Ablaze (Are The Hearts of The Damned)

Banter

"Kyungsoo, where are you going?" Kai asks, seeing his companion change into the beautiful robes that he would only use during important businesses when he enters their shared quarters.

"I need to send this letter to Lord Yifan," Kyungsoo says, waving a golden scroll in his clutch. "Apparently, Chanyeol wants to withdraw from war efforts from now on."

"But why?" Kai says, shocked. "Won't the others give him a hard time if he does that? That's technically betrayal, especially during these hard times. His brother was literally abducted just a few days ago."

"Lord Chanyeol has exquisite persuasion skills," Kyungsoo says as he slips on his katana. "I'm sure he wrote a very sensible and reasonable letter. And... And it's for Baekhyun too."

"That's right..." Kai mutters. "Well then, we can't do anything about this. Please take care. Once you delivered it to the sky god, come back immediately. Don't let him question you further about our lord's intentions."

"I will," Kyungsoo says as he reaches out, caressing Kai's cheek, fondly smiling at him then withdraws and disappears behind the door, leaving him behind.

Kai walks towards their bed then plops down, slightly bouncing. He sighs, not thinking particularly about something and just letting his eyes dart around.

And that was when he spots a painting propped on a chair at the corner.

.

.

.

Baekhyun rarely dreams, and rarely actually means close to never on his terms. And when he does dream, it usually means something significant to him, may it be a vision of something that will happen in the future or just some kind of reflection that is currently happening to him from within.

That night when he fell back asleep after the weird interaction with Chanyeol, he dreamed of burning. Yes, burning. He was burning on a stake. His dream self was, obviously, screaming for his life to be spared. It was very vivid, if Baekhyun may add, and he actually felt scared. Even the burning sensation of the flames earing savagely at his flesh felt real to him.

He genuinely felt terrified.

Baekhyun's dream self continues on screaming, then it transforms to shouts aimed towards the heavens, asking for help if anyone was listening to him. Baekhyun knows gods didn't give a single fuck for mortal lives and would probably never meddle in their business, but he continues on watching his dreamself yell to the heavens for help that will only go down in vain.

Lo and behold, the circumstances defied Baekhyun's knowledge. A phoenix suddenly appears and descends from the sky, its whole being draped with the powerful aura of fire, leaving a trail of flame in its wake as it crosses the expanse of the sky. It then hovers in front of Baekhyun's dream self, who was stunned to see the mythical creature in front of him. He could feel its power and heat, inebriating intensely. The onlookers were shocked as well, and some of the elderly fell to their knees.

Seconds later, the phoenix opened its mouth and sang, a song that pushed the dream Baekhyun into an unexplainable sudden drowsiness. His dream self blinks, trying to fight it off, but fails when he fully falls into the darkness.

Jolting, Baekhyun wakes up. Almost immediately, he feels his dreams dissipate, leaving him no memory of it. For the first few moments, he tries to grasp what his dream had been about, but he forgets about doing it when he feels his stomach growling.

His eyes flit to the other side of the bed, hand reaching out to the spot. Warmth touches the tips of his fingers when he lightly grazes his fingers on the empty space. Chanyeol must have risen not too long ago.