Chapter Thirty: The Gift Of Life

Wendell had long ago overtaken Amaya and Rayla. When they made it back, Callum was shirtless. Wendell was rubbing some kind of poultice on his chest. By the grunts and heavy breathing, he was in so much pain. Claudia was still and silent, Amer was nowhere to be seen, and Mira, the egg in her arms, was upset about something, though it was difficult to tell what it was if she didn't say. Whatever the case, Rayla was surprised that she was allowing Ezran to comfort her. Ezran himself looked like he was stopping himself from crying. Soren and Lain were watching over Callum and Gren seemed to be taking his job as lookout seriously.

Amaya went straight to Gren and started signing about something or the other. Rayla supposed it must have been about their missing hostage. Deciding that she couldn't see Callum like this, Rayla elected to go over to where Kiara was at the border of the woods. For the first time in her life, the fact that she couldn't see Sirus anywhere worried her. There was a mound of upturned dirt before her and she was shaking the dirt off of her hands that said plainly that she had been digging. Rayla steeled herself at the implications.

"What happened?" she asked. Kiara was somber and Lain came over to them.

"Sirus was…" she paused, her eyes flickering toward the mound of dirt. "that Fulminous spell hit him right in the heart." Rayla would later regret that her only reaction to this was to grow even more worried about Callum, who had taken the same spell. Her head snapped in the direction he was, still being treated.

"Sirus's death was instant." Lain told her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "The human was hit just below the center of his chest, but not in the heart, and he's still holding on."

Rayla accepted the hug her father gave, and the kiss he planted on his head; whatever he thought of the boy or of his relationship to Rayla, what was clear was that, in this moment, his daughter needed him. When she opened her eyes to look over his shoulder, she caught Soren's eye, who's gaze flitted to his sister awkwardly. Though Claudia had been a thorn in Rayla's side since before she knew the girl's name and she really doubted that they'd ever become friends even if she gave up dark magic, it still somehow felt shameful to be receiving affection from her father in light of what had happened. Claudia's eyes weren't even open to see it, but Rayla still pulled away. All available eyes went to her, keenly, protectively watching as she crept bit by bit over to Claudia.

Her posture was defeated, eyes still closed. Her sudden look at Rayla, furious and hate-filled, had the elf stop in her tracks just within five feet. Deciding that starting a fight would hardly be useful in a time like this, Rayla quickly abandoned what was bound to be an awkward encounter no matter what – a half-civil conservation, for once – and steeled herself. The only other thing she had any interest in was…

Rayla's heart was pounding as she approached Callum, who was now being watched over by Soren, Amaya, Ezran and a surprisingly tearful Mira. Wendell was still working, looking no less worried for his patient's life. The Fulminous blast had left a thick, angry red mark that was a perfect print of the lightening, beginning between his chest and stomach and reaching over his body; chest, stomach, and upper arms all cruelly invaded by redness. The highest point was along the side of his neck, ending just below his jaw. The injury itself didn't look as bad as she thought, but his pale, pained face and hair pasted to his forehead with sweat, made up for that. He jerked whenever the poultice was applied to certain places; suggesting that it was either cold to the touch or stung badly. The next few days would be spent in a similar haze as this.

At last, it was the night of the new moon. And Aaravos was delighted to note, not a cloud in the sky. The elf produced something from his cloak that he had hidden from his former companions – a shard of Viren's staff, which contained the tiniest trace of star magic along with the other five primal sources. It took a considerable amount of effort, but his patience payed off when he felt the power of the stars swell in his veins, and he knew the shard was now packed with his native magic.

It was a simple task to set the shard to the Scepter of Darkness, and purple joined the spectrum of color around the black primal stone. Aaravos observed the crackling and small flares coming off of the stone, as though the thing were about to burst with the power of five primal sources, wrapped up still with his personal masterpiece, dark magic. Hopefully, all it would need is to settle down, and once the sky arcanum was acquired, the stone could burst to pieces as far as he was concerned, because he would have already absorbed the powers of the six primal sources and been restored to his former glory. Even as fast as the days passed in his eyes, he couldn't wait for spring to arrive.

The plummeting temperatures had motivated the band to search for cover; they couldn't very well make the trip back to Novus with Callum in such a state. So, they had found a cave to hide out in and at least try to keep warm and dry as they waited for Callum to at least wake up.

