Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sky was darkened by the cover of an unnatural night, the ground shook, causing buildings to collapse. Atlantean flying vehicles crashed around a young Moonshadow elf, lead by her parents as they raced to the capitol. On the horizon, a mysterious, threatening white void rose while elves scrambled to find the shelter from the oncoming cataclysm that fast approached. A light shone upon the young Moonshadow’s parents, and she watched helplessly as both of them were called to the sky by the light above the city. A bubble of blue light cast by stone guardians around the city, soon engulfed the city perimeter, and then everything disappeared. Nothing but sea now flowed over where a once grand and opulent empire once stood proudly.

Several millennia later

Callum Williams, a 32 year old linguist and cartographer from Minnesota, drove home from what was the worst day of his life by far. At the beginning of the day, he was the best cartographer and linguist for the Smithsonian Institute. More specifically, he was their most skilled diversity hire, being a halfling, and he had been excited at the prospect of asking to propose an archaeological expedition to find the Shepherd's Journal, the one thing that would prove his mother, Sarai, did not squander her career as a historian. The board, however, rejected his request on the basis of “not chasing fairy tales and myths”, as well as purposely sabotaging his meeting. But there was another layer to their rejection..a layer Callum had faced every day of his life, and one that pushed him to threaten to resign from his position, though none of the directors believed he would, citing he needed the job and that he would be back.

Arriving at the apartment building, he made the slow walk up to the third floor, a box in his arms containing all his possessions from his workplace, which included a mysterious metallic cube with embossed runes on each side representing the six primal sources of magic. Callum knew in his heart that this was a relic from the lost city, one that could read magical sources, as it was currently lighting up the Sky rune as it sat in the box he held. Everyone else believed it to be a toy, even though it clearly was not. Callum set the box down on the floor to open the door to his apartment, and the glow dissipated from the Sky rune.

“I’m home” he said “Ezran, did you remember to get food for Bait?” he flicked the lightswitch, and in the living room, sat someone he hadn’t heard from in years, Claudia. “Ezran’s not here Callum, he had stuff at school he needed to do” she said “it’s been a long time...eleven years?”. “Claudia? Wh- how did you get in here? The door was locked” Callum gestured towards the now closed door he came through. “How? You’ll never know” she teased, winking at him and making Callum roll his eyes. He’d experienced plenty of her teasing when they used to date in high school, however that relationship hadn’t worked out and they returned to being friends. “Hmmrgh...why are you here?” he asked, flopping down in a chair, while maintaining eye contact with her.

The reason, it turned out, was that Claudia’s father, Viren Campbell, had something for Callum that seemed to be important. Callum was led into a large room with a gigantic aquarium and a large mantle containing a roaring fire, and the man he was supposed to see was dressed in a pressed pinstripe suit and carried an exotic metallic walking stick that appeared to be of Moonshadow make and had a large purple gem set into its top. “Ah, you must be young Mr. Williams, a pleasure to finally meet you” he spoke as he approached Callum, extending a hand for him to shake. “Yes, um...Mr. Campbell, your daughter said you had something for me?” Callum asked. “On the table is a package for you, go open it” Viren said, while retrieving a tray with tea and coffee in silvery carafes. The package was made of thick brown packing paper, and was addressed to Callum, as Viren had said, but what surprised Callum was who it came from “it’s...from my mother?” he said, confused as he looked back over to Viren. “Indeed, your mother gave that to me years ago and told me explicitly that if anything were to happen to her, that I should give that to you when you were ready” he spoke while pouring himself a cup of tea. Callum untied the twine keeping the parcel wrapped, revealing a sight he was sure he wouldn’t behold after the events that had transpired earlier. A book with a metal binding and cover, and an Atlantean character emblazoned on the front cover “It..it’s the Shephard’s Journal! The key to finding the lost city of Atlantis!”

“Atlantis? Callum, no offence but I wasn’t born yesterday” Viren said with a chuckle while Callum leafed through the ancient, but remarkably sturdy tome. “Look, look! There’s maps, clues, coordinates..everything is here!” Callum spoke excitedly. “Looks like gibberish to me” Viren dismissed “coffee? Tea?”. “Coffee, please, three cream and two sugar..and yeah, you can say that because everything here is written in a language that no longer exists” Callum said, perusing through the pages. “So, it’s useless then?” Viren said mixing cream and sugar into Callum’s cup. “No, not useless, just very difficult. I studied dead languages with my mother for years and most of my life..no, I’d never consider it to be gibberish” he said poring over the book further.

“Hm, perhaps it’s a fake then?” Viren said, and heard the book shut abruptly behind him. “Mr. Campbell, my mother would’ve known if this was not real, I would know. I am willing to stake everything I own, everything I believe in...hell, my whole academic career, that is the Shephard’s Journal!” Callum said, clutching the book. “Very well, what will you do with it?” Viren asked leading Callum to a table that sat in front of the tank. Callum paced back and forth thinking “I’ll...I'll get funds somehow..the museum board-”. “Who will never believe you” interjected Viren, taking a sip of his tea, Callum shook his head and continued “I WILL show them, I will MAKE them believe!”. “Like you did this afternoon?” Viren said nonchalantly, taking another sip. “Yea- NO! How- n-nevermind! I vow to find Atlantis on my own! Even if I have to rent a rowboat to do it!” declared Callum. What happened next threw the linguist for a loop, as Viren flashed a grin “congratulations Callum, I now know your conviction is sound, and you can forget about the rowboat” Viren pressed a button on the side of the table with a smirk and a panel opened, letting a series of model vehicles rise up “we’ll be travelling in style”, Callum quietly gasped, and was lost for words.

Viren explained that he had made a bet with Sarai years ago after having not believed her claims about the existence of the book, that if she found the journal, he’d both fund the expedition and kiss Harrow on the mouth, while letting her capture it on a photo. He recalled Harrow had eaten fish that day, and Viren hated the taste of fish. Viren went to face the mantle and spoke of Sarai, “your mother was a great woman, greater than you probably already know. She died broken...she shouldn’t have been subject to the ridicule of those hacks at the museum who dragged her career into the mud. I only wish that Harrow should have something to show how right his wife was” he sighed and looked up above the mantle where a painting of himself, Harrow, and Sarai hung.

“Sir?” Callum began, before the businessman quickly turned around and spoke of how they needed to get to work. He revealed a whole crew that had been recruited for the expedition, all of which, minus Ezran who was serving as the Chief Medic, were also on the original expedition that found the journal. All that remained was Callum’s decision to join, “this..this is really happening” Callum said, slumping down into a chair, his mouth agape. “Now you’re getting it” Viren said with a smile, and Callum ran his fingers through his chestnut hair. Viren explained that everything else on Callum’s end had been taken care of, his job, his apartment, and all he needed for the expedition. “Your mother had a saying ‘to know something truely and deeply, you must know it with your head, hand, and heart. Mind, body, and spirit’...Atlantis is waiting, what do you say?” Viren held out the journal for Callum. “I say that I’m your man, Mr. Campbell!! I’ll be sure you don’t regret this!!”

A day later, he was on a ship owned by Katolis Industries, bound for a set of coordinates where the expedition would officially begin.

Chapter Text

Callum made his way through the ship to avoid getting seasick, weaving around crew members and cargo, careful not to trip up in the ropes strewn about. He saw Claudia talking with Ezran, who was carrying his pet glow toad Bait, and rushed over to meet her “uh I’m supposed to check in?” he said, apologizing for his awkwardness, having never been on a ship before, let alone one of this scale. The size of the ship alone left Callum somewhat intimidated at the sheer effort that had been put into this expedition. Once Callum had been checked in, he and Ezran made their way to the lift down to the sub hangar where they saw a massive vessel with the name Phoenix emblazoned on the side.

Callum recognized it as a retired spacefaring vessel that had originally been built by Katolis Industries, envisioned as an interplanetary scouting vessel, but never made it beyond the drydock on account of the propulsion system and fuel needed for manned interstellar travel was only in its infancy and was nowhere near ready. Here the ship sat, nearly finished in its conversion into an underwater vessel. Callum was taking in everything and tried to avoid noticing looks he was getting that were unfavorable and almost didn’t notice a forklift truck hauling crates was about to collide with him.

“Mal'chik!” shouted a feminine voice with a thick Russian accent, belonging to the driver, “kiddie rides are in back of ship” she said, gesturing with her thumb. The driver was a muscular Earthblood elf who sported brown hair and armor.

Callum flexed his multilingual skills by apologizing in her native tongue, impressing her and making her half smile and laugh before moving on. Callum could read based on the warning labels that her cargo was highly explosive material. Venturing further, he eventually found Viren speaking with Harrow, who was dressed in a more casual suit then what Viren tended to wear. Viren, was dressed in his signature pinstripe suit, but now had a captain’s hat adorning his head

“Boys!!” exclaimed Harrow as he moved to hug his sons tightly while Bait nudged his leg. The three of them hugged for a while before Harrow broke the silence "I'm so glad you could come! I see Viren did his job well" he said, smiling at his business partner. Apparently, Harrow had planned out to have Viren use his charismatic skills to convince Callum to join the expedition.

“I gotta say, when you settle a bet, you really settle a bet!” said Callum, looking up and around the launch bay “I mean, taking this ship and making it run like this? I was sure that you'd have given up on it”.

Harrow smiled at his stepson and replied “Sarai always believed there was no price in the world that could be placed on the pursuit of knowledge...this ship is named after her passion, reborn in you".

Callum choked up a little, hearing those words, and looked up at the vessel again as the workers finished the retrofit. The Phoenix was a reminder to Callum that his mother’s efforts were still appreciated. The young linguist made his way up the loading ramp into the ship, while Harrow took a moment to speak with Ezran.

“Ezran, there’s a great deal Callum doesn’t know about himself...I want you to give him this when the time is right” Harrow withdrew an envelope from his jacket, and gave it to his son, "all the important things...Sarai wrote down for him", the sender was labeled as “mom”.

“How will I know when?” Ezran asked, looking over the sealed envelope in his hands. There was a wax seal on the flap, bearing a symbol of two uneven towers, the once official emblem of the ancient kingdom of Katolis.

“Don’t worry, you’ll know” Harrow replied assuredly “when he finds out, please promise me that you will be there for him”. Harrow smiled When Ezran gave him an agreeing nod.

