#because Aaravos took over Callums body

[firerose]

Ezran waking up from a thunderstorm and yelling Callums name is a really different scene if you think about the Callum possesion arc...........

[zuppizup]

Circumstance III

Circumstance II

Rayla pulled her hood low over her face, listening for the sounds of boots on flagstones. The moon was high and shifting into Moonshadow form barely required even conscious effort.

Sticking to the shadows, she crept along the hallway, making her way to the dungeon. The guard count was much more than normal, and she felt an extra twinge of guilt as she assessed how best to deal with them all. Had the others guessed she would try this? Or were they truly that afraid of Callum?

It didn’t matter and it didn’t change what she was here to do.

Taking a deep breath, Rayla snuck up on the first guard, slipping her arm around his neck and pulling tight before he could so much as react. He struggled for a moment, but Rayla’s aim was true, and he almost immediately slumped in her arms. As gently as possible she left him in the shadows, wincing just a little as his armour scraped on the stone. The other guards she dealt with in a similar fashion.

Quietly.

Confident she’d dealt with all the guards, she began to search their unconscious bodies, frantically looking for the key to Callum’s dungeon, but found them all lacking. They’d anticipated this too? No matter, Rayla didn’t need keys. Pulling a chunk of iron from her pocket, she approached Callum’s prison.

He seemed to be sleeping, curled up uncomfortably on his narrow bench. It took her only a few minutes to deal with the lock on his door, slipping inside the cell and reaching for the chains on Callum’s wrists.

He started, looking around blearily. “Wha?”

“Shush,” Rayla whispered, hands on his shackles. “I’m nearly done.”

“Rayla, what are you doing?” Callum squinted, clearly struggling to make her out in the darkness.

“I’ll explain once you’re out of here.” She breathed a sigh of relief as his second shackle clicked, hanging loose on his wrist. She got to her feet, gesturing for him to follow.

“I can’t run, Rayla.” He took her hand, unmoving, as he remained in the cell.

“Callum, they-” She bit her lip, blinking past tears. “The negotiations, they’re not going well. You can’t stay here.”

He took a shaky breath, eyes wide. “They’ve sentenced me to death.”

“No!” Rayla gasped, “Not yet- It’s- It’s not been decided. Ezran is still trying but- Callum, we can’t wait around any longer. It’s not just that. It’s not right for you to be locked up like this.”

“Rayla-” He reached for both her hands, shaking his head. “I know what I did. I know the danger we’re all in because of it. I can’t run from that.”

“I can’t leave you here!” She tried again to get him to leave. “You only did dark magic because you were trying to help people. All of this is because of that. It’s not fair-”

“I did it for you.” He smiled softly. “I did all of it for you. You know it and they know it.”

“No, it-” She bit her lip, trying desperately to think of a way to argue with him. “You’re the first human primal mage in centuries. Maybe ever. You’re smarter than all of them and stronger than anyone I know. If we’re going to stand a chance against Aaravos, we need you, Callum.” Her voice broke as she desperately willed for him to agree with her. “They can’t just- If they’re still angry after, then we’ll come back. Face them then, but we need you to help defeat Aaravos.”

I need you

He sighed and a desperate glimmer of hope blossomed in her chest. He wanted to rid the world of the threat Aaravos posed. He wanted to do good, he always had.

“Rayla, if we- there’s no going back if-” He shook his head as he reached out and cupped her cheek. “Xadia is part of the negotiations, right? If they know you-”

“I know,” she held his gaze, “I know, and I don’t care.” Reaching for his face, she kissed him hard, wanting him in no doubt this was what she wanted to do. “They can banish me from the entire continent or sentence me to death too, I don’t care.” She pressed her forehead against his, stroking his cheek. “I love you. I would do anything for you.”

Circumstance IV

[raayllum]

this sequence lives in my head rent free

AAAAAAAAAA

why does the shot of callum's deep breathing linger for so long? why does rayla look so troubled? callum just did an incredible spell, and seemingly solved all their problems, so why is it all so unsettling?

specifically

this shot

ik this can't just be me. we the viewers are made to notice this scene

i think

uh

help

So there's a few things, I think:

Thus far in show, outside of Light Spell (which is physical) and Ghosting spell (which is emotional / metaphysical) there's been very few instances of like, Primal magic being dangerous/horrific. (Viren's killing of the guards when Aaravos is channelling it through him notwithstanding in 2x09, but that's also easy to get wires crossed on because it's Aaravos, y'know?). So Callum having primal magic send him to his knees and giving him a hard limit is new, particularly for him. (It is worth noting, of course, that primal magic - as far as we know - doesn't leave any longterm harm or in-body corruption the way dark magic does, though, which is arguably the biggest thing.)

The second is that it harkens back to Callum's primal stone - which he had to destroy - and the reflection motif with the mirror that was ongoing in early S4 for him in particular (which TDP tends to have characters have a reflection like that when they're making decisions or not liking what they're seeing, which we'll get to in a second). But like, the Primal Stone foreshadowing continues, my beloved, and it's nothing good.

Jack De Sena has also said that when voicing Callum (particularly S2 onwards) he pays a lot of attention to how and where Callum's breaths are placed while he talks or does stuff. (This is why I loved Callum's sharp inhales and shaky exhales whenever he was angsting over Rayla in early S4, and that his crying when he thinks he's lost her sounds far more like a panic attack than like, sobbing.) And in S5, Callum has steady breathing basically the whole way through... until this scene when he's taken on too much (not too little) and is struggling for a decent chunk to catch his breath. And also why when Callum starts panicking in 5x08 over Finnegrin threatening Rayla ("Just let her go") you hear it in his breathing first and foremost.

But that's all like, little technical stuff. What I think 5x07 does so well is set up everything that's going to come crashing down in a lot of ways in 5x08, specifically in Callum's steadiness (of identity) and specifically his confidence. When 5x07 opens up, he's getting terse with Nyx for dismissing his skills and prowess as a mage and his position as High Mage, and in his zealousness to prove it, he sends poor Sneezles into the water... because of his pride and the fact he wants that recognition (whereas Rayla, who was also diminished as a "junior assassin" doesn't say a word about it, because pride isn't on of her faults). But then, when Finnegrin starts to catch up with them, Callum remains optimistic that he'll be the one who makes a positive difference (nor is he necessarily wrong):

And Callum's burst of speed combined with Rayla's idea to hide ("He can't hurt us if he can't see us") seems to work. Until it doesn't, and his attitude starts to change because well, the stakes have changed.

And then we get what's probably one of my favourite lines in the season / favourite bits of foreshadowing.

You put them in irons. You put them in chains.

S: I don't get it. What happened? Rayla: He took their wind away.

This was a far more taxing, difficult spell to pull off, and one that took a lot out of Callum (not unlike how Viren and Claudia's uses of dark magic have made them collapse) so it's unsettling to see similar physical behaviours here as a consequence. And it's worth noting that after this scene, Callum doesn't come up with any other ideas. This was 2/2, he's done. And I think it really elevates the impending sense of desperation and fear (that is of course going to be cranked up next episode) as well as the comparative limits of primal magic in contrast to dark magic. Magic can't fix everything, and it's this choice (taking the winds out of the sails) that signals to Finnegrin next episode that Callum is a mage, and sets up all of the conflict that comes from it.

A primal spell that leads to a dark magic consequence (in more ways than one).

Callum starts out as optimistic and proud at the beginning of 5x07. The episode literally whittles him down as it goes on. In 5x08, he starts off okay but battered, but still confident in his worldview ("See? As long as we protect each other, as long as we love each other, you can never control us"). By the end of 5x08 that's all changed, because he's had to accept that it was too simplistic, that it wasn't true, that

His loved ones (specifically Rayla) were/are the key to controlling him, even when Finnegrin wasn't the one holding his chains anymore ("That deal is no longer on the table"). He couldn't control everything, but he could control his responses, and he made his choice. And it's not a reality he likes, but it's the one lives in and the one he chose to live in, and he had to accept it. No matter how bitter or dark.

[httyddragonfox]

The horror of Callum's Possession

Sorry this is so late, but I just started this account earlier this year. Anyways, I was imagining what it would be to be in the shoes of fictional characters. Specifically characters who go through hell, (is it me being a masochist or empathetic [shrug]). Thinking about what Callum must've gone through in his possession scene...

Callum only just learned who Aaravos really is, only briefly hearing about him before in his step-father's letter to him. Soren warned him that the mirror can change people, like his father. If I was Callum I would not be too worried, I mean 'I connected to the sky primal even though people said I couldn't.' He probably thought he'd be fine, worried about the evil coming, but fine otherwise.

The group decides to check on Aaravos and see if he's still trapped, or if he's planning anything. Callum is nervous in the scene, as this is a great evil they're looking in on, but otherwise thinks they'll probably be fine. 'Aaravos is in there, we're out here.'

With a single gesture, Callum starts choking in pain. If I were Callum, I'd be scared for my life here. 'So Aaravos is actually dangerous, and he's attacking me!' Suddenly, Callum loses consciousness, then becomes blank as Aaravos lifts him up like a puppet. He then takes over his consciousness. According to Callum, he was aware of everything happening.

I imagine if someone else was to override you like that, your body would feel numb, like it was asleep. I've been briefly hacked before, the mouse moving on it's own. It was so scary I shut the computer down. Imagine your body moving against your own commands. Your own body is the only place you can feel safe, because you know your thoughts and your actions are your own. Callum is all about his own agency, he connected to the sky primal! Getting his agency removed like that would be terrifying!

He'd forced to be a mouthpiece for Aaravos, in other terms...Has anyone read or seen Lord of the Rings? The Mouth of Sauron anyone?! Him acting as a mouthpiece is already an act of claiming him as his agent.

As his mouth, he's forced to insult the Dragon Queen, his brother, his old flame, and his new friend Soren. They'd argue of course it wasn't him, but he probably wouldn't see it that way. Not to mention, this great evil took him over easily despite the vast difference of space. Callum would probably be scared out of his mind that when he walked toward his friends he'd be forced to hurt them, physically. If I were him, I'd be screaming in my head, 'Get away from them! Don't hurt them!' I'd be doing this repetitively.

Then there's Aaravos' final claim, that he actually likes Callum, and because he's tainted by darkness Callum will one day 'Play into his hands,' which means 'Do what I wish of him' which basically means 'He'll be mine.' He's then forced to bow. These lines, and this act, Ultra Terrifying. They're right now planning to go against him, Ibis is dead because of him, many have suffered because of him, he's proven he's no friend of Callum's friends, and basically said "You'll be joining my side one day, Callum." Also, the tainted by darkness thing, he'd be kicking himself for that act of dark magic three years ago enabling Aaravos like this.

In that moment, you feel like any agency you have is gone. I'd be constantly wondering if I'm playing into his hands with everything I'm doing, even if I'm going against him. I'd try to keep it together, but left alone with my own thoughts I'd be falling apart inside. No wonder he asked Rayla to kill him if things went bad. I haven't seen Season 5 yet but I hope things improve for the better. Callum needs a break.

At the same time I'm a bit of a sadist being a writer, so if they do make him suffer, I'm wondering how they'll do it.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

B2:S - Chapter 5

Much of this series will be about the differences and additions in the novel version, and how they contribute to my understanding of story canon. But there will be character appreciation, the odd theory and headcanon, and suchlike as well.

Here be lots of Viren deets, Best Boy Soren deets, some writing/continuity stuff, worldbuilding appreciation and half of a theory, Detective Rayla, Moon Temple geeking, Claudium and dark magic, and more!

Spoilers for Book Two: Sky below.

(I know for darn sure that I wrote up a post for chapter 4, but I can't find it anywhere so I guess Tumblr ate it and I'll have to redo it at some point, but today is not that day)

Viren, my evil dude, my bad guy, coming in clutch with the worldbuilding and backstory again! If you want to know decades of information, you gotta talk to Viren. Or read his scenes, at least. Here, he seems to not sleep much when he has a big problem to analyze his way through. Solutions trump pretty much everything else in this guy's life, and he's had a really hard week with a lot of new and complicated problems. Of course he's getting sleep-deprived trying to find his way through them all.

Harrow put so much trust in Viren when he made him High Mage! He just threw himself extra hard at that Lady Justice blindfold, didn't he? Didn't really want to see what Viren was doing in his magic study, so he left Viren to his devices. And Viren has a lot of devices.

Also, this is fascinating: Viren made the secret passage to his "less official study" in Katolis Castle! And he was inspired to do so by the way his own mentor kept the Puzzle House. What else could a Puzzle House be, except a place with secret passages? Yay! secret headcanon that "the Puzzle House" is just "Katolis Castle" from Kid Viren's perspective tho

So either Viren built all of those passageways, or at least the ones to his dungeon. Which means he has to have, or know where to get, a stash of those glowing blue Moonshadow crystals. Hmmm.

I can't wait to learn more about Kpp'Ar and young Viren, btw. From this description of Viren and all his literal secret ways, it feels like another parallel between Viren and Runaan, with the whole "secretive paths, members only, insider knowledge" type stuff. Only the really cool members of this cult club get to know the secrets, and guess what, kid, you're cool now but you can never tell anyone, okay? Our secret.

Yeahhh, that'll never backfire in any way for either of them.

Kpp'Ar calling puzzles and secrets "man-made magic," though. Yes sir, knowledge is indeed power.

