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minaim-blog · 4 years ago

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Moon Stroke in Xadia - 1 - The First Mistake of Many

Forward for the Caring

When and where this fanfiction takes place is largely unimportant as the purpose of this work is merely to have Callum and Rayla interact as a couple while facing troubles in Xadia from both Elves and Humans. Zym is not present and I’ve changed the ages of Callum and Rayla to be slightly older; they’re around eighteen or so. One could say this takes place after the events of Season 3 or in an alternate universe. Human and Elf relationships are frowned upon in this setting compared to how they are in The Dragon Prince as hinted by the show. “Artemia” is my own name for the Moon-Shadow Elf Territory. Thank you for reading and enjoy.

“Callum, hurry up will you.” Rayla whined, “You’ve been getting ready for an hour, they’ll close up town before we can make it.” She sat on the root of a large tree and used one of her knives to carve into its trunk while Callum worked around the corner out of sight. The two of them had ventured through the wilderness of Xadia for some time together for a ‘vacation’ as they called it. Their journey had multiple reasons: the two of them wanted an opportunity to tell the people of the world that Zym, the prince of the dragons, had been returned to his mother and that a new era of peace was at hand for humans and elves alike. They found out very early on in their journey that they had no need to be messengers, as the news of the dragon prince spread to all corners of the elf and human lands as if by the wings of dragons. Callum also wanted an opportunity to venture through Xadia and learn about the six primal sources first hand, and Rayla wanted a chance to learn about human customs, since it seemed that humans and elves would be getting to know each other better in their newfound peace. They agreed to be each other’s guide, Rayla to Callum in the land of elves, and Callum to Rayla in the land of humans. Secretly between them, they both wanted an excuse to spend some time together with just the two of them in their newfound relationship.

Their journey had brought them far from the nest of the dragon queen to Artemia, the land of the Moon-Shadow elves, where Callum hoped to learn about the moon arcanum and Rayla hoped to reconnect with her home as best she could. They chanced upon a small Moon-Shadow Elf village in their journey and knew they risked a chance of Callum being discovered as a human if the two of them went in. They were both exhausted of the wilderness and decided to take the risk, as they hoped to get some finer comforts that were unavailable to them over the past few weeks. They agreed that he would have to disguise himself if they were going into the village, but the two of them had very different opinions on what was considered ‘good enough’ for a disguise. Callum called back to her behind the tree, “Hey I’ve only been at this for like twenty minutes at most, and I want it to be convincing this time. Do you want a repeat of Caldera?”

“We’re not going to have a repeat of Caldera.” She retorted annoyed, “I’m clearly Elven, just stick close to me and don’t draw attention to yourself.”

“Yeah but it’s pretty hard not to draw attention to yourself when everyone else has horns and only four fingers.” Callum showed his hand from around the tree to Rayla and wiggled his five fingers to her.

“So wear the cloak and gloves you have and stay quiet.” Rayla shooed him and then crossed her arms as she sat on the root, “Honestly it’s a lot easier than you’re making it out to be.”

“I know it’ll be easy.” He said reassuringly as he worked, “We’ve done this before. But those other times have taught me that all it takes is for someone to notice something off about us at a glance before they do or say something. So I’m just trying to make it take a little more than just a glance to notice something’s wrong. We’re in Moon-Shadow Elf territory-”

“Artemia.” Rayla said irritated with her arms still crossed. She lost count how many times she had corrected him on it.

“Yeah, Are-Tre-Maya.” He butchered, “So I think we better bring our ‘A’ game.” There was another pause as he worked, then he continued, “I mean, we’re dealing with elves who do nothing but sneak and lie. So you tell me, how careful should we be?”

“Sneak and lie!?” Rayla jumped off her root and yelled to him in shock, “What’s that supposed to mean!?”

“Uh…” He moaned back to her and tried to find his words but Rayla found hers first,

“No, please. Don’t bother.” She began mockingly and crossed her arms leaning on the tree, “I know exactly what you mean.” She pouted before she continued, “‘Oh no! We’re in mean-moon-assassin-land now!’” She said exaggerated and placed her hands to the side of her face, “‘And me poor little lass still thinks they’re not blood thirsty killers!’” Her exaggerated tone subsided and she sat back on her root as she continued a bit hurt, “Not everyone here was raised an assassin like me. And we’re certainly not killers and liars!” She shouted to him then continued softer as she stared at the root, “Honestly I thought you knew better by now.”

Rayla couldn’t see Callum, but she knew he must have been fidgeting as he said nervously, “Yeah I-I know. I know you’re not sneaking monsters. That was a bad choice of words on my part…” There was a brief silence as Callum collected his thoughts, and then said, “It’s that-well all the magic I’ve seen in the moon arcanum is really focused on making illusions and how we perceive the world around us. So I thought just maybe Moon-Shadow elves would be a bit harder to fool than others…Sorry.”

Callum ended his apology quietly and Rayla could sense the regret in his voice, but even though she knew he did not mean to insult her she still felt hurt. She started playing with her knife and said slightly miffed, “Yeah well…maybe word your thoughts a bit better next time.”

There was silence between the two after she finished, which Rayla didn’t like as it reminded her too much of their fights. It was rare that the two of them fought over anything, and when they did she thought it was always about the dumbest of things: What direction should they go in and who got them lost? Who’s being risky, or stubborn, or just dumb? Who should be up front and who should support in a fight? Should they or should they not be open to people about their relationship? After their fights they always separated themselves from each other to sit in silence when it was over. She always felt horrible when they did this, even while she was brooding. She always wanted to go back over to him to hug and make up, but her pride usually wouldn’t let her. She assumed Callum’s pride wouldn’t let him either or if it wasn’t pride, which she wasn’t sure how much he had, she thought it was hesitation he had on approaching her. When she thought about how he responded to her and how quiet he was she was worried that he hesitated now in speaking to her. She started fidgeting as she thought about whether she shouldn’t have spoken so coldly to him, or if she should speak up and tell him everything was fine between the two of them, or if she should just wait it out so he could finish his disguise finally and then he would see that she didn’t have a problem with him at all. As she thought about this she realized she was now the one hesitating, which Runaan would have hit her for if she was training with him. “Never hesitate. Hesitation is death.” He would say to her, and while she didn’t think her hesitation now would led to her or Callum’s death, she still found herself anxious about the two of them. In the middle of her thoughts she heard the soft sound of wood whittling, so he was merely focused and not upset. Relieved, she said playfully to him “I hear you, don’t you go dulling out my knife for your silly costume.”

“Hey I heard you scrapping on the tree trunk the whole time I worked, so don’t accuse me of anything. Plus you could probably cut through stone with these things. What are you working on over there anyway?”

“Uh…” Rayla said as she looked down on the root where she carved out a heart surrounding hers and Callum’s initials. “It’s a surprise for you after you show me your disguise.”

“Okay. I shouldn’t be much longer anyhow.” He said absent mindedly to her.

She stabbed her knife violently into the trunk and looked down at her carving. She hadn’t thought about what she was doing initially and only noticed that she was making what looked like a heart halfway through. She normally wasn’t one for ‘mushy couple stuff’ as she would have called this, but when she saw the opportunity she didn’t shy from it. She wrote her own initial in the decorative Elvish script that Ethari had taught her when she was little. She was going to write Callum’s in similar fashion, but remembered him teaching her the basics of the human script. She decided that for what they were to each other it would be more appropriate for her to write his in the human script. When she looked down onto it now, and even while she was writing it, she thought Callum’s initial didn’t match him at all. She thought the human script for ‘C’ was too simple and didn’t illustrate how smart and capable she knew he was. Compared to her own initial which she thought was far too decorative and elaborate for her and didn’t speak to who she was as a person. Not that she didn’t think she was capable, she knew very well that she was. But she felt that the ornateness of the script betrayed her as someone who was more creative and smarter than she really was. To this end she thought that the script used for hers and Callum’s initial should have been switched, but she was fine with waiting for another opportunity, rather than correcting it now. She was interrupted from this thought by Callum who said excitedly,

“Alright I think I’m ready. Get ready to meet elf Callum!”

“It’s about time. Why’d you hide yourself from me anyway?”

“Well I wanted it to be a surprise. How often do I get to be the one who wows you?” He said as he stepped around the tree and Rayla almost gasped when she saw him. He had gathered supplies on their trip through Xadia to assist in making a more believable disguise when the opportunity arose and was secretly hoping to impress her. This was why he didn’t let her see him until his disguise was finished, as he thought that when she saw it done it would be more impressive. He had managed to make markings around his eyes that looked similar to hers, he also applied a blush to his face that gave his skin a tone similar to Moon-Shadow elves, and hidden under his hair where two wooden horns wrapped to his head by a string. He went up to Rayla and grabbed her hands before he said giddy, “I used those blue-berries we found the other day for my tattoos, and the mist-flower’s pollen for my skin, and my horns are just wood attached to a leather band under my hair. What do you think pretty good huh?” Callum said in a rush and he raised her hands in excitement, which Rayla saw beam in his eyes as she looked at him. She didn’t think she could have told him his disguise was bad if it was.

“It looks really good Callum.” She said unsure of what else to say. It was definitely another leg up from just a pair of gloves and a hood, but there were plenty of signs that gave it away as a costume. As she looked over his disguise a wicked idea came over her and she smiled wryly. “But it’s not perfect. Moon-Shadow hair ranges from snow white to grey silver and very rarely black, but never brown.” She pointed to his hair as she said this and Callum closed his eyes while rubbing the back of his head and smiled. She grabbed onto his face which caused him to open his eyes, “You did a good job getting the skin tone right. It helps that the mist-flowers are used for blush but it’s not coming off unless you scrub very hard, and it’ll itch like you wouldn’t believe.” At her comment he already felt his face grow itchy, but he wasn’t sure if it was the pollen or in his mind. She continued and went over his markings meticulously,, “And the markings on our faces are largely symbolic. It’s not crazy to think we might have the same but that might put up a few friendly questions for whoever meets us.” She brought her own face close to his before she continued and said, “And I’ve never seen another Moon-Shadow elf with green eyes like yours.” Callum blushed as their eyes meet.

“Well I guess I’ll just have to wear my hood and gloves like you said.” He said dreamily as he brought his left hand to her face and stared back into hers.

“Yeah. And about that.” Rayla said hesitantly before she grabbed Callum’s left hand. She then twisted around and brought him to his knees as she pinned his hand to the root on top of her carving. “Your extra fingers are the biggest problem with your disguise. So they’re going to have to go.”

She said this as she brandished her knife in her hand. She remembered when she was younger that one of the other assassins did what they called ‘four finger fillet’ on her as a hazing ritual and hoped to do something similar to Callum as a joke. He even had spread his fingers over the root to make it easy on her. She tried it once or twice on herself before but she had cut her fingers by accident, so she went slowly on him to be sure she wouldn’t hurt him.

