The Dragon Prince: Breath of Hope

Chapter 8- Lies

In the boat, Ezran yawned as he sat up from where he'd fallen asleep, against the dragon's leg, "Guys? I had a weird dream."

"No Ez, that was real," Callum sighed.

"Are you sure?" Ezran frowned as he rubbed his eyes, "There was this giant pink hippopotamus and I pulled its ear off. Because it was made of taffy."

The dragon and elf looked at each other, "Uh no. That that was a dream. I thought you meant leaving the lodge, and being fired at, and the boat."

"Then I tried to thank the hippo for the taffy, but he couldn't hear me, because I was eating his ears," the human continued, ignoring him for a moment before chuckling.

Rayla snickered at him, then gasped as the boat rocked slightly to the side with the current. Callum frowned as he watched her.

"Rayla? Are you alright?"

"Yeah Callum, I just love boats."

"Really? Because you don't look like you love boats."

"It's called sarcasm dummy," she groaned as she knelt inside of the boat to hide from the water, "It's when you say one thing but mean something else."

He thought over her statement, "So... when you say you love boats... does that mean you... really hate them?"

"Give the boy a jelly tart," she groaned.

Biting his lip, he thought for a moment, "You know, when I'm upset, you guys do things to get my mind off it? So... why don't we try that?"

"Like what?"

"Well... how about we ask some questions? To help take your mind off things."

Knowing how curious he was, the elf sighed, "Alright, go ahead."

Smiling, Callum thought about his questions then nodded, "What is Xadia like?"

"Well... it's a place where there's magic everywhere. You can't look at something without magic being a part of it. Remember what I told you? Everyone in Xadia has some bond to magic. It's no different from saying, Everywhere you look, there's nature. It's just part of the vibrancy or spirit of things, you know?"

"I can't wait to see that." Callum smiled at the idea.

"It sounds incredible!" Ezran added with a nod.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"Are you feeling better?"

"Maybe so. Ask your next question?"

"Okay..." he thought for a bit and smiled, "What are your parents like?"

An emotion Callum couldn't name crossed her face, and she looked away from him, "They're dead."

"Oh.." He slouched down, "I didn't know."

"It's fine. It... it happened a long time ago."

At that moment, the boat rocked again, and both Rayla and Callum yelped in surprise. With his yelp, Rayla looked at the dragon who blushed slightly out of embarrassment, "Umm... I don't like boats either."

Ez smiled at them, "Then maybe we should stop and walk."

The others instantly agreed, pulling the craft to the bank and climbing out. They allowed the vessel to continue downstream without them and began to walk eastward. The sun set, and they found a safe place within the twisted roots of a tree for protection. Ez was sleeping with Bait in his arms, as always, and Callum had lied down behind him, wings and tail keeping the pair safe.