fifteen (1/1)

He didn’t need to be told where he needed to go, it was clear now.  He had to cross the river.  It took him a few tires to find the exact spot, testing the raging water with his foot.  After sending his foot to the bottom of the cold water bed a few times he feared it had washed out and that he wouldn’t be able to cross.  He was getting frantic, when suddenly Minho stomped his right foot down in anger and it firmly planted on the waters surface.  He stared in shock.  He found it.  With only a moment of hesitation he hurried to steady himself on the bridge and began to slowly cross it.  The water was moving fast and even though he was walking on the surface it felt unstable, almost like wet sand.  He did his best to move fast but was extra careful, he knew if he fell now it would be hopeless to get back up.    When he reached the middle of the bridge he saw the familiar mist that covered the other side.  It was thick in general but today it seemed like a wall that stretched all the way to the canopy of trees.  He made his way up to it and stopped.  He reached out a trembling hand, half expecting to feel the pillowey looking mist to be solid, it was so dense and hung in such definition.  His fingers went right through and he could barely see his finger tips past the first few inches.  Taking a deep breath Minho inched forward into the mist, knowing he would have to be very careful.  He braced him self to loose sight oh his legs but when he walked into the mist it revealed itself to only be a thin veil.  He passed through the curtain, which shielded the fairy world and instantly gasped.  It was nothing like he expected the fairy world to look like.  Maybe before this started it had been beautiful but now, it looked like Minho’s nightmare. Trees near the bank had grown so tall and their trunks splintered in all directions.  Thick, winding vines covered the ground in dark green snaking patterns.  The flowers were engorged and dull, and thorns seemed to cover most of the ground.  It was still raining but he air also hung heavy with a thick stagnant mist of spores, making the whole world look toxic. Minho swallowed any fear that threatened to break his will and pressed on.  He almost ran to the bank, thankful to finally be off the water but his relief was short lived.  He realized, he was now in unfamiliar territory looking for one very tiny elf.  He looked around as best he could, seeing different paths leading in to the forest between the splintered trees.  Minho closed his eyes, frustration building in his heart.  The forest had always been his place of sanctuary, and now it seemed every step forward he was faced with another obstacle.  He breathed deep, smelling the wet soil, the ripe growth and the heavy metallic scent that seemed to be connected to the Lyf force.  When he opened his eyes again, nothing had changed.  But he smell. He turned his head to the left and sniffed, it seemed to be stronger there.  He moved slowly towards the first opening in the trees.  The mist around became dense down the path.  That was the sign he needed.  Minho took off sprinting down the dark path.  The path became covered in the thick vines that seemed to coil around everything and covered the ground making it incredibly hard for Minho to keep a consistent pace.  He fell more than once and scraped his leg, and his chest felt like it was full of water.  He was suffering, but he pushed forward through the forest knowing every second he spent out here Taemin could be in danger.  The thought of Taemin, scared or hurt only made Minho run faster.  He would do what ever it took to save the elf, it was all he could think about.  After what felt like hours of fighting the terrain Minho finally saw the path take a sharp incline, but the vines seemed to clear a bit and the path widen up ahead.  Minho scurried up the hill and almost fell right back down from shock when he reached the top.  Hidden mostly from where he was standing by the trees Minho was able to make out the base of a massive structure sitting farther up the hill.  It was like one huge tree that and sprung up from the ground and was carved into an extravagant castle.  The ugly vines poured out of the windows and wrapped the exterior of the tree castle in twisted patterns, but it didn’t distract form the beauty of the palace.  The wood was dark stretched elegantly upwards, the upper branches were so thick and seemed to just bubbles off the main trunk, creating what Minho only assumed to be hallways and rooms.  He stared in awe as he slowly approached the base of the palace.  There were thick roots that stretched out below the truck, creating a tunnel to the front doors.  Minho ran up to the doors seeing they were extravagantly carved and gilded in glittering gold and decorated in pretty stones similar to the ones Taemin loved.  The door was covered in the awful vines, but stood slightly ajar.  It made Minho feel very uneasy that the palace was open, and in such a frightening state.  He slipped into the open door and ducked to the side.  If anyone was in here it would be best to remain unseen for as long as possible.  The inside of the palace was huge. The tree was hollowed out with the same detail as the door, but the designs covered every surface of the walls as high up as Minho could see.  It was dark, but little blue lights hung dimly along the walls.  Minho had his back pressed against the wall as he started down a long hall way. The vines were in here too, creeping up the walls and converging in tangles on the floor and had almost completely covered the two twin stair cases that jutted off in to the upper parts of the castle just a few feet away from him. Minho looked at his feet as saw the floor was made up of black dirt, that glittered lightly in the dim lights.  