Broken Glass - Taekook

60

The sound of a ringing bell fades in my mind, and I slowly turn around to check the surrounding area, make sure nothing dangerous has followed Namjoon and I into the little clearing. I can't see anything. Even so, the same chill of danger is still travelling up my spine. 

Something doesn't feel quite right. Aphelia wouldn't make that sound for no reason, after all. 

I take a deep breath, stuffing the mirror into a pocket in my cloak for safekeeping. I know better than to accidentally lose my connection to the world around me. I may be less reliant on it, at least compared to before, but I'm not about to take a risk with such an important part of who I am. And I know I still need it. I'm not that stupid. 

The something rustles in the trees around us. I close my eyes for a moment, trying to focus on it, trying to pinpoint the direction of the noise, but the sound seems to come from everywhere. When my eyes open, Namjoon's face is paler than before. He jolts his head a little, the most subtle of upward gestures he can manage. But the message is clear enough: Look.  

I let my gaze travel up, and see a string of red thread, caught on a twig just above my head. 

Karulian Knights. We don't know how many, or where they are, but they're somewhere, in this forest. 

I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself, grabbing the hilt of my sword. But as I slowly begin to draw it, trying to avoid making too much noise, something pointed touches the middle of my back: an arrow or a sword, I can't tell. I freeze completely, every muscle in my body going rigid. 

"I wouldn't iff I were you, boy," a harsh voice drawls, pausing on the words and drawing them out oddly. "We have you ssurrounded. And you know what we can do." 

I turn my head very slowly, to look at Namjoon. He's terrified, slightly shaky, and I can see his shoulders beginning to hunch over to protect his chest, where he was slashed before. Where he suffered so much, in a previous encounter with the Karulian Knights. 

"What do you want?" I return as calmly as I can, keeping my head held high. My hands go up, into the air, so it's clear that I'm not drawing my sword. 
"Your pressence here is unwanted. We have been ssent to remove it." 
"Unwanted?" I repeat, raising one eyebrow. 
"By the King. Thiss iss hiss land, boy." 

"He owns nothing. He merely lays claim to space that cannot be owned, merely governed," I murmur to myself, probably a little too loud, for a sharp pain digs into my upper back, piercing and unpleasant. 
"How dare you," the voice snarls, a dangerous anger hidden behind the words. "He iss your king. Who do you think you are, boy?"

I take another deep breath, looking over at Namjoon again. He just furrows his forehead at me, giving me an incredulous look. I'm sure that in his head, he's telling me that I've gone mad. I stagger forward a few steps, as the point in my back digs in a little deeper. It's a dagger, I can tell now. 

Then a hand comes round, gloved in red, grasping onto my shoulder with a tight grip, pulling me back again. A trickle of blood begins to pour down from the wound, hot and uncomfortable, channelled by the slight dip of muscle beside my spine.

"Answer the quesstion," a new voice demands, lower than the first, but just as grating. I bite my lip, feeling the very edge of cold metal, now digging an inch under my skin. 

I look over at Namjoon again. "On my signal," I mouth to him, and something seems to shift in his eyes. The fear reduces a little, and he blinks twice at me. 

Somehow, my brain registers that as an agreement. I know he's scared, and I understand why he would be. But we have no choice other than to fight against that sheer terror, if we want to survive. If we want to see tomorrow, we have to push past the paralysing reality.