Kita watched as San's army started to advance. Yeosang was managing to keep the barrier up, but it wouldn't last much longer.

"Wooyoung, can you create a second layer?" She looked up at him.

His eyebrows furrowed, then he lifted his hands up. She watched as his shield started to form, reinforcing Yeosang's, but sweat immediately appeared on his forehead. It was going to be too much.

"Kita, you need to get back to the palace." Yeosang said. His eyes were focused on the six boys standing in front of them.

"No, I won't leave you. I..." She gasped when two of them suddenly vanished.

"Impossible..." Yeosang said, his mouth opening in shock. "Keep your eyes peeled!" He called out. "Jongho, get her out of here."

Kita cried out when Jongho wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her away from the wizard. "Jongho, stop! Wooyoung, help me!"

She saw the guilty look on his face and glared at him, knowing she would get no help here. Jongho continued to pull her back, even though she tried her best to throw him off balance. "Jongho, I swear if you don't let me go..." She growled, trying to twist out of his grip.

Then an explosion stopped them. It was far away and in the direction they were headed.

"The ships." She said. This time when she ran forward, Jongho let her. "They went to attack the ships."

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"Take cover!" Yunho shouted as a bolt of lightning struck the tallest mast. The impact was so strong, it snapped in half, crashing down onto the ship and causing several boards to splinter. He heard screams coming from some of the other ships as they too were attacked.

He looked around, trying to find the source, but there were no clouds in the sky. It had to be magic.

Another bolt of lightning landed feet from him and he cried out, leaping to the side. The ship quaked below him and he noticed it leaning to the left.

They were sinking.

"Abandon ship!" He cried out, then spun in a circle. "Hongjoong?" Yunho started to panic. "HONGJOONG!"

Several of his men were jumping over the side of the ship, trying to swim to shore as fast as they could. But he saw no sign of his red-haired captain.

"Hongjoong! Answer me! Please!" He ran below deck, wondering if maybe he got trapped down there. A couple of the pirates had been, so he helped move a couple of heavy planks out of the way, but none of them had seen the captain.

Yunho followed them to the top deck again, spinning in circles.

Then he saw him.

Hongjoong was pinned under the main mast, and he was unconscious.

Yunho ran over and pushed against it with all his might. It barely budged. He threw himself against it over and over, feeling his shoulder and side starting to bruise with the impact. They were the last two on the sinking ship, but he refused to leave.

When the mast finally shifted a little more, Yunho bent down and pulled Hongjoong from under it. He moaned a little. Yunho sobbed as he pulled Hongjoong to the sided of the ship, leaving a blood trail from a wound he had yet to see.

"H-Hold on. We have to jump." He forced out. He pulled Hongjoong up into his arms and jumped just as another bolt of lightning struck where they had been standing.

The sinking ship tried to pull them down with it, but Yunho fought to swim away from it. His body hurt, but he knew he had to push past the pain. They broke the surface and he used one arm to drag them to shore, focusing more on making sure his friend's head stayed above water.

Several of his crew ran into the water to help pull them to shore and the surviving royal navy all positioned themselves in a large circle, ready to fend off any other attack.

Yunho knelt next to his captain and began to examine him. He let out a strangled cry when he saw a large hole in his back.

"Y-Yun...ho?" Hongjoong whispered, his eyelids fluttering.

"I'm h-here, Hongjoong." The taller placed his big hands on either side of his captain's face.

"I..." Tears formed in the smaller's eyes. "I can't feel my legs."

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Kita could feel something was wrong. Her gut churned as she made her way to the path that led to the beach. It was unprotected by Yeosang's barrier, he only had enough strength to keep one between the two armies.

She saw the navy clumped together on the beach, every single one of their ships was either still sinking or resting on the bottom of the ocean.

"Kita, slow down!" Jongho called out.

"I can't! They need me."

"Kita! Stop!" She heard Wooyoung call out, but she ignored him. She could only think about Hongjoong and Yunho, praying that they were ok. "KITA!"

Something slammed into her, knocking her to the side of the path. Her arms were pinned behind her back and she cried out, trying to throw her attacker off. Then she was lifted up and felt something cold pressing against her throat. "Don't move." The young voice said behind her.

Kita looked up to see both Jongho and Wooyoung frozen in front of them.

One of the kids clad in red appeared off to the side, rubbing his hands together. "Our plan worked perfectly, Six. Let's get her back to King San."

"No!" Wooyoung yelled, panic crossing his face.

"Don't even think about trying to stop us." The boy holding Kita said. "Watch them, Four." He lifted her up, keeping the knife at her throat.

Kita watched as Wooyoung let his hands drop to his side, but then she noticed he was twisting one palm back and forth.

A shield formed around her, forcing the knife and the boy away from her. The instant Wooyoung dropped it, she ran forward and hid behind Jongho.

The two boys looked at each other in surprise, then vanished.

"Who were they?" Wooyoung asked, turning to the guard, who had wrapped his arms protectively around Kita.

"I don't know, I've never seen them before."

"But they had magic... Could San have found himself some wizards?" Wooyoung whispered.

Kita stared at him, feeling Jongho's arms tense around her. If San had wizards, and if all six of the new men he had with him were wizards, there was no way they could win now... "What do we do?"

She could still feel the beach calling to her, but she knew Yeosang couldn't hold his own against six wizards. He needed a boost. "Jongho, go to the beach and check on them. Get anyone back to the castle and start tending to their wounds. I'll be there as soon as I can."

He started to protest but she just pulled herself away from him and ran back to the front of the palace, Wooyoung close behind. Her mind was going crazy trying to come up with some way out of what was sure to be a blood bath. But all answers only led to one solution...

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Yeosang started to feel his legs shaking as his strength waned. The opposing wizards flung spell after spell against his barrier, causing more and more cracks to appear.

He looked up at his prince. "Be ready. I can't hold it much longer..." He panted. Seonghwa placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You two, get ready to take him back to the palace. Protect him at all costs." He ordered two of the guards nearby. They moved to stand behind Yeosang, sheathing their swords.

His eyelids fluttered and his breathing became labored. "I'm sorry, Your Highness... I c-can't..."

Yeosang's hands dropped and he fell back into one of the awaiting guards' arms.