Chapter Forty-eight: Look To The Stars Part III
Even though there was still the matter of the dark magic that clung to it, the recovery of the Scepter of Radiance was a huge relief to Janai, who's people would rejoice when she brought it home. She supposed she'd have to gather up her strongest mages to try and purify it. Amaya was now beside her, leaning on her shoulder – according to her, baby dragons were much stronger than they looked, especially after an hour of mindless struggling. As Ezran had managed to calm Kimaare down, she was now in his custody, surrounded by Rayla, Zym, Ellis and Kiara, with Gren and Lissa keeping an eye on the group. This freed Amaya up to be beside Janai, though now she was looking warily at the scepter of Darkness. She had been horrified at the time to have her sight – her one and only method of communication – threatened. Regardless of how she felt, though, she knew it was important to Janai's people. As if sensing her beloved's unease, Janai turned her tender eyes to the general and ran her fingers through her soft hair in gentle, comforting pets. There was a silent promise in her eyes, that if the scepter was purified, nothing like that would ever happen to her again.
Seeing the loving interaction, Gren thought to himself that the fates must have been doing this on purpose. Lissa genuinely needed someone to talk to, that was plain to see, but somehow it made things awkward with how Gren knew he felt. Still, he pulled himself together and turned to Lissa.
"So," he started, "Gideon and the kids are back home?"
"Something came up in our palace and Gideon couldn't get away this time." she said. "My sister volunteered to watch the kids until I came home. I honestly thought I'd be heading back to Del Bar now, but I can't leave until Claudia comes back. If I did, I…" she trailed off, her face being overtaken by grief.
Gren was ashamed of being unable to sympathize, being single and childless himself. Maybe when the weather let up a little, he'd take her to see Lain and Tiadrin. He looked towards the stairs, where he knew those two Skywing elves were in a room on the next floor. The last he had seen of them had been when Soren's betrothed had cried herself to sleep with her brother keeping close watch over her. Perhaps he could persuade them to come, and Tiadrin could help Zephyr as well. Until then, Gren decided to change the subject back to her family in Del Bar, anything to keep her mind off of Claudia. This seemed to work, starting with an amusing report on her son Faolan, who had taken to raving day and night about 'flying' this and 'magic' that.
The chilly airwaves trembled as Callum lept out of the way of a blast of pure heat, which was the equivalent of an Aspiro spell for sun magic and would have roasted him. In the next moment, he found himself caught in a thicket of vines that, as far as he knew, hadn't been there a moment ago. It didn't take long for him to realize they were magically controlled by the way they slithered along his body with all the sleekness and speed of snakes. Callum pulled himself up, ripping himself free of the vines enough to cast his own heat spell. The vines withered and became brittle enough to snap away, letting Callum escape.
Aaravos approached slowly, having lost the regal baring, and Callum watched. Wait, what was he doing? Callum quickly, almost sloppily, drew a Fulminous rune and sent it to Aaravos, who dodged easily, his grin increasing. He looked almost amused as Callum backed away to stall for time; he just needed to be able to think.
Aaravos' chuckle was dark. "Did you really think I would forget about your part in my imprisonment, Aarush? My revenge on King Avizandum would have been satisfying, but I suppose this will work just as well."
"I'm not Aarush!" Callum protested, growing frustrated with how his brain seemed to refuse to work. "Aarush has been gone for a long time!"
Callum didn't know what he was trying to do, but once again Aaravos stopped, the confusion returning to his face as if he was trying to remember where he was or what he was doing. If Callum could only create some distance to get away. Of course, on top of that, what was happening back home came into his head, and he saw all but the adults gathered around Kimaare. Separated into two pairs sitting away from the group were Gren and Lissa who were talking, Janai and his aunt who were snuggled together in a chair, and, surprisingly, Lujanne. Part of Callum was frustrated by this. Did he really need a vision now?
