The Dragon Prince - Soren x reader (f)

- Illusions -

After retrieving Lujanne and Allen - with the help of Queen Aanya - our small group travels to our destination. Terry knows where we are going. The Moon Nexus. Soren and I, on the other hand, are not entirely familiar with this mountain that we travel to.

Yet the crater that rests here is quite a famous one.

"Do you remember that main constellation I told you about?" I ask Soren who stands alongside me. Over the nights we have spent looking at the night sky, we have talked over many different focal points.

Yet Soren points to the exact place which I was speaking of. "The brightest star, right there?" He wonders.

I nod in confirmation despite the fact that we are both looking upwards. "Leola's last wish," I remind him of the Xadian name, just in case he forgot.

"Yeah... I remember," Soren confirms. His eyes trace down until they're on me. "Why do you mention it?" There is a hesitant sort of worry in his tone. The same unease sits in my chest.

"Well, the star is connected to this tale," I explain. "A tale that Leola was the cause of this crater..." my words trail off, my volume becoming a whisper.

"She caused a crater and then became a star?" Terry chimes in. He is evidently interested in this conversation. A part of me feels bad for the guy. With Allen and Aanya off to the side with Lujanne in preparation, Terry is kind of third wheeling Soren and I. Not that this is a private date or anything. It's actually a very important mission that could go either incredibly or horribly.

"I must be remembering it wrong," I admit sheepishly. "I just- It must be connected to Aaravos." I puff out an anxious breath. "Some how, some way," I utter. Why else would he be here? Only to open the in-between?

"Perhaps Leola was his friend," Soren prompts. "You said that he lost someone, right?"

His prompting causes me to lock eyes with Terry - the other Xadian born here and thus someone who may know more than I. Although his earlier statement wasn't suggestive of further intellect, he locks eyes with me. It is as if the dots connect in both of our minds at the same time, different reasons supporting us. "Not a friend," I tell Soren gravely.

If you and your lover have a child.

Was that not the jeer that Aaravos threw my way? But it can't be. It wouldn't make sense. Then again, I don't know the full story at all. I know nothing of Aaravos, aside from his history with Viren, and his history with our group of friends. All we understand of Leola, too, is information we can pull from a tale.

Unfortunately now is not a time for pondering. Footsteps sound from the near distance and the three of us duck further into the bushes. My mind whirls for answers to the many questions it has. Thankfully for me, one perplexion is brought to a close.

There is an old man walking at Claudia's side.

I hold back the urge to tell Soren that I knew it was him - Aaravos in disguise. Here is all the proof. I wish Callum and Corvus could see it. But I guess we will be telling them the story of this success later.

If it works.

There is a large staff in both of their hands. Aaravos' stick I have seen before. There is a white orb at the top of it this time, and I should be more concerned, yet right now it isn't my largest worry. Claudia's is. Not only is the item massive - standing a head taller than herself - there is a dark pulsing orb in the middle shape. The red sparks that fly read one thing: Danger. A pit in my stomach forms and my intuition tells me that that is the Sun Seed itself.

Claudia and Aaravos' mundane human form halt in their ascend to the top of this mountain lookout. "Wait," she says in reasoning, holding up a hand for Aaravos. He leans against his staff, as if continuing with the character. "Somethings not right," she says. I can't see much through this foliage and have to squint in order to better judge their actions. Claudia's neck is twisting frantically. "Come out!" She shouts. "I know you're there!"