Mabsuli Blood || txt

Twenty-Three: Mabsulle

It was already hard enough to track a full Mabsuli blood. Tracking a half-Mabsuli, much less two, was near impossible. Still, it could be done. That was what the Kang family and their attendants kept telling themselves.

The moment Beomgyu and Yoongi suddenly vanished, Taehyun knew they had used the secret passageway to escape the castle. There was only one place to go from there.

The forest.

How far away the two had gotten from Akabri they couldn't be sure. They were already a good distance behind them considering they had to take care of the Akabi bloods and all castle staff, and combined with the two's small chance of actually being detected by the magic, it would be a miracle if they were able to find even a trace of them.

But Taehyun held onto that miracle. He had to. Never seeing Beomgyu smile or laugh again, never feeling his soft lips press against his own again, never feeling his hand that fit perfectly with his own as he was dragged out to do something bold and reckless again...

He couldn't even fathom a world like that, and he didn't want to. They had to find Beomgyu and Yoongi. Even if they didn't want to see them, even if Beomgyu didn't want to see him, they had to try.

And so they wandered the forest for hours, the sun continuously rising higher and growing hotter as they searched.

"We're not leaving until we've searched every inch of this forest," Taehyun ordered.

"Yes," King Kang agreed. "We mustn't let those two get far."

Well, Jungkook had been searching for about fifty million hours, and in that time found nothing but deer tracks and piles of shit. He stopped and loudly exhaled, getting frustrated with his lack of progress. He didn't even understand why the others had sent him off on his own when he was only a half-Mabsuli and not as strong. Sure, he was also half Demni, but what good would that—?

The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood up, and he snapped his head to a sudden rustle coming from a thick cluster of bushes. It was light enough that it could've been the breeze, but something in Jungkook's gut told him otherwise. So he activated Sense and honed in on that spot. At first, he was unable to see anything. But as he strengthened his magic, he was able to faintly make out two figures crouched in the bushes.

Yoongi and Beomgyu.

A part of him wanted to approach, but considering their last impression of him, Jungkook decided it would be best to step back and let the other Mabsuli bloods help him with this one. So he stepped back and hid himself behind the trees, throwing up a beacon of orange light to let the others know he had found them.

And then he jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the knife that was swung at him.

Without thinking twice, he brought out a knife of his own as the attacker lashed at him again. Their strength surprised Jungkook, the force of their slashes making their blades clang harshly together, continuing to drive Jungkook back.

Away from the bush.

Away from Beomgyu.

To protect him.

Just like Yoongi had promised he would.

Summoning a wind spell, Jungkook pushed Yoongi back hard enough to land him a few feet away, but not hard enough to hurt him. He couldn't hurt him.

"Demni blood?" Jungkook asked, knowing the strength that even he struggled against couldn't be done by any other blood type.

Yoongi scoffed. "Wouldn't you like to know."