by Aaron Ehasz
Ezran nodded silently. He appreciated the straightforward apology and the fact that Claudia didn’t try to make any excuses. He decided to forgive her and clambered off the banther. Ezran hugged its bear-sized head.
“Thank you. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be safe,” he said to the magnificent animal. The banther gave Ezran a quick lick, and bounded off.
Ezran joined Claudia on the street, and they walked together through the hustle and bustle. The townspeople were still recovering from the dragon attack, sweeping up ash, righting fallen signs, rebuilding roofs, and salvaging anything that hadn’t been scorched by fire.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” Claudia said. “And even more surprised you weren’t that banther’s dinner.”
“I kind of have a way with animals,” Ezran said. “And banthers are actually pretty friendly. They like praise, compliments, and a friendly scritch under the chin every now and then.”
“Hey, that’s like me!” Claudia said with a smile.
They continued to wander until they came to a stone tower, which had been partially destroyed in the dragon attack. The tower’s delicate spire had broken off and lay on the ground in a heap of rubble.
“Whoa,” Ezran said, staring at the structure.
“Do you wanna go up there?” Claudia asked.
Ezran nodded. Together, he and Claudia climbed the spiraling stairs up to the top of the tower. To Ezran’s disbelief, the stairs ended in the open air, where the tower had broken off. The landing was a few stories up, with a sweeping view of the town and the mountain range in the distance.
Ezran and Claudia sat down together to survey the scene.
“So, Ezran, why are you here?” Claudia asked. “And by yourself?”
“I found out something. My dad—” Ezran started to say. He closed his eyes, and shook his head, but couldn’t find the words to complete his sentence.
“That’s okay,” Claudia said. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” She put her hand on Ezran’s shoulder. “I know it’s not the same, but when I was a kid, my mom and dad split up. I remember hearing them fight a lot at night after we went to bed. And then one day things seemed different—really quiet and serious. My mom and dad said they needed to talk with me and Soren. They told us Mom was moving back to Del Bar, where her family was from. And then they said we had to choose.” Claudia’s voice cracked. “Me and Soren had to choose which parent we wanted to live with.” Claudia started to cry. At first she wiped the tears away, but then she just let them flow.
Ezran looked in her eyes. There was wisdom and understanding in Claudia’s words. He put his hand on her shoulder.
“And Soren chose Dad,” Claudia said. “I couldn’t believe it. How could I choose? How could I do that? Then my mom looked at my dad, and she came over to me and started wiping away my tears, even though she was crying too. And she told me to stay. She said I had to stay with Soren, that this was my home, and my brother and I needed each other. And then she left.” Claudia was wringing her hands at the memory.
Ezran was shocked. Both his parents were gone now too, but not by any choice of their own. He imagined that a parent choosing to leave must feel terrible. “How could she do that, Claudia?” he asked. “Why would she leave you?”
“I think she needed to leave for herself,” Claudia said. “To be happy, somehow. You might have noticed my dad is pretty intense.”
Ezran still couldn’t believe Claudia’s mother would do that. It made him angry. “You must miss her,” was all he said.
Claudia nodded. “Losing her has been the hardest thing that’s ever happened to me,” she said.
“When you grow up, sometimes there are changes you don’t expect,” Ezran said. “And you have to face things you’re not ready for.”
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s hard,” Claudia said.
“Callum told me that,” Ezran said.
“You’re so lucky to have a brother like Callum,” Claudia said.
“I know,” Ezran said, and immediately started crying. Claudia hugged him tight.
“And I’m lucky to have my brother,” Claudia said. “Soren is a doof, but he’s my doof! I know he would do anything to protect me, and I would do anything for him.” Suddenly, Claudia got a far-off look in her eyes. Then she mumbled something to herself.
“What did you say?” Ezran asked. A little blue bird had jumped into his hands. Ezran ran his fingers along the bird’s soft feathers.
“I was just thinking about Callum,” Claudia said. “I know when he wakes up, he won’t want to see me, but I want you to give him this.”
