Chapter Text
A dragon doesn’t get tamed by anyone. It chooses its rider, the one it bonds with. It’s the dragon that gives one the power to wield its power and wrath. To control it at will.
A dragon is also a myth. A legend that doesn’t exist. That’s what everyone had thought until one came burning down kingdoms and paths ahead of it.
When the first ever, and the only dragon, roared into the sky with someone sitting on its back. The kingdoms shook in front of it with fear. Except, it wasn’t the beast staring at them that scared them. It was the man sitting on it, commanding it, and using its force.
The one they had all once thrown out as if nothing. The King, who had once fallen, and every single land, had laughed in his face, refusing to help. The allies he had built turned their faces away from him. They had all been in it. To make the King fall hard from his height.
He had managed to run away. Escape the betrayal done by his own people. Everyone tried to find him, to not leave a single trace, a single ray of hope, and a chance that could come to bite them back.
Fallen was the King; the alpha was never weak. They wanted to see his head separate from his body. They wanted to make sure they’d won. But no one found him. Not even a single trace of his blood or his scent was left behind, just like a ghost.
After weeks of searching for the King. Everyone assumed he had died, eaten by an animal. They relaxed and then celebrated their win. The powerful King had finally been wiped out. They had successfully defeated the alpha.
They tracked down the King’s whole kin and wiped them out one by one. His parents, who had hidden away, his siblings, his most trusted knights, and people who had escaped on his order because the King did not wish for them to die a useless death. Everyone he had trusted, and everyone who stayed by his side to the end, got killed.
After everything, they merged his Kingdom with theirs and ruled over it as a pact, for all the enemies had a share of the large, fertile land. Enslaved its people, beheaded the ones who rioted, and tried to utter their King’s name.
There was no King. He had died after all. The King was not coming back anymore.
Having a massive army doesn’t mean one cannot harm you. An attack on a sleeping person is cowardly. But it still means you’ve won. It still means you are powerful enough to hold a knife and use it on your sleeping enemy.
The attack on Jimin’s troops had been sudden. Fast enough to wipe out half of his people. When the whole Kingdom had gone to sleep, the cowards had decided to shower his army with arrows in their sleep, and when they least expected it.
Next came the cannons. Straight towards the hideouts, the sleeping barracks, and the storage where they kept their weapons. It had been clean. The locations had been outed beforehand. Or how else was the enemy supposed to know where what was? At which hour were the troops least on alert?
Jimin had been working on his study when he heard the first explosion and looked outside his window to see his people running for their lives as the fire spread around everywhere.
In the middle of the night, they attacked his people. He did not even know who his enemy was. But at one glance, he knew it was someone he had trusted.
The door to his study burst open with his general running inside. “The right border has been compromised. The enemy is inside, and our troops…half of them have been wiped clean.”
Jimin looks outside the window once again before he starts to walk outside into the panicked corridor. A whole mix of distressed scents spreading into the air hit him fast. They make his nose twitch, but he tries to keep it under control. To not show that he is no better than them.
“Gather everyone. Dispatch the palace guards to safeguard the civilians. Send out emergency alerts to our allies…if they aren’t in it. Control the fire first if you can. Get the rest of them to accompany me at the right border.”
General Kim’s face hardens as he listens to Jimin’s commands and his obvious death wish.
“Your Majesty, it’s not safe. You need to leave—”
“Are you suggesting I leave my people like a coward?” Jimin asks as he stares into Namjoon’s eyes and dares him to finish his commentary.
“No, I—”
“Then you listen to your King when we are at war.” Jimin finishes as he enters the war room, and the beta helps him put on his silver armour.
There are a lot of things running inside Jimin’s head as he puts on his war armour and hooks his sword. Namjoon doesn’t say anything more. He obeys his orders and gathers everyone into the court as soon as possible.
All his best knights, soldiers, guards, and even the trainees. Jimin forces himself not to think about the kids standing in war clothes in front of him as he stands in front of his throne.
