Prince of Bones

7. Cursed

Three days later Hongjoong saw Hanbyeol again.

The man looked positively sick, his eyes tired and his form hunched where they had nailed him against the skeleton of the wendigo behind the altar. He fit morbidly well, his legs bound to the ones of the creature and his body held up by the ribcage of the statue enclosing him. His arms where bound around the ones behind him, big rusty nails holding him up at the hands, shoulders and between his legs. He had been crucified right behind that altar.

When Hongjoong first laid eyes on his lifeless body he had lashed out in blind rage, letting out his anger on the robes accompanying him until they managed to restrain him again. He did not manage to take out many of them, suspecting them to have magical healing abilities but he did fight until they had to knock him out again and drag him off.

They did not allow him near to the altar, instead keeping him at their cooking place or letting him help arrange for some welcoming feast they were preparing for Seonghwa.

It was the biggest load of crap Hongjoong had ever been part of.

For three days he had not been allowed to see one of the others, being kept from Seonghwa and having to help them under threats to his crew. Hongjoong's brain was working overtime with the need to find a way out of this mess and take out as much of these fuckers as possible but they did also not allow him much rest, not caring for his sickly skin and bluish lips.

Seonghwa was no prince and he was not theirs to claim. And Hongjoong was planning to get revenge for Hanbyeol's injuries too. He did not get anything out of them when he had screamed at them, demanding an answer on why the man was hanging there completely taken out.

Hongjoong was seething with anger, his insides feeling like a constantly hot boiling pot and his jaw having accustomed to a pained clench all the time. Whenever some robe passed him Hongjoong felt his fists clench, barely refraining from lunging at them.

From what he had gathered they would only protect Seonghwa to have him for whatever their sick ritual would include but Hongjoong was responsible for all three of them. So he stopped himself from lashing out in order to protect the group.

He needed answers.

He had not managed to get anything out of the creatures, most of them not able to talk and the only one he ever conversed with was always the same one. He needed to get to that prophecy in order to tell them why exactly Seonghwa was not the one they were searching for and for that he thankfully had his ace.

Nobody really noticed when his shadow split from him and slinked off through the dark corners of the cave that seemed to have no natural exit at all.

While his double gathered information, Hongjoong got to see Seonghwa again the day before their feast after having peeled potatoes and stirred them in a big cauldron for the whole day.

"The prince is asking for you.", was the only hollow information he got from the creature he had started calling their leader and Hongjoong had rolled his eyes.

"He is no prince, he is a pirate. It would be really helpful if you guys had eyes to open right now." Despite his words he had dutifully followed behind the leader when he had brought him to the cell Seonghwa was still in, grumbling something about the comfort of a prince.

At least the robes left them alone, letting Hongjoong grab the bars between them another time to pull at them uselessly once more. Seonghwa came over with eyes that looked just as haunted as Hongjoong felt, probably going crazy here all by himself while some creepy creatures prepared him for a ritual.

"Hongjoong.", he whispered his name gently, carefully detaching Hongjoong's whitish fingers from the iron bars. He held the pirate's hands in his, worriedly looking over the decaying flesh of his left hand that be barely felt anymore. Seonghwa looked pained by the view.