The Dark Forest

8

TW: claustrophobia, a lot of  pain, injuries, and scars (Virgil isn't Gucci, fam)

"..-man... wa-.." a muffled voice shouted.

Virgil whimpered as he woke up before he could even register the pain he was in. He tried to move but something very heavy was on him.

The first thing he felt was something laying uncomfortably on his wing, then that uncomfortable feeling turned into white hot pain. Virgil felt like throwing up as he tried to move, panic setting in.

He was stuck, he was trapped! He was going to suffocate and die! Everything hurt and he couldn't move at all. Was this really how he was going to die?

He tried to breath but something was pressing into his ribs, something hard and very solid. Whatever it was, it must have broken his ribs because his chest was on fire. Actually, everything hurt in different ways. If it wasn't burning pain, it was aching.

"He-... hel-lp," he cried out weakly. "Pl-ple-ase... m-mom... Jan-nus..."

"-ver... -ere!" another voice shouted, but Virgil could barely make out what they were saying over the ringing in his ears.

He felt his eyes closing again just as light started to enter his vision. He felt the pressure on him slowly being relieved. He tried to breathe but he kept choking on the pain and coughing in response.

He saw the silhouette of someone digging him out of the rubble just before his eyes closed completely and he was once again consumed by darkness.

~~~

Logan poked at the fire to keep it burning. He glanced over at the half dead dragon witch that Roman had insisted to save. Although Logan didn't want the kid to die, he was going to be dead weight.

They were hiding out in a cave for the night, Roman and Patton had already fallen asleep. Before they did, they tended to Virgil's injuries and laid him on his side so he could rest.

They need to get home, but Roman wants to find and save his brother. Remus was in the fairy world now, there was no way they would be able to save him! The kingdom would be saddened by the news, but they had to leave him behind. Otherwise none of them will be able to return.

The second the fight was over, Roman decided to head back to the tower to ask for help or advice. They had argued about it for a long time, before there was a very loud crash. It came from the direction of the tower, and Roman started to run back before Logan could stop him.

By the time they got there, it was almost dark. But they all saw the fairy ring that was in front of what used to be the tower. Everything was destroyed, the tower had crumbled and destroyed the garden.

Logan didn't think anyone was there, but Roman ran into the carnage to look for any survivors. He had heard someone crying out softly and in no time Roman found the young dragon witch from before.

Patton and Logan helped dig him out and Roman pulled him out. Logan would be lying if he said he wasn't concerned for the kid, he was covered in all kinds of injuries. Luckily, he seemed to only be in shock and Logan knows how to treat that.

They grabbed the bag he seemed to be holding and Roman carried him away from the rubble.

And now Virgil was across from Logan, still unconscious. The knight grimaced as he looked over the injuries for the hundredth time.

The dragon witch's right wing was broken, it took awhile to figure out how to wrap that, but Logan figured out that he could wrap it the way you would wrap a bird's broken wing.

Then there was his left horn, it had broken off, mostly likely from something falling on his head. It was a good thing he had horns, otherwise his skull would have been cracked or worse.

Those two injuries were concerning by themselves, but then there were the broken ribs, several gashes, and some fractures that Logan had wrapped up in splints. Luckily, one of the bags Virgil was holding had plenty of first aid to do this.

The injuries were bad enough, but none of them were blind to the scars that littered his back and arms. They were old and faded, but Logan was familiar with scars and a lot were caused by blades or whips. There was a silent agreement that they wouldn't ask.

At first sight, he seemed in bad shape, but he was actually lucky. It could have been far worse or he could have already died. He only had a fractured fibula and some sprained fingers, he could have been completely crushed.

Logan winced in sympathy when he heard Virgil whimper in pain.

Virgil's fingers twitched as he finally woke up. He groaned when the pain hit him in waves. He tried to push himself up to figure out where he was and what had happened, but he could only push himself onto his elbows.

He saw something moving in the corner of his eye and looked over to see one of the humans from earlier. He froze as the human slowly walked over, carrying what seemed to be a canteen.

"Easy, I just have some water for you, can you sit up?" he asked softly, kneeling down in front of Virgil.

Virgil opened his mouth but whatever he was going to say got stuck in his throat. Instead, he just tried to slowly sit up again. He was able to get himself up by leaning on a stalagmite.

Logan handed him the canteen when he was at least upright and Virgil sniffed its contents before drinking from it. He finished it in no time and he realized just how dehydrated he was.

"What happened?" he asked with a raspy voice.

"I'm not entirely sure, are you feeling okay?" Logan inquired.

"I- no I... everything hurts." The cave was spinning, making Virgil nauseous. If only everything would just stay still! His arms were shaking from holding himself up and Virgil had to lay back down. He curled up and whimpered as the pain crashed into him. "My head hurts..."

"That makes sense, your ah... your horn broke off."

"What?" Virgil reached up to where the pain was centered. Sure enough, he felt the empty space where his horn used to be. "Oh god," he sobbed.

"I'm..." Logan sighed, not knowing what to do. "I'm sorry. We don't have any medicine to help with the pain." He looked outside of the cave. "It's still dark outside, you should rest some more. We'll worry about everything else in the morning"

Virgil didn't respond, he just curled up tighter. He could barely even think, everything was foggy and confusing. It was hard to breathe and even harder to stay awake. Guess he was just going to have to put his safety in these human's hands.

Logan frowned as he watched Virgil fall back asleep. He sighed again and took Virgil's cloak that they had taken off and put it on top of him to keep him warm.

Any harsh feelings Logan had towards Virgil before disappeared. He wasn't a dangerous creature that Logan was led to believe, he was just a boy. A boy who lost his family and home on the same day.