Having failed in her hunt, Morgana was determined to find a new source of food and water. There would be a time to worry about the sorry state of her magic, but it was definitely not now.
For the moment, it was better just to consider her magic skills as temporarily useless and focusing on finding sustenance.
It took her two hours of search through the halls and passages of this great dungeon but she eventually found an underground waterfall whose surroundings were filled with plump brown mushrooms.
She was hungry and eager. Those succulent snacks were precisely what she needed at the moment. The previous struggle in Mozna Castle had greatly exhausted her. Those mushrooms were a welcome refreshment to soothe both her body and soul.
However, Morgana was no fool. Unlike poisonous bats, whose venom glans could be removed before being turned into a meal, if the mushrooms turned out to be poisonous, for starters, it would be more difficult to discover. Besides you couldn't simply remove the dangerous parts and eat the rest.
So Morgana devised an ingenious plan. First she would watch for a while and see if the bats considered this fungus as a source of food, then she would rub small fragments of the mushrooms in her skin. After all, maybe bats could eat it but it was still poisonous to humans. And at last, If the skin showed no allergic reactions, she would chew a piece and spit it out in order to wait for negative effects.
Only after all of this process was executed, Morgana finally felt confident enough to eat the mushrooms and drink the water that frequently splashed over them.
Risks weren't completely eliminated, but at the very least, the margin greatly decreased.
Morgana sat down to eat and drink near the waterfall, feeling very vexed.
Things weren't going well at all for her in these past few days. Her fortress near the great lake had been surrounded by an army, catching her by surprise. After all, a war wasn't expected anytime soon.
Despite a desperate standoff, the barriers were pierced through and the enemy poured in. By this time, she knew it was all over for the guild she had led for the past sixty years and decided to run away.
Of course, to stay and fight meant that all the bards in the land would shower her great courage with praise.
But that is the thing about the dead. They are not capable of listening to the praise of the living.
After all, what was there to fear? The invaders had gained the castle and all of its riches. Letting the enemy commander runway should have worked in their favor. There was no reason to pursue a powerful foe when you already had all of the desired loot.
But she was wrong.
Morgana was surrounded by five very powerful casters in black lustrous robes
The battle was long and flashy, the earth quaked and the stars wept, but after six hours it was finally coming to an end.
One of the black-robed enemies was dead and two more were severely injured. Those hunters had underestimated their prey and paid the price for this lack of caution.
But, with the help of reinforcements, this last two had managed to push the exhausted Morgana out of her limits.
Sigh. Morgana breathed in dismay as she took a mirror out of her Bag of Holding. It was truly beautiful in its simplicity. Polished volcanic glass in a frame of bronze.
Seeing this strange course of action, her enemies decided to strike immediately. When It comes to Magic, innocent-looking items like mirrors were the most feared of all.
Simply put, one can understand more or less how a magic spear or sword could be used, but for seemingly common ones It was much more difficult, making even the most experienced warrior uneasy.
But it was, unfortunately for them, already too late for a direct attack to yield any results.
The mirror glowed purple, brimming with arcane might and, at the next moment, there wasn't any Morgana to be seen.
The guild master they went to great lengths in order to kill had scaped.
...
In an instant the mirror shattered in her hands. Quickly reducing itself to dust.
The world around was now full of color, rapidly changing in a kaleidoscopic manner. There was a powerful wind blowing in her face and body. The bag, still in her hand wasn't been grasped firmly enough and fell into oblivion somewhere along the way. Her once beautiful black and purple robe ornamented in gold became tattered and damaged beyond repair. All of the magical jewelry she had painstakingly accumulated over the years was also lost.
But curiously she wasn't wounded in the slightest. It was as If the torment was intentionally protecting her body from the backlash.
When Morgana once more became aware she was already at the mysterious dungeon.