Concordia Discors [Chapter Eight]
Title: Concordia Discors [Chapter Eight]
Authors: akaanee and minwhore
Pairings: Chanyeol/Baekhyun, Kai/Luhan, onesided!Sehun/Luhan, onesided!Kai/Kyungsoo, Suho/Kyungsoo, Kris/Tao
Rating: PG-15
Summary: For many centuries humans and demons have been at odds. And now the battles fought rise to a crescendo where tables are turned, many are sacrificed, and hopes are both found, and lost.
Author’s Note: this chapter was surprisingly easy to write, just saying XD this one's also slightly shorter than the others but NECESSARY BEFORE THE IMPORTANT THINGS HAPPEENNNNNNN also introducing some new characters (and possibly more mysteries) here fufufufu
Previous Chapters
Chapter Eight
“My King! There’s been some rather disturbing developments as of late.”
The High King pushed himself from his throne and turned to where the messenger bowed low on the ground, nose almost touching the floor. He descended down the short flight of steps towards the boy, and ordered him to get up with a flick of his hand. The messenger did so hurriedly, brushing the dust off his knees and relaying the message with his eyes trained to the ground. He looked terrible, face pale and exhausted and his hair in disarray. He must have had a long journey.
“We have received news that an army of monsters have gathered just outside the northern borders, my Lord. They are marching here towards the Capital as we speak. They’ll be here within two weeks.”
The young king’s eyes widened, shocked at the news. “Are you sure about this?”
The messenger nodded gravely. “And that’s not all. A smaller group of monsters were dispatched at an earlier date, and our sources have told us that they’re crossing into our territory already. We estimate they’ll be here in two to three days.”
Sighing, the king rubbed his temple wearily, feeling the beginnings of a headache form. He wasn’t even close to being finished with the Hero matter yet, and now monsters had come to attack his castle? “Why did it take so long for the news to arrive? Our intelligence network should have known about this weeks ago!”
“I’m sorry, Sir.” The messenger bowed his head. “The monsters were faster, and many, if not all, of the eagles and messengers in the area have been killed. I was lucky enough to escape. The monsters were planning on a surprise attack, you see.”
“Very well,” the king said as he sighed, rubbing his face with his hands frustratedly. He could practically feel the wrinkles of stress forming on his youthful face. “You may go.”
The messenger bowed again and scurried out of the hall, the sound of his footsteps fading away to silence.
High King Suho didn’t think he’d be faced with such heavy matters so early into his career. When he had been merely a boy, the kingdom that had been led by his father back then was peaceful. There were a few quarrels with monsters every now and then, but nothing too serious. When his father had shown him the kingdom and told him one day he would rule it, he had been excited -- ecstatic, even. But now...
Now he just wanted to be a boy again, with his family whole and his life peaceful. He didn’t want to be responsible for so many lives anymore, a whole kingdom.
“What are you going to do, Sire?” his royal guard, who had been standing silently and protectively behind him, asked quietly.
King Suho sighed again, crossing his arms in front of his chest and pacing the throne room back and forth. “I don’t know, Chen. For now I think we should just take the defensive strategy, considering how close the monsters are.”
Chen nodded in understanding, subtly running his fingers along the handle of the sword at his waist. Light glinted off the scorpion sign engraved on it. “Would you like me to assemble the army?”
“Yes,” Suho waved a hand dismissively, still pacing. “Make sure the city walls are surrounded. We must not let them breach the gates and enter the city.”
“And what of the Hero?”
At that, the young king stopped walking. He bit his lip thoughtfully, trying to decide the best course of action to take. Finally he sighed, and stomped back to his throne before collapsing on it, gold-threaded robes fluttering around him. “I don’t think he will be of much help in this battle. I still wish to question him. Is he here yet?”
“My men have informed me that he and his companions just arrived within our borders yesterday, Sire. I am sure he will be here later today. If not, he will definitely be here by tomorrow morning.”
Suho pinched the bridge of his nose, resisting the horrible urge to run his hands carelessly through his hair. He stared off into the distance, scenarios and possibilities passing through his mind. Slouching with an exasperated huff, he rubbed at his temple as he glanced at Chen.
“I want you to detain him once he gets here,” he finally said. “I don’t want him running off when the fighting in the kingdom starts.”
Chen frowned, visibly displeased at this order, though his royal guard eventually nodded his head in acceptance. Stiffly bowing to Suho, Chen uttered.
“It shall be done.”
Suho gave him a lax smile, grateful that Chen didn’t protest his orders even if the young guard didn’t necessarily agree with them. He’d already had enough with people questioning his actions and decisions as it was.
“Thanks,” he uttered. Chen gave him a small smile before turning on his heel and disappearing from the throne room.
Baekhyun woke to the worst headache to date that morning. He squeezed his eyes shut, lines of pain around his eyes as he tried to will the pounding inside his head away. He gave up only a second later, curling on his side in an attempt to get away from the bright light that assaulted his eyes even through the lids.
He flinched when a particularly rough pound beat against his head, and he pressed a palm to his mouth to stifle a whimper as he curled his other hand in the sheets of his bed, practically clawing at it.
Distantly, he could feel Chanyeol slowly waking up. Baekhyun’s hearing sharpened with the headache, and every little movement that Chanyeol made him feel like something was exploding inside of him. He bit down on his lip hard in an effort to not make any sounds, and he could practically taste the copper of his own blood rushed passed his taste buds. Despite all his efforts though, Chanyeol eventually heard the sound of the sheets of Baekhyun’s bed ripping underneath his grip.
“Baekhyun?”
Baekhyun couldn’t reply though. It felt like his body was paralyzed, and he couldn’t even will himself to push his eyes open and assure the Hero that he was just fine and dandy.
He heard rustling movements over from Chanyeol’s bed just before footsteps neared him. Baekhyun’s hand shook in an effort to try and keep all the pain bottled up inside of him. He didn’t want to let Chanyeol see just how weak he was now.
“Baek, are you okay?” Chanyeol asked worriedly.
Open your mouth, Baekhyun, he told himself, wondering why he felt like he held no control over his body. Was the pain that great? Surely not. It was just a dumb headache, and he had experienced far greater pain than this. Inside, he raged, the anger slowly overriding the pain. Nothing, not even himself, would stop him from taking control over his body back.
Then, suddenly, he was free. He was in control of his body again, and though the pain remained, it began to dwindle.
He flopped over to to his back, opening his eyes and staring up into Chanyeol’s worried eyes, slightly panting. Chanyeol’s eyes widened at his appearance, gentle eyes caressing the planes of Baekhyun’s face.
“Why is your lip bleeding?” Chanyeol asked softly, sitting down onto the bed and bending over to take a closer look. Baekhyun frowned in confusion, detaching his hand from the shredded cloth to run fingers over his lip. He pulled it back, blinking in surprise when he saw red on them.
He must have not been imagining things earlier when he had tasted blood, then.
“Must’ve bitten it in my sleep,” he said cautiously, pushing a smile onto his face. There was no way he was telling Chanyeol about that headache from hell, if he could help it.
Chanyeol merely frowned, bringing a hand up. Baekhyun watched Chanyeol’s face curiously as a thumb swiped against his bottom lip carefully. Something inside him melted at the sight of Chanyeol’s eyes, so singly focused on Baekhyun and Baekhyun alone.
