Honor and Glory | ATEEZ

009

"So," Yunho said, clasping his hands together as the turned around to face the rest of the group. "What now?"

We were standing underneath the Temple of Air, the shadow from the building forming a perfectly round circle on the ground that covered the clear purple sky above us.

"Well it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Mingi's smile slowly grew wider as he spread his arms in a dramatic gesture.

"We're going to fly," he said, sounding a bit too excited by the idea of giving us all a little boost of air on our way up to the temple.

He already seemed very into our plan with the gemstones, and his mood had only gone up during the day.

"Fly?" Jongho said, joining in on the conversation, his voice shaking with nervousness as the weight of Mingi's words hit him.

"But I'm an earth elemental. I'm a lot more comfortable being on the ground."

"If I remember correctly, you weren't the one screaming when I caught you mid-air on your way down that mountain," Mingi said, giving Wooyoung a look that made the pink-haired man pout in embarrassment.

He crossed his arms defiantly as he turned his head the other way.

"Besides," Yunho said, "y/n and Wooyoung are both fire elementals, but they made it out fine from he Temple of Water. I mean, they almost drowned, but I was there to help them, so we'll probably be fine now that we've got Mingi."

I shook my head. They were obviously trying to help, but Jongho didn't seem any less frightened by their words.

He sent another worried look toward the temple above us and swallowed heavily, but he nodded his head nonetheless.

"Well then, ladies and gents, if you would be so kind as to hold on to your baggage, boots, and companions, I'll make sure that we'll be airborne in no time," Mingi said cheerfully.

His smile was so contagious that I felt the corners of my lips turn upwards as well, but Jongho had a point.

I couldn't help but agree with him on the idea of flying.

It felt wrong, but we had no other choice if we wanted the gemstone.

And so, holding hands with each other, trying our best to cover up our nervousness as none of us wanted to disrupt Mingi's great mood, our feet slowly lifted off the ground as we began moving upward.

As the ground below us got further and further away, I finally allowed myself to look at the temple that was now right in front of us.

Built on top of a floating rock with several smaller boulders levitating around it, the temple's numerous stories stretched far into the sky above us.

We landed between a pair of the giant columns that held up the temple's most impressive feature, a giant glass dome that allowed the clouds and winds to pass through it.

Both of the columns were decorated with symbols representing the air elementals, and I carefully let my hand trace the intricate designs and swirling lines, imagining the sounds of winds in the distance.

"If you don't mind me asking," Jongho said, turning to Mingi.

"Why is the temple placed in the middle of the city? Ours is hidden so intruders don't just barge in, but yours is literally the first thing you see when you enter the district."

"Well, considering that we're air elementals and that the temple is floating several hundred meters above the ground and is in no way connected to the rest of the city by walkways or bridges, I don't think a lot of intruders will have the chance to just walk in here," Mingi said.