Dust rises. Thousands of feet herd forward. Yona watches from the distance, her heart stopped. Hak... be safe. She musters her strength and wills her heart to beat again.
"Steady now," she whispers more to herself than anyone else, "You are all precious, perfect, and irreplaceable - so not a scratch, OK!"
Zeno smiles brightly at Little Miss, "Zeno is good at coming back."
"We'll take care of this quickly, Your Excellence," Kija affirms, his engorged hand raised.
Shin-Ah nods sagely, then lifts his wooden mask and faces forward at the ready.
"We won't be far," Jae-Ha comforts.
But as the dragons charge off into battle... Jae-Ha stays.
Yona has dismounted and is loading an arrow on her bow, "You should go - they need you out there."
It's like he has iron chains on once again. He can't will himself to leave her.
"Jae-Ha…," she lowers her bow and looks at him, "I'm here where few are fighting. Hak is in there," she nods toward the mass of collision, "If you don't go help fight, I don't think I'll have the strength to keep calm," she's shaking now.
Always, he stares at her sadly, To keep one safe, I end up putting the other in danger.
"Jae-Ha," she begs, "Please... go."
He feels it in his blood - he's being sent away. So he says it one more time, "I won't be far," then turns and heads to wreak damage on the opposing army. And any other opposition to those dear to him.
As the dragons storm the scene, Kija lifts handfuls of Kai warriors at once, tossing them into the distance. A wall of the men stop and stare, terrified at not knowing how to fight such a monster. Many start retreating already. Kija continues forward, knocking arrows out of their paths and flinging enemy fighters into each other.
Zeno grabs a sword from the ground and inflicts strategic cuts - not killing, but limiting Kai warriors' abilities to do more than yelp in pain. Three Kai warriors see and work together to corner him. They're baffled when he drops his weapons and opens his arms. Well… so be it - one of the men stabs Zeno, who remains standing. So the man stabs again… and stumbles backward as he watches Zeno remain standing again, staring forward at them. Zeno's wounds heal before their eyes. Their jaws drop. Zeno smiles - and charges at them.
Shin-Ah fights elegantly with his sword - saving use of his eyes for a moment of utmost need. He hopes it won't come to that.
"Finally, a day I'm not dying to see those beautiful eyes of yours," Jae-Ha lands nearby as he deals out a dangerous dose of blades to Kai warriors and finishes with a beautiful kick to the gut of another.
In the distance, Yona lands arrows where she most uniquely can help from her vantage point. She fires arrow after arrow. But at some point… she will run out.
She wipes sweat from her brow just thinking about it, I can't just sit here watching… waiting...
Lili rides with Ayura and Tetora toward the cloud of madness, a cacophony of screams.
The female bodyguards look over at Lili in shock and awe. She's really doing this.
Lili stares forward, terrified but being brave, Yona would do this for me.
Kyo-Ga shouts with his arm raised high as he commands the Fire warriors go up the side to create a distraction. The fighters obey in perfect choreography.
The Earth and Water tribes hold a line of defense steady on the border. General Joon-Gi cleanly takes out adversaries and General Geun-Tae is a festive beast on the ground with his wide blade - savoring every slay, with countless to boast.
The Wind and Sky tribes rush up the center.
Soo-Won, Keishuk, and Joo-Doh charge forward, along the way ducking between swinging swords down to knock Kai soldiers out en masse. Converging on the same spot as the king and his entourage….
...are Hak and General Tae-Woo. As they go, they block arrows and stop blows against the wounded - giving all the strength they have to save lives.
"Watch it!" Hak swings his glaive to stop an arrow from piercing Tae-Woo, "I thought I trained you better than to die like that!"
Tae-Woo grimaces, "I can't avoid everything!"
"I don't wanna hear that from you!" Hak knocks out half a dozen Kai fighters with his glaive, then, "Keep your head, it's about to get interesting."