He seemed to have stabilized, at least. Wendell hadn't wanted to leave them, but he had needed to get back to his family. He had taken his leave that morning, just after finding the cave for them. Claudia was still unresponsive, despite Soren's twice-a-day attempts to speak with her; she would just turn away with a scowl on her face, treating him in much the same way she treated Rayla. Mira had been what would better be described as wary than outright afraid, but she had warmed up to Ezran and Amaya, at least. This was only known because she didn't shy away from Ezran and accepted the stories he told her to pass the time, about his, Callum and Rayla's journey to deliver the Dragon Prince to his mother. On Amaya's end, the general seemed to have taken an instant liking to the child and showed this by ruffling her hair, to which Mira eventually began to smile when she realized that this was meant as a gesture of fondness and not a threat.

Today, Ezran and Mira were wondering how to get this egg to hatch; the hatchling inside was clearly alive and fully developed. The problem was, Ezran remembered how sky dragons only hatched in storms, and gathered that if sky dragon eggs needed special conditions to hatch, the same was probably true for other kinds of dragon eggs. The question was, what?

Callum didn't realize it was a dream at first, but it was easy to piece together, largely because he had simply gotten used to it over the past few years. He wasn't sure if he had really dreamed of sticky, red-hot rain that only increased whenever he tried to wipe it off of himself, but he certainly had the memory of it. At least it was already fading away, replaced by the peace and comfort of a bed. He awoke to the feeling of slow, loving strokes. Callum opened his eyes and smiled to see his parents giving him tender looks.

"Where…am I?" Callum's voice was tense, as though he'd been though a harsh physical trial – oh that's right; he'd taken a Fulminous spell at full blast.

"At the border of the spirit world." Sarai told him calmly as he sat up. Before alarm could give way to a full panic, Sarai clarified, "You'll be okay, your friends saved you."

"So I'm about to wake up, than?" Callum asked.

"Not quite yet. There's something else that needs to be done before you can return." Harrow spoke, his face forlorn and eyes full of guilt. "Forgive me, Callum, this whole mess is my fault. Viren…" the former king chocked on the name before forcing himself to go on. "After that day, something changed in him. Amaya did everything she could to get me to see sense and admit Viren was no longer the idealistic boy I'd grown up with, but I refused to listen. His heart started out in the right place, but it didn't take long to go down his path. He started wanting to help the kingdom, just through rather extreme means, then to avenge your mother. I should have put a sound stop to things the moment the egg entered the conversation. I should have listened to the Dragon King when he gave us the option of turning back. Maybe if I had, everything would have stayed the way it was before." Harrow looked Callum in the eye. "Do you know why I'm telling you this, Callum?" The young mage shrugged. "All it takes is one extreme act in the name of your own interest to start down his path. A single twist of logic to justify taking a life will justify it forever. I'm sure Viren himself never imagined that his plan to harvest a magma titans heart would lead to my assassination."

Callum took a moment to consider this. Somehow, he knew that Harrow was talking about his own temper and the tendency of it to flare up as of late. He supposed he'd need to work on that before there was serious trouble. When Callum opened his eyes, he was disappointed to find his mother and stepfather gone. Seeing no other option, Callum spoke to the still void that didn't respond. "I'll be sure to work on that." He said and quietly added; "Love you guys."

As Ezran held the egg in his hands, he noticed a strange pulling sensation going toward the cave entrance. The glowing core grew in brightness until the egg was all but shinning, all the while pushing toward the entrance. This gained the attention of the others. Well, those who cared to look. Claudia was still in her depressed state and Soren practically dragged Rayla away from Callum, earning himself an annoyed look from the young elf.

"What's happening?" Gren asked on Amaya's behalf.

"I think…the egg wants to go outside." Ezran said slowly, clearly not fully understanding this himself.

"It's freezing out there." Amaya signed, faithfully translated by Gren. "If it gets too cold, it could die." Mira pouted and took the egg, marching toward the entrance herself. She didn't get far as Amaya barely had to pick up her walking pace before grabbing the child by her underarms and lifting her clear off the ground, egg and all. Rayla caught herself smiling – her first in days – at the look Amaya was receiving; it wasn't the deep, angry glower she and Callum had become accustomed to, but the far milder pout of a child who had been told 'no'. Surely this meant she was healing, and Rayla couldn't wait for Callum to wake up so he could see it.