Back in Novus, Kimaare gave an anxious trill, seeing Callum backed into a corner and Aaravos having closed in. She shivered in fear, bunching up her legs beneath her and making herself small in Ezran's lap. Ezran's eyes widened at her small whimpers.
"What's happening?" Kiara asked.
"It's another vision." Ezran explained, getting used to the subtle tells of a vison even without Kimaare saying so. "Callum's awake now. Aaravos has him up against a wall. It sounds like they're at Shadow Pass."
All eyes, in their little gathering and out, went to Rayla as she stood up, yelled something about not staying here another minute and ran out the door, which slammed behind her. Mira tried to follow, but Kiara pulled her back. In the commotion, no one could be blamed for missing the way Kimaare's back scales began to shimmer.
Somehow, out of nowhere, Callum's mind went back to the sword fighting practices with Soren years before. An idea sparked in his mind. A stupid idea, but it was better than nothing. His eyes flitting down to Aaravos' stance, he saw that it wasn't as firm as it could have been if he'd been mentally present. Taking a deep breath for courage, Callum dropped into a kneel, supporting himself on his hands, kicked out one of his legs and swept.
Aaravos wasn't tripped, but he was unbalanced enough to lose his footing. Rather than allow himself to fall, he steadied himself on what seemed to be a smaller version of the wind vortex, shown by his billowing hair and clothes as well as the loose debris flaring up around him. Fortunately, Callum didn't need the elf to trip; the sweep was a distraction to buy himself time to get away, which it had. As Callum ran, he briefly wondered what Soren would have thought of that move. He put that thought away for the moment; it was important that he focus now.
Luck seemed to be with him because as he quickly looked around for an idea, his eyes rested on the remains of the rockslide that had happened months ago, now moss-covered and tightly packed as though it had been this way for years. The need to focus was reinforced when a burning pain cut across his cheek; it was an offensive earth spell that produced stiffened leaves that were sharp as blades and send those blades out to the foe. Callum found himself with a small part of his hair trimmed and burning cuts on the left side of his face and left arm. He could feel the cuts bleeding.
"Folium Ferrum!" Callum yelled, drawing the appropriate rune and sweeping his hand through the rune. A flurry of sharp, floating leaves appeared from the rune and launched themselves at Aaravos, who didn't even blink as he drew a sun rune that had the leaves bursting into flames, stopping them before they reached him and fizzling out to nothing. He didn't pause in drawing the rune for Aspiro Frigis and Callum barely got out of the way in time to avoid being frozen to the rocks. Seeing those rocks made him remember…if he could just have the time to plan this thing out.
It was a shock to everyone when Kimaare suddenly tried to leap out of Ezran's arms, flapping her wings as if trying to get away. Whatever caused this fit, it was lost on Ezran. All he knew was that Kimaare was reacting to Callum's battle at Shadow Pass and had suddenly entered another state of panic. She cried in protest but somehow, even without his ability, Ezran knew she didn't really want to fly. She unfurled her wings, jumped into the air and hovered for a few flaps, then returned to the ground. The little dragon did this a few times. She was…demonstrating?
This vision was more welcome than the last, getting right to the point. Of course, fly! Quickly, Callum dodged another heat blast and drew a rune to counter; this didn't have to be anything fancy, it just needed to give him time. He drew an ocean rune and yelled, "Glacis!" Focusing on the water in the air, Callum gathered it with a quick closing motion of his fingers, then opened his palm which made the water solidify into sharp icicles. They launched themselves at Aaravos.
As predicted, they offered the distraction he needed. Callum somehow managed calm himself enough to summon his mage wings and shot into the air. Aaravos soon followed on his own mage wings, and Callum felt relief upon realizing that so long as he was in this form, Aaravos couldn't use any other magic. Well, not that he knew of off the top of his head. It was a rather basic blunder when Callum thought about it, but he wasn't complaining. Maybe he could use that.
