The Cursed Princes - TheSealer (2024)

Chapter 1: A Very Opinionated Prologue

Chapter Text

Long ago, Xadia was one land rich in magic and wonder. In the old times, there were only the six Primal Sources of magic.

The Sun.

The Moon.

The Stars.

The Earth.

The Sky.

And the Ocean.

Very grand and fantastical, wouldn't you say, dear reader? Just the introoozesof mysticism. Joy!

But a thousand years ago – seriously, why its always a number of years ending in a cadre of zeros? Why not 999 years ago, or 1001? Damn obligatory need for grandeur and easy to remember details! – anyways, a human mage discovered new magic - the seventh source. It used the essence within magical creatures themselves to unleash dark power. Because, dear reader, 'dark' equals 'bad' and 'light' equals 'good'. No exceptions. Sounds a tad racist, if you ask me. I mean, anthrax is badandwhite.

Horrified by what they saw, the elves and the dragons put a stop to the madness. They drove every last human to the west. How it happened, I'm not going into details. Because it would be spoiling, you ask? No, because the writers haven't thought of the details, yet. If they ever will, seeing season 4 is all but forgotten.

And so, the continent was divided in two. In the east, the magical lands of Xadia. And in the west, the human kingdoms. For centuries, the King of the Dragons himself defended the border.

The humans called him Thunder, for when he spoke, his voice shook the earth and the sky. An apt description, I admit, though the name is quite unimaginative. Personally, I have one that is both imaginativeandapt to describe him: Big-bearded Jackass. Because that's succinctly what he is.

On with the tale; on the eve of last Winter's Turn, the humans used unspeakable Dark Magic to slay Thunder (aka Big-bearded Jackass). But know that the good Dragon King (aka Big-bearded Jackass) did not die unavenged; for in his last moments of life he turned to the human king who fell him and placed upon his offspring two equally, dastardly, horrifying curses, dictated by the moon. The King's blood son would suffer whenever the moon was full. And the King's surrogate son would suffer whenever the moon was new. Henceforth they would become known as...imagine drum rolls, please...the Cursed Princes. DAN! DAN! DAN!

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Yeah, right! ASkydragon cast twomoon-oriented curses. Right, I'm sure even by reading this you can see my eyes rolling. Yeah, sure…NOT!

Okay, enough about my narrating and on with the real story, or whatever. It's not like this fanfic will last long enough to reach my grand introduction, anyways.

- Aaravos of the Startouch Elves

Chapter 2: Echoes of Thunder

Chapter Text

The rain of the evening pounded upon the roof of the royal chambers. Upon the four post bed, Prince Ezran slept as peacefully as the weather outside. He turned from one side to the other, his arms reaching out for something that wasn’t there. Then…

“Bait!” with a startle scream, he sat up, panting and with tears running down his soft cheeks.

“Ezran!” from the connecting room came prince Callum to attend to his half-brother. He leaned on the bed and grabbed him gently by the shoulders. Once soothed Ezran embraced his older brother.

“It’s alright, Ez. It was just a dream.”

“Bait...I miss Bait.” he sobbed and Callum stiffened. The glow toad, Bait, had been Ezran’s ever-present companion since the boy could walk. A companionship that was broken the night of Ezran’s first accursed transformation. “Ezran, you know Bait ran away...”

The whimpering boy suddenly broke out of the embrace and glared. “Don’t lie to me. I know the truth, I...I saw it...in the dream.” the young prince restarted crying. Callum could do nothing to comfort him but to hug him again. It was true; Bait hadn’t ran away on that night. That was a merciful lie to spare Ezran further trauma.

“I’m so sorry, Ezran.” Callum whispered. “It’s wasn’t your fault.”

Ezran sobbed one final time and clumsily wiped his tears with his sleeve. “I know I’m not. Zym says the same.”

Callum asked. “Who’s Zym?”

Someone knocked on the door. “May I come in?”

“You’re the King. You don’t need to ask.” Ezran called out after hastily wiping any other remains of his crying. A kid he may be, but Ezran never showed what he perceived as weakness to his father. He had to be strong if he was going to rule Katolis, one day.

Callum moved back to his room with a cold expression, without a word.

“Maybe king’s don’t have to knock, but fathers do.” King Harrow entered, giving Ezran a tired smile. He turned to Callum and greeted him just as warmly. Callum’s reply was a polite but passionless ‘hello’. Harrow sighed in defeat and addressed Ezran again.

The younger prince requested his father sang the lullaby he did every night and the sovereign happily obliged. It was a song his and Callum’s mother, whom Ezran barely remembered, used to sing to him. When he was done, the young prince was more appeased. Until he asked:

“Tomorrow is full moon, right dad?” Harrow hesitated then replied with a nod. Ezran grew more apprehensive as he inquired:

“Do I have to go down there, tomorrow? To the Box?”

Harrow’s breath escaped him. He looked into his son’s pleading eyes. His once baby blue eyes, now getting more yellow with every month that passed since the curse first manifested. It tore the King’s heart to look at him like that and knowing there was nothing he could do to appease his boy. Even worse, knowing his boy’s plight was Harrow’s own fault.

The King’s hesitant silence was enough of an answer for Ezran, who sank in his covers. Attempting to change the mood, Harrow noticed dozens of small flasks on a shelf, each filled with a silvery glowing liquid.

“You took your elixir for to night?”

“Yeah.” Ezran’s face twisted in disgust. “And every other night for the last month. It’s still gross.”

“Perhaps, but you know what Viren says: an elixir before bed...”

“Makes the curse not so bad.” Ezran recited. “Actually, I think Claudia said that.”

“Yeah, she did.” Callum confirmed, not removing his eyes from his notebook.

Harrow turned to Callum. Since he entered, the boy hadn’t left his desk, not even to look at the king. Some would consider that disrespectful; Harrow sadly recognized the boy had every right not to acknowledge him. He stood up.

“I’ll let you boys rest, then. Good night, Ezran.”

“Good night, dad!”

“And good night, Callum.”

“Good night, sir.” that came out a bit tense, Harrow felt. Until four months ago, Sara’s older child would talk to him with mostly respect and a note of fondness. But that tragically, suddenly changed and it was Harrow’s fault.

As he left the room, he caught a glance of Callum’s ear. The earlobe wasn’t completely round anymore. It had gained a slight tip, nowhere near as pointy as an elf’s, though. Harrow recalled such tip wasn’t there last week. Just another reminded of his unforgivable sin, just like Ezran’s changing eyes and the nightmares he had of Sarai’s ghost cursing him for what he had unleashed upon their children.

The next morning, as the sun barely risen above the horizon, King Harrow and Lord Viren stood on the balcony of the royal chambers. Harrow had passed a bad night – granted most nights nowadays were hardly pleasant for him – so, the high mage of Katolis divulged the urgent news gently, not to fill the sovereign with even more stress.

“Assassins. Last night, a scout stumbled upon them. To make matters worse, we believe they are Moonshadow Elves.” and there’s not more gentle way to deliver bad news than to unload them all at once. It’s like ripping off an old band-aid. You do it quickly rather than dragging it out.

Harrow, who had listened morosely up until that point, frowned. “Assassins from Xadia, then.” he contemplated the lands and city below the castle.

The capital of the kingdom was also named Katolis, having been first settled by the Orphan Queen and then expanded until it reached its current borders with the other four kingdoms. And with Xadia.

Harrow’s frown grew as his gaze turned to northeast where the border with Xadia lied. “So it’s not enough that two innocent children pay for my mistake. The dragons finally want me to pay for it.” he almost chuckled at the dark twist.

Viren allowed to ruminate for a moment before continuing. “Since tonight’s moon will...”

“I know very well that tonight will be a full moon.” Harrow snapped. “I have every motive to keep up to date on the moon phases.”

Another paused that Viren wisely didn’t break. He waited a full minute for the King to restart the discussion.

“If they’re coming tonight, we must flush them out to day. In the light of sun while we still have an advantage.”

Viren nodded. “I already have a plan in motion. Soren will lead a team to find their hiding place. They will be guided by a special magical creature I have stored that will be drawn to the elves.”

Harrow nodded. “That aside, have you had any luck with your other assignments?”

The dark mage sighed. “Not so much, unfortunately. The Wolf’s Bane elixir does make Prince Ezran not as savage when he’s transformed, but from my knowledge and experiments, not amount of elixir can cure his curse.”

Harrow exhaled through his nose, a habit he had to relieve frustration.

“As for Prince Callum, I have not discovered anything usable.”

The King turned to the mage with sternness. “It took you less than a month to find a half-decent treatment for my younger son. And you meant to tell me you cannot do the same for my older son, in over four months?”

Viren took it impassively. “Tragically, Prince Callum’s curse is far more obscure. Werewolves were scarce but still existed when humanity was banished from Xadia. But vampires went extinct long before humanity even discovered this continent.”

Harrow sighed and resumed his silent contemplation. Pip, his pet songbird, chirped and the king petted him gently.

Then, a thought occurred to him. “Viren, I’ve never been very educated in the lore of magic or Xadia. That’s your purpose here.” he took a hand to his bearded chin. “But both curses are controlled by the moon. You once theorized they are some form of Moon Primal magic.”

Viren confirmed it with a nod.

A spark of hope struck the King. “What if we can capture one of the elves? Perhaps they could tell what you need to know to help Callum. Possibly even to break the curses altogether!” when he was done, the King was almost smiling.

“Alas, Harrow, that’s easier said than done. Truth be told, it’s possible but very unlikely. Even if Soren finds them, moonshadow assassins are very skilled and especially elusive fighters. It’s likely they would scatter and hide than fight a battle they couldn’t win. To make matters worse, if we do corner one of them, they would instantly end their own life than risk being captured.”

But the king wasn’t deterred. He looked like a man who had been present with a fresh water spring after a day of backbreaking work under the sun. “A small chance is better than no chance! Inform Soren to prioritize capture.”

Since becoming a Prince, Callum’s routine transformed into a series of responsibilities. Most in the form of lessons that occupied nearly his entire day. Lessons in history were a bore, all about battles with long and needlessly complicated names. Politics and War Strategy weren’t much better. But the worst of the lot were lessons in swordsmanship. The instructor of the matter was Lord Viren’s son, Soren.

“Good morning, Step-Prince Callum. Today I’ll be teaching you the skills you lack on swordsmanship. Hopefully won’t take me until I die of old age.” and that was why this was the most detestable of all disciplines. Soren never wasted an opportunity to remind Callum of his many, many failings.

Armed with a wooden sword, Callum would attack with a dramatic shout and Soren would parry, block and disarm him every time with little effort. To add insult to injury, the teacher also threw criticism that was equal parts constructive and taunting. The only barely good thing these lessons provided him with were a good outlet for anger and frustration. And since the last four months, Callum had carried a good dose of those around. Still, that didn’t mean he enjoyed it.

He was just about to give up when someone else walked up and brightened his mood. Claudia walked by, her attention fixated on a book. Claudia was always a welcomed presence to him.

It was subtle but Callum could tell everyone acted more reserved around him since his curse manifested. The guards eyed him more frequently like they would a prisoner that could lash out at them without warning. Soren, despite his attitude, was cool sometimes, but recently he became harsher in his training, his comments a tad meaner. Plus, he attempted to break up Callum and Claudia whenever he found them together.

“Hey, stop daydreaming, Step-prince.” Soren slapped him in the back with enough force to nearly send Callum to the ground. “Maybe if you just focused a little, you wouldn’t drop your sword every 5 seconds, Step-prince Fangs.”

Callum stiffened. Soren realized his mistake too late. Claudia, who overheard it, put her book down and walked over to them with a grave expression. Callum would have given Soren a death glare hadn’t someone else addressed him:

“Prince Callum?”

“What is it?” his words came out like a hiss. It was High Councilor Opeli who remained unfazed by his reply:

“King Harrow wishes to see you and Prince Ezran immediately.”

The prince exhaled and departed without another word. Claudia slapped her brother in the back of the head and scolded him in a whisper:

“What was that for?! Calling him ‘Fangs’, really? What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t, okay!” the brother massaged his head where the sister had slapped him. “It just came out, sorry. But it’s still kinda true.”

If Soren wanted to infuriate his sister more, he chose the perfect combination of words. She raised her voice, not caring who was listening.

“That’s his fault and you have no...”

Aggravated, Soren retorted. “I recall when he first went into Fangs-mode, he tried to bite you!”

“That’s not...”

“That’s enough!” Opeli’s voice cut through the siblings’ argument. The pair realized they had a small audience in the form of curious bystanders in the courtyard. Awkwardly, Viren’s children made themselves scarce. Opeli turned to where Callum had gone and sighed, feeling for the poor boy.

When the King boisterously announced the two of them would be going to the Banther Lodge for a few days, the princes were immediately suspicious. Disregarding the logical fact that they were in the middle of Spring, the King insisted they would leave for the Winter vacation residence that same night.

“But, if we’re leaving tonight, does that mean I don’t have to go to the Box?” Ezran’s innocent question earned him a shoulder tap by Callum who looked nervously between him and the nobles in the room whom watched the exchange impassively. Harrow also recognized Ezran’s near slip-up and hastily ordered the Council member to clear the room, save for Lord Viren.

The princes’ curses were known only to the people whom had witnessed them when they first manifested: Lord Viren, Lady Opeli, King Harrow, Claudia, Soren and some soldiers whom were sworn to secrecy. No one else in the entire kingdom was aware their next monarch and his brother turned into monsters, once a month.

Once safe from unwanted ears, Harrow confirmed: “Yes, son. Tonight no ‘box’ for you.” Ezran instantly cheered up.

The ‘Box’ was the strange term Ezran came up for the secret, lockdown room where Ezran spent his nights of full moon. Ezran disliked it because it felt like a dungeon.

The first time Ezran transformed, he was a bloodthirsty mindless monsters that attacked anything that crossed his path. Fortunately, Viren quickly recreated an ancient recipe: the Wolf’s Bane Elixir; before the second full moon. As long as Ezran drank a full flask of it every night before sleeping, when the night of full moon came, he would transform into a tame werewolf. A mindless animal, but not a monster. Better to be an animal than a monster.

The king’s tone became serious. “Listen, here’s what we will do. You will pack your essentials – and plenty of elixir – and leave for the Banther Lodge before sundown. Keep to the main roads and don’t deviate. If you hurry up, you can get there before night.”

“But...” Ezran began but Harrow silenced him with a look that allowed no argument. He then turned to Callum.

“Callum, keep your brother safe when you get to the lodge. Lock everything up until the morning.”

“I understand.” so the plan was to have Ezran go to the transformation at the lodge with just the two of them. In his tame state, Ezran would be virtually harmless and Callum could keep him from escaping outside.

After they exited the throne room, Ezran said:

“Something’s up and he’s not telling us.”

Callum knew that and he felt it wasn’t good if the king was sending them away. But the last thing he wanted as to worry his brother.

“I’m sure it’s nothing too bad. How I go pack our bags while you think of fun stuff to do while we’re at the lodge?”

Ezran shrugged. “Okay, but a dirtman or mudsledding are off the list. How about I bring Zym with us?”

Again, Callum felt prompted to ask who this ‘Zym’ was, but his brother was already running ahead of him. He shrugged it off.

They passed the courtyard. Ezran was pensive over what to do for fun at the lodge. Callum was not so distracted, though. He overheard Soren’s voice coming out of the window to Lord Viren office.

“Moonshadow elves will kill the king.”

And just like that Callum’s fears became much more grounded.

Chapter 3: What is done

Chapter Text

“Moonshadow elves will kill the king.”

It all made sense then; the King was sending them away so they wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire of an assassination attempt. A regicide that would most likely succeed.

As Callum marched ever more dreadfully to his and Ezran’s connected rooms, he recalled the tales he heard about elves. How the moon elves were the deadliest and stealthiest of killers. Murderers, always carrying sharp blades and a literal and figurative thirst for blood.

(Callum was too tense to notice the twisted irony.)

Those perturbed thoughts caused him to snap at Ezran because his brother was packing too slow. Upset, the crown prince left for his own room. Callum felt a bit guilty but let him go, thinking a time-out would do him good.

(Oh, how he would come to regret that choice, later.)

“Okay, plenty of elixirs and some dried meat.” Callum took the time to prepare Ezran’s backpack with enough potions for three weeks. Better safe than sorry. Plus, Lord Viren could cook up those elixirs in great quantity easily enough.

The meat was just for a quick snack; since the werewolf curse took effect, Ezran’s appetite had become more carnivorous. Nowadays he seldom touches a jelly tart, much to the royal chef’s relief.

“Okay, Ez, I’m done. I even packed your things, so let’s go.”

No answer. Callum sighed. “Come on, Ezran, we need to go. Look, I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

Still no answer. That got him preoccupied. He placed an ear against the door but heard no movement. Fearing the worst, he managed to shove his head through the little door which was once used by Bait, to peek inside. His fears were confirmed when he couldn’t see any sign of his brother in the room.

“Not this again, Ez. Not today, please.” he groaned exasperated. Of all the times for his little brother to pull off a disappearing act, he couldn’t have picked a worse occasion! It had to be on the day assassins picked to pay a visit, which doubled as a night of full moon!

“Okay, think, Callum! How many places in a royal castle could a ten-year-old soon-to-be werewolf hide in?”

“Rock, rock, stone, rock, stone, stone, rock, stone, rock!” It had taken him a month to figure out the combination, but the results were worth it. The spiral staircase revealed itself on the ground and Ezran descended it in an exhilarated frenzy.

Discovering the secret laboratory had been a mixed experience for him. His first reaction was fright upon seeing the preserved magic creatures and animals in small jars, diagrams that detailed how to dissect them and sharp tools.

“Hey, Zym!” he waved at the egg. “Guess what?”

There was no audible reply. Ezran giggled like he had heard a joke.

“No, that’s not it. But that sounds fun, still. No, tonight I won’t be going to the Box. Callum and I are going to the Banther Lodge for a few days!” he paused, waiting for a reply or a reaction. Again the egg offered neither, but for Ezran was different. He snapped his fingers like he just remembered something.

“Oh, right! You wouldn’t know. It’s our lodge for winter vacation. We play all sorts of games in the snow. But since it’s spring, there will be no snow there. Though my dad insisted we come up with new games that use dirt and rock instead of snow.” he paused again, this time to gather his thoughts. “I could tell something was weird. And Callum did, too, he said...” Ezran halted and shook his head, chasing bad thoughts away. He turned around and sat on the floor.

“Yeah, maybe dad just has some important stuff to do and doesn’t want us to get bored. And Callum is sometimes so angry. He’s been like that since my curse first reared its ugly head. But that’s just because he worries. But he used to be so much fun before.” the prince grinned impishly. “Maybe if I trick him into doing the jerkface dance, he’ll be fun again.”

The egg continued glowing, unaltered by the young werewolf’s talk. Said boy still acted as if the egg replied.

“That’s the other good news I have. You’re coming with us! I’ll just carry you in my backpack. Callum won’t even know it.”

Ezran approached the egg and put his arms and face around it, like hugging a friend. “Of course you’re coming. You’re my friend, Zym. Maybe while we’re there, you’ll finally hatch and we can fly together!”

To add apprehension to Callum’s trepidation, he was summoned by the King. And Ezran was still nowhere to be found.

He hesitantly entered the throne room and found it empty, save for the monarch.

“Your Majesty.” Callum bowed.

“Callum, please. Drop the formalities. Just this once.”

Callum faced the monarch fully. In the last four months, the King’s eyes held nothing but regret whenever they bore into his own. Yet, at the moment, they produceda strange mix of tiredness and determination. Even if the latter appeared to be hesitant.

“Callum, I know I’m not your father, but I wish you understand I have always considered you my family. And I want you to...” he paused, hesitance having momentarily won out. “This isn’t easy. There’s so much I want to say, and so little time. So, the most important parts, I’ve written them down.”

He produced a scroll, sealed with red wax and stamped with the official sigil of Katolis – the two uneven towers – and handed it to Callum.

“A letter for me?” Callum turned it over in his hands.

“For your eyes only. You’ll know when the time is right to open it.”

Callum cast him a look. “You mean, after you’ve been assassinated.”

Harrow’s look of surprise was brief. He approached the prince and was relieved that the boy didn’t step back. He put both hands on his shoulders.

“War is full of uncertainties.” the king’s gaze turned to the window from where he could watch the afternoon sun. The last day he would enjoy it. “But one thing I can be certain of is that tonight I may pay the price for my sins.”

Callum’s hand clenched, gripping the letter hard enough to almost damage the seal. “Funny, I was under the impression Ezran and I paid the price for you.” he came close to voice those bitter thoughts but held back. “This isn’t fair. You’re the King! Can’t you do anything about it?”

“It’s not that simple, Callum. There are centuries of blood and wrongdoings, on both sides. They cannot just be forgotten. Some of those wrongs are my doing, as you well know. What is done, cannot be undone.”

At one time, Callum would have objected to that. That a king, a man with so much power, could change the world. Yet life had force fed him a bitter dose of reality when the curses first manifested. What was done, could not be undone. He suppressed the instinct of passing a hand over his sharpening ears for emphasis.

“Callum...” the king grabbed his attention. His voice faltered, like he had spoken without knowing for certain what to say. So uncharacteristic of the king. “I know I’ve said this too many times, but I’ll say it again; I’m truly sorry for this. For bringing this suffering upon you and your brother. For betraying your mother’s memory...”

That was the last straw! Callum threw the clenched scroll to the ground and shot the king an irate glare.

“And like I told you too many times, being sorry doesn’t change a thing! You can’t just undo it by apologizing! What’s done can’t be undone.”

Harrow didn’t dare to lower his head in shame like he had a number of times before. The time to regret mistakes had long passed. Now it was time to face them head-on. And try to salvage what little he could for the future.

“Callum,” the king spoke firmly, any hesitance gone. “Your rage is earned and you have every right to hate me. I did what I thought was necessary and righteous. And those actions led us here and now.

“Please, just promise me you’ll read that letter, when the time comes.”

A resigned Callum looked down at the letter and grabbed it. It was crushed, but it would still be readable. He showed it in front of Harrow’s face.

“I promise I’ll read it on one condition; don’t die.” Harrow wasflabbergasted “You said multiple times you wanted to make it up for Ezran and me. Well, you can’t do that if you’re dead. So that’s my condition. Survive.”

Harrow sighed, neither confirming nor denying it. Callum felt the man wasn’t going to make a promise he knew he couldn’t keep. Resigned, Callum muttered:

“If that is all, I have to go help Ezran pack.”

Harrow sighed. “Yes, that is all.” He took a step forward, spreading his arms, intent on hugging his step-son. But Callum stepped backwards and promptly bowed. That shot down Harrow’s hope for a familial farewell. And in a way, the king felt he didn’t deserve one. Not from one of the people he had hurt the most.

“Take care of your brother, Callum.”

The prince left the throne room with a lump in his throat. So much he wanted to say and to ask. To say he despised Harrow for bringing all these troubles upon them. To ask why the king chose to antagonize Xadia. And to plead, to beg for Harrow to save himself in any possible way, for Callum couldn’t bear to lose his fath...

Callum put a screeching halt to that train of thought. He took the time to look out a window. In a few hours the sun would be down. And then the castle would be swarming with elven assassins. That notion darkened Callum’s mood more than anything. Assassins were coming. Ezran had gone missing. And now it was confirmed those monsters were here to collect revenge for King Harrow’s crimes.

“Because apparently, cursing the man’s son and step-son is not enough for the elves and dragons!” he thought with bitter anger.

He turned from the window and his glance passed by a polished armor standing against the wall. It was so shiny, he could see his face reflected, including his now pointed ears. Nowhere near as prominent as elf ears, but not ordinary human ones, anymore. He scowled and noticed his canines also looked sharper.

His fist trembled with rage and, guided by emotion, met the armor on the side of the plackart with force. The decorative armor was disassembled into scattered pieces on the ground. Callum walked away, too angry to care about such un-princely behavior. Or the fact that he had never been able to punch something so heavy with any result, before.

As he walked and pondered where Ezran could be hiding, something put him on alert. Callum was not someone who regularly followed instinct, but right then he felt something. A feeling, neither cold nor hot, going up his spine. That feeling commanded his brain to put away the anger and worry for a moment and keep attentive. His instinct told him; someone was sneaking from behind.

Callum suddenly turned around to see a figure clad in exotic clothing of black and dark green shades that clung to its skin, standing just as high as him. It pulled down the hood concealing the face, revealing itself to be young and seemingly female. Callum couldn’t help but stare at the elven features, the ears and the horns.

“Uh, uh, you're a…” he stammered, shock giving way to fear. “You're one of those, with the pointy…”

The elf creature smirked. “Oh, ya don't like mah ears?”

Recalling the predicament with his own ears, Callum’s irritation resurfaced. “As a matter of fact, yeah, I don’t. But I meant the pointy swords.”

She didn’t take offense and pointed the sword at him, stepping forward menacingly. “That's far enough. Ah’m looking for someone.”

Thinking quickly, he pointed to the corridor on the side. “Did you check back there?”

The elf either looked where he pointed in belief or reflex. Callum pulled a large drape over her and sprinted in the opposite direction. He heard a slashing sound and then a steady gust of wind. He didn’t need to look back to know the elf was chasing him.

On his dash to avoid death, he ran past two guards patrolling the wall. They attempted to fight her, but the elf leaped over them and struck their legs from behind, putting them out of commission. If Callum didn’t fear for his life, he would have voiced how amazing that was. Instead, he continued running with one destination in mind; Lord Viren’s office.

“Lord Viren! Claudia! Anyone!” with despair he realized the office was empty. He grunted as he was suddenly pushed into the office against the desk. Harrow’s letters rolled under the table.

He held his head to see the elf pointing a blade at him. Nowhere left to run.

“Ya don't have tah die.” she proclaimed. “There are only two targets tonight.”

That caught Callum off guard. “Wait, two? What do you mean?” he knew they were here for the King.

“Ah'm here for the king. And Ah'm also here for his son, Prince Ezran.”

Callum widened his eyes in shock. “You can't. That's not fair! Why would you hurt someone who's done nothing wrong?”

The elf’s steely gaze didn’t waver. “Humans cut down the King of the Dragons, and destroyed his only egg, the Dragon Prince. Justice will not be denied.”

The cornered prince’s expression became as determined as her own. “Well, then, you've found me. I am Prince Ezran.”

She looked surprised briefly, then stepped close. “Ah have to do this. Ah'm sorry. Ah don't want to, but Ah have to.” she said it like a mantra.

“Why? You know this is wrong.”

“An assassin doesn't decide right and wrong, only life and death.”

Callum retorted with a twinge of sarcasm. “That's very clever, but come on, really? How does this solve anything?”

“This is justice. Humans attacked us unprovoked.”

The prince scowled. “Justice? You call this justice? Didn’t you have enough justice when your Dragon King cursed my brother and me?!”

She quirked an eyebrow. “What in Xadia are ya talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb! Right before he died, Thunder used his dark magic to put a curse over us as revenge. As far as I’m concerned, your kind has already got their vengeance.”

“Dark Magic!” she hissed back at him, furious. “Ya accuse our fallen King of practicing your kind’s vile acts! Ya’re not just a cowardly liar, but also a poor one. Runaan’s right, you humans are vile!”

She pulled back her blade for a deadly strike, but Callum reacted in time. Just like he tried to do to Soren in swordfighting and failing, he swept at her leg. The elf’s balance shook and Callum lunged at her. He always lost at sword fighting and unarmed combat due to lack of technique and rushing in. In here, though, he had a brief element of surprise.

Callum pushed her away and got her down with her back on the floor. He grabbed her wrists to try and keep those blades not pointed at him. The elf kicked him in the torso with both legs, getting him off of her. Callum hit his back against the desk, tumbling it over and falling on top of it.

The elf jumped at him with an extended blade. The prince gasped and moved his head to the side, avoiding getting impaled in the neck by mere inches. Her left blade had become embedded in the desk. So, she brought down the other blade for a certain deadly strike. It happened in a fraction of milliseconds, but seeing imminent death approaching, Callum’s reaction was instinctive. He opened his mouth and sank his teeth as deep as he could in her left arm.

The elf’s reaction was immediate. She cried out and hit him in the nose with the handle of her right blade, making him let go. She jumped back, more in shock than pain. Upon inspecting the two bleeding punctures in her skin, she looked at him, scandalized.

“Ya bit my arm!”

“You hit me in the nose!” he fired back, clutching said place in pain.

Then there was a bodiless whisper. “Callum.”

The prince and the elf both turn their heads to look at a portrait of a woman with sheep on the wall.

“Psst, Callum. I need to introduce you to someone.”

“This is not a good time.” Callum whispered between clenched jaws.

“Are ya talking to that paintin’?” the elf eyed him weirdly.

“Uh, no? What do you think I am? A weirdo?”

She deadpanned. “As a matter of fact…”

“If you’re not coming in, then I’m coming out.” the painting tilted forward.

“No!” Callum pleaded despairingly. Too late, his brother made himself revealed. He looked between Callum and the elf. Unaware of the situation, he offered the stranger a piece of fried meat he had been munching on.

“Uh...You like greasy jerky?”

“Kid, get out of here!” Callum ordered, hoping his brother would have the notion to avoid names.

“Callum, what's going on?” so much for that.

The elf glared at him. “Callum? I thought ya were Prince Ezran. Ya lied to me.”

Callum glared back. “Oh, yeah. And such a bad guy compared to you, Miss I’m-going-to-kill-a-kid-because-two-eyes-for-one-eye-is-the-law-of elves.”

Ezran interrupted. “Is this one of those things I shouldn’t interrupt? Uh, what’s it called...a date?”

“Absolutely not! I’m only here to kill Prince Ezran!” the elf retorted indignated.

“Well, I’m Prince Ezran. Oh!” the young boy realized his slip-up too late. Thankfully, Callum reacted just in time by hurling the nearest, heaviest object he had at hand: his own sketchbook. The once again surprised elf was then shoved out of the office. Callum hurriedly closed the doors and thankfully, locked with the key that was inserted in the keyhole inside the office.

“Come on, Callum!” Ezran called out.

“Ezran, where have you been? We should be on our way to the Banther Lodge!”

“I couldn’t leave without Zym.”

Callum groaned in frustration. “Ez, this is no time to play with your imaginary friends!”

“He’s not imaginary. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Callum was about to protest when he heard a cutting sound behind him. The elf stabbed a sword through the door and was cutting away the lock.

“When Ah find ya, oh ‘Callum’, A’m gunna hit ya in the noose with your stupid book. Repeatedly!” the elf snarled from the other side.

“Okay, time to go. Lead the way.” and he promptly followed his brother into the catacombs, hastily closing the painting behind him.

As he ran in the tunnel, he noticed a strange flavor in his mouth when his tongue casually touched his canines.

“Uh...elf blood? Tastes gross.” he felt disgusted by both the notion and taste.

After reaching a dead end, Ezran pressed rocks and stones (what the difference was between one and the other, Callum would never know) in a precise sequence. That revealed a spiral staircase that they quickly descended. When the stairway pulled back up, Callum asked.

“You sure she won't be able to follow us?”

“No way. It took me over a month to figure out that combination. Now, come on.” Ezran walked deeper into the room. It was poorly illuminated, but Callum could make out shapes of strange exotic artifacts, most appearing to have been once part of something alive. There were also small animals preserved in jars of alcohol. It was ominous to say the least.

“What is this place?”

“One of Lord Viren’s secret dark magic storage rooms, or something. Once or twice he comes in here, but I always hide before he can see me. He never stays for long. Just comes in, takes something and leaves. Claudia also showed up, once.” the young prince spoke casually.

“Wait, wait, Claudia knows about this creepy place?”

“Yep, but never mind that.” unaware of how that revelation had disturbed Callum, Ezran walked over to a pedestal holding an object covered by a cloth. Ezran removed the cloth. The object was a large egg. Its deep blue shell sporting markings of yellow and red produced a bright glow of the same colorations.

“W-what is that?”

“That’s Zym, it’s short for Azymondias. He’s the Dragon Prince, still inside his egg.”

Before Callum could pose anymore questions, the two brothers flinched as the spiral staircase redescended with the murderous elf standing on the last stair, looking triumphant.

“But how did you…”

“Ah just pressed all the stones with fat handprints.” she revealed smugly.

Ezran facepalmed, leaving a greasy handprint on his forehead. The elf stepped closer, slowly, glancing at the contents of the room. Her gaze grew ever more disgusted and irate.

“What is this place? Runaan is right. There's nothing in humans worth sparing. It’s over. Humans destroyed the egg of the Dragon Prince. There must be justice.” she pointed a sword at the pair of humans, now more determined than ever to commit the deed.

“You’ll have to go through me, first.”

“As ya wish.” she approached, undeterred.

“Wait, Callum, step aside.” Ezran pleaded.

“No way.”

“Callum, please, let her see it.”

“See what?” the elf halted, suddenly wary. Callum slowly did as his brother said. The assassin gasped. “The egg...the egg of the Dragon Prince!”

Chapter 4: Moonrise

Chapter Text

The elf girl shook her head in disbelief. “This changes everything.”

Callum gave the egg a sideways look. He didn’t want to completely take his eyes off the elf in case she opted to go for the kill. “So, this is it? The egg of the Dragon Prince?”

The elf girl continued. “Ah can't believe it. If the egg lives…”

“Azymondias.” Ezran cut her off. “His name is Azymondias. Or ‘Zym’ for short.”

“Well, I’m Rayla and...wait, ya can talk to the dragonling inside?” she was dubious, to which Ezran nodded, innocently.

Callum posed the question. “Okay, one thing doesn’t add up; why wasn’t it destroyed?”

“Because my father saved it.” the three youths turned startled to the spiral staircase from which Claudia made her entrance. Callum recognized the Sky Primal Stone she showed him earlier, in her hand. “Callum, Ezran, get behind me. I can protect you from the elf.”

The elf, now identified as Rayla, took on a battle stance and pointed an accusatory blade at Claudia. “Your father didn't save it. He stole it!”

“Same thing.”

“Why did Lord Viren do that, Claudia?” Ezran grabbed the egg gently.

“My father took it to protect us, Ezran, so the elves and dragons couldn't use it.”

The two girls argued back and forth, Claudia insisting the egg was a weapon that Xadia planned to use against humanity while Rayla claimed it was an innocent life-form that had been ripped from its mother. Callum wanted to agree with Claudia, yet a tiny part of him couldn’t help but feel for the creature inside the egg. He knew all too well how it hurt to be separated from a mother. Still…

“Ezran, don't be afraid. Walk towards me, and if she moves even an inch…” Claudia drew a rune in the air and her hand began sparkling with lightning. Callum had a basic idea of what was about to happen. He paced towards his friend.

