Page 37 of Gumiho Kiss (Realm of Eternal Blossoms #1)

The Mission

“O ver here, men! I think I saw something near those trees,” shouted a sentry.

Heavy footsteps crashed through the undergrowth toward Hyun Soo, but he remained crouched in the tall pine tree he’d retreated to, silently observing as a line of troops in light armor stomped below, torches held aloft.

What the guard had seen was actually a moon bear, but Hyun Soo wasn’t about to correct him.

After about thirty seconds, the sounds of the soldiers faded, leaving him alone.

For the time being.

After following the map Dol Sam had provided, Hyun Soo had found something much worse than the simple encampment he’d envisioned. The mist-covered mountains above Sokju weren’t sheltering a small band of soldiers; they concealed a fortress.

The enclosure itself was massive, with high stone walls and watchtowers at both ends.

The main gate had guard platforms on either side, where sentinels monitored the surrounding area like hawks in their perches, and troops also patrolled the perimeter every hour.

Hyun Soo couldn’t be certain how many men were stationed within, but from the rumble of voices each morning during drills, he guessed at least sixty.

Enough to be a solid challenge for the police—even without considering the distinct advantage of rifles over bows and spears.

If these men marched against the city of Sokju, there was no question who would be victorious.

Was this what Sokju’s taxes had been paying for? A fort like this must have taken years to construct. How had Dol Sam gotten enough manpower and kept it secret all this time?

Hyun Soo had done his best to gather intel since arriving, but progress had been painfully slow.

All he’d managed to do so far was listen in on some interesting conversations between the guards.

From the sounds of it, Commander Song was not an easy man to get along with.

Brash, controlling, and strangely temperamental, the commander would compliment the men on their drill performance in the morning, but then he would fly into a rage that same afternoon, claiming the troops were nowhere near ready for battle.

He was also apparently growing impatient as he awaited Kang Dol Sam’s “expert strategist,” and the general consensus among the guards was that if Hyun Soo didn’t arrive soon, Commander Song was going to march on Sokju without him.

When Hyun Soo wasn’t scoping out the base, he was in the woods, foraging roots and berries or resting on a thick tree limb for short spans of time.

A mountain stream supplied him with plenty of fresh water, which he’d been overjoyed to find the day after his canteen had run dry.

Birds, deer, and gorals roamed freely through the forest, and he’d even spotted a lynx the third day he’d been here.

So far, the wildlife hadn’t bothered him much, but he was always careful not to startle them in case the commotion drew unwanted attention.

He needed to stay alive if he was going to help when the authorities arrived.

But what if the governor didn’t send anyone?

That was a very real possibility, and with each new sunrise, Hyun Soo’s fears grew stronger.

He’d hoped Governor Choi was a man of honor, ready to do what was needed in the face of injustice.

But the entire province held the Kang family in high esteem, and even the most compelling evidence in the world might not be enough to embolden a governor known more for his diplomacy than his fairness.

Good thing Hyun Soo had a backup plan.

He’d been ruminating on it for days, uncertain if it was even a viable option at such a well-guarded garrison. He preferred to consider all scenarios before acting, making sure he eliminated as many risks as possible.

But the governor had to have received his message by now—and the guards in the woods weren’t going to chase that moon bear forever.

Hyun Soo pulled his mask over his nose, then clambered down the pine tree like a marten.

With the ground-level guards out of the way, the only eyes he’d have to watch out for were those on the western wall.

And with the overcast night sky obscuring everything, he couldn’t have asked for a more opportune time to sneak inside.

He slunk toward the fortress, gaze darting about in case more soldiers appeared.

During his surveillance, he’d discovered a high ridge protruding from the face of the mountain.

It was close enough to the fortress that if he could just climb to the top, he could drop onto the western walkway.

Then he could make his way to the armory and destroy their firearms.

When he reached the treeline, he paused, checking for the guard he knew would be patrolling the parapet. But to his shock, the wall was completely empty—was it time for guard rotations?

Hyun Soo barreled toward the ridge and began his ascent, no seconds to waste during the brief interim between sentry shifts.

The torturous climb up the ridge was concealed from view, but he kept a brisk pace, not knowing when the soldiers guarding the perimeter would return from the forest and spot him.

More than once his foot slipped and he nearly tumbled down.

But he managed to grab a foothold each time, and despite his aching muscles, he wasn’t about to give up.

Finally, he heaved his body onto the semi-flat surface of the ridge, ducked behind a boulder, and allowed himself a few minutes to catch his breath. Once he’d stopped panting, he peeked around the rock, noting the sentry approaching from the opposite end of the parapet.

Hyun Soo pulled a knife out of his clothes and landed on the unsuspecting guard’s head. The man went down with a dull thud, and before he could cry out, Hyun Soo plunged his knife into the man’s kidney, silencing him once and for all.

Hyun Soo retrieved the blade from his victim and shuffled past a hwacha—a fire cart he’d heard about but never seen in the flesh—to the inner side of the wall.