“Let’s see…” She said curiously as she started to stab the knife between his fingers. She was going slowly as a precaution but still wanted to worry him a bit. So she was forceful in her strikes to keep up the illusion.

“Uh…Rayla?” Callum said as he tried to reach for her with his free hand. After he did Rayla lifted up her leg and pinned his free arm to his side.

She stopped stabbing in between his fingers and tapped each of his deliberately with the flat of her knife as she said, “Your pink-o’s the most obvious choice, but that’s just going to leave you with an extra bit of flesh on the side of your hand, so that’s not going to look convincing. Your index can’t go for the same reason. And you’re going to need your ring finger eventually.” She paused for a moment without realizing what she said and turned to Callum on the ground as she smiled wryly to him again, “You just won’t be able to be rude to your other human friends anymore. But hey, that’s the price we pay for a convincing disguise for you.”

Callum tried to smile back up to Rayla, but he was nervous as he spoke, “You’re not really going to cut off one of my fingers…Are you?”

Rayla looked at him dead in the eye and said, “Try me.” She then threw her knife in between the gaps of his fingers which caused him to scream, “Rayla! My hand!”

“Lighten up will you? I was just joke-” She began to say when she looked down and saw human blood pool at Callum’s hand and her knife cut through his middle finger. In a panic she shouted his name as she let go of him and pulled the knife out of his finger. “Callum? Are you alright? I was just-” She began to say as she grabbed his hand but Callum only pulled it away and hugged it to his chest as he swore under his breath. She tried again to speak to him and stuttered as she said concerned, “You’re alright aren’t you?”

He yelled at her, “No, I’m not alright! You fucking cut me!” He looked at her with anger and tears in his eyes from the pain. Then he looked down and cradled his hand in pain. She was dazed by what just occurred and unsure of what to do. She had seen Callum angry before but never like this, and she still processed what happened. She stepped back unconsciously from him and looked down at her hands and saw his blood on them as she thought to herself,

“I cut off his finger… I cut off his finger!” She must have said this out loud, or Callum knew what she was thinking because he said,

“You didn’t cut off my finger! It’s just cut really bad and you maybe hit the bone. I don’t know.” He swore to himself again, “Just get me something.”

Rayla snapped out of her shock and immediately went to their supplies and began rummaging for the bandages they kept, but in her stress she forgot where they put them. “Bandages, bandages, bandages…Ah! Where’d we put them?” She said to herself as she made a mess of their supplies.

“They’re in my bag with my sketch book.” Callum called out to her, “They should be right next to it.” He swore yet again as he hugged his hand.

Rayla went to his bag and dumped out everything and picked up the bandages that fell out and ran over to Callum. She knelt down with him and pulled his hand away and started to wrap the bandages around his entire hand.

“Callum? Callum I’m so sorry.” She said to him quickly, trying not to cry, “I was just trying to play a joke and impress you with that dumb game the assassins taught me when I was little. I didn’t mean to cut you, you know I’d never hurt you, please I’m sorry.” When she finished he spoke tensely in a manner that suggested he tried to subdue his emotions,

“It’s fine Rayla.”

“No it’s not! I almost cut your finger off!” She said as she grabbed onto his hand and pulled it tightly towards her.

“Well could you maybe just bandage my finger and not my whole hand!?” He said in anger from the pain she caused by grabbing his hand tightly. She was shocked again by his outburst and paused for a moment to look at him. After he saw her reaction he winced slightly and relaxed his grimace. The two of them looked down and saw his left hand completely wrapped in bandages. “I mean no one will notice I have five fingers now but…” He tried to make a joke but it didn’t lift Rayla’s mood. Still tense she unwrapped the bandages from his hand and looked at his middle finger. She couldn’t tell if she cut to his bone like he said as there was dried blood all over it and the wound was still bleeding.

“We have to wash this.” She said with little emotion as she collected herself and ran off to their supplies. Callum protested and said they didn’t have anything to wash it with when she took out a water sack they had for drinking water and brought it over. “Rayla we need that.” He said, knowing they were running low on water.

“We’re right by a town, we can get more.” She said angry, and tried to hide her concern. She poured the water over his cut and wiped it with the bandages harshly which earned a slight wince from Callum as he asked her to be careful. She told him to not a be a baby as she continued to wipe it a bit less strongly. When she was done with the water sack she threw it away and examined his finger. It still bleed so she wrapped the bandages around his finger tightly and tied it off. Even once she was finished Rayla couldn’t stop looking at his hand and would not look at him. After a moment he asked if she was okay and she lifted up her head and said in a hoarse voice,

“Am I okay? Callum I-I’m sorry…” She brought her hand to her hair and began fidgeting with it as she talked, “I wasn’t thinking - and I’m so stupid! I don’t know how I can ever make it up to-” She wiped away the few tears she couldn’t stop herself from shedding as she spoke but was interrupted before she could finish by a kiss from Callum. They closed their eyes and kissed each other for a moment until he pulled away from her and shared hug. She asked almost crying, “You’re not mad?”

Callum breathed in sharply before he said, “I’m fine.” He paused for a moment and said, “But that was dumb. That was really dumb.”

She began to cry again and said uncontrollably, “I know, I know. That was dumb and stupid and I don’t know what I was thinking.”

He shushed her and said gently, “I’ll be fine.” They were silent for a moment as they hugged, and Rayla choked back tears as she did. He continued, “It could always be worse, you could have got me in the heart. Even though you kind of already did.” Callum said in an attempt to be charming.

She almost cried out as she said, “Don’t even think about that! It’s bad enough that I hurt you, but I don’t even want to think about…” She couldn’t finish, and placed a hand over her mouth. A vison of her throwing her knife into his heart flashed through her mind that she couldn’t stop from thinking of.

Callum felt her horror and hugged her tighter as he tried to calm her, “Hey don’t worry. I’m fine, I’m fine. Really.” Then they were silent again and rocked back and forth as they hugged. After a moment Callum said, “I like your carving by the way.”

“Oh my gosh, that.” Rayla said, some tension left her voice and was replaced by embarrassment.

“What? I thought it was cute.” He said jokingly.

“It’s stupid. I don’t even know why I made it. And now your blood’s all over it.”

“Well at least the heart part is more accurate now.” Callum statement earned a slight groan from Rayla, and he took some comfort that she returned a little bit to normal. After another moment he continued with a little hesitation and asked, “Do you really think I think of you as, ‘my little lass?’” He felt the need to ask her as he could never think of her as anything close to a ‘little lass.’ She was a strong, capable, and dependable warrior. Above all else, she was brave and kind. He felt that if either of them had to be called a ‘little lass’ or little anything, it should be him.

“I mean…” He felt her take one of her arms off of him as she fixed her hair before she continued, “We’ve kind of been together for a while now, so… I’d hope so.”

He paused for a moment before he said, still unsure of himself, “Do you…want me to call you ‘my little lass?’”

She exhaled her breathe sharply in a small laugh as she said, “I mean if you did, I wouldn’t mind.” Callum thought he could be very dense when it came to social ques, but even he couldn’t miss that. She wanted him to try a pet name for her, he wasn’t sure if he liked it yet but he wouldn’t definitely try it. At least when the best moment for it to be used arrived. There was another brief pause before he changed the subject and said gently,

“We should probably hurry up and head into town before everyone turns in for the night.”

Rayla pulled herself away to look at him and said concerned, “I’ll go into town myself, you should just stay here and rest.”

“But I worked so hard on my disguise, I don’t want to let it go to waste.”

“Your disguise isn’t so good with your blood all over it.” Rayla said as she and Callum looked down to where he hugged his hand to his body. It had a patch of dried blood on his clothes. “That’s going to make too many questions if somebody sees that.”

He got up and went towards their supplies, “I’ll change into another shirt then, and you should probably clean my blood off yourself too.”

She looked down at herself as she knelt on the ground and saw she still had his dried blood on her hands and a small amount on her clothes. She disconcertingly wiped her hands over the grass and tried to remove it. Then she saw the water sack she threw away some feet from her. She grabbed it and squeezed it over her chest to try and get the last remaining drops of water out to clean her shirt.

Callum saw her do this frantically as he went through their ruined camp for his clothes. Then he asked unsurely, “Don’t you have another shirt somewhere?” He remembered seeing her wear another shirt once or twice during their vacation, but she didn’t bring as many sets of clothes as he did. More often she would only wear her assassin armor and it would stink of her body odor if she didn’t bathe too often. But that did not always bother him, more often he would enjoy her scent for reasons that he was still unsure of. She said frantically to him as she tried to wipe herself clean,

“Not of my armor, and there’s no way I’m changing out of this.” She threw the water sack away towards him and said unsatisfied, “I’ll just have to wear something over it.” As she got up she tapped her head in realization, “I’ll wear my cloak too. That’ll probably be better since we’ll match. Callum where are you going?” She asked concerned as she saw him with a new shirt and his cloak in hand as he started to leave the campsite.

“I’m just going to change into a new shirt. I shouldn’t be more than a second, then we can go.”

As he went out of sight Rayla went over to their supplies to grab her cloak. She groaned slightly as she saw the state she put their camp into with all their stuff strewn out over the place. She decided that the mess could wait until they got back to clean up and sorted through it to find her cloak and what little money they had left. They only had seven coins and she was worried their expenses would be too strained. They didn’t start out with much money when their journey began, as they thought they wouldn’t run into too many opportunities to use it. They originally had thirty pieces, but after paying a familiar friend for passage over the Midnight Desert to Artemia and a few other mishaps they were down to their current sum. She hoped it would be enough to buy medicine, but it might not be enough for some food. At the very least she could forage for food or they would be go hungry for a little while. She put her concerns aside for the moment and found her cloak. Then she draped it over her shoulders and fastened it to cover the upper part of her chest and pulled her hood over her head. Since Callum would have to wear his hood over his head the whole time she thought it would be best if they matched as closely as possible. When she was done she heard him say behind her that he was ready and asked if she was ready as well. She turned around and saw him in a new shirt with his cloak on, his wooden horns made points at the top of his hood, and his scarf was lose around his neck under it. She went up to him and fixed his scarf tightly around him as she said, “The only thing we’re going into town for is some medicine for your hand.”

Callum’s stomach growled, “How about some food too?” He said in response.

Rayla’s stomach growled as well, after which she said, “Yeah. Some real food would be nice.”

____________________________________________________________

There was little daylight left as the sky turned to dim twilight when the two of them made it to the village. It was a relatively small settlement, but it had a few other buildings besides homes where the two of them hoped to find services of some kind. When they spotted it earlier Rayla had scoped it out from a distance but never entered it. She recognized the area as being nearby the main highway but knew the road leading from the village was out of the way to anyone traveling on it. While she had never been to this village before its distance from the border and small size gave it no reason to possess a concealing spell, so they would have no issue entering it. The two of them huddled together out of sight behind a tree up the road from the entrance as they spoke.

“How good of a look did you get when we passed by this place earlier?” Callum said to her as he hugged his hood to his face.

