Chapter Text
“Absolutely not.”
“But Hongjoo-”
“I will not be groveling at the wings of a stranger to help us when there is no guarantee he even has the power to do so,” Hongjoong nearly snarls as he tries his best not to show his fangs. He may be close friends with King Eden, but the man was still the ruler of these lands.
“But we must try something. This war has been raging for centuries and the last time we had any advantage was when night furies and light furies fought together on our side. This war has caused so much suffering and I, for one, am willing to try anything to help put it to an end,” Eden replies, matching Hongjoong’s intensity with his own.
Hongjoong hesitates because he wants this war to end just as much as Eden does but…
“How do we know he will even be willing to help us? How are we even sure that he exists? No one has seen a night fury in almost a century!”
Eden reaches into his desk and produces an enchanted parchment with a blurred image on it. “This was sent to me by Leez while he was monitoring our southern border. You know his magic has never failed us.”
Hongjoon peers down at the parchment and nearly gasps out loud at what he sees. Eden is right to believe the night fury exists. On the parchment is the dark silhouette of a dragon nearly hidden by treetops. Dragons may be rare nowadays but seeing one fly around every once in a while isn’t cause for too much suspicion. What really catches the light fury by surprise is the cloud of smoke and electricity that blurs out half the dragon's body, as if the dragon were turning invisible. Hongjoong could hardly believe his eyes.
“It can’t be..” he whispers in awe. He had never seen another dragon cloak aside from his parents. Only furies possessed the ability.
Eden nods. “It’s a fury’s cloak. I stared at that parchment for hours before calling you in, Hongjoong. I know for certain he’s real, and I know he’s out there.”
Hongjoong quickly snaps out of his daze to retaliate. “Even if he is real, what makes you think a night fury who has been hiding all these years would be willing to stand with us in this war? He obviously wants nothing to do with it.”
“That’s why I need you to find him and convince him to help us. It would be in the best interest of all the creatures who live in the kingdom and surrounding areas for this war to end. Maybe talking to a fellow fury will help him trust us at the very least. We can use all the allies we can get and you know it, Joong,” Eden reasons.
Hongjoong gives his king a hard look before his eyes move back down to the parchment clutched in his clawed hands. He stares at the blurred image that is unmistakably another fury. He hasn’t seen another one of his kind since he was a child and his family was still alive.
Hongjoong shuts his eyes and takes in a large breath, trying to rid himself of the longing ache in his chest. He can’t afford to make a decision solely based on his emotions, there were too many depending on him to let his own feelings cloud his judgment. He holds his breath for a few seconds and then slowly exhales before turning his burning blue gaze to the king once more.
“Fine. I will look for him and speak with him about your request, but I cannot guarantee he will listen, fellow fury or not,” Hongjoong says, finally conceding. He knew the king would win out in the end.
A small smirk makes its way onto Eden’s lips as if he knew Hongjoong would acquiesce to his request eventually.
“Excellent. Thank you, Captain. Maybe we’ll luck out and have little fury hatchlings running around the castle one day,” Eden teases, no longer serious after having Hongjoong agree to his plan.
Hongjoong nearly chokes on his own spit at the comment. Not having expected Eden’s demeanor to change so quickly.
“Oh my Earth, Eden. I-” He splutters, at a loss for words. Eventually, the dragon just shakes his head in exasperation and heaves a heavy sigh. “Let’s just worry about the war before we try and restore the dragon population, shall we, your highness?” Hongjoong says, trying to sound as firm as possible.
From the chuckle Eden lets out, Hongjoong did a poor job at hiding how flustered he was.
“Very well, we’ll discuss that at a later date. For now, gather whoever you wish to take with you. You’ll leave at dawn. We don’t expect the enemy to attack for another month after how our last battle ended, but please be sure to be back by then. We can’t head into battle without one of our best fighters after all.”
Hongjoon nods. “I’ll be sure to come back by then.”
“Hopefully you’ll be back with a new ally,” Eden winks.
The captain just rolls his eyes at his king. “We’ll see.”
-.-.-.-
“Excuse me???” Wooyoung yells at the top of his lungs.
Hongjoong rubs at his temples, already regretting asking the boisterous witch to come with him on his search. Almost immediately after leaving Eden’s chamber, the light fury had started to recruit his small team. He would only be asking his three most trusted companions to come along with him, but as Wooyoung continued to complain about being awakened from his beauty sleep in the middle of the night, he wonders if taking Jongho and Yeosang would have been enough.
