There is gleaming white stone above him, glittering with starlight. Bone-pale branches brush against the stone, laden with silver leaves, rustling in a faint wind.
Callum blinks, sitting upright. Where was he? What had happened?
His head is aching and feels oddly heavy.
He wobbles as he stands up, and he puts a hand to his head. Something hard brushing against his fingertips…
Cautiously, he reaches up with both hands, and gasps aloud, the sound echoing.
Horns.
A pool of water rests a few feet away and Callum staggers over to it, dropping to his knees beside it and looking down.
A stranger looks back at him, an elf with dark, star-speckled skin, star markings beneath his eyes, which gleam leaf-green, sclera black as night. Dark horns curl up from brown hair.
"Oh, shit," Callum breathes.
The words are strangely foreign to him, sounds that he's not heard before.
He's not speaking common. The thought occurs to him, and it is as if something misaligned has clicked back into its proper place, a gear turning against another, a cog in one great mechanism.
"What the hell?!" Callum says, hearing the words aloud as both common and what he's suddenly coming to understand as Startouch elvish.
"You're new," a voice says, and Callum can understand it, "I haven't see you here before."
There's an odd disconnect, as Callum glances up to find another elf beside him. He's small, shorter than Ezran, even.
But the branching horns are familiar, though they are shorter, as are the golden eyes that study him, curiosity gleaming in their depths.
"Aaravos?!" Callum squeaks.
"Nope," the child says, grinning widely. He's missing a tooth, his pale hair short, just brushing the collar of the blue tunic he wears, a small silver torc resting around his throat, his dark feet bare and speckled with glittering stars.
"Little one, what have I told you about telling lies?" another voice calls, and it is far more like the Aaravos that Callum knows, though there is an accent there that Callum cannot hear in the child's voice, all rounded vowels, soft and smooth.
"Is not a lie," the child says, pouting.
"It is a half-truth, then," the voice continues, and the tall figure of Aaravos appears as if from nowhere beside them. "And those can be far worse than simple lies."
The elf is robed in shimmering robes, horns crowned in silver, bracelets of shining gold at his wrists. He walks barefoot, and Callum can see how the star that Callum has only ever seen as a mere outline, is whole, a brilliant glow against Aaravos's chest.
"You look different," Callum says, standing and hating how he wobbles around like a newborn calf.
"I am different," Aaravos acknowledges. "You were not meant to be here, child," his eyes are completely white, not a trace of gold to be seen. "We are but parts of the greater whole, separate in a way that we should not be. Once we could have returned ourselves but now we have lost the way."
In the distance, Callum hears the sudden sound of crumbling stone, followed by a loud splash as if something heavy has dropped into water.
"And other dangers lurk now within the star-tower," Aaravos says ominously.
"So you're parts of Aaravos's mind?" Callum asks, "I'm stuck in his head?!"
"More or less," the child chirps. "It's nicer up here though."
"Up here?" Callum asks.
"The upper levels are more...safe," Aaravos says.
Callum looks between the two elves. "Okay, if you're not exactly Aaravos, what do I call you?"
"Starshine!" the child says, giggling.
"Morning Star," the adult says, and the name has a physical weight to it, heavy with power.
Callum looks at him, realizing, "You're him before, when he was Archmage."
"Correct," Morning Star says, "the height of our power. Before Elarion's treachery tore us from our beloved Xadia."
"Do you know why I..." Callum gestures at himself, suddenly lost for words.
"You look as you were meant to," Morning Star says, "As ourself forsaw, and so our mind reflects that reality that is not as it should be."
A rumble shakes the ground beneath them, and Starshine tugs at Morning Star's robes, and the elf lifts him up, the child clinging to his neck.
"What is beneath us?" Callum asks.
"Water mostly," Morning Star says. "Mostly."
"Mostly?" Callum echoes.
"The creepy one is down there," Starshine says, idly weaving a braid into Morning Star's hair, "we don't like him."
"He means Corruption," Morning Star adds, "He usually stays on the lower levels, but with our mind being what it is, things are...breaking."
"Breaking? What do you mean breaking?!" Callum demands.
Morning Star studies him. "We are old, Sihr," he says, and Callum's name has a sharp ring to it, an echo that is not present when Aaravos himself usually says it. "We are old, and Elarion left behind a darkness when she tore free our heart. A seed of that darkness has been growing within us ever since, and it is our punishment that it must devour us at the end."
"That's...awful!" Callum says, and Morning Star shrugs.
"It is the way of things," he says. "Though you have kindled hope, and perhaps it will not be our fate after all."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Callum says fiercely. "You said you'd lost your way, if I help you to find a way back, what happens next?"
