For Peace

16. White Light

"San!" Seonghwa yelled. His terror made the hairs on his nape stand on edge. Fuelled by his panic to see the man beheaded, Seonghwa ripped at his arms, groaning at the pain that shot up his shoulders and stilled his motion in alarm of death.

With big eyes, San looked towards his doom. Three Reds approached him with their weapons raised and glinting in the fire's shine. San wasn't armed, had nowhere to dodge. Hongjoong futilely slammed against his cage.

Help came from an unexpected direction. Just as the first Red arrived at the cage and lifted his blade to slash at the unprotected neck of the frozen boy, a flash of white dashed past him and into freedom. It hit the attacker square in the chest and the Red went down with a surprised call that his companions echoed.

A white flurry of slashing limbs, then red spilt onto the earth. What rose from the Red's chest heaved for breath.

With an open mouth, Seonghwa watched as the being grew and grew. It stood on tall haunches, similar to Hongjoong's legs, only that these ended in paws instead of claws. White fur dusted over a body that was grotesquely man and yet not. The wide chest spanning between powerful clawed arms was covered in snowy fur.

The creature stood on its hind legs, yet the motion of falling to all fours looked just as natural to it. When it tilted its wolf's head to let out a howl that froze the blood in Seonghwa's veins, he recognised the flicking ears that were now poised in threat.

The cage held only a single person now, and San clutched to the door with trembling fingers, shielding his body.

Yeosang had disappeared. Or rather, shifted.

A brutal claw came down to strike the nearest Red in the face. Four bloody streaks marred the woman's face, but she was left only a moment to scream before a maw full of sharp teeth closed around her throat and ripped it out.

Blood stained Yeosang as he leapt at the next attacker, leaving death and destruction in his wake. His eyes were frenzied by blood lust, but enough of a man remained that Seonghwa knew he wouldn't hurt his friends.

In the moment of Yeosang ripping their enemies to shreds, San crawled from the cage. He rammed his shoulder into a lingering Red, frozen in dread at the sight of the creature bathing the earth crimson. Spear in hand, the pale boy hurried to Yunho's side. A moment later, the tall adventurer crashed to the ground. He scrambled to his feet and feeble hope filled Seonghwa's chest.

They could do this.

Yeosang was surrounded by spears that he batted at with mighty claws. His snarling challenged the Reds, and their courage returned to bring the beast down.

However, it was already too late. Yunho's expert fingers opened the second lock within the blink of an eye. The gargoyle that emerged was even deadlier than the wolf.

The fight was nasty. Even against the odds, the Reds fought without abandon. While San and Yunho saved Wooyoung from the fire, the savages delivered multiple shallow wounds to Yeosang and Hongjoong. A person who had fallen already grabbed a weapon one more time and though Seonghwa couldn't do more but watch the slaughtering, his cry of warning came too late.

Yeosang's leg buckled under the deep gash and he crumbled where he had been protecting San and Yunho. Seonghwa's scream alerted Hongjoong and the head of the Red rolled not a second too late.

Hissing in pain, Yeosang clutched his leg. He waved off anyone trying to help him, growling at them to finish the enemy first.

Wooyoung lay in the grass panting and coughing. His skin was red from the fire and severe burns covered his front, but he was alive.