Chapter Thirty-three: The Tale Of The Midnight Star

Callum looked around, amazed. The walls were lined with packed bookshelves and huge, lavish windows from floor to ceiling. The walls and floor themselves were made of what looked like crystal, though it might have been polished, blue marble. The only other thing in the room was a simple desk and chair, which themselves were also somehow crystalline. Even growing up as a prince himself, Callum had never seen such luxury.

He looked behind him, seeing the same mirror, down to the runes flanking the glass, though this one was connected to the wall. Through it, it could see the chambers of the Dragon Queen, the shocked faces of all apart from her sending chills down his spine. More than those, was the grim look on the queen's face, as though she wasn't sure about any of this. She was resting on her belly and between her front paws were the two baby dragons. Ezran said something, but Callum couldn't hear it. He gave them what he hoped was a reassuring smile as he walked away from the mirror and began exploring.

Going through the door, he found that the other rooms were much the same as the entry point with the same crystalline structure that was at once pristine and barren. The castle he'd grown up in was large, too, but with the way the rooms were filled with everything from tables and chairs to decorations, most of the rooms felt cozy and lived in, like a home. This place was more like a museum, to the point where Callum couldn't shake the fact that he'd be scolded for touching anything. The only rooms that felt like part of a home were the two almost identical bedrooms, both of which sported large beds in the centers of the room, with large chests along the walls.

The thing that set the two bedrooms apart were the chests. One of those chests were laden with trinkets and a book sitting on it, the book itself having a horribly familiar rune on it, which Callum had only seen once before, yet would never forget. The rune for dark magic. This was enough to keep Callum from even touching the thing. Aside from that was a single red rose that might have been immortalized in glass or some kind of lukewarm frost, sitting alone in a vase with a pair of horn cuffs resting beside it, the kind Callum knew for a fact to be a symbol of marriage. Looking through the drawers, Callum found a colorful array of cloaks, which he quickly looked through for the green cloth with the star rune, finding nothing.

The other chest was almost bare save for another book, this one looking like a children's book. Picking it up and flipping to a random page, Callum saw a picture of a magnificent green-eyed black dragon. On the opposite page was text, and Callum quickly skimmed through, picking out words and phrases like 'brave human knights', 'King Saluto' and 'the beyond'.

Putting the book down, Callum looked through the drawers, which were just as empty as the top of the chest, being only a single thing was stored away which was…a small, deep green cloth, with a silver print of the star rune on it. Callum, glad this was as easy as it was, opted to set the key on the center of the bed before wrapping it in the cloth. It was seconds before light began seeping through the cloth. White, orange, purple, dark and light blue and green started out as a lovely little light show but quickly grew into a blinding light and forced Callum to close his eyes.

When the light died down, Callum saw Aarush, holding and looking at the key of Aaravos which now only had a faint glow rather than the shine it boasted outside the mirror. He looked at Callum, seeming to not really know what to make of him, which was fine with Callum because neither did he.

"I'm glad you decided to come, and thank you." He said.

"Aarush, what…" Callum started, realizing there was too much to ask. He decided to start at the beginning. "Are you alive? Queen Zubeia said going against your father cost you your life."

"I'm not, but I'm not really dead, either." he said. "Thanks to star magic, I was able to place part of my soul within my father's key, and the cloth was the trigger. Think of it like a soul jar. The stories of your era still have soul jars, right?"

Callum nodded. Many stories he'd been told as a child involved characters achieving something resembling immortality by placing pieces of their soul in something that they then guarded with their lives or hid away. This way, their soul could persist even after their body was killed, but Callum never believed it could actually be done, even with magic.

"I knew my father was to be imprisoned, not killed, so there was always the chance that he could somehow make his way back to the other realm. So, I created this soul jar to preserve my spirit. That way, if he ever did get back to the living plan, I could come back myself, if only in this half form, and give what little information I could. I know Aaravos better than anyone. At least, I'd like to think so."

Callum prepared himself mentally for his second question, the one that had been gnawing at his mind for months. "Aarush, are you my ancestor? My name is Callum. Son of Queen Sarai and Felix, and stepson of King Harrow of Katolis. Well, what used to be Katolis. My father died when I was small, all I've got is that he was a soldier, and he has your eyes, which were passed on to me."

