The Silent Tale

Chanyeol's Struggles

The wind raged and the old man shouted, "Get out of her right now! The dead should be dead, not in a living body!"

Chanyeol watched him swing his sword to one side and heard Namjoo scream out in pain. He turned around to watch an injury slash across her stomach and she fell a step back.

His heart hurt.

What was happening? Why was this man hurting his wife?

Another slash appeared across her body when the man swung his sword again. Namjoo screamed out in agonizing pain once more and he felt her pleading eyes land on him before he could no longer tolerate it.

Running toward her he caught her before she could fall back and clutched her tightly against him.

"Stop it! Stop!" Chanyeol screamed from the top of his lungs.

He didn't want to see Namjoo bleeding. Chanyeol didn't want her hurt. All that blood on Namjoo again made him ache. She was hurt, but she wouldn't mention it to him. Namjoo wouldn't talk about how much it hurt her and that hurt him even more.

He heard Namjoo let out a pained gasp near his ear before her head hung itself back and her body went limp in his arms. Chanyeol felt tears reach his eyes desperately before he dug his fingers into her robe.

Chanyeol would shield her from every possible arrow. He would protect her...he would protect her.

The night was going to be long, he could feel it. Namjoo was sleeping again. Chanyeol would remain by her side until she woke up – that was if she ever woke.

Namjoo's hand was icy cold. There was no warmth, but she was alive. Whatever was going on he would fix it. He would make it so that Namjoo could come back to him.

Chanyeol quickly wrapped his other hand around hers for the sake of giving her some warmth. The wall that shielded them from the earth outside was now scrambled in pieces on the ground. It would be hard to put one back up without the help of his wife and he thought about how much he needed her. The breezy wind was warm however, but Namjoo seemed unaffected by it.

He angled his head when he heard footsteps at the doorway. Minutes later he found himself sitting outside in the company of the strange old man and Namjoo's grandma on the outside table. Chanyeol made sure to sit where he could keep an eye on his beloved and continuously glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Fifty years ago the 15th ruler of the Koryo Dynasty ordered his troops to fight off the rebelling tribes in hopes of uniting the kingdom as a whole," the man explained, "in belief that they were benefitting the kingdom they slaughtered the tribes and burned their homes in the surrounding area.

"An enraged young man, who practiced sorcery with his tribe, watched his whole clan get wiped out. He put up a fight against the soldiers killing over half of them before he was mercilessly murdered. After swearing revenge they dumped his body into the ravine. If his spirit has possessed the river he'll take any chance he has for revenge against the kingdom. If we don't get rid of the spirit that begrudges, we won't be able to save the millions of innocents he'll be after."

Getting rid of the spirit could only equate to one possible solution...killing Namjoo.

"You're not touching her," Chanyeol emphasized demand into his voice.

He wasn't just upset, he was angry at the thought that this strange man would want to kill Namjoo in order to kill the spirit.

Namjoo's grandma reached a hand over to touch his arm, but it only sent fury flying through him.

"It's not Namjoo..." her grandma's voice said quietly.

"I know it's her," Chanyeol slightly raised his voice. "The way she looked at me...I know it's Namjoo."