Thank you again to gagaball88 for beta reading this chapter!
The oppressive heat of the rising sun descended on Callum and his companions as they emerged from the tree wall. The ever-expansive gloomy forest, which had filled their senses for the past couple of hours, groaned in the wind behind them as the gentle, calming sound of a running river sang just out of view.
They were here.
In the back of the clearing, snuggly nestled into the woods behind it, stood the Banther Lodge. The sunrise glow bounced off the first floor's stone exterior, amplifying the silver of the various rocks and causing a shine that glimmered as the group approached. This reflection directly contrasted the second story's wooden walls, which, instead, captured the light and mixed it deep into its core before releasing a comforting, dark, golden-brown tint.
It was all just as Callum remembered it.
Callum, Opeli, Iris, and the crow master slowly and wearily made their way to the large double doors that signaled the entrance. Upon reaching the porch, a roof provided a small shelter from the light above, almost as if embracing them and welcoming them home. With a tiny bit of force from Callum, the doors scraped along the wooden floor before finally breaking free and swinging the rest of the way.
The familiar, homey smell of a wooden log cabin burst out of the now-open entryway, spawning countless memories. Memories like that of sitting by a warm crackling fireplace with Ezran and, more recently, Rayla, as they snacked on Barius' winter pastries while a raging blizzard ripped through the world outside.
Unfortunately, this was not one of those visits.
Callum let out a long sigh as he looked around. The great expansive interior of the building lay dormant, dark, and empty. Any light-giving torches had been long extinguished. A thin layer of dust coated most of the floor and furniture, though, a few particles remained suspended, carelessly floating about. Looking around, Callum noticed the occasional spiderweb materializing from thin air, glistening as the silk swayed ever so softly, carried by the slight drafts circulating throughout the building.
A set of footsteps signaled the likes of Opeli slowly coming up behind him. She silently stood next to him for a few seconds and then trudged towards the couch set up just to their left, her white outfit long since stained with patches of green and brown that desperately clawed at the fabric. Opeli squeezed her nose with her thumb and pointer finger as she sat down and closed her eyes, drawing a deep exhale before slowly shaking her head.
Callum heard the complaints of Ezran's glow toad behind him as it croaked in despair, leading Iris to prop the creature onto a nearby wooden bench that stood immediately to the right of the entrance. She offered a weak smile and knelt down to gently stroke the small animal. It looked back up at her, sadly, its skin overtaken with a washed-out gray.
The Crow Master nervously jittered as he walked through the main story. He seemingly inspected every little detail and was always off to the side, not directly looking at anybody else, almost as if he didn't know where exactly he belonged.
"You guys…. Make yourself at home… I'm going to bed," Callum finally said softly.
It dawned on him that he hadn't slept at all since the night before Sol Regem's arrival, and now the pure adrenaline that had carried him this far was finally beginning to give way.
Opeli gave him a small acknowledging wave, still not looking up from the floor or opening her eyes.
The stairs creaked out in despair as each step sank under the weight of Callum's body. To his left, a particular horizontal support beam caught his eye as he ascended towards it. The very same one on which Rayla had spent many nights. She, of course, had been offered a bed each time, but she always declined. She insisted that she enjoyed the feeling of sleeping out in the high canopy of the wilderness. It was more towards "her element" as she put it, and it wasn't like Callum could disagree.
It was almost like he could see her now. A faint ghostly image of his favorite Moonshadow elf, sitting against the vertical support pillar with one knee up against her chest, fixated on the wall in front. An absent expression was visible on her face as she concentrated hard on something deep within her. Suddenly, her body twitched, and her eyes blew up in surprise as she turned her head towards the young prince before settling down with a gentle smile.
Immediately, she hung herself from the wooden beam by her legs to reach his eye level. However, this was a hopeless endeavor, considering the mismatch in height between the beam and the staircase.
Callum chuckled softly to himself. Of course, she would do something like that. She was always the one that had to go for style points in absolutely everything. It was just one of the things he loved about her.
The phantom's smile morphed into a typical Rayla-styled smirk. "What's the matter, sad prince?" Her voice echoed out in front of her, seeming to reach him before he even saw her mouth moving.
Despite knowing this was all in his head, Callum couldn't help but feel the urge to answer. He wanted to tell her about everything, about everything that was happening in Katolis, about everything he was going through, about how much he missed her.
However, before he could even think about acting on those feelings, the image began giggling as it faded right in front of his eyes. It quickly dissolved into a plume of dust that drifted away in the wind, its playful laughter playing a haunting song into the distance. Callum reached out to his vanishing friend, silently pleading for her to return. But she was gone now, and Callum was left alone in the lodge's darkness that crept towards him with far greater aggression than before.
After collecting his thoughts, he slowly and steadily made his way up the rest of the staircase and turned towards the last door on his left. Turning the knob extra quietly, despite having no real reason to, he was greeted with the familiar sight of Ezran and his room, a narrow, but rather long space with a tilted roof and a window for natural light on its left side, untouched, like everything else here, since last winter.
Callum closed the door behind him and walked over to his bed which was propped against the right wall, waiting for him. He swept his hand over the top blanket and created a small puff of dust, which accumulated like a snowball before it emerged from the edge of the sheet and slowly settled towards the ground.
He sat there for a while, motionless, staring through the window in front of him. The viewing angle forced him to look straight into the clouds, which were steadily rolling by as if nothing was happening.
For the first time, Callum realized just how quiet it had become. Where in the castle, the silence occasionally broke through the movement of guards or workers, here, it was absolute. It was soothing, to an extent at least. After everything that had happened over the past couple of days, it felt like here, in this specific room, time itself had screeched to a halt.
He took a moment to look around his winter bedroom. Several cabinets and drawers for various items stood in front of him on the left side of the window, towards the door. They lay empty and dormant. A long-since unused toy chest that Ezran and Callum vigorously looted when they were younger was placed far back in the dark corners of the room, never to be opened again. In front of this, just behind Callum's bed, stood another, much smaller bed.
Ezran's.
Something within Callum snapped, and all of his emotions immediately flooded back to him. The horrible memories, the pain he had felt, and the longing for his brother all began to bubble up as he desperately tried to keep them down, swallowing to fight back the building tears. He shut his eyes tightly and hid his head in his arms, shaking it vigorously, attempting to gain some sort of control.
But it was too strong this time. Callum's futile efforts only delayed the inevitable. The mix of everything he had felt over the past few days, grief, regret, hopelessness, and rage, battered him without any semblance of mercy. And then, finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He gave up the fight.
And screamed.
The sound violently ricocheted off the walls, filling up the room in seconds.
Callum didn't hear much of it. He became locked in his own little cell as thoughts and feelings he couldn't even begin to describe overloaded his head.
His mind lost hold of reality and began spiraling, attempting to make sense of the overwhelming stimuli assaulting it from all sides.
The screams continued one after another, never-ending.
He rocketed up from his bed and began pounding the sheets as he wailed.
Again and again and again and again and again and again.
Tears rained down, staining the previously white bed with splotches of gray as the beating continued.
And he couldn't stop.
Blood rushed towards his head, turning his face a deep crimson.
The sound of someone running up the steps outside his room became vaguely audible, though it never properly registered.
Callum's body began acting autonomously, a thoughtless animal running on instincts.
He grabbed a pillow and threw it full force against the wall.
It toppled to the ground, a lifeless corpse.
Someone was banging at his door.
Yelling.
He didn't answer.
His legs lost all power and he fell to his knees, twitching violently with every sob that blasted through him.
"WHY?!" It was the one word he heard himself screaming.
It echoed over and over again. WHY?
Bang
The door flew open.
The sound of footsteps roared out behind him.
