Heart of a Dragon

by Ocaj

All is well when the Dragon Queen is reunited with her son. The battle is won, and the mission has come to an end. But what now? Rayla and Callum are unsure of what the future might bring them now that they are not on a mission anymore. But everyone soon discovers that even though the battle is won, the war is far from over... (a continuation from season 3)

10. Of Battles and Birthdays

The mood in the great hall of the Storm Spire was tense. Bosor didn't know where to look. Looking at the dragon king and queen was right out. The last time he checked, their expressions ranged from shock to fury and outrage.

So he looked down at the message from the queen of Duren he had just read to them. The wording and phrasing of it though… No, not a good idea either. He didn't want to think about the sweet words and veiled threats that he had to read out loud to the dragon king. He wanted to just turn around and leave. It had been silent for a couple of minutes now as the dragon king contemplated his answer.

A grunt sounded from the king, and both the queen and Bosor looked up unexpectedly. A small chortle followed in a wry laugh that made Bosor shake in his boots. He was a veteran warrior, but politics scared him. Then, the king finally gave his reply with a sly gleam in his eyes.

"Clever girl..."

-/-/-/-

Tears sprang into Callum's eyes as he looked at Rayla, who looked back at him in horror. No! His mind screamed at him. This can't be how it ends! Terror had gripped him and he frantically scanned his surroundings, looking for a way out. There were six people with them in the cellar. A couple were talking with the fat man who was apparently called Muardalt and an apprentice of Viren. Viren's alive! Callum was shocked by the news, but as he saw another man move towards Rayla, he forced himself to think of a way out.

Okay, my hands are bound, so I can't draw any runes. I couldn't speak anyway. I could try to trip them, but what's the point of that!? One falls, and the other five will get me. Callum's mind was trying to come up with some kind of solution, but he only drew blanks. His heart sank as Rayla was lifted from the ground, the giant man grabbing her by the arm. He saw her giving her captor a hateful look and trying to kick him, but with both feet tied together, it was a vain attempt. Panic truly hit as he watched her being dragged to the table with knives. I need a spell to break my bonds! A spell, any spell! He thought and thought until out of the corner of his mind, an idea struck him.

He sprung up from his position, only to fall over again due to his lack of balance, his feet being bound as well. This drew the attention of several of his captors. "Whoa, easy there, little guy!" they said placatingly, if with a little disdain.

Callum ignored them, having only the frantic struggles of Rayla in his mind. He got up again, more careful this time, leaning his back against the wall. "Hmmmunmmun!" His voice was muffled through the gag. The captors looked at each other questioningly. "Uhm hfad, Uh ham hu heegh!"

"Should we remove the gag, boss?" They looked at the former soldier, who in turn looked at Muardalt.

"Sure, his hands are bound, so he can't cast spells. Just be wary of tricks. Viren did warn us…" Then he saw the man who was holding Rayla hesitate, looking at Callum. "What are you waiting for? Silence her!" The man shrugged and dragged Rayla further, trying to get the squirming elf on the table.

Callum's heart pounded in his chest as he saw this happen while one of his captors removed the gag from his mouth. "Please wait! Wait… just… just let me say goodbye to the elf!" Again, the captors looked at each other hesitantly. The presence of a human boy in this slaughterhouse was not something that any one of them liked, that much was clear.

Muardalt groaned. "I don't understand why you'd bother. You'll have forgotten about her entirely in a few minutes anyway, but sure, say your goodbyes."

Callum gulped and carefully hopped and shuffled his way over to Rayla, who was now lying on the bloody table under the rack of knives. Callum found it hard to look at her. She still was only wearing her wrappings and pants, her armour probably discarded by their attackers. She was sporting a large bruise on her head. Her eyes were wide with fear. She shook her head as he approached. In a moment, Callum reflected that while they had quite a few close calls in their travels, neither of them had ever looked so desperate. I really hope this will work… Callum thought. I'll never forgive myself otherwise.

He hopped closer to her, still under the watchful eye of the man who held Rayla down by her shoulders. Callum swallowed before speaking, knowing that he would have to say the words just right for this to work.

"Rayla, I love you." Rayla's eyes softened a little, and Callum saw she was tearing up. He just hoped she'd be ready for this as well. "Manus, pluma, volantis!"

As he spoke these words with all the power he could muster, he felt the spell take effect. The symbols on his arms began to glow. Muardalt immediately saw what was happening.

"Stop him!" he screamed, but the others were too late to respond as within a moment, Callum's arms turned into giant mage wings, tearing apart the rope bonds on his hands. He was elevated that his plan had worked. If it could tear apart his sweaters, surely it would work with rope as well! But he groaned as he felt his arms and muscles twist. The position in which his arms had been behind his back made the transformation painful, to say the least.

Callum didn't waste any time. His wings were almost twice his length and he used them to good effect, swatting away the man holding Rayla with relative ease. Callum marvelled at the power in his wings but figured they had to if they were to support him in flight.

"Quickly, take him down!" Muardalt shouted.

Callum saw him reach for ingredients on the shelf, but couldn't quite get to him as the other bandits formed a half-circle around him, a variety of weapons drawn. Callum stepped forward and spun around, wings extended, causing the bandits to jump back. One of his wings hit the table and the knife rack causing Rayla to be shoved off and sharp knives being strewn around her. When Callum noticed, he cursed his carelessness. "Sorry! Are you alright!?"

Rayla groaned as she lay on the ground in the most uncomfortable position ever. She felt she had been nicked in her leg by one of the knives, but couldn't detect anything serious. "Uh hine!" she said through her gag. She watched as Callum swung around with the giant wings, wrecking the small cellar. The armed men tried to keep their distance or hit him with their weapons, but for the moment it was chaos, and no one knew where the wings would strike next, including Callum himself.

Rayla lay in the corner of the room, forgotten by their captors for the moment in favour of a more immediate threat. She twisted and pulled her legs up to her chest and wormed her hands under her butt and over her feet so that her bound hands were now in front of her. She could now pull the gag down.

Grateful for the extra breathing room, she grabbed a knife from the ground and started working on her bonds. She went for her feet first. That would give her mobility, which she figured would be more useful in the enclosed space they were in. She heard Callum scream and looked up while still moving the knife. One of his wings had been hit by the giant with the club. It didn't look like the wing was broken, but Callum was in serious pain, judging by the look on his face.

It was just at this moment that more people came down the cellar. An old man with a white beard walked down the stairway. "Muardalt! There's…. Am I interrupting something?"

Callum stopped the rapid swinging of his wings. "Help! They want to kill us!" he immediately screamed. As he said that, a bandit stepped forward to silence him, only to be clubbed in the chest by a wing.

Muardalt sighed. It was a stalemate for now, but his magic would make short work of the prince. He had already grabbed the ingredients he needed. He would cast it in a moment, though it was not something he would like to show the uninitiated. "What is it, Horan? We're a bit busy with this upstart who wants to ruin our work."

The old man cast a doubtful look at the youngster who was sporting two immense wings. He seemed to draw his own conclusions to the matter. "Muardalt, they are coming again. The city guard is on their way."

"So? Don't let them enter. The people will choose our side, as always." Muardalt said confidently, but the man shook his head.

"They come in force this time. They have already blocked all pathways leading to and from the monastery outside. We are surrounded!" Fear had entered this man's eyes as he said that.

Muardalt grumbled. This complicates things... He fingered the ingredients in his pouch. He could easily deal with this mage on his own, but the monastery needed additional support. "Alright, alright. Trias! Take your troupe and help the others upstairs! I'll deal with this!"

The former soldier looked about hesitantly at the new order. "We are but five, Muardalt. We can't handle the entire city guard!"

"Don't worry about that! I just want you to keep them out of the front door for a minute or two. Stall them while I finish stuff here." The dark mage was looking intently in the direction of Callum, who was partially obscured by the others who tried to keep him at bay.

Trias shrugged, figuring the dark mage must know what he was doing. "Alright, you heard the man. Upstairs! Double time!" The group disengaged carefully from the winged mage and made their way up the stairs. As soon as they had gotten out of the way, Callum charged the mage, wanting to strike him down before he could get a spell out.

But Muardalt was prepared for that. "Gnidnib fo sniahc!"

Chains materialised out of the walls and wrapped around Callum's wings and torso. With tremendous force, they pulled the prince against the wall. Muardalt walked towards Callum calmly. "It's impressive what you've accomplished. I'll be sure to seek you out in Katolis once we've reset your memory. But for now, let's break the concentration on your little spell, eh?" He prepared to punch Callum in the stomach when suddenly a figure jumped on his back. He felt two hands and rope tighten around his neck.

"Don't mind me! Hope I'm not … urgh!... interruptin'!" Rayla said and grunted as she put her knee in the mages back and pulled, trying to choke him. The mage groaned and grasped at his neck. Her bound hands weren't effective at cutting off the flow of air, but the rope bindings did cut into his neck. Soon, the dark mage lost his own concentration on the spell and Callum sprawled to the ground.

Callum landed hard on his knees. He looked at the struggle. Rayla was doing her best to choke the living daylight out of the man, but it didn't seem to be working, though a trickle of blood could be seen at the man's neck.

Muardalt then grabbed Rayla by the arm and with some effort threw her over his shoulder, the rope scuffing his face as her bound hands scraped past him. He caught his breath and tried to cast some kind of spell, but couldn't get the incantation out of his mouth yet. Callum wanted to cast spells back, but it would take too much time to focus and transform his wings back to arms and hands. Suddenly, he was reminded of something Belt had said to him.

'Huh. I wonder if you could still cast spells while you have wings.'

With no fingers, he used his right wing to draw the rune. To Callum's amazement, it worked. Bright blue streaks followed the tips of his feathers. The rune wasn't neat, but recognizable.

"Aspiro!" Callum yelled and blew at the dark mage who was propelled backwards. Two lanterns in the back wall were blown out by the sudden gust. Muardalt got up with hatred in his face. "You… You…. " he started, not quite finding the words to express his fury. "I'll gut you! You ungrateful wretch, I'll cut you both to bits!" he spat.

Rayla got up and moved next to Callum, her hands still bound. They shared a quick look of reassurance. In the small moment of quiet, they both noticed sounds of battle coming from upstairs.

"Good thinkin', Callum," Rayla said, a bit out of breath. "We'll just have to hold on a little longer."

Callum nodded and gritted his teeth as he saw the dark mage prepare another spell.

-/-/-/-

The first minute was the worst. Viren had expected the enormous bird to be slow, graceful maybe. Instead, it attacked with lightning speed, its long, thin beak pecking holes in the ground and walls, missing them by inches as they kept dodging its blows. Aaravos had taken to the skies and tried to distract it with some display of light-creating magic Viren didn't recognize.

