A/N: Goodness I love this show! So let's throw some good ol' fashioned time traveling angst at our beloved characters, shall we?

When the World Dies

Rayla groaned as she came to, every muscle in her body screaming at her to stop moving. Normally she would listen and in the haze of her own mind she was close to staying still, but there was something...urgent. Something she needed to remember...

"R-rayla."

The elf's eyes widened, the world coming jarringly into focus within milliseconds of hearing his voice. Pain shot up her sides like a poorly aimed fulmanis spell as she turned and saw him; brown hair matted with mud and sweat, bright green eyes dull and an open gash running from shoulder to hip across his torso.

"Callum," she exhaled, feeling her lungs collapse. Swallowing the pain and pushing through the fuzziness that threatened to drag her under again, she dragged herself across the ashen ground to the fallen mage. He looked worse than ever with his too pale skin and the blood pooling beneath him.

"Rayla we..." He gasped. "...we don't have much time."

"Shut up," Rayla hissed. She ripped the loose part of her tunic and pressed it to his wound. Anything to stop the never-ending river of red. "You're going to be fine. We'll be fine. Just cast one of your silly spells and fix this scratch."

She could've sworn she caught a smirk from him. That was a good sign, right?

"You're beautiful when you're commanding."

Flirting was even better.

"Yeah well, someone's gotta make sure you don't get yourself killed."

Rayla pulled the makeshift bandage taut, earning a pained hiss from Callum. Her hands flew up as though burned. "Sorry!"

"I-it's okay. I can handle the rough stuff."

"Of all the times for an innuendo, the end of the world is last on the list."

"It's now or... never... right?"

Before she could shoot a snarky reply back, if only to keep him talking, Callum took the ring off of his finger and held it in his palm whole drawing a tune over it.

"Lpsas memoriae," he breathed. The ring glowed like starlight before fading back to its normal hue. Callum grimaced and lifted his arm until his hand was in hers.

"Give... this to me when you... see... me next. I won't 'cough' be able to... help all of the time, but it's... better than nothing."

"What in Xadia are you talking about? You're right here."

"Please... take it, Rayla."

Rayla was ready to argue, but took the ring and shoved it in a pocket before going back to work on his wound. She could see a rib protruding from the charred skin towards the bottom. Near his heart was wear the most blood was pooling and none of her wrappings were stopping it.

She paused again when she felt his fingers sweep across her forehead.

"W-what are you doing?"

"If I told you, you'd get mad."

Rayla stiffened as he continued to draw patterns against her face. She needed to pull away. Stop his touch. Do something!

But she froze, her protests dying in her throat.

"You can fix this. Just remember that he can't get the key. Whatever happens, no matter the cost, he can not release that monster."

"Callum-"

"And make sure I connect with all of the arcanums faster. The more time we have to prepare, the better."

"Callum!"

Callum closed his eyes with a wince and held out his hand, fingertips stained with blood. His blood.

"Dnes reh kcab ot xif sith ssem. Dnes reh kcab ot xif sith ssem! Dnes reh kcab ot xif sith ssem!"

"Callum! Don't!"

The chanting seemed to echo all around her as the world faded to black before her eyes. The last thing she remembered seeing was sadness and desperation as Callum's dying eyes turned black like the fading reality around her before sitting up, gulping for breath.

"STOP!"

She lashed to one side and the other, taking in everything around her. Gone was the silence of a battle-ruined world, replaced with the living sounds of a forest. The sky was a clear blue and the air smelled musky and damp from an oncoming storm.

"Rayla?"

Spinning and jumping to her feet, Rayla drew her swords straight and held them to the person who called for her. Her panic grew tenfold as her eyes beheld the people she knew couldn't possibly be there.

Runaan and the others of their team stood, watching their youngest member wearily.

"Rayla, what's wrong? What happened?" Runaan asked with hands held out in an attempt to calm the frenzied assassin.

Rayla found she couldn't speak. This wasn't right. They should be dead. The world should be dying. Callum...

"C-callum, what have you done?" she gasped, panic and horror and relief and so much more bombarding her mind until all she could do was collapse.

A/N: Thanks for making it to the end of the chapter. Don't forget to leave a comment if you like this and if you have any ideas for this story. I have a basic plotline but the details are still pretty loose, and I always love feedback.