The half-elf looked to the ground for a moment before looking at him with regret. "I'm sorry, but I…don't know. The drawback of soul jars is that I'm barred from the afterlife. If I could go the afterlife, I would have been able to watch over my own children after I died, see where their lines led. As is, I don't know if any of them even had kids, I don't even know how long it's been."

Callum tried not to be annoyed at this anticlimactic answer; whoever Aarush was to him - ancestor or stranger who just happened to share a physical trait by chance - he was clearly unhappy about being separated from his family. He supposed this would be one mystery that was meant to remain so. Aarush went on.

"The only thing I do know is that I married a beautiful woman, the daughter of a powerful mage who, like me, didn't support her father's craft. We had three children. Once the youngest came of age, I returned to Xadia to assist the dragons in their time of need. My father was causing trouble. Killing elves and dragons."

As he listened, Callum wandered over to one of the lavish windows and his eyes widened. Outside was a vast whiteness that didn't allow for distinction. There was no ground or sky, no scenery of any kind, just white. "What is this place?"

"Definitely not the realm of the living, that's for sure. Part of me wants to say it doesn't even have a name." Aarush said. "The only place here with any shape is the palace itself, and this was the home he created for himself after Elarion was destroyed and he went into hiding. He took my childhood home and morphed it into this palace. I think this was meant to be my room, for when I, as he put it, came to my senses.

"He used to be a kind man. He cared about humans and really liked them. Obviously, other elves and even some dragons like them, too, but most still looked down on them, and most of the kind ones were on the lower end of power anyway. The people of Elarion loved Aaravos; a powerful elven mage who protected them and didn't look down on them. Respected them as equals. They called him The Midnight Star. Maybe that's why so many of them were so zealous in his defense, eager to accept his 'gift'. When my mother died, he joined the Dragonguard for a while. It only lasted a couple of decades before he took off to become an archmage. When he came back, he…he was different. He took in a young apprentice named Ziard, a human boy from our village who longed for power. He despised the dragons, accused them being cruel monarchs. I never saw the training, but Ziard was given a staff and declared a full mage after just six months. Father never told me how it happened so quickly, but soon enough I witnessed what I hesitate to call magic."

"Dark magic." Callum said knowingly, and Aarush nodded grimly.

"At first, I didn't want to believe that my father had anything to do with it, but when I confronted it, he only told me that humans were helpless without magic and would have faced extinction at the hands of the elves and dragons." He said. "When I brought up the unicorn's primal stones and the old human mages, he told me not to be a fool, leaning on old children's tales."

Callum snickered, a rather bitter smile on his face. "It must have stung to see me, than."

"How's that?" Aarush asked, and Callum's smile became one of amusement as, just as on the pinnacle years ago, he quickly drew a rune and unleashed a Fulminous blast. It only vaguely occurred to him that, given recent events, maybe he should have been more reluctant to perform that particular spell, but he wasn't. He just enjoyed Aarush's look of amazement. The hafling's voice became one of wonder. "Than they're true. The stories."

"Well, yes and no." Callum clarified. "No one knows how I'm able to connect to arcanums. It's one of the reasons I think you might have been my ancestor. Aaravos seems to think so, too."

"Arcanums?" Aarush asked, his surprise giving way to wariness. "As in more than one?"

"Yeah, I've heard the warnings." Callum dismissed. "But I've already got four of the arcanums and haven't gone crazy yet. Just Ocean and Earth to go."

"Unusual sequence." Aarush commented. "Elves in my time sometimes chose to connect to a second arcanum including the one they were born with, but I can guess that fell out of practice when my father did the things he did. Generally, two primal sources were the most anyone felt comfortable with, any more than that and you risk going mad with power."

"My temper's been getting the better of me more than usual since my third arcanum, but nothing as major as that had happened." Callum defended. Aarush didn't look comforted.

"If you're a true human mage, than he must be after you." he said, "You'll probably do well to know a thing or two about dark magic. Mainly, no dark magic spell exists on its own, every dark spell has a primal counterpart."

"Even the one that brought Viren back?" Callum asked. When Aarush looked at him strangely, Callum explained about Viren and Soren's very now very likely explanation of how he had returned after falling from the pinnacle of the Storm Spire.

