Sorry for the late upload, I was so busy with this chapter I had no idea how long it was getting. So, unfortunately, I have to split it into multiple parts. Right now there are about three parts to this chapter, so I'm hoping to get the other parts out soon. Enjoy!
Callum shot across the sky towards the castle, he couldn't wait to see Ezran and Soren again. More importantly, he decided that he wanted to make an entrance with his new armor on. Callum decided to fly in over the front gate, hopefully, he didn't scare any of the guards. He smiled as he thought of the look that was going to be on Ezran's face when he arrived.
Callum was nearly at the castle now, he could the guards posted along the walls. There weren't many guards in the courtyard, but enough for Callum to make his grand entrance. He went low over the wall, making sure that he was seen. He heard a few shouts of surprise from the guards. Good, exactly as planned.
Callum went low into the courtyard, pulling up at the last second. Callum landed on his feet in a crouch, sliding for a few feet before standing up and dusting himself off. Without stopping at all he brushed the dust off of his shoulders and walked up to the front door.
"HEY! Stop! Who are you?" A voice demanded. Callum turned towards the sound, brushing his windswept hair away from his face. A guard had rushed over from somewhere, a newbie by the looks of it, and almost as old a Callum. "Who are you?" he demanded, pointing a sword at him. "You don't recognize me? You must really be new then, my name is Prince Callum."
The guard looked skeptical, not wanting to believe what Callum said was true. However, Callum could see the wheels turning in the young guard's head, he would be in trouble if this was an intruder, but he would be in even more trouble if it was actually the prince.
"How about this, can you take me to see my brother? He can confirm that I'm actually Prince Callum." The young guard considered his options for a moment. "Fine, come with me." The young guard led Callum through the castle. This brings back memories. Callum thought to himself. They didn't stop anywhere along the way and moved straight to the throne room.
Callum waved to the guards in front of the throne room door, they gave him a nod in response. One of them had a grin on his face, but neither of them said anything. The guard entered the room with Callum behind him. "King Ezran, I brou-" The young turned around, and his face lit up when he saw who was behind him. "Hey Ez."
"Callum!" Ezran rushed over and hugged him. Even though Ezran was only thirteen, he was just below shoulder height for Callum. "You've been gone for so long, I was beginning to think you wouldn't come back."
"Ez, c'mon, I always come back. Wait, did you get taller again." Ezran smiled. "Maybe." Callum facepalmed. "Ugh, at this rate you're going to be taller than I am." Ezran laughed before pulling a jelly tart from who-knows-where. "Jelly tart?"
The guard that had escorted Callum in coughed. "Prince Callum, my apologies." Callum just waved him off. "It's fine, you don't need to worry about it. Oh, by the way, Rayla and Ibis are coming. They should be here any minute now."
Ezran's face lit up again. "Really?" Callum smiled and ruffled his hair. "Yeah, Pyrrah gave us a ride. Oh, and Aunt Amaya and Queen Janai say hi." Ezran, who was now on his third Jelly tart since Callum had seen him, was happier than ever. "Tell them I say hi as well next time you see them, now come on, I want to go say hi to everybody."
And just like that Ezran was out the door. Callum followed him out the door and back to the courtyard. By the time he reached the courtyard, Ezran was already giving the warmest of welcomes to Rayla, Ibis, and Pyrrah.
"What took you guys so long?" Callum asked walking up behind Rayla who had wrapped Ezran in a bear hug. "We did an extra loop around the city, had to make sure you had enough time to warn everyone of the dangerous danger that was coming to the castle."
"You definitely qualify as a dangerous danger," Callum said, earning a punch in the arm. "Hey what's all the- Callum? Rayla? Is that you?" A voice said from behind. Callum turned to see Soren in his crown guard armor looking at them with a mixture of surprise and happiness on his face.
"Oh ho! It is you guys!" He walked over and pulled Rayla into a bear hug. "How've you been step-Prince?" Soren said as he quickly whirled around and put Callum in a headlock.
Callum grinned at Rayla, who grinned back at him. Callum positioned his leg behind Soren's left leg, then grabbed Soren's right leg and lifted it up putting both on their backs. Then Callum, who had forced Soren to take the brunt of the fall, stood up and put a foot on Soren's chest.
