#i love u aaravos

[redr0sewrites]

HEY!

So, I really liked your two Aaravis fics, and I have an idea/request. You don't have to do it if you don't feel like it of course.

So there is that dark mark on Aaravos's chest. And we know that it became dark after his imprisonment. Now the idea is that the reader either knew Aaravos *before* it lost it's shine, and like, later got trapped in the mirror too and reunited with him, or maybe met him in the mirror and asked about the mark. And like, asks Aaravos why it lost it's shine, and after hearing about the things, instead of looking at him differently, or scared, they see that Aaravos is sad, so they preform a little trick. So they make a little light ball, making it look like they took it out of their heart and then place it on Aaravos's chest (where the dark star is), and saying that "It's okay, you can have my light" or something like that, idk....

Like, the concept is just reader accepting that darkness, and cherishing it and all that cheezy, fluffy stuff. Like I said, you aren't obliged to write this, this is just a random idea my maladaptive daydreamer self came up with. Have a lovely day, take care, and thanks for feeding us Aaravos fans with your lovely work!

AAAA TYSM THIS REQ IS SO GREAT!!! I love this idea, it made me so excited ajsjdj HOPE U ENJOY!

🥀CW: angst (with happy ending), fluffiness, aaravos being insecure, mentions of trauma and suffering/containment

when the news of aaravos' imprisonment reached you, you were shocked. how could he have been discovered, he had been so careful and meticulous in his planning, and all of his motives were for the good of humanity! you, and many other elves who supported him were not only surprised, but also outraged. to trap a startouch elf, to take your lover away from you... you knew you could never rest until you could see him again. years of pulling strings, gaining popularity, playing the puppeteer behind the scenes had led you to this moment. you had fought for centuries, sacrificed so much to see him again, and here you finally were. before you stood aaravos, your star touch lover, in all of his glory. it had been so long, and your heart seemed to sing at the sight of him. and yet, something was different.

when aaravos first saw you, he thought he was in a dream. you had appeared to him on so many nights, only to fade away once the morning came, slipping through his fingers like sand. the memory of you, your face, your voice, your touch, it all felt like a painful distant nightmare that played throughout his head every single time he closed his eyes. he had missed you so, so much, yet he knew he had changed. not only mentally, years of imprisonment had long since broken him, but physically as well. the glowing star on his chest had faded from a shimmering splendor to a cold ember, with nothing of its former glory remaining. he couldnt help but feel ashamed at its bleak emptiness, a disgusting mark of his failure and imprisonment. however, he would not focus on it now. you were here, in front of him, and he was free.

"my star.. is it truly you?" his voice was soft, broken and cracked from the emotions swelling inside him. you didnt dare open your mouth, knowing you would probably begin to sob and nodded, your eyes were already brimming with tears. the both of you rushed forward suddenly, throwing your arms around eachother and weeping with joy. you both stayed like that for a while, entangled in eachother and whispering softly. you werent sure how long you layed there on the floor, however it soon began to grow dark. ever so gently, aaravos layed the two of you onto the floor, his hands shaking as though afraid he would break you. as you stared at him, you couldn't help but ponder a certain change on your lovers skin.

"where did it go?" you ask softly, motioning towards his chest. he looked at you in confusion and you added for clarification, "what happened to the star on your chest? why doesnt it glow anymore?" you couldn't help but feel you made a mistake, as you watched the flicker of shame and disgust cross your lovers face.

"it faded, along with most of my powers, when i, well.. when i fell and was imprisoned" aaravos answered softly. his voice was so fragile, barely a whisper as he spoke. "it is simply a blight upon my skin, a mark of my failure and punishment. a cruel scar. it paints me as nothing but a lightless monster, a burden, and a villain." disdain and self disgust seemed to leak from his voice, and he shuddered as he spoke. pain filled your heart at his words and you reached out to rest a hand on his chest. you wished there was a way to undo all the centuries of pain and trauma the both of you had endured while separated, and you wished you could help him understand his beauty.

"you are none of those things aaravos, that is just what the other dragons and elves want you to believe. however, i know that you are special, beautiful, and so, so strong because of your differences and you have fought and suffered for what you believe in. this star is a mark of your perseverence, and it is nothing to ever be ashamed of." you gently pulled your hand away, and placed it on your own chest. using some simple magic, you made your own hand glow with a soft orb of white light resting on your palm.

