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The Sword & The Sun

Chapter 19: Where There's Smoke

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Donghyuck and Jungwoo had passed out about an hour after the cart had started rolling. Despite the fact that Jungwoo looked to be in much better condition than Donghyuck or Taeyong had been after landing in the mushroom ring, Johnny could tell that the changeling was considerably shaken by whatever had happened beforehand. He hadn’t wanted to press the other for further details at the time, especially since they were under a considerable amount of pressure to get out of the forest and as far away from Weishen as possible. The mushroom ring that the letter had led Johnny, Jaehyun and Sicheng to was less than thirty minutes from town, and Johnny was sure that as soon as the mayor and city guard realized that Jungwoo had managed to escape they’d be combing the city and its outskirts for any sign of the changeling.

The first hour of their escape had been spent in dead silence, the only noises coming from the crunch of leaves and branches under the cart’s wheels along with Cherry and Simon’s occasional snorts and grunts. Johnny was grateful that the horses were being quiet and following Jaehyun’s guidance with no protest, almost as if they understood the gravity of the situation as well. Johnny had taken up position on the right side of the cart, one hand on his sword hilt and eyes scanning left and right for any threats that might be lurking behind the trees, while Sicheng had trailed along behind the cart to make sure their tracks were covered.

It wasn’t until well into their second hour of travel that Johnny finally started to loosen up slightly. He glanced back into the cart to see that at some point Donghyuck and Jungwoo had passed out on the bags of grain and rice. Johnny’s heart twinged when he noticed the twin tear tracks drying on Jungwoo’s cheeks, the other must have cried himself to sleep at some point.

He then glanced toward Taeyong, who was still awake and flipping through a worn leather journal while futilely trying to get comfortable against a bag of flour. Briefly the witch met Johnny’s gaze. When Johnny tilted his head questioningly toward Jungwoo, Taeyong’s expression fell. Johnny’s own heart sank with it. Taeyong stuffed his journal back into his bag and awkwardly flopped over a few sacks of supplies to be next to the edge of the cart where Johnny was walking.

“What happened?” Johnny asked, nearly whispering. Although it probably wouldn’t have mattered even if he had shouted since it looked like both Donghyuck and Jungwoo were down for the count.

Taeyong sighed, shoulders slumping. “We were captured after getting notes on the runes carved into the victim’s skin,” Taeyong replied, “Unfortunately the victim recognized the appearance that Jungwoo was using as a disguise and thought Jungwoo was the murderer.”

Johnny drew in a quick breath. “Wait, Jungwoo turned into the person who killed all those citizens?” He thought back to Jungwoo’s earlier appearance, that of a young man with short, dirty blonde hair and large brown eyes. None of the others had seemed to recognize the man, so Johnny had just assumed it was a random townsperson. Now he wondered if Jungwoo had truly come close to becoming a victim of the very murders he was accused of.

“Apparently,” Taeyong said, looking equally unsettled by the situation. “I wasn’t really able to question the victim further after a bunch of guards broke down the door.”

“That’s…” Johnny searched for a word, “Shitty.”

Taeyong barked a laugh. “You’re telling me. I don’t think I’ve been this unlucky in years. I guess I was due for some bad fortune.”

Johnny grimaced. A pang of guilt shot through him as he recalled the warm comfortable home that Taeyong had back in Stonesfall, a place the other could have stayed safe from any guards or threats. And here Johnny came along, smashing through Taeyong’s peaceful life and dragging the other into a mess of undead, murderers, and a return to the very place Taeyong had spent years of his life running from.
“I’m sorry for dragging you into all of this.”

“I’m not,” Taeyong said firmly before Johnny could sink too deeply into his self-imposed guilt spiral. Despite his clear exhaustion, Taeyong managed a smile. “Well,” the other amended, “I wasn’t super happy about being captured, but I am glad to be traveling with you all finally. I didn’t realize how much I’d gotten used to being around other people until we parted ways.”

“But-“

“Johnny,” Taeyong cut in, “I’ve lived five years of my life on the run, two of which I spent in a hole in the ground. It was time for me to get outside and do something else with my life instead of just hiding all the time.”

“But we’re headed to Neau,” Johnny pointed out, “You could die if we get caught.”

“I could,” Taeyong said, unflinchingly, “But honestly, I’m tired of running from my past. I want, no, I need to know what happened to Kun. I spent so much of my life with guilt about what happened eating me from the inside out and I want… I want closure, even if getting it is dangerous.”

