Σ Runes of the Past Σ
[Book III: Stars]
[Chapter I: Dawn]
Third Person ~ Omniscient
It was at that moment when Callum reflected on everything he did these past weeks.
Such an inopportune moment to be thinking about such things, to be completely frank.
Nevertheless, the mage had some nice introspection because it just could not wait until after they crossed a boiling lava river.
What would be the ups and downs of this entire crazy adventure? he thought.
Finding the egg of the Dragon Prince was definitely one of the ups. Learning magic and being able to make a difference was too.
What about everything dangerous in between?
Yeah, that was probably in the downs.
What about this exact moment? It was absolutely part of the downs. A menacing lava river will always be bad in any situation, especially when the stones you were stepping on to get across could sink!
Callum was quite nervous as he trekked on the Moonstone path, especially after he saw how fast some rocks could sink.
One does simply walk into Xadia, Rayla says, but Callum wanted to point out that she forgot the part where the walk was across a lava river.
"Are you sure this is safe?" he inquired with a nervous voice.
"Of course, Callum! Ever since I was a wee elfling, ma mum told meh stories about this path. It's a hundred percent safe!" Rayla answered assuredly just as a stone from the start of the path started sinking.
He gave her a withering but playful look. Though Callum was not the one for sardonicism, he just could not help it now.
By the dragons, it was a river of lava!
"Ninety-nine percent safe!" the elf reassured.
Callum looked back and saw it. He gave the elf doubting stare.
"Well, it's safe as long you can see da runes," Rayla answered a bit unsurely this time.
The Moonshadow Elf stared up at the horizon; Callum and Zym following her gaze.
"The sun is rising!" she exclaimed in a panicked tone.
"And…?" Callum said, waiting for her to explain because he did not really understand.
"The runes are gonna fade! RUN!" Rayla yelled as she dashed forward, expertly hopped from one stone to the other, following the glowing runes of the Moonstone path.
Zym went ahead a followed the elf. Callum had no time to look behind him because He knew that the stones they stepped on were already sinking into the scorching, unforgiving lava. The sun was rising above the horizon. Its first, gentle rays slowly taking over the darkness. With dawn, the runes marking the safe stones to step on started fading, the incandescent glow dimming to the point of which you could hardly see the symbols. Then came that fateful moment that just had to come that soon—the runes disappeared.
They were so close to the other side, a mere few meters away. They could not stop now, after everything that happened. They would not let this be the end of them.
The stress of the situation and the heat of the lava beneath his feet made it much challenging to try and recall the last safe stones. He looked at Rayla's expression and assumed she had the same problem with remembering the runes. They weren't confident enough. They were just standing there as the trail of sinking stones behind them inched closer and closer, only a mere five stones away from where they were standing.
If this situation were part of some kind of book, then the readers would be like "How do they not remember which rocks were safe. They had hard-to-miss glowing runes right in front of them!", and Callum would like to defend himself and Rayla. They were frozen in fear; they could not react or recall anything.
The lava bubbled behind them as more stones sunk into the red hot depths of the river. Callum was panicking. Rayla was panicking. Zym was…flying?
"Yes! Ye'r brilliant Zym!" the Moonshadow Elf cheered enthusiastically. "The li'l guy's tryin' to block da sun!"
He watched the Dragon Prince soar high, exerting everything he could to fly. He smiled and thought of how Ezran would be so proud of him right now. Ezran. He missed him already. He could not bear to do this without him, and he could not imagine how Zym—
He was broken out of his reverie when he saw Zym falling. He was losing altitude quickly, and if that continued, the Dragon Prince would no doubt be injured.
"Hold on, Zym. He got you!" He shouted reassuringly.
Callum took a deep breath and felt the power of the sky around him, around Rayla, around Zym. He looked at Zym a split second. The dragon had a connection with the Sky Arcanum too. He did not think much into it, for he already started drawing the three-part rune in midair. There was that satisfaction there in his chest when the empyreal cerulean light came forth from his fingertips. He drew the two curves and the small horizontal line at the bottom part of the rune for the spell.
Breathe!
"Aspiro!" He murmured sonorously, preparing to perform the spell once more without a primal stone.
Breathe!
He took a deep breath and blew at the shining rune, creating a strong gale that managed to reach Zym. His efforts did not go to waste at all as the dragon used it to boost himself higher than ever. Zym flew straight and true, reaching a vantage point and using his majestic wings to cover the brightening light of dawn.
The effects were instant. Rayla and Callum could see the runes glowing once again. They did not have a moment to spare as they dashed forward desperately, narrowly avoiding the splashing lava from the spot where they were just standing. They were running as fast as they could, adrenaline pumping through their veins. Even under pressure, Rayla, being a Moonshadow Elf, had the agility and maneuverability to skip across the stones. Callum, on the other hand, had no such abilities, and he knew he was falling back. He was not going to make it.
Callum breaths were ragged and erratic. He was so close, yet so far. He could imagine the news scroll report on this death — "Step-Prince Dies Right Before He Gets to Xadia" — and told himself that he could not let Ezran (his friends, his kingdom, humanity itself) down. The lava gurgled inches behind his feet, and the stone he was stepping on sunk.
