Callum landed on his feet, approaching Uvenyo, who looked worse than Callum had ever seen before. Callum felt bile rise up at the thought of whatever had caused them to flee the Storm Spire—what if Rayla had been hurt in the skirmish?

Uvenyo looked up, and out of the corner of Callum's eyes, he could see Janai hurrying out with some of her knights, rushing to find out what had happened.

But before Callum could reach the both of them, he was knocked over by a large body. "Zym!" Callum said, as he looked up to see Zym whining and rubbing his head against Callum's chest. "Zym, where is Rayla?"

Zym backed up, allowing Callum to rise to his feet.

The look on Zym's face almost made Callum collapse to the ground.

Something was wrong.

"Zym, where is Rayla?" Callum demanded, taking a step towards the young dragon.

"Our captain," Javina stepped forward. "We don't know what happened to her. The Storm Spire was attacked and…we couldn't find her before fleeing."

"So you…" Callum felt as though he could throw up. "So you just left her?"

"That's ironic, coming from you," Uvenyo said, as he and Janai approached.

Callum felt as if he had just been slapped in the face. "I…" he began. "Where is she now? Does anyone have any idea?"

"She could still be in the Storm Spire," Uvenyo said. "Or...they might have taken her."

"Callum," Janai stepped forward, "I know you'll want to fly there now, but we need to gather intel and proceed with caution—"

Callum wasn't listening—and with his mage wings, thrust himself back into the air. He didn't care what Janai, or Ezran, or Amaya, or Corus or anyone thought or said. He would fly to the Storm Spire as soon as possible.

He needed to find Rayla—she could be…

He almost crashed into a tower as he passed over Lux Aurea. He had to stay strong. After all, Rayla could still be alive. She could still be…

Callum flapped his wings harder, heading to the east, as he prepared for the last stretch to the Storm Spire.

"Don't touch me!" Rayla tried to say, as Viren examined her belly, his fingers glowing with magic. Unfortunately, the words became muffled and garbled due to the gag in her mouth.

"Well, Dad?" Claudia asked, leaning over eagerly. "Will it work?"

Viren smiled. "Yes, it will." He gave the dome of Rayla's belly a good natured pat, before standing up. "And soon, too. I daresay you'll need that thing out of you as soon as possible."

Thing.

Rayla felt a cold sensation of dread wash over her.

Thing.

They were going to use the baby. For something. Dark magic? She felt like throwing up.

Viren wiped his hands off on his jacket, and glanced at Rayla with a disdainful look. "Forgive me for not giving you a warm welcome—I'm sure, especially in your current condition, that you can't be feeling very comfortable at the moment. But those bindings were made especially for you. So you must understand that we won't want to waste them by taking them off."

Rayla's eyes widened slightly. Made for her. So this was a premeditated attack.

And she was the reason for it.

She swallowed hard, trying to move her legs as Viren left the room, but her feet and knees were bound as well. Claudia followed Viren, leaving Yehven and Rayla in the room alone.

She tried to say his name, but couldn't. No words could come out of her mouth unhindered, and she began to wonder if Yehven would understand her anyway. He seemed to be asleep on his feet, eyes glazed and empty of any life.

Was he dead? Or was he even alive when the Sunfire Elves brought him back to the Storm Spire?

She wracked her brain, trying to remember the moments before she had lost consciousness. Clearly Yehven had been sent back to Storm Spire to capture her. After all, he might have died long before then—and…and…he had tried to get her to follow him away from the Spire.

She let out a small moan as she felt a pain inside her. The baby was moving again. But this was not the same feeling as before.

She did not want to think about birthing the child now, not when Ibis was not here to help her, not when Callum was not with her, either.

Not when she was alone, in the enemy's hands.

And not when the life of her child might be used by monsters.

She felt tears prickle in the corners of her eyes. She was tired. She wanted to fight, but the magic in the bindings on her hands and feet kept her from moving, and her belly weighed her body down awkwardly and heavily.

She would have to wait until they returned, and got close enough for her to kick them. Or…perhaps they would untie her and she could reason with them. Claudia. She might be able to reason with Claudia.

Rayla barely knew the woman—and didn't have a very high opinion of her. But…she hoped Claudia was not as far gone as her father was. Rayla hoped Claudia could be convinced to help her escape.

Callum landed hard on the landing platform of the Storm Spire, gasping for air. Though he had done the spell to allow him to breathe, traveling straight from Lux Area with only a few pauses was…a stretch for his body and wings. His wings disappeared, shredding themselves into nonexistence and absorbing back into his arms. He collapsed onto his knees, wincing in pain.

He wouldn't be able to fly for a few days at least. Not after that trip.

He stood up, breathing heavily, and collapsed onto his knees again with a grunt of pain. He looked around, and saw a body-forcing himself to his feet, he rushed over to the body, kneeling down and examining the dead Sunfire elf. He breathed out softly, standing up, and ran down the steps towards the entrance into the Spire.

He searched frantically for any trace of Rayla. Her room had no indication of a struggle, and was almost exactly how he had remembered it before he left the last time.

Except…

There were a few additions that were not there before.

The crib caught his eye first. He blinked a few times, fighting back the emotion that had a stranglehold on his throat, and walked towards it with shaky legs. "Rayla," he whispered, running his hand along the rail of the crib.

He took in a sharp breath, anger overwhelming him.

He had to find her.

He turned and hurried from the room, searching every nook and cranny he could of the Spire. But there was nothing—no remaining evidence that Rayla was there.

He collapsed onto the ground again, giving out a strangled cry of grief and frustration, running his hands through his hair.

He had no idea where Rayla could be. Or if she was even…

Alive.

He gritted his teeth, before reaching into his bag for a few items. He knew a tracking spell that could work—he would find Rayla. Even if it was just her body…

He shook his head, rubbing at his eyes to try to clear them of disorienting tears. He would find Rayla. Whatever it was that took her, that was keeping her captive—it had to be strong. Stronger than Rayla.

And that was cause for more concern than he had the strength to think about right now.

Right now…

He had to focus on finding her.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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