Chanyeol sighed, a frown marring his face. He held a hand up against Baekhyun’s forehead.
“You’re feeling a bit hot and clammy as well,” Chanyeol said, leaning down even more to gaze into Baekhyun’s eyes, as if looking for any signs of redness.“Are you sure nothing’s wrong? You might’ve caught something on our way here.”
“I’m sure,” Baekhyun whispered. He squirmed, memories of a kiss drifting through his thoughts. His lips began to tingle. His headache slowly retreated, until Baekhyun finally felt calm and more like himself again. He managed a small smile to Chanyeol. “Us monsters don’t get sick easily.”
Chanyeol’s gaze darkened, and Baekhyun caught when the Hero’s eyes darted down to look at Baekhyun’s lips before immediately looking up. The distance slowly disappeared between them, and Baekhyun’s eyes slid closed, heart pounding as anticipation raced through him.
Chanyeol exhaled silently, and Baekhyun could feel it fan across his lips. They were so close. The gap was so small now and something inside of Baekhyun craved for this -- for the feel of Chanyeol against him and --
The door slammed open.
“Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo scampered into the room, looking sleepy but cute. Baekhyun’s eyes shot open. He stared at Chanyeol in shock before they pushed themselves away from each other, flushes hard and red on their faces.
Kyungsoo paused, hazy eyes squinting at them. Baekhyun licked his lips nervously, shooting the earth controller a stiff smile.
“I interrupted something, didn’t I?” Kyungsoo observed. Baekhyun felt even more heat spark over his cheeks, and he refused to even look in Chanyeol’s direction.
“No, no!” Chanyeol said quickly, hurriedly. Baekhyun resisted the urge to bring a palm up and hit himself on the forehead. Chanyeol was the worst liar on the planet. “Did you need Baekhyun for something? Cause he’s... you know... right here and... not busy or anything, no.”
Baekhyun almost wanted to laugh while simultaneously groan in secondhand embarrassment. Instead, he buried his face in his palms.
Kyungsoo’s lips twitched, an obvious sign that he was amused at the current situation. A snicker that was definitely not Kyungsoo came from the doorway. Baekhyun popped his head back up and finally realized that Jongin and Yixing stood in the doorway behind the earth controller. Jongin snickered into a hand, eyes twinkling at Baekhyun from where he stood.
Gods, he was never going to live this down.
“Right!” Kyungsoo said, and Baekhyun breathed a sigh of relief that Kyungsoo didn’t push the subject. “Luhan woke us up and said there was something wrong with Baekhyun. He didn’t say much, just said that he could feel something wrong and insisted that Yixing check up on him.”
“So something was wrong!” Chanyeol muttered from across the room, clearly put-off at having been lied to. Baekhyun pressed his lips together, smothering a wry smile.
Kyungsoo stepped aside, allowing Jongin and Yixing to step into the room. Yixing hurried over to Baekhyun, clothes in slight disarray in his haste to get there. Baekhyun couldn’t help noticing that Luhan and Kris were missing.
“They went downstairs to get you some soup,” Kyungsoo said, as soon as he saw Baekhyun’s questioning glance. Kyungsoo gave him a light smile. “Luhan was really worried about you.”
But was there to worry about? Baekhyun wanted to ask. He stopped short when he remembered that horrible headache he’d experienced. Had Luhan felt that? Blinking, he inwardly smiled. Though Luhan was a pain in the ass sometimes, the shorter monster definitely had his best friend moments.
So he sat back, allowing Yixing’s gentle hands to flutter around him. He was feeling a lot better compared to earlier, but getting this check-up was the least he could do for worrying them.
Luhan looked around impatiently as he waited for the soup to finish. That morning, he remembered bolting up in bed, rudely awoken by something. He had been groggy and irritated... that was, until he realized that what had woken him up was the sound of Baekhyun’s mental agony. At first, Luhan had thought it was a simple headache. But no. The pain that radiated through their link was anything but simple.
In fact, if what Luhan suspected was correct, it was more fatal than simple.
He dragged his gaze over to where Kris sat, the taller human staring back at him. Luhan sighed, hearing every single thought and suspicion Kris had. He’d much rather listen to Jongin’s thoughts, but somehow, Kris had ended up his temporary roommate after the whole kiss thing -- and so, it was Kris that he had ended up dragging down here instead.
Finally, the woman behind the bar handed him a steaming bowl of thick chicken soup and Luhan handed her a few coins with a tight smile before gesturing for Kris to follow him back up to Baekhyun’s room. Luhan knew Baekhyun wasn’t very fond of human food (especially soup), but right now, even just plain soup was enough to help Baekhyun since he was in a weak condition.
After all, Baekhyun couldn’t just devour other monsters in front of the Hero and his friends.
They reached Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s room and Luhan knocked softly before entering, Kris following right behind him. The group was gathered around Baekhyun’s bed, and Baekhyun himself was hugging a pillow to his chest, hair messy and looking slightly pale. Luhan sighed and strode over to his best friend, holding out the bowl of soup.
“Here, eat this,” he said. Baekhyun peered into the bowl curiously and sniffed it, but then quickly recoiled.
But that’s human food! In his mind Baekhyun cried.
Do you think you can just eat a monster right here in front of Chanyeol? Luhan replied, internally rolling his eyes. Baekhyun huffed irritably, and Chanyeol, who noticed Baekhyun’s displeased face, looked back and forth between the bowl and Baekhyun.
“What, do you not like chicken soup?” he asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly. Baekhyun shook his head, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He looked like a child, and Luhan sighed again. Chanyeol took the bowl from Luhan’s hand, and started stirring the thick concoction idly. “But chicken soup is good for you! Here, I’ll feed you.”
At that, Baekhyun turned red. Jongin gagged and, along with Yixing, excused himself from the room. Kris frowned but said nothing, and Kyungsoo hid a smile behind his hand. Luhan wanted to laugh at Baekhyun’s face but he held it in. He nearly let out a gleeful cackle pass his lips as the proud Demon Lord wavered at Chanyeol’s pleading gaze and obediently opened his mouth after a few hesitant moments.
As he watched Baekhyun eat, the uneasiness Luhan felt before came back. He had been surprised to see that strange darkness in Baekhyun’s mind return. Luhan couldn’t seem to read that part of Baekhyun’s mind, no matter how hard he pushed. It was as if there was a brick wall built in that corner of Baekhyun’s brain, impenetrable. It had happened a few times before, but today’s ‘blackout,’ as Luhan called them, had been especially bad. This time, he had glimpsed something that definitely didn’t belong in Baekhyun’s head -- something even more dark and sinister than the Demon Lord himself...
Luhan didn’t know exactly what it was but whatever it happened to be, it wasn’t good. That much he knew without a doubt.
To everyone’s relief, Baekhyun seemed to fare better the next day, already back to his cheerful self. Chanyeol himself was especially glad, and he spent their journey to the castle holding Baekhyun’s hand and swinging it back and forth, while singing at the top his lungs.
