"Duck!"
There was no time! He had already taken aim as they had approached, knowing that someone of power would come and greet him since he was a famed general.
And to General Chun's luck, he was locked on the Han King's head before he even knew what was coming his way.
But to his misfortune, both Prince Minho as well as Master Sang-hyuk found where his arrow was trained with lightning reflexes, both jumping in the way before the arrow could hit Jisung.
Minho jumped off his horse and tackled Jisung, sending them both flying to the ground, spooking their horses.
"Oof!" Jisung groaned as he hit Minho's chest. Minho's back had hit the ground and the breath was knocked out of him for a moment before he coughed, lurching forward.
"Are you alright?" Jisung asked as he helped him into a sitting position. "Get up quickly, they're coming-"
"Master!" Minho was suddenly on his feet as he heard Changbin's yell echo off the mountains. Widely he looked around and found Master Sang-hyuk still on his horse, still facing the incoming southern invaders.
"Master?" Minho's voice sounded uncertain as he walked towards Master Sang-hyuk's horse. "Are you-"
He cut himself off as he saw the arrow protruding from Master Sang-hyuk's chest.
"No..." he whispered as he rushed forward to catch Master Sang-hyuk right before he too hit the ground.
Gasping, Master Sang-hyuk began to choke on his own blood.
"No, no, no, no!" Minho ripped open his robes and began to try and stop the bleeding as emotions rose in his chest. "We've almost won! We're driving them back! You just have to wait a little longer and see! All you've done, it's about to pay off! You have to hang in there!"
"L-leave me here," Master Sang-hyuk choked as his hand came up to grip Minho's shoulder. "Leave me with Jisung and chase them out of here!"
"M-master..." Minho brushed the hair out of Master Sang-hyuk's face. "I can't just leave you here Master," his voice broke.
"You must make sure that you finish what I started. Chase them out of here and make sure they don't come back," Master Sang-hyuk looked behind Minho where Jisung had fallen to his knees behind him. "We need a moment."
Minho glanced from Jisung to Master Sang-hyuk before he stiffly stood up and let Master Sang-hyuk fall gently into his son's arms. "Jisung... I'm going to chase them out..."
Jisung looked back at him, knowing fully well what he was trying to say. This was the most dangerous part of the battle, where the southern men would shoot at whoever came at them, regardless of if they were a prince or not. Minho had to be completely focused.
"Go," Jisung whispered nodding to Minho to leave on Cho, who someone had brought back.
Minho looked back at Master Sang-hyuk one last time before he jumped onto Cho's back and called his men to his side, going to race at General Chun and chase the rest of the southern soldiers back to their own side.
"TOGETHER!" Minho yelled as he raised his sword in the air and reared back on Cho before lunging forward and racing down the side of the hill, running right for where General Chun was racing as well, where they would meet in the middle.
"M-master," Jisung stammered as he held his bleeding father in his arms. His blood had seeped out into a large puddle around them, sticking to Jisung's clothes and skin as he held his father close to his chest.
"Quickly, we don't have t-time," Master Sang-hyuk coughed, spitting out blood as he stared up at his son's confused and distraught face. "I know I wasn't a father to you, but-"
"Master!"
"Can you... can you call me father one last time?" Master Sang-hyuk weakly brought his hand up to brush against Jisung's face. "Please... that's all I want to hear."
"F-father... you can't leave us just like that!" Jisung cried, confused at his own feelings.
This man was not a father to him, not in the least. But still, he had brought Jisung into the world and had been trying to protect his kingdom all this time... and now he was dying in Jisung's arms. Could he not forgive him?
"We have to get you to a doctor!" Jisung looked around but all the men had raced off to help Minho confront General Chun coming at them.
"You are still my son," Jisung stared down at his father's face, full of regret and longing. "But don't worry, son. I will join your mother in the stars and watch you now... we come with the rain and the storm..."
"Father..."
"I don't expect you to... forgive me," his voice was fading quickly as his body lost blood. "But you must know that it was all for you and our kingdom."
Jisung's mouth opened but he couldn't make any words come out.
"I missed you, my son..." Master Sang-hyuk's rough palm pressed to Jisung's soft cheek and Jisung held his father's hand there, feeling his own heart pound in his chest as he knew what was about to happen.
"Keep fighting, always..." Master Sang-hyuk's hand was going limp.
"I'm proud."
"I forgive you."
They said it at the same time, and Jisung's wasn't even sure that his father heard his words before his arm went limp and was just held up by Jisung's own hand clasped over his father's.
For a moment, nothing registered in Jisung's head. "Father?"
