Callum ran down the corridors, his heart beating a rhythm against his ribcage. Behind him he heard twin howls, sending terror shuddering down his spine. The egg was a heavyweight in his arms, slowing him down. He had to escape. He had to find Ezran and they had to get out of the castle. He didn't know where they would go, but he knew they couldn't stay here. Viren had attacked the king and things were not looking too great for them.

The wolves howled behind him, a sharp sound against the quiet hallways. They hadn't been that close two minutes ago. He ran around a corner and promptly ran into a dead end. He and Ezran hadn't spent a lot of time in that part of the castle. Why would they?

Callum turned to run to where he knew the hallway branched into a new corridor only to curse.

The two smoke wolves growled at him from where they were blocking his escape. There were only a few meters separating them. Without warning, they sprang at him and somehow, he managed to dodge before they could land on him, only gaining a few claw marks on his back. The egg was still clutched in his arms, and by some miracle, unharmed. He doubted it would be if he stayed any longer.

He didn't get very far however before they were on him again. He had glanced behind him just as the shadow wolf on his left knocked him down on his back. It was surprisingly heavy for an incarnation born of candle smoke and a bit of magic dust. The egg had rolled out of his arms during the fall but Callum ignored it in favor of the threat currently on top of him.

Callum had a sudden epiphany. What if they were just there to slow him down so Lord Viren could kill Callum himself? MAybe he could get out of there and they wouldn't kill him. He tried to test his theory by moving his arm slightly but the wolf on top of him growled before suddenly biting into the soft flesh between Callum's neck and shoulder. He screamed and tried to dislodge it by throwing his fist through its smokey back, only for his fist to go right through. However, it had forced the smoke wolf to retreat to its partner.

Callum scrambled up from where he had lain as the two started to circle him. His raw shoulder screamed at the movement and Callum almost collapsed as black spots dotted his vision.

He started to hyperventilate, not only from the long run through the castle but from the realization that there wasn't a chance of him getting out of this one alive. His eyes burned from where he had been blinded by the smoke and tears threatened to fall.

He was tired and everything hurt so much. He didn't know where Ezran was and the chances were King Harrow was dead. He'd never given much thought to how he would one day die but he'd never thought it be so soon or even like this. Killed by the king's most trusted advisor, torn to pieces and left in a cold hallway. What a way to go. He could only pray that Ezran didn't meet the same end.

'I'll see you soon, mum.' He thought.

There was a sudden shout from behind him and the wolves lunged. Callum curled in on himself, waiting for the pain to come yet none came. The wolves sailed over his head and attacked the guard he hadn't noticed behind him. She valiantly tried to fight them off but her sword only passed through without harming them.

Callum had a sudden idea and crawled to his pack, which had been knocked away from him when he had fallen. He grabbed it and pulled out the Primal stone he had stolen from Claudia.

He hesitated for a second only before the woman's scream made his decision for him.

"Please work." He drew the rune in the air and blew. "Aspiro!"

The spiraling wind blew the smoke monsters away with a howl. It was too late, however. The guard was dead, her body bloody and mangled beyond recognition.

Callum stared at it for a few horrifying moments before he started retching. The guard's sword had been knocked out of her hand and things had spiraled down from there. He fell to his knees, hardly five meters away from the fallen guard who saved his life.

He knew he couldn't linger much longer, he knew if he fell to despair now, he would never get back up again.

He took a deep breath and stood up, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. He needed to find Ezran and get out of there. Too many had died already today, he couldn't afford for his brother to be another of Viren's victims.

He grabbed the egg and started making his way through the castle. Why he took it with him, he had no idea. It was slowing him down and he didn't need that right now. He took it with him anyway. If he had to come up with an excuse, he would just say it was because he didn't want Viren to use it against them or something along there.

He had found their room empty. The place was messy and in a disarray but that was nothing unusual. Bedsheets were crumpled, clothes streamed about, a few mugs on the table after Callum pulled an all-nighter drawing. Before he left, he shoved his coin purse and a few jelly tarts he found on a plate into his bag with the primal stone. He left shortly after in search of Ezran. It was as he was wondering the east side that he heard it.

