It didn't take Callum long to find Viren. He soared through the uppermost tree branches, the pleasure of flight diminished by the guilt gnawing away at his insides. Even from above, he could see Viren's expression was still stormy as he strode through the underbrush of the forest.

Callum folded his wings in, swooping down to land in front of Viren, stumbling. "Wait!"

Viren paused in his tracks. His surprise quickly faded, arms folding. "What? Did Aaravos ask you to come and tug on my leash?" His words were rough, but his voice was defeated.

Did Viren feel trapped?

"No, no it's just me." Callum's feathers faded, revealing more of the blue tone of his Skywing appearance. He'd rushed to find Viren without a thought as to how extraordinarily difficult it was to talk to him, and especially when Viren was in a bad mood. "I came to apologize. I couldn't just sit there with what I said."

Viren scoffed. "Why? It revealed some truth."

He was right, but Callum pressed on, gesturing to Viren. "And you revealed some truth too. If Soren knew you didn't actually feel that way about him, I think things would be a lot better."

Viren rubbed his forehead. He had never seemed the type to shy away from stating his mind and being direct, but Callum could sense the fight inside to force his words out. "You don't understand that Aaravos didn't need to say that for Soren to think that way. Yes, I'm livid at Aaravos, but even moreso at myself." Viren shook his head. "It's too late for me to do anything to fix this. What I've done is unforgivable."

Callum was inclined to agree. Inclined, but not set on it.

There was a whole list of reasons he could throw in Viren's face to hammer in how much he deserved to be exiled. It had been easy to view Viren as a target who needed to be eliminated. It had been easy to hope Rayla had accomplished her mission over those two years. It had been easy to think that after Viren fell to his death, a nightmare had ended.

However, Callum had gotten to see him as a person. At Claudia and Aaravos's insistence, he'd witnessed more of what he thought Harrow had once seen. The Viren in front of him wasn't one he thought he knew anymore.

It made things more difficult.

"I think you should try." Viren's shell cracked at Callum's words, shock clear on his face. Callum took the silence and filled it. "I think you and Aaravos are both trying, even though people may never forgive you. It's all you can do, right? If you were still attempting to hurt Ezran or go to war or anything else you were doing, we couldn't be talking right now, but we are! Isn't that amazing?" He gasped for breath. "Listen, I've hated you for years." Viren inclined his head and nodded slightly at Callum's bluntness, his stature saying, fair enough. "I used to think you were just a monster. I see now how that isn't true, even if you've done horrible things. I remember Soren's face when Aaravos said what he did through me. It hurt him, and it hurt because there's still something between you two, even if it's faint. Soren doesn't want to lose you or be hated by you, and if you feel differently, you have to tell him that," pleaded Callum. "I don't know if it will ever be okay again, but try."

Viren looked aside and let his arms relax, hands at his sides. He was good at expressing anger or frustration, but he seemed lost when addressing whatever he was feeling then. "I suppose that's one way to look at it." They stood alone in the forest, a soft breeze blowing through. Callum waited for Viren to figure out what he wanted to do. "Let's walk a bit farther."

It was a risk, but some stolen time alone was apparently worth it to Viren.

Callum didn't feel much better, but he followed Viren. If this was a day for having it out with uncomfortable topics, he might as well go for it. "Do you feel like Aaravos wouldn't let you go if you wanted to?"

The silence that stretched on as they meandered down a trail made Callum wonder if he'd crossed another line. Then, Viren spoke softly. "I can hardly believe I'm having this conversation with you. Might as well, I guess. No, I don't think he would harm me or bind me to him if I did want to leave. He could. But he won't. That's why this works at all."

There was trust there, enough to put weight on, enough to withstand this impromptu test.

Viren sighed. "To be clear, I want to stay. I'm sure that's been difficult to read." Viren continued, his voice finally level, as though he was able to untangle his words with ease the more he voiced his thoughts. "It's different when you're older, when you have histories. We've both been cruel. We both have to change. It feels like I'm having to learn how to do these things on a stage while traveling with company, but I suppose it's not so different from when I was married. If Claudia was so inclined, I'm sure she could tell you about how much Lissa and I fought near the end."

