Masters of the Sea

009

There were only a few hundred against a thousand. Black sails billowing against the backdrop of the city walls, yet nothing compared to the fleet that was fast approaching. From my position at the helm of the flagship, I could see the high walls of Goguryeo standing tall in the distance. The black flag of Goguryeo flew high and proud above the stone walls, the gold dire wolf fiercely baring its fangs at the approaching ships. There on the Goguryeo flagship, I could see nine tiny figures standing unwavering in the face of the incoming threat, with him standing right at the head of them all.

The black knights of Goguryeo, ever ready.

Next to me was a man clad in a suit of white, in direct juxtaposition to the black that was on the shore. He loaded his first arrow onto his bow, its tip ablaze in flames. With a steady hand, he took aim, and just like that the first arrow took flight. With deadly precision, that one flaming arrow struck the heart of the royal crest, and in the blink of an eye, the dire wolf was in flames.

"Do we have to do this? Is there no other way?" I heard myself asking, except it didn't feel as though it was coming from me. I was speaking, yet at the same time, I wasn't. From beneath my emerald green hood, I turned to look at the man in white. He was standing next to me, yet I couldn't see his face. Everything was a blur.

He shook his head slowly and said, "I'm sorry. This is the only way."

When there was one, there would be many to follow. With a simple wave of his hand, a thousand flaming arrows soared across the sky towards the shores of Goguryeo. It looked beautiful. Scarily beautiful. Like a thousand phoenixes taking to the skies. They were no phoenixes, for a phoenix would die in fire and then rise again from the ashes. These were not symbols of rebirth—they were harbingers of death.

I watched as the arrows hit their marks—the starboards and bows of the Goguryeo ships. There was screaming. I could hear them scream, the soldiers were screaming as their helpless bodies were set alight. I could still see him standing at the bow of the ship, unwavering even as the black sails were falling one by one behind him, even as the men were crying out around him. There was sorrow in him—I could sense it—but even so he didn't waver.

I watched as the man in white drew another arrow from his sheath and took aim. I didn't have to think twice about where the bullseye was to be found. This time, he wasn't aiming for only a flag. He didn't need to take down a flag. If the Baekje were to emerge victorious, all he had to do was to take down one person.

"Please! Don't!" I grabbed hold of his arm and begged, and at that moment I could feel the tears trickling down my cheeks. He turned to me apologetically, and then he let go.

I watched as the arrow took flight, slicing through the cold winter's air, its trajectory taking it straight towards its mark.

I watched as he stood there, unflinching, as the arrow hurtled towards him until it pierced straight through his heart.

I watched as he fell.

#

"No! Go Yeon!" Hye Ra sat up on the bed, screaming loudly as the vivid images shook her out of her sleep. "Don't kill him! Please!"

The door flew open and someone rushed into the room. A warm hand was placed on her shoulder, giving her a good hard shake so that she would wake up from the nightmare and come to her senses. It only took a few shakes before Hye Ra snapped back to reality, realising that she was no longer sailing on the open sea, but was instead safe within the confines of her own bed. For a moment she thought that she was back in the Goguryeo palace and that it was Sejoon who had awoken her, just like he always did whenever she had one of these nightmares, but it didn't take her long to realise where she actually was. The palace was miles away—this was Myungshin village, nestled away in a forgotten corner of the forest and the place that she now called home. Next to her, a worried Sunghyun had his brows tightly furrowed.