Life vs. Death

Chap. 1

A/N: Hello! Sorry for the short hiatus, blame the holidays. This is a story that has been in my doc's for far too long, and I'm sorry if the ending is rushed and ambiguous. You get to decide if he lives or not :)! ...I might continue this if you guys want me too, just let me know! Now please enjoy :)

"You have to choose Rayla"

She couldn't choose with every fiber in her being. Though she hadn't known how she had gotten to this point. Instead, it was quite the tale.

Callum had noticed his kingdom burning into ashes, and then he and his brother Ezra fought over complicated matters. He left his brother to find Rayla, who had been unghosted, but Ezra had followed Callum all to which they had run into Aaravos on their way back.

Callum had attempted to electorate Aaravos with electricity but not before the startouch elf had possessed the young mage. Now here everyone was, trying to find out a valid solution without Callum getting hurt.

There were a variety of voices talking to each other, while some tried to coax Callum into knocking himself out. But not before Callum stepped forward towards the moonshadow elf.

"You promised him, didn't you Rayla? How sweet," Aaravos chuckled as his voice haunted Rayla for weeks to come. But what he had said was true, she had promised Callum that he was ever to be possessed again, she would kill him.

But she hadn't meant it

She had only said it to make him not bring it up again

"I didn't promise him anything," Rayla responded, her voice shaking from fear. She gripped her duel-swords with white knuckles, as everything shook around the room.

"Going back on our words, aren't we? Save us yourself the trouble and give your little mage the pleasure of your word. All it takes is a small jab," Aaravos used Callum's arms to spread them wide, his chest stuck out with pride.

It was an easy target, which made the situation more escalated than it should've been.

"What you going to choose Rayla? Saving humanity or your precious mage? You get to decide, but we all know what you're going to choose."

Rayla looked into her lover's white eyes, though she still saw that he was there pleading for her to make the right choice. But she just couldn't will herself to move, not when she had already left him once.

"Aw look at our little assassin, isn't she cute? I thought she loved him, but I guess she's leaving him to suffer. How disappointing."

"I'm not an assassin, and I do love him," Rayla snarled, her grip growing tighter every passing minute. "Let him go Aaravos, before someone gets hurt."

"The only one who is going to get hurt is your little mage. But then again, that's up to you Rayla." He gave another hallowed laugh. "Don't let your love get in the way, because in a way, Callum will never love you again if you choose him over defeating me. Oh, just imagine!"

Rayla wanted to stab him for what he was worth, but he was inhibiting his lovers body and that crossed a line no one wanted to cross. But then again, Callum had been really brave to ask her of such a sin. Only that sin was going to change everything she had worked so hard for.

She had left him

And he had left her in a metaphorical sense

But now they were something else, though it had been way too good to be true. And Callum had trusted her enough to ask her...maybe she should show that she trusted him. Callum wouldn't have asked her if he didn't have a plan in place.

Taking a step forward, Rayla's breath hitched in her throat. Her hands shook as she walked with a new-found heaviness, her mind went into a comatose state to avoid internal conflicts. The dual sword flicked open with the movement.

"Rayla?"

The moonshadow elf raised her head to the sky for an answer. She knew that voice, as it had been in her life for a very long time, but it was also going to stop her from completing Callum's wish.

"Rayla, what are you doing?" Ezra asked, he moved forward with caution to avoid his possessive brother. It didn't take a fool to know that his tone was of a scared child who feared for their or their loved ones life. Rayla was that killer, and Ezra was the small child.

She looked over at the young king but refused to acknowledge his question. His eyes pierced into her very core, though she could sense how he had wished for better circumstances.

Rayla wished that too

It's not that she wanted to kill her lover, but what was the other choice? Hundreds of people would die in his favor, and Rayla would be left with a dead lover. It was a lose-lose situation that required much more than a simple apology.

"I...I..." Rayla's hand went slack as her swords fell to the floor with a loud clink. Sobs were ripped out of her throat, her legs wobbling with worry. The room turned colder, her lover still staring her with its large bitty eyes.

'STOP STARING'

She had zero control over this situation, because no matter how many times Aaravos said that she had a choice...she didn't in any way. But did she? Or what she running away from the hard truth?

Callum loved her, that far Rayla knew. But if she wasn't running from her...,what was she running from? Maybe it was the fear, or the aspect of a future without Callum that scared her from moving forward. Though it kept her rooted to the spot, her feet planted without any reason.

"You cannot deny the inevitable, Rayla. I've already won." Aaravos smirked, though it felt wrong in every way.

"Nothing has been decided yet, Aaravos," Rayla snarled. "But I'm not killing Callum, or anyone else for that matter. You can manipulate me, hurt me, but you cannot change me. "

"Wrong choice."

Aaravos lifted Callum's arms, as one reached for the duel-swords on the ground. But paused when he saw how the swords weren't there anymore.

He looked up curiously. "Oh Rayla, you know you cannot rewrite history. Too bad Callum wouldn't be around to see it." Instead of grabbing a nearby weapon, Aaravos used Callum's arms to grab his throat. A nasty rasp filled the space, as the young mage struggled to breathe through his enclosed throat. Ezra raced forward to knock his brother down, while Rayla ran to assist the young king. But a shout filled the air before they reached Callum.

"ENOUGH!"

It happened suddenly, that not even Rayla could've followed what occurred. But as she looked up, her stomach dropped to the floor.

"CALLUM!" Ezra shirked, horrified at the prospect of his brothers condition. For there was a large sword sticking through Callum's abdomen.

Rayla stood frozen to the floor, not wanting herself to move.

"CALLUM!" She shrieked. But it was fruitless.

For it was far too late, as Claudia has stabbed Callum, a guilty look decorating her face.

"I had too," Claudia's voice quavered. "He was going to hurt everyone else. This was for the greater good. Aaravos had hurt me enough already, he was never going to bring back my dad. And I'm not planning on making the same mistake with Callum."

Nobody heard the rest of her speech, as Ezra was openly sobbing while clinging to his brother. And everyone else was quite stuck to the floor in a metaphorical sense.

Stuck

Numb

Pale

Forced

Death

The sword was pulled out, Callum fell as did Rayla. The world died that day, as did everyone else in that stale room.

But not before Rayla noticed the Quarter diamond laying on the floor nearby. Maybe there was hope after all.