It all happened in an instant.. the scream, the blood, the realization. Hak dropped to his knees, the broad sword intended for the Princess, embedded deeply in his side. He fought back the urge to cough as his body lurched from the shock and pain. Bright red liquid flowed down his side dripping to the ground beneath him.

"H-Hak!" Yona cried out in horror. He could see the soldier's intentions as he heard Yona's small footsteps nearing them.

'He will hurt her.' was all that crossed the dark dragon's mind. Gathering his strength, he sliced the soldier with his spear before pulling out the embedded sword. Another round of coughs began gnawing at his throat, begging to be released. This time, he was unable to stop them. Violent coughs shook his whole body as traces of blood found itself in his hand. The battle around him was already blurring at a steady pace, the amount of blood loss showing its horrid effects. Looking around he could see the three of his companions struggling with the overwhelming swarm of enemies. They were clearly outnumbered as it was a whole army against 4 dragons and a princess. It wouldn't be long before the princess would be captured... or worse. Realization dawned on him as his knees momentarily gave out beneath him, the pain excruciating. A flash of green fell to the earth before him. As his vision momentarily cleared, he could see the worried face of his friend.

"Hey! Get ahold of yourself." Hak could hear the green dragon say as another enemy collapsed in front of him. He nodded, but his senses were failing.

'Shit.. This injury.. I didn't think it was this bad.' Small calloused hands jolted him from his fuzzy thoughts. He knew these hands better than anyone else in the world. The hands of the one he dearly wants to protect.. The one he can't live without.

"Jae-Ha, you have to get Hak to Yun! His wound.. It's terrible!" Yona said, using her hands to try and cover the flowing wound. Before the green dragon could respond, an adrenaline fueled yell could be heard coming towards them. Jae-Ha turned towards the sound just in time to dodge a swinging blade. He jumped in front, narrowly missing another swing before kicking the warrior in the chest, the force of the blow flinging him across the battlefield.

"Droopy eyes.. Get the princess out of here." Hak told his friend through heavy breaths.

" No! I'm not leaving you!" Yona objected, her whole body now shaking from adrenaline and fear.

"Jae-Ha... We can't win. You have to get Yona to safety... Please." The Green Dragon hesitated before being forced to take on another enemy, this time barely blocking an attack meant towards Yona.

Damn it.. The Green Dragon thought has he picked her up bridal style.

"You better survive long enough for me to come back to get you." Jae-Ha said as his strong arms held a flailing princess.

"Jae-Ha! Put me down! I'm not leaving him! I'm not leaving Hak! You have to put me down! Take Hak! Get Hak out of here!"

"I'm sorry Yona-Dear. You can punish me later, but right now your life is top priority." With that the Green Dragon took off into the sky, carrying the pleading Yona away from the battle. As soon as she was out of sight, the Dark Dragon forced himself to stand.

"Hak!" He could hear Ki-Ja call out, the white dragon racing over to his side. "That wound.. We have to get you to Yun."

"There's no time... Get Shin-Ah and get out of here. I'll hold them off as long as I can." Hak instructed while picking up his spear.

"I refuse. I will not leave a fellow brother behind. We fight together." Ki-Ja responded while stretching his dragon hand as a group of enemies approached. Hak smiled at this as he slowly forced his body into a defensive stance.

"You're stupid, White Snake." Hak managed to tease as he swung his blade, seething pain filling his entire body making his legs nearly buckle. 'I won't give up.. I have to protect them.'

"How many times do I have to tell you it's white dragon!" Ki-Ja corrected as he nailed into the group of guys. Shin-Ah raced over to Hak's other side, slicing multiple opponents skillfully with his sword. His eyes studied the wound from the small distance, a look of concern on his face.

"Don't worry about me. Focus on finishing off these bastards." The Dark Dragon instructed his breathing becoming even more labored. Hak managed to spin around slicing through a wall of soldiers on his own. He coughed again, spewing droplets of bright red liquid with each exhale. He didn't feel the pain anymore; he couldn't feel anything. Even though this wasn't a good sign, he was thankful for it as the lack of pain made it possible to fight. He could feel his muscles weakening with every blow he threw out against the vast number of soldiers, but his desire to protect his friends kept him going... His desire to protect her...