"Claudia, now!" Viren shouted. Claudia intoned the spell and a giant tentacle appeared, wrapping itself around the neck. The creature looked outraged as Claudia tried to pull it downwards. It stopped its pecking assault and spread its four wings. Viren watched in amazement as all four of them started glowing.

"Watch out!" Aaravos' voice rang through the caves.

Viren gritted his teeth. He had wanted to prevent this. He raised his staff to cast a spell, but it was at that moment that the creature closed all of its wings with a thunderous clap. All of a sudden, complete and utter darkness enveloped him. Viren couldn't see anything, but noted he couldn't hear anything either. Not the giant bird's frantic movements, nor the shuffling of his own feet. It was completely quiet around him.

"...Claudia?" he called out carefully. Silence. Then, slowly but surely, he saw light around himself. He could see his own body again. In the distance, a spot of light appeared. Viren saw it but didn't approach. He scanned his surroundings. "What kind of spell did the emperor cast…" he muttered to himself. "Claudia? Aaravos?" he called out again. No answer.

Then, a figure appeared in the spot of light in the distance. To his horror, Viren saw his daughter lying on the ground, eyes open, staring vacantly in the distance. "Claudia, no!"

Viren rushed towards his daughter. When he almost reached her, he heard the voice of Aaravos, using a commanding tone he hadn't heard before. "Viren, stop! Don't move!" Despite his own instincts, Viren stopped and obeyed. A second later, the giant beak of the beast pecked several times at the body of Claudia, going right through her and through the stone underneath.

Viren's mouth opened to scream as he felt his heart tear at the sight of his daughter being pecked to death, only for his mind to catch up and process what he was actually seeing. The beak had passed right through her body, leaving no marks. The body of Claudia hadn't even moved. An illusion! Of course!

Viren moved around cautiously. He felt like he couldn't trust his senses now. "Aaravos? Where are you?"

"Patience, Viren… I just need a little bit more time…" came the reply.

Viren was worried. It had sounded strained. He still hadn't heard or seen anything from his daughter.

Then, a blinding flash and the sound of thunder! Viren blinked against the light, trying to get the white and black spots out of his vision. Sounds returned to him. He heard the flapping of wings and the scraping of claws against rock. He heard the familiar breathing of Aaravos' creature. He looked around and saw it flying around frantically.

"Viren, I've dispelled the illusion and the darkness!" he said as the bug creature kept buzzing around, dodging the attacks of the giant, ancient magical bird. "I'll hold it. The rest is up to you!"

Viren gripped his knife and his staff. Looks like I have to resort to using magic after all… He grimaced at the prospect. He still hadn't seen Claudia, however. He looked around with worry, but felt relieved as he saw her familiar form step into the light from an alcove. "Ah, Claudia, you're okay!" Viren said with relief in his voice.

Claudia raised her staff and shouted an incantation. "Flamma Murum!" Flames appeared and encircled both her and the great beast. Viren was confused. Why would she lock herself up with the creature inside the flame circle?

Through the flames, Viren could see her turn and face him. She was already waving runes for more flame spells. "Sorry dad, but you will not hurt this creature."

-/-/-/-

Rayla screamed as she charged the man. She jumped, her bound hands raised above her head, intent to pummel him on the head with her bound hands folded together.

Muardalt quickly cast his spell, the words rattling out of his mouth. "Pu og, nwod semoc hcihw taht!"

Rayla felt herself lurch midair and fall to the ceiling. Disoriented, she had to look up to see both Callum and the dark mage.

The elf now temporarily disabled, Muardalt moved to focus on Callum, but he didn't account for the prince to get in close combat with him that fast. The giant wings started to pound on the dark mage who desperately tried to shield his face. The blows of Callum's wings were hard but uncoordinated. They would often miss or just scrape the man.

"Enough of this!" The dark mage reached into his pouch and spoke the incantation, ignoring the blows to his head and shoulders. "Deniard eb efil ruoy tel!" he screamed as he held out a hand to Callum.

Black tendrils struck out from the dark mage and wrapped around Callum, draining his life force. Callum tried to resist, but quickly fell to his knees. His wings turned back into arms, and his skin turned greyish. Callum felt himself become weaker and weaker. His breaths grew ragged as the man held out his hand towards Callum.

The dark mage seemed to enjoy every second of it, life returning to his own features. Slowly but surely, Muardalt's visage returned back to normal. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move across the ceiling. The elf! Muardalt had already made the mistake of ignoring her once, and the ceiling wasn't so high that he was out of her reach. He instinctively ducked as he felt something graze the bald patch of his skull. Blood trickled down his face. He looked up, the elf now standing on the ceiling. Her bounds were cut and she was holding a knife in her hands.

"Yer mine now, ya daft scunner!" Her accent was thick with fury. Muardalt found himself being actually afraid of the elf. He kept low, trying to get out of the elf's reach. Rayla countered this by running up the wall and jumping in Muardalt's direction. He didn't expect this and tried to evade but was nowhere near fast enough and suddenly, he felt a searing pain as the knife was plunged into his thigh. As Rayla hung onto him, Muardalt now had a strange weight attached to him that tried to lift him to the ceiling as Rayla was still affected by the reverse gravity spell.

As they struggled, Rayla called out to Callum. "Callum! See if you can douse the lights!" she called out.

Callum caught his breath and looked around. The drain spell seemed to be broken, but still, a lot of his energy had left his body. There were only two lanterns still burning, all the candles having been extinguished by the scuffle.

…I have to try! He drew the rune of aspiro, trying to suppress the shaking of his hand. He took one last look at the scuffle and saw Rayla leaping off the dark mage who was now sporting some kind of monstrous claw, having cast another spell in the meantime. "Aspiro…" he almost whispered. He blew, and a soft, almost gentle gust escaped his mouth, but it was enough as the wind knocked down the last two lanterns, extinguishing the entire room into darkness.

Muardalt looked around. Everything was completely black and still, with only a bit of light coming from the stairwell. Sounds of battle could still be heard upstairs, but he tried to block those out. He could detect the shallow breathing of someone in the corner of the room. Probably the prince, he thought. Muardalt ignored him for now, figuring he was too weak to be a danger. The elf, however…

When nothing happened for a while, Muardalt tried to remember what information Viren had given him about the elf. She was a special type of elf… moonshadow, I believe. Her occupation was… assassin!? Dread entered his system as he now realised what he was up against in the complete darkness. Something whooshed past him. He turned, trying to keep up with the sound, but then he thought he heard another woosh from a different direction.

"Semalf fo t-" He held out his hand to cast a flame spell, but immediately felt the pain of knives entering his arm and shoulder. "Aurhg!" he crumpled to the ground, hoping the reverse gravity spell was still in effect and would keep her out of his reach. Then, he heard a clatter in the distance. Afraid, he stumbled back into the wall.

His own breathing was ragged now. He didn't know where the danger was. He thought he heard a sound and swung with his claw, only to be nicked by a knife in the leg. "Aaah!" His own voice betrayed his fear now. This is insane! I can't cast like this, and I can't fight like this! He lowered himself to the ground completely and crawled towards the stairwell. He felt his confidence returning as he reached the bottom of the stairs. I… I will get the others. They are fighters. They will make short work of those two...

But as he reached the top of the stairs, his heart caught in his throat as he heard the now familiar voice of a very angry elf close to his ear.

"Thanks for makin' this easy for me."

He screamed as Rayla got to work on her prey.

-/-/-/-

Viren watched in horror as Claudia began casting sunfire magic with her staff, aimed at him. "Claudia, no!" A giant flaming ball was hurled in his direction. Viren raised his staff to block it, but it was a futile gesture against the flames. But at the last possible second, he felt himself being grabbed and dragged into the air by Aaravos.

"That was too close, Viren," Aaravos said in an admonishing tone.

Viren didn't reply, but watched as his daughter grabbed a fossilised tentacle out of her bag and began casting a very familiar dark magic spell. "Watch out Aaravos, she's trying to grab us."

Aaravos turned his front against the approaching tentacle. "Contra!" the creature said with a deep vibration in its voice. The tentacle switched direction and wrapped itself around Claudia, forcing her to drop the sunstone staff and struggling to get free.

Suddenly, Aaravos dived, as the emperor reigar attacked them again. Viren clung to Aaravos. "What is happening? Why has my daughter turned on us!?"

"It's the emperor reigar," came Aaravos' reply. "It has used illusion against us, then darkness, and now charm." As if on cue, dozens of strange winged monstrosities appeared before them. They were all the size of dogs, but with wings and horns. Viren watched them approach in horror, and tried to strike them as they got too close. Aaravos simply ignored them and flew right through them. It took a moment for Viren to realise this was yet another illusion.

"Incredible… so how do we kill it?"

"With your magic, Viren! Why haven't you used it yet!?" Aaravos seemed agitated, having noticed the dark mage's hesitance.

Viren gritted his teeth and didn't reply. After a moment, he said, "Drop me near the sun staff." Aaravos swooped down and Viren jumped off, going for the staff straight away. He kept an eye on Claudia, who was still struggling, being wrapped up by her own spell. Viren whipped around. He saw the throat of the creature turning orange. "Aaravos, watch out! I think I know what its fourth power is!"

Aaravos flew through the cavern and banked to get out of the way, but was too late as the creature opened its mouth. A torrent of flames erupted, lighting the cavern in a hellish red glow. Viren watched in horror as his ally was engulfed in the bright orange blaze.

As this happened, Claudia finally managed to free herself from the spell. Viren saw her get up with a look of menace on her face. "Dad, give me the staff, now!" she growled.

Viren could no longer hesitate. My own corruption be damned, I have to end this now! "Noctu igne!" he incanted one of the few sunfire spells he knew. A giant, black ball of heat and energy appeared. Viren launched it at the emperor reigar just as Claudia leapt for the sunstone staff. As the ball impacted with the ancient monster and erupted, Viren got to take one last look at his daughter's menacing eyes before they were thrown through the cavern by the explosion.

-/-/-/-

Captain Cragorce stood inside the small temple, taking stock. It had taken a while to get inside. Some of the cultists had proven to be very capable fighters, but with all the exit routes covered, the guards could take their time to do this carefully. They had forced the door open and shot at anyone inside carrying a weapon with arrows until they surrendered.

Still, the loss of life had been unfortunate, he reflected. The wounded that were housed in the temple had been transported to other houses of healing. The cultists who had surrendered had been rounded up. They all sat against the wall, hands bound, their white robes dirty from the scuffle.

As the captain scanned the temple, he noticed one door in the back that hadn't been opened yet. He signalled some of the guards to follow him. Two guards loaded their crossbows as one other guard grabbed his shield and held it in front of him. Carefully they approached the door. The captain was just about to reach for the handle as it opened on its own. Two dirty and bloody teenagers stood in the entryway, staring wide-eyed at the soldiers.