“Wooyoung it’s the middle of the night, could you maybe be quiet for once?” Hongjoong grumbles, running a hand through his snow-white hair.
“How can you expect me to take this news calmly?! We’re supposed to venture into the middle of nowhere to look for a night fury that may or may not be nice and may or may not be willing to help us. This is a big deal, Captain! How are you not freaking out about potentially meeting another fury?! You’re like the only one left as far as we know,” The young witch replies, talking at top speed.
Hongjoong just sighs. “Well, I’m obviously not the last one if there’s another one out there. Now hurry up and get ready. We need to leave at dawn and I still need to get Jongho and Yeosang.”
“Oh, I’d definitely knock before going into their chambers. Don’t barge in like you did with me if you want to spare your virgin eyes. Those two are never decent,” Wooyoung says with a shudder, knowing full well how indecent his best friend could be with his lover after walking in on them one too many times.
Hongjoong cringes. “Thanks for the warning. I expect you to be ready and by the front gates at dawn, got it?” He says, turning to give Wooyoung a meaningful look.
The younger gives him a shit-eating grin and a mock salute. “Aye, Aye, Captain!”
With another sigh, Hongjoong exits the room. He quickly knocks on Yeosang’s door to inform him and Jongho of their plans to meet at dawn and a drowsy Jongho answers that they will meet him at the gates. With all his companions informed, Hongjoong takes off to his own room to gather his belongings.
He packs light, not intending to spend the full month looking for the night fury. He expects finding him won’t be the hard part, but convincing him to form an alliance with them will. If he refuses, Hongjoong does not plan to spend long trying to convince him before giving up and coming home where he was needed most. He had no need for the help of a cowardly dragon who just hid himself away while others risked their lives at war.
With a final check of his room to ensure he had not missed anything, Hongjoong tosses his satchel over his shoulder and leaves his room.
On his way to the front gates, he informs Chris, the other captain of the guard, that he will be away for a week and to take care of things while he is away. He also leaves him with a communication charm Wooyoung had enchanted so that the wolf could get in contact with him if they experienced any trouble while he was away.
Feeling more reassured that the castle would be alright without him for a few weeks, he makes his way to the front gates.
To his surprise, his companions are already waiting for him. Yeosang still looks half asleep as he leans into Jongho’s side and Wooyoung looks as if he’s ready to jump the fence in order to start their adventure. Hongjoong already feels tired.
“Alright, are we all ready?” he asks as he approaches them.
“More than ready to meet another fury! I wonder if he’ll be as short as you are,” Wooyoung teases as he rubs his chin in thought.
“Yah, we’re the same height, brat!” Hongjoong complains, swatting at his younger friend.
Wooyoung only cackles louder when Hongjoong misses his smack and is nearly thrown off balance. “Yeah, but I’m just a little witch, not a big bad dragon. I don’t need to be tall and intimidating.”
“Whatever,” Hongjoong scoffs. “It’s a day’s walk to the southern border, so prepare your weak little legs to walk all the way there, Jung.”
Wooyoung’s giggles stop almost immediately. “Wait, we aren’t flying there?”
Hongjoong smirks. “Well, I’m definitely flying there.”
“Hongjoong, you can’t be serious!” the witch shrieks.
“Can’t hear you over the flapping of my tiny dragon wings,” he replies, still grinning as he turns away and spreads his sleek white wings for flight.
He hears Wooyoung let out an indignant shout as he becomes air-born and flies over the castle walls. The witches will figure out some sort of flying spell, he’s sure.
-.-.-.-
As expected, it took the better part of the day to make it to the kingdom’s southern border. Yeosang had conjured up a flight spell and he, Wooyoung and Jongho were hovering not far behind Hongjoong as he navigated the skies with ease. He could have gotten there much faster on his own if he chose to use his full dragon form, but he stayed in his half-human form to make communicating with his companions easier. It would also put too much of a strain on Yeosang to fly the rest of them there that quickly. He may be a nature witch, but controlling the elements was no easy feat.
“How much longer?” He hears Wooyoung whine behind him.
“Just one more hour until we reach the border,” Hongjoong shouts back in order to be heard over the wind.
Wooyoung just complains louder. “Still? We’ve been flying forever and I’m getting tired.”
Hongjoong snorts. “Tired? From what? Hanging off Yeosang too tightly? He’s the one doing all the work.”
