Callum woke with a terrible headache. His head felt like thunder roaring across the sky, normally that was a good feeling, but this morning it was not. He hardly remembered anything that happened last night. He remembered waking up, seeing Rayla, seeing the Queen, and then nothing. As if his memories had just been wiped away.

Rayla woke beside him, she rubbed her head, she too had a headache. Though it was not nearly as bad as Callum's, she only had...how many did she have? She couldn't remember, she hoped it was as few as possible.

"Hey...Rayla, what happened last night?" Callum asked groggily, "Ugh, my head feels like it's going to explode." Rayla didn't move. "I'm going to kill Damien and Xavier." "Are they the reason I don't remember anything last night?" Rayla turned her head to face Callum. "Y-you don't remember any of last night?"

"I remember seeing Queen Zubeia, I think I was made an official Dragonguard, but after that...nothing." Callum's eyes then went wide. "We didn't...did we?" Rayla, just now having the same realization, added, "No, we couldn't have...right?"

"Let's just, say we didn't and move on." Rayla nodded. "Agreed." Rayla got dressed and headed out to make sure everyone else wasn't passed out from Damien and Xavier's antics. Callum stayed behind, wanting to try on the new armor that he didn't remember getting.

He noticed runes on the arm pieces that matched the ones on his arms. He slid the arm pieces over his forearms and fastened them. Next, he put the breastplate on and tightened those straps. Finally, the leg guards and boots. He looked at himself in the mirror. Damn, they really put a lot of effort into this, I should thank whoever 'they' are. He left the bedroom in search of the training area.

When he arrived he found that both Xavier, Damien, Tobi, and Kayde laid out on the floor, Rayla standing over them, her cheeks flushed and an annoyed look on her face. "What happened here?" He said, stepping over Damien. Rayla's face went pink. "Nothing, just reminding these four of the importance of keeping their mouths shut!" Xavier moved to his knees.

"How ya feelin Callum? You downed three shots o' my whiskey last night." Callum looked confused, his headache still rampaging on. "What? I did whiskey shots last night?" Xavier's smile grew wider. "Soooo, neither you nor the Captain remember a thing of what happened last night?" "No?" The Earthblood brothers' grins were pure mischief.

"I told ya it was those two last night Kayde." Tobi raised his arm from the floor. "You owe me." Rayla's face went completely red. Callum still hadn't picked up on the hint. "What do you mean?" "Oh nothin mate, 'cept we could hear ya." Callum's face flushed as he finally picked up on what they were saying. "So you mean, we-" Both Xavier and Damien had evil glints in their eyes.

"Oh yeah, I'm surprised you two didn't wake the whole Spire with all tha-" Damien earned a kick to the face, knocking him out. "So, ahnybody else got somthan so say?" Rayla's accent only deepened like this when she was really angry, nobody moved. "Ah thought so." Then Kayde burst out laughing, with the other two as well. "Do ya all have a fucken death wish?" Rayla asked, completely dumbfounded at the turn of events. "Oh, you shoulda seen the look on your face Captain, priceless!" Tobi was dying of laughter.

"It was just a prank Captain, nothing happened, Spire was as quiet as a mouse sneaking past a cat," Kayde said, dying right alongside Tobi. Rayla just turned on her heel and stormed out, muttering something about killing everyone present.

"Where are Serrene and Jamal?" Callum asked. "Oh they were on patrol today, technically you were supposed to go, but everyone 'cept those two has a righteous hangover," Tobi said, finally recovering from the laughter. "Earthblood whiskey will do that to ya, I will thank every start in the damn sky if I get to tell dear old dad this story," Xavier said, hauling Damien over to the side to wake him up. "Our dad runs a distillery, he's the one who sent us that beautiful little bottle with enough good stuff too, well, you know."

Ibis walked in just in time to see Rayla storm off, Damien being unconscious with he rough outline of a bootprint on his face, and Callum just standing in the middle of it all looking lost. "Do I want to know what happened here?" He said out loud, receiving a chorus No from the present company. "Alright then. How do you like the armor, Callum?" Callum faced Ibis. "Did you make it?" Ibis tilted his head to the side. "Yes, Jamal and I, remember?"

Callum rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Uh, no." Ibis shot a glare in Xavier's direction, earning a grin in response. Ibis sighed, "I swear those two could be mistaken for Skywings if they didn't have the antlers. Yes, Jamal did most of the work forging it, I just made sure the runes worked. Try it out" And so Callum did, the guards on his forearms morphing to accommodate his wings.

Once Callum dispelled them, his armor remained intact. "That's amazing!" Ibis's face darkened. "I have something else for you, you dropped it last night." He held out the coin purse, the same one Viren used to hold that coins that trapped Rayla's parent, and Runaan. Callum's face paled. "Did you-" "Tell the Captain I'm so, so sorry." "Does Queen Zubeia know?"