“Come on, Ez.”

Ezran looked him with confusion and denial. “But Callum…”

“Ez, this is not the time! Let’s just get you to safety. Come on.”

“But Zym wants to go back to his family.” Ezran protested.

“Right now, I’m more concerned with my family.” Callum spoke without room for argument. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Ezran looked at him, then the egg, then at Rayla, and finally back to him. “No.”

“No?”

“You’re wrong, Callum. Zym is my friend and I want to help him. He should be with his mother.”

Callum sighed in exasperation. “Ezran, for the last time, you CAN’T talk to animals. That egg could be hypnotizing your brain or something.”

“It’s true, though it's more likely the elf is doing the hypnotizing.” Claudia remarked from the sidelines.

“But…”

“Think, Ezran, think!” Callum pointed his index fingers to his own forehead. “That’s the egg of Thunder, the big reptile guy who cursed us! Are you really going to help his kid out so he can do that to more people?” he pointed to his own mouth, upper lip upturned. “Just today I found my teeth are becoming fangs. This is what they’re doing to us!”

Ezran was shocked and scared of his brother and the twinge of red he could see in his eyes. He looked to the egg, then to Rayla, who gave him a sincere smile of confidence. The young prince made up his mind.

“Follow me.” He took off in the opposite direction with the elf in toe.

“Ezran!” Callum called out, incredulous. His brother just...left? With an elf? After he had told him to come to him? Ezran was willing to trust some elf assassin over him?

“Don’t worry, I won’t hit Ez. Fulminis!”

She didn’t hit Ezran, yet she didn’t hit the elf, either. She must have heard where the lightning was coming from and dodged it by inches. The lightning hit a nearby wall, instead. Callum raced after them, but when he turned to the left, he saw the elf just finished cutting a rope that tied barrels and crates in a pile. The numerous containers fell like a timber and blocked the pathway where the elf and Ezran went. The last Callum saw of his brother’s face was a regretful look.

“No, no, no!” He frantically tried to remove the heavy debris out of the way. Claudia just joined him

"Hold on, I have a better idea!" Claudia went back into the laboratory and instantly returned with a lit red candle. Callum watched in curiosity as she sprinkled the flame with some strange dust and the fire turned purples. She spoke an incantation and blew on the candle twice. The prince gasped in admiration as the puffs of smoke grew and took on the form of wolves. Without warning, the creatures threw themselves at the roadblock, passing through the small cracks.

Claudia smiled proudly at Callum's dumbfounded expression. "Those are my Smoky Seekers. They will find Ez and that elf. And since they're made of smoke, only a solid wall could actually stop them."

“That’s...neat. You sure they won’t harm Ez?”

“Absolutely! Count Michaelo Alfredo Garibaldi and Max are professional hounds.”

Callum blinked. “Wait, wait, wait! You named them?”

“Well, of course. They have to have names.” Claudia stated, like saying people need to breathe air to live. “Max, the smaller one, is tenacious if a bit too excitable. But Count Michaelo Alfredo Garibaldi can keep him in check. He’s the level-headed one.” she paused and put a finger to her chin. “Although Count Michaelo Alfredo Garibaldi is not housebroken, yet.”

"They're gaining on us." Rayla heard the howls of the shadowy monsters getting closer.

"I got an idea! There's a crevice right there. We can hide there and wait for them to pass us."

They reached a fissure on the wall just large enough for the two of them to squeeze through.

Rayla was dumbfounded by the idiocy of the princes’ plan. "Are ya joking me? They'll definitely notice us!"

Ezran ignored her while pillaging through his backpack. "Those smoke wolves keep saying 'smell them...smell them'. I think they can only detect us through smell, so…" he fished three flasks of elixir from the backpack, mentally thanking Callum, and doused the content over himself, the egg and Rayla. She vocally protested that, but he ushered her into the crevice. Reluctantly, the elf did so, but insisted he and the egg stood behind her.

The smoke wolves sounded like they were just about to reach them. Rayla unseathed her blades, ready to fight and defend the dragon's egg and the potentially idiotic and/or crazy human prince.

The wolves came into view and halted on the spot Ezran had drenched them in the liquid. They sniffed the air, seemingly confused, then whimpered and continued on their way.

"It actually worked!" An astonished Rayla sniffed a drop of the silvery liquid running down her arm. "It reeks of flower perfume. What's this stuff made of?"

"I dunno." The prince shrugged, walking out of the hiding place behind her. "Lord Viren says its made from a purple poisonous flower."

The suspicion that this human prince was crazy came back to Rayla. "So you just doused us in a concoction made from a poisonous plant?"

He waved it off with a wide, naive smile."It's okay. I drink this elixir every night, before bed."

Yep, this human prince was crazy.

As they carried on towards an exit the prince knew of, something became noticed by Rayla. The catacomb was barely lit by the bioluminescent crystals and roots on the walls, yet Ezran walked as if the place was opened to the light of day. At first she thought the boy must have had the whole network memorized. Yet, she noticed another strange thing about him:

"Do all humans have eyes that glow in the dark?" She asked out of the blue.

"Not really. Just me, I think...I'm a werewolf." He spoke with some hesitance.

She blinked twice. "Sure. And I'm an archdragon. There hav' been no werewolves in centuries, and certainly never a human one. Now, what matters is to get that egg back to Xadia. Give it to me. I need to get it to the roof."

"Outside, right now?" For the first time, he actually appeared nervous. He looked at the egg and went back to Rayla. "I'll take you there."

"Fair enough." She sighed.

"Don't you have any magic spells that could speed this up. Like making the crates move themselves or...turning them into dead flees?"

"Sorry, I used up all my ingredients. But I think I have something in the lab thay could turn the crates into angry hornets. Would that do?" that obvious attempt to lift the mood was met by a rare scowl from Callum:

“Not in the mood, Claudia.”

After the girl sicced the smoky seekers after the elf and Ezran, Callum insisted they remove the blockage, in spite of Claudia reassurance that her gaseous pets would not fail. They were almost done when a whimper echoed in the tunnel on the other side. The sound was all too familiar to the girl.

"Max! Count Michaelo Alfredo Garibaldi!" The hounds made of smoke materialized around Claudia and promptly disintegrated into lifeless puffs.

Claudia's wince brought new fears onto Callum. "What does that mean?"

"It means...they lost the scent."

Callum dropped a crate he was holding. “You told me those smoky pets would save Ezran!”

She raised her hands to placate his anger. “I’m sorry! They should have found them. The only way they could have lost the scent is if somehow the elf masked it.”

Callum groaned and returned to his self-assigned task. Claudia put a hand to his shoulder to try and reason with him.

“Callum, it’s best to go to my father. He may have a way to track down the egg and…”

“I couldn’t care less about some magical egg, Claudia! My brother is running around, hypnotized by an elf. She already admitted she’s here to kill him!'' Without another word, he went back to clearing the path. Claudia excused herself to go get help from her father.

Meanwhile, Ezran guided his companion through a passage from the catacombs to the courtyard. She instructed Ezran to follow her and keep himself hidden until she gave the signal. He looked nervous but she assured him someone had to see the egg in order to prevent the war. Then, she stealthily made her way to the top of a wall.

Upon the wall, she scanned the area. "You're here. I know you are."

Runaan made himself appear and the two elves started arguing. Rayla disclosed her discovery but her elder called her out for falling prey to human deception.

"Show him!"

The apprehensive prince stepped in cradling the deep blue glowing egg. Runnaan was stunned momentarily, but not moved. He persisted that the double assassination had to be carried out. He didn't believe in any chance for peace.

"Go. Keep it safe."

"It's too late." Ezran whispered fearfully. His fear, though, wasn't due to Runaan, but rather to what the parting clouds revealed in the night sky.

It was a Full Moon.

Rayla and Runaan felt the all too familiar sensation of their Primal empowering them. Their bodies, clothing and weapons gained the ability to camouflage with the environment. It was just as natural as breathing. Yet they were not the only ones with a transformation triggered by the celestial body.

Once the white light touched Ezran's body, his pupils were reduced to pinpricks. His breathing accelerated. The egg was dropped on the ground. The Lupin Curse initiated the excruciating process. Ezran fell on his knees, the pain of his bones and muscles growing overwhelmed him. His nails became narrow but sharp. Teeth and jaws elongated. Hair grew all over his skin.

Ezran cried out. Or tried to. The sound he made was more akin to a wolf howling.

Callum had just found his way out of the catacombs when the crying howl reached him.

"EZ!"

Rayla watched first in confusion then suspense and fear as the young human prince seemed to grow hair and in size. His arms elongated until they were almost as long as his legs.

"What sort of dark magic is this?" Runaan hadn't broken out of his battle stance, twin swords drawn. Rayla had momentarily forgotten he was there.

"Is he truly…"

"Ezran!" That other prince - Callum, she thought the name was - showed up running towards Ezran.

"That's prince Ezran?" Runaan's visage hardened with purpose. No longer did he observe the transforming child with caution or suspicion of an interloper. Now, he was a target.

Several things happened almost simultaneously. Runaan launched himself at the humans, fully intent on ending one of the targets. Rayla attempted to stop him, but he leaped high above her. Callum, seeing the assassin heading towards his brother, tried to shield him with his own body. Ezran's canine ears perked up at the sound of blades cutting through the wind.

CLANG!

Rayla's eyes widened as did Runaan's and Callum's. The blade that would have cut down both princes had been stopped, trapped in the lupine jaws of the now transformed Prince Ezran.

Runaan quickly got over his shock and pulled back, yanking his weapon out of the werewolf' mandibles.

"You see, Rayla. These humans would even corrupt their own bodies with dark magic. Is this what you would risk dishonor to protect?"

Callum forgot his fear for the moment. "It was your dragon king who did this to us!" Ezran snarled at the elf, seemingly in agreement.

Rayla didn't understand at all what was going on, but she knew which side was in the wrong. Before Runaan could attack again, Rayla stood in his way. She shouted to the older prince, not daring to take his eyes off of Runaan, again.

"Protect the egg!"

Callum could no longer see the two elves, but he could hear the sounds of blades colliding. They must be using their moon powers of invisibility. But judging by the sound of their fight, they were nearby. From what he understood, the elf girl that kidnapped Ezran was now protecting them, for some reason. Or maybe she was just protecting the egg. Either case, he didn’t want his brother near the assassins.

“Ez, are you okay?”

The werewolf turned his yellow eyes to the human. Transformed, Ezran was just two or three inches shorter than Callum. Ezran's werewolf form was a somewhat anthropomorphic wolf. A biped wolf that walked on two legs with a slight hunchback. The chest and hands were human shaped, covered in the brown fur with black spots that adorned the rest of his body. The head was completely wolf-like, except for the hair that still looked like Ezran's due with two pointy ears sticking out.

He eyed him like a wary canine, not hostile, but not trusting either. The Wolf’s Bane Elixir put Ezran in a tame state; rather than a bloodthirsty monster, he became an animal. An animal with no memory of his real identity or those he knew.

“Come on, Ez. You know me. Let’s go.” he reached out with one hand, hoping a sign of trust would spark some recollection.

Ezran sniffed the air around his outstretched hand, his eyes widened. Callum felt some measure of hope. The werewolf launched himself at him. Callum cried out but Ezran just knocked him aside and went for something that had been briefly forgotten: the dragon’s egg.

“Ezran, bad dog! Drop that thing!” but Ezran ignored him and took off with the egg. Unfortunately, the wolf boy’s escape didn’t go unnoticed.

“Halt, human!” a shadow that Callum could barely distinguish descended in front of Ezran, blocking his path. “Hand over that egg, at once!”

Ezran snarled, cradling the egg protectively. He leaped at the elf, but Runaan easily dodged. However, while in mid-jump, the transformed prince attempted to claw his face with his talooned foot, much to the assassins surprise: “So, this transformation made him little more than a dumb animal, but heightened his senses; he can actually see me.”

Runaan attempted a quick slash with both blades, intent on decapitating the fiend. The monster crouched faster than any human was capable of, avoiding the deadly blow. “And he’s much more agile.” to make matters more worrying, the werewolf attempted to scratch his face with his left hand claws. Runaan dodged and put some distance between him and it. “Had I been just a second slower, he could have taken one of my eyes out.”

The assassin's eyes glared at the egg the creature carried with its right arm. “This wolf child prince is somewhat more challenging than I anticipated. And he is fighting as an animal with only one arm. I must end this quickly and recover the egg of the Dragon Prince.”

His trained ears picked up another opponent nearing, nimble and quiet. He avoided a groan of dissatisfaction.

“Did’ya forget about me?” her attack with her weapons in hook mode was blocked by his own. She stepped a few meters away, to get in position. On one side, Runaan had his apprentice to battle. On the other, a human who corrupted himself with dark magic and who was also one of his targets apparently. One would think this could be a difficult challenge even for the veteran assassin.

As Rayla apparently did. “Runaan, Ah’m begging ya to stop this. We can prevent the war by returning the egg to the Dragon Queen. Ya can’t win this battle.”

Runaan shook his head. “Rayla, I may have taught you every battle tactic, every fighting style and movement you know. But I didn’t teach you everything I know.”

The elder assassins let himself be completely filled by his arcanum. Having experienced the effects of a full moon countless times over his career, Runaan had developed an ability that allowed him to deepen his connection. The moon granted him its full power.

Runaan raced for Rayla with an astonishing speed that would make him hard to see, even if he wasn’t hidden by the moon. Young Rayla was caught off-guard to see her mentor in a moment a few meters away, and in the next moment practically in her face. With equally lightning speed moves and reflexes, he struck her in the abdomen with the pome of his sword. Before she felt the blow fully, he kicked her against a wall. She fell on the edge of unconsciousness.

With the rebellious child out of the battle, Runaan could cease holding back and finish his assignment. The werewolf prince threw itself at him. The assassin didn’t move.

“It’s over.” just as the monster was centimeters from reaching him, Runaan moved in another enhanced burst of speed, sidestepping and running his blade through the werewolf’s throat. The creature fell dead on the ground without even realizing its defeat and demise. Blood poured smoothly from the wound. It had been a precise cut just wide enough to sever a vital blood vessel.

There was a feeling of release in his left arm; one of his bindings turned crimson and fell off. It was over for one of their targets. Prince Ezran of Katolis was no more.

“Ezran!” the other child cried out, distraught, trying to approach the werewolf. Runaan saw no point in harming that other boy. He was neither a target nor a threat. Runaan spotted the egg of the Dragon Prince discarded on the ground. Slowly and reverently, he approached it.

At that moment, Callum saw red and snapped. Something took over his mind, like when the elf girl confronted him in Viren's office.

Suddenly, Runaan's years of training made him instinctively move to the left. He avoided being struck by a red and blue blur. His eyes widened when he realized said blur was the other human child.

Said child hissed and tried to slash at him, as if his nails were claws. Runaan dodged the wild attacks with ease. What did concern him was that the human appeared to be able to see him.

"He can see me, even with the full moon camouflaging me. Another human imbued with dark magic." Furious, Runaan went on the offensive. He swept the leg on Callum, making him fall. Then kicked him against the wall. That blow broke the older prince out of whatever frenzy he was in.

"You may not be a target, but I have had enough of you humans toying with dark magic." He pointed his blade at the disoriented Callum's neck, aiming to sever it.

Suddenly, a growl made him halt and leap away. His reflexes saved him yet again from a nasty bite to his back. Runaan’s breath was caught in his throat. There it stood, the human-turned-wolf, alive and snarling at him. The wound he inflicted on its neck appeared to be healing while exhaling steam.

“He can regenerate!”

The werewolf snarled again, but didn’t attack. It scooped up the egg again and made a break for it. Runaan's path was then blocked by Rayla.

"Out of my way! He is getting away with the egg." The elder assassin snarled.

“No, the egg is safe.”

They exchange a few more blows, neither having the upperhand. Until Runnan noticed Rayla giving a sideways glance at a tower. The tower where their primary target lied.

"You're just trying to stall me." He realized.

"Interesting theory. Care to discuss?" Rayla spoke too casually.

Her act caught, Runaan left before she could stop him. The egg, the prince and that unruly child would have to wait. Tonight, the King of Katolis would die.

"Ezran, please, if you're in there, come back."

The werewolf looked at his brother with inexpressive eyes. He gazed down at the egg in his arms. It appeared as if the creature made up its mind. So he jumped on top of the battlement of the wall.

"Ez…." Callum felt his stomach doing an apprehensive twist. He hesitantly tried to reach for his brother. The werewolf just casually glanced at him...and then leaped over the wall of the castle. "No!"

Callum looked down the wall and saw his brother, now a dark blur, jumping down the ravine from one side to the other with impossible skill and swiftness. He landed in the river down below. Thanks to the moon's luminosity, he spotted the same blur swimming out of the river and running into the royal forest. He disappeared from view under the canopies.

"Ezran, come back!" His scream was more of a plea.

Someone approached him subtly. "What happened? Where's the egg and the prince?"

"Gone." Callum responded, not even acknoçegding the elf girl.

Rayla followed his gaze and gave him a sympathetic look. "Don't worry. Ah'll make sure he is alright." And she jumped down the ravine, repeating Ezran's stunt, only with far more grace.

Callum didn't acknowledge that, either. His brother had been within arms reach three times tonight. And he still let him slip.

An echoing screech lured his attention upwards. The prince spotted something red and bird-shaped flying away. It seemed to have a smoky consistency. And it came from the king's tower.

Remembering the presence of more elves, Callum's heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, he broke into a run towards the tower. He climbed up the spiral stairs, ignoring the guards in the way, most of them injured.

When he reached the level for the king's chambers, the ground was littered with corpses of soldiers, discarded weapons and arrows, and painted with the occasional stain of blood.

He vaguely noticed Soren saying something to him, but he was deaf to that. All he could see was a body laying inside the king's room, a wide puddle of blood underneath it, still pouring slowly from the body's severed throat.

"Callum, I want to talk to you about life. And growing up. And how sometimes there are changes you don't expect…"

Callum felt he was a little boy again, listening to those same words when his world was first turned upside down and torn asunder. Spoken on the day he learnt his mother had died, uttered the same man who now lay murdered on the ground.

In a single day, he had lost his brother and the closest thing he had to a father. His whole family. Was. Gone.

More blood was spilt on the floor, this time coming from Callum's eyes in the form of tears.

Chapter 5: Aftermath and Folklore

Chapter Text

It was a few hours before dawn when Rayla of the Moonshadow Elves of Silvergroove sat atop of a tree. She looked over her wrist which had been bound by an assassin’s ribbon a few hours before. Her gaze moved to the base of another tree, more than ten meters away from her perch. There slumbered her former target.

Ezran, the little Katolian Prince, slept peacefully still in his wolf form. His body curled around the egg of the Dragon Prince.

After the wolf prince leaped from the walls of the castle and raced into the forest, Rayla sprinted after him. The transformed human ran the whole night with the egg in one hand, apparently without getting tired. By the time it stopped, they were far away from the city of Katolis. The human Ezran stopped by a tree and decided to rest there. With the egg safely in his grasp.

When Rayla tried to approach, he eyed her with the wariness of a wild animal. And when she got too close for his liking, he would snarl. Deciding best not to provoke him, she backed off and kept an eye on him from a safe distance.

“He looks sound asleep.” she decided to take a gamble and silently descended from her perch. She moved without making a sound, putting her years of training as an assassin to good use. But when she was just five meters from her target, its ears perked up and it awoke.

Rayla looked like a deer caught in the crosshairs. The wolf prince looked at her, like daring her to take another step towards him. She exhaled, acknowledging defeat. “Alright, Ah’m goin’ back to mah place.” she leaped back to her tree to continue her boring watchpost. Ezran went back to sleep.

“Ya wee human werewolf, whatever ya are! Ya better give me some good answers when ya wake up!”

The first thing Callum did after tearing his eyes from the fallen king' body was drying his tears on the sleeve of his blue jacket. He barely paid any mind that said tears were blood that left dark stains. The second thing he did was speak to Lord Viren:

“We have to rescue Ezran!”

"Rescue?" The High Mage asked for clarification, untouched by the prince's tone of urgency.

"He trans… " Callum stopped himself from divulging too much. They were surrounded by guards, whom not all were aware of the curses. "He ran away and that elf girl went after him."

Viren'svisage morphed to one of offering condolences. "If the assassin went after him, then he’s unfortunately perished."

"No! She was trying not to hurt him. She only wanted the egg."

The mage's not so convincing mornfull expression changed into a more urgent one. "My daughter already informed me of the egg’s theft. If the elf returns that egg to Xadia, not only Katolis but all of humanity is just as doomed."

Not for the first time in recent times, Callum began to resent the dark mage. The man had only ever treated him with a minimum of politeness, and only when King Harrow was present. Otherwise he would barely acknowledge him. Now he was more preoccupied in recuperating a dragon egg than the prince himself.

Callum looked at the soldiers around and had an idea. "Are you saying a dragon's egg is more important than Prince Ezran's life?" He asked it a bit louder than necessary, but it had the desired effect of gathering some notice from the soldiers. Viren noticed that too, so he had to choose his words carefully.

"Your faith is commendable, Prince Callum. However, if Prince Ezran still lives and has been taken hostage by the same elf who stole the egg, finding one will be the same as finding the other. But if Prince Ezran is dead, as he most likely is, recapturing the egg is the only way to prevent this crisis" he pointed behind him. "from escalating into an apocalypse."

He had pointed to the King's body that was now gently being placed in a casket. Callum turned his sight away. If he looked at the fallen man once more, he feared he would break down and cry all over again.

Finding their discussion ended, Viren spoke to everyone present. “When dawn comes, we look towards the future. Until then, we mourn.”

In less than an hour, before sunrise, Lord Viren had arranged the funeral. The procession walked out of the castle. On the lead was Lord Viren, followed by three priestesses carrying lit torches. Behind them, four soldiers carried the casket covered in red roses, the symbol of a monarch who fell in battle. Had the cause of death been anything else, the roses would be white. As the procession passed through the main road of the city, citizens gathered on the sides bowed their heads in mourning and followed after the procession.

Behind the casket walked three youths: Callum, Claudia and Soren. The young prince paced half numbly to all that happened around him. Truly, he didn’t want to be a part of this rushed funeral. He wanted to go search for Ezran and bring him back home. But Councilor Opeli had gently pulled him aside and swayed him to join.

“In his current condition, Prince Ezran won’t let himself be caught.” she had stated. “And, you have every right to say farewell to your father, Prince Callum.” that phrase was the argument that made him relent. And he asked her:

“Councillor, do you think it’s alright to have the funeral right away?”

Her gentle demeanour changed into a stern expression. “No, I don’t think so.” she left it at that.

The funeral procession reached the Valley of Graves where past monarchs, royalty and even heroes were cremated. It was one of the highest honors for a Katolian citizen to have that valley as their final resting place. The most honored among those would even have a statue sculpted in their likeness.

Soren and Claudia began murmuring a conversation and Claudia handed her brother a tiny cup with a brown, steaming liquid. Soren gulped it down and immediately felt revitalized. Claudia turned to Callum:

“Do you want some hot brown morning potion, Callum?”

He didn’t answer and she silently followed his gaze. Callum’s eyes were locked on the gentle face of the statue of Queen Saray. His gaze lingered for a while and he grasped his red scarf, a special gift from his mother.

To Claudia’s everlasting credit, she didn’t break him out of his gaze with words. She did however grab his hand gently. He turned to her, surprised, and she smiled reassuringly. His lips twisted in the ghost of a smile.

The procession stopped when they reached the altar and the King’s casket was placed atop of it. Lord Viren began his speech of how the King of katolis was cruelly taken by Xadia’s forces. Callum only half-listened. His attention was nailed on the casket that he knew would soon be burning. And the man whose face he would never see again.

"Hello, Callum." The king kneeled to be at little Callum' eye level as much as he could. The King was awkward, while the boy was shy. "I'm King Harrow and, from now on, I am your step-father. We are family."

"Callum" the king approached with a stern look. "I understand you just exhausted all those paper sheets I lent you for your drawings." Then he smiled and produced a sketchbook. "Therefore I got you this. Happy birthday, son."

"Come meet you little brother, Callum!" King Harrow presented him with a bundle of blankets wrapped around a sleeping baby Ezran.

"Callum, you can tell me if something's wrong."

"I...I'm so sorry I brought these curses upon you two. Please, forgive."

"Take care of your brother, Callum."

The most memorable moments he spent with the king ran by him. How many times had the man attempted to be a father to him? And how many times had Callum stepped away from those attempts out of politeness or awkwardness, and more recently bitterness? Happy memories aside, there were also the not so happy times, most of them about the curses. How it had hurt to know the King had caused the tragedy. And how Callum never gave him any peace for his sin, despite knowing deep down how much the man regretted it. How he regreted not hugging the man one last time.

So engrossed he was, he never noticed Claudia letting go of his hand and step forward lit up the casket. The ceremony carried on with Callum barely there. Until...

“...for tonight, there will be a coronation.”

Callum’s eyes snapped wide, his focus brought back to the present. And on the dark mage who made that declaration

Morning finally broke. Ezran awoke just a few minutes before the sun rose from behind a mountain. The moment the sun’s rays touched Ezran’s body, it changed back into a regular human. The extra hair and fur shrunk back into his kin. The snout retreated into a flat face. Ears traveled south to the frame of his head.

“Ugh!” the young prince bent his spine backwards, eliciting a few cracks from his vertebra. It was both relieving and painful. “Mornings after transformation...they’re evil. Ouch!”

“And good morning to ya, oh prince.” his head snapped upwards to a thich branch on an old tree where Rayla sat on. “Did ya hav’ a good night of sleep?”

“Uh, not really. I feel like I’ve been running half the night. And the other half sleeping on the dirt.”

She rolled her eyes. “Why would that be?” she expertly leaped from the tree and landed in front of him. Her sight went for the egg of the Dragon Prince, resting besides the still groggy, now-human prince. “Now that we’re all awake, how about we talk? As in, what on Xadia are ya? How could ya transform like a Lycanthropo?”

“Like an thropo?” he blinked. “No idea what a ‘thropo’ is, but from what I’ve been told, I’m a werewolf.”

Rayla frowned. “Don’t kid me. Ya hav’ ta be an Earthblood elf to become a werewolf. And there haven’t been any since that was declared forbidden magic.”

He shrugged. “Our High Mage, Lord Viren, says I’m one, though.”

The elf sighed, ready to give up on that. “Please, tell me ya aren’t planning on transforming again. I can’t stand another night awake to keep an eye on ya.”

“Sorry, but no. Not until next full moon.” he finally noticed the egg and gasped. "Azymondias!" He turned to Rayla with a frightened expression. "What' he doing here?"

Rayla gave him a puzzled look. "Well, you carried him with ya all night. Wouldn't even let me approach. You were adamant to protect it from anything."

It was his turn to look puzzled. "Protect it?" He turned to the egg and touched it lightly. "Zym, are you okay? Did I...did I hurt you?" He asked fearfully, intriguing Rayla more. Silent moments followed after which the prince relaxed completely, the fear and anxiety left him “He's okay. He says he actually enjoyed last night. Felt great to be out of that cave.”

She opted not to argue on how he could speak with the unborn baby dragon. At this point, she was willing to roll with it. However… “Well, now that you’re awake, we could get moving. It’s a long way to Xadia.” she looked east, covering her eyes against the sun’s light.

Carefully, Ezran replaced the egg in his backpack, which Rayla had thoughtfully kept with her. Fortunately, he still had a good supply of elixirs within.

The duo began their journey, Rayla casting an occasional sideways glance at the unaware boy. Last night she assumed his ability to speak with the egg and claims of being a werewolf to be childish jesters. Yet, the latter was proven right in front of her face.

“So, how exactly does a human prince turn out ta be a werewolf? Was one of yar ancestors a Lycanthropo?”

“Again, I don’t know what that is, so can’t say. I wasn’t born with this curse.” she thought it strange naming it a curse. “One day my dad went to face the Dragon King, Thunder. And he says Thunder cursed me and my brother.”

“Cursed ya?”

“That’s what my dad says. That in his last confrontation with the Dragon King, he put a curse on me and Callum as revenge.”

Rayla was indignated “That’s a lie! The Dragon King was mercilessly struck down! Yar father…” she bit her tongue before she spilled anything too damaging. “Mah point is, King Avizandum was a fair ruler. He wouldn’t hav’ made children pay for someone else’s crime.”

Ezran offered no reply to that. Rayla couldn’t tell if he had no argument but still defended his position, or if her words actually got through to him.

The prince asked out of the blue. “By the way, what’s a Lycanthropo?”

“Oh, it was an Earthblood elf that could transform into a night creature, usually a wolf.” her answer only aroused another question.
“So, what’s an earthblood elf?”

She sighed. “Seriously, ya are a creature of magic and ya don’t even know? Earthbloods are elves connected to the Earth Primal. They can control plants and even talk to animals.”

“Sounds awesome! Maybe we’ll meet some of these ‘Like-an-thropos’ in Xadia.” he hoped they would, but Rayla scoffed.

“Unlikely, since all Lycanthropos were persecuted about 400 years ago. There hasn’t been heard of one since.”

“Why were they persecuted?”

Her face became a bit somber. “It’s a wee bit of a scary story. The type I used ta hear when I was yar age.”

“It’s nowhere near bedtime, and I’m not scared easy.” he crossed his arms in a show of resolve. She chuckled quietly and decided to indulge him. Scanning her memory for the details, she started the tale.

“Alright, so more than those 400 years ago, an Earthblood mage named Lycan learnt to connect with the moon Primal. He combined that magic with his natural one to transform himself into a Silver Wolf, a Xadian creature that is at its peak when the moon is full. Their fur glows like actual silver.”

Ezran’s eyes widened, picturing a creature such as that. It seemed like something out of a legendary fairy tale. Rayla carried on.

“Eventually, he took on disciples and taught what he had learnt. More and more earthblood elves joined him. They would turn into creatures of the night that are connected to the moon. So numerous they became, they formed a small tribe and named it after their founder – Lycanthrop. They were a secluded but welcoming tribe that lived in the Silvergrove Woods, not too far from where I live. They helped elves who wished to connect with nature, studied the habits of nocturnal creatures and the like.

“Over time, the Lycanthrop tribe became more and more isolated and secluded from the rest of Xadia. Able to dominate two arcanums - moon and earth - made them arrogant to the point they no longer listened to the Dragon monarchy. Until 400 years ago, the leader of the Lycanthropos, a pompous git named Lupin, attempted to strengthen his moon arcanum, so he could remain in his wolf form all the time, even during the day. Whatever he did, whatever kind of magic he performed, it worked. Lupin learnt to transform at any time. Problem came with the next full moon. He became so strong in his wolf form, so connected to the elements and the moon that he lost sight of his own identity. The werewolf went berserk. It attacked everyone of his fellows, who then also became ravenous wolves.

“And since they were our neighbours, they attacked my home in the middle of the might. Legends say the battle was bloody, but the werewolves were subdued or killed. When the dragon queen of that age, Luna Tenebris, heard about it, she disbanded the Lycanthropos and exiled them from the Silvergroove. Its surviving members were forbidden from teaching their ways to anyone else. In my home, the term ‘werewolf’ became a derogatory term because of that whole fiasco.”

Ezran frowned. “That didn’t sound like a happy end story.”

“Well, it was supposed ta be a scary bedtime story. The kind ya tell to misbehaving kids to get them in line. Like, if they don’t shape up, the werewolves will come out from under your bed and eat ya up!

“I don’t plan on eating anyone.” Ezran shrugged and after a silent while he remembered something that picked his interest in the story. “You said those elf werewolves couldn’t control themselves.”

“Yup, according to the stories they attacked anyone or thing that was unlucky enough to cross paths with them.” she looked him over. “You at least don’t attack anything on sight.”

His shoulders fell and his pace diminished. Rayla noticed his troubled expression and slowed down to stay beside him.

“Not really. I’m just as dangerous as those Lycanthropos. That’s why I need my elixirs; if I don’t drink one every night, I’ll turn into a monster during the full moon.”

“Oh.” the elf didn’t know what else to say. To her, the presence of the full moon was always a blessing. But to the little prince, it was probably terrifying. Now his reluctance last night to venture out of the catacombs made a lot more sense. Plus, she had noticed he kept the tale of his first transformation quite vague. If this so-called curse showed up by surprise, he couldn’t have had the elixirs then. If his story was to be believed, then the first transformation may have been dreadful. If not the second, or even the third, if it took this long to come up with those elixirs.

Her musings were interrupted by a soft growl, coming from the prince. Her senses tensed for a split second. Then she realized where the sound came from, more precisely.

Ezran chuckled embarrassed, clutching his stomach. "Sorry, I didn't pack breakfast."

Her eyes lit up in amusem*nt. "Well, Ah hav’ something to fill yar belly." She produced from her person a small flask with a cork, containing a red, bright liquid.

Ezran first thought that the substance was blood, but his nose told him something else. He sniffed the air tentatively. Even with the cork, strands of odor entered his nostrils.

"Smells like berries, but very weird."

"It's moonberry juice." She removed the cork and handed the flask to him. Ezran took a sip, discovering it was delicious. He took a full gulp and found himself sated.

"Moonberrys is packed full of nutrients. Just a handful of gulps can keep a person well-nourished." She explained almost in a proud manner. "That should keep ya well fed for the morning. No need for you to go hunt a helpless wee rabbit." She joked but he took it with a touch of seriousness.

"I don't hunt animals. But I sometimes get some…"he struggled to find the word "funny hurges. Like when I see a...SQUIRREL!"

Ezran completely froze, his head turned left to the roots of a tree, ears and eyes sharp. He would have given chance to chase said squirrel if Rayla hadn't grabbed him by the hen of his vest.

"That 'squirrel' is just a pile of fallen leaves."

Ezran looked closer and saw she was right. He quickly deflated, embarrassed and disappointed.

"I take it this is one of said 'funny hurges'." She absentmindedly pulled on his vest too much and it tore open out of her grasp. She immediately tried to apologize, but Ezran said it was okay. It only dawned on them now that the prince's garments were quite not so princely anymore. His red vest was missing its sleeves and lost a handful of buttons. The pants were torn from the knees down. Not to mention the shoes had been punctured on the front. Overall, his clothes had been stretched nearly to the breaking point to accommodate his larger transformed frame.

"We'll be travelling through hard terrain. Ah don’t think those rags will last long."

Ezran hummed, trying to think of a solution. They certainly couldn't go back to the castle just for a fresh set of clothes. And he wasn't too keen on stealing…

"I got it!" He shouted. "Xadia is to the east, right? So is the Banther Lodge. There are spare clothes and food stored there."

