sixteen (1/1)

Taemin was sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his thin legs.  Tears had long ago dried to his cheeks and his eyes stung.  He had been trapped, sitting by the river for so long.   He had walked the black banks until his legs gave out, not brave enough to leave the light of the golden river that flowed endlessly in one direction.  The expanse of darkness on either side stretched for eternity, anyways, Taemin knew that.  Hyora was the one who dragged him here and but she was no where to be seen when Taemin had surfaced in the river.  He had crawled out of the river sputtering against the magic and his Lyf mark burning from coming in direct contact with it.  He had sat on the bank screaming for his sister until he felt his throat was raw before walking in flow with the river.  His sister had left him here.  He felt so betrayed.  He was so angry, he was scared, and sad and more than anything hopeless.  He had given up and stayed collapsed on the bank.  He had found absolute happiness and his sister had literally ripped him away from it.  What right did she have? She was the one to push him away so why did he have to suffer too.  These thoughts had plagued Taemin, along with others.  Of course he wondered if he would ever get out of here and back in to the living worlds or if he would be stuck here for eternity.  What if he did get out and Minho had stopped loving him, or forgot about him, or hated him for leaving.  These thoughts brought tears to Taemin’s sore eyes.  Taemin barely had time to register he was hearing something other than the normal sound of the river before the calm golden surface of the river was broken.  Taemin fell backward in shock.  Arms flailed out of the river, and gasping filled the stilled air.  Taemin’s dark eyes widened, was he dreaming?  Dark hair shook, and Minho’s handsome face was clearly revealed to Taemin.  The elf scrambled to the edge of the bank.  “Minho! Grab my hand.” He stretched his arm out over the river, careful not to touch the raw magic again.  Disoriented, Minho, followed Taemin’s voice automatically, reaching out and clasping his hand.  Taemin’s skin tingled at the contact with the liquid still on Minho’s skin but ignored any discomfort and pulled with all his strength until Minho was laying on his back on the bank next to him gasping for air.  Taemin kneeled beside the man hovering over him still in disbelief.   He watched Minho breath harshly and open his eyes and look directly at the elf.  Taemin’s heart raced.  “Minho,” he whispered, “are you really here?”  A beautiful smile spread across Minho’s face and he reached up grasping the back of Taemin’s head.  He pulled them together into a warm and strong kiss.  His lips were hot against Taemin’s and his scent filled the elf’s senses.  The kiss was so over powering it drove the dark feelings Taemin had in his heart away.  He pulled back, ever so slightly, his own smile matched Minho’s, as he looked at the man.  “You came for me?” “Of course I came for you, Taemin I love you.”  Tears fell down Taemin’s cheeks again, but he didn’t wipe them away.  “I love you too Minho. How did you find me though, I mean, how are you even here?” “It took me a while, but I was able to find where the point between your world and this one connected, and I came through.”   Minho looked down at his waist and Taemin followed his gaze.  A golden cord was tied to his waist and snaked back in to the river.  The man picked it up and showed Taemin.  “This is connected to the other side.  I think we can follow it back.”  Taemin nodded trusting Minho completely. “Okay, let’s go.” “Wait! Where is Hyora?” Taemin’s expression darkened.  “I don’t know.  She brought me here, but I haven’t seen her this whole time I’ve been trapped here.”  “She needs to come back with us.” “Why?” Taemin’s voice was shrill.  “She trapped me here, and I can’t imagine what she would do to you if she knew you were here. No. We leave now.” Temin stood, readying himself to jump into the water.  “Taemin, we have to find her.  I think she is the only one who can fix what is happening in my world.” “What do you mean?” Taemin’s black eyes narrowed.  “The forest has no bounds.  With both you and Hyora here, the forest has grown out of control. It needs to be tamed, its power harnessed and the balance restored. Otherwise, I don’t know what will happen.  My village is completely gone, consumed by the forest.”  Taemin stared at Minho blankly as he tired to comprehend what he was told.  Minho grasped Taemin’s shoulder’s to make the little elf focus on him.  “Hyora was the one who brought me here.  She told me she had made a terrible mistake and put you in danger, after she lost control.  I don’t really understand, what either of your rolls are in the balance of things, but it’s obvious that you both are important.” Taemin dropped his gaze and shook his head slightly.  “Not me. Just her. She is the mother of the forest, she is the catalyst between the magic this river has and all things living in the forest.  If she lost control it means there is raw magic surging in to the world.  I don’t have the same connection as her, I can’t stop it.” Taemin looked disgusted.  “She lost control and now she wants us to fix it.” “Taemin, I think the thing keeping her in control was you.”  Taemin returned his gaze to Minho with a questioning look.  “I think she was struggling for a long time, and when she felt like she hurt you it broke her spirit.  When she came to me, she said she was projecting her spirit.  She was in the form of a child, she was weak.  Taemin, I think your sister needs you to help her not regain power but heal her heart.”    