I Will Find You - Chapter Six

As Ji-young was going through her e-mail, Steve was having yet another coronary, trying to keep up with Jae-hyeok, but mostly the supposedly lazy king who had been carried around palace grounds in an open litter. They guy currently leading their little, three-men expedition through the Bukhansan National Park didn’t appear out of shape or out of breath, quite the contrary. He was barely breaking a sweat. Steve wanted to strangle him.

But that would require drawing a normal breath and way more energy than he had in his depleted reserves at the moment, so it would have to wait.

Besides, he was curious as to where they were going. According to the Internet, Salgoji Forest was supposedly the area around the old stone bridge near Hanyang University in the downtown area of Seoul, so what were they doing in the park?

He would’ve asked, but again, it would require drawing a normal breath. So he just grit his teeth and trod after the two bastards in front of him, hoping to survive until their destination. They could just roll him downhill on their descent.

“We might want to take a breather,” Jae-hyeok saved him. “Our buddy back here isn’t in the best of shapes.”

Steve grit his teeth. If he had any strength left, there’d be two dead bodies on the trail.

“Speaking of shape,” Jae-hyeok continued after gulping down some water. “What’s with you?” he asked Heon. “According to history, you weren’t the sporty type. Yet you’re scrambling up this mountain like a goat. What gives?”

“I needed to do something else besides learning and staring at the only picture of her I have, or I might have gone insane. I found some exercise videos.” Heon shrugged. “It is routine. It clears the mind.”

Steve looked at him a little more closely. There were changes: a little more definition in his arms, a little more breadth to the shoulders, and his posture even straighter. But what hit him the most was the admission of vulnerability. He had no idea the king struggled. He should’ve known or at least suspected. The changes between his era and the 21st century were huge, but he’d adapted quite nicely in the last month. He’d even stopped garbling words. He must’ve spent entire nights reading, researching and learning. Yet he’d never before said anything about having issues.

“You should’ve said something,” Jae-hyeok said softly. “If you need to talk, we’re here. We want to help.”

“You have done more than enough already.” A self-deprecating chuckle. “Besides, I am used to being alone. It is having you two around I need time to adjust to.” Then he smirked. “I just might forward those videos to you, Steve. You look like you need them.”

As Jae-hyeok roared with laughter, Steve growled. “Yeah, yeah, pick on the weak one. Are you twelve?”

Heon chuckled. “If you can talk, you can walk, come one, we are close.” He turned, and disappeared behind a bend.

“Kill me now,” Steve whined.

Jae-hyeok nudged him. “C’mon, flabby. Move it.”

“Bite me.”

Heon was standing at the end of the rock terrace, watching the view. Much has changed in the past 500 years. The once green forested slopes were now part of the city, covered in buildings, crisscrossed by roads and power lines.

He sighed at the chatter and laughter all around him. What used to be a tranquil, quiet place had turned into a busy spot with people sitting and milling around, watching the view and taking photos, couples cuddling.

Steve and Jae-hyeok flanked him.

“Is this it?” Jae-hyeok whispered.

“This is where I saw her clearly for the first time,” Heon murmured. “I chased after her out of the forest during the eclipse. She argued with me, I threatened her, somebody shot me with an arrow, and we both went over the edge.”

Steve peered over said edge. “And survived?”

“We fell into the river.” He peered over the edge as well and sighed. The river was no longer there. “You people really ruined the environment.”

“The price of progress,” Jae-hyeok muttered. “Are you sure this is it?”

Heon sighed. “I lie where sky and silence meet, beyond the path, beneath your feet. Not carved by hands, but time and fate, a secret kept by rock and slate. It is no longer silent, but this cliff was created by nature, not human hands. Where hearts first stirred, the silence split, two souls met at the edge of it.” His voice shook slightly. “This is where we met. This is where I held her for the first time. This is the spot.”

Steve looked at him funny. “You know the riddle by heart? You only read it twice.”

Heon shrugged. “I have a good memory. Find the tip where eagles drift, then seek below the shadowed rift.” He pointed downward. “Whatever we are looking for is beneath the edge.”

Jae-hyeok looked around. “Great. How do you propose we get there, this is sheer rock, I didn’t bring my climbing equipment.”

Heon smiled. “I doubt whoever hid it had it either. It was 500 years ago, give or take. But I know there is a ledge on the right. Her bag got caught in a small bush.”