Rayla wasn't keen on the idea of a pit stop, especially one that might lead them into running into humans. It took some persuasion from Ezran that the Banther Lodge was empty during the summer. Plus, the Lodge should be very close, since they covered a lot of ground during the night. Finally she relented and they continued in their way.

“Lord Viren, open up!” Callum was found knocking at the door of Lord Viren’s office. No response, but he knew the man was inside as he just saw him enter. The prince persisted, knocking ever harder. Finally the door was opened by a disgruntled dark mage. He looked down on the prince with a scowl:

“Is there something I can help you with, Prince? I am busy as of now.”

“What you said at the funeral, about a coronation for tonight. What was that about, Lord Viren?”

“I think that should be obvious enough that a simpleton could understand.” the High Mage spoke in a neutral voice, like he hadn’t back-handedly insulted Callum. He proceeded to try and close the door but Callum swiftly blocked it with his sketchbook.

“What do you mean exactly?” Callum all but demanded with a tense scowl. Normally, the Prince of commoner origins would address a noble with more respect, but not Viren. Since he became a Prince, Callum had had very little direct contact with the dark mage while growing up.

Yet, that changed after his curse first reared its uggly head. Callum had to undergo examinations and inquiries regarding his symptoms. In that span of time, between the uncaring attitude and disregard for his discomfort and state of mind, the prince had realized the man had very little love for him.

Up until last night, Callum was content to avoid him. Now, he wanted to reciprocate the man’s feelings.

The mage relented on replying. “It’s exactly what I meant; I will ascend to the throne and lead Katolis as there is no one else better suited.”

Callum forced the door open and, to his unaware satisfaction, it did. He scowled at the mage. “Ezran is first in line for the throne.”

“Unfortunately, Prince Ezran has most certainly perished at the hands of the moonshadow assassin. And even if he somehow survived, I greatly doubt he would ever be a capable ruler.”

“That’s enough, Viren!” Councilor Opeli’s impeccable timing prevented Callum from retorting. The High Cleric shot the dark mage a challenging glare. “Even if Prince Ezran is not present, Prince Callum is the next in line.”

Callum genuinely gasped at that but Opeli continued. “The law states if there are no blood relatives of the royal family to ascend to the throne, an orphan may take it. Prince Callum fills that requirement.”

Viren was so astonished he fully opened the door to face the woman. “You can’t be serious, Opeli! This...unfit mongrel will guide the kingdom towards ruin in a week!”

The next thing Viren knew, he had been pushed against a wall by a burst of speed. Books were knocked out of a nearby shelf. He was face to face with the so-called mongrel, who bared his teeth and growled softly like a hostile animal.

“Prince Callum!” Opeli's warning made the prince snap back in control. He immediately let go of the mage and apologized. Viren himself apologized for his words, although not sounding as guilty.

“My words were poorly chosen, Prince Callum. Nevertheless, I must ask you this: do you think yourself capable of leading Katolis in this time of crisis?” he looked at the prince neutrally.

Callum sighed. “No, even if I could, my mind wouldn’t be in it, right now. My priority is to bring Ezran back.”

Viren spotted an opportunity. “In that case, I have a proposal: if you can find Prince Ezran and bring him back, I will withdraw any claim to the throne. If not, since Prince Callum admitted he’s unqualified, I will ascend.”

“You are stepping out of line, Viren! You have no authority nor right to hand out ultimatums.” Opeli retorted.

“This is no ultimatum, Opeli. It’s a simple proposal. And since you have so much faith Prince Callum could ascend to the throne, I’m certain you can trust him to make a decision by himself.” Viren turned to Opeli with just the smallest of smirks.

Callum was no naive moron. He could tell the mage coveted the throne. He was also aware that the present crisis was, at least, partly his doing. Since the mage had swayed King Harrow into killing Thunder. This ‘proposal’ was an underhanded way for him to grab power. Callum could imagine that if he refused the proposal, his only option would be for him to take the throne. And once Callum made his first mistake, Viren would try to capitalize on that to get what he wanted. Plus, if Callum took the throne, it would prevent him from searching for Ezran.

Viren had cleverly maneuvered him into only having one choice. But Callum would be damned if he was going to do the conniving man any favors.

“You got yourself a deal, Lord Viren.” Callum swore that once Ezran was safely back in the castle and on the throne, he would dedicate himself into finding any way to legally get rid of this power-hungry cretin.

“Very well.” Viren nodded. Opeli was not so pleased with the arrangement, though. In the end it was agreed Claudia and Soren would accompany him and they would depart before noon. But Callum would decide the direction and he already had one in mind.

“Before you go, I would ask you for another bloodletting. For future analysis." the mage requested from the prince.

Callum agreed, opting not to complain that the mage asked for one almost daily. Viren claimed analysing his blood could help him discover an elixir for him. Maybe, hopefully, a cure.

The blood was removed from his arm and poured onto a flask magically enhanced to keep the liquid super cool. He roughly bandaged Callum's arm, and sent him on his way without another word..

Finally alone, Viren double-checked the lock of the door. He took the flask of blood and descended into the catacombs where his secret laboratory was. The same place where the egg of the Dragon Prince was stored until yesterday.

But Viren didn't go to that particular room, no.. The tunnels were filled with more secret rooms. Some of which not even his dear daughter was aware of.

One place in particular could only be accessed by performing a particular dark magic ritual. A door made of dirt and rock materialized and swung open on the side of a tunnel.

The room was small and didn't contain much. Just a table with a small wooden chest with metal frames. The most remarkable thing about it were the elven runes carved on the frames. The other interesting object was a large container in a corner of the room. It was enough to hold about dozens of gallons of red substance. Blood, Prince Callum' blood that he had been collecting since his first transformation.

Viren hadn't been performing bloodletting on the boy for analysis, no. He was storing that blood for something else. Something his research hidden inside that wooden chest could hopefully perfect, someday. Without a word, he added the blood in the flask to the container. It was nearly full.

Callum had hoped the rescue mission could begin right away, but no such luck. Despite his reassurance that he knew where to start looking, Soren insisted they should get tracking hounds. Therefore, much to his chagrin, they first descended into the city and stopped by a breeder's shop. Soren went inside to conduct business while Callum and Claudia remained outside.

Callum leaned against the wall of the shop, trying to distract himself with anything, watching the people passing by, the barks of the dogs coming from the shop or watching Claudia reading something from her book. Callum was almost about to open his sketchbook and find something to draw until he heard Claudia murmuring. He opted to start a conversation instead.

"So, Claudia, what are you reading anyways?" He noticed a small pile of books and tomes tied to the back of her horse, just behind the saddle. "And, why are you bringing all of that? Are you trying to become an ambulatory librarian?" He tried to sound cool and witty, but cringed internally at that remark.

Claudia chuckled and Callum perked up a little; maybe his joke was a bit cool and witty, after all. "Good one, Callum, but no. I'm bringing my copies of the notes dad has written about the Draculin Curse."

"Draculin?"

"Your curse, silly." She had the intelligence to whisper that. They were in public and the curses of the princes were supposed to remain a secret. "What, we couldn't keep calling it 'Callum' curse' or 'fangs curse'. So my dad coined the term. Yours is the Draculin Curse. And Ezran's is the Lupin Curse."

Callum frowned in thought. “I think I once read that 'lupin' means something about 'wolf'. But ‘Draculin’ doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Because 'draculin' is taken after 'dracula'.”

Callum nodded with a vague expression. “Oh, right! Dracula. That makes sense. I...have no idea what a dracula is.”

Claudia’s grin had just a touch of smug when she showed him a page of the book. “This guy was Dracula. The vampire king, Vlad Dracula Tepes. Or maybe it was pronounced Vladimir Dragulia Zepes. This fellow is like super ancient that details have been lost.” it was a sketch of a malish face. A man of pointed ears, long dark hair, a long, pointed bear protuberating from his chin. It’s skin was pale and eyes blood red. The man gave the impression of a imponent lord of some kind.

“So this guy was a king of elves, long, long ago, uh?”

Claudia shook her head. “No, he was the king of vampires, not elves.”

The prince glanced at her, confused. “Aren't vampires a sort of elf?”

Claudia blinked. “Uh, no.”

“But I thought with the pointy ears. And the blood sucking…” Callum helplessly made gestures with his index fingers to illustrate his meaning. He pointed them up and close to his ears. And then pointing them down close to his own teeth.

“Nope, vampires were a totally different species. Elves don't even drink blood. You knew that, right?”

Callum nodded a bit too quickly. “Uh, sure. Sure!” Note to self, not listen to Soren's stories, anymore. Probably ‘moon madness’ isn't even a thing. “But, what were vampires, then?”

“From what little records survived in Xadia, it looks like vampires were the predators of elves.” she shrugged and Callum did a double-take.

“They eat elves?!” he almost shouted, luring the looks of some passersby.

“They only drank their blood. Not exactly ate them.” she gestured for him to keep his voice down, subtly. Callum took the hint and lowered his tone.

“'Ate'? ‘Drank’? Past tense. They don't do that anymore?”

“Hard to do anything at all when you're extinct. They all died out way before humans arrived on the continent.”

Claudia opened another page that showed dragons and elves standing against a group of people who were baring their fangs. "From what little we have, it looks like vampires were ruled by the Dracula fellow until he was dethroned. Whoever succeeded him wasn't such a good manager and provoked the elves and dragons into fighting them to extinction. Some other theory says that while vampires and elves were natives to Xadia, dragons were not. And when they arrived, they hunted the vampires and replaced them as the top of the food chain. Another theory even states that Dracula, the suspected first vampire, was the child of a dragon since his name roughly translates as ‘son of the dragon’."

Callum quirked an eyebrow. “So, not much to go on?”

“Personally, I think the first theory is closest to the truth.”

“Why?”

“There are more facts backing it up and more details to the story. Like, the elves who led the war against the vampires were two Moonshadow clans, called Belmonts and Hellsing.”

“Okay, interesting fun facts aside. How does this help cure my...problem?" He was mindful to avoid the word 'curse' in public.

Claudia hesitated and shrugged helplessly. “Uh, it doesn't really. But it’s always good to learn more about it.”

Callum had to disagree on that. Realizing now that his curse turned him into something that no longer existed meant information on how to cure him was scarce at best.

“Yeah, good to know. Thanks for the message, Claudia.” he tried his best not to sound snark.

Claudia suddenly facepalmed. “Hello, Claudia!” she phished a rolled piece of parchment and handed it to Callum. “You dropped this at my dad’s office.”

The prince recognized it immediately. “The letter from the King! I must have dropped it.” stinging memories of the last time he saw the man resurfaced.

“Aren’t you going to read it?”

“No. I’m not ready yet.” he guarded the letter in his own bag.

Luckily, Soren chose then to return with three tracking hounds, ending the somber mood.

Claudia instantly gushed over the dogs. “Aww! How cute!. You will be Sam, and you Johnny. And you Lord Londo Pietros Mollari!” she reserved the longer name for the gray hound.

Callum whispered to Soren. “Does she always do this when naming animals? Giving one of them a long, regal name?”

Soren’s reply couldn’t be any more nonchalant. “Yup.”

The trio mounted their horses, Callum needing some time, not only due to his inadequacy but also the backpack full of fragile objects he carried. Claudia heard the chink of glass from his backpack and asked what he was bringing.

“Elixirs for Ezran. He might need them when we find him.”

Claudia ‘ohed’. “That reminds me, I have this elixir for you.” she produced from her satchel a vile with vibrant crimson liquid.

“For me? You mean, this can keep me from going...uh, every new moon?" Callum looked at the flash with so much hope,

“No, sorry. Dad hasn't had that much luck. This is supposed to ease up on your...outbursts.”

“Outbursts?”

Claudia spoke uncomfortably. “It's plain to see your curse is kinda spreading.” she passed a hand over her own face to indicate. “So my dad came up with this. It's supposed to keep the curse from evolving further. He calls it the Fledgling's Death.”

Callum shook his head. “Yeah, I'm not going to drink anything with the word 'Death' on its name. Nor something that looks like blood.”

Claudia hesitated momentarily. “It's not blood. Just try it, please. It's for your own good. Just a little sip, for me.”

He surrendered to her and took just a sip. To his small surprise, the liquid had no taste nor smell. It was as if someone had tinged water red.

“Doesn’t taste like blood, so that’s something.” he relented.

Claudia smiled faintly.

Flashback:

“Besides recovering the dragon’s egg, you will also have a secret mission: to learn as much as possible of the effects of the Draculin Curse.” her father spoke to her behind the closed doors of his study.

“Well,” she looked brightly at the pile of books and notes on top of his desk. “with all the information you collected over the months, I think I got this.”

Viren wasn’t done. “It’s not just that I want you to observe.” he went to a shelf and revealed a small flash. Within was a substance that closely resembled blood. “This is a sample of elven blood. The assassin we have in the dungeon has proven to be quite a generous donor. I want you to have him drink this, slowly, over the course of days, and write down whatever effects you detect.”

Claudia looked from the flash to the father. “You want me to convince him to drink blood?” she often did experiments with blood of all sorts of magical and non-magical creatures, but never consumed any of it in pure form. Only if it had been mixed into a potion.

Her father’s expression didn’t waver. “Claudia, recent discoveries have made me believe this experiment may help him control his... recent changes.”

“What do you mean, recent discoveries?”

“The Draculin Curse leaves the prince a mindless vampire, mad with thirst. From what I’ve read and managed to translate,” he indicated the pile of books. “it appears that vampires went berserk when they were starved. If the prince is fed blood, maybe he will preserve his mind on his next transformation.”

“But dad, when Callum...the night of his first transformation, he drank at least one guard dry. And he remained a mindless vampire.” Claudia recalled the moment very uncomfortably. Not only because of her personal experiences of the night, but also not liking to sound as if she was accusing her friend of anything.

The older mage sighed. “Daughter, use your wit! He drank blood that didn’t have a speck of magic. Vampires consumed elven blood for the magic imbued in it. It was their nourishment. Nourishment that the prince never had. If he drinks this, I’m positive he will keep a semblance of control.”

With that, she accepted the flask, if a bit hesitant.

End of flashback.

“Just remember to drink just a little sip at every meal time.” she instructed him.

Soren urged his horse forward so he rode alongside them. “So, Captain Step-Prince, I was told, technically, you're in charge of this mission. Any ideas where we should go?”

“Yeah, the Banther Lodge. I have a feeling Ezran went there.” Callum said as he pocketed the flask of Fledgling’s Death.

Soren was dubious. “I’m more willing to trust the hounds, than your feelings.”

Callum wanted to throw a jab at that, but relented. He approached the hounds with a piece of Ezran’s shirt that got torn during his transformation. Each dog took a sniff and broke into a run towards the east.

“Hey, look Soren. They’re going east. That’s the direction where the Banther Lodge is.” Callum smiled with a touch of smugness of his own. Soren didn’t respond to that.

Instead, he urged his horse to race after the hounds. He barely paid attention to the sounds of a startled Step Prince trying and failing to urge his steed to do the same and his sister trying to assist him. Soren, on that rare occasion, was in deep thought.

Flashback.

“You are to return with news that Prince Ezran has died.”

“Out there, in the wild, accidents can happen.”

Those words circled around Soren’s brain as he followed after his father. After their little meeting outside, atop the walls of the castle, the mage asked his son to follow him to his office. He locked the door behind them and turned to Soren.

“Son, have you taken notice of Prince Callum’s behavior and appearance lately?”

“If you’re asking, do I see his fangs getting bigger, his ears pointy and his overall attitude getting lousy as his sword skills, then yeah. Come to think of it, last night I could swear he cried blood. Or maybe he had something in my eye. Or I had something in mine.”

Before the conversation could go astray, Viren continued. “Exactly. His and Prince Ezran’s curses will only get worse with time. Each transformation will leave a small physical and psychological imprint on them. It will continue until it consumes their minds.”

Some of those words flew over the swordsman’s head, which the mage picked up. Restraining the will to sigh, Viren elaborated. “Each time one of them transforms, he will become more and more like the creature he transforms into. Eventually, I fear, they may become trapped in their mindless transformed states, day and night.”

That Soren did comprehend. And it worried him to no end.

“What about those elixir things you make for the crown prince?”

His father gave him a solemn look.“It’s effect won’t last. As his curse evolves, he will require greater and greater doses. Until such time that no amount of elixir will help him keep control during the full moon.”

Soren felt a twinge of panic. His father was the smarterest man he knew. He had seen him solving all kinds of crises and problems with his magic and stuff! If he couldn’t find a solution, then…

“But, that won’t happen right away, right? Like, there’s still time for you to fix this.”

“Time is something we no longer have, Soren.” Viren turned away to gaze out of the window. “The curses are exacerbated by stress, as well. With what has happened, Prince Callum’s fears and worries are eating away at him. He’s even in denial that his brother still lives.

“On the other hand, if Prince Ezran remains alive, he’s now a hostage of a murderous elven assassin. His own terror will speed up his curse.”

A pause. Soren lowered his gaze to the ground, unable to know what to think, or say. What could he do?

(Viren felt he was almost there. Just needed the final touch.)

His dad turned back to him, his expression hesitant. “Soren, I...Earlier today, when I revealed my intentions to take the throne, Prince Callum reacted poorly. Truly, I could have chosen my words better, however…”

“What happened, dad?” Soren asked. His dad sounded concerned. He almost never sounded like that.

(Viren carried on, maintaining a touch of fear in his voice.) “He came at me with a strength beyond human. Had me pinned against a wall. He actually hissed and bared his teeth at me. For a moment I thought…”he left the statement hanging in the air and passed a hand over his own neck. (Viren could almost see the gears in his son’s head turning. In the exact way he wanted them to.)

Soren closed his eyes and clenched his fist. He opened them and looked at his dad. “I understand, dad.”

Viren approached and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I know you do, son.” he then walked to open a drawer and took a shiny, long object. He presented it to his son:

“You will need this, Soren.”

“A shiny pike?” the son blinked.

“Werewolves are powerful creatures of the night and vampires are even more so. Yet, they share one weakness: pure silver. With this silver stake, all it’s needed is a clean pierce through the heart.”

End Flashback.

Claudia and Callum finally caught up with him. Soren turned to see the prince, riding with very little confidence. He tried to cling to his steed for dear life, all while trying to appear cool and confident to his sister. It was just as ridiculous and goofy as the Step Prince he remembered falling on mud in the courtyard. It made the silver stake that Soren kept hidden on his back, concealed by the cape, weigh like the world.

“So, satisfied, Prince?” Rayla asked, a tad impatient.

“More or less. These winter clothes are not so good for summer, but I can handle it.” Ezran came out of the room with a vest and pants a bit thicker than the ones he had left the castle with.

Fortunately for the two of them, the Banther Lodge was indeed void of humans. Rayla wanted to sneak in, but Ezran produced a key from a hiding place close by the front door. He fetched and put on some new clothes and collected some stale bread for a future meal. Finally they left the lodge just as blissfully as they entered it.

Half an hour following their departure, General Amaya arrived with a clutch of her troops. She immediately noticed two things out of the ordinary: that her nephews were nowhere to be found; and there were signs that someone had been inside the lodge and had just left.

Some time later, she was surprised to see her older nephew arrive with Viren’s children. And then she was shocked to hear the horrid news he brought.

Chapter 6: (Dis)closure

Chapter Text

When Callum chose to start the search mission for Ezran on the Banther Lodge, he expected to find a clue of his brother’s whereabouts. What he didn’t expect was to find his Aunt Amaya and her troops waiting there. Firstly, she pulled him off his steed and gave him a bone-crushing hug.

Next they went inside the lodge. Callum told Claudia and Soren to wait outside. Him, his aunt and her commander spoke privately at the dining table.

“Aunt Amaya, what are you doing here?"

She produced a letter with a broken royal seal. That reminded him he still had a letter of his own to read. She explained the contents of.the letter through sign language, her lieutenant, Commander Gren, interpreted.

"According to King Harrow’s message, Moonshadow elven assassins infiltrated the castle. Those were always the worst of all elves. We were ordered to come to the Banther Lodge where you two were supposed to be."

Callum felt despondent as he relayed. "The King wanted us to come here. He made it sound like there was nothing to worry about. I overheard something about assassins and yelled at Ez." Callum paused for a moment. His mind raced with one question: should he tell his aunt about the egg? He decided so and carried on, passing quickly over his encounter with the assassin girl and following Ezran into the catacombs.

"The egg of the Dragon Prince?" That was commander Gren own words, since the general had but widened her eyes.

"Yes, turns out Lord Viren didn't destroy it. He took it from Xadia." Callum felt a twinge of anger directed at the high mages' machinations. "When the…"

He was cut off by his aunt' fist slamming hard into the wooden table, creating a significant dent. Her other hand travelled to her face, then passed over her hair. Eyes narrowed to the point of almost being closed. Teeth gritting. Callum knew his aunt well enough to know she was livid. She began gesturing so frenetically, Gren had trouble keeping up.

"Callum, you said that assassin girl was there to kill King Harrow, to avenge the Dragon King, and Ezran to avenge the loss of the egg. It's because of that conniving, power-hungry, cretin that Ezran's life is in danger!"

Callum nodded somberly. He agreed with his aunt, as he had made the same assessment.

Amaya's life as a soldier and commanding officer quickly helped her reign in her emotions. She requested Callum to continue and leave no details out. He explained how the elf girl, Rayla, hypnotized Ezran to go with her and return the egg to Xadia, his transformation into a werewolf (Amaya had beforehand asked her lieutenant to step away, as not even he was aware of the curses), and ended with Ezran jumping from the walls with the egg and the elf after him. He finished with his mission to find and rescue Ezran, partially because of Viren’s ultimatum.

Amaya required just a handful of seconds to digest all that information. Gren was no longer present, back Callum understood well enough.

"Our main advantage is that this elf seems to want Ezran alive, for some reason. She could have just taken the egg alone. Likely she intends to hold him as a hostage in Xadia. Like the egg was unknowingly held hostage here in Katolis. These Moonshadow elves are all about 'an eye for an eye'. If she gets him to Xadia, our chances of seeing him again become slim to none."

She got up from her chair to speak with one of her special subordinates, in her own words. Callum wanted to continue on his way after Ezran's trial, but she denied him.

"After what you have told me, I need to have my own man tracking down Ezran."

Callum proposed. "You could have your tracker join us." Something about aunt Amaya's reasoning didn't sound very...reasonable. True enough she briefly turned her gaze outside. The prince realized she was looking at Soren and Claudia. The former of whom was chatting with other soldiers, likely bragging about the fight against the assassins. While the latter was leaning on a corner, awaiting half impatiently. Callum had a bad feeling what his aunt's suspicions were.

She turned to him and sighed. "Viren's children can't be fully trusted."

That was exactly what Callum feared to hear. “Aunt Amaya, they are my friends.”

“But they are also loyal to their father. And Viren is no ally of ours. I wouldn’t be surprised if those two have some ulterior motives to be on this mission.”

“You don’t know that.” under different circ*mstances, Callum would never raise his voice to his aunt. She looked him sternly.

“You’re right, I don’t know that for certain. And I don’t like it, either. Politics are the battlefield I always stay clear off. Machinations and the like are not weapon I’m good at yeilding.” a solemn look passed over her face. “Nonetheless, we can’t take any risks if we are to preventing Viren from grabbing power. I’m only asking you don’t tell your friends about my tracker.”

Callum finally agreed. He didn’t like to keep things from Claudia or even Soren, but told himself that hiding that truth wouldn’t hurt them.

Before she went outside to assign the mission to said tracker, the general took a quick scan of her nephew. She said he was weary and should rest. When Callum let slip he hadn’t slept the whole night after the assassination, she practically ordered him to go rest in his room. The prince knew better than to argue with his authoritative aunt.

The prince wandered half-distracted into the bedroom he had shared with Ezran so many fun winters. It was actually cosier than the one back at Katolis Castle. Yet he felt too...restless for rest.

His hand absently searched his back for something to do. Maybe draw something to pass the time until his aunt decided he had had enough rest. Yet he didn’t feel like doing that either. The items in the room were all so familiar he could draw them by memory.

What he pulled out of the bag turned out to be the letter from King Harrow, which had been returned to him by Claudia. The temptation to postpone opening it was great, and he nearly fell for it. Reading it would be accepting that the man he had begun seeing as a father was gone forever.

...No, his surrogate father was already gone. Callum saw his body with his own eyes. Stalling this would just be cowardice.

“Here goes.” he hoped he was ready.

Dear Callum,

Over the years, there have been moments when I let there be a distance between us. Because I’m your stepfather, I was trying to give you the space I thought you needed to love your real father, even though he passed away.

Now, I wonder if I should have held you closer. I wonder if showing you how much I loved you would have been okay, and would not have disrespected your relationship with him. And maybe, this whole tragedy could have been prevented.

Callum, I know I’m not your birth father. I know I have committed sins for which you and Ezran have to pay for. After that, I know you don't see me as a father. But in my eyes and in my heart, you are my son. I see myself in you. I’m proud of you. And I love you unconditionally.

As I write this, the sun is setting while Moonshadow assassins prepare to end my life. A few months ago, I took my revenge on Xadia. Tonight, it is their turn. I may not have long. So I’m forced to ask myself…what can I pass on to my sons in the short time I have left? In this letter, I will share with you a lie, a wish and a secret.

When I’m gone, your brother Ezran will become king, and you will be his partner, his defender and his closest adviser. Soon you will both 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.

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.

The last time I saw your mother, she said “I will see you on the other side.” I don’t know what lies on the other side. But I do know that I will be watching over you and your brother always.

I’ve tried to be selfless as a king, but as a husband, I was moved by a selfish wish. By killing Thunder, I wrought this fate upon my sons. I committed the crime I promised your mother I would avoid when I took the crown. I dwelled on old wounds of the past and ended up sacrificing the future. In the end, I became just another pawn in the cycle of hatred.

And finally, as a father, I have a selfish wish. And that is for you and Ezran to be free. Reject the chains of history. Do not let the past define your future, as I did. Free yourself from the past. Learn from it, understand it, then let it go. Create a brighter future from your own hearts and imagination.

Eyes filled with tears, Callum once more regretted not having hugged the man when he handed him this letter. The man who had disappointed him. The man he already missed terribly.

And finally, you must be wondering about the secret I promised to share. Well, good news. The secret is hidden in the Banther lodge, right where you are right now. How’s that for planning? Right now, go upstairs to the game room. There, I have hidden an unusual cube with rune symbols on each side.

This cube is an ancient relic that has been passed down through the ages. It belonged to an elven wizard in Xadia, the Archmage Aaravos, a master of all six primal sources. It is hidden in a box of keys because it is known as the "Key of Aaravos" and legends say it unlocks something of great power in Xadia. Perhaps it will be you, Callum, who discovers the key’s secrets.

In the game room, he found the cube. Faint memories surfaced of himself once playing with the object when he was very little. He picked it up and something unexpected happened.

“Uh, it’s glowing? I don’t remember it glowed.” he observed one of the runes emitting a purple light.

A while later, after composing himself, he descended downstairs.

Aunt Amaya informed him she already dispatched her best tracker, a soldier named Corvus, after Ezran’s trail. She had every assurance he would rescue the prince from the accursed elf.

“Aunt Amaya, I don’t think the elf girl is so bad. She was on a mission to kill Ezran but spared him after learning about the egg.” Callum reminded her. She shook her head and signaled:

“Moonshadow elves are experts in illusions and deceit. She may appear to be more docile than the rest of her kind, but it certainly is a ruse to keep Ezran on her side. That’s why hers is the worst kind of elf. I can't stand such tactics.” with a scowl, she announced to her soldiers (through Commander Gren) that they would be riding to the capital city. Callum had been told it would be best if she went there to try and stop Viren from making more grabs for power.

Callum continued on his quest with Soren and Claudia. “Hang on, Ez. I’m coming.”

The warmth of the afternoon made the mood pleasant enough for a quizzing game.

“And that’s why raccoons are not to be trusted. Ever.” Ezran spoke with absolute certainty.

"Okay, that explains it."

"Yeah, but Callum didn't believe me. I told him the raccoons lied about the treasure behind the waterfall. He got all wet and angry at me. Accused me of making the whole thing up."

"He sounds like a stubborn, skeptical, jerkfacy fellow." Rayla recalled that the older prince didn't believe in her or his own brother when he was asked to join them. "Alright, it's mah time to ask a question. And since we're talkin' about your thick-skulled brother; what did he meant by his teeth were growing?" During the seperation of the two brothers in the dark mage' secret laboratory, the older prince had blabbered on about his teeth becoming fangs.

Ezran's mood darkened a little. "That's because of his curse. Callum is something called a vampire."

Rayla's pace slowed. That word 'vampire' rang a very faint bell. She only half-listened to Ezran's description. Of his brother becoming a mindless, literal bloodthirsty thing. Of pointy ears and sharp fangs.

Rayla was catapulted back to a very distant time. When she was very, very little, wrapped in the warm blankets of her bed, her parents stood before her. She asked, nay, demanded a scary bedtime story, for a change. Her father obliged and spoke in hushed tones of a being that appeared to be an elf - pale gray skin, red eyes, pointed ears, but no horns - that stalked a young, frivolous skywing girl. The girl, naively, allowed herself to be seduced by the person. Strangely enough, the stranger stalker never met her during the day. And finally, on a dark, cloudy night, when the two met again, the stranger smiled widely, revealing a pair of sharp canine fangs. Before the girl could ask, the handsome stranger revealed its true nature; a predator of blood. Elven blood. It sank its fangs on the girl's neck, who could do nothing, not even scream, as her life fluid and magic was consumed by the ravenous fiend that was a vampire.

“Rayla!” Ezran’s shout woke her up from the daze.

“Oh, sorry. Ah zoned out for a moment.”

“Okay, so my turn to ask another question.” the prince munched on a piece of stale bread they had grabbed from the lodge. At first she had thought the baguettes were clubs. Yet the boy was able to chew it, albeit with considerable effort.

Shrugging, she accepted. “Go ahead, little prince.”

“What are your parents like?”

Rayla abruptly turned away, the smile wiped off her face. “My parents are dead.”

“Oh, I’m sorry…” Ezran realized his mistake but the elf instantly said it was fine. An awkward silence ensued

Then, Ezran halted. Something wasn’t right.

“Rayla…”

“What now?” she asked a bit teed off.

“Something’s wrong.” he turned his gaze up, yet the wrongness he felt wasn’t something he could see. But rather something he could hear. “I think someone’s coming.”

“Someone? Whom?” in an instant, she had her blades out and ready.

“Dogs!”

She blinked twice. “Dogs? Dogs are chasing us?”

He, on the other hand, looked considerably more concerned. “I can sense them coming. Since my curse first came, I’ve been able to sense dogs and even wolves, not just talk to them. And those dogs are after us. They know we’re here.”

After witnessing what this little human could do, first hand, she was willing to believe just about anything he said about said curse of his. “If dogs are following our trail, that means we’re being hunted. That’s definitely not good.” she casted a glance at the egg on Ezran’s back. The Katolian prince may be good-hearted, but she was willing to bet the humans hunting them were not.

Luckily, Ezran spotted their salvation. “Look!” he raced to something behind Rayla. A small, seemingly abandoned dock made of wooden boards. A small boat, also suffering some neglect, tied to the dock by a rope, floated lazily. She had a bad feeling about it.

“We can go by boat. Dogs can’t pick up smells in the water. Let’s go.”

“Uh, maybe we find another way…” so faintly, she heard the sound of horses’ hooves hitting the ground. She looked at the sacred egg and swallowed her dread. “Alrighty then, into the nightmare boat we go!”

Fortunately, the boat just looked decrepit, yet it was riverworthy. Rayla hastily cut the rope and pushed them away from the dock with a shaky foot. Each one towed, Ezran a bit calmer and less frenetic than she. Soon they couldn’t see the dock and vanished down the stream before any would-be chasers spotted them.

Now, Ezran wasn’t the best at reading people. The dispositions and moods of animals were quite easy to understand. People were just confusing, and sometimes, not that honest about what they were feeling. But even he could tell Rayla was hesitant to travel by boat. And now he understood why.

“So, you’re not much of a boat person.”

“More like not much of a water person.” she muttered under her breath, lying with her face down on the boat. It did little to avoid the nausea.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.” she sighed.

“So, about next question…”

“No more questions, please.”

“But it’s Zym’s turn. Come on, he’s just begging you!” the little human pleaded. Rayla wanted to shoot a glare at him, but she wouldn’t dare lift her head. Also, her honor demanded she fulfilled the wish of the still unborn dragon prince.

“Alright, fine. Just one more.”

“Great, Zym wants to know what Xadia is like. He asked me how his home is, but all I had were stories that probably aren’t even true.”

"Xadia is...well, just incredible. There are no wars, barely no crime, disease or famine. The dragons rule the entire land with fairness and justice."

"What about magic?"

"Magic is in pretty much everything. It's no different from saying: 'everywhere you look, there's nature.' It's just... part of the vibrance, or spirit of things, ya know?"

"Wow! Sounds amazing."

"Aye, it is." Rayla leaned against the side of the boat, peeking the margin with a more relaxed disposition.

Apparently the talk had distracted her from the discomfort. Ezran thought best not to interrupt her peace and kept the silence that followed.

Finally, she perked up a little. "My turn to ask."

"Go ahead."

"When ya woke up after yar transformation, ya were a tad panicky about the egg of the Dragon Prince. Why was that?"

Ezran's upbeat demeanor fell a little. He answered hesitantly. "When I turn, I don't remember who or what I am, so I just do whatever. I was worried I hurt Zym."

Rayla shrugged. "Well, ya did quite the opposite, in fact." She lied back down, not seeing the uncomfortable expression on his face.

The current began to pick up speed. Something the werewolf realized too late.

"Uh, the river is going faster."

"Thanks for remindin' me." Rayla kept her head down.

"I mean it's going too fast. Look!"

She did look up ahead and promptly wished she hadn't. They were going down the rapids, ever faster.

"Pull the boat over!" She panicked.

"I don't think there's time." Ezran said hopelessly.

"Ah admit it!" Rayla said, hugging the boat. "Ah hate the water! Ah'm afraid of it, it makes me sick, all the bad feelings."

"Don't worry. We just have to hang on!" He rushed to the back of the boat, urging Rayla to join him.

The boat went over a waterfall. And Ezran couldn't help but laugh-scream while Rayla only screamed. As luck would have it, the boat hit a calm lake at the end of the waterfall, right side up, with all of its passengers still onboard.

Ezran chuckled. "That was fun! And, Rayla, can you let go, please? Your nails are poking me in the eye." In her panic, the elf had hugged the nearest thing with her whole body. She let him go, taking shaky breaths.

"Ah can't believe we're still alive and floatin'. This was a disaster!"

"Yeah, but a good one."

She shot him a glare. "Ah don't even want to imagine what ya would describe as a bad disaster."