The journey was pleasant that day. They passed through a small forest, the foliage giving them a cool cover from the sun’s heat. It was a wonderfully sunny day, and seemed to lift everyone’s mood. Small monsters the size of squirrels peeked from behind trees, and Baekhyun saw Jongin throw some of the bread that he had been eating to them. They scampered about happily, making excited little noises.
“How far is the king’s castle?” Baekhyun asked Chanyeol. The Hero turned to him with a wide smile.
“Not far from here now,” he said. “We’ll get there in a few hours.”
Baekhyun had never been to the castle where the ruler of the human race, the High King, lived. He’d heard many stories about it though. Made of white stone and marble imbued with protective magic, the castle was located at the eastern side of the Capital, built right beside a great lake and surrounded by forests. It was near impossible to go through the guards and the magic, and the monsters who had tried to were immediately slaughtered. Baekhyun shrugged. It wouldn’t have been a problem for him had he tried.
He’d also heard that the new High King was still young, forced to take up the throne because his father, the High King before him, died. Baekhyun idly wondered what he was like.
“Why does he want to see you, though?” Baekhyun muttered again. The question had been frequently asked between the group, but nobody seemed to be able to come up with a good enough answer. It was indeed odd for the High King to suddenly call on the Hero without any reason.
Chanyeol shrugged, as clueless as any of them, but he didn't seem to worry so much about it.
A moment later Luhan and Baekhyun's breath hitched, followed by the sound of high pitched shrieking that resonated through the trees. The two monsters had barely had time to shout a warning to the others to get down when a gigantic creature soared above them where their heads were seconds ago, and landed some meters away, stirring up the dust.
Baekhyun raised his head to see two wolf-like monsters the size of a horse except, instead of fur they were covered in scales like an alligator, canines dripping with saliva and claws glittering dangerously in the sunlight. They were ridden by two other monsters with human-like bodies but had heads of lions, roaring menacingly at them and shaking their manes.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the infamous Hero himself," one of them growled in its low baritone, voice scratchy in Baekhyun’s ears. “Where are you off to, hmm?”
Chanyeol unsheathed his sword, eyes narrowed as he went into defensive stance and pushed Baekhyun behind him. Jongin readied his bow and arrow, and the rest of the group also got ready. Baekhyun rolled his eyes from behind Chanyeol’s back. All these distractions were starting to get annoying.
“Do you think we’d have time to play with them for a bit?” one of the monsters asked the other, jerking its head to their direction.
“I think we can spare a few minutes to entertain them,” the second monster answered with a chuckle, long tongue darting out to wet its nose.
Chanyeol growled at their exchange. “Where are you headed!? We will stop you before you reach your destination!”
“Confident, are we?” the first monster drawled, cooing softly to its ride to calm down the restless creature. The scaled wolves were pawing at the ground, occasionally tugging at their reins impatiently as they eyed the Hero and his friends hungrily, drool dripping out of their open mouths. “Look, Mr. Hero, we have somewhere to be, so let’s just make this quick, shall we?”
“You’re heading for the High King’s castle,” Kris realized, voice tight. Chanyeol gasped.
“Correct.”
Without further ado they pounced, and the group scattered to avoid the attack. Baekhyun found himself separated from Chanyeol as the two monsters divided them into two different groups. His eyes widened when one monster, jaws snapping, tried going for him. Reflexes almost made him automatically shoot the creature down, but then Kris stepped in the way, easily blocking the razor sharp nails.
Baekhyun sighed silently, rolling his eyes and slumping. He should’ve been used to being protected by now, but somehow, anyone but Chanyeol protecting him bothered him. Instead of focusing on his frustration at not getting in on any action, he glanced around, taking in what was happening at a glance.
Chanyeol was fighting against the other lion-headed monster, flames sparking around his sword as he dodged attacks. It was painfully obvious just how much he was holding back as he dealt a few warning blows with the blunt edge of his sword. The monster didn’t seem to like that though, baring its teeth menacingly.
Behind Chanyeol, Kyungsoo was taking care of one of the wolf-like monsters, earth shifting below its feet like liquid as it slowly began to swallow the big creature up. It howled in outrage, one paw working forcefully in the ground to take a vicious swipe at Kyungsoo. Baekhyun’s heart jumped in worry. The earth controller thankfully, though barely, dodged it, and Baekhyun could almost see the strands of hair flying in the air, having been easily cut from Kyungsoo’s head. It was clear that had Kyungsoo still been up, his head definitely would’ve been separated from his body.
An ear-splitting roar filled the air then, and Baekhyun tensed, resisting the urge to cover his sensitive ears. He turned his head around, searching for what had made the sound. His gaze landed on Jongin, who had faced off against the other wolf monster. Luhan stood behind the swordsman, ears flat against his head as Jongin protected him.
“These bastards are so damn lucky we don’t kill,” Jongin said out loud, dancing out of reach from the monster and pulling Luhan with him. Baekhyun caught a flash of red before the monster let out another pained, but enraged roar. Jongin was giving the beast cuts on its legs, as if to render it unable to properly attack them.
The monster in front of Kris seemed to be craftier than the rest. It was different from the others, and didn’t attack blindly. It was sly and cunning, and it kept slithering out of reach whenever Kris moved to disable it. It managed to fool Kris, giving him a light cut before dashing straight to where Baekhyun and Yixing stood. Baekhyun’s eyes narrowed, pushing the healer back behind him with full intentions of protecting the man. Yixing had always helped him when he was injured, so this was the least he could do.
He exhaled lightly, balls of light forming in his hands at his will. The monster neared and Baekhyun shoot one at the feet, disrupting the ground as dust exploded into the air. He almost couldn’t see, but he glimpsed at the monster falling before Kris caught up to it, sword held high in the air.
Suddenly though, Baekhyun heard a zipping sound. Then it stopped, and the monsters were gone. They just disappeared into thin air, leaving without a trace. Everyone else paused as well, looking as bewildered as Baekhyun felt.
He blinked, startled. What the hell had just happened?
Kris has always had keener senses than the rest of the group, so as they were fighting against the scaled-wolves and lion-headed monsters, he could feel another presence, lurking somewhere in the background and watching them. He couldn’t see or hear it, whatever it was -- his feeling was more like an intuition than anything else. He could tell though, that another pair of eyes were watching them from the shadow of the trees.
He had no time to dwell on the matter, however, since he was so busy himself. He had barely managed to dodge an oncoming attack, though he still got injured anyway. As he growled angrily at the monster that attacked him and pushed himself back up to his feet, he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, and whipped his head around.
There, crouching on the branches of a tree some distance away, was a boy. Or, at least that’s what Kris initially thought. The boy was hidden amongst the foliage, perfectly blending with the shadows. And then a sudden flicker of light washed over the boy’s face. Kris saw unruly black hair and dark, dark eyes, with cat-like pupils that reminded him of Baekhyun’s.
Kris’s breath hitched as their eyes locked on each other, and the boy -- the monster, he corrected himself -- narrowed his eyes, before giving Kris the tiniest hint of a smirk, a small tilt on the corner of his lips. Time seemed to stop then, and Kris couldn’t look away, feeling the very air around him freeze.
Then he was gone.