His head rolled back limply onto the ground as Jisung felt the dead weight of him in his lap. There was the feeling of death rolling off of him that made Jisung want to curl up in a ball and cry.
"Your Majesty!" General Kim Namjoon arrived at his side and stared down at the late king who lay on the ground in front of Jisung, the king's hand still clutching his father's. "Your Majesty... we need to go back to The Mountain. Prince Minho has met resistance and this is the final standoff."
Jisung looked up at the captain. "My father..."
Captain Kim closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "I'll help you bring him back," he whispered as he leaned down and pulled Master Sang-hyuk's body over his shoulders, picking him off the ground.
Jisung stood with the captain, his eyes a sort of blank slate. "Your Majesty, are you alright?"
"He's in shock," it was Bang Chan who had come back to join Jisung. Minho must have sent him.
"What's going on down there?" Captain Kim glanced back at where yells and cries of men were rising in the air.
"It doesn't look good, but Minho's going to pull through, I know it," Bang Chan put his arm around Jisung's shoulders and led him back through the forest.
~oOo~
"Fall back!" the yells of General Jeon filled the air as his men fell back behind Minho who was on foot now, sword to sword with General Chun who seemed to be overpowering him.
"Fall back!" Minho yelled over his shoulder, echoing the general as his men took a few paces back to wait for his command. If he beat the general, then it would be all over from here...
"Beat him, Your Highness!" roars of rage came from the last men on Minho's side that were still standing. The equal number of southern soldiers rose in their support for their general as Minho and General Chun faced off.
"Give up, this is not your country!" Minho snarled as he beat the general back with attacks from both sides, making it so that General Chun could only block his attacks instead of sending his own.
"It might as well be," General Chun snarled back with a glint in his eyes. "You don't deserve to be here! It's our time to lead over this land."
"You're nothing but a general," Minho pushed back, their swords meeting mid-air, clashing against each other as both men struggled to overpower the other.
"We'll see about that," General Chun pushed even harder against Minho's blade, making his knees begin to shake.
This guy was stronger then he was and bigger as well, which meant that Minho couldn't just overpower him... he needed to be smart about this-
"AHHH! WHAT THE FUCK?"
A loud yell rang across the valley, making everyone's heads turn.
Except for Minho, who's eyes gleamed. Seeing as his opponent was distracted, he maneuvered his sword around, twisting around General Chun's blade before sliding right in between two of his ribs, making the larger man bellow and fall to his knees.
Then, once he made sure that General Chun couldn't fight any longer, Minho turned to see where the yell had come from.
He was shocked at the scene unfolding.
From what he could see, the Odueun King had attempted to attack his men from behind... but alone. He had stabbed through Changbin's shoulder, and he was on the ground now, but both King Lee and Yongbok had turned on him and were advancing from opposite sides as Min-hyung took care of Changbin.
"Oh, you done fucked up now," Minho sat back and watched for a moment.
"Did you really just do that?" King Lee chuckled like a mad man. "You're more stupid then I thought. Do you realize who you just attacked?"
"Stay away from me!" the Odueun King swung his sword wildly, but Yongbok deflected them all. "Get back, you man loving whores!"
"Oh shit..." Minho almost laughed out loud as both Yongbok and his brother's eyes turned a different shade of red that seemed almost black.
And all in one motion, the Lee King as well as Yongbok lunged forward, their strikes nearly symmetrical but on opposite sides of the king, who was pierced twice through the abdomen.
Minho was about to enjoy their victory when he felt a large sting on his leg. "Agh!" he cried out as he hopped back one one leg, looking down at the large gash that the crawling General Chun had managed to score on his leg. "Seriously?"
"Bastard!" the general hissed.
"Take him away," Minho bent down to stare at his leg for a moment. The gash was large, caused by a long knife that was now laying in the grass, but had not gone all the way down to the bone.
With a now grim face, Minho picked up the knife and limped back over to where his cousin and older brother were standing over the fallen Odueun King.
Minho turned back to the surviving southern soldiers who seemed shocked at the fall of both their general as well as their king and unsure of what to do next.
Minho pulled a white flag that he had been keeping in his pocket this entire time and tossed it at the soldier's feet. "Pick that up and wave it if you want to surrender. If not, then we'll keep fighting till there's not a single southern soldier left standing."
There was a moment of silence that went around the southern soldiers as they contemplated the outcome of their decision. On one hand, they could surrender and their lives would most likely be spared or they could try and fight without a proper leader and most likely be slaughtered.
Two young men rushed forward and picked the white flag off the ground and held it high in the sky, letting it sway in the wind.
Minho let a small grin of satisfaction form on his face. "That's what I thought."