Honor and Glory | ATEEZ

010 DAZZLING LIGHT

Ice. That had been Jongho's idea. If Daios had been following this close behind us since our treasure hunt began, then that meant that we were moving in a pattern that was way too predictable.

Even if we had skipped District 1 already.

And thus, the five of us had embarked on a journey to the last of one the districts. District 8. The last place you would expect two fire elementals to go, not to mention a water, earth, and air elemental.

The outskirts of District 4 looked a lot like the landscape we had crossed after first meeting Jongho and Mingi.

Tall cliffs rose into the sky everywhere around us, and we had to walk down narrow pathways cut into cliffs and mountains until we finally saw the landscape changing in the distance.

It was going to be a long journey, stretching across the entire Kingdom of Avalon.

And it was going to be tough, considering the fact that we would have to make camp in the wilderness since the cities were located in the districts and not on the vast expanses of land located between them.

I could just make out the end of the small pathway that we were shuffling along in a nice, neat line as it came to a halt at the bottom of the cliff.

Where the stones ended, tall grass grew out of the ground as far as the eye could see, softly billowing in the wind as a warm breeze caressed my face, bringing colour to my cheeks.

The fields looked like oceans of green, and the tops of the plants waved as the wind got a hold of them. It was truly beautiful.

"How are you holding up?" Wooyoung asked me, trudging back a few steps to walk beside me.

I shook my head, not wanting to appear weak or tired, but the truth was that I was absolutely exhausted.

It was embarrassing, really, the fact that this journey had been my idea and I was the slowest of the bunch, always walking at the back of the group as I tried to hold up.

A life of luxury and royalty did that to you, apparently. I made a mental note to myself that I would never return to that life again.

These men had given up everything to join me, and that meant that I just had to try harder, no matter the physical toll it took on me.

"Everything is just peachy," I said, puffing out my chest and standing up a little straighter. My tough appearance fell right down the drain, though, as I stumbled over a rock in the road and fell forward, felling the ground disappear under my feet.

"Woah there," Wooyoung laughed, grabbing my waist and helping me stand back up.

The others luckily hadn't noticed and were now even further away than before.

"Thank you," I mumbled, giving Wooyoung a warm smile as I brushed myself off.

"Don't mention it," he said, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze as he motioned toward the others with his head.

"Do you want to walk with me? We can take it easy so you don't get too exhausted."

The fact that he had noticed how I was feeling made my heart swell, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed that it had been so obvious.

"Are you sure?" I asked, avoiding his eyes as I dug the tip of my boot into the ground awkwardly.

"Of course," he exclaimed, snaking his arm around my shoulders as he pulled me along with him, "You're my favourite person in this group. I'd much rather have you all to myself than get bullied by the tall ones up there."