Claudia ended up going with them for the day, even though they didn't really want her to. But Callum learning magic could be extremely helpful, in case they ran into any elves who didn't particularly like Callum. Which, unfortunately, seemed pretty likely.

"Claudia?" Callum asked, looking behind him at Claudia. She appeared to be getting a little bit distracted. He walked over to her, in an attempt to see what was so distracting.

"Look." She said, staring at something, "These are really rare."

"That's nice, Claudia." Callum pulled her away from whatever it was, "But uh, I don't think we really have time for distractions."

"He's right," Rayla added, "Let's just find a place for you two to do magic so you can leave."

She sighed, "Okay."

Claudia really couldn't help all of the feelings she got. She knew they were right not to trust her, but she still couldn't help but feel bad, or disappointed whenever they talked about her leaving.

She had actually started warming up to Rayla, too. Callum and Ezran had kept talking about how if they just had a conversation, they'd probably become friends.

Claudia hadn't been sure about that, but when she did talk to Rayla, she could sort of imagine it. Not like they were really friends - still had awhile to go there - but not really enemies. They were getting somewhere.

It was part of the reason she didn't want to do it Soren's way, the main reason of course being betraying her friends, and the fact that these were their friends and they would not like it. But if it went wrong, like it did, it'd be difficult for Callum, Ezran and Rayla to trust them again. And she didn't know if Rayla had even trusted them the first time, even a little bit.

They had been sent out on a mission, and they had to do that mission. But Claudia was hoping that maybe it'd count if they returned with the princes after they returned Zym.

She really wanted Callum to trust her again. She wasn't sure, but Ezran seemed to, since he was the one who suggested her going to help Callum and Rayla. He was her friend, and they had known each other for a long time.

They were the reason she considered trusting Rayla, because they trusted her. Though, now, Rayla trusting her seemed unlikely.

Claudia sighed. She had no idea how she was going to convince them to trust her again.

They had been walking for awhile, though there were plenty distractions. Claudia pointed out various magical creatures to Callum, and sometimes plants.

Sometimes, they just seemed to be distracted in their various conversations.

"Callum."

"Yeah?" He asked, turning towards her. He seemed to notice she was further than he was, and caught up. Claudia looked at whatever distraction it was this quickly before following him.

"Come on." Rayla said, continuing walking, "You can't keep getting distracted."

"Right," Claudia replied, before pointing out, "You know, over there looks big enough for me to teach you those spells, Callum."

"Really?" Callum questioned.

"At least one of them." She added.

Rayla sighed, as they all went towards where Claudia had pointed out. It was a pretty big area, somewhere they probably wouldn't get caught.

She sat down, watching as Claudia started teaching him magic. She did a quick drawing of what Callum would be doing.

"Let's start with the ice spell I mentioned. I'm not sure how useful it'll be, you might not be in the right situation." Claudia explained, "But it's still pretty cool to know it, even if you don't end up using it, right?"

"Yeah." Callum agreed, "So this is the first part of it?"

"Yep." She smiled, and and told him how to do the rest of it. Rayla watched as Callum attempted it. Claudia seemed to be right about needing a big area, she noticed, as the ice was pretty big.

"Whoa."

"Wow, you really got the hang of that quickly." Claudia said.

Callum smiled, "Yeah, I guess."

"It's pretty cool, right?" Claudia asked, "I'm sure you'll find a great use for it here."

"Probably. So, what other spells can you teach me?"

She glanced at Rayla, "You know, you should probably work on that one for now. I mean, you should probably get back to returning Zym."

Zym ran around Claudia and Callum, presumably attempting to play. Or just get their attention. Claudia picked him up and proceeded to remind him how adorable he was.

Rayla walked over to her and gently took the dragon out of her hands.

"That's a good point, I guess." Callum agreed, "And we probably shouldn't stay here too long."

"Exactly." Claudia smiled, and turned towards Rayla, "So, we should go?"

Rayla sighed, "Fine."

They were right. Returning Zym was more important, even though she wanted them to get that whole magic thing out of the way so they didn't have to have Claudia around. Rayla didn't know what she was up to, but she had to be up to something.

It seemed like she was trying to get them to let her go with them, at least for a couple of days. And Rayla wasn't going to let her do whatever it was she was planning on doing.

While Claudia walked beside Callum, she kept an eye on her.

She was surprised at how fast Callum had gotten the hang of that spell. Claudia didn't expect him to get it so quickly. Though, she was glad they all agreed with her on the other spells. She just needed a few more days, and maybe she could convince them to let her help them.

If they didn't, at least Callum would know a few more spells, though. Even if she didn't convince them to trust her.

A/N: hey how long does a fanfiction have to be to be called a 'slow burn'?