"Alright, we're here." Callum said as he hunkered down behind a bush and motioned for the others to do the same.

Rayla knelt down a bit more gingerly than the princes and carefully peeked over the bush to see the lodge. Being built for human royalty, surely it was going to be needlessly huge and extravagant. But what she actually saw, while not what anyone would call modest, was far more rustic and homey than anything she'd expected. But...

"Y'know, if I were an Earthblood, I'd be foamin' at the mouth right now." Rayla remarked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Callum drawled, more focused on scanning the lodge for any signs of recent habitation.

"How many trees were cut down for a big cabin you only use durin' the winter?"

"Uh, for the clearing or the lodge itself?" Ezran inquired.

"Both."

"Yes, ignorant, wasteful humans," Callum grunted, "First Earthblood we meet, I'll apologize on behalf of my entire race. Until then, I'm gonna go make sure I'm right about the whole 'no winter, no people' thing."

"Sure you don't wanna leave the stealth and infiltration to the stealthy infiltrator?" Rayla teased even as she felt a twinge in her knee.

"Who said anything about stealth?" Callum scoffed. "If I'm seen, I'm supposed to be here. If you're seen, that's a fight or worse. Besides…" Callum trailed off with a pointed look at Rayla's leg.

The elf grimaced and grumbled, "I'm fine."

Of course she knew the elder prince didn't buy it; their first meeting told her he didn't miss much.

"Then you'll be a fine lookout." Callum replied, then hesitated for just a moment before breaking cover.

Rayla knew he was right, but she couldn't help but feel like he was picking up her slack. This was a team effort and she wasn't pulling her weight.

It took her a while to realize the significance of what had happened. Callum had willingly and deliberately left her alone with his brother.

For his part, Callum was already having second thoughts about that decision. Trust would be essential to the mission; they wouldn't get anywhere without it. But using Ezran to test her loyalty, honesty and resolve would never sit well with him.

'The quicker I do this, the quicker I get back.' he thought as he took a look through one of the large front windows.

It was filthy; he could barely see anything through the layer of dust on the inside. That meant no servants, and any guards would've been stationed outside waiting for the princes.

Even so, he announced himself at the door just to be on the safe side.

"This is Prince Callum, accompanying Prince Ezran. We're here by order of King Harrow." Callum spoke in his best impression of nobility and was thankful his voice didn't crack like every other time he tried it.

Ten seconds went by with no response, so Callum reached into his pocket to retrieve the lodge key, only to remember that it hadn't been given to him. Maybe it had been given to whoever was supposed to lead their escort group, or perhaps the abrupt end to his last conversation with the king kept him from getting it then. Either way, they were locked out.

"Alright, plan B." Callum muttered. "Just gotta figure out what plan B is…"

As much as she wanted to be optimistic, as much as she wanted to have faith in the Crownguard, many of whom she trained herself, General Amaya couldn't shake the feeling that the worst had come to pass.

Harrow's fatalistic letter didn't help. He said that he would fight until his last breath, but he also made the Moonshadows sound like unstoppable forces of nature. How much of a fight would he really put up if he already thought it was futile? A warrior's mind was both their greatest weapon and defense; when it was compromised, defeat was all but certain.

'And that man has been compromised for years.' Amaya thought with a grimace. Maybe it wasn't quite fair to judge him for his reaction to Sarai's death, or more accurately the circumstances surrounding it. But as a king, he couldn't let grief and guilt blind him to his responsibilities.

That wasn't a luxury afforded to those in command.

Movement to her left caught her eye and she turned to see the freckled, red-haired man riding next to her.

Once he had her attention, Gren signed his inquiry with a friendly smile, "Coin for your thoughts?"

"You read the letter."

"Do you really have such little faith in the king?"

"When he has such little faith in himself? Yes."

"Fair enough." Gren's smile faded. "What happens if the king really is dead?"

"That's for Viren and the Council to worry about." Amaya replied. "My only concern right now is for my nephews."

A shadow passing overhead was the only warning they got before a large crow plopped itself down upon Gren's head.

The General's eyes narrowed as the bird's eyes flashed purple. She held out her arm and the crow hopped onto it, allowing her to retrieve the message attached to its leg.

"I would say I hope this message finds you well, General Amaya, but considering the circumstances that would just sound foolish.

It is with a heavy heart that I inform you the king has fallen, though the assassins did not live to brag of their success. The princes are safe, however they never left the castle; they emerged from one of the secret passageways a few hours after the attack.

