Into Shadows

The Well of Emerald Waters

Something nagged at Sehun in the middle of the night, as it had been for weeks already. And like the night previous, when most were asleep, he crept out of his bedroll, whispered to Luhan who was sitting up with Alistair about needing to relieve himself, and took off through the first line of trees. The road had veered somewhat from the lake, which was a shame because now that the fog had cleared, he might have had a great view. There were only trees, however, and between their branches glimpses of the night sky, few stars twinkling and an overly large moon. A light northernly breeze that hinted of winter from off the tips of the Frostback Mountains.

Sehun went about his business, slowly, casually, like nothing was amiss. He heard Alistair trot up behind him and sit on his haunches, waiting. They were both waiting. 

How come they never saw Kyungsoo during the day? The question had been nagging at him for the past twenty-four hours. How they never saw him on the road, but how he was always behind them. How he always caught up, apparently without fail in the night. Were they so easy to follow, to track? And if Kyungsoo was able to do it for weeks on end, then others probably could as well. Had actually, the night before. Would he settle when they did, near to his aunt's manor? It still begged the question of why he was following them, why he was so attached to... Sehun.

He wasn't sure when he became able to tell, to sense the other's approach. Kyungsoo, as he'd introduced himself. 

"You're back," he said, no question to his tone.

He saw Kyungsoo only in his peripheral vision, as if turning to look at the man... creature... boy... too intently would cause him to disappear, as he had a tendency to do. 

"Good evening," the other replied with a twinge of humor. 

Alistair did not greet him this evening; the hound only panted lazily, showing no cause for alarm and Sehun was comforted by this, more than anyone knew. If only he knew what to say, however. Every question, every thought. Everything caught in his throat, as if words were trivial when faced with him.

"Kyungsoo." He started with his name.

"Yes?" said the boy after a few moments' hesitation. He'd already pulled back part of his robes revealing his face. Without turning his body, Sehun craned his neck to stare at him directly, confronted with the same sallow skin on what might otherwise have been beautiful features. He wanted to know, needed to know, what had happened to him, if anything. Because Kyungsoo was unnatural and everyone knew it. 

When he didn't reply, Kyungsoo crept forward, slowly but of sure step. "You wanted to ask me something?"

Sehun nodded, swallowing thickly as nerves blocked his airway. 

"You want to know what I am? Who I am?"

Again Sehun could only nod. Kyungsoo, however, didn't seem disposed to tell him with words. "Give me your hand."

"What?"

The boy nodded impatiently, head jerking in the direction of Sehun's arm. Reluctantly he held up his hand, rotating it so that his palm faced up when Kyungsoo nodded again. It pleased him evidently, seeing his palm bared, but Sehun only thought about the marks he left, gray and ashen, like death. His heartbeat sped up when Kyungsoo brought up his own hand, leading by his fingers until they hovered above. He held his breath too when Kyungsoo held there, dark eyes darting once to check Sehun's face as if wondering if he would bolt, and truthfully Sehun wanted to. But this was the closest he'd been to Kyungsoo ever when they were face to face. He couldn't back down now.

Nothing magical happened though. Kyungsoo trailed an index finger down the center of his hand, lips pursed, and Sehun only felt a slight tickle. Where his finger touched of course there was the gray streak, but by now that was nothing unusual. 

"H-How..." Sehun stuttered. 

Kyungsoo drew his hand back and stepped away, although Sehun did not move, not even dropping his outstretched hand. 

"How?" The question amused him. "It's not magic, Sehun, if that's what you think."

Sehun. He knew his name too. Sehun visibly panicked. 

"How did-"

Kyungsoo shrugged before he'd even finished the question. "How did I know your name? You ask strange questions, Sehun. But I heard it before of course. Your companions do not travel in silence after all."

Sehun swallowed again, determined to ask something more pertinent this time, before Kyungsoo vanished on him again. "Why are you following us?"

Kyungsoo inclined his head, as if thinking how to answer, or if he even did want to answer. He opened his mouth, cracked a wry smile instead, and then suddenly whipped his head to a place behind Sehun's back, in the direction of the campsite. They were no longer alone. Kyungsoo moved to dart away, but a second later they heard someone shout, "Wait!"