"Stopdontshoot!" Callum shouted, his hands flying up in the air. Rayla crouched a little, a bloody knife in her hand, but tried to make no threatening movements. She was ready to charge at a moment's notice, however, and had a dangerous look on her face.

"Who are you?" the captain demanded. "Declare yourself in the name of Queen Aanya."

"I'm Prince Callum of Katolis. This is Rayla of Xadia, captain of the Dragonguard." Callum hoped that their full titles would impress them enough to lower those crossbows.

"Ah, the prince and the elf!" he exclaimed. He motioned to the other guards. "Alright. Lower your weapons." Then he turned back to the pair. "Prince Callum, and Captain… Raja was it?"

Rayla nodded, even though he had butchered the pronunciation of her name.

The man smiled, trying to ease the tension. "I am Captain Cragorce of the city guard. I was told to expect the two of you here. However, I didn't expect much resistance," he said as he looked back to the bodies behind him. "What was your mission here?"

Callum looked beyond the guards and saw them rounding up the cultists and moving away the sick and injured. "Probably the same as yours, sir. We were sent here to investigate the use of dark magic. We've confirmed that these cultists are indeed dark magic users."

"Ah… and what's downstairs?"

Callum didn't answer, but grimaced. He motioned them to follow him.

Light flooded the cellar once again. The captain immediately motioned for his guards to check all corners of the cellar. They all carried torches, and as the light inside got brighter, the utter chaos that reigned here became apparent. A broken, bloody table could be seen against the far wall, with pieces of broken shelves strewn about the room. Lanterns were lying on the ground, long extinguished, and various knives and saws could be seen lying on the floor. In the corner of the room hung a few animal corpses, some lying on the ground, having fallen off their chains. A large red stain could be seen near a wall, next to a bucket that had toppled over. And in the centre of the room lay a man, unconscious, bruised, bloody and bound.

"That's him." Rayla spat. "That's the bastard you want."

The captain nodded. One of the guards called the captain for his attention. "Captain, take a look at this." The captain moved closer. Behind all the animal corpses, the guard had found the bodies of two dead elves. "By the gods…" Shocked, he turned to Callum and Rayla. "What happened here?"

Callum moved to explain, but Rayla beat him to it. "Scunner tried ta use dark magic usin' elf parts. Tried ta kill me." Then she looked at Callum with worry in her eyes. "And make 'im forget." Her voice was still thick with fury.

Callum gauged her mood, looking at her carefully. Gingerly, he moved in to embrace her. He rubbed her back, even though Rayla didn't return the hug. Eventually, she let the knife drop to the floor. Only now did she notice the cramps in her hand, evidence of how tight she had been holding it.

"A… A was so close, Callum…. So close to killin' him…" She started to sob, tears forming in her eyes.

Callum hugged her tighter. "Shhhh… it's over now. We're alive." He said softly, doing the best he could to calm her down.

"Yeah… we are…" Only now did she return the embrace. They stood there for a moment as the guards investigated the cellar. The corpses were laid on the ground, and white sheets were brought down and placed over them. Muardalt's unconscious body was carried away.

Eventually, they broke their hug. Callum turned to the captain. "Sir, did you find any of our stuff?"

"Your stuff?" the captain asked, confused.

Callum nodded. "Yeah, I'm missing a book. She's missing some swords." He looked back at her. She was a bit shy now that the shock had passed, wearing just her boots, pants and her linen wrappings. "Aaaand some clothes."

The captain motioned up the stairs. "There's a room on the second floor. It was abandoned. We haven't investigated it yet. If your stuff is in this building, it could be over there."

"Ah! Good! Do you mind if we…?"

The captain shrugged. "The two of you have been given free rein by Queen Aanya herself. Be my guest."

They made their way to the second floor of the building. There was only one room here, its door lying on the floor, apparently having been forced open. There was only one window in this room, and it looked out on the interior hall of the temple. Callum saw that the various cultists were now being led away. Glad that's over… he thought. He then recognized several white sheets on the ground, the shapes and red stains betraying what lay underneath. He didn't know for sure who the unfortunate souls were who had died, but counting five and looking at the size of one particular large body, he could guess.

Rayla, in the meantime, had opened a chest. "Callum! I found our stuff!" She was excited to see that they had brought her vest and armour. Even her blades were still there.

As Rayla started to dress herself, Callum decided to investigate the desk against the far wall. He saw several books that looked interesting. Leafing through them, he saw various entry notes and pieces of information. One book was a diary, the other a one containing information about their use of dark magic.

"Did you find anything interesting?" Rayla called out from the other side of the room. She was putting their bags back in order. When she didn't receive an answer, she looked back at Callum. She only saw his back, and hadn't moved a muscle. "Callum?"

She quickly made her way next to him. He didn't look at her, but stared at an entry in the book, eyes wide with a look of disgust written on his face. She looked at the page, but the information it contained was a complex looking table of words and numbers which she didn't understand right away. "Callum, what's wrong? You're worrying me." She shook his shoulder, hoping he would snap out of it.

"Rayla… they were using dark magic, alright." He pointed at the book. "It says here that they used plants and animal parts to cast some less-powerful spells, but this dark mage Muardalt writes that he wanted to see if he could press things further." Callum swallowed, stuttering as he continued. "H-he thought that….s-since elves have a natural c-connection to the arcanum, they could also be used as ingredients. He h-has already written down two spells, one using the b-b-brain, the other using the h-heart…"

An icy silence descended on the room, only being interrupted by the sound of Rayla emptying her stomach's contents in the corner.

-/-/-/-

The city of Berylgarten had quieted down as evening fell. Rumours of what went on in the cellars below the temple had spread throughout the city. While many were outraged by the temple being shut down, many more were disgusted when they heard reports of elven bodies found underneath the temple. Even if no one knew for certain what they had been used for, it served as a warning for many to stay away from dark magic. The thought that someone may have been healed using the 'parts' of an elf was just too much for the citizens to stomach.

Inside the council hall of Berylgarten, however, opinions of its use were divided. Three figures sat around a table, discussing the recent events.

"So my brother and Rayla have knocked out the ring leader of this gang, or cult, or whatever," Ezran said, concluding his report. "Does that mean the end of the entire operation?"

Queen Aanya looked at her counterpart from Katolis. She was glad that he had made haste to get here to work on their plans for King Aureum. It was pure coincidence that he had arrived on the same day as the scuffle in the temple. "I don't think so. The notes found in the temple also describe plans for false propaganda. The man was smart enough to not write down names, but stupid enough to give a general outline of the plan." She put down the notes and gave the other two a tired look. "Apparently, they wanted to make the populace addicted to dark magic, or at the very least make sure that everyone knew how to use it and use it constantly for small stuff. It would have created an incredible demand for magic ingredients, which in turn would have led to bounty hunters, poachers etc, etc. In short, it would have led to another war with Xadia."

Ezran nodded. He had come to a similar conclusion. He looked at the third person at the table. So far, he had said little of interest. "What are your thoughts on this, representative Zeron?"

The man looked back at the two young rulers intently. He had long black hair, wrapped in a ponytail. His bright blue eyes gave a sharp contrast against his pale skin. But the most astonishing feature of this representative of Xadia was that he was human. By appearances, he looked between 20 and 30, but King Ezran and Queen Aanya both thought that the cold, blue eyes showed something far older, far more experienced. His voice was deep and pleasant to listen to. "I think that Duren has done well to take the opportunity to root out dark magic. The destruction of the cult reaffirms that Duren takes the interests of Xadia and its creatures at heart. I'm glad to hear that all went well and that this was handled with a minimum loss of life."

"Yes, though I doubt this will be the last we've seen of this 'True Light' cult." Queen Aanya rolled the papers containing the information and bound them with some string, ready to be stored in the castle's archives. "In any case, thank you for informing us of Prince Callum's and Captain Rayla's whereabouts. I believe the city guard arrived at the scene just in time."

The man merely shrugged. "We like to keep tabs on our people. From what your report tells us, Rayla of Xadia managed to do just fine on her own. Concerning the 'True Light', it is likely that this was just one small part of a larger operation. My intel says that their base op operation lies in Neolandia. This is where their leader, whom you know as Lord Viren, operates from."

Queen Aanya appeared annoyed at that news. "We should contact the king of Neolandia as soon as possible, see what measures they have taken against them.

King Ezran shook his head. "Wasn't he dying because of the moonshadow elf assassination attempt? I wonder if he's still in charge, or if he even knows what goes on in that country."

"Xadia hasn't sent any assassins to Neolandia, just Katolis," Zeron said. "Whatever happened there, it wasn't us."

Queen Aanya waved it away. "That is a topic for another time. Right now, we have a people divided in Duren. It appears that many more people relied on dark magic than we presumed, or maybe the benefits from the free healing at the temple appealed to them. In any case, the discussion on whether it is good or bad to use dark magic remains active."

Zeron leaned back in his chair, hands folded in front of him. "On that matter I cannot advise. I can only say that reintroducing dark magic will be devastating to your relations with Xadia."

"Yes, that is why we've already sent our… suggestions to King Aureum Umbra. Do you have a response for us?" King Ezran asked, trying to refrain from grinning.

Zeron grinned back openly. "Yes, a masterstroke, that one. Inviting the king with the veiled threat of inviting other archdragons otherwise, while at the same time holding a ball in the honour of peace between our nations. The king couldn't refuse such an invitation, lest his standing decrease with the other dragons and the rest of Xadia. Tell me, how did either of you know what transpired at the dragonmoot?"

Queen Aanya kept her mouth shut and merely smiled. She had no clue, of course. Half of the idea and information had come from Ezran, and he hadn't seen fit to explain to her exactly where he got so many of Xadia's state secrets.

"So he's coming?" King Ezran asked. Zeron nodded. "Excellent! The upcoming ball will be the perfect opportunity to introduce the nobles to the dragon king!"

Queen Aanya nodded as well. "The ball will be held in two days, just in time for when King Aureum Umbra arrives. Will you be staying with us until then, representative Zeron?"

The man shook his head. "No, but I will join the king when he arrives." He stood up. "If that is all?"

The queen nodded and rose as well, but King Ezran stayed seated. "One more thing…" he said. "You owe an apology to my brother and his girlfriend."

Queen Aanya looked baffled. It was strange to think that this representative of Xadia should owe anyone an apology, and it was stranger still that King Ezran who had likely never seen the man before, would make such an accusation. But as she looked at King Ezran, she saw that he meant it. His childlike demeanour had disappeared as he looked at Zeron intently, his eyes never leaving those of the man opposite of him.

