Age of Kings

by A bag of plums

49 - Into Darkness - Part 1

Archdruid Duchan sat in his cell, his legs crossed and his eyes closed. In his hands, he held a bowl of potent magic, grafted together with a combination of spit, soil, and various ingredients he could scavenge in his cell. To one corner, just protruding from a crack in the floor, was a little sapling. It had been planted years ago and had grown there only a week ago, and Duchan had let it grow just a little more, knowing the time was now right. All he needed now was something sharp, and that something would come just as easily as he could picture it.

Holding the bowl in his hands in plain sight, two guards stopped at his cell door on their usual pass through the dungeons.

“Hey, what is that you’re holding?” It was the one, the one that looked like the woman, Emerald Edge, who spoke. The two were uncannily similar in appearance, but at the same time, different. They, however, were similar enough for Duchan to remember what Emerald Edge had done in the Shetland, or as he now heard, the Everfree Forest.

What a shoddy name. That will all change soon enough.

“Hey, I was speaking to you,” the guard called again.

Duchan continued to ignore her. Instead, he waited until he heard the sound of his cell door opening. They were coming to investigate.

“What’s happening?” From behind them, a third guard had appeared. This one had green hair spilling out of her helmet. An unusual sight for a guard’s hair to be untied.

“He has something. Where did you get that?” the other guard questioned Duchan.

That was when the third guard moved. First drawing a dagger, she cut the first guard across the right eye, stunning him, then stabbed it into the Emerald Edge lookalike’s arm, forcing her to drop her spear. The guard slammed her against the wall and punched her in the face, knocking her out, while she spun around and delivered a quick kick to the male guard’s chin.

“Nimhe, just in time.” Duchan smirked as his second in command removed her helmet to arrange her green hair. “I was growing tired of waiting.”

“I apologize for the delay, archdruid.” Nimhe handed him her dagger.

“No, you do not have to. You have done well.” Duchan brought the dagger and his salve to the little sapling and stirred up its contents with the dagger’s blade. “And now, the pit scorpion mix, if you will.”

Nimhe pulled a brown sack from her disguise and poured out a sticky black substance into the bowl, which Duchan mixed again.

“Good, Nimhe, good…” Duchan held the bowl to the ceiling, then made sure to coat the dagger’s blade in a lot of the salve. “Now behold. The end of Canterlot is here.”

“So with this, you will be able to control the plunderseed?” Nimhe looked over at the sapling and the crack.

“Yes, that is right.” Duchan slid the dagger down through the crack, searching for its root. “We do not need to control Canterlot any longer. Day after day, sitting in this cell, it has shown me, Canterlot cannot be controlled. It can only be destroyed.”

“What shall I do with the guards?” Nimhe pointed at both unconscious bodies.

“I want the woman.” Duchan felt his blade stop against something. He stabbed through it, feeling the ground shudder as he did so. He had found the root. “She will prove useful for my… experimentation and pleasure.”

Nimhe removed her chains and bound the guard.

“And once you are done, it is time for us to leave. Canterlot’s end is nigh. We shall plunge this kingdom into darkness. Eternal darkness.” Leaning low, Duchan put his mouth close to the crack and whispered three simple words. Words that would carry all the way to the core of this monstrosity. With his magic, whatever he would say, the plunderseed would obey.

“Destroy it all…”

---

Emerald Edge sat under a fiery ash tree, watching as its red leaves began to fall around her, signalling that winter was coming once again. It felt like an eternity since she first set hoof in this world. So much had happened since her arrival, ranging from druids, to artifacts, to making friends, and even to falling in love.

Sir Morn Dread sat beside her on the grassy field, first looking up at the blue sky, then down at Emerald, one of his hands around one of hers.

Earlier, they had picked this spot to break for lunch as they began making their way back to Canterlot from Canterbury. There had been some troll trouble over there, but with Sir Morn around, they were easily taken care of. The townsfolk had wanted to celebrate with them, as with all the other towns they help protect, but Emerald declined. Though, she didn’t say no to their carrot bread rolls, which she had found delicious.

Leaning over, Emerald gazed deeply into Sir Morn’s eyes, communicating something with him way beyond words. They’d been with each other long enough to know things without having to say them and Emerald could tell right now, that Sir Morn was telling her how much he loved her.

