Chapter Text
Rayla knew that Callum would be soon going after her.
She knew, completely, how he will feel upon waking up – after a night of planning a new adventure together albeit a dangerous one – suddenly, looking at an empty bed, and only a letter.
She knew that this would hurt him, never mention the fact that she might also die in this mission! But still, she could not abandon her sense of duty. Besides, I am doing this to protect Callum, she reasoned with herself.
It was still early morning, and although she had a head start; Callum would be flying through the skies any time now. She doubts that he will catch her given that she has been jumping from tree to tree for about 4 hours now and she's quite fast, the fastest in their class. But then, if he catches up on her, oh no.
She does not want to see those eyes, and he’d probably be seething mad. He supported me with everything and yet, here I am. Breaking my promise. And it’s his birthday, too.
But this is for you, dummy. She reasoned with herself, again.
Internally, she sighed.
I wish it would rain. She muttered to herself.
And almost, as if magically, water fell from the clouds in a soft drizzle.
-
The sound of the wind pushing against the window woke up Callum. He opened his eyes and looked at the window where storm clouds were fast approaching. The rain looked like it was going to pour harder soon.
“Looks like we might have to wait ‘til the rain stops” he said.
Then he felt an odd, shrill cold inside.
“Rayla?”
He looked around, ran around, in frantic panic. Tears brimming his eyes when he saw an empty bed, and a letter. He knew immediately what Rayla did. Stupid, dumb, and self-sacrificing Rayla! With shaky hands, he took the letter in his pocket and headed outside. The gush of wind was strong enough to make him tumble and the rain soaked immediately through his clothes. He didn’t know what to do, or even what to feel - he only knew one thing – I need my brother right now.
Ezran opened the door before Callum knocked. Soren was already there, along with Lujanne and Allen. They all looked at him with worried eyes, as if they already knew.
“Rayla’s gone, she left…” Callum said, shaking.
-
She was nearing by the harbor by now, the same one they traveled to several weeks ago. The sky was dim, and it was already nearing noon, but it wasn’t raining heavily here. I suppose it’s raining at the moon nexus. She had been carefully scanning the sky since then, but she saw no sign of Callum.
She travelled fast, jumping from tree to tree at her best attempt to avoid being seen by him. It pains her, but… It’s for the best. He never would have let me go alone.
She ran to the village near the harbor then tucked her head in her hood, put her hands in her pocket, and kept a safe distance from the humans. She supposed it would be wise to travel by the sea since that would cut the distance short between her and the moon nexus. But how can I track down Villads?
“*squaaak, hello Rayla” Berto flew to her shoulder, “nice to see you, squaak”
“Hey, Berto. Nice to see you, too.” She beamed at the parrot, “Where’s Villads?”
“*squaak, follow me!”
The little parrot flew ahead with Rayla chasing him, careful to keep her face hidden by her hood. Villads was standing near his ship, Ruthless. “Squaaak, we’ve got a friend visiting!” Berto said upon resting on the captain’s shoulder. “Ahoy, matey! Who’d you happen to be?” Villads said.
“Hey, Villads. It’s me, Rayla.”
“Rayla. The one with the two unusual dogs.” He rubbed his chin, then smiled. “So, how’s it goin?”
Rayla decided to come forward, “Listen, can you help me? I need to get across the sea the same way we did, umm.. several weeks ago.”
“Sure, you came just in time, ya’know. I’ve got to deliver a few things there, too!”
Rayla stepped on the boat. There’s no going back now. He’ll spend his birthday without me.
She went below deck, on the same spot that Callum sat on several weeks ago when they were sailing together, in the exact same boat.
She allowed herself for the first time to ponder on what she had done. It’s his birthday today. I should have waited. Another day? A few more hours? But no, she thought she couldn’t reason with Callum. He was going to go with her no matter what, and she only did this so he could be safe. She imagined how they could have spent the day if there was no war, and no doors to close.
They’d probably in the castle, and Ezran would have Barius bake a cake for Callum. They’d probably be banging at his door before he wakes up. They’d probably sing a song, too. It sounded fun. But now he'll wake up and realizes that he’s alone.
I did it for him. I told everything in the letter. She reasoned with herself, again.
The boat started to move. This time, nausea did not creep up on her but instead, an overwhelming feeling of sadness.
There’s really no turning back now.
-
“We know.” Ezran sounded disheartened. “We’re sorry, Callum”
“You know?” Callum shouted. Still shocked, still grasping the details of Rayla’s betrayal, still replaying their memories in his mind… together, they said.
“Yes. A squirrel told me.”
“Wha.. When? Why didn’t you wake me up? I could have run after her, I could have…” Callum felt his knees buckle. Slowly, he seated on the floor. He didn't know aht he was feeling. Was it anger? Annoyance? Was it because she wouldn't trust him? Was it concern? Was it distrust over that broken promise?
Ez kneeled close to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “I just knew about it a few seconds before the rain fell. You know I would have told you.” Ez hugged Callum.
“She left me a letter and nothing more” Callum hugged Ez back. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe in the familiar scent of his brother. His tears fell to the floor. He found himself gasping for air and also shivering from the cold.
Ezran stood up, took a blanket, and covered Callum with it.