Jae-ha finally made it to the campsite. He sat Yona down as Yun came out of the tent.

"Yona! Jae-ha! What happened?" He asked when seeing the array of injuries on their bodies.

"We were ambushed by the Xing army. Things weren't looking good so I took Yona to safety... Where's Zeno?" The Green Dragon explained.

"He ran off a little while ago saying that the Dragon's aura's felt different." The young genius responded while kneeling down next to Yona who appeared to be in some state of shock.

"He's probably almost to the battle... Yun, I leave Yona in your care. Keep her safe." With that the Green Dragon leapt into the sky.

"Yona…." The young man called, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"H-Hak will…" She was mumbling, as if only to herself

"What?". Yun had never seen her in such a state before. "Let's get your wounds-"

"Hak will die!" This statement shocked the young man. Yona stood up grabbing onto Yun's clothing, her whole body screaming in desperation. "He's injured terribly! We have to go to him! Please Yun!"

The young genius thought for a second before nodding his head.

"We had better hurry then." With that, he hurried back to his tent and grabbed supplies for treating wounds. It wasn't long before the two of them were racing towards the battle field.

Please Father! Please let us make it in time!

On the Battlefield:

Things were not looking good as they three dragons fought to keep up with the overwhelming numbers. Hak wasn't even himself anymore. His mind was only bent on survival as he swung his blade around taking out countless soldiers in one swift swing.

"Hak! You need to calm down! Let us handle most of the guys! Your wound is too deep to be doing those moves!" Ki-Ja yelled trying to reason with the man, but his efforts proved to be fruitless. The White Dragon himself was tiring out from the continuous battle. His dragon claw was cut open and bleeding pretty heavily as well and Shin-Ah also had plenty of wounds on his body. If we don't get help soon.. I don't think we will make it.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, he could hear a commotion centering in the back. He couldn't quite understand what was going on, but from the looks of it, it seemed to be favoring them. They kept fighting against the army, throwing down as many opponents as they could. Ki-Ja felt a slice of pain on his back as bright red blood began flowing down him. Crap!

Falling onto the ground, the White Dragon looked behind him to see a guard raising his sword towards him. I don't have time to react! He panicked while trying to figure out a way to block the attack. The man's sword came closer to his chest before being thrown back by a forceful kick. A breathless, Jae-Ha stood in front of the White Dragon.

"You should watch your back Ki-Ja!" The Green Dragon huffed before sending more soldiers flying. He looked over at Hak who had the appearance of a wild animal at this point as he used inhuman force to defeat his opponents. This isn't good… Zeno please hurry. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a streak of yellow caught his attention.

"GET AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!" The voice of their sweet Yellow Dragon screamed as tons of men pummeled to the ground. It was clear that he had already been tortured thoroughly as his body was nothing but impenetrable scales.

"Thank the gods.." Jae-Ha whispered in relief. Zeno, using his shielding powers, grabbed and kicked his way through the flocks of soldiers with ease, his body showing no signs of fatigue.

"Jae-Ha, Shin-Ah protect Ki-Ja and Hak. They both are not in good condition and do not need to strain their bodies!" Zeno ordered as he continued to fight off the vast number of enemies. As the enemies began noticing that there was no way they could kill the Yellow Dragon they began to slowly back away.

"I'm giving you this one chance of mercy…. Leave now or die by my hand." He growled causing the men to look at each other. Staring at all of their dead comrades who had been killed moments before, the men began retreating. Turning around, Zeno brought his attention to the Dark Dragon who was barely being held back by both Jae-Ha and Ki-Ja.

"We have to do something to calm him down.. He's not in his right mind any more. All he sees is blood.. If we don't get him out of this state he will die."

Hak continued to scream as he fought to pursuing the men. His pupils were constricted, his voice hoarse and almost unrecognizable.

"Oi! You have to calm down!" Jae-Ha told him as Hak continued fighting the dragons, his strength incredible. Nothing they were saying or doing was working to calm the young man. Blood continued pouring out of his wound in a steady stream.

