"Who are you?" The elf smiled at the boy's question.

"Ahh. How long has it been since I last heard the sound of another voice? As for who I am, I am afraid my name would mean little to you, young one. The more interesting question is how did you come into possession of that artifact?"

"You don't want to know how I activated it?" The elf chuckled.

"I can deduce that easily. You used your blood as catalyst between remnants of each primal nature and the artifact. It is the only way you could have achieved this specific variant of the partial activation. Impressive for a human, especially one so young. You must be quite talented. Now that I have answered your question, will you answer mine?"

The elf had kept a pleasant smile on his face the entire time, and Callum marveled at how different he was from what the stories made elves seem like. Then again, he doubted that this elf's dark star-speckled skin was common even among elves. He briefly wondered if it was safe to tell him, but then he realized that he didn't know anything that could truly harm the kingdom in the first place.

"It has been in my step father's- I mean, the King's family for generations. I found it three years ago, and was allowed to keep it. It's why I started learning magic. You said something about a variant?" The elf considered him for a moment before answering.

"By using your blood as a catalyst, you infused it's properties into the releasing spell itself and effectively made yourself the only one who can use it without having to spend weeks filtering out your blood from the artifact first. However, since a full activation requires the power of an Archmage, you only achieved a partial activation. In other words, it allowed us to talk to each other."

"So, a full activation would set you free?"

"Why do you assume I am imprisoned?"

"The writing on the mirror says so." The elf rose an eyebrow.

"You can read elven script?"

"Not exactly. The best I can figure out is that the script is in fact a complex spell, and I can sort of feel the intention behind the simpler parts of it's magic." A second eyebrow joined the first, then the elf narrowed his eyes and stared.

Aaravos studied the boy carefully. What he had described was an ability limited to elves and dragons, but most elves would have to spend decades training this ability, for they weren't born with the fine control necessary to feel intention in magic. In fact, only Startouch elves were. The boy must have a Startouch elf ancestor, then. No, a parent. Anything else, and the ability would have never reached him. But his people rarely left their star towers, and they almost never strayed far enough to meet humans, even before they were cast out. Aaravos froze at that thought. There was the possibility... could it be? He glanced at the boy. He didn't look half-elven. The genes of an elf should have been stronger, yet he looked entirely human. But if she was pregnant when... the mirror would have... yes, there was no doubt. Still, he had to ask.

"Tell me, young one, who is your mother?"

Callum stared at the elf for a long while, wondering if he should tell him. He settled on answering with a question of his own.

"Why do you ask?"

"Merely trying to figure out where your ability comes from. I suspect you have already figured out that it is elven in nature, however your mastery over it is specific to a single race. The Startouch elves. My people. We are the longest lived of all the six races. So there is a possibility that I might know one of your parents from a time before I was imprisoned." Callum's eyes widened.

"Parents?!"

"Of course. You must have an elven parent, otherwise you would have never gained this ability." Sufficiently shocked, Callum answered the elf's question in more detail than he would have liked.

"My mother was certainly human. Her name was Sarai and she was one of Katolis' most respected generals. She became Queen when she married King Harrow, and had a child with him, my little brother, Ezran. I've never met my father. You're saying he was an elf?"

The boy's use of the past tense did not escape Aaravos' ears. A single tear rolled down his otherwise stoic expression. What little doubt there could have been vanished. He wondered whether he should tell the boy. Well, no time like the present. He had never been one to avoid his problems, after all.

"He is. And I do know him." He sighed. "He was a great elven Archmage, one of few elves that wanted to help humanity as opposed to simply being indifferent to it's woes. But one of his human apprentices, ever in search of more power, used his teachings to create a twisted form of magic. Humanity was cast out of Xadia as a result, and when it was discovered that it was your father's apprentice that invented dark magic, the High Council pressured the new Dragon King to punish him also. He has suffered alone ever since... until Sarai stumbled through my mirror."

Callum spent the next few hours talking with his father. His father. His head was still spinning at the revelation. His father was Aaravos, the Morning Star, one of the greatest Archmages to ever live. Or at least, so he claimed. Callum had doubts at first.

"If you are an Archmage why can't you escape?"

Aaravos had sighed.

