magical mazes and knight enchanters – the more he considers the job, the more he doesn’t like how it sounds. it isn’t that magical mazes daunt him ( the challenge is always appreciated ), but the thought of working with a knight, particularly one of significant rank and status and thus, and by definition of their alignment and loyalty very much his enemy, is one that is daunting, if not straight up abhorrent.

he finds himself making his way towards their meeting point nonetheless, persuading himself with every step that business is business, the bills are bills, and he really doesn't want to simply be a constant drain on aeris' resources without giving back anything in return.

they approach at a gentle lope, moosely easily spotting their mission partners for the night and beelining his way across open terrain. maddox is more concerned about the vague shadows in the distance. monsters, he knows, their shapes faded and curled in ways unnatural for normal wildlife; they move in motions odd and disjointed, even from this distance.

maddox offers raises a hand in greeting, a wan smile polite and uncertain. "that's, uh. maddox, actually," he pauses. frowns, shakes his head, and lifts a shoulder in a shrug. "or, whatever floats your boat, i guess."

he nods towards the creatures in the distance, nudging moosely closer as he raises a hand to meet an invisible barrier in the air. the aforementioned maze, then. "right. this is it, yeah? do you have any plan so far, or are we just winging it as we go along?"

"i'm a purifier," he says, lowering to observe as she pulls the watches out and enchants them with something yet unknown. he nods at the offer appreciatively and snatches the watch out of midair, turning it over in his hand to examine the symbols etched into it. begrudgingly, he admits, "this is pretty cool."

moosely paws the ground, dark eyes fixed on the monsters shrouded in unnatural mist. his head is lowered, poised for a charge on a moment's notice. for the most part, the moose always holds the opinion that charging straight into any situation is the only course of action at all times; to plan and wait is wholly unknown to him. maddox, on the other hand, could possibly be considered marginally better.

focusing on the air before him, he conjures up a detection spell to get a better gauge for the maze. it is overwhelming at first, and despite him bracing for it, maddox finds himself momentarily disoriented at the onset; he swivels around, eyes wide, trying to narrow down the scope of the spell until he is no longer being bombarded by information at every corner.

the air itself is saturated heavily with mana manipulation, layered with enchantments and illusions and other things he should have studied better. between the crumbling ruins and several invisible walls, to discern any details is trying to find a needle in a haystack. he can, however, feel more than he can see the barrier that keeps them from the monsters, or the monsters from them. "alright, sounds about as solid a plan as we're gonna get. whenever you're ready, i'll open a gap in the barrier and we can go on in."

he doesn't quite dispel the scroll just yet, but lets it fade to a background hum, his focus drifting to claire as she begins to speak. there is a surge of energy, a rush of adrenaline, the air between them flashing vibrant with traces of mana manipulation as she casts the augment. he quirks an eyebrow and sits up a little straighter, gaze naturally inquisitive. what an interesting affinity. he makes a mental note to look into it at a later date. "that's useful," he remarks, experimentally stretching out his fingers. "indestructible is a nice word."

( in retrospect, the augment will do little to affect his modus operandi; maddox rothscus has a tendency to fight as though he were indestructible anyway, mortal fallibility be damned. )

moosely paces forwards a few steps, nudged onwards by maddox, until his antlers bump against the barrier itself, then he simply presses stubbornly against it and glares at the monsters beyond. the moose is picking out his next target, no doubt about it; the witch, at this point, is but a passenger dragged along for the ride.

there is a pause; maddox does not breathe; then he leans forward and lets his hands hover lightly above the invisible barrier. he feels for the threads of mana forming the barrier, eyes pale and blank, curls his fingers around the stubborn meshwork of ancient enchantments and pulls-

the barrier pulses, then the air before them shimmers slightly as it sighs and parts, just wide enough for the two of them to charge in side by side. snarls fill the air as the monsters whirl around, sensing a disturbance.

"it's open -- go, go, go!"

it takes only a few words to shatter the silence of the mist-shrouded ruins. several things happen in quick succession: the barrier opens, claire and her familiar charge in, then moosely and maddox slip behind them hot on their heels. the hooves of the two familiars are loud enough for an entire cavalry -- it is an incessant wardrum beat that reverberates in his bones, and between the augment from before and the sudden shriek of monsters as the air becomes tinged with a familiar iron scent, he has never quite felt more alive.

the air behind him coalesces into wings, wispy and immaterial, sloping edges catching and distorting the light that filters through. the hoofbeats lighten, and they are not quite flying but they are close, whirling around the battlefield with unnatural speed; there is an axe suddenly in his hand and he drags this through the nearest monster to cleave it in half. momentum carries him forward. moosely kicks one square in the head with a sharp-edged cloven hoof. the monster staggers, stunned, and maddox leans down to sweep its head clean off its shoulders.

swing, slash, rinse and repeat. moosely trumpets a cry both triumphant and furious, spinning on his haunches to barrel into a monster with his head lowered and antlers forward. the creature snarls, struggles, finds itself inevitably scooped up by the moose's antlers and tossed into the air; maddox twists in his seat and raises the axe; the monster falls in two solid thumps behind them. tha-thump.