"I've been getting better since the last time we saw each other," Callum said before helping Soren up. "Clearly," Soren said, disappointed that Callum had gotten the better of him. "Next time you won't get me by surprise."
Callum just waved him off. "It's good to see you, Soren." "It's good to see you too Callum. By the way, what are you wearing?" Soren said, referring to Callum's armor. "Oh, this? It's my Dragonguard armor." Ezran, who happened to hear from where he was greeting Ibis, now had a look of awe on his face. Soren shared a similar look of surprise, though it was less childish
"You're a Dragonguard?" Ezran said looking over Callum's armor in closer detail. "When did that happen?" Soren asked, also looking over Callum's armor in closer detail. "Only a few days ago," Rayla said coming up behind Callum, wrapping her arms and resting her head on his shoulders. "Which means I own him now." She said before kissing him on the cheek, which had Callum rolling his eyes.
"I'm going to go help Ibis, he bought some books in Lux Aurea that might help us." Rayla walked over to Ibis to offer her help. "Help you guys with what?" Ezran asked, curious about Rayla's meaning. "Ah, yes, that is a long story. Let's go inside." Ezran and Soren looked at each other and shrugged. "Oh, Ez, by the way. We'll be staying here for a while. Is there a place where we can stay?"
"Of course, Soren, can you go show Ibis and Rayls to the guest rooms?" Ezran asked him. "Sure thing-" "We don't need separate rooms," Callum interjected, Soren winked letting Callum know he caught the meaning. "Anyways, I have something to tell you Ez." "What is it?" "Well like I said, it's a long story."
Callum and Ezran went inside so Callum could explain. He told the whole story, starting with the cave, and the coin purse. He left out the part where he was knocked out by Dark Magic, not wanting to worry him, and then to him being appointed to the Dragonguard. And finally making it to Katolis, to research Dark Magic to find a way to free Rayla's parents.
"Are Rayla's parents really trapped in those coins?" Ezran said in disbelief. Callum nodded, feeling his anger towards Viren grow as Ezran's face fell. "Don't worry Ez, I'm going to find a way to free them."
"That might be a problem," Ezran replied. "After we banned Dark Magic, we destroyed all of the texts based on Dark Magic in the library." Callum sighed. "I know, but I still need to look. Hopefully, you missed something."
"Callum, why do you need Dark Magic, can't you use your own magic?" Ezran countered, causing Callum to take a step back. He didn't expect this from his brother. "Listen, I don't want to use Dark Magic. If I'm lucky I'll find a way to free them that doesn't use Dark Magic, but right now, all I want to do is free them so that Rayla can be happy."
"I hope you find something, Callum. I know how much you like making Rayla happy." Ezran flashed a cheeky grin before pulling yet another jelly tart. "Where do you keep all those jelly tarts? This is like this fourth one since I got here, and that was maybe half an hour ago." Ezran grinned. "It's a secret."
Callum and Rayla, weary after a long day of travel had gone to bed early. Ibis stayed up to look over the books on magic that he had bought. Callum and Rayla had planned on being up bright and early to start looking through the library.
Mid-day, The next day.
"UUUGGGGGHHHHHH, There's nothing here!" Callum said slamming another book shut. Rayla's head shot up from her arms, being surprised out of her sleep. "Huh?" was all she could manage. "Were you sleeping again?" Callum asked, only slightly annoyed at the severe lack of information.
"MaybeIwas," Rayla mumbled into her arm. Callum sighed, he should just let her sleep. Their chances of finding something didn't get any worse if Rayla was asleep. Ibis was somewhere else in the library, volunteering to take a different section. I need a break as well before I lose my mind. Callum stood up, taking his time stretching his arms and legs.
Callum took off his jacket and put it over Rayla's shoulders before exiting the library. He walked the castle ground for a little while, being alone with his thoughts. He was beginning to wonder whether or not finding anything that would help them free Rayla's parents would be possible. Don't get discouraged, It's only the first day and we have barely even begun to look through the library.
He went to turn a corner and noticed Soren trying to stealthily follow him. Callum paused, only for a second, then decided to keep walking as if nothing happened. This might be fun. Ok, Soren, let's see what you're up to. Callum continues to walk, still aware of Soren's presence behind him. Your move Soren, go for it.
