The sounds of huffs and screeches of metal hitting one another, were loud against the crowd's ears. The sound of stones crunching under the two male's feet and groans from the knight who trained under the prince were heard. Though there wasn't a peep from the black knight as he continued to push through each hit at full strength, even an untrained knight could see how powerful his hits were. There were gasps of horror each time Ji-hae was nearly slashed by the blade of the dead man. Though there were small, fresh, bloody slashes in the knight's arms and shoulders, he still put up a fight and a good one at that.
The prince just sat on a wooden throne next to his father with a blank expression and watched the black knight's blade intently. His eyes never left that silver blade that had the colour of blood along the sides, though as it swung the blood dripped where it hadn't dried and rolled down the sides, landing on the stones. With one final slice the black knight ran his sword through the other knight's gut and pulled it out fast, letting Ji-hae fall to his knees and die on the stones beneath.
The dead man stood victorious, you could not read his face as it was covered by his helmet. Then he took off his armored glove and threw it to the ground again, silently asking for another duel.
"Fine!" Taehyung exclaimed, making everyone turn to look at him. "I shall accept your offer of a duel!" He jumped over the wooden fencing and picked up the armored glove.
"Taehyung, are you insane? Let one of your other knights handle it!" The King argued.
Before the prince could argue back the black knight spoke. "So be it" the dead man grabbed his armored glove back and walked away to where he would normally stand.
"You should've let one of your other knights take your place!" The king shouted.
"It has already been accepted, no one must fight for another!" The prince argued as he turned to look at his father before walking away back to the castle.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go home!" The king shouted to the crowd and they slowly went back to their homes.
Taehyung huffed as he walked back into the castle and towards the archives where he knew the others would be. He pushed open the door and was taken back by how dark and dusty it was compared to the rest of the castle that shone in the daylight. His eyes looked around for his favorite person and he saw the younger fixated on a thick book with his back to the door. Taehyung smiled as he saw the warlock and walked up behind him quietly.
"Hey Ggukie" Taehyung whispered into the younger's ear as he wrapped his arms around the other's waist, back hugging him as he nuzzled into the male's neck.
"Taehyungie-! You scared me for a second" Jeongguk jumped a bit when he felt the prince's arms around him. "So how did the duel go..?" He was scared to ask.
"Ji-hae was killed" The red haired male responded honestly. "And that dead man offered up another duel right after-"
"Please don't tell me you accept it" Jeongguk turned in the prince's arms to look him in the eyes as he put the book he was holding back on the shelves.
"I did," Taehyung replied honestly. "I'm not going to let some dead man walking kill my best knights!"
"What were you thinking?!" Jeongguk exclaimed. "You're going to get yourself killed" he gripped the prince's shirt collar.
"Relax, Ggukie, I'll be fine" Taehyung took the warlock's hands in his. "Besides, have you guys found anything yet?"
"...I might've.." the younger male muttered as he let go of the prince's collar and took the book back from the shelf. "It's called Excalibur and it can kill the things that are already dead" he read from the book.
"Wait, you found something Jeongguk?" Namjoon asked as he looked up from his own book. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I just found it now but Taehyung decided it would've been good to scare me and hug me from behind" Jeongguk grew annoyed by the end.
"Anyway" Namjoon pushed along. "What did you find?" He closed the book he currently had in his hands.
"Well there is this folklore about this blade that can kill things that have already died, its name is Excalibur, the blade is blessed upon by the firey breath of a dragon" Jeongguk replied as continued to read what he hadn't, his eyes not leaving the pages.
"Just on that alone and judging that it's folklore, it's not real is it?" Jin asked as he looked at the physician.
"No" Jeongguk shook his head. "But we can make it real," he smiled.
"What do you mean?" Taehyung asked with a perplexed look.
"Well, we have a dragon, all we need is a strong iron sword" Jeongguk looked up at the prince with an excited grin. "Where is your sword?"
"It's in the armory, it has been cleaned and polished," Taehyung explained.
"Take me there" The warlock placed the book back down and took the prince's hand in his as to drag him out the archives.
"You're planning to use my sword to make this Excalibur?" Taehyung questioned as he pulled the warlock back. "What if the dragon's fire melts it?"
"I don't think his fire would, It would be…" Jeongguk hummed in thought. "Mixed with his magic and so…? Uh.. I think it would be better for him to explain.." the warlock giggled as he tried to pull the prince with him again.
"Alright, I trust you" Taehyung nodded and let the younger male pull him to the door of the archives.
