In Exchange for Magic

Ez didn't stir for the rest of the day. Nor for any part of the next. It was on the third day that he started shivering. His cheeks took on a blue-ish tinge, and his nose turned icy red.

He'd chopped up all of our white blankets and even our tent, so I began to panic. I pulled out the only colored blanket we had, a thin red one, and wrapped it around the both of us.

I tried to warm him up by running my hands up and down his arms, but his teeth just kept chattering.

I wasn't truly scared until he came around to delirium.

"Rose," he was able to choke out.
"What?" I asked him, breathing on his hands.
He opened his eyes. They were unfocused and reeling. He didn't look at me when he spoke.

"Rose," he said again.
I bit back tears. "What, Ez?"
"Rose, I'm going to die."
"Shut up!" I yelled and began rubbing my hands on his arms again. "Just shut up and get warm."
"We're going to die," he said, a blank hopelessness on his face. "We can't make it all the way... There's bound to be something stronger than us..."
"You're not making any sense!" I snapped. "If you're not going to say something valuable, then you can keep your depressions to yourself!"

He rolled over and placed his forehead on my shoulder. I scooted close to him and wrapped my arms around his tense body. I hugged him tighter, until the shaking slowed.

"Ez... You warm?" I asked.
No reply.
"Hey, Ez, do you feel better?"
Silence.

I lifted his eyelid.

He was out again.

-_-_-_-

It wasn't until the fourth day of his sickness, and the seventh of our journey, that his eyes fluttered open and were lucid.

"Woah..." he muttered. "Trippy."

I had been lying on his bare chest, sleeping, for the better part of the last two days. I could have used a pillow, but I was mourning. I was mourning the death of Ez's perfectly smooth chest. When the Healer girl had said that she wasn't very strong yet, she was right.

Three jagged scars ran from Ez's right collar bone to the bottom of his left pectoral muscle. They were already smoothed over, and I could tell that they were permanent.

"Good morning," I greeted him, propping my elbows up on top of his scars.
He winced. "That hurts."

I quickly got up off of him, apologizing.

He squinted up at the sky and tried to get up, but found that the movement caused him pain. He gasped slightly and slowly lowered himself back onto his bed.

"I've been imp-ified," he mumbled, still shaking off the grogginess.
"Oh, god," I moaned. "You're still high."
"What?" he asked, confused. "I'm not high!"
"Well... Do you remember anything?"
"No...?"
"Okay, I'll give you a little hint. Does ripping up everything white within our entire camp, taking off your pants, and making snow angels sound familiar?"

"Slightly."

I sighed.

"Did I mention something about being Happy Plodder?" he asked casually.
"Who?"
"Happy Plodder. The wizard from those books that you-"
"Harry Potter, Ez. Harry Potter."
"Right. Was I yelling about being him? With a wand and everything?"
"No..."
"Oh. Okay, that part was a dream, then."

He squeezed his eyes shut against the sun.

"How long have I been out?" he asked, his eyes still closed.
"Four days."
"Shit," he sighed.

"Don't say that," I scolded. "It would have been much longer if that Healer hadn't found us."
"Healer?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "Some blonde Healer stumbled upon our clearing. I convinced her to take a look at you... Let me tell you, she wasn't too happy with the fact that you were a Half-Breed, but I made her help you."
"You let her find out that I was a-"
"No!" I cried, insulted. "I'm not stupid! The second she touched you... She just knew it."
"She was an elf!" he breathed, more excited than he should have been.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Brilliant!" he shouted. "A real elf! A full-blooded elf! Oh man, I wish I'd been conscious!"

I scowled.
"Well, for your information, she didn't do a very good job of healing you. Look! You've got monster-sized scars all over your chest!"

He looked down at himself and immediately gasped. His face fell slack. He looked up at me in astonishment, and then back to his scars. He slowly lifted a hand and ran a finger down the middle one.

"Oh..." I said, not expecting the reaction I got. "Well... They... They don't look too bad..."

"YES!" Ez suddenly shouted, punching the air with his fists.
"What?"
"Yes!" he laughed. "Yes, yes, yes!"
"What is the matter with you?"
"Battle scars!" he squealed in excitement. "Oh man, they look so cool!"

I rolled my eyes.

Boys!