Callum slowed down enough for Soren to fully catch up to him. Callum kept moving, but he was waiting for the sound that would give Soren away. Soren may have been trying to be stealthy, but he couldn't hide his weight. Soren moved, his foot scuffing the ground was the only warning Callum had, but it was enough. Callum whirled around to Soren's complete shock and was now face-to-face with Soren.
"Hello there," Soren shouted in surprise. "What the-! How did you even know I was there?" Callum smiled, then laughed. "I saw you as I was rounding the corner, then I heard you as you were about to sneak up on me." Soren was taken aback, "You didn't even look behind you, how did you-" Callum cut him off. "My girlfriend is a trained assassin, remember? I picked up on a few things."
Soren's face now wore a defeated look. "Yeah, you got me there." Callum turned around to continue walking, motioning for Soren to walk with him. "So why were you following me in the first place?" Soren rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you took me by surprise yesterday, so I wanted to try and even the score." Callum laughed. "The score is nowhere close to even, you have me by at least one-hundred, and that only includes like, half of the time you spent trying to teach me to use a sword."
"Yeah, I guess so. How about we wipe the slate clean? 0-0?" Callum smiled, "Sounds good. Hey, do you want to put one on the board?" Soren grinned. "Race ya." They made their way to the training yard, a place where a younger Callum had spent countless hours trying to learn to wield a sword from Soren.
Soren won the race, and even though both he and Callum were out of breath he had a smile on his face. "I win, put one on the board for me!" Soren said, practically wheezing out the words. "You only got here first because you're taller," Callum said, breathing as heavily as Soren. "Quick match?" Callum asked, pointing his thumb over to the weapons rack.
Soren smirked. "Eager to give me another point?" Callum returned Soren's smirk. "I don't think so, this time I get to use my weapon of choice." Soren looked confused but caught the sword that Callum tossed him. Soren raised an eyebrow when he saw Callum pick up a staff and expertly twirl it around to test its balance.
"Ready?" Callum said. Soren took a defensive stance in response and nodded. "Good." Callum charged at Soren, throwing him off guard. Callum swung down, aiming just to the left of Soren's right shoulder, intentionally missing. Soren took the bait, thinking he had an opening. Soren brought his sword up to strike Callum's back, just like Callum planned. Callum spun on a dime, dodging Soren's attack and bringing his staff around to sweep Soren's legs out from under him.
Soren hit the ground with an oomph. "What was that?" He asked as Callum offered a hand to help him up. "I did mention my girlfriend is a trained assassin, right?" Callum said half-sarcastically. "Riiiiight. Well, we're even now." Soren said as he picked up his sword off the ground.
Callum and Soren went back and forth for a few hours, each of them blowing off some steam as their battles got more and more heated. Eventually, they had to stop or risk hurting themselves. "Having fun?" A voice said from behind the pair. Callum turned to see Rayla standing behind them. She had a near menacing demeanor about her.
Soren quickly put on a nervous smile. "I had better go, I have to go take care of some things." Soren immediately hauled ass out of that situation. As soon as Soren left, Rayla dropped her facade and embraced Callum, kissing him on the lips. "If you're going to run off to fight, take me with you next time." Callum smiled and cheekily responded, "Be awake next time."
That earned him a swift elbow in the side. "Ah, come on, I was joking." He put an arm around Rayla and they started off towards their room in the castle. "So, did all of those books finally get to you?" Callum looked at her with mock shock. "Me? Worn out by books?" This caused Rayla to burst out in a fit of laughter. "You're right, what in the world am I thinking?"
They both shared a laugh and continued on. "Did you find anything?" Callum said, although he already knew the answer. "No," Rayla responded looking downcast, "nothing." Callum used his free hand to gently grab Rayla's chin and pulled her gaze to his. "Nothing, yet." Callum corrected. "I told you I would find a way, remember?" Rayla nodded, and a smile started to creep across her face.
"Have I told you I love you?" She said somewhat sarcastically. Callum leaned in and kissed her. "Many times." They held the kiss for a moment before Callum broke it off, Rayla desperately trying to hide both confusion and disappointment. "Let's go somewhere with a little privacy," Callum said and starting off down the hallway, Rayla immediately falling into step next to him. "Where are we going?" She asked, curious, knowing that his answer will decide how the night goes. "I want to see the stars," he says, "what about you?" Rayla thought for a moment, then replied, "I want to see the stars too."