WARNING: This chapter includes violence towards Ezran which may be uncomfortable for some readers. It probably isn't as bad as last time though.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE:

I had to go back and edit some things from chapters 1 and 2. These edits were mainly to improve continuity and consistency. I'll go through the edits right now so you don't have to waste time re-reading the entirety of the chapters to find them.

In chapter 1:

When the location and arrangement of Viren's body is described, I have added in that the two staffs (Viren's and the one belonging to the Sunfire High Priest) were also recovered at the site that Viren's body was found. Viren's staff was located right next to him, while the staff belonging to the Sunfire High Priest was located a couple of meters away, closer to the exit of the cave. The tip of the staff belonging to the Sunfire High Priest was found to be covered with dried blood splatters.

This edit was added in for continuity purposes.

In chapter 2:

When Callum says, "No, that's- that's the first place we looked," in response to Rayla asking him if they had checked the hallways for Ezran, he now adds that Bait was also found in Ezran's room. He says that Ezran would most likely have taken Bait with him if Ezran did indeed run somewhere, and that Bait was in a distressed emotional state. He also said that due to the fact that none of them can speak animal, they were unable to use Bait to get any information on what happened before concluding with the fact that Bait was left in Iris' care.

This was added mainly because of the fact that I genuinely forgot that Bait existed while writing the second chapter (oops), and thus, serves to explain why he's completely missing from the entire thing (and some future chapters).

Also, another minor edit that I did to chapter 2 was that when Zym was being stabbed with the spears, the text now explicitly states that the spears were ripped out of his body shortly before entering it. This is mainly for clarity reasons so that nobody thinks that the spears are still in Zym's body when he falls.

I think those were about all the edits that I had done to the two chapters. I hope you enjoy chapter 3! So far, this is the longest chapter in Sun Fueled Rage. It has a staggering 25k words! Yeah, this one is quite the marathon. I considered splitting this chapter in to two parts for this reason but decided against it, as the two parts would be shorter (although maybe not by much) than the typical Sun Fueled Rage chapter so far.

I don't know how long the coming chapters are going to be, again it's a "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" sort of deal, but it looks like they are all at least going to be, at least, the length of chapter 1.


The moon slowly moved across the sky ever so peacefully. The Storm Spire emitted a harsh and pressing atmosphere on the surrounding environment as it loomed over the terrain. Golden-armored knights surrounded the spire, spreading out as they searched. A horrible sense of calm washed over the land as the night progressed.

At the top of the spire stood the massive Sun Dragon, Sol Regem, waiting silently. His deep, even, and regular breaths filled the air of the room containing the old nest of the King of The Dragons and his mother. Several Golden-armored knights surrounded him. No words were uttered as they continued to stare at the entrance of the spire, waiting. The once, almost beautiful aura of the seemingly glowing plants faded as the stains of blood began to dry. The once Queen of The Dragons lay on the floor of the nest, drenched in a pool of crimson, silent and unmoving, her eyes beginning to haze over.

One of the knights had been looking at the carnage in the spire for a while before she finally began to speak. "Your majesty..."

Although Sol Regem wasn't King of The Dragons yet, his followers still had decided to address him with that title. This was a notion that he could not complain about. Sol Regem slowly moved his head over to where the voice had come from, signaling that he was listening.

With this confirmation, the knight continued. "Your majesty, what are we to do with the bodies of the queen and the Dragonguard members? Will we just leave them here?"

Sol Regem made a low growl as he began to think it over. "I do not care about what exactly happens to them." Sol Regem said. "You're welcome to throw them into a river if you wish."

In a way, Sol Regem felt sorry for them. Sol Regem knew how manipulative humanity could be. Azymondias was clearly brainwashed by humanity into a sense of trust so that Xadia could lower their guard. That manipulation had unfortunately also reached his mother who had always been hopeful for an impossible peace. However, they still let themselves be manipulated and that made them a traitor to Xadia, so the sympathy Sol Regem had was limited.

The knight nodded her head and motioned for several other knights in the spire to go ahead and clean up the bodies of the Dragonguard. Several knights advanced forward and lifted the lifeless corpses that had tried hopelessly to fight against them and carried those corpses over their shoulder, out of the spire. The knight who had first asked about the bodies then got a different knight who was in the spire to send for a dragon to haul Zubeia off, ordering her to be dumped into the nearest river that was deep enough to fully submerge her. Soon, the only evidence left of the violent struggle that had occurred would be the ever-drying liquid that had sprayed out of the victim's bodies.

Some time of distinct silence passed until the sound of footsteps coming in from the entrance of the spire alerted the Sun Dragon. It was one of the knights that had gone down to the bottom of The Storm Spire to look for the body of the fallen Dragon King. The knights had noticed that the fallen king was not visible from the top of the spire when they had looked initially. This was despite the extremely visible track of dirt that now beamed out from the base of the colossal structure. In response to this, the knights had sent a small party down to get a more detailed look. The knight who had entered the spire was breathing heavily, presumably from the long walk up the spire. However, there also seemed to be a bit of nervousness in the breath as well. "Your Majesty, my apologies but we have searched the area around the Storm Spire and found no sign of Azymondias."

Sol Regem began to growl for a moment but then leaned his head back and took in a large breath of air before speaking. "That is troubling news indeed," Sol Regem said as the gears in his head began to turn, thinking up the next course of action. This had been the news that he was fearing when it was first announced to him that Azymondias' body was not visible.

One of the knights standing beside Sol Regem cleared his throat, took a step forward, and then addressed Sol Regem. "There is no way that Azymondias could have survived that fall without being able to fly!"

Sol Regem growled again as he considered it. The deep noise that came from the Sun Dragon reverberated around the entire room, causing vibrations to loosen dust particles and small stones. The sound of the raining dust and the stones clanging against the spire floor died down as Sol Regem calmed himself. "Somehow, he did," said Sol Regem in a hushed tone, filled to the brim with venom. "Otherwise we would've found his body."

The knight who had just addressed Sol Regem began to think on that for a moment before turning to the messenger who was still waiting there by the entrance of the spire. "Are you sure you looked hard enough? From this height, it wouldn't surprise me if his body was reduced to a pulp and was completely unrecognizable."

Sol Regem knew that the knight was just trying to grasp at any straws that he could to be able to say that Azymondias was dead. The obvious flaws in the knights argument were a dead giveaway of this. No matter how unrecognizable the body was, there still would've been something obvious enough left over to find. Unfortunately, in this situation, grasping at straws was not useful.

The answer that the messenger gave to the knight who was grasping at straws vocalized Sol Regem's thoughts. With the confirmation floating in the air, the fact was undeniable. Somehow, Azymondias had survived the fall off of the spire and was loose in Xadia. Sol Regem's mind churned at the possible implications that this would cause as his breathing grew deeper and deeper. "Dispatch a search team immediately and look for him. I want that dragon found and dealt with." Sol Regem demanded.

The knight who had initially tried to reassure Sol Regem that Azymondias could not be alive spoke up again. "You're majesty, with all due respect, even if Azymondias had somehow survived, he would be in no condition to be any sort of a threat to you."

Sol Regem jolted his head in the direction of the sound emanating from the knight as he spoke. "Don't underestimate him!" Sol Regem snapped, causing the knight to instinctively take a few steps back as Sol Regem continued. "Even if he is injured now, he might not be forever. Despite being young, he is also still an Archdragon. As long as he breathes, he poses a threat," Sol Regem snarled. "Also, the news of his survival could be detrimental to what we are doing should it reach the wrong people."

The knight considered something for a moment and then nodded. Sol Regem obviously couldn't see that nod so the knight then began to speak. "Ok, you're right." He said with a sigh.

Sol Regem's tension faded as he began to relax. He then spoke with a hushed tone, addressing everyone in the room. "News of this will not reach the outside. At least not yet. To everyone else in Xadia and the Human Kingdoms, Azymondias will remain dead. I want this situation cleared up as soon as possible. Have I made myself clear?"

Everyone in the room responded with a bow and a collective "Yes, your majesty."

Sol Regem smiled. "Good." He turned his head back over to the one who had delivered the unfortunate news. "Gather yourself a search party immediately and head out as soon as you are able to. He could not have gone far yet. If he truly is as injured as we think, he should not be a problem to take down at this time."

The messenger then once again bowed and followed up with another "Yes, your majesty." As he left the spire.

Sol Regem sighed as he eased the last of the tension of the situation out of his body, listening to the footsteps of the messenger fading away. A small pause went by before Sol Regem spoke again. "The rest of you, prepare the forces for the invasion on Katolis." Katolis was the biggest threat to Xadia at the moment so they had to take priority. Sol Regem had managed to weaken them through the abduction of their king, but the sooner that Sol Regem was able to nullify them as a threat, the better. Eventually, Katolis and the Human Kingdoms would find out what was going on and their element of surprise would be lost.

"Your majesty, unfortunately, we do not have that many forces at the moment. Most of Xadia is unaware of what has transpired yet and even if they became aware, I doubt a lot of them would be willing to invade the Human Kingdoms. The past two years were plenty of time for King Azymondias to spread his ideas around," one of the knights said with a distinct Moonshadow accent.

Sol Regem's expression hardened as an exhale was released from his mouth. That knight was right. Even with Katolis' weakened state, he doubted that the support he had currently would be enough to begin an invasion. Sol Regem relaxed however, once an idea materialized in his head. "I'll take care of that," he said with a sigh. "I'll hold my coronation earlier than normal. There, I will also speak about the nature of humanity. Hopefully, this will show them the truth and get them to help build up our forces." Sol Regem's tone then turned much more authoritative as he continued. "Get a few people together to make sure word gets out about the impending coronation. Tell the recipients to try their best to gather near the border in two days. Tell them to use mounts or anything they may need to increase their travel speed. We need as many people to listen to this as we can. However, if not everybody is able to make it, make sure the message gets out to prioritize leaders and military forces to attend." Sol Regem knew that due to the size of Xadia, many people may not be able to make it to the border in two days as some people just didn't have access to fast mounts which is why it usually took some time to hold a coronation. However, he hoped that with a priority on leaders and military, it would be enough to begin his incursion.

The knight with the Moonshadow accent then went through the familiar spiel of bowing and saying "Yes, Your Majesty," before picking a few people to come with her and begin sending shadowhawks to different Xadian leaders.

Sol Regem grew a wide smile on his face as an additional thought penetrated his mind. "In the meantime," he said. "Why don't the rest of you contact Pyrrhos and tell him that it's finally time for him to bring King Ezran over here." His smile turned into a wide, toothy grin. "I've been dying to meet him."


Zym grunted as he walked under the moonlight. He was surrounded by nothing but plains. He had to keep walking. His entire body ached. Pain shot through him with each and every shaky step that he took. At times, the environment around him would blur out of focus and he would have to try hard to sharpen the image. Drowsiness, the monster that had come to take him, kept trying to wrap its hands around his body and pull him into the abyss. He didn't know how long he would be able to hold it off. All that he knew is that he had to keep moving. He wasn't safe here. He felt nauseated, overwhelmed as all the nerves in his body screamed out.

His wing was flaring up in agony. He still couldn't move it. Every time he tried, he got another cursed reminder of when his wing was hit. A reminder consisting of molten lava traveling through his body. He had looked at his wing again earlier to try to get a more detailed picture of what had happened to it. Shock jolted through him as he realized the true extent of the damage. A massive chunk of the wing was black and charred, and several holes were burnt through it. Burn marks radiated out from these holes and seemed like diseases that were spreading to overtake the entire surface.

Zym knew that this damage wouldn't be permanent. Dragons, like some other beings, could fully regenerate some body parts. Wings were one of those body parts that could be regenerated. However, with damage as extensive as this, he wondered just how long that would take.

Images of the events that had occurred before flashed through Zym's mind as he walked. His sudden awakening, the intrusion into the spire, Sol Regem, and his mother's lifeless body falling to the ground. He always tried to force himself to focus on the task at hand when that memory came up. It was too much to bear for him at the moment. Zym didn't know why he was still alive. He should've died then. He felt like it was sheer luck that kept him alive.

He had briefly looked back at The Storm Spire as he left but then instantly darted his head away as the image of his old home caused a choke to run up in his throat and a tear to drop out of his eyes as he squeezed them shut. It wasn't his home anymore.

His head began to throb, and his pace slowed. His whole body was beginning to shake as his legs began to struggle to support his own weight. Despite all this, he continued to push forward. He didn't know exactly where he was going yet. He didn't have the time to think that far ahead, and he wasn't sure if he was even capable of thinking about that at the moment. He had just assumed that anywhere would be better than where he had come from.

The environment around Zym was flowing with constant motion, blissfully unaware of what had just taken place as he moved onward. Despite his situation, it was a small bit of relief to take in the familiarity of all the sights around him. The grass moving in the wind, the fireflies and other nighttime insects going about their routines, and even the stars as they gently twinkled in the sky above.

Zym felt like he was about to collapse when he finally saw something in the distance. Something was sticking out of the ground. No, multiple things were sticking out of the ground. He couldn't make them out properly through the dark of the night. He had begun to think that something had gotten into his eyes at first. However, every attempt to get the mystery assailant out of his eyes proved unsuccessful. He then quickly realized that his eyes were completely clear, as whatever he saw was not following his vision when he moved it like something that was stuck in the eyes would normally do. He still couldn't make out their shapes though. That was until he got closer. Multiple thin cylinders were protruding out of the ground, branching off at the top and creating a roof that cast a shadow darker than the night below them.

They were trees. He was finally going to get out of the open. He may finally be able to stop for a while. Zym kicked it into full gear, going as fast as his weak body would carry him, stumbling multiple times along the way and wincing as his body desperately tried to object. As he got closer, he saw them clearer and clearer, gently swaying in the breeze. They seemed to be a completely ordinary species of Xadian trees. However, even in the night that changed their appearance to nothing more than black silhouettes which consumed all light around them, they looked like the most beautiful thing that Zym had ever seen.

