They made it into the forest just as Callum's spell began to fade. They half ran, half walked the next few hours, keeping clear of the road and keeping an ear out for any noises. Eventually, Ezran declared that was tired and fell asleep against a tree, hugging Bait and his pack, which contained the egg. Rayla sighed and sat down as well, but Callum stayed standing a few more minutes while he set up an alarm ward. They wouldn't be staying for long, so there wasn't any point in anything more. When he joined the other two on the ground, he was met with Rayla's curious gaze.
"How do you know elvish?"
"Straight to the point, I see."
"Don't avoid the question."
Callum sighed. There was no point in hiding. She'd find out once they reached Xadia, anyway. It would be much easier to travel in his true form there. He took off the pendant. The elf's eyes went wide.
"You're a Startouch elf?!"
"Close, but not quite." He raised his five-fingered hand. "I'm half Startouch elf."
"What? No, that's impossible!"
"Whether you believe it or not is of little consequence. If you must have proof then this should suffice." He drew a silvery white rune in the air and muttered the spell; a small star formed above his palm, illuminating the clearing in a weak light. It was the same spell his father had sustained for a year once. It called upon the guiding nature of the Stars to illuminate one's path, but he had put little power into it. No sense in telling the search party where they were. Rayla looked at it in wonder.
"Is that a spell of the Star Arcanum?"
"Yes. Normally this light would guide the mage to their destination, but the destination I chose is my palm. It will remain there until I dismiss it." He did just that, returning the clearing to darkness.
"What about your brother?"
"He is completely human. That is why he must come with us. Number of fingers aside, I am more elf than I am human. Any peace that would come out of me delivering the egg may not last."
"You have yet to answer the question, you know." He wondered whether telling the truth could come back to haunt him later. He settled on a middle ground.
"My father is a mage; he was trapped in a space between worlds when he met my mother. She fell into his prison by mistake, and had no choice but to wait for him to finish the spell that would set them free. But he had miscalculated. My mother managed to escape, but as a result, he remained trapped, and the connection to the Star Arcanum was ripped out of me before I was even born. For the first seven years of my life I thought I was completely human. Then, I found a Xadian artifact that had been passed down in the royal family. I begun studying magic, and eventually managed to activate it; it allowed me to speak to my father. He taught me how to regain my lost connection, and has been teaching me ever since. About our people, about magic, and other things."
"That is a little hard to believe."
"I already told you; I don't particularly care whether you believe me or not."
There was silence for a while.
"Callum is a human name."
"A very astute observation."
Rayla rolled her eyes.
"Do you have a different name?"
"An elven name, you mean."
"...Yes."
"I do."
"...Well? What is it?"
"Sihraan."
"...I like that one better."
Callum chuckled.
"Of course you do. Call me whatever you wish. Both are mine. Just don't use Sihraan around Ezran for now. Elves are made out to be bloodthirsty monsters around these parts, and while he managed to hide it, I could tell he was quite afraid of you. I don't know how he'd react to finding out his brother is half elf."
Rayla looked offended and opened her mouth to argue, but seemed to think better of it. She must have realized he was in the same boat as her. Worse, now that he thought about it; he had grown up separated from half his homeland. Silence fell again, before Rayla asked another question.
"How were you able to copy my ability?"
"...I'll admit, that was a little too close to dark magic for my liking, but we didn't have time for anything else. I used your blood to form a bond between us, which allowed us to become transparent every time you did. But such a bond does not last long; it is not natural."
The elf frowned.
"Is that why it was close to dark magic?"
"More or less. Blood magic differs from dark magic in that the mage uses their own blood as a catalyst for their magic. Since there is no death nor transfer of magics involved, there is no corruption. It is safe. Except I used your blood to cast that spell."
"I see. But if what you said is true, then shouldn't human mages also be able to use blood magic?"
"They are able. But our blood is much more powerful then theirs. If a human mage tried any of the spells I cast today, they would lose too much blood, and die. Dark magic was created to circumvent that."
"By killing other creatures."
"Yes."
Rayla shifted uncomfortably, and rubbed her wrist. Callum noticed a white band wrapped around it. He frowned.
"...I'm confused. I thought you didn't know what blood magic was."
"I didn't."
"Then how come you are using it? That is a blood ribbon, is it not? They are made using blood magic."
"This is blood magic? I hadn't given it much thought to be honest... it's just something my people have always used."
"I can help you get it off, if you want. It was meant for King Harrow was it not? You might lose the arm if you leave it be."
Interestingly, she flinched at the mention of the King. At first he thought it was out of guilt, but then he noticed a something on her other wrist. He lunged forward and grabbed her hand. She yelped but simply locked her eyes onto the ground and made no move to pull away. There was a mark encircling her wrist, of the same width as the blood ribbon on her other one.
"There were two. Why were there two?"
"Sihraan, I..."
She glanced to the side. He followed her gaze, and landed on the sleeping form of Ezran.
"Ezran... You- the reason you broke away from the others-" He stopped himself. She clearly had no intention of harming him anymore. "An eye for an eye, I suppose." A horrible thought entered his mind. "But that means..."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you... it fell off about an hour ago... I think I may have also seen our leader's, Uncle Runaan's, Shadowhawk delivering the message back to Xadia."