Chanyeol wiped sweat from his brow, and then winced as Yixing moved to another injury on his arm. He could never get used to the feeling of his muscles and bones mending themselves, no matter how many times he’d been healed by Yixing. The Hero swept his gaze to the rest of the gang. They were sprawled out on the grass after the fight, tired and sweating.
Luhan was wrapping bandages to Jongin’s upper arm, tightly tying it and Jongin let out an exaggerated cry of pain. The half-blood pouted, then leaned down to kiss Jongin’s bandaged arm lightly, and grinned wide when Jongin turned red. Kris was sitting on a rock, staring off into the distance and looking contemplative. Kyungsoo was handing out bread to everyone and Baekhyun was sitting beside him, leaning against the trunk of a tree with his eyes closed, basking in the sunlight. Chanyeol never wanted to kiss him as much as he did then, but they were in the company of others and he didn’t want to further embarrass himself, or Baekhyun, for that matter.
Baekhyun seemed to sense Chanyeol’s stare, because he opened one eye lazily and chuckled when Chanyeol flushed and looked away.
“You’re not getting shy on me now, are you?” Baekhyun teased. Chanyeol laughed nervously.
“N-No...”
“Then you wouldn’t mind if I borrowed your lap, would you?” Baekhyun asked innocently. Chanyeol’s eyes grew round, and he wasn’t sure if his eyesight was playing with him or not, but there was this mischievous sparkle in Baekhyun’s eyes. His hands fluttered around indecisively when Baekhyun laid down, head snuggling on top of Chanyeol’s thighs.
Baekhyun chuckled at Chanyeol, eyes squinting to pretty half-moons. He grabbed onto a flailing hand and pressed a light kiss against Chanyeol’s knuckles. Jongin, who had caught sight of all of this, made a loud retching sound. Kyungsoo turned away, burying his face into Yixing’s shoulder as his own shoulders shook. Chanyeol’s face turned even more red when he realized Kyungsoo was laughing at him.
“Don’t mind them,” Baekhyun said dismissively, eyes closing. Chanyeol noted that they were still holding hands.
“No, mind us!” Jongin called petulantly. “I don’t want to see you two all gross and sweet.”
“I like it when people play with my hair,” Baekhyun said suddenly, speaking as though Jongin hadn’t opened his mouth at all, his eyes opening to peer up at Chanyeol. The Hero melted inside at the sight -- Baekhyun was just too cute sometimes.
Hesitantly, Chanyeol laid his other palm against the top of Baekhyun’s hair, slowly sinking his fingers into the soft locks. He marveled at the texture, combing his fingers through the thick hair gently. Baekhyun’s eyes fluttered in bliss, a happy smile curling at his lips as he made a pleased sound. Chanyeol laughed -- it reminded him of a cat purring.
Suddenly, a frown lit Baekhyun’s face and his head popped up from Chanyeol’s lap, looking around. Chanyeol eyed at him worriedly, idly realizing that Luhan was acting the exact same way.
“Do you hear something coming?” Chanyeol asked, already realizing what was causing their strange behavior. Kris, hearing this, pushed himself up, sword already drawn as he looked around cautiously.
“Yes...” Baekhyun said, trailing off. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a human on a horse. There’s no maliciousness that I can sense, but...”
“But?” Chanyeol prompted, but their conversation was drawn to a halt when two horses suddenly became visible, one ginger colored and one black, turning around the corner of the road and galloping towards them. He squinted, trying to see who was riding one of it, but the man was still too far away.
Baekhyun pushed himself up, sitting as he stared at the figures. Chanyeol heard a surprised inhale before Baekhyun’s fingers squeezed around his hand.
“That man is wearing the crest of the High King,” Baekhyun said softly to Chanyeol.
“Probably just a messenger,” he shrugged, but even as he said so, the man slowed his horses to a trot as he neared them before finally grinding to a halt in front of them. He was sitting atop the chestnut horse in a stiff pose but behind that serious face Chanyeol could see that he was just as young as any of them. Chanyeol thought he’d seen his face somewhere, and he frowned thoughtfully as his eyes lingered on the polished silver sword on the man’s belt.
“Hero,” the man began, staring straight at Chanyeol. “By orders of the High King, I am to take you to the castle. He wishes to speak with you on urgent matters.”
“Uh, okay?” Chanyeol said, then cleared his throat. “But, um, excuse me, who are you?”
“I am Chen, Captain of the High King’s personal guard.” The man, Chen, eyed them all one by one, gaze lingering a little longer when he passed by Baekhyun and Luhan. Chanyeol heard a soft growl coming from Jongin, and in his peripheral vision saw him shift a little to stand slightly in front of Luhan. “Come, now. It is of utmost importance.”
“But we’ll get there in a few hours? Surely the King can wait?” Baekhyun piped up from beside him, face set into a frown. Chen glowered at Baekhyun’s direction, but the monster didn’t waver.
“His Highness needs to see the Hero now,” he barked, clearly agitated. “And he needs the Hero only. His companions can wait until he returns.”
Immediately, Baekhyun, Jongin, and Yixing made sounds of protests, while Kris glared at the guard. Kyungsoo merely looked worried and Luhan chose to keep quiet, tugging the hood of his cape further over his head.
“No, guys, it’s alright.” Chanyeol calmed them down, holding his hands up. “There’s nothing to worry about. The High King needs to see me, and it’s very important, so I should go, right?”
“But --!” Baekhyun started to protest.
“Shush, Baekhyun. There’s nothing to worry about, okay?” Chanyeol laughed and, completely forgetting that people were watching, pecked Baekhyun’s cheek lightly. The monster didn’t seem to be reassured, but he did turn a little pink, and this time Chanyeol just had to squish his face in his large hands as he laughed again. Chanyeol dodged Baekhyun’s punch and ignored the monster’s indignant cry, still cackling as he quickly and easily mounted the black horse.
“I’ll see you later!” he waved to them as he rode off with Chen, their steeds stirring up a flurry of dust and obscuring them from view.
Baekhyun had been pacing the lobby of the inn they were staying at for two hours now, face in a permanent frown. It was obvious that he was getting even more restless by the minute. Luhan sighed at his friend, scrunching his nose as Baekhyun's worries practically screamed in his head.
It’d been a day since Chanyeol left, and by now the Hero hasn't returned, or sent word. The others, who had been with Chanyeol for longer, didn't seem to find this strange. Although Kris was silent the whole time -- well, even more silent than he usually was anyway -- the rest of the gang continued on like as if Chanyeol wasn't even gone at all.
"Ugh, where is that stupid idiot?" Baekhyun finally snapped, stomping his foot childishly. There was undisguised worry in his dark eyes. "Can't he at least tell us he arrived safely or something?"
"Look, Baekhyun, Chanyeol's been away from us for longer before," Kyungsoo said, sighing as he grabbed Baekhyun's arms and steered him over to sit down. "He can take care of himself! Do you really think he got chosen as the Hero for nothing? He'll be fine."
Luhan shifted uncomfortably at that. He wasn’t so sure about that. After listening to the guard’s rather solemn thoughts, Luhan knew that the Hero was in for an unexpected development, at the least.
He brought his gaze up to where Baekhyun sat, fidgeting on the bench. As ludicrous as it was, he hoped that for his best friend’s sake, it would all work out. Gods help them all if someone else besides the Demon Lord himself were to kill the Hero.
