♕Guardian Demon ∥ Yeonbin [✎]

Chapter 22

As the trio drew further and further out from the dark village they had set foot on before, the sun shined down on them like a spotlight. Soft grass waved gently all around, the path crunching as the wheels rolled by. Since they were going down the same path they had taken to reach the plains earlier, they got to encounter the spot of the stolen sunlight again. The patches had very obviously faded, the sunlight reaching to fill its rightful spot on the day light and the animals had returned about their day. They left that behind and the car drove on for what it seems like to be eternity, muddled with dreamless sleeps, empty snack packages and occasional shortlived car karaoke sessions. 

 Half way towards our journey out of Alfheim towards the land of Meg Hall, Soobin thought they should have brought along their new friend made in the area of magic. They probably should have but it was far too late to be having brief regrets, for it would take them hours of travel there and another back, and besides, Jihan had other concerns now - containing the dust of Darkness that has been strewn throughout her town. And in a way, this journey was the trio's alone, handed to them days ago by the princes. The quest to find Seventeen started with just him, Taehyun, and Yeonjun, and it felt right to keep it that way until they reach their new alliances.

There wasn't much to Meg-hall. They drove down a flat, straight country road past fields and farms oddly absent of people and houses. They pass some abandoned hunter's car, the carcass of a deer strapped to the bag of its trunk, the hands of death ripping away both species' souls before the return journey. The stump of a giant tree split long ago by lightning. The place seemed a little bit lost. A little bit damned. If this were a place in his world, people would definitely have driven a little quicker on the desolate path in an effort to shrink away from the dead piece of land. Makes sense someone would choose to stay here if they were on the run. 

As the sparse land slowly started to gain momentum with occasional lonely houses and stray pieces of small rubbish, signs of life, they trio rolled into a low-density commercial zone. A convenience store came in view and it looked regular, or rather, a rusted out version of ones that they'd seen in bustling places or those they've stopped in on the drive there. Parking the car near the front, Yeonjun got out from the driver's seat, scanning the area for...

The other two got out of the car seconds later after gathering relevant things and they left the main road, making a few turns and then finally, in the distance down the long brown road, a small tiny house that was a speck in their eyes.

"That should be it, seems like there's no other houses down that area with this address," Taehyun said, stuffing the yellowing torn piece of paper into his bag pocket. 

"Where'd you get that from?" Yeonjun asked. 

"Jihan passed it to me when i was leaving. Said to burn it after we find the place to get to that librarian." 

"Real chummy with her huh? And what do you mean 'the place to get to the librarian'? You mean he's not in this old ass house?" Yeonjun groaned. 

"Stop asking me qns like i know the answers to them idiot."

"Whatever. Let's go then," Yeonjun rolled his eyes and nodded to his friend. Soobin gripped his backpack and their headed down, the soles of their shoes grinding the pebbles of stone beneath them, the only sound echoing through the empty streets.

In no time, they ended up in front of the old brick warehouse. It was dilapidated, slanting off to the side as if staying upright physically made it tired, yet somehow it stood, something from within holding it up like a deformed spine.

"There must be a portal here, then" Taehyun commented. "Makes sense people would make portals in these kind of places. Not to mention far away from that shanty town."