Chapter 33: Fate

Ezran stood on the front step of the lodge, looking out at the setting sun.

Callum was just finishing up drawing some runes in front of him, and he walked up, to stand next to him.

"Tell me it's okay to be afraid." Ezran said, looking out at the fading sunlight.

Callum put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay to be afraid, Ez."

Ezran turned and looked up at him.

"Are you just saying that?"

Callum frowned.

"You just...told me to...no, you're allowed to be afraid. This is all...pretty scary."

Ezran nodded.

"We've been through a lot of scary stuff though. Right?"

"It's been pretty rough." Callum agreed. "Fate has asked a lot of us. You especially." He said, looking down at him.

Ezran looked back up at him.

"How did I do?" He asked, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Callum smiled down at him.

"Greater than anyone could have." He said, with a slight bow of his head. "I wish mom and dad could've seen what you've become. They'd be so proud of you, kiddo."

Ezran nodded, closing his eyes, and seeing their faces again. He looked out across the snowy plains.

"They'd be proud of you too, Callum. I mean, you can sprout wings now. That's definitely something that would throw them for a loop, if they were here." Ezran said.

Callum chuckled, as he leaned against the wooden railing. They looked up at the sky.

"What's tonight moon?" Ezran asked.

Callum looked at the sky, still smiling.

"Full."

Ezran nodded.

"Perfect."

Rayla was in the basement, her swords swinging and slashing, as she tried to shake off the pain.

Her shoulder was definitely hurting from the hit it had taken. She had to push through it.

She had to push through all of it. She swiped at the wooden support beam, the blade cutting into it.

She'd been a prisoner in this basement once. During her first visit to the Banther Lodge.

She folded the swords away, and walked up the stairs.

Up the main staircase, past Callum's room, past Ezran's room.

To the game room.

She opened the door, and found that no one had bothered to repair it after the mess she and Amaya had made.

Broken tables. Wood shrapnel all over. The floor was a hazard.

There was a broken wooden support beam in the center of the room.

"Ya better still have that cube, Callum." Rayla grumbled, examining the damage.

She saw the divot in the wall, where Amaya had managed to pin her.

And punch her in the face. What a punch that was.

The sun had gone down outside. Darkness was here.

Rayla turned, and walked down the stairs.

"Where've you been?" Ezran asked, as he sat in front of the fireplace.

"Oh. Ya know. Trainin. Reminiscin. Rememberin that time Callum made me come in here to retrieve his little glow cube and for whatever reason I said 'why yes of course, human I've just met, I'll gladly go in there, provided of course there's not an army of humans movin in, who want to cut off mah head.'" She shot Callum a look. "And what happened after that, Callum?"

Callum rubbed the back of his neck.

"Aunt Amaya and a bunch of soldiers showed up..."

"Auntie Amaya and a bunch of soldiers showed up." Rayla agreed, walking over and flicking his ear playfully. "And who was my gallant hero? Who sprung me from captivity that day?"

Callum frowned, scratching his head.

"I honestly can't..."

"Bait!" Rayla exclaimed, picking up the glow toad. "Thank ya Bait. You're the true hero here."

She came over, and sat down on the floor next to the two.

Bait waddled over, and plopped against her leg, letting out a groan of satisfaction as he closed his eyes.

"You've really grown on him." Ezran said, looking down at the glow toad.

"Yeah, he didn't like me at all before." Rayla noted, rubbing his belly.

"Yeah well we've all come a long way." Callum said, eating a moon berry.

"When ah first met you, I wanted to stick a blade in ya." Rayla said, gesturing to him. "And you, well you're cute and all kid, but it was mah job to stick a blade in you too."

Ezran's eyes widened a little as he thought back on it, munching on moonberries of his own as he pondered it.

"Would you have been able to do it?" He asked.

Rayla shrugged.

"Suppose we'll never know."

"Oh come on, that's not an answer." Callum argued, clearly interested in the direction of the conversation.

"Well I definitely would've been able to with you, you were annoyin me." Rayla stared bluntly, pointing her undeployed sword at him. "Lyin about your name and leadin me on a merry chase through the castle." She turned to Ezran. "As for you...I dunno. Killin anyone at all is...hard. Before very recently I never had, so yeah, I'm not great at it." She said with a light chuckle." "You're a kid, Ezran. I don't...I'd like to think I wouldn't have even been able to do it." She looked down at the floorboards. "But then...I was desperate to redeem myself in Runaan's eyes. To prove myself to the other assassin's. I...I might have."

There was a tense silence for a moment.

"I mean...if I was able to, I would've had you captured. Before we found the egg and all that." Callum said.

"Or killed." Rayla added.

"Ehhh...that seems like a bit much..." Callum replied.

"Yeah, you didn't really hurt anybody. Honestly, I had a lot of fun." Ezran admitted.

"I was there to kill you!" Rayla argued. "And your dad! It's okay to say you would've had me killed, knowing that, not knowing anything else about me. It wouldn't upset me, it's fair."

"I mean...yeah like I said...if you got captured that would probably have been okay." Callum said, rubbing the back of his neck and exchanging a look with Ezran.

"Yeah, if you're captured then you know, you're just not trying to kill us anymore, which is all we wanted in the first place." Ezran continued.

"Yeah...sorry." Rayla muttered, hanging her head.

"It's okay." Callum said with a shrug. "We were strangers then. You were just a stranger with two really sharp swords. And hey. You didn't kill us. So thank you." He said with a lazy grin. It disappeared as he saw the look on her face.

"Don't you start getting all angsty again, there's been enough of that going around lately." Callum said, sidling over and giving her a hug. She leaned into the hug, reaching down and holding his hand.

"What's angsty mean?" Ezran asked.

"It's when you're all...in your feelings." Callum replied.

"Oh. Same. I'm definitely in my feelings. Can I get a hug too?" He asked.

"Bring it in kid." Rayla replied, holding out her other hand.

Ezran scooted over as well, and the trio hugged, in front of the fire place.

There was silence for a moment, as they held each other.

"We did alright. Didn't we?" Rayla asked.

"Better than alright." Ezran said, looking into her eyes. "We did great."

"We did exactly what we had to do." Callum agreed. "We saved the world."

Rayla nodded, a smile on her face.

A tear trickling down her cheek. She could see tears in the eyes of the others as well.

"We changed things." She said, looking out the window. Seeing torches in the distance, just above the treeline, her expression hardened.

As Azrael's army approached.

"We made a difference."

yeah

Hey guys. I've been moving to a new place. It's made keeping up with fanfic difficult. I thank you all for your patience.

Anway, the important thing is:

WE GOT THE SAGA!

I can't wait to see what's next. Until then, i hope you all enjoy what's left.

Thank you,