Chapter Forty-seven: Look To The Stars Part II
Callum found himself standing in a white mist, with a familiar feeling of calm washing over him. The last thing he remembered was that he was in battle with Aaravos, was hit by something or other, and than there was this place. Another near-death experience? That couldn't be right; the last time this had happened, he'd had his parents to meet him, and here there was no one.
"Hello?" Callum called, for a moment only being greeted his own echo. This echo ended in a peculiar utterance; a last 'hello' spoken in his own voice, but this one held a lower tone, offered a direction, and was louder and more solid than the others. Puzzled, Callum looked to where the voice was coming from. He beheld himself, once again clad in a fine robe, though now with the addition of his hair standing on end the way Aaravos' now did and there was a strange glow to his eyes. His irises were still present, but the whites shown with energy and power. Callum felt like he'd be sick as the vision gave him a sly smirk so similar to that of Aaravos, it was almost offensive.
"Who are you?" Callum asked as if the answer wasn't plainly obvious even to himself, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, and remembering the vision of a dark mage that had borrowed his image years ago. This didn't quite feel the same, though.
"I'm you." came the most predictable reply. Being so predictable, the vision elaborated. "The one you're thinking of now, back when you made the choice between darkness and primal. He was a real possibility at the time, and if you could have turned into him then, you can absolutely turn into me now. Not that that would be a bad thing, of course. In fact, it would only be natural."
Be warned, Callum, archmages have gone crazy with the immense power of all arcanums. Altogether, it is every bit as seductive and easily corruptible as dark magic. Rare as archmages are, rarer still is the archmage that manages to hold onto themselves.
The words came back to Callum, hitting him like a wave. He clenched his hands tightly. Though this vision had not said or done anything to make his intentions obvious, it was clear by his dark stare and the way he held himself and spoke, uppity and self-important, that this was another version of himself that Callum would be loath to meet in life. "No. I'll never turn into you!"
"Deep inside, you know how powerful you really are." the archmage told him, that sickening grin back and making Callum's stomach turn. "Don't you remember our years in the palace of Katolis? The taunting? The whispers? They called you the step-prince; an imposter who shamelessly wore a title he was not born into."
Callum hated the affect this speech was having on him, not wanting to admit that the vision spoke the truth. Soren hadn't been the only one who looked down on him as a child; guards, servants, delegates and other officials had always disregarded him, as though he had no place in the royal family. They were obedient to him out of obligation to Harrow, but the warmth and respect that shone in their eyes when addressing the king or his heir would be snuffed out like a candle once they looked at him. He recalled the whispers he regularly overheard as a small child, which had only gotten worse after his mother died, and not only from Soren or Viren; the late queen's mongrel child, the step-prince, the king's charity case. He'd put on a brave face to avoid getting any of them in trouble with King Harrow – who would no doubt have been livid to hear of such things – but in truth he learned quickly to keep his head down, stay quiet and not to make a scene. Back then, the only warmth Callum received was from their little family of four, plus Claudia and maybe Soren if he was in a good mood. He'd always felt so small and unwelcome for what he wasn't, so unlike now, when he was powerful and loved for what he was.
Once Callum thought of his power, the vision's grin grew, and his eyes narrowed. "Now that you have this power, those pathetic fools are falling at your feet in worship. Make them pay for what they've done, how fickle and shallow they are. And in the process, show the rest of the world what happens to those who wrong you."
"They're innocent." Callum said, hating how he had nothing more to say about it, not able to put into words any solid reason to spare them outside of common compassion; something he doubted this version of himself was still able to comprehend. He could have used Soren as an example, who claimed to have been humbled by some severe accident in his past, after which he'd immediately dropped the bullying behavior and the two had quickly become the close friends that Callum had always told himself they were in spite of his behavior. Also, into his mind, came the words Queen Zubeia had spoken on the night of Katolis's destruction, about vengeance feeling empty and not really changing anything other than just prolonging the suffering. He chose not to, though; it probably wouldn't work, either. "I…You can't do that."
"You can do anything you want." the archmage said, "The Dragon Queen is injured, and the Prince and Princess are still young and weak. With Aaravos gone, you'll be able to wipe out the dragons yourself, and then the elves, leaving you as the single most powerful being in the world. The humans will worship you. And all you have to do is get rid of anyone who stands in your way."
Callum was horrified at the flash in his counterpart's eyes which shone with a kind of perverted pleasure. Still, he stood tall and forced himself to keep eye contact. He spoke slowly and surely. "I am never going to become you."
The vision sneered and laughed for a moment. "You think it would be that easy, you sentimental little fool? You can't destroy me, I'm everything you want to be; who you know you can become. You can banish me this one time, but that won't mean anything, and you know it. I'll always be there. Lurking in your darkest thoughts, your nightmares, another one of your little flare ups. All it would take is a single slip up, one momentary loss of self-control, and I could come out to play."
