Morana's uncles took the stealthy approach to get rid of the loitering orcs. Had they faced the brutes head-on, the camp would have been alerted and easily wiped out the little group. Thus, they crept through the shadows of Hongjoong's magic. San held a dagger in his left hand when they departed and Yunho matched him. Yeosang had gone with them and though Morana didn't understand what he and his serene face could want on a battlefield, he looked ready to fight for their lost elf.

Mingi and Wooyoung followed slower, ducked in the coat of magic. They carried the kids in their arms and passed the unmoving bodies of fallen orcs. Wooyoung sent Onyx back and forth between them, but before the orcs could realise what the bird's odd behaviour meant, the end struck.

There hadn't been many enemies. The few orcs who loitered around staring holes into the air didn't expect an ambush from thin air, either. Soon, everyone gathered at the grotesque throne dominating the camp. Built from skulls and skins, it was macabre to look at, but Morana was fascinated once more.

Yeosang sent Morana a soothing smile when he returned. Hongjoong's grumble soothed the lingering tension.

"That bastard and his games. I never found his body," he hissed to himself. "I bet he is orchestrating all this."

"Yongguk?" Yunho asked, also unharmed. He kissed Aodhán's cheek when the boy nervously reached for him.

"He is still out there. Couldn't unite anyone below him, but dangerous as ever," San agreed. He beckoned at the nearest hole in the ground. No light came from below, just pitch blackness. It looked cosy, but they couldn't know how many orcs loitered around in the depths until Hongjoong was near enough.

"The tunnels must weave into a net below the earth, so let's take this one."

Morana wasn't afraid. She reached for Mingi's hand to guide him along, and Hongjoong went first. A flame lit up in his hand and Aodhán also made one, sticking close to his father as they climbed into the steep, round tunnel dug into the earth.

Usually, when she played in caves, Morana enjoyed the company of insects and lizards. However, the soft earth under their feet was void of all life. Not even the smallest critters survived without the healthy influence of nature. The looming darkness was comfortable, but dead.

The steady light in Hongjoong's hand illuminated the path for them. San wandered in the back, watching over everyone. Onyx perched on Mingi's shoulder, but his caws were clueless. He didn't dare fly down the fathomless paths. Since orcs were tall, only Mingi needed to duck to make his horns fit.

The chill of multiple entrances spread in the crossing paths leading back to the surface, but the ways further down carried no breeze. They all ended in nothingness.

Wooyoung rolled his shoulders. He was visibly anxious in the narrow walls and kept biting his fingernails as he walked. No sound escaped from his pale lips, though. He didn't want to set off Yunho, who kept glancing back at the disappearing light from the outside world just as often.

"It's nearer now," Hongjoong muttered ominously. His voice was muffled in the stale air.

Yeosang traced his long arms along the walls, estimating the age of these tunnels, but no life responded to him to tell the tale of the burrowing orcs.

"The dragon?" He asked, and Hongjoong's nod was only visible in the bright half of his hair. Down here, with only one way in and out, they discarded their hoods. Anyone they might run into would be out for a battle.

"I feel it in the distance, that mighty power. If you get a headache the closer you come, Aodhán, stop using your magic. You aren't strong enough yet to centre it against a dragon's power."

The boy nodded, unsure what that meant. To him, his magic came naturally, and he never experienced a restriction.

Morana was just as curious.

"Can we harm the dragon if we can't kill it?" She asked, remembering the skulls of smaller creatures at the Cliff of Zephyr. Hlin had killed dragons before, if only hatchlings.

"Not this one, no," Hongjoong replied. "No army in this empire can bring it down. It's old and mighty. There are methods to kill dragons that are inexperienced, but this one rested here for millennia. It wiped out all those orcs and demons within minutes. We stand no chance."

Morana pouted to herself. She wanted to defeat a dragon and become big and strong like Hlin. Were there less mighty dragons she could battle? Or perhaps some sea creatures similar to dragons without all that power?

Would Lillwen be awed by something like that?

Morana scratched her head. She wasn't sure if she could be more powerful than her uncles.

"Seonghwa allied with a folk most known for their ancient battles with the dragons; the titans. Thunder rolls over the skies when they clash and their battles have split mountains apart," Yeosang told her, and Aodhán's mouth hung open.

"I want to see a fight like that!" Morana exclaimed. Titans. She hadn't heard of titans before, but they had to be even stronger than her uncles. Would they be big like those dragon skulls?

"Can a titan defeat this dragon that took our athair?" Aodhán asked and Hongjoong paused for a while. Pondering back and forth.

"Perhaps," he gave in. "Not one titan, but perhaps an army of them. And not without massive losses on their side."

Everyone sunk into silence with those new thoughts. Morana imagined a thunderous fight against a dragon, stomping steps and massive blades charging like the ocean's waves. In her mind, the battle would be epic.

"So if Seonghwa is allied to the titans, why didn't you invite them to kill the dragon? It's hard to reach down in the earth but I'm sure it would come out if the titans come stomping," Morana asked, eager to make the dream come true.

But Hongjoong's chuckle called her a clueless fool.

"This dragon is no enemy. It's our mightiest ally. We have no reason to attack it."