“Excuse you! I’m sharing my magic with him so that he can sustain the flight spell longer because someone wanted to fly off by themselves. Flying around with three people isn’t easy when you don’t have fancy wings and one of you is heavy as fuck because they decided to be pure muscle,” the witch yells back, shooting Hongjoong a glare and side-eyeing Jongho.
“Hey,” Jongho protests, pinching Wooyoung’s side.
The witch yelps and they lose a bit of altitude as he lets go of Yeosang to smack Jongho in retaliation.
“Do you two want to fall out of the sky? Stop moving around so much, I’m going to lose focus,” Yeosang chastises them as he keeps his eyes locked straight ahead. If they weren’t in the air, he’d be sending disapproving looks at both of his companions.
“Sorry, Yeo,” Wooyoung says apologetically. He wraps his hand around Yeosang again to keep his magic flowing into the other. “But your muscle-head lover totally started it,” the younger witch adds petulantly.
Yeosang rolls his eyes and keeps flying while Jongho glares at Wooyoung but says nothing, not wanting to start another fight and upset Yeosang.
Hongjoong shakes his head fondly and turns to look over at his companions to make sure they were okay after that little spat. They had regained altitude, but he could tell that the extended flight was wearing the others down. After all, they weren’t quite built for flying the way he was.
“Alright, we’ll fly for a bit longer and then set up camp near the border. We’ll start our search in the morning after we’ve all rested,” the light fury says.
“Thank the Earth, I’m about to faint,” Wooyoung answers back, tossing an arm over his eyes dramatically as if he were the one flying three people.
Hongjoong snorts and just turns to look ahead. He flies at a more leisurely pace as he tries to find a good place for them to land and set up camp. He wants to get as close to the border as possible since that was where the night fury had last been seen, but he didn’t want to land too close to the edge of their territory in case their enemy or even the night fury tried to attack them as they rested.
Around half an hour later, Hongjoong spots a small clearing near a stream a few miles west of the southern border and decides it’s the perfect place to set up camp for the night. “Yeosang, let’s land by the stream over to the left, we can start descending now,” he directs the other as he points to the stream.
“Understood, Captain,” he hears Yeosang reply as Wooyoung yells a “Finally,” from beside him.
Once they’re on solid ground again, he can hear Yeosang release a small sigh of relief. It must have really put a strain on the witch to fly for so long.
Hongjoong frowns. He should have been more conscious of his companions and asked them to take more breaks or offered to fly with Wooyoung on his back even if it would have slowed them down. He knew their mission was important, but so was their wellbeing. He made a mental note to take it easier on them on the way back.
“Alright, I’ll set up camp. The rest of you can start on dinner and relax, you all worked hard today,” the captain says, walking over to an open area to start setting up their tents.
“I got dinner covered,” Wooyoung says as he starts unpacking their provisions. “No way I’m letting Yeosang or Jongho touch our food.”
“Hey, I’m nowhere near as bad as Yeosang, but if you don’t want my help that’s your loss,” Jongho says with a shrug.
“I’m too tired to even defend myself. Wake me up when dinner’s ready,” Yeosang says tiredly, laying his head down on Jongho’s lap.
Wooyoung just waves them off. “No help needed or wanted, thanks,” he dismisses and gets back to work.
Soon, Hongjoong finishes setting up their tents and Wooyoung finishes working his cooking magic on four delicious smelling bowls of stew.
“Thanks for dinner, Woo,” Yeosang says, gingerly scooping the steaming stew into his mouth after blowing on it a few times.
“I’m happy to bless the world with my gifts at any time,” the younger replies with a small laugh as he eats his own portion in delight.
They eat quietly for the most part, only commenting on how good the stew is here and there.
When they’re almost done, Jongho gets a bit more talkative.
“So, Captain, are you excited to meet another fury? I know this one is a night fury, not a light fury, but it still has to be exciting, right?” the youngest member of their group asks.
Hongjoong looks over at the half siren and just shrugs. “I’m not really sure how to feel to be honest. I know I should be happy to meet another fury, but there are just so many unknowns. We don't know if they will be a friend or foe and I don’t want to put my hopes in someone who may hurt or betray us, fury or not.”
“Wow, Hongjoong, way to be a pessimist,” Wooyoung comments, shoveling the last bite of stew into his mouth.
“I’m not being pessimistic, I’m being realistic. I don’t want to get excited to meet someone I don’t know anything about. Best to stay cautious, especially in times of war,” the light fury says evenly. He appreciates Wooyoung’s positivity, he just doesn’t think these are the right circumstances to be an optimist.
