Dragon Prince - Chapter Twenty Two
Dragon Prince
Chapter Twenty Two
Hyunjoong groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. Every limb of his body was tingling in the aftermath of the magic inflicted on it, yet he paid them no mind, his eyes were fixed on the white dragon that lay on her side, her wings spread out behind her. He tried to climb to his feet but discovered that he could hardly push his body up onto his knees.
Groaning he let his body fall back to the ground and settled into a determined crawl, pulling himself forward inch by inch using his arms. He felt Youngsaeng’s desire to help him and a moment later the black dragon landed ungracefully beside him. Unlike every other landing he had seen the dragon perform, this one seemed more like falling out of the sky then any real attempts to set his feet on the ground. In the end, Youngsaeng had to take a few steps backwards because his descent had set him too far forward, a mistake he never made.
He moved to Hyunjoong and knelt so the man could throw an arm over his neck to use him as support. Hyunjoong said nothing as together they stood and began to move toward his mother uncaring of the battle that still raged around them. His eyes were focused only on her. For a moment it looked as if she was not alive any longer, then her side rose and fell as she took a great breath. Her wings shuddered with the exhale of it, and she began to shrink.
By the time the pair reached her side she laid on the ground a bloody and bruised woman, but whole and alive. Hyunjoong unceremoniously, let himself drop from Youngsaeng, catching himself on his arms so that he didn’t hit the ground face first. He shifted to her, rolling over to sit and pulled her into his lap. Youngsaeng collapsed with a sigh, curled around the two.
“Mother?” Hyunjoong called as he brushed a few strands of slivery white hair.
Her eyes fluttered open in response to his voice and he stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. “My son,” she said weakly, her hand reaching for his face.
“Hush,” he told her gently, grasping her hand in his and lifting it to press against his cheek. “You shouldn’t talk. You’ll be alright now, you just need rest.”
‘Oh my son. My Ayize. What a man you have become,’ she said in his mind.
Her eyes were so full of love that Hyunjoong felt tears welling up in his eyes. “Mother,” he choked out.
‘I am known to our kin as Ikuseghan,’ she told him gently. ‘I want you to know that.’
“It will all be alright, mother,” he told her in reassurance. There was a hint that this would be the last time they spoke in her voice and he needed her to know that would never be the truth. “He will never hurt you again. You are safe now.”
‘Oh my Ayize. I am so proud of you. You have become the man I hoped you would become. Do you know what the name I gave you upon your birth means?’ she asked him. He shook his head gently and she smiled. ‘It means ‘Hope, it comes’. And you have my son. You have brought hope to everyone. I know you will be a wise and gentle King, the sort of King the Dragon King was always meant to be.’
“Why do you talk like you won’t be there to see it?” he asked, a tear running free from his eyes.
‘I cannot. You will have your mate with you and many friends, but here is where I must fade from this world to the next,’ she told him gently.
“No you can’t,” he replied as his tears began to flow in earnest. “I just found you, you can’t leave me again.”
‘If there were another way I would take it my son, but we are bound, the King and I.’
Hyunjoong instantly remembered what that would mean and he pulled her closer. “No. We can lock him up somewhere, so that he can’t get out and hurt anyone.”
‘Can you guarantee that it would hold forever? Do you know what he would do to every creature when he broke free? No prison would hold him forever, you know that in your heart.’
“But that doesn’t mean that…” he left his sentence unfinished, finding that he couldn’t bring himself to even say it.
‘Oh how I long to hold you in my arms, my son. I am so sorry.’
Hyunjoong dropped her hand and gathered her in his arms, pulling her close and burying his head in her neck. He choked back a sob as the feeling of home rolled over him. Her arms weakly lifted, one settling on the back of his head, her fingers in his hair, and the other on his back.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered, and he felt that she wasn’t really speaking to him at all. ‘Thank you for allowing a selfish woman this one thing.’
“You are anything but selfish,” he told her harshly, pulling away so he could scold her properly.
There was both a smile and sadness in her eyes. ‘I fear I have selfishly wasted too much time with you. The King stirs.’
Hyunjoong glanced up sharply, his eyes seeking the form of the King. Sure enough the man was struggling to rise from the ground with one hand pulling at the sword in his chest while his men around him that were not engaged in battle watched wearily, as if afraid to offer assistance.
‘Your sword is encased in your combined magic and it holds him at bay. He cannot counter the magic the two of you can produce through your bond, ours does not allow him that, but he can remove the sword. When it is free, there will be no force in this land that can stop him.’
He stared at his mother; the knowledge of what he had to do weighing heavily on his mind, but his body was frozen from doing it. She smiled gently at him, a smile that a mother used when she knew exactly what her son was thinking and the sight of it made his tears run anew.
‘Do not worry my son. I do not ask this of you,’ she told him. Before he could do anything to stop it, he felt her slide free the dagger he kept at his waist. She plunged it into her own chest, directly into her heart with speed that he didn’t know she was capable of.
“Mother!” he screamed as she pulled the dagger free and her blood followed it. He pressed his hands frantically over the wound as the dagger clattered from her fingers to the ground. “Get Arunika!” he cried frantically to Youngsaeng as her blood began to seep through his fingers.
Dimly he heard the King’s scream of pain and anger, but his focus was for the woman in his arms. She weakly raised her hand and cradled his cheek, smiling at him peacefully. ‘I love you, my son,’ she whispered in his mind. Then her touch was gone both from his mind and his body as her hand fell.
“No!” he cried in disbelief, his tears flowing freely. White scales began from the wound and spread to cover her body as her hold on her human form began to fade as her life had. Youngsaeng rose and gently pulled him from her as she grew. “No, no,” he moaned, crying openly.
“He killed her!” Hyunjoong snarled suddenly, trying to pull free of the dragon his eyes intent on the form of the now dead king. “It is because of him she is dead!”
‘No my mate,’ Youngsaeng’s voice filled his mind, bringing with it his sorrow and his love. ‘She chose this path.’
“We could have saved her if not for him,” Hyunjoong insisted his struggle against the dragon weakening.
