Chapter Text
Jungkook could not breathe.
Up close, it was worse.
Gods.
It was so much worse.
The heat radiating from the dragon was near unbearable.
He had heard the first blast of fire hit the throne room as he was headed back from the library. He hadn’t known what it was then, he had only rushed towards the sounds of screams. Then, the hall in front of him burst into flames and he was thrown against the wall, just barely making out the shape of the dragon flying overhead.
At first, he had thought he had fallen asleep while reading.
But the pain from his head and shoulder was much too real to have been only a dream.
“We meet at last,” The dragon’s breath was hot and acrid as it spoke to him, smoke curling from its nostrils. Fire raged around them, his castle crumbling and burning under the claws of the monster before him.
My son.
The words echoed endlessly inside his skull.
No.
No, it was not possible.
How was this thing speaking to him.
He winced at the smell and stepped back, keeping his sword pointed at the dragon as it pressed in closer to him.
But then his view of the dragon shifted, its teeth barring in distaste as someone put themselves between him and the dragon.
Taehyung stood in front of him with his sword drawn. His broad shoulders were tense as he shielded Jungkook from view. Soot and ash covered him from head to toe, his once white tunic now a torn and filthy gray mess. His stance was strong and protective despite the jagged scrapes and cuts across his forearms.
Taehyung said something to him, without taking his eyes off the dragon, but it sounded distant and lost within the flames and Jungkook didn’t understand.
His heart thudded too loud. Taehyung wore no armour, the only thing shielding him from the dragon was his thin layer of clothing and his sword. One firey breath and Taehyung would be dead.
When Jungkook didn't move, Taehyung glanced over his shoulders and shouted, “Run, Jungkook!”
Jungkook startled violently as the sounds of his world collapsing around him finally broke through the haze.
The dragon's eyes narrowed on Taehyung, recognition flickered across its face at the blade that stood between them.
Jungkook shook his head. “No. I will not leave you to protect my kingdom without me.”
Taehyung’s body stiffened in front of him but he didn’t say anything, his attention too focused on the dragon as it slunk closer and closer.
The dragon’s massive jaws parted slightly, a flick of flames within its throat, before its lips pulled back to reveal yellow, dagger-like teeth, then it smiled, a sick amusement in its eyes.
The back of Jungkook’s throat soured at the sight.
“Ah, a blade I know all too well.” The dragon rumbled.
Jungkook’s grip tightened instinctively around the hilt of his sword where it continued to point at the dragon.
“Stay back!” Taehyung shouted, his body still protectively placed between Jungkook and the dragon.
Its expression shifted into one of disgust as soon as Taehyung spoke.
“How dare you address me,” it seethed.
“I will not ask twice.” not once did Taehyung budge, and Jungkook was amazed at how steady his voice remained despite the ginormous monster he faced.
The dragon lifted one enormous clawed hand, smoke curling lazily from between its teeth as it considered Taehyung, assessing Taehyung not as an opponent, but as if he was something lesser than him… something worthless.
Then it looked past him, and directly at Jungkook.
“Your mother was a beautiful woman.” Its voice dipped, almost sounding fond as it spoke. “I wish you could have seen how she loved you.”
Jungkook stared blankly.
Lies.
the dragon was trying to mess with him. To catch him off guard so he could strike.
The dragon's gaze softened faintly before it continued, “how she loved me.”
“No,” Jungkook whispered with. Small shake of his head. The words struck like a physical force and he took another step back.
“We had loved each other long before your human king came along.” The dragon stepped forward, and Taehyung immediately moved with it, not once taking his eyes off of it.
Its tongue came out to run across its teeth, and its head lowered until it was at eye level with Jungkook. “I’ll always remember the day she told me about you. How happy she was - how happy I was.”
Jungkook’s knees suddenly felt weak, and he grabbed onto the back of Taehyung’s shirt to steady himself.
He never had the chance to know his mother. She had been killed when he was only an infant; killed by a dragon.
Taehyung held his sword higher, leaning back into Jungkook’s touch. “Stop talking.”
The dragon ignored him entirely, its massive claws shifting against broken stone as it closed in, standing now only a claw swipe away from Taehyung.
“We knew what they’d do when they found out you were my son, so we hid you away far in the mountains.” its gaze lingered on Jungkook’s face with something close to heartbreak, “we were happy until they found us.”
“No, you’re wrong.” Jungkook shook his head. “We were kidnapped.”
“The King was livid that she had run from him. He sent out a hunting party for us.”
Jungkook stumbled back, his sword clattering to the broken stones beneath him. “No. He loved her-“
“Jungkook,” Taehyung called after him, but his words and the dragon’s bled together.
“He killed her,” The dragon’s eyes darkened, “He took her from us.”
Jungkook’s pulse roared in his ears. Everything his father and the Elders had told him came crashing down around him.
“He took you from me, and told you the Gods saved you - that they blessed you and that’s how you survived the wrath of a dragon.” the dragon growled.
“Stop, please,” Jungkook backed away until his shoulder struck the heated stone of the crumbling garden statue behind him.
