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Chapter Text

“Cale-nim!”

The warning shout sliced through the explosions and screams of the mages trying to flee from the whirlwind of fire, reaching the ears of the red-haired man hovering in the air while chaos whirled at his fingertips. He’d heard variations of such a warning shout before, but the sheer desperation and urgency in Choi Han’s voice this time sent chills down his spine.

Cale whirled around immediately, eyes searching for the six-year old child he had brought onto the battlefield as the hair on the back of his neck stood – instincts from both his time as Kim Rok Soo and the battles he’d participated in as Cale Henituse flared. He had no time to prepare as a beam of pure light shot towards him. There was a fraction of a second where a black shield formed in front of him, but the spear punched straight through it, shattering the magic and burying itself deep into his chest.

He blinks, stumbling backwards from the force. There was no pain, only a slight pressure where – he looked down – the spear impaled him.

Time slowed down.

“Human!”

“Cale-nim!”

There’s a familiar warmth in his mouth and he coughs, the coppery liquid spilling from his lips. He sucks in a wheezing breath, and feels the world tilt on its axis.

He falls.

Choi Han stared in horror, halfway between where he had been fighting the Bear King and Cale, hand still stretched out. Even at his fastest speed, he couldn’t keep up with the light, couldn’t do anything except shout and watch Cale turn with a concerned look that turned into surprised agony as the spear slammed through him.

He’d thought he had experienced it all. The fear of being thrown into a new world full of monsters, the desperate need to survive by throwing his pride and everything else away, the grief and rage when the original inhabitants of Harris Village had been brutally massacred.

None of them compared to watching the shining spear of light pierce through his friend, and being unable to do anything as Cale drop like a stone. He rushed forward, wanting to catch the noble before he crashed to the ground, but someone else was faster.

Raon appeared beside him, the black dragon’s eyes wide and full of tears as his magic caught the falling human. Choi Han spared a second to worry about the dragon, then dropped to his knees beside Cale, quickly pressing a hand to the gaping hole in his chest. The spear had disappeared once its job had been done, and all that was left now was a large wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding. Choi Han swallowed against the lump in his throat, willing the burning in his eyes to disappear as the slick, warm liquid rapidly coated his hands.

Behind him, he could hear the raucous laughter of both kings, neither of which had bothered to resume their attacks.

Beside him, he felt a sudden surge of dark, violent power. Choi Han flinched, his heart thudding rapidly in his chest as he fought against the instinctive urge to flee. He looked to his right, where the small black dragon stood, his blue eyes now darkened with rage. Black mana rose from the dragon’s body like smoke, crackling loudly. Above him, the night sky darkened further, clouds rumbling as they crashed into each other.

Choi Han swallowed, keeping the pressure on the wound steady despite the futility of it – he could feel his pants soaking up liquid, and he refused to look at the dark puddle underneath Cale that was slowly but steadily growing – desperately trying to calm his racing heart. He knew that Raon meant no harm to him, that the rage trapped in that tiny body was directed to the beast kings that were still laughing in the background, delight coloring their voices as they jeered at the fallen hero.

But his instincts – the same ones that had helped him survive the Forest of Darkness – was telling him to run from the monster beside him.

He shoved those instincts down as far as he could, gritting his teeth as he could only sit by and hope that Raon managed to call for help because he couldn't just sit here and watch while Cale bled out -

The dragon lifted his head, dark blue eyes almost completely black now, and beat his wings, carrying him into the sky. Choi Han met his gaze, and nodded his head, ignoring the chills running down his spine.

Raon turned to face the two beast kings, both standing several metres apart with a relaxed look on their faces.

Choi Han looked down at Cale, who was pale – paler than usual – his breaths coming in short bursts. He risked pressing two fingers to his neck, grimacing at the thready pulse.

A glowing circle several feet beside him caught his attention, and he tensed, leaning over Cale protectively.

He breathed a sigh of relief at the figure who stepped out.

The light from the teleportation circle died down, and almost immediately, Saint Jack and Sir Rex began to organize the soldiers once more, each of them casting a quick glance towards the northern tower before determination crossed their faces. Eruhaben stepped back, letting the soldiers and their commanders march past him as they split up to the other towers once again, intent on destroying them completely while Cale, Choi Han and Raon handled the mages in the north.

Despite the impressive efficiency in which Sir Rex moved the troops and the way everything seemed to have gotten back on track, the ancient dragon couldn’t seem to get rid of the heavy feeling that had settled into his gut as soon as they left the three of them behind.

A scant few seconds after the thought passed his mind, a large burst of power exploded in his senses, and the ancient dragon whipped around, his eyes growing wide as he stared in the direction of the Northern Tower.

“Eruhaben-nim?” Rosalyn asked, stepping up beside him, her brow furrowed, having felt it too.

Eruhaben stared at where he could barely see the top of the tower and the explosions rocketing the sky. The burst of power hadn’t worried him. No, it was the fact that it felt exactly like Raon, if the young dragon had been a more malevolent dragon.

“I will check on them.” He murmured, casting the spell on himself with little haste.

Without the darkness attribute oppressing him, it was far easier to gather his mana and cast the teleportation circle. He pictured the northern tower where he’d last been just a minute ago and directed his mana accordingly.

His vision blurred and sharpened in a scant few seconds, forming a completely different landscape.

Eruhaben noticed three things in quick succession.

First, the airships and golems were completely destroyed, their pilots – those still alive – screaming in either fear or pain, he couldn’t tell.

The second was that Raon was in the air, his black mana whirling around him violently, a look of utter rage and hatred on his young face.

The third – Choi Han on his knees, bent over with a look a desperation on his face.

The two people in the world whose expressions would change like this –

The ancient dragon strode closer, his heart leaping to his throat as he spotted the stark red hair splayed on the ground, the pale skin of Cale Henituse, and the pool of growing crimson liquid beneath him.

Fear clogged his throat, and Eruhaben frantically pushed it away, sprinting towards Choi Han and the fallen Cale.

