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Magnus could hear Alec shiver next to him.
“Are you cold?” He asked, looking at his husband while they continued to walk further into the forest.
“A little,” Alec said, even though judging by the way his body was subtly shivering, Magnus guessed it was a tad more than a little. Magnus waved his hand and the jacket Alec had been wearing was switched to a warmer one.
“I told you you didn’t need to come,” Magnus reminded him.
Alec scoffed. “As if I’d let you go alone when you told me you were going to this forest.”
“This is not the first time I’ve been here,” Magnus said. He wasn’t offended, he knew that Alec’s worrying didn’t come from not trusting Magnus to handle himself and it was just his protective nature shining through.
This forest was dangerous and you never knew how close you were to a magical beast that was going to try to attack you, but Magnus needed a specific flower for his potion and that flower only grew here.
“Doesn’t matter,” Alec said. “I’m not letting you go alone if I have the opportunity to come with you.”
Magnus had to admit that he quite enjoyed having Alec with him. They had been busy lately and if they would be able to spend time together while Magnus was working, well, Magnus wasn’t going to complain. That, and he had almost forgotten how good Alec looked in his Shadowhunter mode, dressed in tactical gear with a blade strapped to his thigh and a bow ready in his hand.
“I’m not complaining,” Magnus said honestly. “Not everyone can get the Inquisitor as their bodyguard.”
“I’m not here as the Inquisitor,” Alec argued good-naturedly. “I’m here as your husband. What kind of husband would I be if I watched you go to danger by yourself while I stayed home and read a book on the couch?”
“Not the one I know,” Magnus agreed and leaned over to leave a quick peck to Alec’s cheek. “Thank you, for keeping me company.”
Alec didn’t reply but Magnus could see the small smile that rose to his lips as they continued to walk further into the forest.
The sun was starting to set, casting its last rays through the trees. The forest was old, even older than Magnus, so the majority of the trees were tall and thick, their leafy tops high up, and the lower parts of their trunks free of branches. There were smaller trees as well, effectively blocking the view of any potential threats.
They were walking on a path, created over time by different beings, be it visitors or those who lived in the forest. They needed to be quick to get the flower, so they would be able to leave the forest before it got dark. Magnus didn't particularly feel like tripping over one of the numerous roots they could see snaking on the ground.
“Everything is so green,” Alec observed after they had been quiet for a while, the bird sounds and the occasional falling pine cone the only sounds in the forest, save from the sound of their boots as they stepped over twigs and dry leaves. It would have almost been calming if they weren’t constantly waiting for someone to attack them.
“It is,” Magnus agreed. He stepped out of the path as he spotted a familiar blue flower a little to their right. “I suppose you haven’t spent a lot of your time in forests?”
“I haven’t,” Alec said. He stayed on the path, keeping watch with his bow ready as Magnus bent down and carefully took one of the flowers. He looked at it closely, confirming it was the right one before he put it in his pocket. The flower only had magic properties when it was fresh and Magnus only needed one for his potion, so he left the other flowers to bloom where they were. He was just about to get up when he heard rustling from the trees about twenty feet in front of him.
“Magnus,” Alec whispered, letting Magnus know that he had heard the noise as well. Magnus could hear a bowstring being pulled and he readied his own magic, ready to attack once they could see what was slowly coming towards them.
However, when Magnus recognized what it was, his first instinct wasn’t to attack.
“Don’t,” he said to Alec, putting his arm between the creature and Alec’s arrow, stopping his husband from firing towards it.
“What?” Alec asked.
“It’s not dangerous,” Magnus said. When he watched the winged horse approach them, he noticed something. “It’s hurt.”
The horse was white, its wings a light shade of gray. The bloody wound on its side near the back was impossible to miss, the arrow that caused it still in the wound. The creature looked to be in pain, and it stayed in place, too afraid of them to get closer but also aware that it could not outrun them in its current state.
Alec walked to stand next to Magnus, his steps slow and careful not to scare the creature. He was still holding his bow but it was lowered.
“Put your bow away,” Magnus told him. He didn’t want the creature to get scared and try to run away, aggravating the wound further. “It won’t hurt us.”
“Are you sure?” Alec asked. Nevertheless, he put his bow back to his back, trusting Magnus’ word.