Callum felt as if the ground had been ripped from underneath him. Harrow may have not been his real father, but he had done his best to be one. He was family. There was a sudden pain in his chest, and he let out a choked sob. He slumped forward and fell onto Rayla's shoulder, but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. She grunted, surprised, but let him stay there and even held him as he cried. He would be forever embarrassed about this, he knew. She was barely an acquaintance, and yet here he was, crying into her shoulder. It only lasted for a few minutes, but he knew the shame would last for hours. Eventually he settled against the tree next to her, about a foot apart.
"I'm sorry. That was inappropriate."
"...Your horns are weird."
He blinked. Of all the things he thought she might reply with, that was definitely not one of them.
"That is the last thing you want to say to a Startouch elf. I'll give you a pass this time, since you have obviously only interacted with your own people before, but I'll have you know that we take great pride in our horns. They are magnificent."
She snorted, but didn't say anything else. Callum tried his best not to give in. He ended up asking anyway.
"...Why are my horns weird?"
She looked at him with an amused expression. He refused to meet her gaze.
"They are big."
"How does that make them weird?!"
"I dunno. I just know they look about as big as Runaan's, but he's in his mid-60's while you are my age."
"Humph. That's no reason to call them weird. It just means they are magnificent! Stop giggling! It's obvious!"
"I'm sorry, It's just- haha- imagine when you're Runaan's age! You won't be able to lift your head!"
"Oh please! You know just as well as I that their growth will have slowed down drastically by that point! Besides, it's not like they'll continue growing in length, like yours do. You can already see the branch points."
He did not expect her to grab his head. Callum knew he should be offended, and Rayla knew she was being impossibly rude, laughing and then staring at his horns like that, but for some reason neither could bring themselves to care. Callum suspected it had something to do with the sudden stress and massive burden they had recently taken upon themselves.
"Huh, you're right. Wonder what they'll look like in a few decades."
"Well, I'm not sure about a few decades, but... I could show you what they might look like in a few millennia."
"Wait, what? Millennia?"
"Assuming I live that long; I'm just half Startouch after all. And I did say 'might'. I have no idea, so the best I can do is show you what my father's look like now, and I know for a fact he is at least fifteen hundred years old, so-"
"Stop talking, and show me already!"
Rayla watched as Callum pulled out a small notebook, and turned the pages, there seemed to be more than the notebook could actually fit, and she concluded it must be enchanted. Finally he settled onto one and handed it to her. It was a rather detailed charcoal drawing of an older male Startouch elf. His features did remind her of Callum, though it was obvious their skin, at least, differed. Their hair was the same though; it even matched in length. And she could definitely see Callum's horns growing the same way.
"See, now these are magnificent. Yours are just trying too hard, Sihraan."
Callum narrowed his eyes, ripped the notebook out of her hands and stuffed it back into his pocket.
"Okay, enough is enough. One more word about my horns, and you'll find yours colored bright pink when you wake up tomorrow. Permanently."
Rayla flinched and lifted her hands to her head, as if trying to shield it away from him. That served to draw his attention back to the blood ribbon, and his mood sombered again. Rayla noticed his gaze, and looked at him curiously.
"You said you could remove it. How? It's supposed to be impossible if I fail to kill my target."
"Nothing is impossible. It just requires the right knowledge. Or release from the contract."
"You mean the Dragon Queen could remove it? What good is that gonna do? By the time we reach her, my arm would've already fallen off."
"Weren't you listening? It can also be done with the right knowledge. Which I have. But in this case, the most important thing was luck."
He gestured for her to give him her hand, as he was searching in his pack for the object he'd put there earlier.
"Why luck?"
He found what he was looking for, and placed it in between their hands, so that they were both holding onto it.
"Because the spell is rather complex, and must draw power directly from the Sky Arcanum. It is the only one that speaks of freedom, and if Claudia hadn't had this Stone with her earlier, you would have had to wait until I managed to take the Arcanum within me. Now hold still."
As they held the Sky Stone between them, Callum reached within it, grabbing hold of the furious winds and the black swirling clouds. With his free hand he swiftly drew a set of six small Sky runes in a circle in the air, and a seventh, larger one, in the center. He then spoke a rather long draconian incantation he only half remembered. It didn't matter; he was skilled enough to substitute the missing parts himself. The runes started glowing brightly, a magic circle taking shape around them, urged by the incantation. Formulae appeared within it, shaping the runes' different magics into one.
The storm within the Stone grew ever more fierce, lightning relentlessly striking within it, as he fought the magic of the blood ribbon. It refused to bend, but ultimately, his power was greater. It shattered, and the ribbon unraveled as the runes disappeared, the loose strands of fiber falling to the ground. Rayla stared at her empty wrist in wonder.
AN: For those that have already followed and favorited - is that even a word? - my story: I am very thankful for your support, and I will do my best not to disappoint. That being said, I am sad to say that I won't be updating as quickly as I did with this chapter, since this one was already almost finished when I posted the first three.