“But there are no such thing as Gods; only the greedy nature of man.”
It was impossible.
A dragon stole him and his mother from his nursery.
His father loved him. The King loved his Queen.
He survived by a miracle.
The dragon was lying.
He wasn’t a dragon.
He was human.
But, it was not impossible enough.
Because deep down, beneath years of not being willing to question, he always knew that there was something wrong. That the stories the Elders told didn’t make sense. If he was blessed with the power of the Gods, why was he so weak? Why did he only know the blessings told to him by the Elders?
Details of their stories and their reasonings changed over time, subtle enough that he only began to notice the discrepancies when he was older.
How much of it all was a lie? How much was the truth?
“I warned you to stay back!” Taehyung yelled, snapping Jungkook back to the present. The dragon loomed tall over Taehyung, its golden eyes swirling with rage as it stood to its full height.
A strange sound left the dragon, low and rumbling, “How repulsive. You carry his blood in your hands, and you dare to think you are his protector.”
At that, Taehyung froze. A horrible feeling swirled in Jungkook's gut, a sick and twisted feeling just like what he had felt the day Taehyung had been arrested by the Elders.
“You think I do not know what that is?” Its golden eyes narrowed on the blade still clutched in Taehyung’s hand, a glimmer of red reflecting off the steel. “You wield a weapon made of dragon blood - of my son’s blood - yet you stand between us?”
Taehyung said nothing but his stance changed, a nervous shift to his feet at the words, and a rock settled deep I. Jungkook’s stomach.
The dragon's gaze slid slowly toward Jungkook again when Taehyung didn’t speak. “You know it’s true.”
“No,” Taehyung snapped immediately, “Jungkook, don’t listen to it.”
At that, the dragon laughed, and the sound was grating and terrible and they both flinched. “They stole from you, they lied to you.”
The medicine chamber flashed through his thoughts.
The bitter liquid.
The needles. The vials.
The rough hands holding him still.
He knew it was wrong.
But, his father told him to trust them, and so he did.
His father loved him. He wouldn't lie to him. Why would he?
“They discovered centuries ago that dragon blood could strengthen steel.”
Jungkook’s breathing turned uneven as the monster continued to speak.
“They poisoned your body, I can smell the stench on you from here,” the dragon scathed. “They weakened your dragon, and took your blood from you without you ever realising what you were.”
Taehyung looked physically sick now, His hands shaking where they gripped around the hilt of his sword.
The dragon blew out a thick puff of smoke towards the sword, its dark tendrils curling around the blade before dissipating. “Don’t you recognize your blood in that sword?”
Jungkook stared at the crimson hue running faintly through Taehyung’s blade. The same strange red glint he had seen a thousand times beneath the light, at the blessing ceremonies, on the training grounds. The red he had assumed was just a trick of the light, or a reflection of his kingdom's banners.
His blood ran through those swords. The same sword that Taehyung carried around with him everywhere; that he was protecting him with.
Taehyung glanced back towards Jungkook then, just briefly. Concern flashed across his face. “Jungkook?”
“Did you know?” Jungkook asked weakly.
Taehyung turned fully towards him then, “Kookie, please.”
“Did you?” Jungook shouted, his voice cracking.
“I didn’t know… ” Taehyung’s voice faltered, “at first.”
The confession hollowed something in Jungkook’s chest, as if something had been ripped away from him.
Taehyung took one careful step towards him.
“You lied to me?” Jungkook’s voice sounded raw, and the words were accompanied by a cool wet streak down his cheek.
“I swear to you I didn’t.” Taehyung reached for him, but Jungkook moved away.
Taehyung stopped like the rejection had physically struck him, pain flashing openly across his face.
Jungkook hated that it hurt to see that.
“I only found out a few weeks ago,” Taehyung admitted hoarsely, “I tried to tell you.”
The dragon let out a low sound, almost sounding amused once again. “You’ve heard it yourself. He betrayed you.”
Taehyung wheeled instantly, “Shut up!”
The dragon’s eyes narrowed onto Jungkook, “you do not belong with the humans and their lies.”
Taehyung turned to him again, “Don’t let him twist this, I never lied to you.”
“You are not weak like they’ve led you to believe,” the dragon said, its voice rumbling through the ground, “you are strong, and you are mine.”
Mine.
Something about the word made Jungkook recoil internally, and the dragon saw it. For the first time, genuine frustration appeared on its face.
“You rather stay with the ones who used you for their own gain?” It demanded. “Stay where you do not belong?”
Jungkook looked around at the ruined courtyard. At the burning castle and the rubble and red that seeped from the castle ruins.
At Taehyung, who still stood protectively between them despite everything.
The dragon lowered its voice further, “Leave this place behind.”
Its eyes shifted to Taehyung. “You do not need him either.”
Taehyung’s expression hardened, and he lunged for the dragon, his blade flashing under the red moonlight as he aimed for the dragon.
The dragon smiled, Cruel and unforgiving.
Jungkook barely had time to react before one massive claw struck outward. The impact sounded throughout the courtyard with a sickening crack as Taehyung’s body slammed violently into one of the fractured stone pillars holding up what was left of Jungkook’s balcony.
