After several hours of celebrating the victorious end to the war, the adults, mostly their aunt, decided it was time for Callum and Ezran to get some rest. "You two have been through enough lately," Gren translated. "You need rest."

Callum opened his mouth to protest, but Ezran grabbed his hand and looked up at him. "I think we should all go to bed. The real work starts tomorrow."

With the dragon equivalent of a smirk, the queen pointed down a hallway. "My guards used the chambers that way," she rumbled. "There are rooms enough for them there." Rayla smiled at the thought of staying in the room her parents had once occupied as she and the boys went to find rooms. The hallway the queen had pointed towards was basically a row of caves with doors of all shapes and sizes fitted into the openings. Glowing moss set into niches in the walls kept the room illuminated, but Callum guessed from the persistent breeze that there was also a skylight somewhere to let in light during the day.

Soren insisted they take the rooms all the way at the end of the hallway. The wind the young mage felt came from a window at the end of the hallway. It was actually a pretty big gap, big enough for someone to fall through if they weren't careful. Or fly through, Callum remembered. He rubbed his arms and grinned. That spell was probably going to be one of his favorites. Rayla and the boys split after that, each taking rooms on the sides of the gap in the wall. Soren took the one next to the boys, but closer to the hallway's entrance. Strategic, he said.

Ezran looked around and his mouth fell open a bit at what he saw. He'd been expecting a barren cave, maybe some more of those moss lights. That was not what he got. Directly in the middle of the room was a bed covered with a red quilt and what looked like very soft pillows. It was definitely big enough for the two of them. With a single look at each other, both boys shucked their boots and outerwear as fast as possible and climbed under the covers. Ezran was asleep within seconds, on his side facing his brother. A small croak sounded and Callum propped himself up on one elbow, looking over his brother's hunched form to where Bait was sitting by the door. He rolled his eyes affectionately and lifted his corner of the blanket. "Alright, Bait, come on in." The glow toad practically hopped into the bed and Callum curled up around his old amphibian friend, following his brother into sleep.

"Oh, I'm so happy! You finally learned how to fly!" Callum's eyes snapped open and a beautiful blue sky greeted him.

He looked down, and saw nothing. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" He flailed his arms, screaming "Manus, Pluma, Volantis! Manus, Pluma, Volantis!"

"Don't be silly, silly! You can't conjure me here. But don't worry, I won't let you fall." There it was again, that child-like voice. The words calmed Callum enough for him to realize that, while there didn't seem to be anything supporting him, he wasn't falling either. As his heart returned to a normal rhythm, he looked around for the source of the voice.

But there was no one, just him and the sky. He scanned the sky from the right to the left and, after bracing himself, looked down. Nothing. Then something soft brushed his cheek. He turned his head again, focusing closer, and finally saw a tiny songbird sitting on his shoulder. "Huh," he shrugged internally, and held his hand close to his shoulder. The bird hopped onto his fingers and puffed its wings slightly. Quite charming, it was, with the pretty black and white stripes running from its tiny head all the way to its tail. Callum would have mistaken it for a normal songbird, except for the eyes. They were a pure blue, as blue as the sky around them. Wait, no, they were a stormy grey, or were they a dark midnight? The color seemed to change as the bird tilted its head. "That's really cool," he mumbled, bringing the bird a bit closer to inspect its eyes.

The flyer opened its beak and out came "Why thank you. I knew you'd like this form." The prince dropped it in surprise. Still, the bird didn't seem to mind, flying in a playful circle around his head and settling in his hair. "I'm so glad I finally get to talk to you. I've been waiting for a human for ages!"

Callum couldn't help the awed smile as he reached up to stroke the bird's wing gently, hoping he was hitting the right spot without being able to see it. "What are you," he asked.

The sky filled with a breezy laugh coming from the top of his head. Now he could tell it was definitely coming from the songbird. "I'm the Sky Arcanum, silly. After all the effort you put into getting to know me, I thought you would recognize me." He laughed at that, and that seemed to make the bird even happier. They chirped and flew around his head again, coming to hover in front of him. Callum raised his arm and the bird took up their perch again. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm really happy you got to know me. Once you made your first pair of wings, I knew I wanted to give you something special. Don't worry, you'll like it." Then the bird flew off and the white faded as the dream ended.

Callum woke up to empty arms. Bait had migrated over the Ezran's side of the bed and was fully buried under the covers, settled in the crook of the young king's bent legs. His glow made it obvious even through the blanket. The prince took stock of the room and, realizing there was no way to see how early it was, got out of the bed and opened the door. In the hall, the moss lights had decreased their glow and a steady grey light came through the entrance to the outside. He walked to the slit and stared out. The sky was a dove grey, in that early morning stage where the sun has not yet risen, but the stars and moon were no longer visible. All there was, was the sky. "I'm really happy you got to know me."

He smiled and said to the great expanse, "I am too."

Yes, this is a bit of a time skip from the last chapter, but the first two are really setting up the main plot. I have so much planned for this, you guys, you have no idea. My favorite part of this chapter was writing the Sky Arcanum, though. What do you think? Any questions? Feel free to review!