Ibis was preparing to leave, Callum and Rayla were gathering the things they needed to travel to Katolis. Callum couldn't wait to see Soren and Ezra again. It had been nearly five months since his last visit.
"You have everything?" Rayla said as she finished with her armor. "Yeah, Pyrrah is taking us to Lux Aurea, traveling by dragon is awesome." Rayla laughed. "It amazes me that you still get so excited about traveling by dragon even though that's pretty much our basic form of transportation." She replied, referring to the dragon guard.
"Do you think I should take my armor? I doubt that many of the elves in Lux Aurea will like that, regardless of their standing on Xadia's relationship with Katolis." Rayla smiled. "All the more reason to take it then, instantly stop them in their tracks, it would be hilarious."
Callum laughed at the prospect of Queen Janai looking dumbfounded. "What's so funny?" "Just the image of Queen Janai being completely speechless seeing my armor." Rayla laughed as well, having a similar image cross her mind.
"Ok, let's see, staff, armor...what am I missing?" "I think that's everything unless you planned on bringing something extra?" Callum's head shot up as if a fir had been lit on his hair. "I was going to bring the coin purse." Rayla looked at him quizzically. "Why? I thought we were going just to do research." Callum returned Rayla's look. "What's the point of doing research to free your parents if we don't bring them with us to free them in the first place?"
Rayla looked sullen. "I know, but, it's been so long...If we don't find an answer." Callum placed his hand on her shoulders. "I won't accept that, I'm going to find an answer, even if I have to piece burned books back together, I will find a way to free your parents." Rayla hugged him. "Thank you, Callum." He hugged her back. "Anything for you."
They left shortly after, the ride to Lux Aurea only taking a few hours thanks to Pyrrah. It had been some time since Callum last traveled by dragon. The last time he came to Lux Aurea. He lay down on Pyrrah's back, letting the memory wash over his mind as he drifted off.
He, Rayla and the Dragonguard were traveling to Lux Aurea with Queen Zubeia, a bridge that symbolized the new peace that has been constructed. Both elves and humans had built it, and Queen Zubeia had traveled to oversee a ceremony that officially opened the bridge for use.
He was torn from the memory as he was shaken awake by Rayla. "Wake up, we're almost here." The city of Lux Aurea was as beautiful as it was the day the peace bridge officially opened, even more so now that the Sun Nexus was repaired.
They touched down in an outer part of the city, an area that was designed specifically for dragons. They were greeted by Queen Janai, her aide Kazi, and his Aunt, General Amaya.
"Welcome Captain Rayla, Ibis, Callum. I hope your journey was safe?" Callum's tired mind looked on in bewilderment, how did she know they were going to be here. "How did you know we were here?" Queen Janai laughed. "It's my business to know when Dragons are flying over my city."
"But to be here so fast, I thought you'd be in the palace." Amaya practically ran over to Callum and gave him a massive bear hug. "Oh C-A-L-L-U-M, it's so good to see you." She signed. "You two as well." Rayla and Ibis bowed.
"General Amaya has come to visit, so we happened to be in the area." Callum could have sworn he saw his Aunt blush slightly at the mention of her name, but his thought was cut short when she noticed his armor. "Is that, the seal of the Dragonguard?" Callum smiled. "Yeah, I'm now an official member."
"C-A-L-L-U-M I'm so proud of you." Amaya signed. "Took her long enough," Queen Janai said, "I was wondering how long the Dragon Queen was going to wait to officially appoint you." Rayla patted Callum on the shoulder. "Yeah, all this idiot had to do was nearly kill himself saving Serrene." "Yeah yeah, very funny, we're going to Katolis and we need to get there fast, so can we get your permission to have Pyrrah fly us there?"
Part of the treaty made between the human kingdoms and Xadia was that anyone could cross the bridge, but to cross the border, you had to go across the bridge. This included Dragons, so any other means of crossing the border had to be approved by both sides, and that was usually for emergencies. "What is so urgent that you need to fly across the border, by dragon no less?" Kazi asked.
"We shouldn't discuss this here whatever it is, it must be important for C-A-L-L-U-M and R-A-Y-L-A to need permission to fly across the border." Amaya signed, Janai nodded. "Agreed." It was well known that both Callum and Rayla always crossed the bridge, no matter the urgency needed in crossing the border.
After a short walk to the palace, Callum and Rayla went to the throne room with Janai and Amaya. Ibis and Kazi had other things to do in the city. "So tell me Prince Callum, why do you need to fly across the border?" Rayla rubbed her arm nervously, so Callum put a hand on her shoulder. A move she was grateful for. "We recently found out that Rayla's parents have been trapped in coins by Dark Magic, and as far as we know, Dark Magic appears to be the only way to free them."
"Hmmm, that is troubling, I will allow you to fly across the border, I'm sure General Amaya will as well." Amaya nodded in response. "Good, it's settled then. But first, if you could satisfy my curiosity, why do you need to go to Katolis when there are plenty of capable mages in Xadia?"
"Well, as I recall, Katolis had the biggest library of Dark Magic texts in all of the five kingdoms thanks to Viren. Ezran has been working with Queen Anya of Duren to completely expel Dark Magic, it's a long shot, but hopefully they missed something that will allow us to free Rayla's parents."Janai nodded. "And what do you have to say about this, Captain?"
Rayla jumped at the mention of her name, she had tuned out the conversation. Selfishly hoping that Callum would be able to take care of it. She wasn't sure if she was ready to continue talking about her parents yet. "Umm, I-uh," Deep breath Rayla, you got this, "I want to free my parents, but it's like Callum said, they have been trying to ban Dark Magic for three years, the likelihood of finding anything is small."