Based on his knowledge of Xadia, and the direction he was headed, this most likely wasn't a full forest. It was just a small tree patch, but it would suffice for now. Even this was better than nothing. His body was still screaming with every step that he took, but he pushed to ignore it, his focus completely on what was in front of him, growing as he approached.

The trees towered over him as he reached the edge of the patch, seemingly welcoming him in. He slowly trod inside and became swallowed by the vegetation. The environment around him darkened as any moonlight from the sky became blocked off. Objects that weren't directly in front of him faded into an endless void. He felt the tickling feeling of the leaves from the various shrubs as they brushed by his leg. He heard the sounds of the crickets and the creatures in the trees that were around him, creating a vibrant atmosphere of life.

Zym didn't know exactly how long he was going to walk for but he wanted to get as far in as possible. The vegetation and trees eventually broke into a small clearing, allowing the moonlight to return and illuminate the space. The clearing contained a small patch of land, and a small, peaceful-looking pond that was off to Zym's right. The water glistened as it reflected the night sky above it. The trees that circled this clearing moved to protect it from the outside world.

Zym felt that his legs were about to give up, he probably couldn't go on for much longer and this seemed like the opportune place to stop so he finally put himself down right on the edge of the pond. After settling down, he breathed a sigh of relief as some of the pain from the constant motion finally began to radiate off of him.

Zym slowly craned his neck to move his head over the water to look at his reflection. He was a complete mess. Streams of dried blood covered his face, and his mane was in disarray. The white hair was stained with dirt, dust, and any other debris that could find their way in there. His entire body that was visible in the reflection was covered in patches of dirt and damage leftover from the several injuries that he had encountered. He opened his mouth and slowly moved his head down, allowing the tip of his mouth to enter the water. The cool water began to steadily flow through his mouth and down his throat as he drank, providing a much-needed refreshing sensation.

As he pulled his mouth back out of the water and watched as small drops fell from his muzzle, back to the surface of the pond, he got an idea. The sting in his left wing was shooting back into his consciousness and he couldn't ignore it anymore. With slow movements, Zym angled himself so that his left wing was facing the pond and then laid down. Once he was fully on his stomach, he slowly attempted to dip the wing in. He had to lean in with his body, almost causing him to lie on his side, for his wing to make it to the water. Attempting to move the wing was still a no-go.

When his left wing finally broke the surface of the water, Zym recoiled in shock causing his wing to rip out of the surface of the liquid as it followed his body. His eyes were squeezed together hard as the beginnings of a scream began to roar up his throat. However, all that came out of him was a broken, squeaking sound. The water had caused an immense surge of pain, that he was not ready for, to shoot through his entire left wing and even into some of his body. It somehow managed to feel a lot worse than any of the pain that Zym had experienced thus far. He felt a throbbing sensation as the drops of water from the pond trickled down his torn wing.

Zym let out a sigh as the pain finally began to lower in intensity and then looked at the water with a sad expression. Despite how much it hurt him, the water was the only thing that he could do for his wing right now. The cool fluid was exactly what he needed. He would have to brave the pain if he was ever going to get better.

Zym moved back into a lying position and contemplated what he was about to do for a while before he took a deep breath and began counting in his head.

Alright,

One.

His heart rate increased as he braced for the subsequent pain that he would once again experience.

Two.

He closed his eyes and looked away from the pond, hoping that not looking at it would be able to decrease the strength of the sensation a little bit.

Three.

Zym leaned over again, his eyes closing tighter and tighter, his heart racing in suspense and anticipation as he continued to learn more and more towards the waterline that he didn't know when he was going to hit.

His wing finally broke the surface. The pain was instantaneous, a hot star absorbed the entire wing. Another yell got caught in his throat as his eyelids crushed together harder and harder. He wanted so desperately to take the wing out, but he couldn't. He knew he couldn't.

He was trapped in the darkness behind his shut eyes, where the only thing he could feel was the water attacking his left wing with considerable force. Tears flowed down his cheeks as that horrible burning sensation once again radiated from his wing to the rest of his body. That sensation overrode all other aches and senses as it spread. He let out a broken breath as his wing continued to simmer.

After a while, however, the pain began to retreat. The horrible stinging and burning dulled down into minor aches as the star that had absorbed his wing grew cold, leaving in its wake the refreshing sensation of the pond as the rest of the pain in his wing numbed. Zym breathed a sigh of relief and loosened his eyelids as the change spread to the rest of his body and his nerves finally became quieter.

Zym's eyes slowly opened as the rest of his senses returned. The old, unrelated aches from the fall that he had sustained also came back. However, he much preferred those over the pain that he had just experienced. Zym slowly moved his body to get his wing out of the water, after which he tried again to move it. However, the sharp flare-up of stinging told him that dipping it into the water had not helped much in that regard. Still, he was grateful for what it had already done.

However, With nowhere to go, and nothing more to distract him from his own thoughts, it became harder and harder to shake away the memories as they flooded into his mind.

The images of his mother, cuts carved into her flesh, the horrible splash of red crimson, the hopelessness that he felt as he desperately tried to fight off the attacker to no avail. His mind wandered to the past interactions he had with his mother. Her caring smile was burned into his mind.

Zym felt a choke rise in his throat and a salty liquid that began to pool into his eyes as the scenes emerged without any interference. Her mother's overjoyed smile when she had first seen him two years ago, the moments that they shared, the period of time when Zubeia was teaching Zym how to speak common, her proud expression when Zym had taken the role as King of The Dragons. Moments that he would never share with her again.

Silent sobs worked their way out of Zym's mouth as more images began flashing through his mind. He closed his eyes, hoping to make it all stop, but doing so only submerged him further into the abyss of his memories. Streams flowed down from his eyes as more of the past sieged his mind. The peace meetings, the signing of the document, the time he had spent with his friends.

Finally, the hand of sleep overcame him and Zym fell deeper and deeper into a dark, empty, slumber.


The sounds of the magical jungle all whirred around them as they waited. The crickets chirped around them, songs from certain types of magical herbs echoed in the distance, steady water droplets fell from the canopy of the trees. All out of sight through the darkness of the night.

Rayla, Amaya, Gren, Corvus, and Soren all had their necks craned up towards the canopy, waiting on the response from the birds-eye view. Tiredness consumed their bodies and their joints began to ache.

Suddenly, a figure encompassed in motion blur, bursting through the canopy, was seen as the crash of several disturbed herbs was heard. The figure landed in front of them after a rather unnecessary flip, landing with a pose of both one knee and hand on the ground.

She slowly got up, looked at the group, and shook her head. The group let out a collective sigh.

"I'm sorry, but no matter how far I flew, I was unable to find anything. As I predicted," Nyx started with an "I told you so" tone and a wink. Rayla simply narrowed her eyes at her response. "I mean, that canopy is way too thick and there aren't too many cracks. I had to fly under it in some cases to get a clear view of what was going on. Even while doing that, my view is much more limited than what we would see without all these trees." Nyx said. "I mean even without the trees, I probably won't be able to see much for a while. It's a big area we have to cover. The darkness of the night isn't helping right now either." She said right before jumping up, doing some acrobatics, and landing on her moonstrider with Soren.

"We're never gonna get anywhere like this." Soren groaned.

Corvus sighed, he looked at the environment all around him. "He's right, I've been valiantly observing the ground around us this whole time and have found no signs that could lead to Ezran. Our current grid-by-grid method of searching is vastly under-efficient. If Ezran is truly in Xadia, Ezran may die before we find anything."

Rayla closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, calming her nerves as she got lost in a train of thought. They were right. They were never going to get anywhere by just simply searching everything on this side of the border. Even with moonstriders and a birds-eye view, it would be impossible to search every nook and cranny of Xadia with their small group. The search area was just simply too large. Then there was also the fact that Ezran and his captors could be on the move at any time, moving to areas that the rescue team had already checked. They needed something better, they needed a lead to follow, to point them in the right direction and narrow their search area. How would they do that though? They had nothing to go on at the moment, nowhere to start. The frustration of it bubbled in her chest. Rayla finally made a decision on the only option that appeared in her mind.

"I guess, we could start asking around in towns and settlements to see if there were any sightings out there," Rayla said with a sigh.

"It would be a start, but isn't there already a nationwide search in progress? Anything they uncover would most likely be reported to King Azymondias and then would probably be relayed back to us," Corvus said

Rayla shrugged in response and then looked back at Corvus with a neutral expression. Her lilac eyes glowing in the dark of the night. "It's worth a shot, better than walking around aimlessly. Also, I don't really want to rely on luck, hoping that this information will be successfully relayed to us even if I think it will and just wait around doing nothing while we await some new breakthrough to reach us. Not to mention there are people who may find something but not say anything about it." People like that definitely existed, those who wouldn't say anything unless outright questioned about it. She didn't like that they existed, but they did. "I know of an Earthblood settlement. As of right now it's the closest settlement we have," Rayla said. "We could start there."

"What about The Silvergrove?" Said Gren, interpreting for Amaya.

Rayla paused for a moment, thinking it over, before shaking her head and answering. "If there was a sighting in The Silvergrove, Ethari would most likely have known about it and would've told us when we were there, or he would have definitely made sure that the information reached Zym if the sighting happened after we left."

Ethari was a major figure in The Silvergrove and had been for a while, primarily due to his skill as a blacksmith and his relationship with Runaan, who was an extremely well-known assassin. There was no chance that Ethari wouldn't know about a sighting in The Silvergrove. Ethari also wasn't one of the people to hide important information, especially from his own niece and especially when it was important to the mission that she was working on completing.

Rayla made the motion to get her moonstrider to begin moving forward and it complied, slowly beginning to walk. The others followed suit as well until Soren finally chimed in. "Actually, do you think it may be a good time to take a break? I'm sure we're all feeling extremely tired."

"What?" Rayla snapped her head towards Soren, looking at him like he was insane.

"It's just that... we hadn't slept since this whole thing started, and it's quite late in the night now you know?"

Rayla knew Soren was right. They were all tired. But she didn't want to stop. Any moment they didn't spend actively searching was an unnecessary moment that Ezran was in danger. However, judging from the facial expressions of the rest of the crowd, they seemed to agree with Soren.

"But we can't just stop-" Rayla already knew it was a lost argument. She didn't know why she continued to press on with it. "I mean we're riding on moonstriders most of the time. How much energy are we actually using?"

Amaya began to sign, to which Gren once again interpreted for her. "Unfortunately, I feel as if Soren is right here. I understand the will to keep searching. Remember, I'm his aunt. I have closer ties to Ezran than anyone here. We aren't going to be much use to him however, if we are all in the midst of falling asleep. We're going to need to be fully awake and aware if we want to be any help to Ezran. Also, I'm pretty sure these moonstriders can't carry us forever. They need a rest as well."

Rayla hadn't even thought about that. The moonstriders had been carrying them the whole day. If the team was tired then the moonstriders must be… Also, the point Amaya made about not being useful while tired burned in her mind. She was right, unfortunately. If they wanted to be on top of their game with finding Ezran and also for the events that would likely ensue after they found him, they would need to stop for the night. This was clear from the moment the mission began but Rayla had constantly been stalling and delaying it in a blind need to make progress. They were never going to find him in one day.

Rayla finally conceded with a sigh. "Fine, We'll pick out a campsite here and get to rest for the night."

"Finally! Was wondering when I would get to rest these wings of mine!" Nyx announced

Rayla's face shifted into a Scowl. Her input was not needed.

It hadn't taken long at all to find a suitable campsite for them. A small circular space in the trees. They didn't have tents or anything so they just chose to sleep in the open air. The weather was warm enough anyway. The team all tied down the moonstriders to one of the trees on the edge of the clearing and then Soren, Amaya, and Gren went off to gather food while Rayla, Corvus, and Nyx stayed behind, settling in, listening to the ambiance of the forest around them.

Rayla stared up at the sky. The moon wasn't visible through the canopy but the stars were all completely visible, flickering without a care in the world. She quickly became lost in thought. The past few days rushed through her mind. Everything had happened so fast. It all seemed to be going well on the day of the signing of the alliance document. Then, Ezran was reported missing, and well, here she was. She hoped Ezran was doing ok, wherever he was. The image of Ezran, alone and scared, surrounded by hostiles he didn't know entered her mind. A cold sweat began to run down her body as she shook the thought away. Those weren't healthy thoughts to be thinking right now.

Nyx had begun humming to herself while she organized all her belongings to her liking. Rayla couldn't help but glare at her. She really wished Nyx hadn't come along. Rayla's first impressions of her was bad enough but it was clear throughout this entire mission so far that Nyx just simply didn't care about this whole thing at all. This was just one massive field trip to her. She didn't care that an innocent kid was abducted. She didn't care about what was happening to him. All she cared about was her stupid standing with Zym.

She wondered how some people could be so selfish, to not even have the slightest bit of remorse or decency to take a situation like this seriously. One thing was clear, this mission wouldn't improve the relationship that Rayla had with Nyx at all. In the end though, Rayla doubted Nyx even cared about that. It was just her standing with Zym that she was interested in because Zym was the one who had the power and authority, and thus, could make Nyx's life hell if he wanted to. She was doing this just to save her own skin.

Luckily, the sound of the sticks and leaves crunching in the jungle ahead of them as the group returned with some food that they had found broke Rayla out of her train of thought before she became too consumed with her own anger.

"We found some berries," Soren said while emerging into the clearing. "Of course, I'm not that familiar with Xadian vegetation so uh..." He glanced over to Rayla and Nyx. "You may have to help us differentiate between what we can eat and what will kill us." He said with a nervous chuckle.

The other members of the team followed closely behind him, each with their own piles of various assortments of berries.