Authors: akaanee and minwhore
Pairings: Chanyeol/Baekhyun, Kai/Luhan, onesided!Sehun/Luhan, onesided!Kai/Kyungsoo, Suho/Kyungsoo, Kris/Tao
Rating: PG-15
Summary: For many centuries humans and demons have been at odds. And now the battles fought rise to a crescendo where tables are turned, many are sacrificed, and hopes are both found, and lost.
Author’s Note: this chapter was surprisingly easy to write, just saying XD this one's also slightly shorter than the others but NECESSARY BEFORE THE IMPORTANT THINGS HAPPEENNNNNNN also introducing some new characters (and possibly more mysteries) here fufufufu
Previous Chapters
Chapter Eight
“My King! There’s been some rather disturbing developments as of late.”
The High King pushed himself from his throne and turned to where the messenger bowed low on the ground, nose almost touching the floor. He descended down the short flight of steps towards the boy, and ordered him to get up with a flick of his hand. The messenger did so hurriedly, brushing the dust off his knees and relaying the message with his eyes trained to the ground. He looked terrible, face pale and exhausted and his hair in disarray. He must have had a long journey.
“We have received news that an army of monsters have gathered just outside the northern borders, my Lord. They are marching here towards the Capital as we speak. They’ll be here within two weeks.”
The young king’s eyes widened, shocked at the news. “Are you sure about this?”
The messenger nodded gravely. “And that’s not all. A smaller group of monsters were dispatched at an earlier date, and our sources have told us that they’re crossing into our territory already. We estimate they’ll be here in two to three days.”
Sighing, the king rubbed his temple wearily, feeling the beginnings of a headache form. He wasn’t even close to being finished with the Hero matter yet, and now monsters had come to attack his castle? “Why did it take so long for the news to arrive? Our intelligence network should have known about this weeks ago!”
“I’m sorry, Sir.” The messenger bowed his head. “The monsters were faster, and many, if not all, of the eagles and messengers in the area have been killed. I was lucky enough to escape. The monsters were planning on a surprise attack, you see.”
“Very well,” the king said as he sighed, rubbing his face with his hands frustratedly. He could practically feel the wrinkles of stress forming on his youthful face. “You may go.”
The messenger bowed again and scurried out of the hall, the sound of his footsteps fading away to silence.
High King Suho didn’t think he’d be faced with such heavy matters so early into his career. When he had been merely a boy, the kingdom that had been led by his father back then was peaceful. There were a few quarrels with monsters every now and then, but nothing too serious. When his father had shown him the kingdom and told him one day he would rule it, he had been excited -- ecstatic, even. But now...
Now he just wanted to be a boy again, with his family whole and his life peaceful. He didn’t want to be responsible for so many lives anymore, a whole kingdom.
“What are you going to do, Sire?” his royal guard, who had been standing silently and protectively behind him, asked quietly.
King Suho sighed again, crossing his arms in front of his chest and pacing the throne room back and forth. “I don’t know, Chen. For now I think we should just take the defensive strategy, considering how close the monsters are.”
Chen nodded in understanding, subtly running his fingers along the handle of the sword at his waist. Light glinted off the scorpion sign engraved on it. “Would you like me to assemble the army?”
“Yes,” Suho waved a hand dismissively, still pacing. “Make sure the city walls are surrounded. We must not let them breach the gates and enter the city.”
“And what of the Hero?”
At that, the young king stopped walking. He bit his lip thoughtfully, trying to decide the best course of action to take. Finally he sighed, and stomped back to his throne before collapsing on it, gold-threaded robes fluttering around him. “I don’t think he will be of much help in this battle. I still wish to question him. Is he here yet?”
“My men have informed me that he and his companions just arrived within our borders yesterday, Sire. I am sure he will be here later today. If not, he will definitely be here by tomorrow morning.”
Suho pinched the bridge of his nose, resisting the horrible urge to run his hands carelessly through his hair. He stared off into the distance, scenarios and possibilities passing through his mind. Slouching with an exasperated huff, he rubbed at his temple as he glanced at Chen.
“I want you to detain him once he gets here,” he finally said. “I don’t want him running off when the fighting in the kingdom starts.”
Chen frowned, visibly displeased at this order, though his royal guard eventually nodded his head in acceptance. Stiffly bowing to Suho, Chen uttered.
“It shall be done.”
Suho gave him a lax smile, grateful that Chen didn’t protest his orders even if the young guard didn’t necessarily agree with them. He’d already had enough with people questioning his actions and decisions as it was.
“Thanks,” he uttered. Chen gave him a small smile before turning on his heel and disappearing from the throne room.
Baekhyun woke to the worst headache to date that morning. He squeezed his eyes shut, lines of pain around his eyes as he tried to will the pounding inside his head away. He gave up only a second later, curling on his side in an attempt to get away from the bright light that assaulted his eyes even through the lids.
He flinched when a particularly rough pound beat against his head, and he pressed a palm to his mouth to stifle a whimper as he curled his other hand in the sheets of his bed, practically clawing at it.
Distantly, he could feel Chanyeol slowly waking up. Baekhyun’s hearing sharpened with the headache, and every little movement that Chanyeol made him feel like something was exploding inside of him. He bit down on his lip hard in an effort to not make any sounds, and he could practically taste the copper of his own blood rushed passed his taste buds. Despite all his efforts though, Chanyeol eventually heard the sound of the sheets of Baekhyun’s bed ripping underneath his grip.
“Baekhyun?”
Baekhyun couldn’t reply though. It felt like his body was paralyzed, and he couldn’t even will himself to push his eyes open and assure the Hero that he was just fine and dandy.
He heard rustling movements over from Chanyeol’s bed just before footsteps neared him. Baekhyun’s hand shook in an effort to try and keep all the pain bottled up inside of him. He didn’t want to let Chanyeol see just how weak he was now.
“Baek, are you okay?” Chanyeol asked worriedly.
Open your mouth, Baekhyun, he told himself, wondering why he felt like he held no control over his body. Was the pain that great? Surely not. It was just a dumb headache, and he had experienced far greater pain than this. Inside, he raged, the anger slowly overriding the pain. Nothing, not even himself, would stop him from taking control over his body back.
Then, suddenly, he was free. He was in control of his body again, and though the pain remained, it began to dwindle.
He flopped over to to his back, opening his eyes and staring up into Chanyeol’s worried eyes, slightly panting. Chanyeol’s eyes widened at his appearance, gentle eyes caressing the planes of Baekhyun’s face.
“Why is your lip bleeding?” Chanyeol asked softly, sitting down onto the bed and bending over to take a closer look. Baekhyun frowned in confusion, detaching his hand from the shredded cloth to run fingers over his lip. He pulled it back, blinking in surprise when he saw red on them.
He must have not been imagining things earlier when he had tasted blood, then.
“Must’ve bitten it in my sleep,” he said cautiously, pushing a smile onto his face. There was no way he was telling Chanyeol about that headache from hell, if he could help it.
Chanyeol merely frowned, bringing a hand up. Baekhyun watched Chanyeol’s face curiously as a thumb swiped against his bottom lip carefully. Something inside him melted at the sight of Chanyeol’s eyes, so singly focused on Baekhyun and Baekhyun alone.
