Kyungsoo ran down the mountain just as complete darkness set, the sunshine rays completely disappearing behind countless hills and hillocks. It happened a little later than the week before, Kyungsoo noted, realising it was to be full spring soon. He set up a small camp near the road, found a few tinder dry branches and let the flames brighten his surroundings. He was not afraid, not really, but he was very restless. The hours were passing at an agonizingly slow pace and Kyungsoo wished for nothing else but for the next evening to come so he could find out more about the mysterious stranger.

 Kim Jongin. That was his name, or at least that was how he introduced himself. There was always a possibility he was lying, a very strong one at that, but Kyungsoo was somehow sure he was telling the truth. And even if he wasn´t, what of it? In the end, it didn´t matter anyway, Kyungsoo decided. The boy was hurt and he was hurt badly. There was skin torn in several places and the wounds in his shoulder and his thigh were deep and extended far into Jongin´s flesh. It looked terrible and Kyungsoo barely dared to polemize about what caused it.

 A thought of the dragon briefly passed his mind before he dismissed it. Sure,  Jongin looked like he fought a beast but had he sparred with a dragon, he sure wouldn´t be still in this world alive. Kyungsoo tried to remember what type of garments the stranger was wearing so it would provide with a clue, with anything that would lead him closer to finding out his identity, but what was mere shreds of fabric then, could have easily been a noble´s attire, a merchant´s wear or a beggar´s robe before. Kyungsoo sighed.

 There were no hints of who the boy might have been. His hair was dark and his eyes were darker and so were every second person´s in the country. The only unusual thing about the boy was his dark skin, just enough to remind Kyungsoo of the folk living beyond the southern border he saw in one of Sehun´s books with pictures. So, a Southern person? Perhaps a merchant? Perhaps a spy? Kyungsoo shook his head, trying to make all those ridiculous thoughts go away. The boy´s origin was to remain a mystery for the time being and so was the reason for his presence.

Kyungsoo was worried for the boy and for his life. He was sure when he had seen his wound, if Kim Jongin wasn’t going to be treated quickly, he was going to die. The thought alone made Kyungsoo hug his knees, clutching at them in despair. He didn’t want the boy to die. He had to act.

 Kyungsoo sat by a tree, resting his back against the solid trunk and he just stared at the fire for a bit. So many things happened that day and he was tired, so tired. His eyes closing and lips quivering in the coldness, he wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to conserve a bit of his own body warm, but it turned out to be rather pointless. He sighed and looked up to the peak of the mountain, wondering how exactly would Jongin survive the night.

 It seemed like only a second of time between him closing and opening his eyes, but he noticed the moon changed his position into what now looked like something between a midnight and one in the morning. Which meant his watch ended approximately an hour ago.

 He carefuly got up, his body still heavy from the deep slumber and his limbs clumsy. He gathered all his belongings and put out the fire. Then, he started walking back towards the village, his mind too hazy to even think about Jongin anymore, now more concentrating on the fact, that his stomach was grumbling extremely loud and the hunger grew to be almost painful. He set a moderately fast pace, fixed on getting home as fast as possible, eating something small and quick and embeding himself in his bed. His warm, comfortable bed.

 He had almost reached his goal when he heard it.

In the shadow of the village´s gate stood two men, arguing. One sounded extremely angry, throwing an endless flow of accusations at the other, who seemed defensive and meek. Kyungsoo cursed his curiosity and treaded quietly closer to the duo.

„Were it not for your father, you would rot away in a dump, but he makes everything easier for you and this is how you repay him?“

„I haven‘t-“

„Shut up, Oh, everyone knows you´re a lying lazy git, don´t try any excuses.“

Sehun and general Yong. Of course.

