Chapter Nine: The Moon Arcanum

Rayla felt warm. Wonderfully, wonderfully warm. The kind of warmth that envelopes you in itself and sooths, like a hot beverage and a toasty blanket on a cold winter's night. When she tried to move her neck, a small, barely-there pain pulled her from the bliss of sleep. She was teetering on the edge of consciousness, and a part of her didn't want to wake up just yet. It had been such a lovely dream, in which there had been no separation between humans and Xadia, no dark magic, humans and elves lived together. Viren and Claudia had been friendly to her, all lives that had been lost were there, and she was a member of Callum, Soren and Claudia's little group from the start, another old friend going back years. Just one that happened to be an elf, nothing unusual or suspect about it in the least. She could just remember the last part, in which Claudia had discovered her feelings for Callum and had begun teasing her about it just as he was approaching, making her heart race.

The smell of this place was making it impossible to return to the dream. It wasn't a particularly bad smell, but it was powerful, the bitter scent of herbs. Her still heavy eyes cracked open reluctantly. As she had gathered from the smell, she was in an infirmary, in a bed. Shelves and cupboards filled with jars of powders, poultices and dried plants lined the walls, where most of the smell was coming from.

"So, Rayla," she jumped at the sudden voice. "You decided to join the living, huh?"

It was Braise, smirking down at her, apparently proud of the joke. Giving up on returning to her dream, Rayla just sat up and gave herself a long, comfortable stretch. "How long was I out?"

"Since this morning." The Sunfire elf told her. "Queen Janai and Amaya have gone home already, and the messages about Aaravos have been sent out. Callum came in a little while ago looking for something to help him sleep. He said he was asleep when he connected to the sky arcanum, so he's seeing if it helps this time.

Rayla got up and gave Braise a half-hearted thanks before leaving her in the infirmary, moving quite fast for someone who'd been in such a deep slumber herself minutes ago. She made her way to the pinnacle, where she was sure Callum was. Knowing him, he probably thought it would help being as close to the moon as possible, daytime or not. The big goofball. The only concern was that the last time he'd been so sick. She wanted to be with him, just in case.

To her relief, he seemed perfectly fine, apart from the fact that he was napping comfortably in the middle of the highest point in the world, as casually as if it were his own bed. It was dusk now. She smiled and shook her head as she quietly walked over to him, laid down beside him and snuggled up, placing her hand on his chest to keep track of his heartbeat. Normal and steady.

Callum was strolling through a path in the woods, his face turned toward the crescent moon in the sky. His eyes zeroed in on the dark, starless piece of sky that was presently hidden behind the dark side of the moon. It wasn't like it was in children's picture books, in which characters slid down the curve of the moon as if it were a slide; it was all one orb. It went back to secrets and appearances. It was hard to see at first, but it could be seen if one really looked at it.

What Callum wasn't looking at was where he was going. He wouldn't have time to wonder where the sudden lake had come from, he'd already fallen into the water with a start. But he wasn't underwater, it was just somewhere else. Now he was looking at memories. He saw himself as a child, maybe nine or ten, foolishly buying every word as Soren told what he now knew was an exaggerated and frankly silly tale, of how Moonshadow elves drank human blood and a bite from them would drive you mad. Another vision was from an early day in their travels with the egg, after the debacle at the banther lodge. Callum's heart broke at the look of hurt in Rayla's eyes as it sank in for her just what the humans thought of her and her kind. They really did think they were monsters.

"Callum." A familiar voice called. Callum turned away from the scene to see Claudia, as he had known her. Black hair, healthy complexion, playful eyes. Well, so they would be if they didn't look so betrayed. Callum wasn't sure if he should be cautious or not, so he decided to play it safe. "Callum," she repeated, "why did you choose them? You belong with us back in Katolis. Everything has its place, and yours is back home."

"It's what they needed." Came his confident reply. "It's what I needed. If Ez and I had gone home with you, Zym might not have made it home and Rayla wouldn't have anywhere to go."

"Oh, so this is about her." Claudia frowned, her eyes darkening with anger. It was eerie how dangerous she now looked just from that. "That elf girl." Claudia put a disdainful emphasis on the word 'elf'. "You know elves and humans don't go together. She's not like us, Callum. None of them are."

"Yeah, well," he retorted. "that elf knows more about being human than you do. She values life. She's empathetic, she's smart, she…she was supposed to kill Ezran, but she couldn't. She's too good to take a life, unlike you. Soren told me what you almost did to him, Claudia."