The screams get louder outside, the shadows from the flames catching up to the palace walls as it grows. As their end creeps near them.
Jimin knows he’s going to lose. It’s already a lost battle at this point. Most of his military was wiped out before they had the chance to fight. Dirty playing bastards. He looks down at his soldiers and sees the same look in their eyes.
They are aware. They know what awaits them outside the palace walls. Yet they are standing before him with their chins held high.
“You can run away if you wish to. This is your chance to save yourself.” Jimin says.
No one moves. Not even the trainees. They don’t budge from their places as they stand straight with hands holding the handle of their swords as if it's their life support.
Jimin takes a deep breath.
“I will not back down. No matter what the outcome turns out to be. A war is either won or lost. What matters is that you fought for your freedom. Today or tomorrow. Fighting means you’ve won. Even if your head is hanging on the enemy’s sword, even if your limbs have fallen apart. Even if you have taken your last breath. If you have your hand on your sword. You have won. You have become the greatest soldier I have had. My greatest warriors out into the battleground. Protect your people, your home. Once you step out into the fire, there is no returning. Either you turn to ash, or you burn everything down.”
Jimin’s hand trembles a little as he sees the fire in his soldiers’ eyes. His eyes soften a little, a crack in his demeanour that he doesn’t try to mask. He needs his people to see that he, too, is a human. Not the undefeated King. Today, he might lose. Today, the King might fall. That’s why they need to see. They need to know that they are trusting a human with their lives. And his soldiers look like they understand.
They see him. They see their King making hard choices.
The head Knight comes forward with his head held high. He stares at Jimin for a few seconds before he sheathes his sword from the scabbard and drops to one knee as he points the tip of the sword onto the floor while holding it upside down. The rest of them follow his actions as the sound of swords being drawn out slices through the air.
“All hail the King!” The knight shouts while keeping his head low.
“All hail the King!” The rest of them shout in unison.
It’s enough of an answer for Jimin. He nods slowly. The King then grabs the handle of his sword with his sweaty palms and seethes it out. He holds it up into the air as his soldiers scream out their last chants of his name.
The moment Jimin steps out into the battlefield. He is all in his element. Swinging his sword at the enemy and aiming straight for their heads. If he must die today, he’s going to leave a pathway of heads behind him. His soldiers surround him, covering for him as they go further towards the border to stop more from infiltrating their land.
“Stop covering for me!” Jimin shouts as he stabs one and then slices his neck clean.
The knight looks at him for a second of uncertainty before he nods and leaves his side to take on more people individually. The rest follow his orders, and soon, the king is uncovered from all sides.
Jimin lets his nose guide him. He lets his instincts take over as his eyes glow golden and his canines peak out a little in ferality.
Jimin stabs, cuts, slices, and bites. He doesn’t spare them anything. If one gets close and isn’t in the range for him to swing his sword, he bites the enemy’s head with his teeth.
There’s nothing moral in war. One needs to survive, and everything is accepted as long as you are standing at the end of the day.
Except, even in war. Biting someone’s head off is considered an abomination. At least for royals such as him. So, when he starts using his teeth. His enemy takes a few steps back from him. They stare at him in horror as he rips out a few veins and a chunk of a soldier's neck. Doesn’t even bother to use his sword.
No one else does it. Not even his soldiers use his methods. But they quickly understand why this alpha had been one hell of a man whom everyone had come to fear. One of the many reasons they attacked his Kingdom at night and managed to get deadly hits on his army.
Jimin spits out the chunk from his mouth as he stands on his legs with the sword being a mere accessory in his hand. He stares at his enemies, eyes glowing golden, and the fear in their eyes as they look at their peers lying lifeless with half of their necks being ripped open.
“The King has gone mad!” Someone screams out loud. A group of soldiers charges at him at the same time to take him out for good.
