Chapter Twenty-three: The Rogues
Callum awoke to a night sky dotted with stars and a half-moon. The pain was still present, but it was less fiery now, and relegated to his left arm. He turned his head to see Rayla pressed close to his right – away from his left arm, the hurt arm – and she was trembling in her sleep. It was a cold night, the first truly cold night of the season. Quickly, Callum used his good hand to perform Calore Ignis in a whisper and the air around the couple grew warm. Rayla calmed immediately and smiled as the sudden warmth washed over her. Callum smiled at this and allowed the warmth to return him to sleep.
When Callum rose the next day, he was more or less able to hoist himself up – though he quickly discovered this was a mistake as his left arm erupted in pain, making him hiss.
"Careful!" Rayla appeared in his line of sight and tried to steady him. "Don't put too much pressure on that arm." Callum looked his left arm over; the arrow was gone and in its place was a bandage wrapped around his upper arm. A single, decently sized spot of red was all that marred the white fabric.
Callum looked around, seeing the ground about a foot away stained with blood with a small trail of drops heading toward the west. Rayla inhaled sharply, her face that stoic it became when she was suppressing something. Callum didn't say a word as he held her with his good arm. She wrapped her arms around him and melted into the embrace, but she didn't cry – she'd gotten her crying out yesterday after she had treated him, when she was alone.
"Are you okay?" Callum asked softly.
"I'll be fine." Rayla replied, though she made no move to leave Callum's arm.
"Rayla," he said in a whisper. "please." It was a few seconds before she spoke.
"He was my friend." she said, tightening her grip on him. It would have been too tight to someone whose own aunt didn't so frequently give such bone-crushing hugs. "We weren't the closest, but he…none of them deserved…A-and I…I've never…" She trailed off, partially because of the sudden cry in her voice.
"You needed to act fast." Callum assured her and kissed her head. "They could have backed off, and they didn't. What happened wasn't your fault."
Maybe it was her influence over him, or the fact that he'd been shot yesterday, but he felt that they were too exposed out here. He also supposed his mage wings would be out of commission for at least a few days. They needed to get going. He dropped his embrace and took her hand in his.
"Tell me about them." Callum said. "What you are guys like growing up?"
Thankfully, Rayla smiled and seemed to perk up, if only by a little, as they started heading east. The agreement was a silent one that west, where the others had fled, was the exact opposite of where they needed to be. "I've…been friends with Kiara since before I can remember. We only formally met Latus and Sirus when we started school. Latus…was always so quiet. For the first few months, we all thought he was mute. Sirus, on the other hand, was always noisy. Always causing trouble and bossing everyone around."
"Sounds like you two have things in common." A sly grin appeared on Callum's face. "You sure I don't need to be jealous of him?" Rayla laughed, as did Callum.
"Definitely not." She said, calming down. Callum was glad to see her smiling again, even if was just for a moment. "I think Sirus might have been born to flirt, always trying to sweet-talk any girl who caught his eye. Honestly, I have no idea why he focused on me so much."
"Probably because you're the bravest, kindest, most beautiful elf in Xadia." Callum told her. She blushed as they stopped walking and he lifted her chin, so the tips of their noses touched. Rayla smiled. "Or maybe he's just sore about losing you to a human."
"Maybe." She conceded with a laugh. "It has to be a bruise to his ego." Her smile slowly lessened before it disappeared. "I…I don't know if I can do it again, even if it is Sirus."
Seeing her change in demeanor, Callum calmed down as well. "Well, who's to say this isn't a wake-up call for them? Even if Sirus is really that much of an idiot, maybe Kiara can talk some sense into him."
"I doubt it; Kiara's always been the submissive sort." Rayla said. "I think the only reason she didn't get eaten alive in school was because of me. I spent the first few days beating other kids up if they picked on her. Pretty much got in trouble every other day, but it wasn't long before the other kids knew to leave her alone."
"And Sirus?"
"He is a that much of an idiot." Rayla said. "Remember how stubborn Runaan was about us? Sirus is that stubborn, without the intelligence to balance it out."
They laughed and pressed their foreheads together, looking deeply into each other's eyes and smiling. He brought a hand to her face and she leaned into his touch. His smile grew when a laugh broke through her lips. "There." Callum's voice was soft. "There's my Rayla."