"you don't have to bear the weight and darkness of your burdens alone. let me share my light with you, and share your darkness with me." you reached out, pressing the glowing ball against his chest and watched a small, pained smile break through the sadness and doubt that had resided on aaravos' face, and he covered your hand with his.

"thank you my love, thank you for finding me, and for always reminding me of the light and the love that we share." he leaned in, resting his unoccupied hand on your cheek and pressed his forehead against yours lovingly.

"i love you until the end of time, and i believe that our love will last as eternal as the light that we share." his words seemed to touch your very soul, and released a flutter from your heart. for years you had drowned in your own misery, but you felt like you could finally breathe again. he was back, and you two were reunited. nothing would stand in your way every again, and neither of you would ever be separated by anyone or anything.

I HOPE THIS WAS TOO YOUR LIKING, THIS WAS SUCH A COOL REQ THANKS FOR REQUESTING!!! REQS ARE STILL OPEN, FEEL FREE TO REQUEST ANYTIME! this was such an emotional thing to write, and i genuinely really like this lmao tysm for the idea and inspiration!

[salty-and-spiraling]

This little detail in ep1 of tdp s6 makes my heart scream

The way the fear on his face is so obvious when he sees the star symbol light up! I can imagine the main two thoughts running through his head in that moment:

1. Aaravos was there, somehow controlling him

2. He should've thrown the cube in the lava river at Umber Tor but he didn't because he's just like Viren

*Callum's thoughts and opinions, not mine!

Bonus:

Stella being adorable 😍

[lolabearwrites]

I'd like to think that being in Xadia for a few years is what made Aaravos want to have a child :3

[raayllum]

and honestly it makes perfect sense that Aaravos being able to possess people is primarily about them doing dark magic > any of his remaining pull over star magic because like... "I won't hide in the body of another while someone else dies in my place" was the very first real dark magic spell we saw offered and saw be rejected, now Aaravos is taking that to its natural nightmarish conclusion of enforcing that exact same scenario regardless of any even notion of the vessel's consent. Yeah

[thrandilf]

TDYTYK Terry to Aaravos: I bet being connected to the world again is really overwhelming. Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help? Take as much time as you need to get your bearings Canon Terry to Aaravos: You're too big, I hate you, and I want to go home

[mysweetkuromi]

I just wanna thank Beyonce for making my posts blow up

[tategaminu]

Rayla remembering Callum saving her and holding her, she recalling his words in the desert, their moment together in such a romantic and nostalgic way, knowing who she is thanks to his words, kind words she didn't hear before, knowing in that moment where her home is, not in the place that didn't accept her but with the person she truly loves.

Her heart isn't for Xadia anymore, is for Callum: the best thing she ever had.

[crazymecjc]

oops, all aaravos :))

[petorahs]

me, gearing up to explain why the dragon prince's latest seasons have continued to disappoint me, that while i love the lore and worldbuilding and characters there are clear pacing issues that are so jarring it takes me out of the experience, and that i say all of this with great love for the series but there's only so much good concepts can do before animation has to catch up in order to retain the average viewer's attention. that although season 4 and 5 have been branded as "the mystery of aaravos" the titular character barely appears and that is a crime to me, that even if it's for the suspense and intentionally leaving the viewer/main characters in the dark it's not doing a good job at building up his character and i fear for the exposition dump that will inevitably happen later on. that i will be harsh in critiquing this series because i love it so much and want it to be the best it can be: *inhales*

also me the moment i actually finished the goddamn season:

[darkmagicmirror]

I've been thinking about @spicyviren 's post about Claudia preventing the sun from rising (and they made a more in-depth post today as well, which is also very good!), so last night I got curious and Googled mythology and eclipses because what if the eclipse actually happens and it's not just Viren's dream? And we know TDP likes mythological references. So...

This is so fascinating because of the "I swallowed her" comment Aaravos makes in Janai's dream.

A demon (or dragon, or-- (etc)) is eating the sun?