This chapter mentions Runaan by name, from Viren's perspective. Generally that would imply that Viren knows his name, even though assassins do not share their names, and Runaan didn't seem to give his to Viren in the first book. However, there was a scene in book one where the last paragraph switched perspective from Viren to Runaan - a technique that's very common in visual media like movies and shows and gives you that "ohoho they left the room and didn't notice this, but you do!" vibe. Using Runaan's name there in book one, where Viren couldn't see it but readers could, helps them keep track of the assassin's story arc while maintaining Viren's racism.

So in book two, in which Runaan has no onscreen scenes (alas), using his name in a scene that calls back to the events in book one helps us remember what happened in that dungeon cell. It would be a bit muddier to recall the specifics if Viren kept thinking about Runaan as "Elf." So I'm cool with the perspective nudge because it serves a narrative purpose: clarity. But I'm also enjoying the angst of considering that, somehow, Viren learned Runaan's name either during or after the coining spell. Mwa ha ha haaa. (Obligatory "Keep my pretty name outta your mouth" goes here)

Okay, back to Viren's scheming! He took the mirror because it was human-sized in a dragon lair. He knew it didn't really fit there, and that made it interesting, so he stole it. But he realized it was really powerful when Runaan wouldn't tell him squat about it - the assassin's instinct to protect Xadian secrets from human hands meant that Viren was holding a very powerful Xadian secret. And that just made him want it all the more. Ah, Runaan, if only your relationship with lying was, like, the exact opposite of what it is. Nyx could've spun Viren a believable tale in 2 minutes flat.

Also of interest: Viren considers his cursed coins to be a final fate. He expects Runaan to remain in his coin forever. With the Chekhov's coins still extant in the storyline, we can assume that they'll come up again eventually, but Viren has no current plans to do anything with his elf money except carry it around.

It's worth noting that Viren admits that he got impatient when he trapped Runaan in the coin. Runaan's first fate in Katolis was supposed to be death at Soren's hands, but Claudia "saved" him from that. His next fate was to become spell components, but Viren's frustration with his stubbornness "saved" him from that fate, too. So now he's in a coin, where no one can chop him up at all. Yay? No, boo!

We get one last line about Runaan before Viren shifts gears: he makes a point of noting for us that Runaan's shackles are still locked shut. However much of Runaan made it into that coin - body, soul, hair care products - he was magicked there, pulled right out of his restraints.

The creepy black liquid that Viren pours right into his eyes is the last of a powerful potion he got from Kpp'Ar, and its recipe is ancient! Humans used it back in the age of Elarion to see through the illusions of the world. And we get a delightfully creepy bit of description about the preparation of this serum, which makes it abundantly clear that it's a Moon magic-based concoction, harvested from eyeless vipers on a moonless night, with the threat of irrevocable madness ("madness" by whose definition, though) if it's done wrong-

Hang on. Hold up. This is a Plato's Cave reference. OH MY GOD.

No no I'm fine, this is brilliant. Sorry, sorry, I couldn't figure why there was so much description for a potion prep that Viren didn't even have to perform himself. But now I get it. I see the light. HA. I should make a separate post for this, it's amazing.

Anyway, for reference, the humans who used this serum were called the Oracles of Ophidia, and Ophidia is a taxonomy group that includes all modern snakes. Can you say "creepy ancient snake rites"? I can! Woo!

Viren activates the serum with a spell, but apparently he's never done it before. He's not sure if it's supposed to be hot and bubbly, and he worries that it's been tainted by moonlight.

Oh, I do hope so.

The magic potion hurts, a lot. Viren will do just about anything, to himself or anyone, to do what he believes is necessary. He just risked madness and blindness to find out what this mirror does! Viren. Can you just. Take a nap or something. Have a Snickers.

This chapter gives us a fun clue that I don't remember from the show: when Viren's vision clears and he can see, his reflection has white pupils and the room reflected in the mirror has inverted colors. You know where else has inverted colors?

You know who else got white pupils for a hot second?

Okay, now it makes sense! Viren and Lujanne were both seeing into the realm beyond life and death. Him with his moon magic potion, and her with her moon powers on a full moon night at the Moon Nexus. Which is Very Interesting! Is it a direct hint about Aaravos's location, or just a separate cool detail? Orrr, does it look like a direct hint because Aaravos is actually trapped in the world beyond life and death, but it's actually separate and we'll see something about white pupils again later on?

Viren really does have self-esteem issues, we all picked up on it with his rant at his reflection. He throws a fit when he catches himself wondering if he's actually worthless. In the book version of his tantrum, he shoves the mirror and hurls a candelabra instead of flipping a table. He didn't need to shove the mirror to set the fire, but it's in here. Foreshadowing that perhaps, if push comes to shove, Viren will choose himself over Aaravos? Giving Aaravos time to peek through and see that the coast is clear?

Soren, my boyyyyy. He has a rough night at the Moon Nexus because two sides of him are fighting with each other. He struggles to understand Callum's friendship with Rayla, and he also fantasizes about chopping off Rayla's head. One of these is a pretty ordinary thing to do. The other is Soren's internalization of what he needs to do to gain his father's approval. If he brought his dad a chopped off elf head every week, he'd probably feel a lot more confident because Viren would praise him a lot more.

Okay, okay, omg, is it just me, or does the "Moonshadow Madness" story, as it's told in the book, seem like Soren just doesn't know what a monsterfucker is? He thinks an elf bite puts humans under a spell. But vampires are sexy, and some people want them to do more to them than just bite them. A passionate kiss under the moonlight could look very bitey, especially if one of the participants has horns and you're already culturally trained to hate them. No yeah, I'm already headcanoning an actual human-elf kiss that got misunderstood by an observer long ago.

it's Lujanne isn't it, we all know, because what is a love spell but a sweet soft illusion, I mean how else does she get supplies for her Caldera, I ask you, and also Corvus was totally sent to investigate once and he told Soren at camp what he saw

And then back to magefam angst: Soren pretending that his sister's nose-tapping is stupid, even though he actually thinks it's cool, just because their dad thinks it's stupid. Viren, istg. Let your kids like harmless things. It's so cute that Soren taps his nose back at her, though! Like they have their own sibling code. I hope we get to see the nose tap again, especially now that they've chosen different sides. It could mean so much, that they're not too far apart yet.

Rayla knows what buttery pancakes smell like. I love this. Do Moonshadow elves have butter and pancakes, does Rayla eat a stack of eight giant pancakes in the morning? Orrrr it is just illusion food? I don't care, let Rayla have pancakes! Everyone loves pancakes. Pancakes will save the world. this message brought to you by the fact that I can't eat pancakes rn, send help

I love that Rayla is both sus of the pancakes and hungry, and that combines into a very motivated "I will get to the bottom of this" attitude. She kind of goes into Poirot Mode when she inserts herself into Soren and Ellis's conversation about Ava, explaining about the wolf's illusion leg and segueing into her claim that the pancakes taste sus. Claudia confirms she used dark magic, and Rayla is furious. It's different than the show's version in that it puts Rayla in detective mode, as the only Moonshadow elf in the scene, and boy does she take that role seriously. Also, she doesn't actually swallow the dark magic pancake bite. It ends up on the ground just like Lujanne's grubs from that earlier meal. These poor kids are so nutrient-starved. You guys gotta eat!!

Rayla's determination and prejudices and the fact that she super knows Harrow is dead all dovetail to make her try repeatedly to persuade Callum that Soren and Claudia are Not To Be Trusted. It's nice that the book keeps taking the time to point out that Rayla is Well Intentioned But Flawed, just like Callum and pretty much every other character in the show. No one is Right All The Time, no one Knows More Than Everyone Else.

Callum loving the sound of Claudia's unique voice is so wholesome. When you like someone, it only makes sense that you like all the things about them that they can't change - like the sound of Claudia's voice. Her choices with dark magic, not so much!

Claudia seems to have the same concerns Soren does about Callum's relationship with Rayla, but she comes out and asks him. The inherent possession implied in "your elf" is interesting, though. Elves are not people to Claudia. They're enemies who can be disassembled for the magic inside them. So maybe more like robots than living beings, if she knew what a robot was. Maybe she heard Soren's "Moonshadow Madness" story and realized he totally missed the kissing implications - but she didn't, and now she's genuinely worried that Rayla could kiss Callum under a full moon and enchant him to do her will. Good thing it's only a half moon, then!

Okay, Callum nervously making a puppet hand and then not knowing what to do with his hands and freaking out about itching and moving and pointy elbows is such a ND mood. The sudden stress of knowing that someone else is noticing your existence and maybe you're Not Existing Right, amirite? Ugh, poor Callum.

The Moon Temple! Omg it's so pretty in the description! Made to be beautiful and useful, full of knowledge but also allowing light and life inside (butterflies and vines). Lujanne, when can I move in, please? Also, it's all the more angsty because Lujanne is the only one who gets to see this beautiful place, but it has lots of chairs and shelves and tables, and it was meant to be used by lots of people. :(((

Claudia knows some of the runes on the walls. She isn't in a hurry to copy the rest of them down or anything, either. Her spellwriting is very precise, and she's a skilled mage. Her father would have made sure she was aware of the dangers of drawing sloppy runes, as much as he made her aware of the dangers of doing dark magic wrong. And the whole point of dark magic is that it's easier to learn than primal magic. Claudia supports her dad and their shared knowledge and life path. She's not gonna go nuts over an elf library she can't translate.

Side note: Between Claudia knowing some Moon runes and Viren building a secret passageway and a dungeon and lighting it with the same blue crystals that Lujanne and Ethari use for light--and Claudia exclaiming that she loves ruins--I wonder once more if there are really Moonshadow ruins somewhere in Katolis, which Viren has found and looted. Father-daughter relic hunting trip, maybe while Soren is away at camp? Omgsh that would be so wild!

Callum out here having a Viren moment with his "I feel powerless unless I've got magic that lets me help" vibes. God. I love their complicated mirroring. One of the hard differences between them is that Callum is very sure dark magic is bad because you have to kill stuff and take its power to cast spells, and he doesn't want to be a person who kills and takes like that. The line he walks to be nice to Claudia on their tour of the Cursed Caldera because he likes her, while telling her that he doesn't want to do her magic, like, ever, is so fine that it might as well be a shifting shadow on the ground. It's a very fitting conversation to be having during the half moon, with its tricks and little white lies.

Callum being out of the castle and his comfort zone, having to deal with the fact that the Claudia he loves is not quite the Claudia who's chasing him down across the kingdom, but of the two of them, he's the only one with a problem with this.

They say that if you really want to get to know someone, you should spend time with them outside their comfort zone - in heavy traffic, with a small baby, taking care of a new pet, trying a new skill, following unfamiliar directions, etc. While the castle is familiar territory for them both, Callum's never really found his comfort zone yet, while Claudia is pretty comfortable with her growing skill set. The creepy part starts to kick in when Callum begins to realize that Claudia's comfort zone encompasses a whole bunch of stuff that seems like it should make her uncomfortable... but it doesn't. But that'll be for a future chapter!

[shiramoonshadow]

This is the last part of the vip panel with Jason, Luc and Adrian. 

What’s your favorite character you didn’t voice?

Adrian: Oh, I don’t know, everybody. Seriously, everybody’s so amazing. You know, I’m exciting to eventually be...I’m not there yet, just in the countenance of my voice and the age of my voice quite yet, but one day I aspire to voice a Viren like character, now I’m a dad I just find that fascinating, the very complex relationships he has with his children and his own ambitions. Yeah, I’m not jealous, I love what Jason does but I can’t wait to play a Viren character.

Luc: First, let me just say that once again I love everyone on the show and I don’t just say that to make everyone feel good, like I watch every episode and I’m blown away and sometimes even the small characters I have to pause and be like “who was that? who did that?” That was fantastic. Um...it’s Amaya, she’s got me right from the beginning. I think I’ve always had a thing for female like warriors for some reason? Like she is just the ultimate badass warrior. She’s caring, she’s protective and she’s strong and all the fight sequences are just so dope. She gets the one up on Harrow, even on Harrow she’s like “this dude”, you know? I just love her. I think she’s fantastic.

Jason: That’s the same for me. Episode six on s1 where they’re at the statue and they’re sharing a lovely moment, Viren and Amaya but she still says “listen let’s cut the bs, I don’t trust you”. She’s just written so well.

Jason, what movie or tv show would your characters love?

Jason: This is interesting. I’ve done this sort of thing I just wrote down, you know, music shows...Loves...Um...loves classical music and heavy metal. I think a really good comedy like a belly laugh sort of comedy, just a sitcom that’s good, so like 30 Rock or The office.

Luc: I think he likes looks to other great leaders and people of history stuff, right? So he’s like watching James Earl Jones do some Shakespeare, like play Othello or something like that, you know, he’s downloaded illegally or something, like the 1996 production of the globe theatre or something like “ah, this is it” or like The West Wing or something like that.

Adrian: I would say The Golden Girls.

Is there a favorite theory that you have for what happened to Harrow?

Luc: So right in the middle of s1, right after we finished recording those first three episodes. My personal theory is that Viren actually sacrificed himself and used the soulfang to switch their bodies and that Harrow is now inside of Viren’s body and we just didn’t know. Now, since watching more episodes I realized that is obviously not. Like right after we recorded those I was like “oh yeah, it’s going to be this great actual sacrifice and we’ll find out at the end of the first season that Viren has actually sacrificed himself and Harrow lives inside of…” No, that’s not the case. Honestly? After I realized that I was wrong I stopped trying to guess and I know all the fan theories but when I work on a show and something like this happens I try not to create these theories for myself until I see the scripts because it’s just either going to be disappointment or...I don’t know, it’s like I like to wait till the writers actually-

Tell you what happened?

