It took them another four hours to reach the mountain where the Durid's lab was supposedly located. A long path of stone stairs lead high into the peak, Novo had remained silent the entire way yet she was hyper focused. Her eyes darted every which way and her body was positioned as though she needed to strike any moment. Her body couldn't seem to relax, yet her eyes were cold and empty. They gave nothing away, no emotion, no intent, no life. It was like she was a robot wearing human skin.
"Are you alright, Novo?" he asked
"Yes." she said with a stoic, muted tone
"You seem a bit keyed up."
"I'm fine."
"A woman of few words are you?"
"What would you have me say?"
"I don't know."
She didn't reply, instead opting to walk at a bit more of a brisk pace. Anon turned to Sunset.
"Anything we should know going in there?"
"This will be one of the hardest fights we've come across. Druids were some of the most powerful mages to have ever lived. About the time Clover vanished they mysteriously disappeared as well."
"Can't be a coincidence. In the crest memories I saw what Clover thought of as her teacher. He was a druid."
"Yes, a particularly famous one: Star Swirl the Bearded. It's said he was the strongest druid to ever live, and live he did. He was nearly 250 years old when he vanished without a trace."
Novo quietly listened before turning her head slightly.
"Did you say Clover the Clever?"
"Yes." Anon said "For some reason, Clover's magic crest appeared on my hand some time ago."
She stared intently, yet, like always, without giving a single emotion away.
"I see."
"Any weaknesses we can exploit?"
"Durid's are known to have many weaknesses." Sunset said
"Wrong." Novo said "They have one key weakness: Hex."
"How do you know that?"
"I don't know. There's a lot of things I know, like in built reflexes. For instance, it only took me fighting Anon once to be able to completely read his fighting style and counter it perfectly." she said "Before he uses his magic, his left eyelid twitches exactly twice and he moves his right foot an inch sideways. If I look for those cues I can strike before he has a chance to use any magic."
"Impressive." Anon said
As he took another step the floor beneath him collapsed. Before he could even register that he was falling, Novo had swooped in, using her back as a surface to land on and keep him from falling into depths below.
"Thanks." he said, getting back to his feet
Novo kept walking forward, not saying a word.
"She is as cold as ice." Anon whispered to Sunset
Sunny elbowed him in the ribs
"Ow!"
"Don't be rude."
It didn't take much longer for them to arrive at their destination. A large rusted iron door extending nearly fifty feet high lay imbedded into the side of the mountain. It was full of strange symbols and runes.
"Incredible." Anon said
Sunset touched the door with her finger, immediately pulling it back after receiving a zap.
"The door," Novo said "There's a powerful magic barrier on it."
"How do we get around it?"
"Easy."
Novo placed her hand onto the door. The door glowed a brilliant blue and energy began to flow directly into Novo's arm. After a few moments, the barrier was gone and her arm glowed so brightly it was nearly blinding. Her arm clutched her black cloak tightly, clearly feeling a great deal of pain.
"Amazing." he said "How did you do that?"
"My magic circuits are backwards." she said in a labored voice "I can absorb magic with ease. However I can't use magic without hurting myself."
"Really?"
"Yes. The only exception is my own mana. The entire basis of my magic is absorbing mana from external sources and integrating it with my own."
Sunset put her hand over her mouth
"That's... that's so cruel."
"Why?"
"She.... she's basically poisoning herself. She's inducing acute mana sickness. Once her mana is toxic enough she can use it to poison enemies. Perfect for assassination but cruel beyond belief."
Anon looked back at Novo. She was trying to keep a cool facade but it was clear how what she just did affected her. She was covered in sweat and gasping for air.
"Are you going to be ok?"
"I'll be..." she gasped "Fine. It usually takes a few minutes for my body to completely assimilate the foreign mana. It's taking longer because this magic is so potent. I'll be fine. Let's go."
Anon and Sunset both pushed open the heavy door leading into a long dark corridor. Sunset cast her sunlight spell again and they began to walk into the cave's mouth. Something immediately struck Anon upon entering. A pressure. It was much like the pressure Nightmare Moon used to stop him from cutting her head off, like gravity itself was becoming more intense.
"You feel that?" Sunset asked
"Yeah. What is this? Nightmare Moon did the same thing."