"I'm so sorry about your parents R-A-Y-L-A." Amaya signed to her. Rayla nodded her appreciation. She was thankful for Callum's insistence on learning sign language, being able to have a conversation with both him and his aunt without speaking was helpful. "How long do you plan to stay in Lux Aurea?" Queen Janai asked Callum.
"Not long, time is of the essence. We will probably be leaving just as soon as Ibis gets back."
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for a little while? I think your aunt would appreciate it." Callum sighed, "I know, we just don't have the time. I'll make sure we stop by on the way back." Janai smiled. "It's a deal then." She extended her hand, which Callum accepted. "It's a deal."
Ibis still hadn't come back yet, Callum had no idea what he could be doing. It's probably important if it's taking so long. Janai and Amaya had invited Rayla to go on a walk with them, girls only. So Callum decided to wander the palace, and ended up at the sun nexus where he was now standing.
You can feel its power, can't you. Callum's head snapped over his shoulder, looking for the voice. The voice chuckled. Unfortunate that you still can't recognize my voice. How many times do I have to banish you? I have already told you, you cannot. What the hell do you want now? I wish to offer you some advice. I don't want it. Oh? But what if I told you how to connect to the sun?
What are you talking about? Why am I even discussing this with you? Why indeed. Stop talking to me, I want nothing to do with you. The sun nexus may have been repaired, but it is still tainted. That stopped Callum dead. What do you mean it's tainted? Reach out, feel it. Tell it feels right.
Callum reached out to the sun nexus, feeling it's power with both the Sky and the Moon inside him. As much as he hated to admit it, the sun nexus did feel...off. See? Fine, you win this one. I can show you how to fix it. Why would I trust you? Because I am you. Here we go again with the I am you crap. It is the truth, no matter, do you wish to know how to fix the nexus? Callum thought about it for a moment. Yes, the voice was connected to Dark Magic and therefore cannot be trusted. On the other hand, it appears that it can't really hurt him.
Not to mention, he had a connection to both the Sky and the Moon, perhaps he could forge a connection to the sun in the process. Fine, how do I fix it. Reach out with your power, feel the nexus. Now what? Now now, there is no need for that tone. I am helping you after all. Callum rolled his eyes. I felt that. Like I care. I could stop right here, and the nexus will be forever tainted. Fine, fine, keep going. Feel the corruption, and take it.
What?! This is the only way, your uniqueness means that this action will not cause direct harm to you or your body. My uniqueness? You are the only human to have made a connection to not just one, but multiple arcana. Now, take the corruption, free the nexus. Callum took it, it felt horrible, as if the essence of pain itself had entered his body. But only for a second, then it was gone. And in its place, a bright burning star. Congratulations, you not only have freed the nexus, but you have connected to the sun. I'm not thanking you.
You should, had it not been for me the nexus would have stayed corrupted. Callum couldn't place it, but it almost sounded as if the voice in his head was clearer. That is no basis for trust. And how would I get you to trust me? You can't. Callum used the sun, his newfound power and burned away the voice. He could have sworn he heard a laugh.
It was about mid-afternoon when Ibis finally came back. He didn't share many details, only mentioning something about an old debt. Rayla, Janai, and Amaya returned shortly after Ibis. Rayla went red as soon as she saw Callum and continued walking right past him, causing a few laughs from Janai and Amaya. "What was that all about?" Amaya told him it was nothing but 'girl talk' and left it at that.
After a few goodbyes and 'come-visit-again-soons' Callum, Rayla, and Ibis flew across the border to Katolis. The flight to Katolis was much shorter than to Lux Aurea from the Storm Spire. Callum had decided to keep quiet about the sun nexus and his new connection. He wasn't sure how he'd explain a voice in his head telling him that the nexus was still tainted after being repaired.
On top of that, he didn't know any sun magic. As of right now, his sun connection was next to useless. But he had a connection that didn't exist before, now all he had to do was explain it to Rayla and Ibis without sounding crazy. But that could wait, first he wanted to know why Rayla reacted the way she did when she came back with aunt Amaya and Queen Janai.
"Hey, Rayla," she jumped when Callum mentioned her name. "Are you alright?" Her face went red. "Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" Callum cocked his head to the side. "You seemed kinda embarrassed or something right before we left, when you came back with aunt Amaya and Queen Janai. Was it something you talked about?"
Rayla turned away to hide her face. "Oh tha, tha was nothing important." "Really?" Ibis commented from behind her, "You never act that way around Callum, at least not now anyway." Rayla turned on him. "Don't take sides! This doesn even concern you, and what do you mean 'I don't act that way anymore'?" Ibis just laughed and put his hands up.
"I'm not taking sides. I'm just saying you only used to act that way around Callum when you were younger." "Hey look, we're almost here," Rayla said, trying to quickly change the subject. They were getting close, Callum could see the city on the horizon. "It's been a few months since my last visit, I hope Ez is doing ok." "I bet the first thing he's going to do is offer us a jelly tart." Rayla said.
Callum smiled. "Probably." They were almost at the city. Callum could see groups of people looking up at the dragon in the sky. Most of them had never seen a dragon before, dragons had no reason to come this far out into the human kingdoms. "I should probably go on ahead and let Ezran know we're here." "Say hi in advance for me will ya?" Rayla told him. "Sure thing." Callum jumped off Pyrrah's back and activated his mage wings, it was time to see his brother.
This chapter was another fun challenge, it's hard to make a long chapter that's just moving the story from one location to another. But I can promise next chapter is going to be a banger. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! P.S. sorry for the long wait ;)