The battlefield that minutes ago was full of life and noise is now bare and almost unnaturally silent. It smells of fire and charred flesh, so disgustingly strong it's almost impossible to breathe. The magic lingering in the air is a weird thing, corrupt to the point of making the atmosphere feel heavy and suffocating.
The display of magic had been magnificent and beyond anything the kingdom had ever witnessed, and now the scarce survivors would run and spread the word that Enchancia is a lost battle, because no king would dare to lead an army into a territory so fiercely protected by a monster. In the middle of it all lies the sorcerer who stopped the war, on his knees with his head between both hands, rocking back and forth. He can feel the tingling sensation of wandless magic at his fingertips, the overload of it through his veins, the acuteness of his senses. This magic is so new and strange, so intoxicating, that whenever he reaches for it, it reaches back to him. It's a bottomless pit of darkness, ready at his beck and call, everything he desired at one point of his life, darkness in its purest form, raw and consuming, it's power.
Swirls of it make his mind hazy and he can't differentiate through the vast sea of voices in his head his own thoughts anymore. It's all a jumbled mess of incoherent words, so much noise, too many voices speaking at the same time trying to drown reason and coax him into using the magic again.
There's a dagger at his side that bears an intricate carving of his name and a sudden feeling of protection — of possession— overcomes him. Hastily taking the dagger he cradles it to his chest and in an attempt to anchor himself the sorcerer murmurs his name again and again.
"Cedric, Cedric, Cedric..."
He feels the connection with the dagger each time he says the name, a pull that frightens him. Cedric instinctively knows that he is bound forever.
What had he done?
The huge amount of magic that ended the battle was visible in the distance. The Enchancian royal army was immediately stopped in their tracks by the fierce display of lighting and fire, the screaming of people in unison and the acrid smell of burnt flesh. They are waiting, some partially in shock and some still in fear, for orders from their king. But in the lead, Roland the second is as clueless as everyone else is. There's a fleeting thought on his mind, that this unfought battle they seem to have won would be enough to quell the thirst for war, to negotiate the much needed peace with the now weakened enemy.
Even so, a feat like this, as favorable for Enchancia as it may be, seems like something of legends, something grand and forbidden. The relief of the victory is short lived and replaced with a flicker of fear of whatever or whoever caused this. That's when it hits him, Cedric and Sofia were looking for a way to stop the war and Roland wonders if this was it. His daughter would never approve of something like this, he is sure.
But Cedric? ... Could this be the work of his Royal Sorcerer? Even though killing and Cedric don't mix well in the same sentence, he had proven through the years to be capable of amazing magical feats and his loyalty to the kingdom was unwavering, avid to defend Enchancia, to protect the royal family, to protect Sofia.
A movement to his left startles him, a flash of white that he recognizes as a royal horse and the auburn curls of his youngest daughter pass him by. Sofia's name leaves his lips repeatedly in shouts that for his ears seem deafening but they do nothing to deter the princess. She becomes nothing more than a blurred vision in the distance.
Sofia hears her name, but her thoughts are entirely focused on getting to her sorcerer. There's no way in which magic that powerful didn't have some sort of consequence and she fears the worst. This war has come with a terrible cost to everyone involved and her naivety and optimism were one of its first casualties. The horse she rides starts to get anxious, desperately trying to change course while navigating through an ocean of heat and charred bodies. The residual magic can be felt in the air and it's so tainted that she can feel shivers down her spine, making Sofia increasingly nervous of what she may find at the center of it all. There's sweat pooling at her brow, and she begs his animal companion to go forward, go faster. Everything about the scene makes her feel uneasy, and it's through sheer willpower and love for Cedric that she keeps moving.
It wasn't supposed to end like this, they were running out of time to find some way to stop the war. But they were cornered, months and months of research left them with dead-ends that were gradually exhausting their hope. The enemy was starting to attack the villages, she knew people were dying and Cedric made a choice. It was the last resource and it seemed to have worked.
But killing people isn't the solution she was hoping for and even though they tended to disagree, Cedric would never take that option either. She wants to believe as much. Her thoughts are interrupted abruptly when she spots the figure of the sorcerer on his knees. Sofia stops and without thinking climbs out, running towards Cedric. At a distance he seems shaken, but he is alive and not noticeably hurt. She is so relieved to see him that she vaguely registers the horse retreating at full speed.
The sound of steps is what finally breaks Cedric out of the trance. There's someone approaching and his first instinct is to strike. Magic rears up with the sole purpose of killing — it feels so natural at his fingertips — and snaps his head towards the sound.
"Cedric?" Sofia's voice anchors his wildness and he stops the spell just in time, dark magic fizzling out in his right hand, wide eyes staring back at the princess with fear. He was just about to attack her, he realizes.
"Don't come any closer." Cedric snaps desperately. But Sofia is nothing if not brave, so she just continues walking towards him. The battlefield is still around them, glowing with the embers of what remains burning.
"Cedric we need to get back." She pleads, wide blue eyes seeking the rich brown of his, but instead finding an unnatural pair of amber almost golden eyes staring back at her, so different and so afraid.
