Chapter Text
Morgan jumped back just as a lance stabbed into the ground where he’d just been standing, he opened his tome, flipping through the pages as magic glowed from his hand. He threw his hand forward, a blast of dark magic exploded from his palm into the enemy soldier who was felled immediately.
The surrounding enemies in the area were hit with a wave of energy that sapped at their energy while Morgan felt a wave of strength fill his body. He briefly looked at his tome, Grima’s mark adoring the cover.
He took a quick glance around the battlefield, his purple eyes darted quickly from each of his allies; Shez and his wyvern were easily evading two wyvern riders, Alcryst was having no issue with downing enemies with his arrows and then there was Julius, the prince was to his right casting spells and shrugging off any attacks that managed to land.
He noticed Morgan’s eyes on him and flashed a small, cheeky smile.
Focus. Morgan shook himself but returned Julius’s smile with one of his own before more enemies charged towards their group.
Morgan swiftly rolled out of the way of a sword, his hand scooped up the dirt below as he recovered and he hurled it into the enemy’s eyes. His right hand moved quickly to cast a spell to finish off the soldier while they were stunned, feeling his exhaustion subside a little as the soldier fell.
He barely had time to use his tome to awkwardly parry a punch, their steel gauntlet scrapped against the cover of his tome. Luckily for him, Alcryst’s arrow whizzed by and found its mark in the enemy’s chest.
The mage prepared himself when he spotted two men rushing him, one with a dagger, the other holding a sharp lance.
He darted away from the lance fighter who had made his way to Morgan first, the fighter plunged his weapon into the ground, just missing him. The mage took the opportunity to strike the fighter with his spell.
Suddenly a wave of pain erupted as a blade slashed into his side, I didn’t expect him to be that fast! Morgan thought with a wince, clutching his side as the thief from earlier rushed past him, his dagger now dripping with Morgan’s blood.
Morgan was about to counterattack until he felt a wave of nausea hit him, his spell hand dropped.
The dagger had been poisoned.
It didn’t take long until his breaths came out in small pants, he’d been poisoned before but the poison never took this fast to set in.
He had to get to the others… his eyes were barely focused as everything seemed to blur… where was everyone?
His arms felt numb and he struggled to hold his tome, his legs felt weak as he took a few steps back. He heard voices yelling his name but they seemed so faraway…he couldn’t tell where they were coming from…
“M…”
“Move!”
His ears managed to pick up the warning, Morgan looked up to see a bright purple spell shooting towards him. His heart pounded, adrenaline pumping into his veins as he mustered enough strength to leap backwards to avoid the attack.
Morgan’s blood ran cold the moment he clumsily landed, a sinister aura sent a chill down his spine as he looked up. A hooded mage had appeared in front of him, a dark spell glowing from their hand and a wide smirk plastered on their face.
Morgan’s widened in terror as the mage released their spell point blank into his chest and then his world exploded into agony.
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“Morgan!” Julius screamed in desperation, his red eyes filled with fear at the explosion of energy in front of him. His heart dropped as he watched Morgan crash violently into the ground, throwing dirt and smoke into the sky.
No…
Get up…
Please!
But the mage did not move, the prince’s eyes started to well with tears, afraid of the worst. The leg ring he wore gave him an extra speed boost as he dashed towards Morgan.
Rage surged through him as enemies blocked his path, weapons drawn. The prince snarled, throwing his hand in front of him, his magic pulsing wildly, “GET OUT OF MY WAY!”
A roar tore through the air as he summoned the dark dragon, bigger and angrier than any he had cast in this battle. Powered by the fury within him, Loptous ripped through each soldier as if they were paper.
His head started to throb but he simply gritted his teeth against the whispers within his mind, he had other things to worry about.
“Morgan!” Julius collapsed to his knees as he gathered his boyfriend’s limp body in his arms. Morgan’s head rested limply in his shoulder, his eyes were closed and blood stained the corners of his mouth, “please… please wake up!”
Tears sprang into his eyes as they laid on the wound in the mage’s chest, a dark pool of blood soaked the area and a faint scorched smell entered his nose,
“please… don’t leave me.”
Blood from Morgan’s stab wound started to flow between Julius’s fingers, but that wasn’t what got his attention, it was the tiny stings he felt from where the blood had touched him, leaving irritated red marks in its wake, poison… he thought with a glare, confirming his suspicions earlier.
His fingers trembled as he touched Morgan’s neck.
Silence…
No….
Julius’s heart pounded as he tried to steady his own breathing….
Then he felt it, it was extremely faint but it was still there. Julius held his breath, his finger shaking as he moved it under Morgan’s nose waiting until he felt weak air blow against it.
It did very little to reassure him, knowing that Morgan was still at the brink of death. He silently cursed himself, he lacked the ability to cast healing magic.
No one on their team knew how to heal.
Morgan was going to die.
Julius pushed those thoughts aside, unable to bear it. But the only hero with a mount was too far away and dealing with enemies. The prince gritted his teeth in anger and fear, he refused to just stand here waiting, not while his beloved’s life hung in the balance.
Right now he was the only one who could do something, it was a long shot but it was better than nothing.