“I call bullshit, but if you say so, Captain,” Wooyoung fires back as he starts to clean up the used bowls and spoons. “I just think you’re scared they won’t like you.”
Hongjoong feels a slight pang in his chest but chooses to ignore it. “That’s ridiculous. Why would it even matter to me if they liked me or not? I’m here on a mission from King Eden, not a personal meeting,” he tries to defend.
“Well, up until yesterday, you were the only fury anyone had seen in the last hundred years. I think that’s kind of a big deal, Captain,” Jongho adds.
Hongjoong sends him a sharp look. “I didn’t say meeting the other fury wasn’t important. I said I wasn’t emotionally invested in the encounter. We’re here strictly on business. My personal feelings shouldn’t matter.”
“But shouldn’t they?” Yeosang chimes in. “You and this night fury may very well be the only furies left alive. I think it’s reasonable for you to personally be invested in this as well, Hongjoong.”
The light fury goes quiet for a moment and stares into his empty bowl of stew. Was he excited? Was he afraid? He didn’t know. All he knew was that if he didn’t focus on the mission, he was sure the deep feeling of longing in his chest may be too much to bear.
Finally, he looks up at the others and just shakes his head. “I’m not sure how I feel about the situation, but I do know we have orders to follow. I appreciate the concern, but I think we should rest for now so that we can look for the night fury in the morning and figure out our next steps from there,” he says as he rises to his feet and hands Wooyoung his bowl.
“I’ll take the first watch, so the rest of you can turn in for the night. Jongho, I’ll be waking you up in a few hours to switch, so rest while you can.”
The lieutenant gives an easy nod. “Yes, Captain. Good luck on your watch.”
Hongjoong nods back in thanks and watches as Jongho, Yeosang and Wooyoung head for the tents.
“Goodnight, Hongjoong. Don’t pull another all nighter or I’ll put a hex on you,” Wooyoung threatens with a wave over his shoulder.
Hongjoong manages to crack a small smile at that. “I won’t if you don’t drool on my side of the tent again!” he yells back.
“A lady never drools, asshole!” Wooyoung shouts as he flicks him off and this time Hongjoong lets out a full laugh.
Once everyone but Hongjoong is safely tucked away in their tents, the light fury spreads his wings and sprawls out on a patch of grass near their camp to keep watch. He looks up at the vast expanse of stars and can’t help but feel a little lonely. As much as he hates to admit it, his companions were probably right, he should be excited to meet another fury. However, he is more terrified than anything else, even if he would never admit it out loud. This could be his only chance to befriend another of his kind. Sure he had met dragons before, but it wasn’t the same as meeting another fury; someone who probably knew what it was like to go through life alone.
Unlike the many stars twinkling in the sky, he was always alone. One of a kind. Most would think being unique was something to be envious of, but Hongjoong didn’t think so. After his parents died in the war, he was the last light fury left, and he feared for many years that he would feel utterly alone for the rest of his life. But thankfully, that wasn’t the case. King Eden took him under his care a short while after his parents had passed and he began to live in the castle. He met his friends there and made a life for himself protecting the few people who made life worth living again. But none of that truly erased the longing of flying with his own kind, something he thought he’d never get to do after he lost his parents.
With a deep sigh, Hongjoong decides to take his own advice from earlier and stop thinking about this stranger before he even got the chance to meet them. For all he knew, they wouldn’t even be able to find them. After all, this night fury had stayed hidden for more than a hundred years.
Hongjoong focuses his senses on their surroundings and tries to drown out his thoughts with the sounds of the forest. The light breeze that flutters through their camp, the steady sound of the stream flowing in the background and the light rustling of bushes and branches as nocturnal animals make their way through the forest all made up the calming sounds of the night. With his mind more at ease, he opens his eyes and stares up at the sky, no longer feeling small and alone under the stars.
He would work through his feelings later, but for now, he couldn’t afford to be distracted.
-.-.-.-
The next morning, the four men eat a quick breakfast, once again cooked by Wooyoung, and pack up their tents to start their search for the night fury.
The lieutenant and witches investigate on the ground while Hongjoong takes to the skies to cover more ground and see if he can spot something from his vantage point.
When it’s nearing noon and they still haven’t found any traces of the other fury, Wooyoung suggests going beyond their southern border.
“I’m pretty sure if this dragon wants to stay hidden, he wouldn’t be casually living in a large kingdom’s territory,” the young witch comments as they’re all gathered at the edge of the border.