Rayla sighed. "Oh well." She said as she got up to examine the piles. She was not going to like sorting through all of them.

As predicted, it took quite a bit of time to sort through all of the piles. Rayla also had to stop and educate everyone on every new type of berry that they encountered and whether it was safe to eat or not. She was used to this however. She had done it plenty of times with Callum and Ezran during their little adventure. After a while however, she managed to sort all the berries into piles of "Not Edible" and "Edible". Thankfully, most of the berries acquired were in the "Edible" category. A sense of calm washed over everyone as the group began to eat the food and became wrapped in their own thoughts.

A nice silence persisted for quite a while until Soren swallowed and then shattered that silence. "So-uh, are we going to need anybody to take watch tonight?" Soren asked.

Rayla considered it but then shook her head. "Nah, I doubt anybody would make a move to attack us and there aren't any major predators in this area that we would be targets for." Rayla felt confident in their safety sleeping here. Had this been during The Dark Days, then obviously they would need to have someone on watch due to the humans in their group. But it wasn't. It was just as if they were on a normal camping trip.

Soren nodded and moved down to lay on his side and then let sleep overtake him. The rest of the group quickly followed suit. One by one, their breathing slowed as they fell from the realm of consciousness and into their dreams. Soon it was just Rayla, alone with the sounds of the jungle. Her mind became more and more active as she stared at the ground in front of her and the minutes ticked by. The thoughts of the past few days and Ezran's current situation once again circled in her mind unchecked as well as the thoughts of Callum back in Katolis. She was excited to see him again once this was all over, with Ezran safe and sound like she had promised. She looked forward to the reunion, and all three of them being together again. She looked forward to all of this finally becoming a distant memory.

She just hoped that a distant memory was all that it would become.


Ezran was woken up with a sudden jolt. He wasn't aware of much happening around him, only that he had been violently shaken. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep. It seemed that he had failed to stop himself from dozing off and therefore skipped some of the hours that he should have stayed awake for. Hours that he desperately wanted. As his mind woke up, he made out the figure of a golden knight in front of him, down on one knee, gripping his shoulders. The faces of Ezran and the knight merely inches apart.

"Rise and Shine!" He said with a mocking tone. It was Pyrrhos.

As more of the room around him came into view, Ezran noticed that the door to his cell was leaning open with five more golden armored knights waiting outside. Ezran also felt as Pyrrhos' smile grew wider behind the visor once Pyrrhos had noticed that Ezran was awake.

"The one in charge will have a word with you now," Pyrrhos said in a malicious tone.

Ezran went tense as he felt fear ascend in his chest. He knew that he probably wasn't going to be alive much longer. Still, he forced a brave, neutral expression on his face to not give his captors any more fuel than they already had.

Ezran knew that he probably shouldn't have been asking questions now, but the simple curiosity got to him as he asked in as monotone of a voice as possible. "Who is that?"

Pyrrhos snickered a malevolent and sinister snicker.

"You'll see," Was all he said in response. His tone was long and drawn out. It did not put Ezran at ease at all.

Pyrrhos slowly moved his head to an object next to him, lying on the floor. Following his gaze, Ezran got a full view of what it was. It appeared to be a clear tube with a needle attached to its end. As Pyrrhos picked it up, his bright armor made Ezran able to see the liquid inside. It looked to be a thick, dark green liquid, so dark that it was almost black.

"Before we do that though," Pyrrhos said. "You should take your medication, Ezran." Pyrrhos then paused for a moment before speaking again. "We don't want you to be talking to anyone else now do we?" Pyrrhos asked in a mocking tone.

Confusion ran through Ezran's mind for a moment at what Pyrrhos had meant by that last statement. He didn't have much time to think about it though before Pyrrhos began aiming the needle at the side of Ezran's thigh. Ezran tried to get away from the needle but it was a hopeless endeavor. His shackles brought him to a dead stop the moment he tried to perform any sort of extended movement. He attempted to move and shake his leg as much as the constraints of his shackles would let him. Trying desperately to keep Pyrrhos from being able to inject the needle into his body.

Pyrrhos simply emitted a disgruntled sigh, as if he was rolling his eyes behind the visor, and then proceeded to grip Ezran's leg with a high amount of force.

Ezran made every move his body and his limbs could make to loosen the grip and prevent Pyrrhos from injecting whatever was in that needle into his thigh. The ongoing struggle eventually caused Pyrrhos to gesture to the other knights waiting outside the door, a clear gesture with his hand telling them to come in and help.

Ezran's eyes widened with fear as the other five knights walked into the room and got right in front of him. With hard, painful grips, they each aggressively helped to secure his limbs, slamming his arms back against the wall and hammering his legs to the floor. Ezran tried desperately to fight back but every time he tried to move anything, their grip would become tighter and more painful.

Pyrrhos moved to calmly pick up the needle as Ezran struggled. Ezran watched as Pyrrhos once again aimed towards the side of Ezran's thigh and then, without warning, jammed the needle through his clothes.

Ezran let out a yelp of pain as a stinging sensation emanated from his leg. Shortly after, Pyrrhos pushed down on the plunger of the needle, sending the thick, dark green liquid into Ezran. The tube made a horrible squelching sound as the last of the liquid left the vial.

With the liquid fully injected, Pyrrhos yanked the needle out of Ezran's thigh as the knights who had been holding him in place finally loosened their crushing grip. His thigh continued to scream out with a burning sensation. The spots on his limbs where his captors had grabbed him felt sore and ached without end.

"There," Pyrrhos said in a frustrated tone. "That wasn't so bad now was it?"

Ezran, finally having regained all of his wits, remembered his promise to himself to remain strong. He simply returned a hateful frown in response.

Pyrrhos gave the needle to one of the other knights to dispose of it and then took a key from his armor and held it up to Ezran.

"I trust you already know what will happen if you try running?" Pyrrhos asked.

Ezran nodded.

"Good! Then we won't have to go through that conversation again." He said as he inserted the key into the lock of the first shackle. One by one, the key was inserted into each shackle and an auditory click was heard as a new limb was freed.

Ezran no longer felt the cold steel restraining him, tightly encircling his limbs. However, it provided little comfort to him. After all, it didn't help his situation. Pyrrhos got up into a standing position and gestured for Ezran to stand as well to which Ezran complied.

The knights waited a moment for the last knight to return from disposing of the needle and then once again, they surrounded Ezran.

"Now follow me," Said Pyrrhos cheerfully as they began to walk.

Ezran and his captors once again navigated the dark, stone passageways that Ezran had arrived in hours earlier. His thigh flared up, stinging with every step that he took, causing him to walk with a slight limp. He felt pressure pushing down on his brain as the wall in his mind preventing him from communicating with Zym grew stronger and stronger. Despair began to build inside him as he realized the purpose of the substance within the needle. Somehow, they had figured out how to stop his connection to Zym as much as possible and were using this method, most likely, to stop him from calling for help and giving away their location. Everything he was experiencing was part of the plan.

The trapdoor leading out of the complex opened up to the night sky, not the roof of a tent like Ezran had been expecting. He got a big breath of the outside Xadian air as it hit him and filled his lungs. It was still pitch black outside, the stars loomed above the dimly lit camp as they walked back towards where he had landed prior.

That same, hateful, red Sun Dragon was once again waiting for him. It again let out a snarl as Ezran approached. However, Ezran didn't pay it much attention this time. The thoughts of who he was about to meet and his probable imminent demise loomed in his head, overshadowing everything else.

Ezran looked closer at the starry night sky as the dragon he was riding on took off into it. He tried desperately to get one last look at everything he would never see again. The clouds, the stars, and the moon, which hung brightly over him. He also felt the wind as it ruffled through his hair. It managed to ease his nerves a small amount.

The sky was welcoming him with open arms. At least he knew that despite whatever fate he was about to endure, he knew he would find his place, welcomed among the stars.


Zym was forcefully ejected out of the realm of unconsciousness by a distinct crunching sound in the trees ahead. Zym's head immediately rocketed up from the ground in reaction to this. His heart rate increased as Zym's fight or flight response began kicking into full gear. Breathing heavily, he got himself up off the ground and looked harder into the trees ahead of him. Other small sounds emanated around him causing him to frantically rotate his head from one location to another. His vision blurred through the speed of his head's movement.

The sounds of leaves crunching, the sound of a stick snapping, and the sound of bushes rustling. Zym tried his best to collect himself and put on a stern and demanding expression as he yelled out into the trees. "Who's there?!"

The environment around him became dead quiet, the only things that were audible were the gentle sounds of the water from the pond next to him, and the gentle rustling of the leaves from the tops of the trees.

Zym's breathing increased further. The silence was not making him any more at ease. Indeed, right as he thought that, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, during one of his frantic head turns, something golden flying right towards his head.

Zym made the maneuver to duck out of the way but grunted in pain as the object grazed the top of his head and landed in the pond beside him. He heard the water begin sizzling, and he snapped his head over to the pond to watch as steam arose from the surface of the water where the object had landed. Tiny bubbles navigated their way up from below the object and popped once they hit the air. Looking at the object, his worst fears were confirmed. It was a spear, identical to the ones he had encountered when Sol Regem attacked The Storm Spire.

Zym heard several footsteps rushing towards him as another spear was thrown at him. He saw it much more clearly this time and was just narrowly able to move out of the way. He could no longer feel any aches on his body, adrenaline had numbed the pain, but he still felt weak and slow.

Several knights emerged from the trees around him and began speeding towards the Sky Dragon. With a split-second decision, Zym released a bolt of blue lightning at the closest knight in front of him. A yell of pain was heard before the knight fell to the ground and became unresponsive.

Zym only had a minute to collect his thoughts before he felt a familiar burning feeling in his side, causing him to emit a loud yell. He tried to claw at the knight who had just inserted a spear into him, but the knight moved out of the way too quickly. The knight then ripped his spear out of Zym's skin. Zym watched and yelped in pain as droplets of airborne blood trailed the spear on its exit from the wound that the spear had just left behind.

Zym tried to look around him at the advancing knights, looking at which knight would be the next to try something. However, he couldn't get a full grasp of the situation before he felt a large blow to the side of his face. Before being able to collect his bearings, he felt his head become pinned down on the grass below him.

With all the strength he could muster, he fought to shake off the one who had pinned him down without much success. Another spear flew at him and implanted itself into the upper portion of his muzzle. His face became a hot magma river as his skin and scales sizzled under the immense heat of the spear.

The knight who had previously pinned Zym down was still clinging to his head, not letting go as the other knights were preparing to deliver blows. Zym made a split-second decision, he began charging up a high powered lighting shot. Crackling and zapping were heard as blue arcs of electricity began to form around Zym.

A yell of pain was heard from on top of him as the pressure on the top of his head suddenly began to relieve itself enough for Zym to pull his head up. As he did so, a blur of gold flashed by Zym's eye as the pressure from the top of his head faded completely. Looking towards the source of the blur, he saw the motionless body of a knight. He heard it quietly sizzling as smoke arose from the gaps in the golden armor.

Having completely charged up a lighting shot, Zym began flailing bright, blue lightning around him. This lightning was much thicker and brighter than the lightning that he had fired at the first attacker. It lit up the entire area as artificial thunder boomed throughout the surroundings, causing vibrations to travel through the ground. He didn't know where the other knights were but hopefully, he would be able to hit them. One of the spears remained in his muzzle. It continued to burn, sizzle, and cook his flesh as he desperately jerked his head around. Involuntary tears began flooding out of his eyes as he squinted from the pain.

Having concluded his shot, he decided to run to the edge of the trees to attempt to get his bearings of the situation. He felt as if at any moment, something would reach out from behind him and pull him back. The spear in his muzzle continued to burn as he tried to shake it out. It never budged however, and seemingly only engrained itself further and further into his flesh.

As he took a look back at what he had left behind, he saw the three remaining knights slowly getting up, having previously taken cover from the lightning. None of them had been hit. Zym began to stumble backward as they sprinted towards him, the spearless knight reached him first and grabbed the spear in his muzzle, and with great force, yanked the spear out, causing a shot of pain to radiate throughout his body, stunning him in place.

Before Zym had regained his senses, the other two knights were already on top of him, attempting to jam their spears into his head. They never tried to pin him down again though, after what had happened to the last knight. Zym tried to continue to fight them off as much as he could through usage of lightning, slashes with his claws, and bites. The knights managed to dodge the attacks that he had delivered however, but the knights were also unable to get a perfect shot at his head. They still hit him in many places though, causing more drops of blood to fall down his face as the spears were yanked out.

Zym knew he couldn't keep this up forever. His movements were growing wearier as his damaged body only sustained more wounds. He began to feel an empty hopelessness as the pain and his environment mashed together in a blur. He was going to die here, he was outnumbered, and they weren't going to let him go as easily as they had last time.

Moments from Zym's past began to replay in his head. His hatching, his journey with Callum, Ezran, and Rayla, Ezran splitting up from the group, him helping Callum and Rayla cross the moonstone path, his first encounter with Sol Regem, and The Battle of The Storm Spire all flashed through his mind. As the image of his mother's body falling in front of him entered his eyes one last time, a sense of calm and ease washed over him.

See you soon mom. He thought as he began to smile.

However, Zym was ripped from his thoughts when in all the chaos occurring around him, something came into focus. The pond. It was still sitting in front of him, maybe it could give him a way out.

Right as another spear was about to breach his skin, he barreled forward through his attackers, using every last ounce of strength that his body could muster. The attacker in front of Zym went airborne as Zym collided with him. The attacker proceeded to tumble uncontrollably over Zym's head until he finally hit the ground a little behind and to the left of Zym. The other two stumbled backward, startled by the sudden, and violent, forward motion.

Zym made a beeline straight for the pond in front of him, his entire body began to scream in agony from his fresh wounds. However, it was only a short distance that he had to close. Reaching the edge of the water, no time was wasted in running into the water as quickly as possible.

