*** Jung Taeyeon ***
 

Amidst the darkness that engulfed the land in its scary embrace, the two werewolves who took Soojung away were now nearing their destination. The werewolf stronghold that they were headed had a huge wall of ice built around the village. It had watchers patrolling its walls with bows and arrows readied in times of need. Two men spotted the two werewolves approaching with the unconscious vampire held by one wolf in its mouth. The Jung maknae looked like a sleeping pup being carried by its mother. 

The gates to the werewolf stronghold opened to allow passage for Soojung’s captors when a huge flame blasted before them blocking their way towards the gate. The werewolves turned around to see Taeyeon’s steaming ungloved hand still being raised by its owner. One of the wolves let out a warning growl ready to defend his comrade who was carrying their hostage. The ten year old girls who had pursued them to this point remained mum at the threat. 

“Let our maknae go and we will leave you in peace…” Taeyeon calmly said as she and her fuming sister stopped their horses at a distance from the wary wolves and the great werewolf village. She was well aware that she and her twin were within the range of the werewolf archers who had now aimed their arrows at them after seeing her as a threat. 

The werewolf facing them unleashed a mocking growl. An old man arrived on top of the ice wall to survey the situation that was happening in front of the gates to his village. Being a veteran wolf chief, the old man knew of the traits that had separated ordinary vampires from those of royalty. Despite his age, he was somehow surprised that the vampire lord had sent an unusual pair to pursue his men. 

He was even more surprised to see the ten year old heiress to the Jung throne. ‘This is interesting…’ the old man thought as he watched the twins who had turned their sights on him upon his arrival. 

Taeyeon’s crimson eyes met the old man’s blue eyes. She had a feeling the old man was the village chief and that he had probably planned Soojung’s capture. The old man looked at her with curiosity from afar. She can feel there was something bothering him with her presence being at Sooyeon’s side for she knew that the old man could easily recognize her sister for being the Jung’s firstborn and heiress to the throne. 

“What brings you here, Princess Jung Sooyeon?” the old man asked. 

“Give me back my sister!” Sooyeon bellowed, her piercing glares slightly intimidating the old man who stood with his archers. 

“You are in no position to demand, Princess. You know very well that you’re in werewolf territory now…Didn’t your father teach you of the customs?” 

It was a mock. Sooyeon and Taeyeon knew that the werewolf chief had taken advantage of his position. They knew beforehand that things will not go easy once the werewolves reach their territory with Soojung’s life on the line. Just right on time, Generals Kwon and Im had finally caught up to the twins. They were both relieved to see that Taeyeon and Sooyeon were fine although Soojung’s situation didn’t give them that much of a consolation. 

“Taeyeon! Sooyeon!” General Im called out as he and his brother parked their horses beside each side of the twins. 

“We’re glad nothing bad has happened to you.” General Kwon said as he patted Sooyeon on the shoulder. The twins did not react much to the arrival of their uncles. They were too focused on the situation at hand. 

“It’s relieving to see you again, Kwon and Im…” the old man called out while his werewolves who were being blocked by Taeyeon’s flames growled. 

“I’m relieved to see you well, werewolf chief.” General Im replied, his face had now grown serious. 

“Stop the awkward conversations…We all know very well that we very much despise one another…Why bother with these gentlemanly greetings?” Sooyeon fumed. She was clearly getting impatient. 

“Such a stubborn little heiress you have there…By the way Princess…Do you happen to know about the ransom for your younger sister?” the old man smiled. He seemed amused at the same time surprised by the brave little vampire that had the nerve to step up to him. 

“No. Why? What kind of ransom were you demanding from my father?”

“I was hoping you would know, little Jung…”

“How should I know? No one told me anything…”

“Well…It’s a pity…”

“Stop playing games with me!”

“All right then…maknae Jung’s ransom was supposed to be…You, the Jung heiress!”

Taeyeon’s eyes widened at the old man’s words. Her two uncles were also surprised by the old werewolf’s statement. Sooyeon, on the other hand, held an expressionless face. 

“Werewolf chief…Is there by chance, we can make a different arrangement on this matter? Something that doesn’t have to involve Sooyeon…” Taeyeon suddenly spoke. 

