Woojin stiffened, body remaining frozen in place as Changbin looked him up and down. Jisung tilted his head, eyeing Woojin with curious, yellow eyes. Jeongin looked nervous, eyes flickering around and the fire in his eyes sparking. Felix glanced at Chan, just praying that Chan would stop the two dragons before anything happened.
"Woojin has traveled with us for a long time," Chan said calmly. "You do not have to worry about him."
"You trust him?" Jisung asked, not taking his eyes off Woojin. Chan glanced over at Woojin, looking him over before looking back at Jisung just as Jisung looked back at Chan.
"With my life," he confirmed. The tension in the air was starting to dissipate, bleeding away as both Changbin and Jisung relaxed.
"What happened?" Jisung finally asked as he turned back to Chan. Chan sighed, rubbing his temples.
"I got injured, badly and I fell in the Bonamore woods as I tried to make it back home," Chan explained and Jisung hummed, eyes fixed at Chan as he spoke. "Felix found me and he's been helping me back."
"You were in the Bonamore woods?" Changbin asked, looking over at Felix. Felix didn't reply, he just nodded wordlessly. "In the human territory?" Another nod. "What were you doing in the human territory?" Changbin asked, taking a step towards Felix but he froze in place as a growl rumbled in Chan's chest.
"Don't you dare distrust him, Changbin," he hissed, moving over to stand in front of Felix. Felix just looked between Chan, Changbin, Jisung and the others. He honestly had no idea what was really going on right now. "He has gone through enough to get me here, the last thing he needs is distrust. The last thing any of these people need is distrust."
"I don't think Changbin meant to distrust them," Jisung said in a soft voice. "But... uhm, we were just told to be careful. The queen made sure to tell us that."
"I see," Chan said, expression growing dark. There was a pause where no one said anything and Felix could see the tension in Chan's posture. He reached out to gently take Chan's hand, brushing his thumb over Chan's hand. Chan didn't look at him, he kept his eyes fixed at Changbin and Jisung, but his stance became a bit more relaxed and he gave Felix's hand a small squeeze.
"We thought that we might have lost you," Changbin said, crossing his arms over his chest. "The queen was... was worried too. She sent us out to look for you." There was no change in Chan's expression as he nodded slowly. "I'm glad you're alright," he continued, reaching out to pat Chan's arm.
"I wish we could say that things has gotten better while you've been gone but..." Jisung's shoulders dropped. "I'm afraid it's quite the opposite... The humans are advancing in the south and... yeah."
"Are... uhm..." Seungmin spoke up, immediately freezing in place and going quiet as Jisung and Changbin looked at him. "I was- I overheard someone... in Tremorndin. There was a-a human and a dragon. They made a deal. I don't know if it's true or not but I-I need to get to the Sky castle to warn them."
"A dragon who made a deal with a human?" Changbin asked, looking over Chan and Jisung. "That can't be good."
Just as Chan opened his mouth to say something, another shadow moved across the sky and they all turned their attention up. A large, black dragon was approaching them and it moved fast across the sky. It was larger than Chan, but not as bulky as Chan was in dragon shape. It was leaner, moving swiftly but it too had the large gray horns curled forward and the almost greenish leathery wings.
Felix tightened his grip of Chan's hand, moving even closer to Chan. He wasn't sure what was going on and he wasn't sure if he should be scared of this dragon or not.
A growl rumbled in the dragon's chest as it landed with a heavy thud. Dust kicked up at the impact on the dry ground and it rolled out like a wave from where the dragon had landed. Felix coughed, waving his hand in front of his face to get rid of the dust.
As the dust settled, the black dragon was no more. In its place was a woman. She was dressed in dark, almost black robes adorned with golden embroideries. Her long, black hair framed her face, her cheeks a bit on the rounder side and her yellow eyes serious as she looked over the group of nine in front of her. Felix felt stunned, at loss for words in front of her. She was beautiful; frighteningly beautiful.
Felix could hear Chan inhale and straighten his back. When he looked at Chan, he almost felt like he was looking at a different person. Chan's expression was serious, his eyes neutral as he looked at the woman in front of them.
She began to approach them and both Changbin and Jisung both bowed deeply.
"My queen," Changbin said as he straightened his back. "We were just going to return," he continued and the woman hummed as she stopped. Felix's eyes widened at Changbin's words. The queen. This was the queen of the dragons, the leader of the northwest. He had heard some about her, but because it was mostly human rumors they were less than positive.
"I see you found my brother," she spoke, her voice soft but there was something else in her voice that Felix couldn't really pinpoint. "That's something at least."
"Official and serious as usual I see, sister," Chan spoke and she turned to look at him. There was a pause as the two of them just stared at each other. "My queen," Chan said, bowing his head as he broke the silence. "It's good to see you again."
"It's good to see you alive," the queen spoke, giving Chan a little nod, "crown prince."