“Eruhaben-nim –”

“How bad?” he barked, even as his heightened senses told him the answer.

“The Bear King threw a spear at him.” Choi Han reported, his face becoming an expressionless mask that did nothing to hide the turmoil in his eyes.

Eruhaben hissed under his breath, gathering mana in his hand. He spread it over Cale. He couldn’t heal him, he had no affinity for healing – but he could slow the bleeding for a moment. In his mind, he contacted Rosalyn as he carefully nudged Choi Han aside, sliding his arms under Cale’s back and knees.

‘Rosalyn, get Jack and meet me in Adin’s room now!’

The ancient dragon stood up fluidly, lips turning down at the crimson liquid already drenching his arm, looking at Choi Han. The swordsmaster shook his head, throwing a glance at Raon, who was still hovering in the air, the mana around him growing steadily.

Eruhaben understood his intent immediately and cast the spell, not wanting to waste any time.

He looked up at the young dragon who had gone through so much even though he was only six years old.

Rage burned in his own eyes as well.

Rip them to pieces Raon.

Rosalyn had felt the sudden burst of magic emanating from the place where they’d left their people behind – it galled her to realize that she could barely even cast her magic because of that stupid darkness barrier to the point where she had to escape and flee while Cale had to stay behind – and her heart slammed against her ribs with how stricken with fear and worry it was. She’d seen Eruhaben’s concerned gaze as the dragon teleported back, wishing she could have gone with him.

Instead, she took a deep breath, intent on helping to complete the rest of the plan.

She had just managed to convince herself that everything was fine when Eruhaben’s panicked voice all but roared in her mind.

‘Rosalyn, get Jack and meet me in Adin’s room now!’

She flinched, bending over in surprise at the sheer volume of the ancient dragon’s voice in her mind. He’d never been this loud or – dare she say it, violent – when communicating via this method before. The fact that he did so now, after that sudden burst of magic power that was full of wrath and promising bloodshed, sent her sprinting for Jack before the dragon’s magic even receded from her mind.

She found the Saint in the middle of the plaza, watching with a frown on his face as he sent off the soldiers on their respective tasks.

Her mind was spinning – there was only one reason Eruhaben would request for Jack, and it scared her. Who was hurt? Choi Han? Raon? Cale?

The most probable answer filled her head and she fervently prayed that she was wrong.

Her thoughts must have shown on her face because Jack’s frown deepened the moment he turned to face her, and she didn’t know whether she had conveyed the message properly before casting the teleportation circle under her feet.

The light from the magic died down, and the two of them found themselves alone in what used to be Prince Adin’s room.

“What –”

Another light filled the room, and Rosalyn looked toward it in apprehension.

When the magic dissipated, she gasped, hearing an echo beside her.

There was a wild look Eruhaben’s eyes, a stark contrast from his normally calm and collected self – it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand with the reminder that this was a dragon, the most powerful creature to ever walk the earth –

Jack’s ragged gasp of breath beside her pulled her focus to the limp form cradled gently in the dragon’s arms.

Rosalyn felt her heart stop.

Despite his timid and seemingly helpless nature, Jack recovered first. He hurried forward, his fingers curling into fists to try and hide their shaking. Eruhaben gently placed the body on the bed, stepping back to let the Saint take over.

Rosalyn pressed a hand to her lips, feeling the unfamiliar sting of tears burning in her eyes as she took in the way the ancient dragon was practically covered in blood – as well as the ashen color of Cale’s skin that seemed completely drained of blood. The young noble was far paler than he normally was, and she felt bile rise in her throat at the grotesque hole decorating his chest.

Any questions she might have had about what happened – because they’d been gone only five minutes tops and god, if this was how Eruhaben looked, she didn’t want to know what Choi Han and Raon were like at this moment, though the sporadic bursts of magic she could feel in the distance and the rumbling in the sky that sounded like it was cracking told her far more – died swiftly in her throat as a warm light began to pour from Jack’s hands.

The Saint himself had his eyes screwed shut, forehead beading with perspiration. She knew that he’d used a substantial amount of power earlier, but she was also aware enough to know that Jack would not stop until Cale was fully healed – or dead – and that the ancient dragon beside her would force him to pour out every single drop of magic he had if necessary.

Rosalyn shuddered at the ruthless stare in the ancient dragon’s eyes, recalling with perfect clarity the snarl of protective rage that had ripped through the air when the White Star had first gunned for Cale and Raon. 

The mage closed her eyes and prayed that Cale would pull through.

(Never mind that if he didn’t, she would join the dragons and just about everyone else in ripping the world apart in search of the man behind the mask who dared to harm their family.)

Despite the cries of the injured and the residual explosions still wracking the destroyed golems, there was an oppressive blanket of silence that had seemed to settle on the battlefield.

Dorph shifted uneasily on his feet, flexing his hands to rid himself of the numbness that seemed to have taken root. He stared at the tiny black dragon floating in mid-air, all thoughts of triumph vanishing like dust in the wind.

He’d seen the spear of light strike Cale Henituse down and let his opponent go, the little dragon’s shout of denial music to his ears. He’d shared a victorious look with Sayeru, the other king wavering on his feet from how much energy he’d spent. Dorph had stood by and watched as one of Cale Henituse’s ally had come and retrieved him, but thought nothing of it.

The wound was fatal, nothing short of divine intervention could save the man now.

He’d wanted to gloat, wanted to let the swordsman and the dragon drown in their misery before he snapped their necks – Sayeru felt the same, he was sure – and that thought still lingered in his mind.

Except…

Except now there was this heavy pressure in the air, making it hard for him to breathe. It felt similar to his own darkness element, like what he’d done to the soldiers and the mages, forcing them to flee and leave behind the leader of their little operation.

Thunder rumbled overhead, and Dorph flicked his eyes upwards, frowning at the sight of black clouds rolling towards each other, blackening the already dark night sky even more.

The sense of unease grew.