Callum flew quickly, dividing his attention between making sure Aaravos continued to follow him, which he did, and surveying the landscape below for a place to enact his plan, as soon as he thought it through more. The breach that separated the human kingdoms and the ruins of Katolis from Xadia wasn't too far away, but he didn't dare take the risk. The Storm Spire, which he saw in the distance was also far too important for this job. The sea of Fluctus, the Moonshadow Forest, the…Mountain range. Callum had to stop himself from calling out a 'Yes!', lest he give his plan away. Making sure one final time that Aaravos was still on his tail, Callum made a beeline for the mountains. Surely, there had to be something there; a loose piece of earth, or at least something that could be quickly worn away.
Callum dove down to the mountains, luring Aaravos down with him. Something like a stone pillar would have been ideal, but there were only mountains, apart, of course, from the mass grave that had once been a village, now covered in a fresh layer of dirt. It was tempting to stop there for the space it offered, but Callum needed a tight spot were a cave in or rockslide would be devastating.
Finally seeing a small gorge, Callum finally landed, as did Aaravos. Callum backed up against a rock wall, not only for the plan, but from the look on Aaravos' face. He looked fed up, like he now meant to destroy Callum then and there. Momentarily forgetting the plan, the younger mage wished he had a moon opal with him, so he could create some kind of illusion.
"Impudent boy." the elf said with a slight growl and drew a simple Fulminous rune. This being a rune Callum would recognize in his sleep, he was able to act quickly; he zipped out of the way, turned around and quickly sent his own Fulminous blast, not at Aaravos, but at the same spot. As the two lightening bolts hit the very same spot, Aaravos looked at Callum in confusion. He was pleased to hear the crackling of stones that spoke of a weakened foundation.
"Playing games now, are we?" Aaravos said, watching as Callum drew, called and sent a third lightning spell to the very same spot. Callum had to stop himself from smiling wildly as the plan came together; Aaravos, who had once seemed so smart and calculating, was now too absent to understand what was happening around him. Seeing this gave Callum another idea of how to finish this. "I thought you were better than this, son." That was it, that was just what he needed.
"I'm not Aarush!" Callum called.
Aaravos entered back into the daze while Callum quickly ran from the wall, turned back, and took a deep breath, delivering a fourth, longer Fulminous spell to the same spot, which he willed to be even more powerful. Before the lightning dissipated, a rumbling began, and rocks began to break and tumble. A few smaller and ball sized ones at first, but within the next seconds, a torrent of rock and dirt came crashing down.
Callum had the presents of mind to get out and just managed to summon is wings, allowing him to fly away from the rockslide. Among the fall, Aaravos seemed to just be coming out of his confusion before he was lost under the rocks. The last thing the pair saw of each other was Callum standing on the ledge of a neighboring cliff, looking over all of this from a safe distance, and Aaravos's rage-filled face, his mouth opening wide in a scream that, like it's owner, was overtaken by the sheer power of the slide. Soon the path was partially blocked off by fallen rock, the air was thick with dust and dirt, and Aaravos was nowhere to be seen.
By the time the dust settled, Callum was huffing for breath. He now knew to wait until he got his breath back, then he would dig through the rubble to be sure that Aaravos was dead. The rational part of his brain told him that no creature could survive being crushed by a rockslide, but another part countered with the fact that no creature could have survived going over the edge of the Storm Spire's peak, and that had twice proven to be a surprisingly ineffective method of delivering death. In the meantime, he surveyed the damage to his own body, taking note of several stinging cuts and a sharp, staggering pain in one of his ankles. Something must have fallen on it in the rockslide and Callum had been too distracted to notice. Well, now he certainly noticed, and wondered to himself what he would do if Aaravos had survived and he himself could barely move on foot.
Worry turned to confusion as Kimaare, who had seemed very alert, if not panicking and going berserk for hours, was now acting very lethargic. Indeed, the constant, unwitting use of her powers had tuckered the little thing out; her eyes were drooping, and she could barely even keep her wings folded. All present watched as Kimaare jumped off of Ezran's lap, found an empty spot on the couch, curled up on a cushion in the manor of a cat or a small dog, and promptly went to sleep after letting out a yawn that seemed much too big for such a little thing. This scene would have been cute if any of them knew that the battle had ended and the danger had past, but they wouldn't know until dusk.