The spymaster placed a hand on his cheek and gently kissed him on the lips, savoring the moment between them.

“I love you, Sir Morn,” she whispered. “I love you more than anything.”

“Except your empire, my lady.” Sir Morn tapped her on the nose. “But do not fear. I do not mind losing out to an empire.”

“Cheeky, aren’t you?” Emerald wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned into him. She had really come such a long way.

“If you wish me to be, my lady.” Sir Morn held both her hands. “I will always be here for you, whatever you need me to be.”

Emerald giggled and hugged him close. There was no better way to spend a day in this world than to be by Morn’s side.

The two knights cuddled together under the tree for another hour or so before deciding to set off back home. Foxtrot seemed to also be getting impatient, making lots of noise while Emerald and Morn were still seated. Windspeed had tried to stop him from bothering the two, but his neighs were useless.

“Alright, alright, you fussy horse.” Emerald patted him on the muzzle and fed him a carrot. “We shall head home now.”

The two knights started off, bringing their horses into a gallop as they traversed the grassy plains of the kingdom. It was a nice cold ride back, seeing as it was coming close to winter once again. Red leaves flaked off all around them, flying by as their horses thundered over to the dirt path leading to Canterlot.

It had been a few hours ride back, with Emerald enjoying the wind in her hair. They were only nearing Canterlot when Emerald first spotted signs of trouble. Smoke was rising from somewhere in the castle, rising up higher than the tallest tower. But that wasn’t the worst part. Out of the walls and the castle itself, grew huge vines, some of them even moving around, with one smashing apart one of the wall’s towers, sending a shower of debris down beyond the town walls.

“What… is going on?” Emerald pulled Foxtrot to a stop as she eyed the chaos.

Sir Morn stopped Windspeed beside her and sniffed. “Canterlot, tis in trouble. We must hasten! Our people need us!”

Emerald didn’t need to be told twice. She got Foxtrot to gallop on faster than ever, hoping in her mind that everyone was still safe.

Trotting over to the gates, Emerald and Morn tied their horses to one of the trees further away, in case the vines were to try and get them. So far, they seemed to only be confined to the castle and town, but Emerald didn’t know how much longer that would last. The two of them ran down the streets of Canterlot, which was devoid of humans. They had all probably returned back home to hide, which the spymaster didn’t think was such a good idea, considering the vines were taking apart the structures like blocks.

Many of the buildings closer to the castle seemed to have been hit by debris, with the Drifting Stallion sporting a new hole in its roof and its sign was askew.

“This is troubling indeed.” Sir Morn put his helmet on and nodded to Emerald. “We must find the source.”

“Right.” Emerald pulled her hood over her head. These vines, she had encountered them once before, back on one quest with Sir Boercival. Plunderseed vines, she thought they were called. Druids had been trying to wake them up. “If I have to make a guess, this must be the work of druids.”

“What makes you say so, my lady?”

Emerald reminded him of her quest to Talamhstead, bringing the ancient ruins down upon the sleeping vines. “The druids must have perhaps obtained parts of it. Or maybe seeds.”

“And they grew them here? Why?”

“We will need to find those responsible to find out.”

The first humans they encountered were just at the bridge, dividing Canterlot’s town. It was their newest Knight of the Round Table, Sir Gallophad, defending a cluster of townsfolk from two attacking vines. Unfortunately, he pressed too far forward and one vine wrapped around his leg, pulling him up into the air. He yelled and dropped Arondight, owned by him now that Prancelot had been exiled.

“Unhand me, vines! I am Sir Gallophad of the Knights of the Round Table of King Dawn Saber’s court! I am not some common peasant!”

“I suppose tis time to join the fight.” Sir Morn drew Clarent and charged.

Emerald drew Amore and did the same. Her first priority was the defend the townsfolk, while Sir Morn ran for the vine that was holding Sir Gallophad in the sky. The spymaster had gotten there just in time to cut off the tip of one vine, which was reaching over to grab a man. Emerald recognized him as a man selling carrots in the marketplace.

The vine recoiled back, but then shot forward at such a high speed that Emerald almost didn’t have enough time to block. She raised Amore and managed to push it to the side as it speared on, taking out a chunk of one of the buildings before whipping back. Emerald cut at it, but even with such a well crafted blade, it only cut into a portion of the thick vine, not doing enough damage. It barreled into her and knocked her back, one of its thorns cutting a hole in her red cloak.