“Pretty good.” She said cheerily, “It’s small but not too far off the main road. I’m sure they must have a few shops or even an inn to get something.”

“Yeah but any guards or people we have to worry about?” He said in a hoarse whisper.

“It’s a village Callum.” She said plainly not bothering to whisper, “But yeah, they might have a night watch setup or maybe even some official guards. But nothing we need to worry about.”

“Nothing for you to worry about sure. But I’m in a no-go territory for humans.”

“Where’s that confidence from earlier?” She said playfully to him, “Isn’t that what the disguise’s for?”

“It is but I don’t want us thrown out, or worse.” He said still whispering between in his teeth.

“We’re not going to get thrown out. Just let me do the talking, and keep you head down. Now come on, I’m starving!” She said as she grabbed his left hand and started to run up the road towards the town. He called out her name and she felt some resistance from his hand. She remembered his injury and lightened up on it as she slowed down to jog. As they got closer to the town Callum could make out two individuals under a lamp by the side of a building. They sat down at a table where they focused intently on a game they were playing. He assumed it was some form of chess from the shape of the pieces, but he was unsure if elves shared the same rules as humans, or even if the game was similar. As they went up the road the person facing towards them got the attention of the other at the table, then he got up and grabbed a lantern as he went to the road to meet them.

“Woah!” He said warily as he shined the dim lamp towards the two of them. He said businesslike in a thick Moon-Shadow accent, “State your name and business.”

Rayla raised her hood so they could better see her face and said cheerfully as she went up to him, “My name’s Rayla, and me and my friend are just looking for a bite to eat.”

He moved the lamp towards the two of them and brought it closer to Callum. It was a foggy yellow, and seemed to be lite by a type of fire-fly as the light danced and faded in and out within it. Callum could see the man was young but older than him and Rayla by a number of years at least. His face was clean shaven, and he appeared physically fit and strong. He had a single marking of a vertical line that went from just above his brow down to his cheekbone over his right eye, and that was the only marking Callum could see of his. The man said somewhat suspiciously as he examined them, “Where are you and your friend from, Miss?”

“I’m from a small village by the Silvergrove.” She said as she relaxingly crossed her arms, “You’ve probably never heard of it. And he’s from up north.” She gestured to Callum, who waved meekly to him with a forced smile. He had on gloves to hide his fifth finger, but he was very conscious of the bandages on his finger that gave a very pronounced bulged to it.

“Does your friend have a name?” The man said without missing a beat.

“His name’s Callum.” She said, still cheery.

“Is he mute too?” He said somewhat annoyed.

“Hi, it’s me. I’m Callum.” He said quietly and waved his hand awkwardly to him.

Rayla leaned towards the man and whispered teasingly, “He’s a bit shy.”

“Aye.” The man said skeptically, “And just what are you two doing here?”

The man spoke in a confused tone, which puzzled Rayla. She replied growing confused as well, “Um…Looking for food. Didn’t I tell you that?”

“No, not that. I mean what brought you here, of all places?”

“O! We’re on vacation!” She said cheerfully.

“Vacation?” He repeated dubiously as he turned his head to the side at her.

“Yeah, a vacation!” Rayla smiled as she went back next to Callum and grabbed his hand. She continued, “We didn’t come looking for this town. The two of us just wanted to get out and see the world, and that brought us here!”

The guard stood and examined the two of them, and for a moment neither of them spoke. Finally he asked, “How long have you two been on this, ‘vacation?’”

Rayla turned to Callum and said more to herself than to him, “A while now. It feels like forever.”

Callum massaged the back of his neck with his free hand as he said, “It’s been a few weeks at least since the Storm Spi….ire.” He spoke without thinking initially and the name of the Dragon Queen’s domain slipped out. He was unsure what exact story Rayla wanted to give them, but he felt that place put a damper on whatever she was going for.

The guard’s skepticism returned tenfold as he asked, “You’ve been to the Storm Spire?”

“Oh yeah!” Rayla said quickly, trying to cover the mess Callum made, “That was the point, of course! Go out and see the world and all that, and now we’re here!” She ended with a small forced chuckle.

The man looked them over once again with renewed interest. He noted their weather stained cloaks, and that they carried almost nothing with them apart from a small bag and an empty water sack. He asked with some concern, “Do you have much money?”

Rayla admitted, “No, not really. We got enough for some food and the basics.” She added reassuringly in case the guard wouldn’t let them into town without some money. She continued bombastically, “But really we’ve just been roughing it. Get that real adventurous experience. Worked pretty good so far, mostly anyway.” She said the last part lowly to herself as she turned away and remembered the recent injury she gave Callum. He turned towards her and forced a small laugh and smile.

The man turned away from them awkwardly towards his counterpart who had sat quietly at their game the entire time. The other guard only shrugged. The one they had been dealing with turned back to them and said honestly, “Fair enough. We don’t get too many travelers aside from lost ones anyway.” He coughed slightly and continued, “Apart from our regular traders that is.” He turned away from them and pointed up the road as he said, “Most of the shops should be closed now but the inn’s open. Follow the main road straight ahead till you get to the center. You’ll see some stalls and the few shops we have there. And you can’t miss the inn to far from it. It’s the biggest building there, should see some lights and hear the noise of it.” He turned back to them, “I don’t think we’re lucky enough to get any music tonight, except maybe Jubal if she’s in the mood for it.” He looked them over once more before he thought something over and said, “If you’re just looking for a bite, speak to the inn keeper and tell them Farkas sent you. He owes me favor.”

Rayla dashed away and towed Callum along as she said cheerfully to them, “We will, thank you! And enjoy your game!” The two of them waved to the guards and they waved back as Farkas said,

“Enjoy your time in Loruthven!”

They made their way towards the center of town, and while Rayla focused on the path ahead Callum took the time to examine the village as they went through it. Multiple homes dotted the area. The buildings incorporated trees and mimicked nature where they could but many of them were no bigger than small hovels built into or around the trees. The trees there were far less dense than the forest that surrounded it, so he was able to see the sky in between the canopy as they marched through it. Besides the homes there were sparce boulders and small stone structures with runes carved into them along the path, but many of them looked to be forgotten to the wayside. He found the architecture and general feel of the town similar to Rayla’s home, but he thought Loruthven lacked much of the grandeur of the Silvergrove. Not to say he thought the town looked dull. While he thought that the town was rather quaint, Moon-Shadow towns were still very new to him, so any and all matters of it peaked his interest. The path they followed was dirt with a few stones lade into it and it was worn down from continuous use by the townsfolk. Besides the elves in the town, he saw small animals scuttling around in between the buildings. Some of them he recognized as ones Moon-Shadow elves kept as pets, and he likened them to cats or dogs, but their behaviors were only vaguely close to them, if at all. One of them was like a racoon with similar body size and appendages, but the face of it was cat like, and it possessed a deep azure coat. His past experience with them said they were playful animals, but very territorial and pack oriented. One of them swiped at a lantern to get the insects within it, and had to be shooed away by someone. The lanterns they passed were lite by glowing insects like the guard’s and hummed in a deep yellow. There were only a few lanterns in the town, and all the ones they passed by were hung from other people’s homes, so much of the path was becoming dim in the oncoming night.

He had been told by Rayla that Moon-Shadow elf communities were very closely knit. According to her if one member of the community was suffering hardships all of the others would pitch in to help them, and any refusal to do so would be greatly looked down upon. After they got out of sight of the guards Rayla pulled her hood back down to match Callum, so as to make him less conspicuous by comparison. The town was close to empty and they only saw a few people as they made their way. The ones they passed by looked at them in surprise and Callum felt some nervousness at their stares. Rayla handled every brief interaction they had with a wave, cheery demeanor, and occasional “hello” or other small remark. She always made a small tug at him whenever they passed by someone, which did not help the sharp pain in his finger, but he kept quiet about it. The townsfolk only paid them a brief glance at every interaction; no doubt they were only surprised when they saw a new face in town and carried on their way. Callum thought that either his disguise was working, or that everyone was too preoccupied with getting home for the night to notice them. He felt relatively secure, whatever the reason was, so he said to her in a low voice while he admired the town, “This is really nice. Are all Moon-Shadow towns like this?”

Rayla slowed down slightly and went next to him as she said, “For the most part, yeah. But this one’s really small. But I guess we are in the middle of nowhere, so it’s expected.”

“What are all these ruins from?” He said as he pointed to one of the stones.

She paused in their march as she took notice of one of them for the first time and said disinterested, “Oh, couldn’t tell you.” She continued to walk and tow him along as she said, “Good old Runaan never gave me much of an education aside from fighting. And Ethari probably told me about them at one point but it never really stuck. That’s more egghead stuff you’d be into.” She said teasingly to him and then playfully elbowed him in the side before she continued, “Good work mentioning the Storm Spire back there by the way.”

“Sorry.” He grunted as he massaged it, “Guess we’re not mentioning the Dragon Queen then?”

She looked around briefly before she said, “Preferably no. Let’s just be an innocent young couple out and about.” She hissed out her next words in a low tone, “I’m definitely not a wanted woman but I don’t think a ‘deserting assassin’ would be welcome here.”

“You really think someone would recognize you for that?”

She thought on his question before she replied thoughtfully, “Maybe, I don’t really know. The Silvergrove’s a big deal around here and word travels fast. There aren’t wanted posters of me or anything, but a young girl trained as an assassin? Only so many people could fit that.” They passed by another person just as she finished speaking, and was worried that they could have heard something. She ended abruptly when she saw them and made a forced smile as they exchanged glances. Her and Callum waved to them awkwardly but the individual paid them little attention and walked past them without trouble.

She let out a sigh of relief but had nothing else to say. Callum said quietly, “But didn’t we save the Dragon Prince? I know the whole warrior-assassin thing is important but doesn’t that count for anything?”

She thought over what he said for a moment before she said reluctantly, “Kind of, but it’s complicated. Even the Dragon Queen’s blessing only goes so far.”

“Yeah, I get that.” He said as he ruminated over his own interactions with the Dragon Queen before they left for their vacation. He agreed with Rayla but he still felt disappointed that no one here could know what she did for the world. He said dishearten, “So that’s it then? We’re just going to lay low?”

“Preferably, yes.” She said flatly before she turned to him and whispered jokingly, “We kind of need to with a human anyway.”

“Are we still going to the tavern then?” He asked curiously.

“Might as well if we can get a meal.” She said lightening up a bit before she turned to him, “Free food is free food. Just let me do the talking like how I did with that guard and we’ll be all set.”

“And was that offer a normal thing that guard did? Meaning for elves?”

“That ‘favor’ thing? Yeah I guess, compared to humans anyway.” Rayla said after she reflected on it briefly, “I think mostly it’s that he feels bad for us, since we’ve been on the road for a while. And he probably think we’re one of those lost travelers he mentioned.” She said the last part as a joke to him.

