Dragon Prince: Legend of the Guardians of Xadia (Re-Write)

Chapter Seventeen: Heart of the Earth

Everything felt a little more hopeful at the first streak of dawn. Runaan decided that they should all rest by the cave before they continue on with their journey. Through the sparse canopy of leaves, the light of the rising sun shone through in sharp rays of gold. The air was warm, that even the clouds that hung in the sky were stiff with warmth. All the animals were huddled in their nests and dens, trying to keep themselves hidden from a single searching human in the depths of forest. The only creatures that dared be out were a few rabbits that munched on the leaves, and a few skittering squirrels, searching desperately for spare acorns on the forest floor.
But the moment was ruined from the sound of wet leaves were crunched underfoot as a single figure walked carefully through the almost soundless woods. With one hand is his chained weapon that he carefully held onto. His brown eyes searched through the trees, looking for one sign. He soon saw a trail of footprints that's deepened by the rain and mud.
Then they heard a soft, but distinct rustle coming from outside of the cave. Someone — or something — was stalking them. 
"Shhh... Somebody's coming our way," hissed Skor, who's on lookout duty.
"Hide everyone and get ready," Runaan said quietly, but urgently. "Rayla and Ram protect Callum, Shira, Zym, Ezran, and Bait in the cave." The two humans, the Sky flenimu, the baby dragon, and the grumpy glowtoad hid behind the mentioned boulder and the two young elves placed themselves in front of them.
Shira perked up when she heard quiet footsteps coming from outside and a massive hush went over everyone. She hid closer in the boulder's shadow and placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, trying to catch a glimpse of who it is without accidentally being discovered.
Rayla placed her finger to her lips and drew her weapons, with the armed Moonshadow elves by their sides.
"Who's there?" Rayla shouted. "Show yourself or I'll greet you with my pointy friends!"
Shira kept Ezran underneath her as they both peeked out from around the cave opening. They both saw a tall, strong man with a weapon attached to a chain. The man has dark skin and jet-black curly hair. He looked familiar.
"You." Rayla stopped to size the man up, recognizing him at an instant.
Then the man saw Ezran. He placed his weapons on the ground and raised both hands, as Ezran stepped out of hidden with Callum holding Zym on one side and Shira on the other side.
"I'm not here to fight," he said to Ezran. "General Amaya — I mean your Aunt Amaya — sent me. My name is Corvus." He walked slowly toward Ezran, who nodded at the elves to let them know to stand down. Rayla narrowed her eyes and Runaan frowned, but they relaxed and lowered their weapons, and let Corvus passed.
Corvus paused when he got near Ezran. A strange quiet hung in that pause, and somehow Ezran felt that this moment was a cusp, though he didn't know what was coming next.
Then Corvus dropped to one knee and bowed.
"I am here to serve the king," he said, making Ezran stood frozen and confused. "King Ezran."
"But I'm not the king. I'm just a prince," Ezran said as the realization was started to sink in. "My dad is king."
Corvus was silent. Ezran started to panic. "Wait, that's not what you're saying? He isn't..." Ezran inhaled deeply and looked over at everyone that he traveled with. Callum looked stricken with shock and grief, while Diana and the Moonshadow elves looked sympathetic or empathetic. "Did any of you knew?"
"I've only heard a few rumors about Viren sending shadow elves to kill the king," admitted Shira. "But I wasn't sure about it."
"I had a dream about him the night we escaped the fortress," Callum said.
Corvus started looking at the young boy curiously, feeling as if he have seen him before. Why did he look so familiar to him?
Ezran shook his head, still in disbelief. Everyone had known about his dad, and they'd all been keeping it from him. Did they think he couldn't handle his father's death? He was king now — he was going to have to handle a lot of serious problems.
"I'm going for a walk." As Ezran walked away from them, Corvus tried to follow him and ended up being blocked by Shira.
"Leave him," said Shira softly to Corvus. "It takes time for such a scar to be healed. He'll heal in time, but let him recover in his own time." She sighed and met his eyes with her sad, empathetic gaze. "Trust me. I would know."
After a moment of tense silence passed and they started resting, Rayla decided to break the tension between them.
"I'm Rayla." She looked at Corvus.
"I'm Andromeda." The other female elf looked at him warily. "Over there, that's Skor, Callisto, and Ram."
"I'm Runaan," said the authoritative elf.
"I'm Shira." She stood in front of him and met his gaze boldly.
"And I'm Callum," he said as he looked at the skilled tracker.
Then it dawned on Corvus of why the boy looked so familiar to him. He seemed wiser now than in the multiple missing posters out for him, but there was no doubt about it. This boy was the lost Prince.
"Prince Callum, I have been looking for you for a long time," Corvus explained. "When you first vanished, Prince Callum, many people were sent out to look for you by your stepfather, King Harrow." Callum couldn't help himself, but smile slightly. He had always known that King Harrow was a good man. But here, how hard he worked to get Callum back home was just something special.
"I had worked closely with your Aunt Amaya, who was suspicious with Lord Viren who always put himself in charge with the searches when King Harrow got too busy with other kingly duties," Corvus remarked.
"That would make sense as this Lord Viren was the one who took Callum," Rayla accused.
She hadn't even met Viren yet, but she already hate him more than she had hate any humans. The other elves were having the similar thoughts as Rayla.
"Because of her distrust for him, whenever she got a chance to, General Amaya would send me out to try and find you," said Corvus.
