Chapter Forty-two: Moving On
Callum's vision was beginning to reel as a result of this latest crash into a tree trunk. In the weeks since he'd returned home, he had been working from sunrise to sunset to learn it. He mentally cursed Aaravos for whatever this was. Yesterday, it dawned on Callum to ask Kaiya about a spell that allows you to disappear into shadows, which she claimed to be advanced earth magic. Today, Rayla had taken Umbra back to Shadow Pass to see if the small library in Terry's parents' bedroom included a book with this spell in it. Since then, Callum had been doing the only thing he could; trying again and again to execute the spell with only the rune and the incantation; Umbra Intinrantur. He knew higher level spells required something more – a certain mentality or intent – to pull off, but without knowing what it was, this was hopeless.
His entire backside was covered in cold muck; the snow was melting quickly, giving way to a ground made of slush and mud, which other than getting him dirty, only served to warn Callum that time was running out.
"Callum!" Callum looked up to the sky to see Rayla riding on Umbra's back, and they were coming toward him. Umbra landed a few feet from him, allowing Rayla to get off before taking to the sky once more. Rayla had a large book under her arm, which itself sported a bookmark.
"Did you find it?" he asked, and she nodded and opened the book. She started skimming as he approached her.
"It says that to travel through shadows, you need to be sure of where you want to go and know that there is a big enough shadow there to travel through."
Callum looked around, seeing small shadows all over the place. "It's noon now. Maybe we should wait until the shadows are longer."
"Sounds good." Rayla told her, taking a moment to look over his appearance; backside of clothes soaked through and caked with mud and bruises developing all over his front. "You certainly look like you could use the rest."
They hardly moved to start back to the village when Soren came charging through the trees. "Callum! Rayla!" The wide smile on Soren's face only faltered when he tripped over a raise in the ground, sending him tumbling the last few feet from Callum and Rayla. Sitting up, he shook his head clear, now also covered in slush and mud.
"Woah, are you okay?" Callum asked as Soren scrambled hurriedly to his feet.
"It's fine, I just bumped my head a little." Soren said, the triumphant smile back on his face.
"Oh good, nothing important got hurt." Rayla quipped.
"Say whatever you want, nothing can possibly ruin my mood today!" Soren proudly stated, puffing his chest out.
"Why, did you get into something?" Rayla asked, raising an eyebrow. Her and Callum's mental processes seemed to stop at Soren's ecstatic declaration.
"Zephyr's pregnant!"
"How can you be so stupid?" Gren's voice sounded from the other room, sounding more firm than furious, which was what Ezran had seen on his aunt's face in the moments between receiving the news and being shoed out of the kitchen and into the sitting room. Ezran thought, if Aunt Amaya could hear how mild Gren's voice was, she'd hit him upside the head until he was screaming bloody murder like she clearly meant to.
It was himself and Mira sitting on the couch, with Bait lounging on one of Ezran's legs and Mira pressed up close to him; she, like most small children including himself and his brother at some point, had what seemed to be an instinctual fear of the general when she was angry. A part of Ezran thought that at least some of this anger was frustration at herself; as she watched them grow closer over the years and their relationship get more and more physical, she had watched her elder nephew and his beloved like a hawk. She had completely neglected to keep an eye on Soren's romantic exploits as well.
"We've done nothing wrong, General." Zephyr's voice defended steadily. "We're both adults, we love each other, shouldn't that be enough?"
"This isn't about propriety," Gren's voice came in a tone that said he was still in the process of translating. "it's about timing. Soren is one of my best guards, he's coming with us to defend the Dragon Queen when the time comes. What if something were to happen to him?"
No answer. Ezran couldn't help but think there was a lot more to this fear of Aunt Amaya's than he knew about; while it was a valid point, it was also pretty odd that it would be at the forefront of her mind so that she'd find the reason so quickly. Maybe he'd ask her about it when things calmed down. Of course, that could take hours.
The door opened and in came Soren, eyes still gleaming with joy, followed a bit more timidly by Callum and Rayla. They must have anticipated the general's mood from the moment they heard the news. As Soren went on into the kitchen, not even losing stride, Ezran and Mira looked at the couple.
"Aunt Amaya's mad." Callum stated, dryly.
"She is." Ezran confirmed, his voice just as blunt.
