Chapter 19: Hunters

Callum and Ezran sprinted across the frozen terrain, feet slipping across the snow as they did.

The avalanche had carried them along quite a ways, but not far enough to ease their fears.

Azrael had a reputation. He didn't die easily.

"Ez...I still can't believe how you talked to him. Like...I'm proud and terrified for you right now." Callum wheezed. "You really gave him a piece of your mind."

"Callum, if you're about to tell me I was mean...he burned down a city." Ezran replied.

"Oh no, no no no, it was cool, it's just...I really hope he didn't survive that avalanche. Cuz if he did, I think you made him even madder."

"I'm not sure he could get any madder." Ezran replied, tripping and sliding across a snowbank with a painful thud.

"Ez! Are you okay?!" Callum exclaimed, rushing to his side.

"Yeah. I'm fine, Callum. You don't need to be all big brother with me, you know? I'm a king now."

"Ezran, you're 10." Callum replied, helping him to his feet. "I am your big brother. So yeah, I'm going to keep being all big brother with you."

"When we get home...I'm drafting a law." Ezran said, wiping the snow off his royal garments.

"Oh, are you?" Callum asked, arms crossed, an amused look on his face.

"Yeah. Any time you get all big brother with me, you have to do the jerk face dance. Publicly." He said, a mischievous smirk on his face.

Callum arched an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't."

"I never had the power to before..." Ezran said, shrugging his shoulders. "Now I do. Be careful Callum. Do you really want to do the jerk face dance in front of the council?"

Callum chuckled, seeing a more familiar look on his brother's face. The look of stress, of anger and sadness was gone for now.

He was a kid having fun.

Callum let out a mock sigh.

"Wow. So this is how the tyranny of King Ezran begins."

"Pfft, tyranny?!" Ezran asked with wide eyes. "Only for you. Everyone else will be fine. They'll have all the jelly tarts they could want, they'll live prosperous lives, and every time you get on my nerves, they get to watch you perform the jerk face dance in the city square!"

Callum shook his head judgmentally.

"The jerk face tyrant of Katolis. I suppose I'd better stop you while I still have the chance." He said, raising his hands, and advancing toward his brother.

"You wouldn't. Stand down, Prince Callum." Ezran commanded, backing away, eyes still wide.

Callum charged into the young king, and the two rolled across the snow.

As Callum unleashed a barrage of tickle attacks.

Laughter filled the air, as the young king tried with tragic futility to squirm away from him.

"No!! No!" Ezran shouted beneath laughs. "Unhand the king of katolis!"

Bait watched from the side with confusion, as the two played in the snow.

"But what about the jerk face dances my king?!!" Callum asked, as he relentlessly tickled his younger brother.

"I'm gonna...summon a banther...if you don't cut it out!" Ezran exclaimed.

"Okay. I'm tired anyway." Callum replied, turning and plopping down in the snow.

Ezran sat up, tears of laughter coming down his face.

A welcome change from the last few days.

"The tyrant of Katolis has been subdued. Peace reigns across the land once again." Callum said with a chuckle, as he pulled out his sketchbook, and his charcoal.

"Oh just wait till we get home. I'm gonna tell Corvus about your little assassination attempt." Ezran said, jabbing a finger at Callum.

He paused, noticing Callum was lost in thought, scribbling intently in his sketchbook.

"You okay?" He asked, shuffling over to sit next to him.

He looked down to see the beginnings of a drawing.

And even though it was just the outline, Ezran could immediately recognize the subject.

He let out a sigh, looking up at Callum.

"I'm sure she's okay, Callum. Rayla's strong...stronger than us. She must've made it out."

Callum nodded slowly, trying to smile.

"I know she's okay." He said, drawing in the moonshadow elves eyes. "When Azrael made me...feel...the pain from his orb..."

"What was that?" Ezran asked, looking at Callum with concerned eyes. "What did he make you see?"

Callum looked down at the snow.

"He made me see...feel...everything. From all the people he'd conquered. Killed. He made me feel their fear...their sadness...their pain."