"Callum! Callum, where are you?"

Down in the courtyard stood Ezran, clutching Bait to his chest. He had gone looking for Callum after he had finished packing when the alarm was raised. A group of guards had found him and dragged him with them, claiming that the castle was under attack by Moonshadow elves.

"Where are you taking us?" Ezran asked as they led him through the hallways.

"To Lord Viren. He'll be able to protect you."

Ezran had never liked Lord Viren and he didn't trust him one bit. Why would the elves attack in the daylight if they would be strongest at tonight's full moon? It didn't make sense. Sure, they could have done it to throw them off but he didn't think that was the case.

Despite what many thought, Ezran wasn't stupid. 'Moonshadow elves' attacking just as Viren was in a meeting with the king? Something didn't match up.

Ezran snuck away from them when they had conveniently stopped next to a secret passage, so one of them could tie their shoelace. Bait shone like a light as they navigated through the dark tunnels. He had to find Callum. How he ended up in the courtyard, he couldn't say.

Callum raced down the stairs towards Ezran and stopped next to him hunched over, panting with his hands on his knees.

"Callum! What's going on? Where's dad?" Ezran asked worriedly.

Callum shook his head. "We need to get out here. I'll explain on the way. Come on. We need to go, now!"

Ezran looked worried but they couldn't worry about that just now. Callum grabbed his wrist. Together they ran out the gate and into the forest, the egg clutched tightly in Callum's arms. It was ridiculously easy, the guards having abandoned their posts in favor of seeing the action taking place in the castle.

They ran for what felt like hours, their lungs burning for oxygen.

"Callum, please. I can't breath." Ezran panted from where he was slumped over.

"We can't. We need to keep going." Callum urged.

"Callum please, I can't go any further."

Callum shot a worried look at the castle behind them before he sighed. "Fine but we can't stay long."

The castle was too close for comfort but Ezran was right. They couldn't go any further without a short breather. They weren't used to running so far, especially with a weight as heavy as the egg.

Things didn't look good for them. It might have taken them over half an hour to get to this point but it wouldn't even take ten minutes on horseback. Callum prayed they would be too busy to send out any men to find them. At least long enough for them to get away, that's all he asked.

"Callum."

They had to get somewhere populated where Viren wouldn't be able to get them but where? If he could attack the king in a castle on high alert, then where would they be safe?

"Callum."

Callum was freaking out from where he sat on a large rock. What were they going to do? Callum was holding a dragon egg for goodness sake!

"Callum!"

Callum flinched as Ezran shouted in his ear.

"What?"

"Are you okay? You've been staring at that rock for almost fifteen minutes now." Ezran asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He lied. His back and shoulder burned, he felt like he was going to be sick and the day's events had left him numb. He was not fine.

"Are you sure?" Ezran asked, looking at his pale face.

"Yeah Ez. Just tired."

Ezran didn't look convinced but he let it go. They had bigger problems.

"What happened Callum?"

Callum sighed and told him what had transpired at the castle, leaving all the worse parts out. Ezran didn't need to know all the gory details.

"-then I did the spell I saw Claudia do earlier in the library. Anyway-"

"That's so cool! My brother's a mage!" Ezran exclaimed.

"Ez, I'm not a mage."

"But you did magic. That means your a mage."

"I'm not-I'm a mage." Callum murmured. His eyes widened before he smiled. "I'm a mage!"

"Shh. Bait's sleeping." Ezran said.

"Sorry." Callum knew how Bait was when he was woken up by someone who wasn't Ezran.

"I hope the guard who saved you is okay," Ezran said.

"Yeah," Callum said, feeling slightly awkward. "anyway, we need to keep moving. We've stayed here far too long. I don't know where we're going but we need to get some supplies before we do anything else. Jellytarts aren't going to keep us fed forever." He said and Ezran nodded.

Ezran insisted on carrying the egg and Callum didn't argue. He, in turn, insisted on carrying Bait. They couldn't afford to lag behind just because Bait couldn't hop fast enough. He wouldn't let his brother carry all the weight either, despite how tired he was. Bait was heavy but he wasn't as heavy as the egg and was far easier to carry. His shoulder still pained but it was manageable.