“Attention: all personnel, launch will commence in 15 minutes” said a voice over the PA system, and Viren saluted Harrow with a smirk that made Harrow snort out a laugh. Ezran ran up the loading ramp and waved goodbye to his dad. Harrow waved back as the door sealed shut. Viren then commanded the first stage of the expedition, preparing the launch of the vessel that his company had labored over. Harrow stood in front of the launch bay as the ship submerged beneath the waves, and saluted the departing crew as they ventured off on the greatest scientific journey the world had yet seen. Callum and Ezran searched for their bunks in the crew quarters while announcements droned on over the PA system. Callum wouldn’t have enough time to relax just yet, Viren had requested that he report to the vessel’s briefing room to give a locally broadcasted presentation on the nature of their journey, and Callum was excited to finally share it. He was about to throw his bag on his bed, when the announcement for his presence was sent out, and he gave his brother a brief goodbye.

Carrying his bag around the ship again was a minor pain, but he’d get to set it down again once he reached the briefing room, adjacent to the bridge. When the ship used to be a spacecraft, this room was used for mission briefings. In the middle of the room, was a holographic projection table that Callum would use to give his presentation on what they were here to do. Taking a deep breath, he approached the table where the core team was gathered around, minus Ezran, the Chief Medical Officer, who was sleeping in the crew quarters. Present was Elizabeth Atonov, the Earthblood elf Callum had seen earlier, who served as their Demolitions Expert; Bernard Everett, Chief Engineer and Mechanic; Claudia Campbell, Viren's Lieutenant and Second-in-Command; Yuki Ito, Excavation and Geology expert, as well as being a rare Startouch Elf; and Ibis Tempest, the Head Chef, and a Master Sky Mage. To Callum’s left stood Viren, Commander of the expedition and to his right was an elf with dark skin and golden markings, Ebony Nighthawk, a mute Skyfire elf who would serve as Callum’s assistant.

Callum swallowed a lump in his throat, he had prepped himself to face the Smithsonian board with his plans once, but presenting was a whole other story. Viren gave him a nod and Callum took a deep breath and began giving a modified version of his original Atlantis proposal. The plan was to find Atlantis using the coordinates outlined in the Shepherd's Journal to navigate to the lost continent that lay somewhere deep in the earth’s caverns. According to the combined efforts of both Sarai and Calum’s research, Atlantis possessed a power source of unknown nature that allowed the Atlanteans to develop highly advanced technologies, such as flying vehicles, and even an electrical power grid millenia before AC power had been invented, something leagues more powerful than the current fusion reactors that supplied the world with power currently. The goal of the expedition was to not just find the lost city, but to recover this mysterious power source, and bring it to the surface world. The entrance to their path however, was guarded by a creature called the Leviathan, a serpentine creature whose lair was the territory surrounding the entrance. An illustration of the creature was present in the Journal, but Callum assumed it was likely referring to a statue that served to ward away potential trespasses.

On the Bridge, Lujanne Fallaciae was monitoring communications and decided to check the hydrophone. She noticed something strange and adjusted it to be sure it wasn’t noise from the engines before she tried to get Viren’s attention, which signaled the end of the briefing. Callum, meanwhile, was tired and shambled back to the room he was sharing with Ezran. After making it back, he threw himself into his bunk and fell asleep almost instantly.

He had his usual strange dream again, feeling like he was lighter than air, and was traversing a blue cloudy sky. He was not a human in this dream, but a dragon of ancient times, soaring free without a care in the world. A deep echoing voice called out to him, progressively growing louder, as it usually did in this dream...but something was different this time. The voice instead called him “son” for the first time.

“Wake up, my son...” the voice said, and Callum jolted awake to the sound of the emergency alarms and Ezran trying to rouse him from sleep. The red emergency lights were on, and the ship shook violently as something slammed into the hull. The Phoenix had strayed into the lair of the Leviathan, a creature several times longer then their ship, Callum could see it through the window in his room. It bore segmented armor plating, and was serpentine in appearance with multiple tentacles emerging from its form. The defense turrets on the Phoenix were peppering the creature with high caliber rounds, but nothing seemed to penetrate the armor. Callum grabbed his bag and raced with Ezran to get to the bridge and find out what was happening. There, they found Viren and Claudia frantically giving orders while the beast assailed them, moving far faster than its size suggested it would. Due to its maneuverability, gaining a target lock on the monster was excruciatingly difficult.

“Somethings not right…” Ezran said thinking for a bit “wait, this isn’t an animal..it sounds too mechanical-” he was cut off as the Leviathan grabbed them, and gave them a look into its gaping maw, filled with grinding wheels and sharp metallic teeth.

“Are the MAC batteries charged?!” Viren asked while maintaining a wide-eyed look of fear as the ship was pulled in slowly

“Both MAC batteries are charged and loaded, Captain” said the gunnery officer “we’re ready to fire on your command”.

“FIRE!!” he shouted, and the thunderous bark of the cannons resounded through the ship. The creature released them, a loud screech of what they assumed was pain coming from it as the highly explosive rounds detonated in it’s mouth.

This angered the monster, and a loud whine reached the ears of the crew before a bright blue energy beam shot out of it’s maw towards them and hit the hull hard, near the reactor. Alarms sounded off and alerts about damage to the reactor, and multiple hull breaches were reported, forcing them to begin abandoning the ship. Fortunately, the Evac shuttles were quickly loaded up with crew, equipment and vehicles, given that they had only a short amount of time before the reactor would go critical. Viren and Claudia took command of a shuttle and they led the escape just in time to see the Pheonix explode into a blue fireball. The Leviathan pursued them still, even as they made it to the underwater crevasse that needed to travel through.

The Leviathan grappled the tailing shuttle with its tentacles in a desperate fashion, constricting it until it was nothing but twisted scrap metal. This sign that it was so desperate to stop them was enough to prove that they were definately going the right way. The remaining craft sped further, avoiding the energy beams that the Leviathan was firing, until they cleared the “grease trap”, the curve just before the ascent into an air pocket, where they found the remnants of a multi millennia old highway of Atlantean design. The crew held a candlelight vigil for the fallen. 50 of them had survived the event...out of the 250 they had when they departed

Chapter Text

The 50 remaining crew set out along the Atlantean highway, with Ezran and Callum taking up the lead in the medical rig. Ezran drove while Callum navigated, and he was in awe of the many ruins he saw along the way. So much, that he had disregarded the feeling that something was watching them. Their Heavy Security team, who carried strong weapons to fend off larger threats, seemed to get the fee

On the first night, Bernard set up a new piece of Katolis Industries technology, a Quantum Communicator, intended to allow them communication with the surface, powered by portable fusion generators. They were able to speak with Harrow unhindered, despite being hundreds of miles underground. Viren used it mainly to give periodic updates to Harrow, and casually chat sometimes.

Callum began to notice that his physical features were slowly changing. His skin was turning light blue, for example. A quick analysis with his Rune Cube on the magically saturated caverns led him to hypothesize that he was experiencing several illusion spells wearing off, that kept him looking human. This made him excited to see exactly what his non-human half really was.

On the second day, Callum finally decided to talk with Ibis after he served his dinner, and was happy to find that Ibis held no prejudices against Halflings, making him one of only a few that Callum felt comfortable speaking with. Callum spent his dinner with Claudia, Ezran, and Ebony, not entirely sure how to approach the others. Looking around, he saw them having fun conversations, he saw Soren laughing with Amaya and the rest of the core team having good fun. It wasn’t that he was upset they were having a good time, but that he wondered if they would accept him in as a friend. His Aunt for sure, but people like the expressionless and cold Bernard, and the enigmatic Yuki probably wouldn't.

Callum did his best on the journey to ignore the disgusting looks some of the crew gave him, which had intensified now that a larger majority of the survivors happened to be halfling-hating humans. During camp dinners, he ate alone with Ezran and Ebony to distance himself from the prejudice as best he could, and it worried Claudia. Callum tried to assure himself that he could make it through this without trouble.

Clauda tried to cheer up Callum on the third day, sitting down by him at the shoreline of an underground lake and putting a hand on his shoulder..a freezing cold steel hand that startled him. She drew a rune in the air and cast Lumos Solem, creating a floating ball of sunlight above his head.

“I hear sunlight helps cheer people up” she said, echoing a line from the days when they used to date...when things were simpler “you alright?”

“Been worse”

“I’m here if you need to talk, that’s what friends are for”

Callum shared his grievances, that he was upset about the amount of people on the crew who hated Halflings. When they had first departed with their crew of 250, there was enough of a buffer to help him experience prejudice as little as possible, but now that their numbers had dwindled, he was seeing and hearing the types of people he had tried to avoid his entire life.

“If you ask me, if you show them how much this is affecting you, they win...but you could also confront them civilly about it too” Claudia suggested

“There’s this one mechanic...Kevin, who goes out of his way to make my life miserable…” he said

“They’re jealous that you were born with such a strong magical connection...I’ve never seen that Rune Cube of yours glow brighter for anything but you”

“I’m not that great Claudia” he sighed and then felt a splash of water hit his face “hey! Wha-”

“Shut up you dummy! You’re too good to feel like this about yourself! And I’m gonna do everything I can as your unofficial sister-figure to get you out of this rut!” she said while splashing him with more water

Callum eventually started to laugh and then splashed her back.

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Above them, was a hidden cave, and in it were a small group of hunters, who had been following the expedition crew for the past few days. This small group was made up of elves wearing Atlantean garments, and was led by a Moonshadow Elf. A Sunfire Elf crept up to speak with her leader, her sheathed Sunforge blade only just touching the rocky floor of the cave.

“Your Highness, may I ask why you are so interested in these humans?” she asked, puzzled as she watched the two humans playing in the water

“There’s something about them that gives me a feeling…” said the Moonshadow Elf “surely you’ve felt it, Janai?”

“The one who seems to command their armed escort seems...appealing...” said Janai “is this about that human man, or woman down there?”