He felt himself being comfortingly wrapped into an embrace, allowing Callum to establish bits and pieces of clarity.
Somebody was on one knee beside him. He caught sight of a white cloak as he looked.
Opeli.
She hugged the boy tightly as he continued to wail.
"Shhh… It's okay… It's alright…"
"It… It's not fair… It's not fair… It's not fair!" That was all he could repeat. Over and over again.
"I know Callum… I know…"
"Well, it's about damn time-!" The Earthblood elf, head of his town guard, immediately clenched the gash on his face that was only now beginning to heal. He should've known that the shout would cause it to flare up again. Moving his jaw just slightly the wrong way still often sent a painful reminder of what had happened.
He grumbled silently to himself, trying to quell the flames in his mouth as he hurriedly made a beeline towards three arriving knights. He had been attempting to contact the King ever since that Moonshadow elf and her gang of misfits strode into his village. The response to his initial letter, sent immediately after the incident, informed him that his situation would be "looked into".
That was three days ago.
The three knights, busy tying their mounts to the nearby trees, looked up towards the Earthblood as they heard his voice. Although their facial expressions were impossible to determine due to the visors, their body language conveyed only mild interest, and after a quick glance, they immediately focused back on what they were doing, not paying the approaching elf any mind. Upon finishing, the knight who appeared to be the leader, audibly sighed before finally walking into town to meet the one who had called them, the other two following closely behind.
"Yes… King Sol Regem sends his humblest apologies," a monotone, female, Sunfire voice stated, sounding rather bored.
The Earthblood scoffed, shaking his head. Were they being serious? "Spare me your pointless excuses! How about, instead, you kindly explain why, with flying mounts that can get to most places on this continent in hours and Xadia's endless amounts of resources, it took his majesty this long to send someone over here."
"You must understand," A slight chuckle shook the knight's voice, as if she was stating the obvious. His blood boiled at the sound. "King Sol Regem is currently preoccupied-"
"No need to educate me," the guard hissed, "I am very well informed on current events." As if on cue, he began rubbing the ache slowly creeping in on his face once more. "I just wasn't expecting this to mean King Sol Regem would find the grievances of his own people unimportant."
The knight in front of him exhaled deeply and shook her head. "If King Sol Regem found us unimportant, he would not be going to these lengths to preserve our safety and security." She slowly took a couple of steps forward. "Although necessary sometimes, war is hard and confusing for everyone. Please try to consider this before making such baseless accusations."
The Earthblood narrowed his eyes before looking down at the floor. "Right… of course… my apologies." Though defeated, his voice contained a healthy mix of sarcasm which the knight either didn't register, or didn't care about, as she nodded subtly, apparently satisfied, before backing off to join up with the rest of her team.
"Now… in your report, you said that a couple of humans entered your village in search of King Ezran… correct?"
"Specifically, two elves and three humans… but yes, that is correct," he responded, a little annoyed.
"Would you be able to provide a description of these intruders?"
The guard groaned before reciting, rather uncaringly. "One female Moonshadow elf, pale skin, approximately a young adult, bearing teal and black armor; one adult female Skywing elf with red wings, turquoise and black hair, wearing a mostly dark gray and blue uniform; an adult, male, pale-skinned, blond human bearing white and black armor; a female, adult human with black hair, wearing similar armor and finally; a male, dark-skinned human with dark hair, wearing armor with multiple shades of brown, mostly made out of leather." He watched intently as the knight behind and to the left of the leader scribbled down his words before he finally sighed and said, "Satisfied?"
The leader looked at the others for a moment, and they nodded back. "That description meets our standards, yes."
Yayyyyyyyy.
The guard turned his head to his left and silently mocked the words "meets our standards" with his mouth.
"Aaand… do you know where they were headed?" the leader said as the writer appeared to finish with whatever they were doing.
The guard quickly and dramatically threw his hands into the air, letting them impact his sides with a notable smack on their way back down as he pulled a completely flabbergasted expression. "I don't know! They ran into that forest back there. We didn't give chase for very long after that."
The three soldiers glanced at each other, seemingly exchanging a silent conversation before the lead finally looked downwards slightly and spoke to her group. "Well… that's not much, but it rules out some options. They probably wouldn't have been able to continue in that direction for very long. The Sea of the Castout would've blocked them…."
"So that leaves…." the knight who had been writing all the information down started. A low, raspy male voice came from behind his helmet.
"Up north towards the Moonshadow Forest and down south towards the Ruins of Elarion…." the leader finished.
They then turned back towards the town guard, who had his arms crossed and was tapping his elbow with his index finger rhythmically with narrowed eyes, his impatience slowly mounting.
"Thank you for your information, sir. We will search the designated areas to the best of our ability." The leader quickly bowed before turning to leave.
That took him aback completely. His jaw unhinged as he watched in disbelief. "Wait… that's it?"
The leader turned back, tilting her head in what appeared to be curiosity. "You must be more specific, sir."
"Wha- What about all the assistance I requested? We need healers!" He quickly gestured to the other guardsmen who had been watching the confrontation. Some were clearly worse for wear, shaking and stumbling as they shambled about. A few faces twisted into a grimace every now and then as they grunted with the occasional attack of their injuries. A few bore markings of scarring red, scratched through various locations around their bodies. And these were the ones that were either well enough to continue service or insisted on doing so. A couple of others, who stayed in their homes and were cared for by their families, out of view from the spectators outside, had to be honorably discharged due to issues like head-related trauma or demobilizing injuries.
This village had its own healers, of course, and while they were caring for those affected by the battle, it had always been clear that they couldn't match the healing abilities of Sunfire Elves and their sun magic. It had never been an issue to bring them over here in the past, and just a few of those would aid greatly in a much faster and cleaner recovery, and would even allow for the reinstatement of guards who otherwise may have never been able to come back.
"Our job was to gather information on the outlaws so as to aid in discovering their location. We have done that. We are unaware of when further assistance will be sent. Rest assured. It will be at the earliest opportunity. Our current situation just requires you to have a little bit of patience," the leader said with a flat tone.
"Patience?! I'm out of patience! I have people who need medical assistance, now- ah!" The gash in his face, now disturbed from its slumber, screamed in rage, causing the guard to yelp and clutch the area tightly again. It then struck him that Sol Regem's forces had only arrived after he had sent a follow-up letter that mentioned that there were humans in the attack, and that they seemed to be after Ezran.
Were they even going to show up If I hadn't sent that?
"I understand your troubles, sir. But there is not much we can do-"
"Like hell, there isn't! You can't tell me every single healer we have is currently occupied with the war! This is completely unacceptable!" He was fuming. The sweat accumulating on his body would probably vaporize into steam soon.
"Your complaint has been noted and will be delivered to King Sol Regem as soon as possible."
Psschh, sure it will.
"Unfortunately, that's all we can do for you. As discussed earlier, these are the sacrifices we must make for the safety and security of Xadia. Good day, sir." They resumed their journey to leave, the Earthblood following closely behind.
"So that's it, huh? Just a weak apology and a promise my wishes will be fulfilled? His majesty was too busy to even show up himself? Had to send his three cronies to do it for him?! This is completely ludicrous! At least Azymondias would've-"
Almost immediately, the leader stopped dead in her tracks and instantly swiveled around with startling speed, causing the guard to have to react quickly, screeching to a halt to avoid running face-first into her.
Something in the environment shifted. The air around the guard crushed him as its weight piled on above. He couldn't hear the forest anymore. It was almost as if the chirps and cries from the animals had suddenly ceased, not daring to make a noise. Citizens, who had been watching the exchange, began to back off, some even retreating into their homes, not wanting any part of what was happening.