Once Callum finally got his breath back, he looked up to the sky. It only just occurred to him that there was no storm system near here, nor had there been one at Shadow Pass, and the sky was visible through the light layer of cirrus clouds. What really got his attention was how low the sun was getting in the sky, with the shadows starting to grow. If he didn't get home soon, Rayla would have his head for it.
"Callum!" Callum was surprised to hear Rayla's voice and he watched as Umbra appeared into his line of sight with her on his back. He didn't move but smiled as he watched the moon dragon land not far from him. When Rayla quickly got off Umbra and ran to him, Callum hissed in pain as he stood up, as the pain in his leg was stabbing. But he managed a few limping steps Rayla's way before she threw her arms around him. Somehow, the pain had become a little more bearable, and all but faded away into a blissful haze when she gave him a deep kiss.
When Rayla pulled away, a slight frown was directed at the deepest of the cuts on Callum's cheek, and she had also noticed the limp. Callum himself didn't have time to reassure her before she brushed the cut with her fingertips, smearing them with small traces of drying blood. "Callum…You're hurt." Rayla's tone shattered Callum's heart, and indeed she couldn't help but think back to Soren and Ibis, the rest of the Dragonguard or even the queen herself earlier in this awful, awful day. She knew it was almost childish and maybe even a little selfish to hope he'd escape unscathed, but…it could have so easily been so much worse.
"I'll be okay." he told her tenderly before he kissed her on the head and continued to hold her, taking comfort in her sweet presence. The lovers were broken out of their reunion by a growl. Umbra had gone down to the gorge and was sniffing at the rubble. He had clearly caught the scent of Aaravos. As he began digging through the rubble with one tentative paw, Callum tightened his grip on Rayla. From this, she knew it might not have been over, and she braced herself to fight.
It was a few seconds before a decent hole was made in the rubble and Umbra stuck his face into the debris, pulling out a form that he then took in his teeth and flew back up to the cliff to present to his friends. Had either Callum or Rayla eaten in the last few hours, the sight might have made them ill. Aaravos was limp, his hair and eyes now devoid of life or magic, bruised and bloodied, with several body parts caved in or flattened, speaking of bones that were broken beyond repair. Just as Callum was wondering what to do with the mangled body, – he surely didn't deserve a proper burial after all he'd done – Umbra tossed the body into the air and it disappeared with a quick snap of his jaws, fixing the problem with a decisive swallow.
"I guess that problem's solved." Callum quipped and Rayla smiled and snuggled into his chest, and Umbra purred as he also brought his face close to Callum, who rewarded him with appreciative pets to his snout before looking down at Rayla. "Is everyone okay back at Novus?"
Rayla looked away, not exactly looking broken up, but sympathetic. Just as she and Umbra had begun their flight to Shadow Pass to look for him, she had caught a glimpse of the summit of the Storm Spire. Granted, she could have been mistaken as it had only been a single, fleeting look, but she still hadn't liked what she saw. "I'll explain on the way. Right now, it's time to go home."
In spite of the drop in Rayla's mood that told him that there had been some unhappy event, Callum couldn't help but be relieved to hear the word. His head and leg were in pain, his stomach was empty, he was dirty, and his muscles were sore. He smiled. "Home."
Author's Notes: Pardon for the quality if it's an issue, between the holiday making work a real slog and the fact that I actually have very little experience with epic fight scenes, – as is probably evident here – I had to slap this together in the two days I had off. Also, I just can't see Callum fighting, he seems like more of a strategist to me. I know I said we'd be done before we reached fifty chapters, but it looks like we'll get an even fifty now, as this finale keeps stretching itself out. Again, sorry if this is anti-climactic, but again, I'm not good with huge fight scenes, and I myself also prefer fights that are won with brains instead of brawn. Review.