Akatsuki Dragons ❦ Hak

5 | A Disappearing Yoon

"Guys, have you seen my brother?"

Yoon had wandered off somewhere, and it was getting harder for them to see. The fog was thickening and Yara had to hold her hands in front of her, to avoid bumping into anything.

"Just how far did he go?" Yona peered around her and she couldn't see anything either; it was all just pure white.

"The foggy phantom village. I have a feeling that the village is around here." Hak said. He too was keeping a lookout for Yoon, while also trying to monitor the princess and Yara - which even for the Thunder Beast, was impossible to do at the moment.

Suddenly, from somewhere unknown, Yona shouted, "Hak, Yara, this is bad!"

They both ran in the general direction of Yona's voice.

"Yoon's disappeared!" On the ground was nothing but Yoon's poncho and his bag full of supplies.

Yara knelt down and clutched the poncho to her chest.

"What's happened to him?" Tears pooled in her green eyes and she started thinking of all the worst-case scenarios.

Hak bent down beside her and caressed her hair. It wasn't like him to comfort a girl and there was a part of him that wanted to protect her. The only person he had ever protected was the princess, but that was an obligation and part of his job, more than anything else. However, when it came to Yara, it was a different feeling entirely. He didn't like seeing her cry either.

"Don't worry Yara, we'll find him."

That was when they heard mysterious voices coming from the trees:

"Be gone."

"Go away."

Now, this was getting weird. Yara stood up and pulled out her short sword, she positioned herself behind Hak, who put out a hand in front of her.

"Don't do anything stupid, Yara."

"Go from this ground at once!" came the voice again. "If you step any further, you will receive divine punishment."

"You're hiding in the fog." Hak smirked. "And you talk about divine punishment, huh? You must be a magnificent god... Am I right?" Hak swung his glaive in a wide arc.

The mist disappeared, revealing a group of white-haired men; some stood on branches and the others were assembled in between the trees, all of them surrounding the three. Hak hugged Yona to him and Yara's chest once again tightened.

"He cleared away our fog with one swing!"

Hak demanded, "are you guys from the dragon village?"

The men started muttering things:

"It seems they know of our clan."

"Then that is all the more reason to not permit them to go back alive."

"Was the boy from earlier your companion?" spoke the man closest to where they stood.

Yara grabbed hold of Hak's sleeve. "Hak, are they talking about Yoon? They must be!" She turned back to where the men stood. "You were the ones who took my brother away? What did you do to him?!"

"That boy..." Another man, this one had a thick moustache on his face, started. He stopped when he took another good look at Yona. "Red hair..."

"That's red hair."

"It can't be..."

"But it's a girl..."

Yara felt as puzzled as Hak and Yona did. Why were they so fascinated by the princess' hair?

The man with the moustache stepped forward and directed a question at Yona. "Where do you come from, red-haired girl?"

"The land of wind. We received guidance from the high priest to look for the four dragon warriors. Are you the one who possesses the blood of one of the four dragons?"

"No, we are the protectors of the white dragon," he replied, and then gestured behind him. "Let me guide you to Hakuryuu Village."