Rayla was thirsty. They were rationing their water carefully, not knowing how long the legion would take to pass them by, but they had started running dangerously low in the still stifling heat.
Callum was a little better off and had ended up sharing some of his water with her.
"We really need to get back to the river", she said, finally, eyeing a tall tree, "Let me check the horizon again."
She scaled the tentacle, hugging it, careful not to expose herself against the sky. Meeting Helmond had been pleasant, but had also been a valuable lesson. The place had eyes.
The dust cloud was tracking left of her, westward.
"They should be clear of the river if we just walk north now.", she told Callum and he started ahead of her, before she even touched the ground again.
The argument they'd had yesterday lay heavy on both of them, neither quite sure how to talk about it. She felt bitter still about his comment. It felt as though he'd been fine with their relationship but had issues fully committing to it.
Since he'd said it, she'd had this sour feeling in her stomach, telling herself how little he cared about her. She knew this wasn't true, but couldn't seem to shake the feeling.
He was angry because she hadn't given him the chance to talk about it more. He felt she was quick to explode when he expressed himself clumsily and somewhat unforgiving.
"Callum", she began and he stopped to let her catch up, "Can we talk about your feelin's about marriage?"
He shrug-nodded angrily.
"Do you understand, maybe a little bit, where I'm coming from? The whole `why waste time` part?"
He nodded angrily.
"Can you… say a word or two?"
He flared, and it was strange, "Rayla, I don't know what to tell you. I was brought up as a human Prince. Marriage is this whole... big... thing that glues together kingdoms. When my parents got married, Katolis was celebrating for ten days. From dawn till dusk. The entire kingdom was decked out with lanterns and singers and … and…"
"I get it. You want that whole spiel."
He shook his head, wildly. "You're still not getting it! I just… I don't… Ugh!"
He stopped, grabbed her by the shoulders, forcefully turned her around and stared into her surprised eyes. Solemnly and with conviction, he said, "I love you. I'm gonna stay with you my entire life."
Walking ahead, he left her standing there for a moment, surprise baked into her expression and blushing to the tips of her ears. Then she jogged after him.
As she caught up, he continued in the same tone. "I just don't know if I want or need to marry you. It feels like there's a laundry list of expectations attached to that and… our relationship is so... easy. Loving you is the simplest thing I've done since crossing the breach. I don't want it to be hard and loaded, like the rest of our life right now, or worse, become a matter of the state for Katolis."
Her chest filled with warmth so radiant, she almost cooed. There was her sappy prince. A twinge of sadness had mixed in with the fuzz as he'd said 'entire life'. She had not come to terms with that yet, but resolved that she would not let it cloud their time together.
"Aww… Callum, that's... That makes a lot more sense to me.", she kissed him on his cheek, "I'll admit... I thought you just… didn't want me anymore."
He looked disturbed, flaring once more, "Rayla, really? Come on! I didn't giv-", she shushed him.
"I know, I know. It was my head takin' me for a ride. It does that, sometimes. I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have ranted and trusted that you didn't mean to hurt me."
They embraced each other, Callum's hands coming to an extremely abrupt rest in the small of her back. She rolled her eyes, scoffed, and grabbed his wrists, pushing him down further, anticipating a grab.
He snorted, flushing, and completed the motion. "I guess that's one way to tell me `I forgive you`. Sweetie, if it's really important to you, we can get married right now, somehow, but then you'd be `Princess Rayla` by Katolin law. That would complicate things."
She snickered and returned his squeeze. "Don't you dare call me `sweetie` ever again! But, oh ya, that'd be super awkward. I am not made for life at court. Bein' court polite is almost like mimin' an idiot.", she separated from him and curtsied, "`Yeth yur magesty! No yur magesty! Ah appreshiate yur hiburn elokwense!`"
He was in breathless stitches at her cross-eyed impression. "It's… so... true! Just saying... hello takes... so long!"
The prince regarded Rayla and then Azymondias, putting on his best snob-face, "`Gud eevening miss Rehla Munshado, Loohd Zym of the Zym dynastee, your Zymness!`"
Rayla, equally enthused, put on a grandiose posture and persona, "`Ah, Proince Carlem of Katohlith! How do yuh do, go oooon!`"
They laughed brightly and started walking, hand in hand.
A few moments later, they emerged from the tentacle and cactus forest, carefully moving forward. The rush of the water had sliced through the landscape here. Dead fish, torn up plants and pieces of random debris were all over the place. Then there was the river. Even from this far away, they could tell it was a solid brown, muddy mess.
"Are we going to be drinking that?", Callum asked for her input as his teacher, his nose wrinkled with disgust.
"It's not pleasant, yea, but it beats dyin' of thirst. We'll obviously filter and boil it a bit."
She stayed behind, away from the roaring water, while he and Zym went to fill the canteens.