Chanyeol sighed, a frown marring his face. He held a hand up against Baekhyun’s forehead.
“You’re feeling a bit hot and clammy as well,” Chanyeol said, leaning down even more to gaze into Baekhyun’s eyes, as if looking for any signs of redness.“Are you sure nothing’s wrong? You might’ve caught something on our way here.”
“I’m sure,” Baekhyun whispered. He squirmed, memories of a kiss drifting through his thoughts. His lips began to tingle. His headache slowly retreated, until Baekhyun finally felt calm and more like himself again. He managed a small smile to Chanyeol. “Us monsters don’t get sick easily.”
Chanyeol’s gaze darkened, and Baekhyun caught when the Hero’s eyes darted down to look at Baekhyun’s lips before immediately looking up. The distance slowly disappeared between them, and Baekhyun’s eyes slid closed, heart pounding as anticipation raced through him.
Chanyeol exhaled silently, and Baekhyun could feel it fan across his lips. They were so close. The gap was so small now and something inside of Baekhyun craved for this -- for the feel of Chanyeol against him and --
The door slammed open.
“Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo scampered into the room, looking sleepy but cute. Baekhyun’s eyes shot open. He stared at Chanyeol in shock before they pushed themselves away from each other, flushes hard and red on their faces.
Kyungsoo paused, hazy eyes squinting at them. Baekhyun licked his lips nervously, shooting the earth controller a stiff smile.
“I interrupted something, didn’t I?” Kyungsoo observed. Baekhyun felt even more heat spark over his cheeks, and he refused to even look in Chanyeol’s direction.
“No, no!” Chanyeol said quickly, hurriedly. Baekhyun resisted the urge to bring a palm up and hit himself on the forehead. Chanyeol was the worst liar on the planet. “Did you need Baekhyun for something? Cause he’s... you know... right here and... not busy or anything, no.”
Baekhyun almost wanted to laugh while simultaneously groan in secondhand embarrassment. Instead, he buried his face in his palms.
Kyungsoo’s lips twitched, an obvious sign that he was amused at the current situation. A snicker that was definitely not Kyungsoo came from the doorway. Baekhyun popped his head back up and finally realized that Jongin and Yixing stood in the doorway behind the earth controller. Jongin snickered into a hand, eyes twinkling at Baekhyun from where he stood.
Gods, he was never going to live this down.
“Right!” Kyungsoo said, and Baekhyun breathed a sigh of relief that Kyungsoo didn’t push the subject. “Luhan woke us up and said there was something wrong with Baekhyun. He didn’t say much, just said that he could feel something wrong and insisted that Yixing check up on him.”
“So something was wrong!” Chanyeol muttered from across the room, clearly put-off at having been lied to. Baekhyun pressed his lips together, smothering a wry smile.
Kyungsoo stepped aside, allowing Jongin and Yixing to step into the room. Yixing hurried over to Baekhyun, clothes in slight disarray in his haste to get there. Baekhyun couldn’t help noticing that Luhan and Kris were missing.
“They went downstairs to get you some soup,” Kyungsoo said, as soon as he saw Baekhyun’s questioning glance. Kyungsoo gave him a light smile. “Luhan was really worried about you.”
But was there to worry about? Baekhyun wanted to ask. He stopped short when he remembered that horrible headache he’d experienced. Had Luhan felt that? Blinking, he inwardly smiled. Though Luhan was a pain in the ass sometimes, the shorter monster definitely had his best friend moments.
So he sat back, allowing Yixing’s gentle hands to flutter around him. He was feeling a lot better compared to earlier, but getting this check-up was the least he could do for worrying them.
Luhan looked around impatiently as he waited for the soup to finish. That morning, he remembered bolting up in bed, rudely awoken by something. He had been groggy and irritated... that was, until he realized that what had woken him up was the sound of Baekhyun’s mental agony. At first, Luhan had thought it was a simple headache. But no. The pain that radiated through their link was anything but simple.
In fact, if what Luhan suspected was correct, it was more fatal than simple.
He dragged his gaze over to where Kris sat, the taller human staring back at him. Luhan sighed, hearing every single thought and suspicion Kris had. He’d much rather listen to Jongin’s thoughts, but somehow, Kris had ended up his temporary roommate after the whole kiss thing -- and so, it was Kris that he had ended up dragging down here instead.
Finally, the woman behind the bar handed him a steaming bowl of thick chicken soup and Luhan handed her a few coins with a tight smile before gesturing for Kris to follow him back up to Baekhyun’s room. Luhan knew Baekhyun wasn’t very fond of human food (especially soup), but right now, even just plain soup was enough to help Baekhyun since he was in a weak condition.
After all, Baekhyun couldn’t just devour other monsters in front of the Hero and his friends.
They reached Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s room and Luhan knocked softly before entering, Kris following right behind him. The group was gathered around Baekhyun’s bed, and Baekhyun himself was hugging a pillow to his chest, hair messy and looking slightly pale. Luhan sighed and strode over to his best friend, holding out the bowl of soup.
“Here, eat this,” he said. Baekhyun peered into the bowl curiously and sniffed it, but then quickly recoiled.
But that’s human food! In his mind Baekhyun cried.
Do you think you can just eat a monster right here in front of Chanyeol? Luhan replied, internally rolling his eyes. Baekhyun huffed irritably, and Chanyeol, who noticed Baekhyun’s displeased face, looked back and forth between the bowl and Baekhyun.
“What, do you not like chicken soup?” he asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly. Baekhyun shook his head, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He looked like a child, and Luhan sighed again. Chanyeol took the bowl from Luhan’s hand, and started stirring the thick concoction idly. “But chicken soup is good for you! Here, I’ll feed you.”
At that, Baekhyun turned red. Jongin gagged and, along with Yixing, excused himself from the room. Kris frowned but said nothing, and Kyungsoo hid a smile behind his hand. Luhan wanted to laugh at Baekhyun’s face but he held it in. He nearly let out a gleeful cackle pass his lips as the proud Demon Lord wavered at Chanyeol’s pleading gaze and obediently opened his mouth after a few hesitant moments.
As he watched Baekhyun eat, the uneasiness Luhan felt before came back. He had been surprised to see that strange darkness in Baekhyun’s mind return. Luhan couldn’t seem to read that part of Baekhyun’s mind, no matter how hard he pushed. It was as if there was a brick wall built in that corner of Baekhyun’s brain, impenetrable. It had happened a few times before, but today’s ‘blackout,’ as Luhan called them, had been especially bad. This time, he had glimpsed something that definitely didn’t belong in Baekhyun’s head -- something even more dark and sinister than the Demon Lord himself...
Luhan didn’t know exactly what it was but whatever it happened to be, it wasn’t good. That much he knew without a doubt.
To everyone’s relief, Baekhyun seemed to fare better the next day, already back to his cheerful self. Chanyeol himself was especially glad, and he spent their journey to the castle holding Baekhyun’s hand and swinging it back and forth, while singing at the top his lungs.
