Chapter 27: The Door

"Are you certain he is ready, my king?"

The man, well groomed, dressed in royal robes, turned away from his advisor, looking down from his wooden stronghold.

At the young boy training with warriors in the courtyard below.

"He is strong. As strong as I was when I first became king."

"But Azrael...what if he threatens you? What if one day, he attempts to rule?"

Azrael chuckled.

"He is an orphan. I have taken him in as my own son." He replied, noticing the surprised look in his advisors eyes. "What? Do I seem so truly heartless?" He asked.

"Of course not my king, I did not mean to imply..."

"Qasim. I am joking." Azrael assured, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You must relax. And you must rest. Tomorrow we strike at the heart of Xadia."

Qasim nodded.

"My king...are you sure tis wise? To strike at such a powerful mage?"

"Astrid is mortal, like anyone else." Azrael replied. "The five kingdoms do not respect us. They see us as outsiders. Barbarians. And in the coming war, we will need alliances with them." He said, watching the young warrior strike down targets. "Imagine the Chain Islands being responsible for crippling the mighty Xadia. We are so close, Qasim. Trust in your king."

Qasim nodded.

"Of course." He said with a bow.

"Now get some rest." Azrael commanded with a warm smile, before turning, and walking down to the courtyard.

The warriors stood at attention, and after an inattentive moment, so too did the youngster.

"Talon. Come forth." Azrael called, beckoning with his hand.

The barely teenage youngster stepped forward, and bowed.

Azrael let out a light chuckle.

"You need not bow."

"But I will...for you are my king." Talon replied with a smile.

Azrael's smile widened, and he stepped forward, and embraced his young warrior.

"Did you see me sweep the leg?" Talon asked enthusiastically.

"I did." Azrael replied with a smile. "You learn so quickly. I have never seen my guard dominated in such a short time. And certainly not by a child."

"I'm not a child! I'll be 12 next month!" Talon insisted.

Azrael chuckled.

"Very well. But for another month, you remain a child. I suppose that means we have to wait a month to assault the Xadian border..."

Talon's head jerked up, wide eyes looking up in shocked sadness at the king.

"Or we could just leave you here..." Azrael continued.

"What?!" Talon exclaimed.

Azrael erupted with laughter, leaning down and patting him on the shoulder.

"Fear not, Talon. You are my greatest asset. I would never leave you here when a battle is to be won."

"My king!" One of his guards called from above. "Queen Danica urgently requests your presence."

The smug amusement on Azrael's face was gone.

"Oh no." He muttered. "Give it to me straight, soldier...what did I do?"

The soldier scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.

"It would seem you did not...make the bed...when you rose this morning." He managed.

Azrael sighed.

"Welp. Time to take my due punishment. Talon. Rest. Tomorrow we deploy to Xadia."

Talon nodded, saluting him.

Azrael walked up the stairs, and bracing himself, opened the door to his bedroom.

He was jolted awake. He could hear the barbarians drinking, and carrying on outside.

He was breathing hard. He sat up in bed.

He was in his tent. They had stopped, not far from the town they had burned.

As they waited for word from Borvir, on the location of their quarry.

Azrael's shoulder's slumped.

He never could open the door in his dreams. Never.

He could never see his wife's face. It existed only in memory now.

Perhaps it was the price to pay for all of the dark magic he had absorbed since then.

He held up a glass mirror.

His face, twisted, grey, marked by the poison of dark magic.

His hair, white from all the exposure.

"A bit late for vanity, my king." A voice called from the entrance.

Anger radiated through Azrael, but as he turned, he saw Talon leaning against the tent pole.

His expression softened. He looked back down at the mirror.

"I suppose that's true. With Danica gone...little reason to look presentable anymore. Saves me time."

"You still might want to make an effort. At some point." Talon said, stepping into the tent. "Perhaps once we've planted our flag in the center of Katolis castle."

"Perhaps." Azrael agreed, looking up at him, and smiling. "It is good to see you again, Talon. What news do you bring?"