"Zym liked it, so…"

Without warning, the water beneath them exploded and the boat was tossed high into the air. Its occupants were thrown out of it and landed by the shore.

“Oh, sweet land! We meet again!” to show her relief and joy, Rayla kissed the soil.

“Okay, that happened.” Ezran looked at the lake to see a giant fish-like creature, the thing that threw them out of the water, diving back in. He turned to the girl who continued kissing the ground. “Why didn’t you just say you were afraid of the water?”

She looked at him, hesitantly. "Ah…the thing is, Moonshadow elves aren't supposed to show fear. Ever."

"That's sad," Ezran said.

"It's our way," Rayla said with a pouting shrug.

Ezran sat next to her. "Humans and elves may have different beliefs, but I'll tell you something my dad says." She grimaced at the mention of the king. Ezran continued, doing his best impression of his father:

"Feelings are just feelings. There's never shame or weakness in your heart's truth."

She smiled bitterly. Such a good, lucky fellow he was, with good memories of his parent…

"My parents aren't really dead."she ended up confessing without much forethought. "But I wish they were. They're cowards!"

"What do you mean?" The prince was slightly shocked that someone could wish so onto their own parents.

"My parents were part of an elite force: the Dragon Guard. Eight elven warriors chosen to protect the egg of the Dragon Prince. Sky archdragons only lay an egg every thousand years. So that egg is so rare and precious. But when the humans came and killed the Dragon King, the Dragon Guard, my parents, failed in their duty. They ran away. I'm so ashamed."

"Rayla," Ezran said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry for what humans did." He sighed. "For what my dad did." Unlike what most believed, Ezran was well aware his dad was responsible for the theft of Zym's egg. Callum had overheard it in an argument between his father and Lord Viren, after Ezran’s first transformation.

"So, you see! That's why Ah have to make things right. When Ah first came here, Ah was on a quest for revenge. But the moment Ah saw that egg, everything changed. Now, this is a journey of redemption."

Ezran looked between her and the egg containing his friend. "No, Rayla. We have to make things right." He put his hand on her shoulder and she smiled in appreciation.

The serene moment ended as the boat floated over to the shore, much to Rayla's chagrin. However, Ezran relieved her saying they should have evaded their pursuers, by then. Rayla, however, came up with a better idea.

"Good bye, boat." She pushed it away from the shore and watched it float away, pulled by the current. At Ezran's confused look, she explained. "If our trackers are looking for us on a boat, they won't stop until they find one. Ah feel like leading them on a wild Sungoose chase is a good thanks for having made us travel by the river." Okay, so Rayla could be a bit vindictive.

"That's devious." Rayla playfully bowed for the compliment. "But if we go by land, their hounds might pick up our scent, again."

Seeing his point, the elf looked at the forest that covered the land eastern, and smirked. Maybe she wasn't out of ideas, yet.

It was late in the night. Callum looked at the stars above, lying on fur he had brought to use as a makeshift bed.

Hours before, he, Claudia and Soren had come across a small, decaying harbor. He had noticed a rope recently cut, meaning a boat had been taken. He deduced that the elf must have stolen a boat so the tracking hounds would lose the trail.

The group continued riding by the river. Sure enough they found the boat by the shore after a waterfall. However, the tracking hounds were unable to get a sense of direction. Apparently, that clever elf was on to them and created a distraction.

Callum began to despair but Claudia had a solution; a tracking spell to locate Ezran. When asked why she hadn’t done it to begin with, she had replied:

“It’s a complex spell that requires specific reagents. Plus, Callum’s tracking instincts have been right, so far, so there was no need.”

Callum voted to use Claudia’s spell. Soren commented under his breath that he was just sucking up to his sister. Callum had shot him a look.

Firstly, she needed a piece of Ezran’s essence, which Callum supplied in the form of Ezran’s hair that got stuck to Callum’s scarf, the previous night.

Other ingredients could only be acquired during the day. For that reason, they decided to make camp and rest for the night. Much to the prince's chagrin, who prefered to continue the search.

And that was how Callum came to be lying on the ground, trying and failing to fall asleep in the great outdoors. Tried as he might, he couldn't get any shut-eye. Probably because his brain was restless; in the span on 24 hours, his brother had been abducted, his step-father assassinated and he was now on a deadline to prevent a conniving dark mage from seizing the throne.

Though the last one bothered him the least, Callum dread to think what he would do once Ezran was safe and sound. How was he supposed to break him the news that his father was dead? And just as bad, that the entire kingdom depended on him, now?

He grunted. Just another stressful task that wouldn't let him sleep.

A soft hum got his attention. Without getting up, his hand moved through his bag and phished out the Key of Aaravos. One of its intricate runes was glowing. The same one that had been glowing since he discovered it in the Banther Lodge. He brought the relic closer to his face. The purple glow emitted by the Star Rune intensified to a point it irritated Callum's eyes.

His mind travelled back to what he had learnt from Claudia, hours before.

Flashback:

"Wow!" The girl looked mystified by the cube. Even more so by the rune that only seemed to glow in Callum's presence. "You mean the Star rune has been growing since you touched it?"

He nodded. "I tested this and it's like it only glows when I'm close. Try it."

He tossed her the object and she reigned her horse to the side and away from Callum's. Sure enough, the light became fainter the further away it moved from the prince. Claudia reapproached him and was amazed to see the rune regaining its radiance.

"This is amazing! Wait, let me try something…" she produced different items from her purse, all magical in nature. A different rune lit up when one of the objects was placed close to the Key. "It's true, this thing reacts to the presence of Primal energy."

"Is that a good thing?"

She looked at him, stunned. "Callum, humanity's weakness is that we are born with no arcanum -that's the connection that elves have to a Primal source which allows them to do magic." she hastily explained, seeing his blank look. "But we still found ways to do wonderful things. We just take magical creatures and squeeze the magic out of them. That's what dark magic is." She illustrated by clenching her grip on a flask with a red and black spider inside. The creature seemed to realize its life was in peryl, as it tried to scratch its way out. Fortunately, she opted to replace it back in her purse.

Callum was dubious, and a little distressed. "You make it sound like there's a sunny side to my curse." He couldn't help but come out a little scathing. Which she completely ignored.

"Maybe there is. Callum, this is revolutionary! You're the first human ever to be connected to a Primal source. If we can make this work, you could do Primal magic on your own!"

End of flashback.

“Magic on my own…” the idea seemed so far off, now. Two days ago, Callum was more than intrigued, after Claudia made that playful demonstration with a Primal Stone at the library.

His gaze travelled to a sleeping Claudia, who rested much closer than him to the campfire. She seemed so gentle. Yet, the way Claudia spoke about squashing magical creatures, with that cheerful smile so typical of hers. As if they were nothing more than fruit to be juiced. It felt repugnant to condemn animals just for a few magic tricks.

But, you have an option no one else does, said a voice in his conscience. If what Claudia claimed was accurate, he now had something other humans lacked; an arcanum. The potential to perform actual Primal magic. No Primal Stone. No dark magic.

Was that even possible to learn though? According to Claudia, Star creatures were ridiculously rare, both in numbers as well in variety. Plus, they tend to live very secretive existences. As far as she could tell, her father’s extensive library had no spells of the star arcanum. All she could divulge was that said arcanum was hard to put in words, but it connected to the power of the cosmos, divination and very vague stuff.

With a sigh, he fixed his gaze on the night sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight. All the stars and constellations gazed back at him.

“So, somehow, I’m connected to all of you because of this curse. Since the Star Primal is so mysterious, how about you give me a clue?” he whispered to the starry sky. Unsurprisingly, there was no response.

With all that thinking, Callum felt he should be tired enough to go to sleep. But he found that he couldn’t. Tonight felt too comfortable for sleep.

Chapter 7: Break the Ice

Chapter Text

Viren walked out of his study, taking a reinvigorating breath. Performing the glamour spell always made him feel a bit rejuvenated. It was a welcomed feeling, considering the magic he used to transform that assassin leader into a coin for his growing collection took a toll on his strength.

Thinking of which, he was somewhat disappointed with the expression of that stubborn creature displayed in his final moments. Always the same thing: defiance, giving away to absolute fear.

He abruptly halted when he saw his path blocked by two people. It was General Amaya and her lieutenant, whose name Viren never bothered to learn. The woman looked impassive.

"General Amaya, this is a…" he was cut off when the general's armored fist suddenly connecting with his nose. The mage's back hit the door to his study. He stumbled to keep his balance as he glared at the woman. "W-what is the meaning…"

"Silence!" the lieutenant began translating her hand gestures. "Stand up and walk with me. We need to have a serious talk."

The last thing Viren wanted was to obey, but he didn't feel like he had an option. Clutching his bloody nose and cursing the incapability to use magic at the moment to heal it, he strode after them. They entered the empty throne room and the lieutenant closed the doors behind them.

"This is all your fault, Viren." she turned and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Elven troops are gathering ever closer to the Breach. Xadia is growing more belligerent and it's all because of the supposed destruction of the egg. Yes, I'm well aware the egg wasn't destroyed."

Inwardly, the mage cursed the step-prince for tattling on to his aunt. He would have preferred the existence of the egg (and its theft) remained as much of a secret as possible. He removed his hand from the blood nose to speak.

"I took that egg because it would have grown into a much bigger threat, not only for Katolis but all of humanity." he protested. "When Harrow and I faced Thunder, he agreed with me that Xadia mustn't have it."

"Were Harrow alive, you'd be in shackles once he learnt what you caused."

Viren kept a straight face. "What makes you think he didn't know the egg was in my custody?"

She leveled him with a glare. That might have worked against someone who didn't know Viren. But she did know him. As well as she knew Harrow. She could see through the dark mage's lie.

She stepped forward. "Callum will find Ezran, whom will be crown king, as it should be."

Viren resisted the urge to go on a tirade on idiotic people who insisted on putting children in thrones. "We don't have time to gamble on hopes and maybes. And we can't afford the mistakes a young, inexperienced sovereign will inevitably make. I can protect us from the throne!" he pointed towards the chair with his staff.

Amaya took another step forward, this time though, one hand moved to the pome of her sword while she gestured with the other. "Don't even think of it, Viren. Don't make me stain this room with your blood."

Viren blinked. He must have heard that wrong. Was Amaya really so paranoid of him that she was willing to take his life?

As if reading his thoughts, she continued. "Your power-hungry moves are what seeded this crisis. You have become more of a menace than a servant to Katolis."

Viren calmed himself down, easing his breathing. His tone became more cordial. "You think I'm being opportunistic. But I couldn't be more selfless in my motivation." he stepped aside, clearing the space between the throne and the General. "Go ahead, sit on it. Nominate yourself Queen-Regent. I'll support you."

Amaya took one short look at the throne. "That throne remains empty until the princes return."

Viren threw his hands up and stormed off. Before he walked through the doors, Amaya spoke again.

"However, know that, even in the best case scenario that Callum and Ezran return home safely, I won't forget you were the catalyst of all this. And there will be a reckoning, Viren. I guarantee."

He didn't turn around to meet her face before walking out of the throne room. On the way back to his study, he walked across Opeli, whom asked:

"Viren, what happened to your nose?"

He grumbled incoherently and ignored her.

Callum felt irritated. Not because he was riding a horse, an activity he had no expertise on. The animal just didn't like him and refused to be cooperative. Nor because he spent last night awake, though he did feel tired and sleeping now felt tempting, if inconvenient.

No, the source of the prince's irritation was the sun. It's light felt more intense, too intense, that morning. Not to mention the heat felt uncomfortable, like something weightening him down, strangely enough.

He motioned his steed to increase the pace, but the animal told him off by trying to shake the prince off its back. He held onto it with some difficulty and put itself beside Claudia's horse. Today, the mission prioritized finding reagents for the spell to locate Ezran. Therefore, she was on the lead.

"Hey, Callum!" she greeted him cheerfully. How much he wished she could share her mood with him. "Did you take a morning sip of the Fledgling's Death?" she referred to the blood-that-wasn't-really-blood potion that was supposed to improve the Draculin Curse.

"Yeah. But I still refuse to call it that."

Up above in the sky, a lonely cloud partially blocking the sun was pushed away, allowing the astro to shine unfiltered upon them. Callum groaned at the increased luminosity. He pulled up his hood and lowered his face.

Claudia eyed him weirdly. "You certainly woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Then again, none of us slept in proper beds, last night."

"It wasn't the bed, or lack thereof. I couldn't fall asleep." he replied with a shrug. "I tried to spend my time doing anything to fall asleep. Reshaped the constellations like a hundred times, drew some pictures out of those vampire tomes you brought. I even talked to the stars, see if they could have clued me in about this arcanum thing."

"You talked to the sky all night long? I think the outdoors is starting to turn your brain into mush." of course Soren had to intervene, also urging his steed to catch up to theirs. Callum shot him an annoyed glare.

Claudia told him to ignore her brother and asked about the drawings. She always enjoyed his art. And Callum eagerly pulled out his sketchbook. He skimmed over some halfhearted sketches of trees. Somewhat more interesting ones were those of the Key of Aaravos in different positions.

But those where Callum showed his skills were the drawings of vampiric figures. One that he took particular interest and dedication to was that of a woman's face of sharp features and angular eyes. She carried a large hat with a wide brim that covered almost all of her short, black, curly hair.

"This vampire lady had like an entire chapter dedicated to her. She seemed important." Callum wanted to kick himself for sounding so lame. His ignorance stemmed from his inability to read those ancient runes on the tome.

"She was important, alright. That vampire lady was, in a way, responsible for the extinction of her own kind." there she went again. Claudia had that smug look that said 'i know more than you'. "Remember the Dracula fellow?"

"You mean the vampire king who was dethroned and whose successor didn't run things so well?" Callum recalled the brief history lesson Claudia lectured him before they left for the Banther Lodge.

"That lady you drew was Countess Alcina Dimitrescu, the Carnivore. She succeeded Dracula as the monarch of all vampires and declared Xadia an all-you-can-eat buffet. Under her management, the vampires went on a feeding frenzy. Until the elves and dragons, led by the Hellsing and Belmont families had enough and rose up against them."

Callum took another look at the drawing. The vampire woman carried an alluring, pleasant smile. But knowing what he did now, said smile exhaled an aura of danger.

Soren chose that moment to take a peek at the sketch. He never did care for the prince's art. It was, to him, a useless, not very manly hobby. The lady with fangs in the sketchbook looked exactly like the one in Claudia's tome. He shrugged:

"Meh, anyone can draw quality when they have the originalarticle right in front of their eyes."

Claudia retorted "Oh, really? You once drew me as a stick figure."

"With a very expressive expression!"

She deadpanned. "The face had dots for eyes and a line for a mouth."

"And it was very expressive."

"Rayla...wait up!" Ezran pleaded between huffs.

That morning, Rayla had abruptly awakened him and forced their party to traverse through hard terrain. They were walking up a snowy mountain and it was taking a great toll on the prince's stamina. It didn't help that her reasons for taking such a route were vague.

"Let's...take a break." Without waiting for a response, Ezran dropped himself on the ground. Never had the cold, snowy soil felt so good on him.

Rayla shook her head. "No, we have to keep going."

"Rayla, I'm exhausted. Just let me catch my breath." He then whispered to make sure the dragonling in the egg didn't hear. "And Zym isn't getting any lighter."

The elf sighed exasperatedly. "How about I carry the egg from now on?"

Ezran took a look at her, which lasted a bit longer than she would have prefered.

"It's fine. I can carry it." He strained to push himself up and resumed walking.

Rayla was unconvinced. The little prince was tired. A part of her did believe she should let him rest. Yet he stubbornly wouldn't hand her the egg. Primals, by the way he refused to part with it, one would think the egg was his only friend!

Did she count as his friend? Or him as hers? Granted, the little fellow whom she initially wanted to assassinate was endearing. Regardless, they were on a mission of peace because their interests aligned. At the end of the day, they were teammates, after a fashion.

"But it's not like you trust him completely, do you? You lie to him, just like you did to Runaan and your previous teammates." That accusing comic in her head made her halt.

Ezran tried to ignore the temptation to rest and kept following after Rayla. They were now traversing through a narrow passage on the side of a snow covered mountain. Looking up, he could see they would soon reach the top. Hopefully the terrain would be easier then, or maybe Rayla would let him rest.

"You tired. Why not rest?"He heard the familiar voice of his best friend, emanating from the egg.

"I...gotta...keep goin'...Rayla said so." He uttered between exhausted breaths.

For a brief moment, his vision blurred and his balance was lost. Ezran began tumbling backwards, dangerously close to the edge. His sudden cry was his salvation, for Rayla heard him. With quick reflexes, she grabbed him by his vest before he fell down the mountain. "Wow, thanks Rayla!"

The relief was short-lived, for while Ezran was secured, his near fall made the egg slip out of the backpack. Elf and prince watched in terror as their precious cargo rolled down the snowy mountain.

"Zym!" without pausing for thought, Ezran leaped over the cliff and ran down the snowy mountain. He quickly lost his balance and ended up rolling down the hill.

"Ezran!" Immediately she followed, jumping down from onespot to the next. She just hoped she wouldn't come down to find a broken egg and boy.

Under Claudia's instructions, the searching party reached a town calledRockbell's Basket. Once there, she instructed Soren to go sell the tracking hounds. Since they were no longer needed and for her plan to go faster, they could use some coins.

"I'm going to use the money Soren gets to buy a few ingredients from the local apothecary. That saves time from having to search for them in the wild." She divulged to the prince after her brother went his way.

"That brilliant, Claudia! You really have a way with making plans." Callum smilled, hoping the compliment sounded just about right.

She smiled pleasantly. "Thanks, Callum. And you have a way with tracking down people. Like when you deduced the elf and Ezran went to the lodge. And then by the river."

"Yeah, I guess I did." He scratched his head awkwardly, hoping his cheeks weren't flustered. Then again, the hood kept his face mostly hidden, so he was probably in the clear.

Fortunately, the girl's attention had turned somewhere else. A small building with a colorful showcase and a sweet smell coming from it.

"Hey, I still have two coins that my dad lent me. You wanna get something sweet?" Without waiting for his reply, she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to the candy store.

The showcase was filled with many sugary goods, some which made Callum's mouth water. After the meager breakfast he had today, a sweet would be very much welcomed.

Claudia bought two slices of a small pie with a smooth surface covered in dust sugar and cinnamon. "Two fairy-dust pie slices coming up!" She generously handed him the one slightly larger.

"It's been awhile since I've had one of these." he took a small bite of it; a delicacy such as that had to be appreciated. Unfortunately, these treats weren't common in the capital. His brother's former favorite treat, jelly tarts, were far more popular there.

"I remember the first time I've had one of these." Claudia sighed, pleased after taking a big chunk of hers. "My dad brought us these when he returned from a journey to Duren, when Soren and I were very little. He was always that thoughtful."

Callum knew he shouldn't touch the subject in front of Claudia, but his mouth spoke before his brain. "Could have fooled me."

"Sorry, what?"

Callum realized he could prevent an argument right then and there. Tell Claudia it was nothing and drop the matter. But a quick reliving of Lord Viren's manipulations, how he had tried to use his brother's kidnapping to further his own goal, set him ablaze.

"I'm just saying, your dad is not as thoughtful as you paint him."

Claudia frowned, pausing mid bite. "What do you mean? He's always looking for new ways to protect the kingdom and humanity."

"And use crises to grab power." Callum retorted. "Did you know he planned to coronate himself?"

She blinked, unsure at first. "Well, kind of. He did announce there would be a coronation during the funeral."

Callum almost facepalmed. "Claudia, he's using king Harrow's death and Ezran's abduction to covet the throne."

"He's not after the throne, Callum. We're on the edge of a national debacle. He can help the kingdom from there."

The prince was about to make another retort but he reminded himself they were in public. He motioned for Claudia to follow him away from the main street and to an empty spot in an alley.

"Claudia, have you realized the crisis he's trying to save us from is his own cause?"

The girl mage was stunned. "Did you forget to eat breakfast this morning, Callum? The assassins caused this!"

"Right, and they attacked us because your father swayed King Harrow into killing Thunder. Plus, he stole the egg of the Dragon Prince. And I didn't even touch the subject that he caused me and Ez to be cursed."

"That was Thunder's fault." She shouted, but composed herself before continuing. "Callum, you're a newbie when it comes to magic, so it's understandable. Know that sky archdragons - like Thunder - only lay eggs once in a millenium, at most. He was going to raise the Dragon Prince as a weapon against us. My dad saved humanity by taking that dragon's egg."

Callum paused for a moment. Her reply seemed cut and dry, like it was rehearsed. And he had a pretty good idea why.

"Was that how Viren justified himself, word per word, to you?"

Claudia's face made a ghost of a scowl. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That your reasoning is a copied speech your father gave you, when he showed you the egg." he spoke evenly, trying not to sound accusing or let his animosity towards Viren also target Claudia.

She scoffed, offended. "First, I make my own opinions. Second, that doesn't mean he's in the wrong."

The half-way vampire knew he was on thin ice. Whilst Claudia was his friend, there were things he had stuck in his throat since his confrontation with the court's High Mage. And he was going to let them out, now.

"Like he's in the wrong about Ezran being unfit to rule Katolis?" he didn't expect an answer to that question. It was just him venting the last bit of his frustrations. Yet, when Claudia hesitated to reply, pondering the answer, Callum actually scowled. "Wait, don't tell me you actually agree with him!"

She finally sighed. "Callum, I know this isn't easy to swallow, but even if we find Ezran and return home, he's still just a kid. A traumatized kid who just lost his father. He will be in no condition to rule. That's why my father will step in."

Callum was paralyzed. She spoke with such certainty...so that was that conniving mage's plan, all along! He should have figured Viren wouldn't keep his word, should he rescue Ezran. He craved the throne and would try to seize it, no matter the outcome.

Initially, Callum was far more concerned with retrieving his brother safely than whoever sat on the throne. But this time away from the confinement of the castle made him evaluate the future.

There was no doubt in Callum's mind that Viren was responsible for the curses and the assassination. That man had provoked Xadia too much, already. And Callum reckoned he would continue to do so, if he had his way. Viren couldn't be trusted with the future.

The discussion with Claudia ended right then and there, with Callum walking away and more resolved than before. Putting Ezran on the throne was no longer of minor importance. It had become a secondary priority.

Things were on literal thin ice.

After running and sliding down the mountain, Rayla didn't find any grotesque remains of a broken child and/or egg. Yet, the result wasn't as good as she had prayed for. Ezran did find and reacquired the egg, but only then noticed where they had wound up. On the surface of a frozen lake. The ice, though still whole, cracked slightly with each step. Like when Ezran took one towards Rayla.

"What now?" she asked.

Ezran looked at her and extended the sacred object. "Now, I'm gonna hand you the egg."

"You trust me?" she asked, surprised.

He replied without pause or hesitation. "Of course I do. You're my friend.Ourfriend."

Rayla shook her head in shame. "I thought you...I...thank you, Ezran, but...I don't deserve your trust. Early in the morning I was attacked by another human. A hunter. I fought him off, but I've been paranoying over it. That's why I insisted on climbing the mountain. I'm so sorry I got us into this mess."

A pause. "Thank you for telling the truth, Rayla." and he passed the egg to her.

Minutes later, after a slow but steady, step-by-step, process, the three safely reached solid ground.

"Ezran...thank you for trusting me." she handed him the egg back.

He took one look at it and became melancholic. "You're welcome, Rayla."

She pondered not to question, but opted to go with it. "Ezran, if I may ask, why are you so attached to the egg of the Dragon Prince?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out, at first. "Zym is...my best friend. My only friend."

"I would expect a prince to have scores of kids wanting to be his friends."

"Not me. I was always a weird one, even before the curse. People, other kids, are hard to read. But animals are easy to understand. Most of them are just downright honest."

"So, Azymondias was your first friend?" she probed, now more engrossed in the conversation.

"No, he wasn't. I had a friend named 'Bait'. He was the grumpiest, sourest glow toad ever. We shared everything, even jelly tarts." the prince's face, which had started to brighten, turned somber again. "Then my first transformation happened and I never saw him again. Callum and dad said he was scared off and ran away, but...even then I could tell they were lying. Whenever I would ask them, they repeated the same lie. Until…"

A horrified visage took over his face. His hands trembled and his voice cracked. "The night...before you came, I...I had a dre-nightmare. I-I think it was my first transformation, and...Bait, he was with me! I...I did…" the only memory he had of the nightmare resurfaced. It was Bait's face, looking terrified and turning green, before there was a sudden movement of hairy hand with sharp claws. The last thing he recalled was a whine and a spray of blood.

The prince broke down crying. Rayla, who listened silently and with growing dread, immediately wrapped her arms around her grieving friend. The egg of the Dragon Prince pulsed more frequently, the dragonling inside joining the attempt to give comfort to his human friend.

It was late night and the trio had long departed Rockbell's Basket. They were on their way to gather the one ingredient they couldn't get from a store. Tomorrow morning they will be able to collect it. So, once more, the party paused for the night.

Claudia sat over a blanket, her back against a tree. She turned to her left, where Soren slept soundly, close to the fire. Her dear Sor-bear always did sleep like an hibernating bear when close to a source of heat.
Her gaze turned to the right and much further. Callum rested against another tree. Rested, because she could tell he wasn't asleep. His back was facing away from the fire and looking up at the sky, playing again with the magic, glowy cube.

She wisely thought not to call for him to join them close to the fire. He would barely talk after he walked away from her, back at the village. Well, this little funk would pass in the morning...she hopped.

Claudia took out a piece of paper and began writing.

Hello, dad!

Are you having a good day? Or is it night when you are reading this? If so, I hope you are having a good evening/day when you read this letter. Just like you asked of me, I'm reporting on our mission and Callum's condition…

…although his appearance hasn't changed much, Callum has developed a discomfort towards sunlight. During the whole day, he kept his hood up...

Viren finished reading the report, filtering through all the information. It was a clever idea to have Claudia send him reports via crow messaging. Of course, he made sure she understood not to let the vampire prince or even Soren know.

"So the Fledgling's Death potion may actually be speeding up his curse. And vampires were naturally connected to the stars, apparently. This experiment could reveal interesting results." he muttered pensively.

At last, the dark mage sighed and pocketed the letter. It was late night, but he found himself restless. He had managed to convince General Amaya to return to her post at the Breach, but that barely counted as a step towards his goals. And Opeli, that nuisance, had prevented him from pushing his motion to call for a summit of the Pentarchy. And he had noticed his movements were being scrutinized by passing guards. Likely, those two blasted women had instructed them to do so.

He lit a candle and turned to the object of his focus: the mirror he had taken from the lair of the Dragon King. "I am running out of moves to play. So, tonight, mirror, you will reveal your secrets to me."

Chapter 8: The Girl and the Wolf

Chapter Text

"...Lycan's foe was a conniving moonshadow mage who conjured the most deceitful illusions. But his werewolf instincts allowed him to see through the deception. To the illusionist's aggravation, Lycan's touch could even dispel his illusions. And so Lycan crossed the Silvergroove without falling for any of the mage's traps…"

Excerpt from the Chronicles of Lycan, the First Werewolf.

"Alright, but this better be a quick stop." Rayla put on a long cloak that Ezran offered her.

Following their misadventure over a frozen lake and Ezran's meltdown, the two slowly made their way back up the mountain. That time, at a much slower pace for the prince's sake, who handed the egg for Rayla to carry. Atop the mountain, while they rested, Rayla noticed several trails of smoke in the sky; they were near a village.

With food rations meager, he voted they could try to buy something to eat. Rayla was obviously against it, but the offer of a cloak from Ezran persuaded her.

"If anyone becomes suspicious, just do your Human!Rayla impression. It's very convincing!" Ezran said with absolute sincerity, it almost made Rayla giggle.

"Oh, Hey, hey, there!" a sudden call made Rayla almost jump out of her skin. Ezran turned around to see a little girl, in thick winter clothing, riding on top of a big female wolf. The quadruped approached them peacefully. "Hello, new friends! What are you doing around here?"

Before the prince could offer a reply, Rayla got ahead of him. "Oh, we're just a couple of human friends travelling through our lovely homeland, doing our own human thing." In her rushed declaration, she almost revealed her hands in frantic gestures, but hid them behind her back at the last moment.

The little girl seemed to think nothing of it. "Oh, so you like exploring? That's great! I love going to new places!" then she eyed Rayla up. "But you should know up here it's best to wear gloves. Don't you have any?"

"She...forgot her gloves at home." Ezran hastily made up.

Ellis hummed and took off her own furry gloves and handed them to the disguised elf. "Here, you can have these. I have plenty at home. My mom makes clothes for a living."

Rayla hesitated initially and then snagged the gloves with a quick movement. "Thank you kindly! My fingers were freezing, all ten of them." she clumsily put on the gloves behind her back, all the while smiling wide and innocently.

"That's nice. But if you need to warm up or something else, my village, Sagess' Cottage, is just a short walk away."

"That sounds nice, uh...I'm Ezran, by the way. And this is Rayla."

"I'm Ellis and this is Ava." she pointed to herself, than patted the wolf's head.

With the gloves properly put on, Rayla relaxed enough to ask. "So, Ellis and Ava, what are you doing around here?"

"Oh, the same thing you were. Taking a walk and exploring. Just last week we found a path that goes around the Cursed Caldera." she motioned to the wide, tall mountain with a flat top.

"Was it named after the famous explorer Phineas Kirst?" Ezran asked.

Ellis shook her head. "Nope. It's because it's filled with indescribable horrors and monstrosities."

The wolf and the girl took the lead as guides. Rayla gave Ezran a look and whispered. "And why exactly are we going to a place chock full of elf-hating humans, again?"

"Well, I'm a bit hungry." he shrugged apologetically. Rayla sighed, irritated with him and herself. During their operation to safely transport the egg out of the frozen lake, her flask of moonberry juice fell in it. Leaving them with no supplies other than the hard, stone-breaking bread the prince brought from the Banther Lodge.

Rayla sighed and reluctantly agreed. As they walked, Ezran seemed to exchange a few words with the wolf. Whilst Rayla stole a few subtle glances at the girl and the wolf, trying to pick anything that indicated they were on to them. Nothing seemed to indicate that. However, an interesting detail stood out; the symbol of the collar of the animal.

"The insignia of the Moon Primal?" She would recognize that symbol anywhere. Why was it there, though? She had no clue, and thought nothing of it.

Sagess' Cottage looked reasonably welcoming, as long as no one suspected of an elf walking in their midst. A kindly woman working at a barbecue sold Ezran a piece of rare cooked meat on a stick, which he paid with a silver coin. The lady offered Rayla one for half the price but she nervously declined.

The pair was now sitting by an alley. Not the best place to rest and eat, but they weren't about to take any chances. Rayla often turned her gaze around to spot any would-be eavesdroppers.

"So some of the stories about humansaretrue. You really eat the flesh of animals." She tried her best not to look at the pieces of meat that Ezran ripped from the stick with his teeth.

"Well, yeah. We have to. It's not like we can live off of just fruits and vegetables. Then again, I used to be kind of vegetarian. I never liked causing any distress to animals. Jelly tarts were my favorite snack!" He paused. "But then the curse started, and I began to crave meat and rare steak. Now, I rarely feel like touching a jelly tart." He put the half eaten kebab away.

Rayla inquired. "So, this curse pretty much turned your life around, aye? I mean, even your eating habits have changed?" she stressed the last part. The last thing she wanted was for him to bring back what Ezran confessed to her in tears after they escaped the frozen lake.

The prince turned a brief look to the leftover meat. It tasted good and smelled so tempting. "Yeah. And sometimes I think things are still changing. ThatI'm still changing. Before the curse I'd never ask for a snack of meat." he looked again at the meat. It was quickly growing cold due to the weather. Oh, he truly wanted to finish the tasty snack. Yet, when he ignored the hunger and thought about the poor cow he never got to meet, he felt a pang of self-loathing.

Ava and Ellis approached them, the former eyeing the leftover meat on the stake. Ezran happily gave it all to her. The conversation robbed him of his appetite.

"Gratitude, little alfa." The wolf licked his hand as appreciation.

"Alfa?"

"Your smell tells me you have the blood of a born alpha. A leader of his own pack."

He shrugged. "Well, I don't have a pack. Unless you count Rayla and Zym."

Ava paused, likely gathering her thoughts. "The potential of an alpha, yet you chose to live as an omega..."

"What's an omega?"

Ava exhaled through her nose. "You truly are a cub. An omega is, like me, without a pack. Outcast, either by force or by choice."

Ezran gasped, feeling he just made her touch a sore subject. "I'm so sorry…"

"It's alright, little cub. I am fine being an omega to my kind. I have found my own pack." She gave a glance to Ellis, whom was chatting animatedly with a reserved Rayla.

"A miraculous healer?"

"She showed up and healed Ava. Thanks to that lady, she has a fourth leg now."

When Ellis mentioned a miraculous healer had grown Ava a new leg, Rayla became more engrossed in the conversation. She asked the little girl to divulge it.

"If this miracle healer exists, could she heal…" Rayla slowly turned to the object of her train of thought; the cursed prince. However, said prince had his gaze fixated somewhere else. On an imobile cat, which was glaring widely at the boy. Ezran just glared back.

"Oh, no." Rayla whispered, fearing what was coming.

"Cat!" The prince broke into a run after the stray, which shot out of there and away from the pursuing boy.

Rayla went after him. Ezran followed the cat until he lost it on a populated street. His frenzy disappeared, along with its target.

"For Primal's sake, Ezran, don't do that again!"

"Sorry, I don't know what came over…"

There was a sudden scream from a woman pointing at them fearfully. "An elf!"

Rayla realized too late that in her pursuit of Ezran, her hood had fallen back. "Oh, for the love of the moon!"

The passersby quickly gathered into a mob, some raising objects they had at hand as makeshift weapons.

"It's one of those elves!"

"Kill it!"

"Wait! It has a boy hostage." Someone cried out. Seeing an opportunity, Rayla put her blades to her friend's throat.

"That's right. I'm a big, bad elf assassin and if you want your prince alive…"

"Hey, his hair is changing!" Someone amidst the crowd shouted, pointing a pitchfork at Ezran. True enough, out of the corner of her eye, Rayla could see a lock of Ezran's brown hair becoming white.

What on Earth…

"It's one of them! That is no boy!"

The crowd turned hostile to both of them and were on their tail. So they ran to the one place nobody dared to follow. To the Cursed Caldera.

"I think we lost them." Ezran confirmed, looking behind them to see no angry mob.

"More likely, they're too afraid to approach the caldera." Rayla looked at the enormous mountain before them. Just from their point of view, it looked desolated and unwelcoming.

Ezran turned to her, apologetical. "Rayla, I'm sorry for that."