He stared at the young dragon, who flared his wings, staring back with eyes that held so much rage and hatred within them that the Lion King had to fight against the instinctive urge to flee. Beside him, he could feel Sayeru shaking, facing the same problem.

For all that the Lion and Bear tribes were strong, for all that they were at the top of the Beast tribes – there was still something that existed above them. Above all life forms on this earth.

The Dragons.

They were the strongest creatures, even if their penchant for solitude made it easy for people like the White Star to pick them off one by one. But their magic and their powers were legendary, even against the best of the Beast tribes.

in all of his life, Dorph had never felt this unsettling sensation curling his gut, telling him to flee as he met the gaze of the young dragon.

The Lion King subtly gathered his power around him and Sayeru, intending to wrap the darkness around them to give them a chance to escape. This might be a young dragon, but he’d played with his enemy for far too long. He would not fight against his instincts, not this time, not when it was screaming at him to run for his life –

The darkness surged like a wave around them –

The sky roared, and a bolt of black lightning exploded from the sky, smashing into the ground between the two of them.

The two kings were violently flung apart, the darkness that had been ready to hide their presence shattering like glass. The resulting shockwave blew them through several lines of trees, their bodies smashing through the thick trunks like paper.

Dorph grunted as he felt several ribs crack, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to his feet immediately, casting out his senses while his vision swam from the sheer brightness of that bolt of lightning. It was only instinct and years of being the King of Beasts that had him throwing his entire body backwards, just in time to dodge the slash aimed for his throat. Even then, he could feel the blade – coated with dark aura radiating despair and vengeance – scrape ever so slightly against the tender skin of his throat.

The lion blinked furiously, letting his claws extend from his fingers as he shifted into the berserker form. The spots in his vision finally cleared, and he glared at the swordsmaster standing before him, baring his teeth to conceal the edge of uneasiness settling in the corner of his heart.

Unlike the woman from before, this man in front of him was the real deal. Even if the aura coating his blade didn’t give away his position as a swordsmaster, the sheer pressure and bloodlust emanating from him would have.

Dorph felt his lip curl up into a sneer. The swordsmaster held his sword by his side, the point just above the ground.

There was a dark look in the man’s eyes, and for the first time since he’d ascended to the position of King, Dorph felt the first stirrings of fear.

“Come,” the man ordered, his lips stretching into a humourless grin while his eyes glinted with rage and malice, “I will rip you apart.”

The Lion King snarled, and lunged forward.

Sayeru coughed, gasping desperately for breath as he tried to expel the liquid threatening to choke him. He grimaced at the coppery tang in his mouth as he spat out another globule of blood, panting harshly.

He forced himself upright, fingers curling into the dirt under his hand. His body protested the motion, every part of him screaming with agony. The Bear King shook his head, gritting his teeth against the pain and reached out a hand to grab onto the nearest stump, pulling himself slowly and painfully to his feet. His limbs trembled with exhaustion, and he knew that the best course of action now was to retreat.

He hissed under his breath. Not only had he overdone it with channelling the ancient powers of light in a body as unbalanced as his, but he’d pushed himself to the limit just to deal Cale Henituse a fatal blow.

It would have been worth it, had the dragon not suddenly exploded.

All of their intel had pointed at the dragon being young – a reasonable threat, but one that they could handle. He might have gotten his first growth phase, but without Dragon Fear and Dragon Breath, they could handle whatever magic the little creature threw at them. Sayeru had been counting on Cale’s allies focused on saving him, he didn’t expect the other dragon to return, or for the black dragon’s magic to suddenly swell and lash out like that.

Sayeru hissed again, stumbling as a sharp pain in his side made itself known. He pressed a hand to the area, clicking his tongue when it came away wet.

That lightning bolt had been pure magic, and the dragon shouldn’t have been able to cast something of that magnitude just yet.

He’d felt Dorph’s darkness attempt to wrap around the both of them, understood that the Lion King had also felt the urge to flee from the only being that ruled above them.

It stung, to even consider running from what was basically a baby dragon when they both had decades of experience under their belts. But as much as he supported the White Star, he needed to be alive for the man’s promise to be fulfilled – which meant he couldn’t die here.

And yet – his options now were limited. Dorph was nowhere to be seen, though he could feel his fellow king’s powers surging somewhere to his right. The golems and airships had both been destroyed by Henituse, his spear far too late to stop the nuisance from destroying them.

Sayeru gritted his teeth. He didn’t have a magic scroll either, which meant he needed to find one of the mages and hope they were still alive to cast a teleportation circle.

The silence around him struck him then, and he froze.

Why was it so quiet? Where was the dragon –

He summoned a light spear, ignoring the sharp tug in his chest, raising it in time to block an identical spear from burrowing into his chest. The force of the spear sent him flying backwards, crashing painfully to the ground.

The growl that emanated from his throat turned to hacking coughs, and he scrambled backwards, eyes flitting all over, trying to spot the dragon.

On his back with no energy left to summon anything more than the barest of weapons to defend himself with, Sayeru froze when the air in front of him rippled and peeled away, revealing a black dragon about the length of one meter, and a pair of eyes that were glowing with magic and filled with hatred.

The Bear King whimpered.

Choi Han had never felt such vindictive pleasure in hunting down an enemy before.

Sure, he’d gone after Redika with the image of that shimmering shield – and it’s owner – at the forefront of his thoughts, and he’d gone after Arm with the burning fury of the massacred village simmering under his skin. Time and again he’d fought with as much fervour as possible – because to do any less would be inviting death – but never before had he sought such pleasure in the fear he could practically taste in the air.

His face was an expressionless mask on the outside, but his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts.

He’d lived through what would have been his nephew’s experiences – monsters in Korea, the death and destruction they brought everywhere with them – and all the while recognizing Kim Rok Soo as Cale Henituse. He’d felt betrayed, that Cale had clearly come from Korea too but had chosen to pretend that he didn’t know anything. He’d been angry and hurt that despite everything, Cale hadn’t deemed him trustworthy enough to tell his secrets too but now –

Now the only thing he could focus on was Cale’s shocked face as he plummeted to the ground.