Soren stared in amazement at the weapon from his newly acquired spot on the ground. Amaya had tasked him with putting Lain through his paces today, to see what he could do. They were outside the village, with Amaya, Gren, Corvus, Ezran and Tiadrin watching from the sidelines. Soren had acted rather pompous about it, not unlike he had once been with Callum, although Amaya had told him to knock it off and be serious. Soren had indeed payed for his hubris when the elf had knocked him down in less then a minute.
Lain and Tiadrin's weapons had been preserved – as was tradition for a fallen Dragonguard even before King Avizandum's reign. They had been retrieved and returned to their owners just the other day. Now Soren was looking in amazement at the polearm with the two scythes on either end, which he could have sworn had come part at the lines along the pole and become a whip-like weapon, though it was again a sturdy polearm.
Lain looked very pleased with himself to have shut this obnoxious human up. Forget the mage, he thought; how in the world could his daughter stand this little loudmouth enough to call him a friend? Tiadrin smiled proudly at her husband, being the only one who wasn't wide-eyed with amazement. At her hip was her sword, which she wore once again with pride.
"Tha-that thing's incredible." Soren said. He looked at Tiadrin when she whistled for attention. Lain smiled as she strolled over to a nearby tree and unsheathed her sword. As far as anyone could see, it was a common sword, if in pristine condition for a weapon that had seen battle. She swung the sword at the tree, and the humans watched in amazement as the blade came undone by segments joined by a cable, becoming a bladed whip the wrapped around the trunk and left a series of small scars in the bark. The cable retracted and again the thing was a perfectly ordinary sword to the eye. Soren caught himself drooling over the thing.
"Incredible." Gren said on behalf of Amaya. "None of us have seen such things before."
"We owe our weapons to Ethari's skilled hands." Tiadrin told them, sheathing her sword and returning to them. "He created them."
"Ethari?" Amaya asked, her words again translated by Gren. "I thought he was just a smith. Or does that word mean something else to Moonshadow elves?"
"We're not sure what a human's idea of a smith is," Lain said. "but our smiths are crafters who create customized weapons built around the wielders individual combat style, and Ethari just happens to be the best in our village."
Soren got to his feet, continuing to admire the fascinating elven weapons. The conversation was lost to the ears of the young dark mage, who was getting the hang of entering the astral plain. Seeing Soren reacting positively to those elven weapons, and the more-or-less calm way the elves seemed to insert themselves into the traitorous General's circle made her blood boil. Still angry, she left; she'd put that anger to good use where she, her father and Aaravos were going.
"What are we doing here?" Kiara asked. They had started going east only hours after they had met. Sirus had returned to the Silvergrove to swipe a scroll for a basic concealment spell, thus allowing them to go unseen by either Callum or Rayla, or any other foe who might attack them. It had been an easy steal because those fickle elves had made him a ghost. Not that he cared, they'd change their minds when he brought them the heads of Rayla and her human. Now they were entering the mountains through the clearest path they could find.
"I spent some time after my banishment wandering around." Amer said. "I narrowly escaped what I found here. Maybe now they'll listen to me."
"Who?" Sirus asked. There was no answer given, he and Kiara just followed the former prince deeper into the mountains. Eventually, they came to a large clearing, surrounded by the rang on all sides. There was a towns worth of dirt mounds raised, some covered with rocks, others nothing but dirt, but all large enough to give propose to the doors that looked like they lead to nothing but more dirt. The mounds were well spaced out, as though whatever the doors lead to was far bigger than the mounds that were visible.
"What is this place?" Kiara asked.
"Just stay close to me, these people aren't friendly." Amer said. He walked up to one of the large mounds and knocked on the door. Undetected by anyone, were two pairs of eyes that were forever burned into the minds of Amer, Kiara and Sirus, watching them. The door opened, revealing what seemed to be a huge burrow in the ground. If each of these doors led to a burrow, it was no wonder the mounds were so far apart. Out of the hole came…an Earthblood elf.
"Tomin." Amer greeted, his voice distant and professional. But he wasn't like any Earthblood elf either Sirus or Kiara had ever seen. The few they had seen were content, peaceful and relaxed. The man before them was tense, and glaring. Tomin was an imposing figure, tall, muscular and a face and arms marred with scars. Behind him, a woman appeared, holding a young child.
"Who's that?" the little one asked, pointing at Amer. Even the small little girl – who couldn't be more than five at the oldest – was looking at the newcomers with distrust.
"Intruders, love." The woman said, her eyes also trained on them with anger. "Don't you worry, though, your father will make them go away."