She waved it off. "It's fine. I was tired of that place, anyways."

Ezran looked at the mountain. "Guess we walk around it."

"Maybe…" Rayla was thoughtful. "That girl Ellis told me her wolf was missing a leg until they found a miraculous healer, here, at the Caldera."

"Neat, what about it?"

"So, maybe she can heal your curse."

Ezran looked intrigued, but looking back at the inhospitable mountain made him change his mind.

"Isn't getting Zym to Xadia a priority? Scaling that mountain will slow us down."

Rayla crossed her arms. "Yes, but it might be worth it. Your curse will keep giving us trouble, if we don't do anything about it. And with that hair color, we will stand out even more." She pointed at his streak of white hair. Ezran pulled it down so the tip reached his eyes.

"This is definately new. Is my curse going to give me wrinkles, next?"

She shrugged. Ezran sighed. "Ok, so where do we find this healer?"

"Uh, I have no idea. Ellis was going to tell me, and then…"

"So, no clue, then?"

"I have some." Ellis just appeared out of nowhere, riding on Ava. The two egg couriers , Rayla expecioalally, became wary.

"How does she keep sneaking up on us?"

Ellis continued. "We can take you to her."

"Really?" Rayla's skepticism couldn't be any more audible.

"The healer found us hiding on a hollow tree, near the top of the caldera. If we can get there, maybe she'll find us again."

"Wait, that' all we have to go on?" Rayla went from skeptical to disappointed. Ellis shrugged and Ava whined.

"Maybe we should give it up and move on to Xadia." Ezran suggested. Rayla gave him a kind look.

"Ezran, we're not on a tight schedule."

He didn't want to admit it, but the idea sounded appealing. "Okay, let's give it a try."

Rayla's gaze wandered to Ellis. "And you are alright with this? Or are going to tattle on us?"

"Nope. Ava likes Ezran, so I'm guessing you guys are great. But I got to wonder; why are you looking for the healer?"

"Oh, it's because I'm…" Ezran stopped himself and stammered for an answer. Luckily, Rayla beat him to it.

"Because he's going white! See, his hair is turning white." Rayla pointed with both hands to his hair. Ellis gave him a frowning look, then shrugged.

"Okay, let's go! But, in my opinion, your hair looks more silvery than white."

Ezran brought the mutated lock of hair to his face. Uh, it did look more like silver than white, unlike Rayla's. He turned to said elf, who just shrugged.

As the group marched on, with the two new members at the helm, Ellis began to hum. Soon, Ava joined her, producing a whine in synchrony with her rider. Then the girl began to sing.

Tell everybody I'm on my way

New friends and new places to see

With blue skies ahead, yes

I'm on my way

And there's nowhere else

That I'd rather be

The elf and prince exchanged a look. He smiled and softly began to whistle along.

Tell everybody I'm on my way

And I'm lovin' every step that I take

With the sun beating down, yes

I'm on my way

And I can't keep this smile off my face

Ellis and Ava soon proved to be helpful guides. Their knowledge of the caldera's terrain allowed them to take shortcuts and avoid paths that would lead to dead ends. When asked, Ellis divulged she and Ava had been exploring the mountains and woods surrounding Sagess' Cottage.

So tell 'em all I'm on my way

New friends and new places to see

And to sleep under the stars

Who could ask for more

With the moon keeping watch over me

That last line prompted Ezran to look upwards. The sky was darkening, the last specks of sunlight peeked over the mountainous horizon. One by one, stars were becoming more visible. Fortunately, the waning moon provided enough light for them to see.

The waning moon…Ezran wasn't one for having bad thoughts, but he couldn't avoid a twingue of anger at the heavenly body. When he believed his curse may have finally become manageable, it threw him another surprise. He just hoped hair changing color was the worst thing he had to worry about.

So tell everybody I'm on my way

And I just can't wait to be home

With the sun beating down, yes

I'm on my way

And nothing but good times to show

I'm on my way

Yes, I'm on my way

Ellis was finished with her song, so Rayla took the opportunity to inquire:

"You alright, Ezran?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." his reply was a bit oblivious.

The march continued until they arrived at a plateau. The moon light painted the cloudless night sky in a white, silvery hue. The snow reflected the moonlight, adding to its beauty.

It would have been a spectacle to admire, yet Ellis informed them that from that moment onwards, they would see why the caldera lived up to its name.

"So, in order to get to this tree, we need to pass a territory infested with nightmarish monsters?"

"Pretty much."

Rayla made a deadpan face. "Alright, let's go then."

"Stop! Maybe we should turn back, Rayla. We shouldn't have to deal with monsters just for my sake."

"Well, to be honest, the monsters didn't hurt Ava or me. Mostly, they were just terrifying. In that one time, they wouldn't even touch us." Ellis added her two cents.

"So they're all bark and no bite? I can live with that."

"I'd be more at ease if we had a plan."

"Okay, here's our plan: we go in cautiously. If something doesn't go well, we turn back. How about that?"

"Hmm, it's something, but I was hoping for something more...well, more." he shrugged. "I wish Callum was here. He's the guy with the plan."

"Since the Plan Guy isn't, that's the best I can come up with."

"Okay, let's go with that."

They walked in interrupted silence, mostly by Ellis, who was quite the conversationalist. She would either speak about places close by she Ava had explored, or ask question about the egg couriers. Once, Ezran divulged an abridged version of how he and Rayla met.

"By the way, who's Callum? The Plan Guy you were talking about."

"He's my brother. I asked him to come with us, but…" Ezran trailed off. Callum was a subject he had barely touched since the journey.

The fact that his brother didn't join them had hurt. Felt almost like a betrayal, really. Whether he didn't believe him or because he distrusted Xadia in general, Ezran would have thought his brother would have stuck by him, no matter what.

His train of thought halted when they came across a monstrous carcass with a large bite mark. And yet…

"There's something wrong with it…"

"Well, it was drained of all its blood." Rayla retorted with just a speck of sarcasm.

"No, I mean, the creature itself. I feel something off…" his hand reached out.

Before he could make contact, there was a loud snarl. From behind the carcass, a monstrous leach appeared. It reached higher than an elephant. Three red eyeballs glared down at them, so angrily.

"RUN!" Rayla cried out.

The group scattered and the leech pursued one at random, that just turned out to be the girl and wolf pair. Ezran turned around and, under fear, under the pressure, again there was something that just felt wrong. Out of place.

The giant leech snarled and…wait, leeches don't snarl!

Not thinking it through, Ezran went against some of his instincts and began shouting and hopping, trying to get the monster's attention. And it worked. The creature noticed he wasn't moving and picked him as a new target.

"EZRAN, RUN!" Rayla called out.

He stood his ground, though, ignoring the better part of his judgement that ordered him to use his legs before he was without them!

The fast crawling monster came at him and…stopped. It snarled again, that so uncharacteristic sound. The prince responded somewhat in kind. He howled at it.

"What in the Primals?" Rayla approached, not taking her eyes from the creature. Ellis and Ava right behind her.

"It's not a real leech monster. I could tell something was different about it. Leeches don't snarl, for one." he subtly moved his hand to touch the creature. When contact was made though, the leech vanished in a cloud of golden wisps. Needless to say, everyone was stunned.

"It…it wasn't real? It was just an illusion!" Rayla realized.

"Guess so." Ezran replied. "But does this mean the monsters here are all illusions?"

"Maybe so." Ellis shrugged.

Rayla looked pensive. She turned her gaze to the girl and the wolf, then to the stone on the collar the latter wore. "Ellis, when did Ava got that collar?"

The girl looked confused but answered, nonetheless. "From the healer herself. It was a gift."

"So this healer gave Ava a new paw and that collar. Have you ever removed the collar?"

Ellis shook her head. "Ava won't let anyone do it. Not even me."

"So that collar never came off since she got it?"

"Rayla, what's this about? You know something, don't you?" Ezran approached, wearing an expression that bordered on suspicion.

She couldn't turn away from it. "I'm already guarding a secret from him. Best not to pile them up." She looked sadly at him. "Ezran, I'm sorry, but I think there is no healer here."

The statement was followed by confusion. Ezran couldn't make heads or tails what she meant while Ellis claimed the healer did exist. Rayla divulged. "I've noticed some details. That collar," she pointed at Ava. "has a moonstone attached to it. Back in my hometown, there are moonshadow mages, illusionists. They specialize in casting all sorts of illusions, some even feel solid and have weight. And those complex illusions can be maintained long-term by one of such moonstones." she casted a meaningful look at Ava's paw.

"So you're saying the healer was a fake?" Ellis looked between her best friend and the elf.

"I'm saying there's a good chance, yes. Those monsters being illusions just made me figured it out."

Ezran finally spoke. "Ellis, can you please try to take off the collar?"

"I can try, but she won't let me." the explorer approached Ava, whom had remained aloof during the entire revelation. The moment her hands got too close to the collar, the wolf snarled, though made no attempt to bite. Ellis didn't flinch but did withdraw her hands.

The Prince walked up to the wolf. He held her muzzle in his hands and looked her in the eye. "Ava, we need to know if the healer is real, or else, this all thing is for nothing. Please, just tell me, did she heal your paw?"

The wolf whined, her yellow eyes pierced his own.

Unbeknownst to everyone, the symbol of the moon primal shone on Ezran's pupils. Ava whined mournfully and lowered her head. She was giving him permission!

The prince slowly removed her collar. There was a strange hum and the front right leg vanished in a cloud of golden whisps.

Ellis looked stunned. Rayla felt regretful for being proven right. Ava whined in shame. But Ezran was stone faced. He replaced the collar and walked away back in silence.

"Ezran…"

"Let's go, Rayla." His tone was cold and void of any cheer.

"I'm sorry…"

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry." The prince said, confusing everyone else. "We've been wasting a whole night when we could be closer to get Zym to Xadia. And its because I gave in."

"Wait, who's Zym?" Ellis interjected.

"Actually, I did…"

"...and it's all because of this stupid curse!" Ezran continued his outburst without a care.

"Curse?"

"Ezran, we…" Rayla first thought was to plead with him to quiet down, but then something more alarming caught her. More and more streaks of Ezran's hair were turning silver. "Ezran, please try to stay calm."

Ezran glared at her, teeth baring. The moon primal glowed on his pupils. "Why? Why should I be calm? I have a rIgHt tObE uPsEt!"

For the first time in 400 years, a Silver Wolf-type werewolf rose and howled under the moonlight. Ezran looked at the frightened girls without any recognition.

"Ezran?" Rayla pleaded.

The silver werewolf howled, his fur glowing like the moon above. He snarled and lunged at them.

The battle ended shortly when Ellis cried out in pain, as the werewolf's teeth sunk in the flesh of her arm.

Chapter 9: What a day

Chapter Text

The first thing Ezran felt was a softness under his back. Something he had not experienced in the last handful of days.

He stirred and got up. He was in bed. An actual bed. In an unfamiliar room. Everything about it was foreign, from the architecture to the decoration.

He pushed the covers off of him. His clothes were torn, again. As if he had just turned. That brought about a twinge of foreboding.

Someone knocked on the door. He gave permission to come in. It was Rayla, looking a tad concerned.

"Rayla, where are we?"

She rubbed her own arm. "At the Moon Nexus, atop the Cursed Caldera. Turns out I was right; the healer was a moon illusionist. She showed up and let us stay here for now."

Ezran nodded, understanding he had missed out at least a bit. The last thing he remembered was...frustration? "What happened to me? Everything is a blur."

She nodded hesitantly. "Yes, you may have gone wolf for a short while."

He nearly gasped. "What, but it's not a full moon!" He looked out the elvish window to confirm.

"I know, but it still happened. Lujanne - that's the illusionist - believes it's because we are so close to the Nexus. The Moon Primal is very strong here. Plus, you were more than a bit stressed, so…" she left the statement hanging.

A pregnant pause followed. He tried to assimilate the situation. "Did I hurt anyone?"

Rayla' answer wasn't immediate. "Ellis was a bit startled, but she's fine now. Come to think of it, in the end she thought your wolf form is, and I quote, 'super awesome, but in an extreme way.'"

"Wait, you said that this place was what caused me to turn! We need to leave."

She tried to appease him with a smile. "Relax, little prince. According to the'expert'" she made hand inverted commas. "the Nexus may have given you a boost, but it was your mood that triggered the transformation. So, as long as you keep it cool, we should be fine."

Ezran wasn't so confident, yet he found no energy to protest. Or energy to do anything at all. "I'm tired."

"Fair enough. I'll leave you to catch some 'Zs'."

She left, giving him one final worried look, which he didn't notice as he was quick to doze off.

Ezran enjoyed a calm rest, occasionally tempered with a little torment. He dreamt of walking and running through a forest. The grass, flowers and trees were painted silver, which reflected the light from the multiple full moons, on the sky. Whenever Ezran slowed down to see his reflection on any surface, he would see a silver wolf of glowing, yellow eyes.

Ezran would wake up hours later, rejuvenated but sluggish.

His next visitor didn't knock. She stuck her head in through the halfway opened door.

"Ellis, hi!" Ezran was in a better mood, at least.

"Good dawn, Ezran."

"Dawn?"

"Yeah. The sun isn't up, yet. So it's not morning, it's dawn."

Ezran spared a sideways glance through the window. True enough, the sun hadn't yet come up.

As the prince faced her again, he noticed two things. First that Ava wasn't with her, for once. Second was something that caught his eye.

"What is that?" he pointed to a thin layer of bandages wrapped around her forearm.

"Oh, yeah! Uh, this was from when you bit me." she tried her best not to sound awkward. Ezran's expression became shocked and horrified but Ellis was quick to assure him. "But it's fine. It's all healed now, see."

She removed the bandages to reveal a bite mark mostly healed. The skin around the lacerations are restored, if still tender. And the places where the teeth sank were not so deep. All in all, it didn't look so bad. Still…

"I bit you?" he was almost afraid of looking her in the eye.

"Yeah, but you kinda helped heal it, too."

According to the explorer girl, when Ezran 'turned wolf', as she put it, he went for Rayla. However, because he still had his backpack, something colorful and glowy rolled out of it and ended up at Ellis' feet; the egg of the Dragon Prince. When he saw it, Wolf-Ezran went for Ellis and bit her.

"It did hurt." she admitted, passing a hand over the rebandaged injury. There was still some phantom pain there. "But then you let go."

"I did?"

"Yeah, you looked at me and then you just let me go." She proceeded to confess that he did let her go after she cried in pain. And when he did, he lowered his head. Almost looked apologetic, according to her.

Then Lady Lujanne appeared, riding on a giant bird. She did something with her hands and Ezran passed out and changed back. They were promptly brought to the Moon Nexus. Fortunately, the moon mage had some basic medical utensils for herself. And yet...

"Your arm was already healing?"

Ellis shrugged. "Kinda. When we got here, the bleeding had stopped and the wound looked smaller. Lujanne says some legends speak of wolf-people having healing saliva."

Ezran blinked. Werewolves have healing spit? His own spit can heal? "Weird."

"I was going to say 'cool'."

"Nothing about this is cool." Ezran sighed. "I'm so sorry I hurt you."

"It's fine. You apologized and I'm getting better."

"Still, it shouldn't have happened. It wasn't even a full moon. And I've been drinking my elixir."

Ellis was a bit confused. Rayla did say Ezran couldn't control himself in his wolf-form. She felt he was upset about it, so thought to change the subject and inquired about the egg.

Ezran divulged it was the egg of the Dragon Prince. He and Rayla were on a mission to deliver it to Xadia, in order to prevent a war. He even introduced the baby dragon, Azymondias (aka Zym) to her.

"It's my pleasure to meet you, Prince Azymondias." Ellis made an exaggerated bow to the egg. Ezran couldn't stifle the chuckle.

"He says he likes you, already."

Ellis laughed. "Likewise. This is a fairy tale come true like my mom used to tell. An elf girl, a dragon prince and a peasant boy, all traveling together to a magical land..."

Ezran grinned. "Not a peasant boy, aprinceboy."

"Oh, you're a prince?"

He nodded.

"'Kay. That's neat, I guess." she replied, unenthusiastically. Ezran deadpanned at her lackluster reaction. And, they both broke down laughing.

The first rays of sunlight were peeking from the top of a mountain when Ezran exited his room. He sat on a smooth rock that served as a makeshift bench. Ezran wasn't usually a morning person, but after that night he felt oddly refreshed and energized.

His hair was turning silver. Somehow he could see through illusions. On a night of waning moon, he turned into werewolf, though was able to keep some measure of control. And to add to the list of strange events, his saliva could conveniently heal wounds.

…What a day!

The prince took in a breath of very fresh, mountain air.

Hopefully today wouldn't be such a chaotic slide.

To his surprise, a shooting passed above him. And strangely close too, not as far away as ordinary stars…Then it burst. Small specks of light rained upon him. They danced softly towards the ground like snowflakes.

"Wow!" the little prince smiled widely "Happy New Year, everybody!"

In the temple above, Lujanne observed the wisps of light with a concerned look.

"The spell worked! He's at the Cursed Caldera!" Claudia pointed to the other end of the string of purple light.

"You mean the haunted mountain where demonic spirits will suck out the marrow from your bones and grind your skull to pouder?" Soren asked. His armor clinged with his shaking. He turned to Callum. "And how come you're not cold?"

The prince barely shrugged, his eyes locked on their destination.

As the trio descended, Callum thought back to a letter he received the previous night. A letter delivered by a specially trained crow that reached him only when Claudia and Soren were asleep.

Dear Callum,

I hope this letter finds you well and that you are ever closer to rescue Ezran. This message is a bit urgent so I'll be brief. The death of the King has only exacerbated the situation on the Breach. The Sunfire elves are becoming bolder in the incursion attempts. The war that we fear is coming may already be all but inevitable.

But I believe we can still remedy this with the egg. Callum, when you find Ezran, your second priority is to bring the egg back to Katolis. My plan is that we deliver the egg back to Xadia, but on our terms. In that position of power, we can force a disarmament on their side of the border. Possibly, even demand a cure for the curses.

Don't take any unnecessary risks for the egg if it endangers your life or Ezran's. But if the opportunity presents itself, bring the egg back.

Be safe,

Your aunt Amaya

DELETED SCENE:

Ezran grinned. "Not a peasant boy, aprinceboy."

Ellis blinked. "Wait, prince? You're that Ezran, the prince everyone is saying died?"

"Died?"

"Two days ago, a messenger came by Saggess' Cottage and announced that Prince Ezran was killed."

"Me? Killed?" Ezran quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, also that King Harrow was assassinated by elves…" Ellis hastily clamped her mouth shut with both hands, but too late. Ezran was paralized, his eyes fixed on the girl.
There was a soft knock. The door opened slowly and Rayla's head poked in. "Hello, again, Ez? Saw your light on. Is everything alright?" she asked cheerfully.

But when Ezran turned his gaze to her, she felt a spike of dread.

Chapter 10: Close Encounter

Chapter Text

“Very little remains of recorded historic relations between Elves and Vampires, except in the horror stories and folktale passed down in the different tribes of Xadia. The most accurate records are believed to be in possession of the Startouch Clans, whom guard them ferocio usly.

However, it is believed that, in the midst of Vlad Dracula Tepes’ reign, there was a temporary peace between Elves and their predators. For a time, some open-minded tribes would donate blood to keep the local vampires fed while the vampires would share some of the unique magic they possessed with the elves; hence was how the first Ghouls came to be.”

• Personal log of the Alucard, Anti-Dracula.

“Though Lycan had become a quasi-outcast among, his childhood sweetheart and lover, Lupe, accompanied him on his journeys. It was after a night of passion that in the following morning, Lupe learnt his physical capabilities had greatly increased; she had developed magical abilities similar, though less powerful, to Lycan’s.”

• Excerpt from the Chronicles of Lycan, the First Werewolf.

Prince Ezran was never a morning person. Spending his free time exploring tunnels and secret passageways in Castle Katolis and often staying awake at night to share exploring stories with his brother, tended to leave the crown prince a little too clingy to his bed, in the following morning. The morning was evil, as he once said. And all that was exacerbated by the Lupin Curse. Following a night of full moon and the ensuing exhausting transformation, Ezran could sleep until noon.

Yet, today was the complete opposite. The previous night, on their way up the Cursed Caldera, Ezran had gotten so upset he turned werewolf. To make matters worse, it wasn’t even a full moon. And he wound up injuring Ellis, the explorer girl that so kindly helped them get here. On the bright side, the ‘mystery healer’ revealed herself to be a moonshadow elf mage who helped Ellis as best as she could and allowed them to stay in for the night.

All those events would make anyone else want to stay in bed for the day. But not Ezran, not today. Today he felt oddly refreshed and full of energy. At least, his body felt so. As for his mind…

“Ugh. How can I feel so pumped up and so tired, at the same time? Any ideas, Zym?” the boy asked the dragon egg that sat beside him on the grass, just outside of the room where they stayed the night.

“Yeah, me neither.” with a resolute sigh, Ezran lied back down to gaze at the cloudy sky. Something silver fell upon his sight. It was a lock of his own hair, which he pushed away. To add another change to his body, courtesy of the curse.

His nose wrinkled at the thought. More than once he overheard Callum whispering about ‘body changes’, but when Ezran would ask him about it, the older brother would shut him down with jittery excuses.

“Puberty, whatever it is, sounds weird.” he blurted out his thoughts.

“I can agree to that.” Rayla leaped out of the trees behind him, startling him a little. She winked. “But don’t expect me to give you any pointers.”

“No, thanks. Also, nice entrance.”

“Not my best one, though.” she sat beside him. “So, what’s on your mind?”

Ezran exhaled. “Last night.”

“That was a night.” Rayla’s mood fell a little. Of course they would have to talk about the dragon in the room.

“I’m sorry…” she silenced him with a hand.

“Don’t even go there, little prince. It wasn’t your fault. We don’t know how this curse of yours works.”

Her words barely made him feel better, but her presence and acceptance was enough to appease his troubled spirit.

“Thanks, Rayla. I mean it. This dumb curse is getting out of control but when I’m with you, everything feels more kind of maneagle.” he put his hand over hers, making the elf just a tad surprised.

“Oh, you’re welcome, Ez.”

She found the prince staring hypnotically with those yellow eyes of his. “I really, really like you.” he said as he slowly approached her.

But the moment was cut short by a shout from behind the pair. “STOP!”

They turned to see none other than Prince Callum, looking ragged like he had just climbed the mountain on his own. He looked worried sick but also furious. However, the strange thing about him was the fact that he… sparkled in the sun light?

“Callum!”

The newcomer shouted. “Get away from her, Ezran!”

“Hey, it’s okay, Callum. She’s not going to hurt me.” the younger prince tried to appease him, but to no avail.

“Oh, I know she won’t. But I will!” Callum made a beeline for the pair. He promptly grabbed the elf by the shoulders and pushed Ezran away. His furious glare was aimed at his little brother.

“Don’t ever put your paws all over her, wolf-boy! Rayla is mine! I watch her sleep, every night, without her knowledge or consent! That alone is proof enough we belong together.”

Ezran, who up until then wanted to resolve the encounter peacefully, growled at his sibling. “Big deal, fang-face! I’ll just imprint on her future kid because having the hots for my future niece proves I love Rayla more than you do! Right Rayla?”

The elf, who had remained silent and unexpressive the whole time, spoke in a so uncharacteristically passionless voice. “Sorry, Ezran. But you’re too much of a lovesick puppy for me. I’d rather be with Callum. It’s just, he gives off this crazy possessive vibe. Plus, he clearly sees me as an object rather than a person. And I’m totally into that stuff.”

Ezran smirked. “You see, she loves me.”

Callum sneered. “No, you brain-dead dog in denial. She loves me.”

Suddenly and without explanation, Rayla walked over to Ezran and hugged him, putting her head against his small chest. “Sure. M’kay. Of course I love you more than anyone else, Ezran. You’re the one I’m destined for.”

What followed was a game of going back-and-forth, with Rayla changing her mind to be with the other guy, regardless of what she may have said beforehand. All the while, her face was deprived of emotion. As for the cursed princes, they argued and barked threats at each other, coming close to exchanging blows but never actually throwing hands. Talk about blue-balling.

Until finally Rayla surrendered completely to Callum’s sparkly visage and got married and had a daughter and Ezran would come to love said daughter (who was also his niece) and they all lived happily ever after.

“...and they all lived happily ever after.” Lujanne put down her pen and turned to her audience, a grin stretched on her face, ear to ear. “So what do you think of my fanfiction about your adventure?”

Said audience were Rayla and Ezran, chained up to chairs and gagged. Their expressions were those of trauma caused by pure horror.

The maniacal grin never wavering, Lujanne got up. “My wards tell me young Callum has just arrived at the Nexus. Well, I shall offer him my invitation to join us. I’m sure he will be delighted to give his input on my fanfic.”

Without another word she left the dark and cold basem*nt where her prisoners audience continued silently staring into the void.

APRIL FOOLS! LOL!

I’ve been waiting to write this since I posted the Lujanne poll on my profile page. I won’t remove this chapter though, even when the story officially continues. Please, review this. Tell me at which point did you figure out it was a prank?

Chapter 11: Not-So-Good Day

Chapter Text

"Very little remains of recorded historic relations between Elves and Vampires, except in the horror stories and folktale passed down in the different tribes of Xadia. The most accurate records remain in the possession of the Startouch Clans, whom guard them ferociously.

However, it is believed that, in the midst of Vlad Dracula Tepes' reign, there was a temporary peace between Elves and their predators. For a time, some open-minded tribes would donate blood to keep the local vampires fed while the vampires would share some of the unique magic they possessed with the elves; hence was how the first Ghouls came to be."

- Personal log of the Alucard, Anti-Dracula.

"Though Lycan had become a quasi-outcast among, his childhood sweetheart and lover, Lupe, accompanied him on his journeys. It was after a night of passion that in the following morning, Lupe learnt his physical capabilities had greatly increased; she had developed magical abilities similar, though less powerful, to Lycan's."

- Excerpt from the Chronicles of Lycan, the First Werewolf.

Prince Ezran was never a morning person. Spending his free time exploring tunnels and secret passageways in Castle Katolis and often staying awake at night to share exploring stories with his brother, tended to leave the crown prince a little too clingy to his bed, in the following morning. The morning was evil, as he once said. It was exacerbated by the Lupin Curse. After a night of full moon and the ensuing exhausting transformation, Ezran could and would sleep until noon.

Yet, today was the complete opposite. The previous night, on their way up the Cursed Caldera, Ezran had gotten so upset he turned werewolf. To make matters worse, it wasn't even a full moon. And he wound up injuring Ellis, the explorer girl that so kindly helped them get here. On the bright side, the 'mystery healer' revealed herself to be a moonshadow elf mage who helped Ellis as best as she could and allowed them to stay the night there.

All those events would make anyone else want to stay in bed until the following day. But not Ezran, not today. Today he felt oddly refreshed and full of energy. At least, his body felt so. As for his mind…

"Ugh. How can I feel so pumped up and so tired, simultaneously? Any ideas, Zym?" the boy asked the dragon egg that sat beside him on the grass, outside of the room where they stayed the night.

"Yeah, me neither." with a resolute sigh, Ezran lied back down to gaze at the cloudy sky. Something silver fell upon his sight. It was a lock of his own hair, which he pushed away. To add another change to his body, courtesy of the curse.

His nose wrinkled at the thought. More than once he overheard Callum whispering about body changes, but when Ezran would ask him about it, the older brother would shut him down with jittery excuses.

"Puberty, whatever it is, sounds weird." he blurted out his thoughts.

"I guess so. I heard it's a disease that makes your hair bend back and start going into your skin." Ellis made herself known. Unsurprisingly, Ava, the three-legged wolf, was with her.

"Oh, good morning, Ellis! Ava!" a pang of embarrassment struck Ezran for speaking aloud. Fortunately, the girl thought not too much of it.

"Good morning, early bird."

He chuckled. "Not really one. I just didn't feel like sleeping anymore."

"Ava's the same whenever she comes close to the Caldera. But today was a record even for her." Ellis hugged her companion who whined adorably. Curious, Ezran turned to the wolf whom addressed him:

"Fresh winds, silver alpha cub."

"Fresh winds to you, too, Ava. Are you alright?"

"I am. But you held some secrets. Even before, I sensed the smell of one of mine from you. Under the moon, you proved to be one of my own…yet, you were not one of my own." the wolf sounded confused.

"It's kind of a long story. I got cursed and turn into that, sometimes."

"That explains it." Ellis murmured, like she was a part of the conversation.

Rayla came by and announced that breakfast was ready, courtesy of their host, Lujanne. The moonshadow elf lady may not be a miraculous healer, but was kind enough to allow them to stay at the Nexus for the time being. That was what Ezran thought until he saw what said breakfast consisted of. Rayla and Ellis immediately sat at the table, followed by Lujanne. The prince, however, remained rooted to the ground. Eyes locked on the table with a mixture of disgust and shock.

"What's wrong, Ezran?" Rayla asked, a fork full of 'food' halfway to her mouth. Not that Ezran would ever callthat 'food'.

"Guys, what are you doing?" the boy resisted the urge to vomit.

"We're eating." Ellis shrugged.

"Can't you see what you're eating?"

"Uh, moonberry cake." Rayla shrugged.

"Apple pie." Ellis replied.

"That's not what I'm seeing."

Lujanne hummed in. "Interesting. So you can see through my illusions. Like you did with the monsters."

"Illusions?" Rayla eyed the fork in her hand with a piece of moonberry cake. "Wait, if this food are illusions, what are we eating?"

It was Ezran who answered, pointing at Ava and Lujanne's pet companion, a giant deep-blue moon phoenix called Phoe-Phoe. Both animals were digging happily into bowls of strange living worms. The worms had silver filaments that emitted a faint glow.

The girls turned from Ezran and Lujanne, both of whom nodded, him awkwardlyand she happily. Rayla shrieked and dropped the fork.

"Moonshine worms! You're feeding us moonshine worms?!" the elf girl turned colleric to the older woman, while trying not to throw up.

"Moonshine?" Ellis asked, not appearing as affected as Rayla by the revelation.

"Yes. They are little grubs who become packed with nutrients when exposed to the moonlight. Makes them a very healthy source of nourishment around here. I mean, how do you think I kept my slender figure all these years here?" Lujanne explained, winking .

Whereas Rayla was still struggling to fight the urge to throw up, Ellis looked between her food and the bowl Ava ate from. Shrugging, she carried on eating her breakfast. "Hmm, this is some tasty illusion, Miss Lujanne."

"Why, thank you!"

Seeing Ezran's and Rayla's agape expressions, the wolf-girl said. "It actually tastes pretty good. And if it's healthy, it's a bonus."

The prince's belly chose that moment to loudly remind him he hadn't eaten, still. He feared he wouldn't be able to combat the hunger for much longer.

Viren was not having a pleasant morning. As an omen that today wouldn't be a good day, breakfast didn't go down smoothly and didn't help the drowsiness he woke up with. A cup of his daughter's hot brown morning potion would have made it better. Sadly, its recipe was known to only her.

Then, the scheduled council meeting didn't go in his favor. To answer against the current crisis, the mage pushed for a summit of the Pentarchy but the rest of the council was reticent at best or downright opposing, at worst. They argued that Harrow's assassination may have been Xadia's goal and things would settled down. Those naive morons! Despite his arguments that General Amaya reported elven forces more active by the Border, and dragons have been witnessed hovering the skies of Katolis, they refused to support his motion.

To make matters worse, Opeli pulled him aside and threatened the other kingdom's would never support Katolis if they ever learnt of Viren's theft of the egg. It was enough for Viren to have wished he had cursed her, instead!

Hadn't his hands been tied by the step-prince's existence, the knowledge of the egg's survival and Amaya's threat, he could be sitting on the throne, right now. Then, none of this idiotic beaurocracy would stand in his way.

Viren took a calming breath as he walked to his office. The cherry on top of the cake that was this frustrating morning was that he could feel the eyes of the standing guards on his back. Even though those men and women didn't leave their posts, he could tell they were watching his every move, committing it to memory so they would dispel everything to Opeli or whatever crony she had entrusted to keep an eye on him.

He entered his office and locked himself in. It was the only place, save for the bathroom, where he could have some privacy. With a growl, he kicked a coat hangerto relieve the pent up frustration.

"Damn them all!" he shouted. When his mind cooled off, he rearranged the mess and walked to the other inhabitant of the study, the green and black xadian songbird that previously belonged to Harrow. Following the king's demise, Viren took possession of the bird. It spent most of its time silently gazing towards the window.

"No song today, either, uh? You're not the only one who's been having quite a few off days." with a sigh, Viren introduced a handful of seeds into its cage and set out for business.

He didn't suspect that the guards outside have a way to spy through the double doors…but one can never be too sure.

He took out one of the butterflies from the secret compartment behind a bookshelf. For years he had bred these little ones for the purpose of maintaining his glamor. But being Moon Primal creatures, they had other uses. He muttered an incantation. The glowing butterfly withered and died in his hand, while an illusion of himself sitting at the secretary, reading a big tome, manifested. If anyone indeed spied through the door, they wouldn't notice his absence, at least for the time being.

As he climbed down the secret flight of stairs to his laboratory, he silently cursed the need for such secrecy, all because that mongrel adopted prince disclosed the truth about his theft of the egg. Because of him, some of these very tunnels were not even secret anymore! Save for a few hidden rooms not even his dear Claudia knew of.

Such as this one that Viren entered. The secret room was small, dimly lit and sparsely furnished. A table with a small wooden chest with metal frames. A large recipient in a corner of the room, containing dozens of gallons of the vampire prince's blood, taken from bloolettings on the pretext of analysis and study to develop a cure. But the latest addition to the room was what Viren was focusing on. An ornate, full-length mirror that displayed the image of a very mysterious elf.

Wordlessly, Viren walked towards a flask on the table containing an ugly, purple caterpillar. He put it in his ear, suppressing the disgust of it.

Aaravos greeted the dark mage. "So tell me, my friend, how was your morning? Was it enlightening enough to make you reconsider my proposal?"

Hunger had at last defeated Ezran's resolve and he sat at the table to join in the meal. Yet he remained incapable of eating what he could see was a bowl of glowing worms. Rayla suggested he ate with his eyes closed. It worked, barely. As long as he didn't think of anything slimy whenever he took a bite.

"Think of that Duraneese spaghetti." he told himself, imagining the slimy worms were actually that dish he had once tried, coated in cream and oils.

Thankfully, Lujanne provided a distraction by inquiring about the origins of his curse. Ezran gave her a watered down retelling. Lujanne listened with silent interest, not once betraying a reaction.

"And every month has been the same. I turn and go wild. The next morning, everything is a blur." he finished with a shrug.