Xiumin's voice. Xiumin's footsteps edging through the trees towards the commotion and surprisingly, Kyungsoo did as he asked, one hand shielding his body, the other staining the bark of a tree. He hovered there, eyes alight and cautious, watching Xiumin's every move. The mage scrambled over a fallen tree branch and clutched at Sehun's arm, still weak from his earlier ordeal, but his eyes never left the other. "Please. Wait."

Kyungsoo stared him down, and though he'd told Sehun the gray mark was not magical, Sehun couldn't help but wonder. His posture, the way he held his palm out defensively, the way Xiumin held suddenly still. He'd brought no staff but the mage too held an aggressive stance. Alistair stood up proudly by his side.

"What do you want?" said Kyungsoo, and his tone was not nearly as carefree as when he'd spoken with Sehun.

Xiumin glanced at Sehun, and Sehun felt strangely unafraid. He knew he probably should be, standing as he was in the middle of a showdown. 

"I could ask the same of you," Xiumin replied. 

Kyungsoo only hardened his glare. "Mage like yourself, I thought perhaps you'd already know."

"Maybe," said Xiumin. And this was news to Sehun. The mage sounded uncertain though, but he was a whole lot more sure about his words than Sehun was. 

They didn't get to continue, not with Luhan stumbling quickly from the same place Xiumin had appeared and squawking aloud when he saw Kyungsoo. The boy, however, only moved further behind the tree, more defensive but at least he didn't bolt. For some reason Sehun didn't want him to bolt, although he wasn't so sure now about Kyungsoo's relative safety.

"Hush," Xiumin demanded, a hand behind him to stall Luhan's advance. He still clutched at Sehun's arm and once he seemed sure that Kyungsoo wouldn't run, he twisted Sehun's arm to stare at his palm. The gray streak, like all the other marks, was already beginning to fade. Xiumin dropped his arm as soon as he was satisfied, and then stared once more at Kyungsoo. A tense few moments passed where nobody spoke. Kyungsoo held his spot, the rest held theirs. Alistair drooled but otherwise nobody moved. Luhan was the bravest one in the end, ignoring Xiumin's warning as he crept up next to him, feet disturbing the leaves as Kyungsoo observed him carefully.

Then Xiumin spoke again. "You've been following us."

Kyungsoo smiled. "Not you. Just him." 

Sehun stiffened unconsciously, jaw tightening. 

"Sehun?" inquired the mage. "Why?"

Kyungsoo shrugged, barely moving, his eyebrows and cheekbones suddenly more expressive than they'd been by far, albeit indifferently. "Maybe I like him?" 

Xiumin asked faintly, "Is that all?"

Again he smirked, committing to nothing. It made Sehun's blood race though, this proof that he was something of value: the reason for why Kyungsoo was here at all, whatever the truth may be.

Luhan found his voice finally too. "If you aren't here to harm anyone, then why do you only lurk behind us?" 

Kyungsoo smiled. "Who said I am harmless?" 

"You can cut the games," Xiumin intervened. "It's a good question though. You've done nothing but follow us in the shadows. Why not come out before now? Why hide yourself?"

"Would you show yourself if you looked like me?" Kyungsoo's eyes were calculating, his voice harsh but still slightly playful. Sehun was beginning to recognize that familiar sound. "Why show myself at all? You wouldn't trust me. And I don't trust any of you, not really," Kyungsoo continued to speak.

As if to prove his point, Luhan whispered in Minseok's ear, probably not expecting his voice to carry, but of course it did in the still night air. "What's wrong with him?" he asked, even as Xiumin grimaced. 

Kyungsoo sighed, resigned. "You see? I look sick, ill, diseased, dare some people say... blighted? Of course that means there must be something wrong with me. Why would anyone think differently?" He feigned indifference, maybe because he was used to it. "I don't come into the light because I like my own company."

"Yet you've followed us halfway across the map," said Luhan. 