"I do not know," Morning Star admits.
"Something fun!" Starshine says, grinning.
"Your definition of fun, is not my definition of fun," Morning Star says with a sigh. "Rejoining us with the greater whole will aid him in healing, possibly."
An echoing shriek comes from below, a wail that sends shivers down Callum's spine.
"And Corruption will be purified."
Callum doesn't like how Morning Star says the word, a kind of dark relish to his tone.
A great crashing of stone followed by another splash resounds in the distance as another rumble shakes the tower.
"Come," Morning Star says, turning away, "We will lead you to where the path became a maze, and we will see if can aid us."
"Why is this place collapsing now?" Callum asks as they move, "why not earlier?"
"You gave us strength," Morning Star says, "A determination that lit a long-dimmed fire. We would not go as long as you had need of us."
"But we don't have much choice now," Starshine says quietly, far too solemn, Callum thinks, for any child, human or elf.
"We reached too far, shielding you from the wards and attempting to return you to your waking body was a great strain, and now our physical body lies weak and fading in the tower," Morning Star says softly. "Though we will not flee into that dark night without a fight. If we die now, we condemn your mind to the same fate, while your body yet lives."
Callum shivers at the thought.
"This way," Morning Star says, and Callum follows, still wobbling.
Morning Star catches his arm with his free hand and guides him.
"Why am I so off-balance?" Callum says exasperatedly some time later, after he's almost fallen over for what has to be the twentieth time, "I mean, they're horns, Rayla doesn't have any trouble with this!"
"She was born with them, little one," Morning Star says, "She has known their weight all her life; you have not."
They stop beside a garden that is overflowing with what Callum recognizes as sun-dew flowers, the vines spilling out onto a colorful mosaic floor.
Starshine hops down and vanishes into the greenery, and the sound of his faint humming drifts back.
Morning Star half-kneels, placing his hands either side of Callum's forehead, pale light emanating from him. "This should help," he says quietly, "Stay still, ab-najmay."
Callum registers the words as an odd clash of syllables, the first part untranslatable, even with his newfound understanding. My star, is the second part, and the warmth that the endearment has makes Callum smile.
His head feels instantly lighter, and though it takes a moment to get used to, the horns aren't nearly as heavy as they had been before.
"Thank you," he says.
Morning Star smiles warmly, brushing the hair back from Callum's face, thumbs just brushing the edges of Callum's horns, an odd prickling sensation.
Starshine chooses that moment to duck back out of the garden, grinning gleefully, a smudge of dirt across his nose.
He's wearing a hastily made flower crown and carrying two more. Silver-white and golden flowers are woven together, gleaming in the light that fills this place.
"Flower crowns!" Starshine crows.
Morning Star sighs, dropping his hands from Callum's head. "Really?"
"Yes," Starshine says, reaching up on his tip-toes to place the crown on Morning Star's pale hair before turning to Callum.
Callum bows his head, allowing Starshine to gently place the crown.
"I crown you mage of the flowers!" he cries, giggling.
Callum grins back, "Thank you, Starshine."
Morning Star stands, "Come, we've much farther to go yet."
Starshine skips ahead of them until the path forwards devolves into many paths past many rooms, a maze of hallways, all arched ceilings and open spaces. It is then, that Starshine returns to walking beside Callum, one hand in his.
Further in, there is a doorway from which warm spring sunshine drifts, the scent of wildflowers light on a breeze. Callum can see a blue sky, fluffy white clouds floating aimlessly above fields of swaying flowers.
In the distance, far off, Callum can see a figure dancing through the flowers, a song caught on the wind, echoing down.
The voice is sweet and clear, the song familiar, a memory just out of reach.
"Zahrati," Morning Star says, his voice wistful, and Callum looks up at him, though instead of painful grief, warm fondness is written across his face. "She is singing."
The figure is dancing closer, ethereal and wearing a dress that glitters like the entirety of the night sky, and Callum can see now that she is holding something in her arms. A bundle.
"What could have been, what was lost to us long ago," Starshine says, and the child's soft smile carries a barest measure of that agonized grief that Callum has seen before.
The woman called Zahrati dances closer, closer, spinning around and around, lifting her bundle to the light, and Callum can see that it is a child, a little elf with barely visible horns, giggling happily as their mother dances.
Callum lets go of Starshine's hand, stepping forward into the room, past the archway and suddenly the flowers are gone, Zahrati and her child vanishing like morning mist.
He stands in an empty chamber, the only sound the faintest echo of Zahrati's song, haunting and eerie.
"There was a child?" Callum asks, turning back to look at Morning Star, who is not looking at him, though Callum can see a gleam of tears on the elf's cheeks.