“There’s something about him...I want to get a better look, but we don’t have that luxury right now”

“Then we wait?” asked a Skywing Elf “shame, I would’ve suggested you go grab him while he was alone, Rayla”

“No, I’m not doing that, Nyx” Rayla dismissed “even if it sounds fun...I’m going to wait for the right time to see him face-to-face”

Chapter Text

Rayla and her team followed the surface people from the shadows, intrigued by their strange modes of transportation that moved soundlessly. She wanted to get a better look at them, but feared what they would do if she were to reveal herself to them, after she saw the weapons they were using, and that the only Earthblood elf among the outsiders was particularly adept at using explosives.
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The next morning, Callum found Ezran and Claudia by Bernard’s truck, receiving repairs on their cybernetics. Ezran’s eyes were out of sync for an unknown reason, and his leg was acting up because of the humidity in the caves. Claudia’s arm was acting up for the same reason, and the miniaturized Sun Primal Stone it housed, had to be repaired due to a crack in its casing.

Callum recalled the accident that resulted in Ezran needing cybernetic implants, and his old guilt of not being able to do anything much to help, rose once again.
It was a car accident that had claimed Ezran's eyes and right leg, the same accident that had been the reason why Soren currently had an artificial spine. Claudia's arm however, had been lost during her high school years, after a disastrous miscast consumed her limb, while trying Dark Magic, a practice that had been discarded, but not really banned, after it was found humans could connect to an Arcanum with some effort of work.

While Callum recalled these things, he had lost focus of what was around him, and did not notice that Kevin saw an opportunity to attack him again. Kevin smacked Callum in the back of the head with a wrench and tripped him before walking off while laughing after seeing Callum hit the rocky ground hard. Callum felt a new anger rise up in him fast, a quick arc or electricity shot over his body, and he went to confront the man while he was working on one of the general-purpose trucks.

"Is there a problem?" Kevin said as he looked towards the young man who approached him.

"A problem? Oh for sure, there's a problem, but I assume you know all about that don't you?" Callum spoke with sharp sarcasm.

"Hm, whatever" Kevin dismissed, turning back to the engine he was repairing "you don't complain, so drop it"

"No, we're not going to drop this. I've seen you...heard all of you whisper about me behind my back and give me these disgusted side glances. Normally I'd ignore it, but I've been seeing it ever since the first hour of this trip" Callum's anger was building up at the offensive indifference from the mechanic, who then turned to face him, a dark glare on his face.

"Don’t you give me any of your lip, you scrawny halfling" he said, in an attempt to silence him with intimidation, which had the exact opposite effect that he intended.

"Oh you're definitely getting some lip. I'm fed up with taking this from all of you” Callum’s eyes began to glow brightly as he grew angrier “the only reason you haven't come up to my face about it is because you know that you'd be lost down here without my help. Oh! Here's an idea!! How about you translate the 8,000 year old dead language and I fix the goddamn truck!!" Callum's anger reached a boiling point and he hit the side of the truck to accentuate his anger, but when he hit the truck, he sent it flying over a hundred feet away, as if it were a toy, until it slammed into a cave wall.

Shocked at his own unbelievable strength, Callum recoiled and looked down at his hands before running off further into the caverns. An inspection of the totaled truck showed a massive dent that was as deep as half the width of the truck.

Ezran searched for the letter, now realizing that the time to give it to him was now. After retrieving it, he tried to find Callum next.

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Ezran found Callum half an hour later, sitting at the shore of an underground lake, he sat next to him.

“You okay?” Ezran probed

“I’m scared, Ez...I’ve never felt that angry before” he said, his arms tucked in close “what if I hurt someone back there?” he was shaking, more scared then he had ever been before in his life.

“You wouldn’t, you’re too good a person, Callum” Ezran told him in a soothing voice “even when people are mean to you, you’ve never wanted to really hurt them” he set the envelope in Callum’s lap

“What’s this?” Callum wondered, looking at the item, “it’s from Mom?”

“Before we left, Dad wanted me to give this to you when the time was right...and well, I guess the time is now” he gave Callum a hug before leaving him alone to read whatever was in the envelope

Callum looked at the wax seal, putting his fingers under the flap and then breaking it. He took a deep breath and opened it, extracting the letter from inside. The letter was short and handwritten.

“My dear son, I’m sorry you had to find out the truth in an unorthodox method, but with life, none of us can be certain as to how we discover ourselves. I dearly apologize for keeping the truth of who you are...what you are, a secret, but it was for your safety, but in this letter, I will tell you of the biggest secret I kept from you. When I first met your father, Caelum, all those years ago, it was like a fairytale, he was so sweet and kind, I truly wish you had been able to meet him.

But all good things have to end at some time, and it was not too long after you had been born before I learned of his secret...Caelum was a rarity in our world, who had taken a human disguise. He did not come from our surface world, but the one below us...he came from Atlantis. Caelum was an Archdragon of the Sky, sent to scout the surface world, and your birth was both a true blessing, and a dangerous liability. We had a Moon Mage cast layers of illusion spells on you to keep you safe from dark mages who would hunt the dragons for their power, and it was for that reason that you father had to leave us.

If he is still alive, and you somehow manage to find him, can you please tell him I cherished every moment I spent with him? Even after I moved on to be with Harrow, I still love your father, and I wish that things had worked out differently. You may struggle with this revelation, but I know you will find a place where you truly flourish...a place you can grow into who you were meant to be.

With love, your mother, Sarai”

Callum realized he’d been crying when a tear hit the page, and he wiped his eyes before rereading the letter. This revelation of his magical half began to make several things make sense now...how he could never get cuts, how he survived being struck by lightning several times, why his skin was turning blue, and why he was able to knock that truck around effortlessly. He was a Draconic Human, and perhaps one of the few, if not the only one in the world if the letter was anything to go by.

Callum waited for a while before deciding to rejoin everyone, he stowed the letter in a pocket inside his jacket and hoped he wouldn’t scare anyone. He looked down at his hands and noticed his skin was starting to adopt a scaly texture, showing that more of the illusions had worn off. When Callum returned, it seemed Ezran had worked his natural talent for diplomacy amongst the crew, and it saved Callum the effort of needing to do damage-control.

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Rayla’s team were unsure of how to react to what they had seen, if one of the surface people was capable of displaying such raw strength, surely there were others that could too. Rayla for sure knew that she needed to find a way to meet face-to face with the chestnut-haired man as soon as she could and get answers.

Chapter Text

The morning after Callum’s outburst had been silent, and they simply proceeded along the path. Callum noticed that the worst offenders of the discrimination he had faced, were keeping to themselves, not even giving him dirty looks anymore, although, he wasn’t sure if it was his doing, or Ezran’s. But regardless, he felt more at ease then he ever did before.

According to the Journal, their next stop would be their last, before they would find the remains of the lost city. A few hours of traveling ended in finding the cave in question. It featured a long bridge made of carved stone stretching over an enormous pit, with no seams to be seen, seemingly made in one massive piece. The crew set up camp, happy to know their goal was even closer then it had ever been. Callum was also fortunate enough that the core team decided to warm up to him. Because of this, he was able to get to know them and what led them to this trip.

Bernard was an engineer by trade, but had a special affinity for cyber prosthesis technology, he hoped to open his own clinic to both repair and install cyber augments.

Elizabeth came from a family of bakers and she herself had great interest in reopening her family’s bakery with the money she would earn after this trip.

Yuki wanted to support her brother Ichiro, and his human girlfriend, who were recovering from an attack by dark mages.

Ibis was keen on furthering his culinary career, and the money he’d make after they returned to the surface would help him in that endeavor.

Ebony was hoping to become a writer one day, and she wanted to use the money she was going to get from the trip to jumpstart her pursuit.

Soren and Amaya rejoined them after they dished up their dinners, and more conversation spurred

Around an hour after the camp fell asleep, Rayla and her team moved in to investigate. Rayla searched through one of the bags and found a picture of the chestnut-haired man standing with a woman who looked like his mother. A rustle from a pair of tents startled her and they all bolted to hide on a ledge below the cliff face.

Callum emerged from his tent and saw Claudia doing the same.
“Cant sleep?” he asked her in a whisper

“No, I’m too curious” she said “let's look around, it’s our last night before we find the city”

The two scurried off as quiet as they could to take a look around the cavern. They eventually found a dim light emanating from a cave mouth and went to investigate, finding a small garden of bioluminescent plant life. Around it were insects that looked like fireflies, but glowed white instead of yellow.

“Wow..I can't believe it..that’s a swarm of Infernoflies!” said Claudia in astonishment

“You mean the ones that are extinct?” Callum asked “how do you think they survived down here?”

“I don’t know, but there's no way I’m not taking some of these home with me” she said, and fished a jar out of her bag, where she trapped some. Then she took a picture of them with her phone, forgetting she turned the flash on, and suddenly they grew aggressive, glowing brighter, and forcing the two to run. Claudia had forgotten that Infernoflies hate bright lights, and they rushed to warn the camp.

One landed on a tent, and caused it to erupt in flames, and Callum shouted to wake the camp to the disaster.

“CALLUM!! GO BACK TO BE-” Viren shouted while emerging from his tent, but stopped himself when he saw the camp burning and Claudia ordering any Ocean Mages to put out the fire. He gave the order to have everyone evacuate across the bridge, with the digger in the lead in case they needed to bore through the rock to make a tunnel.

Callum barely made it to the truck Ezran was in before the Infernoflies caught up to him/

The Infernoflies caught up to the fuel trucks and both the canisters of Hydrazine and the spare vehicle batteries caught fire, causing the truck to explode. The shockwave from the explosion caused a dormant nest above the bridge to fall, and turn it into a ramp which none of their vehicles could ascend. All of them crashed and ended up on the bottom of the pit, in pitch darkness.

“Lumos” Claudia said, and made a ball of light in her hand that she let float above them “anyone who isn’t dead, sound off”.

A chorus of pained moans and groaning filled the air as the survivors voiced their status

“Bernard. Give us a damage report” ordered Viren

The mechanic told him three of their trucks had been totaled, but everything else looked functional.

“We seem to have landed in the base of a dormant volcano” said Yuki “but the question is… how do we get out now?”

“Looks like if we blew a hole in the top, we could fly out…” Claudia thought out loud “Calllum, what are your thoughts?”
There was silence, at the question, and so everyone decided to look for their Cartographer, who had ended up in another little pit.

Callum woke and rubbed his head “ugh...what happened?” he felt something on his leg and looked to see an enormous boulder that had pinned down his leg. He guessed the boulder had to be at least 10 tons, and had crushed his leg. He noticed figures in his peripheral and noticed they were elves, speaking in Atlantean, but his brain was in panic-mode and he couldn’t figure out what they were saying.