The water, which had started shallow, quickly became deeper and deeper until Zym took a leap and dived into the deepest part of the pond. The cool, refreshing liquid, which had before been used to treat his wing, began to encircle his entire body as the white fiz from the splash he had created rushed past his eyes. The sounds around him became muffled as he sank deeper below the surface of the pond. Above him, he saw the spears that had been thrown at him at the last moment breach the surface of the water, sending up mounds of bubbles as the water around them boiled.

He focused hard on the surface, waiting patiently, holding his breath. He saw the three golden shapes coming closer and closer. Already having entered the water themselves.

It was now or never. Zym began to charge up another bolt of lightning. The arcs of electricity once again began to form around his body, but this time, as soon as they began forming, they radiated out in all directions. The water jumped to life as blinding flashes of blue lit up the entire pond. When he finally stopped, he saw three golden armored bodies, floating on the surface of the water, completely lifeless.

Having had his lightning automatically discharged from him by the water, Zym broke the surface of the pond, sending a flurry of water up with him. Liquid dripped from his mane as he once again stepped onto dry land.

He quickly looked around at the carnage. Five bodies. Three of them were floating in the water. Two of them were laying on the land.

They were all motionless, Zym had just taken five lives. However, as much as he wanted to feel something. He ended up feeling nothing. Not a single shred of remorse radiated through his body at the sight. He guessed that it made sense, this was self-defense after all. He would've died had he not done what he did. Still, his emotional numbness scared him.

Was he broken?

Was he becoming a monster?

Was he becoming like Sol Regem?

That very prospect shook him to his core and he forced himself to rationalize. No matter what happened, he would never be like Sol Regem.

He finally managed to shake the thoughts away as the cause of this attack hit him. He was being tracked.

Fear burned inside of Zym as he considered it. Sol Regem and his followers had realized he was missing and had started a search for him. With everything that Sol Regem would have access to as King of The Dragons, it would only be a matter of time until he was found again. And maybe next time he wouldn't be so lucky.

He wasn't safe in Xadia. Zym had to get to the Human Kingdoms as quickly as possible, no matter how much his body screamed at him. The more he moved, the more he could keep Sol Regem's forces behind him. Once he crossed the border, he would be safe. Water continued to drip from Zym as he took a few shaky and painful steps forward.

He just had to make it to the border.


A faint orange light glowed on the horizon as the sun began its climb. Ezran sat on the back of the transport dragon, watching the sunrise. At least he would still be able to see one more of them.

Ezran, once again, felt the pit of his stomach ascend as the dragon began descending towards its destination. Due to the faint orange glow being emitted by the rising sun, he could make out details of the area they were landing in this time. He was surrounded by plains that rolled in many different hills. Short grass covered the entire floor. Up ahead of him, was what looked to be a large mountain, towering above the clouds. The familiarity of it became apparent to him immediately.

It was the Storm Spire.

Confusion began to travel through Ezran's mind at the sight. It seemed like they were intending to land near the spire. But why? That would only seem to put his captor's entire mission in danger, unless…

Looking down below him, he saw the outlines of many figures walking along the grass, all wearing that same, golden armor that his captors wore. The confusion quickly converted itself to fear which raced through his entire body like rapids at the possible implications of what this meant. He wanted to ask, he wanted to understand, but his mouth stayed silent. He didn't have the strength to ask. He would find out soon enough anyway.

The dragon circled above one of the hills for a moment as it continued to lose altitude. There seemed to be a whole group of these knights approaching what seemed to be the dragon's landing spot, awaiting its arrival. Finally, the dragon stopped flapping its wings and touched down with a noticeable thump. The hill that they had landed on was able to give Ezran a higher view of much of the land surrounding the spire.

The spire itself looked peaceful. As Ezran looked closer at the knights around the spire however, he noticed just how many of them there were. They swarmed around the spire as if it was some massive hive. In front of the spire, he could see a large track that seemed to dart out from its base. The track was made visible by torn-up vegetation and grass, revealing the dirt underneath. A sense of unease built up inside Ezran as he looked at it.

Ezran couldn't look for too long though as he was ordered to get off the dragon to which he complied without much incident. More knights were waiting for him and his captors on the ground below him. The gentle breeze flowed the air as he hopped off the mount, this time with more grace than he did before, being able to land on his feet and avoiding an embarrassing situation of face planting in the dirt again while everyone around him just stood and laughed.

Theories for what could've happened cooked up in his mind. His anxiety increased with each one of these. Ezran couldn't deny it, his captors and their allies were definitely in control of the Storm Spire, that much was clear. Any hope for the spire possibly offering some sort of saving grace for him was now dead. Why were they in control over the spire? What happened Zym and Zubeia? Ezran knew that Zym wasn't dead, but that didn't provide him much comfort as that left every other possibility open. Ezran didn't realize it, but he began shaking as he sunk deeper into his thought process. He was suddenly pulled out of it though by the voice of the closest of the knights.

"Welcome Pyrrhos." The knight said in a friendly, female tone. "I take it your side of the operation has gone well?"

Pyrrhos walked up to the knight who had greeted him and shook hands. "Went off without a hitch. We had some… compliance issues initially but they were sorted out," Pyrrhos said happily.

Pyrrhos then took in a deep breath, similar to someone emerging from their house while breathing in the fresh morning air. This only managed to put Ezran at even more unease.

The knight nodded in response. She seemed to be completely ignoring Ezran. "Well, if you will follow me, Sol Regem has been waiting for you."

A deep chill shot through Ezran's spine. He had not expected to hear that name come out of their mouths, much less for Sol Regem to be at the spire. What was he doing here? Was he the one in charge? What was he about to do Ezran?

Ezran didn't have much time to ponder these questions as he was shoved forward in a clear command to get moving. Ezran's original captors had surrounded him in the same formation they always did when "escorting" him places. Interestingly, the dragon that had transported Ezran followed closely behind them.

Ezran walked ahead, timidly trying to keep the movement going as slow as possible. With each step towards the spire, his heart pumped harder and his breathing got faster. He so desperately wanted to see what was going on at the top of the Storm Spire. He kept on scanning the sky for a crack in the clouds that would give him some clue as to what was happening up there, but he found nothing.

As Ezran walked down the hill, he heard nothing but the metal clanks of armor around him. Some of the other knights at the base of the hill had taken notice, stopped, and stared. Some of the knights even waved, prompting one of his captors walking with him to wave back. This all felt like some crazy dream, but that feeling of reality that Ezran was all too familiar with was present as it always was during these situations. He missed the days when he didn't have to pay attention to that feeling.

As they progressed further and further towards the spire, some of the knights that had acknowledged their presence began to walk with them as they passed, while others just simply began walking towards the spire without much care to wait for Ezran to pass them.

Ezran walked right next to the dirt track branching out from the spire. He could see it clearly now. It was obvious to anyone that the track had been made violently, it seemed irregular, with many corners and points, the vegetation around it that had survived seemed forced to the ground, and the dirt itself had a rough and messy appearance.

They walked for a little longer before the knights around him all came to a sudden stop which gave a clear message for Ezran to stop as well. Ezran was then swiftly and forcefully shoved down into a kneeling position as he looked at the spire. Many rays of sunlight were beginning to rise over the horizon, casting the spire in a burning red and orange glow. He remembered being in awe of the spire's massive size when he first saw it, but now, he felt a sense of dread as the spire loomed over him, making him feel tiny.

The knight who had previously greeted Pyrrhos as they landed soon spoke up. "Wait here," she said in that same friendly voice which was most likely directed towards the other knights standing with him and not Ezran. "I'm going to go up and get Sol Regem."

Ezran watched as the knight casually walked up to the Sun Dragon which had brought Ezran here, climbed onto it, and began to fly up towards the spire.

Ezran waited in agonizing silence. His eyes were glued to the ceiling of clouds above him in anticipation of the inevitable moment that something would break through. The calm breeze that was drifting through the plains produced a slight, deep howling noise as it moved past Ezran and around the spire.

Finally, after what felt like hours, but was in reality only about a minute or two, Ezran saw a large shadow behind the clouds. His blood ran colder and colder as the shadow became larger and larger. He felt the cooling sensation of the sweat being quickly released from his body. The yellow color became visible as the massive Sun Dragon broke through the cloud layer, stretching pieces of cloud down with him. He was descending rapidly, diving headfirst toward the ground. Ezran began shaking again, he tried to stop it, he tried to calm himself down to no avail. He had never had an encounter with Sol Regem in person before, but from what he heard of him, he wasn't excited to have it now. However, despite the involuntary shaking, he did manage to keep his face in a brave expression.

Sol Regem, as if he could feel the ground below him, changed the pitch of his body back to being level and allowed his wings to slow his descent, touching down with a firm thump that radiated throughout the surrounding plains. The female knight from before, and the dragon that had taken Ezran here followed soon after, landing next to Ezran and his captors. The silence continued to press on. Ezran could hear Sol Regem's mighty, deep, and rhythmic breaths. It was then when Ezran looked closely at Sol Regem's face and noticed that a wide toothy grin was streaked across it.

Sol Regem, eventually, became the first one to break the silence. "Hello, Ezran," he said with a loud thunderous voice that sounded friendly in an extremely malicious way. "Unfortunately, I can't exactly see you from here due to obvious circumstances, but I am happy to finally meet you regardless."

Ezran didn't respond, he simply stared into Sol Regem's burnt face.

Sol Regem sighed, but then went back into his grin. "Oh come on, you're welcome to say something. We have time."

Once again, Ezran refused to respond. Sol Regem did the dragon equivalent of a shrug. "Oh well. It's a shame. I thought we would have a small conversation before we got started." He paused for a moment before smiling again and then said, "Now then, I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. Rest assured, I have no intention to kill you Ezran. That would be a waste, you have the potential to be very useful to us."

Ezran felt a quick wave of relief as it became clear that he wasn't going to die here, but his old fears soon got replaced by new ones. What exactly did he mean by useful? Ezran wouldn't have to wait long to find out.

"In fact, if our intention was just to weaken Katolis by leaving it without a leader, then simply killing you would have been able to accomplish much of the same thing and would have been so much more easy and convenient for us. No, there were other reasons we took you as well." Ezran listened to Sol Regem's words, slowly taking them all in. What purpose could Sol Regem need him for other than the fact that Ezran the King of Katolis? His mind flashed through all the possibilities."Now, even though you're useful to us at the moment, don't think that we need you alive. If you cause too much trouble, I have no problem authorizing your execution." Sol Regem's smile grew wider and then he shook his head while saying, "and that's just not something I want to do." Sol Regem paused for effect before finishing with "I want us to be friends Ezran, not enemies-"

"Tch," was the only sound that came out of Ezran's mouth as he darted his eyes to the ground and then continued to stare down the dragon in front of him, trying to stay strong.

"-and for your sake, it would be wise to go along with that," Sol Regem finished, seemingly ignoring the response that Ezran had just given.

Ezran's fear kept rising within his body over the mystery of what they were going to use him for. A ransom? Maybe use him as leverage? Ezran figured that whatever else they would use him for, it would have to involve Katolis somehow. That was the only idea that made logical sense. Terror began to fill Ezrans' veins as he thought of all the different things that Sol Regem may want to do to Katolis, to its people.

"Now then, let's get to some of the traits that make me so interested in you, Ezran." Sol Regem said, continuing to speak in a malicious tone. "We have come to the conclusion that you seem to have the most extraordinary ability to communicate with animals. Is that correct? "

Ezran immediately tensed up, they were going to use his ability to talk to animals. For what, he didn't know yet, but as he imagined the possibilities of what they could do with animals on their side, his terror only grew worse. After all, nobody would suspect the cute little rabbit sitting next to them to be working for someone, gathering intel. Such an idea was preposterous, which must have been exactly why Sol Regem was so excited about it.

Ezran said nothing at first but then felt a large blow to the back of his head. "Answer the question." One of the knights hissed quietly.

"Y-yes, yes I can," Ezran said as his head throbbed, he saw no point in lying. Sol Regem already knew he could talk to animals and really had no reason to need to ask Ezran about it. This was most likely just a conversation starter.

Sol Regem, still smiling, nodded and continued to speak. "I'm sure you can picture how that would be useful to us."

Not wanting to be greeted with another strike to the back of the head, Ezran answered quickly. "Y-yes. Yes, I do."

Sol Regem acknowledged this with another nod and then his smile faded as he took a deep breath and then began to speak again. "There is also a new reason why we are deciding to keep you alive, I'm sure you know of Azymondias."

Ezran froze at the mention of Zym, what did Sol Regem want Ezran to do with Zym? Ezran most likely already knew the answer.

"Well, you have probably deduced by now that he isn't here and that I have taken his place." Sol Regem said. "But there lies the problem, the fact that he isn't here. Surprisingly, when I defeated him, he seemed to have gotten away. Now, I have a search team out looking for him but I don't know how successful they will be." Sol Regem explained.

"Which is where you come in," Sol Regem said with a sickening expression on his face. "If there is no way to locate Azymondias, regardless of how many search operations I send out, I want you to help us. I know you have the ability to contact him telepathically." Sol Regem paused for a moment before continuing. "Now, don't worry, this is only a last resort so you probably won't have to do this. If this one search operation fails, there will be many more before we even consider using you to find him. After all, we want to make sure that you don't make any unauthorized communications, which is why we've blocked that ability for now. I'm sure you've noticed that. However, that ability can be unblocked at any time. The drug doesn't last forever. You have probably realized it had to be administered more than once."

As panic filled Ezran's body, he realized he had to do something. He knew that lying about this was most likely as pointless as denying that he could talk to animals since Sol Regem most likely already knew about the obvious evidence of Zym's escape. However, he still had to try and do something here to save Zym, or at least buy him some time.