Claudia pulled a little glass jar from her satchel. It was filled halfway with a yellow powder.
“Just mix it with water, and it will help Callum feel better.”
Ezran smiled. “That’s a really nice offer, Claudia,” he said. “But I don’t think Callum wants anything to do with dark magic.”
“Well, let me just tell you how I make it,” Claudia said. “First I squeeeeeeeze the essence out of fresh lemons! Then I dry it into a powder and mix it with sugar and some baking soda. I call it: Fizzlicious Lemonessence!”
Ezran laughed. “Well, Callum might try that after all,” he said. “I’ll give it to him. I wish I could give you something to help Soren.”
“I think maybe you can help me, Ez,” Claudia said.
Ezran looked at her.
“You don’t just have a way with animals,” Claudia said. “You can talk to them, can’t you?”
Ezran hesitated, worried Claudia would judge him, but decided to confide in her anyway. “Yes—I can talk to them,” he said.
“Great!” Claudia said. “I need you to help me find something in the forest … if you don’t mind. If I can find milk-fruit, maybe I can help Soren.”
Ezran had never heard anyone so excited about his ability to communicate with animals. But he wanted to help Claudia because he still cared about her. He stood up and extended his hand.
“Let’s go down and find some milk-fruit,” he said.
Claudia accepted his hand, and they climbed down the tower together.
“I was going to search for the milk-fruit by myself,” she said as they started walking to the forest. “But I don’t know exactly where to start. I was thinking, since you can talk to animals, maybe one could point us in the right direction?”
“Sure, Claudia,” Ezran said. “I think pretty much any animal would help us with that. Of course, deer love milk-fruit, but I don’t think there is any shortage.”
“Oh, is that right?” Claudia asked. “That’s so interesting. Deer love milk-fruit. Good to know.”
“Everyone knows that, Claudia,” Ezran said. It was weird that Claudia didn’t know about deer and milk-fruit. Ezran thought even little tiny babies knew that. “Hey, why do you need the milk-fruit anyway?” Ezran asked. “How is it going to help Soren?”
“Oh, I just know about a spell that uses it for extra strength, that’s all.”
Ezran thought Claudia was talking really fast, but before he had time to think about it, they’d arrived at the edge of the forest, where a friendly squirrel sat nibbling on a chestnut. Ezran asked the squirrel about milk-fruit. Once the squirrel got over his initial surprise at a human who spoke squirrel, he told Ezran exactly where to go to find the best milk-fruit.
Ezran followed the directions. Soon he was leading Claudia into a lush mountainside grove bursting with flora and fauna.
“There, I see it,” Claudia said. She was jumping up and down. “It’s a milk-fruit bush.”
Ezran thought Claudia was unusually happy to see milk-fruit. It was an uncommon plant, but not extremely rare. But Ezran immediately stopped worrying when he spotted a couple of deer grazing nearby.
“Look, Claudia! There’s a family of deer. They must be here for the milk-fruit too.”
“I see them,” Claudia said. “Wow, you weren’t kidding. Those little creatures do love milk-fruit.” She turned to Ezran. “Tha
nk you so much for guiding me here,” she said. “I don’t want to waste any more of your time. I’m sure Callum needs you. Do you know the way back?”
Ezran really wanted to spend a few more minutes with the deer, but Claudia was right. He did have to get back to Callum. “I’ll be fine, Claudia,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of friends to help me if I get lost.” He smiled at a hummingbird fluttering nearby.
“And Ezran, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry if the things I did before were frightening or confusing,” Claudia said. She knelt to keep eye contact with him. “I care about you and Callum a lot. I hope you can forgive me?”
Ezran smiled. He had forgiven her back when she first apologized. “I know you’re sorry,” he said. Then he turned and headed back toward town.
Callum wandered alone in the vast, windy darkness, looking this way and that. There was nothing but blackness all around. Then he turned a corner and found himself standing next to Captain Villads.
“Ahoy, Callum! I heard ye be needing a boat,” Villads whispered.