"My prison dampens my powers, although I was about to finally complete a spell to force the door open when Sarai stumbled through. The wards on the mirror are built to adapt against new threats, so after I used the spell to free her, I couldn't use it again."

"How could my mother, a human, and not even a dark mage at that, enter your prison?"

"Because the mirror, without the key, is a one-way door. One can enter but not exit. Initially I was supposed to be trapped forever, but Avizandum, the Dragon King, decided he would free me if the humans were no longer a threat. So the other Archmages enchanted the key I crafted for my star tower to also undo the wards on the mirror. It must have been stolen in a human raid like the one your mother was leading when we met."

"If I really am your son, how come I don't look like you?"

The elf's smile had dropped for the first time.

"You should have. But the wards must have begun adapting even as your mother walked through. They must have sensed a part of me escaping and tried to contain it. I should have known she might have been with child, I could have prevented the magic from affecting her. And, because of my mistake, even as an unborn child, you were forced to grow up fully human, disconnected from your birthright. The Star Arcanum."

"So, if I regained that connection, I would look like I should have?"

The elf had narrowed his eyes in thought, before finally replying.

"The Star Arcanum speaks of eternity, of things that have been, things that are, and things that will be. Whether or not either of us knew it, you have been my son since you were conceived. You are my son right now, and you will always be my son. And yet, your body does not match this certainty... Yes, I believe it might be possible that, if you can reconnect to the Star Arcanum, it will return to you what should never have been lost. Though I suspect the change will not be painless."

They had been silent for a while when Callum realized something.

"So humans can learn primal magic. It's not impossible."

Aaravos had scoffed.

"Impossible is just a word used by the unimaginative, who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible isn't a fact, it's an opinion. Impossible is a dare that is meant to be challenged. Impossible means nothing to those that dare to try. Are you one of them, my son?"(see AN)

"I am... father."

After that the conversation took a turn towards more immediate topics. Callum explained that he would have to leave soon, since Viren could return at any moment. His father asked him about Viren's identity, and the boy revealed that he was the High Mage of the King's court, that he had pressured the King into using a dark spell to kill the Dragon King, raided his chambers for the egg and mirror, and that it was because of him that his mother was killed. And although he was glad that his lover's killer was dead, Aaravos agreed with his son's stance on the matter. He would have been impressed at the young prince's maturity and wisdom, but then, the boy was his son. Aaravos then experienced fatherly pride for the first time. He resolved to take care of the dark mage himself. The mage's previous crimes aside, he would surely cause problems once his son learns primal magic. The Archmage then told Callum that he wouldn't need to return to the dungeon. It was fortunate that he had used blood magic to partially activate the cube. Since the boy was his son, Aaravos could use the cube, now containing Callum's blood, as a gateway to Callum himself. He wouldn't be able to do much more than speak with and appear before the boy, but he wouldn't need anything more. After all it was only a matter of years until his son became an Archmage under his tutelage, and could free him. He had waited for centuries, a few more years meant nothing to him.

For the first three years, Callum did nothing but write down what his father told him. Since Aaravos' impressive library was trapped behind the mirror with him, he had his son write all the books he would need himself. It proved to be great practice, and by the end, Callum was fluent in common elvish, and passable in Startouch elvish, which his father had insisted he learned also. On days that he didn't spend writing, his father would instruct him in alchemy, strategy, law, politics and etiquette. He claimed that as an Archmage, he could be called upon to serve as judge, jury and executioner, as advisor to Kings and Queens, or even to lead legions of lesser mages into battle, no matter if he was in the Pentarchy or Xadia. And so Callum learned. He had questioned his father as to how he knew the law and etiquette of all the Kingdoms. Aaravos only smiled, and said that while he may have been trapped, he had not been idle; the Star Arcanum allowed him to scry the outside world. Something he said Callum would also have to learn once he connected to the Arcanum.