Lujanne hummed. "When a lycanthropo would go through their first transformation, they would often not remember whom or what they were. Becoming a werewolf alters not just the body, but also the mind. Such metamorphys would be, disconcerting, to say the least, at first." she paused. "However, that happened only on the first full moon. And it was seldom for a lycanthropo to become that savage."

Ezran's spirits diminished. When their journey began, Rayla had told him the ancient history of the werewolf elves - the Lycanthrop tribe. Initially, Ezran felt sorry that those people had eventually become just as dangerous as he was, and had to be ostracized. When he mentioned this to Lujanne, her expression became vague.

"The truth is, werewolves had become very powerful and secluded. When Lupin perfected his transformation, he became a wild beast and contaminated his fellows. And they went on a rampage against their neighbors at the Silvergroove."

"Yeah, Rayla told me that the dragons disbanded the Lycanthrop tribe and declared being a werewolf illegal."

Lujanne sighed, looking into the distant mountain peaks that pierced the clouds. "Yes, that is the told truth. But, like the moon arcanum, there are so many untold ones." she quickly recomposed herself and turned to him with that inquisitive smile of hers. "Now, I can understand why you'd call this a curse. But you mentioned you found a way to cope with it."

There were times when Ezran would ask a grown up a question, and they would give no answer. Either would say they didn't know, change the subject or claim they had more important stuff to do. Ezran didn't like those moments, and he was rather perceptive at picking up on the signs. Lujanne was doing just that. And while the prince would like to press the matter, he conceited she was being kind enough just for indulging him.

"I've been drinking these elixirs, called Wolf's Bane." he produced a flask from his pocket. Lujanne took and analyzed it with an inquisitive eye. She pulled the cork and sniffed it.

"It's primarily Wolf's Bane flower. According to legend, used by the Lycanthrop Tribe to appease their wildest members. How often do you drink this?"

"Every night, before bed. It's supposed to keep me docile under the full moon, but…"

She finished for him. "But last night, you transformed even though the moon was waning. My first thought was that it was triggered by your proximity to the Moon Nexus. But from what you disclosed, it seems your emotions and the evolution of the 'curse' are also factors."

"What are you saying? That this is going to get worse with time?" Ezran felt as if he had a lump on his throat.

Lujanne nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so. These elixirs were drunk by Lycantrhopos of the past in the seldom times they couldn't control transformations. If you have been taking it so frequently, then your body is beginning to adapt to their effect. Eventually, no amount of elixir will have any effect."

Ezran felt as if the ground crumbled beneath his feet. The day his curse manifested he feared every full moon becoming a monster. The elixirs were his saving grace, his anchor to the normality he knew before the curse knocked at his door.

And now…he had been told that saving grace was just a temporary reprieve. That the return to the monthly nightmare was not only inevitable but guaranteed to become worse. What if he started transforming every night? Or even during the day? Or simply because he was angry?

Rayla, sensing the pressure her little friend was going through, rushed to his side and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You know so much about werewolves, can't you think of a solution? You stopped him last night, after all." she half-demanded, half-begged the older elf.

Lujanne looked down despotently. Then… "Well, there could be a way to cope with it, I suppose."

Facing the hopeful stares of the children, she carried on. "Lycanthropy has always been associated with the Earth and Moon Primals. The Lycantrorpos were, by default, moon and earth mages. Even if they didn't dwell much on spellcasting."

"I never heard of werewolves being mages." Rayla added.

"Lycanthropy is a form of magic combining both Primal Sources, the moon and the earth. Therefore, werewolves were, technically, mages."

She looked pointedly at Ezran. "Connecting to those two Primal sources was the first step for an elf to become a creature of the night without losing their mind."

Ezran gasped, slamming his palms on the table. "That's it! I just need to learn moon and earth magic to control myself." fueled by new hope, Ezran pleaded with Lujanne. "Can you teach me?"

"No."

Without another word, she turned her back on him. "Humans are born without any connection to any of the Primal sources."

Ezran shook his head in denial. "That's not true. I've seen humans doing magic."

"That kind of magic is an abomination. It's impossible for a human to learn primal magic because your kind is born without an arcanum."

Ezran's heart sank and he fell to his knees.

But Lujanne wasn't done. Slowly, she turned back to the prince. "At least, that's what I thought until you came along. You were born without any arcanum, yet you transform into a Lycanthropo. A feat that can only be achieved by understanding not one but two arcanums."

The prince looked confused. "But if I'm a werewolf…what does that mean?"

"I mean that, whatever this 'curse' is, I believe it has granted you a portion of the moon and earth primals - arcanums of your own."

Viren had played the game long enough to know it's not enough to be subtle in order to make a secret plan succeed. No, to make a move that no one else must see, your allies also must be subtle. Even your pawns must be subtle, elusive, perhaps even cunning. But not too much that they would try to turn on you to get the spoils.

Enter Varney, a guard best known for his unassuming appearance and typical bags under his eyes, giving him a tired, unattentive expression. For that, Varney wasn't considered the cleverest tool in the shed.

But Viren knew better, for he discovered years ago the uninteresting looking soldier was quite sharp actually. And pragmatic as well, taught by the harshness of his childhood in the lap of poverty. Reason why he had agreed to be the dark mage's on-and-off inside-man, as long as he received a bonus of golden coins.

Today, as the High Mage turned a corner, he swiftly left a neatly paper note shoved in a narrow space between two bricks. Less than five minutes afterwards, Varney passed by the spot and swiftly took the note without pause. That was the place where Varney and Viren would exchange messages without ever talking to one another.

In the wine rack you will find a bottle with a red seal. Make sure it's served to Morzan, the Ripper as his last meal.

Morzan, the Ripper, was an imprisoned serial-killer awaiting execution. As per the law, he would have the right to a last, reasonably generous meal. Following that, he would go through a public execution via guillotine. For the event to be official, it was customary for a member of the Court to accompany the procession. Therefore, Viren elected to go himself. And that would be the moment Viren would make his move.

Flashback.

"Fledgling Vampire?" Viren questioned.

"Indeed. General rule, vampires were barren, therefore unable to procreate. Because they were essentially immortal, that did not present an immediate problem. However, in the scarce times they needed to maintain or increase their population, they would turn an elf into a vampire." the elf in the mirror divulged. For some reason, Viren's expression faltered when he mentioned 'turn'. Aaravos filed that information for later.

"You see, there was a ritual that allowed a chosen elf to be elevated to vampirism. The chosen elf would consume a cup filled with a single vampire's blood. Once completed, the elf would evolve into a fledgling vampire; a mindless predator whose thirst for magical blood would be its only drive. Once the fledgling had their first drink," Aaravos grinned, the tips of his canines shown. "They would become a full-fledged vampire, with all their cognitive abilities returned."

"I see." Viren's mind was racing. Most of that information he had deduced with his own observations and Claudia reports by letter. "So, if a fleshling has drunk blood from a magical creature, will they complete their transformation?"

Aaravos hummed, his answer not immediate. "Not quite. The fledgling must hunt for the blood and take it from an unwilling victim. If it's handed to them, it will not reawaken their mind. Only nourishment obtained through predation does the tricks."

"So that Fledgling's Death potion will not make the vampire prince regain his mind upon transforming, then."

Aaravos could see Viren's thought process, even if he couldn't know his thoughts. The ancient elf decided to drop a little bit of info. Both as a test and a hook. "Tell me, Vir…"

"I especially told you not to call me that."

"As you wish, Vir. Have you in your studies ever come upon the term 'ghoul'?"

"No, I have not." Viren admitted. In the short time he had come to know this being, it was made plain clear that Aaravos enjoyed taunting his greater knowledge over Viren's.

"As I mentioned, the process of vampirification was complex and forgotten. There is, however, a downgraded version of the ritual. If an elf, and potentially a human, were to consume concoction of vampire blood mixed with their own, the drinker would become a ghoul; a being with powers similar, though weaker, to those of the vampire's."

That got Viren's attention. "Interesting."

Aaravos smirked. "Interesting, indeed, Vir."

End of Flashback

Viren returned to the room with the mirror. Aaravos stood there, indulging in one of his many books on the other side of the mirror. Upon noticing him, the elf put the book away. Vir placed that gruesome caterpillar on his ear so he could communicate with his enigmatic ally.

"Ah, Vir! So good to see you again. I've been meaning to ask you for something."

"What is it, then?" Viren had given up in trying to get the flamboyant elf to call him by his actual name.

"I have been walking around the castle and overheard some guards whispering about the missing cursed princes. It has come to my attention you never divulged how the children became cursed in the first place. I wish to know how."

Viren tried not to show his uneasiness. "Why does that matter to you?"

Aaravos shrugged. "Call it a whim of mine. Simple curiosity."

Viren gave in, hoping the elf wouldn't probe too much. "The Katolian princes were cursed by the king of the Dragons, Thunder, as his last act of revenge before he fell."

Aaravos frowned. "He fell? You mean to tell me someone annihilated Big-bearded Jackass?"

Viren raised an eyebrow. "Big-bearded…what?"

"That is the nickname I branded Avizandum with."

"Avizandum? So that was Thunder's true name."

"And 'Thunder' was the oneyoucame up with? Clearly, your kind is nothing if not imaginative."

Ignoring the jab at his species, Viren went on to proclaim. "Well, either way, Avizandum fell by my hand. And by Harrow's hand."

"Yes, very cute, Vir. Try not to dislodge anything while patting yourself in the back. Now, going back to my question, Vir; it was with his last breath that he casted twomoon-oriented curses on two human children that weren't even present at the event?"

"Yes." Viren said with utmost certainty, hoping it was enough to convince the elf.

It wasn't. "Please, don't tell me you don't find that notion ludicrous. Surely, someone has clever as yourself doesn't believe that for a second." Aarovos didn't need to look Viren in the eye to judge his response, which came out vague and defensive:

"It did come to my attention, yes."

The ancient archmage saw right through that. He casted a fleeting glance at the small chest with elven writing on the table. Judging by the dust covering it, it hadn't been touched in months.

Aaravos opted to change the subject. That was a topic for another time. "It has come to my attention that though we have discussed quite a lot about vampires, you asked very little concerning lycanthropos."

"Werewolves, or lycanthropos as your people called them, were an easier subject to research. I have acquired enough information on my own." Viren postured.

"Oh, I doubt that, my dear Vir. You did well to acquire a good supply of the vampire prince's blood, I admit. Did you do the same with the werewolf boy?"

"I did, at first. But his blood revealed no magical properties, whatsoever. I experimented with eleven different spells. There was no effect." Viren seemed ready to dismiss the subject when Aaravos waved his finger, like an adult teaching an ignorant child.

"I'm afraid that you didn't do your research well. In the case of werewolves, their saliva is fluid that carries their mutation. Not only does it have healing properties when it is applied to a wound, but if an elf would ingest any of it, they would temporarily gain heightened senses of a werewolf." Aaravos grinned mischievously. "I reckon the werewolf prince is still too young to be looking at girls and/or boys with intimate intent. Before lycanthropy became illegal, ordinary elven teenagers would become enamored with werewolves for those benefits."

Viren made a face. "That is all…very enlightening, but please let's focus on the matter at hand. Is it ready?"

The elf in the mirror gestured to a bowl of red liquid in the corner. Viren walked towards it, eyeing the concoction with a tentative expression.

"Will it work?"

"Definitely. A potion made from vampire blood and your own will grant you the capabilities similar, though downgraded, to those of a vampire. But as a benefit, unlike a fledgling vampire, you will not be bound to the vampire prince's will."

Viren was well aware Aaravos couldn't be fully trusted, but the man was out of options. It was only a matter of time before the rest of the council fully turned against him. He needed power over them all.

Aaravos recited, watching patiently as the bowl neared Viren's mouth. "The strength of a hundred men. The speed of a falling star. Dominion over all night creatures, to see and hear through their senses. To heal grievous wounds. All the basic abilities of a full-fledged vampire. Powers that the prince barely has access to, until he savors the blood of his first magical prey. Becoming a ghoul would give you a mitigated version of these gifts, though."

Slowly, he took the bowl to his lips and began to drink. The taste was awful and the notion that he was drinking blood made it more disgusting. Felt as if swallowing poison. His body gagged and urged him to stop and vomit the foul substance. But Viren carried on. After what felt like an eternity, the horrid liquid went all in and he threw the bowl away. The dark mage fell to his knees, desperate to keep the bloody potion in his system.

"W-what now?" he asked with a ragged breath at the elf, who watched the whole scene dispassionately.

"Now…you die."

That was the last thing Viren heard before pain took over his body. His blood boiled like molten iron. He cried out alone, in pain, until he passed out.

"Uhg, this is hopeless." It was way past noon when Ezran finally gave up on his attempt at meditation.

Hours before, Lujanne had offered to help Ezran to, in her own words, 'open his spark of an arcanum', in hopes of helping him control the Lupin curse. To that end, she explained he would have to understand the essence of the Moon Primal Source. Unfortunately, that was something the mage was incapable of expressing verbally. It was something she just instinctively knew.

Therefore, to try and help Ezran understand it, she proposed he sit at the center of the Moonhenge - a decayed structure of tall and long stone spires arranged in a circle, with elven runes carved on them - and meditate over the meaning of the arcanum.

"Feels more like boring, if you ask me." a few steps away laid Ellis, whom had been observing him with only half attention. For once, the girl wasn't in the company of her wolf friend.

Ezran muttered. "It was boring that I was just about ready to start talking with those ants. Even though I know from experience ants are not talkative." he pointed to a trail of said insects on the white stone floor.

Ellis got up and walked towards the pouting prince. "I don't understand how napping is going to help with your curse thingy?"

"I wasn't napping. I was meditating. It's a different thing."

"But you were sitting with your eyes closed and breathing slowly. That sounds like napping to me. Like when you're too tired to rest, but not tired enough to sleep."

Ezran raised a finger to explain the differences, but thought better when he realized he had no argument against her. Guess meditating really was just napping. Still, that only served to worsen his frustration.

Ellis hummed. "This is still boring. Let's do something fun."

"Like what?"

"Ava always goes exploring at this time. Let's join her."

Ezran easily conceded and the two met the three-legged wolf lying just outside Rayla's room. Next to Ava was the prince's backpack that contained the egg. Sensing their approach, she greeted them both with friendly licks. That lifted the prince's spirits, a little.

Rayla agreed to watch over the egg while the two would go 'frolicking around the mountain', as she put it. Though she meant it without any bitterness.

Ava quickly proved to be quite the runner, regardless of how many legs she had. And the fact that she raced and sprinted up the caldera with two little humans on her back made it all the more admirable.

Ellis cried out in joy, spreading her arms throughout the journey. Ezran thought of doing the same when he noticed Ava slowed down.

"What's wrong, Ava? Are you tired?"

"Not tired." the wolf sounded almost indignant. "Its best to slow down sometimes. So I can see better everything I pass by."

Ezran nodded. "Yeah, guess that makes sense. We humans always prefer to go slightly faster, even when it barely makes a difference." he recalled Human-Rayla's impression joking about the same thing.

He looked around and saw Ava had slowed her pace for a good reason. The afternoon sunlight reflected beautifully on the snowy peaks. It was quite different from the sunset landscape they had seen on their way up the caldera. Equally beautiful and mesmerizing, but in a different way. It made the name 'Cursed Caldera' sound inadequate, really.

At last they arrived atop the caldera, where Ezran was left in awe. The lake at the center looked undisturbed, not a wave tarnished its surface. It made the water look like a smooth mirror that perfectly reflected the sky.

"Pretty, isn't it? Ava and I came up here this morning to see it. Thought you'd like it."

"Wow. It's amazing. I bet Callum would happily do twenty jerkface dance's just for a chance to draw this."

"Jerkface dance?"

Ezran animatedly explained in detail the dance that his older brother had to perform whenever he was proven wrong and Ezran right. Ellis laughed and confessed she wished she could see it someday.

It was nighttime in the capital city of Katolis. The procession that walked towards the plaza began with a soldier carrying a black flag; that marked it as a public execution underway. In the middle of it, inside an iron cage, was a man responsible for the death of fifteen unsuspecting people just in the city; Morzan, the Ripper. The man had long, disheveled black hair and an aloof expression of acceptance. He seemed content as they approached the platform built upon the plaza. The long, sharp, diagonal blade of the guillotine dimly reflected the light of torches.

Citizens of Katolis watched, some with justified anger, others with a twinge of pleasure, that the monster that had taken friends and loved ones from them would soon meet its end. As per the law, a member of the royal court was present to officialize the execution. And tonight was Lord Viren, who looked at the man with no emotion.

As the two guards held the shackled prisoner, Viren spoke the rehearsed speech.

"Morzan Zar'roc, you stand here tonight to answer for your crimes of twenty-seven accounts of murder on your fellow citizens of Katolis, fifteen of those here in the capital city. For these heinous crimes, you have been found guilty and sentenced to be executed by decapitation. Do you have any last words?" as soon as Viren finished speaking that aloud, he whispered an incantation of dark magic low enough for no one to hear.

"Nrub, onilucard eht fo doolb!"

Unbeknownst to Morzan himself, Callum's vampire blood, which had been mixed in the wine that complemented the serial killer's last meal, activated. The man began to spasm and growl inhumanly. The guards holding him were surprised but kept their grip.

Morzan's eyes became two pitch black orbs, his skin acquired a tone of gray, and his canines grew into large fangs. With a hiss he tossed two men restraining him like ragdolls and turned towards the horrified populace. In a flash he lunged at a young man and sank his newly-grown teeth into his neck. The man didn't have time to cry out before his life was sucked out of him.

Panic and chaos erupted. The remaining guards mobilized to slay the man turned monster. But Morzan, now a fledgling vampire, had a superhuman strength on his side and easily killed the guards by ripping their throats open. He would have sunk his fangs into someone else hadn't a rope of fire ensnared around him and tied him up. Said rope came out of the dark mage's pouch.

The vampire hissed this time in pain as the rope burnt his skin. Viren commanded the rope to elevate the monster high in the air for the crowd to see.

"Nrub!" there was a demonic screech and the vampire was no more, completely consumed by the fire rope.

Viren stumbled but kept himself up. Any other day, that spell would have drained him considerably. But being a Ghoul, apparently gave him a resistance to the withdrawals of casting powerful spells. Another advantage he intended to make good use of.

The crowd was uneasily pacified, some thanking the High Mage for ending the threat, most begging for answers. Discreetly, he nodded to the guard who had remained safely by Viren's side, Varney. That had been his cue:

"It was just like Prince Callum's curse." the corrupt soldier shouted loud and clear. Enough for some of the people to hear and seeding more rumors.

"Please, calm yourselves!" Viren called out and was pleased to see the folk doing so. "I understand what you have witnessed was horrifying, but I promise we, the royal court, will find an explanation. What you saw tonight was an attempt of Xadian magic to intimidate us. I ask you all to retire to your houses, orderly. I repeat, this threat has ended. Tomorrow, I vow, the royal court will deliver an answer."

The civilians hesitantly did as ordered, some paying their gratitude to the mage one final time. It was clear they saw Viren as the hero of the day. Said hero looked regrettably at the corpses of the guards and the attacked civilian. It was tragic, but…

Everything went according to plan.

"You there!" he ordered Varney, the last surviving guard. "Coordinate the people to arrange for the burials." he pointed to the corpses.

Viren proceeded to hastily walk back to the castle, on the pretext of calling an emergency meeting of the council to decide what to tell the people on the next morning. Though he schooled his expression as one of urgency, inwardly he was smiling in success.

"Well, Opeli, you thought the secret I hid to be revealed to the world would be my undoing. Turns out, its another secret kept within these walls that will soon be uncovered." he thought with delight. Today had been a lousy day for Viren. But he was very certain that, between this arranged event, Varney's part in leaking the secret of the cursed princes and Viren's newly acquired powers, tomorrow would be much better.

DELETED SCENE.

"You certainly know a lot about werewolves." Rayla stated, arms crossed. The target of her insinuation, Lujanne, bowed lightly.

"Why thank you, young lady."

"Especially for someone who spends all of her time cooped up here, contemplating your navel." Rayal's sight moved to Ezran and Ellis, who were playing far away, unaware they were being watched by the older elf. "Is eavesdropping on wee children a hobby of yours?"

Lujanne shrugged. "Not usually. I'd much rather scare them until they need a new change of pants. But this particular case might become…interesting."
"Interesting how? As in two wee little kids getting a crush?"

"Oh, much more than that if Ezran's little quirk is factored in." Lujanne sported an impish smirk.

Rayla cursed something in her native tongue. "Ugh, moon mages are all the same. Vague to a fault. Why don't you just say what you mean, plainly?"

"As you wish. A fun fact about lycanthropos: their saliva didn't just carry healing properties, but the abilities that lycanthropy gives. Meaning, if another elf consumed a werewolf's saliva, they would gain the reflexes and senses of a wolf, though never the transformation. And, sadly, the effects would be only temporary."

Rayla blinked, a weird expression. "So, werewolves invited other elves to drink their spit?"

"Oh, no. The process was far more passionate and pleasurable. Just a little bit of kissing was enough."

Rayla nodded slowly, her cheeks a touch pink. "Yes, that would make a lot more sense…"

Unfortunately, Lujanne continued. "But wolves, being pack creatures, were certain to take things further. Much, much further if you know what I mean."

It took the youth three full seconds to take her meaning. Her blush increased and she turned back awkwardly. "Ugh, sorry I asked you to be more clear. Good night!"

Chapter 12: Reunited

Chapter Text

Year 2022 BCD (Before Continental Division)

Rayla of the Belmont Clan watched carefully as the other moonshadow elf walked into her encampment. Unlike herself, her compatriots and family, this elf’s facial markings were pure white; he was of the Helsing Clan.

The matriarch of the Belmont family was an old, experienced leader. Of all the duties she had fulfilled since reaching her position, diplomacy with other clans was her least favorite. Even if it was with the Hellsing, who shared the same mission as her own clan.

“Van’at of the Hellsing. I hope you had a safe journey.”

“As safe as marching through previously vampire-infested territory, Lady Rayla of the Belmont.” the male elf replied with a touch of genuine humor. Completely contrasting the fake pleasantry presented by the Belmont.

“Is there anything I can offer you for a drink? Moonberry mead, perhaps?”

Van’at thanked and accepted the offer. After sharing a drink, the woman addressed him coldly

“Alright, Van’at, now that obligatory pleasantries are out of the way, maybe you could enlighten me as to why you have requested to enter our encampment and take my precious time. Time that would be better employed in planning the coming battle?”

Van’at didn’t show any reaction to the scathing tone of her words, as if he had expected them. “My family and I are here for the same reason yours is.”

Rayla’s smile was devoid of sweetness. “Oh, what a surprise, my dear Van’at! Because it occurred to me that your clan had withdrawn from the last two battles, which might I add my family had to fight viciously to achieve. Two victories that had we not secured, none of us would be standing here today.”

Van’at hesitated. His next words sounded hard to utter. “Indeed, we did not fight against Dimitrescu's hordes, as is our sworn duty. But not without a greater reason. One that I came, in part, here today to reveal to you.”

Rayla remained impassive, though she was interested to hear him out.

“My lady, please, walk with me.”

At Van’at’s insistence, they walked out of her tent and away from the Belmont encampment. They stopped by the top of a hill, from where it was possible to see a city built on a solitary mountain in the plane. The city itself was mostly a cluster of tall spires with a large castle at the center, all surrounded by walls. The oddest part was that it was completely silent and devoid of activity, considering it was the middle of the day.

Van’at eyed the metropolis with distaste. “We are probably the first elves in this and the previous generation to lay eyes upon that hideous stain. Castlevania, the vampire city, last bastion those wretched blood-drinkers have in Xadia. And here we stand on the precipice of the final battle to rid the world of those fiends.”

The Belmont matriarch lost her cool. “I don’t need a retelling of current events, least of all from the likes of you, Hellsing! The last two battles cost greatly to my family and we stand here today thanks to our sacrifices. Yet, you were nowhere to be seen! You promised to reveal to me your reasons, so now do so. Or else, our talk is done and I’ll have you not so gently escorted out of our encampment.”

Van’at nodded politely, feeling her anger and frustration towards him and his family was justified. “Understood. I will go straight to the point; my clan did not join the war effort recently because we needed all the manpower and mages we could spare to perfect our best weapon against the vampires. One that will allow us to fight them on equal ground during the night.”

Rayla’s anger was replaced with disbelief. They had developed a method to which to fight vampires at nighttime, when those nocturnal demons were at their strongest? Nonsense! Van’at must have detected her thoughts, as he replied.

“This is no joke, Lady Rayla of the Belmonts. It’s magic that my grandfather had developed and now, even we as moonshadow elves, can utilize.”

“Your grandfather?” Rayla began putting the pieces together. She was in the know of Hellsing's unusual family tree, as they were like her own family, vampire hunters for generations. However, unlike the Belmonts, the Hellsings were a moonshadow family that consorted with other tribes of elves, even marrying into them.

To answer her question, Van’at began uttering an incantation. His form emitted a faint silver glow and began to grow and arch. Fur of the silver hue grew all over his form. All limbs became legs. His face grew a snout.

Before Rayla’s face, the male moonshadow elf transformed into a Lycanthrope, a werewolf. The wolf looked her in the eye before slowly regressing back to his ordinary form.

“My brothers and sisters, our best fighters have achieved Lycanthropy, as well. I’m the only one who can transform in broad daylight. But under a full moon, we are unstoppable. That is why I am here, Lady Rayla. I urge you to allow us to join forces with you, once more. Together, victory will be much more possible.”

Rayla at last looked at the man with neutrality. “Come along, Van’at. We have an invasion to plan.”

Year 1000 ACD (After Continental Division)

Moon Nexus.

“Neat flute trick, Clauds.”

“It’s an ocarina, but thanks.”

Callum, Claudia and Soren had followed the girl’s tracking spell to the top of the Cursed Caldera. On their way up, they had encountered horrifying monsters, which turned out to be illusions. Finally they found ruins that appeared to be of Moonshadow architecture, according to Claudia. Callum decided it was best to first neutralize the elf, and then search for Ezran. The ever-prepared Claudia pulled out an ocarina that produced an enchanting music capable of putting to sleep anyone who heard it. While Callum and Soren covered their ears, Claudia played and the elf girl quickly fell asleep on the ground.

Soren unsheathed his blade but Callum stopped him. “No. She’s out. Let’s just find Ezran and get out of here.”

“Callum, I have to disagree. It’s too dangerous to let her live.” Claudia countered.

The ensuing argument was cut short as the elf suddenly leaped to her feet and kicked Soren away. Turned out she had pretended to be asleep and had resisted the enchanting music by pricking herself with a rose thorn. A fight would have begun hadn't Ezran arrived, running as fast as his legs allowed him.

“Ezran!” the younger prince found himself nearly choked in his brother’s embrace. “Gods, I’m so glad you’re alright!”

“I’m okay, Callum. I’m fine.”

“Uh, hello.” Soren’s bored call drew everyone’s attention. “We’re having a fight here, so could you leave the touchy-feely reunion for later?”

“There’s no need to fight. Ezran is safe and sound.”

Rayla intervened, sending a peeved look to every human, barring Ezran. “They attacked me while they thought I was unconscious. The thick-skulled moron started it!”

“Hey, you leave my skull out of this. And, Soren here is more than happy to pick up where we left off, elf witch!” the crown guard retorted.

“Oh, Rayla here, would happily oblige.” the elf in question assumed a battle stance.

The older prince stepped between the two, exasperatedly. “Callum here says there will be no fight. Ezran is safe so we go back home and nobody needs to get hurt.”

Claudia would have none of it. “Well, Claudia here wonders if Callum hit his head or something. She kidnapped Ezran and the dragon egg. Why are you defending her?”

Ezran awkwardly asked. “Uh, Ezran wants to know why everyone is talking in third person.”

The tension halted its crescendo. Weary, Callum took charge before hot heads spoke louder. “Okay, uh…Rayla, was it? We have you outnumbered, so how about this: you let my brother go and we all go our different ways, peacefully. How about it? Please?” he immediately regretted sounding so meek with that last part. Still give him a break! He had never broken diplomacy with an elf assassin before.

Rayla didn’t sound impressed. “Very interesting, Prince Jerkface. Except you forgot one tiny detail: Ezran was never my prisoner. He’s here of his own volition.”

“That’s right.” sadly, said prince was ignored.

“It’s like I told you Callum; she hypnotized him.” Claudia stated, arms crossed. Rayla glared daggers at her. “Furthermore, we’re not leaving here without the egg.”

“No deal.”

Soren smirked. “Guess round 2 is a go!”

“Stop!” Ezran had stepped in the middle of it. His cry, though, sounded almost like a snarl. “No more fighting.”

“Ez…”

“Not tonight. We talk tomorrow. Okay?”

Callum, like everyone else, could easily notice the glowing yellow dots that were his pupils.

“Okay, Ezran. We sleep tonight, argue tomorrow.”

“You mean fight, right?”

Callum eyed Soren with a steely look, implying that was not up for debate. Claudia sighed and gave a ‘my-eyes-are-on-you’ gesture to Rayla. Reluctantly, the crownguard also backed down.

“Fine. Guess I’ll kill you tomorrow, elf witch.”

“Right back at ya, thick skull.”

The small crowd broke ways, as the crown prince showed the quarters for new arrivals. Soren and Claudia would share a room. Callum opted to sleep on Ezran’s. He was not about to leave his brother out of sight anytime soon.

The rooms were small but aesthetically pleasing. Ezran explained it was all moonshadow architecture and that this place were ancient ruins from before Xadia was split. At some other time, Callum would love to add the smooth arches to his sketchbook.

Now that the tension was lowered and the two brothers were alone, after little more than a week of separation, there was an awkwardness present. They hadn’t parted in the best of ways. With Ezran running with the egg and some elf girl he just met. With Callum, stubborn and borderline callous, refusing to believe his brother’s words.

“So, did you dye your hair?” the older brother started.

Ezran grabbed a lock of his. “Not really. My hair started changing a while before we reached Sagess’ Cottage. It kept turning silver while we climbed the Cursed Caldera.” Ezran hesitated to reveal the whole truth. Following a short pause, he posed a question that had been nagging him for the past week:

“Callum, why didn’t you come with us?”

The older prince looked like a deer in headlights. At every moment of this journey, he didn’t ask himself that because it felt completely ordinary. But, now, in hindsight…

“I guess, I was angry. At the curses, at the assassins coming, at everything. I…said things that I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

“I missed you, Call.”

“Missed you, too, little bro.”

Callum gazed through the window, the faded light of the waning moon entered. “Maybe we should catch some sleep.”

Ezran shrugged. “Maybe you can. I haven’t slept since we got here. Lujanne says the moon primal here is so strong that it keeps me energized.”

“Lujanne?”

“The old elf lady who lives here.”

Callum nodded slowly. He didn’t ask when Ezran had learnt the concept of the primal sources. “You know, it’s been the same with me since we started this rescue mission. Problem is, I always feel sleepy during the day.”

“Not me.” Ezran grinned. Callum co*cked an eyebrow.

“What do you mean? You’re no early bird, yourself.”

“Nope, but again, the Nexus keeps me up.”

“So this magical place makes you a night owl and an early bird, then. You might as well move in here.” Callum joked.

The humor soon evaporated as Ezran remembered the other effects of his proximity to the Nexus. He knew if he told Callum, he would just have a hissy fit and try everything to get him away. But, Ezran didn’t want to hide the truth. He didn’t like when people didn’t tell him the whole truth because ‘he was just a kid’. And he wasn’t about to lie by omission to his own brother. He took a breath and revealed the full events of two nights ago. Expectantly, Callum freaked out upon learning his brother had transformed during a waning moon, and because he was so close to a place overflowing with moon primal energy. He produced a flask of Wolf’s Bane elixir from his own pack and all but forced Ezran to drink it. Ezran quickly divulged that Lujanne advised those elixirs were not to be consumed so frequently and they would soon lose their effect on him, entirely.

Callum wanted to refute that. “Ezran, I don’t think you should trust strangers so readily.”

Now that lightly touched a nerve on the wolf prince. “I trusted Rayla, and she has proven to be a true friend. She believes in me, and I believe in her.”

Against that argument, Callum had nothing. In all honesty, he didn’t fully trust Rayla, though he didn’t distrust her completely, either. At that point, it was clear she was no monster that the folk tales spoke of. And she did seem to care for Ezran’s welfare. Or perhaps, Callum was just in no mood to start a heated debate with his reunited brother.

Seeing his silence as a victory, Ezran pushed on: “Getting Azymondias back to his mother is our best chance for peace. That’s why I have to do it. I’m the son of the man who killed the Dragon King and took the Dragon prince from Xadia.”

Callum sighed. “Ez, peace will not come from a single, just deed.”

“But it’s a start. If no one takes the first step, how will things ever change?”

Callum’s mind traveled back to the letter King Harrow left for him, and his selfish wish. Written words he had committed to memory:

Reject the chains of history. Do not let the past define your future, as I did. Free yourself from the past. Learn from it, understand it, then let it go. Create a brighter future from your own hearts and imagination.

Hearts and imagination…

“Ez…let’s talk about that in the morning. In the meantime, what have you been up to? I know you were at the Banther Lodge.”

The rest of the night proceeded with the brother sharing a much lighter story of their recent misadventures.

“This is a disaster!” a noble councilman exclaimed.

The sun hadn’t yet risen and the court of Katolis was already in a heated meeting. Following the disastrous execution of the criminal Morzan Zar’roc, Lord Viren had called for an emergency session before dawn.

“Lord Viren, are you certain there is no explanation for Morzan, The Ripper to have suddenly become…that thing?” Opeli, a rival of Viren asked. She refrained from using the word ‘vampire’. Among the council, only she and Viren were aware of the Cursed Princes.

“None that I can fathom. As I explained before, the villain began to spasm and growl the moment we reached the gallows. He became a vampire, a blood-drinker, and began feasting on the guards. I terminated him before he could kill anyone else.”

Viren chose this opening to steer the talk in the course he wanted. As the one with any idea of what had happened (much more than the rest of the council imagined, really) he was the one holding all the cards. He spined a theory on how this was an act of revenge from Xadia and He tried to push for retaliation, with the support of the other kingdoms.

“Lord Viren, we have been over this. Only a monarch can call for a summit of the Pentarchy.” Opeli cut him off.