Luc: Yeah. Otherwise I just like to believe that what they say is the truth and he was assassinated. Until we know differently, you know?

One of my favorite things that Jack revealed was that he always shipped Rayla with Callum and so he performed as if that was the end, even with the whole Claudia thing, he said he always... in his head his goal was to get with Rayla. I was like “I think he made it happen” like he literally changed like how confident he was because he is like this person showed up to kill his brother, so like he had to be very strong and in charge and have it together and so there was like such a great version of Callum with Rayla that eventually they just wrote it that way. I'm just trowing that out there in case you want to guide this reveal. You're more than welcome to pick your favorite fan theory and just make it happen.

Jason: I have favorite theories but I'm not going to say what I actually think. Only because I like to...I will certainly share my opinions if it’s really against something strong that I disbelieve, but because I know... the three of us, we look at our scripts and we prepare characters and we prepare...we know stuff that we’ve been told by writer, director, creators. We know stuff that we’ve talked about and I don’t like to let any of that stuff go because I’d like to keep it for myself. I love to throw lines out there, to throw people off and mess around but… One that I heard was that Harrow is out wandering somewhere and that’s my favorite theory, he’s just sort of gone and he’ll be back someday.

Luc: How do you explain the bracelet falling off?

Jason: Exactly, but I like the idea of Viren and Harrow looking at each other saying “brother, I will see you again one day” and Harrow puts his backpack on and walks out into the...he’s on a boat somewhere.

We’re gonna ask you again I’m gonna have you back on when we...to see how close where you are at personally turns into. You know, what I’m saying like, because you’re gonna keep that close to the chest and I think it’s part of what’s again, I really think Jack shaped what happened and it’s clear that the writers are that “this is a participatory story that’s being told and you guys are really…” So what do you think Adrian?

Adrian: Somebody blew my mind and said that Harrow became the bird? Like switched souls at the bird. I thought that was pretty crazy. That kind of blew my mind, yeah.

Luc: That’s the biggest fan theory.

Adrian: Is that the biggest one? Okay. I had never heard it, someone brought that up and then I was like “okay, that’s actually kind of cool”.

Jason: Justin and Aaron have debunked that. They’ve said that’s not the case.

Adrian: But what do they know?

Jason, do you think Viren still has an avenue to redemption?

Jason: Do I think he has an avenue to redemption? Yes. Do I want the very last thing people to see is Viren holding dead body over the planes and Eric’s voice over saying “and they lived in harmony, forever”.

Luc: And then he pulls off his mask and he’s actually just Jason.

Jason: Or Harrow.

If you were picking your live-action actor who played your character?

Jason: Michael Fassbender.

Adrian: I think Tom Holland would actually be a great choice. He’s just got a ton of heart and I think he could convincingly play that naivete and wholesomeness.

Luc: The looks wise I would say like Makhi Phifer? I want him to play but I don’t know if Makhi fighter has the gravitas to handle like a live-action Harrow? So I think like Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Adrian: I would do Idris Elba as Aaravos.

Luc: There you go.

Jason: Michael K. Williams as Harrow.

Luc: Michael can play anyone.

If someday we get a flashback with Callum meeting Harrow. What do you think? Because we haven’t seen that, right?

Luc: No, we get a couple flashbacks to when their relationship is first kind of building and Harrow gives him his sketchbook and you know, he sees him as a child but I wonder about that. I wonder how old Callum was? If he knew him before him and Sarai got together? Like if he knew them as a family unit or if he had to be introduced to him after him and Sarai had already been seeing each other? I kind of see it like he falls in love with Sarai and she kind of keeps that relationship separate, like a mother who doesn't know if this new thing is really going to take off and that eventually introduces him and I imagine it's pretty awkward at first, like Harrow's trying to drop his best dad jokes and they're like “no” and Harrow tries so hard and he realizes “oh this isn't going very well” and kind of backs off and takes some space. Harrow talks about how he wishes that he would have reached out a little more. He didn't want to disrespect the memory of his dad, so I think there was definitely some separation at first and some awkwardness and then it took some time for them to really be able to build their relationship and get to this point where they're basically like blood father and son.

What other character that you played would love to see interact with your character from tdp?

Jason: Rengar from the league of legends. Can you imagine him just sidling up to Viren? I've never thought of that ever! But now I’m excited about it. 

Luc: Live action… I was recently in Apple TV See and my character Arca is this warrior with these long dreadlocks and I imagine that they would just get on like that, like Arca would become Harrow’s crownguard immediately.  

Adrian: I think it’d be cool to see the chemistry between Gren and Adam from The Hollow. Adam’s got a temper and I could see like Gren getting sucked into the hollow, if you don’t know it’s like a game world that they’re all in and they’re trying to escape and yeah, I could see those guys linking up.

Jason, Viren’ ex-wife. What is she like?

Jason: 6 '4. Opinionated. Okay, 6 '2. Psychically strong, doesn’t take any crap off anyone but also tender and...Is that where you want me to go with that?

[iwillhaveamoonbase]

One last thing about The Long Game (probably)

Under the cut in case you don’t want spoilers

ANGST

When Rayla is found out, Callum stays behind to give her and Ezran time to get started on taking the egg back to Xadia.  Viren tortures him using methods designed by Aaravos because Aaravos can feel that Callum is just like him and has the potential to link to all six arcana and he’s tired of waiting.  

Soren leaves Viren to go and help Rayla and Ezran and he tries to take Callum with him, but Callum knows Viren will not notice Soren missing the way he would Callum and Soren is forced to leave him behind.

Excerpt:

“You left him?!”  Ezran had tears in the corner of his eyes.  

Rayla left her blood freeze as Soren tried, desperately, to explain his reasoning and that Callum had told him to go on.  It was all a blur what happened next, Rayla felt like she had no control of her body anymore as she flew at Soren and tackled him to the ground.  She began to punch his face, tears streaming down both of their faces.  “YOU LEFT HIM?!  THEY’RE GOING TO KILL HIM!”

“Rayla, stop!  Please!”

“THEY’RE TORTURING HIM!  HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!”  Rayla was screaming as she was pulled off of Soren.  “IS IT BECAUSE OF ME?”

Soren shook his head.  “No, Rayla-”

“THEN WHY DID YOU LEAVE HIM?”

“I didn’t have a choice.  They would have noticed Callum missing within minutes.  Me...my own family barely remembers I exist half the time anymore.  He wanted me to make sure you two got to the Spire safely.”

“We don’t want your help.  You left Callum.  I don’t want to see you again.  EVER.”  Rayla didn’t bother waiting for anyone else.  She went as far back into the cave as she could cry in peace.  Eventually, Bait came over and sat next to her.  She felt so helpless.  “Is this the price we have to pay for peace, Bait?  It’s not worth it.  It can’t be worth it.”  Bait croaked in a comforting manner against her, a dark blue taking over his skin.  “Callum...”

A few hours later, Rayla walked over to a bruised Soren.  She felt better, but also so much worse seeing his face.  They had been friends once.  Even with his flirting and attempts at courting her, she knew this had nothing to do with jealous like she had accused him of.  He had done what Callum had told him to do and Callum had sacrificed himself because he thought it was the best choice.  She took a spare cloth and a bit of their healing balm, lighting brushing some on Soren’s face.  He jolted.  “Rayla?”

“I’m sorry.  I...There’s no excuse for my actions.  I know you’re more honorable than that.  I just...”

Soren nodded.  “I get it.  I didn’t want to leave him.  I tried to convince him to let me grab him, but, you know Callum.  He’s smarter than me and he had a point.”

Rayla was silent for a few moments.  “He’s a self-sacrificing fool.  And I miss him so much it hurts.”

“Callum made me promise to look after both you and Ezran until he saw you two again.  I intend to keep that promise.”

Rayla nodded.  “I need you to understand something, Soren.  Right now, the only goal is to get Zym back to his mother.  We can’t be distracted by other things.  So, please, help us do that so we can help Callum.  Every day they keep him alive is a gift and we have no idea how much time we have left until they decide to kill him.”

“They won’t kill him.”

Rayla’s brows furrowed.  “How do you know?”

“Dad has plans for Claudia and Callum to get married,” Rayla snorted, “I know.  It’s a bad match, especially now.  Safe, but, bad.  There’s more to it than that.  They’re torturing him because they want him to connect to the primal sources.”

“What?  That’s not possible.  He’s human.”

“The purple bug Dad keeps talking to seems to think otherwise.”

“Purple bug?  What could a purple bug-”  Rayla paused as she remembered something from her history class back in Silvergrove.  Her eyes went wide and her breath came in short pants.  Soren bent over her a bit, a look of concern in his eyes.  “Soren, are you familiar with the name Aaravos?”

“Yeah.  That’s what Dad calls the bug.”

“Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Soren, what I’m about to tell you is going to sound crazy, but please believe me.”

“OK.”

“Aaravos has tried to destroy Xadia before.  We locked him up.  I don’t know about Viren, but I don’t think Aaravos is planning on Callum marrying Claudia.”

“What do you think his plan is?”

“I think he’s planning on turning Callum into a weapon.”

[ayoitsabi]

My Sister, My Responsibility

Title: My Sister, My Responsibility

Show: The Dragon Prince

Words: 5581

Summary: Viren has been captured by the crownsguards of Katolis. Soren is present while awaiting his father's sentence, Viren admits that he had let himself get captured only because he needs Soren's help. It's about Claudia.

[AO3]

Thunder clapped loudly in the sky, it almost matched the volume of the cantering of his stallion, the horse panted heavily as his speed picked up the pace. The sky began to fall with droplets of rain hitting Soren’s cheek, just before the rain began to fall heavily completely drenching him, but he didn’t care though. No rain was going to keep him looking for his sister. Not when she was out here alone, or with him .

____________________________________________________

It seems like Claudia and their father had parted ways, Viren had been captured by one of the crown guard groups that were out patrolling that was led by Marcos. Soren was shocked, to say the least when Marcos himself had given him the news about his father being apprehended. He still didn’t believe that even after all these months, his father was still alive, how the hell did he survive that fall, he didn’t know. Soren knows for sure that his father wasn’t supposed to have survived... but he knew very well that Claudia had everything to do with it. Because of this, all of the kingdoms had to take heavy security measures due to the danger Viren brings. He hasn’t been an easy man to capture, but from his understanding, his father let himself get captured?

King Ezran sat on his throne, wearing a very anxious face, Bait sat on his lap and nuzzled him reassuringly. Opeli and Corvus, his main advisors, stood to the left side of his throne. Prince Callum stood on the right side of the throne resting his right hand on his younger brother’s shoulder giving him a comforting squeeze. Rayla was also standing next to Callum holding her partner’s left hand. Soren was standing on the right side of the couple, looking directly to the entrance waiting for his father’s arrival. He didn’t fail to notice the side glances everyone was giving him, but he refused to acknowledge them.

The entrance to the throne room had been opened, everyone tensed.

The guards had brought him into the throne room where everyone waited to see the man responsible for many of the fallen kingdom's griefs. The sounds of chains began to clank and echoed in the throne room as he dragged his feet against the concrete flooring. His hands were bound tightly by iron cuffs that covered the entirety of his hands, a way to keep him immobile using magic with his hands, iron cuffs around his ankles, heavy enough to prevent him from running. He wore his usual grey robe, but there were large tears all over his clothing, he was covered in dried old mud and blood. He hadn’t raised his head, but his hair was a lot longer and grayed from what Soren remembered. It was now long enough to cover the top portion of his face.

The guards had brought him close enough, one of them kicked at the back of Viren’s knee, causing him to grunt and fall to his knees in front of them. “ Your Royal Highness ,” one of the guards referred to King Ezran, “We have successfully captured the wanted outlaw by the name of Viren. Who is guilty of high treason, and terrorism.”

Soren tensed up when Viren slowly lifted his head to look at King Ezran eye to eye. His face was pale, he still had the markings of when he used dark magic but had grown faint in color. He had a cut under his right eye which had become swollen and bruises covered his visible cheek and chin, fresh from the beating that the crown guard must have given him. Dried blood stained onto the corners of his mouth which lead down to his neck staining the collar of his shirt...

Viren turned, their eyes met for a split second, Soren felt himself gripping tightly around the base of his sword, it was hard to read his father’s expression, it seemed like his father was about to say something to him but was interrupted by Opeli.

“Your Highness, this… man ..if I can ever address him as such, it is far too dangerous to keep imprisoned. He has escaped us before, even defied the laws of nature and was brought back from the dead. Who's to say his apprehending isn’t another one of his tricks.”

This was true , everyone thought as they tensed up at this statement.

“ I- ” everyone gasped softly when Viren spoke, his voice cracked and he cleared his throat.

The guard grabbed him from his hair and pulled him back causing Viren to grunt at the sudden action, “ Silence !” he yelled to him.

King Ezran’s raised his hand in order to silence the guard. “ No, let him speak. ”

“But King Ezran,” Corvus voiced his concern, ”he’s too manipulative, you can’t let yourself  be persuaded.”

Ezran picked up Bait from his lap, he stood from his place as he turned to let Bait sit on his throne, he turned back as he took a step forward and stood confidently before everyone, “I won’t be persuaded anymore. I’ve made that mistake once, I won’t make that mistake again. But I won’t deny him his rights to his possible final words.” Everyone’s eyes widened, King Ezran has matured greatly since taking his rightful place as King.

The guard loosened his grip of their prisoner’s hair and went back to his place, Viren took a couple of deep breaths before trusting himself to speak once again.

“I… I have come to turn myself in. I am guilty… of everything .”