The knight stared him down wordlessly for what felt like minutes, but was most likely only a few seconds. She then marched over to him with such aggressive and decisive stomps that it almost made the poor Earthblood stumble backwards. She was centimeters away from him now, staring into his eyes with that cold, lifeless helmet of hers. He didn't like to admit it but a chill slithered down his spine at the sight.
"At least Azymondias would've… what… exactly?"
"I… I… uh… never mind…sorry… my apologies…" On top of raging nerves within him, he was completely baffled by his behavior just now. How or why did that manage to slip out? Why was he even thinking about that traitor right now?
The knight said nothing, simply staring at him for a couple more seconds before finally letting the tension dissolve as she broke eye contact and went back to her business.
The guard watched from a distance as they untied and boarded their mounts, departing into the sunlight, no longer paying him any attention. It felt like he was rooted in place, even after the Knights of Sol Regem disappeared over the treeline.
Once the earth finally had enough and freed him from its cruel, neverending grasp, he took a deep breath as he walked back into town, those who had remained outside still watched him with fixed, wide-eyed expressions as he approached.
I guess I have some bad news to distribute.
CLANG
The sudden and hard sound of the impact of two blades, followed by an ear-piercing screech as they glided across each other, echoed through the forest, disturbing the peaceful harmony. A group of sparks, spawned from the impact, leaped away from the silver metal before dissipating into the open sky. Rayla felt the vibrations slither up her left arm, firing a flurry of pins and needles into the appendage.
She grunted as Soren pushed her back, sending her stumbling a bit.
He smirked and used this moment of instability to go on the offensive, running at his target and attempting to catch her with a sideways swing.
Rayla, in response, ducked out of the way at the last moment, executing a controlled roll to the side to stay clear of his attack. Finding her feet, she almost seamlessly sprung out of the maneuver, regaining her fighting stance and wiping the clingy mud off her face. Her injured shoulder, of course, began to complain. However, she simply shook her head and discarded the sensation. With a sharp exhale, she changed her swords to hooks and yelled as she ran forward, ducking out of Soren's initial slash and using her momentum to slither around him with elegant speed.
The next thing Soren registered was the feeling of metal sliding under his feet, catapulting him into the air and giving him a good view of the sky before landing hard on his back with a definite "OoF."
Soren shook the stars out of his eyes just in time for him to notice his Moonshadow elf friend blitzing towards him for a finisher. After attempting to grip the hilt of his sword and finding nothing but air, he promptly but clumsily patted the grass, discovering his missing blade, and, in the blink of an eye, parried Rayla's strike. He then immediately grappled her arm and sent her plummeting face-first into a small pile of plants the team had gathered. Her blades flew off in front of her, the small, skinny flowers gently fluttering along with them. Meanwhile, Soren used the opposing force created by his opponent's takedown to generate enough swing to allow him to reach his feet once more, effectively performing a perfect swap.
Rayla immediately rolled over, a hot glare in her eyes, staring into the smirking Crownguard. As Soren stalked closer to her, twirling his sword in his hands, Rayla's foot shot out to meet his torso, catching him completely off guard. His once-sure expression quickly fell as he was blown backward, just barely able to keep himself from falling.
Rayla bolted towards him with renewed fury, not even bothering to pick up her weapons, as she yelled out a raging battle cry. For the first time ever, Soren felt frozen, dropping his sword in a panic and reverting to basic primal instincts. He put his hands in front of his face, a makeshift shield, as Rayla lept and soared through the air.
Oh boy, She was never going to let him live that one down when this was over.
"gaaAAAAHHHH-" was all the Crownguard could muster, seeing the former Moonshadow elf, now speeding projectile, quickly explode in size.
Rayla tackled Soren HARD, and the pair immediately flew backwards, sailing through the air before landing with a solid THUD as Soren's back crashed into a tree behind them.
Soren was coughing heavily, making desperate draws for air in Rayla's shadow as she towered above him. It took a couple of seconds for Rayla to simmer down, but soon, the realization of what she had done came to meet her. She gasped, cupping her mouth as her pupils contracted to a fraction of their original size. "Oh… oh… stars-Soren, I'm so sorry!"
Rayla hastily got down on one knee, her face wholly overtaken with concern. She gently placed one hand on his shoulder to stabilize him as he continued to soak in deep breaths. She quickly looked around the area to find the likes of her other teammates, each sitting against their own personal timber, staring back at her with wide-eyed, aghast expressions, though still managing to mix in a healthy dose of amazement. Well, everyone but Nyx, who was currently sailing above the canopy somewhere, doing some aerial scouting. Rayla gulped as she cringed at the sight.
Finally, Soren captured enough oxygen to form coherent words between gasps. "J-Jeez Rayla… W-what were you trying to do?...B-break my back?... again?" Soren's lungs carefully released a fragile chuckle, the best they could muster with their meager resources.
Rayla looked back at Soren, her head drooping to the floor, overcome with the cruel, building feeling of guilt that was now beginning to take hold. "N-no… I just… I-I don't know… I don't know what came over me… I…" she tried to explain further, but every other thought she had was stubbornly refusing to articulate itself. A war raged on in her head as she battled to think of the right words to address the situation.
Until now, most of the fight had been a blur to her, seemingly passing by in mere seconds with only the occasional still picture able to sneak into her memory. It was as if, for a moment, something had taken over. A burning acrimony from beyond the realms of the fight.
She had lost control.
"Rayla…?" The voice of Gren coming from her left interrupted her thoughts. A quick look over revealed that Amaya had begun signing, deep concern visible on her face. "Was this about that Earthblood incident? Do you remember what we talked abo-"
"It's not that," Rayla hissed, a little too harshly for her liking. "I'm Sorry… no…no… it's not that," she repeated, this time far less explosive.
Rayla sighed and allowed herself to gain her bearings while slowly trekking to their prior battlefield. Rayla and Soren's swords lay haphazardly strewn across the area, joined by the remnants of the destroyed flower pile they had built up.
The flowers were a lavender, connected to the star arcanum, and native to Xadia's warmer regions. Their name, Stasia, was a play on the draconic words "Stella Casia," which translated to "Star lavender." The plant was instantly recognizable by its beautiful, cosmic design. Looking at the petals of a Stasia plant was like peering far into the great beyond on a dark moonless night. A surplus of small, white, star-like spots which twinkled as one rotated the plant in their hand, dotted a dark purple backdrop, along with soft milky streaks that reached their way throughout the flower, uncannily resembling the different galaxies or distant space clouds. Beyond just its cosmetics, though, it also had some important uses. In combination with the properties of lavender, its magical abilities made it a popular choice for taking the edge off someone's pain, precisely what this group needed.
Ugh… what a mess I caused… again…
It wasn't that bad, obviously. They hadn't lost any of the flora. They just needed to be collected and piled up again. Still though… Rayla, yet again, couldn't help but experience that nagging feeling screaming at her that this was just another instance in the long list of her constant mishaps, causing mishaps was all she could do, even if her friends so adamantly denied it.
She shook the thoughts out of her head and returned to the subject at hand, grabbing the swords and walking back over to Soren.
"I… I don't know… there's just a lot going through my head right now…." she said to Amaya as she handed Soren's blade back to him. His breathing finally restored, he sheathed his weapon and looked back up at Rayla with curious interest. "And not just about the skirmish I caused back at the Earthblood settlement… just about… all this…." She gestured around haphazardly before sitting next to Soren, hugging her knees as she tried to figure out how to put her thoughts into words. "I'm…worried… about what Sol Regem's doing…about Ezran… about… Callum…"
She really was worried about him. She hadn't seen him in what felt like forever, even though it had only been a little more than a week since they parted ways. Stars…this all happened so fast… It was insane to think that just moons ago, everything was so… different. "I mean, Ezran is probably locked in some cell somewhere, having Garlath knows what done to him… and Callum… I don't know…knowing Sol Regem, him being in charge of Xadia can only mean bad things for humanity…." Rayla's blood went frigid as she thought of the possibilities of what Sol Regem was causing in Xadia… or even across the border. She once thought Callum was safe in Katolis. Now she wasn't so sure. "We have no way of knowing what's happening. We have no way of knowing if Callum is okay or even knows… And that… well… It scares me."