Since there is no need to visit the Banther Lodge, I would ask you to come directly to Katolis as quickly as you can. There is much to discuss and, as much as I hate to admit it, I need someone to help me with Lord Viren. He tries to keep up that unflappable facade, but he is seething inside and it is already starting to show. I feel that he can no longer be relied upon for sound strategy when revenge is his true motive.

Please forgive me for placing yet another burden on your shoulders, but I am running out of options. I seem to be the only member of the Council who is even trying to stand up to him, so I am left alone to bear the full brunt of a very angry Archmage's temper. I can only hope that you will be able to get through to him. Please, General, hurry.

Opeli"

Amaya handed the letter over to Gren as her mind went to work. As relieved as she was to know the boys were safe, that weight was now replaced with a dead king and a raging Archmage, the latter of which was the greatest concern.

'The last time Viren had a score to settle, he concocted a spell strong enough to kill the most powerful creature in the world with a single blow. Furious as he is now, who the hell knows what he'll do this time?'

Yes, a vengeful Viren was a problem that needed sorting, so going straight to Katolis was a must. But something was...off. She could feel it in her gut, and it was a feeling she'd learned to trust very early in her military career. It had been right about Harrow's fate, after all.

"Gren," the General signed after getting the young man's attention, "call for Corvus. I've got a mission for him."

Plan B ended up being an unlocked window on the second floor, which Callum had no trouble getting to. After a quick check of the building, he unlocked the door and waved the others in.

"Oh wow, it's just like we left it!" Ezran said, then turned to his brother, "Isn't it?"

"Pretty much." Callum shrugged. "Someone replaced that broken sconce, but otherwise it looks like no one's been here since we left."

"No one with a feather duster, at least…" Ezran remarked as he carefully set his backpack down.

Bait grumbled in agreement, looking none too happy about the dust now coating his paws.

"Yeah, I was gonna ask you to find a couple brooms so we can clean up a bit." Callum said.

Ezran nodded and went off to find the storage room that held most of the cleaning supplies. He knew where it was due to his father's insistence that the boys personally clean up messes that were their fault.

A sharp intake of breath was the only warning Callum got before a hand grabbed his left shoulder and he found himself taking on most of Rayla's weight.

"Damn leg!" Rayla hissed, carefully bending the offending limb back and forth. All the while taking no notice of the human's alarmed expression.

Thankfully said expression didn't last long before Callum got hold of himself and offered her a chair.

"Thanks."

"How bad is it?"

"I've had worse."

"That's not an answer."

Rayla slapped a hand over her face and glared at Callum between her fingers, but soon relented to his remarkably Runaan-like deadpan stare.

"I can still fight and run if I have to...but it's probably not the best idea."

"Kinda like kicking a Gumberoo."

Rayla scoffed, "To be fair, I had no idea what a 'Gumberoo' was. Kicking one didn't change that, by the way."

"Big, ugly, always hungry and very, VERY hard to kill." Callum replied. "They may look fat, but that's all muscle and armor."

"It felt weird though." Rayla grimaced as she rubbed her knee. "I was expectin' somethin' solid, but it just...gave way, then bounced me right back."

"Sounds about right. Without magic, nothing short of a siege cannon or ballista will even slow them down. Sun magic is the only reliable way to kill them, but fortunately they're all brawn and no brains; any kind of intense heat will drive them off."

"Ah, so that's how you did it. Clever."

A loud crash from somewhere in the back of the lodge cut the rest of their conversation short.

"I'm okay!" Ezran called. "But I think I'm gonna need more than brooms to clean this up…"

It was only when Callum relaxed that he noticed he already had his sword nearly halfway out of its sheath.

"A bit jumpy for such a 'safe' place, eh?" Rayla said with a quirked eyebrow.

"...There are footprints in the dust on the floor. Recent ones." Callum sighed.

"Any idea how many?"

"Based on the sizes, five that I've seen. Four look like standard issue Katolis military boots, but one is different. The tread pattern is too fancy for a regular soldier." Callum answered.

"Is that a problem?"

"It could be." Callum nodded slightly. "If someone already came through looking for us and found nothing, I don't know how likely it is that they'll come back…I also don't know if I would want them to come back."

"I guess it is quite suspect that they wouldn't leave anyone behind to see if you would show up later." Rayla said. "It also doesn't make much sense for them to make it look like they were never here."

"Mm. I'm gonna go help Ezran. Are you…?"

"There should be another full moon tonight; a few hours in the moonlight and I'll be right as rain by dawn."

"I kinda figured, but you know what they say about assumptions."