Stone shattered and Taehyung hit the ground hard enough that Jungkook heard the snap of his ribs.
“Taehyung!” Jungkook lurched forward, but the dragon moved to block him, its wings expanding until Taehyung was out of view.
“Everything you have suffered,” it continued, “was done by human hands.”
Taehyung groaned somewhere behind the dragon.
“Look at him,” The dragon lifted its wing, just enough the Jungkook could make out Taehyung’s body through the smokey haze.
He was struggling to push himself upright through the stones that had covered his body. Blood streaked from the corner of his mouth, dark where it mixed with the soot that covered his skin. But still, he reached for his sword.
The dragon let out a disguised sound, “He clings to the weapon forged from your suffering, yet you care for him.”
Taehyung staggered to his feet, his left arm clutching his ribs, his right arm swinging loosely at his side, the sword gripped tightly in his hand.
“Jungkook, don’t listen to it,” He rasped wetly.
The dragon's tail lashed suddenly across the space, knocking Taehyung to the ground with enough force that his body slid hard against the ground before coming to a stop near a burning hedge.
Jungkook felt something heat inside him, “Stop!” The word tore from his throat, his voice unrecognisable.
The dragon turned back toward him slowly, “why?’
“Please-”
“He’s just a human.”
He glanced from the dragon to Taehyung’s still form across the courtyard. “he’s not, he…”
“He knew what they were doing to you.”
Jungkook's stomach turned and he bent over, the bile in his stomach splattered against the charred ground. Because… It was true.
Taehyung did know.
Yet he still held that sword.
But…
Jungkook’s breathing became uneven again. The heat beneath his skin worsened. Until it became too much.
Everything around him was too hot. His skin felt like it was burning from his body.
He fell to his knees when a horrible pounding grew inside his skull. He clawed at his temples, desperate for the burning to stop spreading over his body.
A brief moment of relief flashed through him when he saw Taehyung stir. He pushed himself up with his right arm, just barely strong enough to hold himself up. Dark red coloured his tunic now, and Jungkook felt another wave of nausea roll through him at the sight.
Jungkook gritted his teeth through the pain and reached for his sword that lay a few feet away from him.
He wouldn’t let Taehyung die.
Not like this.
The dragon laughed. “If you won’t kill him….” It turned to face where Taehyung lay, defenseless on the ground behind him.
The dragon moved again, faster than Jungkook could process. One claw slammed downward, caging Taehyung against the ground.
“Taehyung!”
The dragon pinned him there effortlessly. Taehyung strained beneath the heavy weight, blood staining his lips as the crushing weight closed down on him. A taunting grin pulled at the dragons blackened lips, he held Taehyung down, just enough pressure to crush him slowly and painfully while Jungkook watched.
“Run,” Taehyung gasped beneath the weight.
The dragon lowered its head toward him slowly. “I will.”
Taehyung’s eyes snapped toward Jungkook, not with fear, but with a mix of love, heartbreak, and grief for a future they’d never have.
The dragon’s claws tightened around Taehyung hard enough to draw another sharp cry of pain from him. Smoke thickened rapidly between the dragon’s teeth, a spark lighting in the back of its throat.
Jungkook recognized the fire instantly.
“No.” The word left him barely above a whisper.
The dragon inhaled deeply, and Taehyung turned his head away, his hand falling from where it was struggling to pry the dragon’s claw off of himself.
“No!” Jungkook shouted, and the ground shook.
Something inside Jungkook broke and a rush of agonizing pain burned him alive. He doubled over with a strangled gasp, as heat tore through his body with enough force knock him onto his side.
His bones bent and broke beneath his skin, growing and reshaping themself as Jungkook screamed in pain.
Jungkook gripped the front of his ruined coat desperately and another wave of agony ripped through him.
His spine arched violently as another scream tore from his throat, the sound not entirely human anymore.
Pain exploded throughout his body so violently that for one horrifying moment he thought the dragon had already breathed fire onto him as well, and that his body was simply burning alive from the inside out.
He collapsed fully onto the shattered marble with a scream
Jungkook felt his spine jerk sharply beneath his skin with a nauseating series of pops that sent white hot pain exploding through his body. His fingers clawed desperately against the floor, nails scraping across broken stone hard enough to split and bleed.
He hadn’t noticed the dragon stop, or that Taehyung was shouting something at him.
Another crack tore through him.
Jungkook screamed again as his shoulders wrenched violently backward, muscles twisting beneath his skin in ways flesh was never meant to move. Heat flooded his throat suddenly, scalding and unbearable, and smoke burst from his mouth as he choked on it. He curled inward desperately, coughing violently as dark smoke poured between his teeth onto the ruined floor beneath him.
“Jungkook!” Taehyung’s voice cut through the chaos. The dragon had stepped back now, watching him with a terrible fascination.
“It’s beginning,” the dragon rumbled in awe, stepping back and abandoning Taehyung’s bloody form on the ground.