"sounds like it's gonna be quite a pain," maddox calls back over the din of the fighting. for another brief second, he calls back the magic previously cast and lets his gaze wander. his eyes are quick to focus this time, knife-steel grey and sharp sharp sharp. "there's another mass of magic interference further northwards, as soon as we're done with-" a monster leaps towards him, and he pauses to bat it away. moosely follows up the attack with a series of well-aimed kicks. "-this."

there are a lot of monsters, without a doubt. but compared to the ones he's faced on the mountainside with sirius, these are remarkably more fragile. they burst into wisps of shadow after a good hit or two, and if they do score any hits on him, he does not feel it just yet. the battlefield is bisected into two: one side is his, and the other is claire's. his gaze darts about, eager and rapid, always seeking a new target.

it is in battle that maddox and moosely work best in tandem, their disagreements minimal, the bicker never detracting from a simple mission of seeking and destroying. the air-crafted wings spin a halo of fractured light around them, the axe a devilish whirlwind that trails ink-dark monster blood in its path.

eventually, the horde slows to a stop, just as he feels the augment-granted strength slowly trickle away. there is an ache in his shoulder that slowly pulses, a sting on his cheek where a stray claw had caught him unawares, but nothing demands his attention just yet. instead, he looks to claire, then to their single remaining foe, a hulking form that lurks on the fringes of the barriers as he sees it. it does not approach, and that in itself puzzles him -- a glance at the knight tells him she isn't doing anything quite yet either, so he nudges moosely over to close the distance between them and contemplate the next course of action.

"do you think we should follow it?" in a maze like this, the walls exist to be broken down, yes? "i should be able to open this one too, if we want. unless, of course, you think we should find another way around."

if claire does not object, maddox moves forward, the axe dissipating as he concentrates on resetting the enchantment once more, just enough to break it so that they are able to pass through.

if it were simply left to him, maddox likes to approach things in the simplest and most straightforward of ways. the maze that they are in, however, isn't quite the place for that. still, he cannot see any other way to progress other than going straight forward. so he does. he watches as claire seals off the potential exits, letting the axe in hand fade to mere air once more before he advances, palm against the barrier as the mana unravels.

but with his attention turned to the purification of the barrier, he notices the shadows too late -- they wrap around his legs, cold and unwelcome, just as they do with moosely. the moose trumpets a cry, furious and indignant. darkness falls across them, the silhouette of the monster outlined in dim sunlight. he braces for impact. it doesn't come.

instead, he sees claire reach out, her arm encased in a gauntlet of soft light, moving swift and ferocious as she grasps the monster and slams it to the ground effortlessly. he'd be lying if he said he wasn't incredibly impressed. "that was pretty damn cool," he ends up saying, the shadowy tendrils around him and moosely falling limp as he works another quick purification spell.

and again, the scene changes before they can proceed any further. one moment, he sees the maze stretched out before them, and then the next, he is blind, save for five dancing lights.

"what happens if we're wrong?" he muses, an eyebrow quirked. probably nothing good. then he shrugs, says brightly, "fuck it," and strides towards the middle light.

for a moment, he takes a mental step back and evaluates his situation: surrounded by absolute darkness, striding towards a shining beacon of light. metaphorically, he can think of walking towards his own death, and he prays that this isn't the case. he cannot see his familiar, only feel his indignant presence in his mind, nor can he sense claire or vani. their voices float, disembodied, the sounds of footsteps strange in the dark.

for a long moment, they simply walk in silence. the darkness presses in somehow, and maddox finds himself straightening up, tensing as he continues forward. discomfort builds, until there is a laugh echoing throughout the void, the sound all-encompassing. he is no longer sure if the sound is truly something he hears, or the voice is inside his head. he does not like it. ( he does not breathe. )

the monster speaks, then, and maddox thinks that this is the most he has come to hate a voice he has only heard for so long. he feels, more than he sees, the flicker of mana as claire unleashes an attack, her voice sharp; he does the same. the wind howls into a frenzy, surges forward. it dies down abruptly and without ceremony, but not before the gale impacts something shortly after what he thinks to be a slice.

the darkness remains. ( he closes his eyes. opens them. no effect. )

"well," he says, voice tight and strained, "this sucks."

robbed temporarily of sight, he lets his senses drift, the detection spell taking hold once more. there is an opening, flickering and unsteady, some distance ahead. but even that seems to be odd and distorted. more clearly, he senses the presence of more creatures, slowly beginning to press closer on their flanks. he has no idea where claire is, but calls out nonetheless. "have you ever fought blind before?"

"there's a bunch more of the smaller monster types coming in, and maybe something like an opening up ahead. we can try and fight them, or sprint and beat them to the exit." he toes the ground beneath his feet; it seems solid, and identical to the one before. hopefully that meant that they had simply been temporarily blinded, and not wholly transported somewhere else. "your call."