In that instant, all of Choi Han’s doubts washed away. Whatever reason Kim Rok Soo – no, he was Cale – had for pretending he didn’t know Korean, whatever reason he had for hiding who he was, Choi Han would hear them all patiently if it meant that he was alive.

He had chosen to fight beside him because this was still the person who had given him food to eat and clothing to put on his back when nobody else had shown such kindness, this was the person who had given him the opportunity to get revenge on the organization that had murdered his second family in cold blood.

This was the person who was at the centre of his third family – comprised of dragons and humans and princes and cats and so many other beings that he would never have met on his own. He’d be damned if he let Arm rip his family apart one more time.

Choi Han gave the Lion King a wan smile, savouring the way the beast king shuddered, hunched over defensively with numerous wounds decorating his body.

Raon hovered in the air using his wings instead of magic, staring down at the Bear King who was pinned to one of the few remaining trees. The black dragon could feel the exhaustion settling into his bones, but he took a page out of his human’s book and ignored it.

A soft whimper came from the direction of the bear.

Raon flew closer, the rage that had fuelled him still burning strongly in his chest. He met the fearful gaze of the Bear King, feeling a stab of vicious pleasure at the broken look in his eyes. Raon had put every lesson that Cale had taught him over the past two years to good use – he took his time channelling the fury that seemed far too large for his tiny body into his magic, slowly tearing the Bear King apart and shattering any hope he had of survival.

Blood dripped silently to the ground.

Four spears of darkness were embedded in each of the Bear King’s limbs, the spears identical to the one that Sayeru used. Let it never be said that Raon didn’t learn quickly.

A mana orb crackled above Raon’s head – blacker than even the darkest abyss. It grew and elongated, sharpening slowly into a thick spear, angled straight at the Bear King’s heart. Raon saw the pleading look in the Bear King’s eyes, heard the begging that spilled from his lips – promises to serve him, to tell him any secrets the White Star might have, anything if it meant that he could survive.

The black dragon simply smiled.

The spear shot forward.

“Raon.”

The tip hovered a hairsbreadth away from Sayeru’s chest, the beast king scarcely daring to breathe.

Raon turned, meeting Choi Han’s calm and measured gaze. The human strode towards him, and Raon knew instinctively what he wanted to say. There was a term Cale had mentioned before, a feeling called déjà vu, of experiencing something that felt like it had happened before.

The dragon was reminded of that time with Marquis Stan. He knew now that Cale had drawn the line for him, to stop him from killing the Marquis. Choi Han wanted to do the same now.

A part of him balked at the prospect of letting the Bear King go free – because he still remembered the look of triumph on his face when Cale fell, and he would never forget the distant, foggy look in his human’s eyes while his blood slowly stained his paws – but then he caught sight of Choi Han’s sword.

Despite being covered with the swordsmaster’s signature black aura, Raon could see the blood that was still dripping on the ground.

The dragon flew over to Choi Han, the spear of darkness disappearing. Raon hid his face in Choi Han’s back, closing his eyes and pretending it was his human.

The Bear King’s sigh of relief didn’t remain that way.

Chapter Text

Despite the steady flow of people moving in and out of the room, it remained quiet. A solemn hush that felt like a thick blanket, slowly suffocating those who stayed in it for too long.

Still, Eruhaben couldn’t bring himself to leave.

He’d had to watch Cale when his entire plate had been reforging, but even then, the sheer excruciating pain that the unlucky human had been in was – if he dared to say it – preferable to this mute silence. Cale Henituse was already pale to begin with, only seeming stronger than he looked because of the fire burning in his eyes. Now, swathed in bandages and looking like he was still on the brink of death despite the healing Jack did, he looked like he was one touch away from turning into dust.

The ancient dragon felt his lips twist downwards.

It had been close. Far too close for comfort. If he’d been even a minute late, not even the Sun God himself would have been able to save him. As it was, Jack had gone above and beyond all expectations, had pushed himself to the limit until the gaping wound had slowly closed and left nothing but a puckered scar behind.

Eruhaben would have felt guilty at Jack’s obvious fatigue if he wasn’t a dragon.

For better or for worse, Cale Henituse had barged into his – otherwise quiet – life and refused to leave. He’d brought a young dragon with him and rekindled all the emotions he’d thought he’d shut away centuries ago. The unlucky bastard had forced him to open his doors and continuously brought in more and more people – it would have made any other dragon turn into a vicious, raging beast but –

Eruhaben had always been more inclined to companionship.

For better or for worse, Raon was family now, and so was Cale. He would sacrifice more than one Saint if it meant that his children were safe. (Even so, he did send the Saint to rest when his conscience twinged when Jack had nearly collapsed after healing Cale.)

The white-gold dragon sighed inaudibly, casting a worried glance to the black lump curled beside Cale’s head.

Many people had come in and out of the room in the last few days – some appearing on the communication device – but all of them shared the same worry for the young man lying unconscious on the bed.

But perhaps the ones he was most worried about were Choi Han and Raon, both of whom had been the only ones beside Cale when he had been struck down.

The swordsmaster had settled in a chair beside the bed once he’d cleaned up – and for all that Eruhaben had lived for a thousand years, even he felt a chill run down his spine at the dark look in Choi Han’s eyes – and refused to move. Raon had done the same, except he’d curled up on the pillow beside Cale’s head, resting a paw on the human’s neck.

Both of them barely ate, and Eruhaben had exchanged more than a few exasperated glances with Rosalyn. He understood their need to stay beside Cale – of course he did, it’s why he also remained in the room, why Rosalyn checked in every other hour or so despite being busy, why Hannah and Jack both came in at least twice a day – but he wished they would stop starving themselves, however unintentionally.

The dragon sighed again, and cast a surreptitious glance to the section of the room that was blocked by a thick curtain.

For even the crown prince of Roan to have come here…

Eruhaben glanced at the bed.