"He was lost to us," Morning Star says and then they stand within the tower again, a bright portal gleaming as Aaravos strides towards it, reaching out and there is fire, roaring like a tempest.
Callum watches in horror as Aaravos shields the portal before he is thrown back, slamming against the opposite wall to crumple unmoving upon the stone. Blood pools beneath his head, eyelids fluttering shut. A desperate scream, Zahrati's scream, Callum realizes, resounds as the portal slams shut with a horrific crack.
"Lost to us," Morning Star repeats, the scene fading and they stand in an empty chamber once more. "They both were," he draws in a somewhat shaky breath, "Come, let us not linger long here."
Deeper in, there is a notable doorway, cracked and oozing a thick black tar-like liquid. It seeps across the floor, and Callum can see what looks like drag marks through it, as if something has slithered past, into the room. Morning Star picks up Starshine and ushers Callum quickly by, raising a finger to his lips as he does.
"What's in there?" Callum asks after they've turned a few corners and the tense line of Morning Star's shoulders has eased a little. It's darker in this part of the maze, and Morning Star's dim glow at least gives enough light to see a way forward.
"The heart of the corruption," Morning Star says, and his voice is very low, "Keep quiet, little one, for there is evil there that does not sleep. You have glimpsed it the once, and to do so again, would be to look upon the face of madness itself. You would become something terrible, I fear. And our heart would break to end your suffering. A necessary, horrible mercy."
Starshine is silent, his face pressed into Morning Star's shoulder, trembling, a sight that makes Callum's heart ache.
"Hey, Morning Star, can we stop for a bit?" Callum asks.
"Why?" Morning Star asks before he looks down at the trembling form of Starshine.
"Ah," he says and kneels down, allowing the child's feet to touch the floor, gently prying Starshine's hands free from his cloak.
Starshine whimpers quietly, and reaches out this time to Callum, clinging.
"Hey," Callum says softly, wrapping his arms around the little elf. He's almost Ezran's size, and so he easily fits into Callum's embrace. "It's okay to be scared, you know."
"I don't like it in here," Starshine sniffles. "It's too dark."
"Well, we can make it a bit more light, okay?" Callum says, and summons a tiny orb of starlight which hovers beside Starshine's face, and it makes his star-speckled skin glitter in the light.
"Better?" Callum asks.
"A little," Starshine says, reaching up to touch the orb, a tiny smile flickering across his face. "Are you scared?"
"Yeah," Callum says, "and that's perfectly normal. I mean, I've never been inside someone's mind like this, and I don't quite know what I'm supposed to be doing, so...I'm doing the best I can with what I've got and sometimes that's all you can do, even when you're scared of the darkness around you. You can't let fear keep you from moving forwards."
"Oh," Starshine says, wide-eyed and awed, watching Callum, "Oh, that's it," he breathes, all the fear suddenly replaced with bright and vibrant joy. "I understand now!"
"Understand what?" Callum asks.
"How to get back to ourself!" Starshine says, his small hands reaching out to pat Callum's cheek, "Thank you, Sihr!"
Starshine turns his gaze to the archmage standing beside Callum, "Morning Star, I can see him!"
"See ourself?" Morning Star asks.
"Yes!" Starshine says joyfully, "Don't wait for me!" he dashes past them and before he's gone three steps, he vanishes in a flicker of stars.
The air lightens immediately, a sense of peace filling Callum briefly.
"You gave him a way past the maze," Morning Star says, and as Callum looks up at him, there is an unreadable expression on his face.
"I did what I do for my little brother," Callum says. "I helped him to see past the fear."
Somehow, Callum gets the sense that helping Morning Star past the maze will be much harder.
"Further in, I guess?" Callum ventures.
"Yes," Morning Star says, pausing as something resounds down the corridor they'd come from.
It sounds like a blade scraping over smooth stone, a sound that makes the hair on the back of Callum's neck stand on end.
Morning Star's eyes narrow, the air around him dulling to an icy chill, a barrier of pure starlight forming across the corridor.
"Corruption," Morning Star says softly.
Black scales gleam as something vaguely humanoid emerges from the shadows, an almost ink-like fluid dripping after it. It has no legs, only a snake's body slithering over the stones. Above the waist however, it only marginally resembles the elf standing beside Callum.
Malicious red eyes find Callum's face, a sickening smile stretching across thin lips.
"Hello, Sihr," Corruption purrs, stretching out claw-like hands. "I've been waiting for you."
A/N: As ever thank you to Moondancer5813 for all of her help. This chapter would not have been written without her.
It might be a while until the next chapter. I am moving and thusly everything will be on hold until we get all of the stuff settled. Thank you for your patience!