For Peace

27. Tribute of Red

Contrary to their last run-in with the Reds, this encounter passed Seonghwa as fast as a dream in the night. No time was wasted in agony on the cross as he waited, strung like a bow, for San to break open a lock.

The attackers knew where to strike, proving once more how long they had pored over the unaware group. If they were affiliated with the bodies Hongjoong left strewn around the cross, it didn't show. Perhaps they were yet another troupe that stumbled upon the strangers by accident and sought a chance to kill.

Seonghwa dipped behind Hongjoong, not fool enough to try his hand at fighting or at waxing diplomacy. After the last time, he didn't doubt the savages.

In a flurry of claws and wings, Hongjoong knocked into his enemies. He left deep scratches on the faces and chests of all that drew near, and his tail whipped at their feet to trip them up so they stumbled right into his deadly hands. The flare of his dark wings either carried his mighty leaps or shielded Seonghwa from view.

Each little nick of their straying weapons against the thin skin of his leathery wings resonated in Seonghwa's body. He almost threw up when his fear for Hongjoong battled his sense to stay back. If Seonghwa became part of the mess, Hongjoong would get hurt worse to save him.

The other companions sunk into chaos at the same time as them, as the Reds had surrounded them. Mingi's maniac cackle when he got to butcher some wasted souls carried with San's terrified shrieks before he flung his knives everywhere, hoping at least one of them hit something.

Seonghwa soon found himself back to back with Wooyoung when the lutin gritted his teeth through his pain to protect the priest's back. Terrified where Jongho was since this would usually be him, Seonghwa blinked through the fire and smoke sparking from Wooyoung's devious sling grenades.

Through the biting grey cloud that hid their group's hasty formation changes from view, Seonghwa spotted Jongho. He had scrambled from his stretcher and defended the left flank with Yeosang by his side. The wolf didn't dare shift so close to his friends, afraid of what the blood lust might bring. Instead, he fended with the practise sword Jongho had given him. Though still clumsy in his movements, his raw strength was enough to stagger his enemies for long enough that Jongho could finish the deadly strike. Yunho commanded the right to protect San. As he snatched the knives from the man's belt to throw them with little training, most found their mark.

Perie fought as viciously as Hongjoong. Her attacks were a mess of claws and teeth, drowning the Reds in screams of horror when she dawned upon them to gouge out their eyes. Her tail embedded itself into the nape of her victims as soon as they staggered, killing with poison like fire.

Seonghwa flinched when a wing almost hit him in the head. He hovered behind Hongjoong, ready to change positions if he was needed to. His head whipped left and right to check on his friends so fast that he got nauseous.

Battle cries and the rustle of feet rushing through the tall grass sent him into a constant state of frenzy. Sweat stuck to his nape as the humid air robbed everyone of their breaths and fuelled the Reds, who struck their advantage to bear down on them with their brutal weapons.

Seonghwa recoiled every time the steel of their weapons clanged jarringly against Jongho's sword. The dull hits of their bodies on the ground after Wooyoung's knives caught them with sickening fluidity might be even worse.

In his utter confusion and dread that he might turn any time to see the head of one of his friends rolling, Seonghwa bumbled about like a newborn foal. Only the growls crawling from Hongjoong's chest to chase shivers down Seonghwa's spine were familiar to him.

"Duck, priest!" Wooyoung yelled behind him, out of the blue, as his attacks rained on the Reds. Seonghwa went down on time when a Red broke through the smoke, dashing between Jongho and Hongjoong to access their vulnerable core. Madness glinted in his eyes, as well as triumph for seeing through their strategy.