Ever since reuniting with Yixing, Jongin hadn't felt right. There was a nagging in his like a forgotten incident, as a memory which hovers in the shadows of one's mind hovers without being felt. Yixing was too happy, too helpful. His sudden appearance when they were faced with the dual giants too opportune. And yet no one seemed to feel this way but him. 

Sehun had only looked relieved, sad though he was about missing Alistair. Chanyeol smiled a lot, pleased that the mage had managed to patch up some of his wounds which, several hours later were healing fast. Baekhyun was too occupied with the food in his belly and the ale in his stomach, jittering away about how now they wouldn't have to look for a human village or elven settlement to refill their stores and supplies. And the elf would still not speak of why this made him happy. 

"We should get some sleep now, don't you think?" said Jongin aloud to the partially inebriated crew. Sehun's eyelids were already dropping heavily. Yixing nodded.

"Yes, for we must be up early if we're going to make it to your lady's estate."

Jongin frowned. 

It wasn't a secret about their destination, not exactly. Something about the mage's tone however made him pause.

Baekhyun yawned. "Yeeeahh, another couple days. Hey, Yixing, can't- can't you just turn into a dragon and then you can carry us there instead of making us walk." He yawned again and slumped against Jongin's shoulder. Jongin reached out a hand around the elf's waist to keep him upright. Baekhyun preened at the touch and smiled a soft, drooly smile. 

Across the campfire Yixing chuckled. "Would that I could. Unfortunately, dragons aren't exactly built to carry human riders."

"S'ok," Baekhyun drawled. "Not human, remember."

Chanyeol suddenly snored, and Jongin's frown deepened. Since when did the warrior pass out so easily? He was usually the last of them to fall asleep, and never had he fallen completely asleep without at least confirming with Jongin and Baekhyun who would stay up for the first and second watch. 

"I miss Alistair," said Sehun. Then he too yawned and began swaying side to side.

"Hey, Jongin," said Yixing. 

But Jongin couldn't quite pay attention. Or keep his eyes open. Baekhyun's weight grew heavier on his side. Then the elf too began to snore. 

"Baekhyun?" Jongin shook them both upright. "Baekhyun? Baek?" But Baekhyun just slipped sideways into Jongin's lap and began groping his thigh in his sleep. 

Jongin stared suddenly at the wineskin Yixing had brought them full of hearty ale. His head began to swim, a dull ache overtaking his mind and his limbs until he too felt heavy with sleep. Keeping his head up now seemed like a monumental task. With his focus drifting, however, he turned to stare at the mage, suspicious dawning. 

"Getting tired, huh, Jongin?" said Minseok. 

No, Not Minseok. Yixing.

Or.

Jongin swore he was seeing double. "I don't feel- Who. Who are you?"

The Yixing who was not Minseok, and the mage who was definitely not Yixing, smiled. 

"Feeling okay? It's alright, Jongin. You can sleep. Nothing bad will happen to you. For now."

Jongin's tongue stuck heavily to the floor of his mouth. "What... have... you done?" he slurred. With his last bit of energy, he tried to stand. Baekhyun's body fell over with a soft thump on the cold earth, and Jongin thought distractedly that he'd made the wrong decision. A moment later, he too thumped sideways, groaning to the sound of the mage's cold, triumphant snigger. 

"How convenient that wretched hound disappeared. Now I have you all the way I want, and Sehun to myself. Alistair will bring the others right to me. This day could not have ended anymore perfectly." 

The mage who was starting to look less and less like Yixing, smiled, as if immensely pleased with himself. 

"Xiumin," Jongin growled knowingly between clenched teeth. 

"Indeed," said the mage. "Smart one now, aren't you? Too bad you're just a mite too late."

Jongin whispered something that to his ears sounded like "You won't get away-"

But as a powerful sleep overtook him, he couldn't quite make himself believe that. His last word was a curse for all his stupidity. The enemy had looked like a friend, and Jongin had let him walk right into camp. And Sehun... Sehun would probably die. Whatever Xiumin did, they all would probably die, Sehun, and Chanyeol, and Jongin, and... Baekhyun.

He blinked, Baekhyun's peaceful visage before him. Jongin would never get the chance to tell him... But no, Baekhyun probably wouldn't have cared. Baekhyun was only in this for the fun. Wasn't he? And now he would probably never know...

"Something isn't right."

At Kyungsoo's words, the entire party slowed down and stopped. Alistair pawed the ground insistently, a whine echoing from from deep in his throat as Minseok questioned the dark, little man. 

"I've felt that for a long time actually, but what do you mean exactly."

With his mage's staff out and activated, Luhan grimaced. They had been for the better part of a day following the tracking spell set on Alistair. The templar didn't understand the magic, only that between Minseok and Yixing, the mages had opened and connected a link between the hound and the hound's third favorite human being: Oh Sehun, the arl's bastard son. 

"It's the direction we're headed in," said Kyungsoo quietly.

Jongdae stepped up next. "And that direction is...?" 