She drew one of her blades. This was still dangerous territory. She expected the Legion to have trailing scouts as much as leading ones. It was just a matter of how far they would be behind the main force.
Rayla peered into the forest. Suddenly, she felt very exposed but dared not hide herself. If someone was coming to attack them, she did not want them falling on Callum. The hairs on her neck rose.
"This is nerve-wracking", she said to herself quietly, wanting to go back into the dark forest. For now the only thing she felt confident doing was to swivel her head, scanning the surroundings.
A voice, steeped in hate. "Ye've got instinct, lil' wench. Credit where it's due!"
From behind an old tree, Kel Ortis charged her. Moon Cleaver swayed in her hands, encrusted in dried, black blood.
Rayla assumed a fighting stance.
As Kel got closer, she carried the momentum of her charge forward into a swipe of her blade that Rayla evaded effortlessly since she had shown her hand so completely.
"If you keep fightin' like that, we might as well talk!", the elf shouted.
"Nobody here today to save ye, is there? Talkin' time's over, kid. Ye're already dead, just don't know it yet!"
Another stabbing lunge missed Rayla.
"I don't want to fight you!"
"Well, ye better, cause otherwise this'll be a borin' murder!", Kel's free hand flew around and missed Rayla by an inch, "Will ye stop dancin' and fight?"
Kel unhooked her crossbow, firing it at Rayla, who barely had enough time to roll out of the bolt's path.
"I don't want to kill you!"
"There's another thin' we don't have in common, bruiser. Now shut up and put up!"
At this, Kel threw mud in her eyes, the unexpected action staggering the elf.
Rayla turned and ran until she could clear her face, spitting and wiping her eyes. Then she whipped around, just in time to sidestep a stab from Moon Cleaver that still tore superficially into her already wounded arm.
This was a fight for her life, there could be no doubt about it. She could not run, it would expose Callum and Zym. This enemy was not like the others she had fought before. She was brutish, like Ithral, but nimble, like Soren. There was no parrying these blows. Soren had been strong, but he wasn't wielding an eight-pound, ninety-inch monster sword. Plus, Viren's idiot son had shown a certain hesitance. Every movement made by this greying, seasoned killer seemed to be aching to see her dead.
Rayla decided that Kel's only real weakness was the sword and her age. It was slow, she wielded it comfortably, but stiffly.
Grabbing her blades tighter, she feinted in one direction, then turned on her heel, coming about Kel's other flank. The bounty hunter had laid her counter strike into her feint and failed to get out of the way fast enough.
Rayla's switchblade tore into Kel's leg. She swore, stumbling, but keeping her balance.
Moon Cleaver sang, Rayla vaulted the weapon, but was thrown to the ground when Kel rammed her shoulder into the assassin.
Rolling back to a stand, Rayla spat, mud clinging to her face and hair. She was not going to give Kel a chance to recover. She thought she had the upper hand, now that the hunter was freshly wounded.
The elf flew at her opponent, still intent on letting her live, making the fight so much harder for her. The kick she aimed for Kel's head connected and the bounty hunter staggered and fell into the mud, but Kel's dagger sunk into her thigh, almost out of nowhere.
Gasping with pain, Rayla jumped away from the downed human. After examining the dagger's location, she grabbed its hilt and pulled. Flesh wound. It didn't even bleed all that much.
"Listen to me!", she pleaded, "We don't have to kill each other!"
Kel sat up, breathing heavily. "'Course not! No `havin'` to be had there! I `want` to kill you! You and your human master! What a disgustin' pair you are, mixin' blood!"
She charged again, seemingly not even caring about her leg.
Rayla dodged her well telegraphed attack easily. What she hadn't expected was Kel turning Moon Cleaver sideways at the last moment, running the flat of the blade clumsily into Rayla's horns and knocking her over.
The world spun wildly as Rayla's consciousness flickered, she was feeling for her horns and was almost surprised to find them, unbroken and in the right place.
Callum was carrying the filled canteens back to where he had left her. He was almost in view of the place when he heard a sound he would never forget, that would hound him in repeated nightmares.
Rayla, terrified, shouting for his help.
He dropped the canteens and started running. Zym followed hot on his heels.
It was the crazy bounty hunter.
Breathing heavily, she stood on Rayla's wounded arm. The elf was trying to reach a blade inches from her fingers.
The bounty hunter was watching her victim, her massive blade moving slowly to Rayla's neck.
"No!", Callum screamed, almost falling over but catching himself.
This distracted Kel. Rayla jerked sideways, losing her blade but coming free. The head hunter immediately found her balance and got into a fighting stance.
"You took Ithral!", she screamed and attacked, Moon Cleaver singing over Rayla's ducking head.
She could not risk anything now. Kel would have to die, and she would have to become the killer she was always destined to be.
Callum and Zym were coming.
It was time to use her third option.
They were a hard priority.
With those thoughts, she vaulted into Kel's reach dangerously, slicing at her with her remaining blade.