Tae-Woo follows Hak's eyeline to see Soo-Won arriving at Li Hazara, just a short distance ahead.
Li Hazara is a grizzly beast of a man - an incredibly imposing figure who dwarfs Soo-Won in height and perceived strength.
"Well, well…" both men dismount, knowing what comes next. Li Hazara muses, "If it isn't the young king of Kouka. I'm glad you came all this way... I've been waiting a long time for your head."
Li Hazara smiles dementedly, nose flaring - he charges - and Joo-Doh blocks his blade.
Straining his double blades upwards against Li Hazara, Joo-Doh flicks the man backward, then charges.
The two men twist and bend fighting one another - Li Hazara's blade catches Joo-Doh on the back of the leg. The Sky general falls in frustration with a shout.
Li Hazara turns and continues forward toward Soo-Won. Keishuk watches smugly off to the side.
Li Hazara swings - Soo-Won dodges or blocks each move gracefully, watching carefully through each step, calculating.
Yona stands in a defining moment of truth - staring at the fray, holding a bow without any arrows. The object like a mother with an empty womb… all the children have gone ahead now. There is no work left that can be done here.
But Yona still feels she has so much to do, to give. Her blood is on fire. Something inside her compels her: You must go forth. This is your destiny.
And once she is walking… she is running.
ARGH! Soo-Won has hit Li Hazara in the flank. The man falls back two steps, clutching at his side. He lifts his hand to see the blood, then looks up with a feral smile at the young king, "The boy can fight after all."
"Any man can fight," Soo-Won sidesteps strategically, "The skill - is to win," and as Li Hazara twists in reaction while lifting his sword for a strong blow downward, Soo-Won surprise throws his sword - and it pierces Li Hazara in the chest.
The Lord lets out a great gust of air as he absorbs the pain.
Li Hazara focuses the best he can on Soo-Won as his eyes fill with blood, "You bastard!" and he charges at the king with a final burst of strength.
Soo-Won moves, but not quickly enough-
-Hak pulls him out of Li Hazara's path, swiping the juggernaut in the center with his glaive as he does so. Li Hazara falls in a heap. All that rage and anger - gone. Still.
"RETREAT!" The Kai offense immediately begins to fall back - its leader down.
Keishuk's eyes go wide at the scene. Who, then, really took out Li Hazara? It doesn't matter... on the battlefield: whoever we say did.
As hundreds of men zoom all around them, Hak and Soo-Won stand motionless over Li Hazara's dead body, victorious, and yet…
...facing each other as though enemies alone on a cold night in a desolate place.
"Li Hazara is down!"
Yona can see and hear the retreat, No… no… faster, I have to get to them faster!
Her motion is fluid, there isn't even a need to gasp for air - she's practically flying toward them, her movement so unburdened by anything but the passion that drives her forward.
News of the retreat has not yet reached the fringe where Lili arrives with her bodyguards. She leaps from her horse, sprinting into the disarray in a crazed attempt to find her father. To beg with her life - if this battle turns to a moment of choosing, the Water Tribe MUST side with Yona. There is no other justice in this world. No other possible way forward.
And with all that focus, all that determination buzzing through her mind - she sees it. Her father's valiant fight on the battlefield… and his fall. As he lands on his knees, a daughter watches the confusion in her father's eyes as he takes his last breath.
"FATHER!" Lili screams, sobbing, running - tackled by Tetora who pins her down.
"There's nothing you can do…" Tetora cries, "He's gone."
"We need to get out of here!" Ayura tries to drag them up, "Quickly!"
Lili stares at the ground, the streams of blood. And suddenly she's not the same girl anymore. Nor will she ever be again. Her eyes wide, she slowly rises, and with something hollow inside her, she stares deeper into the mess.
"This is an order: Don't follow me."
The air between them can't be seen, but it can be felt. Sorrow. Rage. Regret.
Hak and Soo-Won stare, fingering their weapons, breathing steadily, waiting for the moment someone moves.