Viren had turned to Soren at the last statement and looked at him with pleading eyes. This sent chills down his spine, Soren did not like this one bit, and neither did anyone else from the looks as they all seem to tense as well, “My son, I’m sorry..for everything .”

Soren felt his jaw clench out of anger and felt his blood boil when he spoke directly to him, he blinked away the tears that stung the corner of his eyes, there’s no way he was going to shed anymore tears because of him. He noticed Prince Callum and Rayla had taken a step forward in front of Soren as a way to protect him from his father's words. They glared down at Viren, but Viren just looked right past them as he continued talking directly to him.

“I..I know everything I did is unforgivable, no apology could ever fix all the pain and terror I have caused. I don’t expect you to forgive me at all. But... they are right. Getting myself captured, came with a purpose.”

“I knew it,” Opeli growled under her breath. Corvus took out his weapons and stood in front of King Ezran, all guards, including Rayla and Prince Callum, drew their weapons on Viren ready to strike at any sudden movements.

Soren choked back a sob, he drew his own sword. He walked right past Prince Callum and Rayla, much to their protest but it only fell to deaf ears. He walked right up to his father who has yet to break eye contact with him.

He hated him. He hated him so much for everything he’s done, for how many lives he destroyed, for how many families he destroyed throughout the kingdoms, for how he completely tore their own family apart. He drew his sword right to him, the tip of his sword scraped the skin of his father’s neck. Everyone shocked by Soren’s reaction, worried about his next course of action.

“ Soren ,” King Ezran spoke up as he passed Corvus. Ezran’s voice softened in hopes to calm him down, “Stand down. You don’t want to do this, it’s not worth it.”

“I am a crown guard,” Soren spoke sternly, never breaking eye contact from his father, who looked unwavered by his son’s current actions. “My duty is to protect the true King of Katolis, even if it means I have to protect the king from my own father .”

“I know how much you hate me, Soren,” Viren spoke up, he choked back the lump in his throat which only caused the tip of the sword to make a tiny cut to the nape of his neck. Soren’s grip around the base of his sword only grew tighter to the point his knuckles have grown white, he sensed his own anger growing inside of him for every word he spoke but Viren continued, “You have every right to be angry with me, I was so blind with power and ignorant to know how much pain I’ve caused you throughout your entire life…. And to your sister-”

His sister , Soren growled out, he lowered his sword to grab his father from the collar of his robe and drew the sword right back up against his neck, ready to slice his throat if he needed to. Everyone gasped and this time, his father’s eyes widened.

“Claudia. Where is she?”

Viren gulped as he looked into his son’s enraged eyes, “She… She’s... gone.”

The room grew silent to the point he could only hear the wind whistling from the outside. His body was once boiling and felt like someone threw a bucket of cold water over his head, Soren’s shoulders dropped, “Gone? Wha...What do you mean she’s gone?”

A tear dropped from the corner of Viren’s eyes and his lip began to tremble and he began to sob, “She’s... She’s not my Claudia anymore…. It’s Aaravos, he got to her.”

The tears that stung Soren’s eyes finally fell down his face, ‘ Aaravos has Claudia?’ He lowered his sword, allowing Viren to take in the breath he seemed to have been holding. With his already tightened grip around the collar of his robe, he brought him in closer, with a seething growl, “You left her with him?!”

“I didn’t want to!” Viren cried out, “I didn’t want to leave her, but... Aaravos... he pitted her against me! I.. I don’t know what he said to her, but all I know is that Aaravos has been using me, this entire time he’s been using me all while corrupting Claudia behind my back… I tried to bring her back. I tried to reason with her but…. It was hopeless.. It’s not my Claudia anymore.”

His own fist that clenched onto the collar of his robe became so tight that his own fingernails dug into his skin deep enough to the point he felt himself draw blood from the palm of his hand, but he didn’t care, “Where, Is, She?” Soren's own voice has dropped an octave and he growled out every syllable mixed with hurt and anger.

Viren took a deep breath, trying to calm himself in order to give his answer, “We’ve been hiding in a cave after the events of the battle.. northeast of the Storm Spire. It’s the only place with little activity. I don’t know if she would still be there, it’s been risky for us to move anywhere else without getting spotted.”

Soren glared at his father, trying to see if there was any truth behind his words. After everything he has done and said, he’s a very untrusting person. It was hard to know if he was being sincere… ‘ but it’s Claudia ,’ he thought to himself. He huffed out an exhale as he released his grip from his collar, he placed the sword back into his scabbard.

He turned to face King Ezran who looked at him with worried eyes, all Ezran did was shake his head, it was almost as if he had read his mind, “Soren, no.”

“I’m sorry King Ezran, but this is my sister we’re talking about here.”

“Soren, just hold on for a minute,” Callum spoke out his own concerns and stood next to his younger brother, “How do you know for certain that he’s even telling the truth?”

“Callum is right Soren,” Rayla added, “How do you know this isn’t a trap?”

“I don’t,” Soren answered honestly, “Which is why until we know for sure this isn’t one of another of my father and sister’s tricks… I’m going there by myself.”

‘What?’ ‘No!’ ‘You can’t!’ ‘Are you crazy?’ Everyone spoke over each other voicing their opinions.

“Look, guys!” Soren yelled over them which made them quiet down, “I know that it’s crazy, but this is about Claudia! My sister , Claudia! And in case you have forgotten, she was your friend back then too!”

This made the eyes of everyone go sad but Soren continued, “Look I know, Claudia has been doing a lot of questionable things, but I know her more than anyone. All she ever wanted is to have her family back together and to be happy…Her worst fear was to end up alone... I regret doing a lot of things in my life, but there’s nothing, absolutely nothing, that I regret more than turning my back on her when she needed me the most. I-” the lump of his throat returned causing him to choke and tears began to fall. He quickly wiped the tears away with the sleeve of his shirt, “I walked out on her, just like my mom walked out on us.” He said as he sideglanced his father who bowed his head in shame.

“I don’t trust him either. But I know if there’s anything more he cares about in this life… it’s Claudia.”

Viren shook his head, “Soren, no, that’s not-”

“ Stop ,” Soren interrupted him, he turned his head to him, “Now is not the time for any more of your excuses, this isn’t just about you anymore.”

All Viren could do was bite his tongue and bow his head in shame. Soren returned his gaze back to Ezran who was still clearly against Soren’s decision, “Soren, please at least let the guards accompany you. It’s too dangerous for you to go on your own.”

“I’m not going to ask anyone to risk their lives for my family’s mistakes… I don't know what is going on with Claudia, but I do know that she would be more willing to listen and feel less threatened if it was just me. I don’t think it would be smart to ambush her, it would just freak her out more.”

From the looks of their faces, they knew that Soren was making some strong points, Ezran sighed, “Three days, you have three days to find Claudia and convince her to come back, if you don’t return until then, I’m setting out the crown guards for both of you.”

Soren smiled, he saluted and bowed before the king, “Thank you, your highness. I will set out immediately.” He turned to make his way towards the exit until Ezran called out to him once more.

“Soren… your father will remain locked away until you return with Claudia. But you need to keep in my mind that maybe Claudia is going to refuse to come with you...”

He dropped his head, he knew deep down that it would be a possibility that Claudia isn’t going to want to come back, he remained with his back turned away from them. “I know.. If that’s the case, I know what I have to do.” With that being said, Soren left.

___________________________________________________

The sky lit up with the strike of lightning rippling through the sky, a loud thunderclap deafening to anyone’s ear. It’s been a day and a half since he left Katolis. Looking around his surroundings, based on what his father told him he was reaching his destination. He pulled the reins of his horse to get him to slow down, “Whoa, whoa buddy” he cooed to him and his steed lessened his pace to a trot.

Soren looked around to see there were multiple cave entries of the small mountains, he cursed under his breath. It was starting to get dark, he was planning to track to see if there were any sign of activity in these caves to know if his sister could possibly be hiding in them, but the rain had long gotten rid of them.

“CLAUDIA!!” he yelled out, hoping to get a response, “CLAUDIA!! IT’S ME, SOREN! ARE YOU HERE?!”

No response .

The storm really began to pour as he began to get drenched. He opted to lead his horse into a nearby cave for shelter. Once safe inside, he let his horse rest and gave him some food and water, “You did good buddy, thanks for getting me out all the way here.” he patted him, the horse nickered in response.

Soren went through the supplies he had packed onto the carriers of his horse, he was starting to feel his hands go numb from the mix of cold air and him being drenched from the rain. He took out the supplies necessary to make a fire to keep himself warm. Just as he found the supplies he needed from his satchel, he gathered some dried plants that had been growing inside the cave and set up a small fire. It took him a bit longer than usual since some of the materials were humid from the rain, but he was finally able to light the fire. He let his hands hover over them to warm them up and it was possibly the best feeling in the world to feel his fingertips again.

It must have been a couple of hours until he began to feel dry again, the rain has yet to let up. ‘ Crap ,’ he thought to himself, the rain is getting in the way of this search and he’s already running out of time.

Scuffle, scuffle, scuffle.

Soren turned where the echoing noise was coming from, which was deep into the cave, he stood from his place and took a couple of steps, his own scuffling of his steps sounding like the noise he heard seconds prior. Something or someone was here.

“ Hello ?” he spoke out, his words echoed down the cave, but nobody had answered him back. He took a couple more steps and he squinted his eyes to see if he could see any movement but It was pitch black down the cave. He turned back to his fire, he grabbed one of his unused wooden branches, he grabbed the rope that was included in the supplies he had packed, he tied a portion of it to one of the ends of the thick branch. He then put the rope side into the fire and now had a torch in his left hand. He drew out his sword in his right hand, ready in case he needed to protect himself.

He turned to his horse, “Stay here, I’ll be back.” His horse seemed to have understood, or at least Soren hoped he understood as his horse nickered in response.

He turned back and made his way down the cave, it was a lot deeper than he thought as he hadn’t hit a dead end yet, it was dark and murky with bugs crawling all over the place as they scurried away at seeing the light of his torch. There were fragments of what seem like bones scattered in the area, it was hard to tell if they were animal or human remains. Whatever it was, it had a very foul smell that caused him to gag.  His spine shivered at the thought, but he continued to press forward.

Scuffle. Scuffle.

Soren turned to where he heard the noise. It sounded a lot closer this time, and he could have sworn he saw a figure hide behind a large boulder that was deep into the cave. Soren could feel his heartbeat fast against his chest and his adrenaline had shot up. He kept his sword close to ready to strike if necessary. “I got a sword!” Soren yelled out, his poor attempt at trying to intimidate whoever was hiding, “And I’m not afraid to use it!”

A chill went down his spine, he could feel someone’s eyes on him.

He turned, he saw a glow from the darkness and was headed straight at him. He threw himself to the floor as the glowing sensation knocked against the wall of the cave, causing it to rumble and pieces of the broken shards of rock flew from the impact. He shielded his face as some of the smaller fragments had pelted him.

He saw just in time another glow formed and was ready to be thrown right at him. Soren readied himself to dodge again until he saw the figure had approached him close enough to the light of his torch that he was able to see who was attacking him. His jaw dropped, “...Claudia?”

She didn’t hear him. The entirety of her eyes was pitch black in color, the glow he was seeing was the dark magic she formed in the palms of her hands that circulated around with dark energy before she launched her attack on him, Soren snapped out of it just in time and threw himself out of the way barely managing to escape from her next attack.

“Claudia! Hey Claudia stop! It’s me!” He yelled to her out of panic, but his words didn't seem to reach her. She was in a trance-like state of mind, it was like she hadn’t been able to recognize him. Claudia's hands hovered as the same dark energy was being produced in the palms of her hands ready to attack him again.

Soren dropped his sword and the torch to the floor, which had stayed lit as it fell into some plants that caused them to light up as well. “Claudia, please,” he softened his voice keeping it loud enough for her to hear, he raised his hands to his sister to show he meant her no harm, “I’m not here to hurt you, it’s me… Soren.”

The sound of his name triggered a response, she gasped. The hands that were radiating with dark energy were starting to subside as she dropped her hands to her sides, “S...Soren?”

She had taken a couple steps forward where Soren was able to see her face with the help of the glow of the fire. Her eyes were still pitch black, the same energy that was coming from her hands were radiating from her eyes. But that wasn’t the only reason that caused Soren to gasp, her eyes weren’t the only thing that was different about her. Her once black hair was now completely white in color. “Y..Yeah Claudia. It’s me.”

Claudia’s frown turned into a smile, she ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. Soren still with his hands up was surprised by the sudden affection. Something about this hug that Claudia has him in, it felt different, he felt… cold . Claudia seemed to have sensed his emotions as she pulled back looking at him confused.

“Soren? What’s wrong?” she chuckled nervously when Soren didn’t respond, she didn’t fail to notice the way Soren looked at her, he looked at her as if she were a stranger, her smile dropped, “Are...Aren’t you happy to see me?” she hesitantly let her brother go from the embrace and took a couple of steps away from him.

“I…, of course, I’m happy to see you!” Soren managed to stutter out but couldn’t deny the fact how much it hurt to see the state his sister was in, he looked at her with sad eyes, “You just look… different.”

“ Oh ,” Claudia seemed to have understood as to what he was referring too as she brushed a strand of her white hair with her fingers behind her ear.

Soren looked down and realized that his hands were still up when he surrendered to her, he dropped them to his sides, he took a step forward but this time Claudia took a step away from him keeping the distance between them, “Claudia, what happened?”

The darkness of Claudia’s eyes had started to subside to her green shade of eye color. She played with the ends of her hair and turned away from him sadly. “A lot of stuff has happened since you left Soren.”