Even now, after all that time she had to grow out of her upbringing, it was tough to admit it, but she was scared, terrified, even. The thoughts of what could be going on just out of sight had constantly been plaguing her ever since she found out about what had happened to Zubeia… to Zym… her heart throbbed when she thought about what sort of mental hell her lover could be going through right now. She knew all too well his tendency to overthink, panic, and freeze up when it felt like the weight of the world was crashing down on him with everything it had. She was always there for him in those moments, to comfort and reassure him that everything would be okay, like he had done so many times for her. She'd always be the one to tell him that his dorky little head was just spiraling out of control again, to be the one to bring him back down to earth. And now, she didn't even know if he was alive. Or if Ezran was, for that matter.
Sure, her brief interaction with that Earthblood elf back at the settlement reassured her. Still though, Sol Regem never struck her as the type of guy who would be all too concerned about ethical prisoner treatment. She knew how easily things could change with the snap of a finger; everything happening right now was all the proof one would need.
Her eyes stung, blurring her vision as she weakly looked back at the leader of the battalion, an expression of pure despair taking hold of her face. "I… I just don't want to lose them!" Finally, the wall had crumbled, and all of Rayla's feelings and frustrations came flooding out without even giving her a chance to apply the brakes. Not that she wanted to now, anyway. It all needed to come out, and she knew it. It would've only festered into something far more nasty if it didn't. "And it's killing me! because I feel like I have absolutely no control over anything!" Rayla ripped one of her swords out of its holster and stabbed it into the ground in front of her, the metal piercing several inches down into the soil. "They could die at any moment, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it!"
They sat there, with Rayla violently panting as she calmed herself down and attempted to recollect her thoughts. Nobody said anything for a while, instead choosing to share looks of sympathy with the distressed elf.
Finally, as Rayla was just managing to regulate her pulse enough so that she could function normally, Soren cut in between her thoughts, his voice was empathetic, but also mixed with a feeling of… hesitancy? Uneasiness? She didn't exactly know how to describe it. "I understand, Rayla…."
Rayla cocked her head over to Soren with an eyebrow raised quizzically. He neglected to make eye contact, staring hopelessly at the soil instead. "I understand what you're feeling… I mean… Callum and Ezran have basically become my family now and…" Soren chuckled lightly but quickly fell back into the same expressions he was bearing prior. "But on top of them… I…I-...mmmm" He made several attempts to say something, each of them rolling over in his mouth and falling flat. Whatever Soren was trying to say, it seemed like something he had been keeping to himself for a while…something he wasn't exactly prepared to deliver right now.
Rayla was just about to reassure him that he didn't need to talk about whatever was going through his head if he felt uncomfortable, but at that moment, he finally seemed to find some of the courage he had been missing. "I'm really worried about Claudia…."
That caught Rayla off guard. "Claudia?"
She immediately stopped herself, though. She shouldn't have been surprised that that's where this was going, and the pained expression Soren gave her immediately made her feel awful.
"Y-yeah… I mean… I've been thinking about her ever since she vanished…She's out there somewhere all alone and…I mean… I know she made some bad choices, but…." Soren took a moment to swallow, a familiar fluid building up in his eyes that had also been plaguing Rayla herself just moments earlier. "She's still my sister! I've been longing for her to come home ever since that day. Worried about where she was, if she was okay, or even alive…it hurt! You know?To not have any news about where she was…as if…as if she just completely vanished off the face of the earth."
Rayla mentally hit herself in the face as her chest bubbled in sympathy for the distressed Crownguard. Of course, Rayla had her reservations about Claudia. From the instant they met, she had been virtually nothing but trouble, and honestly, Rayla still didn't know if she could forgive her after everything she had done. However, regardless of all that, Soren was right. It was still his sister. Rayla's thoughts about Claudia were so overtaken with worry and paranoia about where she could appear again or what she could be scheming that she never seemed to truly stop and think about how this was affecting him.
"Soren…" Rayla started gently, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I don't know…." Soren threw his hands up ever so slightly, staring into the woods ahead. "I guess I was just worried….You know… I felt like… you all just saw her as the enemy, and if I expressed how I felt, you'd all…think less of me? I don't know… I was pretty new to this whole good guy thing, I guess…and I didn't know what the rules we–"
"Oh, Soren… c'mere!" She quickly wrapped him up into a supportive hug, which he returned tightly, to the point where Rayla almost had to warn him about cutting off her airflow. But she didn't really care about that now, instead, she looked up at him with an expression of reassurance on her face. "Nobody's gonna think less of you for worrying about your sister, okay? That doesn't make you a bad guy, Soren…quite the opposite, actually…shows you care, y'know?"
Stray tears began running down Soren's face, congregating at his chin before falling and staining the hair of the young Moonshadow elf, though Rayla didn't mind at all. Even the big strong dumb lump of a Crownguard needed a big feelings time every once in a while.
Soren continued lightly sniffling as he separated from the embrace. "Thank you… Rayla…this meant a lot to me…I didn't… I didn't want to make this about me, but…"
"Oh, hush you!" Rayla gave Soren a playful punch to the arm before he could finish, silently cackling to herself as he rubbed the newly developed sore spot, letting his own little giggle go in the process. "But… I do want to ask you something while we're on the subject…." Rayla dropped her playful tone. "H-... how did you deal with it? Claudia's disappearance, I mean."
Soren sighed, his body drooping down, slowly melting.
"I-i'm sorry. I hope that didn't come out wro-"
"No, no… it's okay," Soren assured as he waved her off. His eyes pulled down towards his hands as he wrung them nervously within each other. "I mean, to be honest? I barely did… I guess… I guess I just had to hold out hope… No matter how hard that was… hope that she was still out there, that she was okay, that she could handle herself, and… that she'd come home someday…that's easier said than done, of course ..." He began blinking rapidly in what seemed like an effort to hold back further tears. "I… still remember plenty of nights sitting on my bed where I almost lost that hope… thinking that that was it… that she was never coming back… i-it was hard… attempting to force my head back onto the right track each time." He looked back at Rayla, his eyelashes long damp at this point, and gave a weak smile. "But… I knew… I knew I just had to believe in her…no matter what happened…."
The idea sank deep into Rayla's thoughts as she tousled it around. She supposed that made sense. It wasn't the answer she wanted. Holding out hope in this situation was…as Soren had said…much easier said than done, but she couldn't expect a step-by-step guide in dealing with something like this. It was funny…because she could've sworn that what he had suggested was exactly what she had been trying to get Callum to do back when Ezran first went missing. She had to stick to what she believed back then… she had to hold out hope for both of them. She had to believe in them as she had done many times before. As hard as that would be…she'd find a way…
"But… if I'm going to be honest… t-that's starting to get harder for me now…." Soren started again. "I mean… with everything that's going on… you know, if we had found her, I'm sure we could've figured something out. Or I could've convinced you all to be lenient with her, but… now, if Sol Regem catches her…."
He didn't need to finish that sentence. There was no doubt. If Sol Regem caught her, it would be game over. Seeing how Soren was reacting to that revelation, the thought brought her much more pain than she could have predicted. She placed a hand on his shoulder, a warm smile spreading across her lips.