A Moonshadow Elf, who seemed to be in charge, gave a Sunfire elf an order that resulted in the golden-armored elf using a white-hot Sunforge blade to cut the rock apart. Callum found himself unable to look away from her and felt a blush creep across his face. The Moonshadow Elf then touched his leg and used a strange glowing crystal pendant to stroke his broken leg, and muttered something under her breath, making his leg glow with a silvery light. After she pulled her hand away, he bent his knee and realised his shattered leg had been fully healed, as if it had never been broken in the first place.

She smiled at him and Callum almost asked her who she was, but was interrupted by the sound of the Digger boring through the rock, and the elves scattered and Callum gave chase with a determination to figure out who his savior was.

Chapter Text

“Wait a minute!!! Who are you?!?!” Callum shouted as he pursued the elves, eventually emerging into a massive cylindrical chamber that was as bright as day and housed a thriving ecosystem with abundant light and fresh air. Before him, was a raised platform with water cascading down it’s edge, and sitting centered on this platform, was what remained of an ancient city. He guessed that this was the lost city of Atlantis.

Behind him, the Digger broke through the rock face and the core team emerged, Soren rubbed his eyes and looked agape at what they saw in front of them. Of all things they were expecting to find, this was not among them.

“It’s beautiful!” Claudia said in awe

Amaya stood beside her nephew and patted him on the head “you did it” she signed “Sarai would be proud of you”

The elves from earlier surrounded them and held their weapons towards them. The Moonshadow Elf who had saved Callum held two butterfly swords of exceptional craft.

“Kto eti lyudi?!” exclaimed Elizabeth, reaching for her revolver at her hip.

“They’re...they’re Atlanteans!” Callum said, a mix of surprise and excitement on his face

“That’s impossible! There’s no way anyone could live down here this long!” Elizabeth exclaimed

The Moonshadow Elf spoke to them in Atlantean and everyone sort of unanimously pushed Callum to respond, which he did to the best of his ability, still sorting out the awkward feeling of speaking what was regarded as a dead language to a member of a civilization that was not actually really dead.

Callum smoothly transitioned into speaking with her in other languages, like Latin, French and Russian. After that the others on the crew sparked conversation in their native tongues. Callum was astonished, and hypothesized that Atlantean language was based upon a root language.

"We are explorers from the surface world. We come in peace" Viren said, to see if the Atlantean elves spoke English as well

"Welcome, to the city of Atlantis!" said the Moonshadow elf, "you must come with me, I believe our King-regent will want to speak with you"

Viren ordered a squad to return to the volcanic shaft to salvage what they could and assess any other damage they weren't able to catch, and to radio him if anything new came up.

Callum, Ezran, and the core team ventured into the city, escorted by the Atlantean elves. They first had to cross a suspended bridge that stretched over hot magma.

Ezran caught his aunt exchanging looks with the Sunfire elf and donning a sappy grin on her face, to which Ezran grinned mischievously.

Callum was leafing through the Journal again, and kept looking over a certain part that was leading up to “The Heart of Atlantis”, but it seemed to be missing the relevant page. Viren had offered a guess that it was removed a long time ago, the journal had exchanged many a hand in its time, and perhaps a religious body had removed it for being “heretical”. While Callum was further engrossing himself in the Journal, Claudia donned a look of concern, which Viren noticed.

“Something troubles you, Claudia”

“Yeah, plenty...there weren't supposed to be people down here...this changes everything”

“No, we stay the course, this changes nothing”

They stopped their exchange when they entered the city perimeter, they noticed many Atlantean citizens, all of the different elven races, watching them with curiosity as they were escorted to the throne room to meet the king-regent.

The throne room was overgrown with plantlife and featured extensive water features. Under a broken statue was a bed-like throne where an older male Moonshadow Elf sat with another standing beside him. The seated elf was missing an arm and one of his horns had broken off, in his hand he held a tall staff made of a polished black alloy. His features were sharp, yet had a certain softness to them. He wore traditional Moonshadow horn cuffs, as did the other elf, who seemed far more muscular, but had softer features then the elf beside him. Their lead escort approached him and she bowed as she spoke with him in Atlantean.

“Greetings Your Highness, I have brought the outsiders to speak with you”

“Have you forgotten our laws, Rayla? No outsiders may see the city and live”

“Uncle, these outsiders may be the ones who can help us”

“No, we do not need their help”

“But Uncle-”

“That is enough! We will discuss this later…”

“Your Majesty, on behalf of my crew, I am honored to be welcomed into your city” Viren spoke as he approached the king-regent.

“Um Viren?” Callum said as he tried to stop him.

“You are quite presumptuous to assume you are in any semblance, welcome here” said the regent, in a vaguely aggressive tone.

“But, sir, we have journeyed long, looking for-”.

“What you seek is known to me, and you will not find it here...your journey has been in vain”.

Viren made an odd facial expression as if he was gauging the regent and then made his reply “we are explorers, men and women of science!” he spoke with his cheery tone that he used when he was persuading people “we are peaceful”.

A sly grin graced the regent’s lips “I was not aware peaceful explorers bring weapons” he gestured to the weapon holstered on Viren’s leg while chuckling.

“Those..are to remove obstacles we may encounter”

“You will find that not every obstacle is removed by shows of force” said the regent, standing up with assistance of his staff “now you must return to your people...leave Atlantis at once!”

Viren’s radio chirped and Bernard’s voice was heard

“Commander, I have assessed the damage...our evacuation vessel was damaged in the fall...it’s going to take about five days at most to fix everything”

“Your Highness...if it is not too much trouble, may I respectfully request that we stay for the time being until our craft is repaired? After that we will leave, and never speak of your city to the surface”

The regent scowled and reluctantly allowed it, but no longer, and the crew left the throne room.

“Your heart has softened, Rayla...were this a thousand years ago, you would not have hesitated to slay them on sight” he said while his partner helped him sit “thank you, Ethari”

“Yes, but our streets were also lit a thousand years ago and we weren’t scavenging for food while our city crumbled around us, Runaan!” Rayla said

“Our people are content, Rayla” Runaan said

“Because they don’t know better! We were a great people once, but we live in ruins now! If our past kings and queens could see where we are..if my parents could see..they’d weep for how far we’ve fallen!”

“Rayla-”

“If these travelers can help us uncover our past, then maybe we can secure our future” Rayla said in a somber tone

“They have nothing to teach us that we have not already learned ourselves...there will be a day when you will take this throne, and then you will understand”

Callum waited behind a pillar for Rayla to emerge, rehearsing what he was going to say to her, but she snuck up behind him, and hijacked his plan. Before whisking him away to talk, asking him many questions rapidly before he stopped her.

“So how about we go back and forth...you ask, then I ask, me-you?” he suggested

“Fine, what’s yer first?” she asked

“How is all this down here? What happened?” asked Callum

“It’s said that the gods grew jealous of us, and sent a great disaster to end Atlantis and banish us down here. I remember screaming, running...and a light like a star in the sky called my parents to it...and I never saw them again…”

“I’m so sorry, if it’s any consolation, I have- WHOA Wait a minute!! Did you say you remember because you were there?! That would make you...8500 years old!!”

“Yes?” Rayla asked, confused at his response

Callum rubbed the back of his neck and said “um, well...you...you look pretty good”

Their further exchanges revealed much. None of the Atlanteans knew how to read their written language, and no one had been taught how since the cataclysm that ended their empire, and the appeared to extend to knowledge of their own history, also seemingly lost in the disaster.

“Oh, we never really were introduced were we, I’m Callum Williams”

“My name is Rayla MacGaradh...I’m the Crown Princess”

“MacGaradh…” Callum repeated and saw a look of surprise on Rayla’s face “uh..did I do something wrong? Is there a bug on me?”

“No...it’s just, no one but my family can pronounce it right the first time” she said

“So, does this mean we just become best friends?” Callum asked

“Yep!” Rayla said triumphantly

The rest of the team had been let free to enjoy their time in the city, and arrangements for lodging were in progress. With nowhere to go presently, they treated it as a mini vacation.

Amaya encountered the armored Sunfire Elf from earlier and attempted communication with her, but the fact that the elf didn't know ASL, proved to be a challenge, until Amaya recruited Soren and had him stand in as a translator for her. Amaya learned that this Elf was named Janai, and she served as a general and part time bodyguard for the Crown Princess.

“Callum seems to be warming up to her fast” Amaya signed and pointed at the two in question, who were walking through the marketplace

“Did you say ‘Callum’?” Janai asked for clarification

“Yes, he’s my nephew, why?”

“Can you come with me? There’s something the both of you need to see” she said and went to fetch the boy

Callum and Rayla were engrossed in conversation when the Golden Knight arrived to ask Callum to come with her, giving Rayla the choice to come along, which she took, given she wanted to talk with her new friend more.

Janai, as Callum had learned, led them to a warehouse of sorts, where the muscular Moonshadow Elf met them

“You must be Callum?” asked the elf “my name is Ethari, I told the general to gather you as soon as she could, because there had been whispers of your name in prophecy...and thus I must show this to you” he beckoned them to follow.

After he opened a hidden door, they descended a spiral staircase down into a chamber where a Sky Dragon lay in a deep slumber...it was hibernating, and its size was both breathtaking and intimidating.

“Callum...meet your father...the Archdragon Caelum” said Ethari

Chapter Text

Callum touched the snout of the sleeping Sky dragon and felt a longing he had never known before in his life...what kind of person was his father? He felt a little angry that his father never seemed to have made time to see him, but at the same time understood why.

“So what was this prophecy you were talking about?” Callum wondered “and what does it have to do with me?”

“A child of two lands will heal what has been broken, and find their true self” Ethari said “it’s incredibly vague...and I can’t begin to figure anything concrete about it...besides you, of course”

Callum walked around the dragon’s form, and noticed a wound on his side. It was evident that it had once been much larger and had healed significantly by this point. He touched the scar tissue that bordered the wound and was hit with a feeling of sorrow.