Smiling wryly, Minseok hazared a guess. "Not in the direction of any settlement or estate, I am guessing?"

Kyungsoo shook his head. "No. Look around us. Look at where we are. There aren't too many places where humans live in these parts. This is edge of the Greatwood." 

"The Emerald Graves," said Luhan. Home to elven mercenaries, and rogue men, and apostates, giants, and wild bears, Luhan knew from living among the wealthy and privileged families that only a handful of nobels even dared to build their estates this deep into the uncavanssed territory. At some point, they had passed through the wintry populace of Orlais's easternmost forests and into a new land. 

Still the snow kept falling, but it wasn't as heavy now. The snowbanks were not as deep. They had passed a few small streams with cold, frigid, but running water. The farther south the travelled, the farther west, following the magical link which would take them to Sehun and the others, the more dangerous Luhan perceived would be their journey's end. 

"Someone better talk to me," said Jongdae with increasing irritation. 

And by someone, Luhan knew he meant either Minseok or Kyungsoo. 

It was the latter who heaved a great breath, and opened his mouth. "I can feel it," he said gravely. His voice was low, shuddering, almost longing.

"Feel what?" asked the assassin.

"A place of power." 

Then a new voice piped up. "What... place of power?" It was Tao. The tall elf rarely spoke up, barely even feined interest in their surroundings, but right this moment he stood next to Kyungsoo, his eyes not on the man but somewhere else, somewhere far away. He tilted his head inquisitively and inhaled deeply, curiously. "I feel something too. Something native to this part of the world... I think I might have been born somewhere near here." He drew in another whiff, and then frowned. The corners of his lips pulled so deep, so thoroughly, it transformed his entire face. "It smells evil."

Minseok stood and swept his staff across the path. Then, without breaking his form, he nodded and said, "Xiumin is close." 

"Not just that," said Kyungsoo. "He is... there. I can feel it. He has the necklace. He is, waiting for us." 

Once again, Jongdae sighed loud and dramatically. Luhan didn't blame him. From being told Kyungsoo carried the Taint from having been raised by darkspawn, to knowing something about why Sehun's life was in danger, there were secrets yet kept from him. Too many secrets. Excepting the two mages, Kyungsoo, and himself, everyone else only knew that Sehun was a wanted figure. They didn't know a thing about the well. Luhan wished he didn't know about the well. 

Before they could ask, however, Kris stepped up. "If Sehun is danger, then we should ask no questions, and go." 

Jongdae looked to protest. His mouth opened in exasperation, then he shut it soundly. Beside him, Suho took his arm and patted his wrist comfortingly. 

"I am agreed on that front. Alright, all ye mages. How far until we reach this evil place, and might we have a plan of action once we arrive?"

Kyungsoo was adamant. "One day. One day."

"If Xiumin is there, then we can assume he has Sehun and the others."

"Alive?" Luhan didn't want to ask. 

Minseok huffed. "I think I know my brother. He will hold them hostage until he gets what he wants." 

"And... what is it he wants?" asked Jongdae. 

Another hard question, Luhan thought. One he didn't expect anybody to answer. Contrary to his expectations, however, Kyungsoo knelt slowly to the ground, reached under his robes and began unclasping something from around his ankle. He fumbled with the tie, frowning as he worked. Minseok didn't even look at him. Yixing was staring back at the way they had come from.

Finally, Kyungsoo stood up, his body laboring hard, almost trembling. He held out  along strap of linen that was twisted tightly around another object, a bracelet, as Luhan knew. 

"This," said the man. "He wants this." 

"And he cannot have it," said Minseok, still not even looking. 

"Why?" asked Jongdae. "What is it? Is it worth Sehun's life? Is that what's happening here? Is that what the cult members are after? They think Sehun has it or something?"

"No. It's not like that." Kyungsoo gave a short, gravelly laugh. "This... this gemstone is one-third of my life's goal. And my goal is life. Minseok, you understand me. You don't like it, but you understand me."

The mage gave a nod, but without a single drop of pleasure. 

Kyungsoo continued. "I'm going to save Sehun with this gemstone. And I'm going to live. And I'm going to destroy Xiumin if he gets in my way." It drew chills down Luhan's body, hearing that voice, hearing his deadly resolve. Minseok had the other third. Would Kyungsoo stop at hurting him too, if Minseok didn't let him have it? 

Yixing's voice suddenly echoed amonst the party. "Careful what you promise, Kyungsoo. More is at stake than even your life if you try to wield a power stronger than your own."

Kyungsoo's lips turned upwards into a sneer. He spoke faster now, sharper, colder. "What kind of power are we talking about here? Yours? Minseok's? A templar's power? Mine, which is learned and not inherited, but far more advanced than I think even you know."

"You're no mage," said Yixing sadly.

"No. But I am dying. And I'm dying so unnaturally it's left a residue even stronger than the Taint. You doubt my strength, Yixing?" 

