Callum didn't know what to make of the cube. It had seemed like just a boring carving of the symbols of the primal... well, whatever Uncle Viren had called them. But then Bait walked by, and one of them, the Sun he thinks, began glowing. He was excited then, and showed it to his step father. He couldn't find Bait again, but King Harrow told him he could keep the cube. He told him an interesting story about it too. Apparently it was the key to something in Xadia that belonged to an ancient elf named Aaravos.
He had been studying the cube ever since they got back from the Banther lodge. Uncle Viren even lent him some items that had traces of primal magic in them, and the cube glowed differently for each one. When Callum asked if, as High Mage, Viren shouldn't be the one studying it, the man chuckled and said he already had. He didn't find it to be anything more than a glow toy, and then told Callum that he should stop calling him 'Uncle', because, even though he appreciated it, it wasn't proper for a Prince. Callum thought that 'Lord' Viren simply felt old when he was called 'Uncle', but didn't see how 'Lord' was any better. Nevertheless he promised to call him 'Lord' from then on.
He had taken to carrying the cube around everywhere. At first it was just because he was curious if it reacted to Lord Viren or Claudia's dark magic, so he'd carry it with him in case he saw them. It never did, but the more time he spent around it, the more convinced he became that the cube was, in fact, a powerful and complex magical artifact. He couldn't explain how he knew, it just... felt that way. That was when he decided that he would learn primal magic, even if only to decipher the mystery of the cube. He briefly considered learning dark magic as well, but it just felt wrong, and besides, the cube seemed to be exclusively primal in nature.
Callum wasn't all that good at much of... anything. For one, sword fighting just felt wrong to him, somehow. It wasn't the weapon itself, he was strong enough to handle the practice sword, but the way he was taught to move with it, the 'good old' Katolian style, simply felt... off. Soren wiping the floor with him certainly didn't help. He felt like puking the first time he saw dark magic, and his studies weren't going too well either. But Callum was pretty sure that the latter was his tutor's fault. He wasn't stupid, he knew that most people in court didn't like it that a commoner had become Prince, and he was sure his tutor was one of them. Strangely, they seemed to like his mother as Queen well enough. He supposed that, with her charm and prestigious military career alongside Aunt Amaya, it was hard to argue.
Even so, he asked Lord Viren for tomes on primal magic. The mage was pleasantly surprised, as when he had offered to teach Callum magic a few years back, he had refused. Callum decided not to tell him that he would stick to primal magic only. After that he spent most of his time in Lord Viren's library, sometimes joined by Claudia. To his great surprise he was able to quickly understand magical theory, and on the one occasion that Lord Viren let him use his Sky Primal Stone, he managed to cast 'Fulminis' perfectly on his first try. The mage complimented him, and claimed he had talent for magic. And given that magical theory was much more abstract than the subjects he was tutored in, Callum could now say with certainty that his tutor had it in for him.
The next year started out great, having made a lot of progress in his study of primal magic. The concepts he had learned, although still very basic, allowed him to form a theory about the cube. If it was indeed a magical key, and it reacted to all six primal sources, then perhaps that in order for it to unravel protective wards, which he suspected, was what it opened, magic of all six primal natures had to be poured into the cube simultaneously. Of course, he would never be able to verify it, unless he suddenly found himself in Xadia. Then winter came around, and with it, the Queens of Duren. Their kingdom had had a poor harvest and their people were starving. His step father decided to lend them aid, at the cost of his own people. Callum didn't think that was a wise choice, but he could understand it. It was who King Harrow was. But then Lord Viren suggested a dark spell that they would need to venture into Xadia for, and the King agreed to it. His mother didn't, but went anyway. She didn't come back.
Callum stared emptily at the statue as Lord Viren made a show of lighting his mother's pyre. He glanced at his little brother Ezran, whose pet had led to Callum's discovery of the cube. The young Prince, barely three years old, was too young to understand what was happening. Callum promised himself then, that he would protect his brother no matter what. He glanced at his step father, to see that he was shaking. At first he thought that the King was crying, but he wasn't. He was shaking in anger. Callum could feel it too, ever at the edges of his mind, but he pushed it away. He hoped the King could as well. Anger and vengeance and war would not keep his little brother safe. No, only true peace with Xadia could do that. And somehow, Callum would achieve it.