"Uh…"

"Ah, right. Well, over here we have a saying: 'when you assume, you make an ass of you and me'." Callum chuckled as he remembered the first time he'd heard it, and how long it took him to get it.

He chuckled even more when he saw Rayla's confused stare.

"Think about it." the prince said as he went after his brother, leaving the elf to ponder.

And ponder she did, for about thirty seconds before she figured it out.

"Pfft!" Rayla covered her mouth to contain the involuntary guffaw. "That's so dumb! Why is that funny? It's so dumb!"

'This is not how I saw my day going.' Soren thought as he stood in the corner of his father's lair/lab.

No, he had expected a full day of brooding, self-recrimination and having to deal with people silently judging him, while others tried in vain to cheer him up. But instead here he was, preparing to track down the princes and rescue them from a Xadian assassin. Maybe. There was still the possibility that they didn't need saving, or at least thought they didn't, which would make things so much more complicated.

Not that it would make a difference to Soren's duty.

"You almost ready, Claudia?"

"As soon as I find an Iktomi eye." she answered.

"Iktomi...Why do we need anything from a giant spider ?" Soren did his best to suppress a full-body shudder.

"We're going after a Moonshadow elf, so I want something that will let us see through illusions." Claudia explained. "In fact, I should probably bring a few of them."

"Mm." Soren grunted in response. Normally he would have protested, some might even say whine more, but this time the thought didn't even cross his mind.

Claudia didn't have armor and was hopeless with any weapon he'd ever seen her pick up. Magic and ingenuity were her first, last and only means of offense and defense, so spider eyes and Flare Dog teeth were as essential for her as forged steel was for him. With that in mind, Soren didn't dare rush or question her.

"Hey, Soren?"

"Yeah?"

"What happens if we find them and...they don't want to come back with us?" Claudia asked, Callum's last words to her echoing through her mind.

"We take care of the elf, knock 'em out and drag 'em back." Soren scowled when his sister let out a kind of disapproving huff. "What? Do you realize what the alternatives are? If we don't bring them back, we either have to let them go, or...carry out the penalty for high treason."

Claudia nearly dropped a vial of Chimera venom as she turned to face her brother.

"I can't do that," she said shakily, "not to them."

"Then we find them, put that elf down, and convince them that whatever crazy idea they had was doomed to failure and should never be spoken of again. They were taken as hostages; that's our story, and to keep Callum out of prison or worse, we need to stick to it." Soren let out a haggard sigh as he felt a headache coming on. 'What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Callum?'

"Um…" Callum blinked at the sight that greeted him when he returned to the foyer. "What are you doing?"

"Tryin' to keep my mind off the fact that I'm down a leg in enemy territory, and literally waitin' for said enemy to show up." Rayla replied while balancing an unlit candle perfectly on one finger.

"Not gonna enjoy the downtime while you can?"

"Are you?"

Callum said nothing and took a seat at the table opposite of the elf.

"So, what's the plan?" Rayla asked after a moment.

"What?" Callum blinked.

"What's the plan?" Rayla repeated. "You're pretty good at thinkin' on your feet, but I'd say you're the type who hates not havin' a plan." he reminded her of Runaan in that way. He was a thinker, a worrier; someone who wasn't comfortable unless he had a plan, a backup plan, and a backup plan for the backup plan.

"...Nothing's changed, yet." Callum answered after a moment. "We're going to wait until someone shows up looking for us. If I can trust them, you and I sneak away and continue our grand adventure, while Ezran goes back to Katolis to learn how to be a king."

"And if you can't trust them?" Rayla pressed.

"Still working on that." Callum sighed. In truth, he already had an answer to that one, but a niggling thought in the back of his head wouldn't let him say it.

He was trying to trust her, he really was. But as he had explained to the elf before, the problem was that even if he could trust her now, there was no telling what she would do if/when things got even worse. She had an easy out if she wanted to take it, and Callum didn't want to risk making that option more attractive by dropping even the possibility of disaster in her lap.

For her part, Rayla could tell the boy was holding something back plain as day. She wanted nothing more than to call him out on it, but the dull ache that was starting to make itself known in her left wrist made her bite her tongue and change the subject.

"...So, you seem to know a lot about the threats around here. Anythin' else I should know about before it tries to eat us?"

"Well…"

The two teens had lapsed into a semi-comfortable silence by the time Ezran reappeared, having stumbled upon a couple of old fishing rods. Specifically his and Callum's old rods, which hadn't seen use since Ezran decided he hated fishing. Even when it was catch-and-release, he balked at the idea of putting an animal through that kind of terror and pain purely for entertainment. And when he put it like that, even Harrow couldn't cast a line without feeling guilty.

