Chapter Text
The aftermath of the fight had left Madeleine shaken. He still grinned brightly and laughed loudly, and confidently! But he just felt off. Worried and concerned after seeing the power that the forces of darkness truly held. Yes, they had been able to defeat the cake witch but he had fallen in the process. He hadn't been the only defense on the team but it was trifling that he, blessed by the divine light, had been swallowed whole so easily.
He shuddered and pulled from his murky thoughts when he felt the odd look being sent his way, turning and offering his signature wolfish grin to the other male. Apparently that was offensive seeing how Espresso's look dropped from something of consideration to flat annoyance.
"You were thinking for a while, I could see the smoke coming from your poor overworked brain." Espresso crossed his arms as if waiting for an answer to his jab at the knight. "Surrounded by all these books must be troubling for you hm?" He levitated one of the scattered remnants from their recent fight and began nonchalantly flipping through it.
Madeleine tossed his hair with a flourish, the sparkles visible from his excited magic reacting. "Hah! No need to fret my dear friend. Simply plotting our next move, I am a commander after all!" With that exclamation his torn cape bellowed out behind him dramatically.
It was certainly a foolish use of magic but he simply couldn't help it. When he felt happy or confident he got all floaty, his cape and hair would be the first to go up and then sometimes the rest of him. It made him curious how Espresso had such good control over his own hovering and how he could seem to will it to anything he wanted.
The dramatic boasting and display made the other cookie look downright disgusted at the blatant use of light magic for non combat reasons near him and quickly shut the book, discarding it to a shelf.
"Yes, well you need not plot for long. Come along now and take the front." He already turned on his heel and left further into the ruined kingdom as he expected Madeleine wouldn't take long to get back on the front lines. The blonde fool was shorter and in heavy armor but could still make decent pace.
Waves upon waves of still animated books being shredded through or burnt and ground to pieces. It felt never ending as they ventured through the winding halls and past collapsed walls.
His cape sustained a few more tears but his shields took the brunt of any damage. Unsurprisingly his hair was unscathed despite being left untamed in the middle of battle. One shield down. Three claws scraped into his armor.
Heat burnt against his side as Espresso pulled the raging book away with his magic and grinded it into nothing but tattered paper. "Hm. How the mighty have fallen." Madeleine looked away at that, shame raking across his innards as he shook off.
"But I have protected you!" He put a glove to his chest haughtily despite the stinging sitting in there. Was it shame still or an actual wound?
Espresso only rolled his auburn eyes and began to take stock of the area as the knight took a moment to collect himself. It had been non-stop fighting. One would think that after chasing Dark Enchantress from this place that the magic tainting it would fade but no.
He drank a bit more milk and shuddered again before capping his supply and turning to the hall they just came from, tuning in to the noises he heard far down it. Scratching, scrambling, mad whispers and gnawing. As much as he would normally want to hold his ground he knew better as a strategist. He was the front line and if he went down then so would the mage behind him. If he had a whole team it would be a different story.
"Let us depart, I hear another horde on our trail." He took note of the confused expression on the males face as he passed and winced internally, hoping he would not bring it up.
Of course the coffee mage brought it up. "I don't hear anything. You didn't actually fry your brain did you?" His barbed words kept getting stuck in the knights armor which he took care in mentally picking out. He was soft and squishy under that armor so he always wore it no matter who he spoke to, expected some insult to hurl at him like an attack. Instead of shrinking away like a crab into its shell he also had a shield. Yes Madeleine was very prepared for any verbal harm slung his way. No one had managed to peel off his armor. Not even himself.
He laughed for a shorter time than he usually did and raised his sword in the air, the blade gleaming despite its less than perfect state. "Onwards!"
"You didn't actually answer me." Espresso griped under his breath where no one could hear it. Which would be the case for anyone but Madeleine.
Still they pressed on, another shield crumbling in half from taking the brunt of a magic attack. He swept the two halves up in an arc of momentum and magic and hurled them into the raging creature. His mage friend sending out another grinding attack and shredding half of the enemy and his thrown shield chunks.