With a wisdom which bespoke of his years, the older mage approached him, speaking softly, "No, Kyungsoo, I don't. Believe it or not, but I actually do worry about your life. You want to activate the well. I am here to tell you that alone, you won't be able to do it."

Kyungsoo's eyes flared, but his curiosity obviously piqued. "You are offering to help?"

"Not just him," said Minseok. "I as well."

Luhan didn't know what he was agreeing to, but he also said, "And me."

So softly it might have a been a hiss, Luhan heard Tao say, "And me." 

That left Jongdae, Suho, and Kris, all of whom stood about in various states of confusion, Jongdae's the greatest of all. 

Then, Tao began to chant. 

"Here lies the abyss..... the well of all souls. And from these Emerald Waters doth life begin anew... Come to me my child, and I shall embrace you. In my arms lies eternity."

Gently, the elf-turned-wolf-turned-elf sunk to his knees and whispered the canticle two more times as if in prayer. When he was done with that his lips began anew in another language, an elven language which Luhan could not understand and probably only Yixing could translate. That older elf, however, was not interferring, but he let the boy continue as the evening sun wore down in the sky. The snow had stopped somewhere during the time they had all been arguing. 

Minseok crept towards Luhan and silently fumbled for his hand. Even through their gloves, his warmth was appreciated, his presence desired. 

"What is he saying?" asked the templar.

Kyungsoo hadn't moved a muscle, but was staring fixedly at the place where Tao knelt. 

"I've always suspected it," said Minseok under his breath, "but I don't believe Tao is anywhere close to the age of which he appears. I think he's much older. I think he was a werewolf for a long, long time." 

After an age it seemed, which Luhan guessed was probably only mere minutes, Tao stopped his chanting prayers and stood up, dusting the snow from his knees. His trousers were damp, but he smiled once at the sky before peering almost casually at the circle of men. 

"I'm sorry. It has been so long since I said those prayers. My people, before I was separated from my clan by that curse, did not often recite the canticles of Andraste. But that one I know. And Kyungsoo, I know what is like to be so afflicted. I would help you in any way I can, but Yixing is right. It cannot be done alone. You seek the Well of Emerald Waters, something my people called the Footpath of Uthenera, the path that rings the immortal realm. It is a scary place, but beatiful."

"You have been there?" said Kyungsoo, with renewed optimism. 

"No."

"Then, you have... seen it?"

Again Tao said, "No. I only know it exists. And that it cannot be visited lightly. It is sacred ground that must not be defiled. And right now, as I can feel, someone defiles it."

"Xiumin," said Kyungsoo, and it was no question. 

Sehun choked awake. Great hacking coughs, and a dire awareness that his windpipe was constrained. He thrashed, almost nothing moved. His limbs were either restrained or weakened, his entire body immobile. 

Help... me... he panted. He could not speak. He opened his eyes, and could not see. He was blind. No, it was too bright for him to have become blind. He choked and thrashed again as fear fully entered his consciousness. He was alone, and restrained, and he could barely breathe. For a second, something wet splattered across his nose and hope surged through him as he imagined the warm humidity of Alistair's breath. 

Then he realized the moisture was too cold, too fresh, too pungeant.

But Sehun could still hear. All at once, as with the coming of this revelation, every sound seemed to hit him at once, and his entire body rocked with sound! Water droplets, and rushing, bubbling water, wind, and rustling leaves. He could practically hear the texture all around him, the sounds of life, birds, insects, their caws and chirps magnified as the once sense left to Sehun threatened to overwhelm him, drown him, but all the same... called him back to life.

Sehun was alive. 

Sehun was alone. 

Help... me... he tried again. Something squeaked. Sehun realized it must have been his voice. 

There was something around his neck. No, something tugging on his neck! 

Someone laughed. 

Someone snorted. 

Someone tut-tutted at Sehun's pitiful state. 

Which meant all of two things: one, that Sehun was not alone but two, that he was in danger. 

Where were Jongin, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun? Were they alive? Hurt? Dead somewhere? In the same state as Sehun? Where was Alistair? Why had the hound left them so suddenly? Had it been killed by giants? Had it run away? Was Minseok near, and that was why the hound was gone? 

The assailment of questions made his head suddenly pound. He stopped thinking. Pain shot up in spasms through his body, which was slowly becoming more and more aware of. Bound, tied, still immobile. A low whine leaked from his throat. Tears, or were they tears, crept from his tightly clenched eyelids. 

A sudden thought popped up. If he could cry, then perhaps he could see. He opened his eyes again, drawing the lids up as if they weighed the sum of his whole body weight. Blinding white light seared through the gap, and he shut them again. 

Where was he? And was there anybody coming to help?

He thought he heard a moan from somewhere to his left. Or it was it his right? 

So he was not alone. 

And yet the awareness that at least one person in front of him wanted him harm made his cry out. 

"Sehun, Sehun, you're doing so well? Hold on a little bit more, won't you? Help is on the way... Your help is on the way... Such a shame, they won't get here in time."

Hurrah! At last I updated!

FYI, one more 'chapter' before the 'end.' You'll see. :)