Desert • Flower | TaeJin || BOOK 3#

XV. To protect them all

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"Jin-nicchan Is everything going to be okay?"

"Yes. Of course it is."

Jin keeps hugging Yune, the girl clung to him as soon as he got down there. How it was ordered all are down there, most tucked inside their houses with guns to be cautious as Taehyung ordered. For a while now the tremors in the earth have been worrying him, he doesn't have the same level of sensitivity as the earth dragon user, but having bloom he is also able to sense some vibration in the earth. It is very slight and considering that he feels it now, it worries him because it means that Taehyung is doing something very big out there.

He leaves Yune in the care of a worker and ventures out through one of the small holes that no one has noticed in the cave. Contrary to what he expected, there is no sun: there is a huge shadow covering the whole house. As he turns around he realizes that there is a huge barrier around the territory, or at least most of it. What he manages to see; he gets on his dragon and with that he notices what is a huge circumference that grows little by little.

Eunji takes him in the direction of the source of the vibrations finding Taehyung on all fours on the ground. The man is giving horrible moans and has suddenly vomited blood as soon as Jin put his feet on the ground. The kisaeng rushes over to him, lying on the ground to put a hand on his back; he is frightened by the rocky texture of him. Even his clothes are turning to stone.

"My lord, you have to stop, at this rate-"

Jin shrieks terribly due to what seems to be a fireball that fell next to them by sheer miracle they didn't get burned. Seok howls in pain and Taehyung whimpers. His hands and arms turned to stone, as well as half of his face; barely his chest and part of his legs are still flesh and bone. Jin shakes him "You have to stop! At this rate you're going to waste away! Please stop!"

"I-I'm not going to... let them pass..."

Taehyung is barely able to stay conscious, his thoughts are diluted, his mind travels far away and he is in danger of being trapped inside the rocks that are now his body. Jin manages to give him a blow that knocks him unconscious. Seok curls around the man instantly and Jin takes a deep breath. Eunji grows to be taller than a tree, it gives a huge and terrible roar.

On the other side of the huge rock wall, where the Japanese take positions, some of them send their dragons to attack directly and get the source of this improvised wall, they are able to see how suddenly from that same wall huge, huge and even wonderful trees full of Sakura flowers emerge. The black trunks with their roots extending all the way to the source of the rock barrier. It looks so dry and rough that it is impossible for anything to grow from there, let alone at that speed. They take it for granted that there is a flowering dragon back there.

"If you see it, don't hurt it. We'll take him with us. It must be him."

There are affirmatives to the general's orders and all agree to start burning. It is the greatest weakness of earth and logs: they burn. Thanks of the fire dragons they have they make huge walls of fire that burn the ground and leave it darkened, however, they do not get up to where the logs are and on the contrary the effect of the growth becomes much more brutal. Underneath them, taking the horses, taking the people, the provisions, the wagons, everything begins to be swallowed by the roots that flourish without stopping.

What they did not think is that the soil becomes much more fertile when it is burned and that if given enough time, the plants are capable of swallowing anything, absorbing it for themselves. The squadron of about one hundred and eighty people or more is consumed almost entirely by plants, grown under them and devouring their nutrients; taking them as profit to grow more. They form a huge field where they once stood. Some remains of armor, swords, wood, there are few horses left there able to save themselves and run off in other directions.

Jin lets out a breath and bends over coughing. He looks at his hand, full of petals and part of his skin cracked in petal patterns. He looks to the side, where Taehyung rests. Part of his arms are again skin and flesh. Jin lies down beside Taehyung, tired. Jin looks at him for a moment. What a strange man, he thought he would give his life to protect this bunch of people just because yes? Knowing he was going to die for them, sometimes Taehyung is just charming. Too charming. He looks at his hands, finds a scrape and a slight cut from touching him. Now he has another thing to thank him for, curious how something he hurts can protect so well.

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"He's a sweet boy."

"He's a nuisance."

Jin watches the prince, Min A-Gust, walk hand in hand with his mother, Empress Eunji. How curious that he named her dragoness after her. The boy is very quiet and reserved, he practically does not speak, however, with her he has seen him smile and is very tender. He has also realized that not many people can see his dragon, he hasn't mentioned anything about it, people don't even know he has it. They take it for granted that he will take care of you on the spot, his eyes are green and no one is born with green eyes unless they carry the Jade dragon.

Turn his attention back to the board what's going on. He was asked to stay and it makes him very uneasy to be watched so much. Jin likes to be watched, that has not changed, he liked it when other men looked at him because it was always with admiration, he felt a real compliment. Here Jin feels threatened, that at any moment they are going to do something to him; that everyone wants to try to grab him. They won't just watch him, on the contrary, they're going to do so much on him that they're going to break him. He is very afraid of the idea. Jin smiles politely at the emperor who strokes his back.

"Mom."

"What's wrong?"

"Him, that one with the pink hair" Agust points to the blond. "He looks a lot like you. Dad scares him."

Empress Eunji forces the gesture. Not knowing how to tell Agust that, truth be told, they do look alike and she wishes him didn't, just as she wishes it wouldn't escalate to worse. Agust runs to hug one of the dogs in the garden. The animal squeals and licks his face with encouragement, tied to a stick for being disobedient. The empress laughs and asks that it be untied and Agust can play.

How she would like Agust to have a playmate..

He could have one...

If only he hadn't died more than a year ago. Agust excitedly turns to his mom and is very surprised to find that he feels like crying. Eunji pretends not to, turning away after smiling at him and shaking her head. The empress covers her face with both hands, thinks about how much she would like to have her other son here. To have two children as pale as snow.

That they would not have a scar on their face and that they would both be playing to fill this garden with laughter. Above all, she thinks, or better said, dreams, that neither of them would have to live the same life she has and the young man she doesn't even know will have. Because everyone who steps on this place is destined to suffer and nothing more.