“Aren’t we though?” He said teasing her.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to see all Artemia had to offer?” She said returning his tone.

“Yes, but I think it would be good if we knew where we were going half the time.”

“Oh, but getting lost is half the fun when we don’t have anywhere to be.” She laughed lightly before she continued, “Plus I know most of the general lay of the land here, I’m never really lost.”

“Yeah.” Callum said flatly as a thought came to his mind. He didn’t want to discuss that again and possibly start another fight so he changed the subject, “How much money do we have anyway?”

“Enough, I think.” She said as she tried to be sure of herself and squeezed his hand tighter, “Somebody should have a salve or something at a stall somewhere and we can get water at the inn.” She turned to him before she continued, “How’s your finger?”

“It’s okay. You’re kind of squeezing it tight.” He squeaked out entreatingly.

At his comment Rayla let go of his hand suddenly and quietly apologized. She rubbed the back of her neck and after a moment crossed her arms and said, “Even if we can’t find anything I could always make something myself. I learned a thing or two from Runaan and Ethari. We’ll be fine.” She said the last statement more to herself than to him, and hes knew it. He rubbed his own neck before he said,

“You know, my other hand is fine.” He waved his right hand to her. “We can hold our other ones if you want.” She gladly agreed without saying a word and readjusted herself on the path as she grabbed his right with her left. Callum loved how their fingers seamlessly interlocked with each other’s whenever they held hands. He was unable to interlock with hers completely because of the gloves, but he still loved to hold hers regardless.

She pecked him on the cheek before she said coyly, “A little different, grabbing each other’s offhand. Isn’t it?”

He replied facetiously in an instant, “If by offhand you mean that almost came off hand, then yeah. Different.”

She let out an annoyed sighed, then leaned her head on him and mumbled, “Don’t push your luck.” And he replied with a laugh.

They walked for a few more minutes until they came to the center of town. It was a small ruin and encircled around it were a few shops that all appeared to be closed for the day. Straight ahead underneath an archway of the ruin Callum saw the largest building of the entire town, presumably the tavern. Out from it shinned lights from lanterns and warm fires, and in the silence of the night the two of them could hear the bustle in it from where they stood if they tried to listen. Before they went to it they wanted to spy out the center more closely in case one of the shops was still open. He thought all the shops would have been rather lacking in the day time. Most of them were only small stalls which were big enough for only a few trays of whatever goods they could sell. He assumed they must have been for produce or an open air market. Besides the stalls he saw a sign for what he believed to be a butcher and a smith, but no sign for a doctor. Just as he was about to finish his search, Rayla called for his attention. She pointed to a woman who swept underneath a stall to the far side of the market. She suggested that they should go over and speak to her for information and then they approached her.

“Let me do the talking.” She said to him before they reached her, and Callum made no response of refusal. The woman’s stall was close up for the night as she swept, and the only thing out were empty shelves and a half full sack on the ground. They approached a small distance from her and only said something when the woman looked up and realized they were there. Rayla waved her free hand and said politely, “Hi. Sorry to bother you, but my friend and me were looking for something specific. Could you help us?”

The woman was old enough to be their grandmother but not ancient. She had similar markings to Rayla’s, was a little plump, and shined with a kind radiance as she spoke to them. “Of course. What do you two sweethearts need?”

Rayla let go of Callum’s hand and approached the woman as she rubbed the back of her neck again. She said embarrassed as she stumbled through her words, “I uh, accidentally…My friend got this really bad cut.” She settled on and continued, “I don’t know if you have something for it, or know someplace would go for it. Cause I’m worried it’s too bad to just leave as it is.”

“Well of course.” She said kindly, “I don’t have much for that myself but I could try to help. Could I see your friend’s cut?” She said as she looked past her towards Callum. Her and Callum’s eyes meet for a moment but he was unable to meet her gaze for long. He looked down and away from her as he clutched his left hand with his right.

“That’s…going to be kind of difficult.” Rayla dragged out.

“Oh, and why’s that?” The woman said curiously. She did not see anything wrong with the way Rayla spoke or Callum acted.

“Well uh, you see…” She stumbled out, as she tried to buy time to think of an excuse. The woman replied with affirmative as she did. Then an idea came to her and she leaned closer to the woman as she said, “The cut’s on his uh – rear.” She whispered the last word sharply to her for emphasis.

“Oh.” Was all the woman said as she processed what she heard. After a moment her eyes went wide in surprise and she responded with a deep, “Oh!” and continued concerned, “Well that will make things a bit harder. How did your friend get cut there?”

“It’s a long story. And kind of embarrassing.” Rayla said as she blushed slightly. She blushed at the concept of her lie, but she was thankful it made it more convincing.

“Oh yes. Of course, of course. No need to worry about it.” The woman said consolingly, “My dear husband got a similar injury after he fell on some tools doing house work. The poor man was sore sitting down for almost a month, even with the medicine the doctor gave him.”

“You have something then?” Rayla said hopefully, “We don’t have much money, but I could trade you something for it.”

The woman laughed softly, “Oh no. That well over a few years ago. But the same doctor’s still here.” She pointed past the center up another road and said, “Follow that path till you get out of town, and a short ways up you’ll see his home. A great big tower taking up a whole tree. You can’t miss it.” She focused back on her sweeping after she finished. Rayla went to grab Callum’s hand and say goodbye to her when she said, “How long will you two be in town for?”

They stopped in their tracks and Rayla turned around to say, “Not too long. We might go to the tavern after we see the doctor but we’re just passing through.”

“Well I was just thinking, you might have better luck finding him in there than his home.” She motioned to the tavern, “He’s usually out wandering about town this time of night. And before you go, you look like you could need some of this.” She bent down to her sack and pulled two fruits out of it. “These were left over from today and they’re too ripe to keep any longer, but I’m sure you could use them. No need to pay me.”

She went up to them and put one in each of their hands. Rayla was overjoyed at her generosity. She was worried that they wouldn’t be able to afford to feed themselves and take care of Callum’s injury. But by the generosity of the guard and the old woman she was sure they would be well taken care of tonight. She thanked her profusely and Callum shared another glance with the woman as he thanked her and walked away with Rayla. The woman waved them goodbye and after they were out of ear shot of her Callum leaned into Rayla and said jokingly, “My rear? Really?”

She laughed lightly at his comment and said, “I had to think of some reason why we couldn’t just show her your cut. Least now we have a story to tell the doctor.”

“Are we going to his house then?” He said as he took a bite of the fruit.

“Well she said we’d have better luck finding him at the inn, and we still have that favor to cash in. So let’s try our luck there first.” She said optimistically and tugged Callum along as they went around the ruin. He was glad he convinced her to hold his offhand, as he imagined he would have felt pain in it as he was tugged along. As they made their way around the ruin Callum took the opportunity to study it more closely. It was a series of menhirs and dolmen that encircled another ring of similar structure, and at its center was a slightly raised mound. Callum thought it appeared to have been a theater, or temple, or some other place of importance like the Moon Nexus, but it was discarded like the stones throughout the town. He admired the ruins as they walked around it and paused for a moment as he tried to find a symbol he recognized or another way to tell what purpose it held. Rayla tugged him along as he stopped and told him not to hold them up. He went along with her at her pushing and was unable to find anything, its significance lost to him. He accepted that it would only remain a curiosity for the brief time they were there and continued with her towards the inn.

The inn was no means big by his standards. It was about the size of a large house and the main hall of the winter lodge could have probably held the entire building. A large tree grew out of its center and vines overtook one outside portion. Its panels were silver-grey in color like the other buildings in the town, and part of the building seemed to lean to the side. They entered it and were greeted by dim lighting and the murmuring of different conversations throughout it. There was a large fire that roared in the back, and few lanterns hung from the ceiling which gave the inn a dim lighting throughout it. It was relatively packed, and everyone was busy socializing at their tables and the bar about one thing or another. Only a few spots were open, and they saw even fewer places were the two of them could settle inconspicuously. But no one gave them a glance or noticed them as they entered, so they thought they would be able to enjoy a meal without issue.

Rayla spied an empty table in the corner and pointed it to Callum as she said, “There’s an empty spot over there. Go sit down and I’ll grab us some food.” She pecked him on the cheek as they parted and she went over to the bar to order something for them. The elves of Xadia never produced alcohol of any kind, so Callum would have been greatly confused by its lack of it. It was similar to bars in the lands of humans only in that it was the area where someone would go if they wanted to be sociable with others. She approached it, and saw the bar was operated by a man. He looked older than Farkas, Rayla thought he looked around middle age or perhaps older. He was slightly top heavy with large, fat hands and he had a thick, dark-silvery grey beard. He let out a hearty laugh that could easily be heard among the bustle of the inn as he conversed with another patron, and he had a smile that wrapped around from one ear to the other. And at each end of his mouth were crescent markings that curled around it. She waited for him to stop laughing before she said politely, “Um, hello. I don’t mean to bother you, but me and my-”

She was interrupted before she could finish by the man who sad loudly in a gruff voice, “What? Can you speak up lass?”

She continued louder, “My friend and I were looking for some food, and we were sent here by Farkas. He said something about helping you return a favor.”

“He did. Did he?” The man said dubiously as his smile disappeared and he brought a hand to finger his beard, “And how’s the favor being returned?”

“A meal for me and my friend. Of… whatever you think the favor is worth.” She would have said ‘of course’ but decided against it, since she did not know what ‘favor’ Farkas had done for the man.

The man scuffed at Rayla’s response and looked her up and down before he gestured to her and asked annoyed, “Any reason why you’re dressed all cloak and dagger? And where’s your friend, is he invisible?”

She raised her hood up so he could better see her face and apologized to him, “Sorry, we’ve just been traveling. Force of habit. And he should be right over there.” She turned around and pointed towards the table she told Callum to sit at. He was hunched over in a chair in the corner and watched her as she spoke to the man. He waved meekly to her and she returned the wave.

She turned back to the man and his expression was unchanged. He continued annoyed, “And why isn’t he up here with you?”

“He’s a bit shy.” She used the same excuse from earlier, but the man didn’t seem anymore satisfied by it. He scoffed again before he called out,

“Jubal? Jubal!” Rayla heard a word of affirmation and turned to see a woman who must have worked at the inn. She was jostled from a conversation she had with another patron, and turned to attention at the call from the man. She was older than Rayla, and she thought she must have been close to Farkas’ age. She had white hair in a bun, was a bit plump, and clutched a pan nervously as she looked towards them. Rayla thought her markings were very intricate and beautiful, she had numerous ones which highlighted her facial features, but over her left eye was a marking similar to Farkas’. The man continued, “Go to the kitchen and grab a meal for this girl and her friend.” Jubal agreed without a word and went off towards a back room of the inn. After she disappeared the man said, “That’ll be four silver pieces.”

She questioned with some concern, “What about Farkas’ favor?”

“That is with his favor.” The man said bluntly, “Normally it’s four per meal, but I’m only charging you for one. Food isn’t cheap around her lass.”

