From the second Callum woke up, he was sketching.

Ancient skylines were burned into his memory and he frantically drew before they could fade. The vividness of Aaravos's memories of Elarion were waiting for him every time he blinked as he drew all he could remember from his dreams, the view from the tower window, the city as he flew overhead, proudly situated between mountains and the sea. He'd flipped past his Ancient Draconic notes, confirming that they were there, and was filling several page spreads from memory of tall spires and scenic city views.

Ezran leaned over as he took a bite of jelly tart, watching Callum draw so furiously that his fingers were smudging with dark grey. "Woah. What's that of?"

Callum wondered how to explain it. "I've been having visions."

A half truth, a half lie. He hated it when people did that, and yet it was the best he could do.

Rayla sat beside him as well with her own plate of breakfast, peering over. "That's gorgeous, wherever it is. You know, the mountains remind me a lot of… well it can't be, can it?"

"Where?" Callum asked, not looking up as he drew. "In my dream, I was flying over this place, taking in all the sights, but I know I've never been there." Maybe it would be less suspicious if he didn't know more about it.

She nodded. "Well, that's the thing. It's all ruins now. That's Elarion, where humans used to live in Xadia. It's right by the Sea of Castout." She turned her head away, shoulders low. "It makes sense you might feel a connection to it, although I've never heard of anyone who's seen visions like that."

Callum kept drawing, and even Soren got curious enough to look at it from across from him, getting an upside down view. "You don't think… I mean you don't think it's got anything to do with Aaravos, do you?"

Callum hesitated, and in that span of time Ezran shook his head. "The mirror shattered. If Aaravos was going to control him or talk to him or something, wouldn't it have been when we were in Umber Tor?"

His reasoning was sound, but still wrong. Soren seemed relieved, nodding as he further convinced himself. "Yeah! And like, your eyes haven't done the weird thing. I was always creeped out about that when my dad or Claudia used dark magic."

Callum paused his sketching, leaning back to take in the latest one, the city on the scores of the sea, the mountains as a backdrop. "I know this sounds crazy, but I don't think Aaravos wants to hurt me. If he did, he's had other chances."

Rayla grimaced. "Maybe he needs you for something."

That was close to the truth. Too close. "I mean, for what? Even if that vision was from him, it doesn't make sense. He showed me a flourishing city, not the actual ruins that might lead to something today."

Ezran frowned. "Was it from him?"

Oh no. "I was saying, if it was." Callum flipped to a clean page and started drawing again, this time a straight down shot, showing the streets like a map, enhanced with the unique building tops lining them. "I think it's… I think it's that I have a connection to this place, Elarion. It's where humans used to live. Now I'm back in Xadia, I'm a primal mage, and it's like I'm supposed to know all this, see all this. It's important to all of humanity. I feel it."

Ezran seemed convinced, but Soren shifted in his seat, anxiously shoving whatever food was near him in his mouth. It happened to be plain bread. "You got bone feelings?"

"Huh?"

"What Claudia was saying to me when we were alone, back in the forest. Something about how humans understand suffering in their bones."

Callum remembered the grief he'd felt, looking out at Elarion as it was. His home. Their home, taken away from them, and for what? "She's right. Humanity was driven out from Xadia, sealed away with no structure or resources with resulted in centuries of war with ourselves. Of course we understand loss and suffering in our bones."

Soren and Rayla didn't seem to understand, exchanging worried glances, but Ezran nodded. "I dreamed of getting to go to Xadia all my life. I think I understand… but it can't be a reason to go to war."

Something inside of Callum reared it's head for a moment, hissing. What other reasons should wars be fought, than to right wrongs? He didn't know if it was his voice or Aaravos's.

Soren saved him. "Well, this is more than just wanting to travel. It's all after she started talking to Aaravos. She was never like that before. Even my dad, weird as he is, wasn't."