“Oof!” Emerald landed close to the creek. She turned to the townsfolk and waved them away. “Go! Get somewhere safe! Go!”

They hesitated for a second, but then Emerald returned and cut at the vine again, keeping it busy and giving them the time they needed to run. She jumped and cut at the top of the vine, shearing off a few of its thorns before kicking off of it, just in time to block another strike in midair, which pushed her back onto the floor.

Sir Morn had drawn his arms back behind his head, and with one almighty sweep, he had sliced the entire front of the vine off, dropping Gallophad back down, where he managed to squirm out of the now dead portion of the vine.

“Back on your feet, Sir Gallophad.” Morn handed him Arondight, its yellow gems glinting brightly. “This fight is far from over.”

“Yes. The mages, their tower too has been overrun with these strange vines, alongside Canterlot Castle.” Gallophad’s sword arm was shaking under his armor. “I must say, it was a good thing I decided to pay a visit to the Drifting Stallion. I hope the other knights are faring well.”

“His majesty will need us.” Then Sir Morn looked to Emerald, who had now rolled beside them, her vine swishing in the air like a giant sword. “Lady Emerald, the Mages’ Tower, I must rescue my mother. Do you think you could get to his majesty with Sir Gallophad?”

“What? I’m coming with you, Morn.” Emerald looked at him like it was such a strange thing to ask.

“I know, you want to rescue my mother and the mages as well, but the king needs you,” Morn tried to reason.

“No, he needs you too.” Emerald dodged as a vine attacked them, then spun around and cut at it, but alas, she wasn’t as strong as Morn and couldn’t cut through all of it. “We stick together, Morn.”

Emerald wasn’t going to split off from him. They worked better as a team, and he should know that. They’ve been together long enough to know how each other work. And she loved him and didn’t want to be apart from him unnecessarily.

And then he pushed her out of the way and parried the vine as it came back, slicing off a good chunk of it as it tried to attack him. “Oh, very well, my lady. We shall.”

“Then I shall go on to the castle.” Gallophad picked up his dirtied helmet from the floor and gave it a wipe. “I shall do what I can to rescue his majesty from the clutches of these vile plants.”

“Celestia guide you, Sir Gallophad.” Emerald nodded her farewells to him.

“Umm…” Gallophad lowered his visor. “Right.”

And then the young knight was off, heading past the central bridge while Morn finished off the two vines that were attacking them. His strength was really invaluable for a situation such as this. If not for being in love with him, Emerald would still go with him to the tower for his strength.

“Come, my lady.” He reached a hand out. “To the Mages’ Tower we go.”

Emerald nodded and followed, both knights running down the cobbled street towards the looming smoke in the distance.

---

King Dawn Saber was thrown across the room, his body splitting his throne in half and knocking the crown off his head. Excalibur spun uselessly out of his grasp, sliding across the polished floor and stopping under Duchan’s foot.

“My my, even your weapon of destruction is no match for the plunderseed vines.” The archdruid looked to the pile of ash that once used to be one of the many vines now assaulting the throne room. “You are spent, your majesty. You cannot possibly hope to fight off all my vines.”

“C-Canterlot… will never… be yours.” Dawn Saber pushed up with a hand, but he was unable to stand.

“Will never be mine?” Duchan shot him an amused look and laughed. “I do not want Canterlot. Not anymore. Now, I simply wish for your destruction. For the end of your kingdom.”

To his side stood Nimhe, and Galar and the other druids freed from the prison. They numbered twelve now, and Nimhe had more outside, watching the fire. Nimhe held on to the restraints of the guard Emerald Edge, a knife pressed to her back, the guard’s face bloody and bruised from a beating earlier. To her left was Queen Sunlight Radiance, her arms and legs bound as well.

As of now, Duchan had not found the real Emerald Edge. She was nowhere in the castle, but that didn’t matter. She would return soon enough once she witnessed the destruction of Canterlot’s town.

“It is only a matter of time until your kingdom will lie in ruins before you, your majesty.” Duchan paced between the throne and the fallen king. “I think I will let you live until then, just so you can see how everything you’ve worked so hard to build will be torn from your hands. Nothing will remain.”