Johnny turned away as the raw desperation underpinning the other’s words scraped at his heart. They continued on in silence for a while. Johnny turned to look behind them but didn’t see Sicheng, and Jaehyun hadn’t given any indication that he was listening even though Johnny was certain that the other’s heightened senses would be able to pick up on their conversation with little effort. After a few more seconds he turned back to Taeyong.

“I want you to have closure too,” Johnny said. “I don’t know exactly what happened all those years ago but I want you to find out what happened to your friend too.”

Taeyong gave Johnny a watery lopsided smile. “Thank you for giving me the push to do so. I might not have ever made the decision to leave my house otherwise.”

“We’ll help you however we can,” Johnny promised. They continued on in comfortable silence for a few minutes until Johnny’s eyes landed on Jungwoo again. “So… is Jungwoo alright?”

“That’s probably not the word I’d use,” Taeyong sighed, looking at Jungwoo with a mixture of sympathy and sadness, “His mother was the one that helped us all escape, but she stayed behind at the manor to buy us time. I’m not sure what happened to her after we left.”

Johnny’s breath caught. “You don’t think the mayor would…?”

“I can’t say for sure,” Taeyong said, shaking his head. “I don’t know what kind of man he is or what he’s capable of. But I do know that if she thought her life was truly in danger, she had a way out.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Before we left I saw she had food from the fae realm,” Taeyong said. “A pomegranate, I think. Its magical signature was unmistakeable.”

Johnny blinked. “And the pomegranate would help her get out?”

“Food from the fae realm is usually used to trap people there,” Taeyong explained, “However, since she was in the mortal realm, consuming the fruit would have transported her to the realm of the fae. It might have trapped her there though, so I imagine she would only use it as an absolute last resort.”

Johnny frowned. “So she could still be alive but…”

“Stuck in another realm,” Taeyong said, nodding, “Of course, this is just a theory. I never researched other realms very much and this is all based on the supposition that she ate the fruit at all.”

“Right,” Johnny said, “So-“

“Is it true?”

Johnny and Taeyong both jolted and whipped around to see Jungwoo was sitting up, clearly awake and listening to their conversation. The intensity of the changeling’s pure white eyes seemed to pierce directly into Johnny, pinning him in place.

“Is it true?” Jungwoo asked again, tone tight with tension and strained hope, “Do you think she’s alive?”

Taeyong looked at Johnny before back to Jungwoo. “I think it’s possible,” Taeyong said carefully, clearly not trying to get the other’s hopes up too high. “I think she had a plan in the event that she was captured.”

“She would,” he said quietly, almost to himself, “She always had a plan. She’s alive, she has to be.” Jungwoo wrapped his arms around his knees, fingers digging into his elbows. He looked smaller than Johnny had ever seen him, and Johnny felt an intense urge to give the other a hug.

“I think she probably is,” Johnny said, getting Jungwoo’s attention. He faltered slightly when the changeling’s eyes were on him again, but quickly regained his bearings. “I mean, she was the one who figured out a way to get us all out of town, so she probably had a plan for herself.”

Jungwoo nodded slowly. “Right. She’s just… she just might be in the fae realm. And maybe I can get there with a faerie ring.” He straightened with excitement. “Do you think that would be possible?”

“Maybe,” Taeyong said, stressing the word, “If she went to the fae realm then you might be able to get there using a faerie ring. But we don’t know what happened after we left.”

Jungwoo deflated and Taeyong looked vaguely guilty, but Johnny sympathized with the other’s caution against making any solid claims. A thought popped into his head, pushing to the forefront of his brain. “Taeyong,” he said, gaining the other’s attention, “Do you think…could I get home with a faerie ring?”

Taeyong blinked slowly, clearly mulling the question over. “That…I don’t know,” Taeyong said carefully, “Your world isn’t as close to ours as the fae realm is.” He lifted his hands and put one over the other palms down. “The fae realm and our world is stacked like this, one on top of the other. They’re close enough that passage between the two, while not easy, is more common. You’re world however,” Taeyong moved his right hand away and stretched it out to the side as far as he could, “Is much more distant. As far as I know, you might be the only living person who have crossed from your world to ours since I haven’t seen a magical signature like yours before. I can’t say if a faerie ring would be able to get you back.”

Johnny felt his expression fall involuntarily. “Oh,” he said. He should have known it wouldn’t have been that easy, but it was still hard to have another option taken away from him.

“However,” Taeyong said, clearly taking pity on both him and Jungwoo, “Like I said, I didn’t really study spacial teleportation and or portals, especially not in regards to using fae magic.”