The glittering path seemed to lead down a hall in between the stair cases.  He squinted down the dark hall and could barely make out a set of tall doors at the end.  If he knew anything about castles he would expect that to be some sort of throne or main ball room and that seemed like a good place to start.    He slowly made his way down the hall, feeling awkward in the grand opening.  When he got closer to doors, he wasn’t surprised to see they were covered in the vines, and this time the doors were shut.  He pushed against them seeing if they would budge, and was not surprised when they stood firm.  Even if they weren’t covered in magical vines, they were huge, thick, solid wood, they must weigh a ton.  Maybe it was just decoration; there was no practical way to just push the door open.  Minho made his way to the wall next to the door looking for some sort of mechanism or lever that might open the door and found none.  Something told Minho he needed to get in there but logic told him he wasn’t getting in this way.  He decided to explore up the stair cases to see if he could find a way to get rid of the vines.  He quickly and very quietly climbed up the stair case to the left, deciding on that one by random.  It was dark up the stairs and the halls seemed to wined and take off in impossible directions for still being in a tree.  Minho didn’t question it, he just tried to remember how many turns he had taken so he wouldn’t get lost if he had to go back. There were doors along the walls all covered in vines and closed.  Minho decided he needed any sort of knife or something sharp he could maybe try to cut away some of the vines, but he had no idea where to start looking for that either.  He was getting increasingly frustrated, as he turned down another very similar looking hall to the one he had just been in, when he noticed one door at the very end of the hall was bare.  The caved wood was practically untouched. Minho walked up to the door and twisted the small handle feeling it give way easily.  He looked inside before entering and shutting the door behind him.  The room was a fair size, and just as dim as the rest of the castle, but it had a very cozy feel.  It was a bedroom that much was obvious.  There was a canopy covered bed tucked in the corner of the space that had lots of little trinkets hanging from the carved posters.  There were several dressers of the same carved quality, packed with stuff.  On the floor there were half finished projects and clothes thrown haphazardly around.  Even though it looked like a small hurricane had come through here it was the only room completely untouched by the forest at this point.  Minho’s heart ached as he recognized some of the objects. This was Taemin’s room. At that moment Minho was overwhelmed with emotion.  He stood pressed against the door just letting it sink in.  His heart ached to see the elf here.  If he wasn’t quick enough or strong enough, Taemin may never come back here, they may never be together and Taemin would just be gone.  It was too real for Minho to handle. He had to save Taemin.  Minho also realized that this was the only room saved from the destruction.  Hyora kept Taemin’s sanctuary safe.  He may not completely understand their relationship or what Hyora was truly like, but it was clear she still cared for Taemin.  Even though the whole forest seemed to be against him right now, it was almost comforting to know, some part of Hyora was on their side.  It gave him enough hope to fight back tears move farther into the room.  He began looking around on the dressers through the mess for something to help him cut through the vines covering the throne room doors.  There were small stones, lots of flowers, bones, twine, and a variety of glass beads, and finally after moving a basket of feathers Minho found a small blade.  It looked like it would have been used for hunting, and would be perfect for what he needed.  Minho grabbed the knife, some hooked bones and a ball of twine off the desk. With rekindled determination he left Taemin’s room to finish what he came here to do.     Minho practically sprinted down the hall back to the entry of the throne room, only getting lost a few times, in the winding corridors.  He stood in front of the huge doors holding the knife out ready to begin what he knew was going to be a very tough task.  The knife was a good size and decently sharp but the vines were thick and full of thorns.  Minho took a deep breath and made his first cut. The vines were thick and swollen with water from the forced growth, so they bled all over Minho’s hands, making his grip on the knife slip more than once.  He cursed and hacked at the vines making very little progress.  The constant feeling of frustration only increased in him quickly and he became frantic.  He swung the knife and pushed it in to the skin of the plants. A sharp pain shot through Minho’s arm when he caught a thorn and ripped a gash in his forearm.  He dropped the knife and sprang back clutching his arms.  “ Shit,” he hung his head and willed the pain in his arm away, the plant juice stung his new wound, “how am I supposed to get in there?” Of course he was speaking to himself but he was unexpectedly answered with a strange hissing sound.  He looked up to see the plants burning and smoking where his blood had spilled onto them.  His blood acted like acid on the thick vines, liquidating and eating away at the small area of growth.  Minho stared in shock.  Had he really found as answer? He timidly raised his fingers from his now blood covered hand and smeared his blood along the length of one of the vines.  It reacted instantly melting away and untangling others with it.  Minho’s heart sped up in excitement.  