Doing so was easier said than done, however. Ideally, a mage would attempt to create that connection at the Star Nexus, deep within Startouch territory; such a trip was out of the question for Callum, but magic was nothing if not versatile. Aaravos had explained to him that an attempt to connect to an Arcanum could take place anywhere, so long as the mage had felt that Source's magic before. To that end, his father had strengthened their connection through the Key, and spent the last of those three years sustaining a minor Star spell, the magic of which Callum could feel through their connection. As the year came to a close, Aaravos instructed the boy to get to the top of the castle's highest tower, and meditate (another thing he'd had Callum practice). For hours the boy stood still, his mind blank, focused on nothing but his father's magic. Then his mind was lost amidst endless darkness. He could not remember who he was, why he was there, or even what 'there' was. He felt as if an eternity had passed, and yet time had frozen, at the same time, before eventually he saw a lone star. Pain wrecked his mind and body when he reached it. He saw the entire history of the world, he learnt of everything happening right then, and of all the infinite futures. And then, he forgot it all. When he opened his eyes, and regained feeling in his body, it was to his father's smile and a new weight on his head.

The change was strange at first. He had to learn a new balance to his body due to the horns, and the pointy ears would take some getting used to. When he snuck back to his room and looked in a mirror, he was even more surprised. He could still recognize himself, but the dark horns, stark white hair and glowing silver star-marks reminded him of his father. His eyes still had white sclera, were still green and he still had five fingers. He had expected his skin to gain the same color as his father's, but he merely looked a little more golden than before; Aaravos explained that that skin color was not uncommon amongst Startouch elves, but he suspected his human half might have influenced it. However, despite all the changes, it felt right, somehow.

His father then had him spend the next three days locked in his room, which, by this point, had become norm to castle staff, teaching him how to cast a simple enchantment on an object, in order to create an illusion. At first he had been confused as to how he could cast a Moon spell if he was not connected to the Moon, but then recalled a passage in one of the first books his father had him write. It said that all Sources are tied to each other, which meant that a mage connected to one may cast basic spells that would normally draw power from the others. One such spell was the illusion Callum had casted on a pendant; since it did not draw power directly from the Moon Arcanum, it was rather weak, but it would do to hide his new appearance for the time being.

Two more years passed as Callum slowly learned primal magic. Aaravos was, as always, a strict teacher, but that suited the young mage just fine. Under his tutelage he managed to connect to three more sources, only the Sky and Earth remaining, and had reached the level of being able to create simple spells on his own. His connection to so many Sources meant that his blood magic had become more powerful than any human mage had ever seen and earned him his own study in the castle's Mage Tower, next to Claudia's, whom he could now compete with (though she claimed his elven ancestry was cheating). He had also become an active member of the court, and even went on a few diplomatic trips to the other kingdoms with Lady Opeli, one of which led to him discovering a fighting style he became actually proficient in. It was a combination of the Evenerian spear style, focused on flowing moves, and the mage-staff techniques that his father had been teaching him. Soren now had to actually get serious in order to take Callum down, a fact which the older boy had learned the hard way, after his face met the dirt while he was explaining that 'sweep-the-leg' was not a thing at the same time Callum was attempting it with his spear. He never claimed that again.

It would be another two years before Callum actually won matches against Soren. At sixteen years old, Callum had hit a growth spurt and was now as tall as his older friend, although he was pretty sure that his horns, which had grown also, put him ahead. The last few years of training had put some muscle on him as well, though his build was still lighter than Soren's. His father had put a stop to any more attempts of connecting to another Arcanum until he had reached at least a minimum level of mastery over the four he already had, however he could confidently say he had mastered the Stars, Moon and Ocean Arcanums, and was nearly there with the Sun. His skill with blood magic had not improved as much as a result; merely it's power. As such Claudia was once more ahead of him, at least as far as she and Viren were aware (in truth, he was likely far above both their levels), which she didn't hesitate to gloat about every now and then. Though she seemed to be doing it less since he got taller, choosing to stare at him instead, which he didn't mind, but found a little weird. He was also allowed to speak in court now, although rarely on important matters, but he was happy to see his opinions were actually taken into consideration.

If there was one thing he regretted about how busy his life had become it was that it cut into the time he could spend with his brother. Now twelve, Ezran had begun receiving the education he would need in order to be King. Some lessons Callum was familiar and helped with, having been taught the same by Aaravos, others he was not, being deeply related to the management of Katolis. It was only to be expected, however; Ezran was to be a King, but he an Archmage. While both were positions of leadership, they were of different kinds.

AN: This line is taken from "The Primal Prince" by The Eternal Winter. It is a great Dragon Prince fanfic. I highly recommend that you read it.