Cale Henituse you unlucky bastard, he thought, you better wake up soon.

He noticed the heat first.

There’s a comforting warmth cocooning him, threatening to pull him back to unconsciousness with its siren call even before his brain fully awoke. But a burning heat on the side of his neck kept him from returning down into the darkness.

Cale slowly peeled his eyes open, forcing the sluggish lids to obey his mental commands. He lay there, body heavy with lethargy while the patterns on the ceiling swam into focus. His eyes slid to the side, where he caught sight of Eruhaben, the ancient dragon sitting by the windowsill, staring out the glass with a pensive look on his face.

As though sensing his stare, Eruhaben turned around, jerking in surprise when their eyes met.

Cale saw the relief flooding through the dragon’s eyes before it was swiftly hidden, replaced with a narrow eyed stare.

“You’re finally awake huh?”

Cale sighed, letting his eyes slip close, too exhausted to do more than relax further into the mount of pillows he was lying on.

“What happened?”

Eruhaben looked at him, and sighed. “You’re going to send me to an early grave you unlucky bastard. What’s the last thing you remember?”

Cale squinted. His memory was spotty at best. He remembered a flash of light, and a searing pain in his chest. Gingerly, he pressed his fingers to his chest, marvelling when only a dull ache throbbed.

“Jack healed you.” The dragon commented, answering Cale’s unasked question.

“I suppose I’ll have to thank him later.”

“You should, he spent almost all of his energy bringing you back from the brink of death.”

Cale shook his head and sighed, shifting around so that his hands were under him. “What’s going on with the Empire now? And how long have I been out?”

“Fifteen days and five hours, but who’s counting?” A different voice answered him.

The curtain cordoning off the other half of the room – that he’d only realized now – pulled back, revealing a man with bright blond hair and an even brighter smile.

“You –”

“I told you,” Alberu Crossman said, pointedly looking at Eruhaben, “Five minutes since he woke up and he’s already asking about what happened like we’re all incompetent idiots who can’t do anything without him.”

Cale – halfway to propping himself up on the bed – stared at the crown prince of Roan, flabbergasted.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He blurted, thoughts running wild.

Alberu stopped short of his bed, raising an eyebrow, “So rude,” he commented, “It’s like I’m just a random peasant in his eyes –”

“My deepest apologies your highness,” Cale rectified, a gentle smile appearing on his face, “I was merely flattered that the shining star of our kingdom would deem someone as lowly as me so important as to personally visit –”

“Alright I get it you bastard, stop talking.” The prince groaned, dropping into the chair that Choi Han vacated.

It said something about how exhausted he was that he hadn’t even noticed Choi Han on the other side of the bed until the other man stood up.

For that matter, Cale’s mind was suspiciously quiet, an unfamiliar silence that marked the absence of Raon’s normally exuberant voice. He cast a glance to his left, confirming that the dragon – who had buried his face into his side – was indeed there. With the little energy that he regained, Cale pushed himself upright, carefully stroking Raon’s head while Alberu gave him the rundown of what had happened since he’d been unconscious.

There was a palpable tension emanating from the corner where Choi Han was standing, but Cale chose to ignore that for the time being.

One problem at a time, he thought sourly, the memory of Choi Han’s intense stare as he uttered the words ‘Kim Rok Soo’ flashing across his mind.

Cale shook his head minutely, focusing back on Alberu, his mind whirling as it absorbed the information. Well, at least the rest of them had managed to complete the objective despite his little…break. The alchemist towers were gone, and the Empire would now have the chance to be rebuilt under the banner of the Church of the Sun God.

“There’s one more thing.” Alberu Crossman said, frowning slightly as he glanced at both Choi Han and Raon.

Cale cocked his head, brow furrowing.

“What is it?” he asked.

The crown prince of Roan hummed, crossing one leg over the other. “I confirmed the reports myself, but it seems that the Lion King Dorph and Bear King Sayeru are both dead.”

Cale blinked. That – that was unexpected. Unexpected but…not entirely unwelcome.

He felt his lips lift into a rogue grin, unaware of how bloodthirsty it made him look despite the sickly pallor of his face.

“At least we managed to smack the White Star in the back with this.” He smirked, absent-mindedly rubbing at Raon’s head. “We will need to –”

“You, are not doing anything apart from sleeping.” Alberu interrupted.

Cale scowled, “Your Highness, the North has been on its own for two weeks now –”

“Do you think we’re incapable of acting on our own?” Alberu asked, raising an eyebrow, “Do you think that we’re so incompetent that we require supervision?”

“What – no, that’s not what I meant –”

“Then leave it to us to handle things and just rest.”

Cale sighed, “With all due respect Your Highness –”

“You don’t understand at all do you?” Eruhaben cut in, his voice tight with anger.

Cale looked to him, surprised at the barely-controlled fury rippling across the ancient dragon’s face.

“It wasn’t just a close call Cale.” Eruhaben snapped, gold eyes boring into his. “If that spear had hit an inch to the left, or if I had arrived just a minute later than I did, or if Choi Han hadn’t stopped the bleeding for as long as he did – you wouldn’t even be awake right now. If Jack hadn’t spent all of his energy healing that wound, you wouldn’t be sitting up in this bed alive and kicking.”

Cale pressed his lips together.

It was not something he could tell them now – though if things continued the way they did, he’d be having this conversation with Choi Han sooner or later – but he knew very well just how narrow the margin had been.

As Kim Rok Soo, he’d escaped death by a hairsbreadth countless times, whether it was because of his life as an orphan, or because there was nothing he could do against a monster as large as a building save to hide and pray for someone to save him. He knew what it felt like to be on the brink of death, and at that moment – falling several hundred feet to the ground, he’d definitely thought that would have been the end.