“What caused this?” Callum asked, initially to himself, but he said it loud enough for the room to hear

“Dark Mages” said Janai “on his way back, he was attacked by members of this...Dark Mages Alliance on your surface world”

Callum was all too familiar with this organization, he had studied as much public information on them as he could. They were a fanatical, militaristic cult that were obsessed with overthrowing the current world leadership in favor of themselves,and were led by an enigmatic supreme leader. They were also responsible for hunting the dragons to near extinction.

Callum looked at her in shock when he heard her mention that Caelum had been slumbering for 35 years to recover, and when she said something to do with him being extremely exhausted and magically spent, and has been regenerating all that power he lost. Janai told him they would come get him when Caelum had roused, and in the meantime Callum decided to explore the city with Rayla some more.

“You’ve been putting pressure on her lately...maybe too much” Ethari said

He and Runaan were at their home, night had fallen, and they had managed to figure sleeping arrangements for the strange outsiders..both were now exhausted. He poured two goblets of mead, one for himself and one for his husband.

“Rayla has to understand that she can’t keep living a carefree life that she’s been enjoying...I can’t keep covering for her forever as regent” Runaan reached for the goblet with his good arm and thanked him

“This isn't something you force, she still has to decide this for herself and when she’s ready she’ll tell the both of us” Ethari replied “but you’re right, this can’t go on forever”

Runaan set his goblet down and took Ethari’s hand in his. He enjoyed these little moments of quiet when it was just the two of them away from the eyes of the people, like they were in their own little world.

“It gets harder every year..since they were chosen” Runaan said, his breath shuddering as he recalled that night “sometimes it gets hard to hide the hurt”

“Then don’t hide it, you have me, and Rayla to lean on when you’re hurting” said Ethari

“I love you” Runaan said just loud enough for Ethari to hear “gods, I love you”

“I know” Ethari said softly in such a way that made Runaan’s heart bloom, and he pressed a soft kiss to his husband’s forehead “now and always”

Callum woke the following morning to feeling something large between him and the bed he had been sleeping on, and a quick check revealed a tail...attached to him. It was light blue and scaley like the rest of him.

“Sounds like you have quite the ‘tail’ to tell” said the voice of one rather mischievous princess who was dangling above him from the rafters with a wide grin across her face.

Today, she wanted to show him more around the city, and have him look at something that had been stumping her for a long time. She was also very curious about Callum, there was still something drawing her to him, and there was a warm feeling she got when he spoke.

Viren approached what was left of the burnt campsite and looked for the quantum communicator. Upon finding it, he prepared to give a report to Harrow, straightening his shirt out of habit before the holographic image of Harrow Williams flickered into view.

Viren told Harrow about their night disaster with the Infernoflies, which led them to eventually discovering not just the city of Atlantis, but that the population was still alive and thriving. This news excited Harrow and he began talking a mile-a-minute about the possibilities this could bring to the world, but arranging a meeting with the current leader proved difficult, as the communicator was quite heavy, needing a truck to transport, and a team to both disassemble and reassemble it...plus their regent didn’t seem like he would entertain the idea of granting them another audience.

They elected to wait and see if any new developments arose.

Amaya and Janai were traversing the marketplace again, only Janai was wearing more casual attire now. Soren tagged along to provide translation again, as Callum was busy with both Rayla and his curiosity.

“The Princess and your nephew seem to have gotten quite close very quickly” Janai said “is that a special skill of his?”

“It only took him an hour to make a friend of her, that’s about normal..though my other nephew, Ezran, can manage the same in only a few minutes” Amaya signed

Janai snorted out a laugh and then looked away, embarrassed, much to Amaya’s amusement.

"You must be proud of them" Janai said

“I am” Amaya signed “they grew into incredible people...I just wish their mother was here to see”

“Callum’s mother?” asked Janai “I think Caelum mentioned her name was Sarai?”

Amaya nodded “my sister was gentle as a breeze, but as strong as a hurricane...I think she would have warmed up to you even faster then I did”

“I wasn't told much about your sister, though I was aware she was a very good person because of how Caelum said he missed her”

"He doesn’t know...that she died, does he?”

“No, I’m not sure he does...do you wish to tell him?”

“Hopefully when he wakes up...if he wakes up”

Ezran was being taught new medicinal methods by an Atlantean Tidebound doctor, when he glanced over and saw his aunt conversing with the Sunfire elf...Janai, he remembered, and he couldn't help but wear a wide smile. He saw his aunt was ever so slightly blushing and he swore he could see a blush on the darker skin of the Sunfire elf.

“Do you think…” the Tidebound elf had noticed too

“Oh, definitely...but neither of them have realized….yet” Ezran said, with a smirk

“Would you say the same about the princess and that dragon boy?” the elf inquired

“Callum? Well, my brother has been spending a lot of time with her lately…maybe there’s something...or they’re just real good friends”

Rayla took Callum to see something special, a strange vehicle that was stylized after a fish, and made of stone, with enough seating room for two riders. An inscription pad bordered by Atlantean characters sat on the “dashboard” and under it was a hexagonal slot.
“I’ve tried everything and I can’t get it to do anything” Rayla said, crossing her arms

“Let me look” Callum said, looking at the inscriptions, finding out it was called a Ketak

Asking Rayla through the process, he figured out the problem, she had turned the crystal like a key, but did not keep her hand placed on the pad. She corrected this, and the Ketak hummed to life, probably for the first time in thousands of years. The “mouth” and “eyes” of the craft glowed blue like the crystals that the Atlanteans wore. The two of them decided to climb aboard and see how it ran.

“Whew...okay...baby steps…” Callum said under his breath

“What’s ‘baby steps’?” asked Rayla, gripping onto the fins of the Ketak

“It’s just an expression, it means we’re taking this slowly”

They started by floating around slowly, before they flew up above the trees with a burst of speed that neither of them expected. Rayla tightly wrapped her arms around him, making Callum flush a bit. They ended up floating comfortably above a sturdy tree, and beheld the view.

“Wow!” Callum said, his breath taken away, and tears running down his cheek

“Is something wrong?” Rayla asked, noticing he was crying, concern lacing her voice

“Wh- oh n-nothing, I just..I got something in my eye” he said, wiping them “my mother used to tell me stories about this place when I was a teen...I just wish she could be here with us right now”

“I don’t know her, but I’m gonna guess she was a great mother” Rayla asked

“Oh, the best...she would’ve liked you in a heartbeat” Callum said with a chuckle

“What happened to her?”

“She..she died in an excavation accident...Viren tried to save her, but heavy equipment doesn’t stop quick enough”
“I’m sorry”

“It’s alright...it’s still sad, but I’ve made peace with it by now”

They landed shortly afterwards, thinking that flying around would draw too much attention. The rest of their exploration continued on foot.

Chapter Text

Ebony woke and stretched, drinking some water to parch her dry throat. Since Callum was busy, she was temporarily relieved of her job, and was allowed to relax. She brought a hand up to her broken horns, and then hesitantly ran a finger along the scar across her throat.

Both of these injuries, in addition to why she had cybernetic legs, were the result of her capture and imprisonment that had lasted over half a year. Her horns and legs were taken from her while she was still awake, and used as ingredients in their dark magic spells, and her captors had cut her throat to keep her from calling for help. How she was able to escape was still beyond her, but she was still relieved she was alive.

The daughter of a Sunfire elf mother in the armed forces, and a Skywing elf father who was a respected Sky mage, she was placed under high expectations from those outside her family, while growing up. Here, she faced none of the expectations because of the accident of her birth.

She finished getting dressed, donning her horn caps last, and went to explore the city and stretch her wings and she took off into the air.

Ebony flew towards the harbor district, and grew hungry looking at all the fresh caught seafood hauled in by the fishermen. Distracted by all the sensory input, she bumped into someone while she speed-walked and fell on her rear. The person she bumped into offered their hand to help her up.

"Are you alright?" they asked in a masculine voice that Ebony recognized as having what sounded like a German accent, and looked up to see a musclebound Sunfire elf with large batlike wings, who likely stood about 7ft in height.

Ebony nodded after catching herself staring for too long. Letting him pull her up, she felt herself unable to find a way to thank him other than signing if he could show her around.

Her new friend was named Richard, pronounced with a silent ‘h’, and was the half-brother of the Sunfire elf general, Janai. Richard himself was on a temporary leave from his duties, and he had wanted to use that time to investigate the outsiders. He also happened to know sign language well, a fact that was fortunate for Ebony, since her only means of communication was by signing.

Richard gave her his story when Ebony asked him...he was called “the Dragon of the Front” among the remaining soldiers in Atlantis, due to his draconic ancestry, unique flame breath spell, and his incredible strength that made him as valuable in combat as he was with heavy lifting around the city, a trait demonstrated when he single handedly pulled a fish-filled net out of the water, when five Tidebound fishermen were unable to pull it up.

Ebony asked that he show her around, eager to see what else he could do and teach her. She had Richard take her to a secluded area and he taught her his fire breath spell. She assured herself that this was a purely knowledge-based request and not at all related to wanting to spend more time with him and stare at his physique.

He drew a streamlined, symmetrical rune with tongues of flame before him, and uttered the words “Plasma Spiritus”, he sucked in a breath and blew a stream of white flame that gave off intense heat.

Ebony tried it out, and was able to cast her spell without speaking, prompting a query from Richard.

“I learned how to cast non-verbally by accident...after my voice was taken from me. I don’t speak the incantation, I think it” Ebony signed

“How did that happen?” Richard asked and his eyes widened in surprise when she showed him the 8 inch scar across her throat...and there was a small hint of anger in his golden eyes at the very thought of imagining who was sadistic enough to harm such a kind elf in such a gruesome manner.

“Can I ask you something...about your...leader?” he asked “something seems wrong about him, is there anything you can tell me about him?”

“What do you mean?” Ebony signed

“He reeks heavily of Dark Magic...I can smell it. Like it’s rotted him out from the inside” he said with a shudder “it smells worse than a dozen rotting corpses..I can still catch a faint whiff of it from all the way over here”

“How? Only a practiced Dark Mage would end up that way, and Dark Magic is barely ever practiced commonly on the surface” Ebony signed, confused

Back in the city, nobody noticed Viren slip away into an alley and produced a bottle from his jacket that contained a starry Dragonhead caterpillar.

Chapter Text

Tonight was supposedly the last night that the crew would be permitted to stay in Atlantis, and Rayla wanted to make sure it was spent well. She took Callum to the shore of a stone-bordered pool of water.