Hongjoong shakes his head. “Going beyond the border will put us in foreign territory. We’ll be too vulnerable to an enemy attack.”
“What good is having some of the strongest fighters in the kingdom with us if we can’t even leave the border? Jongho will just knock out anyone who tries to attack us with his super siren vocal cords or something and you’re probably one of the most powerful dragons alive right now. Unless there’s a whole army waiting outside this specific part of the border, which I doubt, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Wooyoung says with a shrug. “Besides, I’ve never been outside the border, it’ll be an adventure!”
“Why are you always so reckless?” the light fury says disapprovingly.
“Even though Wooyoung apparently has no idea how my siren abilities work, I do think he has a point about leaving the border,” Jongho cuts in. “We’ve been walking all around the area for hours and haven’t found anything, Captain. I think we don’t really have many other options left.”
Hongjoong eyes the lieutenant carefully before turning his gaze to Yeosang. The blond witch was the most level-headed out of all of them, so Hongjoong always valued his input.
Yeosang stares back for a while and contemplates his response before answering. “I also think we should leave the border. I’ve been trying to use my nature magic to track any leftover dragon energy but it’s all led me to dead ends. I feel the only way we will make progress is if we leave the protection of the border. Maybe my magic will be able to pick something up then,” he explains.
Hongjoong mulls over the other’s words before giving a hesitant nod. “I still think this is risky, but I suppose you’re all right. We don’t have much choice at this point.”
He didn’t like the idea of endangering his companions but they were right, they hadn’t come up with any leads and they had already wasted half the day.
They decide to exit the border in the area where Leez had seen the night fury to have the best chance at catching their trail if they left any behind. Wooyoung and Yeosang carefully have them cross the boundary line Leez had drawn with his magic so as not to falsely alert the other witch that the border had been crossed by intruders.
Once they are in the thicker parts of the forest beyond the southern border, they continue their search. Hongjoong once again takes to the skies and the others continue searching on foot.
This time, however, it doesn’t take long for them to make progress.
Hongjoong had only been flying over the thick canopy of trees for about half an hour before he hears Wooyoung’s voice through one of his enchanted earrings.
“Captain, it looks like Yeosang found something,” the witch communicates. “We’re about three miles east of the border.”
“I’m on my way down,” the light fury answers, already changing directions to head their way.
“Hongjoong, over here!” Wooyoung waves at the dragon when he finally catches sight of his companions.
Hongjoong lands smoothly and jogs over to them. “What have you found?” he asks.
“Yeosang thinks he found a barrier?” Wooyoung replies.
The dragon tilts his head in question. “Like the one at the border?”
“No, that was just a boundary spell that alerts the caster if anything crosses it. A barrier spell like this one is meant to keep things out, which means someone’s trying to hide something,” the witch explains conspiratorially.
Realization slowly dawns on the dragon and he starts to understand why this could be such an important find. “And you think this could be how the night fury has stayed in hiding?”
“That’s our guess, anyway. We could also be about to anger some very powerful fae who are just protecting their home, though,” Wooyoung says with a half shrug, apparently unconcerned with the dangers of angering strong magic users.
Hongjoong grimaces. He really hopes they aren’t about to earn the wrath of some powerful forest fairies. They definitely didn’t need any more enemies in this war.
The dragon then turns his attention to the other witch who has been quietly concentrating as he sits on the forest floor with his eyes closed. “Do you think you can break the barrier, Yeosang?” he asks.
Yeosang shakes his head no. “There’s no way I’d be able to break something as strong as this.”
Hongjoong frowns, but before he can ask another question, Yeosang continues. “But, I might be able to manipulate it enough to get us in.”
“Manipulate?”
Yeosang nods. “Yes. We may not be able to break it, but we can trick the barrier’s magic into letting us in. All barrier spells are the same in one feature, they are all designed to keep specific things in or specific things out. If I can make it think that we are allowed in, it should be easy to cross.”
“I see…and do you think that’s possible?” Hongjoong questions. He wasn’t doubting Yeosang’s magical abilities, he just wasn’t sure how difficult a task that would be.
“Don’t worry, Hongjoong, Yeosangie is a nature magic expert, he’ll have this spell figured out in no time,” Wooyoung says as he slings an arm over Hongjoong in reassurance. “Right, Sangie?”