No adult in Callum's life had ever been so candid about their relationships before. He could hardly believe they were having this conversation either.

"I'm sorry you haven't had time to work stuff out," said Callum, awkwardness creeping back into his tone. Aaravos wasn't an easy sort of person to read or get to the heart of things with, and Callum had had the luxury of having dreams with Aaravos for them to fight out most of their problems. "I guess I kind of get it. Ezran or others would talk to me about Rayla, and it was sometimes stuff I hadn't even considered, or even mentioned to her. It's weird that people from the outside can guess at or observe us with people we're close to."

Viren nodded. "That is the nature of things. Every person has their own angle and viewpoint concerning every detail about us. We are ever in each other's thoughts. How accurate those thoughts are or how charitable are out of our control. Horrifying, isn't it?"

Callum had never considered that outside of how Aaravos talked about reality and the moon arcanum. He wondered if Viren had felt especially scrutinized in the years he'd known him at the castle. Always cool, closed off, shielded from prying minds. It seemed lonely. "It's not always bad."

Birds sang from overhead. Sunlight and shade dappled together to make their walk refreshing. Callum could see Viren's tension fizzle out by the minute. It was almost a casual, nice outing together, a first for the two of them.

Viren broke the silence, still following a deer trail through bushes and patches of meadow. "If I can ask you a personal question, I'll call today even."

Callum could barely detect a sense of lightness in Viren's tone, as if he wanted to tease but wasn't comfortable enough doing so. He was being given an out. "Alright. I don't have to answer."

"Aaravos has trained us well with the technicalities." Viren took in the sights around them as they walked. "Has Rayla ever done something you couldn't forgive?"

It was just a tossed out guess, but it still hit Callum at the heart of the last few years. He didn't have to tell Viren anything, but something in him wanted to.

Harrow had died before they'd ever had a talk like this. Callum had never gotten to talk about a girlfriend with either his birth or step father. Viren wasn't close to being either of them, but it was something.

"Yeah," he replied. Callum spoke lowly, also avoiding Viren's eyes, but taking in the calmness the forest provided. "Uh, long story short, we discovered that you weren't actually dead because of a trip Rayla took through a magical portal to look at the world between life and death."

"Okay. That sounds like something that could happen."

"We planned to find you together to uh, kill you." Awkward. "She left without me. She left a note and I had nothing else for two entire years. I thought so many times that she might've died. I was so worried. It was on my birthday, too, and I couldn't celebrate with the others." It felt good to get it off his chest again, to lay it out for someone else. "When she came back, I couldn't just get over it no matter how much I wanted to. I should've been happy, I was happy, but I couldn't let it go. Then I felt bad that I couldn't let it go, and it was just sort of a spiral of bad and more bad for a few days."

He expected Viren to not take the circumstances well, but Viren smiled wryly. "I see I was ruining relationships even while dead." His brows furrowed and he stopped walking, mentally counting. "Odd. If I got the date of your birthday right, that was when Claudia completed the spell to bring me back."

"Huh." Did being brought back from the dead count as a birthday? "I guess we have something in common." Callum didn't feel like keeling over when admitting it, which he took to be progress.

"Perhaps." Viren wasn't so difficult to talk to after all. "It seems we both know of the murky place between forgiveness and pain. It's ugly. It cannot be rushed. I suspect Aaravos is somewhere within that feeling towards the entire world. I wonder if any of us will live long enough to see him freed of it."

Everything stilled.

The birds were silent and even the grasses in the wind seemed to have hushed. Callum only had a split second to ready himself before several drakes burst out from foliage surrounding them.

Callum tried to quell the sudden rush of fear he got when he realized that Viren was practically defenseless. Viren stood at his back without so much as a walking stick to his name. However, Viren held his head high as the handful of Drakeriders closed in, a few of the bridled mounts snapping their jaws at them.

Viren spoke first. "What do you want?"

The Earthblood elf on the biggest mount glared down at the two of them, face twisted with disgust. Callum had no idea how many different Drakerider groups there were, but he didn't recognize any of them. The elf huffed. "So, we got a human and a Skywing. Between the two of you, I don't know who I like the least."

"Hey," protested Callum.

A different elf patted her dragon as it sniffed at Viren, who was doing his best to stay still. She gestured to Callum and Viren. "They don't seem to be armed."