"I-I don't understand. Zy-Zym is dead I-" Ezran began hopelessly, already predicting what this would lead to.

Sol Regem's expression turned into one of anger as he began to growl. "I thought we had discussed, Ezran, that if you cause too much trouble, I have no problem authorizing your execution." Sol Regem snarled and then moved his face really close to the source of Ezran's voice, to the point where their faces were almost touching. He then said in a quiet but intimidating tone, "I know you can still feel the connection you have with him. The drug doesn't do anything to sever it. That can only happen on the death of one of the connected individuals it seems. Therefore, I would reconsider lying to me. Are we understood?"

Ezran thought of trying to push it further, he could make the argument that even if Zym did escape, he could've died while on the run, and that Ezran could, in fact, no longer feel the connection. However, he didn't believe Sol Regem would buy that. Ezran realized that Sol Regem would probably wait for confirmation from his search team, and if they gave a different report than what Ezran had stated…then...well...

There was also the fact that judging from everything Sol Regem had done so far, his threats seemed real and that thought shivered Ezran down to his core. With all things considered, Ezran just decided to just shut his mouth and go along with it.

"Yes, Sol Regem," Ezran said while sighing with an annoyed and defeated tone.

"Ezran. Even though I am not the King of The Dragons yet, I will be very soon. I feel it would do you well to begin addressing me as 'your highness',"Sol Regem scowled.

Ezran sighed again, annoyed. "Yes, your highness," he said with a noticeable edge in his voice.

Sol Regem's smiling face returned as he continued. "Good! I just wanted you to be aware that should the situation arise, we may be forced to use you to track down Azymondias. If we find out about any funny business while that happens, the consequences discussed previously will apply. Do you understand?"

"Yes, your highness," Ezran said with a completely neutral tone and expression. His voice had now lost that hateful edge towards it.

"Excellent!" Sol Regem exclaimed with a satisfied expression. "I knew you'd come around!" He then addressed the knights around him. "You may escort him back now, I believe we are finished here."

Ezran was forced back into a standing position by the knights around him. His head drooped as he was pushed towards his familiar transport dragon and began to climb on.

"Pyrrhos! I understand that we weren't able to speak much today but I know you are here. I wanted to take this last moment to congratulate you on a job well done!" Sol Regem said with proud enthusiasm and a genuine smile.

Pyrrhos gave a bow despite the fact that Sol Regem wasn't able to see it, and then said. "Thank you, your majesty." Before getting on the dragon himself.

Sol Regem seemed to wave off Pyrrhos' response before saying, "Please, address me as 'Sol Regem', even after I have been crowned. Let me know if you encounter any issues with our guest."

Pyrrhos chuckled in a way that made Ezran's skin crawl. "Will do Sol Regem, Thank you."

Ezran could almost feel the sardonic smile stretching wider on Pyrrhos' face as he spoke those words.

"Oh, and Ezran," Sol Regem said. "I wish you and Katolis good luck." He gave one last horrifying smile before he took off back towards the Storm Spire.

Despite being disguised as a wish for good luck, Ezran understood the implications of what Sol Regem was saying. Whatever was about to happen to Katolis was not good. At that moment, he wanted to run, despite what it would cause, despite his chances of actually being able to escape. He wanted to run, to protect the kingdom and the people that he loved. Ezran knew it was nothing but a daydream however, as the dragon once again took off towards the sky and the ground fell away from them.

Ezran was at a loss for what to do on his return flight to the camp. He didn't want to betray anyone, but that's what Sol Regem was asking him to do. He didn't see much of a way out of this situation. The world felt like it was collapsing in on him, his head ached as it drove into overtime, attempting to find a solution to this problem. He considered, if it boiled down to it, he might risk his own life to save the others he cared about. That was the only way out of this where he didn't have to betray anyone. He would have to make a decision soon.

The thoughts still clogged Ezran's mind as he was locked back into the confines of his cell. Bathed in darkness as the cold shackles once again encircled his arms and legs. Usually he would have the support of someone right now, to help him make these decisions. Now he felt alone on more fronts than just missing his friends. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He was only twelve. How was he expected to decide something like this on his own?

However, as the familiar drips echoed in the background, it became clear that deciding on his own was something he would have to do. Ezran wanted to start crying again. He could do that now technically, since everybody was gone. The tears even got as far as beginning to pool in his eyes, but Ezran shook them out. He had to keep in the habit of staying strong, or else he might lose it in front of his captors, or somebody else. Just like he did when he first woke up to his situation.

He thought back to happier moments. Moments like his times with Callum,Rayla and Zym. The countless hugs that the three had shared, the times they laughed together, that time when he taught Zym to fly for the first time.

He shouldn't have started thinking of those things, doing so only made the pain worse and the choke in his neck rose higher, increasing the urge to cry.

Ezran leaned back against the wall behind him. The cold stone chilled him, sending a wave of shivers throughout his body. His stomach growled as he realized he still had never received anything to eat and he had received very little to drink. They obviously wanted to keep him alive, so he began to wonder when he would get something and how much it would actually be. His lips curled up into a smile as a new thought entered his mind. The hope that maybe they would forget to feed him. At least if he was dead, he couldn't betray anyone.


The dark corridors flew past her as she ran. Blue crystals expelled themselves out from the walls every so often, lighting up the tunnel in a faint blue hue. Rayla would have stopped at this beautiful sight if it were any other time, but she couldn't now. She had a job to do.

She heard the sound of her own rhythmic breathing as oxygen filled her lungs and was ejected at a steady pace. The air rushed past her as the walls around her blurred. This was nothing but a small jog to her. She navigated the corridors, tracking the footsteps of her target as she got closer and closer. No other sounds were heard traveling through the tunnel. Her swords were out, shining in the reflection of the crystals around her. Adrenaline was shooting through her body, pushing her to continue.

She turned and flew down another corridor. She began to hear the young, panicked breathing of the person ahead of her as he desperately tried to escape. He didn't have a chance. Rayla heard the footsteps of her target become louder and louder as she continued to gain ground. He had managed to avoid her so far through pure luck. However, his luck wouldn't last forever. This was going to come to an end sooner or later, and Rayla just hoped that he would stop making it so difficult.

Another turn lay ahead, the wall ahead of her became larger and larger as she quickly approached. Interestingly, she no longer heard the footsteps of her target ahead of her, no matter how hard she tried. Had he given up? She ground herself to a halt and turned down the final corridor. Ahead of her, in the depths of the corridor, the target's reason for stopping had become evident.

At the end of the corridor was a solid wall, no other turns, no other way out except to go the way that he had come from. Right in front of this wall, sat her target, the young Prince Ezran, breathing heavily. His blue eyes wide open with fear as he clutched the glow toad closer towards himself. This was a dead end, he had nowhere to run.

Rayla slowly approached as his breathing became quicker and quicker. He was shaking, his eyes darted around the room, hopelessly looking for a way out. He found nothing, nothing that could help him in this situation. All of his tricks were used up. His luck had finally run out.

With Rayla approaching and Ezran having seemingly no other option that could befall him, he settled on attempting to negotiate himself out of the problem. "Please… I-I didn't do anything wrong." Ezran said in a weak voice in between breaths.

Rayla stopped for a moment, staring down her target before finally replying in a calm and emotionless voice. "Humans cut down the King of The Dragons and destroyed his only egg. Justice will not be denied. I'm sorry." She meant those last two words. She didn't want to do what she was about to do but there was no other choice. Humans had put themselves in this predicament and had committed a crime that could not go unpunished. She continued onwards.

Ezran's breathing once again accelerated further as he pushed himself as far back against the wall as he could, his back completely straight and flat against the surface behind him. Small sobs began escaping from the prince as tears streamed down his face. The shadow of Rayla loomed overhead as she prepared her sword for the killing blow.

A third voice rang out. Her head snapped around the tunnel as she attempted to discern where it was coming from but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find the source. It took a while to realize that it was coming from inside her head.

Stop!

It was her voice. She huffed at it. She would not fail due to her weakness, not again. Rayla raised her sword as Ezran looked down towards the stone tiles below him and closed his eyes tightly, presumably not wanting to see any more of what was happening.

Stop, please! Let him go! He doesn't need to die! He had no part in this! Let him go!

Rayla continued ignoring the voice in her head, flushing it out as background noise as the entire environment around her grew blurry. The only things in focus were her blades and the weeping prince.

The prince tried one last attempt to break through, but in his fear, he couldn't find much of anything to break through with. "Please...J-Just don't kill me… I-I don't want to die." Ezran muttered out through his broken breaths.

There was another pause. Oppressive silence began to fill the room before she spoke again. "Unfortunately, this is what needs to be done. I don't have a choice in the matter." Was all Rayla said in the same, emotionless tone.

No! NOOO!

The scream from within her own mind was quickly joined by the scream of the young prince, forming a horrifying harmony as the sword breached his chest, sending a splash of crimson liquid splattering onto the silver metal.

Rayla rocketed into a sitting position with a loud and audible gasp. Breathing heavily, she took in the environment around her as it came into focus. She felt the cold touch of sweat running down her body. Rays of sunlight passed through the canopy of the trees above her, illuminating her surroundings. Soren, Amaya, Gren, Corvus, and Nyx were all either laying on the ground or leaning against some tree. Sleeping.

The sounds from the forest began to fade in as she took deep, rhythmic breaths to calm herself down. She was not in that stone hallway, she wasn't trying to kill Ezran, it wasn't real. Her racing heart eventually complied with her demands, beating slower and slower as the real memories faded in, and reality discerned itself more and more from the dream world. She exhaled, closed her eyes, and pinched her nose.

Not again.


The oppressive late afternoon sun hammered down on the mountains near the east side of the breach. The rocky terrain seemed to glow in the sunlight. Crowds of the people, most of them on mounts, dotted the ground as they moved towards a perch in the distance.

There was no shortage of air traffic either, as many different types of dragons joined by many different mounts from different elven civilizations filled up the sky, eclipsing the sunlight as it attempted to reach the ground.

Mounted on one such creature, A Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth Tiger, sat Janai. Her eyes were closed. She let in several deep breaths as she tried to think about what was going to happen. It had been a shocking turn of events when she had received the letter announcing that Azymondias and Zubeia had both been slain by Sol Regem which meant that Sol Regem would now take the place of Azymondias as King of The Dragons. As a Xadian leader, she was expected to show up for his coronation like with any other dragon king coronation, especially now since leaders and military personnel were the prioritized guests. However, something about this didn't sit right with her. She knew that it was completely legal for a dragon to challenge the current king to take the throne, as well as the fact that her kind always had an appreciation for Sol Regem. However, her own appreciation for him began to dwindle after peace was made.

She knew what Sol Regem's stance on humans was, and she had heard what his current opinion about upholding peace with them was as well. Worry began to fill her body as she began to think about what the future might hold if Sol Regem was put in charge of Xadia and the relations with humans. Especially after she knew some of those humans personally, like General Amaya. Still, she had to attend this ceremony and respect Sol Regem as the new King of The Dragons once this was all complete. Those were the rules, and she had to follow them. Even if she didn't agree with what had transpired.

"Is everything alright Janai?" Janai was snapped out of her thinking by the worried tone of her primary advisor behind her, who had come along on this trip. She turned her head to see that the advisor's face was one of concern.

She sighed and then said, "Yeah, Just… Thinking…"

The advisor smiled. "I understand. It has been a lot recently." She said knowingly.

"I just… I don't understand why Sol Regem felt the need to…" She couldn't finish her thought. An odd feeling continued to revolve in her stomach. She had seen Azymondias when he was a dragonling, had fought to protect him and his mother during the Battle of The Storm Spire, and remembered Azymondias' visits to Lux Aurea. She would've given her life to protect either one of them at any point. Now, however, she had to support and serve the one that took their lives, as if nothing had ever happened. She was unsure of what Sol Regem's policies would even be.

She eventually managed to shake herself out of her thoughts and look straight ahead at the fast-approaching perch. It was empty, for now. In front of the perch stood a metal construction that looked like a large, steel torch. The entire shaft of the torch was heavily stylized with an array of metal swirls and nets. Perched on top of the shaft was a large steel bowl filled with flammable material. Janai was very accustomed to this torch, it had been the same torch that King Azymondias had lit during his coronation. During the coronation of a new dragon king, it was always customary for the dragon in question to light the torch, ending the coronation, and sealing in the new dragon as king. Janai's heart dropped as she saw it this time though, a gut reaction that she didn't seem to be in control of.

Janai felt the pit of her stomach falling into the sky as the Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth Tiger began a descent down towards the rocky ground below them. Landing amid the crowd, she began to hear the whispers and murmurs of the people around her. Most of them carried a big amount of curiosity about the future. The heat of the sun continued to beam down on the crowd, causing Janai to begin sweating in her armor. The audience around them only grew as more dragons and elves gathered to witness the spectacle unfold.

A bit of time went by before a large number of people in shining, golden knight armor marched around the crowd and positioned themselves on both sides of the perch, standing ahead of the crowd in a ready position, not saying anything. Their presence felt almost intimidating as they stood motionless ahead of the crowd. The sets of Sunfire-like armor that they were wearing were something that Janai had never seen before. She began to think back to the description that had been given about Ezran's kidnappers, could they be...? She noticed from the whispers around her that she wasn't the only one in this line of thought. However, there were so many of the knights that it didn't feel like the small team of criminals that had kidnapped Ezran. The line of knights kept extending from both sides of the perch as their numbers increased. From their authoritative stance, it also seemed like they were the ones in charge here. Had this been any other situation, Janai would've most likely questioned them, but from their numbers and stance, she, and most likely the rest of the crowd, refrained.

A little more time went by as more and more knights poured in, arriving on dragons and other mounts. The dragons that they had arrived on also took their own position in front of the crowd, surrounding the perch, eying the audience, an unreadable expression on their faces. The arriving knights had eventually extended the lines to the sides enough and began to add more rows behind the front-line knights. It almost looked like a mini army, a display which only served to unnerve Janai even more.

