Broken Glass - Taekook

19

(Small disclaimer: Karulian Knights are written as they/them merely coz you cannot physically see them under the hood and therefore have no idea what gender they are. They are a mix of genders under there, and the choice wasn't made to demonise nb people, it's just coz uncertainty = they. That's literally it. I originally wrote it as he and then was like wait but how does he know? Tempted to use 'it', so the difference is clear, but the knights are still technically people so...hopefully that reasoning makes sense.) 

I turn on my heel, yanking the door open and running into the heart of the fire. 

As our guide told me, this secret corridor opens into an alleyway, which leads directly into the main street. Four Karulian Knights sit on horseback in front of me, in two ordered lines of two. They're staring off to the right, presumably at a group of villagers or maybe even prisoners. I can't really tell from here. I don't know if it's worth finding out. 

A hooded head turns slowly in my direction, but I don't give them a chance to react. 

I launch myself at the Karulian, barrelling forward and slamming into them with my shoulder. Lost in the surprise of the action, the knight folds backward. They topple shoulder-first from their seat on the horse. 

Even as I back away, something gleams in my periphery vision. A silver and brown object comes turning and tumbling through the air. It lands in the upper arm of the knight beside the one I just attacked, and it takes me a second to recognise the hilt of Taehyung's dagger. There's another blur, and the end of a feathered dart embeds itself just below the clavicle of the Karulian beside Taehyung's target. 

 Hoseok unsheathes his sword, racing forward and bringing the blade into the lower abdomen of another Karulian. The figure hunches over, and falls over the back of their horse, landing hard on the street below. 

In the confusion, I hear Namjoon shouting from somewhere close by, and then there's a sharp thud. The terrified screech of a horse is quickly followed by a cry of pained anger.

Namjoon shouts again, the sound ripped from his throat with astonishing ferocity. This time I turn to watch as his staff whistles through the air, the pointed end smacking hard into the upper torso of the knight that still has Taehyung's dagger stuck in their arm. 

The knight that I ran into flexes their legs, as if to leap to their feet, and someone pushes me to the side. The figure of a short water elemental dashes forward, hurling his own dagger at the knight. The small weapon ends up buried in the abdomen area of the Karulian, though it doesn't seem to have much of an impact on them. 

My eyes flick to one side as another resounding thwack echoes through the nearby houses. Seokjin stands in front of the knight that was attacked by the dart, the axe he uses to collect firewood thrown to the ground. There's a tortured look in his eyes, and he's paler than usual. 

Fuck. 

The knight in front of me flips onto their feet. They grunt a little at the knife in their stomach, and then pulls it out with a sickening squelch. The weapon clatters to the ground, thrown carelessly to one side. The bleeding of the wound doesn't seem to slow them down in the slightest. 

I back up, but I'm not quite quick enough. 

Something glints in the air beside my head, and I flinch, dropping to my knees out of some hidden reflex. The spiky end of a mace grazes over my forehead, and I feel the sharp sting of a surface cut. 

That was close. 

Taehyung's target stands up as well, stumbling to their feet. A horrifying, almost guttural snarl spills from somewhere within their hood. As Namjoon tries to jump back, he slips on the stones below. The Knight launches itself forward, bringing its sword across Namjoon's torso. The trainee mage lets out a cry of pain as he's pushed onto the ground from the attack, landing slumped on the hard stone.