Soul of a Dragon

7

Doe eyes a deep shade of mahogany traveled over the scene before them, one he had witnessed before.

A group of people gathered about a fallen one who seemed to be fading even as he watched. He could practically hear the young man's heartbeat failing, and knew he would have to move fast in order to do anything. Levering himself up into a sitting position, the youth felt the tug of the ever present collar, a grim reminder of that which he could not remember before its presence.

The pain, as always, was ignored.

"Jimin, wake up." One of the elves was saying, the one cradling the unconscious form.

Shifting from the sitting position to his knees, the slight sounds he made was what finally alerted one of those surrounding the mage to his change in condition.

Taehyung glanced over at the small sounds, and found the surprising sight of the youth on his knees, and apparently in the process of trying to stand. He didn't move, however, from his place next to Yoongi as the young man gained his feet. The stoic soldier merely watched with narrowed eyes as the youth moved forward, pushing through the elves surrounding the mage.

"Let me through." He said aloud in a voice that seemed too dull to be real, though the surprise of the elves at his wakefulness was enough for him to get through their ranks and to the center.

Hoseok's eyes angled upwards at the intrusion, and found something to place blame upon in the figure of the boy with the collar.

"You..." He almost snarled, convulsively clutching the dying mage closer to him.

"He tried to use magic on this, didn't he." The young man said, gesturing to that which was around his neck. It was not a question. "It's taken hold of him, and unless I sever the connection, he will die."

The youth's words rang true, despite how much they wanted to deny it. The already tense atmosphere became almost palpable as the youth knelt next to the mage, hands moving to place one on the blonde's head, one over his feebly beating heart.

The young man's eyes closed, and he could see the link of vividly colored magic that had been forged between the mage and himself. It was the ample power the blonde possessed that had enabled him to wake. In return, he couldn't let the mage die.

Slowly, as Jimin's life coursed away, the young man halted the flow of magic, and life that had been avidly absorbed into the void of death.

It was a difficult thing to do. He was meant to have no control over what the cursed thing did, or whom it killed, but gradually, he'd grown the power and ability to stop its voracious intake of magic. Its consumption was the only way it could keep such a powerful spell up and running, and it had killed at least two people that the young man knew had merely been trying to help, as he knew the mage had been trying to help when he'd been ensnared.

Though he could stop the flow, he could not break the link. That was beyond his feeble powers. After this, if the mage tried to use his power again, even if it were nowhere near him, there was a chance that it would be caught once more.

That is, if the mage survived having over half of his life energy sucked away.

Though there was no visible change, Hoseok felt Jimin's heart start to beat a bit stronger and steadier as the youth took his hands from the blonde.

"He should be alright..." The young man murmured, placing his hands in his lap. "He will be very weak for a time, but I believe I stopped it in time..."

"Just what did you stop, exactly?" Taehyung spoke up, always one ready to gather more information on a possible hazard.

"His magic was being drained away, and a magic user's gift is directly linked with their life force. His life was draining away like water down rapids." The young man replied almost instantly, though in a soft voice that was dull with the burden of some unknown emotion that weighed heavily upon him. The chocolate eyed soldier resolved to himself that he would get to the bottom of this, but right now, their concern was the mage.

Gently laying Jimin's limp body down on his blankets, though he was loath to do so, and it was all too evident, Hoseok then settled down next to him. He would be awake the rest of the night.

Unfortunately, no one else got a choice in the matter, as a yell went up from one of the sentries on the outskirts of the camp.

"We're under attack!"

...

With the commotion at the humans' fire, the several elves that had gone to see what was the matter were therefore not ready when they came.

They, being a pack of grotesque looking Vasillisk.

Vasillisk were heinous creatures. Larger than the big cats that roamed the plains, they were shaped somewhat similar to a wolf. Their skin was dark, and scaled, giving them a reptilian look. Overlarge, brutish looking heads with square jaws that could crush bone as easily as one chewed greenery, sinister yellow eyes, and a long, powerful tail tipped with a poisonous barb that would kill quickly and painfully made for a nasty combination. They weren't overly fast though, as their size led to difficulty maneuvering, but they could whip that tail around with lightning speed.

The sudden commotion that sprung forth into the camp out of the surrounding darkness was a mixture of the Vasillisk pack, and the Silver Wolves clashing in a brutal confrontation. The silver bodies flashed as they tangled with the darker ones, howls of pain elicited from either side as they struck out. Blood splashed brightly to the ground, and a Silver Wolf fell to not rise again.

Making a dash for their weapons, the few elves were met by those Vasillisk not being held at bay by the Silver Wolves. Some managed to gather their weapons before they were attacked. Others did not get that chance.

"Group together!" Siobhan yelled, trying to direct his warriors while they were being torn apart by the vicious beasts that had attacked. Metal clashed with scaled skin, and sparks flew before he himself hit home with his long, curved blade. A howl of pain flew forth from the beast, and its virile blood dripped to the ground from the long cut down its chest. Then it lashed out, rending the elf's side with one swipe of its clawed talon. Letting out a yell, he dropped back, clutching the gaping wound as two of his warriors took his place at the front.

Other Vasillisk made for the small group at the opposite end of the camp. They could smell easy prey there, but they were brought up abruptly short by the flashing blades of both, one swords master, one deadly soldier, and the arrows of one furious elf.

From where he stood next to both the unconscious Jimin, and the undefended youth, Hoseok aimed for vital areas only an elf would be able to hit in the dark.

One of the beasts facing Yoongi suddenly sprouted a gray fletched arrow from where its malevolent yellow eye had been only a second before. Howling out in anger, the pain maddened beast managed to barrel past the defensive barrier Taehyung and Yoongi had made, going straight for the three nearest the fire.

"Watch out!" Yoongi yelled in an effort to warn them while fending off a pair of ravenous fangs with his own twin swords.

That same Vasillisk suddenly found itself plunging its own body onto the fire sharpened head of a thick stick the youth had grabbed from the fire and thrust forward at the charging animal with all his strength. Blood and gore sprayed forth, yet the beast continued forward at breakneck speeds, crashing into both the youth and the elf, and carrying them into the night forest with its lasting burst of energy.