DYNASTY | ATEEZ game of thrones!au

3: Turn of the Tides

SEONGHWA

(warning: sensitive content)

''Fire!''

''Water, we need water!''

''It's spreading too fast, we can't contain it!''

Seonghwa quickly put his hand in front of his eyes to shield him from the blazing heat. The air around him was thick with smoke as the night sky seemed to be lit up by the scorching fire. The smoke filled his nostrils and continued to travel towards his lungs, effectively giving him the feeling as if he was suffocating. He coughed a few times before he moved his hands towards his mouth and nose, in an attempt to protect himself from inhaling any more foul air.

He tried to focus his eyes on the sight in front of him, though the prickling sense of the smoke made his eyes tear up. He let out a cough once more, dropping his hands towards his side as he knew it was to no avail. The fire seemed to be ever-growing, latching onto the other houses that surrounded him. A village, he saw. As he looked on, his view became clearer and soon he was watching the people getting out of their houses to watch the burning one. Some were running to action, others were desperately watching on the side as the flames engulfed everything in their path. He remained in the far back, where no one stood. He was all alone, though the yelling of the townspeople pierced through his ears.

He had no idea what was going on. All he could see was the burning house, its debris continuously falling down, emitting more sparks of fire. He watched how the townspeople were desperately trying to douse out the fire. Some brave men were creating a chain of people as they each handed over a bucket filled with water to the next person until the last of them threw it onto the flames. However, nothing seemed to help. The water that was thrown onto the fire only made it bigger. Some of the flames latched onto the people who were standing too close to the fire while others came to rescue. Seonghwa saw men holding onto their arms or legs as they became wounded by the raging fire. Women held back their children, watching in shock as their village became a fiery pit of hell. All the while he stood idly by, watching the chaos unfold. He did not know why he had found himself to be standing there, watching from afar, but it felt as if he was put in a trance. His eyes followed the flickers of the flame as he remained in the shadows.

Seonghwa kept listening to the voices who were all yelling out in panic. As the fire grew, it almost seemed as if their voices did too, morphing into anguished cries and pleas for salvation. His heart was pounding with a mixture of fear and confusion. Though, no matter how hard he tried, he remained powerless to intervene, trapped within the confinements of his thoughts. Thoughts that seemed to grow louder than any other sound present. He furrowed his eyebrows, wincing in pain as he felt a burning sensation on his skin. He looked down but saw nothing. No sign of any of the flames. He remained unharmed, and yet the feeling pierced through him like a thousand flaming needles were put into his skin. Tears welled up in his eyes, but it was when the townspeople were crying out in fear that he looked up again.

A boy with light-coloured hair emerged from the burning house. He appeared to be no younger than five years of age, his short legs slowly carrying him out of the collapsing building. He was hugging his arms to his chest, fear written all over the poor boy's face. He could see tears streaming down the boy's face as he was covered with grime. Little of his clothes were hanging onto his body, but what Seonghwa surprised most was the fact that he showed no burn marks. He did not know how long that boy had been in that house, but anyone would have had serious burns, if not, they'd even been dead.

Seonghwa could hear the boy cry out as he watched the townspeople look at the younger with horror on their faces. Everyone seemed to stop with what they were doing as all rested their gaze on the boy. Someone dropped their bucket of water out of shock, another held their child more protectively against their body. Nobody stepped in to help the boy who came out of the aflame house. Instead, they feared him. They backed away, seemingly turning more hostile. The boy seemed to catch on to their panic and cried out even louder.