Chapter 24: Up the Caldera

"Everybody up, let's go!" Callum shouted, running from house to house with a torch in hand.

One by one, houses illuminated, as tired natives stumbled to the door.

"What's going on?" One of them asked.

"There's a dragon and a bunch of really bad guys coming, we're evacuating!" Callum shouted, running along the stone street.

"Who are you?" Another one asked.

"It's not important! There are really bad people coming. And they're gonna burn this place to the ground! If you wanna not die, you need to come with me, right now."

"I remember you." An older, bearded man grumbled, fixing his eyeglass. "You're the one who brought me that dragon egg!"

"Dragon egg?!" A lightly armored, bearded man exclaimed. He looked up, seeing the dragon circling. "THAT dragon?"

"No no no, different dragon!" Callum replied, a bit of frustration in his tone. "Look. We need to go. Now!"

"Where are we supposed to go?" The armored man asked.

"Up there!" Callum replied, pointing to the distant mountain.

The ever growing group of drowsy townspeople followed his gaze.

"The cursed caldera? Are you mad?"

"No, listen, it's all an illusion! There's nothing bad up the cursed caldera! We have to go there now, it's the only place you'll all be safe! They won't follow us!" Callum tried to explain.

"This is madness. I'm going back to bed." The armored human replied.

There was a tiny sound of a young voice clearing their throat.

"Citizens of Katolis!"

All heads turned.

As Ezran stepped forward, his tattered, stained royal robes still on.

"I am King Ezran! Son of Harrow! And I am issuing you an order! Evacuate this town, and make your way up the cursed caldera. Immediately!" He commanded.

The townspeople stared back at him in shock.

Then they began bustling to their homes, to grab what they could. Others made their way toward the caldera instead.

"We will lead you up! Get what you need quickly, and follow us!" Ezran finished. He and Callum exchanged looks.

"My little brother. On crowd control. Incredible." He said, beaming.

"Yeah, sometimes you have the flex the whole 'I'm the King' thing." He said, watching the people grab their belongings.

Ellis led her parents out of the house, before jumping on Ava's back.

"Not a chance I'm going up that caldera." The bearded mercenary stated firmly, arms crossed.

Ezran shrugged.

"Okay. Probably oughta find a bale of hay to hide in then."

"These guys are really thorough. You may just wanna run into the woods." Callum added.

The mercenary whipped out a sunforge blade.

"I can take them all." He stated boldly.

"Ohhhh I remember this guy!" Ezran exclaimed. "You're the guy who chased us up the caldera last time."

The mercenary shifted nervously.

"I chased the...the king of Katolis up the cursed caldera? No, you must be thinking of someone else."

"Listen guy. I get it. You don't trust us. You trust your little dagger, but there's gonna be a whole army passing through here soon. You don't want to be here when that happens."

The mercenary narrowed his eyes.

"I've fought many battles in my time. I'll cover your escape." he stated, swinging the little dagger around, from hand to hand.

Callum and Ezran exchanged another look, and Callum rolled his eyes.

"Okayyy..." Ezran conceded. "Good luck guy."

The mercenary nodded, and Callum and Ezran walked over to Ellis and Ava.

"Are we going?!" Ellis asked worriedly.

Ezran looked up at the dragon over the town.

He sighed, looking at Callum.

"If we go...they'll follow us. He'll climb up the cursed caldera. We'll be putting everyone in danger. Lujanne, the moon nexus, he'll destroy it all."

Callum's shoulder's slumped.

"You're right." He agreed. "What are we doing then?"

Ezran turned to Ellis, as she sat upon Ava's back.

"Hey. We can't come with you." He said, regretfully. "If we go with you, they'll follow us."

Ellis stared blankly back at him.

"What? Who's leading us up there then?" She asked, fear in her voice.

"You will." Ezran said, putting his hand on hers. "You know how to get to the moon nexus. You know Lujanne. You can save them, Ellis. I know you can."

Ellis sighed, watching the citizens of the town assemble around her.

"Okay. Okay." She said with a firm nod. "I got this. What about you guys?" She asked, looking at the two with worry. "Where are you gonna go?"

Ezran looked back at Callum.

"We'll figure it out. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine." He said with as much optimism as he could manage.

"Good luck Ellis." Callum said with a nod, putting his hand on his brother's shoulder. "And thanks for the coat, it's super fuzzy."

"Anytime. I mean not literally. I don't have a ton of coats. But...you know what I mean." Ellis said with a smile. "Take care of yourselves guys. Please."

Ezran nodded, turning to Callum.

"Let's go."

Ellis turned to the townspeople.

"Alright everybody! We're moving out, right now! If you wanna live, stay behind me!"

Rayla lifted her head weakly, as Lujanne draped the warm, wet rag on her forehead.

The moonshadow elf glared up at her with suspicion.

"Did you just put a pile a grubs on mah face?" She asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Oh no dear. Not this time. But thank you for the idea." Lujanne replied with a wink. "Perhaps later."

"Can we not?" Rayla pleaded, trying to sit up, more pain shooting through her body.

"You fell off a cliff, stay in bed dear." Lujanne insisted, pulling up a chair beside her bed.

Rayla rolled over to look at her.

"How'd ya find me?" She asked, as Lujanne leaned in, wiping some dry blood off her cheek.