“Where are you getting at, child?” the werewolf chief asked. His gaze met Taeyeon’s serious eyes. 

“I’m asking if we could settle this in a different manner…”

“What are you planning to propose?” 

“I am humbly asking if you could consider releasing Jung Soojung and free Sooyeon from the situation that they are in…and in exchange…I want a duel that would suit your taste…”

Everyone was shocked by Taeyeon’s proposal. Her family did not want anything bad to happen and it alarmed Sooyeon the most. She knew her twin would do everything in her power to protect her and Soojung. The werewolf chief was deep in his thoughts as he tried to come to a decision on the young vampire’s proposal. 

Taeyeon knew that the wolves liked seeing a huge brawl. She knew that was all that they were asking for. She knows just what they had wanted – a little game of revenge and simple amusement. That’s the way the werewolves are. They liked playing with their enemies and yet they seem to play according to the accustomed rules between the vampires and themselves. 

“All right then, child. Pick someone from your team. I’ll choose my cards for mine…” the werewolf said as he looked at the young vampire with amusement. Things were indeed getting more interesting than the way they are. 

The eldest twin slowly got off her horse much to her two uncles’ amazement and much to Sooyeon’s horror. “Taeyeon! You’re not doing this!” Sooyeon groaned. The eldest Jung proceeded to disarm herself of her twin sword in accordance to the traditional rules of duels between vampires and werewolves. The fighters will have to fight without any weapons but affinities were allowed. 

Taeyeon simply stared lovingly at her twin’s eyes and smiled before she took off her long black cloak and stepped forward. The two werewolves holding Soojung captive stepped back and growled in defensive mode. They were both wary of the young vampire. 

The young girl’s move did not only surprise her family members who were present, but she also surprised the werewolves who were watching them. ‘This child is insane!’ the chief thought to himself. 

“Kim Taeyeon! Step back and let your uncles handle the situation!” General Kwon barked as he and General Im led their horses to block Taeyeon’s way, but before they could prevent the inevitable, the chief has made a decision. 

“It is decided then…the child will represent you, vampires. If the young vampire wins, I will let the princesses go, but if the child loses, she will die and Princess Soojung will be held captive until the Jung heiress offers herself.” The chief announced. “Remember the customs, General Kwon and General Im…We are bound to the treaty that had been set centuries before. You must obey them as we had obeyed them too.”

The Twin Generals found themselves helpless. They couldn’t keep their niece safe and surely, their brother will be furious if anything happens to them. The two generals backed off reluctantly. 

“Taeyeon…please be careful…” General Kwon said as he laid his hand on the young girl before backing away. 

“I will, uncle.” Taeyeon replied with a soft smile. 

“All right then…Young vampire…You are to fight Soojung’s captors right here for everyone to see and everything will be decided here.” The wolf chief said. 

With those words, the werewolf holding Soojung in his mouth slowly placed the unconscious girl on the snowy ground. He then joined his companion to face the young vampire in combat. Sooyeon watched anxiously as her twin prepared herself to fight the specialized werewolves whose powers were the same as hers. 

‘Jung Taeyeon, you are so going to get it from me when we get home…Please be safe and win this fight…’ Sooyeon thought as she looked at her twin sister.

Taeyeon steadied her breathing as the two wolves began circling around her, cautiously watching her. It was a natural strategy for the werewolves to intimidate and at the same time provoke their enemy. But the ten year old vampire simply stood still planting her feet firmly on the icy ground. 

One of the werewolves grew impatient from waiting for the young vampire to strike first. It lunged itself towards the young vampire. The other wolf who was standing on the opposite side of their enemy groaned and followed suit. Taeyeon saw two wolves coming for her from different directions. She knew the wolves would soon grow impatient with her and just as the two wolves were about to pound their claws towards her, the young vampire launched herself in the air making a high back flip to avoid the incoming attackers. 

The two wolves skidded through the snow preventing themselves from colliding into each other and turned their sights to the young vampire who landed a few good feet away from them with finesse. This time, the werewolves resolved to themselves not to fool around.