Kyungsoo never understood why was Sehun making it so difficult for himself. He wanted to join the village guard at all cost, even though the boy was obviously tragicly inept with a sword, a bow and a spear, something, which Kyungsoo didn´t think was possible. But his father´s influence persuaded the general that Sehun would be a beneficial asset to his guard and there Sehun was, struggling and lazy. The insults the general was spewing out at Sehun were getting ruder and ruder, the general relieving all the stress of preceding days and Kyungsoo felt a quiver of loyalty towards the younger and so he stepped in.

„General Yong? What is going on?“ Kyungsoo stepped out of the shadows, trying to sound innocent.

The general seemed confused at his sudden appearance and Kyungsoo noted the quick look of unease the general sent towards Sehun. If the word was spread of how he spoke with the wealthy man´s son, there would be negative consequences for sure. Not even mentioning the lack of banker´s „gifts“ to the guard.

„It´s nothing, Do. Sehun here didn´t show up for his watch today. Again.“ Sehun averted his eyes, frowning a bit.

„But Sehun here helped me keep my watch today! After it ended he went ahead, while I had… bussiness to take care of. I told him I would catch up with him by the gates, but I see you found him first,“ Kyungsoo lied with a smile, trying not to look or sound suspicious. It was more than obvious the the general didn´t believe him in the slightest, but Sehun was nodding wildly by Kyungsoo´s side and it was two against one. And so finally, with a heavy sigh, the general nodded and waved the off.

„Very well, if you say so, Do. Both of you, just… Be here for tomorrow´s watch,“ he sighed exasperatedly, leaving before they had a chance to respond.

Sehun breathed out heavily.

„Maybe next time, you could actually show up,“ suggested Kyungsoo coldly. Sehun shrugged.

„I got here fine, but then I fell asleep. That´s why he couldn´t find me. But explain that to him. He thinks I only came here by the end. It really is annoying.“ Kyungsoo let out an uncommitted sound, turning to walk off in the same direction the general did. He didn´t care about Sehun´s watch attendance, much like he didn´t care about the younger in general. He knew Sehun was a liar so he assumed he was lying in this case too and let the whole case go.

But before he could disappear, Sehun´s hand caught his arm and the younger was thanking him vigorously. He seemed genuinely grateful for what Kyungsoo did and he latched himself onto Kyungsoo, set on letting Kyungsoo know just how much he appreciates him. Kyungsoo was successfuly ignoring him, up until Sehun suddenly stopped and almost comically solemnly proclaimed:

„If there´s anything I can ever do for you or help you with, let me know and I am your man.“

And Kyungsoo got a crazy idea.

***

In all fairness, he thought of it before in that evening, weighting all pros and cons, before ultimately deciding not to attempt it. But he had an extra pair of hands now and the task didn´t seem as impossible as it originally did.

The moonlight that night was dim enough to let them blend in with the tall fence belonging to the Healer´s house by which it was separated from the rest of the village, like a palace within mediocrity. But no matter how fancy, the fence was not at all difficult to climb, especially for someone of Sehun´s height.

 Soon, they found themselves on the other side of the iron barrier, looking around cautiously. The Healer had no dogs and potential intruders were kept away from his property more by the reputation of the owner than a real threat. But neither Kyungsoo nor Sehun believed in ghosts guarding the house, and so they hastily moved across the garden, right towards the back door.

„Are you sure you want me to stay outside?“ Sehun whispered.

„I can help you in there too, you know. Like I can search for stuff, or clear away all the tracks you might leave, or help you get objects you are too short too reach yourself, or-“

„Thank you, Sehun,“ interrupted Kyungsoo, irritated. Sehun kept his mouth shut. Kyungsoo took a deep breath and entered the house.

***

The hallway, he knew. The stairs, he knew. Even the lab, he´d been to. And then there was the door, the little green door, partially hidden behind a coat-stand covered by lab coats in various states of decay.

 The door had a red handle and Kyungsoo knew better than to touch it. Instead, he searched around for a while, before finding what he was looking for, a green handle, hidden inside of a wall on the right. He pressed it and watched the green door open inwards. He knew this little trick from the Healer´s apprentice who liked to boast about how the Healer confided in him. During one of his lectures, Kyungsoo learned about the way the door was secured.

