Together with Elinor by their side, the two Scottish teens cautiously followed the wisp trail into the trees with Magnus hoping this wasn't going to lead them to another witch in a cottage. The path ended up being longer than before with Elinor eventually walking on all fours. Hours went by as the area around them was slowly starting to look more dead than alive. Leafless trees all around looked like slender, many-armed wood creatures ready to grab at them at any given moment and a mysterious cloud of fog started to envelope the land, making it near difficult to see the path ahead if it wasn't for the wisps guiding them forward. Magnus's eyes wandered their current surroundings, starting to get a weird feeling about all of this. Seeing the wisps lure them away from the natural, pure greenery into a more haunting environment was bringing a cold tingle up his spine as it felt like someone or something might jump out at them and tear them to shreds. But he had to be brave, not just for the queen, but for Merida. She needed him as much as he needed her.
"I hope we're walking in a graveyard." He commented.
"Will you relax?" sighed Merida. "Wait, look."
As soon as they got closer, they approached what appeared to be a giant gateway-looking arch made of stone boulders. At the very top was a seal by the looks of it; a familiar-looking signet of twin axes forming an X shape. Both Merida and Magnus eyed the marble with suspicious curiosity. It was similar to that ring the witch showed them, which she obtained from the prince that asked her for the same spell to change his fate.
"Why did they bring us here?" Magnus wondered out loud.
As the trio continued further and further, climbing up some stone stairs, they appeared to be at the ruins of an ancient castle overlooking Loch Ness lake; the result of the aftermath of a great war as it were, devastating the whole land around it.
"Whoever they were, they've been gone for a long time." Merida replied before the ground beneath their feet started to give in to their weight and both she and Magnus ended up plummeting downward with Elinor racing over, failing to grab onto them as they fell, tumbling down marble stones and onto the ground below.
"Ow." winced Magnus after falling flat on his back on some huge steps and he suddenly blushed madly when he quickly realized Merida was on top of them, with their lips so incredibly close to touch. The redhead realized it as well the minute she jerked upwards with widened eyes and a huge red blush on her own pudgy cheeks. Though, she quickly climbed off of him when she heard her mother roared down for them, asking them if they're okay.
"We're fine, mum!" called back Merida. "Just fine."
"I think I landed on my spine." Magnus groaned, carefully sitting back up.
"You'll be okay."
Once they returned to their feet, they looked to see they were in some kind of room. But just any room, mind you, but what looked like a throne room. There were the two throne chairs sitting there at the base of the steps, completely untouched by for years.
"It's a throne room." Magnus noted.
"You don't suppose this is the kingdom from that story you were telling me." called Merida quizzingly up to her mother. "The one with the princes."
Then the teens found a stone carving on the ground. A carving of four male princely figures standing in line. However, it had been split in half, separating the prince on the very right of the carving from the other three next to him. As Merida tentatively eyed the years-old piece of art closely, it instantly reminded her of something she did not too long ago before she fled into the woods crying.
"Split, like the tapestry." Merida replied.
"The tapestry? What do you mean?" asked Magnus, lifting an eyebrow at her.
"When my mum dragged back into the castle and argued, I got so mad at her and I guess I just lost my temper. Then,...I split the tapestry with my sword, separating me and my mom on it." She gently and rigidly explained, that very psychologically-cripping moment puncturing knives into her heart with the deepest regret.
"That spell. It's happened before." Magnus exclaimed, remembering the witch's tale to them about the prince. Behind them was a huge pile of skeletons and bones; the remains of fallen warriors who laid down their lives in battle. "'The strength of ten men.' Merida, how did that story go?"
"Long ago, there was an ancient kingdom." Merida began. "Ruled by a wise and fair king who was beloved by all. When he grew old, he divided the kingdom among his four sons. But the eldest wanted to rule the land for himself. So he followed his own path to change his fate and the kingdom fell from war, chaos and ruin."
"'Fates be changed'." Magnus started to wonder with thought as he started putting the pieces together, casting a look over toward the pile of bones, the split carving and then Elinor through the hole in the ceiling. "'Changed his fate'."
"Oh, no." Merida gasped with a pale expression as it suddenly hit her. "The prince became…."
Both of them completely halted in place when they suddenly heard a noise from behind them which froze their blood. In the eerie stillness within the air, there came a low growl. They both sewated fountains, fearing the worst and hoped it wasn't so. Cautiously turning around, gods be damned if they even soiled themselves for it was standing right there in the room with them, staring back at them with its dead, soulless eye. Snarling and baring it slobbering fangs at them with a vicious and carnivorous look was none other than the ferocious demon bear himself.
"...Mor'du." squeaked Magnus and Merida, scared shitless.
Elinor then roared at them to get the hell out of there and Mor'du roared back. The beast stood himself up, snarling as it attempted to intimidate the duo. Merida immediately armed herself and launched an arrow at the bear's body, but it didn't work as the monster felt no pain whatsoever and was now provoked enough to attack them. He bellowed as he ran forward with his jaws wide open as the two quickly hid behind the throne as Merida fired another arrow at the bear's face in a vain effort to stop him or at least disorient him, but it still didn't work. Then as Merida ducked out of the way to save herself, Magnus thrusted his hands out in a stance of defiance and unexpectedly, the demon bear was thrown backwards a few meters away and into a stone wall as if it were struck by a wrecking ball. Magnus was taken aback by this and looked at his hands in shock, wondering if he just did that. However, there wasn't much time to ponder it over as Mor'du was now more pissed off than before.
