{Magic Shop} · A BTS Medival Magic AU

#5 Crystals

The swords clashed over the half-elf and Namjoon pulled the boy away from the fight. He'd stayed silent while Jin had made the deal, mainly because he didn't have a better idea than what Jin had suggested. He better not mess up this one time I let him do what he wants, he thought as he tried to prop the half-elf up against a tree. Namjoon glanced around to see Jin matching every one of the man's wilder slashes and stabs with his practised moves. The prince had the advantage of knowing good rules to sword combat, but the rogue had the lawless freedom to his advantage. He returned to the injured boy and started tending to his wound, managing to remove the arrow and ripping off of one of the sleeves of the boy's white shirt as a bandage. But it was soaking up blood fast and Namjoon knew that if he was going to have a chance of survival, they needed to find him help soon. In the second that he looked back, Jin managed to send the rogue's sword flying into a nearby bush and held him at swordpoint.

"Well fought, for a princess.", the defeated sneered, "now pass over the gold piece before I decide to ignore your precious sense of moral and honesty."

"Defeated and a sword at your neck and you still insist on being rude and arrogant?"

"I can tell you're not the kind to kill without orders. Now, do you want your deal or not?"

"Joon." Jin gestured for the knight to take his place and Namjoon followed hastily. He pulled his sword and stared into the man's dark eyes. 

"What a good boy, doing as his oh-so-royal princess says. How does it feel? The honour? The knowledge that you're doing God's work?"

"You're right, we wouldn't kill without orders, but making fun of the royal family does count as treason and is a perfectly good reason to kill you.", Namjoon warned, raising an eyebrow. The man made a face at him but stayed quiet.

A moment later, Jin appeared beside him with a pouch and handed the rogue a gold piece. "Go.", he ordered and for a moment it looked like the man was going to give off another one of his snarky remarks, but decided against it and stalked off with a last glance at the catch he had to leave behind. The two watched him disappear into the forest before exchanging a glance and then turning to the elf-boy. Namjoon crouched down next to him and carefully moved his arms underneath him. Jin bent over to help him by holding the boy's head and arms as the knight slowly lifted him. Groaning, the boy tried to twist himself away from Namjoon, but he held him securely and Jin tried to reassure the injured. "Hey, we're here to help! Calm down! It's alright! You'll be fine."

The half-elf opened his eyes and tried to focus on the prince. 

"Is there anywhere we can take you? Any place we can get help?", Namjoon asked.

After a moment of hesitation, he muttered, "There's a house... In the woods..."

"Do you think you can lead us there?"

"... Yeah...", he said quietly and slowly turned his head towards the deeper bit of the forest, further right from where the rogue had disappeared to, "That way, across the stream."

Leaving their horses, since the undergrowth seemed too difficult to get through with them, Namjoon and Jin set off in the direction the boy had pointed in. In the lead, Jin cleared the path from branches for his friend carrying the injured half-elf who kept slipping in and out of consciousness. When they reached the river, they decided to stop and wash his wounds. Apart from groaning and twitching, there was close to no complaint although the water was icy. "He's lost a lot of blood.", Namjoon commented, "I hope the place we're headed has medical supplies."

But when they finally reached a small clearing that seemed the perfect place for a house in the woods, there was nothing but green. It was like Namjoon almost sensed that there was something there, just out of sight, but when he looked closely, there was nothing there. Jin looked around in the same confusion and frustration, before sighing, "Come on, let's head back. I could stay with him outside the town wall and you could fetch some supplies. Say it's for an injured trainee." Just as they gave up and turned to leave, Namjoon glanced back to look at some colour that caught his eye and there it was. An overgrown house that looked like it was held together by plants only. "Jin, look!"

"But- how did we not see that?" Namjoon was asking himself the same thing as he stared at it. They simply hadn't noticed. A groan from the half-elf reminded him of why they wanted to find it in the first place. "Come on then."

As they approached the cottage, a strong smell drifted towards them. A mixture of herbs and smoke maybe. Could be a magic-user's home... It made sense for an elf to know other minorities. Jin knocked and a few moments later a young man in farmer's clothes opened the door. "How can I-" His eyes widened when he saw the person they were carrying. "Jimin! What happened? Come, bring him inside!"