Yeosang agrees with a small hum. “I’d be able to do it a lot faster if you two weren’t distracting me, but lucky for you, I work great under pressure,” the blond teases with a smirk, still keeping his eyes closed as he presumably focused on getting them into the barrier.
Wooyoung sticks his tongue out at his best friend even though he can’t see him, but quiets down nonetheless to let the other witch concentrate on the task at hand.
Not even ten minutes later, a small glowing light appears in front of Yeosang.
“See? I told you he could do it,” Wooyoung says, voice giddy and eyes alight with excitement.
“Wow,” Jongho voices quietly, in awe of his lover’s magical skills.
Hongjoong himself was quite impressed by the glow and Yeosang’s apparent ability to manipulate high-level nature magic.
“While I appreciate the confidence, I’m going to need you all to cross as soon as possible. I can’t control the spell for too long,” Yeosang says, finally opening his eyes to usher them forward with a hand. His eyebrows were knitted together tightly and Hongjoong can see the strain in his shoulders.
“Alright, let’s go,” the light fury commands, stepping towards the opening Yeosang had made in the barrier. “Wooyoung, you’ll be behind me, and Yeosang you stay behind Jongho when you cross.”
He waits to receive nods of affirmation from his companions before tentatively stepping into the glowing opening.
Hongjoong is on high alert as soon as he steps foot into the new area. He has one of his wings spread out to protect Wooyoung behind him and one hand on the dragon tooth dagger at his side. When the barrier finally closes behind Yeosang, the dragon sharpens his sight and hearing to the level of his true dragon form, causing his blue eyes to shine even brighter.
The sun is still out and the clearing the barrier opened up into seems fairly calm. A few feet in front of them is a small cottage with vegetable and flower beds laid out in front of it. There are trees all over the area and a rocky mountainside a few miles behind the cottage, but nothing out of the ordinary catches his attention even with his heightened senses. Hongjoong would say the entire area looked rather picturesque if it weren’t for the stressful situation they were in.
“Hongjoong, can you lower your wing a bit, it’s kind of hard to see,” Wooyoung whisper yells as he none-too-gently nudges Hongjoong’s wing down while they continue making their way forward.
“Be quiet! Someone could hear you,” Hongjoong nearly hisses at his younger companion for potentially giving away their presence.
“I’m just saying! I’d be a lot more useful if I could actually see,” Wooyoung protests, lowering his voice, but only marginally.
Just as Hongjoong is about to turn around and shove a hand over Wooyoung’s loud mouth, he feels a tug at his leg and then his world is being flipped upside down.
Hongjoong hears Yeosang and Jongho gasp in surprise as Wooyoung lets out an ear-piercing shriek. He isn’t sure what has grabbed them all, but he is quick to draw his dagger and slice away at whatever is suspending him in mid-air. He extends his wings as he flutters down to the ground and when he looks back up he can finally see what had trapped them - vines.
“Ugh,” he grunts as he dodges another set of vines and branches trying to ensnare him. He should have known that nothing needed to look out of the ordinary to be dangerous in a forest full of fairies. After all, a fae’s greatest weapon was nature itself. In a forest surrounded by trees, anything could be a threat.
“Hongjoong get us down!” He hears Wooyoung yell as he watches the witch struggle against the vines.
“Working on it!” He yells back. “Jongho, can you cut yourself down?” he asks from his spot under them, slicing away at more vines trying to trap him
“Negative, Captain. It’s got me wrapped up pretty good,” Jongho strains to say as more vines wrap around his strong arms to hold him in place. Hongjoong realizes the plants must be imbued with some pretty strong magic if not even Jongho can break through his binds.
“Yeosang, Wooyoung, any way to stop these things from attacking us?” Hongjoong asks next.
“Nature magic isn’t usually my department and I can’t reach any of my charms!” Wooyoung answers, disgruntled at not being able to fight back.
“I don’t think so,” Yeosang replies, struggling in his binds. “They won’t listen to me, which means whoever is controlling them is a stronger nature user than me. The only thing you can do is destroy the source tree or break the user's concentration.”
“Shit,” Hongjoong curses as he dodges a few more vines and takes flight to avoid some of the root and other plant attacks.
He needed to think of something fast before the vines could catch him or fully constrict his friends. He could let off a few plasma blasts and destroy the surrounding trees, but something about aimlessly destroying this beautiful forest in which they were trespassers didn’t sit right with him. The other option was finding the one controlling the plants. He could use his echo location, but he wasn’t even sure how well that would work in such a dense forest. Suddenly, though, he gets an idea. Fairy ears tend to be sensitive so maybe…
“Jongho! Let out a siren call!” Hongjoong says, swooping in to try and hack at some of the branches holding his comrades.
