Viren patted his neck, face going pale as he could barely feel the slits of gills under his palm. "Um, yes. They're gills." The connection was real? He felt a bit… different, too. Complete. As if some part of him was finally at rest, like he'd had an epiphany, and the insight was just beyond words. He wondered what it meant for anyone else learning an arcanum, but he wasn't given time to dwell on it.

"Woah! Cool!" Terry exclaimed.

Claudia hugged him tightly, not letting go until she needed to pull back and wipe away a tear. "We thought… we thought something might have gone wrong with bringing you back! I was so scared."

Viren thought he'd hit his capacity for feeling guilt in his dreams, but the new wave of it that washed over him proved him wrong. "I'm sorry, Claudia. For many things." He reached out and gently wiped a tear from her face. "I'd like to stop causing you grief. Family… can bring us grief, but it should be more than that. You've had more than your share."

"Well," Claudia managed a watery smile. "It hurt because I love you. It's okay."

It isn't, he wanted to protest, but the moment wasn't right.

Terry sat beside Viren, a little bowl of moonberries in his hands. Viren gratefully helped himself to a few as well as a waterskin sitting nearby. Terry was careful to not actually touch him, even though they were close. "A lot happened. Kind of a long story."

Viren glanced at the drake sitting by them. It sniffed at Viren, though without much interest. Claudia giggled. "It got its fill of sniffing and licking you while you were passed out."

"Licking?" Viren grimaced. "Nevermind." He could tell they were settling in for a lengthy tale. He shifted so he could be closer to Terry, an arm loosely around Terry in a side familial clasp. "Is this all right?"

Terry's face lit up, as if he'd been waiting for something like a hug. "Yeah, yes it is!"

Claudia wasn't one to be left out and curled up under Viren's other arm, cuddling him. "Awwww, it's like when I was little!" She didn't notice how that statement made Viren's heart skip a beat, remembering the bedtime stories and the hard times when he'd held her and Soren as children.

"So," started Terry. "Aaravos blew our cover, trapped a whole dozen Drakeriders, and took his disguise off."

Viren coughed. "He what?"

Claudia grinned. "It gets better!"

A few days before:

Aaravos slowly paced around the clearing, smug smile a sharp contrast to the struggling Earthblood Elves and their drake mounts who were all suspended in the trees by Aaravos's vines. Callum had grown to trust Aaravos but he couldn't help feeling afraid for the Drakeriders, even if they'd attacked him.

"Now that I have your attention, let's go over some things." Aaravos spread his arms graciously towards them, as if his audience wasn't literally captive. Some of the elves still struggled, though many were frozen with shock as they took in Aaravos's presence. "My requests are simple. In fact, I am even generous enough to offer your people my help in exchange for passage through your territory." He smiled. "Of course, every archdragon and nation in Xadia are searching for me, so the first condition is that you keep this little encounter to yourselves or run the risk of word reaching Sol Regem and him burning your entire forest to the ground."

One of the bound elves started crying.

Terry glanced between the Drakeriders and Aaravos, face twisted with worry. "Hey, there's no need to be like that! Stop it!" Panic pitched his voice up and Aaravos gently inclined his head to Terry, seemingly unmoved.

"It's not a threat, it's fact . Sol Regem is unreasonable, vicious, and bitter. Whether it's lashing out for supposedly harboring me or trying futilely to find me, once word gets out, everyone around me is in danger from the rest of the world."

They'd been so careful up until then that Callum had nearly forgotten how fast things could go bad.

Still, they weren't going to do this Aaravos's way.

Callum stepped forward, waving his hands. "Woah, woah, okay. Listen, no hard feelings about attacking us, okay? And we aren't going to destroy your home or hurt anyone, " he emphasized, glaring at Aaravos.

The leader of the elves with the curled horns tried to say something through the vines and leaves in his mouth.

Aaravos scowled. "I just said I wouldn't do that." He shrugged. "Although I could."

"Hey, threats? Bad." Callum folded his arms.

Aaravos blinked. "Bad? No one's hurt." Yet.