They had been walking for quite some time before Callum had decided they were far enough for the night. He would have preferred being far enough away to not be able to see the castle, however, he knew they couldn't have gone much further that night.

They bedded down and went to sleep.

Nightmares plagued Callum throughout the night. Tossing and turning in his sleep, Callum woke up with a start, breathing harshly in the cold light of the rising sun. Ezran slept next to him, clutching the egg to his chest, whilst Bait slept between his shoulder and neck. They were still okay.

'They were going to be okay, no matter what.' He thought.

He was going to make sure of it. He wouldn't let anything hurt Ezran. He wasn't going to lose Ez. He couldn't bare the thought of Ezran getting hurt. He was all he had left.

Callum had reassured Ezran that dad would be okay, but he wasn't so certain. The wolves were so fast and strong. He didn't think anyone could survive their wrath. He would keep that to himself until he knew for sure. Though the chances were slim, there was a small hope that Harrow survived. He was the best fighter in all of Katolis, besides the Moonshadows elves, but they didn't really count. He wasn't sure if that would help against dark magic, however.

He took out the Primal stone and stared at it. The feeling he had gotten from doing magic was sullied by the memory of death and despair. It had felt right when he had done magic, like nothing he had ever experienced before. The closest he had ever come to that feeling of weightless glee was when he did art.

He resolved to sketch it later and put the Primal orb back into his pack. He went and woke Ezran up, who only turned on his other side which sent Bait tumbling. Bait didn't like being woken up so early either and decided that if he had to be awake, so did Ezran and proceeded to lick him.

Turns out toad spit is a great alarm clock.

"Quit it Bait! I'm Up. I'm up." He said.

After a quick breakfast of jelly tarts, they started walking again.

"We should go to the Banther lodge. They have supplies there. And beds." Ezran said.

Callum felt like hitting himself. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"

At least they were going in the right direction.

Rayla was watching the two humans who had stopped for lunch.

Everyone in camp had been too stressed out from the ribbon incident to stay where they had been camped out and had traveled during the night, using the power they would have used for the assassination to move quickly and quietly.

Runaan had explained to her the reason why the ribbons falling off had hurt so much.

"You see Rayla," he had said, "the reason is very simple. We were supposed to kill the king. Even if we just threw him off the balcony or poisoned him, we still killed him. However if someone else kills him, we technically failed our mission."

Things were still tense in camp but for a different reason now. Everyone had mostly forgotten about her screw up, mostly focused now on what happened. The death of the king had been too sudden.

After a while she had started going stir crazy, things had gotten just a bit too stifling for her, so she had eagerly volunteered for patrol when asked.

She had patrolled a five-kilometer radius around camp and had been about to return when she had heard them. She had followed the sounds of laughter until she had come across two boys.

A young boy who looked no older than nine or ten was walking with an older boy in his teens. They looked like polar opposites, however, they acted like best friends. She felt a familiar feeling coming from them but it could be that she just missed her own family. Sure, Runaan was with her but he was her leader and she couldn't really talk to him like she normally would.

"Callum, do you think Claudia will be angry with us for locking her up in a creepy dungeon?" The short one asked.

"I don't know Ez. Technically it was a lab full of magic stuff and she is a mage, so I'm sure she got out. She'll be okay." The one called Callum said.

They had walked for a few more minutes before they had stopped for lunch. They ate a few jelly tarts and talked about nothing. Rayla had been about to leave, they weren't any threat but she would tell Runaan about them anyway when she heard something that made her ears perk up.

"Do you think dad's okay?"

"I don't know Ez but whatever is happening in the castle right now, it isn't good." Callum said solemnly.

They knew something about the castle. She had to tell Runaan. They could use all the information they could get their hands on.

She leaped through the trees and made her way back to camp.

A few minutes later, she landed in front of Runaan and could barely contain her excitement. That made Runaan become instantaneously suspicious. He had raised her and knew what that look meant.

"Runaan! I saw two human boys on patrol. They-"

"Did you kill them?" He asked.

