P.S. Listen to the song while reading this chapter!
Chapter 8 – The Green Dragon
Every step that the villagers from Jae-ha's former village took, pain added onto Jae-ha's face. Watching him like that pained my heart too.
It was the first time that I had seen Jae-ha so...vulnerable.
I grew nervous of what was going to unfold.
I wanted this night to end.
The sparkling stars in the sky weren't enough to make us feel okay. Roo-na's face also showed complete concern for Jae-ha and even though I couldn't see Shin-ah's face, I knew that he was also troubled about what was going to happen since it involved his fellow dragon brother.
There was someone who was leading the army of villagers. I assumed that he was the leader and I noticed that his face lit up when he saw Jae-ha. "You saved us all the trouble by greeting us here, Jae-ha,"
"G—Goro," Jae-ha stuttered.
"Your existence became quite famous, huh?" Goro chuckled evilly. "We also heard that you're now living in the castle. If we knew that King Hiryuu would really be reincarnated, we would have treated you better,"
"What do you want?" Roo-na hissed.
"We just want a simple token of appreciation for raising the Green Dragon," Goro responded like it was no big deal. "That's a good bargain, isn't it?"
I didn't know where I got the guts to speak up. "You didn't raise him. You chained him and took away his freedom. You people are the worst!" the blood in my body boiled at what they said.
Token of appreciation?
Was chaining Jae-ha something to be appreciated?
Was taking away his freedom something that we should be thankful of?
"Our village is now poor," Goro explained. "We need money and the best way to get it is using the Green Dragon that we raised, right?"
Jae-ha was silent as he stood still. The horrified expression on his face didn't falter. Roo-na and Shin-ah gripped their weapons tightly that I was afraid that the weapons would break.
"Jae-ha..." I whispered.
"Whether you like it or not, you need to fight them, Jae-ha," Roo-na said. "People like them don't deserve any kind of forgiveness. They are the ones who need to be sent to God themselves to repent for their sins,"
I reached for my bow and arrow. It didn't occur to me that protecting Jae-ha would happen this soon. Just like Roo-na and Shin-ah, I gripped my weapon tighter.
I would risk my life to protect you and your freedom.
***
I hid behind a tree as I continued piercing each villager by an arrow. I sometimes missed but that was forgivable since I was new to this, right?
Jae-ha had no choice but to fight his former villagers. I noticed that he was not killing them so I followed his example. I just aimed for their arms and legs just enough to cripple them and not take away their lives.
With just the four of us, it was difficult to defeat them. We also didn't have the time to call for back-up since the battle unfolded immediately.
It had already been half an hour and I was already out of arrows.
Oh, no.
I needed to find an alternative for the arro—No!
The villagers managed to capture Jae-ha in the worst way possible. As Jae-ha jumped from the ground, Goro threw a rope at this dragon leg and tightened it. Three more villagers helped Goro pull Jae-ha from the air.
The rest of the villagers brought a chain and they bound Jae-ha's dragon leg to stop him from jumping around.
The look on Jae-ha's face made my heart ache.
He was traumatized.
Roo-na and Shin-ah stopped fighting the villagers as they instantly ran toward Jae-ha but failed to do so when the villagers blocked their way.
"Finally," Goro laughed like he knew that this was already victory.
No.
Jae-ha...
No.
I unconsciously left the tree as I walked toward their direction. Tears started to spill from my eyes. I couldn't bear to see Jae-ha like this.
What would they do?
Would they take him away from me?
The villagers looked at me like I was out of my mind for coming out to be captured.
"Avi!" Jae-ha yelled. "Run!"
"Capture her!" Goro ordered his men.
Before they could even reach my location, I opened my mouth and started to sing. My eyes burned with each word that left my mouth.
"Unleash the rope, see the inner heart.
For whom am I hurting myself?
With this little hand I want to protect,
and wish strongly upon a falling star,"
"Master G—Goro..." one of the villagers took a step back. "Her eyes—they're glowing!"
I directed my voice to the villagers and not to my friends. My violet eyes burned hotter than before.
"Monster!" Goro spat the word like it disgusted him. One by one, his villagers fell down on the ground. Roo-na, Shin-ah, and Jae-ha were all confused of what was happening but their eyes didn't leave me. They just stared at me dumbfounded.
Please...save my friends...save Jae-ha.
I wouldn't care if I burned in hell after this.
I just didn't want to see that painful look on Jae-ha's face.
"Thousands of twinkling stars in the night sky,
I pray that they someday will come to you,"
I finished my song and stared at the outcome of my singing.
"W—What just happened?" Roo-na managed to speak up.
"They're dead," Shin-ah pointed out and I took that as my cue to run away from them.
I needed to get away from them.
I was contented with saving Jae-ha.
It was alright if he hated me now—at least I managed to save him.
I managed to save Jae-ha's freedom.
YOU ARE READING
The Definition of Freedom (Jae-ha Love Story)
Fiksi Penggemar"I have no other choice," I looked down and wiped the tears from my eyes. "You have a choice," he placed a finger on my chin and tilted my head up. "You have a choice to stay with us because you can," "You'll hate me," I responded. "You'll hate my...
