Chapter 18: A Defiant King

A day had passed. The ground was white now.

Ezran lay on a sleeping bag. Callum lay on the snowy grass, rubbing at his bare arms.

His sleeves had been shredded when he used his bird wings. Now, he was definitely feeling the cold of the approaching winter.

"Callum?" Ezran called.

"What's up Ez?" Callum asked, rolling over to face him, and trying to hide his shiver.

"Are you...okay?" His brother asked, Bait curled up on his back.

"Are you?" Callum countered.

"I asked first." Ezran replied.

Callum sighed. He crawled towards his brother.

"Okay, but I get to use some of your blanket." He insisted.

"I would've let you use some of it anyway, I just figured you were having moody Callum time." Ezran replied, tossing the corner of it to him.

Callum got under it, immediately pushing his bare arms into the warmth.

"Now answer!" Ezran commanded, pointing, and jabbing Callum on the forehead.

"Ow! No Ez. I'm not okay." Callum replied bluntly.

"Yeah. I know." Ezran replied, his head falling back to the sleeping bag as he looked upon his brother with concerned eyes.

"Then why did you ask?" Callum asked.

"I dunno. Just...I'm not okay either. And you're not okay. And I guess that's...okay?"

"I don't think it is." A thoroughly confused Callum replied, trying to push into the blanket as much as possible.

There was silence for a moment.

"You miss Rayla don't you?" Ezran asked.

"Yeah Ez. I really do." Callum replied, feeling a wave of anxiety and pain ripple through him.

"I do too." Ezran replied, looking down at the snowy ground. "You want Bait?"

There was another moment of silence.

"Sure. Thanks Ez."

There was an aggravated grumble, as the glow toad was lifted up, and deposited onto Callum.

Then silence.

As the two troubled brothers finally managed to fall asleep.

Rayla kept her head down, as she was roughly shoved toward a waiting wagon.

Rage bubbling inside her, as she felt her freedom being taken away.

Another opportunist. Maybe her first instincts about humans had been right.

"I want to know the moment any trace of the king, or Prince Callum are found." Corvus commanded to one of the soldiers he was leaving behind. "ANY trace." He insisted.

He turned, and his eyes narrowed when he saw Rayla.

Rayla's eyes softened, pleading with him to see through this. She knew Ezran trusted Corvus. She knew he had stood with them before.

But his face was rigid. Unsympathetic. A soldier's face. Her heart sank, and her eyes fell back to the ground.

She was lifted into the wagon by two armored guards, and Corvus watched, then walked ahead, jumping on his horse, to lead the convoy out.

A troubled look on his face.

As he rode through, General Pryce gave him a firm nod.

Corvus locked eyes with the General, his mind racing.

Then he nodded back.

Borvir circled over the wilderness, his eyes monitoring everything below with ferocious intensity.

He was still close to the clouds. He knew it was better not to be seen.

His beady eyes glared down at the snow capped trees.

And as he narrowed his eyes, he spotted them.

Two figures. Laying beside a tree.

They both wore the red and gold of the kingdom of Katolis. And they were children.

This was all Borvir needed. He turned, and streaked back toward the camp.

The wagon trundled along the increasingly snowy road.

Rayla still had her head down, as it got closer and closer to Katolis.

Or at least the nearest military base. She had no idea where they were going.

But she felt the crack, as the wagon came to a stop, and sagged to the side suddenly.

"What was that?" Rayla asked, looking up at the guard across from her.

"Never you mind. Just stay here. Don't try anything!" He said, turning and jumping out of the wagon.

"We've broken another wagon wheel! Replace it! Quickly." Rayla heard Corvus bark outside.

Her head sank back down, as someone jumped into the wagon, and sat down across from her.

"Speak quickly." Corvus commanded. "Was it Azrael?"

Rayla's head snapped up to look into his determined eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah, it was him. Hooded guy. Good with a sword. Lots of powers."

"We don't have much time. The wheel replacement buys us maybe...two minutes." He said, reaching out, and depositing something in Rayla's cupped, shackled hands.

"What's this?" Rayla asked.

"General Pryce says the King and the Prince are dead. I don't believe him. But if Azrael finds them, they will be." Corvus stated. "You're going to find them first."

Rayla looked down at the key in her hands, then up at him.

"What does he want with them? Why is he doing all this?"

"It's a long story. He blames Harrow for what happened to his people. You need to find them, that's all that matters now. Promise me."

Rayla looked down at the key in her hand, then up at him.

"I'll find them. I promise."

"I know you will." Corvus replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Stay away from Katolian guards, keep your head down."

He turned and jumped out of the wagon.

"Wait." Rayla called. "Why do you trust me?"

Corvus looked back at her.

"I don't know if I do. But I know King Ezran does. And that's all I need."