"Come on!" Merida screamed as the duo quickly raced for the stone pile and shattered pillars when the monster came at them again, snatching at Merida's cloak and ripping it off as they desperately climbed upwards back through the hole they fell through with Elinor urging them with her bear grunts. With the beast close behind, Merida had to jump to grab onto her mother's paw in order for her to pull her back up.
"Magnus!" Merida yelled as she frantically held out her own hand for him to grab. Magnus kicked Mor'du in the face as he advanced dangerously close enough to swipe at him with his claws and jumped to grab onto Merida's hand as she pulled him back up with all her might. Hearing Mor'du roar in anger at his fresh prey having escaped his clutches was their motivation for them to clear out of here.
But then the demon bear managed to snap his head out of the hole, allowing him to get close enough to his prey, only for Elinor to knock over a wall onto him to distract and put the monster out along enough for them to make their getaway. Merida had climbed on Elinor's back as she and Magnus both raced away from the ruins before the monster had a chance to chase after them. They ran and ran like there was no tomorrow, however, they didn't quite see where they were going due to the mist around them. Although, Merida noticed something she recognized right away and she screamed as she and Elinor were about to run directly into a mithir. Thankfully, Elinor slowed down until they were just able to bump right into the rock a tiny bit. Magnus fell to the ground on his knees, tired from all the frantic running as his heart beated faster than normal like it was ready to burst out of his chest. He has never been more terrified in his entire life. There he was almost grabbed by the literal jaws of death and he had just barely made it out alive. As soon as the mist cleared, they realized they were standing in the Ring of Stones.
"Mum, we have to get back to the castle." Merida reminded her mother with fear gripping her heart. "If we don't hurry, you'll become like Mor'du! A bear! A real bear! Forever!"
"'Mend the bond torn by pride'." Magnus recited, hoping to find a clue to the words before he realized, "The tapestry!"
It was official. They needed to undo Merida's actions from earlier if they're going to help change Elinor back into a human. But they needed to work fast for nightfall had arisen once the trio had returned to the Castle Dun'Broch, which meant the second sunrise was nigh. Magnus could only hope that it was going to be easy for them, but he knew, in hindsight, that it most likely wasn't. Especially with Fergus and the other clan members inside. As soon as they reached the castle grounds around the perimeter, they stealthily noticed that the castle was heavily guarded as usual. They needed to be smart about this if they were going to get inside undetected. Though Elinor backed away, appearing to be hesitant and afraid of getting in there as she would be a sitting duck the moment she sets foot on those grounds in her new form.
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." Magnus quietly stopped her, trying to calm her down.
"You've got a better idea?" asked Merida, wondering, herself, how they were going to get inside.
Elinor pondered this for a minute before her eyes brightened up, coming up with a plan. Sneaking their way underneath the bridge, carefully avoiding the bright lights of the torches the guards carried on them while performing their rounds. Luckily for the trio, there was a secret passageway deep beneath the bridge that would've been used as a contingency plan in case their castle were to be overrun by invaders. At least, that was Magnus's own theory on the matter anyway. The entrance was sealed off with a barred gate, which Elinor had to use her bear strength to rip it off of the hinges.
"That'll work." Magnus commented and Merida nodded in agreement.
Once inside the passageway, it led them directly into a series of underground tunnels beneath the castle, one of which brought them into the bottom of the well, which they had climbed themselves out of with the rope that was made to pull the pail of water out. The two teens peered her eyes over the well's rim to make sure the coast was clear. As soon as they were onto the castle grounds without any prying eyes to spot them, Elinor had to tail close behind her daughter and Magnus so that she, too, doesn't get spotted by any of the guards. Sneaking their quiet way through any section that allowed them to disappear from the naked eye, they finally made it to the castle's front entrance where they overheard a loud commotion from inside. Sure enough, Magnus veered close to the doors with Merida where they learned the screaming voices of the thousand clansmen and her father in an all-out battle amongst themselves. From what they could tell based on the entire indoor skirmish, all three clans had lost their patience on waiting for an answer from the queen on whether or not Merida should marry Magnus or any of their sons. Each clan, especially the Bear King himself, had set little makeshift forts for themselves respectively, shouting insults and war cries in each other's direction as well as launching arrows, spears, knives, any deadly weapon at their disposal.
"No more talk! No more traditions! We settle this now!" screamed Lord MacGuffin in defiance with his sword at the ready.
"You're the king! If Magnus is not here, you decide which one of our sons will marry." bellowed the wiry Lord Macintosh.
"None of your sons are fit to marry my daughter!" Fergus roared at the entire crowd, armed with a sword and shield.
"Then our alliance is over! This means war!" Lord Dingwall cried with fury.
With everyone apparently at each other's throat over this marriage debate and since it will only get much worse if it keeps up, the Scottish teens outside overseeing the madness realized that they needed to put an end to this now.
"They're going to murder each other." cried Merida fearfully to her mother. "You got to stop them before it's too late."
"How is she gonna do anything when she's like this?" Magnus acknowledged matter-of-factly.
"Well, how are we gonna get her through there and up to the tapestry with all of them boiling over like that?" asked Merida, getting more and more anxious by the minute.
"I don't know!" Magnus yelled, causing Merida to groan with irritation, grabbing at her face with tired frustration.
Then Elinor thought of something when she caught their attention with her grunts. She pointed at them both, signalling for them to be the ones to go in there and calm them all down. With the level of insanity going on inside the Great Hall, Magnus knew this was going to be a risky, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
"It's our only shot." He reminded his redheaded friend knowingly. "We have no choice."