"Find you? My dear, you came here. By the time you were losing consciousness, you were less than a mile from the nexus."

"How do you know I fell off a cliff then?" Rayla asked curiously.

"Well...the trail of blood you left for about a mile to the bottom of a giant cliff suggested that perhaps you'd fallen down it." Lujanne replied cheerfully. "Appearances can be deceiving but come on. That was easy."

Rayla nodded weakly, managing something that almost resembled a smile.

"Thank you, Lujanne. I...I didn't know if I was gonna make it." She rolled onto her back again.

"I'm sure you would have. Just to make it as far as you did...you should give yourself more credit dear. You have an exceptional spirit."

Rayla watched her walk across the room, the words washing over her.

"Thanks."

"Your shoulder is...an issue. And your wounds need time to heal. I recommend you stay here for a few weeks." Lujanne said, from the doorway. "You will be safe here."

Rayla shook her head.

"I don't have weeks. I gotta get movin. Callum and Ezran...I gotta find them..." Rayla said, moving to get out of bed.

"You will lay back down, or I will make you an illusion cottage out of grubs, and you'll stay there." Lujanne warned.

Rayla's eyes widened at the unexpected threat.

"Ohhhhkay." She replied. "But I can't stay here for a week. I can't. They're in danger!"

"Have you seen yourself recently?" Lujanne asked. "You seem to be living life rather dangerously. Am I to assume you fell off that cliff on your own?"

"Oh ya know, sometimes ya gotta live an extreme lifestyle. Go for thrills." Rayla replied with a smirk.

"Mhm. And part of that lifestyle involves slashing up your own stomach with an assassin's blade?" Lujanne continued.

"Eh. Alright, ya got me." Rayla conceded. "There are people after me. Or they were. They think I'm dead now. But they're after Callum and Ezran. I can't let them catch up. I gotta keep them safe."

Lujanne nodded.

"You won't be able to in your current state, my dear. You need to recognize that. Just be patient. Please. Take a few days to rest."

A few hours after the evacuation.

Azrael glared down at the town from a hill above.

Trundling across the snow, a look of rage in his eyes.

"It's quiet." He stated.

Rhizan stood behind him, brandishing his blade.

"Perfect to strike, my king. No resistance."

Azrael narrowed his eyes.

"That's not what I meant." He replied. He looked down, seeing many footsteps across the snow. His head tilted upward, eyes fixating on one object in particular.

A snowman. Beside one the homes.

A snowman with no nose. And a pair of horns sticking out of its head.

"What is this?" He asked, waving his hand in genuine confusion at the object.

"I do believe...it is a snow elf." The barbarian replied, eyeing it with the same level of confusion.

Hatred flashed across Azrael's eyes.

A flame formed in his hand, and he drove it into the chest of the snow elf, melting it from the inside, turning it to a puddle at his feet.

"Let's go." He snarled, turning and walking into the quiet town.

"Oy! You there!" A voice called. "Yes you! Villain! I know a bad guy when I see one."

The armored mercenary stormed up to them, pulling out his sunforge dagger.

Azrael watched in quiet disbelief as he walked right up to them.

He held the dagger, and suddenly swung it at the cloaked warlord.

Azrael weaved aside effortlessly.

The barbarians let out a grumble of disapproval, and went for their weapons, but Azrael held up a hand.

"I can handle this one." He hissed at them.

"Oh I doubt it." The mercenary replied boldly, posing with his hot blade.

"Are you the only one?" Azrael asked, as he slid away from another attack.

"They're all gone, villain. There's no one here to rob." The mercenary replied, swiping at his stomach.

"Rob?" Azrael asked. "I am not here for money. Tell me where the king is hiding."

"King? What king?" The mercenary replied unconvincingly, a smug look on his face.

Azrael sighed.

"Very well."

As the mercenary swung, Azrael pulled his sword from its scabbard, and drove it into his side.

The mercenary let out a gasp of surprise and pain, his eyes going wide.

"Now...once more..." Azrael continued, driving the sword deeper into the man. "The king. Where is he?"

The mercenary slowly shook his head.

"You...you won't find them. You're too late."

Azrael yanked the sword out of him, and he collapsed to the ground.

As he fell, the warlord grabbed the sunforge blade from his hand.

"Ah well. At least something of yours is useful to me." He said, examining the blade, and then taking the rune-inscribed scabbard from the mercenary's corpse. He looked up, and Borvir came swooping down, landing before them.

"Burn it to the ground." Azrael commanded his barbarians. They nodded, lighting torches, and began throwing them through the windows of homes. Azrael stepped around the dead mercenary, toward his dragon.

"Where did they go?" He asked.

"The townspeople went up the mountain." Borvir replied. "But the king and prince instead ran to the forest." He said, gesturing to the woods behind him.

Azrael narrowed his eyes.

"Take flight then. Find them."

Borvir sighed.

"Have you any idea how easily I could dispose of them myself? Instead of wasting all this time..."

"I do. But vengeance is not yours to take, dragon. It is mine. And you will not deprive me of it." Azrael snapped. "Find them. Report back to me. That is my command."

Borvir's beady eyes glared at the scarred king.

"As you wish..." he turned, lifting off the ground, and soaring over the forest.