As Callum spoke, he watched her scowl deepen, her face go paler, white bleeding into her hair. He was unsurprised to see that she was now holding a horn. And elf horn, the broad end still dripping with fresh blood. It didn't seem to bother her when the blood got all over her hand. In fact, she held the horn tighter. Callum's stomach turned at the sight, his only solace being that the horn was unfamiliar to him.

"I was prepared to do what I had to." she told him, sounding emotionless.

"And what was that?" Callum demanded. "Killing my little brother? Someone you called your friend? Your king?"

"He was a threat to my father's rule." her voice was cold. "He was the one who wanted it, not me. Ezran is a child, he doesn't have what it takes to rule. Under my father, at least things happened."

"I think I know what this is." Callum said, suddenly calm. "The moon arcanum is about how appearances are deceiving. Growing up, I thought you were sweet, funny, beautiful, I thought you were the perfect package. The Moonshadow elves were monsters who would run you through before they'd look at you. Sadistic and evil, killing for sport. But I had that backwards, didn't I?" There was silence before Callum spoke again, sounding tired and looking away from her. "We're done here. Go away."

Like the mirror image long before her, this Claudia was overtaken by stone. She gave a lunge at him as if to attack, but he didn't move. When the stoning was complete, she was in a familiar pose, outstretched hand, open mouth. The only true difference was that Callum could clearly see her face contorted with rage. The stone crumbled to the ground and turned to dust. Callum couldn't even bring himself to be mad, he just felt a hollow regret for how things had gotten so messed up. The moon was again above him, full and looming now. The light dyed his skin a snowy white and his eyes shown.

The feeling of a kiss on his cheek tore his gaze away from the moon. He found himself in the meadow outside the Silvergrove where he and Rayla had met and played with the adoraburrs. He looked around, but there was no one who could have given him that kiss. When he felt the same on his other cheek, he continued to look, and a small burst of laughter betrayed whoever was doing this. He looked up at the moon and smiled fondly. Of course, Moonshadow elves and their near invisibility.

"I'm onto you, my little assassin." He announced, playfully, his eyes scanning the place in a way that had become second nature during his training with Ibis.

"Catch me if you can." Came Rayla's voice, closer than Callum had thought, and she punctuated her challenge with a peck on his forehead before he felt her leaping away. She must have been leaping because only small patches of grass were disturbed, one by one. Feeling invigorated, he kept his eyes peeled, looking for her. He could occasionally hear grass rustling, alerting him to general directions. The process was only interrupted by the occasional kiss planted on him followed by retreating laughter. Finally, after Callum focused his eyes, he could see some sort of distortion in the air that looked almost like an outline of nothing. He followed this oddity keenly and bolted forward when it got near enough, finally capturing the mischievous elf, who appeared in his arms at last. They fell to the ground laughing, and his diligence was reworded with a long, deep kiss.

This awakening was more peaceful than it had been before with the sky arcanum. After the near constant darkness of the dream, the sun was blinding, so he tried to shield his eyes with his arm as he got up. The motion also awakened Rayla, who he was surprised to see had come to him. She sat up with him. He was pleased to see that the sun was setting; he could show everyone immediately.

"Hey." He said, his voice quiet.

"Hey." She replied, also quiet.

"You feeling better?" Callum's eyes dropped to her neck. The bruises where nearly gone and the scratches where beginning to heal themselves.

"Yeah, Braise fixed me up." Rayla said. "So, the moon arcanum." Callum smiled.

"I've got it." He smiled and put his arm around her shoulders and pressed their foreheads together. "I really owe you and Claudia." Rayla gave him a puzzled look. "I'll explain later. I've been thinking about how I wanted to show everyone when I connected to the moon arcanum and I think I know exactly what I want to do."

"And?" Rayla asked and Callum stood up, smiling as he pulled her to her feet.

"Come on, it's something everyone needs to see."

Within the hour, Callum, Rayla, Queen Zubeia, Zym, Lujanne and the Dragonguard minus Amer – who seemed to have disappeared – stood at the entrance to the sleeping chambers as he drew the rune and cast the spell for a second time. "Historia Viventem."

Callum smiled as the spell worked, this time without a moon opal. So, he could truly connect to the other arcanums. His smile fell as the illusion completed itself, culminating in the egg, with elves standing around it. He took and held Rayla's hand; she'd probably need it. He felt her tense as they watched the scene unfold, him for the second time. They all watched as Lain and Tiadrin refused to abandon the egg, then fought bravely against Viren, tricking him into taking the egg instead of destroying it. Rayla's heart picked up as Verin retrieved that wretched coin sack, speaking of repaying them. The vision cut out, though, just as he was approaching the ice.

