Chapter Text
Prince Callum studied the mirror in front of him. This mirror belonged to the previous High Mage, Viren. When he became the new High Mage, everything that Viren owned belonged to him, however since all his documents contained dark rituals and spells, he burned them. The only thing he kept was the mirror and the office.
“What secrets are you hiding?” he mumbled to himself.
A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts. A guard informed him that it was time to go to the council meeting. He thanked the guard and went his way.
Good thing I told him to remind me, or I would have forgotten
As he approached the council chamber, he ran into Corvus and Soren.
“Good morning Soren! Corvus!” he greeted cheerfully
“There he is! The step Mage! Still funny. Gets funnier every time,” Soren said.
No, it really doesn’t, thought Callum, masking his annoyance.
As they walked Callum spotted the Crow Master and after telling his fellow council members that he would be there in two minutes he went to speak with the man who handled the packages in the castle.
“Crow Master! Excuse me, Crow Master!” Callum called.
The Crow Master finally stopped. “Oh, I’m sorry. You were talking to me? Because I’m no longer Crow Master since I got promoted to Associate Crow Lord!” the young man said with pride.
“Congratulations. So, do you have anything for me? Maybe from Xedia? An ancient tome? Dusty and crusty and filled with rare elven runes?”
“Well, since I’ve been promoted, I no longer deal with individual packages, but for you, I’ll keep an eye open.”
Callum thanked the man and went on his way. When he finally entered the council, he noticed everyone turned to him.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“N-nothing is going on. Everything is normal. Absolutely normal,” Soren said with a nervous chuckle.
The High Mage narrowed his eye at the Crown Guard, not at all convinced by Soren’s pitiful performance. Before he could say anything King Ezran entered and everyone snapped in attention. Once the young king took his seat the others followed.
“Welcome King Ezran. Now that you are here, we can begin this meeting,” Opheli said.
“Wait Opheli, we can’t begin yet. Someone is missing,” Ezran said.
“Oh, yes, of course. My apologies!” the older woman said with a kind and motherly smile.
Callum held back a frustrated sigh. Seriously? We have to wait while Bait slowly walks over to his place? You couldn’t just carry him?
The first order of business was to name Ezran person chef as part of the Council. Callum smiled as he put the pin on the chef’s chest as quickly as possible, his mind on the mirror in his office. The only thing of note in that meeting was that the Queen of the Dragons will arrive in Katolis. Naturally, everyone was on edge. Ophelli even questioned if this decision was wise, pointing out that the people would be terrified. Ezran acknowledged that people would indeed be terrified, but only for the moment, and once they get to know Zubeia, they’ll understand that they have nothing to fear. He hopes to build trust and peace between Xadia and the human kingdoms. Callum understands where his brother comes from, however, he disagrees with him. Over the last couple of years, he had come to understand that humans and elves will, at best, not be at each other’s throats.
He couldn’t help the sarcastic remark that spilled out. “And besides, she only eats three people a day. A small price to pay for peace.”
Surprisingly, no one thought that was funny. After the meeting was adjourned, Callum caught more whispering between Soren and Corvus, further increasing his suspicions. He planned to corner Soren later, he knew if pressed enough, the Crown Guard would spill his guts immediately. He knew Soren’s schedule and planned accordingly.
Later that day Callum waited for the older man to show up, and sure enough, he showed up. He was so concentrated on his exercises that he only saw him when he was close to him. “What’s going on Soren?” the High Mage asked calmly, ignoring his friend's scream when he saw him. “The secrets and the hush-hush stuff in the meeting? I know something is going on. And you will tell me.”
When Soren saw Callum standing there with his hands behind his back, talking to him calmly but not looking at him and then turning towards him, demanding to reveal the truth it made him think of his father and how similar Callum was behaving brought a chill to his spine. He shook his head, to quickly dispel the thought. I’m imagining things. Callum and dad are two completely different people.
“Oh, uh, it’s just…” he began, not sure what to say. “Don’t worry it’s just Crownguard stuff,” Soren eventually let out hoping that Callum wouldn’t deem this important.
Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect. “Crownguard?! Soren, if Ezran is in danger I need to know! Is there a plot against the king?” he asked as he grabbed the older man by the collar and forced him to his eye level.
Despite his best efforts, Soren couldn’t convince Callum that nothing bad was afoot and actually reinforced the idea that someone wanted to hurt King Ezran. The High Mage shoved Soren aside and made his way towards the King’s tower, followed by the Crownguard captain who tried to convince him to stop. Thankfully he spotted Crovus and signaled him to help him distract Callum. The spy played along with the cover story Soren came up with and persuaded Callum to talk somewhere private. Once inside Callum’s office, the mage demanded that he knew what is going on. Corvus tried to distract Callum by asking about the mirror.
The young mage looked at the mirror behind him, before turning his attention back to the older men. “Why does it matter?” he asked staring down at his friends who were looking stiffer by the moment. “Why are you stalling and why won’t you tell me what is going on?”
