Chapter Text
Falling off the Storm Spire was painful. Or, at least Viren thought it was. He couldn’t remember much after the falling part of it. Lucky for him, Claudia was there. Claudia, his amazing daughter. Claudia, who saved his life at the risk of her own.
He took in a deep breath of air, trying to get a bearing on everything that had happened. He was now in a cave... where? With no food and little water. Waiting for Aaravos to... what? He sighed. This better have been worth it.
He patted down his person, making sure everything was still intact. You could never be too careful when a young dark mage performs a hard spell.
“Claudia? Where’s my coin pouch?” he asked, struggling to remain calm.
Claudia shrugged. “I dunno. I didn’t even know you had one, Dad.”
“So it wasn’t on me when you found me?”
She was picking up on the urgency in his voice. “No. Why? Was it important?”
Viren took a few deep breaths to calm himself. This wasn’t good. He needed that coin pouch.
“Yes. Very.”
••• •— ——• •— —••• •— —••• —•——
Rayla remembered how in love her adoptive parents were. She remembered how she always wanted something like that someday. She remembered how perfect they were together.
The rising sun was beautiful over the thick, puffy clouds surrounding the Spire. Rayla sighed as she meditated, something taught to her by her adoptive father, Runaan. She sighed at the memory of him.
What would he think of her achievements? Would he be proud of her? Disappointed? He’d seemed pretty upset the last time she saw him. What would he think if she chose to join the Dragon Guard? All those years training to be an assassin...
She turned her head sharply when she heard footsteps, ready for anything. Callum walked up to the top of the Spire and cleared his throat, giving a small wave. What a dork... but he was her dork.
“Hey,” he mumbled shyly.
“Hey,” she replied briskly.
“May I join you?” He took her silence as a yes and settled down next to her. “So... what you thinking about?”
Rayla sighed and tried not to roll her eyes. “I try not to think when I meditate.”
Callum considered this for a moment. Then his eyebrows furrowed together. “So then what’s on your mind?”
“Why do you always think there’s something wrong, Callum?” Her frustration was starting to bubble now.
He frowned. “Well, for one, you avoided my question twice. Number two, you said you try not to think when you meditate, hinting that your mind was not clear. Thirdly, you ignored me when I asked if I could join you, and you typically only ignore people when your mind is preoccupied. And lastly, you got frustrated pretty quickly.” She was staring at him with a slightly open mouth. He put a finger to his chin as he reconsidered. “Well, unless it’s that time of the month...”
She shook out of her daze and recollected herself. “I’m fine, Callum.”
Callum smiled softly at her, noting that she looks down when she lies. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. “Okay.”
Rayla was touched by his softness, burying her face in his neck. She inhaled several breathes of his scent to calm her nerves and he sat there, silently comforting her. They shared a beautiful language, one they invented but never spoke of. Silent touches, gentle nudges. Eyes that speak, thoughts that breathe. Love. It was their love language. It’s what gets them through.
After several minutes of Rayla secluding herself from the world in his arms, and Callum lightly running his thumb over her back, she sighed. “I guess I just... I don’t know, feel bad?” Callum listened, his silence encouraging her to continue. “Ever since I failed my mission, I felt like I had failed my family. Disgraced the family name further. Let everyone down. But I believed what I was doing was right. But... Runaan? The man who raised me? The look of betrayal in his eyes was unbearable. And then he died. Because of me.”
He put a calming hand to her cheek as she took a shaky breath. “And then... I found a family. With you, and Bait, and Zym, and Ezran. We talked to Ethari, and I started to feel more confident in myself. Then we saw what actually happened to my parents and I... I felt whole again. I knew who I was and where I came from. And I knew I was going to fix my family name. But then you showed me... you taught me that life and duty is not all about honour and the sacrifice of laying down my own life. It’s about protecting what I believe in, what I fight for, what I love. And that’s...”
Tears were welling up in both of their eyes now, and Callum pulled her in close. “Rayla, I had no idea. How you feel? You shouldn’t have to carry a burden like that. Runaan’s death wasn’t your fault. Your parents love you with all their heart, I just know it. Ethari is proud of who you have grown to be, and I know Runaan does not think of you as a failure. You are loved in this world, and I love you for who you are.”
