Prince of Blood

14. Hurry Up Now

The whole crew was incredibly worried about Yeosang. He had not regained consciousness yet, but he had started breathing heavily as if he was running a fever. All of them had had fevers before; they were all aware of how long it took to develop one. Yeosang's condition was bad enough that he showed symptoms still, and Seonghwa desperately hoped that Yunho would wake up to help them with it soon. Their little knowledge of wounds could only help to an extent.

They had patched up Seonghwa to the best of their ability, too. He was by now wearing the clothes of his umbra that Woyooung had taken before killing him, and a makeshift bandage wrapped around his back, hips, and arm. They had gotten rid of the knife and stopped the blood flow with fabric, but it was not a permanent solution. He felt anything but good and was climbing the slowest out of all of them, having to stop from time to time to rest his aching back. The dark spots of unconsciousness that were dancing in front of his eyes had yet to leave him alone, too.

It took them far longer to climb down the black rocks than it had taken them to get on the mountain in the first place, and it made them all anxious. Sweat was making Yeosang's skin clammy, and his face was as white as a sheet, showing his blue veins underneath.

One time, Seonghwa lost his footing on the high cliff that made him nauseous now that he barely had control over his mind. His arms nearly slipped off, unable to catch his fall as pain shot through the left one at the sudden jerk his weight forced on it.

Hongjoong had been fast, reacting by swinging his arm over and pressing Seonghwa down against the rock until he regained his balance. At Seonghwa's thankful glance, the captain had merely nodded tensely.

Seonghwa had yet to ask around for the true extent of their injuries. He saw that each and everyone had at least one wound they were working around, but that was all he knew. All of them stayed strong to help Yeosang, though, so he presumed they were in similar states like he was.

Jongho had been gritting his teeth all through the journey downwards. Yeosang's weight on his back seemed to bother him less than the implications that their navigator might die if they did not hurry. He seemed hell-bent on saving his boyfriend.

By the time they finally reached the part of the cliff that was a grassy hill rather than blank rock to climb on, they all stumbled down the grass with little grace.

If anything attacked them now, they would be done for. There was nothing more to do in case that happened. They were too weak, too distracted to even watch out for their surroundings.

Thus, they half ran, half fell the way over to the forest. The night was settling around them as they fled, bringing the same eerie spookiness like the day, but with even less light to guide their way. Thick clouds took all the light away and trapped them with the cold air.

They were lucky that Yeosang had not led them via the stars but orientated himself on the mountain chain. They just had to follow it, and indeed, soon their forest came back into sight.

Seonghwa wondered in the back of his head if anything that would attack them was left in this plane. Clearly, there were more demons, just like Seungyoun, that did not care to show themselves. However, since their deed was done, he presumed them to be relatively safe in the dark now.

Still, he would not test their luck. They ran right into the forest, seeking shelter and setting down their wounded friends on the ground so they all could catch a break. Seonghwa collapsed on the floor immediately, breathing flatly around the stabbing pain in his body.

"Wooyoung, start a fire. Everyone, check yer own injuries an' 'elp each other with 'em. San, I need one o' yer knives." Hongjoong was helping Jongho to get Yeosang on the ground in a comfortable position that did not strain his arm. Jongho remained seated next to them for a second, pushing back his sticky hair as he allowed himself a break. His eyes met Seonghwa's fleetingly, sharing his open pain and fear with him.