 But the apprentice was scolded for his eloquency and Kyungsoo never heard any secrets from him again. And that now, because once he would enter that door, he would be left completely in the dark. Hesitating slightly, he took a deep breath to calm himself down. He felt slightly guilty because of what he was doing, but he believed the Healer would understand. He would have to understand. This was important, a human life was at stake.

***

He once read a fairytale, a long time ago. It told a story of a girl who found herself in a world full of magic. In that world, an evil alchemist stole the wind and locked it away. To get it back, the girl had to travel to his floating castle and fight the alchemist, ultimately winning by trapping him inside of an abacus.

 When Kyungsoo entered the Healer´s private chambers, he felt very much like entering an evil alchemist´s lair in that story. There were gargoyles everywhere, with an occasional golden statue thrown in the bunch.  Everything was very neatly organised, but the decorations just looked a little bit too over the top in Kyungsoo´s opinion. One whole wall was covered by a ceiling high bookcase with little lion heads carved into it. The books in the bookcase looked well maintained but the materials the hardbacks were made out of looked questionable at best.

 There were ingredients and flasks and everything Kyungsoo imagined there to be. There was even a huge cauldron with its legs ended by harpy´s talons and its several much smaller replicas were standing on a desk squeezed in between a box of dried herbs and a mysterious table covered by glowing runes. Despite the general tackiness, Kyungsoo found himself liking the mystical atmosphere of the room. As he feared, there were more books than he could count and so he decided to take advantage of Sehun´s offer to help. Provided the boy still waited outside of course.

 To Kyungsoo´s surprise, Sehun was still there, looking bored out of his mind. At the prospect of seeing the Healer´s burrow, he managed to look mildly interested and Kyungsoo took it as a win. But as it seemed, nothing could ever impress the great master Oh, and so he was met with contemptuous sniffing and endless superlicious comentary.

„I´ve seen that table,“ informed Sehun Kyungsoo, pointing towards the glowing table, „in the capital, conjurers use it to awe idiots. Those runes are made out of calcite crystals, there is nothing magical about it.“

„Sehun!“ growled Kyungsoo. Sehun turned to him, mouth slightly open. „Work,“ Kyungsoo reminded him softly.

„Ah,“ remembered Sehun, „What do you want me to do then?“

„Just look for a book on medicine. Festered wounds, deep wounds, infected wounds. Anything on fever, nausea and overall weakness. And analgesics.“

Sehun eyed him incredulously for a bit and then sighed and started go over the endless amount of books.

„They are category sorted. I guess you want the ones that deal with herbs, right? Not potions.“

Kyungsoo shook his head.and Sehun stopped in his tracks.

„I was thinking more of something like… Magic. Spells,“ Kyungsoo said, his voice quivering slighty. He feared that Sehun might ridicule him for his belief in magic.

However, the younger’s eyes lit up and he surprised Kyungsoo when he smiled and pointed towards one section of the bookcase.

Even more surprisingly, he didn’t ask any questions about Kyungsoo’s interest magic. The elder could still feel his eyes boring into his back as he tried to find the book he needed though, and he decided to be careful about what he says to Sehun.

***

Two hours later and the sun was threating to rise soon, throwing light at their trespassingin the process. Kyungsoo had a horrible headache, not decreased by Sehun’s constant chatter.

„Alchemy isn´t true magic, you know,“ Sehun continued his speech about the Healer’s incompetence in contrast to the real magicians, as he called them. Kyungsoo could only sigh in resignation, because shutting Sehun up proved to be impossible.

