ELVEN | K.TH

40

RINEI

"Hello, brother."

There's an explosive crash.

And I scream, wrapping my hands around both my ears and twisting myself into a ball as the Crown Prince is ripped off of me. My heart is pounding against the wall of my chest.

My eyes are wide with shock.

Taehyung doesn't look like himself.

For the first time, I see his magic. It runs down his body in dark ripples, wisps of his soul dissipating into thin air. It follows him like his shadow.

His soul is halved.

He grips the Crown Prince's neck, slamming him down against the rock with a kind of brutal violence I'd never seen him use before. Blood paints the gray in scarlet streaks.

The Crown Prince laughs, spitting blood to the side.

Then he fixes his violet eyes on his younger brother. Taehyung's gaze has no focus, just a mass of black and gray.

"Bastard child."

I flinch.

A cloud of scarlet magic rises up to meet the dark waves rippling off of Taehyung. The Crown Prince roars as he wraps his hands around Taehyung, throwing him to the side.

Towards the edge of the cliff.

I hush another scream as Taehyung stops himself just before he falls over the edge, his body pulsing with sheer strength as he shifts back onto his feet. The magic still ripples off of him.

That's his soul.

I need to stop this.

My eyes scrunch together in a grimace as I slowly shift towards the side, onto my hands and knees. Pieces of rock fall off of the back of my shirt, from when I'd gotten slammed right down on the hard surface.

I'm shivering without even meaning to.

Behind me, I hear the fighting. They were going to kill each other at this rate— they were both too strong. They were going to destroy their own souls.

And I couldn't lose Taehyung.

Not like this. Not like this.

I hadn't even apologized to him yet.

Tears well in the corners of my eyes as I tremble, struggling up on my hands. In my peripheral vision, I see the Crown Prince slowly take the advantage of the fight. He drives Taehyung closer to the edge— closer even now.

The knife.

It's on the ground, a few feet away from me. The blade is stained with Taehyung's blood, from where he'd grabbed it.

I wrap my hands around the cold handle.

What am I going to do with this?

I look up.

The Crown Prince has his back to me. He's so focused on Taehyung, his sanity already gone. The magic had already taken him— I could see it.

It would take Taehyung too, if I didn't hurry.

I brace myself. I'd only have one chance, to try and help. If I didn't do this right, both Taehyung and I were dead.

The knife glints as I breathe.

I aim.

The blade spins through the air. And I suck in a breath of relief as it buries itself in the corner of the Crown Prince's shoulder.