(*Personally, I don't think Janai's dream is necessarily accurate for telling us what happened -- but Aditi getting "eaten" by someone especially a dragon wouldn't surprise me.)

And speaking of "swallowing"...

And some of the other mythological explanations mentioned in the article I linked are also really interesting:

(The highlighting was done by Google, so it's not necessarily more important.)

And canon material, especially the Ripples short specifically, reflects a few themes here:

Abandonment - the humans are essentially abandoned by the stars (and the sun is a star): "It cannot be, wept others. The stars would not betray us!" - after the "star" falls from the sky and changes the land.

Crisis/existential threat - "With its impact came a long and terrible night: The earth bled! The seas churned! The sun and moon hid for weeks behind the sky’s screaming storm!" (Also bolded for emphasis because the sun hiding? The fact the moon does too is interesting, but the sun specifically is called out later: "And when the long, dark night had finally passed—for the sun must always rise, mustn’t it?" VERY interesting considering the sunrise mentions in S5.)

Eclipse as an act of creation - though much of the story talks about the calamity, there's also how "[the stars] had rejoiced to look down upon their newborn sea."

The Sun and Moon coupling and creating more stars - this is more of a stretch, but the Sun and Moon did get hidden together, and the Sea (of the Castout) serving as a mirror of the stars... like they're duplicating the stars, though only in image.

Mischievous acts - I personally think Aaravos is mischievous, so hmm.

One side note on the second-to-last point: if Viren learns the Star arcanum, which is very rarely understood, could that, too, be analogous to creating another star?

Anyway this all implies that perhaps a similar eclipse occurred before, when Aaravos had fallen and the Sea of the Castout was created? And we know how the Rise Again short story, which is about her pseudo-resurrection of her pet cat, correlated to S4 opening with Claudia having brought her father back to life, sort of in a repeating history sense. Aaravos's Patience story foreshadowed the fact that all he could do in S4 is wait and bide his time. Ripples could foreshadow S5 being that first "touch" that sets off greater change... and, like with the resurrection, perhaps history repeating itself, in a sense, with a potential upcoming eclipse?

And another interesting line: "The sky opened its maw and spat from its black jaws a tiny star."

It's not exactly black, but I know some people say the ridges here look like teeth...

Also, even though Sol is referring to his blindness, these lines about the Sun "never [rising] again" and an "eternal night" fit into similar themes to the eclipse and the Ripples short.

Also, just going back to the abandonment theme of the eclipse really quick--

The Midnight Star poem also talks about the stars abandoning humanity. "Elarion, unworthy whelp, / Wept as the stars turned black the sky, / They donned their masks / They turned their backs / And left Elarion to die."

(I have more to break down about that entire stanza in another post; I just want to point out the bolded parts for now.)

Now, most of these are references to the past... so what about now?

If I were to guess on how the same themes I compared to the Ripples story might apply to "current" series events...

Abandonment - Claudia feeling abandoned by Aaravos (as mentioned in the Lost Child short)? Or, alternately, Aaravos feeling abandoned (by either Claudia, after she had to flee from the battle, and/or Viren, after his rejection)?

Crisis/existential threat - IMO the biggest threat is Karim potentially joining up with Sol Regem right now. Though some would say Aaravos being close to being freed could be the threat/crisis here. But I'm an Aaravos apologist, so I am not part of that group LOL

Eclipse as an act of creation - Claudia regenerates her missing leg, perhaps?

The Sun and Moon coupling and creating more stars - Viren Star arcanum?

Mischievous acts - Aaravos again.

All of this to say-- I don't think the eclipse is just for show/because it looks cool, but if we consider the mythological beliefs surrounding eclipses, it ties in significantly to the story.

Also I leave you with a few last bits from the article that just remind me of TDP things:

"In many cultures, the darkening of the sun meant the gods were very, very angry with humanity, and about to inflict some punishment. Often, that meant that in order to appease them, you had to kill someone."

That reminds me of the stars seeming to punish humanity for daring to use magic... which is also when Aaravos gets cast down?

"The Greeks thought an eclipse meant that the gods were about to rain punishment down on a king, so in the days before an eclipse, they would choose prisoners or peasants to stand in as the king in the hopes that they’d get the eclipse punishment and the real king would be saved. Once the eclipse was over, the substitute king was executed."