“I am,” Magnus said. “They aren’t dangerous. They are herbivorous and they don’t mean any harm to anyone. It’s widely believed that hurting one causes bad luck. It’s rare to see them, they like to stay hidden.”
“Why do you think it's allowing us to see it now?”
“I don’t think it has a choice,” Magnus said sadly. He started taking careful steps towards the creature, hearing Alec stay just a step behind him, no doubt ready to act if the creature decided to attack after all.
The creature was shaking slightly and Magnus didn’t know if it was from fear or pain. Maybe a bit of both. But at least it wasn’t trying to move away.
Little by little Magnus got close enough to touch it, laying his hand soothingly on its neck, brushing its silky coat.
“Hey there,” Magnus said in a gentle voice. “Do you need help?”
As if the creature understood him, it bent its legs to lay down on the ground. Its wings were tucked close to its body in a way that left the arrow and the mark visible.
Magnus knelt down next to the leg, while Alec continued to stand next to him, eyeing the creature warily.
Magnus brushed the creature’s back with his hand while he examined the wound.
“I’m going to need your help,” he told Alec after a moment.
“Yeah?” Alec asked.
“Come here,” Magnus instructed, giving Alec room so he could kneel next to him. “Be careful not to touch its wings, the feathers have magical abilities and they are very protective over them.”
Alec nodded, settling himself next to Magnus.
“I’m going to push magic to the wound to heal it, but I need you to pull the arrow out,” he told Alec. “Wait until my mark.”
“Okay,” Alec said, his hands hovering in the air around the arrow while Magnus laid his hands to the creature's side, right next to the bloody wound.
“Will this hurt it?” Alec asked as he watched the blue magic glow in Magnus’ fingers before it sunk into the injury.
“It shouldn’t hurt much,” Magnus said. “But it will feel it.”
Alec nodded, waiting for Magnus' mark.
“Now.”
Alec took hold of the arrow and carefully pulled it out while Magnus continued to push magic to the wound. The creature let out a hurt whine but it stayed still, as if it knew that it had to.
When the arrow was out, Magnus’ magic was able to seal the wound completely. With a final wave of his hands, the blood was gone from the creature’s pure white coat and from both of their hands. As soon as it was able, the creature stood up.
Both Alec and Magnus stood up as well, watching the creature turn so it was facing them.
“You’re okay now,” Magnus said as he petted the creature. Then it walked forward so suddenly that before Magnus had the chance to react, his hand was in the feathers of its wing.
As soon as he realized it, he retreated his hand back a few inches, carefully looking at the creature. When the creature followed his hand so it was once again resting over the feathers, Magnus raised a questioning eyebrow.
“It’s letting you touch its wings,” Alec said quietly. “Didn’t you say-”
“That the feathers are sacred to them?” Magnus continued. “Yes, I did.”
“Then why?” Alec asked. “Did you earn its trust?”
“I think I did,” Magnus said, knowing that the creature wouldn’t allow him to touch its wings if it were even a little bit suspicious of him. Cautiously, Magnus petted the creature’s wing, like he had brushed his hand across its coat earlier.
It startled Magnus when two of the feathers fell off from where his fingers had just been. For a moment he was afraid of the creature’s reaction, but then it shook its wing a little and three more feathers fell off.
Magnus looked down at the five feathers on the ground, and then at the creature. It bowed its head a little before turning and starting to walk deeper into the forest.
They continued to watch after it until they could no longer see it.
Magnus bent down to pick up the feathers.
“It’s a thank you gift,” he told Alec, having figured out why the creature had done what it did. “It recognized me as a Warlock and gave me some of its feathers. Their feathers are powerful magic items, but only when they are voluntarily given.”
“You did just save its life,” Alec reminded Magnus when he kept looking at the feathers in his hand, awe in his expression.
Magnus hummed in reply, placing the feathers into his pocket, right where the flower was already hidden. They were one of the most rarest and priceless ingredients he’d ever had and he was going to take good care of them.
“Let’s go home, shall we?” He told Alec and offered him his hand, the other waving in front of him to create a portal. “Before something does try to attack us.”
Alec took his hand and they stepped through the portal, having got what they went to get from the forest.
That, and a lot more.