Callum put his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. "I get where she's coming from. I mean when you sit down and think about it all… everything, on both sides of our border, has been caused by pain. It goes back forever." He looked at Zym, who was silently watching the conversation, tail swishing nervously. Callum held his hand out, welcoming him in for a hug. "But we can't let it control us. We have our own choices to make." Zym licked his cheek, and that seemed to be the end of it.

Rayla stayed quiet, but Callum didn't know what more to say. He wondered how much they suspected with these outbursts from him, yet he knew he was entirely in control of himself.

They wouldn't understand that he wasn't just another human mage, led astray by Aaravos. He had to keep the source of his knowledge secret.

Callum almost felt like he was the one using Aaravos for his own personal benefit.

-BREAK-

"Ventum magneticus!" Callum was fighting a losing battle. Once he had the ball, he immediately sent it forward. "Aspiro!"

He and Aaravos stood several meters apart, far enough away to comfortably play catch. They were back in the classroom in Elarion, almost like they were student and teacher having a normal day. He could forget it was only in his mind for a while.

Aaravos used the wind to immediately send it back to Callum, who struggled to say the incantation fast enough and wound up catching the ball in his hands with a frustrated groan. "You're getting there. Try to use the wind without needing to say the words," said Aaravos. They'd been going at it for awhile, playing handless catch— until Callum inevitably couldn't keep up and had to catch the ball manually.

"There aren't many mages who could do that, aside from you."

"Oh? It requires a deep connection, yes, and concentration, but I believe you can do it." Aaravos nodded to Callum, ever the patient instructor. "Try to send it to me without saying Aspiro."

Callum held the ball out from him. He scrunched his face up, thinking Aspiro! as hard as he could.

The ball bounced to the ground without so much as a breeze near it.

"Try again."

Callum tried a few more times, but Aaravos didn't seem to be bothered by his lack of progress.

"It's a new skill, you'll get there," Aaravos reassured. "You know the feeling you have when using the spell? Think of that. Think of everything but the spoken word, which you know and have to know to use it. Focus not on the syllables of Aspiro, but its meaning."

Callum thought about it as he held the ball. "So it's like understanding it beyond the word? Like, if I was to translate it into another language, it's the meaning that carries over."

"Yes, that may help." Aaravos waved his hand at a nearby candle, lighting it and then dimming it again. "Eventually, manipulating your arcanum becomes instinctive. Without having to say the incantation, you'll get faster and more adept."

"I guess I can do that when I summon wings sometimes." Callum widened his eyes. Maybe it was possible. "I wonder…"

Aunt Amaya spoke through her hands without having to sound out words. Callum spelled a-s-p-i-r-o out with his fingers, thinking. Sign language was nonverbal, and sometimes they made up signs, like for people's names. He didn't think there was a sign for anything in Draconic, at least not in human sign. Maybe, if he assigned a motion to Aspiro, it would work.

Callum decided to make the sign part of how he usually cast Aspiro, just a determined exhale of his breath. It was faster than saying it aloud, and it just might work. He concentrated, held the bouncy ball in his hand, and blew, thinking Aspiro!

There might have been a bit more of a breeze than before. Callum deflated. "I don't think this is working."

"It takes time. It's something you can try in the waking world." Aaravos made a book fly into his hands from a shelf, seemingly effortlessly. He then made it fly back, again without words. "I like the touch of how you tie the spell to your breath. Magic is a part of you, so you're on the right track. Use all of yourself to understand it more, and it'll come more naturally."

Callum nodded.

Aha. Epiphany. "Alright. I think I can get this to you without saying it this time."

"Try me."

Callum threw the ball as hard as he could, no magic required. Aaravos caught it with a laugh. "Never forget practical solutions either."

They exchanged grins.

Callum's chest ached.

He wished their lessons could last forever, but he knew they were doomed to only have a short time. The clock was ticking too fast. His expression dimmed and Aaravos stepped close, gentle as he looked Callum over. "What is it?"