"What? No! They have information we could use. I overheard them talk about the castle. They might know what happened."

He sighed. Of course, she hadn't. He should have known. At least this could potentially work out in their favor.

"Where are they?" He asked as he stood up, his weapons strapped to his back. The others had stopped what they were doing when Rayla had reported back.

"Last I saw they were just outside the five-kilometer mark to the east. They were eating lunch near the river." She said before Runaan motioned for Kiara and Ram to accompany him. They dropped what they were doing and grabbed their weapons.

Rayla came with to show them the way. Despite her flaws, she was a good fighter and could walk with the best of them.

She led them back to where she had found them, only to find it empty. However, that had been expected and soon they were tracking the boys from the shadow of the trees.

They found them walking down a worn path, each carrying a bag over their shoulders. They looked tired. They two boys chattered about inconsequential things, oblivious to the four elven assassins stalking them from above, waiting for the best opportunity to strike.

Runaan didn't care about whatever information Rayla seemed to think they knew. If they were a threat to his squad, he would need to deal with it. LIstening to them, he was surprised at their youth. They were surprisingly young to walk around a forest known to harbor assassins. He sighed. He would make their deaths as painless as possible.

...

They had been walking in silence for less than a minute before Ezran started up again.

"Callum?"

"Yeah, Ez?"

"What are we going to do about the egg? It needs to go home."

Callum paused before he sighed. "I don't know Ez. We'll figure out what to do with the egg when we get to the Banther lodge."

"But Callum," Ezran whined, "It needs to go back to its mother."

"Ez, it's not like we can just stroll into Xadia and return the egg of the dragon prince that everyone, including us, thought was destroyed! We need to come up with a plan, one that hopefully doesn't involve us getting killed."

The two boys walked on, unaware of the three assassins left gaping at that statement. Well, that seemed like the perfect time to do something, after all, you can't just leave something like that in the air.

They landed around the two boys with their weapons drawn and raised. Callum and Ezran froze. They were surrounded. Callum started panicking, trying to come up with a plan to get them out of the mess they were in when a sharp pain in the back of his head ended everything.

"Ow, my head..."

Callum woke up disorientated. His entire body hurt, his shoulder and back throbbing painfully. Soren must have really put him through his steps if he felt like this. He tried to move his arms so he could rub his eyes, only for them to refuse to move. His eyes snapped open and he squinted.

His arms were tied to his sides as thick ropes circled around the tree he was stuck to. He struggled against it but the rope was strong, only aggravating his wounds and making him feel dizzy and nauseous. He slumped before a sudden thought struck him. Where was Ezran?

Had they killed him? Or worse, what if they were torturing him or something? What if they were drinking his blood and he was somewhere dying and Callum couldn't help him and he was scared and oh no what was he going to do, he was supposed to protect his baby brother and he failed and-

Relief flooded him when he spotted Ezran tied to the tree next to him. He was unconscious but unharmed as far as Callum could tell. Callum hoped that the knock Ezran took didn't do any serious damage to his head. Bait laid near them in a sack, only his head sticking out. His skin was glowing a deep red, croaking irritatedly at Callum when he noticed him.

The elves around them were busy either sharpening their weapons or doing chores around camp. An elf with the longest hair Callum had ever seen (Claudia would be so jealous) walked over to him and frowned.

"You're finally awake I see. Humans are so fragile." He sighed.

Callum wondered if that was meant as a threat because he felt very much intimidated by that statement.

"Tell me, how did the egg of the Dragon Prince survive and more importantly, how did two human children came into possession of it."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Callum lied.

"Liar. We searched your bags. Speak the truth or your head won't be the only thing hurting anymore. " Runaan growled.

Callum didn't know it but it was an empty threat. He wouldn't actually hurt the boy. Children were precious and the thought of hurting one made him feel sick. He might have vowed to kill prince Ezran but he felt no joy in it. He might have killed the two boys if they were a true threat but it was so obvious they weren't. However he needed to know what was going on, or else he might make a mistake that could get his whole squad killed.

"I-um." Was all he could get out before Runaan grew impatient and jerked him forward by his collar.