He turned, as the new wheel was nailed into place, and jumped onto his horse.

Rayla watched as the two guards sidled back into the wagon.

As they sat down, she quietly undid the shackles.

"Hey." She said, looking from one guard to the other. "Wanna see a neat moonshadow elf trick?"

"No." The first guard grumbled.

"Kinda." The second guard admitted.

Rayla held up her hands.

And the shackles dropped to the floor.

The guards exchanged a confused look, then lunged at her.

Some grunts of pain. One guard thrown out the back of the wagon. Followed swiftly by the other.

Rayla unlocked her feet, kicking the shackles off, and jumped from the wagon after them.

"The prisoner's loose!" Another guard shouted, drawing his bow.

Rayla did a flip, as arrows flew around her, and came crashing down in the snow.

As she turned around, there were two slicing sounds.

She turned to see her blades sticking out of the snow.

"You'll need those." Corvus called, with a nod.

Rayla pulled them out of the snow, and nodded back to him, as she folded them into their pouches.

More arrows came flying at her, and she turned, backflipping onto a tree branch, then jumping from tree to tree, to freedom.

Callum awoke first. He sat up, stretching, and unwittingly knocking Bait onto the snow. The glow toad let out an aggravated grunt.

Callum immediately felt the cold hit his arms, he began to shiver again.

"Ugh. Should just stay in bed today...is that okay Rayla?" He asked, eyes struggling to open.

He looked out across the sunny snow.

And his eyes suddenly snapped wide open, as a blurry, cloaked figure approached.

"Good morning, Prince Callum." Azrael hissed, stepping towards him.

The barbarians were assembled a safe distance behind him, as he stepped closer.

"How did you...?" Callum began.

"I have a dragon." Azrael replied bluntly. "How far did you think you would get? Seriously."

"Ez..." Callum called, poking at the sleeping king.

"Let him rest, Callum." Azrael said, eyes glaring into his, from under the mask. "You're the one I want to speak to, anyway."

Callum shook his head.

"I got nothing to talk to you about." He said angrily. "Stay away from me, and my brother."

"Callum. You are not related to King Harrow by blood." Azrael said, in a tone that some might have mistaken for warmth. "You do not have to pay for his crimes. I have seen what you can do. The magic you can perform is...truly extraordinary. You have potential."

Callum's fist balled with anger again.

"King Harrow was my father."

"Step father. You were not related by blood. You need not die for your mother's mistake." Azrael hissed, removing his mask.

Callum shuddered, looking away from his disfigured face.

"What did you do to yourself?" He asked, holding up a hand.

"I allowed dark magic to flow through my veins, as blood flows through most. It made me more powerful than any living human. But I think you could be even more powerful." He held out his hand. "Come with me, Callum. You get to live. I'll show you everything I know. We'll build a kingdom together. All of us."

Callum looked at the barbarians behind him, at the smirking assassin at his side.

"What about my brother?" Callum asked.

"He dies." Azrael replied bluntly. "He is the offspring of Harrow. Not everyone has a happy ending, Callum. But I'm giving you one." He held out his hand. "Come with me."

"Callum?" Ezran asked, rubbing his eyes as he woke up. "What's going on?"

"Ez, get behind me." Callum replied firmly.

"What?" Ezran asked, eyes widening as the situation came into focus. He quickly ducked behind his brother.

"Make a decision, Prince Callum." Azrael urged.

Callum glared back at him.

"There's no decision to make. King Harrow was my father. King Ezran is my brother. I will defend them, in memory and in life, to my dying breath." He said with determination, putting a hand on Ezran's shoulder, pushing him back slightly.

Azrael sighed, hanging his head in disappointment.

"Let me show you what happens to those who oppose me, Callum..."

He pulled the orb out of his cloak, and held it up.

"It was an elven relic. Created by an archmage as a tool to bring..." he chuckled to himself. "...empathy and understanding to the kingdoms. It was hoped it could help end the war. I found a much more worthwhile use for it."

Dark clouds surged out of it, and before Callum could try to run, they plunged down his throat.

He let out a gagging sound.

"Callum?" Ezran asked, worriedly. "CALLUM!"

Cries. Screams.

"No! No please!" A soldier begged, before a blade swung down, ending him.

City to city, town to town. Flames burning. People dying. The same, cloaked figure standing in the center of it all.

It cut to one of his citizens, pleading for mercy, as the elves burned their island to the ground.

The scenes were all the same. Conquest. Destruction. The mass ending of lives.

Azrael stood, watching it all, hatred in his eyes.

Now, a throne room. The throne of Katolis.

A man, in royal garbs, on his knees.

A stern looking King Harrow stood before him.

Callum tried to latch onto this memory, but with all of them flowing, it was impossible. He was quickly shunted to a new one.