"You." Tomin snarled. "Is there a reason you're back?"
"I have some news for you, and a proposition." Amer smiled. He was the only one to do so, as Sirus and Kiara had taken on stoic appearances.
Unaware of the company they had been keeping, Callum and Rayla had been traveling peacefully all day. The sun was just starting to dip into the horizon behind them. Now, they had come to the mountains. Going down a relatively open path through the rang, it wasn't long before they found shelter; a small, shallow space that could only generously be called a cave, it was more like a nook in the rock wall. Hardly a decent hideaway, but fine for staying out of sight from someone who might wish them ill for a night.
"I'll go look for food." Rayla said, gaining Callum's attention. "There might not be many opportunities to forage for a while; best to stock up now."
"Are you sure you'll be okay out there?" Callum asked. "I might not know my way around this rang, but neither do you."
"I'll be okay." She promised. "I wasn't the one who was shot –"
"I was distracted." Callum joked, and she gave him a playful look before continuing.
"and if something does happen, I can handle myself. I'm supposed to be protecting you, aren't I?"
Callum put up with the pain as he lifted his left arm to properly hold her to him for once today. "I know, I'll be right here." Rayla smiled and pecked him on the cheek.
"I'll be right back." She promised before turning around and leaping away. Callum smiled and watched her acrobatics as her figure became smaller and smaller before it finally vanished.
Callum awoke what seemed to be a few moments later, not remembering when he had fallen asleep. Rayla hadn't yet returned and he chanced emerging from the cave and stretched. He was about to reenter the cave when he noticed something strange; the sunlight was coming from the east. But…that couldn't be right. That would make it morning, not evening, meaning he had slept through the night. But if that was true, than where was Rayla?
Fighting panic, Callum loaded himself with his bag and sketchbook and stood up. He set out to search for her, preparing himself for anything. At least, he noticed, the pain in his arm was lessening.
The sun was a little higher in the sky before he found anything. His heart leapt as he came into a small area dotted with large rocks. Rayla, bound and unconscious, laying in the center of the clearing. Callum knew this was a trap of some kind, but he didn't care, he ran to her. If nothing else, they'd be trapped together.
"Rayla!" he said in a breath as he reached her. Thankfully, she was still breathing. Gathering her in his arms, the corners of his eyes picked up movement. Emerging from behind the rocks all around him were…they looked like Earthblood elves, but they looked cruel and dangerous, so unlike the Earthblood elves back home. Several had weapons drawn. Callum held Rayla protectively to him as the largest approached him. Brandished in his hands were…Rayla's swords. He laughed darkly.
"Those Moonshadow elves are some fighters, I'll tell ya." he said. His face and arms bore scars and littered throughout his body was a layer of fresh cuts. One of the worst was on his face and his left eye seemed to have been permanently closed. Callum couldn't help put take pride in it, he knew his girl wouldn't go down without putting up a good fight. "Perhaps it was wise of us to listen to Amer this time. At least the tip payed off."
"Amer?" Callum asked.
"We used to be open to your kind, human." the scarred one snarled. "And you repay us by resurrecting the darkest stain on elven history and allowing dark mages into our home." Callum listened intently, hearing the jeers and hisses of the surrounding elves. "The others didn't think revenge was wise, the fools actually thought that things would just sort themselves out if we let the Dragon Queen handle it. She responds by giving you a home in our lands. And so, we left. We started a new way of life, to insure we'd never be attacked again."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Callum asked.
"You need to know what you've done." He said. "We won't kill you ourselves. We decided it would be a more fitting fate to remain trapped in the dark, knowing only you are to blame, succumbing to starvation, madness or whatever gets you first. A slow, torturous end."
From the astral plane, a very displeased Startouch elf watched; how in the world was he to convince Callum of anything if the boy fell pray to someone else entirely? It was very irritating.
"Dividere terra." The elf spoke, drawing a rune. The other elves scattered as the ground began shaking and a huge fissure opened up beneath Callum, too fast for him to even stand up. Callum yelled, holding Rayla tight as they fell.
Author's Notes: 'Dividere terra' is Latin for 'split ground'. One of the best parts of these old languages is figuring out where our own language comes from, Like how dividere means 'split', which is where the word divide comes from. It's really fascinating. Oh yeah, what's gonna happen!? I will say one thing; we will meet another archdragon and there's also a super unexpected surprise! Wait, that's two things. Review.