"Speak before I lose my temper child. How did the king die?" He hissed, still holding Callum up by the collar of his jacket.

Callum went rigid from shock. It was as if the whole world faded around him. The words bounced around his head like an echo of a long forgotten dream.

"He's dead?" He said softly. "No! He can't be dead! Not like that! He couldn't-not like that! You're lying. "

Runaan looked unimpressed by his argument.

"Focus! What happened?"

Callum took a deep breath to calm himself but it was hard. Should he tell him what happened? It was clear they knew about the egg. They probably already had it hidden in a secure location. But they didn't know about king Harrow. He couldn't exactly use the information as a bargaining chip. If he did, the best case scenario would be they would laugh at his face. He didn't want to think about the worse case.

Plus if they found the primal stone, they might think they had wanted to use it for dark magic or something. He needed to explain the situation or else things would turn real ugly real fast. Callum had heard the stories of what Xadians did to dark magic users and it wasn't a pretty picture.

"He-he killed the king. They-"

"Who killed the king?" Runaan demanded.

"Lord-lord Viren did. He's the high mage of the court. They had an argument because he had lied to king Harrow and things escalated. He said Katolis didn't need a weak king and he used dark magic to conjure these-" Callum swallowed harshly.

"He killed the guards who tried to stop him and then he-he...there was so much blood." He said, lost in the memories.

He took a steadying breath. He needed to get a grip. He couldn't show any more weakness to the creatures who had been sent to kill his step-dad.

Runaan took all this in before he asked the question that he suspected the answer for.

"What did your high mage lie about to warrant him killing the king of Katolis to keep it secret?" He asked.

"The egg. King Harrow hadn't known about the egg. He was angry at Viren for starting the war."

Runaan cursed.

"What's your name?" He asked.

Callum hesitated. What if the rumor that elves could steal your soul if they knew your name was true? Sure, it sounded like horse droppings to him, but all myths had a kernel of truth in them. Runaan's glare was a big motivator though.

"Callum."

"Tell me, Callum, how did you come into possession of the egg?"

Callum gulped. He needed to word this correctly. If what he understands of the situation is correct, they didn't know they had the two princes of Katolis tied up and vulnerable. If he played this right, they might have a chance to get out. If they found out, they would be dead in seconds. If there was even a chance of Ez making it out of this unharmed he would take it.

Callum looked down at the ground before he muttered something that not even Runaan's sharp ears could pick up.

"What? Speak up!"

"We took the egg with us when we escaped the castle." Callum said.

"How many know the egg still lives?"

"Uh, me, Ez, Viren, you guys, and Claudia know. I'm gonna assume Soren, Claudia's brother knows about the egg, 'cuz they tell each other everything. I can't really think of anyone else who might know but we've only known about it for a day ourselves, so I don't really know."

Runaan left after that and Callum was left to his own devices. The ropes were strong, there was no chance of them getting out of there without outside assistance, so unless Rayla or one of the others went rogue, they wouldn't be getting out of there anytime soon. That left Runaan with plenty of time to think.

The information he had gotten out of Callum was troubling. There would be no chance of killing prince Ezran now, the castle would be in high alert and the future king would have the highest security possible. They could still do it but it would most likely cost them their lives and they couldn't afford to die without ensuring the survival of the Dragon Prince.

The prince needed to be returned to Xadia. There was no question about that. They would most likely lose their hands and in Runaan's case, his whole arm. But he had already spoken to the others about it and they had already agreed that it was worth it. They had all taken an instant liking to the egg and, in his opinion, how could you not? It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Things were mostly going in their way. They might lose their hands, but the Dragon prince's survival mostly made up for it. They would have a good excuse as to why they didn't kill prince Ezran and in the end, no children would be harmed.

*The two boys they had captured would be blinded and left there.* It might have been cruel but it was a step up from having to kill them. They wouldn't be able to say in which direction the Moonshadow elves were moving, so they wouldn't be followed easily. Callum and his brother would eventually be found, so there was no blood on his hands.

He got up from where he had been 'meditating' on a rock. Nightfall was approaching and he needed all the rest he could get. He had the graveyard watch after all.