Prince of Blood

9. Sharing the Night

Guys! Chapter 18 will mark the end of the main story in this series but fear not, there shall be more about these pirates!

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Flames that the crew saw as orange and Hongjoong saw as purple were dancing in front of them.

They were back in the forest, sitting in a little secluded corner so they would not raise the attention of the creatures roaming the plane at night. The whole crew was jittery with nerves. Every single one of them desperately wanted to go back to their ship and drink to celebrate their victory, but it was not the time for that yet. The actual danger was still waiting for them, and everybody felt insecure about facing it.

The umbras had been their constant companions for several years. The crew knew exactly of all the horrors and pain they had inflicted on the pirates. They all respected the demons and their might, and fitting to Liv's warning; the men were very aware of their physical inferiority.

Seonghwa closed his eyes for a second to concentrate again, trying to keep his thoughts from wandering.

He did not want to doubt his team. Even more so, he blatantly refused to consider losing someone tonight, or tomorrow, or ever. He wanted to believe in them.

Yet, given the general mood and amount of clenched jaws and restless hands that held onto their respective lovers, this task appeared as an unreachable one. They were all scared for their lives.

Seonghwa was sitting next to Hongjoong, their legs pressed against each other and shoulders joined. They were the only ones not reaching out for each other. Instead, Hongjoong was numbly poking the fire with a stick while Seonghwa's clammy hands were holding onto his pants to keep himself from shaking. Yeosang kept throwing him sympathetic glances from where he was holding on to Jongho's arm around his waist.

Seonghwa did not even need to be held. He needed to know the danger defeated.

Somebody in their round sighed, and it seemed entirely too loud in the deafening silence of the night. It nearly made Seonghwa wince until he called himself to stay calm. There was no need to be afraid. Nothing would jump out at them. There was nothing here.

Seonghwa nearly missed Seungyoun. The man had at least risen their spirits by being a fairly normal companion in the midst of an unsettling world that would create nightmares in the crew's dreams for an indefinite time in the future. Seungyoun had been the most neutral of all forces.

One time he wondered how their voyage would have gone had they taken Liv with them. How would the woman act around them? At the images of her sitting with them around the fire, Seonghwa discarded the thought again. Even if they had taken her this far, they would not have put up with her taunting for long. The place she was now in fit her.

Yunho discreetly cleared his throat, pulling all of them from their depressed thoughts. Tiredly, Seonghwa rose his head in his direction. Hongjoong stopped his poking.

"Accordin' to the list Yongguk wrote to me, this should be finished now. I can't promise it to taste any jolly, but I really 'ope it brings the effect it promises. Mingi, 'elp me splice the mainbrace." He started handing out little vials with some sips of the potion they had created. Yongguk had been particular about the amount of each ingredient that went in there, so Yunho had spent his time trying to perfection the drink by using the little resources he had.

"'onestly, I think they be just waitin' fer us to do this. There be no way they don't know we be 'ere already. I 'ave a feelin' they be followin' us somewhere nearby all the time an' see what will 'appen. They seem to want to face us on equal grounds." Hongjoong handed Seonghwa his drink that he tried not to look too closely at. The red mixture with the mostly grounded clumps inside looked less than attractive to him.