This is so far off, but it reminds me of Harrow anyway? Mostly with the soulfang serpent idea of switching Harrow with someone else. Interesting.

"For the Inuits, the sun and moon weren’t a married couple but brother and sister. At the beginning of the world they quarreled, and the sun goddess Malina walked away from her brother, the moon god Anningan. Anningan continued to chase after her, and whenever he caught up to her, there was an eclipse."

Which reminds me of the line in Strangers, the short from Soren's perspective, where "Claudia had appeared and he’d done it again, a little boy chasing after his sister..."

A lot of it is probably coincidence, but it's still really interesting!

[redr0sewrites]

Cuddling with Aaravos Hcs

rahhh fluff‼️‼️‼️

🥀Cw: none really, fluff

so we ALLL know aaravos is clingy after his imprisonment

like ur personal space is his personal space

but when u cuddle with him hes a whole different breed of clingy

it took him a while to adjust to physical contact after his imprisonment cuz he hadnt felt another touch or heard another voice (besides virens) in like 500(???) years

you would have to slowly reintroduce him to cuddling and physical contact

it would take time, u obviously dont want to overwhelm him

but once hes readjusted, hes ALL OVER U<3

he'll probably have to be the big spoon cuz of his horns

but if u dont mind being poked every so often then he would love to be held by you

he would pretend not to enjoy it bc hes a prideful little bitch but he will MELT into ur arms and will most likely fall asleep cuz u just make him feel so safe

he honestly just wants to hold u or be held

if you arent the biggest cuddler, he would enjoy simply laying beside u and holding hands

i feel like he would enjoy laying on top of you even if he squished u while u play with his hair or rub his horns

kiss every star on his face

ur most likely smaller than him, so if u guys are spooning and hes the big spoon he loves just... engulfing you and resting his head on top of yours while his arms wrap around you and your legs are tangled together <3

he will read to you while the two of you are cuddling!!! he knows u love his voice and will tease u ab it but secretly finds it endearing

i feel like he would have nightmares ngl and when he wakes up from one he always pulls you close bc hes just scared of losing you

this man does not gaf ab what anyone thinks and will not hesitate to pull you onto his lap and cuddle with u in public

he always has an arm around your shoulder or waist‼️

he always needs to be touching you while the two of you are sleeping together, it's another little reminder that your there and that hes safe

he LOVES it when you count the stars on his skin or kiss them, when hes shirtless i hc he has a lot of stars on his back and you trace them with a finger while u guys r cuddling

overall, hes clingy and obsessed with u and totally in love w u <3 he loves cuddles, and he loves u, so he loves cuddling with u 🤯🤯🤯

can u tell im exhausted ahahahhahaah i love him sm this is so self indulgent 😭ive been reading some aaravos fanfiction recently and i feel like i write him so ooc in comparison to some writers and its been making me slightly lose motivation bc i just dont feel good enough but i really wanted to post this anyway!! hope u enjoy!!

[animatorroseoak]

I love u aaravos….

[redr0sewrites]

REAL REAL REAL REAL KIMDAEL STANS AND SIMPS UNITE THIS IS SO GOOD UR SO TALENTED

I support her wrongs 😤

[raayllum]

me staring at myself in the mirror like "we already got a hostage exchange last season where callum helped the villain and did dark magic in order to save rayla (as predicted) AND we got the irony of him literally freeing rayla while symbolically chaining himself, they're not going to do all that TWICE" to try and talk myself out of straightforward CHET

only for the demons in my ear to whisper "but what if she gets hurt in the possession fight and he still needs to save her, and/or the cube and his love for rayla makes him take a risk with the quasar diamonds just for the sake of her family and her ultimate happiness" and well. Now we're talking

[m4rs-ex3]

ALLLL RIGHTY YALL

if u haven't already seen.............. guys i was late i was fucking late for the panel give me a break