He felt his heart tug, the lump started to form in the back of his throat, he gulped it back down trying to find his voice again, “Claudia, I’m-”

“No,” Claudia shook her head desperately, “No, please. Don’t apologize. You were right Soren. About dad... About everything… I should’ve gone with you that day.”

Soren was shocked to hear Claudia say this. This.. wasn’t the first time he had been reunited with Claudia since he had left, and remembering it now.. things didn’t end so well. So many hurtful words and painful truths from both parties were thrown around. One of the worst arguments he ever had with anyone and the suppressed memories began to flow back making Soren wanting to break down.

Claudia must have sensed Soren’s thoughts. She shook her head vigorously, “No please, don’t think about that right now Soren,” she smiled dolefully to him, “you’re here now, and that’s all that matters, right?”

‘Maybe.. But,’ he thought to himself , ‘if only if it were that simple.’ He didn’t feel as convinced, there were still so many unresolved issues between them that can’t simply go away without talking about it. Especially now, when he has to convince her to come back to Katolis with him, if only they had more time, but...

“You’re... Right Claudia,” he forced himself to smile at her, “It’s important that we’re together now... You know… when we go back-”

“Go back?” she interjected, as her eyes widened, she pulled back away from him, “Back where?”

Soren gulped as he tried to keep his voice as steady and calm as he could, “Home... Claudia, I’m here to bring you back home...”

Claudia only stared at him in horror, “Home?.... Home?!” At the raise of her voice, the same dark energy began to radiate from her hands again. “I could never go back to Soren. I have no home..” Soren reached out to her but Claudia turned her back to him. Her shoulders began to tremble as she tried to push back the sob trying to escape her body. “Everyone left, mom left me. Dad left me. You left me .. I have no one.”

Soren couldn’t bring himself to comfort her so he could only continue to reason with her. “Hey, that’s.. That's not true Claudia. I came for you because.. Because you're my sister,. as long as you're with me, you will always have a home, Claudia. Everyone… everyone is going to understand-”

“No!” She shook her head, keeping her back still turned, “No one could ever understand, everything I did… everything I do,” She raised her hand slightly to look at the pulsating energy that her will power is producing, she trembled at the sight. “I still have to finish my mission.”

“Mission? What mission?”

“...Dad’s mission. I have to finish what dad started with Aaravos.”

Soren’s heart dropped, Aaravos, he was so immersed with the reunion with his sister that he was the last thing on his mind. He remembered that his father mentioned that Aaravos had ‘pitted’ Claudia against him and succeeded in corrupting her. He became more aware of his surroundings as he looked to see if Aaravos was lurking nearby. “Claudia.. Is Aaravos here?”

Claudia shrugged her shoulders unsurely, “ I don’t know.. I haven’t seen him in days.. He.. he unlocked my magic powers to its full potential, gave me my mission… he left a while ago. Said he would wait until I’m finished with the mission.”

Even Aaravos left her, Soren thought to himself, just the thought of what that scum is forcing his sister to do, that conniving scum is playing with her fears, he most likely knows that Claudia worst fear is to be abandoned and is playing off of that to further his schemes. If only he were here, then Soren would-

“It’s too late Soren,” Claudia’s voice broke him out of thoughts, her back was still turned to him, “I.. I have to do this in order to be free.”

Soren shook his head even though Claudia couldn’t see him, “No.” He finally reached out to Claudia resting his hand on her shoulder, she didn’t react to the comforting squeeze he gave her shoulder. “I don’t know what you think you ‘ have’ to do Claudia, but… Claudia, please... It’s not too late to stop this, come back..”

Claudia still looking at her hand, closed her eyes as she clenched her fist, crushing the dark energy in between it, “You don’t understand Soren, it’s already too late for me.” She felt a tear from the corner of her eyes run down her face, “But I can’t do this alone.”

Claudia turned to face Soren, he looked at her with weary eyes, Does.. Does she expect him to help her? Help Aaravos?, unsure of what to say. “Claudia... I.. I-”

“-Please Sorbear,” she grabbed his hand and held it between her own, she looked up to him and the sight made his own eyes begin to water. Her eyes became black again only leaving the color of her irises peeking through, the dark energy was in the form of tears as they wept from her eyes. She broke into sobs as she began to plead to her brother, “I need to do this, I need to finish what dad started.. Dad he... He turned his back on me when I needed him most. And I can’t do this alone, I’m... I’m scared..”

Soren couldn’t hold back his tears anymore as they also ran down his cheeks, especially with what Claudia had said to him next, “Please don’t leave me, Soren. Not again ..”

Soren pulled her into the hug that he rejected to give her previously, Claudia didn’t hesitate to return the embrace as she continued to sob into her brother’s shoulder. He hated to see her sister this way, they had been through so many hard times together, but never, did he ever see Claudia so lost... So alone... And he feels like he only has himself to blame for it, he remembered her face when he first walked away from her, and he hated himself for not staying to at least get her away from their father sooner. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

“Claudia... I won’t ever leave you,” he told her. “I’ll protect you from everyone and anyone..” he continued to console as he reached to the side of his belt, his heart was beating so fast and he could only feel himself tremble from the fear, “..Even from yourself.” He pulled out a needle that he tucked away and brought it close to him,

“I’m sorry Claudia,” he whispered to her.

“Huh?” was what Claudia managed to say before she felt something prick her side. She gasped out loud, before she could question what happened, she felt the room beginning to spin and she felt her body begin to go numb. Her breath became hitched as she found herself unable to breathe normally. She looked to Soren in desperation, clutching at his clothes trying to keep herself upright. “Soren,” she felt her speech begin to slur, she felt herself tip over until Soren gently held her face up with both his hands. She grabbed onto his arm to keep herself standing. “Soren, S..something’s wrong.. I.. I feel..”

“I know,” Soren responded, “It’s going to be okay.”

Claudia's eyebrows furrowed, “what-?..” she managed to say before it finally clicked, her eyebrows furrowed at her brother and the look on his said it all, he did this, “What did.. You do me?”

Soren stroked her cheek with his thumb reassuringly, “I.. I gave you a small dose of Conium, a medical herb from the moonlight elves which causes.. temporary paralysis.”

Claudia clenched her hand around Soren out of the anger she was feeling but her hands felt numb, she didn’t realize that she didn’t even have a grip on him anymore as her arm fell to her side. She felt her body had gone completely limp into Soren’s arms that caught her from falling to the ground. She fought to keep her eyes open which were going heavy.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you, Claudia,” he sniffed his tears back as he reassured her, hoping that she could still hear him, “ But I can’t let you hurt anyone else either, including yourself.”

“Soren… you... Trai.. er...” unable to finish what she said her eyes closed and lost consciousness in Soren’s arms.

She didn’t have to finish the sentence for Soren to know what she was going to say. Because in a way, this does feel like a betrayal. A betrayal to her trust, but if this means that Claudia will hate him forever for protecting her and to make sure she lives, then so be it. He let Claudia’s limp body lean against his right arm, he bent himself down to let his left arm rest under her legs in order to lift her up and carry her out of the cave. He looked at her face and felt his emotions crumble.

Claudia will probably never forgive him for this, but he had to keep reminding himself that this was for Claudia’s own protection. He has failed her in so many ways and he’d be damned if he were to fail her again. After all,

“My sister... My responsibility..”

[gingersnapwolves]

who’s got two thumbs and couldn’t even wait 24 hours before bingeing season 3 of The Dragon Prince? This gal!

thoughts while watching (not spoiler free)

Everyone involved in this war was a dick

Why don't just tell big angry dragon they're delivering a tiny dragon?

Yay redhead mccutie!

Okay so talking didn't work. Anyway

Man I ship Amaya and that hot sun fire elf

Ezran as king is hilarious

"that checks out"

I want the badass baby queen to show up so she and Ezran can take turns standing on each other's shoulders and slapping adults in the face

Omg the adoraburrs!

Hell yes Ezran!

Claudia and Soren are gonna love him forever now

Omg nerdy linguistic elf! I love them

Poor Rayla 😭

Time to gaslight Soren!

Sad gay elves 😭😭😭

I hope they get a happy ending, I mean, there was definitely a point to showing us that Runaan's flower hadn't sunk all the way to the bottom. He's still alive, just trapped in a coin. So they could totally get him back!

also I ship sun fire elf and Amaya SO HARD now

Big feelings time! Callum is adorable

It's interesting that Rayla automatically doesn't trust Nyx

Boomerang joke!, 😂😂😂

Don't leave the dragon with Nyx!

I feel like there are some flaws in Ezran 's logic

I mean, he's not avoiding the war. Viren is just gonna do it anyway

Soren! I knew I could trust you bb

I hope Claudia gets to punch her father in the face at least once

"She's right. We did forget." lol Callum pls

Damn some people actually lay down their arms after Viren called them cowards to their faces

NoodleOOdlia lmao Soren pls

Love how Ezran caught up to them in like six hours, a journey that took them two seasons

"why didn't they just ride the eagles into mordor?!"

hottie mcevil elf is enjoying this way too much

Claudia if you squish an adoraburr I'll never forgive you

"put him in the extra nice ring of fire" *snrks*

Hell yes to badass ladies working together

Amaya over here like ‘okay I’ve spent my life fighting sunfire elves but Viren is just the fucking worst’

Soren just go find the good guy team, your deserve better

Omg Ezran's reaction to seeing Callum and Rayla kiss

Is Viren making lava Uruk-Hai or what

Boy I bet those people who bailed would be real happy now

Soren's like "okay so my dad has completely lost the plot"

This argument with Callum and Rayla is awful because they're both right

I shouted "yes" so loud when Amaya and hot sun fire elf whose name I really should know by now turned up that I scared the cat off my lap

Baby badass queen! *screaming *

Guy with rolling pin!

Redhead mccutie!

Broken chain banner!

*screaming*

"For King Ezran" I'm

Will someone throw Viren off the tower please!

NOT LIKE THAT

Okay but you know Viren ain't dead, no body no death

OMG ARE AMAYA AND HOT SUN ELF HOLDING HANDS

THEY’RE GONNA GET MARRIED AND I LOVE IT

ok IDK what Aaravos is doing but you should def set that on fire

we have to wait HOW LONG for season 4?????

*screaming*

[chloe-clegane]

My Devotion and Mah Protection, Our Love - Chapter 1

Summary: Rayla and Callum have been together for three years and are ready to transition into adult life and marriage. The fight against Aaravos isn't over but they refuse to let prejudice or fear keep them from living their life together. Having the first Human and Elf marriage, in over 1,000 years was never going to be easy.

AO3

Taking Care of You is Part of Loving You

Callum returned to their (his) room late and took his boots off. Having separate rooms in places like this was a silly facade. It would be unseemly for a Prince of Katolis to be sharing a bed with anyone prior to marriage. So they played along lackadaisically and everyone knew to look the other way. No one was going to stop them after everything they’d been through, plus one offender was a trained assassin with disappearing powers. The sun was going down, Callum was starving and surprised Rayla wasn't waiting for him.

He kicked off his boots and walked to the mirror. He was unsurprised by what he saw, his fair skin was brown with dirt and mud. “Yup, this is what success looks like doesn’t it?” he spoke to the empty room, frustrated. “It’ll be fine they said, trust that the branch will catch you they said ugh!” He accentuated each mocking quote by pulling twigs out of his hair “15th times the charm, don’t give up. Why do I need trees to catch me anyways? Don’t have to worry about falling when I can fly!”

“Oh no, that bad?”

“Rayla!” He nearly dropped the water jug he’s been using to fill the washbowl, you would think after all this time she would have a harder time sneaking up on him, but no. He sighed “I mean it went kind of… sort of… yeah it went bad”

“Well I found somethin today and I think you should come see it, It’s a surprise” She smiled and moseyed up behind him.

“Rayla, do I look like I’m ready to go out anywhere? I’m dirty and hungry and… kind of grumpy” While he spoke she reached behind him, dipped one of the wash clothes and wiped a spot clean on his cheek and proceeded to kiss it.

He pouted “can we do it tomorrow? I need a bath”

“Well ye’re in luck, you won’t need a bath where we’re goin” she walked away and grabbed a clean pair of shoes from his trunk.

“But where is it?”

“I told ye it’s a surprise”

“Bu-” her finger was on his lips as she handed him the shoes

“No buts put these on”

“Hungry” he whined

“Good news”, she danced away when he tried to grab her waist. She picked up a large basket he hadn't noticed by the door. “Food! In the basket!”

“My clothes?”

“In the basket!” she said it in an identical tone.

“Can I grab my sketchbook?”

“In the basket!” She gave an exaggerated point. He laughed and let her drag him willingly

“I love you… but why am I’m going to change my clothes out in the woods?”

“Hush! We’re almost there” She squeezed his hand and continued to lead the way

“Rayla I spent all day in the woooods, can’t I at least have a hint? Or- ”

She stopped walking and he bumped into her. “Callum, this is the surprise!” she pushed away a branch and what Callum saw made his jaw drop. It was a hot spring, steam was rising from the warm water. It was surrounded by glowing purple and orange flowers, he’s seen them before but never this many lighting up a whole area. Here in the moonlight, it was beautiful. Even the rocks had veins of quartz that seemed to exude magical energy.

“Wow, Rayla, ok this was worth the dark walk in the woods.”

“See I told ya to trust me” She gave his hand one more squeeze and started unpacking the basket. The picnic spread looked delicious. “Here’s yer clothin and yer sketchbook as promised” He knelt down next to her and took them

“Yeah I should never have doubted you” she mmhmmed in agreement, gratified. “Thank you” Callum felt the kindling in his chest catch fire. All he could do was smile and stare at her beautiful face.