“Do you think someone has?” Johnny asked.

“If anyone has, it’s the mage academy in Neau,” Taeyong replied, though he looked reluctant to say as much. “There are a number of professors there looking into portals, remember? It’s why we’re headed there in the first place. Maybe once we get there, someone could have a theory that might help both of you.”

Silence fell as Johnny and Jungwoo digested this information. Johnny’s thoughts felt disjointed, fluctuating between joy at the possibility of returning home and wariness that he might be getting his hopes up over nothing. It was hard to tamp down his enthusiasm despite himself.

“I’ll take the chance,” Jungwoo said finally, “If there’s any possibility that I can get my mother back… I’ll take it.” His hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Johnny nodded. “I agree. I know we shouldn’t go rushing into this place or throw caution to the wind, but if there’s a chance that I can return to my world at this academy I want to go there.”

“So we all just have to stick with our plan,” Taeyong said.

“You mean going to Neau and then flying by the seat of our pants?” Johnny asked, smiling wryly.

Taeyong laughed. “That’s the one.”

“Well, it’s worked for us so far,” Johnny said, looking through the trees down the pathway. The forest continued to stretch on in front of them, so far that Johnny couldn’t see the end of it. “I wonder what’s waiting for us in Neau.”

 


 

The first few small villages they passed through quickly, not daring to stay more than a night and only pausing long enough to replenish supplies. Though they’d seen neither hide nor hair of any guards from Weishen, Donghyuck couldn’t stop worrying that they were being tracked despite Sicheng’s best efforts to cover their trail and the number of glamour charms Taeyong had fashioned for all of them to wear. There were some nights that Donghyuck jolted awake at the sound of boots in the hallway, heart racing at the thought that they might have been found by the authorities.

It wasn’t until about a week down the line that Donghyuck finally felt an amount of tension bleeding out of his shoulders. Even if there was a hunt out for them, Taeyong’s charms must have been effective enough to hide them from any prying eyes since they’d never been stopped or questioned by any townsfolk. He still had some trouble falling asleep, but he no longer dove off the bed every time he heard a set of footsteps in the inn hallways.

Clearly the rest of his companions were feeling similarly since the tense travel silence that had settled over them for the first week started to dissolve into lighter conversations, usually about Johnny’s home country, Jaehyun’s past travels, Taeyong’s potions and sometimes even Sicheng would volunteer information about strange creatures that dwelt at the bottom of the ocean. Granted, those particular stories were usually followed by long, horrified silences as they all contemplated razor toothed Leviathans with jaws wide enough to swallow houses or mer-creatures whose idea of fun was drowning local citizens and then wearing their bones as jewelry, but at least that silence lacked the overarching feeling of impending doom.

Halfway into their second week on the road, and a little over halfway to Neau by Taeyong’s calculations, the group decided to stop in a town that with only a couple hundred people in population. Thankfully, the town was apparently used to travelers passing through so none of the locals even batted an eye when their cart pulled into the local inn. They managed to procure two rooms located next to each other. They were gaining a sizable group, Donghyuck thought absently, six people strong already. He was suddenly very grateful for Jaehyun’s sizable hoard or else he and Johnny would be constantly strapped for gold.

Donghyuck headed up to the room he was sharing with Johnny and Jaehyun while Taeyong, Jungwoo and Sicheng ducked into the room next door. They were all pretty tired from the day’s travel- it had rained the evening beforehand and they spent most of the day struggling to pull their cart through the mud. Even with Jaehyun and Sicheng’s inhuman strength, it was slow going and difficult to make any sort of progress. They had eventually caved two hours after lunch and decided to stop at the first place they saw despite their initial hopes to try and ride on at least through dinner. Luckily the village that they were currently in had only been an hour and a half further down the road.

“So,” Jaehyun said, more enthusiastically than Donghyuck would have after lifting a very heavy cart through the mud for three to four hours, “We probably only have about one more week before we hit Neau.”

Johnny groaned and flopped on one of the two beds in the room despite Donghyuck’s protests that the other still had mud on his clothes and hadn’t yet bathed. “Can’t wait until we can sit down for a while,” he said. “And maybe sleep in. God. Sleeping in. I miss sleeping in.”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes as he crossed the room to the bed. “We’ll be there soon. And we’ve slept in far worse conditions.” He recalled the time they’d spent on the beach where Donghyuck had been finding sand in his clothes for weeks after the fact. “But for now, go take a bath. I’ll put in an order for dinner and Jaehyun…”

“Yeah?” Jaehyun perked up.