Sooyeon who watched the whole ordeal with her two uncles took in a deep breath of relief after she saw how her twin had managed to avoid the attack. General Kwon and Im sat on their horses unmoved as their niece fought to win back the youngest Jung. 

One of Taeyeon’s opponents let out a growl which caused a flurry of ice spikes to shoot like arrows from the snow-covered ground. Sooyeon’s eyes widened when she saw them heading towards her sister. Taeyeon’s face remained expressionless as she watched the sharp edges of the element come towards her with amazing speed. The ten year old took off her black snow gloves and raised one of her hands as flames erupted from them to meet the icy spikes. 

When she had cleared herself of the ice arrows, she noticed that the second wolf had disappeared. She carefully scanned the area for any signs of malignancy when the ground beneath her shook and out came the claws and sharp teeth that sought her flesh. It was the second werewolf catching the eldest Jung off guard. 

Taeyeon found herself being pushed by claws in midflight. She felt the stinging sensation of the sharp edges of a werewolf’s paws as she was being attacked. Her vision was filled with Sooyeon’s surprised look while her hearing registered Sooyeon’s worried yells of despair. 

“Taeyeon!!!” Sooyeon screamed when she saw her twin being tossed by the specialized werewolf. 

As if she had been awakened from her daze by her sister’s scream, Taeyeon’s crimson eyes glowed their deadly red tint and in one swift motion in midair, she unleashed a hard kick onto the werewolf’s chest. The kick had hit hard and fast but there was a spark of flames that accompanied it too. The werewolf landed on the ground with a hard thud. Its chest was burnt with a foot imprint. 

Taeyeon herself managed to land softly on the snow, but not without a bleeding forehead and a few scratches on her shoulders and arms. The young vampire barely had enough time to breath when the other wolf unleashed a hail of spikes towards her at the same time dashed towards her in hopes of overwhelming the young girl. 

By now, Taeyeon was being bothered by her wounds. The blood trickling from her forehead was clearly annoying her most and it will be a matter of time until the wound would heal itself. She didn’t want to risk losing her energy and succumbing to the painful process of accelerated healing that Sooyeon had demonstrated a few days back. She’d rather allow the normal vampire process to proceed while saving her energy to face her two beastly opponents. 

Seeing the oncoming arrows, Taeyeon propelled herself from the ground yet again but this time, flames of blue fire came shooting from her feet to push her to greater heights successfully eluding the wolf that was reaching for her. The fight’s spectators watched in awe when they saw the young vampire’s feat. Even the werewolves who were cheering their comrades were surprised. 

‘I haven’t seen a vampire do that in the centuries that I had lived to fight them. This kid is indeed something. She seemed to be even better than the heiress herself…’ the old man thought as he watched the fight. 

The eldest Jung seemed to be floating in midair with her feet unleashing flares of blue flame. She stared at the two werewolves who were looking up at her with contempt. The ice werewolf pounded the ground with its strong front paws which caused a huge wave of ice attempting to swallow Taeyeon. The other wolf sunk into the ground as the spectators watched Taeyeon being overwhelmed by the wave of ice. 

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Soojung opened her eyes and found herself being wrapped in a black cloak with her hands and feet tied up. She found herself on a snowy ground in front of what seemed to be a werewolf village. She scanned her surroundings and noticed that the werewolves stationed on the village walls were watching something from a distance. She shifted her gaze upon a lone werewolf staring at a huge mound of ice. 

The sight of her sister and her two uncles caught her attention. Soojung had never seen her elder sister so worried in her life. She also saw her two uncles concentrating their gaze on the huge mound of ice. ‘What happened?’ she had thought to herself. She watched on and realized the situation when Taeyeon struggled to get herself out of the huge mound of snow. ‘Oh no. This can’t be happening, Taeyeon-unnie’s on a duel against a werewolf?! Why her?’ Soojung was alarmed. 

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“Unnie!” Taeyeon’s senses began to sharpen. The wound on her forehead had stopped bleeding but the pain was still there. Her muscles were all sore and she could barely stand from the pain that wracked her body from the impact of the huge wall of ice. Did she hear it clearly? That voice. It was unmistakably her maknae’s voice.

Sooy