The man remained motionless for a while and then smiled, much to everyone's surprise. "I'll do you the courtesy of being honest. I'm pleasantly surprised. It just shows that I need to be careful with whom I discuss things and where." He took a deep breath and continued. "You're right, of course. I do owe the both of them an apology. I will make sure to have it ready for the ball. I'm not sorry for what I did, but I'm sorry that I had to do it to them."

King Ezran said nothing, but merely nodded. Zeron bowed to the both of them and walked out of the council hall where a delegation of elves, his escorts, were waiting on him.

Queen Aanya waited until her guards closed the door again. "So strange that King Aureum Umbra would send a human to negotiate with us. Do you think he did it on purpose, to make us feel more at ease?"

King Ezran didn't look at her when she asked the question. His eyes hadn't left the door. In his mind, he had already connected the dots between the visions he got from Zym, and a remarkably similar-looking man he saw in Callum's company not too long ago. "He's not a human, Aanya. He's a dragon."

-/-/-/-

When Callum and Rayla came back to the palace, Callum was delighted to hear that his brother had arrived in Berylgarten while they had been busy helping the guards at the temple. He spoke to him briefly, seeing as everyone was exhausted by the day's events. Queen Aanya invited them all to stay at her palace until the ball took place, saving them a lot of travel time back to their homes. They all gladly accepted.

Callum and Rayla got their own room, stating that they needed some time to just 'chill' and catch their breath. Ezran had wanted to stay with them to spend more time with his brother, but looking at, and smelling them, he chose not to object.

Rayla had asked to write a report to King Aureum Umbra, but the queen informed them that he would be here at the ball in two days' time, and that it would take longer for the message to reach the Storm Spire than to just simply wait for the king to arrive here. So they just sat in their room, keeping each other company.

"It was a close one this time, wasn't it?" Rayla said as she lay in her boyfriend's arms.

"Hmmm…." Callum hummed. "I mean, it was close with Sol Regem, and with the battle at the Storm Spire."

Rayla said nothing to that, but let herself become lost in thought.

Callum scanned the room. It was luxurious, but relatively small. It had a couch, a table with a couple of chairs, and a twin bed. There was a window looking down on the courtyard below, and another door leading presumably to the bathroom. Callum had felt the need to explore, but they had both jumped the couch when they got in and hadn't gotten up since. They were just so tired!

Still, he thought, it'd be nice to have a proper bath after all this. His clothes reeked with sweat and blood, and they were torn in places where knives or weapons of their captors had hit him. Rayla had it worse, having rolled around all corners of the room in her tangle with Muardalt. Callum was proud of her. As soon as he had extinguished the lanterns, the dark mage hadn't stood a chance against his moonshadow elf assassin. Even better was that she managed to do it all without killing him. He hugged her tightly, which earned him a questioning look from the object of his admiration. "Oh, just thinking of how amazing you were in that fight!" he said sweetly.

Rayla didn't reply, but smiled at him and lifted a bit to give him a kiss.

While Callum enjoyed that, he also smelled her. He made up his mind on what to do next. Untangling himself from his girlfriend, he stood up and opened the door to the bathroom. Duren was renowned for their bathhouses, aqueducts and high hygiene standards, so he figured his room would have a bathtub of some kind. Turns out, he was correct. "Rayla? Come check this out!"

The exhausted moonshadow elf got off the couch slowly, then came to his side and gasped as she saw the giant bathtub. It was humongous. It could easily fit three adults.

"I mean, that is just overkill," she commented as she gestured at the tub. "One could drown in there! Can you imagine?" She looked over at Callum who still hadn't said anything, but was grinning at her.

"Oooh no, my sweet prince! Not in your lifetime's what I said!" Rayla took a step back as Callum moved to turn the faucets, causing warm water to flow into the tub, another luxury that was only present in the big cities in Duren.

"Aw, come on, Rayla! Duren's known for their baths! It will be nice!" Callum insisted, reaching for her hands.

"Callum, unless you want to find out if you can actually drown in the tub, I suggest you drop it!" she said with a warning tone. She didn't know if he tried to be romantic or not, but she was afraid of water, and his insistence was beginning to piss her off.

Callum halted his advance and pouted. "Look," he said. "You're smelly, you're tense. They've got hot water and soap. It'll be good for you!"

Rayla cast the tub a doubtful glance. Hot water did sound nice… it was just that it was, you know… water! She looked down at herself. She was covered in bruises and scrapes. They had both been treated by the medic, but honestly? She needed a bath. At least it's big enough so we don't get tangled in one another… She sighed.

"Alright then, I'll take your stupid bath," she grumbled as she moved into the bathroom and started to undress.

Callum was glad. He hoped that it would help her unwind a bit after the battle. "Alright, great! Just, you know, throw your clothes out the door so I can ask an attendant to wash them," he said as he moved out of the bathroom.

"Wha-!? I thought we were goin' to take a bath together!"

Callum turned red straight away. "Uuh, n-no, I thought we would take t-turns?"

Rayla frowned angrily at him and slammed the door, leaving a flabbergasted Callum outside.

"What did I do wrong this time?" he muttered to himself.

Rayla in the meantime stripped and put the clothes in a basket. He is right, she thought as she eyed her chest wrappings, still dirty from the fight in the cellar. My clothes need washin'... She hadn't planned to go skinny-dipping in the bathtub together, but if she was going alone, she might as well make sure all of her clothing was washed properly. She covered herself with a towel, opened the door a bit and pushed the basket outside before closing it. Then, she stepped into the tub and gingerly lowered herself into the warm water.

Aaah! Oookay, this is grand! The warm water had an immediate effect on her muscles. The truth was, she had never been in a tub like this before. If she ever bathed with warm water, it was just using a bucket of it with a washing cloth. This kind of luxury she had never experienced before. She was still afraid of water, but she had to admit that this was nice and relaxing. Especially considering that today she'd had several much more terrifying experiences.

She pushed those thoughts away and eyed a pedestal at the far end of the bathtub. On it were six round balls the size of her fist. They had different colours and a stone-like texture, but as she got close, she could smell the wondrous aroma coming off of them. "Oh, I wonder what these are for…"

Callum, in the meantime, had searched for an attendant and had just delivered the laundry. Their backpack was returned to them, so they still had a set of spare clothing, even though it was just simple linen. Rayla's armour would take a day to be restored to its former glory, they had said. He was just about to flop on the bed and take a nap when he heard screams coming from the bathroom.

"Callum! Callum, help! Help me!"

He rushed to the bathroom and pulled open the door, fully prepared to fight off any assassins, brigands, dragons and other monsters he expected to find. Instead, he was greeted by a wall of foam. "W-what!? Rayla!?"

"In here! Help me! I can't see!" came the panicked reply.

Callum quickly thought of a solution. He found that he did have one. "Alright, sit down!" he said as he drew the rune. "Aspiro!" The wall of bubbles immediately dispersed before his gale. The foam was blown against the far side of the wall. It had nowhere to go, but most of it turned back into liquid as it was compressed by the force of his spell. Once he was done, the bathroom was a giant mess, with foam particles flying about everywhere. The bathtub still had a sizable mountain of foam on it, but Callum could see a pair of horns and the eyes of a very flustered looking moonshadow elf.

"What did you do!?" Callum asked as he approached the tub and waved away some of the foam.

"I-I dunno!" she stuttered, making sure that her body stayed under the layer of foam. "I saw these coloured balls and thought that it was soap, so I started washin' myself. But as soon as it touched the water, it turned into foam. I was startled, and bumped into the rest of them."

Callum was laughing. "Let me guess, all the foam balls rolled into your bathtub, is that correct?" Callum only saw Rayla's eyes, but he could tell she was embarrassed. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure the servants in this castle will love this story, even if it takes a bit of cleaning-up."

Rayla didn't reply but leaned against the bathtub with her back to Callum. She dared raise her head a little above the foam. It seemed to cover the water completely, which was important to her right now.

Callum eyed his girlfriend and did his best to push any indecent thoughts to the background, instead trying to be a caring boyfriend. He grabbed a stool and sat directly behind her. With his fingers he started to go through her hair, gently rubbing her skull. Rayla was startled at first, but relaxed as he did his work. "...that feels nice," she said eventually.

"Hmmm…. How's your bath, Ray?"

Rayla snorted. "'Ray?' Are you trying to give me a nickname, my sweet human prince?"

He grinned. "Maybe I am. So, how's the bath?"

She focused on her muscles slowly loosening in the warm water. Her cuts and bruises felt less tender. Overall, she felt very relaxed. "It's… nice. Much nicer than I anticipated."

"I figure you never had such an experience back home." He ventured carefully, hoping to not broach a sensitive topic. But she laughed, taking away his worry.

"No, I was an awful child. Never wanted to stay in the water, so I never wanted to take a bath either. Gave my parents hell for it too." She sighed. "Ah, the good old days." She felt a painful tug at the mention of her parents. It had been close to half a year since their passing. She had been angry and ashamed at first, and dealt with that emotion. Knowing that in the end they fought and died, was more of a relief than a burden at that point. Still, she remembered what Hendyr had said.

"Callum? Some skywing elf tried to apply for the Dragonguard. He was one of the cowards that had fled the previous Dragonguard, so he didn't get the job, but... " She turned around to face him. "He said that they never found my parents' bodies, and that's why everyone said they ran away."

Callum watched her intently but didn't reply, just looking at her questioningly, wondering what had brought that up all of a sudden.

"When you used that spell, did you see what happened to them?"

Callum thought back to the moment he cast the spell. He replayed the memory in his head, then sighed. "As far as I can tell, Viren did something to them, causing them to disappear, screaming. I-it wasn't pretty. I saw Viren pick up something afterwards, probably as a trophy or something."

"Ow, right…" Rayla's mood turned sombre at the thought that their last moments had been spent in agony. She sagged a little in the bathtub. Callum moved in to hug her from behind, putting his cheek against hers and his arm around the front of her shoulders.

"It's alright, Rayla. That's all in the past. We've got to think of the future now."

Rayla sighed in his embrace, appreciating the comfort, but she was also instantly aware of something else. "Callum? Thank you, but em... could you remove your arm? Without lookin'?"

"Huh, wha-oh!" He made some unintelligent noises as he quickly covered his eyes. Rayla let herself lower in the bathtub and gathered more foam around her, repairing the foam blanket that Callum's arm had just torn a hole in.

"So, hehe," she laughed awkwardly. "What about the future, my clumsy human?"

Callum sat up straight and went back to gently caressing the top of her head, much to her enjoyment. "What about it, my little moonie?"

Rayla snorted. "Callum, no, just… no! Hahaha!" She snorted and slapped some water his way, which he easily avoided. "But, now that this mission is complete, what's next... for us?"