BUT here is a play by play of everything from the second i got in

[A GOOD CHUNK OF THE SECRET SCENE] if you saw this post within the first few *hours you got to see but you know what? they got to me i don't wanna be the snitch (i did on accident but its the though that counts)

opeli is being led blindfolded (which we see from opeli's pov. riveting visuals i tell you) by soren to the ✨secret meeting location✨

when she comments on the fact that it is literally just callum's office soren shuts her up bless him

opeli's like "DID BAIT GIVE BIRTH??!?!?" and soren's like no these are "rescue baits" and opeli gives them the greatest fucking look i can't even describe it to you

you've seen that leak "look it's the pearl :D""WHA""yep he's in there :)))))"

rayla says it like "per-al." just thought you should know

soren suggests forming a Fellowship of the Pearl and going to throw it into a volcano i fucking hate this show

they're all debating what to do with it meanwhile the most cryptic-ass shots of callum with the pearl like we get it he's fucked (i take it back i want more)

they finally get to him and he's like "uh????? destroy it obviously?????"

he suggests--and these are 100% his words (not actually cuz u know but its the general idea)--"smash it? throw it off a cliff? take a big ol axe and just--KA CHOP." i love him so much

rayla asks how they know it won't just release him

the way callum is so confused and conflicted and he just says "i... i don't know" oh my god by precious baby

cool ass top-down to the pearl whirlpool esq transtion into the next scene hello??

zym is being emo at a painting of his mother (the one from 4x03 yeah they just stitched that shit up it's all good)

ezran's like. huh. we oughtta do smth abt this

callum is Thinking Thoughts on the turrets(?? yk where soren does his lunges) and tossin the rune cube when he sees the star rune light up......................................

it's stella stella's there and the way he reacts to her is so precious 😭 he's not the step dad he's the dad who stepped up type shit

enter rayla "they told me u would be up here brooding"

(in a tragic turn of events the rayllum of this scene had my brain fuzzy so i can't remember a few chunks here and there have pity my brain has rotten)

callum's like "we have to do something i'm scared he's gonna use me. i know what we need to do ok we need to go to the starscraper"

it's honestly hilarious the way he says "and *WE.* should go" he's like "don't be gettin any ideas now this is an us thing"

and then ohoho "they have something there for you, too" (THAT was an exact quote)

he's like "PLSPLSPLS i've studied star magic i know the spells i know the runes i just need the quasar diamonds!! LET ME FREE UR PARENTS AND RUNAAN PLEAAAASSSSEEEE"

rayla is veryyyyyy opposed she's like "NO i want to help my parents as much as you"--honestly i don't think ANYONE wants to as much as him--"but i don't want my biases to affect that" BIASES?!??!! like that was the word she used i can't stop thinking about it

zym has entered his wolf child era his ass is HOWLING at the moon

soren hears him and goes "aww little guy misses his mom :((( sometimes i wonder where my mom is...." WHAT AWHAT WHAT AWHAT PJARDON SAY IT AGIAN YOU WAHGTS SAY IT AGIAND HUAH HUWH A

ok. yeah callum does not have pajamas BUT I THINK WE HAVE BIGGER ISSUES HERE????????????? HE WAS SLEEPING IN HIS OFFICE

THAT COUCH THING THAT THEY WERE ON WHEN RAYLA CAME BACK IN 4x03???? HES JUST SLEEPING ON IT I CANT MY GUY WHAT R U DOINGGG

in other news

bruv is tossing and turning and then just. ~stops.~ this can only mean good things (i think you know where i'm going with this)

he sits up. hobbles over to the door. there was a really cool transition (can u tell i respect the cinematography) and he's in the cellar holding the pearl.

he wakes up in aaravos' prison and is like "well this looks neat!" until he sees the mirror and screams and wakes up. when he realizes where he is he goes "what have i done" dude you fell asleep?? god he's never sleeping again (<- me when i lie 😈)

the description we got of this next scene did NOT do it justice it was fucking incredible

callum kicks down the fucking door (not actually) screaming for rayla

rayla TUMBLES OUT OF BED ON TO THE FLOOR, pillows in hands and unafraid to use them

"WHOA. HEY HEY ITS OKAY ITS ME! it's just me rayla. it's me. callum" i feel like he was saying the same 5 words for 7 hours it was beautiful

rayla: "callum?? jeez i could have-" *looks at pillows*

callum giggles the cutest fucking giggle and says something along the lines of "yeah, it would've hurt real bad :)"

oh yeah DE-LAYERED PONYTAIL RAYLA CONFIRMEDED??!?!?!?!?!