She agreed with the man’s reasoning, and begrudgingly produced the money for him. After he accepted it she took out her water sack and said, “Will you charge to fill this with water?”

“For that, no.” He said and took it from her and went to fill it. While he was gone she took a moment to examine the inn’s patrons more closely. There was a good mix of people there, most of them were around Farkas’ age or a bit older, and she only saw a few people around her age. She was reminded of her own home as she looked around and saw how happy everyone was and thought she would have liked to spend a few days there just to get a sense of normalcy back. She knew that with Callum it was out of the question, they could only hang around and be so close to other people without someone realizing he was a human. She didn’t begrudge Callum for this, she only wished things could have been different. After a moment the man returned with her water sack. He handed it to her and asked, “Is that lad you’re with your sweetheart or something lass?”

“Him? Yeah, I’d like to think so.” She replied fondly as she looked over her shoulder towards him.

“Well make sure he grows a spine. Will you?” The man said gruffly.

After she heard him the smile she had on her face faded away. She replaced it with a scowl as she turned around to him and said tersely, “Aye. I could do that.” She crossed her arms as she finished. And as she looked at the man she thought Callum had a bigger spine than he could ever have.

The man only coughed at the silence that followed to break the awkwardness and said, “Your food will be out in a moment. Jubal will bring it right over.” He waived her away and went back to his other patrons. She replied with a thanks she didn’t mean, and as she walked over to Callum she thought about a dozen nasty words she would have called the man if she didn’t want to be inconspicuous. She stomped over to the table, Callum fiddled his fingers and didn’t notice her until she was at the table. When he saw how upset she looked he asked concerned,

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine.” She said as she sat down next to him and grabbed his wrist before she kissed him lightly on the lips. She whispered sharply into his ear, “That man’s an asshole.”

He looked past her towards the bar where the man was and laughed lightly as he said, “You didn’t hurt him at all, that’s pretty good.”

“I don’t want us kicked out.” She said annoyed, “The most I would have done is say a nasty word or two, but I still want to lay low.”

“Was the favor worth anything?”

She said frustrated, “Not much by the way he acted. Back home I’d pay a coin for a meal; two if I wanted Moon-Berry surprise. But he would have charged us four coins each if it weren’t for the favor.”

“Yikes.” He said alarmed by the differences. “Why’s that?”

“Couldn’t tell you.” She said flatly as she slouched over the table. “He just said something about food being expensive around here.”

Callum reflected on what she said for a moment before he said, “I guess it kind of makes sense. We are in the middle of nowhere. I don’t really know how the economy works here but back home the farther I’d go out from a city the more expensive things would get. Stuff’s just easier to get there.”

She sighed and said, “Whatever the reason is he’s still a jerk.”

Callum patted her back and said soothingly, “Well, let’s just hope the food is good.” After he finished he looked up and saw a woman approach them with plates in hand. He sat up strait and Rayla sat up after she saw her too.

She placed the dishes on the table in front of them along with a drink and said to them, “Here you are. Must be a nice change of pace after being out in the wilderness. Let me know if you need anything else.”

She turned to leave but Rayla stopped her and asked, “Actually we could use one more thing. Jubal right?” The woman turned to her and replied with affirmation. Rayla continued, “We were looking for the doctor earlier and someone said he likes to hang out here sometimes. Is he here tonight?”

“The doctor?” Jubal said questioningly, “No. Haven’t seen him at all today. You need him for something?”

“Yes, but we know where his house is. We can always find him later.”

“You sure? If it’s important I could have someone fetch him.” She looked over both of them as she finished, and took a longer glance at Callum than was usual. He was unsettled by the odd glance she gave him and turned away from her uncomfortably.

Rayla grabbed her attention quickly and said reassuringly, “Thanks, but it’s nothing to worry about. Just some medicine we could use, but it can wait till we’re done eating.”

Jubal was slightly off put by Rayla’s demeanor but ignored it and said resignedly “Alright. If you say so. Just call me if you need anything.” Rayla thanked her again and she went away from them without another word.

The two of them were silent for a moment until she was out of earshot. Then Callum cleared his throat and said quietly, “Now I know how you felt when we had to sneak you around back home.”

She laughed lightly at his comment and said, “Hey, I think things are going pretty good.”

“Yeah but it’s still nerve racking.” He picked up a wooden spoon and poked at his food while he said, “I’ll have to make better disguise next time we do this. Not sure how to get the hair color right though.”

“Your hair’s going to be the least of your problems until we can do something about your accent. If you want others to think you’re a Moon-Shadow elf anyway.”

“I could always do my earth elf impression.” He smiled to her.

She spitted out a small laugh she couldn’t stop and said, “No way. If an Earth-Blood heard you they’d kill you on sight just for that.” They both shared a laughed and then she continued, “Let’s just enjoy the food for now and then we’ll see if we can find the doctor.” She picked up her own spoon and began to eat without another word, and Callum did likewise.

The dishes and utensils provided to them were entirely wooden, including the cups which only had water in them. On his plate was a small assortment of various foods. Most of it consisted of mixed vegetables he didn’t recognize, they were lightly seasoned but a salty taste permeated in all of them. They were various colors and sizes, and he thought they were cooked enough to be mushy. Besides the vegetables were sparse amounts of meat which tasted gamey, with a fruit based dressing drizzled over it. Rayla told him that while Moon-Shadow elves were not vegetarian most of their diet consisted of plants, with sparse meat thrown in. Besides the vegetables was a sort of rice-like grain which was snow-white with a coarse texture, and it tasted overbearingly sea-salty. It didn’t taste bad but he was unprepared for how salty it was, and reeled after he tasted it. After Rayla saw his reaction she said, “The white stuff is sea-rice from down south. I never really cared for it myself but Ethari could never get enough of it. Same for the rest of what’s here, it would have been a real treat for him.” She ended warmly as she thought of her uncle back home and continued to eat.

Callum took another spoon full of the rice and examined it carefully. Before he ate it he said, “You said it’s from down south. How south we talking, Sea-Elf south?”

She replied annoyed while she ate, “Yes Callum. Sea-rice comes from Sea-Elves. If it wasn’t completely obvious.”

He didn’t respond to her immediately, even though he didn’t like the tone she gave him since everything was still foreign to him. He thought over the implications of why a Sea-Elf dish was present in Moon-Shadow elf inn, then he asked her, “Just how far south did you take us?”

She paused eating when she heard his question, then her own realization came to her. She looked down at her plate and realized that it wouldn’t make sense for a small town inn to have a sea-elf dish unless it was readily available. Especially considering how the owner stated food was expensive there. She said slightly surprised, “Huh. Pretty far I guess. Oh well, no biggie. I wasn’t planning on taking you towards them but we can get directions after we leave. The Earth-Blood elves aren’t too far of a trip around them. Then you can meet your relatives.” She ended playfully and continued to eat. Callum was annoyed that she didn’t seem to care how directionless their journey was, especially since he thought she had gotten them lost a few times. He was about to ask how she managed to take him and Zym all the way to the Storm Spire without getting lost when he noticed someone approach their table from the bar.

He was tall, thin, had a darker complexion, and wore more decorative, but not gaudy, Moon-Shadow garments than the rest of town. He had silver hair in a bun with a silver needle through it, and the rest hanged down to his shoulders. He looked young but his eyes held a deep understanding that threatened to consume whoever looked into them. Over his face was a marking in the sharp of an open triangle or a mountain. It apexed on the bridge of his nose and the two lines went down his face and ended just below his lips. Rayla felt his presence or noticed Callum as he looked at him, and the two of them saw him as he made it to their table. “Hello.” He said in a deep, gentle voice, and it put them at ease, “My name’s Aubrey, they said you were looking for me.”

Rayla was slightly confused and said, “Uh, no. Least not for you specifically. Are you the doctor?” Aubrey said that he was, and after a brief pause he looked them over and politely asked if he could take a seat with them. She said that he could; he thanked her and grabbed a nearby chair and sat down across the table from them. After he sat down he folded his hands over the table and said very courteous,

“Now, and no rush since I know you’re still eating, but how could I help?”

Rayla was pleasantly surprised, she was still upset after her bad interaction with the barman and thought Aubrey was charmingly polite. In a way his kindness reminded her of Ethari. She gestured to Callum and said, “He got this really bad cut, and we were wondering if you might have some medicine so it doesn’t get infected or anything. We’d show you it but the cut’s on his, uh, rear.” She fiddle with her hands nervously as she said the last part to him. She was glad she came up with the lie earlier but it still seemed awkward for her.

“I see.” Was all he said before he looked over to Callum and examined him. He said somewhat humorously to them, “You’re sitting rather comfortably for someone with a bad cut on their rear-end.”

Rayla chimed in quickly and said, “Well of course! Callum’s tough!” She then punched Callum on the side of the arm which caused him to let out a small moan of pain. He rubbed the side of his arm and said entreatingly,

“Ow! Rayla…?”

She apologized to him and then heard a small laugh from Aubrey. He said gently as he laughed, “Yes, very tough I can see.” He breathed deeply before he continued, “Well, I don’t have anything here but after you’re done eating you’re more than welcome to come to my home. I’m sure I’ll have something for you there. Is that alright?” Rayla said that it would be. He stood up immediately after she was done and said, “Excellent. I’ll be at the bar and leave you two alone. No need to rush, I’ll be ready whenever you are.” Rayla thanked him cheerfully, and then they saw him walk back to the bar and sit down. They watched him there for a moment before Callum said warily,

“He’s…interesting.”

Rayla said, “Really? I think he’s nice.” She took another bite of her meal as she asked, “You don’t like him?”

“No. But, do you think he suspects anything?” He said cautiously as he turned to her.

“I think the only thing he suspects is that you don’t have a cut on your rear-end.” She said jokingly in between her chewing, “Besides that, so long as he has what we need and he doesn’t ask too many questions he’s fine by me.”

Callum continued to eat his own food as well and didn’t say anything further. He thought the doctor seemed peculiar in a way he wasn’t used to or could completely describe. But he decided not to share his reservations with her, as he was worried he could have possibly offended her. He was unsure if it was merely Moon-Shadow manners and customs he was unused to or if Aubrey was odd in general. He also felt the man had an aura about him that he wasn’t familiar with, and the mage within him felt that was reason enough for suspicion. He looked up from his dinner towards the bar where he sat and studied him for a moment. Aubrey spoke to the other patrons at the bar, but none of them seemed to have any misgivings with him as they socialized. They talked for a moment and then he must have said a joke, as everyone at the bar roared into laughter that could be heard over the general noise of the inn. Callum felt satisfied with his observations and somewhat guilty at his suspicion and went back to his meal. “What that is, is you being judgmental Callum” He thought to himself as he ate. He decided he should have no more concern with him than Rayla or any other member of the town did. He figured if there was a problem they could handle themselves.