"Bad!" Callum felt more like he was scolding a cat for being on a table than the oldest, most powerful person in the world. "We're doing this differently. If we want peace, we have to talk through things reasonably and show good faith- er, as best we can from here." Callum wasn't a fan of the Drakeriders by a long shot, but he couldn't let their encounter happen this way. "If we can't manage to do things right on a small scale, then we won't be able to when it comes to whole countries."

"Very well." Aaravos sighed. Some of the elves seemed surprised that he could be talked down by Callum. Aaravos approached the injured drake and its rider. The drake whimpered and tried to shy away, but Aaravos ignored it. His hand glowed with sunlight and he drew a sigil of light over the wound he'd caused, pressing his hand to the drake's leg as his magic healed it. "There." The drake stopped writhing, eyes falling halfway closed.

Aaravos stepped back. "Alright. Let's try to talk this out like adults."

The vines loosened around every drake and elf, retracting back into the trees. The elf with the ram horns, who Callum kept thinking looked familiar, dismounted and brushed himself off, scowling at Aaravos. "So now that you've strung us all up like like puppets, you think we can have a talk on equal terms? Forget it."

"Agreed. There's nothing equal about it," said Aaravos. "The pretense is often a step I skip."

Callum elbowed Aaravos's side, frowning.

The burly Earthblood elf shook his head. "Alright. I'm Warlon." He didn't offer a hand to shake. "We all know who you are. What do you want, so we don't all get killed?"

"Passage through your territory, and Dragon Blood tree seeds."

Warlon grimaced. "I can tell you like your gardening, and we're in no position to fight back, but there ain't many of those to give. Suppose Vala can guide you there." He jerked his head to a Drakerider behind him who was checking over her drake. "Anything else you'd like to take from us?" The bitterness in his voice was impossible to miss.

The entire exchange was only going to breed more resentment between everyone, against humans, elves, and Aaravos who belonged with neither.

"Maybe we can help you with something in exchange?" suggested Callum. He moved between Aaravos and Warlon. "As Prince of Katolis, I can't allow us to just go around bullying people and committing crimes to survive. I'm sure there's something."

Terry nodded eagerly. "Look mate, we can't travel yet anyway. One of our party fell sick. It's on us for intruding, so we owe you one."

Warlon raised his eyebrows, taking in Terry for the first time. "Yeah? Thought another Earthblood elf would know better than cross us."

"I do, but these guys? Living under a rock if you know what I mean."

Warlon and Terry exchanged a grin and Callum glanced at Aaravos, shrugging. Warlon threw his arm around Terry's shoulders, but with enough force that Terry stumbled. "Yeah, we got an issue you might be able to help with. Rex Igneous decided to wake up a few weeks ago, and it caused a massive landslide. Knocked out a lot of our food supply. Some mage types would be able to restore some of that easy."

Callum rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah uh… really glad to help get that straightened out. You can do that, right Aaravos?"

Aaravos looked offended that Callum even asked. "In my sleep."

Warlon held his hand up. Another Drakerider tapped his shoulder and he nodded shooing them back. "Yeah yeah, I'll ask em. There's another thing."

Aaravos smiled, amused. "Making the most of our time?"

"It's be stupid not to. There's a huge, wild dragon that makes our drakes go crazy when she's around. We can't do anything about her but run. Now that there's someone like you in the neighborhood, we figure that's your problem too."

Callum blanched. "Yeah, sure. Totally fair."

Aaravos inclined his head forward. "We only need the seeds, and the safety of all those traveling with us."

Warlon and the rest of the elves looked over at Viren.

Viren was still passed out on the ground with Claudia at his side. She covered him with a blanket, worry across her face. Viren shifted in his sleep, twitching and groaning. "He still isn't waking up."

Terry knelt next to Claudia, a hand on her back. "I'm sure he'll be fine. He's just got a case of the, um, the- the 48 Hour Sleeps!"

Callum watched Viren sweat and sometimes struggle to breathe, rasping as he tossed and turned. His eye sockets were dark purple and his skin was deathly pale. He wasn't sure how he'd looked after using Dark Magic himself, but Viren seemed to be going through something similar. "I think it might be magic related? That happened to me once."