He covered both his hands in blood from the fresh wound, ignoring the sting, and touched as many of the vines as he could.  In almost no time at all he had burned enough of the vines away that he saw the designs on the door converged in the center, near Minho’s chest level.  The carvings swirled and opened to a well worn open patch where a handle should have been.  Minho pressed his palm to one of the blank panels and felt the wood beneath his hand buzz to life and the door creaked open ever so slightly.  Minho leaned in and pushed with all his might, feeling the impossibly heavy door give under his efforts.  He only needed it open enough to slip into the room behind.  Once it was, he stuffed the knife in the waist of his pants, taking care of the blade, and preparing himself before entering the throne room.  It was dark and the metallic smell of Lyf was so thick Minho felt like his chest wasn’t pulling in enough air.  The dim light that managed to follow him in from the hall, illuminated just a few feet in front of Minho.  He could see more of the same vines were in this room only they were so thick now they were almost as tall as he stood.  They seemed to twist all around the room, creating a dangerous looking walk way farther into the throne room, but Minho couldn’t see the end.  He knew he was almost there though, so throwing fear aside he walked in to the dark room.  He was careful to avoid the thrones that jutted out from the base of the vines.  The wound on his arm had begun to congeal and stopped dripping blood, but it ached and reminded him he couldn’t be too careful.   He walked almost blindly through the room until his foot collided with a stone step.  He slowly climbed several stairs, one hand out to avoid anything in front of him.  After several steps, his fingers touched something soft.  At his first touch small spirals of light twisted away from the point of contact, startling Minho.  He jerked his hand back and the golden twirls disappeared just as quickly as they had shown up.  Minho hesitated before tentatively reaching out again and touching the soft object.  The light danced away again and spread around the contours of the mysterious object.  It revealed itself to Minho, as a flower bud of sorts, only a hundred times bigger than one he had ever seen before.  The vines wrapped around it, in a protective way, but what Minho was touching was an exposed part of the young petal.  The swirls of light were running through the petals and throbbing with Lyf.  When it was fully illuminated with the intricate patterns, Minho couldn’t help but stare in fascination at the beauty of flower bulb.  Something so delicate was wrapped in menacing vines it was truly a bitter sweet sight.  And it was exactly what Minho had been looking for.  His skin seemed to hum with the amount of Lyf that was radiating from the flower. Minho stood and faced the plant.  He rubbed his arm reopening his wound and smearing fresh blood on the palm of his hand before grasping the nearest vine.  It ate away at the flesh of the plant and the other vines reeled back, as if animated with fear by the destruction Minho had caused.  The over sized white petals  trembled before blooming gracefully.  In the center, delicate golden tendrils unraveled, just like the ones from Minho’s flower, from before. The swayed in synchronization and glowed so bright, Minho had to squint just a little.  The center of the flower where the tendrils met was the brightest point, and glowed like golden liquid.   Minho reached out, leaning forward into the flower and dipped his fingers into the center.  It was warm and felt thick, like milk, and it rippled like it was deep.  Minho pulled his hand back, seeing the small scrapes he had obtained where healed, and he felt the warmth spreading down his arm and all the way to his leg to his cuts and the other injuries he had.  Even though this flower resembled his little one, it was clear this was much more powerful.  Minho thought for a moment about what his next move should be.  The flower was big enough that he could easily crawl into and see how far the weird gold pool went down.  Taemin did mention that the flow of Lyf was like a river, so maybe this was a connection that river. If it was, Taemin was surely deep with in the flower, and every thing had lead him to this point.  But, if it wasn’t Minho would be diving in to some strange sort of mass magic.  Something in Minho’s heart urged him forward, but his mind held him back.  To be safe, he would need a way back, out of the pool.  He thought quickly and grabbed the twine and the knife he had borrowed from Taemin’s room.  He tided the twine to the handle of the knife, before driving the knife deep in to the dirt floor.  Minho tugged it to make sure it was secure, before unraveling the twine and tying the other end to his belt.  It may not be much, but it was enough to give Minho the courage to crawl in to the flower.  The golden tendrils wrapped around him like wisps of warm wind, caressing his arms and face before giving way.  Minho balanced on the soft flower petal, slowly guiding his foot into the pool. It was warm, like stepping into a bath with a lot of soap.  He did his best to ease himself in, but the soft petal under his steady foot gave out and Minho fell into the pool Lyf and was consumed by the magic completely.         (A/N; sorry for missing the update yet again, and thank you for being patient.  So I’m really excited to say that as I was reading the comments I love seeing what you all are thinking and one of you actually had a very insightful comment and I will totally give you credit at the end.  I loaded this story with foreshadowing so reading what you all think is really cool, I hope it is exciting for you as it was for me.)  Tumblr