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the silver sun was purged of its warm light by the obsidian, ever-chilling moon that had eclipsed it, and so the earthbread was only saved from total darkness by the lavender glow of the binding spell’s runes.
the entire order lost their lives in an instant.
so did those that wrought upon them the chaos that desecrated the barren, swift blade having cleaved through dough and soul alike.
now all that remained was to bring an end to their forebears, purest divinity turned sinful and undeserving of freedom.
steel screeched against steel as divine chains became bound against the jagged edges of the justiciar’s sword, whose hold on the hilt was steadfast and firm.
just over the noise of the rising squall could one hear a tyrant’s angered roars and a sloth’s echoing cries. the lotus and the jester stood still, one having resigned to her fate and the other transfixed by a dawning revelation. quieter yet was the faraway twinkling of gossamer wings, the sound bringing the slightest bit of solace to the world.
the one at the center of it all remained silent, his reticence only betrayed by a glow behind the sights of his helmet and the faintest of tears, crystallizing upon their collision with the ground.
a flash of blinding light and the creaking of vines was all that that could be felt
before it all turned to black.
***
it was a sort of limbo, being trapped inside the seal of the silver tree. this was the closest to death that silent salt would be, yet it was a far cry from what he had begged elder faerie for.
how exasperating.
there was a near complete lack of sensory stimulation, save the hums of the tainted virtues belonging to the other fallen emissaries. they were now more detectable than they had been for a very long time, and a faint glow was visible in each of four directions, mirroring the glint of the soul jams that they held.
mystic flour and eternal sugar’s presences were the least perceptible of all, both having fallen to silence a while ago. burning spice’s aura was all but gone, the fire of destruction having grown in the wake of his imprisonment. as for the last one…
shadow milk was not any less trapped than the rest of them, but it seemed that he exercised his freedoms the most, for his wretched spirit stood in front of silent salt as though he were his audience.
“hello? i’m sort of talking to you right now!” the impatient voice echoed around the cavity, its owner hanging upside-down in the air. silent salt sat cross-legged in front of him, his dough burning with ire as he watched shadow milk yap in front of him.
“to what do i owe the pleasure?” the knight bit out, just barely masking the contempt in his voice.
“ahhh, and here i thought you’d finally gone mute!” the jester giggled, that grotesque hair of his flowing in odd, unnatural clumps. those leering eyes would never cease to disgust him. “you don’t quite live up to your name.”
“you clearly want to hear my input on something and i am obliged to respond. what is it?” silent salt queried.
“still so perceptive after all this time! you know, the nature of this seal that has been imposed upon us five… it is rather interesting. the primordial magic that traps us here, to this everlasting oblivion, is not so… infallible as was intended.”
that is news to me.
elder faerie had been cautious, no, nearly hesitant to follow through with the binding ritual. he had warned silent salt that he too would be eternally bound with these defiled desserts, and still they followed through with their plan.
the seal’s very nature is to be everlasting and indestructible, or elsewise, what was the purpose of our sacrifice for earthbread?
“what do you mean? the spells on this gaol precede our very creation. nothing that even you would know would free us,” silent salt said, finally taking interest in what the other had to say.
“ah-ah, but that’s not true!” shadow milk tutted and grinned wide, his dozens of eyes squinting slightly with the effort. he flipped himself right-side up before continuing.
“i spent my fair time dabbling with magic once the five of us went our separate ways, and so it seems apparent to me that the enchantment that keeps us here is comprised of the most potent nature and faerie magic. now, i must give my kudos to the spellcaster! that elder faerie’s well-versed in his art and we will be stuck here for eons yet, but you see…”
shadow milk leaned in far too close for silent salt’s comfort, the fool having never understood the concept of privacy and personal space. “this tree fed off of our life powder in order to nourish our wonderful virtues grown anew. but, with all five new soul jams having been freshly fruited, it is now at its weakest after spending its reserves of life energy. our remaining powers are enough to crush this sapling into a measly smear, should we rise together!”
shadow milk closed in further, head cocked to the side as if to whisper deceit straight into silent salt’s ear. “…we will break free, and once we do, the first dessert to go will be the stupid flying gnat that trapped us here.”
…!
in an instant, silent salt had leapt up and grabbed shadow milk’s neck in anger. the jester’s ruff had crinkled like parchment paper in his vice grip, and silent salt firmly held up the insolent cookie.
“do what else you wish, but you will not lay a hand on elder faerie. do i make that clear?” silent salt’s rage finally bled into his voice, causing shadow milk to narrow his eyes.
“what? i knew you were the best of friends before all this went down, but haven’t the times changed quite a bit?” shadow milk sneered arrogantly, the eyes in his hair rolling. “if you can’t recall, he was the one who doomed us to this fate!”
“he was not alone in committing such a grievous act,” silent salt said immediately, his voice echoing unnaturally. “surely, you will not punish him for having assisted the true perpetrator?” shadow milk stared down at him, his gaze twinkling with faint comprehension.
silent salt dragged him closer, just until they were face-to-face. his tone took on a harsh shift, colder than ice. “my dough was ground into dust on the eve of our imprisonment, from the scope of the magic that coursed through me.”
“the silver tree’s roots were only able to spread with the sacrifice of my freedom. it stands tall today at the expense of my very being,” he whispered, gritting his teeth as he spoke.
shadow milk’s eyes widened with belated understanding, with a glimmer of what appeared to be betrayal swirling in his gaze. “you…”
“and now, no one will believe you, repulsive beast of deceit,” silent salt spat, still maintaining a hushed tone. “go ahead and spread your knowledge to the others, but they will pay your meaningless words no heed.”
silent salt abruptly let go of shadow milk, who nearly instantly regained his composure. yet, having been let in on an shrouded secret, he looked somewhere between utterly dumbfounded and completely overcome with unadulterated anger, hair flowing in disordered clumps and pupils reduced to slits.
neither of them exchanged further conversation as shadow milk’s body slowly melted into the void, silent salt having stared him down with a steely gaze until the last traces of his form had dissipated.
if that treacherous, conniving pest dare do anything, then may his remaining days be marred with the weight of his sins. i shall vow it.