Tw: Violence, blood, suicidal thoughts kinda
Madeleine winced as one of Licorice's minions sliced it's sword through the soft fabric covering his upper thigh, piercing his skin. The knight kicked the minion, sending it tumbling into the bushes. Licorice worked on summoning more while Pomegranate healed him.
Latte appeared next to the panting knight commander, eyeing his wounds.
"We really should have brought a healer with us. Will you be alright?" her voice was laced with concern.
Madeleine flipped his glowing sword in his hand, gripping it tightly with an egotistical grin, "They won't stand a chance against the Divine's Light."
Latte gave him a lopsided grin before summoning a latte glyph to take out half of the damage of the cake beasts that had emerged from the forest and decided to aid the cookies of darkness in the attack. She hopped onto her staff, launching herself into the air and catapulting back down to swipe her staff at the cake beasts, finishing them off. She gave a satisfactory smirk, flipping her hair before running off to join Chili Pepper and Rye.
Madeleine shook his head fondly, turning to face Pomegranate who stood tall before him. She raised her mirror, sending waves of a strange scarlet coloured mist in his direction. The knight summoned his shield, deflecting the attack. Pomegranate stumbled backwards, Madeleine taking this as an opportunity to lunge at her, driving her to the dirt below. Pomegranate scowled up at the knight that was standing over her, fear making its way across the features of her face.
"Where's your little coffee mage when you need him hm?" Madeleine cooed, raising his sword to finish the job.
Pomegranate's eyes widened in horror as she tried to shield her face from the upcoming attack. The knight gave a cold smile which turned into a gasp as his trusty sword was driven right out of his hands by a flaming coffee bean. Could this be...?
"Let her go." a male voice bellowed from just a short distance to his right.
Madeleine whipped his head to the side as his eyes locked with a familiar pair of light browns. Except this time around there was no trace of softness, only pure malice and terrifying anger. His eyes were fired up like flames, eyes narrowed as the light of the coffee scented flames erupting from his hands reflected off his glasses.
Pomegranate gritted her teeth at the sight of her brother. "No," she muttered.
Espresso glanced down at the trembling female, rolling his eyes.
"Oh please sis, I'm quite literally saving your skin right now."
He looked back at the bewildered knight. "Let her go." He repeated.
Madeleine scoffed, "Make me."
He raised his fists in a fighting position, shields still floating around him to protect the knight from any damage.
Espresso cocked his head with a raised eyebrow, intrigued.
This cookie is rather overconfident.
Fascinating. Too bad it'll be the death of him.
The mage laughed, the shrill noise echoing in Madeleine's ears.
"Alright."
The mage immediately sent a wave of coffee magic in his direction, knocking the knight back a few steps. The blond stumbled on his feet but regained balance, lunging for the brunette with the intention to strike. Espresso dodged, kicking the side of his stomach. Madeleine clutched the spot he'd kicked, pain surging throughout his body. The mage smirked, watching him re-enter his battle position, a little dazed.
"Stop!" he heard Pomegranate yell. Why should he stop? He's saving her. He's proving to her that he's not a screw up.
Espresso growled, using his coffee magic to levitate his sister and send her flying into the other direction to safety. She yelped as she hit the ground, tumbling over a few times before an alarmed Licorice cookie immediately rushed to her aid.
With the other distracted, Madeleine managed to grab his sword from the ground and sneak behind the shorter male. The knight gritted his teeth as he drove the sharp object into the mage's left upper arm, making the other yell in pain. Espresso stumbled sideways, breathing heavily as he clutched the deep wound, crimson blood seeping through his shaking fingers.
Madeleine wiped the blood from his sword before swiping at the mage yet again, this time managing to deliver a semi-deep slash across his cheek. Espresso choked back a yelp, glaring at the knight with a pained expression.
Hurts.
It hurts so much.
With shaky fists, the mage got the chance to punch him right in the nose, making the knight fall backwards clutching his face. Espresso snarled, fire in his eyes as he slowly levitated off the ground. The mage's eyes glowed a bright brownish white as he used all of his strength to send a flaming circle around the both of them. Now they were cut off from the rest of the world. It was only them, trapped in a spiteful battle.
He heard the knight's team of other cookies yelling from outside the flame circle, as well as his siblings crying for him to stop. But why?
Madeleine locked eyes with the coffee mage, blood dripping from his nose and onto his chestplate. He wiped his nose with his white sleeve, staining it with crimson red.
"Tch."
Espresso smiled, a wide crooked smile that seemed inhumane. His shrill, metallic sounding voice boomed from a place that didn't even seem to be his throat. It was like his voice had gotten into his head. "Given up?"
Madeleine shook his head, "Hardly. You're so weak and pathetic." he muttered.
Espresso narrowed his eyes, "I'm weak?" he shrieked, "Oh, I'll show you weak knight commander."
Madeleine's eyes widened as the mage sent a series of flaming coffee beans in his direction, burning and piercing his skin. The knight turned around to face him again only to find that the mage had gotten closer, doing a sweeping kick that made him fall backwards onto his back. He propped himself up on his elbows, cringing as he felt blood slowly drip down his forehead.
He coughed, spitting out blood as the mage let out another wave of laughter that was loud enough to burst his ear drums. The blond wiped his mouth, glaring up at the brunette who towered over him, eyes glowing with light bouncing off the strands of his hair that was dramatically fluttering in the harsh wind that was created by the hot flames. His robe and cape fluttered in the wind as well, occasionally lifting up and revealing bare skin. Although in this unfortunate circumstance, Madeleine couldn't help but think that he looked quite pretty in this lighting even if he is literally about to end his life then and there. At least his last sight would be of the elegant figure standing, or rather levitating, before him.
"Why are you even working with the cookies of darkness? You can change." he pleaded.
Espresso scoffed, "You don't know me. They've raised me my entire life, given me food and shelter, a place to belong."
"But what they do is wrong." Madeleine cried.
"Stop it."
"They're using you! They're manipulating you!" He cried again, desperately trying to persuade him to leave those wretched cookies and potentially join them instead. Surely they could put this whole battle behind them.
"Stop it. Shut up." Espresso seethed, his entire form began to glow a brighter brown as he mustered up all his strength to nourish his magic.
From the tuned out distance, he could hear Pomegranate yelling, "That is enough! He is going to overexert himself, that idiotic boy!"
Madeleine noticed a flash of dreariness in the mage's eyes as the light flickered. Espresso struggled to keep his eyes open, vision blurring and his sense of hearing slowly zoning out. The mage was having a hard time breathing as he tried to keep himself upright.
Don't pass out.
You fool.
You really are such a screw up aren't you?
The mage's eyes dulled as his whole body went slack, dropped to the ground. The flame circle around them fizzled out as his magic faded. Out of the corner of his barely open eyes, he could see his siblings retreating into the forest.
No!
Come back! I'm sorry, please don't leave me here!
I'm sorry!
Muffled yells were heard as he tried to keep consciousness. He could make out the silhouettes of the knight commander's team gathering around him. The mage couldn't move, his lips slightly parted as his breathing slowed down. Was he going to die?
Maybe it was for the best. He was such a disappointment, a burden. Maybe his fate really was to die.
His eyelids drooped as black spots entered his vision, the last thing he'd seen was a pair of familiar ocean blue eyes staring back at him with concern.
And then everything went black.
~
1467 words