“What? Right now? I might hurt you!” The younger protests.
“It’s fine! I’ll cover my ears. Just see if you can disorient them. If we can slow them down, I can cut you down,” Hongjoong explains as his wrist gets caught by one of the vines. “Fuck, do it now Jongho or we’ll all get trapped,” he says urgently as he slices away the vine from his wrist just before another could grab him.
Jongho tries to break his binds one more time before huffing in defeat. “Fine. Yeosang and Wooyoung, you guys cover your ears, too, this is going to be loud.”
“Don’t exactly have my hands available here, so be gentle, will you?” Wooyoung says, struggling against his own restraints.
“Well, you’ve been warned,” Jongho says. He gives Hongjoong just a second to cover his ears before letting out a high-pitched vocal blast. As the dragon predicted, the sound seems to have an effect and the vines loosen enough for Jongho to finally break free, although they don’t stop moving altogether.
“Finally,” Jongho says as he untangles himself from his binds and draws an axe from his back, quickly cutting Yeosang down while the vines were still disoriented.
Hongjoong’s ears are ringing as he sprints over to cut Wooyoung down, but he isn’t as dizzy as he thought he would be after the sonic blast. Jongho really did take it easy on them.
“I can’t believe Jongho said I didn’t understand his powers. If those aren’t some super sonic vocals, then I don’t know what is,” Wooyoung complains as Hongjoong sets him on the ground.
The group quickly huddles together and forms a small circle to help fend off the plants that are slowly regaining energy. The user must have recovered from the blast as well.
“Now what?” Wooyoung says as he pulls out a small protection charm. “We can’t exactly destroy all the trees in the forest.”
“And I wouldn’t want to either,” Hongjoong adds.
“I think I can try and pinpoint the user, but it may take some time. Their magic is imbued deeply into the entire forest, so it’ll be hard to determine where the source is strongest,” Yeosang says calmly as he lowers himself between the other three and places his hands on the ground. “In the meantime, some cover would be great.”
“I won’t let them lay a leaf on your pretty head, Sangie,” Wooyoung says, placing his protection charm over Yeosang instead.
Yeosang chuckles. “I appreciate it, Woo.”
“Cut down a few hundred plants? Sounds easy enough,” Jongho comments, making sure to firmly plant his body in front of Yeosang.
“Alright, we’ll buy you as much time as you need, Yeo,” Hongjoong agrees, taking up the flank and raising his dagger.
They stay like that, forming a protective triangle around Yeosang as the nature witch does his best to track the fae attacking them. Jongho makes easy work of the vines with his axe and sword when they get too close and Wooyoung concentrates on maintaining a protective spell under their feet so no vines can sprout underneath them and catch them by surprise like earlier. Hongjoong slashes at the plants with his dagger and claws, having to use a few puffs of his fire magic here and there when the vines get too close but trying not to use enough to accidentally set the forest ablaze.
They do well for the better part of twenty minutes, clearing away as many of the aggressive plants as possible as Yeosang concentrates on finding the user, but Hongjoong can tell they won’t be able to sustain the rhythm for long. Wooyoung is unused to long fights and looks like he will tire soon and Jongho’s earlier siren blast must have worn him out more than Hongjoong had realized because he can see the lieutenant’s movements losing their sharpness.
“Yeosang, how much longer?” Hongjoong asks, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice.
“Not much longer. I’ve narrowed down the range to the northeast, but no exact location yet,” he replies, voice somewhat strained. All this magic use in one day was probably wearing down on Yeosang as well, even if he was just sitting still.
“You might want to speed that up a little, Yeo,” Wooyong says with a grunt as he stuns another set of plants trying to sneak up behind him. “I still have to help you with the disabling charm, right? I won’t be able to do that if we have to fight these things off for much longer,” he continues, voice tense.
“I know, I’m going as fast as I can. Just a little more,” Yeosang says, gripping the ground even harder.
Hongjoong nearly misses the next few vines that come his way and knows they’re all feeling the fatigue. “I don’t want to pressure you, Yeosang, but we’re definitely running out of steam here.”
“I’m perfectly fine, thanks for asking,” Jongho says, ripping a vine that had latched onto his arm.
“Your complaining is really making this easier,” Yeosang grumbles sarcastically, but keeps his eyes closed and brows furrowed in concentration.