she sits back on the bed and my guy KNEELS DOWN AT THE CORNER OF THE BED TO PICK UP HER STUFF BEFORE HE SITS DOWN NEXT TO HER and they say chivalry is dead romance was birthed and ended with this scene

he tells her about it and she goes "callum, you're exhausted. you had a nightmare. if i thought you were in any real danger you know i would-" and then ironically i forget the same line that the person from nycc did wouldja look at that

can i just mention how close they were sitting in this scene i mean i jsut thikn i should mention hwo clo

yada yada he has a lightbulb and runs off with her blanket

the iconic "i know stella.. he took our blankie :("

god knows why barius is up in the middle of the night whispering sweet nothings to his jelly tarts

callum comes in with a certain proposition mwuhahaha

rayla comes into his office and sees his aesthetic ass sewing by fireside and graciously says "ah i get it! you're taking your mind off things by peacefully knitting" so iconic for both of them

callum explains that he's stitching runes to create a protection spell when barius comes in with the """"""""pearl""""""""""

rayla DIVES in front of callum and says "what r you doing get that thing AWAY from him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she got SO protective SO fast it was blessed

callum's like au contraire 😈

ok so obviously we had all heard about the fake pearl but. you know that one guy who makes insane sculptures out of nothing but chocolate? that's what they did the pearl is brown sludge with a candy coating 💀 i'm losing my mind that is so funny to me

so yeah with the decoy out the real pearl is protected by--and callum literally said this--"a magic blankie >:)"

he also pops in to tell ez and omg GUYS BAIT HAS HIS OWN LITTLE ROYAL CANOPY BED ITS SO FUCKING CUTE

dawn in the courtyard--ez is saying goodbye to soren, zym, and pyrrah who are going to look for zubeia (i almost just typed zendaya i need sleep) and callum and rayla who r going to the starscraper

my roman empire is this: callum was acting all eepy and then when they get going hE RESTS HIS HEAD ON RAYLA'S BACK AND FALLS ASLEEP. I CANNOT FUCKING MAKE THIS UP IT WAS PHENOMENAL SHE LOOKED SO FUCKING HAPPY I I I I I I HAKJSDHFKJASHFDKJHSADKFHKJASHFIHASEKFH

on a slightly lower note

scene from teaser except they did cut a couple lines in the teaser. mainly just terry going "didn't see you there,, cuz i was asleep. with my eyes closed"

he does not in fact get impaled but claudia tells him she's gonna leave him first and does just that

as she's going omfg terry's cries and pleas and "I LOVE YOU"s and "I WILL WAIT. I WILL WAIT HERE FOR YOU" was absolutely insane idk what was in the air in that recording studio but shout out to ben

i am so tired goodbye!

[sorinethemastermind]

Trick or treat!

You pick all!

Well then... I suppose I'll reward you with a trick 😈 (idk if I'd call this a reward, actually. It's pretty angsty)

──────────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───────────

Rayla fought against her bindings, the unyielding metal rubbing her wrists raw. "Come... on!" she growled, yanking desperately one last time before slumping back against the wall.

"You're only going to hurt yourself." Soren said from his place beside her.

"We can't do nothing."

"They'll find us." Soren said, voice sure. But when she turned to argue with him she could see the worry in his eyes. Rayla sighed. Snapping at Soren wouldn't make anything better.

"That's what I'm worried about." she admitted. "That they'll come for us, and he'll use us against them. That... that I'll have to do something I don't want to do."

"Hey." Soren bumped her with his foot. It was all he could do. "You're Rayla. He can't make you do anything."

"Not... Aaravos." Rayla muttered, the name like poison on her tongue. "I- I promised Callum I would-"

Her voice died in her throat and she squeezed her eyes shut, not even wanting to imagine. She could feel Soren's worried gaze on her, but she couldn't meet his eyes as she continued;

"I promised I would kill him."

