The underbrush scraped Arslans shins. A sharp stick had already torn a hole in his trousers, and now with every step he was acquiring scratches. One in particular was quite deep, and Arslan had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out when he got it.
"Damn it, Elam." He muttered under his breath as he pulled his cloak further around his shoulders. Night had truly fallen, and Arslan was beginning to feel the air cool around him.
The sound of a twig breaking made him jump. "Hello?" He called out softly. "Elam?" He got no answer. "Daryun?" He tried again.
The quiet sound of heavy breathing made him fearful that he was being watched. He pulled his sword out, adjusting his grip and preparing to attack at any moment. Pushing the brush ahead of him to the side, moving forward towards the sound.
There was no attacker waiting to ambush the prince as Arslan had imagined.
"Elam!" Arslan cried. The boy was leaning up against a tree. His eyes were closed and his breathing ragged. Arslan rushed to his side. Up close, Elam looked terrible, his skin unnaturally pale and shimmering with a cold sweat.
"Elam?" Arslan tried to wake him up by gently shaking his shoulder. "Come on, Elam. Wake up."
Elam showed no signs of rousing soon. Arslan put his hand on Elam's forehead. He didn't know much about medicine and the human body, but he knew that Elam should not have been that hot.
"Damn it." Arslan said. He lifted Elam onto his shoulder, half carrying, half dragging the poor boy. Straining his eyes in the dark, he tried to find the way he came to get back to camp.
Arslan trudged through the forest with Elam, praying that he would make it back to camp soon.
He could feel Elam beginning to regain consciousness, the boy stirring and muttering nonsense on his shoulder. He stopped and rested Elam against the tree.
"Hey." Arslan said quietly. "How are you feeling?"
Elam opened his eyes a crack. "Arslan?" Arslan winced. It sounded like it was taking all of Elam's strength to talk. "What 're you doin' here? Told you- don' need help."
Arslan swallowed the lump in his throat and forced out a small chuckle. "You got lost. Everyone is out looking for you."
" 'm not lost. Jus' felt tired, so I- sat down."
"You've been gone for hours. Narsus is worried about you." Arslan told him.
"He is?" Elam seemed to perk up a little at that.
"Yes, and we need to get you back to the camp, you're ill."
"Okay." Elam pushed against the tree in an attempt to stand up, getting only a few inches off the ground before falling down.
"Here, let me help you." Arslan lifted Elam back onto his shoulder, and for once Elam didn't argue. He didn't have the strength.
"Do you know the way back to camp?" Elam asked as they began their trek.
'I'm not sure." Arslan admitted. "We've already gone a lot further than we should have."
"So we're lost."
"Says the one who passed out in the woods."
Elam laughed. "It's just a little cold that got slightly out of hand, I've had it for a few days. Besides, I've had much worse."
"Why didn't you tell anyone you were sick?"
"What good would it do? Everyone else was busy too. What is it to anyone else is a servant happens to catch a small cold?"
Arslan sighed. "You should have told me. I would have helped more. I care if one of my companions is too unwell to function."
Elam gave a small sigh and stayed quiet, not wanting to continue the conversation. Arslan continued to carry Elam, pretending not to notice that Elam was pretending to be asleep.