Callum thought for a bit. "Well, we have the ball the day after tomorrow. And after that, I'll hopefully be able to study magic in Xadia? So I'll be close by to visit you, I guess."

Rayla puffed away some foam that had gotten too close to her face. "You do realise that Xadia is the size of all five human kingdoms combined, right? Callum, I don't think you'll be close enough to visit most of the time."

"Oh…" he said at length. He hadn't thought about that. In his mind, he would stay at the Storm Spire and fly off to wherever his future school was. "I mean… we… could write?"

Rayla made a sound that sounded like a cross between a laugh and a groan. "So now I need to add that to the list of my already borin' administrative duties? Writin' love letters?"

Callum pouted, but she couldn't see. His pout turned into a smile as she petted his hand. "Of course I'll write you, dummy." She grabbed a hold of his wrist gently, caressing his skin to return some kind of comfort. "We'll figure it out. As long as we get to be together some time."

Callum sighed. He figured his relationship with the elf wasn't going to be easy, and now it had the danger of turning into a long-distance relationship as well. He had read books about those. I just hope ours won't be so melodramatic! "Yeah, we'll figure it out, '' he repeated.

"Good." She turned around, lifted her head just above the bathtub and kissed him. "Now get out, the foam's nearly gone."

Callum felt a familiar blush cover his cheeks. "Right!"

-/-/-/-

Queen Aanya was being led through the ballroom by her servants. She watched as decorative bundles of flowers were placed at strategic places for maximum effect. The ballroom itself was huge, with tall windows from ground to ceiling and large balconies on all sides. It had a courtyard attached, but that spot was reserved for the dragon king. Invitations had been sent to all the nobles of the pentarchy, together with a clear message: If you want peace and trade deals with Xadia, now is your chance.

King Ezran was strolling alongside her, carrying Bait in his arms. Not really having any pressing duties right now, he preferred to just walk and talk with someone of his own age. They chatted a bit about their expectations, but also joked about stories they heard about the servants. Just as King Ezran was laughing about a comment the queen made about a flower arrangement, they were interrupted by Rayla.

She curtsied before them. "Your um… majesties?" she said hesitantly. Though she was friends with Ezran, she was uncertain about how to behave in front of the young queen. Queen Aanya laughed softly at her awkwardness, though not unkindly.

King Ezran greeted her back. "Hey Rayla, what's up?"

Rayla tucked some hair behind her ear. "Oh, nothing much. Rescuin' dragons, uncoverin' cults, you know how it goes. What about you?"

Ezran snorted at her response. Queen Aanya answered for him. "We're doing fine. All the preparations are underway and on schedule. This will be the grandest ball Duren has held as of yet," she said with some pride in her voice.

"Right, um…" Rayla was now acutely aware she had absolutely no clothes suitable for such an event. She pushed her worry away for now. One thing at a time, she thought. "King Ezran? Could I ask you something?" She eyed the queen for a second, but figured what she was about to ask wasn't too big of a deal, and she didn't want to intrude.

"Sure, and it's just Ezran for you, Rayla," the young king said with a smile. It warmed Rayla's heart that despite his new responsibilities, he hadn't changed his demeanour.

"Right, well, I know that Callum has already had his birthday, but I haven't gotten the chance to give him somethin' for it." As she saw Ezran's look of surprise, she added, "I didn't even know it was his birthday two weeks ago!"

"Ah, right!" Ezran seemed to think for a moment. "Did you try to give him jelly tarts?"

Rayla sniggered. "No, I'm not sure he's as fond of them as you are. And I've never tried to make them."

"What does Prince Callum like to do in his free time?" Queen Aanya interjected.

Rayla thought for a bit. "Well, he either talks about magic, or… his drawings. And he told me he's learnin' how to paint now as well."

The queen sniggered. "Sounds like a talented young man."

Rayla blushed a little, feeling proud. "Yes… yes, he is."

"Well, why don't you give him something to paint, then? Some nice scenery or something." Ezran said, eying a pile of pastries being brought to the head table.

"Hmmmm… somethin' to paint." An idea struck Rayla. I can pull it off… I think, but I need some help. She looked at the queen, who was surprised by her sudden attention.

"Yes?" she asked expectantly.

"I know what I want to give Callum. But…erm…, I'll need a little bit of help to get it right." She then told Queen Aanya what she needed.

The queen laughed heartily as she heard Rayla's plan. "That's so cute! Of course I'll help! And I know just the thing!"

Ezran made a disgusted sound. "You and Callum are just… jugh!"

-/-/-/-

The ball was a great success. While the local populace had been terrified as the king of the dragons and a platoon of Xadian soldiers approached the city, they also marvelled at his majesty, most having never seen such a dragon before. Introductions had been made between the king and the nobles, and promises of good fortune and trade were exchanged.

Callum noted that a lot of elf delegates appeared to be present as well. He frowned. He had wanted to ask Rayla about these things, but she was nowhere to be found. Come to think of it, she had been acting kind of weird yesterday, almost as if she was hiding something… He nodded to various human nobles who greeted him and pushed the thought out of his mind. It didn't matter much to him, as long as she was on time for his surprise. He went through a lot of trouble to arrange it after all. Well, he and the queen of Duren, that was.

"Callum!" He whipped around as he heard his name, only to realise it was Ezran who called him. Still, he smiled at him, so proud at his little-brother-the-king. He bowed, only slightly mockingly. "Your majesty," he said with a grin.

Ezran sniggered and returned a bow that was definitely mocking before sharing a quick hug.

"Say, have you seen Rayla around here somewhere?"

"Yes, actually, I have!" Ezran said with a knowing smile.

Callum didn't quite get that. "...so? where is she?"

Ezran stood up straight, taking a regal pose. With his best posh voice, he started. "Prince Callum of Katolis, may I present to you, Lady Rayla of Xadia, honoured captain of the Dragonguard." Ezran gestured behind Callum with his arm. Callum turned around, and there she was.

Rayla stood before him, but this wasn't the Rayla he knew. This wasn't the warrior princess, with the snarky remarks and the cheeky grin, carrying swords and wearing armour. Instead, she was wearing a silken, silver-white dress, a perfect match for her hair, which had braided strands that flowed to the back of her head. The dress clung to her waist. Her top half was covered by a silver half-cape which she had closed at the front. She wore gloves with long sleeves, ascending just a little above the elbow.

"Wow…" he whispered softly.

Rayla held out her hands nervously. "'Wow'? Is that all you have to say to your girlfriend? I did dress up for you, you know," she said with a grin, though a blush did betray her nervousness.

He quickly embraced her and kissed her on the lips, but he had to angle his head upwards a bit. Callum noted that she was even taller now, and figured she was probably wearing heels.

"Wow..." he said again. "You look amazing!"

Rayla just kept blushing. "Thanks. You look quite dashin' yourself."

Callum smiled proudly and stood up a little straighter. His little brother had brought some of his gala clothes with him, which were basically the same colour scheme, but a little neater and more adorned. He still wore the scarf though.

"Right, I'm gonna go before you guys make me barf," Ezran said.

Callum laughed. "Sorry, little brother. We'll have a talk about sandwiches when you're a bit older?" he offered.

Ezran's look told Callum exactly what he thought of that prospect. Instead, he switched topics. "You do plan on sticking around a while, right? Queen Aanya will give her speech in a bit!"

Rayla was nervous. She had to lead Callum away for her surprise, but she supposed it was rude to just skip the entire ball before the moment supreme happened. "Yeah, we'll stick around," she said, hiding her hesitance.

Ezran nodded and walked off. As he did, Callum hugged her from behind. She heard Callum sniff her hair. "Hmm! You really… look amazing, smell amazing, you just are amazing!"

Now Rayla giggled, a girlish sound she rarely made. "Callum, please…"

"Happy birthday, my dear Rayla."

Her eyes widened at that. My birthday! Today is my birthday! She turned around as Callum let go of her and presented her with a small box. She stared at him. "That's for me?"

Callum laughed. "For whom else could it be? Just open it, sweet little elf!"

That one made Rayla laugh even more. "I'm not little, I'm taller than you! Even without the heels!"

"Horns don't count," Callum replied curtly.

Rayla grinned. "Yes, they do." But she was no longer looking at her boyfriend, instead opening the package he had given her. She carefully removed the silk cloth wrapped around the box. It was a smooth, dark, wooden box. It read 'Von Däm Jewellery and Tinkering'. She pressed her lips together. Rayla wasn't one for jewellery most of the time, so she was curious what Callum had bought for her. She hoped that she could appreciate it.

As she opened it, she saw it was a slender silver necklace. On it hung a round medallion the size of a large coin. However, it wasn't smooth, polished silver. It was rough, with an uneven and asymmetrical texture on it. It wasn't unpleasant to look at, but odd. However, it was familiar to her. Suddenly, she realised what she was looking at. "It's the moon!"

Callum smiled at her. "Yes! I hoped you would notice! You can open the medallion, by the way."

" Oh, really?" She pressed her nails between the two parts and carefully pressed them open. Inside, she saw two pictures. One was a sketch of her face in black and white. The other was the painted picture of a much younger Callum. He had a much rounder face with puffy cheeks, and an expression that told her he didn't really want to be painted.

She snorted as she saw his picture. "That's you?"

Callum groaned. "Look, it's the only painted picture of me I could get my hands on so quickly. I was lucky enough for Ezran to carry it with him, and yours is just a quick sketch I've done."

Just a quick sketch…. she mused as she looked at her likeness. It was rough, sure, but it looked just like her.

"Anyway, I hope to get a small painting done of the both of us soon, so that you have something to look at while I'm away for my studies."

Rayla smiled as she put the box on a nearby table and embraced him. "Oh, Callum…" She kissed him, then held out the medallion. "Will you put it on?"

"Put it on? It's not supposed to go on m- oh right!" He swallowed his embarrassment as he had mistaken her meaning. She had turned around for him and he put the necklace around her neck. Just as they turned around and stared at each other lovingly, a bell sounded through the hall.

"Ladies and gentlemen, her Royal Highness, Queen Aanya, ruler of Duren!" The man who announced her stepped off the dais, as the queen ascended the raised platform. Behind her was King Aureum Umbra together with the elf delegates. He was too big to fit in the ballroom, but with all the windows open, it still felt like he was very much a part of the proceedings.

Queen Aanya smiled brightly at the crowd. "My lords and ladies. It is my pleasure to welcome you to our festivities. This ball has many reasons. First and foremost, we are here to celebrate the peace between Duren and Xadia, for the first time in a thousand years!"

The crowd applauded and cheered. It was indeed a good reason to celebrate.

"We thank King Aureum Umbra for his wisdom and his presence, and hope that the peace between our nations will blossom and bear fruit to us all!" She grabbed her cup, and everyone in the room did the same as she raised hers. "To peace!"