He wouldn’t let Morgan die.
He hauled himself up, holding Morgan securely in his arms, his heart breaking at the sight of the mage’s limp form, afraid he’d never wake again. Tears stained the corners of his eyes, he would not let that happen.
The prince broke into a sprint back towards the castle, strong wind whipped into his eyes but it did little to deter him.
Please hang in there, my love!
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The door to the infirmary was broken open, the wood splintered into pieces from the sheer force of Julius’s kick. He stumbled into the room, just able to keep himself from collapsing, his chest heaving from exhaustion, twigs and leaves clung to his now messy red hair and his legs trembled as he struggled to stand properly.
Dozens of heads turned to him in shock, “Stop gawking and help him!” Julius managed to yell before doubling over, gasping for breath, his lungs burning with pain.
That seemed to snap the healers out of it and several of them flocked to him. They guided him to one of the empty beds near a window and helped the prince transfer Morgan onto it. They rushed around gathering supplies while a few of them started using their heal staffs on Morgan.
Julius watched them work, trying to push away his exhaustion. He had to make sure Morgan would be alright.
Th-ump
Th-ump
“Ugh..” Julius clutched his chest with a deep wince as his heart throbbed painfully. His body was already not used to so much physical activity, the strain from sprinting earlier was taking its toll on him now. His legs buckled and he fell forward.
One of the nurses made a startled gasp, Julius barely managed to break some of his fall using the wall.
He couldn’t bring himself to stand and simply slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. The nurse who’d seen him fall approached him, he simply brushed her hand away with a weak glare, “don’t waste it on me, focus on healing Morgan.”
She gave him a timid, unsure nod before joining the other healers.
His eyes started to grow heavy as his breathing
started to even out, his body exhausted beyond its limit. He turned his head weakly towards Morgan, trying to stay awake.
He couldn’t fall asleep, not yet…
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By the time Julius woke up, the healers had already left, he glanced down to see bandages wrapped around his hand and fingers, it seems one of the healers had treated the wound while he was out. The smell of medicine flooded his nose, most likely from the cream they applied to combat the poison.
He immediately shuffled over to Morgan’s side and sat down on a stool that had been placed there. His boyfriend’s bloodied clothes had been replaced with clean bandages wrapped around his torso, several bandages were also wrapped around his head. He looked much more relaxed in his sleep.
Julius’s hand clasped over Morgan’s, relief finally flooding his veins as he let himself smile and yet his heart still ached, not from the pain of exhaustion.
No, it was seeing Morgan in this state, he wanted nothing more to see his love open his eyes and call his name.
Still, knowing Morgan was going to be alright put some of his worries at ease, “please wake up soon, my love.” He whispered.
Julius’s head turned to the sound of footsteps arriving at the door, at least where the door used to be. Shez walked though the empty frame, save for a few bandages wrapped around his arm, he seemed rather unharmed, “Hey there’s some food left in the dining hall, do you want to go eat something?” The mercenary asked.
Julius simply turned his attention back to Morgan, “I’m fine.”
“But-“ Shez was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder from Alcryst, the archer simply shook his head, his ruby eyes filled with an understanding of the situation. Shez sighed and left the room.
Alcryst strolled next to Julius and held out a paper bag he’d been holding, “I know you don’t want to Morgan’s side” his teammate said, his other hand reaching to adjust his collar slightly, “but you need to eat, the healers told us you overexerted yourself.”
Julius took the bag from him, “thank you.” He said with a nod, Alcryst gave him a small smile before he turned around and exited the infirmary.
The hours seemed to tick by slowly, the food he’d been given was long gone and he found himself pacing the around the room until he picked up some of the books available from the infirmary, most of it of medical knowledge from other worlds. It kept him occupied for a while.
Still, Julius kept taking his eyes off the books to check up on Morgan, a wave of disappointment washing over him each time he saw the mage didn’t move an inch.
He closed the last book after he finished reading it and set it down with a sigh.
Julius only left Morgan’s side once, only to clean himself off and after that he remained by his boyfriend’s side for the rest of the night.
It was nearly morning when Julius heard the shuffling of blankets and a soft groan as Morgan slowly sat up, he blinked, purple eyes sleepy with confusion.
Julius’s heart fluttered and he immediately wrapped his arms around Morgan in a hug, earning a surprised sound from the mage “I’m so glad you’re awake my love, I was so worried!” He whispered, holding him a little tighter.
“Um..” Morgan didn’t return the hug, instead he grabbed the prince’s shoulders and gently pushed him away. Julius looked at him in slight confusion before his heart nearly stopped as he took in Morgan’s expression.
His eyes were empty of the love they used to convey whenever they saw Julius, instead they were replaced with extreme confusion.
His eyes lacked recognition.
As if Morgan didn’t know who he was…
It couldn’t be, Julius’s heart pounded, his hand unconsciously reaching to clutch his chest as if a spear had pierced it.
He couldn’t block out the next words that Morgan spoke, he didn’t want to hear it, didn’t want it to be true even as the evidence spoke for itself.
“I’m sorry… but who are you?”