Fast Forward to DAY 9 of the test…

The heads of each royal vampire family have gathered at the palace walls to catch a glimpse of the pairs that will be arriving. The cold winter breeze swept through the icy landscape as every member of the royal family anticipated the arrival of their representatives. Soojung was with her parents carefully scanning the area for her sister and supposed cousin. Little Juhyun came to her side as well. 

“Hmm…I can sense our unnies from afar…” Juhyun, who was blessed with the keenest senses a vampire could have, calmly said as a soft cold breeze swept across her face. 

“Unnie…how far do you think will they have to go to reach us?” Soojung asked as she turned her attention to her cousin. 

“I’m not so sure, Soojung…We’ll just have to find out…” 

“I guess we will wait for them, unnie…”

The two youngest vampires stood near the stony railings in silence as they searched for any signs of movement from the white vastness that dominated the view. It was a gloomy winter day and despite the fact that it was early in the morning, the sun had not appeared much to the vampire’s delight in going outdoors without worries. 

A wolf’s howl was heard from the distance which sent a chilly feeling down Soojung’s spine. The howl was then followed by a response from many wolves which had sent an alarming look amongst the royal vampire family heads. Soojung could clearly feel that something was definitely wrong. 

‘Unnies…please be safe…’ Soojung thought as she kept on scanning the landscape for any signs of her unnies. 

Juhyun, who was standing beside Soojung, remained calm as she peacefully watched the unforgiving scenery of white. General Seo came beside his daughter and softly spoke, “Juhyun, who do you think will survived the test?”

The little Seo looked up at her father innocently and confidently said, “Father, I think everyone will make it…”

Her father arched an eyebrow in surprise. “Really? How sure are you, my daughter?”

Juhyun smiled before answering, “My eight unnies have all the capabilities to survive, father. Besides, I can still smell their scents coming towards us…” 

The youngest Jung just stared at her cousin in awe. She was amazed at Juhyun’s confidence about their unnies’ return. These past few days have been a sad one for the Jung’s maknae. She had been forced to study with Juhyun who was popular for her strict daily routines. She had wished to be with her Sooyeon-unnie and Taeyeon-unnie who loved teaching her how to master her powers. Soojung is the twins’ little apprentice after all, just like how Yoona had been with Yuri. 

Soojung’s mind wandered to her unnie’s whereabouts as she stared blankly into the horizon. 

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It had been six days since Miyoung and Soonkyu had wandered the unknown depths of the snow-covered woods. They had successfully evaded the werewolf village which they had passed by on their fourth day. The two daughters of the great archer families were now too exhausted to move on. Soonkyu was tired from the hike and she held onto her cousin’s shoulder, indicating that she needs some time to stay still. 

Miyoung turned and saw her cousin’s tired face before the latter faltered towards the ground. It was a good thing Miyoung was quick enough to react and catch her. 

“Miyoung-ah…I’m too tired from walking and jumping through the trees. We have been doing it for days…and…and I’m exhausted…” Soonkyu said as she and Miyoung slowly sat on the ground, with Miyoung cuddling her. 

“Soonkyu…take time to rest…but when you’re ready to stand, we will have to continue walking…or I’ll just have to give you a piggyback ride on the way home…” Miyoung said as she tried her best to keep hers and Soonkyu’s spirits up. 

They have been on the ground for a while now since jumping amongst the trees was the most tiring for the two archers. It needed a certain skill to measure out a good leap from one tree to the next. And who knows whether the tree branch they’re going to land on will break or not? Only a trained archer’s eye could master the skill. 

Soonkyu slept while Miyoung kept watch. She was wary of any sound that might catch her suspicions. A wolf’s howl was heard from the distance must to Miyoung’s fear. One howl alone sent shivers down her spine but then the wolf’s howl was followed by a chorus of howls. It was enough of an indication for the Hwang heiress to move on. She didn’t mind giving her sleeping cousin a piggyback for all that had mattered to her was their safety as of the moment. 

So, lifting Soonkyu’s arms, Miyoung carefully placed them on her shoulders much to her cousin’s surprise. “Miyoung?” Soonkyu groggily said, sleep was clearly evident on her voice. 

“Soonkyu, we have to go…there are wolves scouting somewhere…Come one…I’ll carry you…” Miyoung said as she offered her back to carry her cousin to which Soonkyu obliged without argument. 