Claudia looked at Calum through messy strands of hair, distraught. "How did they get you to wake up?"

"I dunno. I just woke up when I needed to."

Viren gasped for breath again in his sleep, brows furrowed.

Terry leaned down close to Viren's ear. "You can do it," he encouraged.

Warlon stood over Viren, shaking his head. His wyvern licked Viren's cheek. "For your sake, let's hope he just ate something funny and will snap out of it. We don't know how humans react to food in the forest. They aren't supposed to be here."

Claudia glared. "Well, elf, do you have any remedies?"

Warlon ignored her entirely and looked at Terry. "You're dating that? What, are you into extra fingers or something?"

Callum knew for certain then that Viren was completely removed from the world, or he would have woken up and started shouting from that alone.

Terry blinked. The tips of his ears were starting to redden. "Uh- um, wow, I hadn't actually thought ab-"

"Shut up!" Claudia shouted at Warlon. "The only reason Aaravos didn't evaporate all of you is because of Callum. At least humans aren't senseless monsters."

"Yeah? You're all Dark Mages, right?"

"Uh." Callum waved. "I only did Dark Magic once and I almost died-"

"Dark Mage," repeated Warlon.

"But this is like, a really bad sample size, and we're like, outliers and shouldn't be counted," rambled Callum. "There's probably like ten Dark Mages total in all of Katolis."

Warlon shrugged. "Whatever. You can call me a monster if you want. It'll take a lot more than that to hurt my feelings." He turned and left to regroup with the other elves, but Callum stayed by Claudia, Viren, Terry, and Aaravos.

Aaravos knelt down next to Claudia. She sniffed, looking from Aaravos to Viren and then laying her head on Viren's chest, outright crying. "I thought we were done with this! He's been healed, he was supposed to be okay! I didn't- I didn't want to do this again."

"I'm here this time." Aaravos draped an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. Callum was beginning to get an idea of how much Claudia had needed Aaravos's support and reassurance over the two years since the battle. "His vitals are fine. Viren may need some time to internally process whatever spiritual distress this is, and that's okay. If it gets drastic, I'll wake him up myself."

Claudia leaned into Aaravos's embrace, taking the physical comfort and leaving Viren's sleeping form. "No offense to Sir Sparklepuff, but I like you like this a lot more than through big little bug pal."

Sir Sparklepuff chittered, leaning against Claudia. She ruffled his hair as she let Aaravos hold her.

However, while her comment about elves had missed any of Warlon's weak spots, it had hit Terry. He quietly slipped away while Claudia was focused on Aaravos. Callum frowned, glancing at Aaravos who gestured for him to follow Terry.

Callum jogged until he caught up to Terry, who was only sitting about a minute's walk from the others, staring at a little stream rushing through the forest. Callum hadn't ever been alone with him before, and he wondered if he was going to keep having oddly intimate conversations with people all journey long. Terry seemed nice and Callum already liked his company. He wasn't sure he was ready for this type of thing, though.

"Is it how you feel too?" asked Terry, glancing at Callum, tears on his face. Oh, Callum wasn't ready for this at all. "Elves are just monsters, and I don't know, I'm a nice one?" He shuddered.

Callum sat by Terry, looking into their distorted reflections in the stream. "It's how a lot of us used to feel. It's not right. I mean, I don't think like anymore, but we used to know nothing about Xadia. I was raised hearing from even the kindest people that elves and dragons hated us for no reason, that we had to guard our border or we'd be overrun and killed."

Terry hugged his knees to his chest. "Okay, we also got told about how all humans sucked the life out of everything, and that's not true either. Even though Claudia's a Dark Mage, she's usually careful. She's made sacrifices for people she loves, to defend herself. But she's kind, and funny, and-" Terry wiped his eyes. " Claudia. "

"Claudia and I… don't have a good track record," admitted Callum. "We've been on different sides. I guess that I really don't know how she's stuck thinking of elves like that, especially when she knows you." Rayla was never far from Callum's mind, and he pretended that he could see her in the clouds reflected in the running water in front of them. "Rayla was the first elf I ever met, and I realized that we both had things all wrong about each other. I said some hurtful things when we first met. I can't ever take them back. But I came around."