"When mages reach a certain level of power, their mana becomes so intense their body can no longer contain it. It flows out into the world creating a sense of force that pushes in all directions. Of course this is a level of intensity beyond that of normal mages. Only a handful have ever been so powerful as this. Like I said, he's dangerous."
"That must make him at least on par with Nightmare Moon."
"Stronger I'm afraid. Nightmare Moon wasn't using an entire Leyline to supply her magical energy."
"What are the Leylines exactly?"
"No one really knows for sure. They're intense wellsprings of magic that seem to flow limitlessly. No one knows why or how they form or where that mana comes from. What's strange is the Greater Magic never seems to siphon any of it away. In the old days they were used as a way to replenish mana from those who either couldn't exchange mana themselves or were too old and frail to do it."
"Why were they closed?"
"They are the locks that keep our world on a separate plane to that of the mortal world. Without them, the worlds would reunite once again. After King Arthur's genocide of mages, the entire mage world vowed never to have the two worlds cross again.
Anon felt his foot bump into something tough and fleshy.
"What the hell was that?"
Sunset turned her light to where Anon's foot had made contact. They both gasped. It was Princess Skystar. She was nude but had no defining features on the body. No nipples, no genitals, nothing. It almost looked like a doll you'd buy at the store. As she moved the light closer to investigate they realized she wasn't the only one. There was a pile of motionless, expressionless Skystar's laying on the floor. Some were missing limbs, some missing features like eyes or finger nails.
"What is this?" Anon said, stepping back
"What you're looking at is what is considered forbidden magic." Sunset explain "Princess Skystar belongs to a class of being called a homunculus. They're humans made by magic rather than biological processess. The Mad Druid was the one who invented them and it is what made him lose his sanity."
"We should look around. Maybe there's information here that could help us." Novo suggested
"Good idea."
Sunset lifted her wand to the ceiling and cast a large sun, filling the room with light. The room was a stone living space and an alchemy lab, complete with a hearth, a bed, a bookshelf, an operating table filled with beakers and notes. There were piles and piles of Skystar bodies littered across the floor. The trio began looking through the notes. Anon picked up what looked like a logbook by the side of one of the beakers, opening to a random page.
Trial 1,452: test subject has limited cognitive function. After being subjected to a very simple matching objects test, both it's cerebellum and it's motor cortex completely fried. Test is a failure.
Trial 1,453: As with the pervious subject, subject 1,453 displayed very simple cognitive function. Gave a steady supply of my own bone marrow for it to consume. Cognitive abilities are slowly improving. Subject shows promise.
Trial 1,453(2): Subject died last night. Just as the subject was beginning to form more complex thought similar to that of an older child, its frontal lobe mysteriously collapsed in on itself. Brain death followed soon after.
Trial 1,454: Subject died again in the same as the pervious subject. Despite my efforts at strengthening the frontal lobe, it collapses in on itself without fail.
Anon read through page after page before skipping to the last entry.
Trial 8,092: I'm so close. But no matter how hard I try I can't implant the memories of my beloved into the body without causing complete neural shut down. Wether by a crest transplant, direct insertion, even giving them my beloved's preserved brain directly. Tomorrow I will be contacting the Nine Sisters. I've heard rumors she's found a magic that could allow me to resurrect the dead or provide an alternative way to commit the memory transplant. Their magic is new ground. I shall record my findings tomorrow
"Well I found something. Whatever happened to the Mad Druid, it was caused by the Nine Sisters."
"I found something too," Sunset said "It was in his personal journal. It states that it finally worked and he revived his beloved. But the final entires show he began hallucinating. He started hearing voices and began to lose control of his magic."
"Do you think he was Hexed?"
"Possibly. Either that or he made a deal that was more than he bargained for, similar to the curse that gave my family Solar Magic."
"You find anything Novo?"
"Just a detailed map of the laboratory. Good thing too. This place is a labyrinth. It stretches into nearly every corner of the mountain. "
"Good work. What do we do now?"
"I suggest we go meet him. Any points of interest along the way Novo?"
"None that aren't traps."
"Lead the way then."
The trio went down a latter in the floor by the bed and continued their journey. The closer they got the heart of the labyrinth, the more the pressure increased. In his pocket he could feel a faint hum. It was the Eye of Eternity vibrating.
"He's got to be close." he said "that artifact Golem gave me is vibrating like crazy."
"Artifact?" Novo asked
"The Eye of Eternity." Sunset said "It may be able to help us defeat whatever we find in there."