The archdruid bent down and picked up Excalibur. It weighed heavy in his hand, even after using the magic to make himself stronger all those years ago.

“And what a marvelous weapon you have. This will make a fine spot in my plundered collection. Including your wife.” Duchan smirked and looked to the bound Sunlight Radiance. “There is no woman more beautiful in your entire kingdom.”

Sunlight flashed him a murderous look, but said nothing.

“I am sure we will enjoy using her.”

“No…” Dawn Saber reached out towards her. “You will not harm my wife…”

“Oh? Would you like to see us do so?” Duchan looked over to his druids. “Galar, would you show the king some of our magic? Avoid her face. We still want her alive.”

Galar trotted forward, pulling a brown sack from his sleeve and tugging it open. Digging a gloved hand in, he brought out a handful of red powder, lifting it towards the queen.

“No! Do not… harm her!” Dawn Saber tried to stand again, but he was completely spent, falling back to his side. “Sun-Sunlight…”

With a laugh, Galar tossed the powder at the queen’s midsection, grinning madly as the magic began to eat away at her richly clothes, and soon, her skin. But to his surprise, her skin remained untouched as her clothes began to melt away.

He looked up at her face with surprise and mouthed, “What…?”

That was when Queen Sunlight broke her restraints, snapping them like paper. One of her hands reached for Galar’s throat and in an instant, she had pulled away, a shred of bloody meat in her hand as the druid stumbled back, clutching at his neck, unable to breathe.

“What is this?” Duchan looked on in shock. “Kill her! Kill her!”

More druids stepped forward, their magic at the ready, but it was as though Queen Sunlight had become a thing of nightmares. She passed through three of his druids like she was a ghost, and each time she did so, blood splattered against the walls and his druids fell dead.

“No!” He stood beside one of his vines and pointed at her. “Stop her!”

A trio of vines lashed out at Sunlight as she was in the process of ripping off a druid’s jaw, spinning around her and constricting her until she could no longer move. She tried to struggle, but it seems there was only so much to her monstrous strength.

“Ha! You may have had the element of surprise for that fleeting moment, but even you cannot possibly stand against the plunderseed vines, your majesty.” Duchan sneered at her as she continued to struggle, but to no avail. “How does it feel? To know that there is nothing you can do to stop this?”

“Nngh… I feel, that once I get out… of this…” Sunlight glared at him, completely showing no signs of fear, which irked Duchan. “Tearing out your throat... is going to be too kind of a death for you.”

“Oh, and here I thought you were just a weak queen like your husband.” Duchan eyed Dawn Saber, who had seemed to pass out on the floor. “There is nothing you can do to stop me now. The plunderseed vines have been awakened. You cannot possibly hope to stop such power!”

He ordered the vines to tighten around the queen, who began to wince from the pain, but still, she uttered no cry of pain.

“Look how she tries to fight it, Nimhe.” Duchan chuckled and waved for her to come to him. “No normal human can simply rip a throat out like you did. What are you exactly?”

The queen didn’t answer immediately. She inhaled, then opened her mouth wide and a short torrent of green flame gushed out, setting Duchan’s hood alight. The archdruid skipped back at the surprise attack, but soon patted the flames out with Nimhe’s help.

The queen was now smiling smugly at him and that made him mad. “Squeeze harder.”

As the vines entangled themselves tighter around Queen Sunlight, the woman still refused to utter a cry of any sorts, instead, only wincing as they attempted to crush her. Her mouth opened, like she was about to scream out in pain, but still, no cry emerged.

“You are no common creature I have ever seen…” Duchan pulled his smoldered hood down and made sure he still had hair on his head. “What are you doing, being a queen of a kingdom when you have such power? You could have easily conquered all the other kingdoms.”

“Because Queen Sunlight is a benevolent queen!” the guard Emerald Edge yelled at him through her split lip. “Unlike the likes of you druids!”

“Quiet, you!” Nimhe punched her in the eye.

Guard Emerald seemed stunned for a moment, then she shook her head and bared her teeth in a snarl.

“You think this is over? The Knights of the Round Table are coming for you, druids. They will find you, and they will beat you. Just you wait and see.”