“I found this hot spring earlier this mornin when I was doin some training. I ran miles today. Also I did the stretching and the lifts for mah arm“ Rayla spoke casually as she opened the waxed linen packages revealing the tasty contents. “Yesterday you were so worn out, I thought this would be a perfect place to bring you. Mind you I didn't know you’d be this stinky, if I did I woulda packed soap” She chuckled and looked up with a cheeky grin. She pulled out a bottle and two small ceramic cups “I brought a bit’a honey wine. We can toast to muh excellent picnic packing skills or-“

“Rayla, you planned all of this for me?” He spoke softly and sincerely.

“Yeah o’course, I Iove you.” She quickly kissed him on the lips. ‘Here try this.” She excitedly shoved a cube of cheese in his mouth before he could speak again.

“OH that is good cheese.” It was nutty and creamy and Callum savored it.

“I know right! She was clearly pleased with herself and giddy to show him what she’d packed.

“But seriously Rayla” he wanted to get back to the subject and reached out and cupped her cheek “Really, thank you”.

She leaned into his touch and sighed happily “Yer welcome. I know I’m the best most kind, beautiful and funny girlfriend you could ever ask fer. Now eat! I brought these bacon-wrapped sun dates. Apparently this merchant imports them from Lux Aurean. Oh and these she pointed to another open package this is a smoked fish that tastes like berries. In’t that weird?”

She pushed that into his mouth too. Callum scrunched his face “Um… eh… that’s really... weird... it’s like my mouth and my tongue are confusing my brain”

Rayla popped a piece in her own mouth and cringed “that sounded good in theory when I bought it” She tried one more piece and then shook her head no. “ok yeah, no, it’s a weird texture thing” she stuck her tongue out and scraped it against her teeth before moving to the next item “This is better I actually sampled this one”.

They went on like that for the rest of the meal, giggling and feeding each other various foods imported from around Xadia. They each had a cup of wine and she teased him for the way his cheeks turned rosy.

“Ok stinky prince, let's get you cleaned up. Take yer clothes off”

Callum chuckled nervously. “Get naked here? In the woods? What if someone comes or a monster jumps out or-?”

“That’s what towels and muh blades are for, duh” She said it as the most obvious thing in the world and tossed both to the edge of the water. She stood up and pulled her shirt over her head without hesitation and tossed it aside “yer turn!” she wiggled her eyebrows.

Callum inhaled sharply when he saw her. The glow of the flowers caught her hair and silhouetted the shape of her small perky breast. He clumsily pulled his own shirt off. When the fabric was out of the way he looked back at her. She had moved onto the laces of her pants. Now her perfect lavender nipples had grown hard in the chilly night air. He felt his blood rush, first to his now scarlet cheeks, second was the throbbing between his legs.

She stepped out of her pants and was now stark naked in front of him. Her lithe frame was begging to be grabbed and her white curls were ready to be stroked. “Ok get those pants off or I’ll do it for you” She chuckled.

He laughed nervously, feeling exposed. Part of him liked the idea of her doing it for him but he did as he was told “Oh um yeah let me just” he turned trying to position himself in a way that would somehow make his erection less obvious.

She teased him saucily “Callum are you gett’in nervous because yer willy‘s hard?”

“What! No! I…” He protested a little too strongly. She raised her eyebrow at him and he relented “Yes...”.

She rolled her eyes “I’ve seen it plenty” she laughed. Oh, how he loved that laugh. “Now hurry up and get you and yer big’ol pecker into this pool” Then she jumped in and her head went below the surface, he immediately knew this wasn’t going to go well. He rushed to get his foot out of his pant leg and nearly fell over. As expected when she resurfaced she was waving her arms and spluttering “It’s deeper than it looks!” she floundered “CALLUM!” She coughed and bobbed “this was a mistake, I regret everythin” she squealed “HELP”

“RAYLA, I got you!” freed from his pants he immediately jumped in after her.

After a lot more flailing, a little not crying and Callum being accidentally elbowed in the nose he swam her over to a shallower side of the hot spring.

“You’re such a brave warrior” He was laughing at her “I think you’re swimming has really improved”

“Shut it, don’t patronize me or this time I’ll hit your face on purpose”

He raised his hands in surrender, “You’re such a bully”

“Aye but I’m yur bully” She kissed him “I’m cleaning you off now, yer a bit ripe” She waded to the side and pulled herself out. She repositioned the picnic spread and her swords to the shallow end of the pool, she stopped and scowled at the deep end muttering an insult he didn’t catch. He loved her annoyed face, he found it cuter than he probably should.

His current view was exceptional. The erection that had melted away during the deep end incident was making its return. Callum can’t imagine wanting anyone else, she was it for him, brave, kind, heroic and that ass... He could look at her all day and never get bored.

“Alright, I got a washrag but as stated earlier no soap, makin do.”

Callum tisk tisked “I guess that basket isn’t as infallible as you claimed” She rolled her eyes and carefully lowered herself into the shallow end. Callum knew it will probably be years before she jumps into water like that again. She took the wet rag and started wiping his chest and shoulders.

“Rayla you don’t have to, I can clean myself off” He smiled and reached for the cloth but she pulled it away.

“I want tae do it,” She said it soft and sweetly and stopped to kiss the places she scrubbed. Now lean back, you can float” He complied and she starting washing his hair. Her nimble fingers massaged his scalp, he couldn’t keep his eyes open. The sensation of floating in the warm water the way her hands felt on his body was phenomenal. Every piece of stress was evaporating, he couldn’t feel the bruises or sore muscles anymore. Then she was kissing him and like a damsel in a storybook, he opened his eyes serenely.

“Did ye like that?” she asked coyly.

“Mmmm hmmm” he pulled himself up and kissed her. “You knew exactly what I needed Rayla. You put together the perfect evening that I didn’t even know I wanted”

“Well I figured you would’a spent the whole evening moping in bed, Nobody likes a mopey mage. It was mah duty to intervene”

He chuckled “your assumptions would be correct” another long sweet kiss. “I like this much better than sulking. Thank you Rayla, for taking care of me”

She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. She played with the hair at the nape of his neck while she spoke “I think take’en care of you is part of lovin you.” She smiled and it was radiant, her eyes were bright in the moonlight and It melted Callum. “How are those bruis-?”

“Marry me” he didn’t know he was going to say it until the words had left his mouth. Both of them froze, she blinked one, two, three times.

“Yes” She said it with no hesitation or indecision and smiled sweetly, she cupped his face in her hands stroking his cheek with her thumb. He stood there frozen with his arms around her waist processing what just occurred, what he had just said.

Rayla’s smile grew increasingly nervous the longer he stood petrified “uuuuuh Callum?” Impulsivity seemed to be a trend, he grabbed her and crushed her lips with his. They stayed there kissing until they had to pull away for air.

He caught his breath and tried to clear he daze “Did I just… did we? Are we engaged now?” Callum tried not to stutter.

“Um, I think so? Is this not how humans do it? One person asks, the other says yes? Am I miss’in some weird human thing?” she asked it genuinely concerned.

He laughed and spun her around in the water. “Yes! No, that’s all fine, it’s perfect, you’re perfect. Wow, I didn’t plan that at all.” He laughed “Rayla, I love you! Oh, I need to get you a ring!” He was blathering.

“So we did miss a step then?” She chuckled presumably at the sheer joy and absurdity of what just happened. “You know I feel pretty lucky muhself... Whats the ring for?” She gave him a cheeky grin.

He hollered into the night, not caring who heard “YEAH! WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!”

She shushed him with kisses, giggling “What have I told you about being a loud mage.”

“It’s a lie, I’m loud and you’re gonna marry me anyways! Agh you’re so beautiful.” He gushed. “I love you!.” She just giggled before pulling him in for a passionate kiss. She tipped the mood from jovial to seductive by wrapping her legs around his waist.

She smirked at what she felt “Oh hello! were you wantin somethin?”

“Um, hehe, I mean… I wasn't intending to but yes always… always yes… whenever you let me yes”

“Yeah I know, I am pretty irresistible aren’t I?” she chuckled and teased before enticing him in a husky voice “give it to me you big dumb human” He immediately started kissing her, walking them over to the side of the pool, his hands started groping at her ass and her waist, her hands gripped at his back.

He broke their kiss “wait, did you want me to give it to you give it to you? In the woods?”

“YES!” she shook his shoulders “Take me now sweet prince!”

Callum ran his hand up her thigh under the water and kissing her neck and muttering “You know you’re a gift to me right? Every time it’s an exciting surprise” He ground himself against her and she whined. He lifted her out of the water partially so he could take one of her firm nipples into his mouth swirling his tongue around it. “Playing with you never gets old”.

“Mmm You try’na drive me mad Callum?” She was practically purring as she rolled her head back.

“Maybe.” He ran two fingers along the outside of her folds. She moaned unabashedly and he smirked “All I know is I want to spend the rest of my life making you do that”

“Good thing I just agreed tae marry ya isn’t it” She pulled his face to hers and kissed him, nibbling his lower lip and ground against him.

This time it was his turn to shudder “it’s a veeerrrry good thing” He agreed muffled by her lips.

He used two fingers and rubbed a circle at her opening. He’s learned her body over the last few years of hand stuff, he knew exactly where to touch and what speed. Always able to find her little bundle of nerves. Despite the wild pace their kissing had escalated to, he tried his best to keep his touch smooth and light. Slowly increasing the depth of his penetration with each thrust of his fingers while trying to keep his thumb on her clitoris.

“Calluuuuum” she moaned and rolled her head back “hmmmmmmm I want’a feel you”. But his work has already paid off and she writhed and panted, tensing up and then slumped forward kissing his shoulder lazily. Making her cum always made him feel smug and proud.

He had once over heard Gren say (with a beat red face) “a gentleman always serves his lady first” Callum had tried to uphold that standard of curtesy.

When she caught her breath she started kissing him again and this time she was the one who did the groping. With her narrow hand, she started working the length of his erection. He massaged her ass and moaned. She spoke low “I want you inside me Callum”. She didn’t need to ask twice. Together they lined him up and he pulled her down onto the length of him. He buried his face in her neck and nibbled. Starting to rock slowly he found her little nub again and rolled circled around it.

He focused more on her than on thrusting, she made up for if by grinding on her. Still sensitive from the first climax she started to fall apart again quickly. She was scraping her nails across his back.

“Rayla, look at me” her violet eyes opened and she smiled the sweetest smile he’d ever seen. He took a moment to enjoy the way the moon seemed to make the violet glow. She struggled to maintain eye contact when she cried out and shuddered. He loved seeing her like this, feeling these sensations with her. Looking her in the eyes felt intimate, like in completed him.

The feel of her contracting around him almost put him over the edge. This was the first time he’d tried something like this. To pleasure her while simultaneously being inside her. They’d only had sex less than a half dozen times. He knew his longevity needed some work so he wanted to make the most out of it. It was exceptionally more difficult than he thought it would be but the reward was dazzling. Her nails dug into his shoulders and her back arched. She cried out again and then whimpered between gasps. Rolling through the waves.

Now it was his turn, he put his head down kissing her neck as he began thrusting into her with full force and enthusiasm. The pleasure ramped up and she started to whisper “I love you” He thrust “I love you” thrust “Callum” thrust “I love you-”. He barely had enough time to unsheathe himself before he came.

"Rayla I love yo-” he groaned. As his head spun he was too late to realize his knees buckled, he slipped into the water and took Rayla with him. He was smacked in the face as she tried to pull herself up, it didn’t feel entirely on accident.

“I coulda drowned“ She shrieked

He just laughed at her while the tingling sensations dissipated. “The water is barely three and a half feet”!

“Still!” she was being dramatic “So this is the story we’re goin’ta tell our children someday? You ask me tae marry me you, make sweet love tae me and immediately try tae drowned me! And after I went through all this trouble settin up this picnic for you?”

She never fails to make him laugh “I think we leave out the making love part”.

“But I like that part” She smirked.

“It sounded like you did, didn’t it?” He was so smug. “But really I don’t think other people want to hear that part of the story”.

They toasted each other with another cup of wine, continued to flirt and relaxed in the pool awhile longer before dressing and making their way back. Partway Rayla asked a serious question “Callum?”

“hmm?” he hummed.

“Is it wrong for us to get married now? While Claudia… and them… while they’re out there and the war isn’t done.” She asked it tentatively.

Callum stopped walking and thought a moment. “No, no I don’t. I think if we let them stop us, stop us from being happy and living our life, it means they won in a way. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah” She agreed “I suppose that’s a good way to think of it”

Callum’s thoughts turned a little darker. “I also, I don’t want to risk any regrets, or missing out on anything with you. You never know what could happen”. The nightmares of her falling to her death had been usurped by their more recent encounter with Viren and company. His mind slipped back into the memory. Rayla’s arm twisted behind her back as Claudia used the withered octopus tentacle to hold her down and contort her limps. He’ll never forget the sounds, Raylas screams and the way the bone popped as the shoulder left it’s socket. To make things worse the dark mage was so focused on torturing Rayla she didn’t see Callum’s blast of lightning coming. If Claudia hadn’t had a healing spell on hand the electricity probably would have killed her. Screams and the vision of black eyes with nothing but hatred and malice behind them have been burned into his psyche. He felt himself shiver. As his fiance knocked him out of the sour haze.