Almost as soon as that thought entered his mind Rayla said decidedly without looking up from her meal, “I want you to go back to the camp and rest while I go with him.”

Callum was shocked by what sounded like an order from her and turned to her as he replied, “What? Why?”

She stopped eating and said coolly, “You don’t need to go if all we’re doing is getting some medicine. He’s not going to look at your finger and it’ll just be safer for you to skip out.”

“If it’s safer-!” He began to say loudly but then checked himself after he remembered where he was. He looked around timidly and saw no one noticed, then he continued, “If it’s safer for me not to go why are you going with him by yourself?”

Rayla only stared at him before she brushed the side of his hood up and hissed out, “Hello, Mr. tree-for-horns. Do you want him asking questions?”

“He’s not going to ask anything we can’t answer.” He said firmly.

She asked harshly, “What’s with your confidence all of a sudden?”

“It’s not all of a sudden.” He said defensively as he folded his arms, “What’s with you wanting to ditch me all of a sudden?”

She felt caught by his accusation and said, “I’m not ditching you, I’m keeping you safe.” Part of this was a lie. She did have a small concern that Aubrey could discover he was a human, but for the most part she was sure his disguise was good enough to fool him so long as she did most of the talking. The main reason why she wanted him to go back and let her deal with the doctor herself is because she was sure they didn’t have enough money to afford medicine. She planned on offering to do work for him as compensation, or at the very worst steal it, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Whatever she had to do she didn’t want Callum to know about it. She didn’t want him to feel that he was a burden on them, and because she was responsible for his injury she had to make it right.

Callum did not realize this and only thought her concern was their ability to hide. He said cautiously as he whispered sharply through his teeth, “Safe? From what?” He wondered if Rayla felt similar suspicion to Aubrey as he did. While he decided to disregard his suspicions a moment ago he would be more than fine with renewing them if she felt the same way.

“From him finding out you’re…you know.” She said annoyed and gestured to him as she spoke. They had argued in hoarse whispers but she still felt hesitant to mention everything in case someone could hear.

He disregarded her concern and said, “He’s not going to.” She didn’t say anything in response but he saw her fold her arms and look disapprovingly at him. He reassured her, “He’s not. Like you said all we’re doing is getting some medicine. All we have to do is walk with him, maybe make some light conversation, buy it at his home, and leave.”

She disregarded him and let out a small groan before she brought her hands to her head and said frustrated, “You’re just adding another thing that can go wrong again Callum.”

He was annoyed that she decided to bring up a similar point she made when they argued not too long ago. Previously they had been in a fight with wild animals and Rayla told him to hang back while she handled them. She was almost injured at one point in the fight but Callum prevented it when he placed himself in between the animal and her and used the ‘Aspiro’ spell at the last moment. She appreciated the help later but at the time she was upset he didn’t listen to her, which Callum took as her blaming him. She told him that because she was the more experienced fighter he should listen to her in a fight and that since she was stronger he should be in the back where he could support her with his spells. He agreed that she was the more experienced fighter and that he should listen to her advice, but he felt he was more than capable of handling himself and that they should fight together. She told him that he would get in her way and that having him up front would only add another thing that could go wrong. By the end of their fight he gave into her, much to his disappointment, even though he enjoyed their cuddle afterwards. Ultimately he understood her reasoning for her battle tactics and wanting him to go back to the camp, but he wasn’t going to leave her simply because he didn’t want to. He remembered another point she made about when it was time to stick together, so he brought it up now, “You always tell me to stick close when it’s time to hide. But now when we’re hiding in plain sight you want me to leave? What if I’m caught without you? I won’t really be safer then.”

She gawked before she pointed and tried to start, “That’s – that’s very different!”

“How is it different?” He asked quickly to throw her off.

She tried to find her words but nothing came, she was so angry he used her own point against her. After a second she said, “Hiding in a ditch together is one thing, but trying to keep someone from finding out you’re human is another!” She was angry enough to be incautious in her words but she still spoke in a hoarse whisper. Callum replied,

“How is it? If I’m caught without you I’m dead. Better to just stick close and whatever happens at least we’re together.” She tried to interject in the second he paused but he continued before she could and said decisively, “Whatever it is you’re saying it doesn’t matter. I’m coming. That’s it.”

She paused for a moment at his final statement and leaned back in her seat before she tapped her hands on the table a few times in the silence. An annoyed look came over her face when she realized she couldn’t say anything to make him go back to the camp. She looked to him and he gave her a smug look, then she raised her hands up in defeat and said exasperated, “Fine. Fine. You want to come along, that’s fine. Just keep your mouth shut and it’s fine.”

She ended looking away from him and crossed her arms again. Callum felt that he had won their argument but was worried she would hold this against him later even if nothing went wrong. He still didn’t want her to go alone so he said nothing further and went back to eating his meal. She did likewise and they finished in silence. Afterwards they got up from their table and went to the bar for Aubrey as he made conversation with the other patrons. Almost as soon as they stood up he finished his drink in a large sip and walked over to meet them half way. When he reached them he asked how their meal was, and Rayla responded half-heartedly that it was good. He was satisfied with their response and said very little besides an exchange of pleasantries to them. Before he left he said his good byes to the bar, “Goodnight Conry, don’t let the others string you out too much.”

The man Rayla interacted with earlier responded in between serving his patrons, “Goodnight Aubrey. Careful not to let those two out of your sight. They’re little assassins you know.” He let out a roaring laugh as he ended. Callum and Rayla felt a bit uneasy at his comment, and she let out a nervous chuckle after she heard it. Aubrey jokingly agreed that he would keep an eye on them and waved Conry goodbye before he left the tavern with them.

The outside air was a stark change to the warm, stuffy, atmosphere of the tavern. Callum and Rayla were happy they had their cloaks. The air had cooled and they wrapped their cloaks close around them where before they wore them loosely in the tavern. Night had completely taken over the village while they ate. Besides the dim yellow light of the few lanterns in the village, and sparse fireflies, the surrounding area was illuminated by the light of the moon. Rayla looked up at the sky past the clearing of the town center and spied it, but she would have been able to tell how brilliant it was even if she was blind. It was in waxing gibbous, but still a bit more than a week away from full. Unfortunately for her and Callum she still wasn’t sure how to describe her connection to it. When she t0ried to explain how it felt to gain powers from it she said it felt exhilarating, but as natural as breathing. She also said that trying to explain it to him was like trying to explain an emotion. She focused on the moon for a moment too long and Callum and Aubrey pulled her away so they could continue to his house. She came out of her daze and followed them. She still wanted Callum to wait at the camp, and she had one more trick up her sleeve. Once they were a small distance from the inn Rayla went up to Aubrey and asked,

“Aubrey, could I ask your personal opinion as a doctor?” He was slightly surprised by her question but replied that she could and she continued, “If my friend’s injured don’t you think it’s best he goes back to the camp and rests while I get him some medicine?”

Aubrey stopped walking and turned to examine both of them. After he did he pointed to Callum and said, “If your friend wants to go back and rest, he can since he doesn’t want me to examine him. But if he feels able to he’s more than welcome to come. My personal opinion is that he should if he wants to.” He turned around to the path ahead and raised his hand up before he said positively, “Besides, I have a feeling both of you would love to see my home.”

At his response she let out a small sigh and resigned. She hoped Aubrey would have agreed with her argument and that she could have persuaded Callum to hang back, but she thought all in all it could be worse. She went to grab Callum’s hand so they could hold each other’s as they walked but he resisted and would not give it to her. She was confused but thought she must have grabbed his injured hand by mistake. She went to his other side and reached for that one but he resisted again and folded his arms over his chest in a humph. She understood his hint, but was very surprised by his actions and thought he was extremely petty. She folded her own arms and huffed next to him as they walked. Aubrey noticed this as they walked behind him and he let out a small chuckle that both of them heard. He turned around to them as they walked and asked Callum teasingly, “I take it your injury was the result of a ‘lover’s quarrel.’ Correct?” Both of them were shocked by his question and Rayla let out a mortified “No.” Callum asked how he got that idea and Aubrey responded light-heartedly, “Nowhere. Nowhere at all.” And he chuckled to himself again as they walked.

They continued for a few moments in silence, which left Callum alone to his thoughts. He was unable to read Rayla’s mind but he could tell easily that she was unhappy with him. Yet he was uncertain whether she was more upset that he refused to go back to camp, or that he wouldn’t hold her hand. He understood her worries, especially since he had them as well, but he believed her demands were completely unjustified. No one in town had discovered or at most even suspected he was human. The only hairy interaction they had was with the guard, and that was only because he brought up the Storm Spire. What angered him the most was that she attempted to use Aubrey against him. He thought that even if Aubrey told him to rest at the camp he would have refused and came with them as he said he would have. But Rayla’s attempt to go behind him, even in this small way, was incredibly egregious to him. While he was very upset he thought perhaps his actions were petty as well. He thought she only wanted to keep him safe, so he questioned whether he was right to distant himself from her when she had good intentions. He also desired to hold her hand, which he felt was a stronger push to forgive her. He wondered whether he could be too soft or easily persuade by Rayla because of how much he cared for her, and worried that was a bad thing both for himself and them as a couple. Before he could think deeper on the matter he was interrupted in his thoughts by Aubrey who said idly,

“We don’t usually see too many travelers visit here. Where do you two hail from?”

Rayla looked away from them off into the distance and responded gently but still peeved, “I’m from around the Silver Groove and he’s from up north.”

Aubrey turned around as he walked and said curiously, “How much farther north? A bit more past the Silver Groove or out of Artemia?”

Rayla turned to him and said annoyed, “Why are you asking?”

He turned away from them unoffended and shrugged before he said, “Just making conversation.” They walked for a for more seconds before he asked, “How long have you two known each other?”

“Rayla and I meet a few months ago.” Callum said, “We’ve really just been traveling since then, because we wanted to see the world and all.” He picked up the lie she told the guard from earlier. He found it easy to tell since it was all true, it just excluded details other wouldn’t understand.

He saw Aubrey scratch his chin from behind as he said, “That’s right, the two of you saw the Storm Spire didn’t you?”

Callum felt a pit fall into his stomach after he heard that. Rayla turned her head quickly to him and asked dubiously, “Where’d you hear that?”

He responded without emotion, “I was out of town on a walk and ran into Farkas after you left him. I like to keep tabs on the village, since I’m responsible for their wellbeing. And he told me about how you two had apparently been all across Xadia to the Storm Spire.” He turned around and smiled to them before he said, “That must have been quite the trip.”

Callum stuttered as he said, “Uh…yeah it was really a trip.”

Before he could say anything further Aubrey said enthusiastically, “I’ll say. The closest way to it is a three week march in either direction around the Midnight Desert. How was that journey?”

He stuttered for a second as he thought of a response but Rayla said kindly, “It’s a really long story.”

Undeterred, Aubrey continued, “I��m sure it must be, but I’d love to hear it. Did you two go by the North or South route?”