Viren wanted to glare at the woman, but held himself. He had thought before of stealing the King’s seal and secretly call for a summit under the guise of an appointed regent. Unfortunately, Opeli and General Amaya had the guards keeping an eye on him, making that plan risky and unlikely to succeed. Then again, that hindrance had forced him to dedicate more of his time to the mirror, which allowed him to discover his new ally. Perhaps it was all a blessing in disguise, as he had acquired more power from said ally…

“Everyone, we are arguing in circles. We have enough evidence to conclude this was a Xadian attack. Right now, the people are expecting an explanation, but I believe we should withhold the truth, at least for now. Let us tell them that Morzan converted with Elves before his incarceration, which granted him the monstrous power he displayed.” while he talked, Viren felt as if a part of himself extended out of his body and touched the other nobles.

Flashback:

Aaravos waved his hair as he spoke. “One of the Ghoul’s most notorious abilities is…the art of seduction.”

Viren just blinked. “What?”

The elf’s smile was full of smugness. “Not, not like me, though. No amount of magic can help reach my level in that department, Vir. What I meant is, Ghouls can mentally influence other people to agree with them with just a look. Keep in mind, no matter what you cannot make a person agree to something outrageous. Nor can you absolutely control them. Only bend their will to a proposal or idea that they wouldn’t outright refuse. Furthermore, strong-willed people can put up a resistance and remain beyond your thrall. You could say, it's the vampire version of the Jedi mind trick.”

End of flashback.

One by one, he could hear the thoughts of the Council members echoing in their minds. With his mind grip, he chased those thoughts away. One by one, the council members began to verbally agree, barring Opeli. Good enough for Viren.

“I call for a vote to carry my motion.”

“Nay.” said Opeli, unsurprisingly. She refused to blame Xadia for anything unless they had conclusive evidence.

“Aye.” everyone else declared.

“Motion carried.”

The populous would be told the murderer had gained his horrific power from elves, which would foment both confidence in the court and fear of Xadia. Viren knew exactly how to exploit that in the near future. He had amassed one small victory. Time to see if he could score another one.

“I have another proposal; that we nominate a regent.” a position of regency would give him authority over the Council and for calling a summit of the Pentarchy. However, such a motion had to be carried, unanimously. Viren once again used the power of seduction (note to self: find a better name for that ghoul ability) Unfortunately, like before, Opeli was unbendable.

After some more pointless discussion, the meeting was adjourned without deciding on what to do for their lack of a king. Opeli insisted on waiting for Prince Callum’s return, as she reminded Viren of the ‘deal’ he made with the Prince. To say the dark mage was frustrated was nothing new. So he tried a different approach and politely asked Opeli to speak in private.

After the other nobles vacated the room, Viren spoke. “Opeli, despite our differences, we serve the same kingdom and our objectives are the same.”

Opeli was unmoved. “Just speak clearly what you want.”

“I need you to change your vote.”

Opeli seemed mildly surprised. “I’m impressed with your honesty. It’s actually refreshing. But my decision stands.”

Viren persisted. “We are in the middle of a crisis, but I would expect you to put your ego aside and…”

Opeli snorted joylessly. “Ego, that’s what you think this is about? No, Viren. The reason why I won’t help you is because you can’t be trusted. You could easily lead Katolis to its doom. You may already have, in fact.”

Viren frowned, not liking her insinuations one bit. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Opeli glared back. “I mean the curses and King Harrow’s assassination are all on your head. You swayed him into killing the Dragon King which catalyzed this crisis. And that’s why I will never help you gain any power. You are dangerous enough as you are.”

Opeli ended the discussion right then and there and left the room. Viren groaned; of course Opeli would be one of those few strong-willed ones to be immune to the mind-steering ability his ghoul nature had granted him. So be it, if she wouldn’t help him amass the power he required to save Katolis, he would find some other way.

Feeling defeated, he went to address the crowd of commoners in the courtyard and ‘reveal’ that Xadia was responsible for the Morzan incident.

Callum’s prediction was realized; he was unable to shut his eyes during the night, thus he was sluggish and exhausted in the following morning. He walked at a snail’s pace behind his much more energized brother.

The rest of the guests were seated at a table, Soren and Claudia on one side with Rayla and Ellis on the other. The crownsguard and elf glared at each other but didn’t make any threatening moves.

Ezran bid everyone good morning and was pleased to see they were getting along, already. Rayla shot him down, saying the girl (Claudia) nagged her into joining them for breakfast.

“Who wants pancakes?” a sweet aroma circulated around the table as Claudia presented a plate with delicious looking pancakes piled high.

Callum, exhausted as he was, asked for two cups of hot brown morning potion, which Claudia graciously offered. He gazzoled them down and the welcomed effect was almost immediate.

Ezran began to explain to Claudia and Soren his and Rayla’s mission. Callum voiced that the Katolis needed him, which prompted to Ezran to look strangely at him:

“What do you mean, Katolis needs me? The kingdom has our dad.”

Everyone at the table froze. Callum looked sadly at his brother. He tried to utter a reply, still unsure what to say or how to say it. Soren beat him to it with what passed a calculating look:

“You really should come back with us, Prince Ez…because your dad, the King…really misses you!” he smiled smugly, ignorant to the three glares he received.

Ezran was animated to hear that, and even more so when Soren mentioned King Harrow was anxious to see him again. Callum cut that conversation right then and there and instigated a conversation between Ezran and Ellis.

Following that, the breakfast ended shortly with Team Callum returning to the room Claudia and Soren shared. The first thing Callum did was berate the crownguard for what he said. Soren was offended, and even more so when Claudia supported the prince. He justified himself that he had tried to convince Ezran with ‘words’, like Claudia wished. But now they had to resort to his way of ‘punching and stuff’.

Callum was adamant. “No. It’s up to me to bring Ezran back home. I’ll convince him.”

“That’s probably for the best. But remember Callum we must return with the egg, too.”

Callum barely nodded at Claudia’s memo. She wanted the egg back in Katolis as a prisoner or magical ingredient. His aunt wanted the egg as a bargaining chip. Callum was starting to feel sorry for it.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to look at things from a different angle.”

“Yeah, it looks to me you’re just trying to do hand-stands.” indeed as Callum said, Ezran was bending down and trying to look at horizon, under the fork of his legs, head upside down.

“That’s your perspective. Moon Primal is all about different perspectives being all the same thing.”

Callum chuckled. “It’s a bit more complex than that. According to Claudia, the moon primal philosophy says we can only understand a facet of things. Others remain a mystery because our sense are limited or can be fooled. Therefore when you describe something, even if you know it very well, you can only describe it partially.” he failed to mention that Claudia taught him that and more as a make-up gesture after their argument at Rockebell’s Basket.

“Uh, you sound like a talking book.”

Callum made a face. “Thanks a lot.” he put aside his sketch of the Moonhenge, deeming it good enough for the moment. “You seem awfully chirp today.”

“Yeah.Yesterday I was a bit down.” a bit reserved, Ezran revealed that Ellis and Ava helped him out of a funk, which had come from his frustration and the fact he had bitten her. Callum was weirded out to find Ezran’s saliva could apparently heal injuries, which sped up Ellis recovery. Furthermore, apparently Lujanne knew a few facts about werewolves.

“Do you think she’s right, that your curse can be ‘tamed’?”

Ezran shrugged. “All she says is that because I’m looking at my…wolf problem as a curse, it is a curse. She hopes that if I look at things differently, I can open myself to the moon primal and get control.”

Callum was skeptical. Magic had always been humanity’s weakness. If for more than a thousand years, no humans had managed to connect to the primals, he doubted it was even possible. But he wasn’t about to crush Ezran’s spirits…Not when he had a much more terrible secret to reveal.

Then… “Wait, I’ve got something!” Callum phished out of his bag the cube he found at the lodge: the Key of Aaravos. He showed it to Ezran, holding it closer to him than himself. Their eyes lit in wonder as the Moon rune glowed faintly and flickering.

“Uh, it flickers. Maybe Lujanne’s right and my connection is still a work in progress.”

“Ez, look.” Callum rotated the cube so that another, green-glowing rune was facing up. “The Earth? You also have a connection to the Earth! And a stable one, too!”

“That kind of makes sense. Lujanne said the original werewolves were both Moon and Earth mages.” the younger prince shrugged.

Callum disclosed he himself had a connection of the stars. Ezran asked about it, but Callum’s answer was vague at best, given his understanding of the Primal was quite lacking. So Ezran made a suggestion…

“By sacrificing my two monsters, I can now summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon, in attack mode!”

“Oh, Moonshine!”

“Blue Eyes, destroy her Dark Magician!”

The japanese white dragon (that was actually blue rather than white) fired a beam of light from its maw which vaporized the magician dressed in a purple, pointy, very unhorthodox armor.

“Yes, your life points just hit zero! I win this round!” the victor, a Lujanne, bragged over the defeated one, who was another Lujanne. The two were sat at a table with a board in between them and cards laid on it.

“Uh…hello?”

Both Lujannes turned suddenly to Callum, who stood awkardly by the opened door. The loser Lujanne quickly waved her hand and the cards, the other Lujanne and the false miniaturized monster floating above them vanished. All another illusion.

The true Lujanne looked intensely at Callum. “How much did you see?”

“Uh…not enough to understand what that was about?”

“Hmm, Don’t humans know how to knock?”

“We do. And I did. Three times. Then I heard shouting so I figured you needed something.”

“Oh! Uh, your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary. I was practicing my illusions. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Callum didn’t tottaly buy it, but it was none of his business. “Yeah, as a matter of fact. Do you happen to know any Star Primal spells?”

The elf was caught surprised. “Alas, I do not. But why do you ask such a thing?”

Callum scratched the back of his head. “Well, I’ve got my own curse. It turns me into something called a ‘vampire’ every new moon night. As a bonus, the curse gave me a star arcanum…”

“What?” Lujanne nearly lost her footing, cutting the boy off. “A star arcanum? But vampires were not…”

There was a pause, in which Callum looked expectantly, even hopefull. Lujanne, for her part, kept quiet and recomposed herself deliberatedly slowly. She masked her calculating thoughts with a neutral, if friendly face.

“Sadly, I know nothing of Star magic. But if you are interested in a little vampire history, I can guive you a tour.”

Callum was disapointed and doubtful. He had hoped to learn a little magic, no matter how small. Concerning vampire history, he had read the basics on the tome Claudia brought on their mission.

It had been Ezran who convinced him to go ask Lujanne. Initially, Callum was reluctant to leave Ezran’s side, as if he could run away with Rayla again.

Still…

Callum gave in, his curiosity got the better of him. Lujanne guided him out of the santuary and to a clearing surrounded by a large mural. The artwork was quite detailed, a mixture of different images, scenes and backgrounds. Imediately he put togehter the mural represented the history of moonshadow elves. Lujanne confirmed it and she pointed to the part where two creatures were locked in a man-to-man battle. The one on the left was covered in fur with a wolf head; a lycanthropo. The one on the right was more human looking. Gray, pale skin, pointed ears, sharp teeth; a vampire. Curiously, the blood predator had large bat-like wings on its back.

Lujanne divulged, like reading his toughts. “Vampire and werewolves are remembered as natural enemies due to the fact that the latter were instrumental in the extermination of the former.”

“So werewolves helped fight off the vampires to the point of extinction?” that had been the part of the story Callum didn’t like; regardless of their crimes, he didn’t believe an entire species deserved annihilation. Not for the crimes of a despotic, unhinged ruler. He recalled vampires lived somewhat peacefully with the elves and dragons under the rule of Dracula. Then came some vampire called Countess Dimitrescu dethroned Dracula and allowed her subjects to go on a feeding rampage. That incurred the wrath of the dragon and together with all elf tribes, wiped out vampire kind. That was rather harsh, Callum thought, as surely not all vampires followed Dimitrescu. Just like not all humans practiced dark magic, and yet they all were banished from Xadia.

Lujanne continued. “After the vampires were driven back to Castlevania…”

“Castlevania?”

“The vampire capital city. It’s located in the center of the Midnight Desert. The Belmont and Hellsing alliance saw the destruction of Castlevania, leaving it in ruins. It was the Hellsing family whom had mastered lycanthropy and with it gained the upperhand that led to the vampires’ downfall in their own place of power.

“That victory gave lycanthropy a great popularity, so much so that the Lycanthropo tribe grew exponentially. Until” Lujanee gaimed a melancholic tone. “4 centuries ago, the incident with Lupin happened and lycanthropy was banned.”

Callum felt he should say something to cheer the helpful old lady up, but she immediately recomposed herself. “Which is why it’s so abnormal to see you and your brother, a vampire and a werewolf being related and getting along so well. Considering history remembers the last encounter between the two sides as hostile.”

Callum pointed at the image. “And the wings?”

“Some vampires were capable of sprouting wings from their back.”

Now that sounded almost interesting. The prince imagined himself able to fly way above the clouds, the mountains, looking down on Castle Katolis. He posed more question which Lujanne happily answered to. Callum came to realize she was just a quirky old lady. Like Rayla, she was nothing like the implacable monsters moonshadow elves were described as. He felt at ease enough to ask for something else.

“Uh, Lujanne, mind if I ask for some advice?”

“Well, if it’s wisdom you want, as an accomplished moon mage, I can do my best to fake it.”

“Okay, so lets say someone is hiding a secret from a close friend, but only because he knows the truth would only hurt said friend. Is it okay to keep lying?” since breakfast, Callum had been wanting to tell Ezran about King Harrow’s fate.

“Oh, absolutely.”

Callum did a double-take. “Wha…really? Is lying that okay?”

“Of course. That is how I prolonged my first two marriages. I kept my affairs a secret by lying.”

The prince shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s good for me.”

Lujanne shrugged. “Then, I have nothing.”

Supressing a sigh, Callum thanked her for her time and left the woman to her devices. Outside he was a alarmed not to find Ezran and began searching for him. He sensed someone watching him from above.

“Ez?” his hopes were dashed when he saw it was the elf girl, perched on a tree. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Yeah, it’s me.” the elf girl retorted acidly.

“Sorry. I’m looking for my brother.”

“Don’t worry your little head. He took a break and went to chat with Zym and Ellis.”

“Right, the dragon egg.”

“Yes, that dragon egg.”

“Look, I said I was sorry. Back then, I put my foot in my mouth. I’m sorry, Rayla. I was too angry. You had nothing to do with our curses.”

To say Rayla was surprised was an understatement. She expect the jerkface prince to hold on to his beliefs and accuse her of anything just for being an elf.

“Guess Ezran’s good nature runs in the family.” she then spoke. “Alright, you are forgiven. I understand you were worried about him.” gracefully she descended from the tree, while doing a complex acrobatic.

“So, do you know where he went?”

“Not sure, but don’t go chase after him, right away. Ezran is tougher than you give him credit for.” she countered polietely.

Callum exhaled. “Yeah, maybe. But I don’t want to lose him out of my sight. Especially now.”

“Now?” she asked curiously. Callum caught himself and claimed it was nothing. But Rayla instantly put it together. “Oh, it’s because of the…the King?”

Callum paled, his suspicion meter was going slowly up again. “How do you know?”

Rayla showed herself unconfrotable and almost ashamed. “Before any mission, assassins bound themselves with ribbons than can only be remove when the target dies. Both mine fell on that night. I’m sorry for your king.”

Callum didn’t want to hear more. “He was more than just a king to me!”

“I’m sorry.”

In her voice and face he saw what he thought to be true lament and tried to reign in his temper. “It’s alright. It’s not your fault, it’s just…I feel like I should tell Ezran. But I don’t know if I can. And, I don’t want to make things more difficult for him.”

Rayla took a couple of steps around, collecting her thoughts. “Ezran is not as fragile as you think he is. He’s braver and wiser than he looks. Alright, maybe just braver and not as naive as he looks.” she ammended.

Callum closed his eyes and took a deep breath to keep frsutration at bay. “I don’t think being brave and wise is enough for this. Also, I am still not accepting what happened. So how am I supposed to break it to Ezran that his father is dead?”

“Dead?”

Time froze in place for the vampire and the elf. They turned their gazes to the third person, whom just revealed himself, after eavesdropping on their conversation.

Ezran’s yellow eyes traveled from his brother to his friend and back in a silent beg.

Back at the temple, Lujanne was neither meditating nor playing a children’s card game. Her mind was too erratic for any of those. The discovery of the werewolf boy was interesting enough. But the revelation of his vampire brother…it sounded almost prophetic.

Slowly, the embers of a long forgotten dream gained breath. There was a slim chance but if she contacted the right people, with the right maneuvering…

“Yes, maybe I can make this work…” she whispered. Yes, if it worked, she could gain everything she ever wished for.

Chapter 13: (Re)seperated

Chapter Text

Lujanne stood in front of a full length mirror. Its surface reflected not herself but a series of obscured faces, all with elven features with expressions of disbelief or perplexity.

“Unbelievable!”

“That is impossible.”

“Lujanne, you better not have called up to show off another one of your fanfics!” one even accused her.

“I only did that once, little brother.” the moon mage retorted feeling offended. “And I’ll have you know that story was my best work.”

The accuser scoffed. “The romance was too rushed and I detected at least five plot holes.”

“Enough!” one, older looking elf ordered. “Let us stay on the matter at hand! Lujanne, are you absolutely certain of what you just told us?”

She answered affirmatively. Previously, she had called her secret associates through her transition mirror and reported recent events. Such as the arrival of the werewolf human prince with the lost egg of the Dragon Prince. And then another human boy, a vampire, who was the half-brother of the werewolf. The part which most had trouble believing was that the humans became like that due to a curse casted by the dying Dragon King.

“Lujanne, I don’t doubt your word but it sounds ludicrous. Most of all, that cretin Avizandum would be willing or even able to magically create a werewolf, not to mention a vampire. We all know how much dragons feared and hated vampires. And they don’t love us any more than they do vampires.”

“I have to admit, I’m skeptical about that part, as well.” Lujanne agreed. “While it's not too far-fetched that humans could become werewolves or vampires through the means of a powerful magical infusion, I find it impossible to believe Avizandum would even be capable of doing it, whether on purpose or not.

“Nevertheless, this is a breakthrough we can use to put our plans into motion.”

“Plans, Lujanne? Since when have we had any plans? We’re all splintered outcasts for the same motive, trying to survive.” a younger elf retorted.

Lujanne countered. “Yes, but now we have a shot to change that.”

“Very well. Divulge your plan, young sister.” the elder from before requested.

“I have been teaching young Ezran to control his ‘curse’ as a means to earn his trust. To convince him he may be able to control himself when transformed if he learns the moon arcanum.”

“A human with an arcanum? You keep spouting ridiculous things, today.”

“Well, this human has a connection to the moon. However, it seems chaotic or forced. Like whatever forced him to become a werewolf installed an arcanum that he doesn’t understand and therefore can’t use properly. That is my theory, at least.”

“Alright, but how do you intend to execute this plan with two humans turned freaks?”

Lujanne divulged her idea in detail. Then came the part that involved the other cursed prince. “The vampire boy, Callum, will play the opposite role in the plan.”

“A potentially dangerous role for us, if he goes off-script, Lujanne.”

“The vampire is just a human child, my siblings. He is no Dracula. He doesn’t have to be strong or dangerous. We only have to make him appear a bigger menace than he truly is to Xadia.”

“That plan has a major flaw. It all hinges on what these princes will do next. What if the werewolf travels to Xadia, or the vampire remains on the human side, completely unknown to Xadia? You plan dead-ends there, unless the werewolf stays with you and the vampire goes to Xadia.”

Lujanne hesitated. “Leave that to me. The most important factor is that the werewolf prince remains on the human side. And even if they both go against our wishes, there is an alternative. You see, on the night they arrived, Ezran suffered a stress-induced transformation, and bit a little human girl. Of course, I didn’t tell any of them what that entails.”

Now her associates were more invested. As long as they had a human turned werewolf they could control, on the human side of the border, the plan could move on.

Then, one of them countered. “This idea is too complicated and hinges on too many variables. Why don’t you just take the egg of the Dragon Prince and come to us? We can use it as ransom…or better, revenge.”

“Are you daft?! That would only draw Zubeia’s anger upon us.”

“Oh, please. My contacts tell me that worthless reptile is dying of depression. Maybe we should just prevent the egg from reaching Xadia and let nature take its course. With the dragon monarchy gone, there will be no one to stop us from restoring our legacy.”

“Most of Xadia would never accept us back, like that. They have all been fed those lies by the dragon monarchy for generations.” the elder sighed. “Besides, dragonkind would just select another king and new lineage. Probably that traditionalist, Rex Igneous, who would just continue to brand us outcasts. No, Lujanne’s plan, as doubtful it sounds, is our best gamble.”

The moon mage felt truly confident for the first time. “In the meantime, I will motivate the princes to go the ways we need them to.”

“How exactly will you do that? Are you going to talk them into it?”

“Leave that to me. Reality may be unbendable, but perception is like a straw.” Lujanne stated rather ominously.

“A straw? What?”

“Because straws bend, you see? Like reality can’t be bent, but if perception is like a straw, then it can be easily bent.” the need for explanation completely ruined the mood, though. “Just leave the humans to me. One way or another, I will get them to follow the plan.” she lifted a closed fist, making it resemble the pawprint of a canine. “May the moon howl with you! Remember Lupin, the Martyr!”

“May the moon howl with us all! Remember Lupin, the Martyr!” the elves chanted the sacred oath and their faces disappeared from the mirror, which now reflected Lujanne herself. She proceeded to draw runes upon the reflective surface. The mirror now showed a quaint office-like room with a fireplace, shelves filled with books and tomes and a desk. A lone figure sat by the fire in an armchair. Immediately, the occupant knew he was being watched and got up from the chair to meet her.

“Why, hello again, my dear customer. What can I do for you, today?”

“I require something only you know how to craft, Alucard.”

“Ez, please…”

But the young prince refused to even acknowledge his brother’s plea. Upon overhearing from Callum and Rayla what had become of his father, his first instinct was to believe it was all a bad joke. Except it wasn’t, because they would never joke about his dad being dead. His next response was denial and then fury. They both knew. Callum because he was at the castle when it happened. Rayla, because her second ribbon fell off the moment his father died. Without another word, he had turned back and walked away, too angry to want to see them or hear them.

“Ezran, I’m sorry…I wanted to tell you after the frozen lake, but…” Rayla trailed off, unable to find a viable excuse.

“But, what? You didn’t know how?!” Ezran then snapped at his brother. “And you, Callum, when were you going to tell me? After you and I returned to the castle? Did you keep tight-lipped about it so you could sway me to go back?”

Callum was hurt by the accusation. “No! How can you say that? I didn’t tell you because…I really didn’t know how to tell you. I’m so sorry.”

Ezran growled in a way no boy his age could and turned back. “I’m going for a walk. Don’t follow me.”

“Ez, please…”

“Since dad is gone, that means I’m king. So when I tell you not to follow me, you obey.” he said without turning to them. But Callum grabbed him by the shoulder but Ezran slapped his hand away and turned furious to them. With his elongated teeth and silver fur growing all over.

“I said lEaVe Me AlOnE!”

Callum cried out and Rayla gasped as their friend and brother turned into a werewolf, right in the middle of the day. Ezran, now a silver werewolf snarled at them.

“Ezran, get a grip!” Callum shouted. “Did he take the elixir?”

“Uh, no, I’m guessing.” Rayla shrugged. Indeed, Ezran was nothing like the wary but tame humanoid wolf he had been that night at the castle. He snarled. Saliva leaked from his maw. He moved in a circle around them, stalking for an opening to attack.

Rayla produced her blades and tried to look intimidating. She really didn’t want to fight him, mindless wolf beast or not. Hopefully, she could intimidate him. But apparently, Ezran didn’t buy it and continued to approach, slow but menacing.

“This can’t get much worse.”

“Hey guys! I heard some weird sounds around here and I figured I should definitely go check it out…HOLLY POO-” the universe liked to prove Callum wrong as Soren chose that moment to make a chilled entrance. Ezran immediately recognized the unprepared Soren as the easiest target and lunged at him. The crownguard’s trained reflexes saved him,as he drew his sword in time to block Ezran’s attempt to bite his throat out. The werewolf’s jaws ended up closing on the blade rather than the neck.

“Soren!” Claudia had appeared right after him and chanted. “Ti dnib leets gnirehtils!”

Those snake bracelets of hers grew and slithered on their own towards Ezran. They wrapped around his trashing form like chains, allowing Soren to kick him off of him.

“What the heck?! Is that the crown twerp?”

“What happened? How can he transform without a full moon?” Claudia asked, her eyes having returned to normal after the spell.

Callum hesitated. He hadn’t told his friends about the development of the Lupin Curse. And right now wasn’t the time. “I’ll explain lat…”

Ezran snarled, his struggling increased. He was able to bite one of the snake chains and ripped it off with those jaws. The other one, he tore with his muscle strength. The foursome looked in dread as the werewolf stood back on its feet. It gave each one a quick, ferocious look and deemed each one too costly to be a victim. Ezran quickly turned back and broke into a run into the wilderness out of the Moon Nexus.

“Ezran!” Callum cried out. “We have to go after him!”

“While he’s like that? No way! He almost chewed my face off.”

“We have no choice. If he reaches the village down there, who knows what damage he can do.” Rayla voiced.

“I don’t understand. Why was he a werewolf when the sun hasn’t even set.” Claudia pointed at the afternoon sun to make her point. That forced Callum to swiftly come clean with what Ezran disclosed about his curse, last night.

“What do you mean, he hasn’t been drinking the Wolf’s Bane elixir? My father brewed those to treat him!” Claudia was outraged.

Callum shrugged. “According to the local elf lady, those were just delaying the curse and would soon lose their effect on him.”

Claudia groaned. “And he trusted the word of an elf over my father’s recommendation?!”

“Uh, hello, elf right here.” Rayla raised her head, deadpanned.

“That’s enough, both of you!” Callum’s patience was wearing thin. “We have to go after him.”

“Last time this happened, Lujanne showed up and calmed him down.” Rayla recalled.

“Oh, sure trust the same elf who swayed him into dropping the elixirs.” Claudia muttered. “I have some experimental spells that can immobilize a werewolf.”

“Fine, we’ll do both. Claudia, go prepare those spells. I’m going to talk to Lujanne.”

“What about us?” Soren and Rayla asked in unintended unison.

“Wait here and try to be friendly!” Callum broke off into a run to the temple at the Nexus.

Soren and Rayla glared at one another. He barked at her. She hissed in return.

Fortunately, Rayla and Soren still alive and unharmed when Callum returned to them. Rather than Lujanne, he brought back a handful of necklaces, each with the insignia of the Moon primal forged in metal.

Soren was confused on how jewelry was going to help. Callum divulged that werewolves were scared of silver, which was what the necklaces were made of. That information made Soren recall something else. Silver, his father had said, was the only stuff that hurt any vampire or werewolf.

“Let’s split up in pairs. That way nobody is alone and we can cover more ground. I’ll go with Claudia. Soren, you go with Rayla.”

Soren turned to the prince. “So you want me to keep an eye on the elf witch and deal with her when her back is turned, right?”

“Oh, you are asking for it!”

“Alright, time out you two! New plan: I go with Rayla. You and Claudia, together.”

The group splits into two pairs, each with one of Lujanne’s silver medallions around their neck. The pairs followed different paths downwards the mountain. Soon enough Callum and Rayla were out of the woods and into desolated cliffs with nonetheless spectacular views. For a place called ‘Cursed’, Callum had to admit it was tempting to make a few drawings out of it. For another time, after his brother was found.

He turned his gaze upwards. The sun would set in about four hours. That would at least bring some relief. It felt like with each passing day the sun made him more irritated and thirstier. Speaking of which…

“Say, why do you keep your hood up, all day long? You don’t seem very experienced in stalking and stealth.” his companion commented. She noted she had her own hood up, but that was for the purpose of sneaking and finding Ezran. Callum, on the other hand, has had his hood on since dawn.

“The sun annoys me.” that was Callum’s simple reply, as he produced the flash of Fledgling’s Death from his pocket and took a sip. It was about half empty by then.

“You have moonberry juice?” she asked, surprised.

“Uh, no? This is a potion that Claudia offered me. It’s supposed to keep my bad cursedy mood under control.” he answered with a touch of purposeful vagueness. He himself didn’t know what the potion was made out of (in spite of his paranoid suspicions).

Rayla appeared to accept that as enough of an answer and returned to her vigil for Ezran. As Callum looked around, his eyes traveled to Ezran’s backpack she had brought. Inside it was the object of the hour, the egg of the Dragon Prince.

“Why are you carrying that?” he asked, though he had a pretty good idea.

“Without Ezran, I am not letting it out of my sight.” Bingo! Logical point. Callum would have probably done the same.

Amidst their search, someone finally appeared. It was Ellis, alone, with an awkward expression. Before they could ask her what she was doing, she beat them to it.

“Ez doesn’t want to talk with anyone.” when asked what she was talking about, the little girl revealed she and Ava had found the werewolf prince, who had already returned to his normal state. Physically, Ezran was fine but asked them to leave him alone. He let only Ava to keep him company and then asked her to take him somewhere else, which the wolf promptly did so, leaving Ellis behind to give the news.

Callum face-palmed, frustration kicking in again. He demanded and pleaded that Ellis told him where his brother was. She replied that even if she knew, Ez and Ava would have moved somewhere else. Rayla, on the other hand, was a lot more relaxed. If Ezran was back to normal and was with a trustworthy company such as Ava, there was no reason to worry. Callum, was of a different opinion.

“What if ‘Ava’ runs away with him and never see him again?!”

Ellis protested. “Ava doesn’t kidnap people…well, she once kidnapped a boy’s boot, but he was a jerk. So he totally deserved it.”

That did little to improve the vampire prince’s mood. Rayla had to admit seeing him freaking out like that was a tad entertaining. “What a dork! An adorable dork…an adorkable.”

“Let’s split up, Sor-bear. I need to go check something out.” Soren said in a poor imitation of his sister’s voice. Earlier, Claudia insisted she needed to go somewhere else and pretty much ditched him, alone to find the crown runt turned wolf.

He got to a clearing where the afternoon sun shone without obstacles. In the middle was a large boulder partly covered in weeds. A soft sound came from behind it, which prompted him to cautiously investigate.

To Soren’s surprise, there was his target, Prince Ezran, returned to normal and crying softly, hands covering eyes. That was not what the swordsman expected to find, but whiners can’t be choosers, or something along those lines.

“Uh, Prince Ezran?” he approached slowly, sword unsheathed but lowered. Though he feared the little guy could go wolf all over again, at any moment, a lifetime of training prevented him from pointing a sword at royalty. “Are you okay?”

The prince was slow to recompose himself. Perhaps he just didn’t care if he looked weak in front of a subordinate.

“F-fine. I’m fine.” he fought back a sob and wiped his tears with a sleeve.

Soren was left without direction. He excelled at following orders, but now his ‘superior’ didn’t seem to know what to do, himself.

Following a pause, Soren inquired. “Soooo, what happened? Are you so weepy?”

Ezran collected his strength, trying not to break down once he spoke out. “I know about my dad.”

Oh.

Oh!

Uh oh…

For most of his life, Soren had been told by Claudia, dad and others that he didn’t think things through and often put his foot in his mouth. This was just another example of that. Worse still, he blatantly lied to a prince, one he is sworn to obey and protect.

The prince sighed. “I messed everything up, again.” That was it, no accusation, no punishment. “I was angry and frustrated that I just wanted to…to lash out at everything until…things were back to normal…dad.” try as he might, he couldn’t stop a new stream of tears.

Soren felt really out of his element. Back when they were kids, if Clauds felt weepy, he would: A) beat up the guy who left her crying; B) tease her until she got angry enough to break out of her sad funk. Soren didn’t think either of those would work out, right now.

When Ezran’s ceased sobbing, Soren felt safe enough to ask. “So, what do you wanna do?”

The prince turned to the crownguard, his expression indecipherable, and then to the sky. “I…I want to stop the war. I don’t want anyone else to lose their family. But…” he shook his head. “every time I get riled up, I just turn into that thing. And I don’t feel I’m any closer to control it. I only mess things up.”

That struck a chord in Soren. The fear of messing things up was all too familiar. He took his sword, looked at it and exhaled. “Yeah, I feel you. To tell you the truth, I’m always afraid of messing things up, too.”

Ezran looked at him, puzzled. Granted, his interactions with Soren were always minimal. But the bullheaded soldier never struck him as fearful. “Yup, I’m always afraid of failing. That’s why I’m always trying to do better than my best. I try my betterest.”

Ezran couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “And how do you know what’s the best way to do things?”

“Usually I trust my dad to tell me.” oops, too late did Soren realize his mistake. Ezran went silent, and resumed his melancholic sky gazing.

“Hey, Soren, what does it feel like having a mom?”

The crownguard blinked twice, caught off-guard by that question. “I can’t say much. I recall she was sweet and kind when she was with Clauds and I, but always argued with dad. My parents separated when I was a little bigger than you. They told us to choose.” he paused. “I stayed with dad because he’s so smart and he’s always willing to help his kingdom. That was the kind of man I wanted to be when I grew up.”

That was not the answer Ezran expected, at all. He had asked about Soren’s mother on a whim, because he always wondered what it felt like to have one. Yet, the crownguard went off course and moved to his parents’ divorce.

Still…to do what felt right.

“Thanks, Soren. I think I’m ready to go back.” without another word, the prince got up and turned back up to the Nexus. As Soren got up, he felt the silver stake on his back clinking softly against his armor.

Callum’s freaking out dimmed gradually until he was persuaded to return to the Nexus and wait for Ezran there.

The walk back up was a peaceful if dull one. Having already met Rayla, Ellis put an inquisition of question to Callum, including if he could turn into a wolf-boy, too. Callum shook his head, giving her a watered-down explanation of his own curse. Rayla listened from the sidelines, driving her attention to his appearance. It just occurred to her this prince was a bit pale for a human. Granted, not as pale as herself was, but he was getting there. His ears had tiny pointed tips, though they looked mostly human, still. His eyes, on the other hand, were a blend of dark green and red. Now that did stand out. According to the prince himself, his appearance was changing due to his curse. Similar to how Ezran’s feeding habits and hair color were being altered.

Upon reaching the Nexus, Ellis elected to go somewhere else while the two teens waited, sitting at a table. The wait was silent, as they had nothing worthwhile talking about. Callum did notice Rayla still carried the egg around. That drove him back to the debate on what he would do once Ezran was back.

Truth be told, the egg was still a minor priority to him. And yet, having learnt what Ezran had been through and what he had done, having met Rayla…opinions have started to change. A week ago, he had cared solely on finding his brother and the egg could jump off a cliff. Now, he realized that everyone’s future, Ezran’s and his own included, could depend on the outcome of that dragon’s egg.

If he were to take the egg back to the Castle, it would probably motivate Xadia to take drastic actions to get it back.

If he gave it to aunt Amaya, she would return it to Xadia, as long as they fulfilled concessions. But would they, if his aunt’s terms were too outrageous? Furthermore, it would only aggravate them having to pay a ransom for a baby that was stolen from them.