"Hey…" she started gently. "Listen… Sol Regem may be big, scary, and powerful…but he's also a complete idiot." Her face transformed back into her signature snarky grin. "I'm not sure if Sol Regem even knows she exists. And even if he does, if Claudia managed to elude us for two years, then Sol Regem doesn't stand a chance." Her eyes glistened with determination as she hammered in her point.
Rayla's smile was apparently contagious because Soren's own smirk quickly returned as he nodded. Seemingly loosened up, he leaned his head back on the tree behind him, peacefully looking through the canopy into the bright sky above, the sunlight harshly reflecting off his face, making his already pale features even paler. "Yeah, I guess you're right…." he said quietly.
"Of course I am! I'm always right!"
"Oh, you are, are you?" Soren looked back at Rayla, a challenge glinting in his eyes.
"Mmmhm… What? Don't you think so? Ya big oaf?" She crossed her arms, firing Soren's expression right back at him.
"And what if I don't?"
"Hmmm… I don't know…." Rayla went into mock thought, placing her finger on her chin and idly staring skyward before returning to her challenging grin. She bolted up from where she was sitting and immediately unsheathed her blades.
Soren noticeably jumped as they flicked open with a definite swish, now staring at the spotless metal pointing him right in the face.
Rayla's smile deepened, her head blocking the rays from the sun, casting a dark shadow on her face as her hair fluttered in the wind. "Perhaps we should settle this…."
Soren took a moment to process everything before eliciting a small, confident chuckle. He then slowly moved to unsheath his own sword, gently running his fingers across the blade. "Maybe we should."
Rayla dropped one of her swords briefly to help Soren up, never breaking the fiery eye contact that they held between each other.
"So…" Suddenly, Rayla heard Gren's voice interrupting their one on one staring contest. She immediately swiveled her head over to the source of the sound, slightly startled. She had almost forgotten everyone else was even here. "Is this going to be a repeat of what just happened, or…?" She found Gren once again translating for Amaya.
Rayla giggled slightly at the suggestion. "Naaah…" She looked back at Soren, the challenge in her smile virtually disappearing, now appearing far more genuine. "I think this one will go a little differently…."
A few minutes passed of Soren and Rayla sparring. They traded blow after blow, never escalating beyond light-hearted competition, losing track of everything else as they were completely sunk into the battle.
Suddenly, a crash in the canopy above ripped them from their game. Rayla had to suddenly stop herself from following through with the charge she was about to execute on Soren as none other than Nyx appeared dead in front of her. Rayla nearly lost her balance as she dug her feet into the dirt, helplessly flailing her arms until she regained control of her body.
She was just about to scold Nyx and ask what the hell her deal was, when she noticed her frantic and panicked expression. "Everybody, take cover, NOW!"
With there clearly being no time to explain, Rayla obliged, sprinting after Nyx, who turned around and dove into a nearby bush. The rest of the team didn't waste any time, either. They immediately gathered their belongings and scrambled toward the nearest piece of cover, ducking under a particularly opaque portion of the canopy or following Rayla and Nyx's example and claiming their own hedge. Within an instant, they had completely cleared out the site that previously laid host to five people, leaving nothing but the scattered array of flowers as evidence of their visit.
Rayla, seeing the opportunity, looked over to the Skywing, who refused to unglue her gaze from above, squinting her eyes as she carefully peered through the cracks in the ceiling. "Care to tell me what the hell is going o-"
"shhhHHH," Nyx hissed. Then, without moving her head, she began to whisper carefully. "I saw something… three hotcats… looked like they had riders…"
That told Rayla everything she needed to know. Joining Nyx, she kept her eyes on the sky. However, said sky remained empty as time passed, with nothing but the occasional puff of white. Her heart slammed harder and harder, and her hands carefully tightened their grip around her blades as the seconds slowly ticked on. She became hyper-aware of her surroundings and noticed as previously quiet sounds of the forest burst into large cacophonies that grasped at her attention.
"Were you seen?" Rayla whispered.
No answer, just a shrug of Nyx's shoulders.
That did not relax her at all. If what Nyx had said was true, and those riders had indeed seen her, then Rayla wasn't exactly sure how this would work out. Nyx never mentioned how many people she had seen, only that there were three hotcats, and honestly, Rayla couldn't blame her for that one. Due to Nyx being in such a hurry, she probably didn't have time to conduct an exact headcount. But even if her team had the numerical advantage, Rayla knew all too well from her own training that with the right skills, you could match or even outmatch your opponent despite being outnumbered. These people could be crafty, waiting for just the right time to strike.
The thought made Rayla tense up even more. Cold drops of sweat began to slowly drip from her brow, occasionally coming into contact with her eyes and smudging her vision as the hands on her weapons became increasingly clammy.
A branch snapped behind them.
Rayla almost jumped out of her skin as she immediately turned to face the wilderness, scanning carefully for anybody who could be trying to get the jump on them, only for her to realize that the forest was empty. There was no branch. She had merely heard the sound of a creaking tree as it caught a powerful gust of wind.
Rayla exhaled, attempting to douse her flaming nerves as she turned her attention back towards the heavens. She tried to rationalize. These didn't necessarily have to be soldiers, right? They could just be civilians going on about their day… they didn't have to be an immediate threat. These frantic attempts did little to calm her, however.
Each second that ticked by seemed to drag on longer and longer as nothing changed. Rayla almost wished something would jump out at them now. At least that would end this foreboding feeling she had.
Then, suddenly, out of nowhere…
"Well!"
Rayla almost stabbed Nyx through the sheer jolt the sudden vocal incursion had given her. "Doesn't look like anyone's coming, so I guess we're okay." Nyx immediately stood up and strode back out from their shelter. "Coast is clear, everyone!"
Rayla sighed and slowly moved to follow the Skywing elf, looking around to see the other members meekly wandering out of their hiding spots. They were all clearly shaken in their own ways and still unsure of trusting their surroundings.
Nyx was the only one who now seemed uncaring about the whole deal, having returned to her classic aggravating self. She made a quick stylistic twirl, scanning the treeline before facing the group with a self-satisfied smirk and putting her hands on her hips confidently. "Nope! Seems they turned around. Better things to do, I guess…" She then noticed the chaos at their campsite. "Hey! Who ruined our little pile?" She gleefully hummed to herself, practically skipping to the flowers dispersed around the field. The group had reluctantly agreed that she would be the primary consumer of the plant, given that her torso injury would prevent her from doing her necessary aerial surveillance otherwise.
"Yeah… that… or you got spotted, and they're sending reinforcements…." Rayla replied, crossing her arms and glaring at her.
"Rayyy…. Relax, hunnn!" The Moonshadow elf narrowed her eyes as Nyx turned back to her with a piece of Stasia propped between her thumb and index finger. "Nobody saw me. I have an excellent disappearing act. I figured you, of all people, would know that-"
Nyx stopped as Rayla began to stare daggers into her soul, a gaze that could make even the mightiest of Archdragons cower in fear. Nyx, however, simply brushed it off with an "Oop." Placing the tips of her fingers on her mouth with a cheeky smile on her lips. "Right… guess that's still touchy territory for you, huh."
Rayla groaned in frustration as Nyx made a show of chewing on the herb, slowly nibbling away at it with a carefree smile on her face.
"Still… We should get moving. I don't want to take the chance that your disappearing act didn't work" Rayla started as she began to gain her composure. "Also... It's about time we leave, anyway… we're not getting any closer to Ez just staying here," she said with a sigh as she began gathering up the rest of the Stasia strewn across the floor.
"Well, technically, we don't know if we're getting any closer to him by moving either." Nyx chimed in with a self-satisfied expression.
Rayla had to fight with all her will not to run and wipe it right off her face. She took a deep breath, pretending to ignore her.
That's it, Rayla,
In…
Out…
She wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of a reaction. That would just be counterproductive, and besides, there were far more pressing matters at the moment.