"To peace!" Everyone in the room toasted. King Aureum Umbra simply nodded his head. His claw was holding a barrel of wine awkwardly. The servants didn't know what else to give the dragon, and he had found it too awkward to refuse.

"Second of all, the unrest that was present in Berylgarten has finally been resolved. The Crown recognizes that while the cult known as the True Light was using illegal magic for its activities, it was also helping the populace." The crowd mumbled at that. Opinions were still divided. "To make up for the loss of the temple of healing, the king of Xadia has agreed to send two of his sunfire elf healers to our capital to help us out!" Now the crowd was excited, including Callum. But the queen wasn't finished. "As part of this exchange, one of us humans will journey to Xadia to learn all he can about primal magic, to ensure that while we will no longer rely on old practises, we will still enjoy the bounty of magic."

"Prince Callum, please step forward," King Aureum Umbra spoke. His voice rumbled through the ballroom. Many trembled as they heard his voice speak so loudly, and those close to Callum quickly moved away from him. Callum gulped and took a few steps forward until he was in the middle of the ballroom.

"Prince Callum, you have shown to be pure of heart, and true of intent. You are a friend of Xadia, and an honourable prince to the kingdom of Katolis. Therefore, we grant you access to our arcana temples. You will be given a mentor. May your studies prove useful to your people."

Callum was astonished. He felt elated, thrilled! I get to learn more magic! He nearly let out a shout, but stopped himself just in time. Quickly regaining his composure, he bowed before the king. "Thank you, King Aureum Umbra."

The king grunted approvingly. "We will take you back with us when we leave tomorrow. Be prepared that you will be separated from your people for several years before your studies are finished. Make sure to bring as little as possible, for you will travel often."

Now Callum froze. Separated for several years!? He had expected to be away for some time, but this made it all very real.

Queen Aanya seemed alarmed as well by the announcement, having come as a surprise, but she forced a smile. "Splendid. I'm sure the details will be discussed in private."

The dragon king gave her an annoyed glance, but gave no reply. Before the rest of the crowd could return to the festivities, the queen continued.

"There is one last announcement to make. We have a very special guest among us. She is the captain of the Dragonguard, and the saviour of the dragon Prince Azymondias!"

Rayla looked shocked as everyone present suddenly focussed on her. What did I do!? She looked at Callum for help, but he had taken a step back and just watched her with a stupid grin on his face.

"And on top of it all, ladies and gentlemen, it's her birthday! So this party is in honour of her as well!"

Just as she finished her speech, a choir began to sing an old Durian song about the best wishes for the next year of her life, that all her wishes may come true, and that all her days may be blessed. People from all sides approached her to congratulate her and compliment her on her outfit. Gifts were hastily put together, small sacks of coins and disposable pieces of jewellery were given by the nobles who wished to impress the stunning young elf, as well as promises of riches and power, should she ever come to visit.

Callum smiled as he watched how Rayla was now the centrepoint of attention. As time passed and more and more people complimented his girlfriend and sought her attention, he felt himself starting to get a bit jealous.

Once he judged enough time had passed for the nobles to give her their congratulations and gifts, he pressed himself through the crowd to get to his girlfriend, who was looking around nervously, trying to process all the attention she was getting. Honestly, she looks ready to bolt, Callum thought. He quickly grabbed her hand and spun her his way, meeting her eyes.

"Shall we get out of here?" he whispered.

Her eyes were filled with gratitude. "Please!"

They waved goodbye to the crowd behind them as attendants quickly swiped the pile of presents onto a plate and carried it away before anyone could think of stealing them. The two of them quickened their pace as they made their way to one of the open windows leading to a large balcony.

"Wheh, that was wild!" Rayla exclaimed as they ran outside. The balcony they were on encircled a large part of the ballroom, the open windows providing access back inside. The fresh air did wonders for her mood, Rayla felt. She took a deep breath, then looked at Callum suspiciously. "You arranged all this!"

"What, me?" he said, faking to be shocked by her accusation.

She just shoved him playfully. "You knew about my birthday, just you!"

He grinned back at her. "I had a little talk with Queen Aanya. She readily agreed to make the party a bit about you as well."

Rayla smiled and hugged him. "Thanks, Callum. This is the best birthday ever!" She skipped forward and twirled around a bit in her dress. Callum let her, just enjoying the view.

"All the people here are so nice! It's a wonder they were so accepting of me as an elf!"

Callum grimaced at that and felt the need to clarify. "I suppose some are nice, hopefully most. Just remember, Rayla, they are nobles. You have just been given the honour of the ball. Congratulating you wasn't as much about being friendly as enhancing one's own standing. They now get to brag about how they talked with you and what gifts they gave you. To some of them, you are nothing but a status symbol."

Rayla looked back at him, both shocked and disgusted. "Ugh! I hate politics."

Callum nodded. "Yeah, so do I. Still though, you got a party, you got a choir, you got presents." He suddenly grabbed her from behind and kissed her on the cheek. "And you have me."

She smiled at him as she leaned backwards and kissed him on the mouth. "And you have me."

They walked the balcony in silence, just enjoying the party and the atmosphere from a distance. More people exited the ballroom in search of fresh air. The two of them whispered amongst themselves, making small talk and occasionally commenting on the outfits of others.

Then, Callum's gaze was drawn to a lone figure. It was a young man, wearing simple brown garb, with long black hair bound in a ponytail. He was staring off into the distance, apparently lost in thought. On his hip, he was carrying some kind of longsword. An oddity, since very few people had permission to carry arms on an occasion such as this.

He nudged Rayla. "Hey, that's the guy I told you about."

"What? Who?"

Callum pointed to the man. "The guy over there! He's the one who helped me take apart Viren's study. Hey Belt!" Callum shouted.

When Rayla saw the man, her heart started pounding as she had her suspicions, her eyes resting on the blade. But when the man turned, fury overtook her as she recognized his face instantly.

"You!" she shouted and rushed towards the man, dragging Callum with her. "What are you doin' here!?"

Callum didn't understand where the hostility was coming from and tried to calm her down. For all he knew, she had never seen him before.

The man regarded the pair for a moment. "I'm doing my job, Rayla, same as you. Hi, Callum." He nodded in his direction.

Callum was now thoroughly confused. They know each other!? "What's going on here?" Callum asked hesitantly.

"That is the bastard that stabbed me." Rayla spat, gesturing at her stomach.

"What!? How! That's impossible! He was in Katolis!" But Callum's gut told him that something was wrong here. Belt made no move to deny the claim.

"Belt, what is going on?" Callum was on guard now. He had grabbed his girlfriend's hand, ready to turn and run if they needed to.

Belt looked at their hands with a bemused smile on his face. "Alright, then. Let me introduce myself." He stepped forward and loosened his ponytail, his black hair falling across his shoulders. "My name is Belthasar Zeron. For the past month, I've acted as an agent on Xadia's behalf. They asked me to watch you, see where your allegiances lie." He held his hands to his sides, palms open. Callum couldn't decide whether this was a gesture of peace, or whether he was readying himself for combat.

"Watchin', you say? It was torture to me! Did you give me those bad dreams?"

Belthasar didn't deny it. "Yes."

Rayla was frustrated. She desperately wished her swords were at her sides so that she could give him what he deserved, though she doubted that she could fight well in this dress, not to mention that starting hostilities at the first peaceful gathering between the human kingdoms and Xadia was a bad idea.

Belthasar sighed. "I… must apologise. To the both of you. Callum, though I didn't lie to you, I wasn't completely honest either. While I was with you, it was my job to determine if you would really get rid of dark magic as you told the king. You did. That's why I convinced the king of your good intentions."

Now the truth fully clicked in both Rayla and Callum's minds. "The black dragon!? That was you as well!?" Callum exclaimed.

Rayla thought back to the dark dragon shadow in her nightmares. She couldn't put to words the disgust and anger she felt for this creature.

Belthasar nodded again. "Yes. I am that black dragon. It's no big secret anymore, though how your king deduced it is a mystery to me."

Callum was confused by this remark. He had wondered about the visions Ezran described to him. He figured that must be it.

"But why the nightmares!?" Rayla shouted, drawing the attention of the people around them. "Why not a little visit, or a nice talk? You tortured me!"

Belthasar stepped forward, closing the distance between them, apparently also conscious of the attention that they were drawing. Rayla took a step backwards instinctively. Callum pressed her close to himself, willing to defend her, hoping it wouldn't come to that.

Belthasar looked at her pensively. "I'm not sorry for what I did, only that I had to do it. I thought that dreams were the best way to make sure to see if you would choose Callum above the interests of Xadia. I knew they were hard on you. The king has already given me a piece of his mind about that."

Rayla was surprised at that. She thought the king was behind this as well, but apparently, he really did care for the health of his captain. Still, she couldn't just push this aside, nor would she accept his apology. "Whatever. So, did you find what you needed to?"

Belthasar snorted. "Honestly? No. You are a tough fighter Rayla, and you have a heart of gold. But I hope you will never have to choose between the things you love. That won't end well for anyone."

Callum was thoroughly confused at the revelation. Rayla, however, still looked furious by what he'd done to her.

Belthasar sighed and looked up at the stars, contemplating something, then looked back at the pair. "Right, I think I have overstayed my welcome here. My duty to Xadia is finished anyway, so I won't trouble you any longer." He turned to leave, but Rayla grabbed him by his arm, causing Belthasar to give her a very cold look. This didn't put her off, however.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Belthasar shrugged her off. "It means that the king now has to pay up for all the favours I've done for him. After that, I'm going home." He turned and walked off.

"Hey, Belt!" Callum shouted after him. He saw the figure hesitate for a second, before turning his head halfway.

"Yes?"

"How do you turn into a dragon?"

Belthasar laughed, while Rayla groaned inwardly. Of course that's the part of all this that's most interesting to Callum.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," was the only reply.

Callum watched with amazement as the figure walked on and just seemed to fade from view, leaving no trace behind him. His head was already racing to solve the puzzle. "I figure illusion magic has something to do with it…" he mumbled until Rayla touched his shoulder. He saw her pained expression and remembered that the person he thought of as maybe a friend was also the person that had stabbed her through the stomach. "Rayla, I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

She took a deep breath. "Honestly? Mostly annoyed. We're not in danger, and if that scunner really leaves me alone, I'll probably get my good nights' sleep back. I'm just sad we had this confrontation on my birthday."

Callum didn't say anything. He just pulled her close and kissed her on her forehead. He did have to stand on his toes to do that though. She noticed this and giggled. He pouted at that.

"You're so tall now!"