He was exhausted. Madeleine could tell Espresso was getting pretty burnt out too. Yet still he staggered onwards. At this point there was nothing they could do but continue forwards in the hopes of a safe place. They would be crumbled to bits if they turned back and fought the waves behind them. He could barely hear them now though. Must've pushed pretty far forward or lost it somehow.
The knight used a shield to prop himself up and help relieve him of some of his armor's weight, panting from stress and the climbing strain on himself. He could tell from the corner of his eye that the dark magic user looked worried and wasn't bothering with hiding it right now. Madeleine must look pretty bad right now huh? Well he said he was going to protect the other and that meant from bad feelings too.
"Haha..!" He laughed and breathed harshly afterwards. Didn't seem to soothe the others' worry but only added annoyance to it. "Another battle won." Trying to even out his breathing to something less troublesome now. "We are getting close." Any words he could say to free up some stress from the mage. Espresso didn't need to focus on him, he needed to focus on the magic suffused throughout this place.
Heh..not focused on him for once. Yes he was feeling terrible and while usually he'd soak up attention this failure of his brought more and more shame into him. Didn't want the other to possibly peek past his shield and armor and see the writhing ball of hurt he was becoming today. Emotionally that is. He was very clearly hurt physically but that was easy enough to shrug off and limp through. One didn't become the knights commander from crying over paper cuts after all!
"Perhaps we should rest. You've been getting less effective the more we continue." The mage huffed as the blonde pouted at him and shook his head.
"We shall continue. It is only down the hall that the battle took place. Then we can rest as we search." He was not waiting around to fight some more. Not when they were this close to possible answers to how strong Dark Enchantress truly was.
This earned him a deep sigh and a shrug. "I suppose your foolishness cannot be helped. Fine. Come along then since you are so eager to run to your death." Another hard eye roll that he tried to not take personally as he pushed past the other skinnier cookie.
Enough of this. He was tired and didn't want to spare any breath jousting with the coffee mage verbally. A scoff came from behind him but judging by the steps Espresso was following. Good. They didn't have much time. Or they did. Hard to listen in when his hearing wouldn't stop focusing on the dark magic user and the rush of his own blood.
His heart rate further picked up as they entered the previous battle field, the wall torn apart overlooking a steep drop into clouds below. A wondrous view now that there was no giant cake witch or evil clouding the land. Didn't mean any of this soothed him. In fact it made him all the more anxious that the sky would turn red and those giant claws would pull the broken beast back up.
"Hm..ah, yes. I do sense some odd remnants of magic here." Was the most he could pick up before the other devolved into mumbles or silence as he examined the room. Madeleine also picked up on the feeling of remnant magic. It made his skin prickle and his hair bristle from the knot ridden mane it was currently. Pressure built in his throat and chest rapidly but he swallowed it down thickly due to the company he held.
Well suppose he could search for clues too and not stand around as an anxious mess. The paintings were melting and ruined, the rug seared and clawed to bits. Pillars crumbled and left him a bit more concerned over the ceiling's stability with each broken one he saw.
All of this leading up to the mess of malice front and center. The blown apart wall where the beast and its master had raged. Beams of dark magic had taken bits of the floor and far wall out, his fists clenching tighter as he strode past the place he had fallen once before.
He dared not speak with the pressure strangling him from the inside out as he went to the apex of hate. Ruined bricks crumbled underneath his feet as he stood on the edge and looked out. Then down. Wretched creature had apparently fallen from here after it was slain.
His heart jumped and clogged his throat further when he heard scuffing behind him and whipped his head around to take in the scene. Just the coffee mage meandering closer as he no doubt also felt the strong magic here.
It made him calm a smidgen as the other didn't seem to have as adverse a reaction as he was. Perhaps due to him also being a light magic user in addition to being felled here. It gave him hope that Espresso would be able to see past the hate festering here and be able to find a way to stop the reaction here. Whatever type of magic they used was known to be corruptive.
That thought made him frown a bit. Corruptive huh? And Espresso was more open to dark magic. Best to keep a close eye on his friend from now on.
