Chapter Text
Callum was sitting on a ledge that overlooked one of the underground orchids. He was there with his girlfriend Rayla and his brother Ezran. From where he sat the workers looked like ants not that he’d ever seen one; he had only seen pictures and size comparisons of the tiny things.
Callum had spent all of his life living under the fortress mountain somewhere on the far west of Zadia. Humanity and most elves had long given up domain of the surface to the dragons and the sunfire elves who still followed them.
His attention was drawn to Rayla, his childhood sweetheart; they had grown up side by side in the castle.Rayla Because her family was well renowned for defending the kings and queens of old, Callum grew up in the castle because his mother married one of the council members, a nice man named Harrow and by his standards a good husband and father to him and Ezran.
He was drawn out of his thoughts when Rayla said “do you think we’ll ever see a real tree and not just these ancient ones,” she gestured towards the cornapple trees.
“ Yeah, Bait said trees are supposed to be all green and brown,” Ezran added. “ our’s are a weird metal color,”
While they did technically have access to the surface no one was actually allowed out save for a scout or two.
“ Maybe if we become scouts we could,” Callum added, throwing a stone into the valley below.
Rayla scoffed “ I couldn’t be a scout if i wanted to remember,”
she stood up squared her shoulders and made a halfway decent impression of her father, “ Rayla it’s an important duty we have serving the council members and being there guard my father and my father father were all guards and someday you will be too,” she sat back down with a huff,” I swear he’s got my whole life planned ahead of me,”
“ I think Ezrans got it worse, dad's just put him into a lesson on how to be a good council member,” Callum said jokingly.
Ezran threw his hands up, “ I swear to the primals they have a lesson on everything. You know i once saw one of the other council kids get a lesson on how to fart properly,”
Rayla and Callum looked at him amazed they hadn’t heard this story yet.
“ no” they both gasped at the same time
“ yep” was his only reply before turning toward the orchid.
” y’know we could always just run away,” he offered
“ Where would we go, Ezran? The Caverns only extend so far in any given direction even with the miners working as they have for the past 500 years we’ve only been able to clear away 50 miles in all directions. And even if we went to some distant cavern there's still the food crisis that’s been going on for the last hundred years,” Callum argued
“I'm not talking about the caverns im talking about the surface, Baits been there he could show us around,” Ezran replied with a glint of mischief in his eyes
Rayla gawked at his idea it might work she thought but before she could voice her opinion Callum barked out, “ baits a toad and in case you haven't noticed I just turned 18 and just started actually learning primal magic plus you’re barely 14 and I really don't feel like getting eaten by a giant fire breathing lizards,”
“ He has a point Ezran we wouldn’t be able to defend ourselves against a dragon much less kill it,”
“ I know Rayla, I just don't want to spend my entire life buried under a mile of stone.”
“ It's not so bad. I mean you have me, Rayla. Dad, Mom and Bait,”
“ I know but I want more than to govern a land so grey aven artists have trouble painting anything good. I want to feel the grass under my toes the wind in my hair and the sun above me,”
Rayla scoffed “ That’s never going to happen so long as dragons still exist,”
“ we could try and make peace with them who knows maybe they’ve changed,”
“ Ezran, you know dragons live thousands of years so unless there’s some secret rebellion we haven’t heard of nothing’s changed. You think I don't want to be up their I’m a sky mage for pramal’s sake and Rayla’s a moonshadow elf that’s never even seen the moon,” Callum argued sliding his hand into Rayla’s “ no one wants to be here except maybe the earth elves but they're a weird bunch, that’s why dad has been trying to get the other council members permission to contact the other underground cities and launch an attack on the surface,”
Ezran’s eyes lit up “ why has no one told me there’s other cities
Callum realized his blunder too late. The vast majority of society had long since agreed to only tell the existence of other cities to older kids as it might lead to kids sneaking out and getting caught by dragons and the city getting found.
“ other cities I meant… uhh,” Callum nervously glanced at Rayla hoping for a way out of his mess. don't look at me she mouthed while She slowly shook her head.” cavern, yeah Dad wants to get the other caverns to help him launch an attack,”
“ Sure,” Ezran drew the word out like he didn’t quite believe him. He looked like he was going to question Callum and Rayla even more when his phone rang. Humans had developed them only a hundred years after they had been banished from the east and they got better with time leading to what Ezran was using now. Ezran was on the phone for two minutes before hanging up. ” Well dad said my lessons are starting soon and he’s going to make some big announcement later.”
Callum and Rayla stood up and hugged Ezran. As Ezran left Callum turned to Rayla and asked “ think it’ll be a problem?”
Rayla thought for a second before replying “ nah he wouldn’t run off