Honestly, writing battle descriptions is the hardest part of this book.

XLIV: Jungkook

"The Mask―the one they call a monster―he's killing them all."

Oh no no no.

I stand up so fast that the chair I'm sitting in topples over. "We―we have to go! Taehyung―he needs our help!"

"Wait a minute, boy," Alastair stands up too. "How do you plan to fight the monster without any protection? No army? That's a suicide mission."

"I don't know, but I'll figure it out as I go," I say, "Right now, our main priority should be to get to Shadow Valley. I-I need to stop Taehyung."

"Don't be foolish," Alastair says, shaking his head. "Going into battle without a plan? That's the worst thing you can possibly do. I understand your impatience, but at least think for a minute. Don't waste your life for nothing."

"Er, Sir?" The messenger interrupts timidly. "King Xian requested an immediate response. Shall we send them aid?"

Alastair pauses. "Very well. Tell the soldiers to send out ten troops. That should hold off even the monster for a while. How long ago did the attacks start? And from what direction?"

"About two hours sir. The soldiers say the attacks came mostly from the east. The men are holding him off at the gates, but it won't be long until he breaks through, by the sight of it."

"Then see my orders carried out immediately." The messenger salutes, then rushes down the hall to ready the military. I'm itching to go too, but force myself to stay still. For once, Alistair is right. We must have a plan if we are to try and defeat the monster.

His grandfather hobbles over to one of the bookshelves lining the wall, pulling down some maps. Returning to the table in the center of the room, he spreads them out, smoothing out the creases. We all cluster around him to get a better look.

"If the attacks are coming from the east," Alastair points with his finger. "The monster must have come through the Artok woods. That's the same woods near Armad Castle, so it's safe to assume that he went to Shadow Valley straight after burning the castle down."

"What are those little triangles surrounding Shadow Valley's territory?" I ask, pointing to the small black triangles that ran along the border of the clan's boundaries.

"It symbolizes their wall," Jimin explains. "They have a sturdy stone barrier built around their clan, which is nearly impenetrable. That's one of the reasons why their defense is so strong."

"Something's wrong here," Yoongi mutters. "The walls surrounding Shadow Valley are supposed to be the strongest in the land. Yet, from what the messenger said, the monster has broken through them in two hours. That would be a fantastical feat, even with all of his power. Impossible even."

"Perhaps the walls were weakened in one place, and the monster just tore down that section?" Lisa suggests, but Yoongi merely frowns. "Soldiers of Shadow Valley do regular checks of the wall. I don't see how they could have missed a weak spot that big."

"But the wall stretches on for miles," Hoseok says. "It's possible that they just overlooked a section by mistake." Yoongi shrugs. "Maybe."

"What I don't understand is why the monster would attack Shadow Valley," Namjoon says. "Wouldn't it be much easier to attack the Sirius Clan itself?" He points to a cluster of villages about two miles away from Armad Castle. "Why is the monster leaving this untouched and moving onto a different clan?"

"That doesn't matter right now," Alistair gives a dismissive wave of his hand. "What matters now is having a good plan to defeat the monster."

"We could try and hold him off at the gates," Jin says. "Prevent him from further damaging the city."

Alastair shakes his head. "We could never win by brute force. The monster will be stronger than all of us combined, and I do not know how many men Shadow Valley has already lost. If they're calling for my help, many have already fallen."

"Then we should lure the monster into the center of the city," I say. "Let him come in." Everyone turns to look at me like I'm crazy, but Alastair appears interested. "Go on."

I swallow. "If we get the monster to come to the central square," I point at a place in the center of the Shadow Valley clan. "Then we can try and harness him. Keep him in one spot so that he can't fly away. We could try and move the majority of guards there to create an ambush, and pin him down. I'm not sure how hard it's going to be as of yet, but if we need the monster to feel emotions, we should try and talk to him. And it will be much easier to talk to him if he doesn't have the option to fly away."

"And how do you plan to lure him in?" Alastair asks.

I make eye contact with everyone before answering. "With me."

Jimin looks sick, and starts shaking his head. But I see Namjoon and Yoongi starting to nod their heads, though hesitantly.

Alastair raises an eyebrow. "That's very risky, Jungkook. Using yourself as bait? I know that with Taehyung as your soulmate, he's most likely to listen to you, but this is dangerous. The monster is uncontrollable, and there's no telling what it will do if it catches you alone. It may even kill you."

"Then that's a risk I'm willing to take," I say. "We can't beat him in a battle, nor do I want to see Taehyung get hurt. This is the only thing I can think of where both sides have a chance of surviving."