The bounty hunter fought through the pain as the blade impacted her shoulder, getting stuck. She grabbed Rayla's arm and jerked her along. The elf stumbled past her. Next followed a kick to Rayla's now exposed back which sent her face first into the mud, next to her second blade. Rayla jumped up. In the next moment, Moon Cleaver flew at her again, and the now re-armed elf nimbly stepped back.
The Zweihänder reversed direction mid-swing. Kel groaned under the effort.
Rayla was in the process of jumping further out of the way, but the tip of the human's blade sliced across her abdomen, entering only slightly past skin deep.
Purple sprayed, propelled by relentless metal.
Seeing her buckle, crying out in pain, Callum stood fast, drawing fulminis.
Familiar, friendly, empowering, the spell coursed through him, its flow boosted through the vibrating pendant around his neck.
The bounty hunter wound up her blade overhead for a deadly strike.
Once more, the surrounding, charged weather seemed to amplify the power. The air crackled.
Zym bristled, adding even more energy.
He let the spell fly, his voice breaking at the word, "FULMINIS!"
The surge exiting Callum's hand was so bright it drowned out the sun, blinding everyone in its line of sight.
Thunder clapped, causing a shockwave that made dust fly, the pooling water around Callum sprayed. The wave even rustled the spines of cacti and tentacle trees in the distant forest. The spell impacted the bounty hunter, melting her blade where it was near the ground and launching her sideways. She landed face-down in the mud with a disgusting splash.
Callum sunk to his knees, disoriented and dizzy, his ears ringing.
But he did not stay there long.
Rayla's terrified sobs in the strange quiet drove him forward.
He looked at Kel, seeing a corpse.
There was no emotion in him.
He looked at Rayla, kneeling in the mud, clasping an arm to her bleeding stomach, crying, but looking at him, smiling with infinite relief in her eyes.
There was no emotion in him.
Still, he knew that he needed to - wanted to - help her.
His limp hand removed the scarf around his neck.
"Callum", she stuttered, blanching, with her glance wandering between him and the bounty hunter, "Y-you saved me!"
He wrapped his scarf around her midriff, tightly, to stem the bleeding. Without a word, he dropped his backpack, then picked her up. She shuddered with pain.
The prince began running towards the dust cloud moving away from them, slowly.
"Callum… j-just l-look at me! P-Please! Y-You can't g-go there! Th-they'll lock us u-up, o-or worse! Y-You need… to keep g-going with Zym!", she pleaded between ragged breaths, placing a hand on his cheek. He didn't say anything, didn't even flinch. It had all happened so incredibly quick. Her head spun.
From one blink of the eye to the next, her survival had shortened from a complicated explanation to a simple question.
He had killed someone. For her. Guilt surged through her.
She had passed on her responsibility and her greatest fear.
Rayla cried, "Don't do t-this to y-yo...urself! You di-didn't have a ch-choice!"
From ahead, around five mounted stags appeared, closing fast.
After a mere moment, the scouts encircled them.
"What is going on here?", challenged one, trying to stop Callum with his spear. Callum kept running, batting the weapon aside. Noticing Azymondias trailing behind them, the scouts somewhat withdrew their weapons, confusion in their miens.
"He's i-in shock!", Rayla shouted, "Don't hur-hurt him! Callum! S-Stop!"
He did so, abruptly. The soldiers dismounted, approaching them carefully. One of them bent over Rayla and gingerly peered under the scarf.
"Give her to me, human. We will take you to see a healer. Then you will explain yourself."
Callum shook his head, tears welling into his eyes.
"Cal-Callum, I'm doi-doing fine!", Rayla stammered from his stiff arms, "Y-you ha-have to l-let them ta-take me…"
"We will let you hold her. She needs help. Come."
One of the scouts carefully lifted her from his arms. Another helped the prince climb on a stag, behind its original rider. They passed Rayla up to him. He cradled her in his lap. Azymondias landed on his shoulder, but he barely registered the dragon.
Then the world turned into a blur as the animal started galloping.
He stared at Rayla's face, his entire self-experience nothing but numbness.
She smiled at him. "S-See, I'll be f-fine n-now, they have good h-healers, ma-mages!"
She wanted to reach out to pet his hair but her arm refused to move from his knee.
"Oh", she gaped with surprise as all color drained from her face, "That… really… reeks..."
She felt darkness encroach on her vision, fighting it, hard.
"Don't… blame y-yourself", she sighed, "I…"
He still stared, watching as her eyes fluttered to an uneasy close.
Impressions started flashing through his mind.
Her, with a berry in her nostril.
Her, sharpening her blades, lost in thought.
Her, singing to him shyly with soaked hair.
Her, frowning, lit by fire.
Her, in a moment of blushing, startled happiness.
If this was the end for her, he would not care what became of humans and elves.
He drew the line for sacrifice here.
He would not let her go.
She was a hard priority.