"We have nothing to offer you," said Viren, as if he wasn't under any pressure at all. "We're only passing through."

The elf who Callum assumed to be the leader spoke again, showing off his horns that resembled ram horns as he spoke. "You talk funny. Both of you. See, you can find something to give us to make this little stop worth our while, or we can tell the big bad dragon we found some suspicious characters lurking in the woods. Everyone's been on the lookout lately, and I hear the reward is good."

Callum had never been very good with tactics or diplomacy.

"I'm one of Queen Zubeia's scouts." Callum gestured to the staff on his back, primal stone glowing above his head. As he spoke, he turned so the end of the staff hit Viren in the leg, hoping he could take a hint. "Rex Igneous won't appreciate it if you bother him with her business." He jerked his head towards Viren. "He's my prisoner."

"Yeah?" The Earthblood elf rolled his eyes. "Looked like you two were just chatting away like you're on a picnic."

Uh oh.

Viren jumped in on the lie too, as feeble as it was. "I complained so much that he didn't bother restraining me anymore." Callum felt Viren's hand close on the staff, knuckles brushing his back.

"It's a damn wonder he didn't gag you too, then," retorted the female elf. "Come on. We don't have anything to lose by bringing them in."

Callum and Viren exchanged eye contact.

The second Callum opened his mouth to cast a spell, he suddenly didn't need to anymore.

Vines surged up from under their feet, lashing out at the assembled Drakeriders. A few of them got entangled in the writhing mass of plants right away, but a few others leapt into the air, taking flight away from the vines. Callum conjured his own wings. "Grab on!" As Viren held onto Callum, Callum caught sight of the cause of their rescue.

Aaravos, disguised as an Earthblood mage, strode into the clearing, smiling to himself as he made the earth churn, reaching at the elves who'd ambushed them.

The smile unnerved Callum.

One of the vines didn't settle for merely restraining a dragon. It dug deep into its foreleg, the creature screaming as it bucked its rider.

"Don't hurt anyone!" shouted Callum. Aaravos jumped slightly, startled.

"Why? So they can harass someone else?" asked Aaravos. Callum spread his wings, Viren holding on behind him with a death grip. His wings shielded an elf from getting pierced with a vine as Aaravos sought to drive it into them. Aaravos changed course at the last second to avoid hitting Callum. "What are you doing?!"

"We aren't leaving a trail of bodies in our wake. We aren't doing things the way you used to!" Callum insisted.

Aaravos flicked a vine at a dragon that had gotten too close to Callum, snapping at the air like it was a whip. The dragon yelped and flinched away, immediately punished by its rider with a kick in the side for its fear. "Fine, but get out of my way!" Another dragon and its rider dive bombed Aaravos, which was a mistake on their part. While Aaravos conjured an entire tree root system out of the ground to restrain the drake, Callum took the chance to fly into the air with Viren.

The upper branches weren't clear either. Callum swerved out of the way of one dragon, aware of Viren trembling against him. His weight made flying difficult, but Callm could handle it. He thought they were out of danger, but a second group of Drakeriders emerged from below, charging towards Aaravos. "Oh no, there's more of them!"

Viren didn't reply.

Callum grit his teeth, flying further away. He tried to send the impression he'd gotten of more Drakeriders to Aaravos, and his neck tingled in reply. Callum hoped that meant he was fine. It was difficult to imagine Aaravos having any actual trouble with them.

Besides, he couldn't hope to fight with Viren on his back.

"Alright, let me find somewhere to land."

Viren still didn't respond. He was shaking even more, and Callum realized his breath was coming in short rasps rather than normal breaths. Viren's cheek against Callum's shoulder felt cold and damp. "Viren?" Callum asked.

The grip Viren had around him loosened.

"NO!" Callum gasped.

Viren plummeted down, mouth frozen open in a soundless scream.

Callum didn't consider any other option. He dived down after Viren. Wings mostly tucked in, Callum caught him in a mess of feathers and spiraled horizontally, unable to fly while also trying to hold Viren. "HOLD ON!" he bellowed. Viren managed to clasp onto Callum's torso as Callum snapped his wings out, keeping them at a rough, far too low glide.

