Dying Ichor

FIVE

   Although he did think about dying several times before praying to whatever god was listening to preserve his life, Elias honestly didn't think he'd come out alive and perfectly fine.

Right now the male was inside the base of a large camp, resting in a tent and on top of a comfortable sofa. There were even small dishes laid out before him, though they didn't look too appetizing. Still, Elias couldn't complain and actually ate some of the dishes, finding out they were pretty good if he was being honest... even if some were just plain oats.

He even got treated by one of their doctors. His wound from his head wasn't too much to worry about and there wasn't any other injuries Elias held.

So the boy was leisurely enjoying his time by himself when the curtains of the tent abruptly opened and the man who took him strode in. Elias slowly kept on eating his grapes, just watching him nonchalantly take off parts of his armor and toss it away carelessly.

A part of Elias was secretly envious of how much muscle the guy had packed within his arms, and it seemed like he really was built for wars and combat. If Elias wasn't so small and had muscles like him, maybe he wouldn't have to worry about being kidnapped by anyone.

But he no longer grew jealous of that guy once he saw dry blood smeared across his knuckles and arms. Elias slowly moved back against the sofa and wanted to pretend like the man wasn't even there, but then he suddenly began to talk.

"Have you gotten treated yet?" His tone was rather coarse and brusque.

"Just a bit..."

"Did you get burned?" The man took off his cape. He threw it away inattentively.

"No, I'm alright."

"You ain't lying, kid?"

"I'm no child," Elias clicked his tongue. "I'm eighteen-"

"And yet your height is of a ten year old," the man cut him off with a rude chuckle before finally taking off his helmet. "Sit up and let me check."

"No, really, I'm not hurt."

Elias wasn't given much of an option when the man gave a sideways glance, peering down at him with ruthless eyes. He immediately complied and sat straight up on the sofa, praying he wouldn't offend the man further.

Since he trained his eyes on the ground, he didn't dare to look up directly at the male's face and heard him just inching closer with heavy footsteps. As he propped himself down on one knee, Elias saw from the corner of his eyes the man grabbed what looked like a small cup.

"Sorry about this. The rest of the physicians are taking care of my men. I'm no doctor, but you're safe with me."

"It's not like I'm dying, I'm fine."

"Sure you are. Don't start that shit with me," he bit out. The man reached over and poured some sort of tea inside the cup before roughly handing it over to Elias. "Drink."

"Tea... is medicine?"

"I did tell you I'm no doctor."

Elias dryly replied, "Wow... I feel so safe with you."

"As you should."

He still didn't look up at the man, but he did follow his orders and downed the whole drink in one go while cringing at the taste. It was horrible for Elias.

Seeing his bitter reaction, the man muttered out, "Since you inhaled that smoke from the village, this tea's supposed to help your body or whatever. At least that's what those doctors said."