Black Magic

It Is Time

Chapter 28: It Is Time

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When Yixing finally found Chanyeol, it was not at all where he thought the Fire Dragon would be.

Yixing had initially gone to Baekhyun's cell, but he'd found it deserted of visitors. The red-eyed creature that now wore Baekhyun's face had been alone, pacing back and forth in front of the warded bars, long talons extending from his human fingertips and clinking against the metal as he moved.

Yixing had only allowed himself a moment to stare before he'd immediately turned and left, a bit of panic fluttering in his chest as the infected Fire Dragon lunged and hissed through the bars. It hurt to see Baekhyun like that, nothing but hostility in his gaze, eyes red and glowing with malice. Yixing couldn't even imagine what Chanyeol had felt, seeing the person he loved wearing the face of the enemy. Yixing could only hope that Chanyeol hadn't gone off and done something drastic...

Even though Yixing could feel a terrible urgency quickening his pace, the Water Dragon wasn't very confident about traversing the labyrinthine hallways of Catacombs, so all he could do was walk the path he knew, shouting Chanyeol's name and listening intently for a reply. Maybe someone else had already escorted Chanyeol to the surface? Maybe Chanyeol had left before Baekhyun had even awoken?

Yixing walked for about 10 minutes, bleak thoughts bouncing through his mind, eyes well-adjusted to the dark, voice beginning to go hoarse, when he suddenly saw the barest flicker of candle-light along the curve of a shadowed wall.

He stopped, made sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him...

But he saw it again, the barest shift of brightness in the shadows.

He slowly made his way toward the curve, suddenly wary of what he might encounter in the bowels of the Catacombs. He crept around the corner, eyes squinted as his vision adjusted....and then he followed the light.

He walked until the faint flicker grew to a solid shine, and then suddenly, his feet were crunching on gravel.

There was a hole in the wall.

There was a hole in the wall, and a candle sputtering on a desk, and—"Chanyeol!"

The Fire Dragon was slumped sideways on the floor, face lax and eyes closed under the light of a giant candle. Yixing's Healer instincts kicked in, and he quickly side-stepped the broken chunks of stone to reach Chanyeol, wondering how long the younger male had been lying on the floor, passed out. There was a steady drip of wax from the candle, oozing off the table and plopping onto the ground near Chanyeol's head, and judging from the amount building up on the floor, the candle had been lit for quite a while.

"Chanyeol," Yixing said again, voice a bit more urgent. He couldn't detect any serious damage on the Fire Dragon's person, but the younger male's knuckles were swollen to twice their normal size, smeared dark red with dried blood. Even though Yixing was incredibly drained from saving the owl earlier, he still lifted a hand, summoned water from the air with a flick of his wrist, and immediately begin to mend the scraped skin of Chaneyol's knuckles.

The Fire Dragon's eyes twitched beneath his eyelids, and Yixing called his name again, this time shaking Chanyeol's shoulder as well. "Wake up, Chanyeol. I need you to wake up, there you go, that's it, come on, sit up and talk to me."

"Yixing?" The Healer was able to shift the dazed man into a sitting position,Chanyeol's back braced against one of the legs of the solid desk behind him.

"Yes. How many fingers am I holding up?"

The Fire Dragon frowned, eyes squinted as he tried to focus. "Three?"