“Can you go make sure that Cherry and Simon are set up in the stable alright?”

“Sure thing, bro!” Jaehyun said. The dragon had seemed to take a liking to the horses after spending the last week and a half walking up front with him, and the horses in turn seemed to tolerate him well enough. Donghyuck thought it was likely because Jaehyun was usually the one leading the team up front with the horses. Simon in particular had been friendly with Jaehyun, accepting occasional fruits and vegetables from the other’s hands. Jaehyun had glowed with happiness the first time it had happened and continued to gloat about it to Sicheng, who was still on tenuous terms with Cherry.

Once Donghyuck and Jaehyun had split ways in the tavern, Donghyuck strode up to the bar to flag down the waitress. The village tavern was fairly empty given how early in the day it was, the evening meal time not set for at least two more hours, but Donghyuck wanted to put the food order in early before the bar was overrun. He was sure the place got busy being one of the only alcohol serving businesses that he’d spotted on the way in.

“What’s are you serving tonight for dinner?” He asked when the waitress finally made her way over.

“Chicken, buttered potatoes and steamed vegetables,” the waitress said, “Or you can have mutton if you manage to get down here early enough.”

“Can we have three plates of chicken sent up to room four and two mutton plates and one chicken plate sent up to room three at meal time?”

The waitress pulled a pad of scratch paper and a stick of graphite out of a pocket in her apron and scribbled a few words down. “Sure thing, hon.”

“Thanks.” Donghyuck stepped away from the bar, thinking the conversation was over, when she suddenly spoke again.

“Are you and your friends staying for long?” She asked, making Donghyuck’s heart freeze in his chest. For a second he’d thought his glamour charm might have failed, but he found that the waitress was barely looking at him, half focused on pouring a pint of ale into a tankard. She was probably just making small talk, Donghyuck thought, forcing himself to relax.

“Probably not,” Donghyuck said, struggling to keep his tone light, “We planned on leaving tomorrow afternoon.”

“Which direction are you heading?”

Donghyuck wondered if it was smart to answer, but ultimately decided it would probably be more suspicious not to. “Toward Neau.” He finally said.

She hummed, not giving any indication of anything more than mild interest. “Be careful. Lots of fires happening around those parts.”

Donghyuck’s eyebrows raised. “Fires? Like wildfires?”

“Don’t know,” she said with a shrug, “Might be some dumb kids starting trouble. Either way, there’s a forest about five miles from here that’s been burning off and on. Usually someone from the town out there’s able to put it out, but I’d still be careful.”

“We will be,” Donghyuck said, gut churning, “Thanks for the warning.” With a final absent nod of acknowledgement from the waitress, he hurried back to the rooms to relay what he’d heard to Taeyong, Jungwoo and Sicheng (he’d tell Johnny and Jaehyun later that night).

“That’s not good,” Taeyong said with a frown. When Donghyuck had told them all about the possible fires, the other had pulled out his map of their path and they had all crowded around it on the bed. The woods that the woman had spoken of was, in fact, five miles away with a small village located just on the edge of the forest just a mile further on. The woods themselves looked like they would take at least two days to travel through. If they decided to play it safe and skirt the forest it would take at least four.

“Don’t worry, I can put out any fire we come across,” Sicheng said confidently.

“Would you still be able to do that when you’re not around the ocean?” Jungwoo asked.

“As long as there’s a body of water nearby, though it might take longer if the water is further away,” Sicheng said.

“Well according to the map there’s a river that cuts through the woods about three miles in,” Taeyong said, fingertip tracing a long blue line on his map. The river cut through the woods curving gently northwards in the direction they were headed before ending in a large lake about a day’s travel from Neau. “We can stick to that if that would help, but I also understand if we don’t want to risk it.”

“We aren’t in a rush,” Donghyuck said. He glanced at Jungwoo and hastily backtracked. The other had told Donghyuck about the possibility of finding some way to save his mother in Neau, and Donghyuck’s heart had cracked at hearing the sliver of desperation threading through the other’s voice. “Sorry, I mean-“

“No, I get it,” Jungwoo said, shaking his head. “I’d rather be safe as well. It’d be no good if we went and got ourselves killed before reaching Neau just because we wanted to shave some time off.”

Taeyong nodded. “It’s settled then. We’ll go around the edge of the forest. That might work out better actually, since we can stop at the town on the way now to do a final restock before the final push toward Neau.”