‘Do you know what her name meant, Hyunjoong? Her name, translated into your language means ‘Peace overcomes war’. She lived up to her name and died with honor, for you.’ Youngsaeng told him gently.
“I never wanted,” he sobbed and then found that words couldn’t express the things that he wanted to say so he showed Youngsaeng instead, opening his heart and his mind. Youngsaeng accepted it all and surround him with a love so deep that he sobbed for more than just her loss. With sobs shaking his body, they moved to the white dragon.
Hyunjoong pulled off his armor and then his shirt beneath. Carefully he used the fabric to begin wiping the blood from her scales, the only thing he could do for her now. Youngsaeng surrounded him protectively, bringing water from the ground with the rest of his strength to aid Hyunjoong in his task all the while filling both of their minds with a song of mourning and love.
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They had been gravely mistaken in their estimate of the King’s troops, Kyujong had decided shortly after the battle had begun. The numbers had been close to what they had guessed, but every soldier seemed to be surrounded by some sort of magic that would take one of the dragons to break and there were simply not enough of them to go around.
He had abandoned his bow almost immediately, as his arrows seemed to skim right by his targets instead of piecing them as they should, and switched to his short blades, diving into the fray with his friends. Hyungjoon wielded his daggers with a quick finesse as Jungmin weaved around their bodies, slipping in and out between enemies, smoothly. Kyujong was certain he had begun the battle with his sword as his weapon, but as he had, had found that it didn’t work.
Instead Jungmin had switched to a silk scarf. Whatever was protecting the enemy didn’t seem to deem a piece of fabric something to protect against, so the trio quickly set up a pattern to use that to their advantage. Hyungjoon with his daggers and Kyujong with his blades would distract the enemy long enough that Jungmin could sneak around him and strangle him from behind.
They realized after the third one, that when the soldier dropped his sword whatever had been protecting them, disappeared and that quickly became their new method of attack. The three fell into a rhythm, working together, guarding one another and either flat out killing or severally wounding their opponents.
It was when their muscles were beginning to burn, and the injuries they did have were slowing them significantly, that they felt a change in the flow of the battle. There seemed to be a moment where the very air itself seemed to freeze and then expel in a rush as if every single person had been holding their breath and released it all at once.
Kyujong had been around Youngsaeng enough to realize the feeling of magic when it brushed his skin and he realized even more acutely, the feeling when magic that had been was suddenly gone. He dove in quickly, startling the solider he was facing in combat and slicing open the man’s leg. The soldier stared at his wound in incomprehension before he suddenly dropped his sword and dropped to his knees, hands raised in a plea. Kyujong kicked his sword away and held him at the tip of his blade, careful to not fully take his eyes off him as he looked around the battle field.
Around the land stained by blood and battle, men were dropping their weapons and falling in surrender. Kyujong couldn’t believe his eyes as they began to do so. In four spots around the battle field, men leapt into the air, yellow wings erupting from their backs as they did so. Moments after they were in the air, the shift completed and four earth dragons circled the field from above.
The earth beneath his feet began to shake and then beneath the man in front of him it softened, dragging the soldier down. When he was waist deep, it solidified again leaving him scrabbling at it frantically. Kyujong could see the same thing happening around the field and it took a moment for it to sink into his mind. They had won.
“We did it?” Jungmin breathed, panting beside him as if he couldn’t believe it himself.
Kyujong nodded, glancing around at the wearily standing figures of their own people, fewer then they had started with, but there were many still alive and that is all that mattered.
“Youngsaeng and Hyunjoong?” Hyungjoon asked the question that they were all wondering softly.
Kyujong looked around the area the best he could for their shapes. When his eyes fell upon a black dragon laying unmoving beside a larger white one, his eyes widened. “Youngsaeng!” he exclaimed, taking off at a run towards the dragon.
He wove between enemies and friends alike, taking only a moment to sheath his weapons when the people were too thick to move through with them before he was off at a run again. He reached the edge of what looked like an impromptu ring that had formed around the dragons and a single body. Kyujong ignored the body in favor of rushing to the dragon and pulling out his field medical kit as he did so.
It was ridiculous to think that he could do anything for the black dragon but he would try everything he could. “Youngsaeng!” he called as he rushed to the dragon.
Youngsaeng’s head lifted and dim gold eyes stared at him revealing Hyunjoong who knelt at the white dragon’s side. ‘It is his mother. Her sacrifice has won this day,’ he felt a brush of deep sadness before it was pulled back from him and Youngsaeng rested his head on the ground again. ‘I am glad you are safe.’ Youngsaeng told him honestly and the feeling of truth and love from the dragon stunned him.
He staggered backwards and Jungmin’s strong arm wrapped around his shoulder. “He’s alright,” Jungmin told him, tears in his voice. “You’re alright, Hyungjoon is alright. Mom is alright. We will be alright.” Kyujong turned, and wrapped his arms around Jungmin who was sobbing in relief.
“You cry like a girl,” Hyungjoon told him with tears in his eyes as he approached. Kyujong offered him a watery smile and pulled him into a hug as relief swept over them. He closed his eyes and let the feelings rush through him with the knowledge that they were all safe.
The sound of wings startled him a few minutes later and he lifted his head to see dragons of every color filling the space around them.
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‘She goes with honor from this life unto the next young one,’ a gentle voice whispered into his mind.
Hyunjoong lifted his head and found a brilliant white dragon standing before them. Around him, the remaining metal dragons crowded close and beyond them more dragons were gathered. Those that could not fit on the ground hovered above, their strong wings keeping them aloft.
‘We will take our sister, your mother, to the home of her kin where she will receive an honorable burial,’ the dragon told him.
“No,” Hyunjoong replied instantly, hovering over her as if he could protect her.
‘She deserves a burial of honor,’ Youngsaeng told him gently. ‘We can do nothing more for her.’
“I know,” Hyunjoong agreed, “but not there. She loved this land and its people. She gave everything for them and she wouldn’t want to leave it.” As he said it, Hyunjoong knew in his heart that what he said was truth.