After a traveling down a few different passages they came into a large open chamber. It was nothing like the rest of the fortress, in fact it was more akin to that of a sanctuary. Inside a large grass field covered the landscape covered in burnt flowers. A large magic circle lit up the entire room and, at the center, lay a dead tree overlooking what was once a pound. Instead of water, the pound had a giant encased in ice. It was hard to make out his appearance through the frost, but what he could see was what looked like a viking. He wore green chainmail and a hat with elk horns. As soon as the three stepped into the circle, his eyes opened and stared with anger.
"What do we do now?" Anon asked
"The ice must be a seal." Novo said "Let me see if I can break it."
Novo stepped forward, the druid's angry gaze following her the entire way, and placed her hand on the ice.
"I can't break this." she said "The Leyline is giving it an infinite source of mana. In other words, no matter how much I absorb, it'll constantly replenish."
"Any ideas then?"
"Maybe the magic circle can help us." Sunset said, looking at it closely "I've never seen anything quite like it though. It must be some ancient druid magic."
Novo traced the circle with her hand
"The circle has the same problem. It's drawing power direct from the Leyline." she said
"There must be something we can do. I didn't come all this way for nothing."
"Let's look around. Maybe there's notes that can help us."
They walked around the chamber, looking for anything that would be of use. The chamber, however, was almost completely empty of everything other than the druid, the circle and a few Skystar bodies. By the giant was a single Forever Rose, glowing brightly. Anon picked the rose from the ground. There was a massive blinding surge of light, followed by complete darkness and the sound of glass shattering.
"Sunset! Give us some light!"
"Right!"
Sunset sent a ball of light to the ceiling, illuminating the entire room. To their shock, however, the druid was nowhere to be seen.
"Where'd he go?" Anon called
"I don't know." Novo said "I didn't hear any footsteps."
"Anon duck!" yelled
Anon instinctively turned around to see an axe, twice the size of his body, coming at him with speed. By just the hair of his chin he managed to side step the swing. Before he could even right his position, the druid had firmly planted his mighty fist straight into his gut, sending him flying into the opposite wall.
"Anon!" Sunset yelled
Sunset began to run towards him, only to run smack into the druid's leg. He had the speed of a cheeta and the strength of an elephant. There was no way they could win. They may as well be ants fighting a god. He wound up his arm, ready to send Sunset flying. Novo sprinted towards, placing her arm on his back.
"Take this you monster!" she yelled, pouring her venom into his body
The druid screamed in pain and kicked Novo's leg, breaking it and knocking her back into the wall. He held his back, thrashing around as the venomous mana coursed through him. It was just the distraction Sunset needed. She ran forward and aimed her wand at his belly point blank. She put as much mana into the spell as she could, shooting a large beam of plasma that sliced his body in two beyond the shoulder. The druid collapsed, in more pain the before. He placed his hand on the circle and in just a few seconds his entire body regenerated.
Sunset looked on in despair. She put nearly everything she had into that, so much so that she was in danger of collapsing herself. The druid got too his feet and marched to Novo, axe ready to cleave her in two. He raised the axe up, like the hammer of god about to pass judgement. Just as he was about to bring the blade down, he stopped in his tracks. Novo opened her eyes. One of the skystar bodies had been knocked on top of her when she was flung to the wall. She propped the body up with her arm. Sure enough, he was completely entranced by it.
"One of you take him down now! He won't attack like this!" Novo yelled
"I'm out of mana." Sunset said "If I cast another spell I'll die."
"Anon!" Novo cried "Anon wake up!"
Anon slowly came too. His hand was bleeding. He'd been clutching the Forever Rose so tightly, its thorns had pierced deeply into his skin. His head was swimming and every part of him ached. He stared at the rose. He swore he could hear something. A voice. He held the rose to his ear.
"Release me." it whispered "Destroy the rose. Release me."
He slammed the rose to the ground. No good. Its crystal structure would take far more than that to break. Anon put his hand on the floor, his blood turning into tree branches. He slammed them as hard as he could into the rose. It cracked. Thing was tough as steel. He keep slamming the branches as best as he could in his dazed state. Crack. Crack. Crack. Finally it shattered. There was a massive shockwave and everything seemed to become still. The druid began to flail wildly, shouting bloody murder as he did. His body began to shrink and he yelled louder and loud before finally, silence. The druid, now a normal size, shot up.
