It wasn't long before the news spread that there was an elf in the pillory. Quickly, a gawking crowd began to form, surrounding the pillory. Callum, despite the clear opulence of his clothing, barely seemed to attract a glance, compared to the unusually dressed, pointy-eared and clearly non-human elf next to him. Before long, Rayla, who tended to value her personal space, was surrounded by what seemed to be an endless mob of humans, some of whom seemed to have no idea that she might not want to be prodded and poked. Before long, she was twisting and writing, within the tight limits of the movement the pillory allowed her, trying to keep her ears and horns away from grasping hands. Her four fingers also seemed to be a source of curiosity, which she bore with a surprising degree of fortitude, compared to her frantic attempts to protect her horns and ears.
Finally, when he saw tears flowing down her face, Callum snapped.
"SERGEANT!" He yelled, putting every bit of authority he could muster into his tone. "This elf is a personal friend of King Harrow. Do your duty and prevent the crowd from tormenting her."
The watchman standing nearby snapped to attention, and began to push the crowd back, almost before his brain caught up with what had been said, and by whom. After a moment of thought, he continued to give Rayla some basic dignity.
If this boy is Prince Callum, and he certainly looks like the boy I remember, then I should help the elf. And even if he isn't, there's no reason to allow a person to be treated like that, even if she is an elf. Sergeant Kylon thought, looking for his usual partner, Corporal Knobs. Knobs, fortunately, was already working the far side of the crowd, pushing back the gawkers. She may be an elf, but... she looks like my daughter, or like she could be my daughter. And, let's be honest, given that she turned over Dean and his boys without them even laying a hand on her, I probably owe her a favour.
Once she had a little bit of personal space again, Rayla's fingers sought out Callum's, and entangled themselves with his. Although they could do little more than grip each other's fingertips, it was a point of warmth that slowly spread throughout both their bodies.
After about an hour, most of the gawking crowd had been dispersed by the setting sun and a light flurry of snow. The latter also worked its way, slowly, into the various folds and gaps of Callum and Rayla's tunics, adding an extra layer of discomfort. The heavy iron cuffs fastened around their wrists, ensuring that they couldn't withdraw their hands from the pillory, seemed to slowly tighten as they stood there. Their backs began to ache from the unnatural position, and both began shifting around, trying to relieve the creeping pain.
The handful of holdouts included a man selling mulled cider, whose cart most of the rest were gathered around. A small gang of the local children had been building a snowman nearby, which was, mysteriously, fully dressed in warm furs. Several carrots had been haphazardly stuck into its head, creating the effect of a pair of horns. With the snowman built, however, the children began to look for additional opportunities for mischief. A volley of snowballs pelted the group sipping mulled cider, and before long, they decided that a tavern was a better place to drink.
Then, an easier target presented itself. Callum saw a very familiar pair of blue eyes looking out from under a fur hat, right before a barrage of snowballs emerged from the dusk and smacked into his face. Several more smacked into Rayla's face, or slapped into the thick wooden board, scattering snow down the back of both of their necks.
Ez, I am going to kill you! Callum thought, as a second barrage arced towards them. This time, a few snowballs also peppered the two watchmen standing at either end of the pillory. A third barrage came in, just in time for Callum to have finished spitting snow out of his mouth, more heavily targeting the two guards. One of them briefly doubled over, before they both set off after the kids, who fled, steadily throwing snowballs as they ran.
A few moments after the watchmen had left, Callum became aware of a strange sound next to his right ear. It sounded like metal rubbing on metal. Twisting his head, he could see nothing. However, he could hear something being whispered.
"Ceann amháin dhá trí ceithre, flick an ghabháil i líne Cúig sé seacht n-ocht, oscail an glas agus rith." He heard being chanted, before there was a louder click, a few sounds of rattling, and the pillory opened. Standing up, and stretching the knots out of his back, he saw the child Rayla had briefly spoken to, tucking a pair of small metal tools back into a boot heel.
"Tar liom, mura bhfuil tú ag iarraidh an oíche ar fad a chaitheamh anseo." He said.
"The human only speaks common." Rayla said, as she stretched out the knots in her own back. "And these cuffs need to come off."
"Wait... there are two humans here..." Callum said. "Is that..."
"Khidell." The child said.
"Is Khidell..."
"Yes." Rayla said, brusquely, as Khidell finished unlocking her cuffs. "Now, if the dumb human has finished loudly asking questions, we probably need to run."
"Ellis and Ezran will be waiting outside the village." Khidell said, as he unlocked Callum's manacles. "I know the spot. But we'll have to move quickly."
Rayla grabbed Callum's arm. "Ready?"
"Yes." Callum said, looking into her eyes for what felt just a tiny bit too awkwardly long.
The two elves shot out of the blocks, with Callum hot on their heels as they sprinted for the treeline. To their surprise, there were no shouts of pursuit, or that the prisoners had escaped, or anything else. There was just the crunching of fresh snow, before they were in the treeline, and Rayla slowed down from a headlong sprint to a jog. Callum, panting heavily, had just about managed to stay with the two elves.
