Chapter Text
There they were again, at the storm spire where they had first thought the fight was over, that they’d defeated Viren and the dark master he was serving. How wrong they had been to assume that their situation could only improve after that gruesome day.
But here they were, fighting the same forces, but a much greater foe, in both power and size. Aaravos’s immense form towered over them as they watched on a ledge for the right moment to strike.
Callum and Rayla were out of his sight for now, pressed to the side of the mountain, while Aaravos was occupied with the distraction Soren and the army were causing. They knew they couldn’t hold them forever and had to act fast. Aaravos shifted and his torso was only a few feet away from them now, there was no time to waste.
“That’s it,” Rayla whispered. “We have to strike now.” She prepared her stance, legs stretched to take a leap, and knives raised to hook into his body. “Are we ready?” She asked over her shoulder.
“Yeah.” Callum breathed, his eyes uncertain.
“Okay, then let’s do this.” She stepped back to propel her jump but suddenly Callum blocked her path.
“Rayla, wait.” He grabbed her shoulders, expression frantic. “Promise me that if something goes wrong, you won’t risk your life just to complete the spell. I don’t even know what I’d do if—”
Rayla pressed her finger to his lips, quieting him. “I’ll be careful.” She reassured him, without quite promising him. She tried a brave smile. “It’ll be just like our mission at the Star Scraper, except with a real monster.”
“Okay, okay.” Callum breathed. He stepped out of her way with one last meaningful squeeze of her shoulder.
She readied herself for the leap, but a sudden sliver of fear made her look back, just in case. “I love you, Callum.”
“I love you too, Rayla.” He replied without hesitation.
After giving him another nervous smile, she finally took the leap. She flew over the gap and fell until her knives dug into Aaravos’s chest. Using them as leverage, she quickly pulled herself up. She moved immediately to begin drawing the first rune, hanging onto one knife as she used the other to carve a slash.
She wasn’t even halfway through the slash when Aaravos noticed what she was doing. He shook his shoulders and swatted at her, causing her entire body to swing. But with the added obstacle of the army and a damaged eye, he wasn’t able to throw her off.
She continued her task despite his relentless movement. Dodging his hands and holding on with her all her strength. It didn’t help that she had to watch out for the volley of arrows from the archers too.
She carved the final stroke of a four-pointed star and the rune was complete. She glanced at Callum who had just begun chanting the draconic words necessary to activate the spell.
Her gaze lingered for a second too long and she missed the fingers that plucked her from behind, off her knife.
She gasped in shock and wriggled as he brought her up to meet his face. She glanced at Callum before she was pulled upwards away from him. “Finish the spell, no matter what!” She yelled at the top of her lungs.
*************
He wanted to scream. He wanted to abandon everything and fly after her. But he was so close. He couldn’t interrupt the spell and start all over.
He didn’t take his eyes off her, squashed in the behemoth’s fist, but he had noticed the attacks from the army slowing down. Their distraction was almost over, and their resources were completely exhausted. He couldn’t afford to fail, this was their only chance. Rayla was right, he had to finish.
But his earlier promise still lingered in the back of his mind, haunting him. Make the sacrifice, she’d urged him, and he’d promised. He had promised but he never meant it, and never will.
But they were so close.
He still had faith, just a few more seconds and everything would be fine. Aaravos would be sucked into the coin and Rayla would…fall out of his grasp, he realized. But he would swoop up and catch her immediately. He’d done it once before, he’d save her again.
The question of choosing Rayla or the greater good, wouldn’t even be a problem because he would do both. I can choose both, he repeated inside his mind like a mantra.
Rayla had pulled an arm out of his grasp and was stabbing at his fingers now, trying to keep his attention on her as he called out, “Where are you little mage?”
Callum pressed deeper into the mountain face, grasping the coin in his fist.
After a fruitless few seconds, Aaravos smiled devilishly. “I know what will get you out of your little hiding spot.”
Just a few more seconds, he thought. He wouldn’t need to see what torture Aaravos came up with.
Right before he uttered the final word, Aaravos lowered his hand and
Opened
His
Fist.