The fact that he woke up at all was nothing short of a miracle and he recognized that. He wasn’t taking this second chance lightly. In fact, all he would be doing was planning, he was sending people out to do the hard work for him so he didn’t understand why he couldn’t just start because the White Star was not about to wait for him to recover before continuing his plan and he needed that maniac out of the way so he could finally stay at home and slack for the rest of his life –

“Cale-nim, you just recovered from the brink of death, please just rest for a few days and trust us to handle everything.” Choi Han said quietly, his eyes not quite meeting Cale’s.

That’s right, Choi Han had been there hadn’t he? Cale remembered him calling out his name in warning, and if anything, Choi Han had saved his life. The scarlet-haired noble heaved a sigh, the breath whooshing out of him explosively. The least he could do was at least listen to the person who saved his life – just this once.

And well, lying around and doing nothing was sounding more appealing to him by the second.

“Fine.” Cale said shortly, frowning. “One week, then we continue.”

There was a collective sigh of relief from the occupants of the room that made him feel a tad insulted. Why did everyone think he couldn’t take care of himself?

“Alright,” Alberu clapped, standing up, “I’ll leave you to your rest. Try not to do something like that again yeah? It’s not good for the heart.”

Damn right it wasn’t, Cale thought darkly, after all the trouble he went through to get the ancient powers so that he wouldn’t get hurt, and he still ended to close to his deathbed for comfort.

The prince reached out and clapped a hand on Cale’s shoulder, his bright smile contrasting starkly against the sombre look in his eyes. “Please don’t ever do something like that again, I don’t think any of us can stand it.”

Cale felt his frown deepen. It wasn’t like he wanted to get hurt? In fact he always tried his best not to get hurt because he hated feeling pain…

He watched Alberu leave the room, Eruhaben following him after shooting him a short glare that sent shivers down his spine.

The moment the door closed behind the dragon, Cale sighed, willing his racing heart to calm down. He leaned back against the mount of pillows, closing his eyes and momentarily ignoring the other man still standing by his bed.

Now that Alberu and Eruhaben had left, the three of them were the only ones in the room alone, with a silence so thick he could scoop it into a jar. He almost wished the white-gold dragon would come back – his anger was probably preferable to the conversation he did not want to have.

Cale sighed once again – he was really doing far too much of it for someone only in his mid-thirties – opening his eyes.

He glanced at Choi Han – who had a dark look in his eyes – and then shifted his gaze down to Raon, the dragon somehow managing to give the impression of a wilted plant. He wasn’t exactly sure what Raon was upset about, but he had an inkling of what was bothering the swordsmaster. From the moment he’d noticed the other transmigrator, he had sensed the cloud of doom that had hung around the other man. Cale had chosen to ignore the chills that ran down his spine at the thought of having that particular conversation with Choi Han in favor of listening to Alberu’s summary of the past two weeks, but a promise was a promise, and he tried to keep them as far as he could.

“Nice to meet you. Senior, my name is Kim Rok Soo, Choi Jung Soo's friend.” Cale said, dipping his head.

Choi Han’s head snapped up, eyes widening in shock.

“You – what –”

Cale frowned. “I should greet you like this at least once shouldn’t I? Even if I’m a trashy person, I always made sure to greet my elders properly.”

“Cale-nim you – what are you talking about?” Choi Han asked, bewildered.

Cale’s frown deepened. Had he read the situation wrongly?

“...Aren’t you angry at me for pretending I didn’t know Korean?”

Both of the other occupants in the room were now looking at him with disbelief. Cale squirmed, shrinking slightly under their twin stares.

“What?”

Choi Han felt his brow draw together in a frown. That was what Cale-nim thought he was upset about?

“How can you be so stupid?” He muttered.

Cale flinched. “Excuse me?”

Choi Han took a deep breath, clenching his fists. He stared down at the ground, finding it hard to meet Cale’s eyes.

“Cale-nim you – I –” he huffed, running a hand through jet black hair, the other clenching tightly around the scabbard of his sword, “I had to watch you nearly die and I couldn’t do anything about it!”

Cale blinked.

Oh.

Suddenly, the pieces all snapped together. The stricken look on Choi Han’s face, the guilt he was obviously feeling – he remembered it well, as Kim Rok Soo.

“Choi Han,” Cale started, “You know that’s not your fault.”

“I’m supposed to protect you Cale-nim.” Choi Han bit out, mouth twisting into a scowl, “I couldn’t even do that much.”

Cale sighed, missing the way Choi Han flinched at the sound.

“You said you experienced Choi Jung Soo’s memories?”

Choi Han raised his head, completely thrown off guard by the non-sequitur. “Yes I did.”

“Then you experienced everything? Right up till the end?”

“...Yes, I did.”

“Then you know how he – and the rest of the team died.” Cale lifted his chin, meeting Choi Han’s gaze evenly, “Kim Rok Soo failed to support them properly, do you think it was his fault they died?”

Choi Han’s eyes widened.

“No!” He shouted, lurching forward, “That’s not – nobody could have predicted just what kind of monster would have come out –”

“Then why do you blame yourself?” Cale interrupted coldly.

“That’s different,” Choi Han protested, “I was supposed to protect you and I failed –”

“You were fighting your own battle,” Cale pointed out, “It would be crazy to ask you to keep an eye on two things while fighting for your life.”

“But –”

“Do you think I would be happy if you sacrificed your life for mine? Have you forgotten what I’ve always said?”

Yet it’s okay if you sacrificed yours for us? Choi Han thought bitterly, swallowing the words before they could slip out. He fell silent, focusing on the other half of what Cale had said. He remembered it of course, anyone who had been part of their family long enough knew by heart that Cale’s favourite phrase was that survival mattered above all else. That it was better to run away and live than stay to fight and die. With the memories of Choi Jung Soo in his head, he knew that it was their team leader who had coined the term first, and that Cale – Kim Rok Soo – had taken it to heart.

Cale sighed again, suppressing a yawn. He really wasn’t cut out for this comforting thing. He didn’t exactly have an experience in comforting others, and all his mental preparation – in what little time he had between waking up and being left with Choi Han – had been geared towards revealing his transmigrator status, not this...emotional heart to heart he was having with Choi Han of all people.