The other four males were left there in the archives speechless as they watched the two males leave oh so cutely and just looked at each other with a blank expression and then shrugged and started to put the books they were using to search through back, to where they should be.
The prince couldn't help but smile as he watched the warlock happily drag him along the hall. His heart would flutter at the sight of the other smile and his mind was content watching the warlock. Though there was that nagging feeling that he would die during his duel, he knew that he could trust Jeongguk with what he had planned. He knew it would work, whatever the younger had planned it would always work out for him.
"Uhm… Taehyungie…" Jeongguk hesitantly spoke.
"Yes?"
"Where was the armory again…?" He asked softly, looking at the prince with a guilty expression.
Taehyung smiled softly, he didn't expect the younger to remember anyway since he hasn't been there since the day he arrived.
"Just go left down here and then turn right at the first open door on your right" Taehyung chuckled in response.
"Ah okay! Let's go" Jeongguk giggled as he continued to drag the prince along with him as they walked through the halls once again.
The hall was lighter than the rest, lit by the sun rather than torches, through the windows in the stone walls. Jeongguk hummed as he walked down the hall, he looked for the first open door on his right and saw it. His eyes almost lit up with excitement when he saw it and almost ran over to the room, dragging a laughing prince behind him.
"Where is your sword hyungie?" Jeongguk asked as he walked around the cool room after letting go of the prince's hand.
All the prince did was walk over to the stand that had all of the swords in it, with the handles facing up and the blades going down. Taehyung ran his hand along the different handles as he slowly drew closer to the one he knew well. That golden colour on the handle he grew to love from his childhood, forged in the fire that had melted the iron from long lost mines and took a number of days to create. This was his.
"This one" He drew it out slowly with a drawn out sound of metal sliding against metal.
"It's very beautiful" Jeongguk responded breathless from the way it shone.
"Yes, but not as beautiful as you" Taehyung smiled as he turned to look at the warlock.
"Hush you…" Jeongguk muttered as he felt his ears and cheeks warm with blush. "Now come we need to go see him"
All the prince did was nod as he placed his sword by his side and followed the warlock out and back to the halls. The walk wasn't that long nor that short, they were just walking fast so they had more time to sort anything out that they needed. Jeongguk could feel his heart pound in his chest but he would not acknowledge it. Taehyung felt his stomach tie in knots but didn't dare speak up about it.
The two came to the final door of the dungeon. Jeongguk looked around for a torch either lit or not. He found one that was on the ground and not lit. He picked it up and looked to the other before taking a breath.
"in igne" his eyes flashed a golden colour as the torch caught fire. It was the first time, to the prince's memory, that he had seen someone like Jeongguk cast a spell. "Come on"
They pushed open the door and started to walk down the fairly steep stairs that the warlock was used to, the prince however was not and took his time walking down the stone stairs. He felt nervous but seeing the determined look on the warlock's face he pushed it away and gripped his sword tighter in his hand.
"Hey! I'm here!" Jeongguk shouted into the abyss of the cave as he held the torch above his head.
"Greetings young warlock, I see you have brought a guest" the dragon landed on his normal worn down stone. "Ah! The prince of course! May I ask why he has his sword with him?"
"Do you remember the black knight…?" Taehyung asked as he looked at the dragon curiously.
"I indeed do..." the dragon nodded. "I also know you are here to make a blade that could kill him for good"
"Yes! Could you please?" Jeongguk asked desperately.
"I will but you must remember our deal, warlock" the dragon reminded and the warlock only nodded. "Very well… raise the blade above your head and cover your eyes, both of you"
Taehyung raised the blade above his head and covered his eyes with his arm, the warlock did the same and covered his eyes with his arm too. They felt the head of the dragon's fiery breath against them as he blew against the blade. Soon it became cool again and they both uncovered their eyes to look at the blade that now had an unreadable word on it.
"The magic on this blade will be enough to kill an already dead being, only Taehyung must use it as it is his own blade" the dragon warned.
"Of course, I'll make sure no one, not even my father, touches it" Taehyung nodded.
"You're a good one, you'll make a fine king one day, young prince" The dragon nodded slowly. "Oh and Jeongguk"
"Yes?" The warlock looked at the dragon.
"If you ever need me when you venture down here, call me by my name" He looked at the warlock who stood warily.
"Kilgharrah"
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I hope you guys liked this chapter!
Not much really went on in it
But I still hope you enjoyed it!
I purple you 💜💜💜💜💜💜