Despite the accusatory message, Kyungsoo wasn't paying the templar any attention. Instead his eyes darted in between Xiumin and Sehun, then back again, and Sehun just knew there was something he was missing. Something that Xiumin knew, or at least suspected, and Kyungsoo knew it as well. He wanted to ask the mage, but he feared scaring Kyungsoo away. His hand tingled where the boy had touched him, but only because his brain was starting to spin. 

"Are you... do you have anything to do with them? With the men who attacked us last night?" No one had expected Sehun to speak, but he had to ask.

"Them?" Kyungsoo scoffed. "Those ignorant fools? Of course not."

"Those ignorant fools came for blood," said Luhan. "And they almost got it too. How can you cast them off so lightly? Are you in league with them? Their spy?"

"Like I'd tell you if I was," Kyungsoo hissed, but once again Xiumin hushed them both. 

"Luhan, Sehun, please... go back to the campfire."

"What?" the templar echoed, and Sehun wasn't far behind him. 

Xiumin was standing very still, eyes still on Kyungsoo as if they were holding a private conversation, something they intended to finish. 

"I want to talk to him... alone. Do you mind?" Again the question was on Kyungsoo. Luhan started to protest but was silenced when Xiumin held a hand up to his arm, as he was doing to both of them. Sehun felt no choice but to agree. He nodded once, whispered his assent and then pulled back, drawing Luhan away too. 

The last they saw of them, Xiumin and Kyungsoo were still many yards apart, cautious, speculative. Middle of the night and in this half-light, moon streaming through the overhang of tree limbs, both appeared to belong to the night, or were owned by it. 

 

 

 

 

 

"He's gone?!"

"What do you mean, he didn't come back?"

Only Baekhyun was truly worried; Jongin was more bewildered, the others were silent and Sehun was just completely stunned. Luhan knew neither one of them had fallen asleep that night, not after Xiumin's dismissal when they returned to the fire. Sehun tossed and turned and maybe snuck up a little closer to Luhan's pallet, his eyes never straying far from the direction from which they'd returned. Luhan as well was worried, although he tried to hide it better. The fear that perhaps the mage wouldn't come back unharmed, or if he'd come back at all. Xiumin had been so weak too, almost fragile as he stood upright, supporting himself between the two of them. And they had left him.

Morning came early and still there was no sight of the mage, nor of Kyungsoo. When questioned Luhan looked intently at Sehun as they shared a silent missive, something only they understood: Don't mention the other one. And Luhan liked to think they agreed because they both trusted Xiumin, that the mage knew what he was doing and who he wanted to speak privately to, even if they did not. 

"So, your mage has finally fled, has he?" Jongdae could be an irritating little when he wanted to be, which was actually pretty often.

Luhan groaned. "I don't know."

"Did he say anything to you before he left?" asked Chanyeol, who was looking around the party members with twice the amount of suspicion, his brows furrowed double from the strain. Luhan was already dreading the interrogation Kris probably had in store for him. If Chanyeol was overt in his questions, Kris was more subtle and privately direct. 

"Just that he needed to check something out," Luhan lied. Sehun thankfully looked too tongue-tied to either confirm or deny it. 

Baekhyun hummed, eyes to the tree line. "Do you think..." his voice drifted off. Luhan chewed on his lower lip, begging them to not ask if it had something to do with the shadowed creature, because the more time that passed the more he wished he hadn't let Xiumin stay behind. "I could scout the area..." Again Baekhyun trailed off, halting completely when Luhan snapped. 

"I think we need to just go. He can... he can catch up with us later, perhaps."

Because he had already done so, the second he woke up cold and alone. It was the first morning in weeks that he hadn't slept with Xiumin by his side, and that was chilling. So was the fact there wasn't a trace of him to be found anywhere within the forested area where they had stood.

What was it Xiumin had said to him the night before, before he strode after Sehun towards the forest. 'My dream, it has something to do with... him.'

'Sehun?' Luhan had asked.

'No. Yes. Somewhat. But the other one... the gray one. He's something... There's something strange going on here, I think more than the others are aware of. I need... I need to know if...' But he'd been so distracted, not finishing his sentence.