Callum hoped Terry would bounce back, say something cheery and return to the others. He'd always seemed resilient, grounded. Terry shook his head, sniffling again.

"Callum, you weren't there, but you don't get it. If there are nice ones, I'm not one of them. I killed someone. Claudia was in danger, and I… I'm still not over it, but I did it."

Some gear started turning in Callum's mind. No, it couldn't be, it felt so obvious now that he thought about it, and he wished he could undraw the connection.

Terry pressed on, taking in Callum as if he was seeing him for the first time. "The skywing elf Claudia was fighting with had that staff on your back. I'm sure of it." He covered his mouth with his hands. "Oh no, oh my God-"

"Ibis. His name was Ibis."

Callum was both shocked and numb, half of him astounded that he hadn't figured it out before. Ibis had even told them that his killer was after Aaravos's staff. Terry was still crying, poised to bolt like a startled deer.

"I'm a monster."

Terry said it with such finality, such acceptance. As if he'd been fighting it off but finally succumbed to it.

"No you're not."

Callum stood up, his throat tight. "You're not a monster. Neither is Aaravos. Or Avizandum. Or Viren. Or anyone else involved in this whole mess. I'm not going to lie to you, I am upset, but…" Callum glanced aside, thinking over the mess they were in. Viren was out cold, Claudia was barely staving off a full breakdown, and he had to admit that he didn't have Aaravos's undivided attention anymore for support. He and Terry needed to be able to talk to each other if they were going to make it through the road ahead. "War has made us all do things we didn't want to do." Callum had more than caterpillar blood on his hands. Self defense or not, it still had run red. "But you're all people, not monsters. Even though you did that, you still have the right to be upset about how Claudia talks about elves. About you."

"Yeah." Terry shrunk in on himself even more, as if he longed to just sit there until he turned into a tree. "Um… how did you and Rayla sort it out?"

"She was direct in telling me how much of a jerk I was being."

Terry managed to stand up, brushing the dirt off of himself as he dried his eyes. "Okay. Thank you. And, I'm sorry."

Callum nodded. They walked back in silence, but it was more peaceful than before. There was a weight in their steps that wouldn't be lifted for awhile, he knew, but things took time. He watched as the Drakeriders tended to their mounts, adjusting saddles and bridles, some of them having to fight with their drakes for cooperation. He wished Ezran was there to translate some of the creatures' thoughts, but it seemed clear to him. The drakes seemed about evenly divided on whether or not they wished to be with the elves.

Claudia was still next to Viren, but when she looked up and saw Terry's tearstained face, she gasped. "Callum! What did you do?!"

"He didn't do anything," said Terry, jumping in before Callum could explain. "We need to talk later, okay Claudia?"

She cocked her head, having no idea what she'd said wrong. "Uh, sure."

Aaravos levitated Viren's body again, keeping him encased in a soft purple glow. He waved Warlon and Vala over. Vala had brown hair woven into many braids down her back, and Callum couldn't place why she seemed vaguely familiar to him. Aaravos folded his arms. "Well? Show us where the damage is, and I'll restore it."

Vala and other elves looked at Viren mistrustfully. "Must we be followed by a floating corpse?" she asked.

"He's my floating human, and he isn't dead." Aaravos smoothed Viren's hair back off his forehead. Callum couldn't tell if the gesture was affectionate or possessive, and figured it was probably a mix. "He goes with us."

A rustle of leaves made all of them turn as a new figure walked into the clearing.

Callum felt happy for the first time that day.

"Hello!" N'than took one look at everyone assembled and, without even stopping, turned around again to walk away. "Guess I came at a bad time. Goodbye!"

"N'than!" Callum rushed to him, and so did Vala. She beat him to N'than, standing in front of him.

Vala, blocking N'than's way, took him by the shoulders and turned him around to face everyone again. "Nope, you're coming with us. Sucks for you that you have to walk everywhere." Seeing the two of them together made the family resemblance click for Callum. Siblings?

