It was in the early hours of the morning when Callum finally touched down just outside the Tidebound elven settlement of Everdeep. Surrounded by dense Xadian shrubbery, it would be difficult to describe as a town or village. Rather, Everdeep stood as a haphazard amalgam of ugly stone and iron structures plastered along the coast and down the sheer side of the cliff beside the ocean. Callum took a deep breath. Now, he would just have to wait for…

"Greetings, fellow human."

Callum beamed as he turned around to see who it was. "Rayla!" He ran forward to embrace her.

"It's good to see you, Callum," she said softly, before they finally broke the hug.

"Wow, so this is your new armor?" Callum took a moment to appreciate Rayla's new look. Much of her forest-green armor was still the same, but her original shoulder pads, wrist guards and vest were swapped out for tougher-looking royal blue armor with silver highlights- the signature colors of the Dragonguard. Beyond just her updated uniform, she looked poised and more confident. She had become a real Dragonguard Captain. "It's a good look," said Callum finally. "Makes you look really tough."

"Thanks, Callum," said Rayla, smiling awkwardly. "And look at you! Is it just my imagination, or have you been putting on some muscle?"

Callum blushed. "Well… Maybe a little. Flying every day will do that to you, I guess."

"Did you get in okay?" asked Rayla. "No trouble at the border?"

"No trouble at all," said Callum. "I think it helps that they all know who I am, after the battle and all." He cleared his throat. "So, Rayla, have you ever been to Everdeep?"

She grimaced. "No, not personally… but I knew people from Silvergrove who did. Mostly to trade for essential supplies when there were no other options. Everdeep isn't the friendliest place. It's basically a den for smugglers and pirates. But I haven't heard of them sneaking into the Human Kingdoms to steal before."

"Yeah, that's what worries me…" said Callum. "None of this is making any sense. All I know is that I need to get that compendium back before it falls into the wrong hands."

Rayla seemed unphased. "Well, I don't think it'll be much of a problem. They may be dishonest here, but they're just common thieves and miscreants. One look at my Dragonguard armor, and they'll give up whatever they took from you right away." She shuffled uneasily. "And then, if you have some time, maybe we can… catch up back at the Storm Spire?"

"I would love that," said Callum.

Rayla grinned. "Great! Then let's get going. We'll be in and out in no time!"

"Yeah…" said Callum. "I hope so."

With that, they started down the path through the shrubbery to the heart of Everdeep.

Ezran, Soren, Opeli and Corvus sat in relative silence in a horse-drawn carriage, on their way to Duren for their strategic meeting with Queen Aanya. After a bit of pondering, Soren eventually broke the silence.

"So, just so that I understand," began Soren, "Callum flew off to Xadia early this morning to go after a stolen book?"

Ezran nodded.

"What's so special about that book, anyway? And, isn't crossing into Xadia still illegal or something?"

Opeli sighed. "Soren, it's only illegal without an official document and a reason for crossing over, both of which Callum had. That book is one of the most thorough compendiums of dark magic in existence, and it can be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands."

"That's why Callum had to go and get it back," said Ezran.

"I still think he should have taken a royal escort," said Corvus. "You boys have risked your lives enough already."

"Callum was right, though," said Ezran. "He had to be quick, or he would have been too late to get it back. Besides, he's got Rayla with him. They'll be fine."

"The elf girl?" clarified Soren. "Oh, right, I doubt they'd let anything bad happen to each other," he said with a snicker, before Opeli gave him a stern look. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"Personally, I still wouldn't trust her over our kingdom's best," said Opeli. "She was part of the group that…" she stopped herself, seeing the look on Ezran's face.

"Well, Callum and I both trust her with our lives," said Ezran firmly.

"Perhaps we should give her the benefit of the doubt," offered Corvus. "From my experience, she's strong and honorable."

"Perhaps," muttered Opeli. "Either way, we must hope for Prince Callum's success. Depending on who gains possession of that compendium, it could wreak all sorts of havoc. Especially given our campaign to ban dark magic which, as it stands, is already facing… numerous challenges."

Soren's face fell. "My dad and my sister really left… a legacy to Katolis."

Ezran nodded. "It won't be easy to undo their influence on the Human Kingdoms. Opeli, you said that peace would take just as much strength as war… but now, I'm starting to think it takes more strength."