As soon as Soonkyu had settled on her cousin’s back, the younger vampire quickly took off. Miyoung jumped as high as she could and landed smoothly on a strong tree branch despite the weight she carried. She then surveyed the view from the tree that she and Soonkyu had perched on. They were now nearing the castle and as much as it felt relieving, the two archers heard wolves growling from a distance. 

To Soonkyu and Miyoung’s surprise, the werewolves were chasing two figures hooded in black. One of the two figures conjured up a dark flame with her hand and fired it towards one of the pursuing wolves who was immediately engulfed in the black flames. The other one had been trapped by two werewolves. 

“You might not want to mess with me…” the one who was trapped said, she was apparently familiar to the two vampires who were hiding from above. 

The two werewolves did not heed the vampire’s warning and instead launched themselves towards Sooyoung with their sharp teeth bared and claws ready to strike the nine year old vampire. Sooyoung nimbly evaded the oncoming claws and fangs of one of the werewolves. She then pressed her fingers onto the wolf’s fur as she dodged it. The vampire had hit the werewolf’s chest, absorbing enough energy to stop the beast’s heart from pumping.

When the werewolf crashed into the tree, it was already dead. A sly smirk appeared in Sooyoung’s face as she turned to face the other werewolf that had her cornered. It was about to attack when an arrow hissed through the air and barely missed the wolf’s feet. It was a warning shot from an archer. 

The wolf searched for the archer but found it nowhere to be seen. Two more arrows landed near its feet and the beast knew that it should not fight anymore. It was time to flee. 

Hyoyeon was facing three werewolves when she saw the warning shots from an archer. She gave a sigh of relief when she noticed that the wolves thwarting their attention from her before they quietly retreated. 

“It took you awhile to come out from there…” Hyoyeon said as she turned her gaze towards the treetops when the last of the wolves disappeared from their sights. 

A figure clothed in black carrying a girl on her back gracefully jumped off from her perch. It was Miyoung carrying her older cousin, Soonkyu,

“It’s nice to see you again.” Miyoung said, revealing her infamous eye smile. Soonkyu gave the two vampires a soft smile before resting her head on Miyoung’s shoulder to sleep. 

The vampires studied each other for a while as they noticed the roughed up clothes of each individual serving as evidence to the ordeals that they have encountered in the previous days that they had spent in the mountains. Then they all laughed at their own looks as each of them realized how lucky they were to survive this long.

Soonkyu was too exhausted from all the fighting and running away as she left her cares to Miyoung. She definitely needed to rest before she needs to face another battle. Hyoyeon, Sooyoung, and Miyoung allowed their tired cousin to rest as they walked their way through the snow-covered woods. 

“How have you two been these past few days?” asked Sooyoung, finally breaking the silence that had once plagued them.

“Oh, we’re both fine although Soonkyu had used up all of her energy trying to defend us both. We met a pack of ten werewolves and just couldn’t do anything but to fight back. It was exhausting since we needed to keep distance for us to aim our arrows with force…” Miyoung responded as they continued walking side by side. 

She remembered their fourth day together. The two got tired from skipping their way through the trees and had jumped down to the ground to rest for awhile. Just as they were making their descent, ten wolves appeared from different directions. It had seemed that they were expecting them to come down from the trees or so as Miyoung had thought. 

The wolves hissed at the two vampires and as if on cue everyone closed in on them before they could ready their bows. Soonkyu resorted to blinding them all but the wolves were not the usual weak ones that they had faced. The beasts had powers that enabled them to counter Soonkyu’s flash bombs of light. One of the wolves summoned a huge whirlwind which blew the two vampires towards a huge tree. 

Miyoung and Soonkyu groaned as they crashed into the huge trunk. In retaliation, Miyoung made the ground shake, startling their enemies as she tried to move the earth that the wolves were standing on. But the wolves were stubborn to the point of launching themselves towards the two vampires in an effort to injure them. Indeed, the beasts were strong as they evaded the arrows nimbly and made their way around the two vampires who were now losing any means of escape. It was then that the pair had realized that they were outnumbered and if they were to survive, they needed to flee. 

Soonkyu and Miyoung were now back to back as they pointed their arrows towards their enemies. The wolves simply circled them with caution. The two vampires tried to read their movements and each had added an extra arrow to the bow in case the wolves would dare attack as a group. 

As they have both predicted, all ten wolves charged towards them with their claws ready to tear vampire flesh and teeth ready to crush the girls’ bones. To Miyoung’s mind, that was one of the most terrible memories to remember about their adventure. She almost lost Soo