His heart quivered at the sight of the barracks, which housed an even bigger force than he’d thought.

He wouldn’t be surprised if there were at least a hundred men stationed here.

At that moment, two truths became abundantly clear. The first was that destroying the army’s firepower wouldn’t be enough to save the people of Sokju. The second was that it would take a miracle to leave this place alive.

Hyun Soo stepped back from the edge, a strange hollow feeling settling into his chest. When he’d become a soldier, he’d known the risks and accepted them without hesitation. To die in the service of one’s country was a great honor, a sacrifice he was proud to give.

But now . . . all he could think about was the woman he was leaving behind.

Would Chin Sun mourn his passing, or had she already smothered her feelings as she prepared to marry Dol Sam? What would happen to her when the truth of Dol Sam’s crimes came to light? Would she be dragged down with him?

Hyun Soo shook his head. Now wasn’t the time for woolgathering. He had a mission to carry out. And if it meant forfeiting his life, he would take as many soldiers with him as he could.

Hyun Soo swung back to the hwacha. With several rows of iron-fletched arrows propelled by gunpowder, a weapon like this could obliterate one’s enemy from a distance.

It was overkill to have one here, where there was little chance of an enemy attack, but perhaps the army intended to take it to Sokju as added intimidation or . . .

Hyun Soo swallowed as a dark thought filled his mind. Could Dol Sam’s plans extend beyond taking control of Sokju? With a force this large, he could do much more than subdue a single city.

All the more reason for Hyun Soo to try to incapacitate the base while he had the chance.

He bent down and grabbed the dead sentry’s torch, then wheeled the fire cart around.

Now it wasn’t aimed outward to defend against approaching enemies but instead inward, right at a large building that looked like the armory.

Hyun Soo lit the fuses and stepped back, watching with a mixture of fascination and horror as the arrows launched into the night, whistling through the air until they collided with their target in a blast of fire and smoke.

Almost immediately came a second, larger explosion that made his ears ring as the armory collapsed in a shower of debris.

A chorus of shouts and thundering feet followed the blasts, jarring Hyun Soo to his senses. He had to move. He abandoned the hwacha and charged across the parapet back in the direction he’d come.

Guards came up the inner stairs, cutting off his exit. He spun around to go back, but more soldiers appeared on the other side. He backstepped, searching for another way out. Torches flickered at the ground outside the fortress—the troops must have returned from the forest.

There was only one thing left to do. With a deep breath, he flung himself off the wall toward the fortress interior, rolling forward as he fell. He winced but maintained his form as he hit the ground, legs going over his head as the momentum carried him back up onto his feet.

But he came up in the midst of a second group of soldiers, their spears raised. They surrounded him, barring any further attempts to escape.

“Surrender,” barked a tall man as he joined the group. The other soldiers gave way as he came up between them, a hideous sneer on his face. From the authoritative air about him, this must be Commander Song. He held an ornately decorated sword, which he pointed at Hyun Soo’s throat.

They obviously wanted to extract information; otherwise, Hyun Soo would already be dead.

He opened his palms, but as soon as one of the soldiers started to withdraw his spear, Hyun Soo twisted to the left and rammed his shoulder into the unsuspecting man’s nose.

The injured spearman yelped, but Hyun Soo was already gone, flying toward the main entrance like a raven. Flames blazed at his back as his feet pounded against the dirt. When he reached the entrance, ten more soldiers met him, this time armed with swords.

Hyun Soo’s shoulder ached, both from the fall and from smacking into the spearman, but he unsheathed his hwando and took stock of his new opponents. Hardened, stocky men who looked like they could take on a tiger with their bare hands. Nothing he couldn’t handle.

An arrow whizzed through the air, grazing his cheek just before it plunged into the earth.

Hyun Soo ducked behind one of the barracks to keep out of range, but he could only hide for so long.

Between the swordsmen, the archer, and Commander Song, capture was inevitable.

And once the commander realized he couldn’t torture information out of him, death would swiftly follow.

Hyun Soo’s face sagged. Up until now, he’d carried a sliver of hope that, even amid such terrible odds, somehow he’d find a way through. He needed to survive to warn Sokju just how bad this threat truly was.

But determination would only get him so far when he was this outnumbered. From what he’d seen, at least thirty men were actively pursuing him. Where the other troops were, he had no idea, but that hardly mattered. Thirty was still too great a number for a single man to overcome.

A crash grabbed his attention, and he whirled toward it. A body lay on the ground between the building he was crouched by and the next one over. Had the governor come through, after all?

Hyun Soo called to his would-be rescuer. “Identify yourself. Did Governor Choi send you?”

“Not exactly,” replied a voice from above.

Hyun Soo’s lungs shuddered as he stepped away from the safety of the barracks to get a glimpse of the speaker. That voice. It couldn’t be.

But atop the roof of the adjacent building stood a black-clothed figure with a familiar mask and topknot.