"That's an insane plan," A small smile spreads across Alistair's face. "I like it." Turning to Namjoon, he nods to the coat rack. "Grab me my coat. We'll leave for Shadow Valley immediately. And I'm coming with you."

"But it's so crazy I can't imagine it working," I say. "I mean... we'd be gambling a lot. The guards, the timing―"

"Boy, has no one told you?" He laughs as he shrugs on his cloak "Sane plans never work, child. Only the mad ones do. And your plan is as mad as they get. Come on. We're leaving."

☆☆☆

Our first sign of trouble as we fly through the sky towards the Shadow Valley clan is the thick smoke rising into the air. As we get closer, I see just how much chaos the monster has already caused, and feel sick to the pit of my stomach.

The whole ground is a sea of fire, burning like the pits of hell. I can see that the massive stone wall surrounding the border is already broken in places, and I can hear the screams of soldiers even from here. But the worst part, the part that makes my heart drop and my mouth dry, is the shadowy figures flitting through the abandoned buildings. They make the whole city appear black, and mutilated bodies lie at their feet.

"Ten bleeding hells," Yoongi says. "Are those―"

"Specters," Jin gasps. "Thousands of them. How―why?"

Alastair curses. "The monster must have allied with them. And of course they would listen to him. He is the darkness itself, and specters bow down to darkness."

"I thought it was weird," Baekhyun murmurs. "Even a being as powerful as the monster couldn't have penetrated the city wall without help. But I didn't think that it would be at this scale―"

"Look out!" Jimin yells, and we all swerve to the right, barely avoiding a launch of flaming arrows heading our way.

"What in the hells was that?" Namjoon yells, ducking as another arrow whizzes past his ear.

"Shadow Valley soldiers," I point towards a black tower rising from a castle nearby. "They're shooting at us. They must have mistaken us for the enemy."

As I say the words, I see the soldiers squinting at us and calling out to their fellows, no doubt wondering who we were. Another soldier starts to raise an arrow, but the commander barks out an order and he lowers it at once. We land on the tall battlement, coughing a bit from the smoke in the air.

"Forgive us, sir," The lead soldier says, saluting smartly. "We didn't realize it was you and your... comrades."

"They aren't my comrades," Alastair says in disgust. "They're people I tolerate enough to be with. Take us to Xian. I have a meeting with him."

"Of course, sir." The soldier opens a wooden door and leads us down. We step onto a wooden landing, which is bare except for a window on the opposite wall and a table with maps and a lamp strewn over it. Two men are bending over a map, and one seems to be talking in urgent tones, his finger tracing the mountain line. The other takes measurements with a compass, mumbling something under his breath.

"Xian!" Alastair calls, and the man on the right turns around to face us. He looks exactly like I remembered him, if a little taller. His short brown hair falls in waves over his forehead, and his eyes are gray; the kind of color the sky shows just before it's about to thunder. He's wearing a red tunic with the emblem of Shadow Valley sewn onto the pocket, and I see double-bladed scims strapped across his back. He looks so much more powerful than the last time I had met him.

"Alastair, why are you―" Xian pauses mid-sentence, as his eyes land on something behind me. His mouth hangs open, and shock flashes through his eyes, mixed with another emotion I can't identify. I turn, surprised to see Hoseok staring back at him. Both men stare at each other for a long moment, before Hoseok looks away, cheeks dusted pink. This seems to snap Xian back into reality, and he clears his throat.

"Yes, er... welcome! Alastair, I never expected you to come personally." He gives an awkward laugh, and I wonder how Xian knows Hoseok. Or why both of them look so pale. "What brings you here?"

"Oh nothing much... just that half your clan is on fire and more specters are pushing up against your wall as we speak." Alastair says sharply. "Honestly Xian! What has gotten into you?"

"I'm sorry." Xian returns to his composed self, gray eyes flashing. "Sadly, it is as bad as it looks. My men are doing their best to kill off all the specters. Some of the shadow spirits have fallen, but not enough. Many more still press on despite all our defenses. Great Above knows what's gotten into King Taehyung to make him do all of this."

"That isn't Taehyung," I say, stepping forward. "There's a dark force that's controlling him. We call it the monster."

"I remember you. You're Jungkook, correct?" A faint smile tugs at his lips, and I nod. "Taehyung's soulmate."

"And he has a plan for you all," Alastair says. "It may just work." At Alastair's nod, I relay my plan to Xian, who watches me without blinking an eye. After I'm finished, he doesn't speak for a minute. Then he looks up.