„Master Kim, one of the most important Healers of the capital, said, that alchemists are mere chemists who strive to be more than they are but aren´t talented enough.“

„That´s all really nice, Sehun, but our Healer-“

„Oh look, there´s a whole section on Kai and the riders! Can´t believe he would bother, how pompous-“

„Sehun! Please help me with this, I really want to go to bed.“

„But there are so many interesting books in here! I wish I could borrow some.“

„Sehun, you absolutely can´t and that´s final. Now help me with this.“

Sehun signed, put the book he was holding back into the shelf and shuffled towards the section Kyungsoo was at. The pale boy was getting more and more nervous with every book that was useless to him. He only wanted it to address simple healing, but most required some sort of magical knowledge, or only spoke of theory. They were running out of time.

„What about this?“ Sehun suddenly asked, holding out a huge book. Kyungsoo impatiently grabbed it, inspecting the cover. The book itself was inconspicuous, bound in black leather.

„Spells Unbound,“ Kyungsoo read the title and looked up to Sehun, unasked question lingering in the air. Sehun only shrugged and Kyungsoo turned his attention back to the book, examining it.

It was a huge book containing every information he needed, ranging from simple healing spells to defensive and offensive ones, which Kyungsoo didn’t really need. He could only hope he would be able to perform some of the healing ones. He smiled for himself, grasping the book tightly.

„Let´s go,“ he called after Sehun, who disappeared somewhere in the back of the room. Kyungsoo was already leaving through the green door when the younger caught up with him, his backpack in one hand, his sword in another. That look reminded Kyungsoo of something, but he couldn´t quite remember what of. They left quietly and hastily, because the sun was to rise in a little less than two hours and it wasn´t even near as dark as Kyungsoo would have wished. But no one stopped them and then a few minutes later, they were already parting each to their respective home. Kyungsoo turned around to look at the Healer´s house for one last time and it looked exactly the same as always, as if they had never been there that night at all.

***

Kyungsoo woke up after noon the next day, which was something that had never happened to him before in his life. He knew it was late because the sun was on his right, when it would usually be on his left. At first, he wasn´t sure why he woke up this late until he noticed the black book on his nightstand, a reminder of their adventure.

 Kyungsoo felt absolutely exhausted, even though he had slept well over ten hours. His back was hurting and his spine cracking. He dressed himself far too slowly and descended down the stairs with a pained expression on his face.

 He had to withstand a lunch with his family, who insisted they would wait for him and Kyungsoo had to fake happy and energetic for the entirity of the afternoon. His mother decided to engage him in conversation with her, Jiwoo and her mother, which turned out to be rather awkward, but Kyungsoo felt it was his duty to make his mother happy at least in this aspect. They laughed at jokes that weren´t really funny and made jokes that no one got, and they drank wine and ate fish and just generally ended up doing things Kyungsoo detested. And Kyungsoo in turn couldn´t wait for the evening. He had to see him again, to make sure he was real and he was there. Alive.

 And he needed help, Kyungsoo reminded himself. He had a chance to read bits of chapters he deemed important for the task of healing Jongin and was prepared. Now he only needed to wait.

 ***

It was almost five when he stepped on the last stair with a backpack filled with food and clothes he borrowed from his brother´s closet. The spell book didn´t fit in the backpack and so Kyungsoo put it into a linen bag which he was now holding in very sweaty palms.

 Heading up towards the cabin, Kyungsoo´s heart beat fast and his stomach twisted in anticipation. Jongin, alive or dead in that shrine. And if he was alive, well or unwell. And if he was well, a friend or an enemy. Kyungsoo noticed his palms were shaking and he stopped to dry them in his cotton pants.

 The shrine was small, but it could shelter a person comfortably from rain and wind. Kyungsoo took a second to wonder why he had never noticed it before while trekking up the mountain. Soon, his mind became occupied by different thoughts, nightmarish scenarios of finding Jongin dead, a cold corpse laying on the floor, empty eyes staring up at him, expressionless in the lethargy of death, the life in them long gone to someplace else. The body of their owner abandoned, unceremoniously  and quietly.

