*I forgot to mention this in the last story, what the asterisk was about. This scene was actually created because I (at the time) had "recently" encountered a group of people smoking in the direction I was trying to get to, and I took one breath in and my nose stang and my eyes watered up because of how strong the smoke was. People, don't smoke. It's so harmful, for you and those around you. Please take this into consideration, to either not ever start smoking, or if you already are, try to quit. It's not for me: I know literally none of you in-person, so you could be on the other side of the world for all I know. Just... Please don't smoke. Anyways, please continue with the story now!*

Meanwhile, back in the camp, Shayne and his companions were fighting back hoardes of Colal soldiers.

"Your Highness!" Ikuno cried.

Before the king could react, Hiroshi swung his sword and struck the Colal soldier in the head with the flat end of his blade, knocking the person out.

"Still as clumsy as ever," he muttered, taking his place at Shayne's back. "You really are useless."

"Don't be so mean, Hiroshi, I know that already," Shayne laughed lightly, knowing that Hiroshi was just joking around.

"Yeah? Well, only useless people would leave their backs wide open for the enemy to attack." He cut down another three Colal soldiers, some simply knockouts and others with blood staining his blade.

"But only cowards would aim for the back." Shayne stabbed at several Colal soldiers, getting one of them and managing to fend off the others.

"You really shouldn't bet on the bravery of man." The soldier aimed for all the Colal that have been in his defense's blind spots, slicing at four men and women.

"But I can definitely bet on yours." Shayne said easily as he continued his stabbing at the enemy, not realizing that Hiroshi was blushing all the way to his ears and the back of his neck.

He remained silent as he, Ikuno, and Shayne pushed the Colal forces back.

Suddenly, a shriek pierced the air.

It was clearly Vanessa's voice.

One glance among the king's men got them all running along with Shayne to the source of the sound.

Once they spotted Sook, they relaxed, as he was not bristling with fear or any sort of negative emotions.

"Is everything alright?" Shayne asked him, petting his fur. Then, he stopped.

He could see Vanessa's and Kisa's lips pressed together, blood on the ground and a man's body stabbed several times through.

Shayne tried to keep it in, but he couldn't help but giggle.

Kisa and Vanessa broke from each other, blushes creeping upon their faces.

"We got some lovebirds here," he chuckled, turning away to give the two some privacy, as the other men followed suit.

They then exited their cover, joining back in the battle to drive out the Colal.

At the end of the day, as the sun began to set upon the horizon, the majority of the Colal had fled, were injured, captured, or killed in the battle. There were a few casualties among the Yuni, but it was not as much as the Colal had suffered.

"Why did you attack us?" Shayne interrogated one Colal person.

She spit at him. "I have no need to answer a lowly Yuni soldier," she said.

"Then how would you like to answer King Shayne Ahagane?" he asked, with a cold politeness that made her shiver.

"K-King Ahagane!?" she cried, stunned. "M-my apologies, Your Highness!" She did her best to bow despite being tied up.

"No need for that," Shayne said lightly. She looked up at him.

"Now, may you please tell me why you were attacking our village?" the king asked, this time gently.

"Our village contains a curse," she admitted slowly.

"What sort of curse?"

"A girl with a scar across her face will come and destroy our clan, and leave nothing behind to be told of. She will be our destruction, but with that destruction comes a darkness that will forever haunt her and those around her."

Shayne realized what she meant.

"So you believed that the one who would destroy you was Kisa?"

The woman suddenly became nervous. "I mean, can you blame us!? Last time we attacked was because we were running out of resources, and we slashed a girl across the face then beheaded her! But she's still alive! Of course we would fear she would be our destruction!"

Kisa and Vanessa, who happened to hear the conversation, walked over.

"I've long since already forgiven that you had nearly killed me," Kisa said calmly. "Vanessa would know. She was the one who could barely forgive you for your actions, but the only reason she did not go after you was because I had stopped her."

The woman looked up at the two.

"Really?" she mumbled in wonder.

"Besides, I bet there are many girls with scars across their faces besides mine," Kisa added. "Also, you said it was a curse, not a prophecy. Curses can be broken with the right circumstances, so we can try to break this curse together, alright?"

The woman began to tear up. "Thank you so much for your forgiveness... Thank you..." She sobbed, and the Colal sol- people who had been listening began sharing in her sentiment.

Shayne looked thoughtful for a moment.

"What about coming with us on our journey?" he offerred.

She looked at the king with a strange expression.

"I mean, by no disrespect to you, Your Highness, but what about your companions?" she asked cautiously, motioning to the other three men that were part of the king's party.

"Happily married with a son," Waren said, hand held up like a promise.

"I'm only focused on protecting Shayne," Hiroshi stated bluntly. "I don't have any time to spend on romantic endeavors with other people." Waren held back a laugh at this statement.

Ikuno was quiet, so Shayne spoke up for him. "This guy here already has someone he likes back home, there's no way he'll try anything with you."

She looked relieved.

Vanessa and Kisa whispered some sort of conversation with their parents and walked forward.

"We would like to join as well," they stated. "If it would help break their curse, then I would love to help," Kisa added.

The woman looked at them. "Then I shall take up your offer," she said, bowing once again. "Thank you for your generousity."

The Colal people were let go, all of them returning home to update the escapee Colals about what had happened, except the woman who offerred to go on the journey with them.

"Are you ready?" Vanessa's mom asked them as they finished packing up, the next day already upon them after a good night's rest.

"Yes."

Vanessa and her mom hugged, bid farewell, and the now-large group was off to their next adventure.

Author's Note:

If you ignore this part, then you will be shocked by the upcoming part.

The next part is an attention-grabber to let you know that I plan to edit this story.

It will be titled Chapter 13 Part 1, but in reality it is an author's note to update you all on the upcoming situation. If you read this full thing, you will then be alright to skip the Chapter 13 Part 1.

Once again, as I said earlier, I plan to edit this story. I am not changing the plot much at all, in fact it's mostly just editing the things that are inconsistent with the rest of the story, getting rid of some things, basically just changes for story consistency, as well as making it fit more to my current writing style. I feel that a lot of you came here because it seemed very Chinese BL novel-like, so I'm planning on making it more similar to that writing style, as it is what fits this storyline the best. The names of characters will not change.

Thank you to those who read this message. If you did not read it, then that just means you'll be getting a painful "surprise" later.

I hope you are all enjoying the story so far!

-Vanguard12😋