Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Into the fire (862 BC)

Chapter 70: Into the fire (862 BC)

862 BC, Korinthos

(Medusa POV)

The perpetrator made a mistake by proving to me that they did witness what was happening. They must have been using mind magic since they couldn’t use scrying because of my wards. Magic always leaves a trace and I look for any type of psionic magical signature and find one leading to Italy, to a mountain in the Alps to be specific. It was not just a mountain but a volcano, it was magical in nature somehow and it prevented me from being able to see further.

I knew that I had to investigate this, it was a feeling in my gut that if I don’t, I would regret it. I look towards by beloved and asked with a smirk on my face, “Are you ready to go a trip?”

Hestia responded, “Sure. Where are we going?”

“West. We’re going West. Whoever is responsible for this is staying in some mountain there. This is going to take some time to unravel. We need to tell the girls that we’re leaving.”

She nods and we teleport back to the house. We make enough food for the girl to last them a few days. Before we’re done, both sisters enter the kitchen and gaped at the amount of food we’re making. After a few moments of a stupefied silence, Euryale commented, “What are you cooking for the entire village or something?”

Hestia chuckled, “No dear. We’re going on a small trip, and we don’t know how long it would take. This is all for you, we are putting everything in statis so that you won’t have to cook.”

This time Stheno was the one who spoke up, “Where are you going? Is it dangerous?”

I answer, “We don’t know yet. But everything is going to be fine, don’t worry. And don’t forget to continue your studies. And don’t do anything stupid while we’re away, trust me, I will know.”

They both nodded, “yes, Mama.”

I chuckle inwardly; I always caught the girls whenever they tried to do something they shouldn’t. Even if my skill in the mind arts didn’t allow me to instinctively know whenever anyone is trying to deceive me, many of monitoring charms I have on my property would have told me anyway. I did not make the wards with this purpose in mind, to be honest, but it does help a lot. Additionally, I am not using telepathy on my daughters, it’s just that my instinctive intent detector is something that I don’t consciously use. It’s very useful, to be honest, but I cannot stop using it. It would be like asking your eyes to stop seeing colors on command. It can be very bothersome in crowds, but I have learnt to manage it over time.

After saying our goodbyes, Hestia and I leave our home and teleport towards the location that I scried using the cyclops corpse. When we arrived at our destination, we saw a large mountain in front of us. It was tall and almost entirely covered in snow. The base showed signs of plant life that seems to be undisturbed by any type of human presence. Around the mountain was a vast forest that went on for miles.

But there was something wrong with it, I could sense that there was some sort of magic that wanted to influence intruders to stop them from going further. There was something that was also wrong with what I was seeing. Like it was missing something. I slowly walk towards the mountain, ignoring the compulsion, but the I heard Hestia’s voice, “There’s obviously nothing here. Let’s just come back.”

I answer, “We need to work on your mental defenses when we go home; you fell for a compulsion.”

My beloved entered a trance, probably to check her mind for any tampering, before nodding grimly, the warm look that was usually in her eyes was gone. She understood the severity of the situation.

Hestia had refused to learn any magic from me, insisting that what she knows is enough for her to live with and that she was plenty strong on her own. Something that was inconvenient now; whoever put that compulsion was powerful and definitely skilled. This was going to be a dangerous opponent.

It doesn’t matter now, what is done, is done. There was no use crying over spilled milk. I step forward and through whatever illusion was being cast over the mountain. The tranquil forest disappeared, leaving a large dense and heavy woodland. There was a feeling of wrongness emanating from it and I could barely see inside the forest; the thick trees stopping the light from entering.

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But that was nothing compared to the mountain itself. Or what used to be a mountain. Instead, a huge mass of ash and slag and burned stone, out of which a sheer-sided cone was raised into the clouds. Suddenly, a veritable explosion occurred at the top, expelling molten stone into the air and I could feel and hear it from here, I even felt the air grow hotter, even from miles away. The molten rock fell back into the ground, forming rivers of lava of joining the already existent ones formed from chasms in its sides, burning everything in their way.

This was not a mountain; this was a giant volcano. But it definitely wasn’t a normal one. There was something wrong with it; the volcano felt magical. No, it was more than that, it felt alive. The volcano itself was the one maintaining the spell, considering how much magic it would be very unlikely that someone human would be able to keep it up.

But the illusion was not the only thing the volcano’s magic was maintaining. There was a curse stopping anyone from using any type of spacial manipulation and of travel over the trees, meaning I could not teleport or fly over the forest to reach the mountain. Whoever designed that spell would force anyone from getting to the volcano without going through the forest first. It was quite cleverly made and considering the amount of magic used for each spell, it would take a lot of power to disable these curses from the outside and even then, it would take hours to remove them which would warn whoever put them up in the first place.