Callum closed his eyes, his fists now shaking. His mind went to his loved ones back home; the sorrow and betrayal they must have felt before this version of him…'got rid' of them. He could practically see Rayla and his aunt with tears in their eyes, trying to fight him, Ezran's look of disbelief, Mira's tears, Queen Zubeia's rage as she realized she had defended the enemy and that Sol Regem had been right about humans all along.
Anger gave way to determination, and he told himself those things would never come to pass because he wouldn't allow it. "No, you won't! You are not real. I swear, I'll make sure of it; you will never exist!" This statement, which had somehow crawled to a shout without Callum realizing it, echoed once more and was again met with nothing but silence. After some seconds, Callum opened his eyes to see that the archmage was gone.
As Rayla made it back to the house, leading Lujanne and Kiara inside to get out of the rain, they were greeted with fearful whines and the sight of Kimaare going berserk. She was trying to fly towards the open door, franticly flapping her wings and only being held in place by Amaya, who seemed to be struggling between a need to be stern and her personal wish to comfort the baby dragon. Everyone was watching Kimaare worriedly, but Zym looked especially pained.
"Slow down, slow down!" Ezran urged, clearly trying to keep himself calm, trying to hear what Kimaare was saying and not having much luck with her in such a frantic state. This scene was all Rayla needed to know to shut the door quickly, shutting out the rainy weather as well as trapping Kimaare inside.
"What's happening?" Kiara asked, as Lujanne was looking in wonder at the star dragon. Kiara had told them about her before, but actually seeing it was something else entirely.
"I-I don't know, she won't calm down!" Ezran said, this being the only acknowledgement he gave of the three Moonshadow elves' arrival. Ezran focused, listening until he picked out the words. "Callum. Elf. Shadow. Disappear."
"It must have been the shadow travel spell." Rayla pieced together, to the horror of everyone. "Does she know where they went?"
Ezran continued to listen, and to his and Amaya's relief, Kimaare stopped struggling as she realized that something was now happening, something that might help. She began giving Ezran quivering whines that were nonetheless easier to understand than before. "Okay, let's try this again." Ezran told her and gave her a pet to further sooth her, not seeming any happier aside from the relief.
Rayla, Kiara, Ezran, Zym, Ellis and Mira where gathered around the star dragonling, who was still being held by Amaya. Lujanne decided things were basically handled here, so she turned to Janai, who held the two scepters in hand.
"Queen Janai of the Sunfire elves." the old mage said with a slight bow of her head, "Rayla said I was needed here?" Janai nodded.
"Yes." she said, holding out the Scepter of Shadows to Lujanne, who took it, looking at it with wonder in regard to the strange colors surrounding the stone. "Callum used the Scepter of Shadows to relieve the Scepter of Radiance of some of the magic it bore, which might have otherwise destroyed it."
Lujanne shuttered to think what could have happened had the pressure not been alleviated, and though the two scepters no longer seemed to be in danger of bursting, it was still unnatural to have more than one primal source in a single stone.
"We need to find a way to purge the foreign magic from the scepters, and then purify the Scepter of Radiance. That's why I asked for a mage." she said. "Surely you know a way to transfer magic from one source to another."
"There is a basic spell, but I'm unsure how it would work; these are strange circumstances." the mage said, "Still, I suppose there's nothing more to lose now, so we might as well try anything. Follow me."
In leu of an explanation, Lujanne led the way back out the door. They ignored the cold rain as she planted the end of her scepter firmly into the now soft ground. Janai followed suit, looking a bit nervous. She was a warrior and a monarch, not a magic user, so it might not work for her. When she voiced these concerns, Lujanne nodded and took the Scepter of Darkness in her other hand. Janai took this as the signal to step back. The mage took a deep breath, tightened her grip on the two staffs, and spoke the words; "Da Imperium."
Janai might have been watching closely, but she was still unprepared for the massive pulse of energy, expressed as a pair of shockwaves emitting from each of the scepters, the power of which caused her to clinch her teeth and close her eyes. It might have been a single gust, but the two elves could feel everything; the might of the earth quaking, the power of the ocean, the vastness of the sky, the secrets of the stars. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the wave stopped, leaving Janai reeling for the moment she could afford to; she bolted forward to steady Lujanne, who would have otherwise fallen over.
"Are you alright?" the younger elf asked, taking one of the staffs in one hand and propping her elder up with the other.
"Yes, I'll be fine." Lujanne told her, allowing herself to be helped back into the house. "It may be a basic spell, but such an energy burst…"
Before they made it back inside, they examined the scepters; the Scepter of Shadows was back to its original state. The same could almost be said of the Scepter of Radiance, which was finally free of the excessive power beyond what it was meant for, but the stone itself remained black with the corruption of dark magic.
There was a deep cut above Claudia's eye that, for some reason, stung worse than the rest, and said 'rest' were everywhere, some cuts having clotted and others still bleeding. The cut above her eye bled heavily, blood running down her face. The worst of it was a nasty slice down her arm which had bled a lot before finally clotting. She didn't care apart from the annoying stinging, her eyes flitting in satisfaction to the most visible piece of damage she'd inflicted on Amer. His dark skin made any blood difficult to see, but she could see the busted right horn, which was now reduced to a cluster of jagged bone-like matter on his head.