The journey was pleasant that day. They passed through a small forest, the foliage giving them a cool cover from the sun’s heat. It was a wonderfully sunny day, and seemed to lift everyone’s mood. Small monsters the size of squirrels peeked from behind trees, and Baekhyun saw Jongin throw some of the bread that he had been eating to them. They scampered about happily, making excited little noises.
“How far is the king’s castle?” Baekhyun asked Chanyeol. The Hero turned to him with a wide smile.
“Not far from here now,” he said. “We’ll get there in a few hours.”
Baekhyun had never been to the castle where the ruler of the human race, the High King, lived. He’d heard many stories about it though. Made of white stone and marble imbued with protective magic, the castle was located at the eastern side of the Capital, built right beside a great lake and surrounded by forests. It was near impossible to go through the guards and the magic, and the monsters who had tried to were immediately slaughtered. Baekhyun shrugged. It wouldn’t have been a problem for him had he tried.
He’d also heard that the new High King was still young, forced to take up the throne because his father, the High King before him, died. Baekhyun idly wondered what he was like.
“Why does he want to see you, though?” Baekhyun muttered again. The question had been frequently asked between the group, but nobody seemed to be able to come up with a good enough answer. It was indeed odd for the High King to suddenly call on the Hero without any reason.
Chanyeol shrugged, as clueless as any of them, but he didn't seem to worry so much about it.
A moment later Luhan and Baekhyun's breath hitched, followed by the sound of high pitched shrieking that resonated through the trees. The two monsters had barely had time to shout a warning to the others to get down when a gigantic creature soared above them where their heads were seconds ago, and landed some meters away, stirring up the dust.
Baekhyun raised his head to see two wolf-like monsters the size of a horse except, instead of fur they were covered in scales like an alligator, canines dripping with saliva and claws glittering dangerously in the sunlight. They were ridden by two other monsters with human-like bodies but had heads of lions, roaring menacingly at them and shaking their manes.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the infamous Hero himself," one of them growled in its low baritone, voice scratchy in Baekhyun’s ears. “Where are you off to, hmm?”
Chanyeol unsheathed his sword, eyes narrowed as he went into defensive stance and pushed Baekhyun behind him. Jongin readied his bow and arrow, and the rest of the group also got ready. Baekhyun rolled his eyes from behind Chanyeol’s back. All these distractions were starting to get annoying.
“Do you think we’d have time to play with them for a bit?” one of the monsters asked the other, jerking its head to their direction.
“I think we can spare a few minutes to entertain them,” the second monster answered with a chuckle, long tongue darting out to wet its nose.
Chanyeol growled at their exchange. “Where are you headed!? We will stop you before you reach your destination!”
“Confident, are we?” the first monster drawled, cooing softly to its ride to calm down the restless creature. The scaled wolves were pawing at the ground, occasionally tugging at their reins impatiently as they eyed the Hero and his friends hungrily, drool dripping out of their open mouths. “Look, Mr. Hero, we have somewhere to be, so let’s just make this quick, shall we?”
“You’re heading for the High King’s castle,” Kris realized, voice tight. Chanyeol gasped.
“Correct.”
Without further ado they pounced, and the group scattered to avoid the attack. Baekhyun found himself separated from Chanyeol as the two monsters divided them into two different groups. His eyes widened when one monster, jaws snapping, tried going for him. Reflexes almost made him automatically shoot the creature down, but then Kris stepped in the way, easily blocking the razor sharp nails.
Baekhyun sighed silently, rolling his eyes and slumping. He should’ve been used to being protected by now, but somehow, anyone but Chanyeol protecting him bothered him. Instead of focusing on his frustration at not getting in on any action, he glanced around, taking in what was happening at a glance.
Chanyeol was fighting against the other lion-headed monster, flames sparking around his sword as he dodged attacks. It was painfully obvious just how much he was holding back as he dealt a few warning blows with the blunt edge of his sword. The monster didn’t seem to like that though, baring its teeth menacingly.
Behind Chanyeol, Kyungsoo was taking care of one of the wolf-like monsters, earth shifting below its feet like liquid as it slowly began to swallow the big creature up. It howled in outrage, one paw working forcefully in the ground to take a vicious swipe at Kyungsoo. Baekhyun’s heart jumped in worry. The earth controller thankfully, though barely, dodged it, and Baekhyun could almost see the strands of hair flying in the air, having been easily cut from Kyungsoo’s head. It was clear that had Kyungsoo still been up, his head definitely would’ve been separated from his body.
An ear-splitting roar filled the air then, and Baekhyun tensed, resisting the urge to cover his sensitive ears. He turned his head around, searching for what had made the sound. His gaze landed on Jongin, who had faced off against the other wolf monster. Luhan stood behind the swordsman, ears flat against his head as Jongin protected him.
“These bastards are so damn lucky we don’t kill,” Jongin said out loud, dancing out of reach from the monster and pulling Luhan with him. Baekhyun caught a flash of red before the monster let out another pained, but enraged roar. Jongin was giving the beast cuts on its legs, as if to render it unable to properly attack them.
The monster in front of Kris seemed to be craftier than the rest. It was different from the others, and didn’t attack blindly. It was sly and cunning, and it kept slithering out of reach whenever Kris moved to disable it. It managed to fool Kris, giving him a light cut before dashing straight to where Baekhyun and Yixing stood. Baekhyun’s eyes narrowed, pushing the healer back behind him with full intentions of protecting the man. Yixing had always helped him when he was injured, so this was the least he could do.
He exhaled lightly, balls of light forming in his hands at his will. The monster neared and Baekhyun shoot one at the feet, disrupting the ground as dust exploded into the air. He almost couldn’t see, but he glimpsed at the monster falling before Kris caught up to it, sword held high in the air.
Suddenly though, Baekhyun heard a zipping sound. Then it stopped, and the monsters were gone. They just disappeared into thin air, leaving without a trace. Everyone else paused as well, looking as bewildered as Baekhyun felt.
He blinked, startled. What the hell had just happened?
Kris has always had keener senses than the rest of the group, so as they were fighting against the scaled-wolves and lion-headed monsters, he could feel another presence, lurking somewhere in the background and watching them. He couldn’t see or hear it, whatever it was -- his feeling was more like an intuition than anything else. He could tell though, that another pair of eyes were watching them from the shadow of the trees.
He had no time to dwell on the matter, however, since he was so busy himself. He had barely managed to dodge an oncoming attack, though he still got injured anyway. As he growled angrily at the monster that attacked him and pushed himself back up to his feet, he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, and whipped his head around.
There, crouching on the branches of a tree some distance away, was a boy. Or, at least that’s what Kris initially thought. The boy was hidden amongst the foliage, perfectly blending with the shadows. And then a sudden flicker of light washed over the boy’s face. Kris saw unruly black hair and dark, dark eyes, with cat-like pupils that reminded him of Baekhyun’s.
Kris’s breath hitched as their eyes locked on each other, and the boy -- the monster, he corrected himself -- narrowed his eyes, before giving Kris the tiniest hint of a smirk, a small tilt on the corner of his lips. Time seemed to stop then, and Kris couldn’t look away, feeling the very air around him freeze.
Then he was gone.
Chanyeol wiped sweat from his brow, and then winced as Yixing moved to another injury on his arm. He could never get used to the feeling of his muscles and bones mending themselves, no matter how many times he’d been healed by Yixing. The Hero swept his gaze to the rest of the gang. They were sprawled out on the grass after the fight, tired and sweating.