Morana didn't understand. Then what were they doing here? Didn't they want to trick the dragon if it couldn't be slain and get Seonghwa back?

"Seonghwa offered himself to the dragon to protect the empire," Yeosang explained to her with more patience than the sorcerer. "If we attack the dragon, we insult its aid and Seonghwa's decision. That is why we couldn't bring him back in those ten years, no matter how we missed him. It's a matter of loyalty."

"So today..." She began, doubting their reason more and more. They looked as if they had a plan, but the more she studied their haunted features, they just seemed lovesick. Yearnful for another meeting, they shouldn't allow themselves.

"We got unsure if the dragon ever received Seonghwa. They were about to leave together when he... he fell," Yeosang whispered, chasing a shudder down Aodhán's spine with his hollow voice echoing in the dark.

"We couldn't see what happened. Whether he died or whether the dragon caught him."

Morana thought about it, but she didn't word it out loud for once in her life.

There was no bringing back Seonghwa. He was either dead or he was trapped by a dragon they couldn't and weren't allowed to attack.

Her uncles were the foolish ones for coming here.

And she had brought them to this place.

Wooyoung peered back at her with haunted eyes over a weak smile.

"Don't worry. If these tunnels reach so deep, you can definitely see a dragon and get your adventure. We just... want to check."

There was only pain on this path. It didn't matter if they found Seonghwa's corpse. Or if he was alive with the dragon and would tell them to leave once more.

That was the reason they hadn't come here before and why they were hesitant to bring her.

There was no happiness to find in this place.

Morana held onto Mingi tighter and earned a squeeze back. She had what she needed. Seonghwa's story had become sadder the more she heard. She was upset he haunted her powerful uncles and they couldn't move on to live their lives. At the same time, he must have suffered as well.

Battered by the narrative, the adults fell silent once more to hang in their thoughts. Morana played a game with Mingi where she squeezed his hand with increasing strength and he did the same, always careful not to hurt her while they switched back and forth. It was fun and distracted Morana from the hollow depths and the distant noise boring into her head.

She thought everyone would be distracted enough trying to map out the cave and following the splitting paths further down, but conversation was sparse. They wandered in silence through the empty tunnels, twisting further and further down into the earth.

Soon, Morana couldn't take it anymore. Her head buzzed and hammered from the inside and her chest felt all weird. Was she not getting enough air?

Though she wanted to be a warrior and grit back the pain like others did, she suffered under the torment.

"Why is the ground singing?" She whined, bewildered why the noise dug right into her head. She hadn't heard anything like it before. The sound tickled her ears like talking to the trees, but it was not the same. Nothing was actually speaking to her and creating noise. It was most maddening.

The group slowed to a stop while Morana shook her head, trying to get the melody out of her ear. Faint and high and like the lure of a monster in the dark. Would they get eaten? Did something live down here? Was it the dragon?

Mingi knelt by Morana's side, caressing her hair and her ears in hopes tho whisk away the pain. Hongjoong also neared her, his senses on highest alert, but he didn't look as if he heard the same.

Was she going mad?

"What do you hear?" Yeosang asked her as everyone huddled around, worried since it only came up now.

Morana shook her head with a groan.

"A melody, deep below. It's painfully high, drilling into my head. It's not calling but singing to itself, I think."

Her uncles exchanged hasty looks. Everyone shook their heads, not hearing what she perceived.

Was this what they meant? Was her little mind too weak to withstand the dragon's aura? Morana wanted to lie down, but she knew the melody would haunt her.

She tugged on Mingi's fingers, pressing them to her ears to shut it out.

But this was no normal noise. It was in her head, festering like a disease.

When Wooyoung whipped around, the spark of his eyes was bright in the dim light. Morana wished he had some pity on her, but he eagerly turned to her brother.

"Do you also hear it, Aodhán? Just one voice?"

"Yeah! To me, it sounds nice. So homey. But also so far away. I want to go there. Is it a trap?"

Morana squirmed in the silence when she was even more aware of the haunting screech. It was scary. She wanted to leave.

But something passed among her uncles she didn't understand. A silent recognition. That only the two children heard what no other could hear.

Was this how a dragon snored?

Hongjoong lifted his light to another split in the path up ahead.

"Can you tell us which path to pick to get to the singing?"

Aodhán tilted his head, concentrating. When Hongjoong's hand found Morana's head, his cool fingertips eased her pain. Made the commotion sluggish and less biting. Her chest still ached, but she didn't mention it.

She wanted this adventure. She wanted to see the dragon.

"This one," Aodhán decided, pointing left. When the others lit up, Yeosang turned to Morana. His voice was hasty, losing his usual control.

What was going on?

"We will go deeper. Tell us if you are in pain."

When they rushed ahead, their pace had quickened. They almost ran down the path, no longer caring to sneak through the gloomy shadows. Morana hurried along, distracted by the surge and all the new questions it brought up.

What was going on with them now? Had the distant spell trapped them in its lure and the kids were the only ones who regarded it as a warning?

Everyone chased down the tunnels, following Aodhán's guidance to the distant tune, and Morana had no other choice but to scramble along, hoping nothing bad awaited them.