The rest of the group pitched in to help, soon after Rayla began, gathering the scattered plants and storing them in the saddle bags of the Moonstriders. In a matter of minutes, they were all packed up and onboard their mounts, ready to set off once more.
Rayla took one last look at their home for the past night before she led everyone into the dark forest, unsure of what awaited them.
A small family sat in silence, their eyes fixated on the wooden table in front of them. The dining room felt unfittingly cozy as the last rays of the sun's fleeting light filtered through the house windows. A slight clank signaled a plate being placed gently onto the furniture. A mother's soft, booted footsteps on the wooden floor helped in filling the noiseless void as she walked in a slow, open circle, setting the white porcelain disks at each of the three different seats arranged for the house's residents.
It was a relatively modest house, with a front entrance connecting straight to the dining room and kitchen, and narrow stairs which led to a smaller, second floor as they ran up the left wall. Pretty standard for a family of this size in Katolis City. In any other circumstance, its warm, encumbering nature would immediately cease any stress the family endured. Not in this case, though. Instead, it all just felt cold and dead, just like the world around it.
The mother sighed as she took a long, hard look out the window into the street. Not a single soul was out tonight. What would typically be a bustling avenue of people coming home from work, children playing, families taking a refreshing sunset walk, and people just generally going about their business, had become a dark, empty wasteland, bearing an ominous resemblance to a ghost town. That was, of course, except for the occasional group of Sol Regem's knights who patrolled the streets like hawks. They were easily identifiable, even from a distance, with their red hot spears casting a faint glow on the surrounding area. It would become the only light source tonight, as not a single street lamp was burning. No one had ever bothered to light them. And thus, the road was plunged into darkness as the sun continued to slip below the horizon. Not even the bright lights of the castle, which usually blazed high above the city and always captured the awe of the townspeople, could gift the capitol with their orange gleam. In their place lay nothing but a shadowy black mound, an eternal reminder of who was in control now.
"Mommy?..." She heard the voice of a young child and immediately swiveled to look back at her son, seeing his timid and nervous expression. "A-are we still gonna go to the park tomorrow?"
The boy's face lit up slightly with a glimmer of hope, and her heart shattered. "Ohhh honey…" She started gently, her voice riding the exhale as she slowly approached the young one and wrapped him tightly in her arms. "I'm so sorry…but we can't."
"B-but… Tomorrow's Sunday…We always go to the park on Sundays…." The mother pulled back to see her son looking back up at her, distressed and slightly betrayed.
She put a hand on his shoulder, gently rubbing it with her thumb, and delivered a rather unconvincing smile as she fought back her own tears. However, each second spent looking into his confused brown eyes only made the task harder. "I know… I know…and believe me, we would if we could, but…things…things are just…a little complicated right now, okay?"
The boy stared into his mother's eyes for a moment, clearly struggling internally with something, before looking down at his plate, defeated. "Okay…"
"Hey…" The mother said, trying to cheer him up. "I promise you. We'll go as soon as we figure everything out, okay?" It was an empty promise. She knew that. She didn't know if they'd ever be able to "figure things out" with how things were going. But if there was any chance of lifting his spirits, she had to try and take it. She didn't want him to fall into despair as well.
She slowly got up to return to her seat, holding her forehead with her hand and shaking it the whole way back. These were no circumstances for a boy like him to grow up in. She had no idea what his future would look like now. The idea that this one event would rob him of all his opportunities and experiences assaulted her with a fiery wrath as she took her seat and tried not to break down.
It was her husband that snapped her out of her thoughts. "So…how are we looking on food, by the way?" She looked up to see the man uneasily picking at his dish with his fork, an expression of uncertainty showing back at her. "Do you know how long it's gonna last?"
She sighed, beginning to think about the subject. It was a reasonable question. With the current state of things, every small shop and business had closed its doors, and there was no guarantee that they would open tomorrow, the day after, or even anytime soon. "Well… we're lucky. I just recently took a trip to the markets before all of this broke out, so…" She paused to look at the cabinets behind her. "We should be almost fully stocked for now… If the markets don't open, I'm sure we can make it through at least two or three weeks if we plan a little….maybe more if we ration…"
"And what then?"
"I don't know…." Truthfully, she hadn't thought that far ahead yet. "I guess…hope that someone opens."
"And if they don't?"
She propped her arm on the table and nestled her head in her elbow. "I don't know… hope that Xadia has enough goodwill left to feed us?" It was a completely desperate answer. She knew it. She didn't want to depend on the nation that had just marched into their kingdom unannounced and forcibly removed their ruler, but she honestly didn't have any other ideas. Truth was, they would be in deep trouble if those markets never opened again.
The scoff she heard from her husband told her everything she needed to know about what he thought of that idea. "Come on… do you really think they care enough?"
Although she knew he was right, there were still quite a few seconds of silence between them as they looked into each other's blank eyes. "No…" she finally replied helplessly. The fork she was holding clattered on the plate before her. "No, I don't…." She crossed her arms under the table, biting her lower lip as she thoughtfully stared at her dish.
"Wait…" The voice of the youngling again. "But…but…I thought Xadia were our friends now…"
"Not anymore…" The father said bluntly. His wife shot him a glare. Did he really need to lay it down so hard? For god's sake, he could try maybe being a little more delicate.
"But… I thought the King of The Dragons was nice…."
"You're thinking of Azymondias, sweetie…." His mom smiled gently as she slowly got up from her chair and walked back over to her boy, the floorboards rhythmically creaking with each movement. "And you're right… he was nice… and I want you to hold him in your memory like that… okay?" She kneeled next to her son and rubbed his cheek just a bit.
"But… but…" His eyes were watering as he desperately tried to formulate a sentence. She forced herself to look at her distraught kid, as hard as that was. He just looked so… lost… so utterly helpless.
Soon, it was too much to bear and she quickly cut him off, placing both hands on his shoulders. "Hey, Hey," Her smile straightened out as she developed a more concentrated expression, using all of her strength to maintain eye contact. "I know things are really complicated right now… but I promise you it's going to be okay… we're going to get through this, alright? Do you know why?"
The kid sniffed and released a shaky breath. "Why?" He asked weakly…
The mother wrapped her fingers around his hand and held it tightly as she revived her comforting smile. "Because we'll be there for you… me, your father." She pointed quickly to her husband, whose lips were also curving upwards. "We're not going anywhere, okay? No matter what happens, we'll always have each other…."
Her son took a moment to seemingly think things through, a completely deadpan expression on his face, until finally, he looked back at his plate with a hushed "okay…."
His mom nodded and gave her son a quick pat on the back. "Good, now start eating. Your food is getting cold."
She then swiftly walked over to where her husband was sitting and embraced him. They stood there momentarily and exchanged a brief chaste kiss before she hiked back to her own seat.
She took one last look at her family before digging into her food.
Everything is going to turn out okay.
It has too.
It was only a few minutes until commotion began outside. The house walls muffled the sound, but it seemed like… yelling? The mother immediately turned her head towards the window behind her. However, it sat just above the counter, and from her eye level at the chair, she couldn't see much of anything beyond the tops of the houses across the street or the stars emerging in the night sky.
Her husband seemed to take notice of his wife's distress. "Don't worry about it," he said reassuringly, "I'm sure it's nothing." He was wearing that warm, disarming smile that always immediately relieved her in situations like this.
"Mommy?" She heard her son say. "What's going on?"
After a small, deep breath, she decided to go the same route as her husband. "Nothing… nothing's going on. Don't worry about it, sweetie. Finish your dinner."
Right then, a sudden, ear-splitting sound nearly made her rocket out of her seat.
The sound of a fist banging on their door.