And what was it the note had said, a flimsy piece of torn parchment tucked into Luhan's boot? Please trust me. I'll catch up. He must have added it there sometime after Luhan fell asleep, although he'd tried so hard not to close his eyes.

Luhan didn't know the mage's handwriting. He'd had no reason to see it before, because Xiumin had never written anything in his presence. Until now, perhaps. Trust Xiumin? Trust the apostate? He didn't even hesitate because up till now, everything he'd done since the time Xiumin saved him from the bandit mage had been because he trusted him. Against every templar instinct and his entire training, everything the Chantry had drilled into his brain about the evils of magic and the danger of apostate mages, Luhan trusted Xiumin. So now, who knew what his fate would be, or if his doom awaited instead. 

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Luhan insisted that they should move on, knowing it was the right decision to make regardless. The gray creature wasn't the only one following them, stealing their party members. Sehun was still in danger, and they had a journey to complete. Jongin needed his support to help protect the party and losing his mage had little to do with that. 

"No doggie either, huh?" said Baekhyun after a while, because Alistair wasn't here either and that made it even more sad.

They packed up and set off, Sehun riding once more, and he was so hushed and sullen that not even Suho's words could reach him. The dwarf had taken to riding on the mule just so that he could keep up. He trailed along behind Sehun's shoulder, prodding him every now and then with small talk, none of which was reciprocated. Luhan thought about showing Sehun the note but he wasn't given enough time to take the boy aside, and so it remained inside his boot where he'd found it, where he would no doubt pull it out later to double-check he was reading it right. Or to persuade himself that Xiumin would probably okay.

"Luhan... are you... still planning to come with us to Haven?" Jongin pulled him from his thoughts. It was mid-morning and they'd already been traveling for hours.

"Yes," he said. Because Xiumin knew of Haven, and how else would he catch up if Luhan didn't go that way.

"Haven!?" someone else repeated though, surprised. It was Jongdae. "Why on earth are we going to Haven?"

Luhan had forgotten most of the others did not know of their planned detour. It took Jongin some time to explain, but it had to be done soon because their cut-off route was approaching. Surprisingly, most of them agreed, even Chanyeol and Baekhyun.

"Actually, I was thinking it would be a good idea to get off of this road for a while," said the scout. "If anybody is following us too closely, they'll know we are heading north."

"To veer off west for a bit is actually... smart," Chanyeol agreed. 

Suho nodded as well, and only Jongdae seemed to think it was odd to go so far out of their way when by every thing Jongin had mentioned about Sehun's aunt's house, it was no more than two days away. 

"You know, you're welcome to keep going north if you dislike our route," Baekhyun said to the assassin who only scoffed and looked displeased with the suggestion. 

"By myself? And leave your magnanimous company?" He winked at Baekhyun, threw a cheeky grin at Suho, and even tried to pat Chanyeol's before the taller warrior scowled and scampered out of the line of attack. Everyone was used to it, all except for Kris, but the qunari was by now well used to how nobody thought it pertinent to keep him abreast of certain facts, like why they turned a blind eye to an assassin traveling with their party. Truthfully, Luhan still didn't know why. Jongdae had apparently a strong desire to keep up with them, he aided them whenever possible, and none of them had yet died by his hand, quite a feat considering his training and profession. There was also the matter with the templars in Redcliffe in which he'd helped Luhan, but that was something Luhan tried not to dwell on too long--that he was, in fact, indebted to the man. 

By early evening, Baekhyun located the split in the road as they made the turn towards Haven. The path was narrower, obviously less travelled. It seemed ominous, but then everything seemed that way after Xiumin's disappearance. Baekhyun kept checking the path behind them more often than ahead, Jongin was distracted, Sehun still taciturn. 

Chanyeol tried one more time to ask Luhan if he knew anything else about the mage or if he thought Xiumin had finally just run off, and Luhan snapped at him so loudly, Jongdae actually applauded.