A couple of moments after the lines had finished gathering, the crowd had also mostly finished pooling in. The crowd seemed to be less dense than usual for a coronation of a dragon king, most likely due to the short notice. However, there were still definitely a sizable amount of people attending.

One of the knights climbed up to the perch and made a motion to get the crowd's attention. Slowly but surely, through much motioning and persuasion with words, the sound of the crowd died down, allowing the sounds of wind and any insects around them to dominate the surrounding area.

The knight then cleared her throat before speaking in a powerful female voice to address the crowd. A distinct Sunfire accent was noticeable as she spoke. "Greetings everyone, I welcome you to the coronation of King Sol Regem. My name is Irida, I am a proud member of the Knights of Sol Regem, an organization built to protect Xadia and its citizens from any harm that may befall us," Irida said. "In just a few moments you will see Sol Regem himself, he will present you with a speech about his upcoming plans and why we have deemed it necessary to take the actions that we have taken." This caused some murmuring to ripple through the crowd as Irida made the motions to silence everyone once again. "Just like with every dragon king coronation, we ask that you remain respectful and open to the new king." Irida then paused for effect before continuing. "Sol Regem has devoted himself to protecting you and your families down to his final breath. I sincerely hope you will all consider joining our ranks in the Knights of Sol Regem after the end of this coronation. This nation may be in more danger than it has ever been. The more members we have, the more we can ensure a bright future for Xadia. Thank you." Irida then moved aside to clear the landing zone for the incoming guest of honor.

The warning of danger got the crowd talking and murmuring louder than it had before. Theories of what Irida might have been talking about circulated in nonstop discussion until something appeared on the horizon, growing in the distance. Janai made out the yellow scales, the large crown shape on the back of its head, and its burnt eyes.

It was Sol Regem.


Sol regem gracefully made his descent to the perch below. Despite his inability to see, he still maintained his old, superior navigation skills. The same skills that he had used to fly back to Elarion and burn the city to the ground after he had been blinded. Hot air was flowing past him, providing a gentle warmth to his scales. He could feel the sun beaming down on his back, energizing his primal. He smiled. Today, Xadia would once again be able to protect themselves from the evils of humanity. He just needed to convince everyone else.

Sol Regem landed with a definite thud on top of the perch that had been set up for him. Listening to the sounds around him, he heard the gentle breeze, the dust from the floor as it scurried along the ground, and the collective breathing of everyone in the audience waiting for what he had to say.

Sol Regem heard footsteps approaching him, followed by a gentle tap on his scales to get his attention. Sol Regem slowly moved his head down to hear what this person had to say. He soon heard a soft voice speaking to him. Trying to get as close to his ear as possible. It was Irida's voice. "Your highness, while some were not able to show up given the time constraint, a sizable portion of the people that you requested are here. There were a lot of armies and leaders from civilizations across the country that were able to make it on mounts. A shadowhawk will be sent to the parties that were unable to attend, updating them on the current situation once the coronation has been concluded."

Sol Regem smiled. The people of Xadia were putting in the effort to accommodate the urgency of the situation as best they could. That was a good sign, maybe getting through them was going to be easier than he thought. "Thank you Irida, you may rejoin your ranks now," Sol Regem responded.

"Very well Sol Regem," Irida said in a professional tone. It only took a couple of moments for Irida to leave Sol Regem's side, and rejoin the rest of the Knights of Sol Regem around the perch.

Once Sol Regem no longer heard Irida's footsteps, he raised his head high above the crowd, took in a large intake of air, and then exhaled. His own minor breeze traveled gently above the people attending. He paused once more for effect, smiled, and then spoke. "People of Xadia. I apologize for the short notice of this coronation, I understand that usually people are given a little bit more than two days to reach the coronation site which is why I understand if some people were unable to make it." He said in a formal tone. "Rest assured, that these people who weren't able to make it today will be given information on the major events in this coronation as well as the major points I am about to make. It is a truth that everybody needs to hear."

Sol Regem's smile faded. In its place stood a much more serious look, filled with melancholy. "I understand that to get into this position, I had to take two lives, the lives of Queen Zubeia, and the young dragon king Azymondias. Believe me when I say that I would have much preferred not to go through with these actions. However, I saw no alternative. The two had refused to take my warnings seriously and only further contributed to the issue that I was trying to solve. Through urgency, I had decided that this was the only step left to take. And now, I hope you will all listen as I relay the same warning to you that I had given to them." The crowd remained silent as Sol Regem continued. "I regret to inform you that, as we speak, Xadia is in serious danger from the likes of humanity."

A wave of gasps and murmurs spread throughout the crowd while a collection of growls were heard from the attending dragons. Sol Regem waited patiently for the crowd to die down before speaking again. "This is not new information, Xadia has been in serious danger ever since the Battle of The Storm Spire had come to an end," Sol Regem said. "Despite our victory against the dark forces of Viren, we had managed to let our guard down and, unfortunately, play right into humanity's hands."

Some more murmurs went through the crowd, presumably asking themselves what Sol Regem had meant by this. They wouldn't have to wait long for their answer. "This 'peace' that arose from this event was, unfortunately, one-sided. Look into yourself, and think back to history. Think back to what we always knew. We know for a fact that humanity has proven themselves time and time again to be master manipulators and liars. Why would now be any different?" Sol Regem then took a moment to pause before saying, "They have been playing the long game this entire time, waiting for Xadia to lower its guard enough for them to strike. I now fear that this strike is not far off. In a couple of months, the blood moon will rise, and with it, the humans will have at their disposal 80 minutes of completely free dark magic, no spell components required."

Some fearful gasps and murmurs began to run through the crowd as some began connecting to the dots as to where this was going.

Sol Regem continued onward with his speech. "Humans had attempted to let us believe that relations were improving, and that a peaceful future was on the horizon. Azymondias and Zubeia fell right into this trap. However, if a peaceful future was truly on the horizon, and the humans were truly willing to improve themselves, why has there not been a single law against dark magic in the Human Kingdoms since the 'peace' began two years ago?" Sol Regem's voice began to raise as he finished his sentence.

More of the crowd seemed to be beginning to connect the dots now as the air in the environment around them became ignited with the heat of collective anger. Sol Regem, sensing the change in the crowd, allowed his tone to ride the intense energy. "Azymondias knew about this lack of dark magic laws very well. However, he still allowed it to continue, most likely due to the human's lies that had gotten into his head." Sol Regem sighed before resuming. "I want to be very clear. I do not blame Azymondias or Zubeia for their trust in humanity. Their will for peace is admirable, but it is sadly only fantasy. It is a future that humans will never conform to. I have seen it personally. A thousand years earlier, before humans were expelled to the western half of the continent, we had attempted to coexist with them."

Sol Regem put on a sad and mournful expression and began speaking in a softer tone as he continued. "What followed were a slew of horrific killings of magical creatures, and a genocide that brought the unicorns to extinction. Had those of you who weren't alive for these events had witnessed this carnage, you would know immediately that humans couldn't be trusted. Hundreds of magical creatures lay dead from their reign of terror. It was only until we exiled them to the western half of the continent that we were able to save the creatures of Xadia. Even then, as we know, their horrific practices continued on the western side of the border."

The crowd was silent at this so Sol Regem continued. "Now Azymondias has attempted this same coexistence again. When I looked ahead into the future, I saw history repeating itself. They won't just stop at animals, they never did. Look around you, think about your friends and your loved ones. They could be next on their list. All to be used for a spell in an attempt to keep humans superior. This is the future that we are heading for!"

Angry muttering and chattering streamed its way through the crowd again, numerous growls and hisses were emitted from the dragons on site.

"But it doesn't have to be this way." Sol Regem said. "We can still stop this future from happening. It is clear to me, and now hopefully to all of you that humans are only good when controlled. This is why we need to take action, right now." Sol Regem quickly moved his head to the west and then turned back to the crowd. "At this time, the Human Kingdoms are still unaware of what has transpired here, they believe that they still have all of us fooled. This sets up the perfect opportunity to attack them before they can attack us! They won't see it coming." Sol Regem paused for a bit, listening to the mutters from the crowd turning into slight noises of agreement.

"Katolis, in particular, is the best target, to begin with," Sol Regem said."Not only are they one of the kingdom's that border Xadia, but their military force also makes them the biggest threat to us. However, now we have been graced with an opportunity like no other." Sol Regem paused for a bit before continuing. "In their current state, Katolis is weak, they have no king. And that, combined with the lack of knowledge of our awareness of their plans for manipulation, leaves them especially vulnerable. With Katolis under our control, the rest of the Human Kingdoms will be no issue to acquire."

The small cheers and noises of agreement were getting louder and louder as Sol Regem continued. "I must come clean with you all. King Ezran's disappearance was no coincidence. As we speak, he is in our custody, being kept in a classified location. In a way, I regret that this was an action that needed to be taken. However, I don't feel too much regret, because despite his age, Ezran was a primary catalyst for humanities plans. He had the most contact with Azymondias out of any of the humans." Sol Regem then took a moment to growl to himself before his lips curled into a snarl and he spat out his next words. "It just goes to show that humanity is born to lie, manipulate, and use others for their own, personal gain. Age doesn't matter."

A stream of angry shouting erupted from the crowd. Not anger directed towards Sol Regem, but anger directed towards humanity. Sol Regem, with his booming voice, simply talked over them. "I have given you the opportunity, now you must seize it. I am standing here now, not out of any desire for power, but out of a genuine concern for the citizens of Xadia and their wellbeing. Like the sun that I am connected to, I will ensure a bright future for all of you."

The crowd was in uproar. Numerous shouts erupted, a lot of them forming 3 specific words.

"Light the flame!" Yelled a voice from the crowd.

"Light the flame!" Yelled another.

The voices continued, demanding Sol Regem to take the final step to ensure Xadia's future. Sol Regem was not one to keep them waiting. Feeling the burning fire rise up inside of him, he opened his mouth, allowing for a wave of fire to shoot outwards, hitting the top of the metal construction and causing the flammable material to, almost explosively, erupt into flames, towering high into the sky.

Sol Regem's position as King of The Dragon's had now been sealed. The anger-filled shouts from before turned into loud clapping and cheering.

It didn't take long for Sol Regem to make his first ruling as King of The Dragons. "Effective immediately, humans will once again be banned from Xadia. Any human in Xadia currently will be escorted out of the premises. A kill on sight order will be issued for any human crossing the border after news of this ruling has been properly distributed," Sol Regem asserted. "I hope you will all take the necessary steps and join the Knights of Sol Regem today! We have armor and weapons ready for all of you! We strike Katolis as soon as possible!"

The cheers continued as the fire continued to burn, emitting a large plume of black smoke into the atmosphere.

A little while into the cheers, Sol Regem felt another tap on his scales and he, once again, got down to hear what the person had to say. The one who had got his attention was once again Irida.

"A great speech your majesty, I think you really managed to sell it to them." Irida paused for a moment before saying, "I-I know this may not be the best time to ask this, and I mean no disrespect. I'm not questioning you or anything just… I and some other people were curious… I mean… We saw Ezran lie about Azymondias, seemingly in an attempt to protect him when he spoke to you. I just...don't understand, if Ezran was the primary catalyst, and was just using Azymondias this whole time, why would he risk lying to keep him alive? It doesn't make much sense to me."

Sol Regem let out a soft chuckle before responding. "I am very glad that you have raised this concern with me. You don't have to worry about 'questioning me'. Please feel free to ask me when you feel that some things don't add up." Sol Regem paused for a moment before continuing. "I'll tell you what it most likely was. Azymondias was the key to the human's plans. Having him in charge means that humanity will be able to maintain its manipulative grip on Xadia. With me being in charge instead, their plans suddenly fall apart. This whole thing was most likely done by Ezran in an attempt to keep Azymondias alive so that Azymondias would eventually come back and try to take back the position of King of The Dragons, and allow for humanity to grasp Xadia with its manipulative hand all over again," Sol Regem said. He then followed up with, "There is also another possible reason. Azymondias, being one who believed the human's lies, could, in Ezran's mind, be Ezran's key to escape." Sol Regem paused for a moment before saying, "So you see, the act was in no way an act of selflessness but, instead, was intended to benefit humanity as much as possible, or was done in an attempt to save Ezran's own skin."

"Ah, alright, that makes sense. Thank you for telling us your majesty, it was just a thing that some of us were concerned about." Irida responded.

Sol Regem chuckled again. "It's no problem, remember that you can come to me if you have any more questions."

The sound of footsteps moving away from Sol Regem was briefly heard as the cheers continued. Sol Regem, once again, raised his head high above the crowd, bearing a warm, happy smile. Things were finally on the right track.

Xadia and its people would finally be saved.


The atmosphere in the border down of Katolis was pleasant. The glow from the everpresent lava river that formed the breach lingered on the horizon, forming a strangely beautiful sight. People were going about their daily routines. The streets were becoming emptier and emptier, and businesses were closing for the day as they reached the end of the work hours. The temperature outside had cooled from scorching heat to a pleasant warmth as the sun continued its descent. The sounds of children playing in the streets were audible, adding another layer to the serene mood present in the town. Everybody was eager to settle down for the day and enjoy the increasingly pleasant atmosphere.

A wave of shrieks from the eastern edge of town suddenly rang out, severing the soothing atmosphere that had been built up. Those who heard them instantly jumped to attention as several more shrieks rang out in a deafening chorus. Townspeople began running through the streets, away from the eastern edge of town, while some others became disoriented, caught in the sudden commotion with no clue of what was occurring. A new glow began to show itself from the direction of where the breach was. A glow that was much closer, the fury of fire.

