Chapter Text
21st October
Rayla scrambled to her feet, rushing over to Callum. “Callum, are you alright?” The clearing felt unnaturally quiet, Callum’s strangled gasps seeming to echo loudly around them.
He remained kneeling, breathing harshly as he leaned on the Nova blade, the ivory blade buried deep in Aaravos chest.
Potentially even out the other side, Rayla didn’t look. She reached for Callum’s hands, gently uncurling them from the hilt. “Callum-” Her pulse raced as time seemed to stand still.
Was this nightmare truly over? Had they actually defeated Aaravos?
“I’m okay,” Callum breathed, face pale as he turned to look at her. He smiled softly, fingers gently squeezing her own.
Aaravos gasped and coughed, blood spurting from his mouth.
Rayla pulled Callum up and away, reaching behind her back for one of her own blades. She assumed the blow Callum had dealt was fatal, but it was impossible to tell with a being such as Aaravos. Anyway, he was suffering, that was clear. Someone who’d done the things he’d done, caused as much pain as he had, perhaps they deserved to die slowly, painfully, but her stomach turned watching it.
Perhaps she’d never truly be an assassin, but she could deliver a mercy blow.
“Fools,” Aaravos sneered, grimacing with the effort. “You think you’ve won? You’ve lost more than you could possibly imagine.” He gasped, clenching his teeth as he glared at them, before his head slumped back against the rough ground and he lay still.
Rayla sighed, watching him for a moment to ensure he wasn’t playing one last trick. Callum squeezed her fingers, and she took a deep breath as she relaxed the hand on her blade, turning to face him-
And immediately gasping in shock when the eyes that stared at her were not Callum’s forest green ones, but instead were blazing bright blue-white.
She tried to step back, but Aaravos gripped her hand painfully, refusing to let go.
“Well now, what a predicament,” he laughed cruelly, squeezing Rayla’s fingers even tighter. “I can’t say I like this body more than my own, but beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose.”
“Let him go,” Rayla breathed, unable to take her eyes off Aaravos. Where was everyone else? She needed help. They’d flown ahead of the group, but they couldn’t be that far behind, could they? Zym? Where was he? Perhaps he could convey to Ezran what was happening.
“Go?” Aaravos laughed again, pulling her closer. “Even if I wanted to, I can’t.” He reached for her face, cupping her cheek in a mockery of tenderness. “You both saw to that.”
Rayla swallowed, her body rigid with fear. What did he mean? He was lying. He had to be. “Callum, I know you’re in there. You can break free-”
“Oh, he very much wants to,” Aaravos chuckled. “He’s fighting as hard as he can, and yet-” He twisted her hand, pushing the bones to breaking point.
Rayla cried out, falling to her knees as Aaravos wrenched her hand, the bones popping and cracking.
“Look at what I can do without even trying.” Aaravos sneered at her, her broken hand still held tight in his own. In Callum’s. He squeezed tighter again, smiling wickedly when she sobbed. “Your agony burns him. Fuels him and yet he can do nothing. Will do nothing when I choke the last breath from your body-”
Before either of them could react, there was a strange sound and Rayla’s hair whipped by her face as a shield collided with Aaravos chest.
He dropped her hand as he collapsed on one knee, cradling his ribs.
“Rayla!” Her father gripped her around the waist, lifting her to her feet as he pulled her back.
“Callum!” She looked back at him, heart catching to find him getting to his feet once again, his cold blue eyes now fixed on Amaya.
His aunt had her sword in her hands, Janai and her Sunforge blade beside her.
“What happened?” Tiadrin rushed to meet them, reaching for Rayla’s crushed hand.
“Callum stabbed Aaravos with the nova blade but he- he-” Her voice caught as she looked back to the clearing, trying desperately to think of what they could possibly do next. “Aaravos possessed him. We need to help him break free.”
Tiadrin glanced at her husband, pulling her weapon from her back.
“Mum, you can’t hurt him!” Rayla grabbed her mother’s wrist. “Callum is still in there.”
“Hurt me?” Aaravos laughed, shaking his head. “You don’t stand a chance.”
Tiadrin looked around, frowning at Lain and then Runaan as he rushed to meet them. He pulled his bow from his back, snapping it in two and bracing himself.
Aaravos lazily looked around at them, appearing amused and almost bored. “You truly think you can stop me? With your pathetic knives and swords.” He chuckled, smirking once again. “The arrogance.”
“Let Callum go,” Rayla tried to sound commanding, but her voice broke, and it came out like a plea.
“He’s mine. There’s nothing you can do to save him.” Aaravos smiled condescendingly at her, raising a hand. “Nothing either of you can do.”
He drew a rune in the air and Rayla felt her blood run cold. She knew she needed to run, to protect herself but she couldn’t do anything as she watched this monster use Callum’s body to attack her.
“Rayla!” Her father grabbed her, an arm around her middle as he pulled her to the ground. A bolt of lightning cracked and fizzled in the air, hitting the spot where she had once been standing.
She cried out as the action jarred her throbbing hand, struggling to right herself. Her father stood between her and Aaravos.
Rayla could see him attacking Amaya and Janai now, both of them working desperately to avoid his attacks. She had no idea what to do. They had to help Callum, but how? Clearly, they needed to incapacitate Aaravos in some way at the very least.
There was no time to think though. Amaya was down and Janai barely standing. Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to think of what to do. From the corner of her eye, she saw Runaan draw back his bow, taking aim.
“No!” She screamed, scrambling to her feet as she reached out for him.
It was too late, and the arrow left his bow, streaking towards Aaravos. She watched in horror as he turned from where he was looming over Janai, flicking his hand at the arrow. It veered off its path, losing altitude, though not enough.
