He smelled smoke, earth, burnt flesh. The stench filled his head, clogging his nostrils and Luhan almost wretched right where he lay. His body convulsed, struggling to move but something was blocking him. Another body which shifted only slightly, and neither one of them could really move.

"Minseok?" he whispered, mind still confused, oblivious to everything else around them. His senses were blocked, trapped, held in tact by the mere fact that he was somehow alive, and so was Minseok. He hoped, he prayed. 

"I'm here," came the mage's voice, small and wavering.

Around them it seemed eerily quiet, as if time had passed and Luhan had no idea what had happened. They'd followed his map right up to the clearing, sensing a fraction of a second before they saw it that something was not right. Watched as a large band of masked, hooded attackers chased down what could only be their lost party members, Jongin and Sehun and Chanyeol and Kris. They couldn't see Baekhyun in the shadows of the house, not until, screeching, Jongdae slid from the horse, daggers by his side as he suddenly lead an infuriated charge down the meadow. 

"Nooo! You! Don't!" Jongdae shouted, blades whirling. Luhan hadn't hesitated more than a second to follow, as it was clear the others were trapped, and they were all wholly outnumbered. With Minseok behind him, Yixing and Suho somewhere behind him, they rushed the attackers from behind, blocked from reaching the others. But it had been too much. There were too many of them. The battle too fierce. Luhan had dented his shield and maimed a good many men and yet they weren't even close to reaching the house, or to stop the torches from setting it on fire. Jongdae wailed furiously, and Luhan became desperate, fighting alongside Minseok for so long that he couldn't keep count. Nothing mattered, not even himself, but that's when they'd heard it. The dragon. And how he'd come to be trapped under the split tree with Minseok nestled into his side. 

He choked, inhaling nothing but dust and dirt. Somewhere just beyond his hearing range he heard the sound of a dog barking.

"Xiu- Minseok, are you..."

"I'm fine. I think." 

Minseok himself coughed, wheezed, and Luhan tried to rotate to see him. Half of the massive tree trunk lay over them both, held up from crushing their bodies only by the branches that had caught on the ground. A near miss if Luhan had ever seen such a thing, and it was a miracle they were alive. How they had fallen right into the space where they were only pinned, not dead. Something in his memory recalled Minseok shoving him to the ground, seconds before the tree fell. Seconds after the dragon blasted it away. 

The dragon. The dragon!

"Dragon!" Luhan suddenly cried out, terror redoubling in his heart. "Where-!?"

"It's gone, flew off, I think," said Minseok weakly. He sounded feeble, completely unlike himself. Again, a dog barked from far off, but maybe it was closer this time. Other than that, there was no one else except for their voices. No sounds of steel, no battle clashes, just the remnants of a house that had been on fire. 

"How long... ago...?" he asked. 

"Don't k-know... maybe an hour."

An hour they'd been trapped here. An hour in which anything could have happened. Their friends dying in a fiery blaze, a dragon attacking, no trace of Jongdae, Yixing or Suho. An hour that Minseok had perhaps been conscience but unable to move. The mage groaned slightly as Luhan shifted, finally pulling his legs enough to gain leverage against the earth, his templars' robes caught in between branches and leaves, his vision obscured by the overall frame of the tree and all its downed glory. In the darkness he could barely make out Minseok's eyes, closed shut and clenched in pain. Only a hint of moonlight made its way through the debris, enough for Luhan to drag his arm up and cup the mage's cheek, softly. Delicately.

"You... what hurts?" he whispered, as if speaking any louder than that might hurt Minseok more.

His eyes fluttered open, just barely catching Luhan's eyes before he closed them again. "Don't know. Back, maybe." 

"Can you move at all?" Luhan was reluctant to shift him.

"I t-tried... once." 

Somehow, they needed to get out of here. To find out what was going on, what had happened, to fix Minseok. If Yixing was still alive, then maybe he could heal him. 

The dog barked again, closer, frantically, and Luhan finally realized who it was. "Alistair!" he called, and the hound yipped excitedly, even closer this time. "Alistair!" 