Knights, wearing golden armor, carrying very specific types of spears, stormed into the city. The shattering of glass was heard as windows were broken, and businesses were raided and destroyed. People inside these buildings had no option but to cower in a corner as the knights descended upon them. The rage of the fire grew stronger as dragons flying overhead rained hell on the roofs of the town. Those unlucky enough to be caught in the path were instantly burned to a crisp by the barrage of flames. Smoke from the lit buildings billowed into the sky, casting a looming shadow over the town. The raging fires that were causing that smoke provided the light source of a furious orange glow that pressed onto the city.

The sounds of the children playing morphed into sounds of children screaming, calling out for their families in a panic, sometimes through tears. The constant barrage of fire created a loud background noise, as if one were standing in the middle of a war zone. Some people ducked into homes for cover from the intruders on the streets. Homes that were sometimes already set alight.

Some of the guards in the town had quickly gathered themselves and attempted to get into position to fight off the invaders. However, the sheer number of knights that were storming into the town, and the constant barrage of fire from the dragons, which were now concealed by smoke, overwhelmed the small and disorganized guard.

Some people were frantically running around on the streets, on fire, their skin blistering and searing as they lost rational thought and looked for a way to put themselves out.

A massive BOOM reverberated around the town's buildings, vibrating the ground. It was as if lightning had just struck right into the town's center. After looking around for the source, some of the townspeople watched in horror as the town's tallest tower, which had any flammable part in flames, split horizontally through the middle, causing the top half to slowly tip over. Long drawn-out sounds of cracks and groans from the stone walls of the tower were emitted as the tipping continued. Eventually, gravity took complete hold of the tipping section of the tower and caused it to fall towards the houses below, dragging large amounts of dust behind it as it did so. Its descent ended with a deafening CRASH on the town floor creating a cloud of dust, smoke, and embers from the impact.

Unbothered by what was happening around them, the Knights of Sol Regem continued their slow march through the town, quickly disposing of anybody that entered their line of sight.

More booms and crashes were heard as more and more buildings collapsed, weakened by the fire. Some of the townspeople had now reoriented themselves enough to focus on their survival.

They had to get out of the town.

They grabbed their children and what family they had and ran towards the west edge of the town. The increasing heat from the flames bursting out of the buildings all around them became too much to bear for some as they soon succumbed to the fire. Others continued to be scratched and whipped by the flames that felt like they were alive, preventing them from leaving.

Some of the townspeople who made it out of town looked back and witnessed the bright, glowing light that the town had become as distant screams and shouts continued to echo behind them. It was then that some of them who had reached higher ground saw the vast amounts of forces heading into the town. They seemed to stretch back for a long distance. The ones in the back became as small as ants. These weren't just some terrorists, this was a full army, storming over the breach.

The survivors swallowed the pain of betrayal with great heartache as tears rolled down some of their cheeks. They had to stay ahead of this army, they had to warn the other towns.

Hurrying their pace, they made a dash for the west. Some held their terrified children in their arms as they ran, leaving behind the torch that they had once called their home as it spat embers and smoke into the air, with many people still inside.


Callum sat on the throne, nervously tapping his fingers on the armrest beside him. The moonlight was shining in through the windows. Despite it having been two days since Rayla and the others had left to go find Ezran, he still felt no different than how he did when he had just begun filling in for the king. He really wasn't cut out for this. Doing magic and assisting his brother were his specialties, not ruling an entire kingdom in said brother's absence. He had no idea how Ezran was able to take up this job despite being several years younger than him. The only moments of peace he had were moments like these. No commotion, nobody else in the throne room but him and the guards.

He was looking forward to being able to turn in for the night. The weight of the kingdom and the worry for Ezran continued to press down on him every day, leading to hard exhaustion. He occasionally wondered if the rescue team, or anybody for that matter, had made any progress in finding Ezran. With Zym no longer being at the castle, Callum had lost the constant confirmation that Ezran was still alive and that shook him more than anything else. Callum feared the future where a shadowhawk would land in front of him with Zym's seal, and he would break it open to find the tragic news that Ezran was no longer with them.

Callum attempted to push himself out of those thoughts as they came up. He thought back to what Rayla had said to him on the day it had been revealed that Ezran had gone missing.

Ez is strong, he'll make it through this.

Callum prayed that she was right. Sure, Ezran had shown incredible strength when retrieving the egg from the freezing water, but this was a whole different scenario. What happened to Ezran here largely depended on how rough his captors were willing to treat him. Callum imagined the horrors that Ezran would go through if he was unlucky enough to have less than friendly captors. Would any amount of strength be enough to pull through something like that?

Callum couldn't lose Ezran. Ezran was the only true immediate family that Callum had left after King Harrow's death. Callum remembered the fear of losing him the night of the assassination, however, it was much deeper this time. It shook him to his core, and it kept him up at night. This was a constant 24/7 fear that would persist until Ezran was either found or…

Dammit! He really needed to stop thinking about that outcome. Callum felt that he might completely lose his sanity if Ezran was ever declared dead. The small, smiling bundle of joy that always stuffed his face full with jelly tarts and always seemed to have it in his interest to help others. He had even managed to become best friends with an Archdragon. Boy, his brother sure was something wasn't he?

Callum slowly chuckled to himself as a faint smile stretched across his face and a lone tear rolled down his cheek. The guards in the room looked at him with wide, curious eyes as they tried to pinpoint what exactly was so funny. Callum didn't care however, if he wanted to cling to the happy memories he had of Ezran then he felt it in his right to do so uninterrupted.

He couldn't wait until the day that Ezran was finally rescued and brought back to the castle safely. Callum imagined the tight hug that he would give Ezran following his arrival, not letting go until Ezran pressured him to. He imagined the massive plate of jelly tarts that he would demand to be given to Ezran for having gone through all of that.

Callum was ripped out of his train of thought by the doors to the throne room swinging open. Glancing to the opposite end of the room he saw Opeli walk through the open doors with the guards holding them open for her. She wore a hard and professional look on her face. The look that most of everyone had gotten used to.

As she walked further into the throne room, the guards behind her closed the doors with a very audible SLAM.

"Prince Callum, I do apologize for seeing you so late but the crow master had informed me that a letter had just arrived for you via shadowhawk, and I offered to deliver the message to you," Opeli said in her standard, formal tone.

Callum nearly rocketed out of his seat at the mention of a shadowhawk. Was it news from Zym? From the rescue team? He couldn't imagine it being news from anybody else. Adrenaline began to flush through his body as he began fidgeting with his fingers nervously. What would they say? Would he like the news that was given to him?

Opeli, having seemingly noticed Callum's eager motion, looked at him with pity and said in a melancholy voice, "Unfortunately, I don't think that this is from King Azymondias or the rescue team. We've never seen this seal before, although it does look very official."

Callum felt all the excitement drain out of his body immediately. He pushed down the tears that he felt were beginning to come up. He had really hoped this would be news about Ezran. He had been left in the dark for too long. He wanted information. Still, he had to cast that disappointment aside and read the letter. It was his duty now, after all, to read these types of things.

Callum reluctantly trudged up to Opeli who was holding the letter out to him. He saw the gold of the seal glisten from where he was. The mystery behind this letter was beginning to peak his curiosity despite the initial disappointment of it likely not being a letter from anybody that he knew.

He slowly took the letter from Opeli and then proceeded to walk back to the throne. After sitting down, he raised an eyebrow as he observed the alien seal. It was definitely a seal that he hadn't seen before either. Inside the border of the golden seal was what looked to be a depiction of a dragon wing. The wing was stretched out, as if the dragon in question were about to take off or was already in a glide. Judging by the depiction on the seal, it seemed that it had definitely come from Xadia. From where in Xadia it came from, he still didn't know however.

Callum's intrigue mounted as he split the seal in two, unrolling the letter and revealing the text kept inside.

"Prince Callum,

I understand that I am most likely not someone that you would be expecting a letter from. However, I urge you to heed these next words carefully.

Unfortunately, mounting circumstances have required me to take action to dethrone Azymondias as the King of The Dragons. As you read this message, Azymondias and Zubeia are no longer with us. They, unfortunately, fell victim to believing humanity's lies. It is for this reason that action needed to be taken. I have now been crowned as the new King of The Dragons, and the time has now come for me to deliver you an ultimatum.

Humanity's manipulative nature will no longer be tolerated by Xadia and will now be silenced by force. As we speak, my forces have already entered Katolis and are pushing further and further into the kingdom. After you have read this message, you are to surrender to Xadia immediately and thereby step down as leader of Katolis, allowing Katolis to become a territory of Xadia.

Failure to take this action will result in the destruction of every single town and community in Katolis along with its occupants. Remember that my forces have already breached Katolis and are making progress quickly, every second that you delay will result in more unnecessary lives being taken. Do not attempt to fight against this. Doing so will only end in more useless bloodshed. Your armies are disorganized and you have no king on the throne.

I trust that you will make the right decision.

Sol Regem"

Callum was trembling as he read the note. His heart beating out of his chest. Whatever he had been expecting, it was not this. Zym and Zubeia were dead, and now Sol Regem was in charge of Xadia and was invading Katolis. This had to be some sort of nightmare right? He just couldn't imagine what events had led up to this. His eyes began to well up with tears. He didn't know how to handle this. How was he supposed to handle the threat of war? He had never been briefed on the subject. The memories of Zym crowded in his mind, battling the looming threat of war for dominance over his thoughts. The dragon they had tried so hard to get back to Xadia so there could finally be peace, was no more.

Callum began to find himself losing his composure as the tight grip of anxiety crept its way back into his body. As time went on, he found it harder and harder to breathe. It was as if somebody was sucking all the air out of the room.

No.

He had to keep his composure, he couldn't fall back into the hand of anxiety now. Slowly, he focused on his breaths. He took in a deep steady breath of air and allowed it to fill his lungs before exhaling again. After the first breath, he took in another steady breath and exhaled it slowly. He felt his mind begin to clear up as each breath entered and exited his body. His heart rate slowed, and the tunnel vision that he didn't even realize he had slowly faded away.

"Prince Callum?" Opeli said, concerned.

Callum looked over at her. Her eyebrow was raised, and her entire face bore a look of worry. She had noticed Callum's reaction to the letter. As Callum looked around the room, he saw that, in fact, everybody had noticed his near outburst. Every guard had their eyes focused on him, watching him intently, all with some sort of worry that sprayed across their faces.

"M-my apologies Opeli," Callum replied. He didn't know where to begin. How would he deliver news like this? His mind scrambled for options on how to say what he was about to say. In the end though, he just decided to say it how it was.

Another deep breath flowed through Callum's body before he finally delivered the information contained within the letter. "S-Sol Regem has killed King Azymondias and Queen Zubeia and has taken over as King of The Dragons." Callum stuttered out.

Numerous gasps erupted throughout the throne room. Many faces seemed to contain the same shock that Callum had felt after reading the letter. Opeli herself looked absolutely mortified as she continued to stare at Callum.

"There's more," Callum said, fear building up in his voice. "Sol Regem's forces have breached Katolis' borders. H-he threatens to obliterate every town in his way and kill their inhabitants unless we surrender and allow Katolis to become a territory of Xadia."

The entire throne room was hit with a dead silence at those last words. Numerous guards seemed to be caught in their own thoughts as they looked towards the floor. Opeli herself was completely frozen in position. The once calming moonlight that entered in through the windows now held a much more sinister tone.

The sounds of the torches that lit up the throne room were now more audible than ever as they seeped their way into Callum's mind. The constant whooshing noise of the fire helped illustrate the burning towns as he pictured them. The vivid imagery of raging fire invaded his head. He began to hear the screams of the people, trying desperately to get away, trying to stay with their families. The sounds of the buildings collapsing also rang out in his mind, along with the sounds of several explosions that would silence voices as they emerged.

He felt a lump rise in his throat at the thought. He knew he had to do something, and he had to do something quickly. The people of the kingdom needed him now, but he didn't know what he could do. He tried desperately to think of options but each time something entered his shaken mind, it flashed out of existence immediately.

Clearing her throat, Opeli became the first to speak. "Prince Callum-" She got caught on her own words. It was likely that she didn't even know how to start addressing this. A moment of silence passed before she tried again. "Prince Callum, perhaps it would be best if we went over this with the rest of the council. They could help us reach a well-educated decision."

Callum immediately nodded at the idea. "Y-yeah, that would be great, thank you Opeli," Callum said with a shaky exhale. Despite the situation, he felt some of the stress radiating out of his body. He took comfort in knowing that he wasn't alone in this, and he was happy to have the help that he did. They were going to figure something out, together. There would be no other way it could work.

Opeli nodded and then slowly began to make her exit out of the room. Some of the guards in the room were nervously darting their eyes around, fidgeting with their weapons, or still just looking towards the floor, seemingly affected by the heavy atmosphere that still remained in the room.

As a slam rang out throughout the throne room, marking the closing of the doors after Opeli's exit, Callum fell back into his throne. He began to once again think of solutions to the issue that had presented itself. He had to come up with something to show everyone that he wasn't worthless. The obvious answer was to get the army mobilized to intercept the ongoing invasion, but as Sol Regem had said in his letter, the army was disorganized. It had fallen out of most operations with Xadia as they were deemed no longer necessary. They had not expected an attack from, what was then, a peaceful country.

Another lump hit his throat. He felt all the progress they had made in the last two years wisp away, becoming nothing but shreds of hope in never-ending darkness. Things were now going back to how they were before, with the Human Kingdoms at odds with Xadia. Tears managed to form around the edges of his eyes this time. They had tasted peace already. Why was this happening now? They were so close. They had signed an official alliance document, everybody seemed to be happier during this time. Things were only forecasted to only go up from there. But they didn't. It all came crashing down. The kidnapping of his brother, and now this. Did the world just have a will to torture people?