Aaravos merely hissed in pain as the arrow sank into his calf. He glared at Runaan, looking momentarily furious. Janai took advantage of his distraction, raising her sword to attack him.
Aaravos countered, lifting his hand and a force knocked her off her feet and into a tree at the edge of the clearing.
“It seems this body will take some getting used to.” Aaravos pulled the arrow from his leg, not even flinching. “Until we meet again,” he smirked at Rayla in particular as he extended his hands. He didn’t even speak, but Rayla could see the gentle glow of runes along Callum’s arms and a moment later Aaravos extended his mage wings.
Sticks and rocks pelted them as he took to the air, almost instantly further away then she could have thought possible.
Tiadrin and Runaan stood guard for a few seconds, even in his absence, clearly still on edge. Amaya quickly got to her feet, rushing over to check on Janai who lay dazed on the ground.
Runaan continued to watch the sky for a few moments, then turned back to Rayla. “You’re injured.”
“It was Aaravos.” Rayla sniffed, letting her father examine her hand. It had already bruised, and she could see the beginning of swelling. The pain felt far away though, like it was happening to someone else.
Her heart ached as she looked back to the sky, trying desperately to pick out Callum in the vast blue. This couldn’t be happening. This had to be a dream, a nightmare. Attacking Aaravos with the Nova Blade had seemed like a terrifying plan, so many ways it could fail, but she hadn’t anticipated this.
“We have to help Callum.” Rayla bit her lip as her mother urged her up.
Runaan glanced at Tiadrin and Lain but didn’t comment.
The tears finally came as she continued to gaze upwards, mind blank as she tried desperately to think. “We have to save him.”
Telling Ezran was the worst. Soren could tell from their demeanour that something was wrong, only asking the most minimal of questions as he helped them down off Pyrrha, but Ezran had been busy talking to Aanya and so, when he turned to them, he rushed over to welcome them back.
Perhaps it was her tear stained face, or the way her mother was helping her with her crushed hand, but Ezran came to a stumbling stop just as she straightened up, his hand hovering over her injured one.
“Rayla, you’re hurt! What happened?” He frowned at her, then glanced around. “Where’s Callum?”
It was like her heart was breaking afresh, the pain in her hand nothing compared to the pain of Ezran’s cry as Janai explained what happened, the pain of hearing her explain that Aaravos had taken possession of Callum’s body and fled, enough to make her almost throw up.
She stumbled, the edge of her vision going black, her father suddenly at her side too as he helped her stay on her feet.
“Rayla is badly injured.” Tiadrin explained. “She needs to see a healer.”
2nd December
Her hand throbbed as she sat listening to another discussion. It had been weeks now, but Aaravos had not rested quietly. He had attacked the camp at Lux Aurea, seeking the sun seed, it seemed. The Umber Tor was now a smouldering crater, or so she’d heard. Everyone was on edge, fearful, watching for the next attack.
She pulled at the fraying bandage keeping her fingers straight and bound to the splint. Being injured like this, she felt even more worthless and restless. Sleep had alluded her since it happened, and she constantly felt exhausted. The few minutes of sleep she did manage to catch were plagued by nightmares.
Soren pushed a basket of bread towards her, nodding at it but she merely shook her head. She hadn’t had much of an appetite lately either. How could she rest and eat while Callum was out there being tortured? This was all taking too long. She needed to heal and go look for him. These endless meetings and discussions were a waste of everyone’s time.
“They’re saying he’s been sighted at Berylgarten.” One of the human generals glanced at a scroll. “I have instructed our armies to evacuate the city-”
“You’re just giving up?” Another human scoffed, a look on contempt on his face.
“What would you have us do? We cannot fight this evil.” He steeled his face, shaking his head. “The best we can hope for is to avoid more civilian casualties. This monster will stop at nothing to get whatever it is he wants. All we can do is get out of his way.”
Rayla’s stomach turned as the meeting continued. She couldn’t take how they were talking about Callum… like he was already lost. As if there was no hope for him.
“Why can’t the dragon Queen attack him?” One of the Duren generals got to his feet, looking irritated. “She’s supposed to be all powerful and he’s just a man. A boy, in truth. Surely, she can kill him.”
“We don’t need to resort to killing!” Ezran glanced at Rayla, clearly battling to keep his emotions in check.
“He is not just a boy.” Rowan, leader of the Earthblood elves sighed long and low. “He is one of the most powerful beings to ever exist on this plane. Aaravos cannot be killed by a mere archdragon-”
“That’s not Aaravos!” Rayla got to her feet, blood rushing through her veins. “It’s Callum! He’s still in there. He’s trapped. We have to free him.”
Corvus reached for Rayla’s wrist, clearly trying to calm her, but Rayla pulled her hand back, stepping away from him.
“Girl, the boy is lost.” Rowan looked at her with pity. “There is no solution to this that will see him live. For the good of Xadia, Aaravos must be killed. Wiped out from this world. Forever.”
“No, you don’t know that! We can free Callum. We have to find a way.” The room began to spin as Rayla fought to keep herself from crying. She couldn’t look weak in front of these people.
“With his original body destroyed, we finally have a chance of actually killing Aaravos, once and for all.” Rowan turned his attention from her, addressing the room. “He’s weak, vulnerable in that frail human body. We must strike now.”
“No-” Rayla tried to protest, but her voice caught in her throat. The edge of her vision went black as she fell to her knees, desperately trying not to empty her stomach on the flagstones.
The last thing she heard was Ezran’s voice calling out to her as the world went black.