Tears were streaming down Rayla’s face and Callum was no longer able to hold his back now. She kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you, Callum.” Rayla wiped her cheeks before rolling her eyes and turning to a boulder. “You can come out now, Gren!”
Callum, thoroughly confused, turned his head to where his girlfriend—how he loved that word—was looking. A head of auburn hair poked out from behind the boulder, sheepish smile playing at his lips. “Hehe. Sorry about that, I didn’t want to interrupt anything,” he clarified, rubbing the nape of his neck. “I was looking for Amaya, but felt like I’d ruin the moment if I got caught leaving, considering your expert senses.”
Rayla let the faintest smile grace her features. “So you eavesdropped instead?”
Gren was quick to ease her suspicions. “No! No! Not at all! I wasn’t trying to, at least...”
Callum felt bad for the soldier. “Rayla, quit messing with the poor man. What did your parents teach you?”
She sighed dramatically. In her best monotone voice, she responded, “Don’t play with your food.”
They both couldn’t contain their laughter and Gren eased a little as the mood lightened up. He started chuckling along with them, finding the joke rather funny as well. The laughter died down after a while.
“Well, Amaya isn’t up here, but maybe—“
“Um, actually, I did kind of overhear your conversation. I know it’s not really my place to ask, but what did you say that elf’s name was? Rooney? Ronan? R—“
“Runaan?” Rayla responded.
“Yes!”
“Yeah, he’s my uncle. Well, more like a father. He and his husband, Ethari, raised me. Why?”
“I don’t know, I feel like his name sounds familiar.” This hardly surprised Rayla. They probably announced the name of the assassin who killed King Harrow. Which was Runaan. “Maybe if you give me a description of him...”
“Uh... he has silky white hair that reaches his butt. He puts it in this braided ponytail thing and he’s pretty muscular. He wears silver horn cuffs at the base of his horns and purple paint that streaks horizontally across his nose. He also has paint on his triceps and left pectoral. He’s 6’2”, but with his horns he’s 6’4”.” She could see the wheels in his head slowly turning and for just a moment, a glimmer of hope ignited.
“Always brooding?”
“Yep! That’s him!” Rayla wanted to know more. She needed to know more. What memories of him did he have that she didn’t?
“Yeah, I think we were prison roomies.”
“Prison what?”
“Prison roomies. From when Viren trapped us in his dungeon right after King Harrow was...” He looked to Callum, remembering he was here, too.
Callum shrugged. “Killed? Yeah, I know. It’s okay, though. I’m getting through it.” Rayla took his hand and smiled softly at him before turning back to Gren.
“So what...?” She didn’t want to finish that sentence, and luckily she didn’t have to.
“What happened to him? Um, well... after several weeks of being held captive, I just remember Viren walking into his cell, there was chatter, and then all of a sudden a bright light came from under the cell door and there was screaming. Then... nothing.” He gulped, looking down. “I’m sorry, Rayla. Really. You’re going to hate to hear this, but he...”
“Died?” She looked down and was sad again. “Yeah. I know.”
“He was brave and he stood his ground. He was loyal to his people, selfless. He was a good man, Rayla.”
It was Callum’s turn to take her face in his hands. “Hey. You have a family, okay? Sure, Runaan may be dead and you might not be able to see Ethari a lot, but you still got me and Ezran. We can be your family.”
“What would I do without you?” That was her way of saying I love you.
He held her in his arms for a few more seconds before Gren piped up again. “If only there were a way to know how he died. I think that might help psychologically.”
Rayla nodded her head. “Yeah, if there were a way.”
Callum’s brain was thinking again. “Rayla, you’re good at tracking, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Gren, do you know if Runaan’s cell got cleaned?”
“I stayed a few more weeks, but as far as I know, it didn’t.”
Rayla saw the exact moment in which a fully formed plan presented itself on Callum’s face and she was tempted to kiss him. He was such a dork.
“What if we visit Runaan’s old cell and Rayla can see if she finds any clues as to how he died.”
Rayla raised an eyebrow. “You mean investigate the crime scene?”
“Yes.”
“Callum... that’s actually not a terrible idea.”
“Why thank you,” he said with a bow and a flourish. She rolled her eyes. “Gren, do you think you could—“
“Yeah. I know where he went.”