“We could still chase her, track her. Maybe we could ask for Corvus’s help. I’ll just pen him a letter then we could meet somewhere.” Soren’s eyes looked downcast. It was unfair of Rayla to do this to everyone. Still, Soren admired her guts. But he also wanted to kick her in the shin at this moment.
Callum looked up to the worried eyes observing him. “No, I have to look for her alone.”
“No!" Ezran butted in, his voice strong willed and demaning. "As your king, I forbid you to put your life in danger like that! You should at least have Soren accompany you.”
“But Soren’s duty is to the king, and not to me” Callum argued. Besides, they were going to kill Viren for good. Although it's clear where Soren's loyalties lied, he didn't want Soren to witness his father's death again and again.
“Fine. Well, let’s wait for Corvus, he can certainly track Rayla.” Ezran crossed his arms at Callum. Of course, Ez made a fair point. His tracking skills were close to nothing. All he had was mage wings, and Rayla can hear them flapping a mile away.
“Okay, fine. I’m going after her as soon as the rain stops.” Callum stood up and sat at a chair near the door. Back crunched and looking at his feet.
“Callum, if I may” Lujanne said, “I know Rayla left you alone because she wanted you to be safe. Rayla is a moonshadow assassin, and her upbringing is centered on duty. But she is not like the others, she’s more of a guardian than an assassin. She only wants to protect you… Would you not honor her desperate request?” Lujanne’s voice was full of concern unlike her usual happy tone.
“I know her more than you do.” Callum said sternly. I know how afraid she must be, and how she thinks that she has to do it alone.
I know what she needs, and not only what she wants.” Callum stood up and faced them, his eyes with a piercing stare. “Ez, as my king, I will cooperate with your wishes. I will need help too because Rayla knows me too well, and she'll be expecting me. But, if I have to go on my own, I will”
Ezran looked at Lujanne with anxiety. They had planned a nice morning for his brother’s birthday. It’s fairly simple, they’ll have a good breakfast then eat a real baked cake -not an illusion one from grubs-, pack up food they can carry, then they’d be off to find Viren. He supported them through out though he also believed that Viren was dead. How could he not be? He fell from a mountain so high.
Outside, the rain continued pouring. The sky was clear for miles yesterday, Lujanne wondered. A storm this big surely would've been seen at this height. She wondered if going through the portal had to do something with this rain. Nobody came through the portal for centuries, so history may have been forgotten already.
I might need to review history, ugh.
-
Lady Opeli wondered through the castle. It has been a hard day, but she dearly loves her job. She wondered how her king and the crown prince were at this moment. She hoped that they were having fun. It was the prince's birthday after all,
It wasn’t easy to achieve this peace. Upon their return, the council was in disarray, an elf was in the castle, and the people were confused. A lot of lives were lost to Viren and his dark magic, stealing the power of the Sunforge, and transforming his army into raging, fireproof, battle monsters.
Queen Janai said that with research, the monsters may still return to their human state. Although, they might need to purify the Sunforge first – which may take roughly half a year. Until then, they were being kept prisoner in the Lux Aurea. This suited both parties since they were unsure whether their dungeon could hold the ‘human hybrids’.
A lot of mothers and fathers were lost that day, but what can we do? They chose their path.
It was a widely declared notice that then King Ezran did not believe the need for war. Those soldiers chose their own path when they rallied behind Viren. Of course, the people wept for their soldiers but king Ezran told them about hope, and the new peace beginning between the elves, dragons, and humans. The Katolians loved their king, so they believed in him.
The other kingdoms, though… that was a different story.
Only Duren stood with them in embracing the peace. For the other monarchs, it was easier to believe that the elves were behind the assassinations rather than Viren. Although Soren’s statements provided evidence of Viren’s abuse for dark magic. Still, the other kingdoms were grieving and in disbelief. Lady Opeli believes that it’s only a matter of time before another pentarchy, hopefully, the outcome will be something good.
Among one of Lady Opeli’s many tasks was to oversee the ongoing academic research led by Sunfire scholars in Viren’s dungeon.
It perplexed them, the sunfire folk, how one human mage was able to penetrate their power like that. General Amaya specifically requested that Kazi, the sunfire elf who translated in her behalf during her imprisonment, be among the research team. Kazi was a friendly elf and won over Lady Opeli’s trust in a matter of days. Today, she asked Kazi how the research was doing.
“We found an unusual mirror in one the rooms” Kazi said, straightening their glasses. “It was glowing when we saw it.”
Lady Opeli looked at the mirror. “It seems like a normal mirror. Let’s put it in the dungeon along with Viren’s other belongings.”
“Wait! Can I please hold on to this for a little while longer? My friends and I want to read up on it” Kazi pleaded.
“Sure. As long as you return it as soon as you’re finished with it”
Kazi nodded Opeli in thanks, and invited their friends to scrutinize the mirror. It was certainly glowing when they found it yesterday. Why isn’t it glowing now?
-
Aaravos smiled in his study.
Sure, Avizandum may have imprisoned him, but he did not cut all his ties from the external world.
The portal from his dimension opened yesterday and he saw the same moonshadow elf who pushed Viren from a cliff came through this plane, and even more exciting – a human boy who could do sky magic.
How exciting.