Callum had gone through more changes, and a couple more of his Draconic features were showing now...his talons and horns.

“You know, while we were on our way here, we only expected we'd be lucky to find some ruins and broken pottery, but instead we find a living, thriving civilization here” Callum explained, while handling a very docile Inferno Fly.

“We live, sure, but our culture...our way of life is dying, Cal, every year we spend down here whittles a bit more of us away, and we can’t help it...we’ve lost too much of our past” Rayla said, sadly “but, maybe the reason I’ve brought you here will change everything...there’s a mural here with writings all across it’s pictures”

“Alright, I guess we could start here” Callum held the light closer to a collapsed pillar near to read the inscriptions on its surface “okay..it..it...uh, Rayla” he turned to see her stripping down to a swimsuit she wore under her clothes, and his face turned red “w-what are you doing?”

“You can swim, right?” she asked, turning to face him with a smirk on her face as she saw his reaction “or were you just bluffing earlier?”

“N-no, I swim pretty girl-GOOD p-pretty good, I swim pretty good” Callum said, his face turning a brighter shade of red

She snorted and waded into the water “good, cuz’ it’s a long way to where...we need...to go…” Rayla trailed off as she saw Callum stripping down to his boxers.

When Rayla had first seen Callum, she had envisioned him as a scrawny young man, who was built like a toothpick, but she hadn’t expected him to be so toned. He was about as muscular as she, but more solid looking.

“-ayla?...Rayla?”

Rayla quickly realized she’d been staring for a while and tried to hide her blush and banish the thought of him holding her with his strong arms.

They swam around sunken ruins, guided by the light from Rayla's pendant, revealing that the city was far larger than it looked to be, and they ended up in a small air pocket. Callum flushed when he saw how close Rayla was.

“You’re all right, then?” she asked
“Y-yeah, I didn’t drown, so yeah” Callum clumsily replied

“Good, follow me” she said and submerged again

They stopped before an enormous, vibrantly colored mural, helpfully illuminated by Rayla’s pendant. Like she said, there was writing in Atlantean all across the tilework. The texts had Atlantis’ entire history to Callum’s surprise and delight. Though the one detail they were looking for was what the light was that Rayla had seen during Atlantis’ fall. Callum gestured for them to return to the air pocket.

Callum had discovered the reference to the Heart of Atlantis, the life force of all the creatures in Atlantis, and that it was the same as the light she had seen, and the power source that the crew was looking for. He was confused as to why he hadn’t found out anything in the Journal about it, but quickly realized that the missing page likely had what he sought.

Callum surfaced and looked up to see Viren waiting for him.

“Have a nice swim?” he asked. His clothes were very different, more opulent and regal, and all in darker colors with gold trim. His skin was a mottled grey with streaks of dark purple, and his eyes were glossy black orbs now. A huge starry caterpillar was perched on his shoulder like a fur boa.

Several of the core team were present, bearing firearms, and standing alongside the Heavy Security team, who bore armbands with a familiar symbol...The Dark Mages Alliance crest.

Chapter Text

Callum surged out of the water when he realized what was going on...he had been betrayed by Viren. Ezran was being held captive by one of the Alliance soldiers, likely to keep him from making any move against Viren, he assumed.

"I’m such an idiot...this is just a treasure hunt for you isn't it? You want the Crystal, don’t you?!" Callum asked angrily 

"Oh, you mean this?" Viren produced a sheet of parchment from his robes and showed Callum...it was the missing page from the Shepherd's Journal, featuring an illustration of a crystalline orb. A thin smile stretched across his face.

"The Heart of Atlantis…" Callum said under his breath. 

"I had planned on telling you, but it was strictly need-to-know information, and well...now you know…welcome aboard, Young Callum" Viren said, outstretching his hand.

"I refuse to be one of your mercenaries, Viren" Callum said and moved his hand to draw a Fulminus rune.

Before he could draw even half of the rune, a black, scaly, metallic substance grappled around his arm, the origin coming from Bernard, who was now bearing glowing scarlet eyes. Callum watched in shock as their Chief engineer morphed into a different form. His head became egg shaped with red slits carved into the face. Four horns manifested atop his head and his body grew to a height that rivaled basketball players. What Callum was looking at was an Interceptor Battleframe...an Atlantean Machineform.

“What-” Callum uttered, confused as to why this ancient machine was here, and had clearly been among them since the start of their journey.

The sound of water breaching behind him directed his attention to some of the soldiers yanking Rayla out of the water. She was able to easily fight them off and then she threw one of her swords at Viren to get the Machineform to release Callum. Her blade sliced through Viren’s arm as he had reached out to stop it, and his hand fell to the ground at the same time the butterfly blade clanged against the stone.

Viren didn’t bleed red...he bled a thick vantablack, viscous tar-like substance, dripping heavy and slow.

“Disappointing…” the old mage said, slightly annoyed, and signaled for his soldiers to restrain the princess while he retrieved his hand, which he reattached rather easily “I still can’t feel any pain” 

“Viren...what have you become?” Callum said, horrified at what he saw

“This? It is what I have always been, Callum...a man willing to do what it takes to do what must be done, no matter the cost” Viren ran his thumb over the purple gem in his cane, that quickly transformed into a staff just a head higher than Viren himself.

Viren held out the page again before Callum as his soldiers pressed the muzzle of a weapon to Rayla’s temple.

“Lets try this again, shall we?” Viren said with a smirk

Ethari and Runaan were reading over documents when a deafening explosion interrupted them, and the doors to the throne chamber were obliterated. The muscular Earthblood elf from the expedition crew stood in the opening tossing a red stick in the air casually.

“ Tuk-tuk” she said with a smirk and heavily armored humans entered the room, carrying strange weapons with them that gave off an energy similar to the crystal pendants .

Yuki demanded that Runaan give the order for the guards to drop their weapons, she held a blade to Rayla’s throat to offer further persuasion and the acting-king complied, giving the order.

“Search everywhere” ordered Viren “I don’t care if you have to tear apart the masonry” he turned to face Callum and shoved the Journal into his hands “alright expert, pull your weight and tell us where the book says it is”

“It doesn’t say anything like that!” Callum said, frustrated “all it says is that the Heart of Atlantis lies before the eyes of Her King”

Viren approached Runaan and then demanded the acting-king inform him of the Crystals' whereabouts, to which Runaan and Ethari both refused. Viren responded by taking the sidearm from one of his soldiers and shooting Runaan in the knee. Rayla cursed at him in her native tongue while a shocked Claudia tried to help the injured elf.

Disrespectfully sitting on the throne while Runaan clutched his knee in agony, Viren held up the sidearm and said “diplomacy fails us once again...pick him up”

The Heavies held Runaan up and Viren said “I’m going to give you ten seconds to tell us where the Crystal is, or I put a bullet through your skull” in a cold tone, devoid of any humanity. VIren calmly checked the chamber of the weapon before he started counting down, the others were shocked that he wasn’t bluffing and he was actually going to kill this elf.

“One...three...nine..te-” Viren’s eyes went wide in realization, and then he looked at the cover of the Shephard’s Journal, and then just past the acting-king, to the pond in the room, connecting the dots “the Heart of Atlantis lies before the eyes of Her King” and he let out a low chuckle and shook his head lightly, Runaan sighed dejectedly, before the soldiers released him.

Viren, Callum, Rayla and Yuki descended down the stone lift into a chamber below where they saw stone effigies hovering high in the air, clustered around a light of sorts. Viren was very pleased and began trying to think of possible ways to retrieve it.

Rayla had collapsed on her knees and bowed before “the kings of their past” and muttered in Atlantean much to Viren’s annoyance, and he rudely told Callum to get her up.

The room turned red as searchlights emanated from the Crystal, with Yuki expressing her discomfort and Viren began arguing with Callum about getting the Crystal down and out of the room.

Rayla couldn’t hear any of it, all her focus was trained on a single beam of light touching her pendant, she spoke the names of her parents softly before the Crystal beckoned her forth.

Chapter Text

Callum was focused on the spot where Viren and his minions had left. Most of the core team had turned against Viren, inspired by Callum's defiance to grow a conscience, but Ezran had been taken, and the bridge destroyed to ensure they couldn't retaliate. Claudia laid a hand on Callum's back and coaxed him into a hug, she felt his shuddering as he silently cried.

Ibis called out for them, his tone sounded urgent. The two separated and made their way to the throne room where Ibis was, with his limited medical training, helping patch up Runaan's gunshot wound. 

"This is all my fault…" Callum said "I brought this nightmare here"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Cal...Dad's been after the Crystal since he found the Journal"

"Crystal...wait, these Crystals… they have a healing energy of some sort...Rayla used it to save me during the cave-in"

"Rayla..." Runaan grunted out "where is Rayla?"

Callum looked down at the ground "she…"

"She was chosen...like her parents " Runaan said, knowing what Callum meant.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Callum asked

Runaan explained that the Crystal and Atlantis shared a mutualistic relationship, in exchange for a host of royal blood during times of great danger, it provided knowledge, longevity, and protection over all it’s people. The Crystal had been stewarded by a prestigious elven Archmage for many ages, though he grew hungry for power. Encouraged by the steward, the Atlantean Council and Royal family used the Crystal’s power to wage war across the world, using their technological superiority to dominate other civilizations. This ended when they created and tested their first superweapon that ultimately led to the fall of their great empire.

“And so you hid it beneath the city, to keep history from repeating again” Callum responded

“And to keep my niece from falling to the same fate as her parents....you, Callum, must save her” Runaan reached out for Callum’s hand “if Rayla remains bonded to the Crystal, she will be lost to it, forever. She is all that remains of our family...our burden would have been passed to her...but it now falls to you Callum, Son of Caelum. Return the Crystal, save Atlantis, and save my niece”

Runaan passed out, and Callum was stunned in disbelief. How could he, who led a band of vandals to a lost city and by far the least qualified person for the job, save it? 

Something in Callum’s pocket glowed and he withdrew it. It was one of the crystal pendants worn by Atlantean elves, the item made Callum curious. The crystal’s surface danced with a plethora of colors.

“Where did you get that?” came Ethari’s voice

“I..I don’t know, it was in my pocket” Callum said, perplexed

“That, friend, is a gift from the Heart. A piece of itself given to those it believes are worthy” Ethari said, given how he described it, it was much different then the pendants he and the rest of Atlantis wore.