“We have to put the pressure on you or you’d be there fondling the ground for ages!” Wooyoung quips back, barely being able to keep the newest onslaught of vines at bay. “Fuck, Yeosang hurry up!”
“Okay, okay, almost there!” the other witch yells back. “Come on…” he mumbles to himself.
After a few more tense moments, Yeosang finally opens his eyes. “There!” he yells, pointing to their left.
“Fucking finally,” Wooyoung says slumping down next to Yeosang and holding out a small amulet between them. “Time to shut down this vine bitch.”
Yeosang nods and places his hands over Wooyoungs, pointing the amulet in the right direction. “Ready?” he asks the younger.
Wooyoung nods. “As I’ll ever be. Aim right, Sangie. Enchanting this amulet was a pain in the ass.”
The nature witch snorts. “As if I’d ever miss.”
“Any time now you two!” Jongho yells, putting all his strength into holding off the vines.
“You guys really do complain a lot,” Wooyoung huffs but raises his other hand alongside Yeosang’s.
“One.”
“Two.”
“Debilito,” they both say in unison and the amulet glows a bright red before shooting a beam of light deep into the forest.
Almost instantly the vines crumble and the trees and bushes still. Whatever connection had been controlling them had finally been broken.
Hongjoong nearly collapses on the ground and crushes his own wings. “Thank the Earth,” he breaths, sheathing his dagger and taking a few deep breaths.
“It isn’t over yet, Captain. We still have to go question whoever did this. The amulet won’t hold them forever,” Yeosang says, rising to his feet along with Wooyoung but never letting go of his hold on the glowing amulet.
“Of course,” Hongjoong sighs, hauling himself to his feet once again. “The mission doesn’t care if I need a nap or not.”
Wooyoung giggles. “You can sleep after we find that night fury.”
They don’t have to walk far it turns out, as the fae was hiding just a half-mile away, camouflage amongst the dense trees. They find him wrapped in glowing red binds and lying on his side, struggling to break free. He was as pretty as Hongjoong had expected a forest fairy to be. He had light blue hair with soft flecks of purple scattered throughout, with a sharp jaw and ever sharper cat-like eyes.
“Let me go, witch!” he spits venomously, still fighting against the binding spell.
“Ah, ah, ah. Bad little fairies don’t get what they want,” Wooyoung tutts teasingly. “Even if they are pretty,” he adds with a playful wink.
The blue-haired fae only glares. “I have done nothing wrong. It was protecting my forest from intruders.”
Wooyoung waves him off. “Semantics. You were the one who attacked us when we were just passing through peacefully.”
“Peacefully?!” the fae shouts in disbelief. “Is that what you call manipulating my barrier, trespassing into my forest and destroying my trees?”
“We could have actually hurt you like you tried to do with those vines, but instead we just neutralized your powers. I think that’s actually pretty nice of us, little fairy.” Wooyoung smirks down at the struggling fae.
“Enough teasing, Wooyoung,” Hongjoong cuts in. “We’re sorry about trespassing but we’re on a very important mission on behalf of the kingdom of KQ,” the dragon explains.
The fairy turns to look at Hongjoong as if just realizing he was there. When he finally gets a good look at the dragon his eyes widen. “It can’t be…” he says.
Hongjoong frowns in confusion. “What?”
“You’re a-”
Before the fairy can finish his sentence, a fiery purple blast is hurled their way.
Hongjoong instinctively puts up his wings to defend himself and his companions from the blast, but it is much stronger than he thought it would be. He is pushed to the ground by the strong blast and can feel the energy surge through his wings. The feeling was so eerily familiar, yet so different that it leaves Hongjoong disoriented. He had never been hit by his own plasma blast before, but he imagines it would feel a lot like this.
“Captain!” he distantly hears Jongho yell from behind him.
He can also feel a hand on his shoulder but isn’t sure who is trying to get his attention as his head continues to swim.
“Get away from the fairy!” he hears a new voice growl. It’s deep and rich and full of rage. It makes Hongjoong’s scales tingle.
When he finally gets his bearings enough to look up at the voice, he spots a sleek, black dragon in the sky. His wings are spread wide and dark as the night sky, a stark contrast against the late afternoon sun. His eyes are a burning green color and his short black horns are glowing with a purple tinge, threatening to fire off another plasma blast at any moment.
Hongjoong had never seen a night fury before, but he had no idea they could be so frighteningly beautiful.