“I’ll tell Jaehyun and Johnny,” Donghyuck said, getting up from the bed and stretching out his legs. They had cramped up from how he had folded them under him while sitting on the bed. “Oh, and food should be set outside your room around dinner time, so if you hear a knock that’ll probably be the meals.”

Jungwoo’s eyes lit up at the mention of food. “Oh, great, thanks!”

Donghyuck felt relief wash over him at seeing the earnestness in the other’s eyes. While they had been on the road, despite all the lovely meals that Taeyong had cooked, the other had barely been able to finish his plate. Ever since the other learned about the potential of finding more information about faerie rings in Neau though, it looked like Jungwoo had recovered dramatically. Not only was Jungwoo’s appetite on the upswing, but Donghyuck occasionally caught glimpses of a bright smile from the other as Jungwoo chimed in on more conversations throughout their journey. Of course as soon as his taste for food recovered, Taeyong quickly became one of Jungwoo’s favorite people with his incredible dishes that Jungwoo couldn’t stop singing praises about. Donghyuck, personally, was just happy to see it was starting to look like Jungwoo’s cheeks were filling in and his clothes no longer hung off his skinny frame so dramatically.

I wonder if this was what he was like beforehand,’ Donghyuck thought, watching Jungwoo excitedly list off foods and recipes that Taeyong could try in the future, both Taeyong and Sicheng looking somewhere between overwhelmed and amused by how fast the other was speaking.

Donghyuck didn’t think he could be blamed for the smile that crossed his face as he stepped out of the room and crossed back to his own.

 


 

The day began bright and early, the group checking out of the inn right after breakfast with many of them still stifling yawns and rubbing sleep from their eyes as they packed up their belongings from their rooms. Donghyuck wasn’t feeling as tired as Johnny and Jungwoo appeared to be- Jaehyun had to hold Johnny’s head up after the other nearly face planted into his oatmeal- but Donghyuck was far from being in top condition. He tried to comfort himself while they were loading up the cart with the thought that they were going to stop at another town in about two days, which meant only one night sleeping outside in the cramped cart or on the ground. It was harder to remember that when he stepped outside to see the sky was a dull gray and a misty fog hugged the earth around his ankles.

They set off with little fanfare, the group walking in half asleep silence. Even Cherry and Simon were a bit sluggish as they trudged through the cold morning fog. It was hard to see further than a fifty feet in front of them, but there was at least a packed dirt path they could follow. Thankfully, the road was no longer as muddy as it had been the day prior. It was still dirty, but the cart’s wheels were no longer sinking to the extent that Jaehyun and Sicheng had to practically carry it.

As the morning progressed, the temperature warmed up in increments and the fog and clouds finally dispersed to reveal a clear blue sky. Donghyuck’s mood lightened as well as the weather improved. He’d initially resigned himself to a long, dreary trip, but it was starting to look like a much more enjoyable journey than he’d thought. At the very least they wouldn’t be fighting damp clothes and sniffles for the rest of the day. Nothing brought the mood down more than wet boots and socks.

Evidently the rest of his companions felt the same sort of optimism as Johnny started up a round of ‘I Spy’, which both Jaehyun and now Jungwoo had taken a liking to while Sicheng and Taeyong began discussing using different types of water for potions. Donghyuck chimed in once or twice with his own opinions on combining saltwater with anything (“even if it’s effective would anyone really drink that?”) along with theorizing about the medical application of various concoctions on wounds. Surprisingly, Taeyong seemed to be taking Donghyuck’s suggestions seriously, claiming when asked that Donghyuck probably had more medical knowledge than Taeyong himself. Donghyuck had tried not to flush at the praise.

 Of course, it was just when they were getting comfortable debating an in depth conversation on the usage of seaweed as a possible bandage when Donghyuck paused, mid sentence. His head whipped up.

“Does anyone else smell smoke?” He asked, panic building in his chest. He looked ahead to see thick, black smog rising from the forest, now within eyesight a few hundred feet away from them. If he squinted he could see bright orange flickering through the trees from deeper in the woods.

“Oh shit!” Johnny said, his own eyes locked on the column of black smoke. “Should we run away? Get closer? What if someone’s hurt?!”

“We’ll leave the cart here,” Donghyuck decided quickly, “And then try and get closer so we can yell and see if anyone’s in there.” He turned to Sicheng. “Do you think you can put the fire out?”

“It’ll take a while,” Sicheng said, brow furrowed in concentration, “The river’s much further in and it’s hard to redirect all the water.”

