Much to Wylen's relief, the cave was completely devoid of any harmful beast. After he carefully scrutinized the interior of the hollow, he made sure there wouldn’t be any surprises to intrude on them when nightfall came. So, with that, he put away his arrow and paced back to the mouth of the stone grotto.

His eyes fell straight to Jaelan and quickly accessed the wellness of his companion. Although standing at his full height, the pale warrior was leaning heavily upon the mountain’s rocky side. His lips trembled along with his chattering teeth as rain and wind barreled into him from the side. Regal as he once was, there was no denying it now. When sickness plagues a man, almost nothing could obscure it.

Still, Jaelan kept a firm grip on his sword and jerked to attention when he caught sight of Wylen. Upon seeing the taller warrior give the signal that all was well and good, Jaelan expressively sighed in relief and stepped forwards.

After Jaelan sheathed his sword, he entered the cave and cringed when the sound of their collective footfalls created an unholy echo inside the grotto’s walls.

“There is some dry wood here.” Wylen motioned to a few small logs made visible by the light that penetrated through the cave’s entrance. Someone must have stashed them here previously. “I’m going to go try and find some more kindling we can use.”

Jaelan nodded as he looked to the measly supply of firewood. This wouldn’t serve to keep them warm for very long.

In this downpour however, it would be even more tasking to find something of use. After all, starting a fire from wet tinder was tedious in and of itself.

“Mn, I’ll come too.”

Wylen whirled around. His eyes flashed with surprise and a hint of irritation. “Jaelan.”

“I’m fine.” The shivering man grunted as he swiped a damp and clammy palm across his forehead. “We need to find usable kindling before it grows dark.”

“I can do that just fine.” Wylen said shortly. “There is no way in hell I’m letting you go back out there in the condition you’re in.”

“Wyl—”

“I’m going.” Tersely Wylen turned around and removed his pack. He dropped it on the ground before shaking some of the water out of his drenched hair. “You try getting a fire started with the supplies we have here.” And before Jaelan could even draw in breath to start an objection, the warrior was treading out of the cave.

Wylen inwardly shivered as he stepped into the watery onslaught, fingers almost numb with cold as he turned his head in the direction of the thick forest. Determined, he brushed his running nose with the back of his hand and fixated on his path. Careful of where he stepped, Wylen returned back to the wood and began vigorously searching for any dead trees in his immediate circumference. His eyes scanned through the vicious torrent as the wind whipped through the canopy above. The green foliage shivered upon the elongated branches as they were speared mercilessly by the piercing rain.

 Cursing under his breath Wylen wiped at his face, cold and wet. Only after a good ten minutes of surveying the dense wood did he find a dried sapling, naked and bare. Eagerly he dashed toward it and hurriedly begun to break off twigs that weren’t in contact with the ground. He applied strength to his arms and grit his teeth when the rough bark dug into his palm. Nonetheless he added more pressure, twisting the obstinate branches until he was able to completely detach them from the rotting limbs of the tree. 

After he accumulated as much as he could from the dead birch, Wylen turned his attention to the live ones, evaluating them with an expert eye. With his precious cargo tucked under his arm he marched toward his next target.

Resolute, he got to work.

Immediately he went for the branches closest to the trunk and lowest to the ground, knowing they would be the driest. Bending over he reached for the knife in his boot, then brought it to the live branches and began cutting. He grimaced as one particular wind pressed into him from the back, nearly plastering his front to the tree trunk. Only after he dug his heels into the drenched soil was he able to battle against the onslaught and get back to hacking away at the branch.

Back in the cave, Jaelan was working as quickly as he could at creating a bed for the fire to get started on. After rummaging a bit near the feeble pile of logs, he found a small bundle of twigs held together by a ratty cloth. Thankful for even that small token, he got out his own knife and began peeling the twigs in efforts to expose more surface area and get the fire started faster.

As he worked the knife over the dried sticks, he tried to keep his focus. His fingers trembled. More than once he found himself having quite the close encounter with the sharpened end of the blade. However, Jaelan was stubborn and kept to his task, disregarding the pounding in his head that seemed to grow in intensity with every passing minute and the dizziness that would assail him with any quick movement.

Luckily though he had managed to finish off the bed for the fire by the time Wylen returned.

As soon as Jaelan saw him he jumped to hit feet only to regret it a split second later as a wave of lightheadedness hit him full force. Unable to keep his balance, he hurriedly grasped for the rocky wall and steadied himself.