Scales began spreading across his skin. At first only beneath his throat, small black shapes pushing upward beneath his flesh before they burst through entirely, jagged obsidian scales splitting across his collarbones and shoulders in horrifying waves as his body twisted and grew.
Jungkook gagged violently at the sensation. It felt wrong. Everything felt wrong.
His hands convulsed against the floor, his bones elongated with wet snapping sounds. His fingers twisted unnaturally as black claws forced themselves through, long, and curved, and no longer human.
Jungkook stared at them in terror through blurred vision, unable to even recognize his own hands anymore.
“Taehyung-” The plea came out distorted. His voice layered suddenly with something deeper beneath it.
Jungkook looked up just in time to see the horror on Taehyung’s face, and somehow, seeing how Taehyung looked at him with pure terror, hurt worse than anything.
Another violent convulsion ripped through Jungkook’s body and he curled further in on himself, praying that the pain would disappear.
“Jungkook!” Taehyung’s voice suddenly broke through. Jungkook blinked his eyes open through the pain, to find Taehyung once again trying to push himself to his feet using only his one good arm.
The dragon loomed over him, a dark, amused rumble cutting through the air as he watched Taehyung struggle across the garden to where Jungkook writhed in pain.
“No, don’t-“ Jungkook recoiled with a shout when a freezing cold hand grabbed onto his shoulder.
Taehyung yelped in pain, and stumbled back, his hand burned from where he had touched Jungkook.
Still he refused to run, “get up,” Taehyung said desperately.
Jungkook tried.
God, he tried.
But his vision was wrong now. Everything was wrong. Colour sharpened violently around him. He could suddenly hear every crackle of fire throughout the ruined castle, every distant scream outside the castle grounds, Taehyung’s heartbeat from where he stood above him.
The sound triggered something instinctive deep inside Jungkook’s chest. Something hungry. And he growled.
Jungkook recoiled from him immediately in horror.
“No-” But the word dissolved into another strained cry as enormous wings burst violently from his back. Taehyung fell backward, his eyes wide with shock.
The dragon finally stepped forward again, towering above them. “You see now.”
Jungkook looked up and realised with nauseating horror that he was suddenly eye to eye with the dragon now.
“You are mine,” the dragon said, and Jungkook’s entire body trembled violently in rejection.
The pain eased into a faint thrum beneath his skin, now barely noticeable under the surge of power he felt. Jungkook rolled his shoulders back, only then noticing that he was standing on four feet.
Taehyung backed away from him slowly, his eyes darting between Jungkook’s new form and his fallen sword several feet away.
Jungkook’s eyes locked immediately onto the crimson steel, and something curled, nasty and angry within him. The scent of his own blood coating the blade hit him all at once. The smell was overwhelming, nauseating, wrong.
Everything smelled different.
Ash. Blood. Burning stone.
Taehyung.
Jungkook's stomach churned at the scent of Taehyung’s blood.
He snarled and Taehyung froze in place. “Jungkook…” His voice was careful.
The dragon stepped in between them. It loomed over him, black scales glistening wetly beneath moonlight and fire while its ancient golden eyes watched Jungkook with unmistakable pride.
“Come,” the dragon said softly.
Taehyung stood his ground shakily, his arm still wrapped around his chest, and his voice sounded wet and weak. “Don’t speak to him.”
The dragon’s gaze flicked toward him dismissively, “You continue speaking as though you matter here.”
Fire sparked within the dragons maw once again.
Jungkook roared, the sound exploded from him instinctively, and violently enough to shake the loose debris on the ground.
The dragon turned back toward him slowly.
“There.” Its eyes gleamed with pride. “That is what you are.”
Jungkook barely understood what happened next, only that fury suddenly eclipsed any of his convergent thoughts entirely. Heat surged violently through his chest as fire erupted from his mouth. The blast slammed into the dragon before the creature could fully react, flames exploding across obsidian scales in a massive wave of orange and gold that lit the courtyard alight like daylight.
“Stay away from him,” Jungkook’s voice sounded unfamiliar and distorted as he warned.
The dragon reeled backward with an angry roar, fire spilled from between his teeth as he seethed, “how dare you choose that human over your own blood!”
Jungkook barely moved in time. Massive claws tore through the space where his throat had been moments earlier, shredding air instead as Jungkook threw himself sideways through the smoke, making sure he steered clear of accidentally crushing Taehyung.
The dragon’s tail smashed through the remains of the west stone walls entirely, obliterating it in a deafening crash as Jungkook launched himself forward instinctively, Their bodies colliding violently.
Jungkook slammed claws desperately into black scales, instinct guiding movements his mind could barely comprehend while the dragon roared directly into his face, hot smoke and the stench of blood flooding the air between them.
The dragon was stronger and more experienced than him. Every movement it made was precise and brutal compared to Jungkook’s raw, uncontrolled rage.
The dragon seized Jungkook by the throat and threw him, his teeth tearing through Jungkook’s scales. Jungkook crashed through the western wall bordering the castle grounds, and he fell. Down and down over the small cliff on the other side of the wall. And, for one horrifying second, there was only open air between him and the jagged mountain cliffs below.