Afterwards, Corvus explain how he was sent out to look for the prince and Shira, who everyone believed had been kidnapped by Moonshadow elves.
It was then that Callum and Rayla told their story of how Viren had been the one to kidnap Callum, by locking him away in some secret fortress in the middle of the woods. He have found the Dragon Prince's egg in the dungeon and hatched it with Callum's aid in Cursed Caldera. They decided to work together to bring Zym home to his mother.
After the misunderstandings were cleared out, Corvus started pacing back and forth outside the mountain cave, furious with himself. It had been hours, and the young king had still not returned.
"The king is missing," Corvus told Team Zym.
The team were resting and chatting from last night's fight, while Shira was sitting next to a calm Pyrrah.
"He's not 'missing,' he just went for a walk," said Rayla as she polished her blades.
"And he hasn't returned, and we don't know where he is," Corvus said.
"Right," said Rayla.
"That is the definition of missing," Corvus said.
Rayla counted on her fingers, putting things together. "Yeah. You're right. He's missing."
"You shouldn't have let him go," Corvus said. "We need to find him."
"Aren't you a tracker?" asked Rayla. "Isn't this your whole job?"
"Yes." Corvus was a terrific tracker. He hadn't wanted to budge in on the young king's mourning, but now King Ezran had been gone too long. Corvus would show the elves exactly what he could do. "I shall bring the king back safely. You have my word."
Everyone watched as Corvus left to track down Ezran into the woods again. Callum exchanged a look with Runaan, who looked slightly amused of the tracker.
"Should I have told him that Ezran knows how to communicate with animals?" Callum asked, feeling uncertain about the situation.
"Don't worry." Ram smiled at the human mage playfully. "He'll find out eventually."
Callum shrugged as Zym gently nipped at his fingers playfully and replied, "If you say so."
After a while, Corvus soon returned to them with a horrified look in his gaze.
"What's wrong?" asked Runaan. "What happened? Did you lose his trail?"
"No," Corvus said. "It's worse that."
"What do you mean?" asked Callum.
"King Ezran's trail ends," Corvus said. "Very clearly and very badly. His footprints are replaced by banther tracks. The king has been eaten by a banther."
Everyone bursted out laughing at Corvus's news of the young king. He clearly doesn't know the young prince as much as they do. Callum almost fell off of the boulder if it wasn't for Ram catching him.
Rayla was laughing so hard tears were streaming down her face. "Great job; you've lost the King of Katolis."
"This isn't funny," Corvus said, scratching his beard. He'd been prepared for the team to pull their weapons and magic on him. They were certainly unpredictable. "Why are you laughing?"
"Your king happens to be a very special boy. He can talk to animals," said Rayla. "So, if there are banther tracks, it means Ezran caught a ride on the banther, not inside the banther."
Once their laughed calmed down, they watched as Corvus walked off with a chafed expression as he returns to his search for the young king.
⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️
Outside of the mouth of the cave, Ezran watched the sun setting. He knows what he has to do. But he felt a lump in his chest, since he knows he that he has to accept his role as a King of Katolis as well as his responsibility to the people, and he can't keep going to Xadia to reunite Zym with his mother.
"We're just a few hours from the border of Xadia," said Runaan.
"Packed and ready," Callum said, emerging from the cave and holding Zym.
It wasn't long till the others have joined Runaan and Callum, clearly eager to return to their home. Everyone was in high spirits and full excitement.
Ezran didn't return their smiles. He inhaled deeply and turned to them as he said, "I'm not coming with you."
Everyone seemed stunned to silence by Ezran's announcement to them.
"When those shadow elf assassins were coming for Dad, I ran away and hid myself." Ezran felt ashamed thinking about it now. "When I found out Dad was gone forever, I ran away again. I've been running away from things my whole life. But I can't run away from growing up."
"What are you saying?" Shira asked him, looking at him intently.
"I'm not going with you to Xadia," repeated Ezran. "I must face my responsibility. Now that I'm king, I'll return to Katolis. Maybe I can help the world better from the throne than if I went with you. I'll do whatever I can to stop the war."
"But Ezran, returning Zym to his mother is the world's best hope," Rayla said.
"I know that, Rayla," Ezran said. "And you all will do that. You'll find his mom, and Zym will take his place in Xadia. Just like I have to take my place in Katolis."
"Ez—" Callum started to say.
"I wish I could go with you, Callum," said Ezran. "But I can't. You all must go on without me."
"I'll travel with the king and keep him safe," Corvus said.
"Ezran." Shira looked at the young king. "Are you sure?"
"I'll miss you guys," Ezran said. "But I'll see you again, I promise."
"And you're sure you can keep Corvus safe from the banthers, right?" Rayla smiled and ruffled his hair.
"As soon as Zym is home, I'll come back to help you," Callum said. "I love you."
"I love you too big brother." Ezran hugged Callum. Then he bent down to say goodbye to Zym. "I'm so proud of you, little guy. You're going grow up so strong and strong. I'm sorry if I couldn't teach you how to fly."
Ezran hugged Zym quickly. Then he picked up Bait and walked away before anyone could see his tears falling.
Ezran turned around for one last look at his family and friends. Rayla and Callum were waving. Runaan smiled at him proudly. Skor and Andromeda watched on warmly. Callisto and Ram looked at him with gentle warmth. Shira smiled at him empathetically.
"Ez, remember the first Queen of Katolis," Shira said to Ezran with a smile. "You're never alone."
Ezran smiled at Shira before he walked away with Corvus and seemed to have disappeared into the fading sunlight.