‘Then we will give her a burial of honor outside the city she loved so much,’ the dragon said gently.
A green dragon moved forward then and slowly touched the tip of its muzzle to his mother’s body. A warm green light slid over it and Hyunjoong watched as the wounds marring her body slowly closed and vanished leaving unmarred scales in their wake. ‘This is all that I can do for her,’ the dragon told him softly, backing up away from the body again.
‘When you are ready,’ Youngsaeng told him gently.
Hyunjoong nodded and stroked a hand lovingly down her scales. He shifted, moving to her head. Youngsaeng understood his plan instantly and the dragon’s tail slipped beneath it to help him lift and hold the weight of it. Hyunjoong wrapped his arms around her and kissed her gently. “I am sorry that I did not figure it out sooner. I am sorry for the pain that my father must have caused you, and how much it had to hurt you to see what he did to what you loved,” he choked back a sob as tears threatened to spill again. “Thank you for loving me when I didn’t know you,” he whispered. “I love you.”
He kissed her one last time before lowering her head back to the ground with Youngsaeng’s help. “I’m ready,” he said softly as he followed Youngsaeng away from her body.
Four green dragons moved up in his place forming a square around her body. Hyunjoong watched as thick vines began to grow, weaving together and sliding beneath her body. He realized a moment later that they were forming a net of sorts that would carry her.
‘Come,’ Youngsaeng said gently.
“Here,” a gentle feminine voice called to him. He turned to see Soojin standing just beyond Youngsaeng with his saddle in her arms.
“Soojin,” he called, his tears pouring out all over again. She set the saddle aside to gather him into her arms as he stumbled to her.
“It’s ok,” she murmured, stroking his hair and rubbing his back. “It’s ok to hurt.”
“But I didn’t even know her,” Hyunjoong moaned, voicing how unreasonable he felt his grief was.
“Yes you did. She watched over you even when you didn’t know it, I am sure. You knew her when you were in her womb and nothing will ever take that from you. It is alright to mourn her passing but remember her goodness as well,” Soojin told him.
Hyunjoong simply nodded and pressed closer to her, allowing her to hold him. She did so for a moment longer before speaking again. “You need to go child. The dragons are ready and you should be there.” He nodded and pulled away from her. Smiling sadly she wiped tears from his cheeks. “Your friends are safe, go now and do what you need to.”
He nodded and turned to find the saddle already on Youngsaeng and Kyujong stroking the dragon’s neck slowly. “Thank you,” he murmured to the man as he accepted his help climbing into the saddle. Kyujong helped him do the buckles that his fingers couldn’t seem to find, before giving Youngsaeng one more pat and stepping away.
“We understand,” Kyujong said gently, “Hyungjoon and I have been there.”
Hyunjoong opened his mouth to say something and Kyujong waved him off. “Go.” The healer strode over to Soojin who already had one arm around Jungmin’s waist and the other around Hyungjoon’s. He tucked himself in next to Jungmin and the man wrapped his free arm around him, pulling him close.
Hyunjoong watched it with uncomprehending eyes before he turned his attention back to his mother’s body. A thick net had woven beneath her and the four dragons stood, one at each corner, with the vines clutched securely in their hold. “Are you alright to fly?” Hyunjoong asked Youngsaeng, suddenly remembering the dragon’s exhaustion.
‘As long as you have the strength to go, I will find the strength to fly.’
“Thank you,” Hyunjoong murmured, knowing that Youngsaeng understood exactly how much it meant to him. “Let’s go then.”
Youngsaeng nodded, a curious gesture for a dragon, and turned. With a bit more running then usual and several more wing flaps then normal, he was in the air and the rest of the dragons rose behind him.
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Halfway through their journey, Hyunjoong leaned forward and laid himself along the dragon’s neck, trusting the straps to keep him in place. His mind, thankfully, felt blissfully numb. He knew that sooner or later everything that happened would hit him and it would sink in exactly what had happened, but for now there was a bit of peace. Even when the awareness came, he knew that Youngsaeng would be there right beside him and that thought made the idea of it a bit easier to bear.
The sun was beginning to sink on the horizon when they neared the large capitol city. If anyone below was reacting to the presence of so many dragons, he couldn’t tell. They paused in their motion and Hyunjoong realized that they were waiting for him to pick a spot.
He stared at the landscape below, trying to find the perfect location, but none seemed to be just right. For some unexplainable reason, this part seemed incredibly important to him. Finally he chose a small hill, several hundred feet off the main road that he knew had an incredible view of the city itself and the land surrounding it. He gave the picture to Youngsaeng, knowing that the dragon could convey it.
Immediately the white dragons in their midst flew to the spot and landed in a loose ring around it. As one they inhaled deeply and then opened their mouths and breathed out a silvery substance. ‘Liquid metal,’ Youngsaeng told him needlessly, since Hyunjoong knew exactly what it was and what it meant.
As it began to flow out onto the grass and flow together, a low hum began among the dragons. It was the start of a song that symbolized the beginning of a ritual reserved only for the most esteemed in dragon culture. The fact that the dragons were willing to honor his mother with this brought tears to his eyes all over again.
‘She saved us all,’ Youngsaeng tried to explain.
“She saved me too, I think,” Hyunjoong whispered.
He watched as the liquid metal formed together and solidified into a smooth silver platform. When it was finished the metal dragons leapt back into the air, making way for the dragons carrying his mother’s body. They lowered it gently to the platform, and the vines receded from beneath her, shifting her as they moved. Once they were all gone, she lay on the platform arranged at though she was simply slumbering.
The green dragons moved back into the sky and every yellow earth dragon replaced them around the platform. As one they opened their mouths and sand spilled forth, slithering over the ground and up onto the platform. It curled around her sliding up over her scales until her body was completely covered with it. As if it was a signal, the red dragons of the fire tribe, dropped from the sky to land among the earth dragons. When they opened their mouths, fire spewed forth and engulfed the platform and everything on it in flame.