"Want to come with us?" Rayla asked, a mischievous grin on her face. "We need to tell Claudia the good news." Ezran smiled at this idea.
"WHAT?"
The scream was so loud, the council members in a far room were startled.
"What do you mean that Skywing elf is pregnant?" Claudia demanded, her eyes wide with shock.
"Exactly that." Rayla said in a conversational tone. "Soren also said they're planning a summer wedding and he's moving in with her now."
Claudia's reply to this was something between a gasp and a sharp sigh. "It's disgusting! Dad –"
"Is gone!" Even Callum was surprised at his outburst; he knew very well it was coming and had planned for it to be a fair bit gentler, but something in him just seemed to snap. Maybe it was his new complete lack of even friendly feelings toward Claudia – that little stunt she pulled back at Shadow Pass had thoroughly squashed any positive feelings he still harbored for her – or maybe it was lingering hatred he felt towards Viren himself. Or even a bit of both, perhaps. Whatever the case, regretful or not, he didn't stop to apologize; this was something the woman needed to hear. "He's not among the stars with King Harrow or my mother, looking down on us. He's in the dim world, not seeing what's happening. And anyway, what better punishment could there be besides the dim world itself? Someone who hated elves, having his line carried on by them, and through the very son that he abandoned?"
As Claudia, Ezran and Mira watched, stunned at this sudden hostility from someone who had always been so calm and collected, Rayla recognized this instantly; the same building anger she had seen months ago during their confrontation with Aaravos. The same pressure building up like a volcano or dam. She knew it had to be released someday, but not now. Rayla came up behind Callum and embraced him as she had when they had gotten back home weeks ago, though perhaps her grip today was a little tighter, more desperate. She let out a relieved sigh as she felt Callum relax against her.
Claudia's face hardened at the way Callum calmed under the Moonshadow elf's touch. That should have been her who was able to sooth his anger. She would have begun taunting them that it was surprising they weren't the ones who'd gotten pregnant with how shameless they were always being, but she was in no mood right now. She turned away. "Get out of here. Tell Soren that he's dead to me. I don't want any part of his wedding and I don't care about some halfling."
Callum's eyes hardened on her, staring at her form down until Rayla tugged his wrist, leading him away with one hand and Mira with the other. Ezran took a moment more to look back at her before he left; was this really that fun, kooky, kind girl that Callum used to follow around like a lost puppy when they were kids? He could certainly believe she was the same woman who would have had him killed almost three years ago at the foot of the Storm Spire, he still had nightmares about that. Giving a heavy sigh, he turned away after a few seconds and followed the others.
Claudia couldn't believe Callum. Even with how much he'd changed, how could see say those things? For once, she didn't consider this to be the Moonshadow elf's fault, at least not alone. It was all of them, his trouncing around with all those elves and dragons, connecting to those primal sources – something humans weren't even supposed to be able to do! It must have done something to his brain, severed his loyalty to his own kind in favor of those monsters. She did admit that, growing up, her father had never seemed overly fond of Callum. Apparently, Sarai and Amaya hadn't been born nobles like Viren or Harrow, just a pair of common solders who only gained recognition – and the at-the-time prince's attention in Sarai's case – by raising through the ranks of their military at a once unheard of speed. Neither Sarai nor her late husband were related to Harrow; not a drop of royal blood flowed through their son's veins. Viren felt that some peasant boy who was in the palace only by luck was undeserving to walk among the highborn such as himself, let alone refer to his king as 'father'. Still, it didn't warrant the things he had said about her father.
Feeling eyes on her, Claudia turned to the bars of her cells. A hot wave of anger washed over her at the sight of not only Soren, but his little Skywing floozy. They were holding hands. The elf's look was pleading, and Soren's was reproachful. Claudia could imagine they had met Callum and the others just outside the door and they had revealed the things she had said about this development.
"What?" Claudia barked. The next thing she heard was both surprising and irritating.
"Claudia, you're my sister and I love you." Soren told her firmly. "I want my child to know their aunt."
"Oh, don't even try!" Claudia interrupted, getting to her feet. "I'd rather rot in here than have anything to do with some halfling. Do you have any idea what you've done? One of the greatest high mages in the history of Katolis, banished and disgraced, defeated when all he was trying to do was save humanity from Xadia. And now, his own son is having a half-elven child?" Her voice dropped to a calmness. "It's disgusting." Soren sighed in exasperation.