She responded very curtly, “Like I said. It’s a really long story, and I don’t want to be rude but we’re really just tired from traveling for so long. Otherwise we’d tell you all about it.”

Aubrey apologized and said sympathetically as turned to the path, “Of course, my apology. If you’ve been traveling for as long as you say you must worn out. You choose the perfect place to rest, Loruthven might not have much to see but it’s very calm.” He turned to face them again and asked, “Do you think you’ll be staying long?”

Rayla drew out her response as she thought about it herself, “Uh…We’re not sure actually. We’re camped not too far from here, but we’ll probably just rest a day or two before we move on.”

“Strange.” He said more to himself than them, “I don’t know how you two could be so tired you can’t speak but ready to leave in little more than a day.” He paused for a moment for them to respond, but neither of them said anything besides a contemplative moan. He turned back to the path and disregarded them with a wave of his hand as he said, “But as young as you are I can’t imagine you want to be still for any longer than you have to. I was the exact same way when I was your age. There was always something else to see. Speaking of which, we’re here!” He ended as he extended his arms ahead in exclamation.

They made their way through the forest outside of town into another opening where Aubrey’s house was. His home occupied a fair amount of land, a small iron and stone wall encircled his property and bore similar designs and runes to that of the stones found within the town. The gateway was open and when they passed through it they saw a beautiful garden that took up a vast majority of the grounds. They were bewildered by the beauty of it, and looked around themselves as they struggled to take in everything at once. Callum saw menhirs and dolmen dotted around the garden like statues, but they were very well kept unlike the ones in town and all of the runes engraved into them were legible. Rayla grabbed his attention as she pointed out the numerous trees, hedges, plants, and colorful flowers of the garden. He took in the beauty as it was brought to his attention, but he was drawn to a very special tree in the garden. It seemed to beckon him to it by an empowering radiance, that appeared to be more than a simple chance encounter. When his eyes saw it he grabbed Rayla’s hand and called her to look at it and her breathe was taken away when she saw it. Off on one side of the garden, placed in an area of honor was a beautiful tree that wasn’t the largest in the garden but it was easily the most distinguishable. It appeared similar to an elder tree and bore fruit that looked similar to elderberries, but the tree itself exuded a silvery luminescence in the moonlight and its berries appeared to have dim stars glowing within them. As they looked at it they were filled with a calming radiance that neither of them were sure how to describe.

Aubrey approached them as they were captivated by it and said gently, “You have a keen eye Callum.” They were struck from their daze and both to turned to look at him as he spoke, “This is a very rare tree that was once common in Loruthven and long ago in all of Artemia. Its true name is lost to time, but it’s more commonly known as a ‘Moon Tree.’”

“Moon Tree.” Callum said the name to himself. He felt the name did not capture its magnificence but he pondered on its meaning all the same. “It’s close to the Moon Arcanum?” He asked.

“Yes, more so than others. But its significance could be said another day. Are you a scholar of the arcanum.”

“No, not really.” He replied quickly, but gently. “It’s just beautiful is all, and I get where the name comes from.”

“Indeed.” Aubrey said as he looked and admire it himself. He ended his gaze and turned to them before he said, “I happy to see you made up quickly.” He gestured to their hands, which they had held unconsciously the entire time. They both looked down and after they realized it they were a bit flustered. Part of them felt they had not been angry with each other long enough to make up yet, such was the unspoken game they played, but they did not stop holding hands. They were happy to enjoy the garden together, and even if they could not say it to each other, they knew what each of them were upset over was not worth it. Aubrey spoke again and said, “But we’re getting side tracked, I should have what you need in my home. This way please.” As he said this he made a straight line towards a large tree in the center of the garden.

Rayla and Callum were very impressed by the extravagancy of his home compared to the rest of the village, but they had only taken notice of the gardens and failed to notice his house. As the old woman said his house was a large tower that took up the entirety of a large oak tree. The tree itself appeared to be ancient but very healthy despite the tower built into it. From the outside they could see windows, doors, and balconies built into and outside of the tree, and it appeared to contain many floors within which lead to the top until no further additions could be seen behind the foliage. They approached the front door which was light purple in color with silver knobs and hinges. They marveled at it for a moment before Aubrey produced a key. He went inside and they tried to followed him but before they could he closed the door behind him without a word. They were puzzled that he left them outside without any mention and Rayla turned to Callum as she asked, “He did say, ‘This way please’ right?”

“Yeah. I thought he did.” Callum said confused.

“Maybe he’s getting the medicine inside to bring out to us.” Rayla said, and Callum agreed with her. They waited outside for a moment but Aubrey did not appear. Rayla knocked on the door and after a second they were surprised to see it open it a crack.

Aubrey poked his head out and said, “Yes? Is something the matter?” He seemed to be as confused as they were.

“Uh…no. I don’t think so.” Rayla began to say slowly, “But… could we please come inside?”

At her request Aubrey brow’s picked up in surprise, and he opened the door wide to them as he said apologetically, “Yes. Yes absolutely. Please come right in.” Rayla and Callum both looked at each other before they went in and shrugged. They were unsure what to make of the situation but assumed it was a simple slip of the mind on his part. They entered his home and were greeted by a wave of warmth that was almost overbearing compared to the night air. It wasn’t stuffy but it smelled like an old home, with furniture and walls from ages past. The inside was dimmer than outdoors since the entranceway possessed few windows to allow light in, and a few unlit glass lamps hung from the walls. Aubrey closed the door behind them gently and ushered them to a side room. When they entered it they realized the heat emanated from that part of the house. It was a side parlor that was dimly lit by a calm, orange glow from a fireplace in the wall. They could make out green seats arranged in a sitting area close to the fire with a matching rug on the floor, and cabinets lined the walls along with old paintings and other artwork. Once they entered the room Aubrey turned to them and said upset with himself,

“Please forgive my rudeness. I live out here on my own and always close the door behind me out of habit. When you didn’t follow me I just assumed you were admiring the workmanship of the house and I began putting my things away before you knocked on the door.” He rubbed his hands over his face exhausted before he said apologetically, “I should have invited you inside. My sincerest apology.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Rayla said as she removed her hood from her face. The warmth of the room made it unbearable to have it on, and she felt bad for Callum since he wouldn’t have the luxury to remove his.

When she removed it Aubrey grew a worried look on his face and approached her as he stuck a hand out towards her. His facial expression and gesture gave her anxiety and she unconsciously steeped away from him as Callum began to step between them. Aubrey asked in a concerned voiced that soothed both of them, “Rayla, did you cut yourself too?” He presented part of her hair forward that was covered in dried blood.

Her eyes went wide and she remembered all of Callum’s blood she got on herself when she injured him. She thought she must have touched her hair before she wiped her hands clean but she couldn’t remember. She pulled her hair back and said nervously as she fiddle it, “Oh no. That must be from Callum after I tried helping him. Must have gotten it all over myself without realizing.” She made a small forced laugh, as Aubrey brought his hand that touched her hair to his face. He seemed to smell his fingers and then a shocked expression came over his face which concerned both Rayla and Callum. Then after an instant Aubrey’s expression changed to disgust and he let out a violent coughing fit as he said in between coughs,

“Excuse me…I must have touched something foul earlier…just… a moment and I’ll get your medicine…” He excused himself from the parlor as he coughed and left the two of them alone. Even after his cough faded away into the house they only stood in the parlor, dazed by what happened. A second later Callum looked to Rayla, who looked off towards the direction Aubrey went, and brought his face to her hair and breathed it in. His sudden gesture snapped her out of her daze and she pushed him away as she said embarrassed,

“What are you doing?”

He stuttered for a moment as he said very warmly, “I mean…I didn’t think it smelled bad.”

Rayla blushed and walked away from him towards the couches as she said, “I know it doesn’t. It’s probably your blood and whatever else is mixed with it that he couldn’t stand.” She sat down and crossed her arms.

Callum sat down at her right and said teasingly, “Uh, probably not. More than likely I’m just used to your pungent musk by now. When was the last time you took a bath by the way?” He stuck his head towards her obnoxiously as he ended.

She pushed him away lightly and said annoyed, “More often than you, I bet.”

He was unable to keep out a small chuckle as he said, “No, I’m pretty sure I bathe more than you. By a lot actually. I think even Ezran bathes more than you, and he hates baths. He told me once that when he’s King he’d outlaw them. But frankly I’ve always enjoyed them, even the outdoor ones. That’s why I’ve been so keen on finding a nice little waterfall or stream for us to clean our stuff in every so often. You really should use the next one we find. Or change into another set of clothes every once in a while. ” She replied with affirmation in between each of his statements but he went on until she almost yelled out,

“Alright I get it!” He reeled back at her response and they looked at one another for a moment. He was slightly taken aback by her outburst and he could see she was angry, but it only hid her embarrassment. Silence returned and she continued, “I’m a pig and stink like one too. No need to rub it in.” She brought up her knees and hugged them as she stared into the fire. Which consumed her fascination as Callum spoke,

“I didn’t say that. Just that maybe you could clean up in river every once in a while.” She rolled her eyes at him but he continued, “And I didn’t say I don’t like how you smell. And honestly…” He blushed as he continued embarrassed, “Honestly if anything I kind of like it.” He said in a rush.

“You what?” She turned to him in surprise but he could not look at her. He continued and grew more embarrassed as he went on,

“I mean…” He struggled to put the thoughts he’s had into words, “You’re…really athletic.” He turned to her quickly and smiled sheepishly as he occasionally dropped her gaze, “And I guess, whenever you fight, or work, or push yourself. – I mean – You get really sweaty.” He swallowed, “And just seeing you like that and then knowing what you smell like when you’re like that. It…it does something for me.” They shared look with each other after he finished. But he couldn’t even look at her for more than a second before he turned away embarrassed. He felt his cheeks get warmer and looked into the fire and thought it would feel cool compared to his face.

Rayla didn’t say anything for a moment. She brushed part of her hair behind her ear and turned to him as she said embarrassed, “You like when I’m sweaty and gross?”

He turned to her to speak but only opened and closed his mouth as he tried to decide and find his words. Eventually all he said was a definitive and sudden, “Yes.” A shocked look came over Rayla after he said it and he had to look away from her. He thought she wouldn’t understand what he meant, and wondered if he even understood himself. He worried that she would think he’s weird or gross, and thought that was exactly what she believed now.

As he felt this way she grabbed his left hand softly, and he turned to her after she did. She looked uncomfortable and said as she looked in his direction but towards the floor, “I don’t mind if you do. In fact I…kind of like it.” She looked him in the eye as she finished but only for a moment, and Callum saw her blush.

“You do?” He exhaled more than spoke as relief entered him.

“Yeah.” She drew out slowly and then tried to be wryly, but she was still embarrassed as she continued, “And if you want, maybe we can…get closer, next time I am.” She tried to look at him in the eye again, but she couldn’t.