I could use the invisibility cloak to just stroll in, but I haven’t told Hestia about the Hallows and now is not the time to do so. I never told her about the sinking of Atlantis, and she has been considerate enough to not ask. Revealing the existence of the Hallows would also lead to questions about how I acquired them, something I was not ready to talk about. Plus, I sincerely doubt that anything in the forest could actually harm us, and should there be something, I would just use the cloak; no secret was worth Hestia’s life.

I hear Hestia gasping behind me as she too broke the illusion.

I smirk at her, “Well, this should prove to be interesting.”

She laughs and we both walk into the forest. I was right, the forest emanated some kind of menace, like if the trees were alive, they would try to kill us. It felt like it could be never ending and there were some enchantments that would trap intruders into some kind of infinite space. Whoever made this had a good grasp on space magic. We avoided it, of course, but it made me stay alert just in case. Our uneventful journey was then interrupted by a dozen giant spiders leaping down from the trees, attempting to kill us. I recognized them as Acromantula, a magical creature that didn’t exist at this time but is common knowledge in the magical world in the future. I can sense that someone used alchemy to create them by combining the essence of a spider and a giant.

Similar to the creatures attacking Korinthos, the giant spiders felt wrong. From what I know, Acromantula are sentient; they have desires besides feeding and breeding. The spiders in front of me were just some rabid animals that are ruled by their instincts. From my experience with the cyclopes, I find an identical psionic magical signature around them. But with the enchantment clear in front of me and not faded like the one on the cyclops, I could tell that it was doing more than just commanding the creatures.

It was also stunting their growth; they were designed to not have thoughts of their own. Magical creatures tend to develop a conscience quickly, this enchantment stopped that, probably to make sure they don’t rebel; taking control of multiple animals is easy, taking control of multiple magical creatures is very hard. They tend to resist, it’s one of the many reasons wizards never attempted to magically control dragons. But removing their ability to resist would make it theoretically possible.

This was beyond monstrous. Normally, using alchemy to create magical creatures was dodgy enough, even if you take responsibility of their development and wellbeing. But creating a magical creature with a complex soul but not allow it to develop is just wrong on so many levels. Whoever was doing this weaponized life, and this was unacceptable.

Back to the spiders, Hestia made short work of them; they were vulnerable to fire so that didn’t take too much effort. After I explained my findings to her, she asked, “Are all magical creatures a product of Alchemy? You mentioned that some of them are made naturally.”

I nod, “There are four types of magical creatures. There are ones who are normal animals that are conceived in a highly magical area. The creatures can be born different to their parent and start displaying signs of intelligence. This is how thunderbirds were created. In an eagle nest, some of the hatchlings were different; they had six wings and could summon thunderstorms. Similarly, some creatures are created with the breeding of two magical creatures. It’s pretty rare for two magical creatures to be compatible but it is possible. There is alchemy, like I told you. And there are also creatures from the age of gods, like dragons. I do not know how they were created; everything from this era is shrouded in mystery.”

Hestia responds, “Gods? As in true gods? Tell me about them…”

“Gods, or as I call them elder gods, are extremely powerful beings of energy. They were so powerful; they could shape continents at will. They were at war with another factions called Demons and it was tearing the world apart. In an attempt to protect the mortals from this conflict, a sorcerer of immense power called Agamotto banished them from our reality into their own realms. Trust me, this is not the work of an elder god; you will know if an elder god is near.”

Hestia nodded somberly, and we walked towards the giant Volcano. We were attacked every other hour on our way there by a number of creatures, but nothing to be worried about. It was only a dozen of cyclopes, the odd Acromantula here and there, and even a couple of Hippogriffs and a Griffin. It seems that most magical creatures in the future originated from here.

It broke my heart when an ashwinder, a small snake capable of a limited control over fire, attacked us and at the time was simply hissing “Kill” repeatedly. It was already disturbing when I understood the enchantment, but it gets a lot more horrifying when I can understand the creatures.

Whoever was responsible will die by my hand, this was just wrong on so many levels. Hestia looked just as grim as me. After a few hours, we arrived at the base of the volcano, and we noticed and entrance to the deep. It was large, as if a giant could walk through. The heat emanating from it was extremely high, but it was muted somehow. It was still extremely hot, but it similar to the heat in a desert during a summer day. On top of the entrance was a sign. It said, “Mount Etna”.

With a small gulp, we stepped into the deep.

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