There was a moment when the song the dragons were singing increased, and then Youngsaeng gently took them to the ground. ‘As her blood kin, it is our honor to perform the next step,’ Youngsaeng told him. ‘I need your strength.’
“You have it,” Hyunjoong said instantly. Youngsaeng nodded and took a deep breath. When he opened his mouth, ice crystals billowed forth. Hyunjoong felt the pull on his energy and he gave it willingly, helping the dragon the best he could as ice hit the fire and turned immediately to water, causing a thick steam to billow forth. A moment later the rest of the water dragons dropped from the sky and added their strong streams of ice to it.
Hyunjoong buried his head against Youngsaeng’s neck in an effort to protect himself from the steam. The beat of dragon wings drove it off nearly as quickly as it had come and he lifted his head once more. He watched as beside the platform a great tree grew, its branches stretching upward before bursting into leaf. It was a symbol of life and a gift.
Beside it, where his mother had rested, was the form of her created from clear shimmering crystal. The fire had consumed her body until there was nothing left but not before melting the sand surrounding her. Then, with the ice, it had cooled and solidified into what was before him.
The dragons, all airborne once more with the exception of Youngsaeng, keep up the quiet hum as Hyunjoong undid the buckles and slid from the dragon’s saddle to perform the final step. He walked to the edge of the platform, wiping away tears as the setting sun shone through the crystal form of his mother.
At the edge of the metal he stretched out his hand and called upon the metal dragon magic that was running through his veins, a gift from his mother. With it he knew he could form the metal of the platform to his will, and he did, placing deep carvings upon its surface. He carved her name first, in the language of her people, knowledge that he now possessed. Beneath it he carved her name translated into his language, the language anyone passing could read: ‘Peace Overcomes War’. Under that he carved another line of symbols in the dragon language and then beneath it the translation: ‘Her love saved us all’
When he was finished he stepped back and rested a hand on Youngsaeng’s shoulder. The song of the dragons ended sweetly and one by one the brightly colored beings slipped away through the sky, until only the pair were left. Together they stood, watching the sun set through crystal created from pure dragon magic that would withstand the test of time and stand as a memorial for all of eternity. As the rays of the fading sun bounced within it, turning it pink, purple, red, and orange combined and as he watched it Hyunjoong felt peace settle around him at long last.
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It was dark when they returned to the site of the battle, yet Hyunjoong was certain that everyone still remained there. Numerous fires were burning around the area in the typical gypsy formation and bodies milled around in the flickering light. Hyunjoong could make out the straight lines of dead bodies that would likely be buried in the normal style with the dawn, as well as the area guarded by dragons where the soldiers who had surrendered were being kept.
Youngsaeng wearily angled them towards the largest fire and descended as quickly as he could. When they landed Soojin was there to greet them. Hyunjoong hugged her for a long moment, thanking her silently, before releasing her and undoing the saddle from Youngsaeng’s body. When it was free, the dragon began to shift to his human form.
“One of the dragons told us you were coming,” Jungmin said with a grin and his arms full of fabric. “I brought clothes for both of you.”
Soojin smiled lightly as Hyunjoong immediately began to shed his pants, his shirt having been abandoned long ago. He pulled on the new clothing just as Youngsaeng was doing the same, grateful for the clean fabric even if his body was filthy beneath it.
“And these are for you,” Kyujong said a little too cheerfully.
Hyungjoon, who stood beside him, his arm in bandaged and in a sling, grimaced. “They taste nasty, run while you can.”
“I couldn’t run if I wanted to,” Youngsaeng mumbled, accepting his cup, “but I figure if Kyujong kills me at least I’ll be able to rest.”
Hyunjoong laughed quietly and reached for a cup of his own, drinking it slowly as his mate’s arm slid around his waist, pulling him firmly into Youngsaeng’s side.
Myungki approached, an unreadable expression on his face, and stopped a few feet from Hyunjoong. “I’m not going to bow to you,” he growled gruffly.
“Good because I would rather not be subjected to the sight,” Hyunjoong replied tiredly.
Myungki snorted. “I’ve taken care of everything so you don’t have to, but I figured I should get your input on what to do with your father’s body.”
“Burn the former King’s body with dragon fire until nothing remains. If you cannot find a dragon willing let me know,” Hyunjoong answered immediately.
“No trouble there I am sure,” Myungki said with a snicker, then he paused. “You did well,” he bit out as if it pained him to say so and was gone before Hyunjoong could reply.
“He is a proud man,” Soojin said with a hint of humor in her voice. “A good man, but proud and stubborn.”
“I was beginning to wonder why you keep him around,” Hyunjoong replied.
“He has kept us alive,” she said with a shrug.
“Some of the wood dragons have made beds out of some soft squishy plants,” Jungmin offered. “Maybe you should get some sleep. Everything is under control here.”
Hyunjoong nodded, handing his empty cup to Kyujong and Youngsaeng did the same. They turned to follow Jungmin, when the remainder of his friends stepped into the firelight. They were bandaged and bruised, but besides the limp that Yoochun hobbled forward with, seemed alright. Hyunjoong studied them carefully and then the gasped at the figure held between Jaejoong and Yunho. There, looking weary, bruised, and exhausted but otherwise very much alive, was Changmin.
The man lifted his head and offered him a weary smile. “I heard you kicked his ass for me,” he said his voice hoarse.
“For you and the entire world,” Hyunjoong replied.
“That’s good,” Changmin smiled. A moment later he was enveloped in Hyunjoong’s arms and he sighed. “It’s good to be home,” he murmured.
Hyunjoong smiled and reached for the rest of his friends. They came until there was a mass of six bodies standing and weeping tears of joy together with Hyunjoong and Changmin in the middle. Hyunjoong ignored the feeling of amusement coming from his mate, choosing instead to grab onto the feeling of love and wrap it around himself. “Yeah,” he replied. “It is really good to be home.”
Chapter Twenty Three
Masterlist
AN: So yep this was the chapter that I cried all through writing... Only one more chapter left to go!