But the young prince knew what had to be done. The lodge offered shelter, but no provisions seeing as how no one was supposed to be there. The only food they'd managed to find was a loaf of bread that somehow broke the breadknife Callum used to try and cut it, and some canned goods that would be better used in more dire situations. So while Rayla did her best to occupy herself in the lodge, the two boys went out to the small river out front to set up their rods.

After setting out a couple small blankets to sit on, Callum noticed that some of the "buzz" from using his magic was still present and took a moment to discharge some energy into the ground. Seconds later he nearly jumped out of his skin, with a yelp he just knew Rayla heard, when the mud beneath his hand suddenly came alive with worms.

"Huh. Well, that's the bait issue solved."

*Groan*

"You know I'm not talking about you."

"Uh...what just happened?" Ezran asked, understandably confused by his brother's apparent ability to summon worms.

"Whenever I use magic or get...riled up, energy starts building up inside me," Callum explained, "and I have to release it or else…"

Upon seeing the admittedly neat trick, Ezran couldn't help but ask, "Can't you, you know...just zap a couple of fish? I feel like that would be quicker and easier for...everybody."

"I wish I had the control to be that precise," Callum scoffed, "but I'm more likely to make a fish explode and kill everything in the water within a hundred feet."

"..." Ezran didn't really know how to respond to that, so he remained silent as Callum started baiting the hooks.

"It's not like the storybooks, Ez." the young mage said after casting the first line. "Having an Arcanum doesn't make you some grand wizard by default. It makes you a tool for your kingdom. It makes you a target for other kingdoms. It makes you a danger to everyone around you."

"You've never been a danger to me." Ezran replied, to which Callum just gave him a blank, unnerving stare.

"Do you remember when I used to help you bathe when you were younger? Do you remember the last time I did it?"

"Yeah, that...that was the time I got soap in your eyes and you ran out of the bathroom. I don't think I ever apologized to you for that, so...sorry?"

"I almost killed you."

"What?"

Callum tried to bait the second hook, but his hands were shaking too much. This was something he had never told anyone. A secret he would've gladly taken to his grave before today.

"I wasn't having a good day. I had finally managed to strike up a conversation with Claudia without making a fool of myself, then Lord Viren summoned me for training. Then something came up and he called it off before it even started. Then I find out that you chose that day to literally roll around in the mud...because some piglets told you how much fun it was."

"They did…"

"But Harrow put ME on cleaning duty like it was my fault, and you were NOT cooperating. You splashing soap in my eyes was the last straw. I was just going to yell at you, but then I felt it and remembered that I didn't have the luxury of getting angry like a normal person. When I get mad, there are consequences. I could feel the energy, Ezran, and it was a lot …" Callum had to pause to swallow the lump in his throat, "If I had grabbed you, put so much as a finger in the water, or even touched the wrong part of the bathtub...neither of us would be here right now."

"Cal…" Ezran tried to speak, but his mouth was suddenly incredibly dry.

"So yes, Ezran, I have been a danger to you. I AM a danger to you." Callum finally gave up on the hook, dropping both it and the worm from his trembling fingers and wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

"You don't believe that. You can't." the younger prince croaked, tears running down his own cheeks.

"I believed it enough that I never helped you bathe again. I believed it enough that I made you sleep in your own bed from then on. I believe it enough that I haven't hugged you in four years."

"..."

Callum suddenly stood up and whirled around to face the lodge and shouted, "You hear that, pointy ears? Still think this Arcanum isn't a curse?! HUH?!"

He didn't expect an answer, but a slight shifting in the curtains on the second floor was enough to tell him the assassin had indeed been watching and, more importantly, listening.

With a scoff he turned back around, only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw Ezran standing there with his arms outstretched in a clear invitation.

"No."

"Yes."

"I can't."

"You can."

"I can feel it right now."

"I'm not scared."

Callum walked up to his brother, stopped well out of reach and looked him right in the eyes.

"Then you still don't understand." the older boy then walked around him and over to the riverbank. "The magic is always there whether I'm using it or not. Always building up. Which stresses me out, which makes it build faster. I'm stuck in a cycle I can't break, and this...this is what can happen if I let my guard down at the wrong time."

Callum cupped his hands together and dipped them into the river. A muffled popping sound and a brief flash at the water's surface was the only indication that anything happened before he brought his hands back up to splash the collected water on his face. Seconds later, a fish floated to the surface. Then another. And another.