Amaya walked the child over to Rayla and sat down beside her, placing the child between them. Rayla took the egg and was surprised at the pull she felt. No, it was…pushing? Was the dragonling inside pushing to get out of the cave? Was that even possible? She looked at the others. "Ez is right. The egg, it…it's pushing itself outside."

"What?" Soren asked, accompanied by the bright smiles of Ezran and Mira and the confusion of everyone else.

"Look, give us a minute outside, and then we'll come back in." Rayla said.

Amaya looked at her for a moment, and her quick signs were again translated. Rayla thought, maybe it would be wise to learn a few more signs for herself, just for the familiarity. "We're coming, than. We can't take any chances."

Rayla agreed and exited the cave, followed closely by Ezran, Mira and Amaya; the others had chosen to stay to keep an eye on Claudia or Callum, despite the lack of change in either of them. It was dark, the night of a new moon, with the stars in a breathtaking display. A couple of falling stars blazed across the night sky. With the icy wind and the snow on the ground, it was safe to say that winter was here now. The three watched as Rayla held the egg up to the sky, the strong glow now becoming almost luminous under the light of the stars. Not twenty seconds had passed before…

Crack!

The shell broke, unleashing the streams the light that Rayla and Ezran had seen once before through the cracks of another egg. Unlike with Zym's egg, though, this egg didn't go black or appear to cease hatching – probably because this one wasn't dying. A piece of shell fell to the ground, revealing a patch of pinkish scales connected to wispy, white hair.

The sense of wonder was over before it began as a freezing gust drove the small band back into the cave wordlessly; no matter, they could always help the hatchling along. Soren, Lain and Gren joined the audience as Rayla broke and peeled the shell away bit by bit until the egg was a shallow cradle that the baby could be lifted out of.

"Remember this part, Bait?" Ezran asked as he held the now green glow toad to the new baby dragon, which Rayla now had cradled in her arms. He reluctantly licked the newcomer's eyes open as he had done for the Dragon Prince years before. The baby hiccupped as its eyes opened.

A pair of summer-green eyes gave hard blinks until they were able to focus. This new dragonling was the same pinkish-purple color as its egg had been, with flecks of darker purple, blue, green and even brown lining its back. Its white mane was somehow sleeker than Zym's and its horns were small enough that it was difficult to tell what they would look like when this little one reached adulthood. It was also a bit slighter than the Dragon Prince had been.

The spectators looked on in amazement at the new life and it looked at each of them in turn, learning to straighten its eyes as it went. Unlike Zym, who had tackled Bait with affection with little provocation, the new dragonling gave a cautious sniff before licking the disgruntled toad once, then hoping onto the ground and stumbling its way into looking around, bumbling up to everyone and giving them sniffs.

"Does this one come with a name?" Rayla asked Ezran as they watched the little thing learned what is was to be petted curtesy of Soren. At first it seemed worried about the hand coming down on it, but soon it leaned into the stokes comfortably.

"She doesn't know any name that I can tell." he told her. "Looks like that'll be up to us this time."

They watched as the baby's interest was peaked upon seeing Callum. She stumbled over to him, tripping a couple of times along the way. Rayla and the others followed her, half in curiosity, half in worry for Callum. Rayla picked the dragonling up and set her gently on Callum's stomach, more gently then if she had taken it upon herself to climb up.

The hatchling seemed to purr as she settled herself on his chest, comforted by the rhythmic beating of his heart, the familiar beat that she remembered she had briefly felt through her shell. The baby didn't see when her scales began sparkling like the stars themselves, though the onlookers did, in a mixture of confusion and wonder. The sparkling only lasted a few seconds, and after, Callum twitched in the way that spoke of an eventful dream.

Author's Notes: Look up 'lightening scar'; they look pretty cool and surprisingly not all of them are Harry Potter related. Also, it's a girl! A girl with no name, because I can't decide, there are so many appropriate words in so many languages! Anyone wanna help me out with suggestions (those always get my reviews up)? The words I'm thinking of are; gift, luck, wish, treasure and sparkle. Give me your preferred word or words and I'll see if I can find a pretty-sounding word for it in another language. The only thing is I would like to avoid cliché star names like Stella or Nova. Pretty names themselves, just sorta played out. Review.