“Callum, it’s ok” She moved in front of him and directed his face with her hands. “We don’ have tae think about that now. It’s fine, I’m fine. Look!” She rolled her shoulder, raised and wiggled her arm. “See, it’s ok” She hugged him and he relaxed into it, holding her close. “I agree, I don’t want tae miss out on anything.” She did the Rayla thing she does and lightening the mood by making him laugh. “What happened tae the hoot’in mage blabbering about marrying the world’s most lovely and perfect assassin? Huh?”

He chuckled and tried to let the worry melt away. “I love you”

The rest of the walk back to the Earth Nexus he banished the nightmare and embraced that this was a dream he never wanted to wake up from. They held hands and all the sensations were perfect, his clean skin against clean clothes, the cool breeze on his damp hair and the post-coital glow. He had so much hope that their future together.

[flourchildwrites]

have you started watching dragon prince's new season?

Hey, @an-unexpected-trollogy!  I’m glad you remembered that I’m a fan of the show.  I just finished season 3, and despite the controversy, some rushed pacing and a few odd jokes…

Warning!  Spoilers under the cut!

I debated whether I wanted to watch season 3, but obviously, I did.

I still enjoy the inclusiveness of this show.  General Amaya was the sassy, bad-ass (possibly wlw) aunt I never had.  My heart swelled during that scene where she held Janai back, saying with actions rather than words that she truly understood the depth of Janai’s loss.  And this kiss between Runaan and Ethari… AMAZING.  Their body language was sincere and felt natural.  I teared up a little at the softness of it all.

Litte Ezran is now King Ezran, long may he reign as the rightful king!  Though young, he made hard decisions and stepped outside the shadow of expectation.  And he grew up.  No longer just a child who steals tarts from the kitchen, this boy comes into his own and still retains the best qualities of being young and flexible in his approach.

And can we talk about Soren’s character development?  He started off the series as this jock-like jerk, and the conflict mounted within him through seasons 1 and 2.  I was particularly troubled in season 2 when he expressed relief upon being paralyzed because it gave him an excuse to not confront the terrible, terrible mission his father had forced upon him.  Yet, in season 3, Soren did not forget and forgive; he didn’t give himself an out when the power-dynamic in Katolis shifted in his father’s favor.

He said this:  “I’ve known Viren longer than anyone here.  I mean, because he’s my dad, but it took me a long time to understand who my Dad really is.  And it was hard to see because I really…  I really looked up to him.  He’s smart and the way he talks, you really believe that he’s a good person, that everything he does is to protect his family, his home or all of humanity.  He makes you think that as long as you do what he says, you must be doing the right thing.  Even when he asks you to do something bad, something evil.  So, the truth is, someone who wants you to do horrible things and convinces you that they’re good, that’s a villain.  My Dad… is a villain…”

Overall, I also enjoyed the fast pace of season 3, especially when compared to the heavy character development in season 2.  It’s a nice change.  And if, in fact, there is no more Dragon Prince to come, most of the plot threads are loosely tied up.  Perhaps, not as tightly as one would like, but this season did give me a sense of resolution regarding a major conflict dictated in the first season.

Still, I hope we learn more about Aaravos.  And on that note, I LOVE when the person you thought was the big bad at the outset is revealed as the pawn of something bigger and bad-er, re:  Viren and Aaravos.  False climaxes for the win!  There’s still so much to learn about this world, and I would love to see it come together in such a stunning animation style!

But…  I have my concerns.  The biggest one is Rayllum.

I have expressed my view of this ship before, and unfortunately, season three did little to dissuade me that these two make more sense as friends.  Put bluntly, the foreshadowing isn’t there in season 2, and the spectre of what could have been built looms over this ship like a Debbie-downer rain cloud.  It’s too much, too fast, and I can only suspect this is because the creators really weren’t sure if there would be a season 4.  

In terms of the show’s timeline, it seems like only yesterday that Callum was on his date with Claudia.  And, rightly so, he discarded his childhood crush in light of Claudia’s laissez-faire dark magic opinions.  That’s gonna totally come back to bite her, and I’d like to see a single Callum as part of that conversation.  But he moves on so quickly.  It felt almost like… a rebound.  And, let’s be honest.  Rayla deserves more than falling head over heels for a sudden, “you’re a hero” line.  I wanted Callum and Rayla to put the work in.  But that didn’t happen.  😪

In sum, there’s so much to love in The Dragon Prince, and there are a few things going on in the background that cast a long, dark shadow.  I hope the sun comes out and we get more fantastic fantasy content.

[darkspellmaster]

The Dragon Prince Theory: Could Aaravos be Callum's Ancestor or Father?

I was thinking of how much Aaravos and Elarion,  remind me of Mythal and Fen'Harel or Solas from Dragon Age and the myth around them, and how much Callum looks like Aaravos in the face area, jaw line and such, making me think the two are related.

So let me lay out some facts before I start to explain my reasons. 

Things that we know about the world of Dragon Prince: 

Elves can use one form of magic (moon elves use moon magic, etc.) 

Creatures have a primal connection to one form of magic (bait is fire, etc.) 

Humans can only use, as far as we know, dark magic 

Dark magic needs to exchange a life to extract the magic

Aaravos is the only elf that is shown to know/use  all of the known magics

Callum was able to tap into the wind

Callum’s father is said to be dead

Sarai seemed to have a stronger understanding of the magic world in general

Callum rejected Dark magic

Callum is said to be the key to unlocking Aaravos’s box 

Humans can use elemental magic but only with a primal stone

Humans can be attracted to Elves (Soren’s comment on Rayla.)

So why did I point those out, because I think there are some key factors in the story of Aaravos and Elarion, that leads into Sarai and Harrow’s story along with what’s going in regards to Rayla and Callum. 

Let me though start with Aaravos and Elarion’s poems and explain about Mythal and the Dread Wolf. 

I am not going into the long history of this as it’s way to long and complicated, so to all DA fans sorry if I miss things, I’m trying to simplify. So in the games of  Dragon Age we learn of the lore of what we could call the High elves. These High elves are very fae like, aka, as with folklore they promise to help you only to screw you over in the end. In the world of DA these High elves were owning the rest of the elf races and other races in the world. In their greed and lust for power they pretty much caused the birth of Demons and other things. 

Now among these High Elves were two High Elves that didn’t agree. Mythal and Fen’Harel (or Solas in DA3) -although we don’t know his actual name as of yet. Mythal, as per the lore we know now, was trying to do something to stop the High Elves from harming others and ended up being murdered and later her spirit wound up in the body of a woman named Flemeth. 

Fen’harel seeing his love killed, wound up locking away the High elves, and pretty much caused a very large problem in the world of DA regarding magic for a long time and moving forward after avenging his lover’s death is trying to stop the High Elves in his own way which could kill everyone. 

Now I bring this up because their love story reminds me a lot of the poem that was referenced in The Dragon Prince when Viren was looking for info on Aaravos. 

(Link to the first poem here done by Moonshadow Meme’s) 

So in Moonshadow’s translation we have various versus, which I’m going to label as V and a number next to it, and it goes from the top to the bottom of their post.  

V1.  They turned their backs and left Elarion to die.

Now you can read this in various ways, but it’s clear that some group turned their backs on this woman and left her to her death. However, if I take into account the various myths out there plus the DA story of Mythal, you can surmise that the young woman here is a Christ like figure. Typically this means that you have people that are shunning her for her gifts. As with Mythal, when she was killed the other High Elves did nothing to stop it from happening as per what’s in the game lore. 

V2. Elarion, her vessel fighting death, withered and suffered in darkness...

The first thing that strikes me is the word vessel. Now what we’re looking at here is the biblical used of the term vessel and not the ship. 

“ (chiefly in or alluding to biblical use) a person, especially regarded as holding or embodying a particular quality.”

So what does this allude to here? Well again the idea of her being an important figure at some point is clear, and she embodies qualities that make her “The special” in this case. The implication here is that either she was attacked or poisoned and is now dying, as withered itself shows that she’s becoming ill from possibly something. It could be the dark magic, as we see what that does to a person, or some other illness or poison that’s consuming her body. Whatever it is it’s painful and she’s on her own or blinded, or in the literal dark. 

until the last star shone from afar...

You could allude to the idea of the last star being just that, a bright light from the early dawn that fades when the light of the sun comes up. 

Or, more likely the allusion here is to the idea of Aaravos being the last of the Star Elves. We know that they are rare, as per the comments from the official tumblr and twitter that Aaravos is a rare elf, telling me that there isn’t that many left. In this case the implication is that he’s the last one, and the shone from afar means that he wasn’t physically there. Or at least he wasn’t there at first...

Now it could be that Aaravos was in the mirror all this time and had passed the cube to Elarion, like how he sent the worm to Viren. But, if that was the case then why would the humans have said mirror? Seems a bit odd to me. So for now let’s put the “Aaravos has been in the mirror for a very very very long time” to the side as we don’t know how long he’s been locked up. 

But the afar idea give me the feeling that he came to her from a distance and she saw him through her minds eye, rather than in person at first. 

In all likelihood Aaravos found her in the woods or someplace in Xadia, and heard her and came to her to see what was going on, and he was physically near her.  

she touched it: fire, a gift, a spark

Now again, we have to assume here that the it is Aaravos and not the mirror as, again, we saw that Aaravos could only send things through the mirror and not physically come through it yet. On top of this, Viren touched the mirror a few times, and didn’t learn the magic through the mirror itself. Though it’s clear that Aaravos knows how to teach through it. 

Assuming then that it was Aaravos she touched, then the words have some different meanings. 

Fire could mean the actual teaching of fire like how he put out the flame. It could however indicated attraction, as fire is known as a symbol of passion. It could also be shown that he showed her about fire in some way.  

A gift, clearly the gift of magic given by Aaravos to her, to teach her. 

A spark, again two meanings here. First one could be lighting, thus an electrical thing going on in magic or how to pull the spark from a living being to use the magic, but there’s an issue there as Aaravos never used a living being to do the magic, only his own blood making me think Dark Magic is a kin to blood magic in DA, where you could kill yourself using it if you are not careful with it. However spark could also mean love, or the spark of love. Indicating that there were feelings there. 

V 3. Elarion, with her bright white, embraced the night’s great dark flame...

Again so much going on here that could mean a few things. Bright white could be indicate a blank slate of a person that could be taught, as in there’s nothing there that can’t be molded. Bright white could be connected to innocent purity, like something angelic, or it could also indicate the potential for light magic if there is such a thing. 

Embrace could be her willingly accepting Aaravos’s teachings, or/and, it could mean a hug as a sign of affection, or in some cases it could be alluding to a more intimate sort of affection being shown. Whatever the case may be Elarion clearly took on Aaravos as a mentor figure, and possible more, given the next line. 

and when she (it?) bowed, offered surrender, the name “Aaravos” was whispered...

Clearly this, again, can be read in various ways. For sure she’s becoming his student and learning from him. She’s offering herself to his services, though in the scene with Viren, it’s the reverse that’s going on. Also, again, surrender could take on double meaning as it could imply a more intimate sort of surrender here, as in a physical as well as a spiritual one. 

The poem then goes on to talk about the fact that Elarion spread her roots, as in she was out there teaching people what she was taught and Aaravos was her midnight star. That line there seems way more intimate than just something you would call a mentor or teacher in this case. 

The last full verse indicates that it’s probably winter, but the implication there too with the idea of her pulling her roots close, or her servant’s close, against the night’s murderous chill could be two things. 

One it could be indicating an attack by Moon Shadow elves, or two Aaravos was betrayed by her and he was going to get revenge on it. 

The last lines in the poem are interesting though without connections. Flower blossomed in allusions could be her growing from a weaker person to a stronger one. Or it could indicate a more womanly person, we see her going from her being weak in the dark to her fears and the dark being scared of her. The issue becomes what are the last lines? It could be that she was looking for Aaravos, or that others were seeking him out? The last line makes me think that there’s a connection to him and the dragons. 

Now, to me the poem may hint at Elarion and Aaravos having some sort of intimate relationship on top of just being teacher and student. As with Fen’Harel and Mythal, the idea I’m looking at is that Elarion was able to learn magic from Aaravos, and became a stronger person who taught others how to use the dark magic to better their lives. With Elarion mirroring some of Mythal’s story, you may have some one that is being blacklisted by the Elves, but praised by the humans for using the magic that doesn’t seem normal and which takes life in order to use it. 

We know whoever wrote the other comment on Aaravos, it’s clear this is someone who likes him. 

(Translation from salemsrealm ) *Note: the red lines were done by Salemsrealm 

The way it’s written is very much like how in the bible you have Letter’s to different groups discussing their religion, like “A letter from paul to the Corinthians” that’s the feel I get regarding the passage that has Aaravos listed as a friend to all. It also goes on to add notes about how others are going to see them (humans I’m assuming) as equals and that he sees potential in us. 

  Which leads to the Option one aspect of this theory that Callum, possibly through his father’s, or maybe Sarai’s family line is related to Aaravos. We know that, though Harrow’s letter, the cube was passed down through generations, though we’re not given a clue who had it last. I have to assume it was either via Sarai getting it from her husband or getting it through her own parents. 

And then there’s Option two, which is that Avaravos is Callum’s dad. 

So let’s start with Option one here since I know a lot of people will be wondering how the hell option two works. 

Now what do we know about Callum’s father. Well nothing, honestly. What little we do have comes from King Harrow in his letter: 

“ Because I’m your stepfather, I was trying to give you the space I thought you needed to love your real father, even though he passed away.” 

We know that according to Harrow Callum’s birth father is dead. But outside of this, we have nothing about him. 