"Yes, I thought it best if I told her," Callum felt like raging, he didn't want the news of this to get around like this, he wanted to tell everyone on his terms when he had found a way to free them. "But don't worry, I asked her not to tell Rayla, she agreed that be left to you." "What's going on? What's in that coin purse?" Tobi walked over and was standing next to them. "I asked Serrene about it when we found you, but she wouldn't even let me touch it."

Ibis explained so Callum, thankfully, didn't have to. "It's not something you should worry about, help get Damien back to the land of the living, then go see Queen Zubeia, she will explain better than Callum or I could." Tobi nodded and walked back to the group. Callum looked at Ibis, a tear forming in his eye, "I really wish it didn't have to be like this." Ibis just put a hand on his former student's shoulder, offering him a much-needed piece of advice, "Go tell Rayla that, be there for her. She's going to need it." Callum nodded, it was time Rayla knew what became of her parents, of Runaan.

Callum found Rayla in their room, sitting on the bed. She had a picture of her parents in her hands. Damn, of all the things she could have been doing, It had to be this. He didn't mean to be selfish, but this was going to be a lot harder than he had wanted it to be. He knocked on the door frame, letting Rayla know that he was there.

"Hey, Rayla, listen, we need to talk." She turned her head. "Uh oh, you have that feelings face." "Feelings face?" "Yeah, you make that face every time we need to talk about something to do with our feelings." Callum didn't have the soul to laugh. "Yeah, I guess so." Rayla looked at him quizzically, searching his face for answers. "What do you need to talk about." "This." He held up the coin purse.

Rayla matched Callum's crestfallen expression. "Tha." "Yeah, this." "Callum, whatever it is, I think I would rather not know." It hurt Rayla to talk to Callum like that, it really did. "Rayla, you need to see this, what's in here is, I can't describe it in words." "Callum, I don't want-" "Rayla you need to, keeping this from you would just be wrong. But, I can't force you." Rayla swallowed. "I-I'll look."

She cautiously took the coin purse from Callum, it almost looked like there were tears forming in his eyes, he looked away and began removing his armor as she opened the tiny bag. She put her hand in and removed a coin from the bag. Callum set his breastplate on the floor next to his arm guards, his head snapped around when he heard Rayla's gasp of shock.

Rayla had almost let herself feel relief when she pulled out a set of coins, they looked like regular coins until she turned them over. She almost instantly dropped them. "C-Callum, please don't tell m-me that is what I think it is." Rayla was crying. She couldn't stop herself, she knew what that was, who those people inside them were. Her parents, Tiadrin, Lain and Runaan.

Callum could hardly respond, Rayla was hurting in a way that he couldn't even fathom if he wanted to, he needed to be there for her. But he couldn't, tears were in his eyes as well, he knew what it was like to lose a parent. He had lost three. But this was different for Rayla, she had thought her parents were dead, and it turns out that they were alive, but their souls were trapped in coins.

"H-how long," she said, tears falling from her eye onto the bed, "How long have they been in there?" Callum still just stood there, he just didn't know what to do. "Your parents, I don't know. If I had to guess, they've been in there since Viren first took Zym's egg. As for Runaan, it would be sometime around the night he killed my dad, so three years."

"Rayla, I'm so sorry." But she didn't hear him, wouldn't hear him. Instead, she just stormed out of the room, she had to get away, just leave the pain behind. But she couldn't, the pain came from within, she couldn't outrun it, no matter how damn hard she tried. She ignored the calls after her, she ignored everyone that tried to get in her way. She tried to stop the tears from falling, she was a trained assassin, the captain of the Dragonguard, she wasn't supposed to show emotion. She wasn't supposed to be able to.

She didn't pay attention to where she was going, she just knew she needed to get away from it. From the Spire, from that evil coin purse, everything. Eventually, she found herself in an area surrounded by trees. She effortlessly made her way up one of the trees and sat down on a branch, her back against the tree. And she cried, she couldn't stop herself, all of the emotions that had been building just came flooding out. So she let them.

Back at the Spire, Callum just stood there, staring at the open door. A barrage of emotions hit him, sadness, hurt, anger, rage. He didn't know what to feel first. But he didn't have to make that decision, the anger and rage hit him the hardest. He had started to go after Rayla but didn't, instead, he whirled, sending a punch straight through the wooden door. With the adrenaline, he didn't feel a thing, but his hand was bleeding. That, he could feel.

Serrene stopped in front of the now broken door, "You showed her, didn't you." Callum looked her in the eyes, though he wore a scowl on his face, tears came down from his face and his eyes held no malice towards her. "I don't know what to do, she needs her space, but I need to be there for her." Serrene just leaned against the wall and listened.

"I wanted to wait to tell her when I had a way to free them." He sat back down on the bed, nursing his hand. "But I dropped it last night, and Ibis found it, then he told Queen Zubeia." "And now everyone knows." Serrene finished his thought. "So you had to tell Rayla because it was best coming from you."

Callum nodded. "What should I do?" "First, have Xavier take a look at your hand. Then go find her, make sure that she's doing ok." Callum nodded again and went to find Xavier. After Xavier bandaged his hand and offered his condolences to Rayla, Callum flew out of the Storm Spire in search of his girlfriend.

