Dragon Prince: A Warrior's Journey (Under Editing)

Chapter Twelve: Path to Xadia

Outside of the mouth of the cave, Ezran watched the sun setting in the colors of amber and deep blue. 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.
"Alright who's ready to leave this old town behind and head into Xadia?" Sierra started stretching her arms.
"Ready and prepared to go." Corvus gotten to his feet to stretch and turned to Rayla and Callum. "You kids ready?"
"The sooner we get to Xadia, the sooner we can deliver Zvm to his mother," Rayla said with a nod and looked to Callum. "And the sooner we do that, the sooner you two can head back to your kingdom and Ez can take his place as King."
"And the sooner we do that, the sooner you can kick Viren off the council," Sierra added as Zym ran up to her, whining to be picked up and she bent down to scoop him up into her arms. "Aww, I'm gonna really miss you too, you sparky little cutie. But don't worry, once we get you back to your mama and we end the war between Xadia and the Human Kingdoms, we'll try to visit. And every time you visit I'm gonna probably spoil you the way everyone in my village spoils my animals."
"What, you going to overstuff him with treats?"
Rayla asked jokingly.
"Eh, probably." Sierra shrugged playfully. "But he's a growing boy and a few pieces of meat won't hurt him."
"We're just a few hours from the border of Xadia," said Rayla.
"Packed and ready," Callum said, emerging from the cave with his backpack on his back.
Everyone was in high spirits and full excitement. Ezran didn't return their smiles. He inhaled deeply and turned to them. "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?" Sierra 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." Rayla 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.
"Bye Ez." Sierra and Ezran both hugged each other before they stepped back, a sad smile gracing her features. "And be careful."
"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 to grow up so brave 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. Zym was watching him from Callum's shoulders, heartbroken.
"Ez, remember the first Queen of Katolis," Sierra said to Ezran with a smile. "You're never alone."
Ezran smiled at Sierra before he walked away with Corvus and seemed to have disappeared into the fading sunlight.
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Callum kept his mouth shut, but it was taking longer to get to the Xadian border than Rayla predicted. But Callum was worried about his younger brother. Would Ezran and Corvus make it back to Katolis? If they did, who would be there to greet them?
Callum shook his head. There was no use worrying about things he couldn't control.
He followed Rayla and Sierra through a narrow canyon. It was so dark he had a hard time believing the Moonshadow Elf could navigate.
"This is it," Rayla said. "This canyon leads to the Moonstone Path."
"Wow," said Callum. "I can't believe that we're almost to Xadia."
They came around a final turn in the canyon, which opened onto the border. Callum and Sierra gasped.
At this spot, the border was an enormous field of cooled, cracked lava. The cracks glowed an ominous red. Xadia was visible far across the lava, but the field stretched for miles to both north and south. Clearly, there was no going around.
"One simply walks into Xadia, huh?" Callum raised an eyebrow at Rayla. He lifted a foot to step onto a rock.
"Hold on there!" Rayla yanked him back to solid ground. "There's sort of a trick to it." Rayla picked up a stone and tossed it onto the rock that Callum almost stepped on. The rock instantly sank down into hot, liquid magma below. Callum gulped, but Sierra gave it a wary glare.
"Not all the rocks sink that quickly," Rayla explained. "A few will let us stand on them long enough to walk across. Those special stones were enchanted and marked with hidden runes centuries ago, and the path has been a closely guarded secret. We call it the Moonstone Path."
"Oh, great," said Callum. "So, how do we know—"
"Patience, friend." Rayla pointed into the direction of the moon, which was hiding behind a cloud. "Patience."
A moment later, the breeze blew the clouds away and moon emerged. Callum's eyes grew wide as runes appeared on some of the rocks before them. They glowed, reflecting the moonlight.
"Oh, I get it." He marveled at the eerie yet beautiful sight before them. "The Moonstone Path." The rocks with runes created a safe route across the lava field.
He tentatively stepped on the closest Moon-marked rock. It began to sink, but much more slowly than the first rock he'd nearly stepped on. He smiled.
While Callum and Sierra slowly began to pick their wat across with Rayla as their guide, the marked stones sinking behind them.
The four of them moved at a steady pace, but the path was slow going. Soon Callum, Rayla, Sierra, and Zym found themselves far out on the lava field. The other side was within sight, but still quite far out on the lava field.
"The sky's getting lighter," said Rayla. "We need to hurry. If the sun rises, we won't be able to see the moon runes anymore."
"Lets pick up the pace then," Sierra said.
They started to move faster. It wasn't long till Sierra has started to arrive to the other side, but the runes have started to fade before her. Callum could still see the runes, but he had to strain his eyes. He stepped from one safe rock to the next, but each time, as soon as he landed, the rune faded before his eyes.
He looked up to see the sun was now peeking through the crack of the canyon up ahead. Time was just about up.
"Run!" Callum shouted.
Callum, Rayla, Sierra, and Zym ran as fast as they could, racing against the sunrise. But before they reached the end of the path, the runes disappeared entirely. The four of them stood frozen and helpless on a pair of rocks as it slowly started to sink.
Zym scampered over to Callum and climbed onto his head. From this height, he could see that the sun was rising over a rocky structure. Right now, the rocks blocking the full brightness of the sun. But it won't be long till the sun will be fully risen.
"Zym? What are you doing?" Callum asked.
An idea suddenly popped into Zym's head. If he could fly across the lava and land on the rocks, maybe he could block the sun and help his friends.
With his eyes closed, Zym saw Ezran spread his arms wide. Zym did the same. He unfurled his wings.
Then Ezran raised his arms up and down. Zym did the same with his wings.
Before he could think twice about it, Zym opened his eyes. He flapped his wings harder than he thought was possible. Then he leaped.
He was flying! Zym felt a big smile spread across his face as the wind breezed past him.
"He's flying!" Rayla shouted. "He's trying to block the sun!"
Zym heard the team cheering for him as he soared through the sky.
He was almost to the edge of the lava river when he noticed he wasn't as high as before. He flapped harder, but he only dropped lower to the ground. It didn't matter how hard he flapped. He wasn't strong enough.
"ASPIRO!" A tremendous gust of wind lifted Zym up into the air. He continued flapping, but this time he was gaining height. The winds from Callum's spell was pushing him upward from the lava.
Zym was high up now. He could feel the sun on his face. Seconds later, he arrived at the crack in the rocks where the sunlight was shining through. He threw his head back in triumph and spread his small wings to block the sun.
In Zym's long shadow, the light of the moon activated the runes on the path.
"There's the path again," said Rayla. "Run!"
Zym heard Rayla and Callum sprinting across the path and reunited with Sierra. At last, he heard Callum cried out, "We did it! We made it across!"
Zym drifted down to meet Rayla, Callum, and Sierra on the Xadian side of the border and joined them in the embrace.