“ When you hit rock bottom, the only way left to go is up ” said Claudia.

Callum knew the quote, it was one of many Sarai would say to him when he was at his lowest points in life. He looked at the crystal in his hand and a new sense of determination rose within him. He emerged from the throne room, and the others eyed him curiously, Claudia asked the others to follow in case Callum hurt himself.

He boarded a large Ketak and started it up to the amazement of the Atlanteans present. Callum taught the others how to start them up after finding a whole fleet of them covered in weak vines. 

“Do you think we can do it?” asked Soren

“Do what?” Callum asked back

“Win?”

“I...I honestly don’t know...but we’re gonna try anyway” Callum said  “we have to”

A rocket shot up to the exit of the volcano, blowing a sizable hole big enough to allow their evac airship to exit. Viren held a bound Ezran and smiled at the light above.

“Victory tastes oh so sweet” he said

“You aren’t gonna get away with this, Callum will find a way over here and stop you!” Ezran gritted his teeth "you won't win"

Viren brushed a hand over the still-holstered weapon at his side “let him come” with a grin that made Ezran’s blood run cold.

Loaded up with weapons from an armory maintained by Ethari, they flew into the volcano, ready to meet the DMA forces head on. Rounding a corner, they saw the airship begin lifting off, underneath was the crate containing the Crystal, and Rayla. Immediately, the Dark Mage soldiers fired their energy weapons at the rescue team. 

Callum told Soren and Claudia to go cut the crate loose, while he and Janai went to distract Viren. 

Elizabeth figured out accidentally how to fire the energy weapons on the Ketaks, evening the playing field. 

Above them, the light coming from the exit at the peak of the volcano disappeared, as a large airship hovered far above them, awaiting the arrival of the evac craft. 

Viren’s gaze flicked around the chamber, his soldiers were engaged in several dogfights with the Atlanteans. Below, he saw Soren and Claudia try to cut the chain suspending the crate below the evac ship, unsuccessful with the protective Sunforge runes engraved into the chain links. He released a bomb and it destroyed Soren’s flying craft, successfully forcing the siblings to retreat on their remaining vehicle.

The evac ship started descending slowly, and both Viren and Yuki looked up to see the Sunfire general cutting away part of the lift system. He drew his weapon from its holster, a custom, gilded revolver called The Right Hand, and fired a shot to intentionally miss. The shot grazed the elf’s vehicle, the corrosive round eating away a bit of the stone and forcing her to leave.

Callum made a split-second decision to ram his Ketak into another support balloon, forcing the ship to descend further. Hanging on the rigging, he watched Viren kill Yuki and throw her body overboard to get rid of weight, the sharp end of his staff was soaked in elven blood.

Callum jumped off the rigging and prepared to punch Viren in the jaw, but felt a burning, searing pain in his side, in his foe’s hand was a gun. Callum’s scales were melted where the gunshot had hit him. How was he able to destroy dragon scales this easily?

“Interesting? It’s a custom piece I made myself a few years back, specifically to kill you” Viren said, slowly making his way over to Callum

“You knew? This whole time?” Callum asked, flabbergasted “why didn’t you tell me?”

“I suppose I had hoped you would join my side at one point” Viren circled around Callum, like a predator about to claim its prey “it is a shame though...you would’ve been an excellent addition to my forces, but you ask too many questions...you snoop where you aren’t supposed to...and in the end it only got you killed” standing in front of the young man, he pulled back the hammer and a heavy click resounded “just like your mother” he fired a shot into Callum’s knee

As Callum clutched his knee in pain Viren prepared a spell, the gem of the staff glowed as he projected a swirling vortex towards his half-human opponent, slowly draining him. Callum had such massive magical power within him, and so Viren mocked the injured cartographer “you are pathetic, you couldn’t even use an ounce of your magic, and yet you have the lion’s share within you”

A small rumble came from below, then a larger one, and suddenly an ice-blue beam of energy erupted from the base of the volcano piercing through the main balloon of the escape craft and interrupting the draining spell as the whole ship shook. Viren dropped his revolver as the beam vaporized half his body.

Tired, Callum tried to escape, he grabbed the dropped weapon to defend himself. His vision was blurring, he was limping, he had to save Rayla but he was too delirious at the moment to figure out how. His body suddenly underwent another change, as wings burst out from his back

“kkILll hIM” came Viren’s strained voice 

Callum was distracted by the sudden revelation that VIren was still alive that he almost didn’t notice that the Battleframe reappeared and swung a Sunforge blade at him, narrowly missing his throat.

Fortunately for Callum, his scales were just strong enough to resist the searing edge of the blade, but he wasn’t sure it would last for much longer against the powerful machine. Callum threw a punch at it, but found no purchase as the nanite structure of the machine parted and created a hole that his fist passed through. 

The machine closed the hole and the nanostructure began to flow up his arm, stiffening to keep him from moving.

Callum felt lightning course through him from deep within, so he tried to release it, but it did nothing against the ancient machine. He couldn't move, and feared the worst.

He failed...Atlantis was doomed, and he was going to die here without having saved his brother...he closed his eyes, and began to fall into despair.

Until he heard a roar echo through the cave and a blast of lightning hit him, blowing off the shell that held him in place. Callum looked up and saw his savior was none other than his father, awake at last.

The powerful Archdragon of the Sky made short work of the DMA forces and the victors reconvened on the ground. The airship was on the ground and disabled, preventing any attempt at an aerial evacuation to the surface. They began preparations to return to the city, survivors and prisoners alike. Callum and Ezran embraced each other happily and Callum finally got a chance to greet his father face-to-face, until their reunion was interrupted by an explosion.

Viren had a contingency plan in place, and that plan caused the airship to explode, and disturb the dormant volcano. Callum quickly hooked a chain up to one of the Ketaks and looped it around the crate so they could leave.

But the Battleframe had survived it's near total destruction and sliced the chains, to Callum's horror. The others wanted to loop around and save him but between the swinging blades and the lava, it was too dangerous to stay, so they begrudgingly left.

The machine was falling apart as it dutifully tried to execute Viren's final command. A blade sliced through one of Callum's wing membranes and then Callum snapped, and shot a blast of lightning from his mouth that hit the machine head-on, stunning it and causing it to fall into the lava, destroying it.

Callum slumped against the crate and started to cry knowing he may never see any of his loved ones ever again.

" Child, do not fret " A voice spoke and then a dragon rose from the depths of the lava " you are far too young to perish in these flames " 

The dragon was covered in gleaming silver scales. On the sides of it's head were three pairs of eyes. It had two tails ending in sharp blades. It had six legs, 

Without hesitation it grabbed both Callum and the crate and spread it's wings, flying far faster than any Ketak could. The lava flow was a ways behind them but in hot pursuit.

Callum tore open the crate and the crystalline Rayla levitated in midair, the vocalizations of the many past rulers eminating from her like a haunting choir, the countless carvings on the city glowed the same blue-white of the Crystal.

Suddenly the effigies of the past kings burst forth from the ground and both they and Rayla rose high above the city. Like in the cavern below, they spun around faster and faster until they became a ring of light. 

From the ring, a beam of light shot out and hit a stone structure which stood on two legs. The stone colossus moved towards the perimeter as many others did the same. When all the giants of stone were in position, they brought their hands together with thunderous claps, and projected a barrier of light that spread over the city like a dome. 

To say Callum and the others were surprised would have been an understatement...they were awestruck, lost for words as the flow of lava burst from the volcano and flowed overhead harmlessly.

The Crystal flash-cooled the lava once the flow had ceased. Through some other magic, the rock was carved and then fell off the barrier, breaking a bit of the outer edge of the platform as they fell and allowing water to flow over the edge. The resulting steam obscured their view of the Crystal, save for a ray of light cast down from it.

Rayla descended slowly from the sky, and Caum caught her, smiling as his heart fluttered when she snuggled into him.

"Callum?" She asked, after opening her eyes, and then embraced him tightly after he nodded.

After they separated from their hug, they looked out over the city, and Rayla smiled oh so widely at the sight of now-revealed portions of the city that had been trapped underwater for centuries prior. The pair held hands with intertwined fingers which neither objected to.

Chapter Text

Years ago, Iceland…

Sarai and the expedition team found the village and the site where the Journal was said to be hiding. She regretted going on this mission since she had to leave an infant Ezran behind, she was eager to get his over with, as she planned to soon stop going on excursions like this one and stay in the country to care for her family. She barely saw Caelum anymore, maybe biannually at the most, but she knew it was for their safety, humans and dragons forming a union was taboo in much of the world, including in the U.S., and given that she had premarital relations with him that resulted in a child...she didn’t want to consider what people would do if they knew the truth.

She had married her high school sweetheart, Harrow Williams, the one person besides herself who knew of Callum’s parentage, and with him, she planned to one day tell Callum the truth when he was ready. Before she left for her trip, she told Harrow seven words, “ I’ll see you on the other side ”, 

On this trip, was Viren Campbell, a close friend to herself and Harrow since their college days, as well as the co-owner of Katolis Industries, which supplied the equipment for the expedition. Their team was handpicked from the best of the best, and while some of them were less...professional then desired, they were very good at what they did. 

Day 3 of making camp and they were still digging for the supposed last resting place of the Journal

 “Viren, can I speak with you? In private?” Sarai asked

Viren looked a bit confused but accepted her request, there was also a bit of something else on his face that Sarai could detect, but not decipher. So off they went, to the only place where they knew nobody would overhear them, a cave just off the excavation site. Inside, Sarai led him to a point where their voices couldn't carry, and then she turned to face him, withdrawing her smartphone, unlocking it and showing Viren pictures of…clothes.

"What is the meaning of this?" Viren asked

"When I was searching the crew quarters I found these, Viren...the robes of a Dark Mages Alliance member" she said, pointing out the sigil for Dark Magic emblazoned upon the garment "I brought you here away from prying ears because I want you to tell me that these aren't yours... please tell me they aren't yours" Sarai's pleading was evident in her voice.