"W-what? Where am I? What happened? Where is Skystar!?"
He had a very thick accent, sounding similar to that of a Scandinavian. His long red beard extended nearly below his waistline and his features were rough and scarred. It was like looking at a viking.
"My god." Sunset gasped "A druid. An actual real live druid. The curse was broken."
"Curse?" he yelled "What curse?"
"Mr. Druid, sir. Please relax and let me explain."
"That's Rutherford to you!"
"Yes, Rutherford. Please come with us. Your beloved is in danger. You're the only one who can save her."
"Well why didn't you say so before! Take me to her please!"
Sunset tried to walk towards her but collapsed. Anon quickly ran to her, propping her up on his shoulder.
"Novo? Can you stand?"
Novo pushed the body off her and got to her feet.
"I'm alright. It looks worse than it is."
When they made their way out of the mountain fortress they couldn't believe what they saw. All of the snow was gone, completely melted away. Now the land looked like a spring paradise.
"What's with the surprised look on your faces for?" Rutherford asked
"This entire land used to be covered in snow." Anon explained "It'd been that way for a while apparently."
"A while?" he asked "How long has it been? I remember I sealed myself within the Leyline. That could be what caused the snowfall."
"I don't know how to tell you this Rutherford but... you've been incased in ice for nearly six centuries."
"Six centuries!?" he exclaimed "Surely you must be mistaken."
"Not mistaken, sir. The leyline combined with the curse essentially gave you everlasting life."
"Unfathomable... What of the Circle of Western Druids?"
"Long vanished I'm afraid. Every druid the mage world knew of vanished sometime three centuries ago."
"And my wife?"
"She's here. Well... somewhat. Whatever you did worked. It created a psudohuman. However we need you to revive her."
"Well we have no time to waste then. Let us go. We must make haste."
They took most of the day to get back. Rutherford went between deep curiosity about the events that had happened since then and complete silence and disbelief. One could hardly blame him. He may as well have woken up on another planet.
"Rutherford?" Anon asked
"Yes m'boy?"
"Did you know of anyone by the name of Clover the Clever? Or Starswirl the Beared?"
He stroked his beard and thought for a while
"The names don't ring a bell I'm afraid. Though I did know of a child named Starswirl. But he was merely a baby, hadn't even grasped his first staff."
"I see. Thanks anyway."
Rutherford looked him curiously
"Boy. Who taught you?"
"Taught me?"
"Yes. Your female friend there. She said there were no druids left. Yet it's quite clear you possess druid magic, even if you are a complete novice by the looks of it."
"Wait... are you saying Clover's magic comes from druid magic?"
"I have not an idea of who that name belongs too. But if Clover was who taught you, they were a druid. An All-Nature druid by the look of it too, a rare gift."
"How can you tell?"
"Goodness boy, did your teacher not even teach you the basics? I can tell just from your aura."
"Well that's the thing... I'm the successor of a famous mage who went by Clover the Clever. She vanished three centuries ago and I somehow ended up with her crest."
"Crest? What on earth are you talking about?"
"A crest is a tool mages developed to pass down their knowledge and skills from heir to heir. It contains their memories and magic ability."
"Incredible! What a convenient tool!"
The group finally reached the old castle, Golem waiting in the same place they'd left him.
"My god. My castle is in shambles. A damn shame. It used to be a thing of beauty, a castle to put other castles to shame." he said "Tell me, where is my beloved?"
"Do my eyes deceive me? Is that Rutherford?" Golem exclaimed
"What is that abomination?" he asked in disgust
"We'll explain later. We must revive the princess." he rushed
They followed the clay creature to the graveyard and back into the crypt where the bones of the princess sat. The druid looked with a deep sadness.
"Do you know how to help her?" Novo asked
"Yes. I'm just..." he said "I'm just not sure I should."
"Why?"
"Well you saw why. Last time I did this I turned into a grotesque monster bent on destruction."
"You must." Sunset said "I know you've be hit with a lot of information today but it is critical she be revived. She could help us learn more about Clover the Clever and how to defeat Nightmare Moon."
"I don't know of who you speak of, but I can hear how big a threat this is in your voice."
He took a deep breath, and ripped a bone from his arm with his bare hand, placing it in the mouth of the skull.
"Stand back. I shall give my beloved life once more."