Callum was in the sky for hours before he finally spotted her, perched up in a tree. She was really hard to find when she wanted to be. He flew down and landed next to her. "Hey." Was all he could say. Damn it, why can't I think of anything good to say. "Hey." Was Rayla's response. "Do you want to talk?" "What is there to talk about?" She snapped at him.

"I thought my parents were dead, I thought Runaan was dead. To be honest, I was better off thinking they were. And now, now I find that I've been lied to again! They're not dead, NOOOO that would be too easy, wouldn't it? They've just been trapped in those coins enduring the gods know what for OVER A DECADE!" She was crying again, she couldn't stop it this time.

Callum hardly reacted as she shouted at him. Good, let it out Rayla. This is just like the Silvergrove, it'll get better. "So tell me, Callum, do you think that there is anything to talk about?!" Callum took the verbal slap to the face, he could have gotten angry, he could have walked away and left Rayla there. She realized it as soon as she said it, she didn't want him to go. And he didn't, instead, he just did the same thing he did after the SIlvergrove.

Callum walked across the tree branch to Rayla and pulled her in close. He activated his mage wings and pulled her in tight, the wings always made her feel safe. She had told him that it was because she loved every part of him, that wasn't the case because she had laughed in his face when he told her he wanted to try and grow out a beard. But it didn't matter why the only thing that mattered was her. "I don't know what to do Callum."

Rayla loved Callum with everything, she just finished ranting at him, yelling at him, practically making him out to be the one causing her all of this pain. He could have done many things, but instead, he chose to hold her tight, the one thing she would have never admitted she needed. She was too embarrassed to tell him the reason she felt so safe in those wings.

When she tackled Viren off of the Storm Spire, she had fully accepted death, she didn't dare hope to make it out alive by some miracle, but she wasn't at peace when she fell. She had realized that she didn't get to tell Callum how she felt about him, and then there he was, falling right after her and saving her with his wings.

Rayla hugged Callum tight as well, she didn't want to let him go, she cried into his shoulder letting out everything. She didn't care if it was childish, or petty or selfish, she just wanted his presence. He was the entire world to her, everything revolved around him in this moment. "It's ok Rayla, I'll find a way to free them. All three of them, I will make sure that you don't have to go through what I did. You deserve to have your parents."

I don't deserve anything, she thought, least of all you Callum. Callum held her for as long as she needed it, slowly rocking back and forth. Callum sat down against the tree, still holding Rayla in his arms. She leaned her head against his chest. "Why? Why would Viren do this?" she asked him quietly. "I don't know, I don't know."

They stayed in that tree for a long time, just simply being in each other's company was all they wanted. Eventually, the sun started to go down, and the pair were getting hungry. Rayla had said they could find everything they needed in the forest and stay even longer. Callum almost agreed, he wanted to stay with Rayla longer. Instead, he suggested that he bring something back from the Spire, and then they could stay out here.

One short trip, with many questions and a few 'knowing' looks later, Callum returned. Dinner consisted of some bread, cheese, and smoked venison that Tobi made. The sun had almost set, the sky was going from purple to black, and a few stars were starting to show. "It's going to be a full moon tonight," Callum said, hoping to start some conversation.

Rayla's mind was racing at the statement. She had been waiting for Callum to wake up for seven days now, but this wasn't a good time for that. But with a full moon, her inhibitions would be lowered, along with some common sense. As time went on, she felt herself slowly slipping into a state of unnatural ease. "Hey Callum," She said with a mischievous grin on her face, "Catch me if you can."

She kissed him full on the lips right before the full moon came out, turning her invisible to the naked eye. Callum jumped in surprise but then gave in to the chase. "Oh, so that's how you wish to play, you seem to have forgotten I am much faster now. "Celeritas Incremento." Callum felt his body surge with energy, and he chased Rayla through the forest. He drew a moon rune. "Luna Oculus." Callum was now able to see things in the dark and, most importantly, he could see Rayla.

"You can't hide from me now Rayla." He ran after her, weaving through the trees. It was amazing what two simple spells could do for him, not only were his senses and speed heightened, he could see perfectly in the dark on top of that. He eventually caught her, coming from her blindside, tackling her to the ground. "Caught you." He kissed her forehead.

Rayla's heart fluttered in her chest. "Well, what are ya going to do with me then?" Her lips grow into a seductive grin. "Two adults all alone out here in the woods, with no one around. And nothing to do-" Callum returned her grin.

"We're thinking the same thing then?" Rayla kissed his cheek, "Can't be, because if we were thinking the same thing," she whispered in his ear, "your clothes wouldn't be on right now." They didn't go back to the Storm Spire that night.

People are happy again! It took a while to write this chapter as well, It was hard to find the right way to get the emotions across. It took too long to find just the right way to end this chapter as well. Big things happening in the next chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed.

P.S. I had an entire end scene written up before I remembered this was labeled T. I don't know where I'm going to put it yet, if at all, but if you guys have any suggestions and want to see that. Please let me know.