Ezran shook his head.

"That's terrible. I'm so sorry...I wish I could've been able to stop it somehow." He lamented. "I hated that, watching you suffer like that...and not being able to do anything about it."

"It's okay Ez." Callum replied, turning to look at him. "Because I felt her. Her pain was in that orb. But it wasn't the pain of death. He didn't kill her."

Ezran looked away, trying to understand.

"Then...what pain was it?"

Callum sighed.

"She's suffering. She has been...ever since the storm spire. And I can't believe I didn't notice it till now. Till he...fed it to me. I failed her, Ez."


Rayla bounced from branch to branch, avoiding the snowy sections with skill and precision.

This was her element. Nothing to think about except what was ahead of her.

No thoughts of her missing parents. Their disgraced legacy. The fact that she was banished from her own home.

The added fact that she was now wanted dead or alive by her new home.

The fact that she didn't know for sure if Ezran and Callum were still alive.

She had no family. No friends. No home.

Just the possibly futile task in front of her. She forced herself to focus on it. It was all that mattered now.

Find King Ezran. Find Prince Callum. Keep them away from their vengeful pursuer. Get them back to Katolis, and set everything right.

She slipped on a branch.

Lost focus. Too much thinking.

She let out a gasp, as she fell, smacking her still aching leg against the snowbank below.

She let out a groan, as she slid down the bank.

And her eyes tilted upward, through a hole in the trees.

At the sunlight.

And more specifically, the dark colored dragon that circled around the sunlight.

Casting a shadow over the wide eyed moonshadow elf.

She got up, ignoring the pain in her leg, and sprinted toward the underbrush. She had to keep hidden.

She slid behind a tree, and looked out.

The dragon was gone. It had never made a move to pursue her.

She let out a sigh of relief.

One more problem she didn't have to deal with.

And if Borvir was out here, searching, perhaps the brothers really were alive.

She forced her mind to focus once again. Finding them once again became the singular goal in her mind.

And she charged forth into the wilderness.


Azrael let out a groan of pain, as he stood up.

Still feeling some shock in his chest from the surprise attack.

He looked around. The area was covered in snow from the avalanche.

Talon was helping barbarians out of the snow.

"They got away, didn't they?" He asked with irritation. It wasn't really a question.

"We couldn't follow." Talon replied. "Not with the snowfall. I fear we may have lost a quarter of our army to that avalanche."

Azrael sighed.

"It is too early for losses like this. We still have five human kingdoms to conquer after this. And Xadia to destroy after that." He let out a sigh. "These children are proving to be a problem."

A shadow soared overhead, and Azrael and Talon watched as Borvir circled, then touched down before them.

"Where have you been?" Azrael demanded.

"Searching for your quarry, as commanded." Borvir boomed. "Watch your tone, mage. I see that you failed to capture the King."

"If you were here to help us, they would not have escaped." Azrael replied angrily.

"Be that as it may...there is another on their trail, Azrael. The moonshadow elf. She is on a different path, but if she stays to it, she will reach them before this army can."

Azrael narrowed his eyes.

"Could you not deal with her yourself?"

"You wish for me to burn down entire forests to kill one elf?" Borvir asked, in an almost mocking tone. "You think the other kingdoms wouldn't notice the carnage? They would come. And you..." he looked around at the barbarians, staggering out of the snow around them. "Are not ready."

Azrael glared at the snowy ground, knowing the truth in his words.

He turned, removing his mask.

"Talon." He called.

The hooded young man turned, and walked towards them.

"The elf survived your attack in the city. With what you have accomplished in the past, this can only be considered a defeat. Do you seek redemption?"

The assassin balled his fists, and bowed his head.

"I would be most grateful for a chance to correct my failure, my king."

Azrael smiled at him, then nodded.

"Go. Track her down. Eliminate her. You will move faster than my army can." He put a hand on his shoulder, then pulled him into an embrace.

"We are the only survivors left, Talon. Do not do anything foolish. Come back alive." He commanded.

Talon pulled away, then bowed.

"Of course, my king."