Luhan almost fainted in relief, so happy to discover they weren't alone, even if it was just a large mabari hound that knew where they were, buried under tons of tree and wooden debris. "Luhan!?" came another voice, sweetly high and just as frantic: Suho.

"We're here!" Luhan called back. 

"I found them!" Suho shouted after another few seconds, and a voice from a long distance away replied.

Luhan didn't waste his energies anymore. He cupped Minseok's face again, intent on spreading his joy, that someone had found them and they could be dug out of this whole mess. No fire, no dragon, no thieves or villains could get to them this time. "Minseok, hold on," he begged, fingers etching across the mage's face. "Minseok, they're coming to get us out."

Minseok murmured feebly, but his eyes flickered open once more, just the shadow of a smile upon his lips. Luhan's thumb brushed against the outer corner of his lips as he smiled in return. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he whispered.

Minseok's smile only continued to grow, however weak he must have felt. "For what?"

Luhan didn't know. For everything though, probably. He inched closer, as much as his body could move, closer towards Minseok laying on his side, arms curled before him, back and torso twisted from the angle of the branch shoving into him from behind. He looked small and pitiful, not like how Luhan knew Minseok could really be: strong and powerful, fearless, magical. Why was it that the only times he looked like this, vulnerable, were because Luhan had made him this way? 

"I'm sorry," he whispered again, before pressing his lips lightly against the mage's confused smile. 

Minseok didn't respond, not in words. His body though stuttered and his eyes sprang to life, meanwhile Luhan pulled back, unnerved and apologetic, afraid that he may cause Minseok to jolt too much for whatever pain he was in. They stared at each other, frozen in time. 

Then someone else called out, Jongdae's voice this time asking where they were and coupled with Alistair's near consistent barks. "Luhan! Minseok!?"

"We're here!" Luhan turned his head once more in the direction of the man's voice. "Minseok's hurt! Can you get Yixing!?"

A moment later, during which angled his head once more towards the mage, he heard Jongdae shout. "We can't find Yixing yet!"

Luhan balked; Minseok groaned. "What do you mean?!" Luhan yelled. "What about the others!? In the house! Did you get them out!?" 

There was no answer to this for a few minutes. Alistair sounded like he was trying to dig them out, but to what extent Luhan couldn't tell, and it probably wasn't working very well. Suho asked them once again if they were alright, and Luhan replied, but Minseok continued to moan and occasionally whimper if anything shifted on top of them too much. The dwarf was apparently trying to find a way through the downed limbs and debris. Finally, Jongdae returned, but about the others he had no news.

"I can't... I don't know... I can't tell! The whole house is... basically gone!" He sighed, severe frustrating lacing his words. "Only Alistair was here! He came out of the woods suddenly to help us, but Jongdae and Suho and I got caught up in the skirmish trying to run from that accursed dragon, and by the time we could get back... We can't even get past the frame of the house, it's too... hot!" The assassin suddenly cursed and swung something that sounded like a heavy sword. It struck the ground with a clash of metals, and Luhan winced, his arm now curving around the part of Minseok he could reach, as if sheltering him from the blow. 

It took half an hour for Jongdae, Suho, and Alistair to get them out. Luhan and Minseok could do nothing to help except listen in as the assassin and the dwarf bickered at each other, and Alistair kept getting in the way. Eventually, he had to tune them out altogether and pray they could find a way. In the meantime, he had Minseok to worry about. Minseok, who was hurting and confused and when Luhan kept nudging him to keep him awake, almost sorrowfully.

"Luhan..." His voice was so soft. Luhan refused to think about what that meant, but it made his heart flutter to hear and his nerves quench in anguish. "Luhan, I should have told you."

"Told me what?" Luhan whispered back.

"About... about Xiumin."

Luhan sighed, eyes closing softly as he remembered. Why they were here, why there were arguing. "Xiumin... yes. What about him..." 