"Maybe so, King Ezran," said Opeli. "For better or for worse, Dark Magic has saved lives and protected our kingdoms over the years."

"But it's still wrong," said Ezran. "We know it, and I think Queen Aanya knows it too. Hopefully, with her help, we can make the world a better place without Dark Magic. Then, maybe there can finally be peace…"

"This place gives me the creeps…" said Callum as he and Rayla made their way through the thick, uninviting shrubbery further into Everdeep. "Is this even the right way?"

"Of course it is," said Rayla. "Well… I think so, anyway."

Callum rolled his eyes. "Well that's reassuring," he said with a smirk.

Rayla jabbed him playfully in the ribs. "Well, Mr. High Mage, I don't see you coming up with any better ideas. If we head towards the ugly buildings, I'm sure we'll at least find someone."

After a few minutes, Callum was beginning to realize that they hadn't seen or heard anyone at all on their way to the buildings. "It sure is quiet out here," he mused.

"Yeah…" said Rayla, slowing her pace and reaching a hand to one of her blades. "Too quiet."

Their fears were confirmed as an arrow suddenly whipped through the air on course to Rayla's head. In the nick of time, she swept up her blade to knock it off course.

Time felt like it was slowing to a crawl for Callum. They were under attack – sitting ducks in unfamiliar territory with no visual of their assailants. They would be dead in seconds if he didn't do something quickly. He immediately knew what he had to do.

Without hesitation, Callum rapidly drew a rune in the air and said "Lux Praesidium!", summoning the familiar orange translucent hemisphere around himself and Rayla just in time for another volley of arrows to bounce off the side of it harmlessly.

Rayla's eyes widened. Last time Callum had mailed her, he was still having trouble with sun magic. And yet, when their lives were on the line, he pulled it off without hesitation. The sun sigil on the Key of Aaravos, which was clipped to his waist, was glowing brightly. "Callum, how did you-"

"They knew we were coming," said Callum through gritted teeth. To underline his point, a dozen hidden Tidebound elves emerged from the shrubbery and surrounded the barrier Callum had erected.

"Surrender, Prince Callum!" one of them said. "We have you surrounded!"

Rayla readied herself. "Callum, drop the barrier, and I'll-"

But Callum cut her off. "No. There's too many, and they're too close. You might be able to fight them, but I can't do anything at this range."

Callum was right. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't think of a way to bring them all down while keeping him safe.

"Rayla, listen," he said, his voice low so that only she would hear. "They're going to take me. But you're going to escape. Once I drop this barrier, I'll launch you out of here with Aspiro, and you can go get help. They won't kill me. This was a trap so that they could capture me alive."

Rayla wanted to scream. She would gladly give herself up to keep Callum safe, but she couldn't even see a way to do that. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes.

I just got him back… why does it have to end up like this!?

Rayla felt Callum softly grip her hand. "It'll be okay," he said. "I promise."

Leaving her hand, he discretely began to draw the Aspiro rune, being careful to keep the wavering orange barrier steady.

"Don't try anything funny!" commanded one of the Tidebound elves as they tightened around the barrier.

"Now."

As the barrier dropped, Rayla jumped into the air, her swords in front of her to block any arrows from the enemy crossbows. "Aspiro!" From behind her, Rayla felt an enormous blast of air push her beyond the Tidebound elves, deep into the shrubbery. In a swift, practiced motion, she landed softly in a shallow treetop and dropped to the ground. From her secluded position, she could barely make out the Tidebound elves taking Callum captive. At least, for the moment, they wouldn't be hunting her.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she took a few deep breaths. Callum had told her to get help. She could probably make her own way back to the Storm Spire, and then gather forces to raid Everdeep. But who would follow her in attacking an elven settlement to rescue a human, even if he was the Prince of Katolis? And, even if she could gather forces, making her way back to the Storm Spire without Callum to fly her would take time- time, during which Callum could be tortured, or worse.

So, what else could she do? Cautiously, she sized up the stronghold of Everdeep. It looked coarse and uninviting, but nowhere near as grandiose or imposing as the castle of Katolis; a castle that she had infiltrated all by herself. The shrubbery was thick and overhanging all the way up to the stronghold by the edge of the cliff, which would provide perfect cover. It would be a textbook infiltration – exactly what she had trained for back in Silvergrove. Given how severely outnumbered she and Callum were, they would be expecting her to come back later with reinforcements. But that meant that if she were to go in now, she would have the element of surprise. That would be her best chance at getting Callum out of there quickly.

