Honor and Glory | ATEEZ

043

"How is that something positive?" I mumbled, huffing as I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to hide my embarrassment.

"How about we sleep here tonight, then?" Hongjoong suggested

"We need the rest if we're going to be ready for whatever lies ahead tomorrow. It won't do us any good to charge right into the capital if we're weak from exhaustion," he said.

I wasn't fond of the idea, knowing that our deadline was dangerously close already as the crescent sun slowly began to set in the distance, late afternoon already disappearing.

I could practically imagine Agora looming somewhere on the horizon, waiting for us, but I could see that the others were tired.

And to be honest, so was I.

And I had been carried all the way here, at that.

And so, we cuddled up next to each other, enjoying the last hours of the day as we made camp.

A small fire flickered to life; courtesy of Wooyoung and Yeosang, and we all gathered around the warm flames as we enjoyed each other's warmth, company, and safety.

Before long, the others had already gone to sleep, lying in small piles of tangled limbs as they snored softly underneath the clear night sky.

But my mind was too busy for me to relax.

Tomorrow was our last day before Daios' deadline.

I didn't want to live up to his demands but it was best to do as he said unless we wanted innocent elementals to get hurt.

We would probably reach Agora in time as well, but then what?

We would obviously have to fight, if not go to war with him, but was it really that simple?

I almost didn't dare to hope.

In the end, as the stars crawled over the arching sky, my eyes finally started to get heavy.

I snuggled up to the person beside me, clinging to them as I shuffled closer and buried my head in their chest, taking in their scent as the sounds of nature began to dim.

San still smelled like winter and all the memories that followed.

I smiled as I finally fell asleep.

But with sleep came images, impressions, memories, and a sense of worry that I couldn't seem to shake off even in my dreams.

I stirred, furrowing my brows as I mumbled something so myself.

The rumbling voice of Daios suddenly came back, seemingly from everywhere around me.

I tossed and turned, and as a cold feeling suddenly washed over me, I sat straight up as I opened my eyes.

I looked down to see San stir beside me, Seongwha turning to face the other side as well, but I was the only one who was awake.

I tried to calm my beating heart as I took a shaky breath.

I shivered, suddenly feeling incredibly cold.

My inner fire was quiet, as if it was still asleep, and there was no other sign of life in the clearing besides the eight sleeping men sprawled on the grass.

I couldn't help but feel alone despite them being right here next to me.

The bonfire had long died out, and not even as much as a single ember offered any kind of light in the darkness.

It was not quite night anymore, though, I realized, gazing out into the horizon where I could almost imagine the sun looming right underneath the trees.