I'm such a slacker... *sneaks off to reply to comments on the last chapter*
Chapter Twenty Two
Hyunjoong groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. Every limb of his body was tingling in the aftermath of the magic inflicted on it, yet he paid them no mind, his eyes were fixed on the white dragon that lay on her side, her wings spread out behind her. He tried to climb to his feet but discovered that he could hardly push his body up onto his knees.
Groaning he let his body fall back to the ground and settled into a determined crawl, pulling himself forward inch by inch using his arms. He felt Youngsaeng’s desire to help him and a moment later the black dragon landed ungracefully beside him. Unlike every other landing he had seen the dragon perform, this one seemed more like falling out of the sky then any real attempts to set his feet on the ground. In the end, Youngsaeng had to take a few steps backwards because his descent had set him too far forward, a mistake he never made.
He moved to Hyunjoong and knelt so the man could throw an arm over his neck to use him as support. Hyunjoong said nothing as together they stood and began to move toward his mother uncaring of the battle that still raged around them. His eyes were focused only on her. For a moment it looked as if she was not alive any longer, then her side rose and fell as she took a great breath. Her wings shuddered with the exhale of it, and she began to shrink.
By the time the pair reached her side she laid on the ground a bloody and bruised woman, but whole and alive. Hyunjoong unceremoniously, let himself drop from Youngsaeng, catching himself on his arms so that he didn’t hit the ground face first. He shifted to her, rolling over to sit and pulled her into his lap. Youngsaeng collapsed with a sigh, curled around the two.
“Mother?” Hyunjoong called as he brushed a few strands of slivery white hair.
Her eyes fluttered open in response to his voice and he stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. “My son,” she said weakly, her hand reaching for his face.
“Hush,” he told her gently, grasping her hand in his and lifting it to press against his cheek. “You shouldn’t talk. You’ll be alright now, you just need rest.”
‘Oh my son. My Ayize. What a man you have become,’ she said in his mind.
Her eyes were so full of love that Hyunjoong felt tears welling up in his eyes. “Mother,” he choked out.
‘I am known to our kin as Ikuseghan,’ she told him gently. ‘I want you to know that.’
“It will all be alright, mother,” he told her in reassurance. There was a hint that this would be the last time they spoke in her voice and he needed her to know that would never be the truth. “He will never hurt you again. You are safe now.”
‘Oh my Ayize. I am so proud of you. You have become the man I hoped you would become. Do you know what the name I gave you upon your birth means?’ she asked him. He shook his head gently and she smiled. ‘It means ‘Hope, it comes’. And you have my son. You have brought hope to everyone. I know you will be a wise and gentle King, the sort of King the Dragon King was always meant to be.’
“Why do you talk like you won’t be there to see it?” he asked, a tear running free from his eyes.
‘I cannot. You will have your mate with you and many friends, but here is where I must fade from this world to the next,’ she told him gently.
“No you can’t,” he replied as his tears began to flow in earnest. “I just found you, you can’t leave me again.”
‘If there were another way I would take it my son, but we are bound, the King and I.’
Hyunjoong instantly remembered what that would mean and he pulled her closer. “No. We can lock him up somewhere, so that he can’t get out and hurt anyone.”
‘Can you guarantee that it would hold forever? Do you know what he would do to every creature when he broke free? No prison would hold him forever, you know that in your heart.’
“But that doesn’t mean that…” he left his sentence unfinished, finding that he couldn’t bring himself to even say it.
‘Oh how I long to hold you in my arms, my son. I am so sorry.’
Hyunjoong dropped her hand and gathered her in his arms, pulling her close and burying his head in her neck. He choked back a sob as the feeling of home rolled over him. Her arms weakly lifted, one settling on the back of his head, her fingers in his hair, and the other on his back.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered, and he felt that she wasn’t really speaking to him at all. ‘Thank you for allowing a selfish woman this one thing.’
“You are anything but selfish,” he told her harshly, pulling away so he could scold her properly.
There was both a smile and sadness in her eyes. ‘I fear I have selfishly wasted too much time with you. The King stirs.’
Hyunjoong glanced up sharply, his eyes seeking the form of the King. Sure enough the man was struggling to rise from the ground with one hand pulling at the sword in his chest while his men around him that were not engaged in battle watched wearily, as if afraid to offer assistance.
‘Your sword is encased in your combined magic and it holds him at bay. He cannot counter the magic the two of you can produce through your bond, ours does not allow him that, but he can remove the sword. When it is free, there will be no force in this land that can stop him.’
He stared at his mother; the knowledge of what he had to do weighing heavily on his mind, but his body was frozen from doing it. She smiled gently at him, a smile that a mother used when she knew exactly what her son was thinking and the sight of it made his tears run anew.
‘Do not worry my son. I do not ask this of you,’ she told him. Before he could do anything to stop it, he felt her slide free the dagger he kept at his waist. She plunged it into her own chest, directly into her heart with speed that he didn’t know she was capable of.
“Mother!” he screamed as she pulled the dagger free and her blood followed it. He pressed his hands frantically over the wound as the dagger clattered from her fingers to the ground. “Get Arunika!” he cried frantically to Youngsaeng as her blood began to seep through his fingers.
Dimly he heard the King’s scream of pain and anger, but his focus was for the woman in his arms. She weakly raised her hand and cradled his cheek, smiling at him peacefully. ‘I love you, my son,’ she whispered in his mind. Then her touch was gone both from his mind and his body as her hand fell.
“No!” he cried in disbelief, his tears flowing freely. White scales began from the wound and spread to cover her body as her hold on her human form began to fade as her life had. Youngsaeng rose and gently pulled him from her as she grew. “No, no,” he moaned, crying openly.
“He killed her!” Hyunjoong snarled suddenly, trying to pull free of the dragon his eyes intent on the form of the now dead king. “It is because of him she is dead!”
‘No my mate,’ Youngsaeng’s voice filled his mind, bringing with it his sorrow and his love. ‘She chose this path.’
“We could have saved her if not for him,” Hyunjoong insisted his struggle against the dragon weakening.