Three distinct, aggressive knocks, occurring in rapid succession, echoed throughout the dining room. They bore a characteristic metallic sound and were so hard and heavy that she swore she could feel the room's vibrations with each one.
All three of them sat in silence. The two parents stared at each other, eyes wide and startled as they thought about what to do. They didn't know who was at their door but, of course, she already had the worst-case scenario in mind. However, she tried not to think of it, hoping to find other possibilities.
"Mommy… wha-" The onslaught of three more knocks slamming against the door, far heavier and angrier than the last, cut the boy off. He began quivering, letting out weak squeaks as he slowly began shrinking into himself.
It was an awful sight to see.
Determined to get to the bottom of this, the mother slowly approached their kitchen window, and her heart sank as she finally saw what was happening.
The street was filled with small groups of knights, marching in some kind of formation, their spears out and ready. A few of these parties had a human in tow, which they shoved along every now and then if they failed to keep up with the pace they had set.
Holding her breath, she craned her neck over to the far right where, sure enough, she found that unmistakable golden armor she had become all too acquainted with over the last day, right at her doorstep.
"Mom… what's happening?"
"Upstairs, now!" She sternly turned and pointed towards her son in the blink of an eye.
The sudden outburst sent a shocking jolt through the little boy. His eyes began to water as he looked up at her, pleading, "But…wha-"
Another bang on the door.
"You heard your mother," the father joined in. "Go upstairs." He commanded as he slowly got up from his seat.
The poor kid began inching backward, his face torn between terror and confusion.
"Hey… it's okay…." The mother softened her tone, offering a smile of reassurance. "You're not in trouble, just please… go upstairs now… I'll call you when you can come down, okay?"
More bangs, this time hitting the door in what seemed like full force. "Knights of Sol Regem! Open the door now!" A male voice yelled out from the other side.
They were getting impatient.
"Everything's going to be okay," she offered kindly, not knowing if she believed it herself. "Just go upstairs, sweetie."
Her son took one last look at her, almost like he was about to start crying then and there before squeezing his eyes shut and racing up the steps.
The mother sighed in relief as she heard the fading pitter patter of his feet, followed by the haste slamming of a bedroom door. She stole one last look at her husband and focused on her breathing as the pair cautiously approached the entrance to their house.
At last, her husband pulled the door open, revealing two knights, their faces hidden by their visors, seemingly peering into the couple's soul.
"Took you long enough…." the one on the right grunted. Through his voice, it seemed like he had been the one yelling through their door moments earlier.
"What do you want?" Her husband hissed.
"Good evening, you two." The other knight started in a friendly tone, oddly making him sound all the more intimidating. The wife was unfamiliar with most elven accents, still not having interacted with elves all too much in the last two years. But even she could hear that these were two different types.
"We have come to inform you that due to the ongoing situation with the other Human Kingdoms, your household has been randomly selected to offer up one or more of its members to the Knights of Sol Regem, effective immediately."
Her husband scoffed. "You want us to help you fight your war? I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen." He pointed at the knight, who just stared back at him silently. "This is your war, and now you have to deal with the consequences."
The elf sighed before speaking again, the sound of disappointment evident in his voice. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid you've misunderstood, sir…this is not aninvitation. Under the order of his majesty King Sol Regem, your household will offer up one or more able-bodied persons to fight. Whether that be willingly or by force is up to you. But… I highly recommend that you two not start any trouble on day one."
The one on the right began tightening the grip on his spear.
The wife's stomach fell through the floor. This couldn't be happening, not now. This had to be some nightmare that she couldn't wake up from. They couldn't do this to them… it wasn't…it wasn't fair.
"No!" she blurted out, startling even her husband as she tightly gripped his arm. "You can't take him away! You can't! You won't!" Her eyes filled with tears as she lashed out angrily at the two, guarding the man she had spent most of her life with. They weren't going to take him from her now.
"We never said it was him who had to go." The knight said. "The order calls for one or more able-bodied persons from each selected household. You are more than welcome to come with us instead."
She inhaled to say something to object, but a quick tap on her arm stopped her. Looking up, she saw her husband's eyes, filled with despair, guilt, and a hint of acceptance. He shut them and solemnly shook his head, his message clear. And with that, with visible tear tracks rolling down his face, he kissed his love one final time, loosened himself from her grip, and began slowly walking toward Sol Regem's forces.
No…
"No! You can't go! You can't-" She attempted to scream, but sobs cut off her voice. He couldn't leave, not now. There had to be another way. There had to! She needed him! Their boy needed him!
"A wise choice…." The self-satisfied smirk of the left soldier was audible in his voice.
The wife's anger began taking over once again. Her vision blurred with salty liquid generated in her fury. She felt she could barely stand. Her legs shook violently and she began clinging to the door frame for support. With blood pooling in her face, she muttered. "You…you-"
"Gloria…" Her animosity immediately dissipated when she heard her name, softly spoken with a delicateness that she had listened to a million times before. Her husband had turned around now, flanked by the Xadians on either side of him. Exhaustion was already visibly taking hold, continuing to drag his face down as he looked up at her, despondent. Despite that, he managed to force a feeble attempt at a smile. "Take care of Kevin for me."
She felt a heavy blow pound through her chest as the words sank in. She watched helplessly as her loved one turned back around and was pushed forward by his captors. "No… No… Wait!" She pleaded, her requests falling on deaf ears. Waterfalls emptied out of her eyes as the grief overtook her. "No! Wai-"
"NO!"
Her heart jumped out of her chest at the familiar young voice.
When did he get down here?!
There was no time to say anything, as she felt the desperate force of her son pushing past her, making a mad dash for the knights, who had only made it a couple of feet away from her doorstep by this point. "Don't take my dad awa-!"
He tried to land a weak punch on the left one but was taken by surprise as the armored man immediately turned around and ripped the kid up from the ground by his shirt collar, sending him flailing. "Little brat!"
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SON!" His mother ran to her boy's defense, only to be stopped by a spear inches from her neck as the other knight intercepted her. She raised her hands in surrender, feeling the harsh heat of the weapon from its proximity.
Her poor son was shaking intensely as he looked up into the knight's helmet, making horrified little whining noises as he tried to push himself away from the iron grip. "MOMMY!" he cried out, desperately and frantically trying to reach out to her.
"Please…" Gloria begged quietly. "He's only a child…."
The knight holding the kid stared into his face a little longer before finally scoffing and sending him off with a firm shove. The little one flew backward and slammed into the corner of the doorstep, right on his shoulder, which made a distinct pop on impact.
"Kevin!"
Kevin pulled his arm in and began clutching his shoulder tightly, whimpering and sharply drawing in air through his teeth as he slowly rocked himself back and forth, his sounds gradually turning into weeps with every movement.
"Hmph…" The one who had thrown him gazed at the boy's mother. "Learn to keep that kid of yours under control…." he said uncaringly, and she glared daggers right back at him. The husband only had a brief time to show a similar face before he was shoved forward again. "Move."
After the spear was finally lowered from the mom's neck, she immediately ran over to her son, carefully cradling him in her arms, trying desperately to calm him down.
"Shhhh… It's okay… It's okay…." She gently rubbed his shoulder. "Oh, honey… why didn't you stay upstairs?" The boy didn't answer, his eyes still shut from the pain. He seemed on the verge of wailing. She could see that now really wasn't the time for this question. "Hey… It's gonna… you're gonna be okay…okay? Don't worry. I'll see if I can get Dr. Mona to check on it tomorrow, okay? You're gonna be fine." The words were spilling out faster than she could think of them.
"M-mommy?" Her son finally managed to speak in between his painful cries. "Where- where are they taking Daddy?"
