Black Magic

Reunion

Chapter 32: Reunion

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Luhan was still conscious, but barely so.

Just enough to register that he was being picked up and moved from where he had landed at the bottom of the ravine. His broken body sent flashes of white-hot pain to his brain with every jolting step that the person took.

Luhan tried to inhale, to cry out, to tell the person to put him down and let him be ...but he couldn't. His lungs felt as though they were full of liquid, and his mouth tasted like sticky copper. His eyelids refused to stay open.

And he hurt. Oh gods, he hurt.

Luhan wasn't sure how much time passed before they reached their destination, but after a while he began to descend into a sort of peaceful awareness. Everything was muffled and dark, the pain suddenly less, his mind calming to a staticky silence.

Luhan's eyes flew open and he gasped, lungs crying for air.

He held very still, simply trying to get his heart rate under control. After several moments his breathing slowed, and he glanced downward. He was standing, his body whole and unblemished in its human form.

...Which shouldn't have been possible with the state he'd been in.

Luhan's gaze snapped up, and he looked around, confused, but he couldn't see anything or anyone familiar. He was in a black landscape, nothing seeming to hold any sort of shape or form. A shadowland. "Hello?" he called tentatively, just to make sure his own voice worked. The words echoed back at him with no reply, and then faded from existence. Luhan brought his hand up to his face, flexed his fingers, took a step, and then another. His body was working.

He continued to walk.

Luhan had walked maybe thirty steps or so, and then seemingly out of nowhere, a great, looming waterfall was stretching above him. The water fell in a quick stream, pitch as night, and looking soft as velvet. It fell and fell, splashing softly into an inky dark pool.

Though the pool was dark, it looked peaceful, inviting, and he didn't feel any fear towards it. He felt like maybe he could walk into the water and relax for a long, long time.

Luhan took another step closer, and another. His left foot was in the shadowy water when he heard voices, snatches of words floating around him.

"I can't tell if he's breathing or not..."

" —need Kyungsoo and Kai to find us. Get Chen to send a signal."

"—What about the Air Heartstone? This isn't like the Vision without it."

Luhan paused, trying to locate the source of the voices. But he was very tired, and the water in the pool was so warm against his ankles. He took another step, moving a little deeper, letting the chatter drift away beneath the melodic crash of the waterfall.

He could figure it out later. Right now he needed to rest.

"Luhan."

He paused again, head tilting toward the sound of his name. He was up to his waist, the water flicking against his skin in gentle waves.

"Luhan, stay with me. Please...," the voice choked off, as though the person were fighting tears, and then came back with a softness that had Luhan turning back to look at the shore in worry. "Don't leave me here alone."

The voice was familiar, but he couldn't see anybody behind him, couldn't figure out exactly who was calling so desperately for him to stay—

Sehun.