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“Callum!” She dares to take him by the upper arms. They haven’t touched since she came back but she is left with no choice.
He flinched away from her that first night and she didn’t think she could bear seeing that again, so she’s kept her distance.
She can’t now though. His eyes are inky black again, staring into space and becoming unresponsive the moment they entered this small cave and activated some strange runes.
“Callum, please!” She shakes him now, desperate to get a reaction. “What’s happening? Speak to me!”
It’s different from before with the mirror and she desperately clings to hope that there’s something else at play. Something terrible obviously but maybe not Aaravos again.
He does turn his head slightly and she prays that he’s heard her but… it’s like he’s listening to someone else. Someone that she can’t hear.
Then there’s a strange buzzing in her ear and she looks around for a moment, wondering if someone is approaching.
Callum stands a little straighter and she looks back to him just as his eyes change. Desperately, she clutches him tighter as the darkness is chased out, his eyes beginning to glow a brilliant bright purple. “Callum, no…”
It’s no longer the colour of Dark Magic but the purple glow is identical to that at the Storm Spire.
He moves his head again and this time it feels almost like he is looking at her. Instinctively she reaches for his face, rubbing her thumb across his cheek and hoping it reaches him.
And then she hears it too.
The voice, deep and rumbling.
She looks around, even though she knows deep down inside this voice is guided by magic. That she will not see the who or where it is coming from.
“She ripped your heart out, didn’t she?”
Rayla gasps at the words, her heart stuttering. She looks back to Callum just as his face hardens.
“Callum, I-”
“Why don’t you repay the favour?” The voice, Aaravos, chuckles darkly.
Rayla has barely a second to ponder this before she is hit with a hard smack across the face. She lands on her rear, her fingers immediately covering where Callum has hit her with a swift backhand. She gasps more from shock than pain, though it is indeed painful.
Before she can collect herself to speak he launches himself at her, snarling as he does so. Gasping, she rolls to the side and out of reach. Sneering, he turns and is immediately back on his feet.
“Callum, stop! This isn’t you.” She pleads with him, with his vacant glowing eyes.
He doesn’t listen though, charging at her once more.
Somersaulting over him, she tries again. “I know you’re in there, Callum. Come back!”
He draws a rune in the air and she looks around desperately for somewhere to escape to. The cave is small, cramped, limiting her movement.
“Fulminis!” Callum triggers the spell.
Leaping into the air she manages to escape the full force of the lightning Callum has launched at her, but she doesn’t escape entirely. She screams as electricity courses through her body, her muscles jerking and disobeying her.
She falls to her knees and it is all Callum needs to catch her. She tries to scramble away but he’s strong and her body is still twitching in the after affects of the spell. With terrifying ease, he shoves her onto her back and pins her waist.
“Callum! Stop!” She tries to push him off. Her blades are crushed against her back, unreachable, though she has no idea how she’d use them to fight Callum. Not without hurting him.
And no matter what he may have asked, there’s no way she could ever bring herself to hurt him.
He ignores her protest, grabbing her left wrist and twisting it cruelly. She cries out, that hand always tender after the damage left by her binding. He grabs her other hand before she realises and swiftly pins both above her head. He can easily hold both her wrists in one hand and he uses his now free hand to grab the long pointed dagger he keeps on his hip.
She gasps, her eyes immediately moving to the glinting metal. “Stop!”
“Tear out her heart.” The voice goads him on. “Show her exactly what it feels like.”
Callum raises the knife, his vacant possessed eyes focus on her chest.
Her breath catches in her throat, as she tries desperately to twist from his grip.
“This isn’t you, Callum!” Pleading, she tries to get through to him.
But he doesn’t react, not to her.
She couldn’t protect him. After everything, she has failed. Failed him. Desolation wins out over fear and she feels herself begin to cry. Will Aaravos let him go once she’s dead? Will he wake up to find her cut open, her blood on his hands? She knows he’s hurt by what she’s done but this isn’t him.
This isn’t her Callum.
She doesn’t want him to blame himself once it’s over. If he can still hear her, she doesn’t want her last words to him to be fear filled.
He grips the knife tighter, raising it high above his head before he brings it down savagely.
“I love you, Callum.”
She turns her face into the cave floor, unable to watch. She cannot bear to have the anger and hatred on his face be the last thing she sees.
Her breath catches in her throat as she prepares for the pain, hoping it’s over quickly at least.
And then... nothing.
No movement. No disembodied voice.
Not even breathing…
“Rayla?”
His voice sounds shaky, scared but it is his voice.
She looks at him, wincing to find his eyes still glowing.
It almost looks like he's fighting himself. The hand clutching the dagger is shaking, muscles straining around the metal.
“I'm here, Callum.” She whispers, not daring to hope.
The glow quickly fades from his eyes as he slumps a little. Shaking himself, he looks at the knife poised over her heart, recoiling in revulsion and throwing it across the cave.
He looks back at her, breath catching as he reaches for her cheek. He doesn’t touch her though, his face crumpling as he sobs.
“It’s okay, Callum.” She flexes her wrists, trying to alert him to the fact he still has her pinned.
“I’m sorry!” He gasps, pulling his hands back as he begins to shake.
“It’s okay.” Finally free, she reaches for him. “It wasn’t you.”
He collapses against her, face buried in her shoulder as he shakes violently. “I hurt you. Oh Sources, Rayla, I almost-”
His breath catches in his throat and she thinks he might almost be sick.
“You didn’t, Callum.” She wraps her arms around him, holding him close. “It wasn’t you.”
He doesn’t respond, other than to continue to sob. Her heart aches hearing him. She wants nothing but to console him but there’s still danger lurking here.
They can’t afford to fall apart. Not yet.
“Callum,” she speaks soft but firm. “It’s not safe here.” Putting her hands on his shoulders, she urges him up. “We have to leave.”
Avoiding eye contact, he nods, eyes wandering around the dark cave. The runes they activated glow faintly, as if burned out.
He sits back on his rear as she gets to her feet.
“Come on.” She offers him her hand. “We don’t have time to waste-”
“I can’t come with you.” His voice is quiet but it cuts through her all the same.
“What?” She crouches down before him, reaching for his hand. “Callum-”
He pulls back, looking disgusted. “It’s not safe.” He whimpers. “I’m not safe. You can’t be around me.”
“I’m not leaving you!” She reaches for his hand and attempts to pull him to his feet.
He resists, shaking his head. “I’m sorry about everything... about before... but I can’t be around you, Rayla. Not after what I just did.”
Tears sting her eyes as she kneels before him, his hand firmly grasped in hers. “You didn’t do anything, Callum. That wasn’t you. And you regained control. You’re stronger than Aaravos! You took a different path.”
“I hurt you.” His eyes dart to her face and the bruise she assumes is already forming on her pale skin. “I almost killed you!”
“But... but...” She searches for the right words, for a way to convince him. “I can’t leave you, Callum. Not... not again.” She sniffs, resisting the urge to wipe the tears from her face. “We’re stronger together… We always were.”
He looks at her like he wants to believe her. “I don’t want to hurt you. Not again.”
“You won’t.” She needs him to believe her. She doesn’t know how but she won’t let Aaravos touch him again. “I’m going to keep you safe. I promise.”
He takes a shaky breath, eyes fixed on hers. “We’ll keep each other safe.”