“Am I be needing a boat?” Callum asked. He had no idea what he needed in this strange place.
“You am! For yer voyage,” the captain said. He put one arm around Callum’s shoulders. “Into yer own heart and mind. It be dangerous there.”
Callum looked around and realized he was back on the Ruthless. He didn’t know how he’d gotten there, but he was glad to be out on the sea again. “Let’s hope the weather stays nice,” he said in his best pirate voice. A second later, rain started to pour, and waves crashed all around him. Apparently, the voyage into his heart and mind was a voyage into a terrible, violent storm.
Captain Villads was screaming and laughing, spinning the ship’s wheel like a madman. “Hoist the mainsail!” the captain yelled over the storm.
“What?” Callum asked. “But I don’t know how to do that.”
“It’s yer journey,” Villads said. “You be the sail, and I’ll hoist ye.”
Suddenly, Callum realized his arms were tied to ropes. Captain Villads began hoisting up the ropes.
“Find the wind, boy,” Villads said. “Be like the wind.”
Callum felt his body getting puffier and puffier and larger and larger. When he looked down, he realized he had completely transformed and become the mainsail of the Ruthless. Callum felt so uncomfortable. His body was bloated like an overblown balloon about to pop. This was not how he’d imagined it would feel to connect to the Sky arcanum. The wild wind pushed his body/sail in whatever direction it chose. He writhed against the wind, trying to capture its power to steer the boat. But his efforts only seemed to make the wind stronger and angrier at him.
Callum exhaled deeply, and the wind released him back to his human form on the deck of the ship. He clutched the railing while giant waves tossed the boat. Captain Villads was nowhere to be seen, so Callum grabbed the wheel, which was spinning out of control.
Suddenly, Callum was outside the storm looking in at the Ruthless. He watched the boat toss about the sea with his own bloated body as the mainsail. Then he felt his view of the scene retreat. He was farther and farther away from the storm, looking down on everything like it was contained in a glass globe. He watched the tiny Captain Villads, himself, and the boat all being dashed through the powerful storm inside the globe.
Then, before he could stop himself, Callum lifted the globe into the air and smashed it down to the ground, just as he had done with the primal stone when Zym was born. For a few moments, the shards of the globe remained on the ground. Then the pieces began to twirl around and gather together, reassembling themselves. At the last moment, a gush of wind sucked Callum inside, and he found himself back at sea.
The Ruthless had been destroyed. Callum was hanging on to a piece of wood, trying to stay afloat in the great foamy waves. He saw Captain Villads nearby in the water.
“Your conscience is a messy place, boy-o,” Villads said merrily.
Berto appeared in the distance. As the parrot approached, Callum saw he had grown to a hundred times his normal size. The giant parrot gripped Captain Villads in his talons, carrying him away into the night.
“Villads out!” the captain called as he escaped the swirling seas.
This is one seriously weird dream, Callum thought. How long had he been here? Suddenly, it felt like days since Callum had seen Rayla or Ezran.
Callum gripped his piece of plywood so tightly that it broke. He started to sink immediately—down, down, down through the thick water. Callum could see the surface fade into the distance. The moon above turned into a mere pinprick of light. There were flashes of lightning high above, but beneath the surface, it was quiet. Maybe this was how Ezran felt when he was searching for the dragon egg underneath all that ice.
Callum struggled to reach the surface, but it was no use. He seemed to have forgotten how to swim. He was doing everything wrong. He wanted to use the Sky arcanum to perform incredible magic. He wanted to connect to this mystical, ancient idea. But everything he tried moved him further from the goal. Callum was out of ideas. If a life of magic was going to be this hard, Callum wasn’t sure he wanted it.
Callum’s cheeks puffed out, and he released the little air he had remaining in his lungs. He watched air bubbles rise as he continued to sink into the darkness. Once Callum decided to stop struggling, the world around him became quiet and still and peaceful.
Then a soft voice spoke from the depths of the water.
“Breathe …” the voice said.
Callum knew that voice. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
“Breathe. Callum, you need to breathe,” the voice said.