"Claudia, I know our family meant a lot to you, especially after mom left." Soren began. "But she's gone and Viren's dead." Claudia turned away at this, as if her stubborn denial of this would bring Viren back. "But people are moving on. They have moved on. Once Callum defeats Aaravos, this'll all be over." Soren looked at Zephyr and pulled her closer to him. "I'm starting my own family," he said, tenderly, before looking back at his sister. "and we want to offer you the chance. Please, come with us. We talked it over, you can find something else to do. You could give up dark magic, come live with us and help us raise –"
Claudia's thoughts about this came so rapidly, that to Soren and Zephyr, it seemed that her eyes brightened with excitement only for the briefest moment before turning dull and saddened again. She had to admit, it did sound nice. It would be tough to give up dark magic, but maybe she could do it; maybe take up something else in its place like research or some kind of science. Maybe she could do whatever it was Callum had done to connect to the primal sources. Maybe her father was horribly misguided, and the elves weren't that bad. Callum and Soren, after all, were both good judges of character, so there must have been some redeeming things about those girls, at least. But the word 'family' was what really stuck with her. Could…could she really have a family again? For a moment, memories of seeing Amaya with Callum and Ezran filled her mind; the way the woman played with her nephews, taught them her signs, snuck them extra after-dinner sweets behind their father's back. A painful pang of longing suddenly came over Claudia, and she could almost see the child now.
"Shut up!" The yell cut Soren off and he and Zephyr looked startled. Even though Claudia hadn't meant to say that, she knew instantly that what she was thinking of – what Soren was suggesting – was just pipe dreaming. Even if she took them up on her offer, she'd never shake the suspicious looks she would get, the gossip that would follow her for the rest of her life. And the idea that she could give up dark magic now was rapidly deflating in her mind as a silly little notion. Most importantly, if Viren really was as bad as everyone seemed to think – hypothetically, of course – would those whispers and looks start following this hybrid grandchild, as well? And when exactly had she started crying? She took in a deep breath and just managed to keep her voice steady. "It's too late for that."
Soren's face fell in disappointment. The brightening of her eyes had gotten his hopes up. Maybe he'd try again on another day, after she'd had time to think it over. "Okay." He gestured for Zephyr to follow him, which she did. The closing of the door leading to the cell rang in Claudia's ears for a few minutes, sounding loud, however quiet it was in reality. Now alone, Claudia dropped to her knees and started to sob. What had she done?
It was early the next morning, so much so that the sun was just rising. Callum awoke feeling a bit sore thanks to all of his fresh bruises. He had tried shadow travel a few more times when the shadows had begun growing longer yesterday evening, even successfully pulling it off a couple of times. Still, there was quite a bit of practice he needed before he could do it masterfully. Callum closed his eyes, hoping the light drumming on the roof coupled with the rain spattering the window would lull him back to sleep.
Callum practically jumped up from bed with a start. He looked to his window, and his heart began racing at the sight of the morning rain outside.
At the top of the Storm Spire, Ibis looked gravely out at the rain, his ears filling with what should have been a soothing sound mixed with the yips of young dragons. The elf momentarily looked aside himself, seeing Prince Azymondias and Princess Kimaare approaching. The princess looked wary at the unfamiliar weather, but as usual, Azymondias' playfulness and fondness of rain seemed to spill over and soon they were frolicking in the rain without a care in the world. Oh, how Ibis envied the young; so blissfully unaware of the danger that lay ahead. What would happen to them if worse came to worst, to say nothing of his newly discovered grandchild-to-be?
"Ibis." Queen Zubeia's voice was solemn as it captured his attention. She was a few feet into the cavern opening, so as to be sheltered from the rain, but still able to keep a watchful eye over her children while they played. Elf and dragon looked eyes, both feeling how heavy the rain made their hearts. "Winter has come to an end."
Author's Notes: Funny story, the writing format I use is one of those formats that edit as you go, especially grammar, right? Well, at one point, I got an error saying a comma was supposed to be a semicolon, so I changed it. Format then decides that the comma was better, so I change it back. For the second before it reconsidered and found the semicolon needed, and so this continues for a good two minutes. Technology, right? Anyway, I hope Soren and Zephyr's relationship has been developed enough for this and that the pregnancy isn't out of nowhere. Just say things have been going on off-screen. Review.