The ambitious seven year-old quickly realized the root of the problem. Dark magic. It was why humanity was cast out, and why Xadia refused to make peace with them. And despite everything, or maybe because of it, Callum agreed with Xadia, and understood, at least from a logical standpoint, why the Dragon King did what he did. The obvious solution was for human mages to learn to do primal magic without a Primal Stone, and then convince the Kings and Queens of the Pentarchy to ban dark magic. Learning primal magic would discredit all the reasons human mages had for practicing dark magic, and enforcing it through law would appease Xadia. Of course, there was only the small problem of humans being unable to learn primal magic. Callum decided that he would be the first.
Much to Lord Viren's delight, Callum proceeded to study every tome in the mages library, even those on dark magic. He figured that if he was going to fight against it, he might as well understand it. Besides, tomes on primal magic were rare, and he'd already read the few Lord Viren did have. The mage seemed overly eager to help, even though Callum still refused to actually practice the magic itself. The boy figured that he was doing it out of guilt over his mother's death. He appreciated it nonetheless.
Over the next year the unofficial master and student became a little closer. Not in any meaningful emotional way, no, but rather due to Callum's unusually high affinity to magic. The boy proved capable of sensing magic, when he asked the mage if the illusion he kept up was to hide the magic poisoning that a lifetime of using highly taxing dark spells for the sake of the kingdom had caused. Claudia asked him what he was talking about and Callum lectured her on the dangers of such spells while her father stared, surprised in equal parts at Callum's new ability, his grasp of dark magic theory and the fact that he had seemingly finally understood the necessity of dark magic. When questioned, Callum was surprised to learn that not all mages had this ability and his teacher and friend now knew why the boy was so opposed to actually doing dark magic. They concluded that Callum must have an elven ancestor and Lord Viren even tested to see if he was naturally attuned to any Primal Source. He wasn't, but it had been worth a try.
Ever since then Callum would spend a lot of time in the High Mage's quarters, indulging the father-daughter duo's desire to test the limits of his ability. He was a little curious himself to be honest and, besides, he got to learn a lot about practical dark magic by watching them create new spells to test him. They also agreed that if being in the presence of dark magic caused such a revulsion in him, there was no telling how casting it would affect him and as such, it should not be attempted. They gave him pitying looks for a while. He must have been the only human with such a talent for magic, yet also the only one unable to do any kind. That didn't last for long though, as Callum soon discovered, or rather, rediscovered a new form of magic: blood magic.
In truth it was just dark magic with a lot more limitations. He had noticed that not all the creatures squashed for their magic made the cube glow, and Lord Viren had confirmed that it wasn't a requirement for them to have a magical core, since all living beings were connected to magic, just not necessarily to a Primal Source. So Callum proposed that he use his own blood as a reactant for dark spells. The mage briefly berated himself for not thinking of that and confirmed that it was indeed possible, and had been done before. He explained that since humans were much more complex creatures, a few drops of blood could serve as substitute for the little creatures and other common reactants usually used. But it had the side effect of causing fatigue relevant to the magnitude of the spell and so, anything more than basic spells were out of reach, unless one was willing to risk their life. That was why dark mages sacrifice other creatures, and why not a single one used blood magic.
Since it didn't require any sacrifice or foreign magic entering his body, Callum suddenly found himself able to do magic. He started experimenting with the cube again, and tried to use blood magic to simulate the sky spells he had learnt. The latter didn't yield much results, though he didn't really expect any in the first place, but the former did. Using blood magic he was able to connect the six items he'd gotten from Lord Viren to the cube. Interestingly, the cube didn't seem to consume the remnant of primal magic within the items, but rather react to it, as it always did. Except now, Callum could sense that the cube was different. It was weak, but Callum could now sense the cube's own magic.