Kyungsoo unconciously stopped in his tracks, his packed backpack swinging limply next to him. What if Jongin really died? What then? What if Kyungsoo was the one to find him? A wave of fright stunned him and Kyungsoo found himself genuinely afraid. There was still time to turn back and forget about the stranger.

 Standing there for a few moments, he finally decided. He had to make this step. It had to be done and Kyungsoo had to be brave, because he was the only one who could help Jongin. Kyungsoo took a deep breath and stepped inside of the shack.

***

The inside of the shack was bare. There was no furniture, no decorations, except for a bunch of heavy rugs sprawled over the floor. Probably cattle, thought Kyungsoo. Other than the rugs, there was nothing, aside from bundles of purple coneflowers scattered all over the floor.

 In the warm embrace of the rugs, covered head to toe, lay Jongin.He was sound asleep, as far as Kyungsoo could tell. From where he was standing, Kyungsoo could only see the Jongin’s head, hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. The boy’s breath was shallow and the shack smelled of illness.

Kyungsoo approached the sleepy figure and reached out with his left hand to shake Jongin’s healthy shoulder to wake the stranger up.

As soon as the tips of his fingers touched the boy’s skin, he was launched backwards onto the hard floor. He gasped in pain, but was immediately silenced by a sharp blade pressed against his neck with enough force to pierce the skin. It stung.

Above him, a dark face framed by wavy black hair was hovering, and there was not a trace of the polite friendliness of their previous encounter. The look in Jongin’s eyes was one of a wild animal driven into a dead end, desperately trying to fight back with all its might.

Kyungsoo could feel his chest expanding and contracting rapidly with each shallow breath he took. He gulped, cursing himself silently for applying even more pressure on the blade. He could not speak and he would lie if he said he wasn’t panicking. He could only pray Jongin would recognise him before the boy did anything to harm him.

 And Jongin did. It took a moment, but Jongin’s mind clouded with sickness and paranoia managed to remember the boy.

Jongin’s grip on him weakened and he quickly tossed the knife off to the side.

„Oh my god, I am so s-sorry, Kyungsoo,“ Jongin rasped out and tried to get up. His strength, however, betrayed him, and he fell back with all of his weight onto Kyungsoo.

The shorter boy was still trying to recover from the shock, shaking a bit, but by the time Jongin tried to get up for the second time, Kyungsoo managed to compose himself enough to push Jongin up, helping him to lean against the nearest wall. He took a moment to judge the situation before reaching for his backpack. He took out fresh lavender and opened Jongin’s mouth to put some in. He then made him chew and swallow it all with water.

 A few minutes, a bruise on his stomach and a spilled bottle of water later, Jongin was lying against the wall, awake enough to be able to listen to Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo was taking out his brother’s old clothes he stole from his closet. Jongin let out a painful grunt.

„I see you are feeling better,“ Kyungsoo commented, picking up the coneflowers and throwing them out. Jongin only groaned in response.

„Do you feel well enough so I can take a look at your injuries?“

Jongin seemed to think about it for a moment, before nodding and leaning against the wall, allowing Kyungsoo the access to his body.

His clothes was still wet from the day before, noted Kyungsoo with displeasure.

„Change,“ he commanded, throwing Jongin a set of some dry clothes. Said boy muttered something in thanks and Kyungsoo turned around to give the man some privacy to change into simple beige linen pants, brown tunic and undergarments.

Meanwhile, he pondered about how it was even possible that Jongin’s state worsened so drastically. When he turned back, he got his answer. The fester spread through the boy’s body, no longer covering just his shoulder. It now expanded to his chest and was slowly but steadily making its way even further. Kyungsoo gasped when he saw the wound, immediately dashing towards Jongin.

„It got a lot worse this night,“ the male croaked, distress obvious in his voice, „ Everything got better but this is-“

„Don’t say it,“ Kyungsoo warned him, studying the injury up close.

