Felix blinked, looking between the Queen and Chan. The tension in the air was so thick and almost suffocating. Chan's jaw was clenched, his whole posture tense and he exhaled loudly. It was as if the whole group held their breaths as the two of them looked at each other. Felix's head was spinning with questions.
"Where have you been, brother?" the Queen asked, breaking the silence and she let her eyes linger on Chan before looking over to the rest. "You've gathered quite the group as well... and a human. I suppose he's not like the others, considering you've kept him alive."
"He's a good person," Chan said, glancing over his shoulder in Woojin's direction before sighing. "I was injured, I fell in the Bonamore woods," he continued, voice stiff and Felix furrowed his brows as he looked between the two siblings again. "I can't shift."
"You can't shift?" Jisung blurted, quickly covering his mouth and Changbin muttered an apology, grabbing a hold of Jisung's arm to pull him back a little. Chan glanced at them, then back to the Queen and then he looked at Felix.
"He shouldn't shift," Felix said slowly, his eyes flickering around nervously as the attention shifted to him. He felt so small under everyone's eyes; especially under the Queen's. "It's... it's too risky."
"How do you know that?" the Queen asked, taking a step towards Felix. Chan immediately tensed up, moving in front of Chan. "I wish him no harm, brother," she said, voice softer and she placed a hand on Chan's shoulder.
"I've worked with shifters before," Felix replied, trying his best to keep his voice steady. The Queen was still staring at him with her piercing, yellow eyes but her gaze was getting softer and Felix felt more at ease. "It's dangerous when the body is trying to heal itself."
"You're right," she said, nodding her head a little. "What's your name, little half-elf?"
"Felix."
"It's nice to meet you, Felix," she said, reaching out a hand to shake Felix's. "I'm Hyunjung. Thank you for saving my brother."
"What are you doing here?" Chan asked and Hyunjung took her eyes off Felix. "Shouldn't you be in Silmator? In the Sky castle?"
Hyunjung's face became serious again, the soft smile dropping off her face. She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "The green dragons betrayed us."
"They- what?" Chan said, looking over at Changbin and Jisung. Both of them looked as shocked as he was. "You... you were right, Seungmin," he breathed, looking over at Seungmin who looked frozen in place.
"You knew?" Hyunjung asked and Chan sighed, brushing his hair to the side before he gave Seungmin a nod.
"I was... I overheard two individuals talking up in the Tremorndin about a deal between dragons and humans. It sounded odd to me and I thought I should warn the dragons. That's why I'm traveling towards the Sky castle," he explained and Hyunjung nodded slowly.
"That's thoughtful of you," Hyunjung said, shoulders dropping. "Very noble of you."
"I'm sorry," Seungmin said, lowering his head.
"No, don't be," Hyunjung said and he looked up again, eyes wide. "You did what you could. I can't ask more of you."
"I should have guessed," Chan hissed and Hyunjung's gaze hardened. "What now?" he asked, lacing his fingers together with Felix's. "What should we do? If we let the Sky castle go... It'll be the end."
"I know," Hyunjung said, glancing down at Felix's and Chan's hands before looking at Chan. "I'm heading towards Myllin to regroup with the army. We're heading towards Silmator after that."