"That's more star magic. The primal spell does not resurrect the dead, it temporarily revives them for a few moments and only the freshly dead. It's meant to be for final words or goodbyes and can only be done once per subject. I've heard casting it on the lake at the Moon Nexus will allow you to converse with spirits of the long dead, though the restrictions still apply. It is said to be a difficult spell, in which the runes and incantation are not enough, and the caster must want the revival with all their heart."

Immediately, Callum thought of his parents, but shoved it into the back of his mind. There was no time for that now, he'd have to wait until everything was over.

"You said you've mastered all but two primal sources?" Aarush asked.

"Well, not exactly mastered." Callum admitted sheepishly. "I've connected to the arcanums, but I only know some sun magic and I don't even know where to start with star magic. I've only mastered sky and moon magic."

"I see." The half-elf said. "Cast Historia Vaventium. There are a few things you'll need to see." Callum did so, but before the spell could take effect, Aarush spoke an unfamiliar incantation and drew and equally unfamiliar rune before Aarush placed his hand on Callum's forehead. Callum was perplexed as the two spells seemed to combine and he watched with interest at what would happen. He didn't even know it was possible to combine different spells.

Callum found himself and Aarush in vast canyon. He imagined this was the work of that nameless spell the half-elf had cast just after Callum's own spell. No matter how many dragons Callum saw or became acquainted with, the creature's majesty never ceased to amaze him. The three before him were again magnificent beings. Not as large as sky dragons, but larger than moon dragons. First and foremost was the largest of the trio; a pitch-black creature with glowing dark green eyes and massive horns that reached farther out from his skull that any other dragon Callum had seen so far. The horns resembled a deer's antlers with how many branches each sported, at least six on each horn. His large, flowing mane ran down his neck and chest like a lion's mane, studded with specks that resembled stars. On either side of him were two other impressive dragons, his eyes immediately drawn to the smallest of the group, not very much smaller than the noble black one. A female by the more elegant frame. His mind immediately went to Kimaare with this adult's pinkish-purple hide and array of colored speckles going down her spin. She and her companion, a similarly colored male only just taller than her, also had impressive frilling horns, though they lacked manes.

"Callum, meet King Saluto. The first Dragon King." Aarush said. "He, his mate Queen Lux and her brother Noctis are said to have brought humans, elves and their fellow dragons to Xadia from the other lands."

"Other lands?" Callum asked. He had never heard of such a thing. As far as he was concerned, Xadia had simply been their land from the beginning of time.

"Do the people of your time not know this story?" Aarush asked. "Granted, different sources have different beginnings. Some say it was a famine that drove them out of the other lands, others say they were the last survivors of a massive war, others that the land itself had become too inhospitable. All anyone knew was that King Saulto saved them, and so was made the king of all creatures on Xadia. He, along with his mate and her brother, were the last of the star dragons."

"So, they were Kimaare's parents?" Callum asked. He wasn't sure if Aarush knew who that was, so Callum explained briefly of the newborn star dragon who's egg had been recovered and hatched, and who sported a certain semblance to both the king and queen of this ancient time. They both enjoyed the fact that Kimaare had been granted a second chance at her birthright as the newly adopted daughter of the current Dragon Queen.

"It's rather likely." Aarush said, and Callum was at least glad that someone's ancestry could be revealed in full. "I've heard tell that they bore an egg that was lost in an earthquake. Queen Lux was heartbroken. Star dragons are said to live an eon, but an eon still isn't forever. The world was counting on the hatchling to take its parents' rule when their time came. Eventually, King Saluto decreed that, should the Dragon King not have an heir to take his place, he will be succeeded by an archdragon of his choosing. King Saluto selected a young ocean dragon named Aequor to take his thrown upon his death."

King Saluto stood on a cliff and let out a loud bellow, unfurling his vast wings, the webbing of which were a deep purple, also dotted with stars. Callum even thought he saw a couple of constellations in those wings. The roar echoed throughout the canyon, causing a rockslide. The scene changed.

Callum and Aarush beheld Aarush himself, looking a bit older than he did on the none-living plain. He was in the presents of the mirror, along with the huge, looming figure of Zym's father. Callum, having never seen King Avizandum with this own eyes, committed the impressive form to memory. It was no wonder his people had regarded him as a monster in the past, as he seemed far more dangerous now than any other dragon Callum had seen, including the vengeful Sol Regem or the ill-tempered Rex Igneous.