"The elf is dead." Talon replied. "She is gone from our path. I am to assume you haven't yet found the king?"

"Not yet. But Borvir is circling." Azrael replied, turning, and grabbing his cloak from the corner, placing it over his darkened, tattered royal robes.

"Borvir has proven to be less than reliable..." Talon said with a shrug.

"What are you saying?" Azrael asked.

"I'm saying, I'm the only one that's gotten results so far. So use me." Talon replied with a smirk. "I'll find them."

Azrael thought it over a moment, as he pulled the cloak over his head.

"Perhaps."

Talon looked out of the tent, at the fading daylight outside.

"It is, as always, your decision."

Azrael nodded.

"Go then." He stated. "Kill the prince. His magic is...unpredictable. He could threaten us. Bring me the king alive."

"See, I already knew all this. We've always been kindred spirits." Talon said with a smirk, as he headed for the exit.

"Be careful, Talon. Especially with the mage." Azrael commanded, as he took his orb off its stand, and concealed it within his cloak, then slid Astrid's mask over his face.

"Please, my king." Talon replied, walking out of the tent. "They are children."

Lujanne meditated silently from within the moon nexus. When she heard it. Or more actually, felt it.

Being in tune to everything around her, she could sense the faintest vibrations in her environment.

Which means she could sense a massive number of people approaching her sanctuary.

She stood up, and walked to the door of the palace, making her way down the stairs.

And at the bottom, she saw them approach.

Villagers. Tired. Scared. Looking around in desperation, and unsure what was going on.

Her eyes widened at the sight.

But any fears she had were put to rest when she saw the figure leading them.

Ellis took the lead, on Ava's back. Lujanne stepped towards her.

"Dearest Ellis." Lujanne said, hugging the human child as she stepped down off the wolf. "And it is so good to see you again too my pretty." She added, scratching Ava behind the ears. She paused, looking up at the still arriving swarm of people.

"Now Ellis dear, when I said you would always be welcome here..." she began.

"We didn't have a choice! I'm sorry! Bad guys came and burned down our town!"

From behind them, a cottage door opened, and Rayla poked her head out.

"Oh dear. Did you all escape?" She asked, looking at the villagers, who stared at her in a mix of terror and wonder.

"I think so. Callum and Ezran came and saved us! They told us to come here!"

Now Rayla emerged from the cottage, and walked up behind them.

"It was the King it was!" One of the villagers exclaimed. "King Ezran himself! He saved us!"

Rayla's eyes widened. Her heart felt like it was going to erupt with joy as she heard them.

"All hail to king Ezran!" Another villager shouted. The others joined in a chant. "ALL HAIL THE KING! ALL HAIL THE KING!!"

Lujanne looked over, and her eyes locked with Rayla's.

"I have to go." Rayla stated.

Lujanne nodded.

"I know." She said, walking over. "Just come over here real quick. I think I have something that might help."

Rayla looked at the old moon mage skeptically.

"Is it grubs?"

Lujanne chuckled, bending over, and picking up a large piece of wood. "Oh no. Not this time." She turned to face Rayla.

Then she raised the wood, and slammed it against Rayla's shoulder.

Her world exploded with pain, and she glared wide eyed at Lujanne, confusion and rage on her face.

"Wha...WHAT WHY?!" She demanded.

"Try to move your shoulder." Lujanne replied.

Rayla frowned, and did so, rotating her right shoulder.

"That...that...actually feels a lot better. What did you...?"

"As I had guessed. It was merely dislocated. I popped it back in."

Rayla stared back at her with frightened eyes.

"What if it hadn't been dislocated?!"

Lujanne shrugged.

"Then this would've been a far more painful goodbye than it already is."

Rayla looked down at her arm, flexing it, feeling the responsiveness coming back to it. She smiled.

"I don't know what to say. I owe you my life, Lujanne." She said, looking up at her. "What can I do to repay you?"