„-killing me,“ finished Jongin, almost apathetic about the whole situation. His eyes were half closed as if he had difficulty keeping them open and he had an obvious difficulty breathing.

Kyungsoo averted his gaze. He hated to admit it, but Jongin was right.

Not wanting to think about the shoulder wound, he decided to take care of the other injuries first.

„I took some ointment from our family’s medicine chest-“

„And by took you mean stole,“ chuckled Jongin and Kyungsoo only rolled his eyes.

„I’m going to give it back.“

„Sure you are.“

Sitting next to Jongin, Kyungsoo opened the jar and dipped two fingers in. The ointment had no colour or scent, but proved to work fantastically on smaller injuries, like when his mother cut her hand while making dinner or when his father shot himself in the foot while hunting.

Smearing a thick layer onto Jongin’s leg, Kyungsoo worked his way up the tanned male’s torso and neck, finally reaching his brow. Massaging the ointment in, he noted the bumps in the scab.

„You will have a scar here,“ he commented, touching his fingers to the uneven skin. He traced along the brow, studying the injury there.

„What a tragedy,“ Jongin answered after a few moments passed and Kyungsoo quickly flinched back, realising he spent a bit too long in the close proximity of the other’s face.

He shivered a bit and clasped his hands together to get rid of the remainders of the ointmenet, but also to interrupt the uncomfortable silence that settled between them.

„Thank you for the clothes,“ Jongin murmured.

„I’ll bring more tomorrow. And a real blanket,“ Kyungsoo promised, staring at the ground.

„So you will come tomorrow?“ Jongin asked and it surprised Kyungsoo that there was a certain hopeful undertone in his voice.

„Of course I will. How else do you think you‘d survive?“ he tried to make a  joke out of it but ended up bringing their attention back to the festered wound. He instantly regretted ever saying anything.

„I’ll take a look at this,“ he murmured, shifting closer to Jongin. The injured male had closed his eyes again, breathing shallow, forehead hot. Kyungsoo assessed the wound carefully, cautious not to cause Jongin any pain. Truthfully, the shorter had no idea about what he was doing, but anything was better than nothing. And so he observed the way the white edges of the decay seemed to spread out. Kyungsoo couldn’t find a single epicentre to it, the whole of Jongin’s right arm was just dead flesh.

With a heavy heart, Kyungsoo pulled Jongin’s tunic back down, covering the injury.

„You can’t do anything about it, can you?“ Jongin rasped out and it sounded almost reconciled. Kyungsoo closed his eyes in conflict, heart beating fast.

„There might be one thing,“ Kyungsoo said, putting his hand over Jongin’s chest. The latter opened his eyes, surprised.

„What are you doing?“ he queried, eyeing the pale boy warily.

„I just want to try something,“ Kyungsoo murmured. Sliding the fingers up Jongin’s tunic, he shivered.

There was nothing happening for a few moments, just Jongin tensing up under Kyungsoo touch not sure if he should push him away and Kyungsoo wrinkling his eyebrows in concentration.

„Salus,“ Kyungsoo then whispered.

What followed was one of the worst moments in Do Kyungsoo’s life.

Jongin let out a scream and then his whole body collapsed. It started tossing and Kyungsoo stared in horror, as the male started coughing out thick, black liquid.

„Jongin!“ he screamed, launching forward, trying to hold him down, but whatever was happening to the boy, it did not reduce his physical strength. Kyungsoo fell down onto the rugs and could only watch in terror as the body that did not seem to belong to Jongin anymore held out one tanned hand and proceeded to bury it deep into his shoulder wound.

And then there were only gallons of blood and Kyungsoo fainted.

***

Hi, so this is the fourth chapter, which I'm still not really very sure about. Nevertheless, I really hope you enjoy it! Thanks so much to the new subscribers and the old, hope you like this one too!

By the way, there's quite an obvious reference to my favourite video game in this chapter. Anyone has an idea of which one?

Love, Onion