“Do better next time if it bothers you that much.” He said, thinking about how great it would be to hide behind Choi Han in future, since the swordsmaster was basically unrivalled in power. He might have been smacked around a bit by the White Star, but Cale knew that Choi Han still had so much room left to grow that he could probably smack the White Star into the next continent the next time they met.

Choi Han perked up and nodded firmly, his eyes lighting up with determination and fervour. Cale squinted at him, wondering if he missed something. Never mind, he shook his head, he didn’t want to think about it. Cale slid back down into a horizontal position, closing his eyes.

“Can we have our other chat at a later date?” He asked, feeling his eyelids grow heavier.

“Yes Cale-nim.”

He felt someone pull the covers over him, and then - nothing.

Raon swore once – a lifetime ago when he hadn’t had a name and the aches of the years of torture were still throbbing in his very soul – to protect Cale.

If anyone had told him two years ago that he would escape a cage built by humans to force him to serve them, only to tie himself to a human – he would have destroyed them in an instant and danced on their ashes.

Yet – Cale was different. His human – bright scarlet hair and pale skin and a devious gleam in his eyes – was different from the ones that had captured him.

From the moment of his birth to the time he became four years of age, Raon had only one single belief that he clung onto.

Humans were vile, cruel creatures deserving of death.

From the moment his shell cracked and he painstakingly crawled his way to the light, he’d been struck on all sides by excruciating pain, surrounded by beings who looked over him and jeered at him and had mouths twisted into what he would later recognize as a sneer. For years, he had been the object of humiliation and torture, a plaything for the humans who wanted him to bow to them, wanted to make him their little pet. Even newly hatched as he was – even though he knew nothing of the world and its inhabitants – it was engrained deeply into his soul to never bow down, that dragons were the top of the food chain.

His first lesson as a newly hatched dragon hadn’t been an opportunity to explore his powers, it had been a lesson on the cruelty that the world offered.

Despite that, nothing changed for him. It didn’t change the pain he had to endure day after day, it didn’t remove the chains wrapped around his legs, the metal biting through underdeveloped scales. It didn’t change the agony he had to endure from the mana disturbance tools surrounding him, disrupting his magic enough that it felt like he was burning alive from the inside out.

Living in that cage – trapped and helpless, the very symbol of humiliation – he swore that he would destroy the humans, destroy those who had laughed at him, had poked and prodded and beat him until every single one of them was dead and reduced to ashes.

And then –

And then a masked man in a shoddily created black suit that was supposed to look like the people that flitted in and out of the basement he had been trapped in broke the locks on his cage and set him free.

He still remembered the arms that encircled him, warm and comforting while his body shook in fear and anger at being transported somewhere else to be tortured even more but –

But it never came.

The man with the crimson eyes had cut the chains around him.

He had taken him out of the cage, out of the range of those mana disturbance tools and out of reach of those humans who were screaming and shouting in rage and pain and ran away into the night. The man with eyes so devious and yet so kind – even if he hadn’t known kindness for what it was back then – had brought him out into the forest where the air was clear and fresh and the night sky above him was a vast canvas dotted with bright, twinkling stars.

“Look up.” The human had said, and Raon did.

He had been left there, alone in an empty forest, free of his chains. And he didn’t understand it.

He didn’t – couldn’t – believe that this human would simply free him and let him go. He was a dragon – why would anyone simply leave him behind?

So he followed him. Cale, was the human’s name, as he’d learned. The human was weak by dragon standards – his body was frail, he possessed no magic at all and even a child like him could have reduced this human to ash in mere seconds.

But he didn’t.

He chose to follow this human, to see for himself what this human was like.

(It didn’t even strike him as odd to leave a couple of animal carcasses for the human because the human was far too skinny and honestly looked like he was about to collapse the moment a strong gust of wind blew past him.)

Throughout the journey, even when he finally revealed himself to Cale and stuck close to him as an invisible attachment, a tiny part of him had still clung onto that belief – the belief that Cale was biding his time, that he was simply using a different method to draw him in and make him subservient, even as that thought dwindled slowly day by day.

Even as Cale fed him and grumbled about his weight, Raon stuck by him, and slowly, hope began to slowly erode that niggling doubt at the back of his mind was just a product of his own experiences.

And then, the Paerun Kingdom attacked the Henituse territory, and the human had chosen to use his own body – weak and frail and so on the verge of breaking – to shield him from the fake dragon slayer, using every single last drop of strength he had to block the sword threatening to pierce through him.

From that moment, Raon knew, that Cale truly cared for him.

So he made an oath to himself – one that he knew was shared by Choi Han and On and Hong and Goldie gramps and just about everyone else Cale came in contact with – to protect his human, this human who claimed that he wasn’t a good person and yet chose to sacrifice himself at first chance.

(He didn’t ever want to see Cale that way again – on his knees, blood pouring from his nose and mouth, his arms wound tightly around Raon’s tiny form as though it would do any good if the sword pierced through that shield –)

Raon had already failed once, when he was going through his first growth phase and he couldn’t do anything but listen to his human defend against attack after attack, couldn’t do anything while his family fought without him. He had to listen to his human suffer without even being able move an inch and it hurt.

He had chosen this human as his own, and what kind of dragon couldn’t protect what was his?

Raon curled up at his human’s neck, his chin resting on Cale’s shoulder. He took comfort in the slow but steady beat of his human’s heart.

The young black dragon closed his eyes, leaning in further into the warmth that his human emanated. If his human had been awake, he would probably have stared at him with a displeased frown and told him to sleep. A part of Raon wanted to, because he was far more exhausted than he’d ever felt before. Using up that amount of mana on such a large scale had drained his reserves almost too much.

But –

Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was the bright light that whizzed across his vision, and his human’s stunned face as the spear drove through his chest. The way his human fell from the sky – like his wings had been cut off – kept replaying in his mind, and Raon felt the tears pool in his eyes once again. He curled tighter into himself, sniffling quietly.