Two years had passed since the Queen's death when the King and High Mage once again rode into Xadia. Callum had overheard the discussion from one of the castle's tunnels, while searching for Ezran (once again). And (once again) he didn't agree with their plan. No, in fact, this time he was furious. When the two returned to tell that the Dragon King was dead and his egg destroyed, they were greeted by a furious Callum. They tried reasoning that his mother was granted justice, and Lord Viren even claimed that as a child, he couldn't understand. He left them speechless when he played out Xadia's reaction at the loss. The inevitable war, may it come sooner or later, that they have caused, which would endanger not only the entire Pentarchy, but their own children as well. The King had a horrified look on his face, and sat heavily on his throne, realizing what he had done, while Viren, for Callum refused to call the man 'Lord' again, argued that Xadia couldn't do anything without a King and heir, and the Dragon Queen would be too stricken with grief to act. He stormed out, when the boy pointed out that, eventually, an elven faction was bound to act on it's own out of the same desire for revenge that drove the two before him. Callum followed Viren from the tunnels, using the sense of death surrounding the man to guide him. He hadn't seemed as upset over losing an argument to a child as Callum had expected; the boy had spent enough time with him to suspect the mage was hiding something.
His suspicions were proven right when, following Viren, he found a secret dungeon. He watched through the cracks in the tunnel's wall as the mage brought out a stand and and placed an oval glowing object on top of it. Callum's jaw hit the ground. It had to be the egg of the Dragon Prince! Viren hadn't destroyed it, he'd stolen it for it's potential use as a reactant! The boy's first instinct was to steal it back and run to his step father. But he thought better. Should the King claim to Xadia that he hadn't known of the mage's theft and offer it back in exchange for staying their hand, it would seem as if Harrow had purposefully stolen the egg to use as a bargaining chip to get away with killing the Dragon King. That peace wouldn't last at all. No, neither Harrow nor Viren could return it. It would have to be someone that hadn't participated in the deed, but still had or will have great power within Katolis. In other words, Ezran or himself. As future King and, Callum hoped, closest adviser and High Mage, the best choice was one of them. But it didn't matter. They would be killed at the border with Xadia, and they would need to take it directly to the Dragon Queen to stand a chance. The only way to do that would be to get an elf to vouch for them.
Callum watched as Viren carried another object, this time larger than him and covered by a cloth, across the room and into the next. The boy walked down the tunnel a few feet, and peered through a different crack. The mage set down the object in the middle of the dark room, stared at it for a while then muttered something about piled up work and left. It took Callum a few minutes to find a tunnel exit into Viren's secret lab. He stared at the egg and promised himself to return it one day, then entered the other room. He took the cloth off to reveal a mirror with elven script on the frame. He could feel the mirror almost vibrate with primal power, and thought that Viren must feel quite perplexed by it. Had it not been for his abilities, Callum would have thought it to be just a normal mirror. He glanced at the elven script on the frame and almost choked. He couldn't read it, but he could somehow discern, among complex spells, a series of wards that were meant to prevent passage. He pondered on the discovery for a few minutes. He supposed that since this particular script was, basically, a long and complex spell, he could tell what the intent of a simpler part of it was.
He was brought out of his thoughts when the candle in the room burnt out. The mirror glowed briefly, and suddenly, was showing a different room. It was elegant, very different from any human architecture Callum had ever seen. Tall bookshelves lined the room on either side of a great window. A desk and chair were on the left, with a fireplace on the right. And next to it, pulling a book off a shelf, was a very tall, cloaked figure, with only four fingers. Callum stared at the elf for a moment, and got the strange urge to pull out the cube and activate it's magic again. He followed through, then held the glowing object in front of the mirror. The boy looked on as the mirror glowed again and the elf froze. He closed the book, put it back on the shelf and put out the fire with a wave of his hand. He turned, walked to the mirror, and locked eyes with Callum. His voice was deep and soft.
"Speak. Speak so that I may hear you."