Briar Rose - Taekook

Chapter 28

Update!💜 This chapter will be... interesting... 

It's pretty long, but I recommend you to read it carefully :) enjoy!

XXVIII: Taehyung

There's perfection in a battle like this.

Ducking, dodging, stabbing. All come easily to me as if I'm a Mask just completing his last day of training. Fresh out of Bloodcrest and hungry for the blood that spills from the lifeless bodies of my enemies.

Soldiers learn to avoid me early on, though they're usually not successful. How many vampires have I killed since the start? Fifty? One hundred? I'm not keeping track. Even though my silver mask marks me as different from all the other fighters on the battlefield, I'm a hard person to catch. For once, there's no need for the monster inside to give me orders. I'm doing exactly what it wants me to. Twenty years of ruthless training at the top military academy has molded me into a machine made for killing.

A Mask.

But there's only one person in this whole war that I care about killing. Whose blood I want to see staining the ground and his lifeless eyes staring into the sky he can no longer see. But that person is as elusive as a cat, and I've not even caught a glimpse of him until now. I growl in frustration.

Ducking under flashing scims, I whip my own scim through the throat of a soldier unlucky enough to be on the wrong side of my blade. Once, I would have felt bad about all the death and destruction I was causing. Now, I feel nothing. Perhaps it was because of the mask, but I couldn't feel any remorse for the soldiers I was killing. They will be honored by their clan as brave warriors. Dying was simply a part of life. The only rest we would ever get from our duty. Some part of my brain tells me to stop. That this is all wrong. I don't listen to it. That part of my soul is weak. It was what I was before I put on the mask. Now, all I can focus on is the blood turning my hands into a beautiful crimson color.

"Looking for something, Taehyung?" At the sound of the all-too familiar voice, I whip around, scims protectively crossed in front of me. Lucius stands a few feet away, eyeing my figure with amusement. There's something in his hands, half hidden in shadow so I can't make out what it is. It was probably some sort of weapon anyway. "You've grown better."

"You shifty scoundrel," I snarl. "I'll rip your throat open. I've been fantasizing about it for weeks."

"I'm hurt, Tae." Lucius puts a hand over his heart. "I expected a better welcome than a death threat. And to think that I brought you a present too! I think that you'll enjoy it quite a bit." He reveals a limp white shape dangling from his arm, the shape I had seen earlier, and it takes me a moment to realize who, or what, it is. When I do, I feel as if my heart is wrenched out of my chest and stamped upon. My eyes glaze over, and I struggle to breathe for a moment. The spell from the mask is broken at the sight of my worst nightmare unraveling right in front of me.

Ten bleeding hells NO!

Jungkook's eyes are closed, and his breathing is ragged. The fabric around his neck is in tatters, and he has a deep cut on his right cheek. His left shoulder is completely exposed, and I want to shove a blade down the throat of every soldier here who throws lustful glances in his direction. Lucius holds a dagger to his throat, eyes aglow with unholy joy beneath his mask.

"Such a pretty boy," Lucius says, running a pale hand through Jungkook's lank hair with chilling tenderness. Jungkook shivers, turning away from him, but Lucius jerks him back. "I can see why you like him, Taehyung. Beautiful hips, stunning eyes. He must be good in bed, too." My eyes blaze, but I force myself to hide my boiling anger. I knew all too well what Lucius would do if I showed myself too freely.