As the duo fumbled to get an explanation out, Callum looked at the King’s tower and saw the lights go out and someone closing the window doors. Alarm bells rang inside Callum’s head and without another word, he jumped out the window and activated the flight spell he had learned from Iblis. In a matter of seconds, he was in front of Ezran’s room, kicking open the window doors and activating Fulminis in his hand, ready to blast anyone who dared to harm his brother.
“Ezran. Ez,” he called into the darkness as he ventured forward, despite the danger. It was so dark that he couldn’t see anything once he passed the balcony as the moon hadn’t risen yet.
He reached the middle of the room, the darkness surrounded him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, telling him that he wasn’t alone. He put more power into his lightning, tensing up for an attack. What he didn’t expect was the room lighting up and a lot of people shouting surprise! With a yelp he let the lightning into the rug, completely scorching it.
“Happy Birthday, big brother!” Ezran said, hugging him.
Now Callum understood. Ezran planned a surprise birthday party for him, enlisting everyone in the castle. And he had been so focused on deciphering the runes on the mirror that he had forgotten that it was his birthday. Laughing at himself for being such a worrywart and forgetful, he joined the party. But despite eating and drinking, laughing and having fun with everyone he couldn’t bring himself to be happy, not fully. Because there was someone who was missing. Someone important to him. And so, he found himself alone on the balcony watching the full moon, thinking about her.
“Hey, what are you doing here? The party is inside,” his brother said coming up to him.
“I just needed some air,” he said too depressed to fake being happy.
“It’s Rayla isn’t it?”
A small smile graced his face. His brother always knew what was up with him. “Yeah. It’s been seven months since her last letter.”
It’s been two years since Rayla came to him to tell him Viren was still alive since they haven’t found the body after the battle. Initially, he had supported her, going with her to search the battlefield and the surrounding area for clues. But despite not finding any clues, Rayla refused to give up. She embarked on a journey across Xadia to find Viren and bring him to justice. As much as he wanted to go with her, Callum had a duty to his brother, so he remained in Katolis. At first things were still good between them, they exchanged letters and Rayla would occasionally come visit. But after the first year came to an end, things started to deteriorate. At one point he asked to stop her pointless quest, to come be with him in Katolis, but she would have none of it, insisting that Viren is still out there despite no leads. One thing led to another and the two of them were arguing. Their first argument as a couple. Accusations were thrown by both of them. Later he received a letter from her, apologizing for what she said and that she’ll continue to search for Viren. When he first read that letter, he almost threw in the fireplace. After calming himself he wrote back that he too was sorry about he said and told her to do as she wished. It was the last time he heard from her. To keep himself from going off the deep end, he threw himself into researching the mirror Viren had. In the beginning, he hoped that this mirror could be a clue that let them know if Viren was alive or not, now it was more curiosity that drove him to discover its secrets. Despite keeping busy, he couldn’t help staying awake at night in his bed, thinking about her. All these dark thoughts going on in his mind. That she had been eaten by a monster or that Viren was actually still alive and killed her to keep the element of surprise. And don’t get him started on the nightmares.
“I’m sure Rayla is fine,” Ez said trying to cheer his older brother.
Callum let out a scoff full of bitterness. “Of course, she is. As long as she’s fine everything is great!”
“Callum…”
“I mean who cares about the idiot who misses her and is worried sick about her?! To hell with him!”
“Callum, come on…” pleaded his brother.
He sighed. “Sorry. I’m just going to go, I’m tired. Thanks for the party, Ez.”
Ez smiled. “You don’t need to thank me. We’re family.”
Tomorrow morning Callum went straight to the Aviary and received the tome he was looking for. Excitedly, he got to work immediately only to realize that the last half of the book was empty. Frustrated, he dropped it on his desk and contemplated what to do. He searched the tome again, maybe it had a hint on what to do on one of the pages, but no such luck. His frustration showed once again when he slammed his fist on the table and some ink spilled on one of the blank pages. That’s when he understood the book’s trick: what is written on one page will show on the other, translated. He quickly got to work and discovered the mirror’s secret: In darkness, gaze upon a falling star.
So, that’s the secret. You have to look at the mirror in total darkness. And time couldn’t be more right since it’s night.
Bait growls drew his attention and he looked at the family pet staring at the Key of Aaravos. Then the moon symbol on the cube began to glow, signaling someone connected to the Moon Arcanum is nearby. Suddenly a monkey-like creature appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the cube. Callum tried to grab it, but the critter was too fast for it. He grabbed the candle on his desk and began to search for the creature when the hairs on the back of his head started to stand. Quickly he drew the lightning rune and gathered power in his hand ready to blast the intruder.
“Callum, wait!” said a voice he thought he would never hear again.
The figure revealed herself in the light of the moon. She was just as beautiful as he remembered.
The lightning in his hand vanished. “Rayla…”