Cedric glances down at the dagger in his left hand. Sofia is getting closer and he can't bear to look at her when she realizes what he has become.
"I don't trust myself," he says quietly, looking at the blade with unfocused eyes. "It's so much dark magic, Sofia. I'm terrified."
The glow of the embers reflecting over the smooth surface of the dagger gives an eerie appearance to his name. He somehow feels Sofia's eyes on the blade, and when he looks back at her, her blue eyes are carefully observing the dagger.
She is trying to get the dagger, don't let her. The voices growl.
"Don't." He snarls, clutching the weapon protectively against his chest. The reaction makes her recoil and tension arises between them.
"Cedric...Whatever dark thoughts just crossed your mind I promise we will not let that happen." Sofia whispers and continues her approach, albeit more carefully.
She is almost there when he pleads again, but Sofia just sinks to her knees in front of him and slowly, carefully, places her right hand over his cheek.
His skin is a curious thing, she realizes. Scaly, rough and it seems darker against her pale hand. But underneath it all she can see her sorcerer, no matter how uncertain the situation seems, this is the only certain thing. Cedric is here, in front of her and letting her touch his face.
"I'm bound to this thing, I..I think it's a curse." he confesses while battling the voices with his own thoughts. A litany of I love her trying to drown everything else.
She cups his cheek a little bolder, squeezing to gain his attention.
"If it's a curse we can break it, but we need to go back." she whispers, soft and worried. Sofia feels like she is losing a battle of their own. She hasn't processed all of what's happening and the enormity of it all. She cannot allow herself to be distracted from her priority, her sorcerer, because something inside Sofia tells her that things have changed, that something is very, very wrong and that if she cannot convince him to leave together, she will lose Cedric. So she continues caressing his cheek, as gently as she can, hoping it is enough to anchor him somehow.
Cedric grimaces as if in pain, but he does lift his eyes again to look at her when he says "I can't, it's so much raw power, so much unrestrained magic and so many voices that I don't know if I can control it at all."
"Then we aren't going back," Sofia answers almost immediately, "but we are going together, we need to get you out of here."
Cedric nods and tries to concentrate on the warmth of her hand against his cheek, a soothing gesture that for a second makes him believe he can get out of this, until it all shatters, he hears the mocking voice of the creature he killed to obtain the power. It's slighter louder than the rest but clear enough in its message.
All magic comes with a price that someone has to pay.
He reels back as if burned by her touch, but she reacts quickly, moving forward to catch his free hand, feeling it trembling slightly with restrained magic. The princess knows it could be dangerous but she is desperate to get to him. The wildness of his gestures is increasing, he is trying to flee, she is sure, but she will be damned if she lets that happen.
"I'm afraid Sofia" Cedric whispers brokenly, trying again and again to put distance between them.
"I'm afraid too Cedric, but we love each other, and-"
"How can you?" he cuts in . "How can you still love me?"
"I love you." she answers without hesitation, but the question actually gives her pause, not because she doubts her love for her sorcerer, but because he is doubting it.
"Because you are still Cedric underneath it all." she replies, getting even closer. He can feel her breath on his face and the words being murmured into his strange new skin. The hand that isn't on his is slowly drifting to his nape. "I know you are afraid and confused, I know there's something changing. But I love you and that isn't gonna change." she finishes.
And before he can retort anything else, Sofia kisses his cheek in a tender gesture, crossing the distance to his mouth and whispering "I love you" against his skin before finally sealing their lips. The kiss feels familiar as does the magic he can feel surging within him. Magic so different from the curse, light magic. Cedric starts to lose himself in her, in their love, when a sudden roar arises from the voices in his head, vicious thoughts that fill his mind and feed the fear he is feeling at his core. This darkness, it doesn't like Sofia.
She is so naive. She will never understand. She wants to use you, to control you. She is manipulating you. She can not love you like this.
And then a thought above all the others.
Sooner or later, you will harm her.
And is that last thought that has him breaking their kiss and jerking back, putting as much distance between them as he can. His eyes seek hers, seeing for the first time the open fear on those blue orbs. Sofia is afraid of him.
And that is what finally breaks Cedric and spurs him into action. With a flick of his hand he vanishes into the night. It was the last time that Cedric the Sensational, royal sorcerer of Enchancia now turned dark one, would be seen for a long time.
Author Notes: Hello there! I'm indulging myself with this piece, so expect it to be super dramatic and cheesy, I'm craving those. I have 4 chapters planned for this story, but I'm a really slow writer so I'm not entirely sure if I'll finish this. This wasn't beta'ed, feel free to point out any mistakes.
A little bit of context, in "Once Upon a Time" the Dark One is a curse, a powerful entity of Darkness that inhabits a host and is bound to a dagger. It has almost unlimited power, but all magic comes with a price which most of the time is paid by the people desperate enough to make a deal with said Dark One. The only way to kill the dark one is to stab him/her with the dagger, but upon doing so the curse will be inherited to the murderer.