“We gotta try,” Johnny said, dumping his bag into the cart and starting to run toward the forest. The rest of the company hastily followed suit, filling the cart with Jungwoo making the decision to stay behind with their supplies and the horses.

“I’d just slow you down,” Jungwoo said, waving them off, “I wouldn’t be able to help put out a fire or carry people.”

Donghyuck had nodded at the other as he pried the lid off a barrel that was about three quarters full of water. He dunked five of their extra hand towels into the water and handed two of them to Taeyong before the two of them set off racing after Johnny, Jaehyun and Sicheng. By the time they reached them, the smoke had grown much thicker. Donghyuck’s eyes were prickling and itching under the smog. They caught up with the other three, who were already yelling into the woods.

He quickly tied one of the wet towles over his nose and mouth as Taeyong did the same before handing a towel to Johnny. “Tie it around your face!” Donghyuck ordered. The heat was already unbearable, verging on scorching. Donghyuck could feel sweat sliding down his back and he could see orange flames licking at the trees. He froze, staring at the approaching flames as if hypnotized.

“Good thinking, Hyuck!” Johnny said, yanking Donghyuck back into the moment by snatching a towel from Donghyuck’s hands before hastily tying it around his face.

“Hello?!” Jaehyun was yelling. “Is anyone in there?!” Sicheng’s face was screwed up in concentration at the edge of the woods, clearly focusing on something Donghyuck couldn’t see. Donghyuck rushed over to Jaehyun, who waved the towel away.

“I’m good with fire, don’t worry!” Jaehyun said as he headed deeper into the forest before Donghyuck could protest.

“Is there anyone who needs help?” Johnny yelled. There was a snap of breaking branches in the distance before a much louder crack followed shortly by a thump that shook the ground under their feet.

“Stand back!” Donghyuck yelled, grabbing Johnny by the back of his shirt and gesturing to Jaehyun to back up, “The trees are falling!” He hacked out a few coughs as he, Johnny, Jaehyun, and Taeyong quickly sprinted back from the forest, all of them sprinting as the crackling of burning wood and thunderous vibrations of falling trees grew louder and louder.

“Sicheng!” Donghyuck screamed, realizing the other hadn’t followed them. He looked back to see the nereid still standing at the edge of the woods as if rooted to the spot. “Sicheng, we have to go!”

“One second!” Sicheng yelled back. “I almost-!”

There was a loud cracking noise and Donghyuck watched in horror as the tree next to Sicheng wobbled violently. The tree’s branches shuddered and suddenly, almost nonsensically, bent downward like they were reaching arms instead of brittle wood. The ground rumbled and the tree’s roots burst out from the earth, throwing clods of dirt into the air. Donghyuck watched, mouth agape, as the tree roots probed outward like the tentacles of a kraken.

The forest came alive then, trees all around rustling with intent and roots bursting out from the ground in deadly looking spikes. Branches whipped around wildly, some coming dangerously close to hitting the Sicheng. The nereid hit the ground as a branch at least six inches in diameter nearly smashed his head in.

“Sicheng!!” Donghyuck screamed with more urgency, ignoring the burning feeling in his throat from the smoke and heat. He could hear the others echoing him. On Donghyuck’s left, Johnny made a motion like he was about to run back to help Sicheng, but the hero was thrown off his feet by a root shooting out of the ground. He scrambled away before the root could impale him. Jaehyun and Taeyong seemed to have an equal amount of difficulty fending off the trees’ attacks.

To his right, Jaehyun sucked in a breath and shot a stream of flames toward a branch intent on skewering him through the chest. The branch quickly retracted as if flinching in pain. Taeyong had thrown his own seeds on the ground to erect a rushed wall of vines over his head, but the  thick roots seemed intent on puncturing the flimsy barrier. Johnny sliced his sword through a branch heading toward Donghyuck, barely managing to cut through the wood and stopping the stake inches from Donghyuck’s face. Donghyuck stumbled backward reflexively with a yelp, falling on his backside in the process.

“Got it!” Sicheng yelled suddenly. Without warning, a swirling torrent rose above the trees like a giant sea serpent, the mouth of which was just an enormous churning void of icy water. Donghyuck gaped in awe as the barely contained river fluctuated hypnotically. “Just let me-!” Sicheng yelled, right before a tree root rose up behind him and cuffed the unsuspecting nereid in the back of his head.

Concentration lost, the redirected river hung in midair for a very long second, almost in confusion, before the water crashed down on all of them.

Notes:

Sicheng, drowning everyone in a flood to avoid the fire: I did it guys, I saved the party!