Minseok stirred, and so Luhan opened his eyes to stare at him again, watching as Minseok almost painfully brought the words to his mouth. 

"He's my brother."

"What?" Luhan asked airily, confused.

"He's my brother. He's a blood mage. He's... everything your scroll said about him."

"The scroll..." Luhan thought back to it. Extremely dangerous. Explosion... destroyed his family... Essentially a murderer, and still on the loose. "But you're not him. Why... did you say you were him."

"I couldn't figure it out at first." Minseok almost laughed. "Why the templars knew that name. Why you were there at all, looking for him. How you even knew where to go, because... Xiumin, he never stays in one spot for long. He would never have been caught anywhere like that. Me on the other hand..." His breath hitched a few pitches, the debris around them shifting as the others worked. "You knew exactly where to find... me. Because somebody told you where to look... Somebody that was..."

"Xiumin," Luhan finished for him, comprehension starting to kick in. "Your brother tipped off the templars, but lead us straight to you. Why."

Again Minseok chuckled, body barely moving from the strain. "To save himself, why else. You might say... we're not close. He probably never thought I would live even past the initial confrontation. I would die, therefore Xiumin would die, and his whole record erased. But instead of a whole troop of templars, it was just... you. And honestly, you weren't all that threatening." He smiled.

Luhan flushed, actually embarrassed at the accusation that he hadn't been the brash, stereotypical templar bent on destruction. "Is that why you let yourself be caught?" He sniffed self-righteously. 

Minseok smiled wider, eyes mirthful. "Well, that and Alistair kind of betrayed me." 

"Oh, right. Well, have I mentioned I kind of like that hound?"

"About as much as he likes you, I'm sure." It was surreal, even to be having this conversation, in this state with Minseok wounded, and the dog itself whimpering softly as it tried to dig them out. Jongdae still bickering about dragons and trees and bandits, and Suho being told point-blank that he was now more in the way than Alistair. 

Luhan held Minseok's eyes, his nerves completely bunched up, his arms still on the mage as close, as tightly, as he dared. Yes, he liked Alistair, and the hound was obviously attached to him. "But not more than I like you."

The branches shifted heavily, showering them in dirt, sticks, and leaves. Minseok and Luhan immediately hunched inwards, eyes shut to block out the debris, and then the ray of moonlight that finally shown over them. 

"Gotcha," said Jongdae lazily, before hauling them out, Luhan first and then Minseok's body which they cradled between them. 

The house really was destroyed, nothing left it but a few wood beams still smoldering, and the ground covered in red embers and ash. As Luhan looked, another tiny portion of it collapsed into the embers which sparked a tiny, new fire. Everything was gone, and yet at first glance he saw no bodies. Perhaps there was hope.

Suho suddenly shouted, in fear more than anything else, although there was some surprise in it. He wasn't looking towards the house though. Jongdae lashed around, twin daggers already at hand and Luhan, carefully checking that Minseok was settled on the ground, almost pulled out his sword as well. 

Out of the trees walked a lone figure, hair singed, limping, half of his body covered in burn marks and most of his clothes burned away. He carried a mage's staff limply in one hand. 

"Yixing!" 

The mage collapsed as soon as they spotted him, crumpling into the earth, and Jongdae and Luhan both took off running to get to him. Suho stayed put, rooted to the ground. 

Yixing was a mess. Beat up, partially scorched, exhausted and looking half-dead, and yet he was alive. 

"Is there anyone after you?" Jongdae asked, as he and Luhan lifted him up, supporting him under his arms as they walked him towards Minseok. 

"Took... care of them..." Yixing replied wearily. He had an arrow wound bleeding profusely from his shoulder blade, and he sank back towards the ground, his staff falling out of his grip and rolling away. Yixing sighed. "Staff... get me my..."

Luhan put it in his hands, and each of them stepped back as Yixing appeared to compose himself, drawing from some well of inward strength. His eyes flashed red, then blue, and from his staff a rush of winds surrounded them. All of Yixing's wounds retreated, his burn marks fading, leaving his exposed skin pale and smooth. Then he turned it on Minseok and the other mage healed in the same way. He arched and cried out against the ground but after a moment his breathing returned to normal. Luhan knelt beside him, finally relieved that Minseok looked alright.