What would happen to Ezran now? Sol Regem had made his disdain for humanity very clear. It could be assumed that there would no longer be a nationwide search for Ezran in Xadia. This finally got the tears to stream out of his eyes. He imagined his little brother, alone, in the dark, never to be found by anyone, slowly withering away.

Please… you can take me… just don't take Ezran...Please! He begged in his mind. He didn't know who he was begging. The world perhaps. He wanted his brother back, and the possibilities of that were getting slimmer and slimmer. Flashes of the two of them together zipped through his mind. That time Callum had accidentally hurt Ezran's hand while sparring with wooden swords and rushed to check if he was ok, those nights he had spent in Ezrans room, showing Ezran the drawings in his sketchbook when Ezran couldn't sleep, the countless hugs they had shared, all those times Callum had playfully scolded Ezran for torturing Barius through his Jelly tart heists. Please! He squeezed his eyelids together, forcing more tears to stream down his face. He tightened his fist to the point where the color itself drained from them, leaving nothing but whiteness in its wake. Callum's entire world was collapsing around him. Would he be the only one in his immediate family now? Destined to walk the halls of the castle in silence? Without anybody he knew? Fighting a war that they had once thought had ended?

It was at this time when Rayla pierced Callum's mind. What side would she take in all of this? Would she fight against Sol Regem? Or...Would she… No. What was he thinking? Rayla was in as much support of peace as Callum was. He doubted that she would become loyal to anything else. Plus, Rayla had a close relationship with Callum. She would definitely not be ok with this. Whether she was Xadian or not.

Still, as he comforted himself, he felt a slight fear lingering in his body, an ever-present parasite clinging to his head that was telling him otherwise. With no news to confirm either side, all he could do was just pray that his fear remained an irrational fear.


A couple of minutes had gone by until finally the entire council had arrived to discuss the nature of the letter. Callum, along with the council, were standing around the table which contained a map of the entire Xadian continent. A map that had been collecting dust through the little amount of use in the past two years.

"Ok, so, if we take into consideration the amount time it takes for a shadowhawk to reach the castle and the standard speed that an army travels, we can assume that Sol Regem's forces would be around… here," one of the council members whose name was Graham said while putting down the old pieces that represented Xadia. "This is, of course, a very rough estimate. We don't know where exactly the shadowhawk was sent from, how fast exactly the army is moving, where exactly they crossed the breach, and what exact path they are following."

The projection that Graham had shown showed that the army would have likely already crossed their first town a while ago and were getting deeper into Katolis. Several deep breaths were heard from the people attending at the severity of the situation.

Opeli focused on the bored, an extremely troubled expression on her face. "Do you think it would be possible to get the army together in time to intercept them before they cause any more bloodshed?"

"I...am… unsure…" Graham replied, a sigh escaping his mouth. "Most of the army isn't anywhere near the border and is, instead, dispersed throughout the country doing smaller operations. If we try, it will take a long time for them all to come together and intercept the incoming forces with a focused attack." Graham paused for a moment before continuing. He then began stuttering as he spoke again. "I-it's also X-Xadia so even if we do manage to intercept them, I'm not sure how successful we will be. We had a lot of trouble with them even when we were as prepared as we could be for an attack. As it stands now, we are completely unprepared. We also don't know their numbers or whether they have dragons or not, which they most likely will."

A wave of hopelessness was flooding through the room. It was hitting everyone equally. For Callum, it felt the most crushing. The council could say whatever they wanted, but he would have to be the one to make the final decision, the decision that would most likely decide the future for all of Katolis. It was going to be his call, and he hated it. Would he try desperately to get the armies organized? Risking many innocent lives in the process while Sol Regem's army flooded into their towns? Or would he surrender and give Katolis to Xadia under the chance that it would stop?

Hesitancy blew through his mind at both options. He hated them equally, yet those were the two options he could decide between at the moment. If Katolis would have any hope of stopping the incursion, he'd need the full army. He couldn't just make do with part of it, that part be slaughtered immediately, meaning that he, and Katolis, would have to wait the full time that it took to get the army together. He felt as if he was truly in a rock in a hard place, there was no miracle third option to save the day… unless…

"Could we perhaps get the other kingdoms involved? We could let them know what is happening and then we could better our chances." Callum offered nervously.

The other council members all looked at each other, thoughtful expressions on their faces. Graham, however, shook his head and cleared his throat before speaking. "It's a good idea, with the force of all the Human Kingdoms combined we would stand a much better chance. However, this idea bears a lot of the same issues that trying to get Katolis' army together for a counter-attack has at the moment. For all the different kingdom's armies to reach Katolis, it would take an extremely long time, time that we may not have, especially with the current state of some of those armies. Del Bar, Neolandia, and Evenere, for example, are still incredibly weak from the Battle of The Storm Spire two years ago. It's likely that even if they are able to get the remaining army that they have together, they would not be able to provide the assistance that they once would've been able to. This is especially considering that even when the armies were at their strongest, the three armies together were still weaker than the army of Katolis."

Graham stared at the bored intently, breathing in and out regularly, seemingly lost in thought. "The only other kingdom that doesn't have a devastated army right now would be Duren. But even then, I'm not sure if they would be able to come to our aid in time to prevent extreme damage and high fatalities."

Callum let out a shaky breath. People were going to die no matter what they did. That much had become clear. This seemed to be turning from a discussion of how to fend off an attack to how to reduce the number of casualties as much as possible. The idea of surrender kept clawing at his mind, but he suppressed it. It would be the easy way out after all, and he didn't know what the council members, or citizens would think of him if he suggested that. He also, more importantly, didn't know what Sol Regem would do with Katolis if it came under Sol Regem's rule. However, as the meeting went on, other options seemed to be disappearing left and right.

About two hours into the meeting, the doors to the throne room swung open, and in their wake came the Crow Master, running into the room, holding some sort of letter.

Opeli's face hardened. She gave the crow master a stern glare. "What is the meaning of this? We are in the middle of something really important!" Opeli hissed.

The Crow Master immediately halted, frozen in position, a fearful and embarrassed look spread across his face as he looked back at Opeli. "M-my apologies Opeli, b-but I've received a letter from the guard in the border town. I-it was marked as extremely urgent."

Callum's body became tense as he heard that. The border town… that would've been the first to be attacked. Cold sweat raced down his body as he imagined the possibilities of what that letter contained. Hesitantly, Callum walked over to the Crow Master and accepted the letter, to which the Crow Master nodded and timidly walked out of the room. Callum heard the doors shut behind the Crow Master as he eyed the letter in his hands. For a while, he did nothing. He didn't want to open it. It was as if the words contained within that letter would poison him. He didn't want to unlock the secrets of what was happening in Katolis right now.

"Prince Callum?" Opeli asked, snapping Callum out of his thoughts.

Unfortunately, Callum's current position didn't allow for him to stay in the dark. He quickly looked at Opeli. An expression of concern was once again on her face. He then looked back at the letter and cleared his throat. "S-sorry, I guess I-I uh-" He couldn't finish what he was saying. The letter was screaming at him, demanding to be opened. Finally, after much hesitation, he broke the seal and opened the letter.

The news that the letter contained chilled Callum to the bone. The entire town had been burned down, reduced to ashes by an army of dragons and golden-armored knights. Some were able to escape, others were not so lucky. Any hope of Sol Regem's warning being an empty threat was now lost.

Sol Regem had followed through.

Callum's body and voice shook as he explained the situation to the rest of the council. The events that they assumed had taken place were now confirmed. Sol Regem's forces were indeed in Katolis and were indeed burning down towns and villages until they received a surrender.

As Callum thought over the letter, a memory pierced itself into his mind. On the day that it was revealed that Ezran had been abducted, Zym had said that the abductors were wearing some sort of Sunfire armor. The only armor that he knew of in Xadia that was gold, was Sunfire armor. Could Sol Regem really have been responsible for arranging Ezran's kidnapping? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Sol Regem was a Sun Dragon, the abductors were wearing Sunfire armor, and the timing of it all... The incursion had occurred mere days after Ezran's abduction. The kidnapping was looking less like an opportunity that Sol Regem had seen and decided to utilize and more like something that had been planned out from the start.

As the thoughts continued to race through Callum's mind, it allowed him to fall into another state of distress. New questions flooded Callum's mind at the possibility of Sol Regem's involvement. Questions that scared Callum even more than any of the old questions that Callum had asked. Questions like, what would they do to Ezran if Katolis didn't surrender? Would they threaten to hurt him? To kill him? Why weren't they using him as leverage now? What else did they plan to do with him?

This was all met with the startling realization that if Sol Regem had organized the kidnapping, and Sol Regem was now the King of The Dragons, not only would the search efforts stop, but the kidnapping, and whatever Ezran's captors would do to Ezran would now be endorsed by Xadia. Callum's heart sank at the realization. His hopes of ever seeing Ezran again continued to slip away. Tears once again pooled in his eyes as he thought about it. All the factors that he knew and all the factors that he still didn't know, like where Rayla was in all of this, swirled through his head, creating a messy mush of thoughts.

He forced himself to calm down. Sol Regem being the one to organize Ezran's kidnapping was still just an assumption, even if it seemed to be a really good one. He had to focus on what was happening now and what he had a say on. As much as he hated to admit it, what happened to Ezran was currently out of his control.

The scene of what Callum could control didn't look any better however. He didn't know where exactly Sol Regem's forces were in Katolis or how close they were to their next town or if the next town was even still standing. He had no way of knowing. Even though he wanted to be in the dark before opening the letter, he realized that being cut off from the information of how many towns had been affected and how many were going to be affected soon hurt.

He thought again of all the people, burning and screaming out, while the military couldn't do anything to help in time. Only one option now remained in his head, the option that had been nagging at him since this whole ordeal had begun just hours earlier. The confirmation of Sol Regem's carnage had only worked to solidify it. That option,

was to surrender.

The rest of the council did not have the reaction that Callum was expecting when he pitched this idea. They exchanged glances of nervousness and concern as the words were finally spoken. It was clear that they had all thought of this option at least once, but nobody had dared to say anything.

"Prince Callum… are you sure?" Opeli asked in a cautionary tone.

Prince Callum thought for a bit, and then hesitantly nodded. "I don't like it either, but what other choice do we have? I was left in charge to protect the citizens of this kingdom, and right now, it seems that this is the only way we may have a chance to reduce the casualties."

Opeli took a deep breath. "Well… if that's what you want to do, I cannot stop you."

No other words were exchanged. There was no major argument, no urge to reconsider. Just silence as Callum left the throne room and walked to his study.


The moon was shining into the windows of Callum's study as he was in the middle of writing the letter to send to Sol Regem about Katolis' surrender. The study bore an oppressive silence, as if it had gained sentience and knew exactly what Callum was doing. Every stroke of the pen hurt something inside him. Every stroke of the pen got Katolis closer and closer to its official defeat, to giving up the land that Callum was left in charge of. Yet every stroke of the pen also solidified his resolve even more. He comforted himself, reminding himself that it was necessary, that even though he didn't like it, this was his best option right now.

In the middle of writing the letter, Callum heard a knock ring out on his door. He slowly got up from his chair, the unfinished letter lay exposed to the rest of the room, ready to seal Katolis's fate. A horrible creaking noise was heard as Callum slowly opened the door.

On the other side was Opeli, a very professional expression was once again spread across her face. However, it bore a hint of worry this time.

"Prince Callum, I just wanted to ask you one more time. Are you sure that this is the action you wish to take? You understand that after you send that letter, there will be no going back," Opeli said.

Callum sighed and looked to the floor before looking back up to Opeli with a saddened expression on his face. "I understand that there will be no going back after this. But there will also be no going back if Sol Regem causes a massive amount of preventable deaths. I'm sorry, but this is what needs to be done."

Opeli nodded, a grim expression on her face. "I just wanted to make sure that you understand what you were getting yourself, and the rest of Katolis for that matter, into."

Opeli then turned and left without saying another word, leaving Callum alone in the doorway, an empty feeling now drilling its way through his body. He turned, slowly closed the door behind him, and made his way to his desk to continue writing the letter.


The cool nighttime air flowed through the castle courtyard. The gentle rustling of the trees was audible in the otherwise silent night. The stars twinkled in between the few clouds that were peacefully floating through the air. Standing in this environment, one wouldn't be able to imagine that in the very same kingdom, mayhem and chaos were currently running rampant. This area of Katolis wouldn't stay peaceful forever however, at least if Callum waited much longer.

The Crow Master stood next to him in silence, ready to fire off the shadowhawk that Callum had written, stamped with Prince Callum's seal. Callum looked into the sky, stalling, always wanting to wait just a bit longer before he gave the signal to fire off that arrow. However, he knew he couldn't stall any longer. He had to preserve the towns that remained.

Turning his head over to the Crow Master with a saddened expression that quickly changed into one of determination, he nodded. The Crow Master tensed up, then sighed as he nocked the shadowhawk arrow onto the bow and pulled back on the string. The Crow Master knew what the letter contained. Callum felt no need to hide it from him or anyone else until an official speech this time due to the gravity of change that this letter would bring. With Sol Regem's name being hesitantly spoken by the Crow Master in Ancient Draconic, the bow was fired. Callum and the Crow Master watched as the arrow whizzed off into the sky, becoming engulfed in smoke which then transformed into the body and wings of a hawk flying off into the horizon.

The Crow Master looked at Callum with a grieving expression on his face and then walked back to the castle. It was just like Opeli had said. There was no going back now.

Katolis would now belong to Xadia.


Alrighty! Marathon completed! Are you exhausted yet? haha! I couldn't wait to release this chapter, mainly because this is the chapter where the MEAT of the story really begins. Everything else was basically set up in a way. Now we're heading into the thick of it so I hope you are excited for what is to come.

If you have any thoughts or feedback, once again, don't hesitate to put it in the reviews! I love hearing what people think of what I write so any feedback is welcome!