Callum found himself sitting on his bed back in Katolis. His mother was there with him, alive and beautiful. She was rubbing his back.
“You just need to breathe, sweetie,” Queen Sarai said.
“But I feel so overwhelmed with everything,” Callum said. “I have so many thoughts, things racing through my head.” He put his hands on his head, which was aching.
“Sometimes you just need to focus on the present, take a deep breath, and just be,” his mother said. “Come on, try it.”
Callum inhaled deeply through his nose, then let the air out slowly.
“Sometimes things can get so complicated that our minds can’t quite sort them out alone,” she said. She brushed some stray locks of hair away from his face. “But when you slow down and let yourself breathe, your spirit and your body can catch up with your mind, and help out.”
“I just have to breathe?” Callum asked hopefully. He took a deep, clean inhale.
“To know something truly and deeply, you must know it with your head, hand, and heart … mind, body, and spirit.” Queen Sarai leaned over and kissed Callum on his forehead.
“I love you with all of myself, and I always will,” she said.
Callum felt so warm and safe. His mother was alive! She was rocking him back and forth in her lap. She was speaking to him, but her words all melted together—he couldn’t understand what she was saying. Then she began rocking him harder and faster. It was a little uncomfortable. “Mom, slow do—” he started to say.
“Callum, wake up! You’ve got to stay with me!” Rayla yelled. “Please come back. It doesn’t matter what you did before. I just want you to be okay again.”
Callum opened his eyes a tiny bit. Why was his mother shaking him by the shoulders?
“Oh,” Callum mumbled.
It wasn’t his mother shaking him, it was Rayla. Callum was on the floor of a cave, and the rune cube was on the ground next to him.
“Wake up!” Rayla repeated. “I can’t lose you like this. You mean too much to me. Callum, I—”
Callum sat straight up and looked directly into Rayla’s eyes.
“I’m awake!” he exclaimed. He put his hands to his cheeks—they felt warm. His body felt energized like after a good night’s sleep. “What were you saying?”
But Rayla didn’t respond to his question. Instead, she disentan
gled herself from Callum and stood up. She looked around the cave, at her feet, and outside. She looked in every direction but Callum’s. She cleared her throat.
“Oh, look, you’re awake now,” Rayla said. “You’re even looking cheery. And, is that a twinkle in your eye?”
Callum stayed very still as Rayla leaned her face close into his to examine the twinkle. “Oh, nope; that’s not a twinkle, it’s one of those sleep-crusties. Here, let me.” Rayla swept the eye booger out with her index finger before Callum could stop her.
Callum shook his head to clear the last remaining fog from his dream. His dream! He sat up straighter.
“I have it! I understand the Sky arcanum!” Without waiting for a response, he hurried out of the cave.
Rayla, Zym, and Bait hurried after him.
“You understand the Sky arcanum now?” Rayla asked. She raised one eyebrow and cocked her head to the left.
“The arcanum isn’t one simple thing,” Callum said. His mind was racing, but his thoughts were as clear as they had ever been. “It’s all the things. They just had to … come together, you know? It’s like, when I had the primal stone, I held the power of the Sky in my hand, but now that’s gone. But Rayla, the whole world is like a giant primal stone and we’re inside it! I’m inside Sky magic, but it’s also in me, with every breath I take.” He walked toward the edge of the cliff.
“That kind of makes sense,” Rayla said, coming up beside him.
“Yes! And I kept thinking about birds, and sails, and how they connect to the wind,” Callum said. “And I thought I had to find my wings. But that’s just it, I AM the wing!” It felt so good to say it, Callum repeated himself. “I AM THE WING!”
“That makes less sense,” Rayla said. “But okay!”
I am the wing, I am the wing. Callum took a deep breath.
“Moment of truth. Let’s see if I can really do this,” he said. He closed his eyes, then traced the Aspiro rune in the air with his index finger. He waited for the feeling of the magic building inside him, as it had when he’d done the spell with the primal stone in hand.