"Anyone else?" Yixing asked, his voice still weak and exhausted. 

Between Jongdae and Suho, they all shook their heads, and then turned their attention to the other matter at hand. 

"The house though... we've lost the others," said Luhan. "And we can't even..."

Minseok had the answer. "Let me," he said, crawling to his feet. His bones creaked violently as he stood up and Luhan wrapped his arms immediately around him to steady him. They walked slowly towards the rubble, almost tripping over Minseok's own staff where he'd dropped it earlier, and then the mage held it up. A gust of wind like Yixing's magic swept left to right over the house, cooling the embers until nothing red remained. No coals or smoke, but everything died down. 

It was enough that they could step over it, walk across the foundation, but a quick search brought up nothing. It was perplexing, because each of them knew they'd seen the others escape inside.

"They're not here."

"They could have run out the back," said Luhan.

"No, we would have seen that," Jongdae argued. "And they were completely surrounded. They... they have to be here!"

"Check the barn," Yixing suggested. 

It was the only structure on the property that was still halfway intact, although parts of it had also collapsed, the walls nearest where the house had blazed in an inferno. Alistair caught up before they did. The hound suddenly bounded towards it, barking wildly and excitedly and in a matter of minutes they all realized why. There was somebody in there, tied up and coughing, evidently since before the fire had been started in the other house. He didn't look like any of the other attackers. On the contrary, his face was bare except for the for the dirt matted upon one side of his face where he'd been laying in the dirt, and his dirty  blonde hair was long and stringy. A strip of cloth had been wound around and through his mouth to keep him from crying out.

Luhan reached him just after Alistair, and the man trembled violently before realizing he was probably under no threat. 

Heechul, he whispered breathlessly after Jongdae severed the knot. Steward. 

"Where are the others?" Jongdae could not spare him a moment more.

"Others?" The man started to cough and sputter, clutching his chest as he stood up, assisted by Yixing who was suddenly by his side. "I was only doing my rounds when some men attacked me and threw me in the barn. Those others?" 

Jongdae sighed. "Unlikely," he said. "Did you see anybody else though? Several humans, a qunari, an elf, maybe?"

"I saw only two others." Heechul was starting to gain his footing and balance, aided on by Yixing. "One was an elf. Red hair. The other... small, dark, sick looking. I don't know but his face was kind of-"

"Wait, what did you say?!" Minseok had caught up. "What was he wearing?"

Heechul stared at him, still trying to put memories into words and withstand the sudden interrogation. "I don't... remember? I was kind of tied up and they didn't stay around to chat?"

"Try to remember," said Minseok weightily. His eyes narrowed into a glare that would have frightened Luhan on a good day, let alone on a night when they were in danger of being told half their friends may be dead. It worked apparently on the poor, terrified steward.

"G-Grey robes?"

Minseok swallowed. "They... were together?" 

"Kyungsoo...?" Luhan grasped what they were talking about. "With Baekhyun!?"

Among the rest of them, only Jongdae seemed completely lost. Alistair actually barked at the name, and Suho stared between everyone confusedly, but knowingly, as if he too was putting two and two together, and Luhan didn't know how or why but he didn't seem that surprised, only startled. Neither Luhan nor Minseok though had time to explain this. There was still the matter that Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, Jongin, Sehun, Chanyeol and Kris were missing and their bodies were nowhere to be found.

Finally, however, Heechul was of some help. He staggered towards the ruined house, terrified and sad and bewildered at the rapidly cooled-down state of the embers and when Jongdae explained that they'd seen their friends flee inside the house, before it was set on fire, before the dragon attacked, before they were all knocked out or else lead astray in the skirmish, Heechul's face explored the ruins of his mistress's home. 

