'Why Him?' || Madeleine x Espresso

chapter 11, Danger

Espresso's pov:
I have been walking in the woods for what had seemed like hours, but it has only been 20 minutes. What does this cookie have in store for me. I'm not sure why we took the whole... Confession thingy so straightforwardly. I guess our minds just seem... different nowadays. But why would I fall for an idiot like him? I feel as if I have a problem for liking him. By coffee god, if this gets out to the whole kingdom, I'm toasted. I'll be embarrassed like that dumb stage play thing!

"Getting lost in thought again..." I mumbled. I realized I have been walking in circles, thinking, for about 15 minutes. Great. I flipped my hair and continued to walk forward.

About a couple minutes later, I found myself surrounded by bushes. Prickly bushes and very tall trees. Crows are everywhere, owls are everywhere, and I hear...growling? I quickly turned around to the sound of running. That sound...it sounded so close to me. A black figure flew past me a couple moments later.

"Who's there!?" I yelled, getting my magic ready. I felt something tug at my cape, which made me jump backwards, aiming one of the fire ball things at a tree.
"Gosh, I'm losing my mind." I muttered. The tugging occured again. Then, it just ended up with me jumping back and forth, shooting my magic every area I saw.

"Show yourself, coward!" I yelled once again. Just then, the entire forest went silent.
Silent.
Silent.
Silent for about five minutes. I stayed put in my area. I wasn't afraid, just cautious. But then, I saw the figure run past me again, but this time, it was...10 times bigger than before... Almost like a brute...or a dragon; about that size.

I backed up, slowly.
Slow.
Slow...
Way too slow.
Just then, a twig snapped beneath me. I looked down and saw the broken twig. I sighed. But then, I heard a vicious roar in my area. Something swung out at me, but I managed to quickly run past it. I continued to run forward, the thing behind me running faster than the wind, stomping the ground, throwing things at me that I could easily dodge, this was a chase.

A long chase.
A chase that could last forever.
Or...so I thought.
I ran behind a tree to catch my breath, but got grabbed by that creature. It grabbed me by the cape, which was good. Once I got my magic ready, I shot.
I missed.
I shot again, aiming at the eye.
I missed again.
Once I tried again, I felt my back getting slammed against a tree. That creature had thrown me at a tree, using all of it's might. I felt weak. I felt my cape getting ripped apart, and my legs numb, but I couldn't just give up.

I can't give up. Not yet. It's too early.
I must win this.

I must win this for Madeleine.

I stood up, with a weak grunt. I wasted most of my energy being chased by that...thing. ya know, fighting dragons and brutes isn't really my thing anymore after this. This stuff is painfully upsetting. I did manage to strike a hit at the creature's leg, which made it fall over. I used all of my energy to run past that thing. Holding onto my chest, I felt myself getting more dizzy by the second. But then... It hit.

Black.
All I saw was black.
Everything was black.
Am I dead? Did I not make it?
I can't move, I can't see, but worst of all...
I can't feel.
Anything.

It hurts. My chest hurts, my head hurts, my body aches, everything hurts. I felt so weak I can barely stand. I opened my eyes very slowly; my shaky eyelids barely opening, it worked. But when I woke up, I was still in the forest.

What? I thought. I could have sworn I have gotten hit by that thing. I weakly raised my head up to see my entire body. My cape was completely ripped off, my pants were torn up, my shirt beneath my cape was untouched, but still had some cuts. As for my body...I felt pain.
Everywhere.

I slowly crawled to a nearby tree to rest. "What... happened to me?" I asked myself. I looked around my area, heavily breathing, all I saw was green. Shrubs, trees, grass, no sign of land anywhere. Then I realized,
I was lost.
Lost in battle.
I know I didn't end that thing, but at least I got it away. Or, I scared it away.
At least I hope I did.

I shakily set my hand on my chest to feel a heartbeat. It was going very slowly.
Very slowly.
Painfully slowly.
It hurts. Everything hurts. I grunted in pain and held onto my arm like it was some kind of stuffed animal. I felt so dizzy...so dizzy...
I guess I could rest. Maybe someone will find me.

Maybe.