It had been his fault. He had promised to destroy everything and everyone if his human got injured, but it had been his fault that his human had gotten injured to begin with.

He was a dragon, the great and mighty Raon Miru, he was supposed to be able to protect his weak human because Cale’s plate was so fragile and couldn’t protect himself properly.

But his shield had broken so easily.

More than the sight of his human falling, the feeling of his shield shattering under the force of the Bear King’s attack –

Raon squeezed his eyes shut, burying his snout into his human’s shoulder. He was a great and mighty dragon whose power was so vast that even Goldie gramps had agreed so why – why had his shield failed? Why had it broken when the one he wanted to protect the most was standing behind it –

“You’re thinking too loudly.”

Raon flinched.

The dragon raised his head, feeling the pillow under him dip and shift. He spared a moment to wonder why Cale was awake when he just fell asleep an hour ago, then quickly leapt forward, pushing both his front paws onto his human’s shoulder, forcing him back down.

Cale fell back with a yelp, and Raon withdrew his paws as though they’d been burned.

“Y-you shouldn’t be getting up!” the dragon stuttered, wings flapping anxiously behind him.

“I’m fine,” Cale replied, shifting his arms underneath him. Raon frowned at his human, who ignored him in favour of pushing himself into a sitting position.

“Human! You should be resting!” Raon protested.

A hand fell on his head, scratching lightly, “I told you I’m fine. Where’s Choi Han?”

Raon wilted slightly. “Choi Han left about half an hour ago, should I call him?”

“What for?” Cale scoffed, “I don’t want to talk to him just yet.”

The dragon felt his heart thump rapidly.

“Now,” his human said, “What’s bothering you?”

“I – nothing is bothering me!” Raon shouted, rearing up, “I am the Great and Mighty Raon! Nothing can bother me –”

“You don’t need to lie to me.” Cale murmured, rubbing Raon’s head gently, “What’s wrong?”

The six year old deflated, dropping his gaze. His wings quivered for a moment, then Raon launched himself at his human’s chest.

Cale blinked when he suddenly found himself with an armful of sobbing child. He looked down at the dragon who was babbling incoherently, his face squished into Cale’s front. He spared a moment to wonder just who dared to make Raon cry before returning his focus back to the dragon. It was awkward, because he didn’t exactly have any experience in comforting anyone, let alone a crying child. Cale ran a hand along Raon’s back, thinking of Grandma Kim – with her gentle smile and kind heart – who had always been able to calm the terrified children down despite the horrendous situation they were in.

It was a little bit different from a human child, but he hoped it would have the same effect.

He didn’t know just how long they sat there like that, with his shirt completely soaked through with tears, but when Raon’s incoherent babbling finally turned into something a little more comprehensible, Cale felt a frown forming on his face.

Just what kind of thoughts had been running through this kid’s head? He felt responsible for Cale getting injured? What kind of rubbish thinking was that? Had Raon been entertaining such nonsense for the past two weeks and nobody noticed? 

For that matter he wanted to know exactly who put those kind of thoughts in his head because –

“A child shouldn’t be responsible for an adult.”

He felt the dragon flinch at his vehement response, but kept running his hand over Raon’s head until he relaxed. Cale took a deep breath, curbing the anger that suddenly erupted.

Raon was powerful and scary – of course he was, the dragon had the ability to literally rain hell on his enemies – but he was also only six years old. If anything, the black dragon shouldn’t even be worrying about things like this. No child should spend their life embroiled in conflict, and no child should have to feel like they were carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders – that was what the adults were for.

Cale’s frown deepened as he looked down at Raon. “You should be focusing on playing and having fun, isn’t that what children are supposed to do?”

The dragon’s eyes widened.

“But I am the Great and Mighty Raon!” he protested, “I should have been able to handle –”

“Just because you’re powerful doesn’t mean you need to do everything.” Cale replied, “It’s not your responsibility to look after everyone all the time.”

Raon bit his lip and looked down. What his human said made sense but –

“You do it all the time…” he muttered, so softly that Cale nearly missed it.

“Excuse me?”

“You do it all the time!” Raon said, glaring up at Cale, who stared at him in disbelief.

“I –”

“You never let any of us help you! You always stand in front even though your body is weak and you have no magic.” The dragon ranted, his paws smacking Cale’s front.

I do not! Cale protested inwardly, none of the turmoil showing on his face as he let Raon hit him. What is this dragon talking about? I literally stand behind everyone and let them fight because they’re stronger than me…

Cale tried to think of any time that he seemingly threw himself into the fire on purpose, and drew a blank. The only incident he could think of that would fit the bill was the Plaza incident, though he’d only thrown up the shield because there had been no time to run away and he didn’t exactly want to get blown up by Redika.

“If I can’t do everything then you have to promise the same!” Raon shouted, drawing Cale’s attention back to the dragon who was now frowning up at Cale, though it looked more like a pout than anything else.

… It was an unexpectedly effective look coupled with his big, round blue eyes.

Cale blinked several times, shaking his head to rid himself of the sudden mental break he found himself in.

“Human!”

Cale looked down at Raon, who was still glaring at him. He looked at the way the dragon’s wings were trembling slightly, belying the fear and upset that was expertly hidden under this bravado. He sighed. Children this age really shouldn’t be able to hide their emotions like that.

“I promise I’ll let Choi Han or Eruhaben-nim handle the dangerous things from now on alright?” Cale replied, the corner of his lips quirking upwards slightly. He ran a hand over Raon’s head, pretending not to hear the dragon’s quiet sniffing.

Raon wrapped his paws around Cale’s chest in a semblance of a hug, which resembled a lizard plastered to his front with how short the dragon’s limbs were. Cale slid an arm under Raon so that the dragon didn’t fall off, letting him tuck his head into the crook of his neck.

Well, he thought to himself as he leaned back, rubbing Raon’s back rhythmically, at least now I have more of an excuse to stay away from dangerous situations.

Cale smiled. He would get rid of the White Star once and for all and finally live out his dream.