Time is a weird concept for the alpha whenever he is out on a battlefield fighting for his and his people’s lives. He tends to forget how and where he started in the first place. All that matters is that he needs to kill.
His instincts make him move in all directions. One hand handles the sword, the other works as a shield, and his mouth sends them to their demise. Everything blurs in front of his eyes. He doesn’t see people. He doesn’t feel that he is being cut in different places on his body. His senses alert him that someone is behind him, that he needs to duck and swing. So, he does. He misses the attack by inches as he swiftly turns around and drives the sword into the man’s heart.
One after another, he keeps killing. But the soldiers keep growing. They keep coming. His people die, the screams get louder, the scents get bitter and more scared. It’s enough to snap him back from his haze. The golden glow from his eyes disappears as he finally looks around himself and sees his palace walls burning, his people being burned alive.
A few of his soldiers fight with only one arm, while half have their limbs hanging off by the bones just slightly. It’s a gruesome sight to see. They are still fighting with every last bit of strength they have.
It is then that Jimin realises that maybe he shouldn’t have asked them to step out into the war. He should have ordered them to run away and save their lives. Shouldn’t have given them the choice to fight beside him. It’s useless. It’s suicide. That’s not what a King does. A king protects. A king takes care of his people. Not lead them to their deaths.
The alpha sees the enemy coming at him from the corner of his eye and barely dodges him as he swings and slices his hand off his arm. He finishes him off quickly before he looks around to find Namjoon.
He needs them to leave this burning pit of death as soon as possible. Jimin searches with wide eyes and a mouthful of blood.
“Namjoon!” The alpha shouts out loud, and even in such chaos, his voice booms through the crowd.
A shout soon answers him, and he snaps his head in the direction of the beta. Jimin makes a run towards him as he fights everyone between them and manages to get to him without his head being caught by the enemy.
“Your majesty," the beta huffs as he takes ragged breaths and starts covering for him on instinct.
“I need you to run away. Take everyone you can and run from here.” Jimin commands. It comes out weak but with enough urgency.
Namjoon widens his eyes and shakes his head.
“No, no, I won’t.” Namjoon retorts as he dodges an attempt, and Jimin goes for the head.
“You don’t understand!” Jimin shouts.
“I will not leave you and run away. Separate my head from my body, but I will not leave you behind, your majesty.” The beta argues mid-fight as he keeps covering his King left and right.
“Look around you! We will all die. I need you alive to look after my people.” Jimin’s orders turn into pleas as he screams at the beta, who falters for a second at his voice.
A few soldiers come towards them, and they get busy slicing their enemy’s heads while covering for each other. Namjoon notices his surroundings too. He is not stupid. He knows Jimin is not just suggesting that they leave because he is a coward. His King is everything but that. But because there is a lot to lose here. He wants to save as many as he can.
However, that’d mean that he’d need to leave his King behind to save himself and others. He’d need to leave Jimin alone. That’s something he cannot do.
“Daeseok!” Namjoon shouts out loud, and the alpha Knight snaps his head towards him.
“Retreat. Prepare the last attack and leave when you do it. Take everyone alive and leave!” Namjoon orders.
The knight seems to hesitate for a few seconds. But then he looks at his King and sees the subtle nod from him. The alpha feels his eyes prickling, but he pushes back the lump before he nods and gives his King one last bow before running in the opposite direction with the rest who are alive.
Half of them stay behind to stop the enemy from following the Knight, and the rest. They stay behind to fight beside their King. The enemy destroys the border completely and floods inside the Kingdom like insects. There are a lot. It’s not just one army. This number is only possible if many merge.
“Did our allies respond?” Jimin asks despite knowing the answer.
“None. They all turned their backs.” Namjoon answers.
The alpha chuckles bitterly as he burns with rage and makes a tiny mistake that leaves an opening for the opponent to slash him. Jimin hisses and growls out loud. All alpha as the ground rattles a little and the soldiers in front of him falter, halt in their steps, and give him the perfect chance to lunge and rip their throats clean.
