The Enchanted Warriors (Dragon Riders AU)

81💛

Jungkook stepped off J.K.'s back, the dragon's wings folding behind him with a low hiss of wind. His boots clicked against the crystal platform-too loud in the silence that held the chamber hostage. The ten women stood like statues, still and silent, their faces shadowed beneath veils.

But one stood out.

The center.

She didn't flinch. Didn't blink. Her face was emotionless-but her eyes... they burned. Not with fear. With something daring. Challenging.

Daring him to try.

Jungkook's jaw tensed. A single nod to Jin. No words exchanged. None needed.

His irises flared-deep violet bursting like wildfire, carved through with spiraling ancient runes. The temperature dropped. The air thickened. The crystal platform dimmed as the world around him grew muffled.

He pierced into her mind.

No wall met him. No resistance. Just a cold void.

Empty.

Too empty.

And then it woke up.

Not the girl. Something else. It had always been there-hiding behind the shell of her mind. Watching. Waiting. Its power hit Jungkook like a tidal wave of knives-raw, ancient, and wrong.

Pain shot through his skull. Blood ran from his nose. His knees buckled mentally, even if his body stayed frozen in the waking world. The mindscape reformed around him in a blink:

Black marble floors split with cracks. Crimson light bleeding from beneath. The air was thick with ash. Far off, a monolith of bone rose like a tower, its top crowned with writhing tendrils of darkness.

He wasn't alone.

It moved without form-a shadow that bled into every corner, pressing against his mind like fingers peeling back his thoughts. Not a voice. Not words. Just pressure. Intent. And pain.

It wasn't curious.

It was testing him.

And it was disappointed.

Jungkook gasped as a wave of searing energy crashed through him. His limbs locked. His magic twisted. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.

He tried to retreat.

It wouldn't let him.

The thing reached inside him-brushed against his memories, prodded at his soul. He screamed, but only inside. Outwardly, his body stood still. A single drop of blood ran down from his eye like a tear.

But Jungkook fought.

His runes flared brighter. He roared with power-his power-and surged backward, severing the link with a force that shattered the air.

Jungkook collapsed to one knee, his hand splayed against the cold crystal floor, breath tearing from his lungs. The shadows of what he'd seen still clung to him-too ancient, too wrong. Whatever that thing was, it hadn't just watched him.

It tested him.

And then-

Schlick.

No warning. No sound before the cut.

Jin was already in motion.

Silent. Swift. Cold.

Jungkook's blurred vision snapped upward just in time to see it happen.

From where he stood-unmoving on the smooth, shimmering crystal platform-Jin raised his hand.

A long blade of razor-sharp crystal grew from his palm, cold and perfect, like it had been waiting there all along. A frozen extension of judgment.