"I've learned so much from you in only a few days. You're an incredible teacher." He frowned, staring up at Aaravos. "Every mage could learn so much from you. Not just mages, but everyone. You have so many gifts and so much knowledge. Why couldn't you have stayed a teacher? Why become what you did?"

Aaravos sighed. "I saw too much to stay a teacher."

"But-"

"No, Callum, I couldn't stand by and do nothing when I witnessed an unjust world form, a world which is still skewed today. I had to be careful to keep hold of my reputation, but I tried to fix it."

"With disasters? With assassinations?" Callum's voice echoed, not just with anger, but betrayal, grief.

Aaravos arched an eyebrow. "Disasters to whom? Was that bit of history left out for you? Humans being pushed out from Xadia was not my doing. Some of what has befallen the dragons and elves, who neglected humanity, well… "

"I want Xadia to be humanity's ally. We want peace with the dragons and elves, not war!"

Callum expected a lecture. A rant, maybe. Instead, Aaravos seemed dejected, a bittersweet smile on his face. "Your name suits you well, Callum. Did you know it means 'dove'? You yearn for peace, but that is difficult when the other side doesn't."

"You've got it wrong, things have changed! They're changing right now, with Ezran and Zym!"

Aaravos thought for a moment, hand on his chin. "You said you met Sol Regem, yes? Was it before or after you used Dark Magic?"

Oh no. "After."

"Ah. Did it go well?"

"He tried to kill me on sight." Bad phrasing. "On the spot, I mean."

"Is that justice to you? He was like that before losing his sight, by the way. I found my first apprentice's ashes scattered around my staff. Supposedly, his safety had been guaranteed. Ha, and they call me a betrayer."

Callum grit his teeth. "Listen to me. Ezran once told me that defending peace takes as much strength as war. It's hard. It's really hard. You don't have to tell me what Avizandum or any other dragon did. We have to focus on the now, and not on the wars of our parents. You're stuck in the past."

Aaravos again took a few moments to think before responding. "Yes, it may seem that way to a human. I've witnessed everything within my own lifetime. It is not a matter of problems that started generations ago, but one continuous mess in my eyes."

"Maybe you don't believe me. Maybe some elves and dragons will never accept us. Maybe some humans will never want to go to Xadia because they don't all care about magic or anything else but their own lives. Have you thought of that? You can't just say any group is all the same! We don't all want the same thing, but we're finally talking and trying."

"So should your generation and those that come after continue to suffer?" asked Aaravos. "Progress as you describe it will take a long time, with no guarantee it will ever resolve. Humanity waged war on Xadia, and for good reason. Xadia pushed the boundaries, yet again. Xadia has never given reparations, or tried to make amends, doubling down on the idea that humanity deserves to rot. The only way to get Xadia, backwards and cruel, to change and make amends is by force."

Callum didn't know how much he really should be saying about what Aaravos couldn't know yet, but he was tired. "My aunt is marrying the Sunfire Elf queen!" he blurted out. "Humans and elves have been living together outside of Lux Aurea's ruins for two years now. People on both sides are crossing over the Scar left by Viren. Just- just shut up and listen to me!"

Aaravos seemed stunned. "You can't expect me to believe that a human is marrying-"

"I do! Because it's true."

Callum stepped close to Aaravos and, in contrast to his initial fearfulness of him, felt emboldened by his turbulent emotions. He grabbed Aaravos by the shoulders, half yelling, half crying.

"You know what I would tell someone who wanted to understand the Sky arcanum? I'd tell them that the sky is about freedom, that their destiny is their choice, and to not keep making stupid decisions just because of the past! I'm sorry you've seen too much! I'm sorry you've been imprisoned for centuries, I'm sure you're angrier than I could ever understand, but you can stop it! You don't have to come back and wage wars or try and force Xadia to its knees!" He sniffed. "When you're free, because I don't think we'll be able to stop you, you'll be free. You don't have to do any of whatever you and Viren were planning."

