Spelunking for Time

Author’s Note: This story is written in a duet format with a friend. We took turns writing parts of the story 1 paragraph at a time. Those written by him at marked appropriately, mine are not.

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Rapu Riverstone – The war of the magi was long past. The world was in a peace unlike anything anyone had ever seen. On a peaceful summer’s day, Histen and Nova were out delving. Most of the ruins of wars ages past held many a secret, and spelunking was an exciting pastime for young couples. After thoroughly exploring a ruined tower, they made camp. “There doesn’t seem to be anything here, either”, said Nova.

A gentle rustle in the bushes captivated their attention. The young couple knew there were no dangerous beasts in this area, so they turned to calmly watch the bushes. From the grass emerged a tiny nose, a small white head and then the rest of the body. A small, white mouse carefully took a step out onto the campfire light and sniffed the air. It smelled their food and appeared quite hungry. The couple were quick to feed the mouse, and found themselves with a new companion whom they named ‘Myron’. 

Rapu Riverstone –  – Myron accompanied the couple during their travels. The mouse helpfully dug up small coins and minor trinkets and seemed to enjoy his time. Until at last they came upon an abandoned village. Myron chirped loudly, drawing the couple’s attention. Myron had found a little talisman, shaped like a heart. “Look, Nova! How delightful! I can’t believe nobody has unearthed this before, it wasn’t very deep in the mud either.”, exclaimed Histen. “Oh no, Histen, see, it’s broken”, said Nova.

Histen looked over it and washed it off with water from his waterskin, then carefully pried it apart. It came into 2 parts without resistance and he shrugged – “Seems like it was intended for couples, to be worn, 1 half by each.” In that moment, they watched Myron hide behind a rock, as if sensing something ominous. But the couple knew not what had caused the said reaction from their little friend. Through the next decade, they noticed that Histen was aging slower. 

Rapu Riverstone – Time went by. They married and lived happily in the Royal Capital for many a year. Histen’s curious youth had drawn the attention of the Eamon, the Court Wizard. The local wizardry could not explain what had happened to him. One day, Nova was out spelunking again with her friends… and slipped! And just like that, Histen was left alone. Many years later, Histen was out at the markets when suddenly… It was her.

He couldn’t believe his eyes, but it was, most undeniably, Nova.. She looked no older than the day they had first met, 50 or so years ago. After her death, the time seemingly slowed, or sped up. Histen failed to keep track of days and years. Still, his aging was slow. He followed Nova through the market for a while, until at last he mustered courage to try speaking with her. “H..hey?? Nova..?” Surprised, the young woman stepped back, but a lingering sense of familiarity prevented her from running. 

Rapu Riverstone – “It’s you! It really is you! Come! We must tell everybody!” The woman yelped in confusion as Histen grabbed her hand. “Who are you? What do you want?”, she asked. Histen’s thoughts raced. He wasn’t sure if he had finally gone insane from grief, or were the gods playing tricks on him. With great hesitation, he let the woman go. “No, something is going on. Eamon has to know the answer.”

She stepped back another step, confusion was the only way to explain her expression. “You.. are Nova Spectrum right?” inquired Histen with hesitation, his eyes firmly fixated on hers. “N.. not I’m Nova Noctis… Do I know you?” his eyes widened from the shock of the reveal “How.. how old are you?”. She tilted her head to the side lost in thought “I’m 19…” Histen’s eyes widened “No.. this can’t be right! Please, come see Eamon with me!” 

Rapu Riverstone – Later that day, in the Court Wizard’s chambers, Eamon wore a bemused and an amused expression at the same time. “Well, this does explain things. Previously we were only studying you, Mr. Histen.”, Eamon explained. “What do you mean? Explain, wizard!”, Histen demanded, with a slight desperation in his voice. “Now, now, patience. You are indeed bound by an enchantment, but it is you both that makes the enchantment whole. Nova here is indeed Nova, in a manner of speaking.” 

“W..what manner of speaking?” asked Nova with confusion in her voice. The wizard grinned, amused by this event “Say, young missy, have you sense of familiarity towards this man?”. She glanced briefly at him “Uhm, yes.. I feel like I’ve known him a long time even though I’ve no memories of ever meeting him before.” The wizard nodded and stroked his beard “Yes yes, perhaps a NAME will ring a bell? Histen?” her heart fluttered at the mere sound of his name. 

Rapu Riverstone – “But…”, she attempted to rebuke this strange situation. She felt she couldn’t. In that moment she understood why she hadn’t yet found the love of her life. Her true love was this man, and had been, all this time. The strange familiarity took over her and soon the couple were like nothing had ever happened. And so it remained, until it happened again. And again. And again.

Decades passed by in the blink of an eye. Histen found his beloved, watched her die, grief and despair till he found her again. His heart was broken, but at the same time filled with determination to find a cure to this curse. In that time, throughout the reincarnations the court wizards created numerous tools for Histen and continued to study their curse. He had a map which would always show him the location of his beloved. He knew where to find her. “Eureka…” exclaimed a wizard one night.