He paused and grew more upset as he watched the taller male pick around the place. He shouldn't be doubting his friend. Espresso was indeed harsh at times but had never gone out of his way to hurt Madeleine. Sure a few insults had wormed underneath his armor and actually struck him but that was no cause to not trust him when it came to battle.
Madeleine gave his head another shake, hair lashing about from the movements and getting even messier. He was a wreck huh? It caused Espresso to look up at him and snort after taking stock of the knight. Never had seen him so messy before.
He took his own stock of the coffee mage right back. Espresso was less damaged but his cloak still suffered some tears. His glasses were fully intact thankfully and just dusty, his hair was very out of place though. Gone from the usual style he put it in, white strands melding into the brown and black. The mage looked alert and awake though. Good.
The pale cookie gave a flash of a smile and made a show of tossing his rumpled mane again into a cocky pose, eliciting an eye roll as he turned back to the scorch marks he was currently investigating. Madeleine must have made a very good liar for the other not to see the way his whole body ached or his smile strained at the edges. How his eyes screamed his worry and fear. Then again the contacts might be hiding all of that.
They were very itchy after being in so long and going through so many dusty battles. He didn't notice the other look back up to him in contemplation as he rubbed at both of his eyes. Gloves were nice and pointy in some places but he wasn't trying to rub too hard. Didn't want to impair his vision more from scooting his contacts around.
His hearing caught it before his blurry eyesight did, the sudden shriek of metal breaking as the door flung open. It assaulted his keen senses and sent his heart into a panic. The mage was in front of him, they were both injured, he wouldn't be fast enough or strong enough to protect him.
The rush of fear seemed to make the world slow and everything came to a terrifying clarity to him. The mage preparing a spell already (so quick witted) and turning to send it towards the door. Gnarled beasts clawing and clambering their way past the door frame to lunge for the two. The way the pressure finally rushed out of him in the form of a deep growl that resonated across the room, his fear fueling the dark magic remnants here and activating them into a dark crackle across the walls and floor.
He could clearly see the way the mages spell turned and instead flew past him. Felt the way his stomach dropped in horror as his cape yanked back and nearly choked him, the heat raking viciously across his back and the sound of his friend's grinding spell growing closer as he slipped.
Madeleine saw the way horror painted itself across the dark doughed males face as he turned to look at the knight, who by now had choked off his growl and looked just as shocked.
He realized in the back of his mind that his feet were no longer on the ground and the blistering heat cut off before his hair alighted on fire. The scent of coffee filled the air and clouds swarmed his vision as he fell.
It passed in a blur, his hair blocking most of his sight as the wind raked past him. His shields took his back as he numbly stared into the clouds and the sun, magic forming a shield on top of his existing ones rapidly.
Espresso had..he was going to die. They were both going to die. Madeleine from the fall and the mage would be mauled to pieces.
Tears blurred his vision as his heart wretched and the wind cut across his eyes, forcing him to shut them. He couldn't hear past the rush of wind but felt cool and wet as he broke past the cloud line.
Kept his eyes shut as the high pitched whistle grew louder, tried to brace mentally.
Madeleine was no fool. He knew the chances of surviving this with all his gear was exceedingly low. Nonexistent even. The impact took away all of his thoughts entertaining even the glimpse of survival.
His breath escaped in a loud rush as his back hit his shields. The magic cracked like poorly made glass, brittle pieces scattering and fading to nothing. His actual shield went next. Cracking and then crumbling into rubble as the next one crunched down on it and then split as well.
Armor that was supposed to protect him dug into his body and tore at it like savage dogs after his flesh. Madeleine couldn't even form a pained breath as the air continued to be sucked out of him. It was blinding, the sheer amount of pain he was in.
＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚
When he woke up to a broken body and crumpled armor he couldn't help but stare up to the uncaring sky. Crows circled and landed near him to peck at the cookie, trying to go for his eyes first. A wheezing growl scared them off for now but not for long.
He sat there at the bottom of the world, shields a broken halo around his useless body, and he wondered. How could he have been so blessed?