With newfound determination, Rayla donned her hood and steeled herself. Callum was counting on her.

"Hands behind your head, human!" snarled one of the Tidebound elves as they encircled Callum, crossbows trained on him. With few other options, he obliged, and one of the elves behind him grabbed his arms and bound them tightly behind his back.

"Start walking," said a voice from behind him, accompanied by a jab in the back from a crossbow. With that, they began to make their way into the imposing cliffside stronghold. As they approached, Callum got a better sense of it – on either side of the main gate were clusters of tightly-packed stone and iron structures with small windows that looked to be homes, prisons or anything in between.

As they passed through the gate and into the main structure, it became apparent that the interior was no more inviting than the exterior – dimly lit with corridors in varying degrees of disrepair, it seemed to very much fit Callum's mental image of a den of pirates and thieves.

With only a few seconds in the main concourse, Callum silently observed every detail he could. Despite the sparse lighting through only a few small windows and some torches, he was able to count eight passageways in various directions. A few more heavily armored Tidebound elves were presently making their way out of one of them, ahead of him and slightly to the right. It looked better-kept and more important than the others – perhaps that was the direction of their leader?

Making their way down another shadowy corridor to the left of the concourse, Callum began to notice a variety of nauseating smells intermingled with the strong scent of ocean water, and the sob-like cries of various beasts echoed through the halls. Hairs stood up on his neck. They must have been approaching some sort of dungeon.

Soon, they opened a large, creaky set of double doors and guided Callum through. He took stock of his new surroundings – a cavernous, dimly-lit room full of various prisons and cages. In them sat rare creatures of all shapes and sizes, all of them looking malnourished and broken-spirited; their arrival barely elicited a reaction.

One of the Tidebound elves prodded him towards what must have been his cell. It looked quite a bit sturdier than the rest, with thicker and less rusty bars and a heavy padlock. Clearly, they at least had some idea of what Callum was capable of. One of them confiscated his satchel and the Key of Aaravos, which was clipped to his waist. With a rough shove, he was pushed inside, and his captors clamped shut the massive lock before turning to leave the room. As they made their way out, Callum listened intently for anything they might be talking about.

"… tell Ferromir that we've captured the prince. He'll send his men, pick him up, and then we'll have our gold."

Once they were out of earshot and the heavy doors of the dungeon slammed shut, Callum collected himself and sat down in a meditative position at the center of the cell. Interestingly, his captors had neglected to search him, so he still had something Lujanne had given him a while ago for whenever he was in a pinch: a genuine moon opal, imbued with magic from the moon nexus itself.

"Manus, pluma, volantis"

As the mass of feathers materialized along his bound arms, the bindings snapped, and he was able to bring his arms back out in front of him. Dispelling the mage wings with practiced ease, he reached his hand deep into his pocket, feeling the cool, smooth texture of the opal.

A plan quickly forming in his head, Callum simply sat and waited.

Without a sound, Rayla leapt from branch to branch as she approached the side of the stronghold, mentally mapping out the guards currently on patrol. From what she had observed within a few short minutes, most of them were filing towards the outskirts of the dense shrubbery, no doubt planning to intercept her on her way out of Everdeep. So, as she continued further in while remaining undetected, the attitude of the guards became notably more relaxed. She watched two of them now, listening intently for any useful information.

"Yesterday morning, I had one peligull egg for breakfast, but I got hungry. This morning, I had three peligull eggs, and I was stuffed! So, tomorrow morning…"

"I get it, I get it – you'll have two peligull eggs. We don't need to talk."

"…I was going to say I'll have a peligull egg and two tomapricots…"

Feeling like she'd been here before, Rayla figured it was probably best to move on. Easily evading the guards' attention, she crept closer to her destination. Soon, the last of the guards were behind her, and she found herself up against the almost-sheer side of the stronghold. The rock, however, looked fairly brittle – it wouldn't be too difficult to scale her way up to that small window, if she could do so quickly and without being seen. Once she was inside, it would be a matter of –

Something was flying towards her head. Instinctively, she whipped out her left blade to deflect it. The projectile shattered on impact, scattering around her as shards of… ice?