“Jaelan!” Wylen rushed forward and threw his toiled work to the ground without a second’s thought. He reached for the shorter warrior, “Are you alright?”

Wordlessly Jaelan nodded as Wylen's arms came to support him. When he was sure of his footing, he pushed the other away and pointed to the fire.

“W-Wylen…s-start it p-please.” He stumbled and then tried to sit.

Like a hawk Wylen swooped to him again, lowering Jaelan until he was sitting as comfortably as he could.

What was probably just a minute felt like a full-blown hour to Wylen as he watched Jaelan try and get a grip on himself. Even though the lighting was poor inside the grotto, he was positive that the smaller man’s usually healthy ivory skin had lost its luster and turned to a sickly pallor. Worried he remained still, watching as Jaelan pressed his palm to his forehead.

“I’m alright.” Jaelan whispered with his eyes closed.

“You don’t look it.”

“Fire…p-please…”

Reminded of the task that still needed completing, Wylen jumped to work. His already numb fingers dug into the wood as he assembled the rest of the kindling. Out of one corner of his eye he watched Jaelan. Apprehension grew at seeing the soaked warrior lean hazardously forwards. A fear he had never felt before took captive of his heart. Anxiously he worked to start the fire, ignoring his own chill and the cold from the wet tunic and pants.

All he could think about was how poorly the other was fairing. It was a stark contrast to what he was used to. Even more so, it was an incredible divergent from the Jaelan from only a couple hours prior.

When he managed to get a flame started, Wylen wiped at his face and turned to Jaelan only to find the pale warrior slumped against the cave wall.

In alarm Wylen reached for him. “Jaelan!”

The other didn’t answer.

Fearfully Wylen gazed into Jaelan’s face, noting the other’s eyes were closed. Hurriedly he maneuvered around the unconscious warrior and held his head steady as he brought his lips to Jaelan’s forehead.

Hot.

“Argh!”

More concerned than before, Wylen hurriedly begun to tug on Jaelan’s clothes knowing it was pertinent to devoid the unconscious warrior of them. The soaked through fabric would only worsen the smaller man’s condition and in their situation, it might prove to be even fatal. Wylen wasn’t a master of medicine nor was he an expert on Jaelan’s race. He didn’t know how serious something like this was for the half god, but all he knew was that a fever such as this had claimed more lives than he could count in his own clan.

Anxious he threw off Jaelan’s boots and tossed them to the side before attacking the trousers stuck to the warrior’s small waist. The skin his fingers skimmed over was cold to the touch and that only made Wylen's worry grow. If he was able to feel the cold off Jaelan’s body, it meant that the warrior’s body temperature had dropped far below his own.

He needed to get Jaelan warm immediately.

Quickly he peeled off Jaelan’s shirt and threw it to the side, not stopping until the young warrior lay completely naked. When he was through, he hurriedly begun to remove his own clothes. It wouldn’t do if both of them fell to fever.

Upon discarding the last of his garments, Wylen rubbed his biceps. His fingers trailed over his tattoo before he turned back to Jaelan and hurriedly gathered him into his arms. Then carefully he maneuvered them closer to the fire, making sure Jaelan’s body was exposed to the radiating warmth as much as possible. Naked and clammy, he held the other close and gently tucked the long sable locks of wet hair behind Jaelan’s ears.

Even in sickness Jaelan was something truly amazing to behold. It was as if a skilled painter had somehow managed to make his masterpiece come to life. The amber glow from the fire only served to highlight the warrior’s exquisite features. For what might have been the hundredth time since he knew him, Wylen found himself completely captivated by Jaelan’s mouth. Without any conscious thought his fingers reached over and ran alongside the bottom of the man’s lip, feeling the smooth texture along the pad of his thumb.

“Jae…” He mumbled aloud, almost as if entranced. “…Jaelan…”

Shadows played on the grotto’s rocky walls as Wylen leaned down and pressed his cheek against Jaelan’s face, inhaling the same ghost of air as the other. Even in a condition such as this, his heart fluttered as if it had wings. He swallowed thickly and allowed his fingers to trail down from Jaelan’s mouth down to his throat and then further to his chest. Gently he pressed his palm to where the smaller man’s heart resided. Then he concentrated hard and tried to focus in on the rhythmic beat. After a minute or so a small smile flickered across his face as he felt the faint thrum of the other’s heart. Pleased, he moved his hand to Jaelan’s waist and tightened his hold on the unconscious warrior, finally allowing himself to drift off to sleep.

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