"So what if they are...I'm not the only one with a secret here" he glared at Sarai "your son, Callum, I know his secret...how you betrayed humanity" his gaze turned dark

"Betrayed?!" Sarai grew defensive "how dare-"

"You had a child with a dragon, Sarai...an enemy of humanity! Do you know how many lives those monsters destroyed?!" Viren shouted at her 

"Caelum is not a monster!" Sarai shouted back "I loved him, but we couldn't be together out of fear of endangering him"

"It has a name?!" Viren was furious now

"Viren please calm d-" Sarai wasn't able to finish, feeling a sharp pain in her gut. 

Viren had stabbed her, but she wasn't sure what was worse... getting stabbed or seeing the cold look in his eyes as he watched her die.

"Do not worry, everything will be fixed, Sarai...I will ensure it" he said, devoid of emotion.

After she passed, he collected tissue samples from her and threw her body into a pit. He covered up the murder by making an illusion of her, using Dark Magic and the collected samples, and then faking her death after finding the Shepherd's Journal.

Viren later searched for the Sky Archdragon Caelum to confront the beast at long last. The two met atop a mountain peak.

The dragon had demanded to know what had become of his beloved, after smelling the stench of Sarai's blood and Dark Magic on Viren. Viren accused the creature of corrupting the late mother to betray her kind.

Caelum defended his actions, stating that his union with Sarai, while not complete, nor traditional, was genuine, and that she had been in control of the relationship.

Viren, stuck in his antiquated thinking, wouldn't have it, and thus engaged the creature in a vicious battle of Primal Magic against Dark Magic, which ended in Caelum taking a nasty hit to his soft underbelly, and losing a few scales. Viren was content enough to let the beast die of it's wounds and thus he left it be.

Unbeknownst to the Dark Mage, Caelum would survive his injuries, and managed to claw his way to Atlantis, where he would rest and recover for the next few decades. 

Until a burst of Sky Primal Energy roused him from his slumber.

Chapter Text

Present day…

Callum was taken to a healer to have his injuries treated, his wing and the gunshot wounds were the most prominent, but the fight with the Battleframe had left much of Callum’s skeleton with fractures that needed attention.

The dragon who had saved him, Unitatis, was a Plasmis dragon, the sole member of her kind and a rare Archdragon of two Primal sources, Sun and Sky. She revealed that she had taken up residence in the magma chamber of the volcano centuries ago to hide from the Dark Mages Alliance. Unlike other dragons, Unitatis breathed a pinpoint energy beam, which is what crippled the Air Evac craft, and destroyed the airship that the DMA had waiting above the volcano.

Callum was able to spend more time with his father, and while Callum resented the dragon for never showing up in his life, he was open to reconciling with the dragon and healing old wounds. He wished his mother could be here to see them, Caelum asked for all the details about the years he had missed.

Callum was happy to oblige, and decided to share everything he remembered.

When injuries had been healed, and bonds restored, a method to reach the surface world was sought out. During this time, Callum and Rayla grew closer. Callum told her more stories of the surface world at her insurance, and he couldn't help but think of how adorable she looked with enraptured eyes as she listened to his tales.

After the stories, Rayla and Callum gazed up at the Crystal floating high above the city and it's artificial clouds.

"It's amazing isn't it?" she asked "I imagine it's like the sunrise on the surface"

"Oh trust me, there's no comparison" Callum said

"What's it like...the sun?" Rayla asked

"Huh, I've never really had to describe it before. It's warm… inviting…" he turned to face her "beautiful". He swore he saw her cheeks pink at his statement, which in turn caused him to as well. The pair were suddenly made all too aware of the lack of space between them, their hearts beating fast. Callum moved even closer to her, and for now at least they could pretend the rest of the world was absent, and it was just the two of them. 

Rayla was blushing now, as this half-dragon with eyes like brilliant shining emeralds gazed into her eyes. She felt her heart race as he moved closer

"You are so…" he began, and then his lips met hers. He felt her body tense up in surprise at the kiss, prompting him to begin to pull away to apologise, but she gripped him by the collar and pulled him in, crashing her lips against his in a heated kiss.

"Wow" was all Callum could say

“Been waiting a while to do that” Raya replied, touching her forehead to his

“Since when?” Callum asked

“Since I got a look at those gorgeous, sexy muscles of yours, dear dragon” she said

Callum flushed “oh so you just want me for my body then?” he joked, flashing a smirk at the elf

“Mmm...perhaps” she said, an impish smirk on her face. She traced a slender finger along his rather sharp jawline “but I also admire you...you helped save Atlantis from decaying into oblivion. If it weren’t for you, our culture might have withered until we became a husk of ourselves”

“But I lead Viren here...and I almost ended all of this” Callum said “I could’ve-”

“Ah ah! No” Rayla stopped him, pressing a finger to his lips “you had no way of knowing what would happen. But you did something admirable, you made things right, you took charge and led a rescue that saved my people. I’m sure your mum would be proud of you”

Callum smiled at Rayla and she ran a hand through his soft auburn hair “thanks, Ray”

Rayla smiled at the nickname 

"Are you sure you want to stay Callum?" Ezran asked

A massive stone whale vehicle was being loaded with everything the team needed on their return trip. Callum had told them that the Atlanteans would only take them as far as the surface and then they'd need to find a way to reach home afterwards.

"Yeah, there's a hero's welcome for the man who discovered Atlantis" Soren added "and you'd get to stick it to those old farts at the museum"

"It's a tempting offer, but no" said Callum "my place is here now... besides, I hear there's an opening down here for someone that speaks gibberish" he snorted a laugh at his joke.

Ezran pulled him into a hug “dad’s gonna miss you” Ezran said 

“You say that like I don’t have a way to talk to you guys” Callum said, returning the hug

Callum was of course referring to the still-functioning quantum communicator which had been among the things salvaged from the campsite, it was currently set up in a room in the royal palace.

“You’d better stay in touch with us Cal, or else...I know where you live” Soren said, ruffling the halfling’s hair while smirking. 

Callum swatted away his hands while giggling. 

They got a photo together in front of it, and a copy went to the expedition team, and one was given to Callum

"So, let's go over it again one last time" Harrow said, looking through the photos the team took "you didn't find anything?"

Before him was the core team of the expedition, dressed up nice for the event announcing the team's findings on the trip.

"Nothing big, just rocks and some fish" Claudia said "a crab too"

"What of Bernard?" Harrow asked

"Well we lost him when a laser beam from a dragon melted him down- hEY" Soren said, Lujanne smacking him with her umbrella to get him to remember his line "oh uh, missing"

"That's right, and what happened to my old friend Viren?"

"He's missing too, I guess you could say he vanished into the shadows" said Ezran

"Or! You could say he got half of his body burned away by a-" Soren stopped as he felt his sister poke his hand as Lujanne lifted her umbrella warningly "uh, missing as well"

They'd elected to hide Viren's involvement in the Dark Mage's Alliance out of respect for the man Harrow remembered him as, a man fiercely loyal to those he loved and would do all he could for them, Harrow wanted to honor that man's memory, rather then the tarnished black-hearted killer that he died as.

"And what of Callum?"

"Went down with the sub" said Claudia

Harrow sighed "I..I'm going to miss that boy…at least he's in a better place" he said, and found a small package snuck between the photos, curious, he untied the twine holding it together, and found a crystal pendant inside, along with a letter, and a photo of Sarai with a 4 year old Callum.

"Hey Dad,

I hope this "shred of proof" is enough, it certainly convinced me.

From the both of us, your son, Callum"

Harrow smiled as his mouth was agape, a real piece of everything his wife had dreamed of finding one day, was in his hands right now. He wiped away a small tear from his eyes, and put on the pendant, a warmth rushing through his body and heart.

Seven years later…

Callum was using a tablet-like device to look over his duties for the day, and his ear flicked as he heard footsteps. He smirked and made it look like he was still working, while the pitter-patter of small feet moved closer to him.

Two small bodies pounced on Callum with a triumphant battle cry "we caught him!!" shouted the voice of a little girl 

"Knock 'im down!!" came the voice of a little boy, and said boy pounced onto Callum's tail.

The two children were none other than Callum and Rayla's children, Sarai and Gulliver, the princess and prince respectively. Callum feigned defeat as he laid in the ground

"Oh woe is me! I have been defeated by two mighty dragon slayers! Have mercy oh great heroes!"

"Did you knock over your father again?" came Rayla's voice, as she stood in the doorway.

"We beat daddy! We're the strongest slayers alive!" Sarai shouted triumphantly, making Rayla giggle

"Well I'm going to need your father today, so don't slay him just yet" Rayla said "now scamper off and go get something to eat, you have a big day ahead of you"

Their children groaned at the mention of having to do their duties for the day, but left regardless. Rayla helped her husband back up into his feet.

"Little rascals" Callum joked "so what was it that requires my help?"

"The council wants to see you, they didn't tell me why, but it sounded personal" she said "there's also the matter of the celebration coming up"

"Oh right, that" Callum remembered, the discussion of celebrating the day the city was saved and when the council hand made the decision to restore their civilization, reversing their call to bury the past out of shame.

Callum gave his wife a kiss and then left to meet with the council.

Callum exited the council chambers after a long meeting, feeling much better than before. The decision had been made to make a memorial for Sarai after hearing Callum out. Hearing that she had faced Viren in an attempt to stop him from gaining access to Atlantis was enough for them to decide to have a statue made to honor her, and placed in the city square. 

He rejoined Rayla after and they retreated to their own chambers for the night. Along the way, they gazed out over the city.

"You know, all those years ago, when I first came here, I couldn't have been more awestruck, but seeing this place now? After all that we've done? I'm even more amazed" Callum said

 Indeed, what once was a flooded, slowly decaying ruin, holding a people that had only just been holding on, fading from the world away from prying eyes, had now been rejuvenated. They didn't fully have the same capabilities they had thousands of years ago, but now this city wouldn't have to survive, they could live.

Callum looked up at the Crystal floating high above the city, the two new effigies of Tiadrin and Lain among those of all the past rulers. He was certain that if they were watching, they would be proud of them, clawing back from oblivion and standing proud despite all the suffering they endured. 

"I think they'd have liked you" said Rayla, holding Callum's hand "mum and dad, I always wanted my future partner to meet them when the time was right"

"It would have been nice, getting their blessings after I got Runaan and Ethari's. They also both told me that your parents would've been thrilled to meet someone like me…maybe in another life, in another world I have '' Callum ran a thumb over the back of Rayla's hand, and then looked back out at the now bustling city.