"I'm always taller, my small human," she said teasingly. Rayla felt a soft, warm glow returning to her innards. She was glad that the confrontation had not ruined the mood for the rest of the evening. That reminded her of her talk with Queen Aanya. "Callum, this was a wonderful birthday gift. But I've missed your birthday, so…"

Callum cut her off. "You don't have to give me anything, Rayla. Just being you is good enough for me."

Rayla couldn't help but smile. She had never fancied herself much for romance, yet hearing all those words moved her. "Don't cut me off like that! Though I do like what you said. The point is, I also have somethin' for you!"

"Oh?" Callum was surprised. He wondered what it could be.

She grinned wickedly. "Follow me!"

-/-/-/-

Rayla dragged Callum down the halls of the Palace. Her quick and easy steps led them away from the party. The moon was almost full, and every time they passed a window, Callum could swear he saw her form glimmer a little. Her heels did wonders for the way she walked and Callum, who she was dragging behind her, felt it hard to keep his eyes from her hips as the fabric of her silk dress moved around her form. He felt his heartbeat quicken, but tried to kid himself that this was not from what he was seeing in front of him. Nope, this is definitely a normal reaction when you are jogging through a corridor, he thought. Yup, just a normal stroll down through the palace. Nothing to see here!

Rayla led him into a large room and let go of his hands. The room was dark. He saw a large four-poster bed, a mirror, some cabinets, and to the right, he saw an open door leading to a balcony with light outside. Rayla stood in the centre of the room looking at him. Callum detected uncertainty in the way she stood. He suddenly became very self-conscious. "So, eehhh…" he stammered while scratching the back of his head. This seemed awfully familiar. "Is this an open-door situation, or should I…"

Rayla smiled at him nervously. "Just close the door, Callum."

Callum coughed. "Right." He closed the door quickly and then carefully made his way to Rayla. She is up to something. He didn't know what, and he trusted her implicitly, but dammit, he was nervous.

Rayla took his hands and looked to their feet, unsure of what to say. "Callum…" she started. "You know… how you will be gone for a long, long time for your studies, right?"

Callum sighed. Did she really have to bring this up? Like, tonight? Really? "Rayla…" he started, wanting to object to this line of conversation.

She noticed his tone of voice immediately. "No, Callum. Please." She let go of his hands and put hers on his chest softly. She wanted to touch him, she didn't want to push him away. "I know… you'll be gone for a very long time and I know that this´ll be difficult for you…me… us…" Her voice became thick with emotion. She looked him in the eyes now. Callum saw her eyes glistering and wondered if she would start to cry. He put his hands on her hips, bringing them ever so slightly closer. "So, I wanna do somethin' that you'll remember… well…" She looked away sheepishly. "It's kind of a silly idea, now that I think of it." She pulled away from him.

Callum was confused. "Rayla, what are you saying?"

Rayla started pacing around in the empty room. "Well, I wanted to do somethin' so you wouldn't forget me!" She was agitated. She wasn't sure what she wanted anymore, or whether this was a good idea.

"Well, I won't forget you!" Callum rallied. "I mean… just look at you!" He held out both of his hands as if presenting her to a crowd of onlookers.

"Wha…?" She looked at him, and then saw that he was looking at something behind her. She turned around and saw herself standing in the mirror's reflection. Her silk dress clung to her figure, her white and silver half-cape covering her down to the waist. She looked back into her own eyes as she listened to Callum.

"I see a strong and beautiful and passionate elf who's always stood up for what she believed in! You're kind, likeable, and confident too! Remember all the things I said to you in the midnight desert?"

Rayla nodded. A smile played upon her lips. She remembered those moments fondly, even if it had been a little awkward when she mistook his praise for something else. She blushed at those memories. Then she felt his hands on her shoulder, his breath in her neck. It was somewhat ragged.

The moment Callum touched her in this dark and quiet room, he became very aware of the fact that she was wearing a very thin silk dress. "All I'm saying is, I won't forget you… ever! Unless, you know, I get hit by some kind of forgetting spell. Boom! Everything gone! Can't do anything about that!" He said that last part cheerily as he stepped away from her.

Rayla laughed a little. It was a stupid remark since it almost happened two days ago, but Callum was clearly trying to defuse the tension and she realised; he was as nervous as she was about their future.

Callum noticed a change coming over Rayla. She seemed to have made her mind up about something, and hid her nervousness by a sly smile that bordered on the seductive. Callum looked alarmed as she took a step towards him. "Eeh…." was all he could manage.

"Callum, that was very sweet of you." She leaned in and kissed him. She heard him breathe in sharply as they made out but felt his muscles relax, eventually. Then she broke away and looked him in the eyes as innocently as she could manage, teasing him a bit and doing a decent job at that. "But you still haven't heard what my birthday gift was for you. Aren't you curious?"

Callum had to admit that he was very curious and he was very aware of the fact that she was so close to him and he couldn't quite get his thoughts or body under control, and oh, were his pants getting tighter?

Rayla took his silence as a yes. "I know you like sketchin' so much, and I know you've done a wonderful job at learnin' to paint these last few weeks."

"Oh. Oh, that? Well, you know, it's just another hobby!" Callum was feeling very awkward all of a sudden. Why was she complimenting him on his new hobby? He wasn't that good anyway, though he had to admit that learning to paint was a lot easier than learning magic, and he was quite gifted at the latter.

Rayla giggled. "Come."

She took his hand and led him outside, much to Callum's relief. Up until now he was unsure of Rayla's intentions and for a moment he almost thought she would lead him to the large bed in the corner, a thought that both excited and terrified him. When they went onto the balcony though, he wasn't prepared for what she had set up for him.

The moon shone softly down upon them. The rest of the balcony was lit by a pair of torches set against the wall. It overlooked the garden behind the palace. In the middle of the balcony was a sofa made of dark oak and red velvet with a couple of pillows strewn around. And in front of that, an easel with next to it a barstool and a small table stacked with paints, brushes and other supplies.

"Rayla, what…?" He looked at her as she walked to the sofa and sat down. She was blushing heavily as she loosened the cape and let it fall. It revealed her bare shoulders and the way the top of the dress clung to her chest. She was not so flat-chested anymore now that she wasn't wearing her chest wrappings, her bosom filling out the dress nicely. It also showed that Rayla was maturing, both physically and mentally as she displayed herself to him, blushing but unafraid.

The moonlight lit her up perfectly. Callum gasped for air. He felt like he just witnessed the birth of an angel.

"Well?" Rayla asked, her voice slightly wavering.

Callum gulped. "You want me to…?"

Rayla nodded. "Paint me, sweet Callum."

He took a moment to observe her, to capture the image of this elf, his elf in his mind, sitting there on the sofa, dressed in the sexiest dress he had ever seen. He realised she had already given him a wonderful memory. He would never forget how she looked right now.

He took a deep breath and got to work. He had no knowledge of how to be romantic, or how to be confident with girls. He loved Rayla, he knew that much, and he knew how to make her smile. But this situation was new to him and he felt like a fish out of water.

But he knew drawing and painting and as he grabbed a piece of charcoal to start sketching, he felt his confidence returning. His hand was quick and his eyes were focussed. Soon he was completely in his element.

Rayla admired how confident and professional Callum worked behind the canvas. The only sounds that could be heard were the crickets in the garden below them and the swishing of charcoal on canvas.

It wasn't long before Callum was done and put down the charcoal. He looked at her from behind the canvas. "Are you comfortable?"

She smiled at him. "Yeah, the sofa's soft. I'm good for a while yet." She blushed. The whole private setting felt exciting to her. As she posed, she tried her best to look alluring. Her mind started to wander and her blush increased as she thought of what else they could be doing. Och, not now! What must Callum think of me?

But deep down inside, she knew what he probably was thinking, if not now then at other times. He was a boy after all. No. She corrected herself. He's a man. Even though he still had a boyish manner to his doing, he had proven time and time again that he was more responsible, courageous and open-minded than many adults she had met in her life.

"Great! I'm going to start painting now. Sit tight!"

She looked as Callum grabbed paints and put them on his painting tray. He grabbed a rather large brush and was soon swishing away at the canvas. "I wonder if he's nervous right now…" she whispered to herself.

But Callum was completely in tune with himself as he worked on the painting. Long before he started practising magic, he was already drawing sketches. It was a skill that he had perfected long ago. Painting just added another layer to those skills. He enjoyed it. He enjoyed the thrill of creating something on paper or canvas. Something that was truly his own. He liked to shape reality and in many ways, this was why magic appealed to him as well.

The moon rose higher in the sky as the time passed. The torches dimmed, but the moon shone brighter and brighter. Before long, Rayla was completely illuminated by the soft light of the moon. Callum's hands deftly moved across the canvas, putting paint in just the right places. He was silent as he worked. Sometimes he would look Rayla in the eyes and she would acknowledge him with a wink or a grin, but otherwise, he was focused on the task. He did not give her any instruction on how to sit or look and that made her feel slightly insecure. But she trusted him to direct her if needed, so she just put her chin up and tried to relax.

Rayla found herself reaching a state of utter calm. The rhythm of the sound of Callum's brush touching the canvas was soothing. Her thoughts turned skywards, to the moon. She wondered if Callum would ever connect to the Moon arcanum, and wondered if he could disappear with her. It would be fun to try and experiment with that. Oh, the tricks the both of us could pull off if no one could see us… Again, her brain betrayed her and she started to think of all the other advantages of not being seen by others. The blush returned to her face. She saw Callum looking at her with a pained expression, then back at the canvas, then back at her again. "Are you alright?" she finally asked?

"Y-yeah… just…you know…." He stammered, looking at her while his face became red. "Just making sure I get the details right."

Rayla bit her lip. She was very curious about the end result, but she knew that painting her would take a long time. Her calm was starting to disappear though. Small cramps from staying in a single position too long took their place. A chill could also be felt, and the dress was a fair bit skimpier and thinner than any robes or armour she usually wore. "Callum?"

Callum's head poked up from the side of the canvas. "Yes?"

"Don't mean to rush you, but it's gettin' a wee bit chilly here."

"Ah!" Callum looked at her, then took a step back to look at his progress. "Well, the centre is mostly done. The rest I can fill from memory, so I guess you can stop posing."

Rayla smiled as she reached down and grabbed the discarded cape. It was a thin piece of fabric, mostly decorative, but it was better than nothing. She put it across her shoulders and moved to stand beside Callum, who quickly put an arm around her waist.

"Well, what do you think?"

Rayla gasped and put her hand in front of her mouth as she saw the result. Before her was a life-sized portrait of her. But it was very different from how she had seen her reflection in the mirror. Somehow Callum had captured her essence perfectly. She was trying to find a word to describe herself as painted on the canvas. Regal? No… more like… passionate? Seductive, even? She blushed as she noticed that, on the painting at least, her thin ball gown indeed left little to the imagination. The swell of her bosom could clearly be seen and this dress was a fair bit more revealing than she had anticipated. Her head turned beet red. She quickly wrapped one arm around her chest protectively and her other went to her mouth as she turned to Callum in shock.