Then instinct took over. His wings snapped outward violently, the force nearly tore his shoulders apart, but he caught himself. He lurched up clumsily through smoke-filled air until he was above the castle, his enormous wings beating unevenly while strain screamed through muscles he never had before.
Below him the entire castle burned beneath the red tinted moon. Rain began above him, heavy rainclouds taking over the moon as they silenced the rush of fire below.Bodies were scattered across the grounds, the castle and surrounding area full of defusing dragonfire.
Jungkook refused to think of who those bodies belonged to.
And then the dragon burst through the clouds of smoke after him and slammed into Jungkook midair, causing their bodies to spiral violently downward together.
Jungkook roared as claws ripped across his side, his scales splitting apart beneath the force of sharp talons while blood sprayed hot into the night air.
Pain exploded through him, nearly paralysing.
Blood rained across burning rooftops below. The dragon bit down hard against Jungkook’s shoulder and Jungkook roared in agony, flames pouring from his mouth. Its teeth punched through his scales as they crashed together across the top of the burning east tower.
The dragon pinned Jungkook hard against the collapsing roof. Jungkook clawed upward wildly, tearing bloody gouges through the dragon's chest while fire burst uncontrollably from between his jaws.
The dragon recoiled briefly and Jungkook seized the moment. He slammed his front claws upward into the underside of the creature’s jaw.
Bones cracked and the dragon roared in fury, lashing its tail violently around Jungkook’s neck and hurled him sideways off the tower entirely.
He crashed through the front courtyard, skidding painfully across broken stone slick with rainwater, ash, and blood, until his back slammed into the large water fountain.
The ground shook as the dragon landed heavily before him.
“You are stronger than this,” the creature snarled.
Jungkook struggled violently to stand again. His wings dragged unevenly behind him now, one partially torn where claws had ripped through the thin muscle during the fall from the sky.
Everything hurt. His chest burned with every breath, and his body ached fiercely. Blood poured steadily from deep wounds carved across his ribs and throat.
He was losing.
The realisation struck cold through the haze of pain.
He was going to die here, and the dragon saw it too.
Its golden eyes narrowed with disappointment. Massive wings spread wide against the burning castle behind it while smoke rolled continuously from between bleeding black jaws.
“You fight like a human - cowardly!” The roar shook the courtyard.
Jungkook scrambled upright just in time to avoid another swipe that shattered the ground where his skull had been seconds earlier.
The creature lunged again, but this time, Jungkook met the attack head-on. Their bodies collided with enough force to crack the courtyard beneath them, their claws tearing desperately through each other's scales while sparks of fire burst wildly between snapping jaws.
Jungkook managed one solid hit; His claws ripped across the dragon’s face, tearing one eye partially open.
The dragon roared, swiping its claws out willy, managing to catch Jungkook with one and bring him down to the ground. Then, it bit down hard around Jungkook’s throat, effectively pining him against the ground.
Jungkook let out a pained cry as enormous teeth punctured through tough scales into the flesh beneath, hot blood flooding down his chest while the dragon slammed him violently against the courtyard stones again and again and again - hard enough to crater marble beneath him.
The world dimmed as Jungkook clawed weakly at the dragon’s face. He had no strength left. He was nowhere near as experienced or strong as the dragon was.
He gasped for air, but the dragon only pressed harder.
“You were born for more than this,” it growled into his neck.
Jungkook’s vision blurred completely. Rain mixed with his blood staining the courtyard.
Then suddenly, silver flashed through the smoke, and the pressure vanished from Jungkook’s throat as the creature recoiled violently backward.
Taehyung stood several yards away swaying unsteadily on bloodied legs. His sword was buried deep through the dragon’s shoulder. The crimson steel hissed where it pierced the dragon’s black scales, blood steaming around the wound.
The dragon staggered back with genuine shock twisting across its face.
Taehyung dropped hard to one knee immediately afterward, coughing blood onto the ruined courtyard stones, but his eyes never left Jungkook. “Get up,” he rasped again.
The dragon ripped the blade violently free from its shoulder with a roar that shook the burning castle walls.
“You.” The dragon turned toward Taehyung fully now, flames building brighter and brighter in its throat while Taehyung struggled helplessly against broken stone, too injured now to move fast enough.
Jungkook moved before he could think it through. He launched himself forward with a roar that tore through the courtyard. The dragon barely turned in time before Jungkook slammed into him full force.
They crashed together through the ruined courtyard wall and out toward the cliffside below. He tore into the dragon with desperate brutality, his claws ripping through old the thin membrane of his wings and exposed wounds while his rage drowned out everything else.
The dragon retaliated, lashing out with its claws that nearly tore Jungkook’s side to the bone, instead they shattered scales from Jungkook’s shoulder as it clawed at him in a frenzy.
The cliffside began to crumble under the weight of their fight, and the dragon shoved at him, trying to get throw him off balance in an attempt to steer him off the cliff edge
In doing so, he neck was left undefended, bear as it tried to push Jungkook away from itself.
So Jungkook bit down hard, his jaws closed around the dragon’s throat.