"Why even fight? They're gone! They're all gone!" A teenager shouted, tears in his eyes.

"I know. I know, Talon." Azrael replied, embracing him. "But we must fight on. It's all we can do. We will avenge the fallen."

More burning cities. More death. More terror.

And then, an unexpected sight.

Rayla.

This time Callum latched on. Hard.

It was a younger Rayla. Standing next to a pool. An older elf stood beside her, head bowed.

"The chamber was empty. They...they did not stay and fight."

Rayla shook her head.

"No...no that can't be, it has to be a mistake!" She argued, through tears. "Runaan, you can't really believe this! They wouldn't do that! They wouldn't leave!"

"Rayla...I'm so sorry." Runaan replied, leaning down and embracing her. "You are not responsible for your parent's mistakes. You never will be. What is done is done, but you are Rayla. Your destiny is not yet written."

Rayla shook her head, more tears pooling in her eyes.

"What happened to the egg?" She asked.

Runaan looked back at her with sad eyes. Then he closed them.

"As I said...what is done is done..."

Rayla shook her head, collapsing to her knees.

"That's not fair! It was just an egg! How could my parents leave it to them?! How could the humans..."

"I don't know..." Runaan replied. "Rayla..."

"Why would the humans do that?!" She demanded, anger in her voice.

"It doesn't matter why." Runaan replied, his expression hardening. "Justice will not be denied."

Rayla bowed her head, angry tears streaming down her face.

"Let me help. Please."

"Rayla, you are not yet ready..."

"You said I'm the fastest, you said I'm the strongest, so let me come with you!" Rayla demanded. "Let me help!"

Runaan turned away, and Rayla stood up, grabbing his arm.

"Please. You have to let me make this right. You have to let me fix what mah parents did." Rayla begged.

Suddenly, Rayla and Runaan vanished. And more scenes of destruction came sweeping through.

Callum was on his knees. It was all too much.

So much pain. So much fear. So much death.

All at once.

"What did you do to him?!" Ezran demanded angrily.

"I showed him the pooled experiences of...hundreds, if not thousands of people. All suffering, all at once. If he is strong enough...it will not break him."

Callum had his face pressed down in the snow. Tears streamed down, melting the snow beneath him.

"Callum...Callum get up!" Ezran pleaded. "We have to go."

"There is no more running, young King." Azrael stated. "Today, you pay the price that my people paid years ago."

"Callum!" Ezran called again.

Callum's head snapped up, and he forced himself off the ground. His shoulders heaving. Tears glistening on his cheeks.

His eyes narrowed, glaring at Azrael.

"You're a monster." He snarled.

"Maybe I am. But your stepfather made me this. Every life I've taken, could've been avoided if King Harrow LISTENED TO ME!" He shouted.

"No!"

Callum turned in surprise.

As an angry Ezran stepped out from behind him, and walked straight up to Azrael.

"No! Nothing my dad did made you what you are! You're a murderer! You're a disgrace of a king!"

"Ez!" Callum shouted, trying to step in front of him.

"You dare?" Azrael asked, cocking his head to the side in genuine surprise.

"All you did was wage wars, and kill people, and when they retaliated, you used it as an excuse to kill even more people! You didn't just fall into the cycle, you are the cycle!" Ezran shouted, jabbing a finger. "People like you, people who think the way you do, are the reason we have wars in the first place! You're so obsessed with glory and bloodshed, you don't even care that you're making the world around you worse!"

"Ezran, get behind me!" Callum shouted.

"No! I'm a king!" Ezran replied, glaring up at Azrael. "I'm not hiding anymore."

Azrael let out a light chuckle.

"It's a shame none of your subjects were here to witness your bravery." He said, pulling a blade out of his cloak.

Ezran's eyes widened.

"EZRAN, NOW!" Callum shouted.

Ezran turned around.

And saw a rune floating in front of his brother.

"FULMINUS!"

Ezran dove aside, as lighting erupted forward.

The distracted Azrael's eyes widened.

Before he could react, the lighting struck him in the chest, and sent him flying back, smacking against a tree.

"Kill them!" Talon shouted.

Callum turned, to the snowy mountain slope above them.

He quickly drew another rune, as the barbarians went for their bows and swords.

"ASPIRO!" He shouted.

A gust of wind erupted outward, slamming against the snowy bank.

And jarring it loose.

Callum grabbed Ezran, and sprinted toward the treeline, as the mountain shook, and the snow came crashing down.

"Clear out!" Talon shouted, as the snow crashed down around them.

They retreated, as the trees behind them were torn out of the ground by the snow's force.

Callum and Ezran sprinted, to stay ahead of the avalanche.

But they could not. It swept them up, and carried them ahead, down into the thicker, snowier forests below.

Carrying them quite violently away from their pursuers, towards safety.