"Oh okay," said N'than, still cheery and letting himself be walked back to everyone. "Hi Callum! Weren't you and everyone else here trying to kill each other a little bit last time we met?"

"Yeah." Callum waved. "Uhhhhhh. Things are complicated."

"Seems that way," commented N'than. "Hi Aaravos. I guess everyone totally failed at keeping you imprisoned! I'd like to not be killed, if that's okay. I'm very small and nonthreatening."

Aaravos towered over N'than. He could probably punt N'than like a ball if he wanted, but it seemed N'than's nature was endearing to him too. Aaravos laughed low in his chest. "Yes, I can see that. I intend none of you harm."

Warlon rolled his eyes. "Let's GO."

The other Earthblood Elves led the way. The walk through the forest was tense, the Drakeriders keeping to themselves as they led them through the trees. N'than walked with Callum, apparently fine with being excluded from the rest. "I'm not a Drakerider," he explained. "Which I guess means I'm nothing right now. It isn't so bad though, really!"

"I think you're a great guide," said Callum. He knew what it was like having nothing he was good at. "Couldn't you train to be a mage or something?"

"Well, maybe. I'm terrible at magic too. Just because I have a connection to the earth doesn't mean the earth likes me either. You'd be shocked at the sorts of personalities the most ornery rocks can have."

Terry put a hand on N'than's shoulder. "It's okay. You just have to be patient with yourself."

Aaravos nodded. "Earth is patient, enduring, nurturing, and resilient. It's steady, yet also always growing. Tapping into its power can take even an experienced mage awhile. However, be too rigid, and it can turn stifling." Aaravos gestured to the drake in front of them. "The enchantment on the drake's bridles are crude, but effective. It's entire purpose is to control rather than guide. That means the creature under the spell is fighting against it rather than working with the rider."

Claudia scowled. "Barbaric." Terry's expression fell.

Callum hated agreeing with her, but the control didn't feel right. He knew how much he hated having his own free will taken from him.

Aaravos shrugged. "They're dragons. Effective."

Callum nudged Aaravos. "They deserve better. Dragons aren't just monsters either."

"Besides, they don't need those bridles," countered Claudia. "Soren just hopped right on a drake and they were best friends."

N'than brightened even further. "Oh, are you talking about Gourd Guy? He's a legend!" A few elves within earshot of N'than exchanged grins, like they too enjoyed the Legends of Gourd Guy. "We thought he must've defeated Scarmaker in battle and sent her running, but he tamed her! He even faced off against Warlon in gourd to head combat!"

An elf riding their drake near them turned around to 'shhh' N'than, still grinning. "Not too loud, kiddo, but we all are glad it was Warlon who literally faced off against that gourd."

Callum scratched his head. "Soren mentioned a dragon… I think her name was Squeaky?"

"Squeaky to you, Scarmaker to us," said N'than. "Everyone assumed Gourd Guy must be a great warrior of unmatched skill."

Claudia seemed torn between praising Soren or dunking on her brother from afar. "He is strong and the youngest Crownguard member in history, but he sure didn't do whatever he did by brute force. He was riding that dragon in pajamas like it was nothing."

"Maybe," said N'than, "strength comes in several forms."

"That's deep," said Terry.

"Really? Thanks!"

Callum watched the dragons under their riders, following orders with the wildness beaten out of them. Were they so different from Zym? Zubeia? Now that he'd met dragons, he knew them as people . He shook his head, trying to imagine treating another person just like a horse. It was true that Soren had a goofy streak, often didn't think things through, and could have overpowered a dragon, but he was kinder since the days when he desperately tried for his father's approval. Viren had tried to pass on his cruelty, and Callum was glad that he hadn't seemed to succeed. Whatever Soren did, he wasn't anything like Warlon or the other elves who'd broken drakes by force.

He didn't have more time to think about it.

The treeline abruptly ended, Umber Tor looming overhead. The landslide in front of them had taken out at least a few miles of forest, much of the vegetation uprooted and carried away, a miniature wasteland topped with boulders and a river of dirt.

"This was where a lot of our Moonberry bushes were, as well as other herbs and food." N'than sighed. "Now it's a mess."