"Aarush, are you sure you are willing to do this?" Avizandum asked. Callum was shaken by the low, booming voice, knowing immediately why the humans had named him 'Thunder'.

"I am." The Aarush of the past nodded. "I have gotten my affairs in order. My family knows I won't be coming back, and we've said our goodbyes. If my father is truly too powerful to kill, than I'll do what I must to see to it that his crimes don't go any farther."

"Aaravos had slain King Aequor in his sleep along with what must have been at least a hundred powerful elven mages and royals, and with it, declared war on the dragons and elves." Aarush said. "When word reached me, I had to come back. I only left with the humans to the west because they accepted me, while the elves shunned me, both in light of who my father was to them. To the humans, Aaravos was a hero, a beckon of greatness that had given them a chance to survive. To the elves, Aaravos was a monster who messed with the natural order of things for his own benefit. I felt both of these views passed on to me, but I never enjoyed how the humans almost worshiped my father after the split. I'm sure they thought I had gone to Xadia to defend my father and the dragons had slain me, too."

The scene changed, and from there it was like reading a story or watching a well-acted play. The Aarush from the past seemed to have made a journey to a northern religion that was heavy with snow. Nestled at the end of an icy mountain pass was a truly beautiful crystalline castle. The past Aarush knocked on the door and waited a moment before Aaravos answered it, looking truly surprised. Aaravos let Aarush inside, father and son walking through the place and talking, about how Aaravos was glad Aarush had come to his senses and came to his side. When Aarush produced the Key of Aaravos under the guise of reminiscing, it gave him the opening to slip away, and Callum could imagine it was to place the cloth in his room. Aarush silently came back before Aaravos realized he had been gone, and the next moment the façade broke as the key shone with blinding lights. Aarush ran to the library, pursued by a furious Aaravos, who demanded the name of the dragon who had put him up to this, and Aarush answered; the new king, Avizandum. Aarush hurriedly muttered something to the mirror, causing it to go white for a moment, in which he threw the key through the glass, which it phased through.

A blinding flash overtook everything. When the light died down, Aarush was gone. Aaravos got up, walked over to the window and looked out, seeing the shapeless, white void outside in place of the snowy mountains. Heading back to the mirror, he saw in it; not himself, but the relieved faces of King Avizandum and a collection of elves. Aaravos was captured.

The visons ended and Callum had to sit on the bed. Aarush, again looking youthful and pristine, looked uncomfortable. "Callum, my time is short again. This physical form I have is only temporary."

Callum looked at him. "What'll happen to you?"

"I'll finally get to go on." Aarush said. "I only kept this sliver here in case Aaravos had come back, and all I was planning to do was inform whoever stumbled upon me of what his plans are. Maybe if you know what he's doing, you can find a way to stop him for good. He wants to whip out the dragons and more powerful elves, those more powerful than himself, so he created dark magic to create division and distrust. Humans might not have magic, but that have numbers. From what you said about this Viren, it seems he fell for the ruse perfectly. It's a thirst for power disgusted as fondness for humans."

Callum nodded. "And me?"

"Take what you've learned and apply it. Come up with a plan using what you saw." Aarush told him. "Opening up the mirror in the usual way will get you home, but I doubt Father will fall for the same trick twice, so I don't know how useful it will be in that way." Aarush stopped and looked at Callum for a moment, who than noticed that he was growing translucent. "Callum, I'm fading. Remember what I said, and just so you know," Aarush gave the human a fond look. "no matter what the case, I would be honored to call you my descendant."

A warmth flooded Callum's heart before Aarush faded completely, leaving him along again. Callum quietly took the cloth the key from the bed. He would take the cloth and the children's book back with him, no sense in keeping either of them there any longer. With the book and cloth under his arm and the key in his hand, Callum returned to the mirror after a bit of confused wandering – these halls were very numerous – and once again passed through the mirror back into the living world.

Author's Notes: Phew, this was a long one, but actually quite easy to write, and just as fun. And I've also thought about how Aaravos claims he doesn't know what the space behind the mirror is; he knows it's his own palace, what he meant was that he didn't know the realm he was trapped in. Also, really sorry about the anti-climax about Callum being Aaravos's descendant, it was always supposed to left up to the imagination, so we won't be getting a straight answer in the story itself. Review.