And so the lamp became the beast

I'm Giving You a Choice

The newborns cast an impressive image as they lined up across the field. There were thirty-two of them. No one knew what had happened to the other eight from Yuna's vision, but a quick scan of the field showed Yeji that her family was in trouble. "Don't do this," Taeyong repeated. It had no effect on the young vampire army. They bared their fangs and dropped into a crouching position. Mingi nodded and the first of the newborns charged forward. The front five covered the space between the Hwang's and the newborns quickly. They held their line, waiting for the right moment. The newborns crashed into the line of vampires and wolves with the sound of mountains collapsing. Yeji held her ground, sticking to the plan: Wait for them to reach you and attack in pairs.

San and Taeyong ripped the first vampire to pieces. They dropped his arms and head onto the ground and crouched into defensive poses again. A young female charged past them, aiming for Yuna. Yuna spun around and threw her foot up behind her, shattering the jaw of the young girl. The first vampire's pieces attempted to reassemble themselves, so Jasper tossed the head far away before ripping the arms off the vampire Yuna had kicked. Ryujin growled from her position next to Yeji, and together they disassembled a newborn. Ryujin held him in her jaws as Yeji snapped his trunk in half and broke his limbs in the wrong directions. He let out an inhuman scream that was echoed by the rest of the newborns. Mingi nodded, and the rest of the vampires charged. They were gauging our attack style, Yeji thought to herself. She took a deep breath and steadied herself.

The Hwang's had planned on tag-teaming all newborns, but the numbers just didn't allow it. Wolves ended up isolated, doing their best to avoid being wrapped up. They evaded attacks, dodging and turning, rolling and leaping to safety. The newborns were young and unskilled in battle, but so were some of the wolves. The newborns attacked with reckless windmill-like abandon, but their brute strength and unmatched speed made them more dangerous than anyone could have truly prepared for. Soobin was isolated by two male newborns who kept him spinning in circles, using defensive maneuvers to evade destruction. One of them ripped off one of Soobin's arms while the other disabled his leg. Yuna roared in pain.

Seulgi ran to San, removing the arm of a newborn who was prepared to crush him. His only saving grace was that the vampire was so small her arms couldn't wrap fully around his chest. Yeji dug a heel into the chest of a newborn, pushing down on his stone-like skin until cracks appeared. Ni-ki and Ricky hung back with Chearyeong and the Egyptians. They couldn't afford to group like this, but the younger boys also couldn't fight alone. Even with the Egyptians best efforts, the boys ended up cordoned off and wrangled by two vampires. Yeji dropped the newborn she was holding as Ryujin whipped around with an ear-splitting snarl. Two vampires came ripping out of the woods towards the group and Ryujin prepared to pounce. Yeji grabbed Ryujin by the scruff and held her back. "They're friends!" Yeji watched as two red-eyed vampires came in and made short work of the newborns chasing the pups. They left the bodies scattered in the field.

"Sorry, we're late!" Sana called as she and Dahyun took up the battle against the newborns. Together they quickly killed two more vampires. Yeji looked around. They had disabled at least ten of the newborns, but they were struggling. Even with the new additions, their numbers were dwindling. Some wolves were nursing wounds, trying to get back into the fray. The newborns were trying to quickly defeat the wolves, but they were finding it difficult. Several of the wolves had been thrown around, knocked into trees and left on the ground, but Yejj could hear the wolves doing their best to rise. Yeji prayed to whoever existed that they would all be fine. A powerful fist slammed into her ribs and cracks echoed out from the point of impact. She hissed in pain. Please be okay, Yejj thought as she fought the newborn and tried not to focus on her boys fighting for their lives. Please be okay.