Rapu Riverstone – The couple were summoned to the Court Wizards’ chambers. This time one of them beamed with pride. “One of the spelunkers found something you might be interested in. Please, pay a visit to the Royal Library, and take this with you..” The wizard handed them a paper slip that read “Apprentice Kevin – The Hopeful Wizardlet”. “This young apprentice will help you. Don’t mind him”, the wizard explained. “He will help you read what is in it. I pray for your success.”

They showed up at the Library and handed the slip over to the front desk librarian… an owl that looked over the paper and hooted then pointed it’s claw at the door with a sign ‘archive’. It hooted after them once more, unable to understand the owl, they ventured through the door, and shortly after, a shout came from behind them while they were descending down the stairs “WAAAIIT FOR MEEEEEE” hasty footsteps followed.

Rapu Riverstone – A pimple-faced young wizard stumbled after them. “Wait! I am important!”, he exclaimed. He reached the couple and stopped. He stared. At this point, for a layperson Histen looked to be in his 70s and Nova in her late teens. “YOU are the couple I’m meant to help? Wait… is that even legal?” The couple returned the stare. “Well, I suppose so! I am meant to translate a book. And ONLY I can translate it! Remember that!”

He wiped his nose with the sleeve of his robe and pointed down the stairs – “That’s stairs! Going down into the archive! We’re going there, follow me you 2… weirdos..” Histen raised his eyebrow – “yea we.. know..” he shook his head “no no! The archives are DANGEROUS! You know nothing! Maybe.. How old are you anyways?” Histen shrugged – “300 or so..” the apprentice’s eyes widened – “w..well you know nothing of wizardry! Down we go!” He marched on.

Rapu Riverstone – They found the right shelf, according to this Kevin, anyway. “Now, pay close attention!  According to a lame spelunker’s findings, one of these books might describe whatever your problem is. Now-“, but it was too late, Histen had already pulled a book from the shelf, just to browse. In a rumble, all of the books in the shelf flew out, floated in the air, spun around in a cloud of ruffling paper, and flew back in with a thump. “NOOOO!”, screamed Kevin. “That is a security measure!”

“They are in a random order now and it’s all YOUR fault!” explained Kevin as he, in panic, quickly scanned the shelf that got shuffled by the effect of 1 of the magic tomes “So I have good news and…” a loud roar echoed through the archives “And that’s the bad new.. .RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” shouted Kevin as he held onto the tome in his hands and burst into a sprint. Nova and Histen followed right after “What the hell is going on?” Demanded Nova “The MAGIC TOMES!” yelled Kevin

Rapu Riverstone – They ran through the corridors. Kevin was so flustered the couple almost didn’t even feel like following him. “COME ON!”, Kevin screamed at the top of his lungs. Several other traps activated and the library was in chaos. This continued for several hours. Histen and Nova were growing weary of the bumbling fool. “All right, let us sneak back in. It should be fine, probably, yes, likely, surely,” mumbled Kevin. Eventually they reached the chamber and something caught Histen’s eye… it was a mouse.

Histen squatted down and laid his hand on the floor. Myron was quick to jump onto his hand and squeal happily. “What.. what is that??” demanded Kevin. “It’s.. Myron… He was our pet erhm.. When this whole curse thing started.” Nova watched the mouse towards which she felt an odd sense of familiarity too. “Myron.. I feel him” she smiled warmly as she patted the mouse. “So.. what the hell happened there?” she pointed with her thumb at the door they had closed behind them, which led back to archives. 

Rapu Riverstone – “Are you saying this stupid mouse is 300 years old?” rambled Kevin. The couple did their best to ignore him, enjoying the company of their newfound friend.. “All right, so in the archive room, all the books have to be in a specific order. Not just for defense, but for the magicks in the tomes to not disturb each other. Makes sense?” Histen and Nova stared at Kevin in silence. Myron scampered onwards with a purposeful step the moment Kevin put him down. 

The apprentice watched the little mouse, draw on the dust on the table, order for the tomes. He squinted “t..that is impossible… Aa…anyhow that’s for later! First things first.” He opened the tome and flipped about 3/4th of the way to a part labeled ‘Dragon Artifacts’. Myron angrily tapped its tiny little mouse foot on the table then squeaked and ran back onto Histen’s shoulder. “Alright so this is a tome on magick artifacts and dragon cursed artifacts.”

Rapu Riverstone – Histen raised his eyebrow “Huh? But we don’t have anything like that…” They browsed the pages, many of which luckily had crude illustrations depicting the artifacts. The runes were written in some dead tongue. “Well, what do the pages say?” asked Histen. “Yes, this is where I come in, just listen.” Kevin sat down by a desk and procured a monocle. “Are you near-sighted or what?” asked Nova. The runes were not small by any measure. “I think he’s just stupid.” muttered Histen under his breath.

Kevin sighed “Listen here you buffoons!! This is a MaGiCAL ARTIFACT” he spoke with obvious and sickening sarcasm “It allows me to.. You know what? Just hush and be grateful to have me!” he carefully scanned the runes and text from page to page until at last he paused on a page with no drawings “AHA The talisman of the loved ones!” He peered over the book at the couple “Say, you 2 idiots didn’t happen to pick some pendant that you kept wearing by any chance?”