‘Do you know what her name meant, Hyunjoong? Her name, translated into your language means ‘Peace overcomes war’. She lived up to her name and died with honor, for you.’ Youngsaeng told him gently.
“I never wanted,” he sobbed and then found that words couldn’t express the things that he wanted to say so he showed Youngsaeng instead, opening his heart and his mind. Youngsaeng accepted it all and surround him with a love so deep that he sobbed for more than just her loss. With sobs shaking his body, they moved to the white dragon.
Hyunjoong pulled off his armor and then his shirt beneath. Carefully he used the fabric to begin wiping the blood from her scales, the only thing he could do for her now. Youngsaeng surrounded him protectively, bringing water from the ground with the rest of his strength to aid Hyunjoong in his task all the while filling both of their minds with a song of mourning and love.
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They had been gravely mistaken in their estimate of the King’s troops, Kyujong had decided shortly after the battle had begun. The numbers had been close to what they had guessed, but every soldier seemed to be surrounded by some sort of magic that would take one of the dragons to break and there were simply not enough of them to go around.
He had abandoned his bow almost immediately, as his arrows seemed to skim right by his targets instead of piecing them as they should, and switched to his short blades, diving into the fray with his friends. Hyungjoon wielded his daggers with a quick finesse as Jungmin weaved around their bodies, slipping in and out between enemies, smoothly. Kyujong was certain he had begun the battle with his sword as his weapon, but as he had, had found that it didn’t work.
Instead Jungmin had switched to a silk scarf. Whatever was protecting the enemy didn’t seem to deem a piece of fabric something to protect against, so the trio quickly set up a pattern to use that to their advantage. Hyungjoon with his daggers and Kyujong with his blades would distract the enemy long enough that Jungmin could sneak around him and strangle him from behind.
They realized after the third one, that when the soldier dropped his sword whatever had been protecting them, disappeared and that quickly became their new method of attack. The three fell into a rhythm, working together, guarding one another and either flat out killing or severally wounding their opponents.
It was when their muscles were beginning to burn, and the injuries they did have were slowing them significantly, that they felt a change in the flow of the battle. There seemed to be a moment where the very air itself seemed to freeze and then expel in a rush as if every single person had been holding their breath and released it all at once.
Kyujong had been around Youngsaeng enough to realize the feeling of magic when it brushed his skin and he realized even more acutely, the feeling when magic that had been was suddenly gone. He dove in quickly, startling the solider he was facing in combat and slicing open the man’s leg. The soldier stared at his wound in incomprehension before he suddenly dropped his sword and dropped to his knees, hands raised in a plea. Kyujong kicked his sword away and held him at the tip of his blade, careful to not fully take his eyes off him as he looked around the battle field.
Around the land stained by blood and battle, men were dropping their weapons and falling in surrender. Kyujong couldn’t believe his eyes as they began to do so. In four spots around the battle field, men leapt into the air, yellow wings erupting from their backs as they did so. Moments after they were in the air, the shift completed and four earth dragons circled the field from above.
The earth beneath his feet began to shake and then beneath the man in front of him it softened, dragging the soldier down. When he was waist deep, it solidified again leaving him scrabbling at it frantically. Kyujong could see the same thing happening around the field and it took a moment for it to sink into his mind. They had won.
“We did it?” Jungmin breathed, panting beside him as if he couldn’t believe it himself.
Kyujong nodded, glancing around at the wearily standing figures of their own people, fewer then they had started with, but there were many still alive and that is all that mattered.
“Youngsaeng and Hyunjoong?” Hyungjoon asked the question that they were all wondering softly.
Kyujong looked around the area the best he could for their shapes. When his eyes fell upon a black dragon laying unmoving beside a larger white one, his eyes widened. “Youngsaeng!” he exclaimed, taking off at a run towards the dragon.
He wove between enemies and friends alike, taking only a moment to sheath his weapons when the people were too thick to move through with them before he was off at a run again. He reached the edge of what looked like an impromptu ring that had formed around the dragons and a single body. Kyujong ignored the body in favor of rushing to the dragon and pulling out his field medical kit as he did so.
It was ridiculous to think that he could do anything for the black dragon but he would try everything he could. “Youngsaeng!” he called as he rushed to the dragon.
Youngsaeng’s head lifted and dim gold eyes stared at him revealing Hyunjoong who knelt at the white dragon’s side. ‘It is his mother. Her sacrifice has won this day,’ he felt a brush of deep sadness before it was pulled back from him and Youngsaeng rested his head on the ground again. ‘I am glad you are safe.’ Youngsaeng told him honestly and the feeling of truth and love from the dragon stunned him.
He staggered backwards and Jungmin’s strong arm wrapped around his shoulder. “He’s alright,” Jungmin told him, tears in his voice. “You’re alright, Hyungjoon is alright. Mom is alright. We will be alright.” Kyujong turned, and wrapped his arms around Jungmin who was sobbing in relief.
“You cry like a girl,” Hyungjoon told him with tears in his eyes as he approached. Kyujong offered him a watery smile and pulled him into a hug as relief swept over them. He closed his eyes and let the feelings rush through him with the knowledge that they were all safe.
The sound of wings startled him a few minutes later and he lifted his head to see dragons of every color filling the space around them.
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‘She goes with honor from this life unto the next young one,’ a gentle voice whispered into his mind.
Hyunjoong lifted his head and found a brilliant white dragon standing before them. Around him, the remaining metal dragons crowded close and beyond them more dragons were gathered. Those that could not fit on the ground hovered above, their strong wings keeping them aloft.
‘We will take our sister, your mother, to the home of her kin where she will receive an honorable burial,’ the dragon told him.
“No,” Hyunjoong replied instantly, hovering over her as if he could protect her.
‘She deserves a burial of honor,’ Youngsaeng told him gently. ‘We can do nothing more for her.’
“I know,” Hyunjoong agreed, “but not there. She loved this land and its people. She gave everything for them and she wouldn’t want to leave it.” As he said it, Hyunjoong knew in his heart that what he said was truth.