"I don't know, honey…." she said truthfully. She looked out into the street, seeing that her husband had disappeared into the commotion. Her eyes soon locked onto a distant flagpole, usually proudly carrying the flag of Katolis. Not anymore. In its place was a flag with a growingly recognizable depiction of Sol Regem's face on a background of complete blackness. The dying sunlight only energized its features as it stared down at them. "I don't know…."
Near the entrance of the barren, dead desert, illuminated by nothing but the light of the moon, the stars overhead, and the warm glow of the lava river, the great Sun Dragon stood. He smiled, taking in the familiar Xadian air as he slowly relaxed and lowered his head. His knights scrambled out of the way of his immense figure, which blasted a thundering BOOM as it made contact with the sand below. Many of the fleeing knights were pelted with the displaced grains as they formed a mini-sandstorm, spreading outward from the impact sight.
Sol Regem was exhausted, a feeling that a great and powerful being like him was hardly acquainted with, but he had not slept at all since departing for Katolis. What a busy time it was, indeed. He had spent the immediate hours after the big event there and the early hours of the next day, overseeing operations in the kingdom to ensure a smooth transition to Xadian power, and to help suppress any uprisings, should they arise. However, to Sol Regem's glee, Katolis seemed truly and utterly defeated. The once mighty kingdom was suffocated with a dying whimper rather than a raging fire. He had laughed to himself about their pathetic weakness before when they had surrendered, and now, the thought amused him once more. He didn't know what it was that helped put down the kingdom so quickly, whether it was Callum's little disarming speech, the true effectiveness of Sol Regem's plans, or that they had simply overestimated Katolis and its people, and, to be honest, he didn't care. He just had to thank them for making it so easy for him.
And so, confident his forces could keep the kingdom under control, he and his inner circle set out for Xadia and had spent the last couple of hours flying. By the time they had made it back, Sol Regem could feel the strength in his wings begin to give way. He had run on nothing but the graceful rays of the sun the past day, but now that those were gone, his energy was finally, totally sapped.
Not many people would consider a deserted land like this comfortable. To Sol Regem, however, it had been the environment he had familiarized himself with over the past couple hundred years. To him, it was home, and he finally allowed himself to drift as he took one last peaceful deep breath.
That peace ended when he heard a screech off in the distance, followed by the flapping wings of a Hotcat—a visitor. The Sun Dragon grumbled as he lifted himself from his half sleep, annoyed, hearing the sound of the mount landing just ahead of him.
These things always came at the most inconvenient times.
He waited as the visitor slowly dismounted and walked towards the dragon, his patience leaving him a little more with every passing moment.
"Good evening, Your Majesty. My sincerest apologies for bothering you at this hour, I know you've had a long day, but I have urgent news regarding Azymondias."
Sol Regem found his spirits raised a little as he heard Meera's voice, though, a tinge of concern also seeped in as well due to the tone she spoke with. It was dead serious, with a hint of fear or uncertainty. "Ah… No worries, Meera, please do tell."
Meera took a moment before speaking. The anxiety in her voice then blossomed, becoming far more audible than before. "I… We've still been unable to contact the search team, so we dispatched a group to retrace their steps and..." Sol Regem sat silently. His expression slowly weighed into a deep frown as he listened. "...It… didn't take long to receive word back from them…Your majesty…all five members of the search team have been found deceased in a small woodland area just north of the Storm Spire. An autopsy revealed several burn marks on their bodies, consistent with those of electric shock. I…I fear they may have entered an altercation with Azymondias and did not survive the encounter."
Sol Regem growled as his rage bubbled to the surface. A small, steady stream of smoke leaked out of his nose, barely visible in the surrounding darkness, only distinguishable as it glistened in the light of the stars. "I… I said… I warned everyone not to underestimate him…." Azymondias was in one of the weakest states he could be. The job should have been easy had they not gotten cocky. But no, they knew everything better, right?
"Your Majesty…?" Meera's voice snapped him from his thoughts, turning some of his anger into focus. "If you wish, we could organize a new search team. I'm sure if we use more precautionary measures, we'll be able to track him down and take care of this threat," she offered, confident.
It was a sentiment that Sol Regem did not share. "No… It's not worth it… " He sighed, defeated. "He could be anywhere by now…and you'd just risk the same thing happening again…I hope you realize now the threat that he poses."
He paused for a moment.
It would have to come down to this, then…
Sol Regem had hoped it never would, but it seemed that only one solution remained. Azymondias was even more dangerous than he'd initially thought, and no matter what happened, Sol Regem absolutely could not let the news of that dragon's survival reach the Human Kingdoms. If they learned that he was alive, Sol Regem didn't know what the consequences would be, but no matter what, it would stand in the way of everything they were working to achieve. "Deliver a message to all the communities of Xadia and tell them to meet here in two days for a public address."
The time for Sol Regem's desperate measures had arrived.
Callum gazed into the twinkling starlight outside his room, lying entirely still. He was snuggly cocooned in the crisp Banther Lodge bed sheets, as if being warmly embraced and protected from outside danger. It was a comfortable feeling that he had always fondly remembered from all of his visits. Something that usually, no matter what, would always allow Callum to cross over into the dream world. However, this time, its effects seemed muted.
It was likely because he had already slept almost the entire day after his episode that morning. That event had sapped the absolute last of Callum's energy, and after he finally composed himself, his exhaustion took over completely. He had just barely made it back up to his bed from the floor before collapsing.
He woke up to the sun's orange light dipping below the horizon, having no idea about how or when the blanket was pulled over him. And so, here he lay, spending the last couple of hours staring out into the darkening wilderness.
Finally, Callum sighed, frustrated, and tossed himself over so that he faced the wall before he forced his eyes shut. He had tried to go back to sleep a couple of times, but each attempt ended up with him observing the same outdoor scene. His mind still buzzed with static, a fallout from the incident which had not subsided. He hoped the physical break from line of sight with the window would aid him in his efforts, but he wasn't too optimistic.
After a couple of minutes of idly sitting in the void of his eyelids, he heard something that caused his heart to drop. The sound was muffled by his bedroom door, yet he could still identify it clearly.
A firm knock coming from downstairs.
Nobody ever knocked at this hour, and a visitor would be even more unlikely in their current circumstances. There was only one thing Callum reasoned it could be.
Sol Regem's knights had discovered the lodge.
Callum's heart began to beat against his chest as he slowly got up from the bed and uneasily made his way toward his bedroom door. He didn't know how Sol Regem figured out the lodge's location, though he guessed it would be easy to find with the resources available upon taking control of the kingdom.
What do they want?
That lingering question and the uncertainty of its answer continued to drive his hesitancy with each step.
He really, really didn't want to answer the door after everything he had already experienced with them, but he knew he had no choice. If knights were really at his door, things would only get worse for him if he didn't comply.
Slowly walking down the main staircase, the sight of Opeli greeted him. She stood on the bottom floor to his left, cautiously approaching the front door as he was. The creeks of his descent alerted her and her eyes shot up to meet his.
Opeli's expression matched his own, grave and deeply worried. They wordlessly exchanged a whole conversation before the knocks sounded once more, like a carbon copy of the original set.
"Yeah… Yeah, I'm coming…." Callum said, helpless, in a volume he wasn't even sure anyone outside could hear.
However, upon opening the door, he froze as an unexpected sight greeted him. Standing before him was indeed a Sunfire elf, complete with Hotcat in tow. Their armor, though, was a far cry from the picture he had gotten used to in recent days, bearing far more resemblance to that of classical Lux Aurean armor he had seen so many times during the brief period of peace. A familiar face, exposed through the lack of helmet or visor, looked back at him with a faint and nervous, but ultimately friendly smile.
The familiar face of Janai.
"Hello Callum, It's… been a while."