Rapu Riverstone – “That talisman.. It can’t be…” pondered Histen in disbelief. “And the mouse! Why now?” shouted Nova. Kevin’s smug face was insufferable “Well? Am I right or what? And who cares about a mou-” “Enough!” Histen interrupted. “How do we break the curse? What does it say?”  “Yes yes, see here, it actually has a rightful owner!” Kevin happily explained. “Most curses happen when an enchantment notices it has been stolen. You must return it.” 

“So… who’s the rightful owner then?” inquired Histen with a curious expression. Kevin grinned “yess, I will tell you, but first.. You’ll have to sort the tomes in the right order, fix your own mess”. Nova slammed her hand on the table “Listen here! You… STUCK UP!! Little… dimwit! Pimple faced! UGGHH! JUST TELL ME BEFORE I..” Histen shuddered. “Whoa! RUDE!” Kevin groaned – “Fine! It’s Huan the Hoarder, dragon in the eastern – dragon peaks, mountains. 

Rapu Riverstone – “Huan the Hoarder…” wondered Histen. “But… that doesn’t make a lot of sense, now does it? The dragons went extinct during the war, everybody knows that.” “Well, that is a predicament you’ll have to figure out. MY work here is done!” huffed the pseudo-scholar. “What say you, love? One more spelunking, just like old times?” Histen asked Nova, smiling coyly. “Any time with you, dear” she smiled back. Behind them, Myron chirped happily.

The journey was no easy one. They traveled day and night! Through the hot days till the base of the mountains, and bone-chilling colds of the peaks. Many days of dangerous journey passed, and when all hope seemed to be gone, Nova pointed her finger at the cavern amidst the starting blizzard – “OVER THERE” She shouted. Histen peered at it “That might be it! Let’s go” The 2 made their way into the cave, a massive cave, entrance to which was covered in claw marks. 

Rapu Riverstone – The claw marks were wider than a rotund human. Old Huan the Hoarder must have been massive. “Imagine the scale of the battle here. That must have been something else!” Histen mused, amazed. The team – two spelunkers and a mouse – made their way deep underground. They noticed the cave was largely unexplored. Bones of dead soldiers and magical weapons littered the cavern walls. “If there is a dead dragon here it certainly is untouched!” Nova muttered.

Deeper inside, in the main chambers, they saw it.. A colossal dragon skeleton, with few smaller ones lining the walls, presumably Huan’s challengers. The dragon’s skeleton rested on a pile of not gold, but items. Chests, pendants, armor, weapons, every kind of item imaginable was in that pile atop of which the dragon’s remains rested. “There it is.. I can not believe it, it is actually there.” muttered Nova, approaching it slowly “Take nothing” reminded Histen as he followed in her footsteps.

Rapu Riverstone – Amongst the items, Nova saw a pedestal. The design was fairly foreign and she couldn’t place it into any culture she knew. On the top of the pedestal was a heart-shaped carving. It looked about the right size. “This has to be it!” Nova shouted back at the others. Myron clawed his way on top of the pedestal and stared intently at Nova. “This is it then, Myron? You knew?” Nova asked the mouse. “Place it. This has to be it. Let us end this.” Histen said, with a slight tremble in his voice. 

Histen handed over his half of the heart which Nova carefully joined with hers and slowly lowered onto carving in the pedestal. She watched it for a moment as seemingly nothing happened. “Huh?” she inquired curiously, then turned to face Histen when she heard a thud. He fell to his knees, breathing heavily – “I.. Must be exhausted..” He sat down, trying to catch his breath, as worried Nova knelt beside him. Their gaze slowly traveled up the pedestal where the mouse squeaked.

Rapu Riverstone – They looked as the mouse slowly became more and more transparent, until it was no more. “I believe I understand, now.” Histen mused, gasping for air. “Nova, I would see the sunset one last time. Will you help me?” She nodded and helped him up. “What was it that you understood?” she asked him, as they made their way back.. “The mouse. Likely the dragon’s familiar, or the like. This wasn’t just our curse, but also his.” She nodded, with a tear in her eye.

As the 2 made it out of the cave, the weather had miraculously cleared up. They slumped down in a loving embrace as Histen’s voice and breathing slowly grew quieter “Thank..you for everything.” She watched the sun set “I love you, always will”. “As do I” said Histen with his last breath. His body slumped, leaning against her. And there he lay to rest. Tears rolled down her cheeks, her body trembled.

She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself sitting on a lush green field, with vivid red rose bushes all around her. A man in black robe was running his hand through the thorny bushes, a voice echoed from all around her “What a beautiful love you had shown us.” the robed man turned and in a friendly tone replied “Truly undeserved destiny, sadly, not one that I can change. Seek you to reunite with him? Or live the rest of your days in solitude?” 

She hesitated for a moment, confused by what was happening. Her first thought was ‘I want to be with him’ but then she shook her head “No.. He wouldn’t want me to join him so soon”. And so she awoke in her world, in a village by the dragon peak mountains. She return to her regular life, although grieving her loss she lived on with memories of him.