Ezran's arms sagged to his sides as he watched at least twenty fish float up, most still twitching in their final moments.

"Do you get it now? Or do you still want that hug?"

Callum spent the next few hours with nothing but the company of a couple dozen piscine corpses, and at that point he didn't want it any other way. Between the most intense use of magic in his life so far, and the sheer stress of the situation he'd found himself in, Callum needed the time alone to at least attempt to get himself together.

Once he felt he'd succeeded in that, he headed inside with three medium-sized trout.

"I see the ice chest still had something in it." as he gestured to the gauze-wrapped bundle resting on Rayla's knee.

"Good thing, too; it was startin' to swell up." the elf replied, choosing not to mention the Frost Troll quills that kept the chest cold enough to still have ice.

"Mm. Where's Ezran?" Callum asked softly.

"He's been upstairs for a while now…"

"...Is he alright?"

"No. But I think he will be, eventually."

"Right, dumb question." Callum sighed and began making his way towards the kitchen.

"Are YOU alright?" Rayla asked, trying to keep her tone neutral.

"No, but I'm used to it." the boy shrugged and kept going.

"Right...dumb question." Rayla mumbled as she watched him go.

This was not how she expected things to be. Sure, never in her wildest dreams did she imagine betraying her people to join a couple humans on a quest to save the world from itself. But even now that such a thing had happened and her eyes were now opened to endless possibilities, she still found herself being thrown for a loop at every turn.

If she were in Xadia and heard of a human who could do true magic, she'd have imagined him as an arrogant little prick who spent his life up on a pedestal, being worshipped as a living deity just for existing. But the apparent reality was a very different and far more depressing thing. And despite being from the land where magic was life and life was magic, there was nothing she could do to help.

'Who knows, if we pull this off maybe there will be a Sky mage or two who're willin' to train a human.'

Once the fish was in the oven, Callum found himself with at least half an hour to kill and used it for another "sweep of the lodge". Which meant he wandered around aimlessly, trying to keep his mind off the conversation he and his brother needed to have.

His "search" soon led him to the rec room, which turned out to be just what he needed. It was full of memories of better times and the rare occasions when he actually felt like part of a family.

The sleds they had piled onto and raced down snowy hills at speeds they probably weren't meant for.

The wooden swords they had used to act out scenes from their favorite books and plays.

The tabletop games that proved to be one of the precious few things Callum and Harrow had ever shared an affinity for and bonded over.

Those truly magical times when they could all forget about titles and obligations. When it wasn't about the king, the prince and the step -prince, but rather a man and his sons.

He needed these memories. Even with his steel-trap memory, it was easy to lose track of the good times when they were comparatively few and far between. They certainly wouldn't balance anything out, but they would keep the darkness at bay when it threatened to consume him completely.

"Maybe a little memento would help." Callum said to himself as he spotted the ornate box that housed the bits and baubles for their role-playing games. "Our special dice should do the trick!"

Once Harrow found that his boys also loved the games that had been his guilty pleasure for decades, he quickly had three sets of custom twenty-sided dice made. His, of course, came in the Katolis colors of red and gold. Ezran's were yellow and blue, representing his beloved pet. Callum's were colored in his favorite shade of blue, and green matching his eyes.

Even now he was still stunned that Harrow knew what his favorite color was.

Yes, they would be the perfect items to carry with him, just one from each set to have in his pocket. So with a smile on his face, Callum opened the box, only to slam the lid down and back away from it when he saw a blue glow coming from inside. After backing up another step, he took out his sword and used it to cautiously open the box again, revealing a wooden cube with runes carved into each side, with the one facing him emitting a blue light, albeit much dimmer than before.

He figured that each side represented the six Primal Sources, and it just so happened that the Sky rune was pointed at him.

"There you go again, ruining everything." Callum hissed as he walked up to it, noting that it glowed brighter as he got closer, until it was almost painful to look at directly.

His first thought was to turn the thing into kindling with his sword. But in a moment of pure pettiness, he felt it deserved a more ironic fate. So he picked it up and, with every ounce of malice he could muster, blasted it with a Fulminis spell.

To absolutely no effect.

He blinked owlishly, then snarled and tried again. But instead of the lump of charcoal or handful of ash he wanted, the cube remained fully intact. The rune didn't even glow any brighter in response to his efforts.

He had no idea how long he stood there, glaring at the cube like he could destroy it through sheer force of will, but in the end he settled for hurling it against the wall before turning on his heel and marching out of the room, not caring where it landed.

"Fuck you."