She heard the sharp intake of breath at her words, the confusion and horror in Soren's stare. And it all tumbled out;

"I promised that, if Aaravos took control somehow, I would stop him. I would make sure he couldn't be used to hurt anyone he loved. Except... except he's someone I love, Soren!" Rayla exclaimed, all the weeks of fear boiling to the surface now that she couldn't ignore it anymore; couldn't pretend it wasn't a possibility. "I don't think I could live with myself if I did that to him, but... how could I live with myself knowing I broke my one promise to him?"

Her voice died off into a broken whisper, and for a long moment Soren didn't say anything. Then she heard the sound of metal clanking against stone as he stretched over to her, straining against the cuffs to press his shoulder against her's. She leaned into him, grateful for any semblance of comfort.

"It won't come to that." he said softly. "I promise."

They stayed like that until they heard the sound of someone coming, at which point Soren quickly moved back to where he'd been. But the footsteps didn't belong to Aaravos.

"Callum!" Rayla exclaimed, forgetting the chains in her haste to reach him. They pulled her back to the ground as quickly as she shot to her feet, throwing her down again to the cold stone of the floor. "Callum, is it really you?"

He tried to smile at her, but something was wrong, she could tell as soon as he set foot through the doorway and into the flickering torchlight of the dungeon.

"Callum?"

He staggered towards her, fists clenched, knuckles white. There was blood on him and for a moment she feared the worst, but she couldn't see any wounds. Not his blood, she realized, relief giving way to horror. But there's so much of it.

"Rayla. It's going to be okay." he whispered as he reached towards her, voice hoarse. And that was when she saw his eyes. Solid black, with just a pinprick of white where the pupil should have been. She gasped.

"Callum! What did you do?"

"You're going to be okay." he said again. "That's all.. that's all that matters."

He fumbled in the pouch on his belt and withdrew a key, his hands shaking as he used it to unlock first her cuffs, and then Soren's. As soon as he was done she went to him, taking his face in her hands and looking deep into his eyes. The inky blackness stared back, unfeeling. A tear slipped down his cheek and she wiped it away.

"Oh, Callum." she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close and burying her face in his neck. Her grip tightened, but it wasn't enough, she could feel him slipping away.

"Ez..." he said, voice thick, as though his words were wading through deep water. "Ez is upstairs. He'll.. he'll get you out."

"You're coming with me." Rayla said, lifting her head up to look at him, tears rolling freely down her face. "I'm not leaving you. Never again. We'll figure this out-"

"He's-" Callum stopped, his hand clenching where it clasped her own. He fought through it. "He's still out there. I only... I only wounded him."

"No-"

"You promised, Rayla."

"Callum, please." her voice broke, anything else she might have wanted to say devolving into uncontrollable sobs. She felt his hands spasm again, nails digging into her skin, and he broke away from her; staggered back against the wall.

"No. No, you're not going to win. Not this time, not ever." Callum spat, clutching at his head. "You're not going to use me ever again!"

There was a hand on Rayla's shoulder and she spun, reaching instinctively for blades that were no longer there. But it was Soren, his face a mask of pain. As their eyes met it melted away, replaced by a sad smile.

"Rayla." he said, and his smile wobbled. But he kept it there anyway, trying to stay strong for her. "You should go."

"Soren, I-"

"You should go." he said again, more forcefully this time. "You... you don't want to be here for this."

Callum's voice cut through the momentary silence before Rayla could say anything, his words like little daggers being pushed into her chest, one after the other. "He really would do anything for you, wouldn't he?"

Rayla shivered. She hated the sound of his words in Callum's mouth; mocking and vile. The man she loved would never sound like that. She turned to try and face him, but Soren's grip tightened on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Don't. This shouldn't be the last way you see him."

"But Callum-" she sobbed, seething with anger and frustration and fear. That aching helplessness welling up inside her, threatening to swallow her whole.

"You should go." Soren said again, his words simple, his meaning plain. "It's what he'd want."

He released her then, leaving the decision in her hands. She staggered away from them both, bitter tears running down her face as she ran for the stairs. She could hear Callum laughing behind her, his voice twisted and strange.

She could practically hear his voice in her ears. The Moonshadow Assassin who, can this be right? Is incapable of killing. And then she did hear it, following her up the stairs;

"Ah, the Failed Son. Come to finish what you started?"

Rayla ran, away from the man she loved, and away from the promise she couldn't keep. She ran and she didn't look back.