His life flashed before his eyes. In just a nanosecond, Callum would be roasted.
Luckily, Rayla reacted a nanosecond before he would get roasted. She whipped her blades out narrowly hooking Callum by the collar. The elf grabbed his hand before the sharp edge could slice through the cloth, and together, they bolted through the small remainder of the Moonstone Path. It was a close call as the stone they were on sunk into the merciless lava. Callum and Rayla jumped up high, avoiding imminent doom. They landed together, rolling on the rocky surface of Xadia's side of the river.
Callum and Rayla tumbled, their bodies absorbing the shock of the fall for each other. He ended up pressed uncomfortable close onto her; their faces were inches away, such that they could feel each other's deep, relieved breaths. Their warmth comforted each other, and their hands unconsciously crept to touch each other. Callum's emerald eyes sparkled as they bore into Rayla's purple ones. The elf leaned in, her horns touching his forehead gently. They felt…perfect together. Rayla swore she wanted to lean in and…no. She restrained herself, but she also gave in to the fact that she wanted to stay like this for a little bit more. The elf felt the human soothingly caress her arms, and in turn, she squeezed his hand tightly.
Only after a minute after the adrenaline wore off did they notice their awkward position. Rayla heated up as she was straddling Callum's waist, and he himself had a slight blush creep over his cheek.
Rayla swiftly rolled over, grabbing Callum into the roll, such that he was now straddling her waist. Then, the Moonshadow Elf proceeded to unceremoniously dump him of her, making him crash headfirst into the soil a meter away from her.
It took a few moments for Callum to recover. He stood up rubbing his aching head.
"Ow! What was that for!" He groaned and continued to rub his nape.
"What? No thank you for saving ya?" Rayla replied nonchalantly, but in truth, she herself was a bit flustered from being in such close contact with Callum like that.
Right now, she was feeling as if she needed Callum's warmth to complete her. It was comforting and reassuring and…well…warm.
"Gee, Rayla," he responded sarcastically as he looked at his hand and gasped. There was blood. "Thanks for saving me and dumping me on the ground. Thanks for the bleeding wound on my head too!"
"Oh my, I'm sorry, Callum," she apologized sincerely with her elven accent as she gasped to see his wound indeed bleeding.
Callum had landed on quite the sharp rock when she pushed him off her. Rayla never meant to hurt him. It was just a playful gesture. She was just flustered and wanted to retaliate for…something he did not do. She rushed over to Callum as Zym flew down from his vantage point.
"It's fine, Rayla," he reassured. "I have some supplies in my satchel."
Rayla grabbed Callum's bag and rummaged through its contents, briefly scanning his belongings. Her eyes fell on his sketchbook, a lot of charcoal pencils, a few erasers, and— There it is!
The Moonshadow Elf grabbed what the humans called a first-aid kit right beside…the cube that they got from the Banther Lodge. She could not help but be distracted by the symbol of the Moon Arcanum. It glowed brighter as her hand came closer. The Sky Arcanum was also lit, and it was not from Zym since he was evidently walked away to eat berries from a distant bush. Rayla assumed that the Sky Energy…it was from Callum.
"Rayla? What's taking so long. It actually hurts now," Callum admitted as he stopped the bleeding by applying pressure with his hands.
"Oh, em, sorry. I was distracted by dis cube thingy," Rayla said as her hands emerged from the bag with a roll of bandages and the cube with two glowing runes—the Moon and Sky. "It looks like you really connected with the Sky Arcanum, Callum."
He could not help but give a smile at that—a smile from everything he has gone through ever since…that night in Katolis.
"Yes. It's kinda been a dream to be able to perform real magic. Everyone always said that I couldn't, but here I am."
"Maybe it's because yer so strong-willed or probably stubbornly hard-headed," the elf teased and inched the glowing cube closer to Callum, causing the Sky Rune to shine brighter. "Either way, you truly have that spark in you now."
Callum scoffed, but he probably admitted that it was true deep inside of him.
Rayla looked at her own hands. "I think…I want to connect to my Arcanum more. I have a wee trick that I can test on you now."
"No way am I gonna be your guinea pig." Callum shoved her creeping hand away.
"Oh, come on! It'll heal yer wounds!" the Moonshadow Elf reasoned.
"Fine," he gave in with a huff.
Rayla looked around and saw Zym happily eating from a milk-fruit bush.
Perfect, she thought.
The elf left the magic cube thingy (as she called it) on the ground and sprinted to the bush and gave a wave at Zym as she collected a bunch of the fruit. She returned to Callum, briefly showing him the milk-fruit.
"So…are you gonna feed me or something? How interesting," he mocked playfully.
"Be quiet." She rolled her eyes. "Just tell me where it hurts."
Callum pointed to the back of his head, where the blood already started clotting. Rayla nodded and took two pieces of fruit, leaving the others on the ground. She plucked off the leaves and squeezed the milk-fruit into a chunky, fragrant pulp. Callum thought for a moment that it was dark magic, but he quickly laughed how stupid that assumption was. Elves would never do dark magic, right?