“Namjoon, promise me something,” Jimin says, spitting out blood as he looks at the beta who gulps when he sees his feral eyes, pupils all dilated from adrenaline, and mouth all bloody.
“Yes, my King?”
“When the final attack comes. You do everything to survive. Anything to survive. Even if…” he groans as he misses another attack. Namjoon comes in front of him while he recovers a little to give him cover. “Even if you need to let go of your morals. The oath you made to me. Let it all go. Bend to the enemy if you must.”
“Your grace…” Namjoon pleads.
Jimin knows he is basically asking the beta to die while being alive. Letting go of his oath is the worst faith.
“Promise me. You will do it to survive and protect my people. Be a dog if you must. I had decided to die on this ground when we all left the palace. Not anymore.” Jimin stares at him.
His chest rises and falls rapidly as he grunts while swinging his sword. All his limbs ache from the strain and the exhaustion that have started to creep into his body. His nose alerts him to someone on his left, and he swings without looking. He manages to hurt the enemy, and Namjoon ends his life.
“Everyone betrayed us. Our allies. They all turned their backs. I promise that I will spare no one. No one will live to see the sun when the time is right.”
“What are you—” Namjoon can’t finish when he sees someone aiming for Jimin and steps in front of him.
“This is an order from your King!” Jimin shouts, authority clear in his voice as he growls.
The beta feels goosebumps rising on his skin as he looks at him with wide eyes and his heart hammering inside his chest.
Suddenly, a loud explosion goes off into the distance, and both Namjoon and Jimin snap their heads to the side as they see the cannon being fired and coming towards them.
The alpha grips Namjoon’s bicep and squeezes tight.
“Survive. Whatever it takes. Sniff them out and be by my side when I come back for their heads.”
The sun in the night sky becomes brighter. The burning ball of fire descending towards them as Jimin stares at Namjoon with glossy eyes and a smile that the beta’s going to remember till the day he dies.
The cannonball falls on the land and explodes. The fire spreads around even more, and it’s enough for them to run away. Except Jimin’s plan changes when he sees one bastard still coming towards them instead of saving himself from the fire. Jimin pushes the beta aside and aims his sword at his head. Just one more kill, one to save his dear General, and leave with the promise.
But then destiny decides to make a fool out of him when his foot slips onto someone’s mutilated hand, and he loses his balance and misses the enemy. His opponent sees the opening, and without hesitation, he drives his sword into Jimin’s side. It’s his luck that Namjoon pulls him back, but the damage is done. The beta screams and doesn’t waste a single second before he kills off the man who dared harm his King.
“Your grace!” Namjoon shouts as he supports Jimin to stay on his feet and takes him away from the fire as much as he can.
“Fuck, I am okay. You need to…leave.” Jimin grunts as he presses onto his stab wound.
The beta shakes his head. Sits him down behind a large rock and tears a piece of his cloth before pressing it onto the wound. “You are not okay. He stabbed—”
Jimin hisses as tears prickle in his eyes, and he puts his hand above Namjoon’s before he starts to push them away slowly.
“No. No, your grace. Please, you need to—”
“I need you to pull yourself together.” Jimin breaths slowly as he bites his tongue to stop himself from succumbing to pain.
“It’s just a stab.” He tries to laugh.
The beta looks wrecked. His eyes red as he blinks away the tears and stares at his mad King laughing while bleeding to death.
“Leave before the fire dies down, and they get you. I will live. A mere scratch won’t kill me, h-hyung…” Jimin smiles. He presses down onto the wound with one hand, and the other comes to caress the beta’s cheek a little — leaving blood stains on his cheek — before it lands on his shoulder and he squeezes it.
“Can you please say my name, hyung?” Jimin asks, his eyes soften with vulnerability, and Namjoon’s breath hitches.