The dragon roared violently beneath him, claws digging deep into Jungkook’s chest as he tried to free himself, but Jungkook only clamped his jaw down harder.
Blood flooded his mouth. Hot, and burning.
The dragon’s movements became erratic suddenly as it panicked. Jungkook dug his claws deeper into the creature’s chest, and then inhaled before releasing dragonfire directly through his jaws and into the dragon’s throat. The explosion lit the night white, and Jungkook squeezed his eyes shut at the blinding light.
The dragon screamed, Jungkook’s fire exploding from between the dragon’s jaws. Its body convulsed violently beneath Jungkook, but he refused to let go.
He barely understood what he was doing anymore beyond instinct and rage, and the unbearable need to make sure the dragon could no longer hurt Taehyung.
The dragon clawed frantically at Jungkook now, his desperate attempts to force him away growing weaker and weaker.
Still, he held on.
He continued to pour dragonfire directly into the creature’s throat, burning it alive from the inside.
When he finally released it, his chest heaving with ragged breaths as he stared down the dragon, it backed away, its wings thrashing wildly as it nearly slipped off the cliff’s edge.
Then, the dragon tried to speak, but blood flooded from its mouth instead. Its throat was ruined, burned black from within, blood pouring steadily between broken teeth while crimson fire still glowed faintly through cracks Jungkook’s teeth had created between its scales.
But it was alive.
Still.
Jungkook faltered at the sight of it still standing. And an overwhelming sense of hopelessness settling over him.
The dragon stalked toward him slowly now. “You love him.” it croaked out, barely intelligible.
Jungkook froze. The dragon’s ruined throat crackled faintly with dying fire.
“That,” it rasped, “is your greatest weakness. As it was mine”
Jungkook looked at him then. Really looked at the ancient creature bleeding out across the cliffs beneath a burning night sky.
His father.
The word still felt impossible.
Jungkook understood now that he had never come merely to destroy the castle.
He had come for him.
He had come for his son.
But whatever grief or understanding that might have existed from him drowned instantly beneath the memory of Taehyung crushed beneath his father’s claws.
Then, suddenly, the dragon’s jaws snapped wildly toward Jungkook’s throat. Miraculously, Jungkook managed to dodge to the side. He slammed his body into the dragon again with enough force to send him scrambling to the edge of the cliffside.
The dragon tried weakly to resist, but Jungkook lashed out with his tail, striking his father in the chest and sending him over the side of the cliff and down towards the jagged rocks below.
His father roared as he fell, he tattered wings doing nothing to slow his descent.
And then, silence.
Only the distant crackling of the burning castle and Jungkook’s own ragged breathing filled the night air. No more screaming.
He peered over the cliff edge, his father’s body lay motionless at the bottom of the mountain.
Dead.
Jungkook stared down at the corpse through the rain and blood smeared across his eyes.
His father: Dead by his hands.
Something inside him deflated, the fury vanished too quickly leaving only exhaustion and pain.
He weakly climbed back up over the side of the mountain, barely managing to pull himself up over the edge as the rocks slick with rainwater.
He collapsed there, letting the cool comfort of the rain wash away the blood from his wounds.
Jungkook’s head snapped upward instantly.
Footsteps. Just a single pair, quiet as they approached.
The scent hit him before the sight did. Blood and soot, and the smell of comfort.
Taehyung limped heavily across the shattered courtyard stones, one hand pressed hard against his ribs while the other dragged the sword behind him, its crimson steel scraping against wet stone with a low metallic sound.
Every instinct inside Jungkook reacted immediately.
The sword.
His blood.
A weapon meant to kill his kind.
A low growl rumbled violently from deep in his chest before he even realized it.
Taehyung stopped several feet away. He looked impossibly small now, a weak human stumbling through smoke and falling ash toward something monstrous curled amid the burning wreckage.
Toward him.
“Jungkook?” His voice sounded wrecked. Blood soaked through the side of his ruined tunic.
Jungkook stared at him through smoke-filled vision. His claws flexed hard against the stone beneath him.
Why did he still have the sword? The thought arrived sharp and ugly.
Why was he holding it?
Had he known all along?
Had every touch… Every kiss…
Had everything they had been based on a lie?
His growl deepened, smoke escaping between Jungkook’s teeth.
Taehyung understood immediately. Carefully, he let the sword slip from his hand. The blade hit the stone beside him with a sharp metallic crack. Then Taehyung lowered himself painfully to his knees in the rain.
Jungkook froze when Taehyung bowed his head, making himself completely vulnerable before something monstrous enough to tear him apart in seconds.
“My prince,” he said hoarsely. Rain dripped steadily from his lashes onto the stone below. “I’m sorry.”
Jungkook’s chest tightened violently.
“I failed to protect you.” Taehyung’s voice broke, and he didn’t dare to look at Jungkook then. The words shattered something insideJungkook because Taehyung sounded sincere, and Jungkook couldn’t stand the thought of Taehyung thinking he had failed him.
Taehyung lowered his head further, his hands remained empty at his sides now. Jungkook stared at him through rain and blood and instinctive fury, and suddenly, exhaustion hit him once again.