Callum meanwhile became alarmed at her reaction, figuring he went too far with his artistic interpretation of his girlfriend. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I shouldn't… I mean… That's just what I saw! I thought you wanted me to…" He was blushing furiously and tried to look at everything but her face or her bosom.

Rayla contemplated his reaction for only a moment. "Callum…" she whispered, her voice a bit hoarse. Her hands sought his own as she stepped closer to him.

He turned to face her, just as her lips met his. They kissed, their passion quickly growing. Rayla broke off for a second to catch her breath, her eyes still closed, before placing a hand on his hip, the other on his chest and resuming their kiss.

Callum held her chastely, but as he felt her hand roaming his chest, rubbing over the sturdy fabric of his vest, he, very carefully, moved his hand upward. He suddenly felt the transition from silk to skin as his hand reached her bare back. His breath quickened and he had to pull away from her as breathing through his nose wasn't sufficient. His body was responding heavily to what his senses were telling him. Her breath on his lips, her soft flowery scent through his nose, her soft skin underneath his touch.

Rayla, meanwhile, pulled his body closer to hers. A shock ran through them both as their bodies touched. Callum felt Rayla tense as it happened, and her caressing his chest became more urgent. Primal instincts were taking over as his hand roamed up more boldly underneath her cape. As they were kissing, Rayla gasped as she felt him gently sliding his hand back over her shoulders to her barely covered chest. She broke off the kiss and put her forehead against his, eyes closed, breathing heavily. Her hand was clutching his vest now as she focused on his ministrations.

"Stop," Rayla whispered, barely audible. Callum felt his hands slowly coming to a stop, his brain struggling to catch up with the command it had just been given, his instincts doing everything to keep him going. Callum opened his eyes, their foreheads still pressed together as they still clung to each other desperately. She looked back at him. Her pupils had become enormous and Callum was reminded of the moon up in the sky. "If we… Callum, if we keep this up…"

"We'll… probably end up… doing that…" he finished.

Rayla didn't respond, but eyed him with intensity, a glimmer of fear in her eyes.

"Too soon?" he asked at length. He saw relief wash over her face, glad that he understood.

"Too soon."

Their breathing slowed. Callum had moved his hands away from certain sensitive body parts and Rayla had done the same. They now just held each other. At long last they parted and just held hands, stretching the moment and the contact they had just a little bit more.

"That was…intense," Rayla said, still out of breath. Her hair was more ragged somehow, even though neither of them touched it. She pulled her cape close around her as she felt the cold now without Callum's embrace.

"Yeah…" Callum breathed. He took off his scarf and put it around Rayla, who accepted the extra layer of clothing gratefully. He had a pained look on his face, a fact which Rayla noticed.

"What is wrong?"

He felt the blush on his face getting worse as he thought on whether to reply. Well, after all that… "Pants… tight," was all he could manage.

"Oh… Oh!" Rayla said, realising the implication. "Right, I should have figured that. I mean. Uhm…" This was awkward for the both of them, but Callum smiled at her apologetically, causing her to smile as well. Eventually, they were both laughing, relieving the tension.

Rayla was the first to let go of his hand. She turned to the painting. It was beautiful, but it wasn't finished. Only the centre bit of her face and chest was fully coloured. The rest was sketched, with broad strokes of paint here and there. "It's beautiful, Callum," she said.

Callum smiled, glad for the change of topic. "Well, I did have a gorgeous elf posing for me." He said with a wink. "I think it will be a wonderful painting, if I ever get around to finishing it."

Rayla blinked and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I can't take it with me, now can I?" he replied while facing the painting. "It's too big to fit in a bag. And rolling up the canvas now would ruin the painting."

Rayla stared at Callum, then back at the painting. Her eyes widened when the thought came to her that she had utterly failed to provide him with a gift that he could actually have with him when he was away for his studies. Gods, I must be dafter than a toad on a jelly-tard high!

"I suppose I could make a miniature sketch of it in my sketchbook," Callum mused, while reaching for said sketchbook.

Rayla just shook her head at her obvious oversight. Well, she thought, at least this was a night we both surely won't forget. And so she was content to watch with a smile on her face as her sweet prince copied her likelihood into his sketchbook.

-/-/-/-

Dust and darkness had settled in the cavern. Viren stood up gingerly. He still held the sun staff in his hand. He willed it to glow a bit brighter. There, in front of him, was the emperor reigar. Dead. A giant hole in its stomach. Viren found he couldn't care less. Where is Claudia!? Where is my daughter!?

He searched around frantically, and finally found her crumpled against the back cavern wall, apparently flung a lot farther than him in the explosion he caused. He knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder, softly shaking her. "Claudia, are you alright?"

Claudia groaned. "Ugh, what happened?" She looked around. "Did we… Did we beat it? Gods, did I bump my head or what?" She looked confused at her dad. "I-I… I can't remember what happened."

"You were charmed," came the stern reply out of the darkness, from which the creature that was Aaravos emerged. Its form was charred at places and one of its wings was missing.

"Aaravos! Your-"

"It will grow back," it simply said. Aaravos moved towards the trio and regarded the giant dead creature. "You did well. We now have hundreds of feathers, for thousands of uses. Think of everything we can accomplish with illusion and charm!" Now Aaravos sounded honestly excited.

Viren nodded, his face still grim. "It was close though. Too close."

Claudia said nothing, but inwardly, she agreed with her dad.

"You are right, Viren. That is why we need more power. And we can use these feathers as tools to further our goals."

"Yes, about that, Aaravos." He put an emphasis on the creature's name to mock him. "What are our goals? What are your goals?"

"Our goal should be the empowerment of humanity and the destruction of the threat that is Xadia. My goal… I'll reveal in due time."

"That's not good enough," said Viren in a warning tone. The sun staff began to pulse with power.

The creature eyed the staff for a moment, but didn't seem put off by the implied threat. "All you need to know is that our goals are generally aligned. Otherwise, I wouldn't help you."

Viren was frustrated. "Right, I gather you probably want to escape your prison, maybe even dominate Xadia. I don't care about that. In fact, with the followers we have in the villages of Neolandia, we are already pretty powerful!" He gestured to his surroundings and to the dead beast behind them. "Why are we in this cave? Why did you risk our lives to kill this creature!?"

Claudia had never seen her father so worked up before, but she had to admit he had a point. Aaravos had put them on a wild goose chase from one point to another with little to show for it. Sure, they all agreed to come, but everything they'd done so far had a certain risk attached to it. Challenging this beast had been needlessly risky. "Yeah, Aaravos. Why did we have to kill this thing?" Claudia now said, challenging the damaged and burned up creature.

Aaravos didn't seem shaken by their doubt, and his voice was sweet as he spoke. "Because now we have all the tools we need to create the Heart of a Dragon."

---

Author's note:

And that's a wrap! I hope you liked the conclusion of my own 'season 4' of the Dragon Prince. I think it's a fitting end. A final battle, most story threads are resolved and of course, lots of Rayllum. That doesn't mean the story will end here however. There is still more to write. I already have some material lying around for the next instalment of this series, but that still needs some work and honestly, I need a break right now.

So, how did I do? I promised myself I would see this project through, that I would post one chapter a week and that I would complete this project within ten weeks total. I'm glad to say that I was able to keep all those promises, even if some chapters were posted at the literal eleventh hour of the weekend. What I am most surprised by is my word count; more than 75.000! (not counting Authors notes and the like). I expected this project to top no more than 45.000 at the most! I really surprised myself with this one. And that's good. That means I can carry the motivation and skills I got from this story on to the next, whether it be a Dragon Prince fanfic, or my own original work.

As for this chapter, I really hope you do like it. I hope I didn't take the Rayllum scenes too far for the T rating. I actually toned down the scenes a little to avoid any explicit descriptions. Still, I like the scenes because they paint a realistic picture of the two teenagers who are the protagonists, both with things they are shy or ashamed about. If you feel like this isn't suitable for the rating, please notify me, because I do care about things like that.

So this next week I will spend some time revising the entire story, fixing spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and perhaps some continuation errors here and there. Maybe I'll add a post-story discussion chapter if enough reviews pop up where I'll answer any story questions in depth (there have been some, both by review and by PM). After that, I will take a month-long break to take some time to catch up with work. Also, Subnautica Below Zero will be released next week, so I'll probably spend some time after that. I hope to start the next "season" of my fanfic around the beginning of March, just so you know what to look out for.

As always, thank you for reading and sticking with me during this project. If you like, please let me know! If you don't, please give constructive criticism! Both help an aspiring writer do his job! Cheers mates!

Review responses;

Oragonking: We PMed about this as well. Short answer; no, I don't think it's too dark, just a bit dark. I try to walk that edge at what is appropriate for the story versus what I can write while sticking to the theme of the show. The show uses cruelty subtly; it is a children's show after all, so I don't try to be too explicit in my descriptions.

Archangel12575: It's always darkest before dawn. I think that Rayla and Callum at least got out of the situation pretty well, as did most of the others.

Rainbowhawk1993: Heheh, cheers, I like the comparison. I try to get these "feel" moments in where you as a reader are actually emotionally invested. It's hard I suppose, I'm just happy for the reaction it had on you. Callum is a romantic. I think that this chapter shows that. Rayla has her moments, but mostly needs advice from others on how to be romantic in my opinion.

mdauben: Well, there you go! Hope you liked it!

silverspetz: Well, I tried to drop some hints here and there to that point, so I'm glad you caught on to that. As for the rest of your comment, I'll try to give some honest answers.

- The show is pretty clear about dark magic being evil, if not because of its use of ingredients, then at least because it corrupts its users. Yes, there will be users that will try to use it for good, but overall, there is not much basis for not seeing dark magic as a force of evil in the show. A more 'nuanced view' is still something I wish to explore in the later 'seasons' of my fanfiction as a story element, but this is my general stance on that one.

- About sides being bigoted; Callum never visited a Xadian village where all the elves could see him. Might still happen. Who knows what their reaction will be.

- Viren's cult: Muardalt was an apprentice of Viren and he holds the same views as him. That makes him rather two dimensional right now, but a good opponent for our protagonists.

- Using elves as ingredients: I have based this on the following S1E2: the skull in Viren's study, S1E5: Key of Aaravos responding to elves, confirming they have primal essence inside of them, S1E8: Turning elves into coins (for later use?).

I can understand that this story might not live up to your expectations. Please be open to the thought that we both might want different things out of this story.