The Dragon Prince storyline altered

Chapter 60. Lepidolite

Viren: So, when might we expect the emergence of our mysterious guide?

Claudia: The being needs our help to arrive.

Lepidolite: To open the chrysalis, we need your staff.

Viren: And I take it you did not find my staff beside my crumpled body?

Claudia: Unfortunately, when you fell, you left the staff at the tip-top of the Storm Spire. So, we have to go back up there.

Claudia brought them outside and they stood at the foot of storm spire.

Terry: Such a lovely day! Who's ready for an exhausting climb?

They climbed for a while, and then Viren started having some serious trouble.

Eventually, they arrived at the gateway, and Viren leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath.

Viren: Did they move this gateway higher? It seems like it's higher than it was before. This is absolutely exhausting.

Claudia: Maybe now's a good time for a breathing spell, huh? Four poofed-up puffer-bats, coming right up!

Terry: Wait- four?

Kokiri: Yeah, I don't need one.

Lepidolite: Why not?

Kokiri: I can breathe fine in all sorts of different altitudes.

Claudia: Su niatsus, efil fo htaerb!

Terry: Dark magic's got a bit of a tingly aftertaste. Nobody ever tells you that!

They kept going, but Viren was still having trouble.

Viren: Something's not right. Claudia, are you sure you did the breathing spell correctly?

Claudia: Yeah, of course.

Viren: The puffer-bats, did you capture them at peak-of-puff? Because it's tricky, and if you're even a moment off...

Lepidolite: I gathered them, and I'm sure I did it right. I'm a perfectionist.

Claudia: Dad, the spell is working. You're fine.

Viren: No. No, I'm not fine.

Viren fainted, and they leaned him against the wall, waiting for him to wake up. Soon enough, he did.

Viren: I blacked out?

Terry: Just a little panic attack. There's no shame in that. Sometimes, all the little bits of stress and anxieties come together and add up, turn into kind of a big thing, and down you go. Used to happen to me all the time when I was a sapling.

Viren: I can't do this.

Claudia: Dad, I believe in you. And we'll be right here, by your side. But we have to keep moving, okay?

Terry: You're the legendary Lord Viren. You shouldn't have a fear of heights! Heights should fear you.

Viren: Terry, I died falling off this mountain.

Terry: But only the one time!

They took a shortcut along a narrow path.

Claudia: You can do this, Dad!

Kokiri: Lean back against the wall and don't look down.

Viren: I'm not looking down! Ugh, are you sure we're making progress and this shortcut will get us somewhere?

Terry: Fairly sure.

Claudia shot him a look.

Terry: I mean, totally sure. Uh, rock solid certain.

Viren: For the sake of...

The rock started crumbling and Viren gasped.

Viren: Oh, no. No, no, no. It's cracking and collapsing beneath us!

Claudia: Dad, calm down, it's not crumbling.

Viren: I'm going to fall!

Claudia: Dad, you just need to calm down!

Viren passed out again, and this time, he fell off the cliff.

Claudia quickly whipped out a mummified tentacle and used the spell to save Viren. Then they kept going until they arrived back at the normal path and sat down to take a break.

Viren: I almost died.

Kokiri: Again.

Viren: Again! For my whole life, I've been chasing after things I didn't have. Influence. Status. Power. Now that I'm here, and I may have only 30 days left, do I really want to spend all those days chasing? Maybe I should stop... and appreciate what I do have, a month of life. Living each day to the fullest. I've spent my whole life striving to become someone different. Maybe it's time to accept that I am who I am for the days I have remaining. And when I reach the end, I will be at peace. It will just be my time to let go.

Claudia: You are not letting go, Dad! Not as long as you've got us by your side. We brought you back from the dead, and we are not about to let you go!

Lepidolite looked up into the sky and saw the dragon queen and Zym leaving.

Lepidolite: The dragons are leaving.

Claudia: We don't even have to sneak in now! We'll be able to get your staff back without any trouble. You don't have to have to keep climbing, Dad.

Kokiri: I'll head back down the spire with Viren.

Claudia: Okay! And Lepidolite, Terry, and I will retrieve the staff! I'm going to take care of you, Dad. Everything is going to be okay.