The look in Amer's eyes was feral and animal-like, which she would have used to confirm her father's words about elves being barely better than animals in terms of emotional capacity, if only she still cared to do so. His eyes, still unfocused and mad, didn't give her much of a warning before he charged at her, his knife extended toward her. Claudia didn't know what made her think of it, but she opened her arms slightly, a foolhardy move, even she knew. Amer didn't seem to see anything wrong as he tackled her to the ground, his free hand pressing on her throat to choke her. Somehow, she summoned the will to ignore the all-consuming pain of the knife deep in her stomach, and gripped his shirt, pulling herself up.
Claudia's energy was fading, she felt, so she had to work fast. Her knifed hand wrapped around his torso and she plunged her dagger into his back. He looked down at her and smiled as his grip started to slack. Amer laughed weakly, looking almost playful. "You think I care? I've finally done it. I killed you and your brother. The dark mage's line is gone now. It's like he never existed at all. We might be destined for he dim world together, Claudia, but they'll remember me in stories and songs. I will be immortal."
Claudia had to laugh hearing that this was his goal. "You're an idiot, Amer. Soren has a child. I've accepted my fate, but you'll never get to them now. I might be gone before the sun sets, but Soren will live forever in his child. Oh, and did I mention the mother is an elf?"
Amer's smile fell, and now he looked dangerous. It didn't scare Claudia, though; they were both dying, and they both knew it. "I'll haunt it." His voice was a mixture of struggling and insanity. "I'll haunt them all, every one of them, all of his descendants. They'll suffer for the crimes of their ancestor." Amer closed his eyes and collapsed on top of Claudia, squeezing more of her precious breath from her lungs. In her ear, he whispered; "There will be no peace. Humans don't deserve it."
And with that, the elf silenced and stilled, and his breathing stopped forever. Claudia, refusing to die beneath the weight of this loathsome creature, pushed him off of her and used the last of her strength to crawl away, if only a few feet so that there was a respectable distance between them. The very last shred of her strength was used to flip herself onto her back. She looked at the vast, undisturbed sky, somehow unable to bring herself to even be scared, she was too tired. It was all up to Callum, now, and she took a moment to realize that he and Aaravos had gone, leaving her alone. They say your life flashes before your eyes when you die, and Claudia waited for the warm memories to come, but all she could muster up was a list of regrets.
Her thoughts turning back to Callum, it seemed like a shame. She missed their old friendship. She wished she'd at the very least, been there to see such a drastic physical transformation take place from the stalky, cute little guy she knew growing up, to a tall, powerful, handsome mage. She wanted to go to Ezran and beg his forgiveness for what she'd nearly done almost three years ago. She wished she could have gotten to know Rayla and Zephyr better, if only she'd swallowed her pride while she still had the chance. And the child. Now she'd never be able to watch over it for Soren. Huh. She'd never stopped to just look at the sky before, but now she wondered how far up it went. The sun was now just dipping below the clouds, casting a soft golden light on the blanket of vapor that shielded the world below so completely, that Claudia might as well have been in a realm all her own. It was beautiful.
Callum awoke slowly, moaning, and wanting to bring his hand to a painful spot on his head. He struggled to his feet and looked around. He was at…Shadow Pass? It looked different in spring, but the constant shadows and the remnants of an avalanche – now a compact pile of dirt and stones at the foot of a sheer drop – were a dead giveaway. The place was devoid of Earthblood elves, though, and at that moment Callum understood why.
"You've awoken." came the familiar, deep, despised voice from behind him. Callum steeled himself, remembering what had happened, and he turned around to face Aaravos, looking darkly nonchalant as always.
"Forgive me, but such a small battle arena was proving to be rather vexing." Aaravos said. "Shadow Pass is quite a wonder, isn't it? The perfect place the shadow travel to."
Callum stared at his eyes, which he suddenly realized were shining with the same look that the newly met dark version of himself had sported; a look of sadistic glee, of insanity. Once again, Lujanne's warning came back to him, although Callum hadn't even seen the gleam in his eyes back in the mirror as he watched the man's son trick him into imprisonment. If only Callum had any reason to believe, for even a second, that Aaravos was dim enough to fall for the same trick a second time. For now, all Callum could do was brace himself and try to survive.
Author's Notes: I know this is a bit ahead of schedule, but it seems that one of our newest reviewers is a big Claudia fan and has been blazing through my chapters like an inferno, and I wanted to make sure they saw this as soon as possible. I hope that dark version of Callum made up for the fact that we never actually saw any descent into insanity, even though it was one of the first things to be set up. Secondly, a moment's silence, for our poor Claudia. She had her flaws and maybe even went a bit crazy towards the end, but she found her peace and used her last moments to set things right. Dear Bluesta- erm, Claudia, may you not be lonely in the next world. But chins up, my friends, this isn't the last we'll see of her. Ladies and Gents, the ultimate conclusion is coming up in part three. Review.