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It was like one of these rocks fell on his heart and was lifted away the moment he hugged her again. The feeling of her in his arms was a bright proof that she was truly here, with him.
All this time it felt like it was all dark in his head while so many thoughts ran aimlessly all around and he couldn’t navigate through them. But now he could finally see clearly. He knew what he wanted, knew what he needed. It was Rayla. And he can’t forget the pain she caused him. He still needed to figure out how to get past what happened, and he will, with her. She’s here. Alive, breathing and hugging him back. He didn’t want to ever let her go.
And it wasn’t just them now. His friends joined the hug and it all felt like one big safety blanket.
All of a sudden, he wasn’t standing anymore. Something hit them, making them all fall on one another. Callum shot his eyes tightly as he fell and when he opened his eyes again, he noticed it wasn’t something that hit them, it was someone. Zym was looking over them with a huge smile and a wiggling tale. The second thing he noticed was that he fell right over Rayla. He blushed and moved to sit next to her. Luckily for him, she didn’t notice. She laughed heartily at the cute and clumsy dragon, her hand coming up to her mouth in an attempt to control her giggles and he found himself laughing too. His heart soared at the sound of her laugh. Every giggle spread warmth all over his body.
He signed. Everyone was okay. His brother, his friends, Rayla, they were all fine. Well… mostly fine. That fall could not have been good for her. She was under all these massive rocks a minute ago. She could be hurt.
“Are you okay?” He asked after the giggles subsided.
“Yeah... yeah, I am.” She looked to the side, blushing a little.
He wasn’t convinced, she always tried to hide her pain. He must have looked worried because she had that smug face she wore whenever he felt worried. It usually came with a snort and a joke to ease his mind.
“It's not the first time I was crashed by a pile of rocks.”
He saw it coming, but it didn’t make the worry go away. On the contrary, she just reminded him of another time she was hurt. Though he understood why she found it funny.
“That doesn't make me feel any better.”
“Yeah. you're right. Not funny.” It was a relief she understood him on that, just a small one anyway.
“Can you stand?”
“Yes, of course.” Rayla said and tried to stand, but winced as she apparently put too much weight on her legs and arms and she felt a sharp pain burn where the rocks hit her.
“Stopstopstopstopstop! Here, let me help.” Callum held out his hand for her. For the next few seconds she just stared at it, hesitant to take it, but eventually she did. She held onto his hand and used it for support.
Soren came to her other side and held her upper arm to help her up and he remembered it wasn’t just him and her there.
“We should stay away from these rocks. I don’t think they are stable.” Ezran said.
Callum offered her his shoulder after they got her to her feet and she brought her hand up around his shoulder without hesitation.
He was surprised she took his offer. The Rayla he knew would refuse his help saying she was fine. It was a pride thing mixed with fear of showing vulnerability. He didn’t know if to be more worried or satisfied. She accepted his help, but he didn’t know if it was because she was hurt badly enough to relent.
They walked slowly away from the rocks, careful not to fall on one of them on the way. Rayla shifted part of her weight on Callum’s side, but she mostly tried to walk on her own as much as she could. When they gained enough distance from the rocks, he helped her sit down on the ground.
“Where does it hurt?”
Rayla rolled her eyes at him. “I’m fine! Just some scratches and bruises. Don’t worry about that.”
There was his Rayla. Annoying and frustrating, but here and alive. He knew her, she would relent eventually.
With a very serious face he asked again “Rayla, where are you hurt?
She looked at him for a while, trying to decide whether to cooperate or not. But she knew him as well, he wasn’t going to just let this go. With a sigh, she pulled her sleeves up, revealing blue and purple bruises with a slight swelling and nasty wounds on her elbows, blood and dust covering them. Callum gasped at the sight.
“It looks worse than it is, really.” She said as she was trying to look at ease, but he could see the pain under her mask.
Callum took his water skin as Ezran took out a piece of fabric from his bag and gave it to his brother. After wetting the piece of cloth, he looked at her again as if to ask permission. Rayla held one of her arms out in response and he began to gently clean her wounds.
She winced the first time the cold cloth made contact with her injured elbow.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She said, cursing herself for showing pain.
He could see she wasn’t enjoying the attention so he thought of a distraction. “What will we do now?” He asked the group, Ezran in particular.
“I don’t know. We should look around and see if Claudia is still around. We also need to discuss our options.” His brother said.
“You are right, young king.” Zubeia said. “Once you are all up to it, we will come with a plan.”
It seemed to work. She looked like she didn’t care about the attention anymore, instead worry took over, making her brow furrow. It was necessary to bring this up. They really should act as fast as they can, but first thing first, they needed to make sure everyone was okay.
Callum squeezed her hand, reassuring her with a soft smile that everything is going to be okay, as long as they are together.
She smiled back and he knew, this time they will be. Together. That’s the most important thing. Together.