Chapter 28: Salvation

This didn't feel like the riverbed anymore.

He was shivering, the cold biting at his freezing body, his exposed arms.

He wasn't numb anymore. Strange.

Also, he was moving.

More specifically he was being dragged.

"Is he alive?" A voice called.

"Oh he better be." Another voice answered. "So I can kill him."

He knew that voice.

His eyes snapped open.

"Am I dead?!" He exclaimed.

His head spun around.

Ezran was sitting on the snow next to him. Just ahead of the riverbank.

And on the other side, hands on her hips, was a soaking wet, angry looking moonshadow elf.

"Ohhh don't you tempt me, you big dummy."

Before Callum could even register what was going on, she had grabbed him by his collar, and lifted him up, so that he was hanging in her grip.

"I get arrowed, accused of desertion, shot at, slashed, punched, thrown off a bloody cliff, crawled around through mah own blood, get talked down to by an elderly moon mage, and come out here to find you tryin to sacrifice yourself?! Are ya serious?!" Rayla demanded. "That is MY THING! I'm the only one who makes sacrifice plays, not you!"

Callum stared up at her in a mix of joy and shock. It came out as a bit of both.

"What?! Hold on a second, are you saying I'm not allowed to..."

"Oh just shut up." Rayla interrupted, pulling him up into a kiss.

A passionate kiss. A long kiss. Not the Nickelodeon kind of kiss. Not a broadcast television kiss. A Netflix kiss. This one was real.

"Uhh...guys?" Ezran asked.

Callum held up a shaking finger, the cold still gripping him.

"Guys! Can we put a time limit on these things? Like seriously. At least in public. Come on."

Rayla released Callum, and the two looked to Ezran.

"Sorry. Makin up for lost time, my king." Rayla explained.

Ezran shook his head, walking up and hugging the moonshadow elf. "Please don't call me that."

"Fair enough." Rayla replied, hugging the king tight. "I missed you, Ezran."

"I missed you too Rayla. Wait, you got thrown off a cliff?"

"Yeah I have questions about that too." Callum agreed, raising a shivering hand. "Like, all of that stuff you just said."

"Oh my goodness, look at you. You need sleeves." Rayla said, turning and spinning Ezran around, and opening his backpack. "Where's that cloak?"

"Which cloak?" Ezran asked.

"Ya know, the human Rayla cloak!" Rayla replied. "It's always in here."

"Oh. Oh no. It's back at the castle." Ezran replied. He looked over at the shivering Callum. "You!"

He stomped over and slapped him on the cheek.

"Woah!" Callum exclaimed. "What was that for!"

"For being a jerk! Don't ever try to sacrifice yourself for me again!" Ezran commanded. "Not okay!"

"Yeah, no more sacrificin for you." Rayla agreed, wagging a finger at him.

Callum shook his head in disbelief.

"You try to sacrifice yourself all the time! You did it in Etheros!"

"Well clearly I'm not very good at it, am I?" Rayla asked, hands back on her hips. "And I told ya. It's my thing. You've got mage stuff, I've got ill fated self sacrifice."

"Wait...desertion?" Ezran asked, his face suddenly very serious. "Who?"

"That General you're so fond of." Rayla replied. "They arrived right after you escaped. When they found me in the ruins, he had me arrested for desertion. Said it would be easy to convict me since I was involved in your father's assassination."

Ezran's eyebrows flared, anger on his young face.

"General Pryce and I are going to have a talk when I get back to the castle." He said, balling his fists.

"Wow." Callum said, trying to shake off the cold. "Look at my intimidating little brother."

"Come here you." Rayla said, scooping him to his feet, and rubbing his arms for warmth. "So what now?"

Callum paused, frowning as he looked to Ezran.

"Right before the dragon attacked...you said you didn't think we should go home."

Ezran sighed, rubbing his royal robes nervously.

"Yeah. I did." He confirmed, looking up at him. "And I still don't think we should. Callum, everywhere he goes, people die. He's wiped out whole towns and cities. Before all this happened, Corvus told me he was a conqueror." He bowed his head. "If we go home, he's going to follow us. And even more people will die. Innocent people. My subjects."

"If we're not goin home, where are we goin?" Rayla asked, helping Callum walk.

Ezran looked down at the snowy ground, his mind racing.

"I...I think I know where we can go."

He stood up, and began walking along the river. "I remember where this leads. I think I do at least. Just...trust me."

Rayla nodded, lugging the already feverish Callum along, across the snowy ground. A slight limp in her step.

"What happened to you?" Callum asked, eyes wide with concern, even as he shivered. He ran his hands along her torn armor, and she winced as he touched one of her wounds.

"Sorry!" Callum exclaimed. "Rayla...who did this to you?"

"We'll talk about it later." Rayla replied, pain in her eyes, as she thought back to it.

"I WANTED HIM ALIVE!!" Azrael shouted, flames exploding from his hands.

"You should not have sent a dragon to do a human's work, then." Borvir spat. "You wanted me to track them. They made it difficult. I attempted to make it less difficult. Now they're dead."

Azrael was literally shaking with rage.

"You...useless lizard!" He shouted, turning and slicing his blade through the canvas of his tent. "Useless! You are right. I shouldn't have sent one of you monstrosities to do this job. I should've just waited for Talon. Now I've sent him off to find what? Corpses?!"

He let out another roar of frustration.

"Are you, or are you not preparing to march on Katolis?" Borvir asked. "So what if you do not get to kill Harrow's child yourself? You can still end his kingdom. Bring Katolis to its knees."

Azrael breathed heavily, gripping the orb tightly once more.

"I suppose I'll have to settle for that." He agreed. He turned to the barbarians in the camp. "Mount up! All of you! It is time. The King and Prince are dead. Now, we move to take Katolis."

Rayla and Callum continued to follow Ezran across the snowy forest.

Until they came across a clearing.

A familiar clearing.

It contained a decent sized wooden structure, and stone building, with a barracks alongside it.

Callum's eyes widened.

"The Banther lodge." He breathed. "Ez, you're a genius!"

"I know." Ezran agreed, walking up and pushing open the massive wooden doors.

They swung open to reveal the interior of the dark, cold lodge.

"I don't think anyone's been here since we were." Ezran said, looking around.

"Those were good times. Sent me to find a cube, your auntie almost killed me, Callum called me a blood sucking monster. Lots of happy memories here." Rayla grumbled.

"Yeah but you're my blood sucking monster..." Callum muttered weakly, the fever starting to take him.

"Oh you're feelin charmin today." Rayla replied with an eye roll, setting him down on a chair, then pulling out her blades. "Hold on just a moment..."

She held them over the fireplace, and scraped them together.

The sparks ignited the wood, and the fire roared to life.

"Come on." Rayla beckoned, pulling Callum in front of the fire, and rubbing his shoulders, as she tied his mildly damp scarf back around his neck.

"So Ez...what's the plan?" Callum asked, feeling ready to pass out. "We just hide out and eat stale bread till this all blows over?"

Ezran stood behind them, but he paused and looked over.

"No. You're going home to warn everyone. They're going to come for me. And I'm going to give them what they want."

Callum and Rayla's heads turned slowly to look back at him.

"Come again?" Callum asked.