"She should be waiting over here." Khidell said, leading the two teenagers deeper into the forest. There was a brief sense of pressure at one point, before they emerged into a clearing, which also contained Ezran, Ellis and a large wolf. A moment later, a giant bird just materialised in the clearing. Around eight feet tall, with blue feathers and a flaming tail, there was a hooded figure sitting on the bird's back.
"Greetings." She said, after a moment, "I am Lujanne. When Khid sent a message that you needed my help, I came as fast as I could." Tall, with purple skin, white hair and teal eyes, the woman was clearly a moonshadow elf.
Rayla took one look at her and dropped to her knees. "She's not a healer. She's a fake. She's a moon mage. An illusionist."
"You're quite right, girl." Lujanne said. "Fortunately, however, I did bring someone who is a healer."
"G'day." Rayla heard, from behind a tree. "Janey here says you've got a dragon egg that's bin dropped into a frozen lake. Let me have a shufta, and I'll be able to 'elp."
Ezran fished out Zim's egg and handed it to a tall figure wearing a pair of what looked like shorts, with a khaki hooded robe and a tan tunic. "Crikey! I haven't seen a sky dragon egg in years. Especially not one this size. 'As one of ya bin robbin' Archdragon nests or somethin'? Says his name's Azymondias, by the way. And we're gonna need to hatch him pronto. Puttin' that primal stone in was a nice idea, and it's bought some time, but we're gonna need the mother of all storms."
"Stevo, could you be a little bit more precise?" Lujanne said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Well, if you know how to summon a hurricane, we could probably manage."
"Yeah, we've got the human..." Rayla pointed at Callum, "But he's not much of a mage yet."
"Hey... I've literally had a week to learn."
"Doesn't change anythin'. Rayla said. "Not yer fault, but it don't change the facts."
"Thanks." Callum muttered, tossing the primal stone from hand to hand. "Rayla, there's a lot of storm energy in this stone, right?"
"Uh, yeah. It's a storm primal stone... that's what they are."
"What would happen if I smashed it?"
All the elves took a rather large step back.
"Not here." Lujanne said, after a moment of shocked thought. "We're too close to the village. Get on Phoe-Phoe, the lot of you."
After a few moments of arranging, they ended up with Lujanne sitting at the front, with Stevo behind her, and Khidell in Lujanne's lap. Next, Callum sat in front of Rayla, with her arms around his waist, desperately trying to ignore the pressure on his back. Ezran, Ellis and Ava were at the very rear of the bird, just about managing to cling on to the wolf with a hand each.
The take-off, other than Rayla needing to lend a hand to brace Ava, was uneventful, as the moon phoenix soared out of the clearing, heading for a nearby mountain. When they landed, they were on an outcropping, just outside of a small cave.
"When the stone breaks..." Stevo said, as he began tying ropes to the rock face. "There will be a lot of wind. And then, hopefully, there will be an eye forming. We need to get the egg into that eye. Janey, that may mean Phoe-Phoe having to get it there."
Lujanne nodded, looking concerned. "Everyone, grab on."
Once the group was firmly attached to the cliff or inside the cave, Stevo signalled Callum. "Throw the stone."
Tossing it overarm, Callum threw the stone out onto the rock, well away from anyone. As the orb struck the unyielding stone, it shattered, releasing a sudden gust of wind and sending a pillar lightning into the sky. Overhead, the clouds rolled in, blocking out the moon within a few moments as the wind rose. Before long, the entire group was having to hang onto the ropes, as the winds tried to strip them from the mountain and hurl them into the night. It wasn't long before Callum, Rayla and Ezran were all being pulled horizontally by the sheer force of the winds.
Just as Callum was about to lose his grip, it was as if the storm suddenly cleared. Around them, a zone of bizarrely still air formed, surrounded by a wall of swirling vapour.
"NOW!" Stevo shouted. "Take the egg to the centre of the plateau."
Pulling it from his pack, Ezran ran onto the plateau. Without warning, the egg suddenly began to attract small bolts of lightning. He barely had time to place it down, before the lightning began rippling from the sky, surrounding the egg, which began to glow with a multicoloured light, as bolts of energy engulfed it completely. Suddenly, there was a giant flash of rainbow light, and the egg began to shatter, the cracks outlined with blue light, as pillars of light rose up into the sky. Suddenly, it went dull, and dropped to the ground. A seemingly eternal moment later, a small blue and white head emerged from the egg with a yawning sound. Within moments, the entire body of a baby dragon emerged, staggering forwards with its eyes closed, before tripping over its own feet.
When its eyes opened, the first thing the small dragon saw was Ezran, kneeling down in front of it. Without hesitation, it pounced.
Translations:
Ceann amháin dhá trí ceithre, flick an ghabháil i líne Cúig sé seacht n-ocht, oscail an glas agus rith - One two three four, flick the catch in line, Five six seven eight, open the lock and run.
Tar liom, mura bhfuil tú ag iarraidh an oíche ar fad a chaitheamh anseo - Come with me, if you don't want to spend the whole night here
AN: I did not intend this delay. Unfortunately, life got in the way.