Taemin’s brows creased together as he tried to understand.  How was he supposed to fix the broken heart she had brought upon herself?  “I don’t know if I can help her, she always pushes me away, and she is so cold, how am I supposed to help?  I don’t even know where she is right now.”  Minho thought a minute. “The day we sat on the rocks, didn’t you tell me, when you were little you would send those little lights out when you were lost? What if you tried calling out to her that way?” Taemin looked skeptical, but it was honestly better than anything else Taemin could come up with.  He felt nervous.  He had spent so long avoiding her. It was weird to now have to call out to her.  He knew she wouldn’t answer him, and it would just hurt all over again.  “I don’t know, Minho.” Minho lifted Taemin’s chin making their eye’s meet.  “I’ll be right here for you no matter what.  But you have to try.”  Taemin held his gaze for a moment gathering his fleeting courage, before nodding and breaking away from Minho’s embrace.  Taemin turned his back to the man and knelt at the edge of the bank.  It felt like butterflies had been set free as he took his fingers and traced the mark on his neck gathering a charge.  He placed it on the ground and watched his little golden signal dance around the tips of his fingers before shooting off down either side of the river bank like falling stars.  He kept his fingers pressed to the ground waiting for something. He didn’t know what, just anything. When nothing happened he did the same thing again.  It was useless and he felt foolish.  Anger built in his chest.   He leaned back on his heels, knees pressed to his chest.  He could feel Minho’s gaze on his back.  This was ridiculous. She had pulled them here and she was still hiding.  Taemin wanted to go home with Minho and the only thing stopping him now was Hyora.  In desperation he though harder, just sending his signal down the banks was as useless as walking them. She wasn’t on the bank.  The only place left was actually in the river. He hadn’t thought of it before. But his power would be amplified by the river.  If he could use that to call out to her it might be strong enough she couldn’t ignore it.  He pulled his fingers back ever so slightly.  He touched his shoulder once more and instead of touching the ground he dipped his fingers in the surface of the river.  His own magic hissed against the flow and he released his signal. The whole river stopped flowing and invisible currents danced in Taemin's pattern creating whirlpools and ridges in the golden surface.  He pushed his palm in, feeling the power of the river push against him.  It was strong and his skin burned like it was being crushed.  His patterns dug deeper in the surface of the river, and spread farther.  He pushed harder still and the river pushed, he knew it he couldn’t hold on much longer and he would be forced out, but he kept pushing.  Just a little deeper.  He cried out and felt Minho’s hand on his back as he tried to pull him out.  He could feel it, just a little deeper.  Then he felt it. It stung his palm like a white hot needle.  He felt it in the middle of the river, so deep below the surface.  Taemin grabbed at the heat and pulled.  He yanked his hand back and felt the river released him.  He fell back in to Minho and held his arm to his chest. They looked out at the river.  The surface was ruff and his pattern swirled violently, but he saw her shadow beneath the surface.  “Hyora? Minho, she’s there, I couldn’t pull her all the way out.”  With out thinking Minho left his side and dove into the violent water.  He could see her form, dark, and sinking down again.  He swam quick and began to pull her to the surface.  She was so heavy Minho wasn’t sure if he would be able to make it. He felt his fingers of his free hand break the surface, and then his face.  He pulled at the weight he was dragging, trying to get her above the water. Finally, he saw her face just beneath the water.  He pulled her up, eyes closed, lips slightly parted, and skin tainted gold.  Once she broke the surface she became weightless in Minho’s arms.  She rose out of the raging water lifted by the tangled force that had kept her there.  Minho watched as she was lifted as he swam back to the shore next to Taemin again.  “What the hell is happening?” He yelled over the water.  Minho pulled himself out of the water and tried to catch his breath next to the elf, who was still bent over clutching his arm.  “I don’t know.  The river is still holding her, look.”  Taemin nodded towards her.  Hyora was lifted, parallel, several feet above the center of the river.  She was still connect to the surface by stings of light, much like those from the flowers.  They melded with her body and looked like golden veins in her skin.  She glowed just like the magic under her.  “How are we supposed to get her down now?” Minho looked at Taemin.  The elf was exhausted, and Minho couldn’t see his arm, but the boy held it like it was injured bad.  Taemin scowled at his sister’s sleeping form. The last bit of resolve Taemin had snapped.  He had had enough.  He was hurt now. Minho had risked his life more than enough for this stupid fight to continue.  This had gone too far. “Get down here!” Minho was shocked at the volume of his little elf’s usually quiet voice.  The water calmed instantly, and quiet ripped through their surroundings.  Hyora remained still, but it was clear Taemin was now the one with control.       (A/N; What is this!? An on time update, oh yes, it is! So much is gonna happen guys, leave me a comment to let me know what you think!) Tumblr