The Night Belongs to the Moon | Taeyong

43 | First Rain of Spring - II

'Ugh,' Yuta groaned with the crack, clutching his broken knee with both of his hands as he limped backwards. And just when he was about to kick her in the stomach, Dal-ae launched the dagger at him. He blocked. But the hurl was powerful enough and the blade pierced him in the forearm. He cried out as pain shot up through him.

Yuta was angry, Dal-ae could see it in his eyes. He did not like losing specially not to someone he considered his inferior.

As the wind settled giving way to the first bolt of lightning that crawled across the sky, lighting up the gloom for a second, Dal-ae pulled herself up. She did not even wait for the pain to subside. In one swift motion, she gripped the dagger and pulled it out of his arm, a spray of blood gushing out with it, and aimed the blade straight for his heart.

But Yuta was no novice. He caught hold of her arm and twisted it. He twisted it till the dagger fell out of her grip, he twisted it till her heard her bones crack inside, he twisted it till she screamed and writhed with pain that coursed through her very veins.

Dal-ae felt her heart throb through her body as her vision blurred. Tears flowed out of her tightly shut eyes as she cried out, choking on air.

'Don't forget who taught you everything,' he hissed near her. 'Don't forget that I can end this fight right now if I want to and bury you right here in the snow.'

She wasn't listening anymore, all she knew was shooting sting that engulfed her whole as Yuta tightened his grip, crushing her bones. From his own cloak, he took out a knife and slashed her across the thigh making her kneel in front of him.

'Pathetic,' he spat. 'You deserve at least a hundred lashes for this.'

She retched her breath out with blood. And despite the pain, she reached out for the dagger in the bloodied snow and whipped round, slashing him just above the ankle before kicking him in the gut. As he fell backwards, crying out in pain, she took this time to catch her own breath. One hand thumping her chest, the other keeping her up as she coughed up more blood.

She glanced at Taeyong, who was standing completely still. He had gone white in the face with his tears at the precipice of his reddened eyes, ready to fall. She smiled at him and shook her head slowly, telling him to be as brave as she was.

With a groan she turned to Yuta and looked up at him. He was watching her. And though his body could bear much more than hers, he seemed as wounded as her in that moment.

Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the blood on their faces as the two rose to their feet in the pool on their own blood. For a long while, they simply stared at each other barely able to hold themselves up.

'How did you call upon his heart?' Yuta asked, quietly in the thunder that followed.

Dal-ae scoffed at his pitiful state. She spat a mouthful of blood onto the snow before she spoke, 'Why ask when you already know?'

He nodded his head wildly, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek. And without warning, he rose to the sky and plunged onto her with a kick to her face. Dal-ae tried to defend herself but Yuta wasn't fighting to kill anymore; he wanted to hurt her. He bashed her head against the ground, pressing her into the snow as she thrashed, out of breath.

She managed to get hold of the dagger and stabbed him hard in the neck but Yuta simply pulled it out before turning her over and slapping her across the face. He held her down and straddled her only to punch her repeatedly.

'Do you love him?' he asked, holding her by the chin forcing her to look up at him.

And despite the injuries, she laughed through the blood that had drenched her face whole, seeping through the snow beneath her like the lightning in the sky.