Rayla proceeded and rubbed the fruit pulp onto the wound as Callum winced. Man, did that sting for him.
"Sana," Rayla muttered as her eyes glowed for the tiniest fraction of a nanosecond.
Yes, it was that brief, but Callum noticed it. He also noticed the soothing sensation taking over the pain from his wound. He felt relief as he brought his hand up to touch the back of his head. It was unscathed. He only felt his skin and hair, no wound.
"Woah, Rayla, you never told me you could do magic! You're awesome" Callum exclaimed, impressed.
Rayla slightly brushed at the praise. "It's not really magic. It's just a wee spell that I learned from…Runaan."
Callum's smaragdine eyes widened. He knew Runaan was like a father to her, even if he wasn't his birth father. He understood how much Runaan meant to Rayla. It was just like with…Harrow. Their situations were not that far from each other.
He gave her an empathetic gaze and leaned to hug her. There it was again. Rayla felt that comfort wash over her when she was in Callum's arms. Rayla breathed in heavily, holding in the tears. Runaan always said not to show weakness. She wanted to so bad, but she wanted to respect his words. It made her smile a little bit.
Lost in their emotions, they both did not pay attention to the Key of Aaravos. The cube was lying around on the ground where Rayla left it. The Moon and Sky Runes were lit, but then…the Star Rune was flickering. It was dim at first, but the symbol of the Star Primal Force became brighter and brighter until it was steadily shining.
"It's okay, Rayla," Callum soothed. "You can let it all out. I know I need to too. We'll get through this together. There will be peace. The war will be stopped."
Dawn broke past the horizon. It was a new day—a day of hope. This was the dawn to a new era of love and peace.
"Yeah! You're righ' Callum!" Once we return Zym, we can finally discuss peace, but…what if it's not enough."
"It has to be enough," he said firmly.
"The war leaves wounds that take time to heal and scars that will be there forever. There is still that racism between elves and humans," Rayla replied truthfully without the intention of discouraging anyone.
Callum was far from discouraged though. "It'll work. I will live to see the day where elves and humans coexist peacefully. Right, Zym?"
There was no response. Their eyes widened as they whipped their heads to the milk-fruit bush. Callum ran towards it. No one was there. Rayla gasped as she noticed that the Cube of Aaravaos was also missing.
"Callum, the cube's missing!" she shouted.
Callum wanted to lie down right there and curl into a ball, but there was no time for that. Rayla ran to the bush, and they searched for anything that could help. Much to their luck, whoever the person who took the cube and Zym was quite the klutz, leaving broken twigs and shallow footprints along the bank of the lava river.
"They couldn't have gone that far," Rayla deduced.
Perhaps it was a trap, but they had no choice. Rayla led the way running at breakneck speeds while following the trail. Callum started falling back, outmatched by the elf's superior agility. Rayla was forced to tightly grab his wrist and unmercifully drag him along with her.
Luckily for Callum, their search ended in a bleak clearing quite the distance away from the border with the river of lava. They saw a woman of average height in elegant indigo robes.
Rayla gasped. The woman's skin was a deep cerulean bedazzled with coruscating stars. She was a Startouch Elf! These recluse beings never come out in the open.
Callum gasped. Zym was tightly held captive in her right hand and the Key of Aaravos was in her left. They only noticed after that the Dragon Prince was unconscious.
The woman noticed the human and the elf and backed away defensively.
"Give them back!" Rayla demanded.
The Moonshadow Elf was unnerving with her voice, but the Startouch Elf merely smirked.
"No," the woman stated firmly.
She looked at her hands, her gaze switching between the Dragon Prince and the Key of Aaravos. She sighed heavily and dropped the cube onto the ground with a tearful look as if the cube meant a lot to her. It probably did, but in the end, Zym was more significant to the woman.
Rayla dashed forward and snatched the cube, but the woman preemptively ran backward to avoid her.
With the Startouch Elf's now empty hand, she quickly drew a rune, the stellar white light emanating from her fingers. The woman ended up drawing a simple rune—a small circle inside a larger circle. Rayla drew her swords and sprinted forward. Callum already had the "Fulminis" rune drawn in the air, but the woman was too fast for them as her spell activated.
A blaring, magnificent light overtook the clearing, causing Rayla to stumble and trip and Callum to release the lightning in the wrong direction.
It took a minute for the temporary blindness to wear off, but when it did, Rayla and Callum knew one thing for sure.
The woman was gone, along with Zym.
A|N
And that's a wrap. I scanned through the entire story again and tried fixing as many mistakes as I could, and let me tell you there were A LOT.
I'm open to all your feedback! Don't be shy to leave a review. I take criticism, praise, even those tiny typo corrections. I'm also somewhat tolerant to flames (I probably am really not)
P.S. ~ May 12, 2019
This chapter has now been 100% proofread for grammar, etc. The next chapters are going to be proofread as well before the sixth chapter comes.