"Hak!" The worried voice of the Princess caught everyone's attention. They looked back in shock as Yona and Yun came running up to them. Their eyes held shock when seeing all of the dead bodies and the state that their friends were in. Yona raced over to where Hak was screaming and fighting the dragons.

"Princess! Stay away from him! Hak is not in his right mind!" Ki-Ja warned, to which the Princess ignored. The red-headed girl raced in front of the struggling man and hugged him. She held him tightly as he flung around trying to escape. His scream was tearing into her heart; it was such an agonizing scream.

"Hak, listen to me! You are safe now! We are all safe now! The fight is over.. You won." She could feel Hak loosen a bit, but not enough to snap him out of his rage. The princess fought to keep holding onto him as Shin-Ah and Jae-Ha did everything in their power to keep him from breaking free. In a moment, the princess stood up on her tip toes, using all of her strength to pull him down to her level. She stared into his eyes, her hands clasping his face. "HAK LOOK AT ME! LOOK ONLY AT ME! YOU HAVE TO SNAP OUT OF IT! IF YOU DON'T YOU WILL DIE! PLEASE!"

Tears filled her eyes causing the powerful man's pupils to dilate. His screaming stopped as he looked into her eyes. She could see it.. Her Hak finally coming back to her.

"Princ-ess…" He gasped while collapsing onto the ground. Yona collapsed with him, holding him tightly to her chest.

"You didit.. You're safe now, Hak. We are all safe.. It's all over.. All we have to do is get you healed up.. So you can't die on me." She hugged him tightly as the Dark Dragon shook against her body. She could feel cold drops falling onto her shoulder where his head was. His tears wouldn't stop falling, tears of shock, pain and relief flooding him at once. Yun raced over to him as Jae-Ha helped Yona lay him back on her lap.

"This is by far the worst injury he has had." Yun gasped as he quickly reached into his bag and began taking out medical supplies needed to stop the bleeding. Yun worked quickly to stabilize the Dark Dragon and keep him from losing any more blood.

"Jae-Ha, do you think you and Zeno can go get a tent. I can't operate on his wounds in this situation. Shin-Ah, I need to start a fire and get wood. We have to get him treated as fast as we can." Everyone silently nodded before taking off to get the supplies requested from the young nurse.

"Hak… Hang in there." Yun told him while pouring some disinfectant liquid on his gash. It didn't take long before everyone returned and they managed to get him inside of the tent. There Yun set to work on the Dark Dragon's wounds, Yona staying close beside Hak the entire time, holding his hand as he squeezed hers in pain. At times her hand felt as if it were about to break from the pressure, but she dealt with it… He was fighting so hard. Hours upon hours went by as the young man worked diligently and carefully on the wounds. The sun was just beginning to rise as Yun sewed the final stitch on Hak's side.

"This is all that I can possibly do for him… Now it's up to him whether he is going to survive or not." Yun said while feeling Hak's forehead. "He has a fever, but it's not too bad… Keep an eye on him for me. If his condition changes let me know… I have to go help Ki-Ja. He was wounded pretty badly in the battle as well."

With that Yun left the room, a worried look on his exhausted face. Yona looked down at Hak, his face seemed peaceful finally. His warm hand still clasped hers as if he was gathering energy and strength from her touch. The Princess leaned down and softly kissed Hak's forhead. Touching her forehead to his, she felt him breathe deeply, it was a good sign… A sign that he was still alive.

"Fight Hak. I'm right here… I'm fighting with you… So please come back to me… Remember I told you that I'd never forgive you if you died. So you have to stay alive!" She looked down at his neck, there lay the necklace that she had gotten him for protection. She held onto the necklace. Please.. Keep Hak safe… Please let him come back to me. Slowly, Yona lay down beside him, wrapping her arms around him and hearing the sound of his heartbeat. It was steady and strong… He has to make it… He has too.

Outside, the rest of the group tended to their smaller wounds silently. All of them were praying earnestly that Hak survive from this brutal battle.

I've got to hang on… Everyone is fighting with me… I can't die… I can't die yet.

"You have the faint smell of death on you"

No…. I refuse to die… Take the smell away.. I will not leave them behind! I will not leave Yona behind!