Silence. Rayla's eyes were blurry with tears at seeing them again, hearing their voices after so long. Meanwhile, Lykis and Malin exchanged astonished looks. They...really hadn't run.

"Thank you." Rayla's tearful words broke the silence as she leaned into Callum. He released her hand in exchange for holding her as she cried.

The next few minutes were a blur. They found themselves in the main room; she needed to get away from the crowd. After a couple on minutes, Lujanne approached, holding a large book.

"Callum." She said and he stood up. "This is a book of moon spells and runes. I thought this would be easier on you if you still plan to travel around. I can't really leave the Nexus for too long, certainly not that long."

"Thanks, Lujanne." Callum took it and somehow suppressed the urge to start flipping through it then and there.

"Moon magic is the easiest to learn." She told him and her face took on a mournful look. "Things were never the same after we lost the Scepter of Shadows."

"I remember hearing about that." Callum said as Rayla got to her feet. "Ibis told me about the six Primal Scepters. Before the days of dark magic, the unicorns created the primal stones to allow humans to do magic, and one stone each was taken by the elves to be made into sculptures that strengthened their magic."

Lujanne nodded. "And today, only half of them remain. The Scepter of Night, of the Startouch elves was said to have been made into a tool of dark magic that the humans took with them on their trail to the west. The Sculpture of Radiance was lost just before the Battle of the Storm Spire, and our own Scepture of Shadows has been gone for centuries. Some say it was stolen, others that it was hidden away to protect it from dangerous hands. Before either of you ask, mages have searched the Moon Nexus, casting reveal spells from top to bottom."

"What if it was destroyed?" Callum asked, "Or corrupted like the Scepter of Radiance?"

"If it had been, our magic would have been weakened." Lujanne told him. "But if generations of elves couldn't find it, at least we know it's well-hidden. Getting back to a lighter topic, Callum, with how bright and diligent you are, you'll probably have the magic mastered in a matter of months." Callum beamed, feeling pride at this estimate. "I really should be getting back to the Nexus, so it's time to gather up Lykis and Malin so we can get to the Si –"

A dragon came from nowhere, racing through the main room and down the passage to the chambers. Callum and the elves needed to scurry out of the way in order to avoid being run over. They were all startled and confused.

In the chambers, Queen Zubeia was surprised to see the young water dragon. A small silvery thing: water dragons where the smallest and slimmest of the dragons, with long, serpentine bodies that allowed them to slip through tight spaces like water. Many of them had sort, flowing manes that resembled some sort of underwater plant. His eyes were wide with terror.

The young dragon lowered his head and whined in apology, scooting himself close to the queen and gave tiny nips to her jawline, a display of subordination. Queen Zubeia snarled at him in demand. What was so important that he had to come barging into her chambers with no warning? And if something so urgent was happening, this wasn't the time for archaic rituals of hierarchy. Adult dragons often did this with the younger ones, the speechless ones. They'd speak to them in their own growls and noises, common speech reserved for conversations with elves and humans. The water dragon was clearly fearful as he clearly got to his point. Zubeia's eyes widened in fear. She immediately turned to her guard.

"All of you stay here. Protect Azymondias with your lives." She told them and quickly walked out of the chambers, followed closely by the young water dragon. Zym was cowering; he'd understood the noises his mother and the stranger made, and what he heard had frightened him. He ran to Ibis, the most familiar face among the crowd. He wined and was trembling violently. The Skywing elf held and tried to sooth him.

Callum, Rayla and Lujanne were surprised to see the queen appear, followed by the water dragon. "You three," her voice was demanding, "get onboard the young one. I'll call others." She carried on to the door as the water dragon lowered himself to allow the human and elves to climb on. Just as Lujanne, the final passenger, settled, the queen let out a deafening bellow; a summon for all the dragons who could hear.

"What's happening?" Callum asked, now thoroughly shook. He tried to prepare for anything, but he couldn't have prepared himself for the answer he got.

"We must get to the border." the queen said. "It's Sol Regem. He means to burn Katolis and all of its inhabitants to the ground."

Author's Notes: Modesty Time: To anyone who likes that 'elf knows more about being human' line, I'm afraid I can't really take credit for it; it's a line from the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Fantastic watch, btw, if you liked Sonic as a kid, I totally recommend it. Anyway, I think connecting to an arcanum is generally a neutral, if not pleasant, experience, the only reason Callum had such a rough time with the sky came from anxiety and the dark magic that made him sick. Now that he has a more solid direction in life, he'll have an easier time with the others. Review.