“Nice,” Steve interjected. “What about all these people?”

“We wait for them to leave.”

Steve huffed. “Which will mean traipsing down the hill in darkness. I barely made it up in daylight. I’m not risking my limbs..”

Jae-hyeok slapped him on the back. “That’s what headlamps are for.”

“Are you going to conjure them?”

Jae-hyeok chuckled and shrugged off his backpack. “You think I brought this along for kicks?” He plopped down, crossed his legs and pulled three ziplock bags out of the backpack. “Late lunch? Might as well get comfortable, this’ll take a while.”

It didn’t take as long as they’d feared with people starting their descent long before sunset. It was the stragglers that got on Heon’s nerves. Yes, the view was nice, but it would be there tomorrow as well. Back in the day, no one would have dared stray onto his hunting grounds and if they did, he would have simply chucked them off the cliff.

Nowadays, they called that murder.

He had been called worse, he mused, as he glared at the chubby westerner balancing a bit too close to the edge while taking a bloody selfie.

“Can we just—”

“No!” Steve and Jae-hyeok snapped in unison as if reading his mind.

“She’ll go,” Steve muttered. “Eventually.”

As if sent from the Heavens to be an utter nuisance, the woman smiled broadly and approached them, the only three seemingly idiots remaining. “Could you, maybe—” Her hand, with her phone in it, was already extended, but Heon’s expression must’ve been as fearsome as he’d intended, because she snatched her hand back, murmured a, “Never mind” and scrambled down the path.

“If you looked at me like that,” Jae-hyeok said as he rose, “I’d be gone as well.”

“It takes practice and dedication.” Heon rose as well, dusted his hands and made for the ledge.

“Please, be careful,” Steve warned from somewhere above. “I’ve grown quite fond of you.”

Heon rolled his eyes. “Warms the heart,” he drawled, inspecting the rock face before him. Many cracks, none large enough to hide something in them. He gritted his teeth, mentally cursing at whomever wrote the bloody riddle, and was about to turn back, when something beside his shoe caught his eye.

“Found something?” Jae-hyeok called down to him.

Heon crouched down, scraped at the strange rock with his finger, and felt something akin to a hollowed out spot. A carving, probably. He went down to his knees, peering closely and chuckled. It was a carving of a dragon. A five-taloned one.

“What else do you have in the backpack?” he yelled.

Jae-hyeok jumped down onto the ledge, approaching gingerly. “What do you need?”

“Something sharp,” Heon muttered, straightened, and Jae-hyeok handed him a small, thick, red object. “I said sharp,” he snapped.

Jae-hyeok rolled his eyes, fiddled with the red object and pulled out a knife-like protrusion. “It’s a multi-tool. Welcome to the future.”

As Jae-hyeok beat a hasty retreat—the glare never missed—Heon used the knife to scrape around the carved rock. Which wasn’t a rock, but a brick someone used to fill the hole just above the ledge, blending it with the surrounding rock face. With the rock out, he contemplated the opening for a heartbeat, then reached in. Nothing bit or stung him as his fingers closed around a fabric-covered parcel.

Brick replaced, dusty burlap satchel in hand, he rejoined his two companions, who perked up immediately.

“This is like a treasure hunt,” Steve chortled.

“Yeah, they’ll make a drama about it,” Jae-hyeok countered. “Open it,” he encouraged.

Heon untied the knot, turned the satchel upside down over his palm and out came an old, heavy skeleton key. The brass was tarnished, dark and spotty, the bow intricately shaped into a swirl of floral motifs, finely detailed with interwoven filigree patterns. At the center of the bow was a small, round medallion, once more engraved with a five-talloned dragon. Scale-like engravings ran the length of the shaft, while the bit consisted of multiple finely-honed teeth, each one slightly different than the other. The precision of the craftsmanship and the intricate engravings hinted at the skill—and identity—of the blacksmith who made the key.

“They sure went through a lot of trouble, didn’t they?” Jae-hyeok muttered.

Steve elbowed him. “It’s the most fun you’ve had in ages. Admit it.” He blinked as Heon once more disappeared down the path. “And off he goes.”

“He sure is spry for a 500-year-old,” Jae-hyeok growled as he quickly collected his backpack and scrambled after Heon, Steve hot on his heels.