“Yeah.” He said breathlessly. She turned to him after he did and he continued, “I’d like that.” They looked at each other for a moment as they both blushed and smiled like idiots. Nothing else was said between them, and then without realizing it they inched their faces towards each other. They closed their eyes when they were about to touch and kissed each other gently. It was a small but passionate kiss when they started, but it quickly grew more intimate and involved. Neither of them was the sole initiator, as was typical when they kissed, but they both found themselves wanting more of the other. Callum reached up with his good hand towards her hair. He let it fall in between his fingers and then went up to her ear and around to the back of her head and pulled her closer for the kiss. Rayla liked to be handsy whenever they kissed in private. She was conscious that they were in someone’s home but she reached up under his scarf and groped his neck and collar bone with her right hand. He let out a small shiver, as was typical whenever she did something like that, but they did not slow. They stayed like this for a second until Rayla grabbed his left hand and squeezed it tight unconsciously. The pain he felt in his hand caused him to retreat from their kiss for a second but he did not say anything. Rayla noticed this and softly asked concerned,

“What’s wrong?” She squeezed his hand tighter, as the moment made her forget his injury.

Callum winced and said, “Nothing. But maybe…” He gestured to his hand and Rayla instinctively retracked herself from it as if it was fire. She scrunched her face up in anger and lowly called herself stupid under her breath. He tried to reassure her and said her name as he began to reach for her again. He didn’t want to stop, he just wanted her to be gentle with his injury. Before he could get much further he was interrupted by Aubrey who said,

“Pardon me.” When they heard his voice they both looked towards him and saw that he stood in the middle of the room a few feet in front of them before the fire. They did not notice when entered the room, and while they both were very much occupied they felt that he almost appeared suddenly before them. He continued, “I don’t mean to interrupt but I should have something for your friend.” He put out his hand which held a small vial with a grey substance within it. They began to get up from the couch and he continued, “I understand that because of the nature of your injury you’d prefer me not to see it, but this should help with the healing and pain of it if you apply it daily.”

“That’s great.” Rayla said relieved and went up to him, “How much for it?”

“Fifteen silver pieces.” He said plainly.

When she heard the price she felt her heart dropped into her stomach. She understood from the tavern keeper that prices where more expensive there, but she thought it must have been five times more expensive than what she would have bought back home if she had a cut. She began to say desperately, “We-we got three pieces now. But I’m sure we can figure something out, can’t we?” She began to walk closer to him as she spoke and Callum followed her and said her name gently.

Aubrey dismissed their worries and said, “Yes, of course we can. I do need of a few household chores done actually. Ingredient shopping, delivery, cleaning, firewood chopping.” He turned to the fire at his last comment and admired it as he said, “The fires seem to be dying now, speaking of which.”

Rayla said, “Yeah, it must be getting late. I’ll give you what money we have and be here first thing in the morning.” She held out her hand but Aubrey pulled the vial away and said softly,

“There’s no need to leave now.”

She continued anxious, “Well, not to worry you but our camp is a good walk away, and we kind of need this. So if we could just uh, grab it and go-” She made another step towards him but Aubrey held up his hand and said,

“No. Like I said there’s no need to leave. You two are more than welcome to spend the night.” Neither Callum or Rayla said anything but they both let out a prolong, “uh” at his offer. Aubrey dismissed their refusal and gestured them to the hallway and asked them to follow him, which they hesitantly agreed to. He guided them through the halls of his home as he said, “I have a guest room with a bed for each of you. It’s where my niece and nephew stay when they visit but they haven’t been here in a while.”

Rayla said, “That’s really kind Aubrey but we couldn’t possible put you through the trouble.”

He again dismissed their worries, “Oh no, no trouble at all. I absolutely love the company.”

She tried to dissuade him as she was sure they would have trouble keeping the lie and said, “Sure and we appreciate it, but me and Callum really like our privacy.”

He said confidently, “And privacy you shall have. Right this way.”

It was a short walk from the parlor to the room he spoke of. It was on the second floor up a narrow winding stair case down the hall to a small door at one corner of the house. He opened it to a small dark room. He stepped inside and tapped at two small glass lanterns at either wall, and they lit up by fireflies that danced within. There were two small beds at each side of the wall with enough space between them for two people to stand snuggly together. The bed on the left had a cyan blue blanket, and the right was red. Both of the blankets looked faded from use, but the beds were neat and still looked very comfortable. High at the back wall was a small window that let in moon-light, and at the foot of the beds were two small pine drawers. Their smell permeated the room. After they got a look of the room Aubrey stepped out and said, “This’ll be your room for as long as you stay here. There’s a chamber pot down the hall, and I only ask you clean up after yourselves if you use it.”

They both thought the room looked cozy and would have loved to spend the night after traveling through the wilderness for the past weeks. But they were hesitant that Aubrey could’ve discovered them. Rayla said, “This is really nice, but we can’t stay.”

“Well why not?” It was a simple question, but she was hard press to give an answer to it. Callum was the one to answer and said,

“We can’t just leave our camp. What if someone takes our stuff?”

Rayla thanked him in her head for the cover, but Aubrey was undeterred and said kindly, “Your camp will be just fine if left alone for one night. We have so few travelers here, and even fewer thieves.” They had an odd but pleasant feeling as he said this, and by the way he looked at them so warmly. They felt very much at ease as he continued, “You can work off your debt while you live here. And I know you want to keep your injury private, but at least if you stay here I can get an idea of how my treatment is working. Plus, I think you two have earned one night in a warm bed.” Rayla looked at Callum under his hood for a moment but neither of them spoke as they thought over his offer. Aubrey said to the silence, “And of course you’re more than welcome to join me for breakfast tomorrow. I make a delicious Moon-berry surprise.”

At Moon-berry surprise Rayla was heartbroken. It was so long since she last had one, but she couldn’t make Callum spend the night while hiding. She was about to regrettably refuse his offer when Callum said, “I’ll probably skip on breakfast. It sounds nice but I’ll just try to rest my rear if that’s alright?”

“Of course, no problem at all.” Aubrey said and presented the vial to him, “Dab your finger into it and only apply the ointment that comes out sticking to it. Do that every day until it runs out or your cut heals. Do you understand?” Callum replied that he did and Aubrey turned to Rayla and continued, “I realize you’re short on money so I’ll let you keep what you have. You’ll just have to do a bit more work for me in return. You could even stay and work for me for extra money after you repaid your debt if you want.” He paused for a moment before he added, “I ask that you please don’t explore my home until I show you around more tomorrow, but do you need anything else?”

Rayla replied dazed, “I - no. Nothing at all.” She turned to Callum and said, “You’ll be fine staying here?”

Callum said, “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

Aubrey interjected, “Considering your friend’s injury I’d think you’ll be more than fine staying here for bit. Anything else at all before goodnight?”

They replied that there wasn’t, so he wished them goodnight. He told them the lamps would dim themselves if left alone and went to his quarters. They entered their room and closed the door behind them, and Rayla sat down on the Cyan bed to examine it. It felt somewhat stiff but a far cry from sleeping in the wilderness. She tapped at the bed before she turned to Callum and said, “You don’t mind?”

Callum removed his hood and wiped his brow as he said, “Sleeping in a bed? No. It’ll be annoying to spend the day locked in here without my sketch book, but I’ll manage.”

He sat down at her left, and she leaned on him as she said, “I can always grab it for you if you want.”

“No, better that you just do whatever work he has in mind so we can leave before tomorrow ends.” He grabbed her hand and said sweetly, “Do you want to share a bed?”

She smiled wryly and leaned into his face before she said, “Nope. I’m good.” She got up from the bed and went over to the other with a small bounce.

“What, but why?”

“Oh, cause I’m still just a little bit mad at you.” She said teasingly and began to remove her cloak.

He let out a small moan, “Aw, but why? This’ll be nice, and we’re safe here.”

“I know we are.” She removed her armor and revealed her undershirt. Her armor still had dried blood on it from earlier. She wrapped her cloak around it and stowed it inside the drawer. She said still teasing, “But now I have to make sure he doesn’t bother you too much while I do all the heavy lifting tomorrow.” She turned to him smiled and said not angry at all, “So I’m still a little mad.”

He folded his arms and said grumpy, “I’m still mad you cut me but I thought we made up?” She let out a small wince she thought he didn’t notice. He continued, “It’s fine now. We got medicine and I’m sure it’ll heal up in no time.” He paused as he waited for a response from her but she didn’t say anything. He said, “Is there another reason you don’t want to?”

She relaxed and went to kneel on the floor in front of him. She said tired, “No, not really. I’m just not in the mood right now. Okay?” He replied that he understood. She touched his face and said, “Tomorrow when we’re back on the road we’ll cuddle all night. Deal?”

“Deal.” He said, and the two of them leaned in to kiss each other. After they parted she told him to apply the ointment before bed. He said he would and pulled off the cork of the vial; he was greeted with a harsh acidic smell. He removed his gloves and bandages to get at his cut. When he did he felt minor pain as the bandages exited his wound, and subdued a small grunt from the pain and dipped his finger into the solution. He felt a sharp discomfort in his finger after he did, but from his experiences with medicine it was expected. She helped him reapply the bandages just as the light of the lanterns faded. Then she got up and went to her bed and said goodnight to him, and he returned the sentiment. He removed his horns, cloak, scarf, and shirt and placed them on the drawer before he settled into his bed. He was happy that the blush from the mist-flowers would last until he took a bath, but he already felt itchy like Rayla said he would. Despite his itchiness and pain in his finger he relaxed into sleep and a deep peace came over him that he had not known since before he was out in the wilderness.

He dreamed lucidly but it only carried him to a small room like the one he slept in. He dreamed he was alone in bed and was shackled to it by an unbearable fatigue and could not leave it if his life depended on it. He tried to look to his side for Rayla but he could not see beyond his bed. Then a shadow of a silhouette of a person appeared before his bed. He felt its presence was close to the aura of the moon and thought it was her but, that it was distorted and shadowed. She drew closer but it she seemed a hundred miles away even so close as she was. She leaned down to him and kissed him lightly on the lips, he tried for more but she retreated as she leaned over him. He thought he saw he smile before she kissed his lips once, and then began to kiss down his face until it reached his neck just above his collar bone where she touched him earlier. The kisses started light but grew until they reached his neck, where she almost consumed him. At the climax he felt all of her weight on him and a fatigue worse than before, but immense pleasure he had never known before. He felt consumed by her and desired it, he tried to reach around her and embrace her but he was too weak to even do that. Eventually his dreamed faded into a black void, full of neither rest nor peace. Until he awoke the next day.

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Post Commentary

(Small update at end of chapter) I shall disappear now that this chapter is posted. I’ll update either this story or ‘Date Night’ whenever I see fit, and expect these comments to be deleted upon an update or in preparation. If you have further questions contact me here or on my Tumblr. Peace for now.

#rayllum #rayla #callum #the dragon prince #staff help me please...

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