpiece. “When are those bastard renegades going to give up?”

“Wow, the amount of garbage spewing out of your mouth is a bit high, isn’t it? Thought you were a monk.”

“Should have been,” answered Tao. “It doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to get pissed.” He too took blind shots with his rifle.

“4635, do you read me? 4635?” Tao’s headpiece buzzed to life with the voice from their mission control.

“Mission control, 4635 here, signal’s choppy but I can read you,” Tao replied. “2426 is with me, and some more hunters. We are pinned down at the moment. I repeat; we are pinned down.”

“Co- that, 46- 5,” the voice of the mission control was broken up by the bad signal. “Rein- ments are low for the me- time. Can – hold – area?”

“We’ll try,” answered the hunter.

Their company’s position was too close to the river and the renegades were not willing to give up a prime location. A few moments later and Tao heard Jonghyun gasp and say, “, more renegades are coming in from the river.”

“Mission control, mission control, do you read me?” Tao screamed into his headpiece. “We need those reinforcements, damn it!”

“Talim 6712. This is Talim 6712.” A different voice crackled out of Tao’s headpiece. “Anyone out there?”

“Talim? How in the-?” Tao wondered out loud.

“That’s the House bordering us, right?” answered Jonghyun in the middle of firing his gun.

“This is Aku 4635,” Tao answered.

“Oh, thank goodness!” said the voice on the other end. “I thought we caught a renegade frequency. This is Hunter 6712 from the House of Talim. What is your position?”

“How should I know that you aren’t from a renegade House?” said Tao, still a bit skeptic.

“Listen, man,” said the voice. “We have secured the river on our side. You should know where the Talim encampment is. We are sending out a purple flare from our direction right now.”

Just as the other one said, a purple flare lit up the sky from where the Talim encampment is.

“Okay, I believe you,” said Tao. “But, look. We don’t have much time. More renegades are coming from upriver and we are pinned down at the moment. We are just across your position from the river and we need reinforcement to secure this area.”

“Copy that,” answered the voice. “The area is a bottleneck, and the renegades can’t have it back. We can send over some help but we need a secure landing point.”

“Go,” said Jonghyun, having heard the conversation. “I can manage from here.”

“Are you sure?” Tao asked, to which is partner nodded.

“6712, a couple hundred meters downriver,” said Tao to his headpiece. “I can bring a small strike team, but we have to hit the renegades there from both sides. We can’t exactly spare the soldiers, but we need the reinforcements.”

“Copy that,” said the voice. “Our boats are ready and waiting.”

“Once those bastards start falling to the ground like dead flies, that’s our signal,” answered Tao. “Over and out.”

Jonghyun sidled up to the younger hunter and grabbed his face. “Be careful.”

Tao looked at his partner hard in the eyes and answered back, “No, you be careful here. I’ll be back.”

“I’ll wait for you.” Jonghyun grabbed the other man from behind his neck and kissed him hard. It was all Tao could do to kiss back just as hard. Both men’s lips were raw when they moved apart. With a nod, Tao went off. He signaled for two other men to go with him to the designated point.

Just as planned, Tao and his small team were able to help the reinforcements from the House of Talim land as safely as possible. The wind was howling erratically, and the band of allied hunters, soldiers had a hard time going back.

Tao looked horrified as he saw the battle raging before him. The new wave of renegades was trying to muscle their way in, but Tao’s fellow hunters were trying their best to hold them back. With a battle cry, Tao and the reinforcement from the House of Talim joined in the fray.

“Jonghyun, fall back!” Tao screamed. He and the other soldiers were trudging their way through mud and muck so that the others could take a rest. The renegades were tiring, and Tao thought that they will be able to push the bastards back finally.

The ones from Talim slowly took over the points where the Aku soldiers were, reinforcing their ground as well as pushing forward against the renegades. Jonghyun stood up and, with cover from the others, was about to fall back himself. Fate had a different plan, as a reckless renegade soldier fired off a few more shots just before he fell.

Tao froze as he watched the bullets penetrate Jonghyun’s chest. “No!!!”

Unable to notice anything else, Tao ran towards his partner and grabbed hold of Jonghyun before the man could fall to the ground.

“Y-you came back.” The hunter was coughing back. “I-I knew you would.”

“Shh! Stop talking,” Tao laid the other man down. “The medic’s coming. He’ll patch up these flesh wounds.”

Jonghyun tried to laugh, but ended up coughing more blood. “These aren’t flesh wounds, Tao. I know when my time is up. I’ll always love you, okay?”

“No… no…” Tao tried his best to press down on the wounds on the other man’s chest. “No… no…”

“No!!!”

It was a scream like a wounded animal. The hunter felt his world spinning around him. One moment it was Jonghyun in his arms, and in the next, it was Sehun. It didn’t matter as both were dead before his eyes. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to be alone.