The crowd parted wordlessly for Aaravos to walk through. He meandered, casually taking in the landscape, eyes sweeping up the mountainside and down to the wreckage at the base. "No forest ever comes back exactly the same as it was." Aaravos sat down on a large, flat rock, somehow still seeming majestic amidst the disaster around him. He sighed, palms against the rough surface of the rock he was sitting on. "I can speed up the recovery process the forest itself would make as it moves through reclaiming the land and stages of succession. Some of the trees can be rerooted. Is this acceptable to our terms?"

Warlon folded his arms. "Yeah, yeah. Do it."

Aaravos beckoned Terry over. "I could do this alone, but the experience will help you."

"Oh, uh. Okay." Terry had room to sit by Aaravos's side on the stone. Aaravos guided his hand, placing Terry's palm flat against the rock under Aaravos's hand, fingers interlaced. If Callum squinted, he could tell that their breathing was in sync. Terry glowed green, cracks appearing in his skin, light shining through his eyes and his hands. Aaravos's chest glowed at the same time, eyes and stars bright as a galaxy condensed into one person. Light spread like a wave out from them, magic seeping into the ground.

It was like watching a scene go forward and backwards in time at once.

Many of the downed trees creaked as their roots wove their way back underground, massive trees righting themselves, leaves shaking off dirt as they settled. New shoots of grass and small shrubs sprung up between the trees, already flush with berries and other fruit.

It was noticeably a little different from the rest of the forest, like the vegetation was a shade or two more saturated in color than the other trees and grasses, but the wasteland was vibrant again within minutes.

The Drakeriders almost immediately dispersed to look around the new swath of forest. Claudia ran to Terry's side, hugging him as he stood up, a little unsteady on his feet. "That was amazing! Does Aaravos amplify your powers or something?"

Aaravos nodded once. "Yes, I can give extra energy to a mage as well as pour my own power into a spell. There's already so much magic within the soil, roots, and seeds in the area that I didn't need any extra components."

Claudia beamed, kissing Terry's cheek. He smiled at her, though it wasn't quite as bright as his normal.

Warlon was among the elves not frolicking around the new, lush area. "My drake's been getting stir crazy. I think our dragon may be on the way." His drake tossed its head, trying to nip at his hand, kicking its hind legs in an attempt to throw him off. "Shut up!" he grumbled.

Aaravos was too lazy to bother moving to hide. He conjured up a cluster of bushes a few feet tall in front of all of them. He laid Viren on the ground, still encased in shielding light. Aaravos's dark eyes were on the trees ahead.

Callum held his breath. He could hear something approaching.

Something big for certain-

-BREAK-

"Now wait a minute," said Viren as Terry and Claudia caught him up on the gist of major events. "Aaravos left me on the ground while a huge dragon was coming after all of us?"

Claudia shrugged. "I mean, he had a protection spell on you, and we were all right there."

Terry leaned on Viren's chest. "Yeah, it was fine! We wouldn't let anything happen to you."

Viren sighed. He didn't much like being a trip and fall hazard. "Alright. Keep going."

-BREAK-

-a drake four times as big as any other drake in the forest lumbered out into the open, trampling the new grass shoots and snapping tree branches along the way. It spread its huge wingspan out and roared, stomping as it did so.

Warlon's drake tried even harder to throw him off, hissing and snapping its jaw.

Callum looked between Warlon's drake and the new huge arrival. He frowned. Was it that all drakes looked alike, or…? Aaravos's chest glowed again, spell apparently at the ready. He looked at Callum as if asking if he should kill it.

Ezran wasn't there to confirm it, and Soren wasn't there to be a pal to all dragons, but Callum had a decent hunch on how to solve their newest problem.

"You have to release your drake."

Warlon stared at Callum like he was out of his mind. "What?!"

"Listen, take it from someone who dealt with a mother dragon being very upset that her baby was gone," said Callum. "They need to talk to each other. She's just going to keep seeking you out until she knows your drake is okay."

They all knew the drake was probably not okay.

Warlon grit his teeth. "You want me to give up my drake, just like that?!"

