The sound was not only coming closer.
It was growing.
Dum… Dum… Dum…
The ground trembled beneath the horses' hooves, and the air itself seemed to shudder with every step. The riders emerged from between the trees as if they were born from the mountain's own shadow.
Five.
Then seven.
Then ten.
Large horses — black and brown — with broad chests and empty eyes. On their backs were men with harsh features: narrow faces, eyes thin like knife slits, hair tied behind their heads, wearing hides and light metal helmets.
The Mongols.
Jon recognized them immediately.
His body stiffened.
He whispered, "Don't move."
But they had already been seen.
One of the riders stopped his horse and looked at them the way one looks at something lost by the roadside.
He said in broken but understandable speech,
"A hut… here?"
Another laughed.
"Good hunt."
Two of them dismounted and approached slowly.
One man's eyes stopped on Ara.
They lingered.
He smiled.
That smile was worse than swords.
He pointed at her and said, "This… beautiful."
Ara clutched her dress without thinking.
Jon stepped forward.
"Leave. This is not your place."
The leader looked at him as if hearing the sound of an insect.
Then he moved.
He did not shout. He did not threaten. He did not even raise his sword.
He passed by Jon.
And in a flash—
A glint.
A slicing sound.
Something lifted into the air.
Something that a moment ago had been attached to a body.
Jon's arm fell to the ground.
Then Jon himself fell.
Blood burst forth like a small fountain.
Ara screamed.
A scream that pierced the forest.
But Jon did not scream.
He looked at where his arm had been, as if he did not understand.
Then he lifted his head with difficulty.
He looked at Saō Hyun… then at Ara.
He understood in a single moment.
He shouted:
"Run!!!"
His voice was broken, but it was an order.
Ara froze.
Saō Hyun grabbed her hand violently.
"Run."
She did not understand.
"Jon—"
"Run!!!"
He ran.
He pulled her behind him toward the mountain.
They heard laughter behind them.
The laughter of men who were used to seeing this every day.
One said, "Leave them."
Another said, "Let's play a little."
The leader did not even look at Jon.
He looked only at the fleeing two.
Then he said calmly,
"Follow them."
One man moved.
Light. Fast. Like a wolf choosing its prey.
He mounted his horse and charged.
Dum… Dum… Dum…
Saō Hyun ran.
Ara stumbled.
Crying.
"I can't—"
He lifted her.
He did not think.
He hoisted her onto his back and ran.
His broken leg screamed at him, but he did not hear it.
The air tore inside his chest.
The trees rushed past them like frightened shadows.
He heard the horse behind him.
Close.
Too close.
Ara was crying silently now.
"I'm scared…"
"Don't look back."
He said it without turning.
They reached the slope.
A narrow path between the rocks.
Saō Hyun knew it from his earlier wanderings.
He entered it.
The horse slowed.
The passage was too narrow.
He heard the man laugh.
"Smart."
Then he dismounted.
And followed them on foot.
Slower.
But steady.
They ran.
Saō Hyun fell.
He stood.
He ran.
His breath shattered.
Ara clung to him tightly.
"Don't leave me…"
"I won't leave you."
It was not a promise.
It was a decision.
And behind them—
There was only one man.
But he was enough.
---