“Yes, yes, and that is what I would like to see. Your precious knights fighting to save their king, only to die trying…” Duchan rubbed his hands together. “Your knights will not stop the plunderseed. Nothing can!”

Emerald spat out a dribble of blood. “We’ll see about that, druid.”

Laughing at her words, Duchan waltzed over to one of the nearby windows, happily gazing out at his handiwork. Right now, much of the town was in ruins, with fire spreading across the streets. The Mages’ Tower nearby was entangled in vines and its roof was missing. His vines were still spreading, already reaching the walls of the town, one even already spearing a hole through a part of the wall.

“Things are going just perfect…”

The king lay unconscious back in the room, and he would get the queen to scream eventually. Duchan was going to enjoy every moment of torturing her. And then there was Emerald Edge, the knight who ruined his plans and sent him to the dungeons. He had the one who looked like her right here, and he was going to enjoy beating her too, but nothing would make him happier than to cast his poisonous magic at her until she would beg him to stop, and even then, he would not.

“Finally! Nothing will stop me now! Nothing! Behold, Canterlot, your end. From here, there shall be no more light. Only darkness...”

---

Three druids stood outside Canterlot town’s walls, one of them, a bearded man, held a long red spear in his hands as the three of them watched one of the vines smash apart one of the wall’s turrets.

“So this is Canterlot…” One of the man’s companions said slowly. “Looks like it’s seen better days.”

“I hope we have not come too late.” The bearded one swallowed. Things weren’t looking good at all. “Mort, Tara, I will take the spear first to the castle. Perhaps I may find Duchan and end him before more of this destruction can continue. I want you two to find the mages here. I am sure we could use their help.”

---

After fighting through clusters and clusters of vines and saving townsfolk, including Jewel Pin, who had now opened her shop into a safe zone for other humans, Emerald Edge and Morn Dread now stood outside the Mages’ Tower, looking up at the structure. As they watched, one of the vines suddenly whipped away from a window, going down in flames, but almost as quick, more vines took its place.

“This is certainly going to be no easy task.” Sir Morn gulped, cleaning sap off Clarent’s blade. “My mother… I hope no harm has befallen her.”

With the tower so close to the castle, the vines here were much more dense and numerous, meaning it had originated somewhere in the castle.

“I am sure the mages are doing all they can to fend off this creature.” Emerald put a hand on his shoulder. “Do not worry for your mother. She is a capable mage. I am sure she, Light Speckle and Clover will figure something out.”

From the tower, two vines shot down at the two knights, almost catching them by surprise. Emerald leapt to the side and cut at it, breaking some thorns, and Sir Morn dodged to the other side, spinning around and slicing horizontally, cutting the vine along its length, splitting its head in half. Then with a duck and a high slash, the two pieces of vine sailed high into the air, landing over in the castle’s courtyard.

Emerald had cut at the same spot thrice, but she couldn’t muster the strength to cut through it all the way. Thankfully, Sir Morn returned to her side and finished it off for her, sending the stumps retreating back to the tower’s wall.

With them gone, the front door was left unblocked, at least for now. They had to take this chance.

“Are you ready, my lady?” Sir Morn held Emerald’s hand, his strength giving her the will to go on.

“Ready.” Emerald quickly gave him a kiss to the cheek as they both ran for the door.

This was far from over.

---

Comments

[Jaxxon Markus Citadel]

Is this the season finale? Everything you've built up in the past ten or so chapters is all converging on this moment, and I like it! If Dawn Saber dies here, does that mean Emerald will take over, since she's the only one capable of using Excalibur? But then why is her tomb in Masyaf?

[Marcthelightspark2004]

The first humans they encountered were just at the bridge, dividing Canterlot’s town. It was their newest Knight of the Round Table, Sir Gallophad, defending a cluster of townsfolk from two attacking vines. Unfortunately, he pressed too far forward and one vine wrapped around his leg, pulling him up into the air. He yelled and dropped Arondight, owned by him now that Prancelot had been exiled.

Not exiled, incarcerated.

[Marcthelightspark2004]

Seems to be a week of finales. Long Way to Fall, Age of Kings, man.

50/10

[MoonlightRift]

Oh boy. Looks like a very big fight is incoming. Season finale presumably based on the other comments. Exciting!