‘Then we will give her a burial of honor outside the city she loved so much,’ the dragon said gently.
A green dragon moved forward then and slowly touched the tip of its muzzle to his mother’s body. A warm green light slid over it and Hyunjoong watched as the wounds marring her body slowly closed and vanished leaving unmarred scales in their wake. ‘This is all that I can do for her,’ the dragon told him softly, backing up away from the body again.
‘When you are ready,’ Youngsaeng told him gently.
Hyunjoong nodded and stroked a hand lovingly down her scales. He shifted, moving to her head. Youngsaeng understood his plan instantly and the dragon’s tail slipped beneath it to help him lift and hold the weight of it. Hyunjoong wrapped his arms around her and kissed her gently. “I am sorry that I did not figure it out sooner. I am sorry for the pain that my father must have caused you, and how much it had to hurt you to see what he did to what you loved,” he choked back a sob as tears threatened to spill again. “Thank you for loving me when I didn’t know you,” he whispered. “I love you.”
He kissed her one last time before lowering her head back to the ground with Youngsaeng’s help. “I’m ready,” he said softly as he followed Youngsaeng away from her body.
Four green dragons moved up in his place forming a square around her body. Hyunjoong watched as thick vines began to grow, weaving together and sliding beneath her body. He realized a moment later that they were forming a net of sorts that would carry her.
‘Come,’ Youngsaeng said gently.
“Here,” a gentle feminine voice called to him. He turned to see Soojin standing just beyond Youngsaeng with his saddle in her arms.
“Soojin,” he called, his tears pouring out all over again. She set the saddle aside to gather him into her arms as he stumbled to her.
“It’s ok,” she murmured, stroking his hair and rubbing his back. “It’s ok to hurt.”
“But I didn’t even know her,” Hyunjoong moaned, voicing how unreasonable he felt his grief was.
“Yes you did. She watched over you even when you didn’t know it, I am sure. You knew her when you were in her womb and nothing will ever take that from you. It is alright to mourn her passing but remember her goodness as well,” Soojin told him.
Hyunjoong simply nodded and pressed closer to her, allowing her to hold him. She did so for a moment longer before speaking again. “You need to go child. The dragons are ready and you should be there.” He nodded and pulled away from her. Smiling sadly she wiped tears from his cheeks. “Your friends are safe, go now and do what you need to.”
He nodded and turned to find the saddle already on Youngsaeng and Kyujong stroking the dragon’s neck slowly. “Thank you,” he murmured to the man as he accepted his help climbing into the saddle. Kyujong helped him do the buckles that his fingers couldn’t seem to find, before giving Youngsaeng one more pat and stepping away.
“We understand,” Kyujong said gently, “Hyungjoon and I have been there.”
Hyunjoong opened his mouth to say something and Kyujong waved him off. “Go.” The healer strode over to Soojin who already had one arm around Jungmin’s waist and the other around Hyungjoon’s. He tucked himself in next to Jungmin and the man wrapped his free arm around him, pulling him close.
Hyunjoong watched it with uncomprehending eyes before he turned his attention back to his mother’s body. A thick net had woven beneath her and the four dragons stood, one at each corner, with the vines clutched securely in their hold. “Are you alright to fly?” Hyunjoong asked Youngsaeng, suddenly remembering the dragon’s exhaustion.
‘As long as you have the strength to go, I will find the strength to fly.’
“Thank you,” Hyunjoong murmured, knowing that Youngsaeng understood exactly how much it meant to him. “Let’s go then.”
Youngsaeng nodded, a curious gesture for a dragon, and turned. With a bit more running then usual and several more wing flaps then normal, he was in the air and the rest of the dragons rose behind him.
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Halfway through their journey, Hyunjoong leaned forward and laid himself along the dragon’s neck, trusting the straps to keep him in place. His mind, thankfully, felt blissfully numb. He knew that sooner or later everything that happened would hit him and it would sink in exactly what had happened, but for now there was a bit of peace. Even when the awareness came, he knew that Youngsaeng would be there right beside him and that thought made the idea of it a bit easier to bear.
The sun was beginning to sink on the horizon when they neared the large capitol city. If anyone below was reacting to the presence of so many dragons, he couldn’t tell. They paused in their motion and Hyunjoong realized that they were waiting for him to pick a spot.
He stared at the landscape below, trying to find the perfect location, but none seemed to be just right. For some unexplainable reason, this part seemed incredibly important to him. Finally he chose a small hill, several hundred feet off the main road that he knew had an incredible view of the city itself and the land surrounding it. He gave the picture to Youngsaeng, knowing that the dragon could convey it.
Immediately the white dragons in their midst flew to the spot and landed in a loose ring around it. As one they inhaled deeply and then opened their mouths and breathed out a silvery substance. ‘Liquid metal,’ Youngsaeng told him needlessly, since Hyunjoong knew exactly what it was and what it meant.
As it began to flow out onto the grass and flow together, a low hum began among the dragons. It was the start of a song that symbolized the beginning of a ritual reserved only for the most esteemed in dragon culture. The fact that the dragons were willing to honor his mother with this brought tears to his eyes all over again.
‘She saved us all,’ Youngsaeng tried to explain.
“She saved me too, I think,” Hyunjoong whispered.
He watched as the liquid metal formed together and solidified into a smooth silver platform. When it was finished the metal dragons leapt back into the air, making way for the dragons carrying his mother’s body. They lowered it gently to the platform, and the vines receded from beneath her, shifting her as they moved. Once they were all gone, she lay on the platform arranged at though she was simply slumbering.
The green dragons moved back into the sky and every yellow earth dragon replaced them around the platform. As one they opened their mouths and sand spilled forth, slithering over the ground and up onto the platform. It curled around her sliding up over her scales until her body was completely covered with it. As if it was a signal, the red dragons of the fire tribe, dropped from the sky to land among the earth dragons. When they opened their mouths, fire spewed forth and engulfed the platform and everything on it in flame.