Pain ripped through his body again as scales began retreating beneath skin, massive black wings convulsing sharply behind him while bones cracked and shifted grotesquely inward.
Jungkook staggered, a broken sound escaping him as fire collapsed inward beneath his ribs, his claws shrinking back through bloodied hands while his enormous body folded smaller and smaller. It hurt so badly that Jungkook wished he had just stayed in that monster’s body forever.
He collapsed hard onto his knees, human again, bare skin soaked with rain and blood and streaked black still with a scattering of scales that clung stubbornly across parts of his forehead and collarbones. His breathing came ragged and uneven now, blood running from the wounds littered across his trembling body while ruined fragments of his coat and trousers hung from him in torn strips.
Taehyung looked up instantly. “My Prince-”
Jungkook crawled toward him before he could stop himself. Nothing at all graceful or princely about the motion. He was just exhausted and aching and needed Taehyung close enough to prove to himself that Taehyung was still alive.
Taehyung reached for him instinctively, then hesitated, as though he was afraid he no longer had the right to touch him, and that hesitation hurt Jungkook more than any wound.
Jungkook grabbed his face immediately, both hands cupping Taehyung’s rain-soaked cheeks hard enough that Taehyung sucked in a sharp breath at the touch.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Jungkook whispered. His voice shook badly.
“I should’ve told you sooner,” Taehyung rasped. “I tried- I swear I tried-”
Jungkook silenced him by kissing him. The sound of relief Taehyung made against his mouth nearly broke him apart entirely. All of his emotions poured helplessly into the kiss as Taehyung grabbed him firmly, despite the blood and scales and smoke still clinging to Jungkook’s skin.
He tasted like rainwater and blood and tears, and Jungkook kissed him like he was the only thing that mattered him in the whole world; because he was.
Their foreheads pressed together when they finally parted, both breathing unevenly in the cold rain while thunder rolled somewhere far over the mountains beyond the cliffs.
Taehyung’s hands trembled against Jungkook’s face. “You’re alive,” he whispered.
“I’m a monster,” Jungkook closed his eyes briefly. Exhaling slowly before asking, “I'm just like him. I killed him.”
The words felt strange spoken aloud and a disgusting sour taste bubbled at the back of his throat at the thought.
“No,” Taehyung’s expression softened painfully, “you saved us.”
His father. The dragon who had come and destroyed his life and tore apart everything he thought he knew.
He was dead. And somehow, despite everything he did Jungkook still felt grief twisting quietly beneath the exhaustion in his bones.
Taehyung seemed to understand without needing to be told. He pulled Jungkook closer carefully, one arm wrapping around his waist despite his own injuries while rain continued pouring over both of them. His hand remained steady at Jungkook’s back despite his injuries, and Jungkook melted into the touch, comfort seeping into his aching body,
The sound of heavy, synchronized, boots cut through the rain.
Jungkook lifted his head slowly. A line of knights emerged through the shattered gates of the courtyard. Their armours dented and helmets askew. Some of them were bleeding, some limping, and all of them were covered in ash and smoke from the collapsing castle.
Behind them moved a smaller group, dark robes soaked through.
The Elders.
They stopped the moment they saw him.
Elder Kang’s gaze locked onto Jungkook with immediate, sharpened fury. “There,” he said roughly. “There he is.”
A ripple of confusion went through the knights.
One knight lowered his sword slightly without realizing it. “Sir?”
Elder Kang pointed directly at Jungkook. “Do you see it now?” he demanded. “Do you all see it? The monster?”
Jungkook stiffened instinctively and Taehyung shifted immediately beside him, subtly angling his body between Jungkook and the approaching group.
“The prince was never sickly.” Elder Yin spat. "He lied to us.”
Murmurs spread through the knights.
Another Elder stepped forward, voice colder. “He is what destroyed this kingdom tonight.”
Jungkook’s chest tightened sharply.
Elder Yi turned to face the knights, a long, boney finger, pointed accusingly towards Jungkook. “He hid it. His true nature, so he could take our kingdom for himself.”
Quiet gasps sounded among the knights.
“What?” one knight muttered, shifting anxiously underneath his armour.
The Elder’s finger remained fixed on Jungkook like a blade. “He killed the king.”
Jungkook winced, the words landing like physical blows.
Taehyung’s voice snapped immediately. “That’s not true. He-”
“-He is a dragon,” Elder Kang interrupted, loudly. “He has been one all along. A monster wearing human skin, unknowingly raised under our mercy, fed by our protection until he turned on us.”
Jungkook flinched.
Monster.
The word echoed through him with nauseating familiarity.
That’s what he was. There was no denying it.
Taehyung stood fully now, blood dripping from his side into the rain. “No,” he said sharply. “He fought it. He killed the dragon.”
The Elders turned on him instantly. “Of course you would say that,” Elder Kang snapped. “You were at his side.”
Taehyung didn’t back down. ”And where were you, then, huh? Cowering in hiding?”
A knight shifted uneasily. Another looked toward Jungkook.