“Captionem!” He yelled as he jumped. He shouted, “Manus pluma volantis!” while in midair. There was an explosion of colours happening behind him, but he didn’t look back to see if the spell worked.
He could only see Rayla’s limp form as she fell farther away from him. He dove as deep as he could, the wind tearing at his face. But everything was wrong. Everything was so wrong. He’d expected Rayla to fall from a greater height. He’d expected she’d fall after he completed the spell. He’d expected he’d have more time to catch her.
“Callum!” Rayla screamed, the noise faint with the wind rushing in his ears. He could barely see her terrified face.
“I’m going to save you!” He yelled back, trying and trying to get closer while the ground was fast approaching. All the while, she didn’t turn around, putting all her trust into him.
Rayla fell past the Storm Spire just as she had done two years ago.
This time, Callum couldn’t save her.
She hit a rock outcropping with an impact that shook her entire body before she slipped onto the dirt.
“Rayla!” Callum cried. He narrowly avoided the rocks and crashed into the dirt.
His knees ached as he crawled to her.
Rayla lay crumpled with a broken spine and a wound on her head that was bleeding profusely. He frantically tore a large cloth off his tunic and cradled her head in his lap, trying to staunch the bleeding. Her eyes were closed.
“Rayla!” He screamed as he grabbed at her face with his other hand, desperately attempting to wake her up.
Her eyes opened slowly, her irises moving wildly.
“I…” She gasped.
“Stay awake, stay with me. Please!” He pleaded through sobs.
“Can’t see…move.” She managed to rasp out. She was paralyzed and was fading fast.
He grasped her limp hand in his anyway. Her pulse was faint. “You’re gonna be okay.” He told her despite everything. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Help is nearby, we just need to wait, they’re almost here.” He tried to convince himself.
Her eyebrows scrunched as she realized her fate. “No.”
And she was right, she wasn’t even going to be alive. Callum broke as his denial faded.
“I should’ve never tried to finish the spell. I shouldn’t have risked your life at all by trying this stupid plan. We wouldn’t have even needed this primal magic spell if I had done it through dark magic. But we were worried about me being endangered by Aaravos.”
Rayla wanted to shake her head to make him stop rambling about his regrets because she didn’t regret any of it. But she couldn't. She couldn’t reach out, cup his face in her hands, and tell him he was the best thing that ever happened to her.
“I’m so sorry.” His eyes were filled with tears. “It’s all my fault.” He rasped.
Rayla gathered her remaining strength and uttered a single word, “Never.”
Everything started to fade after that, she already had no sense of sight or touch but soon she couldn’t hear Callum’s sobs either. Her mind slowed, and each breath took more effort than the next until they stopped, and she was weightless.
Callum caressed her cheek, wiping away dirt as he blinked through the tears, trying to memorize her face—her familiar earthy scent, the warmth of her skin against his trembling hands, the soft rhythm of her breath—before she was gone. He felt her last breath brush past his thumb. The feeling as light as a ghost. Her eyes were open and glassy, but he gently closed them. It was easier to look at her like that, he could almost pretend she was sleeping.
But he knew she wasn’t. It was impossible to ignore the crushing despair that his life would never be the same again. He would never hear her voice as the melody of her laugh once brightened his darkest days, or the sound of her light footsteps sneaking up behind him. He would never watch her in action again, fast, strong, and beautiful.
Rayla was dead. His Rayla was dead.
He heard some cheers from afar. They must’ve found the coin. They had won.
But at what cost? He would’ve gone back and ruined the fate of the world in order to prevent hers.
The world was safe, and that was all she would have wanted, but she wasn’t here to experience it. He watched all of it slip away, all his plans, all his dreams. He’d never imagined a future without Rayla.
He looked at the darkening sky and screamed in anguish. It was all so unfair. Callum hung his head and closed his eyes, his tears landing on her face. He wept until it was hard to breathe, his breaths coming out in gasps.
He knew he should find Ezran and the others. They needed to know, and he needed support. But every time he would open his eyes to her lifeless face, it was like losing her all over again. There was a crushing pressure in his chest and he felt so dizzy.
So when they found him a couple of minutes later, he was slumped over her fallen body.