Lujanne smiled.

"Stay safe. Find your family. Fight for your family." She said, walking up, and hugging the young moonshadow elf. "And if you find even a modicum of peace and happiness in your life, hold on to it as tight as you can."

Rayla nodded.

"I will. I promise."

Lujanne nodded back.

"Go on then. Go to them."

"That...that hurt..." Callum muttered, trying to pick himself up. "Where are we?"

He quickly realized he was on a chunk of ice. A decent sized chunk of ice, floating down the freezing river.

Ezran was staring with wide, terrified eyes at him.

"What?" Callum asked.

"Callum, you're on fire!" Ezran exclaimed, pointing at him.

Callum looked back, and let out a yelp as he realized his beige coat was indeed, on fire.

He stripped it off, and hurled it aside, as the flames consumed it.

Back to the sleeveless life. He couldn't have picked a worse time for it.

It was freezing, he could feel the waters cold just from floating through it.

The currents were strong, as they carried the icy block ahead.

"Are we okay? Are we alive? Do you have Bait?"

The grumpy frog poked his head out of Ezran's backpack at the mention of his name.

"Okay." Callum said, breathing a visible sigh of relief. "Okay, this is good. We're okay."

He made a move toward his brother.

And a crack loudly ran through the ice block.

Ezran and Callum exchanged a terrified look.

As pieces of the ice began to break away.

"Callum! Get over here!" Ezran shouted, gesturing to him.

Callum made a move forward.

And another crack formed. He looked up at Ezran with sad, desperate eyes.

"I can't. This whole block'll fall apart. This water's too cold, Ez. It'll kill us."

"So get over here!" Ezran shouted. "Callum, I'm looking at it, it's about to break right under you!"

Callum let out another sigh, this one curling in front of him, as the ice cracked some more beneath him.

He could see the bubbling water beckoning him from beneath it.

He looked back up at Ezran. Eyes almost pleading with the child.

For him to understand.

Ezran knew the look. He began shaking his head.

"No. No no no, you're not gonna..."

Callum backed away from him.

"Ezran...you have to get home."

"No, WE have to get home!" Ezran shouted, crawling towards him.

"Stay back!" Callum shouted.

"Get over here! Now!" Ezran shouted. "As your king, I command you!"

Tears came to Callum's eyes.

"I love you..."

Ezran dove at him.

Callum punched the ice beneath him.

And it broke, depositing him into the icy river.

Ezran grabbed his scarf.

"NO! NO!" He shouted, tugging on it, trying to keep Callum above water.

"Ez, you have to get home! The ice can't take both our weights, let go!"

"No! I'm not letting go Callum!"

"You have to! Katolis needs a king!" Callum shouted, shaking violently as the cold already began to beckon to him.

"CALLUM COME ON! DONT GIVE UP ON ME!!" Ezran commanded. "You're my brother!"

"AND YOURE THE KING!" Callum shouted, his head slipping under the water momentarily, but Ezran yanked on his scarf again, pulling him up.

"I don't care!" Ezran shouted, tears streaming down his face. "I can't do this without you, please Callum! Climb up!"

Callum reached up.

And grabbed Ezran's hand.

"Look at me." He said, spitting out water as he was dragged by the current. "You're strong. So strong. You'll be okay, Ez. You'll be a great king. I know you will. But this was something I knew I might have to do."

He let go of Ezran's hand.

And he began undoing his scarf.

Ezran shook his head desperately.

"No, Callum please don't!" Ezran begged. "DONT!"

"I love you." Callum repeated.

He untied the last knot.

And then he was underwater. The world was gone.

He could hear Ezran shouting. Distant. Muffled. And quickly gone.

Nothing but cold. Cold to the point of numbness. And darkness, as he felt himself sinking to the bottom of the river.

Callum closed his eyes, drawing his last breath.

He felt himself hit the riverbed.

And the last image he saw before consciousness faded, was a hand.

A four fingered hand reaching into the darkness for him.