"If your drake trusts you, it'll come back!" insisted Callum. "I promise."

"I'll kill you if it doesn't."

"You won't," Aaravos interjected.

"Damn you," muttered Warlon, tugging the drake's bridle off and rolling off its back. "I won't."

The drake surged forward without a backwards glance at Warlon, as though it'd been trying to get free for years. The much larger drake paused, raising her head as the smaller once rushed to her. They touched snouts, growling and sniffing each other. Warlon watched with his hand poised over the snares they used to capture dragons. Callum made eye contact with Warlon and shook his head.

Warlon dropped his snares on the ground, eyes fixed on the two drakes socializing like old friends. "Huh… they don't talk, do they?"

Aaravos shrugged. "In a way."

Claudia glowered at Warlon. "Afraid of what your drake will say?"

"If there's anyone who should be afraid of dragons talking smack about them, it's you Dark Mages," he retorted. Even so, fear flickered across Warlon's face, but he steeled himself. Other Drakeriders hid around the perimeter of the new clearing, watching with baited breath.

Without a drake, he was nothing.

Warlon pushed his way out of the underbrush, walking out unarmed, shoulders back and head high with pride. The huge dragon growled as he got close. "Is that all you got?!" he shouted.

"He's going to get himself killed!" Callum said under his breath.

Aaravos was digging around in his pockets, finding what he wanted- a bag of seeds to snack on. "Maybe." Crunches.

Warlon's drake raised its hackles, snarling at him. Warlon folded his arms, unfazed. "If I don't have your respect by now, I never will. So do what you want!" He threw his hands in the air. "The both of you! You don't want us to be friends? We can be enemies, then. Our ancestors go back together as far as the mountains themselves. We feed you before we feed ourselves in our worst days. No other creature in this maze dares to cross us together, but you can take your chances on your own! Earthblood Elves will outlast even Umber Tor if we have to! So fine!" He reached into his pocket, pulling out a spare bola trap. He cast it aside as the dragons growled, both looming over him. "Kill me if you want. Have your war."

His drake whipped its tail with fury, still growling. It leapt over to the bola on the ground and roared, tearing the thrown trap apart.

It set its eyes on Warlon. Claudia covered her mouth as she watched. Sir Sparklepuff mimicked her. Aaravos kept crunching.

Warlon scowled. "Alright then. I'll go down fighti-"

His drake tackled him to the ground effortlessly. It opened its mouth wide-

-and licked his face.

Warlon coughed, scrunching his face as his drake messed up his orange hair with broad links reminiscent of an excited puppy. The huge drake laid down beside them, body curled around its child and Warlon. Warlon struggled to sit up, only managing it when the drake decided to nose at him instead. "Ugh. Was it just the bolas? Is that what this was all about?"

Callum's shoulders sagged with relief. The other Drakeriders removed their drakes' harnesses, letting their drakes roam freely into the clearing, some bumping noses or playfully snapping at each other and the huge drake. Aaravos almost seemed disappointed. "See? Dragons can be reasonable. They're beings just like us. Not all of them can talk, but they still matter, right?"

Sir Sparklepuff chittered in agreement.

"And," started Terry. "Elves can be all sorts of different people. Even Warlon could come around a bit."

N'than nodded. "Right. No one wants to be imprisoned."

"If only all dragons were as reasonable," commented Aaravos. "He can enjoy the camaraderie while it lasts."

Callum frowned, watching Aaravos watch the gathering of elves and dragons getting along with a touch of bitterness to his voice. It was too easy to forget that under the charm and calm was an abyss of hatred and wounds inside of Aaravos. "Hey, this is a good thing, right? Things can change."

Aaravos had no comment on that. "Let's make sure we obtain those dragon blood seeds we need."

Terry took Claudia's hand. "Well, I guess we have some free time. You want to go and meet people?"

Claudia squeezed his hand and jumped. "Yes!" Terry almost seemed back to his usual cheer at her enthusiasm. "I wish we could get to go to their village too, but…" she glanced at Aaravos. It was already dusk.

