Still Here

Dear Ezran

Callum's eyes fluttered open. He didn't even know he had fallen asleep. He lifted his head. Crud, he thought, looking down at the letter he had been trying to write when he fell asleep. The words were all smudged, and he would have to start over. He looked around. Rayla was still asleep on the small spare mattress Ethari had given them for the night. Callum had agreed, since the mattress was too small for the both of them, to sleep on the floor. Rayla had protested for a while, then she gave up and went to sleep.

Ethari was sitting in a chair, reading. He looked up and smiled. "Good morning, lad." Callum waved. "Whatcha reading?" Ethari glanced at the cover. "Lost Secrets of Xadia, by D. Giehl, apparently. I just grabbed a book," Ethari responded. "Hey, I know that book! I read it quite often! What are you reading about?" "I don't know. Some 'Fallen Star' guy." Callum gasped. He had heard of this 'Fallen Star', and he was no ordinary guy. He was the greatest evil the world had ever face. Now, he was trapped in a magical prison. Luckily.

"Aaravos," he muttered. "What?" Callum looked up at Ethari. "Nothing. That's his name, is all. Aaravos. That's who you're reading about." Suddenly, the whole passage faded to black. Ethari gasped and dropped the book. Rayla jolted upward, readied her blades and frantically asked, "What was that? What happened?" Callum looked at her. "What did happen?" Callum asked. Then his eyes met the book. "What in the.." They all stared in awe. The words in the book seemed to have faded away as soon as Ethari knew his name.

Rayka knew what Ethari had to have been reading about. She knew enough about magic to know that this was a powerful spell. Nobody was to know too much about Aaravos. No one. She grabbed the book and closed it. "No more reading about Aaravos." "How'd you know?" Ethari asked. She glared at him. "I know more about magic than you think." Ethari nodded.

Oh, right! The letter! Callum had been trying to write a letter to Ez to tell him they might stay in Xadia for a while. For Rayla, of course. Callum also wanted to have a look around. See what he could find. Magic stuff. He grabbed a new sheet of paper. The cheap stuff from his sketchbook, of course.

Dear Ezran,

On our vacation, a lot has happened. Yes, to answer the question I can hear you asking. Yes, I asked. She said yes. You want to know something funny? She was going to ask me! But I beat her to it. We paid a visit to Rayla's foster father, Ethari. He's nice. Actually, Rayla describes him as 'freakishly nice'. Speaking of Ethari, I decided that I don't have the heart to tell her that we have to leave. It's her decision now. We might be gone for a while. Sorry for the sudden crownguard shortage and loss of a high mage, but we'll be back. I promise.

-Love
Callum

He finished writing his letter and sealed it, but the moment he did, Rayla called out, "Don't you think we should get going soon?" Callum looked over his shoulder. He sighed. "Sure. It's up to you. We can stay for a little while." She beamed at him. He chuckled. Yeah, we're staying. "So, Ethari? Any way I could send this to the king of Katolis?" The metalsmith looked up from his newspaper. "Yeah, sure. Let me show you the place." Ethari stood. "Oh, boy. That is not getting easier," he mumbled as he stretched his back.