"Risky," Xian admits, turning to the other vampire at the table. "What do you think, Soobin?"

The other man hesitates. "I admit it has its risks. But we also don't have many options to choose from. If this plan has a chance of working, I say we should try it."

Xian nods, turning back to us. "Very well. We'll get everything ready. Soobin, go ahead and tell the guards that we need metal chains. Of the highest quality." Soobin nods and dashes off.

Xian turns to follow him, but not before casting one more glance at Hoseok. Hoseok bites his lip, eyes flickering down, but doesn't say anything. Xian opens his mouth like he wants to say something, but apparently thinks better of it, before turning and walking down the hallway. Yoongi starts to talk to everyone about the battlement, but I turn to Hoseok.

"Do you know Xian?" I ask him. "He seemed to know you." I can see that Hoseok doesn't want to talk about it, but he finally sighs. 

"He―he's my soulmate." Hoseok murmurs, seeming to be in a daze. Suddenly, I understand the looks they gave each other, and the emotions in their eyes. Why hadn't I noticed before?

"That's so cute!" Lisa fangirls. "I'm so glad you finally found the one you're destined to be with. He's pretty handsome too, that one." She eyes Xian, scrutinizing him. "Good hair. Beautiful eyes. Nice form, too."

"Yeah..." Hoseok hesitates, and I frown. "What's wrong? I thought you always wanted a soulmate."

"I do," Hoseok says quickly. "It's just..." He shakes his head. "I can't imagine he would want me. I'm only a messenger, and even though Taehyung treated me like a much higher ranking official, messengers are still the most low-ranking in the castle hierarchy. I'm too low-class for a king like him."

"No!" Lisa protests. "Don't you dare think like that! Who wouldn't want you? I saw his eyes when he looked at you. He likes you, Hoseok. He doesn't care about your status! And besides, you're from the largest clan in the whole vampire world! Of course he would want you!"

Hoseok sighs. "Shadow Valley is notorious for paying close attention to rank, Lisa. He's a newly crowned king. He needs to display his power, and taking me as his soulmate won't do him any good. And even though Sirius and Shadow Valley signed a peace agreement, we're still rivals. I'm not sure how happy the people of the Shadow Valley clan will be that their king has a soulmate from the Sirius."

"There won't be a people of Shadow Valley if we all stand around gossiping," A gruff Yoongi interrupts. "Whatever you all are talking about, it can wait. Right now, we should all head for the battlement. We can see the whole city from there, and assess the damage. Aerial view can only tell you so much."

"Of course," Hoseok says, seemingly relieved to drop the topic of soulmates. "Let's go." We all follow Yoongi up the narrow hallway leading up to the battlement, climbing the winding staircase upwards. Lisa tries again to talk to Hoseok, but he just shakes his head. I get the feeling that he doesn't want to talk about it. At least, not now.

As we surface onto the battlement, the heat seems to sizzle the very air, before a cold wind washes it away. I run to the parapet, my eyes searching the sky for Taehyung. He must be here. As the specters rampage through the streets, he would be in the air, surveying all of this destruction.

And there! In the glint of the morning sun just rising above the horizon, I see a winged shape, easily detectable from the blue sky. Even though I know it is the monster, I feel like crying with relief to see Taehyung's hair fly in the wind, and his black wings spread out. 

Unfortunately, I'm not the only one who's noticed.

I spot a group of archers readying their bows, and preparing to shoot. Directly at the figure of Taehyung flying high in the sky.

"No!" I shout. "Stop! Don't shoot at him!"

"We must," the head archer says. "Or we will be destroyed. Take a look: the whole eastern part of the city is aflame. We're overrun with specters. Our clan will fall if we cannot take down the monster. And if we have to hurt the king of the Sirius to do it, then so be it."

"No!" I scream, but my words are lost in the wind as the head archer turns to the others. "Fire at will!"

A volley of arrows is released towards the dark shape flying above the clouds, and I cover my face with my hands, as Hoseok grips my shoulders.

I shouldn't have worried. The monster stops flying, wings spread majestically. As the first arrow hurtles towards him, he draws his scim and neatly cuts it in half. Every time an arrow comes even close to impaling him, the monster blocks it with a twitch of his scim. The lead archer curses, but finally puts the signal to stop. They were putting perfectly good arrows to waste.

I expected the monster to move on, to fly away. Instead, he stares at me. As if we are connected, as if he knows my every thought, his gaze slices seems to slice through me.

He smiles.

Xi-hope was NOT part of my original plan, but it was so cute that I put it in!