Quickly, she unsheathed her right blade and zig-zagged towards the source of the shot. As more icicle spears flew towards her, she deftly weaved around them, slashing at those that got too close as she continued on her trajectory. All of a sudden, however, it wasn't ice but a jet of water that shot at blinding speed towards her right hand. It froze on contact, creating a thick trail of ice that weighed her arm down and stopped her in her tracks.

Finally, her Tidebound-elven assailant emerged from the bush. As he put his long weapon behind his back, Rayla caught a glance of it. It was like nothing she had ever seen- not a bow or a crossbow, but slender with a long barrel and a trigger like a crossbow, with blue, glowing runes inscribed along it and what looked to be an elongated eyepiece mounted on top. Swiftly, he pulled out a short implement resembling a double-sided dagger, but with a flick of his wrist, it opened to the length of a staff.

Grasping it firmly with both hands, he darted towards her, going for a slash towards Rayla's right side that she wouldn't be able to parry. Without a moment to spare, Rayla clasped her icy shackle with both hands and heaved it towards him, ducking as she did. It shattered as he and his staff careened into it, and using the momentum, Rayla continued in a counterclockwise spin at blistering speed, both of her blades extended, and brought them down at her opponent. With two loud pangs, they each bounced off the tough staff, which he had extended to shield himself. They were now face to face, weapons drawn.

They exchanged a flurry of blows, the Tidebound elf proving a formidable opponent as he spun his staff to deflect blows and used his superior reach to keep the pressure on her. Clearly, he was a cut above the rest of the guards. But Rayla was no pushover. Soon, she had her assailant on his back foot, and was about to bring her blade to his neck when with a mighty leap he got his staff behind her and vaulted over. As Rayla pivoted around, he was already scrambling up a tree, and soon his peculiar long-barreled was back in hand and the icy shots resumed.

Now, Rayla was on her back foot as she struggled to keep the flurry of shots at bay. She winced as one grazed her arm, and another her waist. But when the powerful jet of water came, she was ready for it. In a risky prediction, she preemptively stepped to her right and sure enough, the jet blasted the earth to her left. That was her opening. She sprinted towards the short tree, but she wouldn't have time to scale it. Instead, she jumped towards the tree trunk and kicked off it hard, up and away. She caught a glimpse of her opponent's surprised face as she became level with it, unable to train his weapon on her in time. With a vicious snap of her wrist, she flung her left blade towards him.

And, barely avoiding it, he fell out of the tree. Rayla landed hard, too, but managed to get herself up a fraction of a second quicker. With her left hand empty, she reached for something she had been gifted by Queen Janai herself – a sunforge dagger. By the time she reached her opponent, he had only just managed to extend his staff. Still not on his feet, he barely managed to deflect Rayla's right blade, but when she followed up with her left, it cleaved his staff in two. Scrambling, he flung the right half at her. Pain seared through Rayla's body as it lodged itself in her left leg. Now, he scrambled backwards and trained that mysterious weapon on her once again.

Fighting back the pain, Rayla lunged towards him, and before he could take another shot, her sunforge dagger slashed the weapon in half. Panting, she trained her right blade on his neck.

He looked up at her, his defiant glare betrayed by a slight quiver and fear in his eyes.

"Why do you fight for this human, Dragonguard!?" he yelled. "What do you care for him?"

Rayla hesitated for a moment before meeting his gaze, working to slow her breathing.

"Care for him?" she said, steadying her pulse. Despite everything, she found herself calm and in control, no hesitation in her voice as she offered a simple reply.

"I love him."

The once-defiant glare suddenly gave way to a mix of emotions, one after the other: disgust, anger and then… sorrowful longing, perhaps, before returning to spiteful bitterness.

"Go ahead, assassin," he spat. "Finish this."

"I'm no assassin," she said, and in one swift motion brought her arm up and snapped it back down, striking his head with the hilt of her blade and knocking him out cold.

With the adrenaline wearing off, the pain in her leg was all too apparent. She slumped, but with a grunt, managed to make her way over to some dense foliage. A long leaf would just have to do as a gauze for the moment. She sharply inhaled and yanked the staff out of her leg. Quickly applying pressure, she wrapped the leaf tightly around her leg.

Regaining some mobility, she managed to bound and gag the unconscious Tidebound elf. He wouldn't be following her anytime soon. Hopefully, no one had overheard their fight, but she would have to move quickly all the same. A few scrapes weren't about to bring her down.

Willing her adrenaline back, she quickened her pace towards the side wall of the stronghold.