“But… there were two dragons.” Someone spoke quietly. Yoongi stepped forward. He locked eyes with Jungkook, exhaling shakily, “I saw it.”
He tightened his grip on his weapon, then loosened it and let it drop. The metal struck stone loudly in the rain.
Then another followed. And another. Until the sound of weapons hitting the ground spread across the courtyard.
The Elders froze, and Elder Kang turned on them sharply. “What are you doing?”
One of the knights looked at him directly. “We saw the prince fight it.”
“He is the prince,” another added.
“He saved us.” Yoongi added.
The shift was slow, but undeniable. The Knights began stepping forward towards Jungkook and away from the Elders.
Elder Kang’s face twisted. “You fools! He is deceiving you!”
“No,” Taehyung said quietly.
Everyone turned toward him. Rain dripped from his hair as he spoke again, voice steadier now as he stood proud beside Jungkook. “He’s the only one who hasn’t lied to us like you have.”
Then one more knight moved, this time towards to Elders. The triumphant smirk was wiped from Elder Yi’s face when instead of standing behind him, the knight roughly grabbed at his arm and pulled his arms behind his back.
“Unhand me at once!” Elder Yi shouted, his shouts falling on deaf ears as more knights surrounded what was left of the Elders. The Elders tried to resist, but they were outnumbered. Knights surrounded them in a tightening circle as disbelief gave way to anger.
“Traitors,” Elder Kang spat. Yoongi pressed a blade to his throat to silence him.
Finally, one of the senior knights turned toward Jungkook.vHe hesitated only a moment before he lowered his head. “My prince.”
The words rippled through the remaining knights. One by one, they followed kneeling before him.
Jungkook swallowed hard. Rain ran down his face, mixing with blood he couldn’t quite tell was his or not. Taehyung’s hand tightened slightly at his back, encouraging him to stand.
He pushed himself carefully to his feet. Unsteady and in pain. The knights straightened slightly as he stood.
Jungkook’s voice came out hoarse. “Detain the Elders, they are to be stripped of their positions and imprisoned immediately.”
“Yes, your Majesty,” several voices answered at once.
The Elders were dragged away through the rain, shouting curses that were slowly swallowed by the sound of metal footsteps and rain.
Jungkook's shoulders eased as soon as they were out of sight, and he turned towards Taehyung.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Rain continued to pour over the ruined castle, washing soot and ash away, through the cracks of the broken wall and over the side of the cliff.
Jungkook knew his father’s corpse lay at the bottom of that mountain, slowly being washed away by the rainfall, but he could only look at Taehyung.
He looked at the blood running from the cut above his brow, and the way he stood slightly uneven, favouring one side despite clearly trying to hide it from him. Dark bruises covered his arms and peaked out from underneath his tunic.
“You’re hurt.” Jungkook said quietly, his hand coming to gently cup Taehyung’s cheek. Taehyung leaned into the touch.
“Yeah,” Taehyung huffed a weak laugh and winced when it jostled his ribs, “Maybe a bit. But so are you.”
Jungkook swallowed hard. The pain throughout his body had slowly subsided, leaving only a faint stiffness behind. He glanced briefly down at himself.
His hands still trembled faintly from the transformation. Scales clung stubbornly to parts of his skin, dark against bruised flesh and streaks of drying blood. And yet, the moment he looked back at Taehyung, none of it felt as important as making sure Taehyung was okay.
“They imprisoned you because of me.” Jungkook whispered, ashamed. “I didn’t try to get you out.”
“It’s okay, “ Taehyung started, but Jungkook interrupted.
“No, it’s not.”
Taehyung smiled, his left hand reaching to intertwine with Jungkook’s. “What matters is that I’m out now” Taehyung paused, “right?”
Jungkook scoffed fondly, “Of course you are.”
Taehyung opened his mouth to speak again, but Jungkook reached forward and grabbed the front of his tunic instead, gently pulling him down just enough to kiss him.
Cold water felt warm against his skin when Taehyung once again melted into the kiss with a content sound. His hands came carefully to Jungkook’s waist, the movement stiff and hesitant only because of the injuries covering his own body.
The rain softened the moment somehow. But it faded quickly when Taehyung winced suddenly, one hand pressing harder against his ribs.
Jungkook’s expression tightened immediately as he pulled away. “Taehyung.”
“I’m fine.”
“You can barely stand.”
“I’m standing right now.”
Jungkook scowled. “Come with me.”
Taehyung blinked, confused. “Where?”
“To the infirmary before you bleed to death in front of me.” Jungkook said.
Taehyung smiled tiredly at that. Jungkook kept hold of his hand as they began walking back toward the ruined castle together, slower now over the debris and broken stone.
The few knights that remained parted to let them through, none of them questioning the way Jungkook kept close to Taehyung’s side.
The rain gradually began extinguishing the last lingering fires around them as they crossed through the shattered courtyard.
For the first time in years, Jungkook no longer felt trapped within the castle walls, By the Elders or by his ‘illness’.
The Elders and their lies were gone.
Then together, beneath the storm and the first quiet moments of a new reign, they disappeared back into what was left of the castle.