They crash landed into a few bushes.

Ow.

Callum groaned. He let himself lie in misery for a few seconds. He reached up to try and right himself, scratching his hands and arms against leaves and branches. When he finally sat up and untangled himself from the bush, he could assert that he only seemed to be bruised and scraped.

Viren had barely moved. Callum could hear his rapid, breathless gasping even a few feet away. Callum pushed twigs and leaves aside, helping Viren out of the crumpled heap he was in. Viren's hands were cold to the touch and he seemed unable to move significantly, choking for breath.

"Woah, easy." Callum swallowed hard. Was Viren sick? Viren's eyes were unfocused, his face pale, and when Callum laid a hand on his chest he could feel Viren's heart hammering. He didn't know what to do, but Viren clearly needed help. "It's okay." Viren stared blankly at him. Callum slid Viren's backpack off and helped him lie down, using the pack as a pillow under Viren's head. Viren tried to speak, but the only sound he could make was a wheeze.

"You don't have to talk." Callum knelt beside Viren. Was this normal for him? How long had Viren been having these, if ever? The illusion of the invincible Lord Viren was shattered at his feet. He didn't feel vindictive or smug, though. If anything, it felt like more proof that he was as much of a human as anyone else. Callum dug around in his backpack for a blanket and draped it over him, hoping it helped.

Viren still struggled to breathe.

Callum inhaled deeply, calming his own breathing down. "Just do what I do, okay? Sky mages know the air pretty well."

After a couple of minutes, Viren was relaxed enough to talk again. The first thing he said was, "I know. How to breathe."

Callum was relieved. Viren was better enough for his old cranky self to come though. "I know you know that, but knowing isn't the same as doing."

Viren's expression grew thoughtful, chest rising and falling slowly and evenly. "There's something to that." His eyes slid half closed, exhausted by the ordeal. "I…"

Callum waited. When Viren didn't continue, he prompted, "Yes?"

"I don't deserve your compassion."

He wasn't braced for the heavy, nameless emotions that hit with that sentence. Callum frowned, smoothing over Viren's blanket. "Hey, I'm not going to just leave you or make you feel bad about this." A horrible thought occurred to Callum. "You knew I'd catch you, right?"

"No."

It suddenly made sense. Callum felt stupid for not realizing the cause of Viren's newfound fear of flying, especially with him. "Well, I will catch you from now on. I promise."

Viren closed his eyes. Apparently, he was done fighting the exhaustion. He mumbled to himself. "I was selfish, you know." Callum didn't know what he was talking about at all. "I held her hand when she died, and caught her last breath with my other hand. You are kind without a second thought, without a need to get some use out of it. I never understood that before."

Callum watched as Viren fell asleep. He thought saving someone else was what most people would have done.

He sat next to Viren and waited for the others to show up. Callum had hoped that Viren would doze peacefully, but it didn't seem to be the case. Viren coughed in his sleep, drawing in a painful breath. He jolted, panting again.

"It's alright. Just br-" Callum froze with alarm as Viren thrashed on the ground. "Hey, hey! Wake up!"

Viren didn't wake up.

It didn't matter what Callum did, Viren didn't wake up, eyes screwed shut, rasping and occasionally struggling against some invisible force.

Aaravos finally appeared again. He was instantly concerned once he saw Viren. "What happened?"

"He didn't seem to be feeling well, and then he just passed out and won't wake up," said Callum desperately. "What have you been doing?"

Aaravos levitated Viren off the ground, encasing him in a soft purple glow. Viren still slept fitfully.

"Come and see."

Callum dreaded whatever awaited him back at the place where he and Viren had been ambushed. However, Aaravos seemed to have taken his wishes seriously. About a dozen Drakeriders and their dragons were caught up in roots and vines, watched over by Terry and Claudia. Elf and dragon alike were muzzled and Callum glared at Aaravos. However, no one except for the one drake seemed harmed at all. Aaravos set Viren down carefully, letting him rest cushioned by grasses. Claudia ran to him, sinking into the ground by his side. "Dad!"

Aaravos dropped his Earthblood illusion and stood within full view of the Drakeriders, taking in their muffled gasps and shouts.

"Let's try our introductions again, shall we?"