"I'm a danger to all of you, and the fewer people who see me, the better," confirmed Aaravos. "You'd stand out too. I'd suggest we camp near here and rest until Viren is awake. As far as anyone in their village is concerned, a couple of Earth mages from elsewhere in the forest helped restore the landslide area. It's close enough to the truth."

Aaravos levitated Viren again and led Callum and Sir Sparklepuff to the most sheltered overhang to set up camp. Callum glanced behind them at Terry and Claudia chatting with the Drakeriders. "Do you think they'll keep seeing you a secret?"

"No," said Aaravos.

"That's probably true," admitted N'than. Callum jumped, having forgotten he was even there. "Oh, sorry! I wanted to ask if I could have a little sleepover with you and Terry and the Dark Mages and Aaravos the exiled Great One and that butterfly thing. Sleepovers are fun! And I am jobless."

Callum looked to Aaravos, and Aaravos looked to Viren, who was still out cold. "If Viren doesn't mind." Viren snored. Aaravos spared Viren a soft expression. "Alright. Just until we leave the forest."

-BREAK-

"Soooo, that's it!" exclaimed Claudia. "We made some elf friends and we realized that the drakes just wanted to be treated better, not that they're vicious and hateful. All that happened over a day ago, and we were just waiting for you to wake up."

Viren looked at the drake next to them. It seemed calm, as if it was also enjoying the story being told. "I see."

Callum, Aaravos, and N'than walked into view, arms full of gathered food. Viren still wasn't sure why Aaravos held back so much of his power, especially after openly restoring the part of the forest they were still in. Maybe manual labor was mentally stimulating. Callum and N'than both seemed surprised to see Viren awake, but Aaravos smiled knowingly. "Good morning. Or evening, rather."

Viren narrowed his eyes, remembering the ending of his dream. "Did you have anything to do with me waking up?"

"Hm? No." The suggestion seemed to be a genuine surprise. Aaravos smirked. "Why, did you dream about me?"

"Maybe."

"I hope I was interesting. I'd love to hear about me."

Viren would rather eat an orange with the peeling on than recount shirtless, ocean sprayed, beach Aaravos to anyone. "It was a long series of dreams. Much of it was about drowning. I suppose this change," Viren angled his neck so the gills showed, "was a direct response to a need."

Callum had needed his freedom, his sense of self. He could see how needing to not drown, in whatever capacity that was in, could lead to an Ocean arcanum connection. He dug in his bag for the cube, holding it carefully. Knowing the precious contents of it made him less likely to shove it at anything magical for it to glow, but when he held it out to Viren, the Ocean rune did light up. "Woah."

Another human primal mage.

Aaravos sat down in front of Viren, the tension of their last fight lingering for just a moment. "Whatever peace you found in your soul searching doesn't change my past actions. We never resolved it. If you'd have my apology now, I give it."

Viren bowed his head, sighing before meeting Aaravos's eyes. "I can accept. I got much more time to sort myself out than I bargained for." Urgent, he pressed on, "My children, both of them, are yours to watch over if we're to continue down this path."

"I understand. I accept." Claudia scooted from Viren's side to Aaravos's, leaning on him with a smile. Aaravos huffed but still let her be close. "I was already your guardian."

"I just liked hearing it, that's all," said Claudia. "You don't need to guard me, but I will bother you forever about anything magical!"

Viren wasn't done. "Our next stop needs to be Katolis Castle." Callum's mouth opened wide with startled joy at the idea of going home again. N'than had no idea where that was and didn't react. Aaravos cocked his head. "It's on the way to where you want to restore some of the west's land, isn't it?"

"I didn't think you'd want to take such a risk," said Aaravos.

"I don't," admitted Viren. "But we have to." His chest threatened to seize up. However, even if the aspect of facing Soren made his mind spin and his lungs feel like they were filling with water, he had gills. He could breathe through it.

Viren swallowed hard. He shifted so he knelt down in front of Claudia, reaching for her hand to hold, vulnerable and serious.

"Dad?" asked Claudia, getting worried. "What is it?" She took his hand, giving it a curious, innocent squeeze.

Viren took a deep breath, steady in what he had to say, bracing for the impact of it.

"I told Soren to kill the princes."