A baby?! Callum just then realized he had thought of the egg as a baby. A baby of a mother, who had lost her husband and her unborn child on the same day. The same day that Ezran and he were cursed by the Dragon King.

In the distance, unbeknownst to the pair, they were being observed by Claudia. Her eyes wandered from Callum, to the elf, to the egg on her back. All afternoon, she had noticed Callum had gotten close to the elf. Too close for comfort, but she could see what was really going on.

“Smart move, Callum. Gain that elf girl’s trust so we can retrieve the egg when she least expects it.”

When Ezran returned to the group, Callum apologized profoundly, followed suit by Rayla. Ezran countered there was no need to apologize, but there was something he needed to say.

“I’ve been thinking about something dad once told us. That part of growing up involves doing things you’re not ready for. But we have to face those things because somebody has to do it.”

Callum tried to make light of the situation. “Now that you’re king, are you going to start saying wise stuff like that?” the sullen look Ezran gave him said it wasn’t a good time for humor.

“When I began traveling with Rayla, I was so carefree because I thought he could handle anything. He always looked so strong and wise.”

He paused and gave a sad look to Rayla. “But he’s not here anymore. And I can’t just go gallivanting to Xadia knowing my people need me. I’m sorry Rayla and Zym, but I can’t go with you. I want to, but I can’t.”

She kneeled to his level and put her hands on his shoulders. “I understand, Ez. I think you’re doing the right thing by going back. Plus, maybe you can do more to prevent the war from the throne.”

Callum sighed. He wanted to say to himself ‘mission accomplished’. But one quick look at the egg still on Rayla’s back told him it wasn’t. After everything he saw and heard, the path he himself wanted to take was also clear.

“Don’t worry, Ez. Zym will get back to his mother. I’ll make sure of that.”

Everyone else turned to him with confusion or surprise. He explained himself. “It has to be a human to deliver the egg back to the Dragon Queen. I’ll go with Rayla to Xadia in your stead.”

Ezran’s surprise broke into a smile, while Rayla curled an eyebrow. She approached Callum with an inquisitive frown. “So you want to join in? What happened to ‘the egg is hypnotizing his brain’?”

Callum felt embarrassed, recalling he did say such nonsense on that fateful night in Viren's secret laboratory. “Uh, yeah. I wasn’t thinking right. But Ezran and you changed my mind.”

Rayla was smirking by then, clearly teasing the older prince. And Ezran joined in. “Or maybe Azymondias is hypnotizing you, now.” The elf and little king chuckled at the older prince’s expense.

On the sidelines, Soren was about to voice something, but Claudia beat him to it. “That is a great idea, Callum!”

The other three were startled by that, almost having forgotten the siblings were present. “You think so, Claudia?”

She nodded. “I do. I see now it’s important that the egg returns to Xadia. So, Soren and I will escort Ezran back to Katolis.”

Soren looked between his sister and the princes, looking more puzzled by the moment. He would have said something, but Claudia made him a gesture to keep quiet. While Callum and Ezran were grateful for their friends’ comprehension, Rayla glared suspiciously at them.

The group prepared to depart and split, paying their farewells to Lujanne, who looked rather pleased when she heard where each of the princes would travel to. She promised she would give their best wishes to Ellis and Ava, who were nowhere to be found. On their way down the large group would split into two, before reaching the village to avoid another deranged mob pursuing them.

The mood was mostly quiet but mixed, Callum could tell. Rayla kept her focus on the two tallest members of the party. Meanwhile, Claudia occasionally stole glances at the elf. And Soren kept moving his hands over his waist, dangerously close to the hilt of his sword.

He approached Rayla and whispered. “Hey, is everything alright?”

She whispered back. “No. I don’t trust those two. They’re up to something.”

“I’ve known them for years. I trust them.”

Rayla turned to face him and would have said something else.

"Reh dnib leets gnirehtils!”

Two serpents of metal came slithering and wrapped themselves around Rayla, immobilizing her completely.

“I’ve got her! Good job distracting her Callum.” said Claudia, her hand extended and eyes pitch black.

“Claudia, what are you doing?” Callum shouted.

“The plan, of course. Now, Ezran, bring the egg over here.” she said naturally.

Ezran, whom was at the back of the party stepped back, grabbing the handles of his backpack fiercely. “Callum, what plan is she talking about?”

“The plan to rescue you and the egg. I overheard Callum talking to the elf earlier and figured he was gaining her trust to lower her defenses. And it worked.”

Callum was flabbergasted. Rayla glared daggers at him. “You backstabbin’ Prince Jerkface!”

“No, I wasn’t in on this! I swear. Claudia, let her go.”

The dark mage was confused. It was Soren who spoke out. “See, Clauds? I told you he was bitten and got moonshadow madness from the elf.”

Both Claudia and Callum deadpanned at the baseless accusation. “Soren, just go get the egg.”

“No! Hold it, Soren.”

The crownguard looked between his sister and prince in hesitation. Then, with an annoyed sigh, he moved towards Ezran. He passed the perplexed Callum, avoiding his gaze.

Callum realized then they had no option but to fight for the egg. “Ezran, get out of here!” the younger prince didn’t have to be told twice and ran back up as much as his legs and the weight of the egg allowed him.

Thinking quickly, Callum went for the bound Rayla. She gave him a suspicious look as he tried to help her break free. But the magical chains wouldn’t budge. They were at Claudia’s mercy and Soren would quickly catch Ezran and the egg.

However, out of view, a pebble was shot from the foliage of the forest and hit Claudia’s outstretched hand. She lost her focus causing the snake chains to loosen completely. Callum helped Rayla break free. The two exchanged the briefest of trusting looks. Rayla immediately leaped away, putting herself in front of Soren. “What do you say we finish what we started, thick-skull?”

“I told you, leave my skull out of this.” Soren quickly drew his blade and the two resumed their interrupted fight.

Callum confronted Claudia. “Callum, what has gotten into you?!” she was almost hysterical.

“What’s gotten into me? You were about to ruin the best chance for peace we have and kidnap Ezran.” he pointed an accusing finger.

“Have you lost your senses? If that egg hatches, one day it will rain death on all of humanity. Creatures from Xadia can’t be trusted.”

“Ezran trusts Rayla. And I learnt to trust Ezran’s judgment.” he wanted to berate himself for using that as an excuse. But truthfully he couldn’t say he trusted Rayla, completely, yet.

Claudia is dumbfounded. “You have lost it. Has the elven blood in that potion rotten your brain?” right after those words left her mouth, she covered it with her hand in shock. Callum was confused.

“Elven blood? What are…” realization struck Callum like a thunderbolt. He fished the vial of red liquid from his pocket. The ‘Fledgling’s Death’ potion Claudia had given him supposedly helped prevent the Draculin curse from evolving. He looked stunned at her. “Was this actual blood all along?”

She was silent, her averting her eyes was answer enough. “You tricked me into drinking someone’s blood this whole time?!” Now it was Callum who was hysterical.

“C-Callum, it was for your own good.” If Claudia wanted to aggravate him more, she chose the perfect combination of words.

“My own good! I feel like my curse is getting worse everyday!”

Claudia shook her head. “No, that can’t be. The potion was supposed to help. My father said…”

“Viren said?! Viren never gave a thought about helping me.” Callum hissed, his voice lower but no less furious. Claudia was now feeling nervous. Her dorky, lovable friend didn’t look like himself anymore.

“Callum, please calm down.”

"Why? Why should I be calm? I have a rIgHt tO bE uPsEt!"

And it happened. Callum’s eyes became pitch black like Claudia’s when she performed her dark arts. Except for the tiny red dots that passed as mockery of pupils. His fangs grew just a few more millimeters, ears sharpened in equal measure. His skin became an inhuman gray, like clouds on a rainy day.

Callum, now a mindless fledgling vampire, growled into the night sky and looked at Claudia without recognition. Only the glare of a predator that found something that resembled a prey.

His growl drew the attention of the elf and crownguard, who paused their fight.

“C-Callum?” Claudia’s voice shook. Memories of a similar event months ago came back to her. Of the night her friend first transformed into a monster and came too close for confort to her.

The vampire prince hissed and…

“Callum!” Soren switched into auto-pilot when he moved towards the vampire. His training as a soldier kicked in as he had only one goal in mind: killing the enemy. His hand swiftly grabbed the weapon hidden under his cape.

His shout drew the vampire to turn around and face him. Callum made a gurgled gasp as the silver stake was driven through his chest. Right below his heart.

Stunned silence.

Soren’s determined face was inches away from Callum’s shocked one, which regressed to his natural state. The prince returned to himself to see his friend holding the stake that pierced his body. In a gag reflex, Callum coughed up some blood that hit Soren’s face. Only then did the crownguard snapped out of auto-pilot and realized what he had done.

“CALLUM!” Claudia shrieked.

There was a blinding light above and Ezran returned riding on Phoe-Phoe. Thinking quickly, Rayla kicked Soren in the back, making him collide with Claudia. She grabbed the staggering Callum and put him on the Moon Phoenix's back.

“Callum!” Ezran shrieked in panic, seeing his brother stabbed.

“Let’s fly, quickly!” Rayla urged him and he shakily did so. Phoe-Phoe took off right in the nick of time before Soren and Claudia could react. To someplace safe where they could hopefully save Callum’s life.

“So, they’re gone? Without saying goodbye?”

That evening, Ellis reappeared, having reunited with Ava, and was surprised to see all her new friends had left.

“Alas, they were in a hurry, little one. But they asked me to give you their best regards.”

The girl sighed. That was okay. Too bad she never got to know the witch-lady and the dumb muscle knight all that well. At least, she really hoped they didn’t didn’t didn’t forget her.

“So, what are you doing now?” Lujanne was facing the center of the moonhenge, drawing unknown runes of light in the air. At the center, what appeared to be a swarm of itny wisps of light circled around in an almost spherical shape.

“Oh, I’m just using a complex array of spells to increase the moon's primal energy output.” the mage explained casually.

“Oh, okay.” all of that flew over Ellis’ head.

“To summarize, I’m using the power of the Nexus to simulate a full moon night. It will be as if, around the Cursed Caldera, the night will be of a full moon and…Ah! It’s done.” she made a final gesture and the ‘swarm’ solidified into a beam of light that extended upwards, appearing to reach for the waning moon phase. The dark side of the moon was filled with light from the beam, making it appear full.

“Wow, so pretty!” Ellis was delighted with the sight. It was so beautiful and warm. Warm enough to make her hot. So hot her arm felt as if it was burning. “Uh?!” she exclaimed as the burning sensation became painful all of the sudden. The pain originating from the now healed spot where Ezran had bitten her. “Ah! It hurts! Help!”

But Lujanne simply watched passionless as Ellis fell to her knees, the pain overwhelming her and spreading all over her being. Ava came running and whining, circling her human friend, but helpless to alleviate her.

Ellis cried into the night, yet her cry began to sound like a squeaky howl. Her shape expanded slightly. Hair grew all over her body. A snout erupted from her face. When the cries, now canine whines, ceased, the girl stood now as a werewolf cub, the same size as Ezran had been.

“Little cub, listen to me.” Lujanne said and the new werewolf’s gaze was fixed on her, as if she had been hypnotized. “You will descend into the village and bite every human you can find. Do you understand?”

The mindless werewolf that was Ellis barked. To anyone else, it would have meant nothing. But for one such as Lujanne, she knew the little one did understand.

“She is even more unbalanced than Ezran. Without any arcanum, these human werewolves are like mindless puppets.” Lujanne sighed. “I hate having to use these methods, but alas, one can’t change the world without making sacrifices.” she produced a collar with a shard of unknown material. “The collar has a piece of a broken moon primal stone. It will keep you invisible to their eyes and ears. Remember, bite every human you can find, but make sure they survive. Don’t let yourself get captured. And tomorrow morning, when you wake up, you will remember nothing of this. Now go.”

And so, werewolf Ellis ran on all fours down the mountain to her hometown, where she would spread terror and pain for the whole night. Lujanne’s plan was now in motion.

Chapter 14: Thunderborn

Chapter Text

Aaravos’ eyes traveled sluggishly to the candles. Upon a pedestal was a row of four candles, all lit. Each candle melted at a different pace: the one in the left end would take a full day to melt completely; the second a month; the third a year; and the one in the right end would take a decade. Those candles had been his calendar since the beginning of his wretched imprisonment. His only way to mark the passage of time, as the plane of existence to where he was banished lacked a day-night cycle.

The candle foremost in the left was through three quarters of its length, meaning it would soon be sunset. It was at that time that the mirror in his study, the one correspondent to the other in Viren’s dungeon, vibrated lightly.

“Oh, I have a call!” with giddy enthusiasm, Aaravos tossed the book he had been skimming through behind his back. He put himself before the mirror and tapped the reflective surface, picking up the call.

The figure on the other side was a familiar moonshadow elf. An outcast, like himself. But unlike him, she was free to walk the physical world, as long as she didn’t draw Xadia’s attention to herself.

“Why, hello again, my dear customer. What can I do for you, today?” he didn’t need divination to guess that the woman required something only he could provide.

“I require something only you know how to craft, Alucard.”

Aaravos tensed. “One thing, my dear: do not call me that. That has not been the name my person carries in a very long time.” his tone was smooth, but the power behind the words made it very clear he would not tolerate being called such.

Lujanne nodded. “Very well, my apologies, Aaravos. Now, back to the matter at hand…”

The artifact the moon mage requested was child’s play to make. Of course, it would make no sense if he were to craft it, bound to where he was. What Lujanne wanted was instruction on how to fabricate it herself. Information that Aaravos gladly shared, in exchange for some information he required. Particularly about the recent guests she recently hosted.

Once business was concluded, Aravos returned to his solitary contemplation, now imagining his next steps based on the new knowledge he had gained. He knew the werewolf little king and the vampire prince as well, were at the Moon Nexus, where Lujanne had taken refuge. He knew Lujanne and her cohorts were plotting an insurrection against the dragon monarchy, in hope of restoring their tribe. The ‘Cursed Princes’ as he began calling them were quickly becoming involved into a scheme bigger than they could understand.

“Perhaps I will join the fun…by giving start to my own game.”

It was a few hours of plotting later (the day candle almost completely out) that Aaravos felt a twinge of pain in his head. Through his arcanum, he had tried to establish a mental link with the vampire prince. His success came when said prince’s life was nearly extinguished. He felt as if a silver stake had barely missed his heart. A terrible shame would have been if the vampire boy was lost, but fortunately he survived, in part due to his brother’s own ‘blessing’.

Still, that near death experience made the vampire boy’s sleeping arcanum detectable for just one moment. One moment enough for Aaravos to pick it up and trace it.

“Callum was his name…I’ll be watching you.”

Didostur, coastal town of the Weeping Bay. Katolis.

Dear Aunt Amaya,

I hope you are doing as well, given the wacky circ*mstances. To me it feels like a lifetime since I left on this mission. Guess it’s because so much has happened, even though it's been barely a week.

Good news is, I found Ezran. Turns out the elf girl - Rayla, by the way - didn’t kidnap Ezran. He willingly went with her to return the egg of the Dragon Prince to Xadia, and hopefully end hostilities.

At first, I didn’t trust her myself. But she’s proven to be a friend to Ezran and she even saved my life-

Callum paused his writing. He wasn’t about to reveal in what circ*mstance she saved him. He himself still couldn’t accept that Soren…He shook his head violently. This had to be made quick, so he resumed his writing.

She is nothing like those stories say about elves and I’m willing to trust her, as well. Ezran, upon learning that King Harrow passed, decided to return home to take the throne and he’s being escorted by your tracker, Corvus.

Meanwhile, I decided to continue Ezran’s mission to carry the egg back to Xadia. I know this isn’t what you want, aunt. But I don’t think its a good idea to try and bargain the egg. It would only antagonize the Xadians if they had to pay a ransom. I now believe peace can be possible if we try to make amends by returning the egg to its mother. You may not approve of this but it's what I truly believe to be the right choice.

I’ll see you when I get back. Stay safe and well.

Love,

Callum

P.S.: Please don’t be mad that I didn’t follow the second part of your plan. The parth in which we demand things from Xadia in exchange for the egg, I mean.

Truth be told, there was more the prince wanted to confess, such as confirming her suspicions that he shouldn’t have trusted Claudia and Soren blindly. But he dared not to even think of the subject.

Resolute, Callum stepped away from the desk in which he had been allowed to write his letter and handed it over to the woman at the counter. She looked over the destination.

“The Balla Fortress at the Border.” her clinical eyes turned to Callum. “That’s quite far away and somewhat perilous.”

“I need it to get there as fast as possible.”

“It’s going to cost, young man. Fifteen pentarchs.” she looked him over, clearly analyzing that by the look of his clothes he could afford it. And fortunately he could, as he had the foresight of bringing a fair amount of money from the castle. He handed her the correct amount of golden coins; the ‘Pentarch’ had become the official currency of the entire pentarchy nearly 6 decades before, when the human kingdoms first achieved a semblance of overall peace.

He saw the woman meticulously wrap the message inside a small canister, which was then tied to the paw of a large crow. Messenger crows were the main and quickest way to deliver messages across the Pentarchy. Callum paid well enough to have an A-class crow service, the smartest and most well trained birds of delivery.

Afterwards, he left the postal office in a haste to an alley close by the docks of Didostur. There he found a hiding and waiting Rayla. Upon arriving at Didostur, she proposed her human impression so they could board a civilian transport ship to the other side of the Weeping Bay. Callum quickly shot that down and decided to look for a captain that wouldn’t ask too many questions.

“Good news, I’ve found the perfect captain for our dilemma.” he announced with a twinge of mischief Rayla didn’t pick up immediately.

“What makes this captain so perfect?”

“Oh, he’s got a very special quality that will make him completely non judgmental based on your appearance. Or anyone’s appearance, really.” they reached the docks where a man dressed like a stereotypical pirate stood looking out into the ocean. “We’re back, oh captain! My captain!”

The man turned to look at them. Or would look at them if both eye sockets weren’t covered by eyepatches. Rayla blinked twice.

“Ahoy, maties! Me name be Captain Villads! The d is silent."

Villads would take them to the other side of the Weeping Bay in exchange for a small fee, which Callum could afford. Rayla was hesitant but willing, though she became nervous when the man mentioned a storm was coming.

Walking upon the crosswalk, Callum noticed Rayla walking in a hurry and would not dare to look down. Ezran had confided in him that his friend was terrified of water. Callum would have laughed, except his brother said she was very sensitive about it. That and in Moonshadow culture, showing any fear was shameful.

“Still, she had to be pretty brave, willing to travel over her very fear to accomplish the mission that much faster.” he mused to himself. Callum had previously proposed they go around the bay, but Rayla wouldn’t have any of it. Time was of essence.

Flashback.

By their urgency, Phoe-Phoe flew Ezran, Rayla and a terribly wounded Callum away. She landed not long after on the other side of the mountain.

“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted those two!” Rayla groaned.

“Not now, Rayla!” Ezran practically barked at her, trying to help Callum dismount the phoenix. She assisted in setting him gently on the ground. Checked his pulse and breath. Still alive, thank Mene.

They had no medical supplies and going back to the Nexus was too risky. Rayla had a desperate idea and urged Ezran to spit on the wound. Confused initially, the prince did so and miraculously, the wounds slowly began to close while steaming.

Then Rayla’s ears picked something up. She turned around, swords drawn.

“Whoever is there, come on out!”

Someone did come out. A man of dark complexion and locks of dark hair tied in a knot. He was dressed like a hunter and poised like one. In his hand was a chain with a hook at the tip. Yet he kept his hands up in sign of surrender.

“I don’t know who you are, but you better turn around before I do something to relieve stress.” Rayla threatened the stranger who, despite his surrender, kept his cool.

“My name is Corvus. General Amaya sent me.”

“My aunt?” Ezran murmured.

“The tracker…my aunt sent after Ezran.” a voice said haggardly. Everyone turned to Callum, whom had just woken up. Ezran rushed to his side, helping sit up.

“That’s right. I was ordered to find and rescue King Ezran.”

Ezran didn’t leave his brother’s side. “Well, you found me, but I don’t need rescue.”

“So I’ve come to realize.” Corvus sounded a tad awkward.

“It was you.” the older prince said groggily. “You helped us.”

Seeing Ezran’s and Rayla’s confusion, he divulged. “When Claudia had Rayla tied up, something hit her and made lose focus on the spell. That was you.”

“Yes. I arrived just in time to see that from afar. But it was enough to realize those two were no friends of the princes.”

That statement, spoken neutrally from the man, had stung the two boys.

“You should go with him.” Callum said, earning surprised glances from the king and the elf. “That was the whole idea before. With him you can go back to Katolis and take the throne.”

“No way, Callum, you’re…” but despite his protests, the young vampire slowly got back on his feet, albeit wobbly.

“I’m fine, Ez. Thanks to you. See.” he showed the whole in his jacket and shirt made by the stake. There was now freshly healed skin underneath.

“I’ll be fine. This way, we can both do our part to prevent a war.”

It was only after a full reassurance that Callum was properly healed that Ezran agreed. He gave both Callum and the egg of the Dragon Prince a fierce hug. After a heartfelt goodbye, the two brothers went their separate ways with their escorts. Ezran, with Corvus, goes back to Katolis to claim the throne. Callum, with Rayla, to Xadia to deliver the dragon egg back to Queen Zubeia.

End of Flashback.

Now, the vampire prince leaned against the mast of the Ruthless, boredom beginning to set in. Previously, he had spoken with the enthusiastic blind captain for a while. The conversation ended up with the prince asking about sailing.

“How are we going in that way when the wind is pushing us in the opposite direction?”

"Appearances can deceive, lad. In reality no ship can travel directly into the wind. instead we use a technique known a 'tacking,' to zigzag across a wind." Villads pointed forward to the triangular sale. "That sail be called a 'lateen' and when going against the wind at a angle, the wind pushes the sail forward. But never in a straight line. Rather the ship zigzags."

Callum listened attentively, picturing the process in his mind. It felt like it should be a tad more complicated than that but he got the gist of it.

Berto, the parrot, pipped in. “You got all that, Fangs?”

Callum gave the bird a withering glare. “Yeah, I got all of that. Instructive, detailed but simple enough.”

“Aye, of course. A captain worth his sea salt knows how ta explain the fine art of sailin’, even to a landlubber. What, did ye expect me to say a vague, meaningless metaphor involving a melon seed that doesn’t really explain anything?”

Callum laughed awkwardly, having interpreted that as an attempted joke. “Not really, but thanks for not giving me a meaningless explanation that doesn’t really explain anything.”

“Yer welcome, lad!” the captain paused for a moment. “So, why is your merry crew in such a hustle to cross the Weeping Bay?”

“Oh, we’ve got something to deliver in the east.”

“Are you in a hurry to sink your teeth in someone, over there, too?” of course the darned parrot would stick his beak in. Callum retorted at the animal.

“Not really. That’s kinda not my thing.”

“First time for everything, bloodsucker!”

“Big talk from a talking feather duster.”

“Hey, peace now!” the captain intervened, his voice eclipsing the prince’s and bird’s. “Apologies on behalf of me first mate. Berto tends to be a tad snappy ta strangers.”

Callum glared daggers at the bird who glared back. Sighing, he turned away from it. He thanked Villads for his time and went to the lower deck. He took notice of Rayla, who half-sat half-lied on the stairs.

“So, how you doing?” he asked sympathetically.

“Oh, just great. Practicing my swamp impression.” True enough her face looked far too green for comfort.

Though not unsympathetic, Callum couldn’t resist cracking one. “Looks much better than your human impression.”

“Ugh, so why have you come down here, to share on my misery?”

He shook his head. “That parrot doesn’t know when to keep his beak shut.”

That brought some mischief to Rayla’s face. “Just wait until we get to Xadia. Close to my home city there are flocks of feathery cretins that would put that one to shame.”

Callum was hesitant to ask for clarification. But when Rayla chuckled teasingly, he joined her in the fun. Once the laughter died out, awkwardness set in. Truth was, the pair had not discussed anything other than the mission since they parted ways with Ezran. At the Moon Nexus, they had come to an understanding and briefly talked in cordial terms, but that was it. All in all, Callum and Rayla were not quite friends.

He would have sat beside her, try and comfort her but felt that would be too intrusive. Therefore, the prince was almost thankful that the sun chose that moment to peek from the edge of a cloud. Hissing at the light above, he put his hood on.

“I’m going below deck. It’s too sunny for me.” without another word, he passed by Rayla who preferred to stay above.

Down there, the prince sat down and took a tired breath. Absent-mindedly, he passed a hand over the place where he had been wounded. It didn’t hurt anymore, in spite of the circular scar it left behind.

Now that he had time to slow down and think, it felt so unreal that Soren ran him through. Callum would feel terribly betrayed…

“Then again, I nearly lost control next to Claudia. Maybe, Soren is not to blame for acting so rushly. Still…” his hand traveled again to the place where his friend had stabbed him.

Despite doubting he would get any sleep, Callum closed his eyes and tried to drift off.

Aaravos hummed. “So the vampire prince is asleep. Excellent.”

The ancient elf gathered his inner magic. Normally what he was attempting would be impossible, but his target was a quasi-vampire and was in possession of his Key. With those factors, Aaravos was confident he could establish a connection with the little prince.

“Welcome, little vampire.”

Callum knew he had to be dreaming. He just had to be because he didn't recollect entering the alien yet aesthetically pleasant room before.

The walls were made of a material Callum couldn't identify, of a blue-green hue. Shelves filled with books and tomes reached high until the ceiling. A desk with a chair rested pristinely next to the window, from which light cascaded in. The only activity in the room came from the crackling flames in the fireplace.

"Welcome, little vampire."

Startled, Callum almost jumped out of his skin. The greeting came from the armchair facing the fire. The person sitting on it was completely hidden from view.

"Uh! Oh, hello! I…hello, sir. Sorry I just …stumbled into your house. I kind of just appeared here." Awkward as he felt about it, the theory that it was all a dream was forgotten.

The person behind the armchair chuckled lightly. "No need to apologize. After all, you are a guest."

Callum blinked, unsure how to reply. Tentatively he approached the man(?) to meet him. And just as he was about to turn and see the stranger…

Callum was startled awake by the sound of two pairs of footsteps, one louder than the other. Rayla and Captain Villads had just descended.

"What's going on?” he rushly sat up, trying not to look too dishevellled.

"We did not beat the storm. Alas, we have to wait it out. Only good thing we arrived just in time to make port on the isle at the heart of the bay." The sailor shrugged.

Rayla, on the other hand, was more negative. "In other words, we're wet and saved no time at all."

Aaravos frowned. “Oh, well. We’ll continue next time.”

His mental link with the little prince had been severed, but then again, he knew from the get go that the time allotted would be short. Still, Aaravos had successfully made a connection with the boy through his dreams. The next attempt would be facilitated by it. So long as that boy keeps that old relic of his intact and in his possession.

Minutes, hours passed as the candle of the day diminished further and further. A plan began forming in his mind, one he could fit with the parallel schemes he was running simultaneously. After all, when one got to be as old as himself, keeping different machinations active that interwined with one another to achieve a unified goal was second nature. And now, he found he could forge a new piece to fit with that puzzle.

The disgraced elf grinned. Oh, if he could pull it off…those children and Xadia would be damned. And he would be very satisfied to end Avizandum lineage.

In the physical world, there was a storm happening above his intended target. Yet it wasn’t enough. If Aaravos’ magic hadn’t been sealed away, he could have created ten storms with ease. But alas, stranded and most of his power stripped, it would be impossible. Key word being ‘would’.

With his connection to the vampire prince, he could influence the physical plane. And he didn’t need to create a big storm, but simply to intensify the already existing one.

Nevertheless, it would still require a great amound of Sky magic to do so. An amount beyond his current capabilities. Once more, the Midnight Star cursed his current predicament.

"Oh well, if the easy path won’t cut it, best to take the easier one."

Namely, dark magic. The art of taking the magic essence from outside sources. And fortunately, he had just am immense source of sky magic essence near the prince. Just one smidge of the immense power contained within that dragon’s egg was enough for his plan.

The ship rocked violently, discomforting the passengers in different levels. Rayla was the worst off, her swamp impression reached near perfection when she emptied the contents of her stomach on the deck. Callum was in the middle and avoided looking at the mess, lest he followed suite. Captain Villads (and Berto) barely seemed bothered at all. So much so that the captain began chatting about his lost sight to pass the time.

Aaravos smirked. Yes, even without being hatched, the dragonling was a maelstrom of sky primal energy. He just needed to drain it one infinitesimal portion for his purposes.

“Segar yks eht. Peew sduolc eht. Swolb sdniw eht.”

Villads tale was cut short when the Ruthless began rocking more violently.

“Oh, that not be right!” the captain exclaimed.

And that was only the beginning as the ship shook and wagged even more. Rayla moaned exasperatedly.

“Oh, Mene! What have I done to deserve this?” she had to cover her mouth to prevent another dose of vomit from coming up and out.

“This is unnatural.” Villads murmured, his voice strangely subdued.

“Uh, isn’t this how a storm gets worse, normally?” Callum asked, opting to put the egg of the Dragon Prince on his backpack.

“Nay!”

“Something is off!” Berto added.

Then the ship tilted, propelling the passengers and cargo in the opposite direction. Villads recomposed himself first and raced above deck. Callum helped a nauseated Rayla back on her feet and carried her upper deck.

The storm raged out of control. Where before was just wind and rain, the clouds poured down a rainstorm, lightning cracked and thundered all above and the air pushed with the strength of a hurricane.

“The storm is out of control! We are adrift!” Villads shouted, trying to steer the ship under control.

True enough, the Ruthless was no longer bound to the docks and was drifting away from the isle.

“This can’t get any worse.” Callum sighed.

Aaravos’s lips curled up as he made a swiping gesture with his arm.

A large wave erupted against the Ruthless, rising high above the main deck.

“The universe loves to prove me wrong.” the prince exhaled in defeat.

The massive wave crashed into the ship and spilled on the main deck. Cold water washed the two youths, soaking them to the bone. Rayla was hysterically trying to get away from her terror and failing. Callum, who took the worst of the wave, was tossed against the edge of the ship. The universe truly had it out for him! Why was…

“THE EGG!” he heard Rayla shout against the wind. Callum’s blood ran cold, noticing his back pack felt lighter. The backpack that contained the egg, which he obviously brought to the main deck!

Said egg was rolling around on the floor.

Aaravos smirked triumphantly. He made another swiping gesture.

Rayla’s first instinct was to run and grab the egg.

“Brace for it!” Villads shouted. On the side of the ship, another massive wave crashed, flooding the whole deck. Rayla lost her footing and slipped. When she came to, she couldn’t spot the egg. Only Callum leaning over the rail.

“What happened?” she dreadfully asked, on the edge of hysterical.

His answer came out in stammers but it was enough.

“You dropped it overboard!”

“No, I didn’t! It was the wave that dragged it overboard!” he had to shout to be heard over the wind.

Rayla looked down at the turbulent water, apprehension mixed with anger. “Oh, Mene help me!” and, to Callum's dumbfounded surprise, Rayla jumped into the sea.

There he stood, holding onto the rail. Seconds passed and he couldn't spot her or the egg. Wait, did she even know how to swim?

“She’s not coming back up.” taking a heavy breath, he jumped after her.

The water was cold and turbulent, but Callum was able to keep afloat. A good thing that one of his favorite activities during the summer was swimming. That practice served him well, now.

There was a gurgled scream behind him and he saw Rayla’s arm above the surface, sinking. Callum swam over to her. He took a deep breath and descended after her. He could vaguely distinguish the shape of the girl and the glowing dragon egg, going down into the darkness.

“That won’t do.” Aaravos frowned. He was not happy about this. He had accomplished part of his goal, to separate the egg from those children. Oh, how delightful it would be to have that cretin Avizandum’s spawn drown before even being born!

But…if that foolish boy were to drown, his dream would be nigh impossible. True, by manipulating Viren he could still find a way to free himself. Yet, without the vampire boy under his thumb…

Aaravos sighed and dispelled his magic.

Miraculously, Callum managed to pull Rayla back to the surface. The girl was panicking, holding on to the prince for dear life. Were the circ*mstances not so dire, he would have awkwardly acknowledged that a girl was way too close for comfort to him.

“Hey, we’re okay now!”

“I won’t be okay until I’m out of all this wetness! At least…” she trailed off, looking at the prize snuggled between them. The egg of the Dragon Prince was safe.

The sea was no longer turbulent and the sky cleared. Callum pointed up above them, where the clouds parted and the sun peeked.

“The storm is stopping. We’re in the eye of the storm.” Rayla stated, a strange feeling she was forgetting a detail.

Without reason, lightning of different hues struck down from the departing clouds. All of that energy was concentrated on the egg. The two teens panicked, yet, before they realized that the electricity wasn’t hurting them, it all stopped.

The egg in their arms shook and cracked. Little by little, fissures spread all over its shell.

Far away from them, on their way to the capital, Corvus was halted by Ezran. The two were riding the very unusual steeds that the boy king had called in. He looked in the opposite direction and laughed overjoyed.

“King Ezran, what happened?”

“Something great. The dragon prince has hatched!” he smiled and howled into the sky. Their steeds howled with him.

Aaravos was content. He had exchanged intel with Lujanne and her tribe, a good business which got him to understand better these ‘Cursed Princes’. Unlike Viren’s biased perspective, Lujanne was more neutral to the boys, after all.

The highlight of the day, though, was establishing a connection with the vampire prince, which he already had plans on how to exploit to bend the boy to his will.

However, this day also had its failures. Mainly the fiasco to erradicate Avizandum’s bloodline forever. Oh, well, he would have other opportunities. Oh, yes he would, with the vampire prince soon at his command.

“Enjoy the little miracle in your arms, Prince Callum. That dragonling may just soon become your salvation in the hour of your greatest thirst.” he chuckled callously at the thought. “We shall talk again, Callum.”

Rayla for a moment had forgotten that she was surrounded by water. For in her arms (and Callum’s) was a miracle.

“Oh, Mene!” she sighed, on the verge of tears. Any doubts she may have had over this self-imposed mission were snuffed out. The little miracle looked at her, whining in seemingly curiosity and snuggled up to her face.

The stunned Callum slowly broke into a soft smile. The newborn turned to the prince and sniffed him with the same curiosity.

“Hi! Uh…Azymondias, right?”

The little thing cooed and licked his face. Callum felt tiny sparks on his cheek. It was soothing, to say the least.

Soon enough, Captain Villads tossed a roped and they climbed back on board. As Callum glanced upwards, he was actually thankful for the sun shining through the parting clouds. It felt as though things would be alright.