People generally didn't go up to the most powerful beings they'd ever met and start shaking them and yelling, but if any of it got through, then Callum thought it was worth it.

"Callum… what I've already done will never be forgiven." Aaravos put a hand over Callum's. "Even if I had your wish, I would never be allowed the life you envision. I will never be free. I will never be able to live out in the open. I certainly couldn't be a teacher on a university's payroll. There is nothing left but to finish what I started. Even if it kills me, humanity deserves to flourish without being beaten down."

Nothing left? Callum shook his head. "What about what you've done for me already?"

Aaravos softened. "Would you like to run away with me?"

Callum stared blankly. "...huh?"

"I could show you every primal Nexus. I could spend years teaching you every secret I know, every spell, every rare and forgotten piece of Xadia's lore. You could know Xadia under your feet as intimately as any Earthblood elf, and the waters as well as the Tidebound elves, and the sky and all the celestial bodies like you never have before. You have the makings of an archmage, under my teaching. We'd be on the run, but I'm sure we'd manage."

Callum hesitated to commit to anything, and in that space, Aaravos smiled ruefully, continuing. "Or do you have a life full of friends and family already? You are a prince, Callum. I doubt you could ever drop everything and abandon your little brother. You have a life already charted, as much as you talk about freedom. It's one you feel you're making the right choices with. In this, we are alike.

"I have no quarrel with you, or even with Ezran. You're right, that this all started centuries ago, and I am obligated to use my power to shape the world into a better one."

"What do you expect me to do, then?" he asked listlessly.

Aaravos stroked Callum's cheek, wiping away a tear. "Stay out of my way. Be safe."

Oh.

Callum had expected Aaravos to say join me, fight with me. To that, he could have rebelled, yelling about how he wasn't another dark mage to use, not a pawn, not anything else that people thought Aaravos might try and use him for. His actual response somehow hit Callum harder. A lump formed in his throat, anew.

"I can't do that. You know I can't do that."

" Please, Callum." Callum hated when Aaravos's voice cracked, when he pleaded with him, when he felt so emotional that Callum wanted to cave and do whatever he said. "As you've pointed out, this isn't any of you or your friends' fight."

"You're making it our fight."

"Everyone in Xadia blames me for this, must you too?"

"Yes," he said, stubbornly.

Aaravos's chuckle was warm, soft, so close to Callum that he could feel the vibration of it. It was another split second moment when he was reminded again of Harrow in Aaravos's presence. He thought back to the letter his father had left him, able to see the parchment clearly in his mind, reciting the words he'd memorized long ago. "I remember something my father told me," he said.

"Soon you will face a lie. The great lie of history. Advisors and scholars will tell you that history is a narrative of strength. They will recount stories of the rise and fall of nations and empires. They will be stories of armies, battles and decisive victories. But this isn't true strength. It's merely power." Callum swallowed hard. "I now believe true strength is found in vulnerability...in forgiveness, in love. There is a beautiful upside down truth, which is that these moments of purest strength appear as weakness to those who don't know better. For a long time, I didn't know better. I ask you and your brother to reject history as a narrative of strength and instead have faith that it can be a narrative of love.

"He wrote this to me before he died. I know his story is over, but mine goes on. I don't want to fight you. I don't want to fight you," he repeated, his vision blurred with tears.

"I don't want to fight you either."

Silence stretched on, and Callum's hands dropped from Aaravos's shoulders. Aaravos looked out a window, pondering what Callum had said. "This world would be a better place if more people were like him."

"You could be."

"To all those who look at me and my life, little dove, my choices have already been made."

Callum was insistent. "What someone thinks about you doesn't matter. What matters is who you truly are. Perception and reality aren't the same, and you shouldn't let it control you."

In Callum's bag next to where he slept, the moon rune on the cube flickered, just briefly.

Aaravos widened his eyes for a moment, and then bowed his head, pensive, the dream ending.

"Whatever happens, Callum, I swear I won't let you get hurt."