They made their camp that evening under a particularly close crop of trees so dense that there was no place to light a fire. In the pitch darkness, Jongin made up his pallet next to Luhan, even cutting off Sehun who slept besides Suho. Baekhyun retaliated by drawing up his mat next to the qunari, and Jongdae and Chanyeol took first watch. 

He slept fitfully of course. Jongin wasn't nearly as comfortable to lay beside, and in fact Luhan ended up rolling further away from the man's unfamiliar form. He dreamed, but not about anything of consequence. Just a tale, a vague memory from his childhood in Nevarra which morphed into the first images of his new life in the Circle Tower. When he awoke though, the Knight-Commander's scary face in his brain, thoughts of Xiumin trailing not too far behind, it wasn't to anything happier. In fact, it wasn't even daylight yet. 

"W-What?" he yawned, as Jongin steadily shook his arm in a panic.

"Get up, now!"

"Huhh? Is it... what is it?" His sentiments were being shared around the party, but if he hoped it was the return of the mage setting people awake, he was soon to be sorely disappointed, and twice as scared.

"It's a dragon! Kris just heard a dragon! Now, get up! Now!

 


3,400 words

 

Okay, so it's not Friday, and this chapter is quite late, I'm sorry! The last few weeks have been chaotic for me. Several family members have all been moving, plus I live in Central Texas which if you've seen the weather lately for our area, half of the state flooded last weekend. It's a disaster zone, literally. (Fortunately, not for me and everyone I know is okay.)

So when I say I've been trying to write this chapter for weeks, believe me, it's true. I've had little to no inspiration to sit down and write it, and now I leave you with Xiumin gone in the night, and an immiment dragon attack?! Oh my! I had to do something exciting to get this story back on its feet ;)

No promises for the next update. I will when I am able. 

♡ Rosie

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So I'll just leave you with another fic I had written previously and just this week was able to reveal: Why Talk About the End, a Kaiho fic written for Suholidays. Also, London_Calling and I have taken to entertaining ourselves by writing Late Night Drabbles, each working on spontaneous prompts given by the other. Please check them out. 

 

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ShiningRose
Maker's Crap! Guys, this fic is NOW COMPLETE! *sets off fireworks, then takes a very long, long nap*

Comments

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imanma #1
Chapter 54: I literally could not get enough of this fic. Characters are awesome. The entire thing is so great from start to finish. So many great moments throughout. I’m kinda just in shock now that it’s over. Thanks you so much for writing this, authornim!
Xiuhanisloveok #2
Chapter 54: YO DUDE I FINISHED THIS IN THREE DAYS IN THE MIDDLE OF MY EXAMS AND I LOVE IT! SO! MUCH!
deerestwinter
#3
Chapter 54: I wanted to skip the coex but i can't find myself to do it. Hahaha i didn't realize this has been going on for 2 1/2 years already.. It was long but sure worth reading. And thank you for that. i guess we have to look forward to for more.
Rb2012 #4
Chapter 54: Congratulations on completing the story . Yaaaaaaaaaaay
pukkajoe
#5
Chapter 54: It's complete and I will miss your story so much. I really like the plot, the adventures, characters, and end(s all) were great! Thank you!
RedRoses96 #6
Chapter 54: OMYGOSHHH ITS THE END!!!! T-T ( >~<)
I THOUGHT THE ENDING WERE BETWEEN THE 6 /im bewildered so much especially the handsome baek's one tho/. and then i saw the epiloge x'''''D

Holy molly u should now how much i love this fic. After almost 2 years following this fic, its so hard to describe how i feel right now lol x"D *sob*
Thank u so much for writing this wonderful fic authornim *smooch both of ur cheeks* lop u and this fic so much, gbu! <333333
MoroccanBlackDragon
#7
Chapter 1: How did u make a map?
Rb2012 #8
Chapter 45: Whay happened T^T
RedRoses96 #9
Chapter 45: Is baekhyun dead?!? OMO O_o
OMG i'm not ready for the end T-T
This fic has been my jam for years
1fanfic #10
Chapter 44: ohhhh shoot. I just caught up up with the story, reading three chapters in a row, only to be left with another bloody cliff hanger! lol the frustration ;D