"If they're not here..." he shared tiredly, "and you're sure they didn't make a run for the trees.... then there's one other option..." He let go of Yixing's arm which was still holding him up around the waist and shuffled through the ashes. 

"What is it?" asked Minseok, concerned.

Heechul stalled near the center of where the manor had stood, and then knocked heavily against the ruined foundation of the house until they all heard a hollow thunk. "There's a cellar, right about.... here." 

That enticed everyone's hope. Until Heechul added one other fact. "It leads down to a tunnel as well..."

Kris might have been the last person to drop into the basement, but he was the first person to scramble off the pile at the bottom of the stairs where everyone lay stunned by the dragon's shriek. His bulk was probably not appreciated by the lesser-sized humans, Baekhyun in particular, but Kris had no scruples, not even for cute elves. Not in such dire circumstances when he was certain they were bound to be fried by a dragon attack. It didn't even matter that logically he knew they were safe. The foundation and basement of the manor were lined in stone and fairly solid.

He said fairly, because even as they scampered on the basement floor trying to get to their feet, the sounds of the house collapsing above them was not reassuring at all. Already the wooden escape door they'd come through was starting to give way, and the heat around it unbearable. Jongin, once he could stand without falling over, his ears now clutching his head as if that was enough to block out the crippling, stun-inducing sounds of the dragon, quickly ushered them away from it, and Kris was the first in line. For good measure, he made sure nobody else was trapped anywhere, and when Sehun darted away and tripped over a box crate, Kris boldly picked him around the middle and hauled him away. If that little deed still held Kris to the contract he'd signed, then he was proud of himself. Dragons, however, were nothing to sit around and discuss.

"There's no way we're going back up there!" he yelled. 

Even Baekhyun seemed to acknowledge it, although the elf looked rather put-out that Kris had been right about something. About the dragon especially. 

They huddled away from the trapdoor as far as they dared, Jongin trying his best to remain calm, meanwhile Sehun cowered silently behind Chanyeol, and even Baekhyun twitched agitatedly every time it sounded like the creature above was sweeping low. The house above them was all in flames. It had to be, there was no other possibility. Which meant they were trapped in the cellar like rats with no way of knowing what was happening above. Would the foundation actually give way, scalding them below? Would the blaze ever stop, only to allow whoever had attacked them to follow suit. They had very little room to maneuver. The whole place was lined with crates and barrels, half of which looked like ale, and some of which Kris had no idea, and no desire to find out. The entire room was a trap just waiting to engulf them. 

Kyungsoo was the one who probably saved them. Kris had no idea who he was exactly, but he was clever and observant. He found the door at the back corner of the basement, and with Jongin and Kris' help they managed to push it open. 

"What direction does this go?" Chanyeol asked unhelpfully, knowing that by the tunnel that was presented to them, they had no way of telling. 

"Does it matter?" Kris asked hotly, already itching to get far and away from the manor, the blaze, and especially the dragon. 

"It doesn't matter," said Jongin. "Let's go." 

A few moments later it was evidently clear they had made the right decision, when another huge thump above them made the entire tunnel shake, stones falling lose against the sides of the man-sized clearing - Kris had to stoop a bit - and a few tons of rubble came collapsing down behind them, blocking off their retreat. If the earth was this unstable here, they had no choice but to run for their lives. 

3,830 words

Dear readers, I apologize for my late chapter update!! This week has been especially stressful. I am in the midst of leaving a job and all the complications that arise from that. sighs. why must life be so stressful. In other news, Xiuhan freaking kissed omfg!!!!!!! I can't tell you how joyous this chapter made me! I have seriously been drawing up everything in the last few chapters so that I could get Xiuhan under a tree...... I am not ashamed. 

I'm sorry there will be no update this weekend. I am heading off for KCON in Los Angeles on Thursday where I'll get to see - OMG I'm so excited - SO many artists, including Block B (who are my faves after Exo) and Super Junior, where if I get the chance to meet Heechul I should probably not mention the fact that I just wrote him into a fanfic. ;)

ღ Rosie

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