There was a moment when the song the dragons were singing increased, and then Youngsaeng gently took them to the ground. ‘As her blood kin, it is our honor to perform the next step,’ Youngsaeng told him. ‘I need your strength.’
“You have it,” Hyunjoong said instantly. Youngsaeng nodded and took a deep breath. When he opened his mouth, ice crystals billowed forth. Hyunjoong felt the pull on his energy and he gave it willingly, helping the dragon the best he could as ice hit the fire and turned immediately to water, causing a thick steam to billow forth. A moment later the rest of the water dragons dropped from the sky and added their strong streams of ice to it.
Hyunjoong buried his head against Youngsaeng’s neck in an effort to protect himself from the steam. The beat of dragon wings drove it off nearly as quickly as it had come and he lifted his head once more. He watched as beside the platform a great tree grew, its branches stretching upward before bursting into leaf. It was a symbol of life and a gift.
Beside it, where his mother had rested, was the form of her created from clear shimmering crystal. The fire had consumed her body until there was nothing left but not before melting the sand surrounding her. Then, with the ice, it had cooled and solidified into what was before him.
The dragons, all airborne once more with the exception of Youngsaeng, keep up the quiet hum as Hyunjoong undid the buckles and slid from the dragon’s saddle to perform the final step. He walked to the edge of the platform, wiping away tears as the setting sun shone through the crystal form of his mother.
At the edge of the metal he stretched out his hand and called upon the metal dragon magic that was running through his veins, a gift from his mother. With it he knew he could form the metal of the platform to his will, and he did, placing deep carvings upon its surface. He carved her name first, in the language of her people, knowledge that he now possessed. Beneath it he carved her name translated into his language, the language anyone passing could read: ‘Peace Overcomes War’. Under that he carved another line of symbols in the dragon language and then beneath it the translation: ‘Her love saved us all’
When he was finished he stepped back and rested a hand on Youngsaeng’s shoulder. The song of the dragons ended sweetly and one by one the brightly colored beings slipped away through the sky, until only the pair were left. Together they stood, watching the sun set through crystal created from pure dragon magic that would withstand the test of time and stand as a memorial for all of eternity. As the rays of the fading sun bounced within it, turning it pink, purple, red, and orange combined and as he watched it Hyunjoong felt peace settle around him at long last.
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It was dark when they returned to the site of the battle, yet Hyunjoong was certain that everyone still remained there. Numerous fires were burning around the area in the typical gypsy formation and bodies milled around in the flickering light. Hyunjoong could make out the straight lines of dead bodies that would likely be buried in the normal style with the dawn, as well as the area guarded by dragons where the soldiers who had surrendered were being kept.
Youngsaeng wearily angled them towards the largest fire and descended as quickly as he could. When they landed Soojin was there to greet them. Hyunjoong hugged her for a long moment, thanking her silently, before releasing her and undoing the saddle from Youngsaeng’s body. When it was free, the dragon began to shift to his human form.
“One of the dragons told us you were coming,” Jungmin said with a grin and his arms full of fabric. “I brought clothes for both of you.”
Soojin smiled lightly as Hyunjoong immediately began to shed his pants, his shirt having been abandoned long ago. He pulled on the new clothing just as Youngsaeng was doing the same, grateful for the clean fabric even if his body was filthy beneath it.
“And these are for you,” Kyujong said a little too cheerfully.
Hyungjoon, who stood beside him, his arm in bandaged and in a sling, grimaced. “They taste nasty, run while you can.”
“I couldn’t run if I wanted to,” Youngsaeng mumbled, accepting his cup, “but I figure if Kyujong kills me at least I’ll be able to rest.”
Hyunjoong laughed quietly and reached for a cup of his own, drinking it slowly as his mate’s arm slid around his waist, pulling him firmly into Youngsaeng’s side.
Myungki approached, an unreadable expression on his face, and stopped a few feet from Hyunjoong. “I’m not going to bow to you,” he growled gruffly.
“Good because I would rather not be subjected to the sight,” Hyunjoong replied tiredly.
Myungki snorted. “I’ve taken care of everything so you don’t have to, but I figured I should get your input on what to do with your father’s body.”
“Burn the former King’s body with dragon fire until nothing remains. If you cannot find a dragon willing let me know,” Hyunjoong answered immediately.
“No trouble there I am sure,” Myungki said with a snicker, then he paused. “You did well,” he bit out as if it pained him to say so and was gone before Hyunjoong could reply.
“He is a proud man,” Soojin said with a hint of humor in her voice. “A good man, but proud and stubborn.”
“I was beginning to wonder why you keep him around,” Hyunjoong replied.
“He has kept us alive,” she said with a shrug.
“Some of the wood dragons have made beds out of some soft squishy plants,” Jungmin offered. “Maybe you should get some sleep. Everything is under control here.”
Hyunjoong nodded, handing his empty cup to Kyujong and Youngsaeng did the same. They turned to follow Jungmin, when the remainder of his friends stepped into the firelight. They were bandaged and bruised, but besides the limp that Yoochun hobbled forward with, seemed alright. Hyunjoong studied them carefully and then the gasped at the figure held between Jaejoong and Yunho. There, looking weary, bruised, and exhausted but otherwise very much alive, was Changmin.
The man lifted his head and offered him a weary smile. “I heard you kicked his ass for me,” he said his voice hoarse.
“For you and the entire world,” Hyunjoong replied.
“That’s good,” Changmin smiled. A moment later he was enveloped in Hyunjoong’s arms and he sighed. “It’s good to be home,” he murmured.
Hyunjoong smiled and reached for the rest of his friends. They came until there was a mass of six bodies standing and weeping tears of joy together with Hyunjoong and Changmin in the middle. Hyunjoong ignored the feeling of amusement coming from his mate, choosing instead to grab onto the feeling of love and wrap it around himself. “Yeah,” he replied. “It is really good to be home.”
Chapter Twenty Three
Masterlist
AN: So yep this was the chapter that I cried all through writing... Only one more chapter left to go!
I'm such a slacker... *sneaks off to reply to comments on the last chapter*