Namjoon opens his mouth, closes it back up. He seems to be thinking about something. After a few seconds of having an inner war. He sighs and shakes his head.
“No,” he mutters.
Jimin’s face falls.
“Come back alive. Then you can hear me say your name again.” The beta says.
Jimin laughs a little. “That’s motivational.”
Namjoon bites his bottom lip, and he doesn’t try to stop tears from escaping this time. His lips tremble as a choked sob leaves his mouth.
“Jimin-ah, please come back.” Namjoon begs.
Jimin’s breath hitches as his wound bleeds even more and presses on it further. He nods. Scent sweetening a little bit as his wolf croons inside. The alpha smiles and shifts on the ground.
Namjoon helps him up. He helps him to stand on his legs while keeping them both hidden from the rest of the army. Once they are near the far side of the border, which they haven’t burned. The beta lets him go.
“I will. I promise I will.” Jimin mumbles.
The King takes one look at his home. His Kingdom burning away, his people screaming and crying in pain and loss. The alpha forces himself to turn away; he forces himself to walk away from everything. For the future that he has promised his hyung.
He needs to stay alive to keep the promise. This is the only way. The only way left for him to live. Even if it’s cowardly. As long as he is alive. He will come back and free his people from the monsters.
Jimin doesn’t look back once he starts walking into the forest. He lets his instincts and legs guide him towards something new. He doesn’t stop to look back to see if Namjoon has left. After a few moments, he stops feeling eyes on his back and smiles to himself as he picks up pace.
His wound bleeds the more he walks. But his feet have enough strength to take him further away inside the forest. After a few agonising minutes, his ears stop picking up sounds from his people. The screams and cries of help all stop.
The alpha stops only for a moment as he leans against a tree to catch his breath and look down at his wound. The bastard stabbed him deep. He shakes his head of the haziness and picks up the pace again. He touches the handle of his sword in the scabbard just to make sure he still has it on himself.
The path becomes darker as he keeps walking. If it weren’t for the moonlight guiding him, he’d have been lost already and walking towards one of the borders of another Kingdom. Jimin doesn’t know who is on his side anymore.
He walks towards the direction that only promises him the void. A direction where no Kingdom exists. That at least means if he encounters someone, they wouldn’t be trying to kill him. If someone does live in the void, they wouldn’t know who he is. He hopes that they’d see an injured man on the brink of death and help him instead of beheading him.
Jimin knows he is not thinking like a King. A king is prepared to die at any moment. But right now, he is only a human. A person in pain who only has hope that humanity exists beyond this forest and into the void.
The alpha loses his balance and grabs the nearest tree to steady himself. His vision blurs as his limbs start going cold. The moon is in a different direction now.
How long has it been? He is not sure if it’s been ten minutes or an hour. Just that his legs are burning, his fingertips have gone cold. His wound doesn’t hurt anymore, but the bleeding hasn’t stopped. His senses have gone numb. He can’t smell or hear anything clearly. The forest is awfully quiet. Not even crickets making noise. It’s like he has walked into the snake’s den.
Jimin grunts and pushes himself off the tree and resumes walking. He only gets ten steps ahead before he stumbles onto something and falls face-first into the ground. The alpha makes a weak, painful noise as he tries to push himself onto his back but fails.
His body is too heavy for him to move. He can’t even lift a finger. Jimin breathes through his mouth as he moves his head to look around himself, only to see everything blurred. He hears a small rustle, like a twig breaking and some leaves being crushed, before the dizziness in his head fogs his senses and his eyes flutter shut.
There’s only one voice in his head before he loses the fight with consciousness. His own voice is telling him to keep the promise he has made.
To survive.
To live.
He wishes for one miracle so he can live and see the sunrise tomorrow. So, he can stand on his feet and be the King for his people, again.
Jimin begs the moon goddess to give him another chance to avenge his innocent people.
After all, she always listens.