Luhan was wrapping bandages to Jongin’s upper arm, tightly tying it and Jongin let out an exaggerated cry of pain. The half-blood pouted, then leaned down to kiss Jongin’s bandaged arm lightly, and grinned wide when Jongin turned red. Kris was sitting on a rock, staring off into the distance and looking contemplative. Kyungsoo was handing out bread to everyone and Baekhyun was sitting beside him, leaning against the trunk of a tree with his eyes closed, basking in the sunlight. Chanyeol never wanted to kiss him as much as he did then, but they were in the company of others and he didn’t want to further embarrass himself, or Baekhyun, for that matter.
Baekhyun seemed to sense Chanyeol’s stare, because he opened one eye lazily and chuckled when Chanyeol flushed and looked away.
“You’re not getting shy on me now, are you?” Baekhyun teased. Chanyeol laughed nervously.
“N-No...”
“Then you wouldn’t mind if I borrowed your lap, would you?” Baekhyun asked innocently. Chanyeol’s eyes grew round, and he wasn’t sure if his eyesight was playing with him or not, but there was this mischievous sparkle in Baekhyun’s eyes. His hands fluttered around indecisively when Baekhyun laid down, head snuggling on top of Chanyeol’s thighs.
Baekhyun chuckled at Chanyeol, eyes squinting to pretty half-moons. He grabbed onto a flailing hand and pressed a light kiss against Chanyeol’s knuckles. Jongin, who had caught sight of all of this, made a loud retching sound. Kyungsoo turned away, burying his face into Yixing’s shoulder as his own shoulders shook. Chanyeol’s face turned even more red when he realized Kyungsoo was laughing at him.
“Don’t mind them,” Baekhyun said dismissively, eyes closing. Chanyeol noted that they were still holding hands.
“No, mind us!” Jongin called petulantly. “I don’t want to see you two all gross and sweet.”
“I like it when people play with my hair,” Baekhyun said suddenly, speaking as though Jongin hadn’t opened his mouth at all, his eyes opening to peer up at Chanyeol. The Hero melted inside at the sight -- Baekhyun was just too cute sometimes.
Hesitantly, Chanyeol laid his other palm against the top of Baekhyun’s hair, slowly sinking his fingers into the soft locks. He marveled at the texture, combing his fingers through the thick hair gently. Baekhyun’s eyes fluttered in bliss, a happy smile curling at his lips as he made a pleased sound. Chanyeol laughed -- it reminded him of a cat purring.
Suddenly, a frown lit Baekhyun’s face and his head popped up from Chanyeol’s lap, looking around. Chanyeol eyed at him worriedly, idly realizing that Luhan was acting the exact same way.
“Do you hear something coming?” Chanyeol asked, already realizing what was causing their strange behavior. Kris, hearing this, pushed himself up, sword already drawn as he looked around cautiously.
“Yes...” Baekhyun said, trailing off. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a human on a horse. There’s no maliciousness that I can sense, but...”
“But?” Chanyeol prompted, but their conversation was drawn to a halt when two horses suddenly became visible, one ginger colored and one black, turning around the corner of the road and galloping towards them. He squinted, trying to see who was riding one of it, but the man was still too far away.
Baekhyun pushed himself up, sitting as he stared at the figures. Chanyeol heard a surprised inhale before Baekhyun’s fingers squeezed around his hand.
“That man is wearing the crest of the High King,” Baekhyun said softly to Chanyeol.
“Probably just a messenger,” he shrugged, but even as he said so, the man slowed his horses to a trot as he neared them before finally grinding to a halt in front of them. He was sitting atop the chestnut horse in a stiff pose but behind that serious face Chanyeol could see that he was just as young as any of them. Chanyeol thought he’d seen his face somewhere, and he frowned thoughtfully as his eyes lingered on the polished silver sword on the man’s belt.
“Hero,” the man began, staring straight at Chanyeol. “By orders of the High King, I am to take you to the castle. He wishes to speak with you on urgent matters.”
“Uh, okay?” Chanyeol said, then cleared his throat. “But, um, excuse me, who are you?”
“I am Chen, Captain of the High King’s personal guard.” The man, Chen, eyed them all one by one, gaze lingering a little longer when he passed by Baekhyun and Luhan. Chanyeol heard a soft growl coming from Jongin, and in his peripheral vision saw him shift a little to stand slightly in front of Luhan. “Come, now. It is of utmost importance.”
“But we’ll get there in a few hours? Surely the King can wait?” Baekhyun piped up from beside him, face set into a frown. Chen glowered at Baekhyun’s direction, but the monster didn’t waver.
“His Highness needs to see the Hero now,” he barked, clearly agitated. “And he needs the Hero only. His companions can wait until he returns.”
Immediately, Baekhyun, Jongin, and Yixing made sounds of protests, while Kris glared at the guard. Kyungsoo merely looked worried and Luhan chose to keep quiet, tugging the hood of his cape further over his head.
“No, guys, it’s alright.” Chanyeol calmed them down, holding his hands up. “There’s nothing to worry about. The High King needs to see me, and it’s very important, so I should go, right?”
“But --!” Baekhyun started to protest.
“Shush, Baekhyun. There’s nothing to worry about, okay?” Chanyeol laughed and, completely forgetting that people were watching, pecked Baekhyun’s cheek lightly. The monster didn’t seem to be reassured, but he did turn a little pink, and this time Chanyeol just had to squish his face in his large hands as he laughed again. Chanyeol dodged Baekhyun’s punch and ignored the monster’s indignant cry, still cackling as he quickly and easily mounted the black horse.
“I’ll see you later!” he waved to them as he rode off with Chen, their steeds stirring up a flurry of dust and obscuring them from view.
Baekhyun had been pacing the lobby of the inn they were staying at for two hours now, face in a permanent frown. It was obvious that he was getting even more restless by the minute. Luhan sighed at his friend, scrunching his nose as Baekhyun's worries practically screamed in his head.
It’d been a day since Chanyeol left, and by now the Hero hasn't returned, or sent word. The others, who had been with Chanyeol for longer, didn't seem to find this strange. Although Kris was silent the whole time -- well, even more silent than he usually was anyway -- the rest of the gang continued on like as if Chanyeol wasn't even gone at all.
"Ugh, where is that stupid idiot?" Baekhyun finally snapped, stomping his foot childishly. There was undisguised worry in his dark eyes. "Can't he at least tell us he arrived safely or something?"
"Look, Baekhyun, Chanyeol's been away from us for longer before," Kyungsoo said, sighing as he grabbed Baekhyun's arms and steered him over to sit down. "He can take care of himself! Do you really think he got chosen as the Hero for nothing? He'll be fine."
Luhan shifted uncomfortably at that. He wasn’t so sure about that. After listening to the guard’s rather solemn thoughts, Luhan knew that the Hero was in for an unexpected development, at the least.
He brought his gaze up to where Baekhyun sat, fidgeting on the bench. As ludicrous as it was, he hoped that for his best friend’s sake, it would all work out. Gods help them all if someone else besides the Demon Lord himself were to kill the Hero.