We do know though that, again, through the letter about Aaravos’s box. 

“This cube is an ancient relic that has been passed down through the ages. It belonged to an elven wizard in Xadia, the Archmage Aaravos, a master of all six primal sources. It is hidden in a box of keys because it is known as the"Key of Aaravos" and legends say it unlocks something of great power in Xadia. Perhaps it will be you, Callum, who discovers the key’s secrets.” 

So what can we say about this bit of information that is important. 

Well for one thing we know that it belonged to Aaravos and was passed down through the ages. So...how did Harrow get it? We know that Viren doesn’t know about the damn thing, he’d have gotten to it already if he did. And it’s clear that he didn’t know who Aaravos was, meaning that the name is not well known. 

However there are books and the poem to go by. Question is, who gave Harrow that box? How long has he had it? If it was something in his family he would have told Callum that it was passed down to him, right? So let’s assume for the moment this object didn’t belong to Harrow, well then who had it first? Given it’s an elven item and going into Xadia is not easy, that means that it had to have come from someone connected to Xadia. 

If we assume that Sarai is like Ez, then we can guess she has some skill with talking to creatures. So it’s not too far off to assume that she may have gotten the Cube and given it to Harrow as a gift. 

Now the question is, how did she get it? Well option one is that she took it, but she doesn’t strike me as the sort to do that. So option two it was a gift. We know that the elves are not really very into humans all that much, but there could have been a friendship that was struck up between Sarai and an elf that lead to her gaining the box. But...

Option 3 is more likely, where in Sarai may have met an Elf that became her husband, or lover, and they produced Callum. Now given that Callum managed to connect to the Storm/sky, I wouldn’t be too surprised if we had a case of his dad being a Sky/Storm Elf. 

Note the green in the skin tone, could be connected to the eye color Callum has. 

So let’s assume for a second that could explain Callum’s connection to the storm. But, given how this story is going there’s a chance that Sarai may have some abilities in her, passed on through her family, which could make her a descendant of Aaravos and Elarion. Given that human’s are a more common aspect, this could be a case of said sky elf, or even if his dad is human, than he could be the descendant of Aaravos through various means as we don’t know yet how the family line works for elves and if they can intermix. 

If this is the case that Sarai or Callum’s dad has the blood of Aaravos in them, then it’s likely they could have passed it onto Callum and caused him to gain the magic to unlock that box. The likely scenario would be that Elarion had a child with him and that the child, or children, went on down the line until we hit Sarai or Callum’s dad. Either case we have a person who would be considered a halfling or some percentage star elf allowing for magic to be part of the blood line. 

Which could explain why Callum insisted that he could feel that he could do magic. This I think is important as no one else ever says this, not even our two dark magic users. Callum knows it’s something that he can do, he must do, and thus the letter from Harrow makes him feel more sure that he can connect to that part of him. Leading to Harrow’s comment in his dream state where he was able to break from the hold the dark magic had on him. 

This could be the most likely case in regard to the story since Aaravos is a rare elf, given the details we have so far. However there is option 2. 

Now Option 2 is a bit...odd. Not because it’s something that seems illogical, it’s just a question of how and when, and possibly why. 

So let’s start with the first issue of this theory, which would be “Wasn’t Aaravos locked up for a long time?” 

Answer: We don’t know. We know that Ruaan said that it’s something worse than death. But how does he know this? You could argue, Legends, but then wouldn’t that have come out at some point? Either through Rayla or the Moon elf? Fact is we don’t know, and the thing that is making this a bit fuzzy is that Rayla’s parents were where Viren found the mirror. If this was something that was that old, why need elves to protect it if it’s with the dragons? You would think they would trust them to not have it taken. 

So assuming that Aaravos wasn’t locked up for a long time...then where was he? 

Well, probably hiding out, away from the eye of the elves for his crime, or at least what they perceived to be a crime, giving magic to the humans. And the most likely place is the place that Lujanne mentioned, the weird world between life and death. 

If, as I’m guessing and hopefully correct, the mirror acts as a portal and was locked due to the magic writing on the frame, then Aaravos could have used the mirror or mirrors like it to go through this place, since he knows and can use Moonshadow Elf magic. This would mean the mirrors are like the Eluvians from Dragon Age, acting as a means of travel through the fade and the veil where all the magic in the world there is kept. 

So how does this lead to the idea of Callum being Aaravos’s son? 

Well let’s start with the facts. We know that, according to the poem, Aaravos gave magic to the humans, and he sees them as interesting and having potential. To me this reads again, like Solas, seeing great things coming out of them. Meaning that Aaravos has no issue with being around and hanging out with humans. 

We also know that the box in question belonged to him, but not that he made it. 

It belonged to an elven wizard in Xadia, the Archmage Aaravos, a master of all six primal sources. It is hidden in a box of keys because it is known as the"Key of Aaravos" and legends say it unlocks something of great power in Xadia.

So what’s important here to note is that it belong to Aaravos, not that he made it, making me think that this wasn’t just a case of him crafting this but it being passed on to him through his clan of mages. This means that he was a holder of it. 

Now we know that Aaravos can use all the sources, we’ve seen it in action:

And yet he’s the only one that can do it. According to Rayla the magic that the elves use is an internal thing, and the implication is that the elves can’t learn other forms of magic. A sun elf can’t learn water magic, and a moon elf won’t be able to learn say storm magic. 

As seen in season one, there is no hand motion, and Rayla goes shadow. But like Callum Aaravos needs to use the magic in the same way Callum does. He has to write the symbol. 

Yet Aaravos, because he’s a star touched elf, this probably means that he has a connection to the world in a different way because every thing on earth has some connection to a cosmic energy due to the fact that, you know, we’re kind of made of star dust. 

If you notice the other person that seems to have that connection is Callum. 

After he wakes up and talk to Rayla he mentions that he feels more connected to the world and is able to latch onto things. 

During his time in his mind there’s a moment when his mother helps him out of his panic attack and when he’s using the other magic...what does he do, draws it out like Aaravos. We know he knows how to do this due to the Primal stone, but, it’s interesting that he recovers so fast, and seems to understand it better now. 

Another factor to consider is the fact that Callum and Aaravos have similar looks:

The reason I bring this up is because while faces on the show do have similarities, both Ez and Callum show looks like their parents. 

And if you look at Aaravos and Callum, with Sarai’s softer side, well you can see the similarities there. 

So then the question becomes how, how could Callum look human and still be part star elf, wouldn’t that stand out? 

Well, again we look to Dragon Age. One of the lead characters of the first story Alistair , is actually half elf on his mother’s side. However because of the more dominate traits from his human father, Alistair looks human. 

We don’t know how it works in the world of The dragon prince but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s similar in nature to how DA does it where the human aspect is physically stronger and takes away the ears and the horns. After all Soren even comments on how good looking Rayla is, meaning that a human could fall for an elf and vice versa. 

So how would Aaravos and Sarai meet and create Callum? 

Well the most likely situation was that Aaravos probably was hiding away from the elves, or they didn’t know that he had been the cause of the dark magic being created. It’s not that hard to buy into the fact that he was more of a person that like solitude. 

We see in his room that he studies a lot of books, and clearly he seems pretty calm and collected for someone locked away. So it’s not too hard to suppose that after events with the humans being pushed out of Xadia, he may have followed in a way over time and watched how things played out. 

As for Sarai, well, to me it seems pretty clear that she has the same skill that Ezran has, to talk with animals, and this could flow into talking to magical creatures as well. Given the fact that no one believes Ezran when he says he can talk to the animals, it could be that Sarai had the same issue, leading her to probably go off on her own as a young woman to deal with that. 

And let’s be honest, after seeing her personality and looks, it’s not hard to believe that anyone wouldn’t find her attractive. 

On the side of Aaravos, given how many are already liking how he looks, attraction wouldn’t be that huge a jump for Sarai in this case. On top of that he may not have been walking around as an elf. We know that the Moonshadow mages can cast illusions, as per Lujanne in season 1 and 2, so turning that magic on himself and creating a persona would be a easy trick for Aaravos. 

We also know now that Ezran takes after his mom in the trust department, and that she doesn’t seem to be against magical beings. So it’s not a leap in logic to assume that she wouldn’t be against the idea of being in love with someone who was an elf and different from her. 

It would not be a hard sell either to have it were Aaravos showed Sarai about the other creatures in Xadia, and helped her to hone her ability. if the poem is true too, Aaravos wouldn’t be against Amaya for her being unable to hear, though I don’t think he would have shown her his true form, but would have probably shown Sarai. Aaravos probably also would have seen a skilled warrior in her, something that could have complimented his magic. (Heck you could argue that their dynamic mirrors that of Rayla and Callum, a female fighter and a male mage.) 

The two easily could have met in the woods, with Aaravos in his illusion, and the two hitting it off. Leading eventually to some sort of confession of love, leading to something akin to a marriage, and possibly Aaravos confessing about what he is at some point in time. This could have easily lead to the two creating Callum and him being born with the hidden power to use the other primal sources like his father. Keep in mind that there’s no rules that say he couldn’t have loved to women at different times. 

However I have a feeling that if Aaravos was in hiding, his cover may have been blown and he would have had to flee. We know due to Runaan that the mirror is seen as worse than death, and we know that Rayla’s parents were more than likely guarding it. Moonshadow elves are the assassins of the clans, and we see how they do things, which leads me to think that they couldn’t outright kill him and were probably sent by the other elves to take him out for teaching the dark magic to the humans. 

Which brings me to the second point of Sarai. Given her actions in season 2 I have to think she wouldn’t just let him be killed or taken before her. So more than likely Aaravos could have given her the cube, and explained to her what it was, which she later gave as a gift to Harrow to keep safe for Callum for when he was older. And she in turn explained to him the story behind it as explained by Aaravos to her. No doubt to keep her safe it’s not to large of a leap to think that he used that magic of his to make it hard for her to find him, and probably she thought he had died due to blood or other things she could have found in an event of a struggle with the Moonshadow elves. 

This leaves the next big question. If he is Callum’s father, now what? Is he evil or no? 

To me Aaravos seems to be the type where what he’s doing is bad, but he doesn’t think he’s being bad. Again, if the poems are telling truth, then there’s a chance that he actually saw good in humans, and this may be a case of him, over time, wanting to get back at the world for screwing things up for him. 

As with Solas from DA, there’s this idea that he’s a bit of a trickster type who is seeking revenge for what happened not just to him but those he cared for, and becoming more and more willing to find a way out. Clearly he was doing something when he walked out of that room, and we know he’s manipulating Viren. It seems to me he sees him as a way out, and this could lead to some interesting moments with Ezran and possibly Callum. 

Let’s say he finds out that Sarai is dead, if he still has feelings for her, will he blame Xadia more for it’s actions? Would he see in Ezran what he saw in Sarai, and want to help him grow his gift? Or would he be jealous of the boy who’s father was with the woman he loved and who’s actions lead to her death? 

Also if you look at Callum in this case, not only would he probably want to see his son again, but it’s highly likely that he would want to train him too. Yet as we saw Callum could be the one able to unlock that box, and for someone that is probably very good at playing others with a silver tongue, it wouldn’t be a huge leap to think he could get Callum to help him get whatever it is that the box connects to in Xadia. This could lead to some very dramatic aspects, especially if Aaravos uses the weakness of Claudia, or Rayla or even Callum to exploit things and get his way. 

Could he love his son and want him to join him? To train him? Would Callum be willing to work with him? Or would he reject him and connect back to Harrow as his father and want to be like he was? How would this affect Aaravos, and would that lead to some darker things coming. 

Having Aaravos be Callum’s father not only would be a huge dynamic for the magic and growth of Callum, but for the over all story as well, because it would make him have to confront who he was and connect directly to the idea of what Harrow said in his letter to him...

“ I ask you and your brother to reject history as a narrative of strength and instead have faith that it can be a narrative of love.

I’ve tried to be selfless as a king, but as a father, I have a selfish wish. And that is for you and Ezran to be…free. Reject the chains of history. Do not let the past define your future, as I did. Free yourself from the past. Learn from it, understand it, then let it go. Create a brighter future from your own hearts and imagination.”

Having both these men effect Callum’s choices could lead to some really great story telling and push the idea of creating that brighter future. It would explain all of Callum’s desires to be a mage, because it’s something he’s born with, and would also be a huge connection to the box and make sense for why he can be the one that can unlock it. Having Aaravos being his father would be, honestly, fun. 

*Well if you made it all the way to the end, congratulations, and I hope this all makes sense as a theory to you dear reader. 

[sorayla]

Hi again~ Any soulmates headcanons for Rayla & Soren? Like mark's or names on the skin or so? Would it be obvious that their soulmate is an elf/human? And if so what problems would that cause for them and those around them?

Helloooo

I'm really sorry it took me ages to answer you, but here are my headcanons for sorayla as soulmates, I hope you like them:

~once you meet your soulmate, the date of the day you first met appears (like a tattoo) somewhere on your skin (yours and your soulmate's appear on the same spot of your bodies). Not everyone has a soulmate mark, it only appears when two people have a really deep spiritual connection~

Rayla's and soren's soulmate marks appeared on their lower backs

Soren is still recovering from -ahem- the accident when he finds out about his mark. Claudia found it, actually. She was helping him change his chest bandages when she saw it:

-"Soren! You have a soulmate mark!"

-"WHAT? WHERE? HOW? WHAT DOES IT SAY?"

(Soren gets super excited because he is secretly a hopeless romantic. I like to imagine that before their mother left she used to read love stories and poems to them. He thought they were lame back then but after she left, he would read romance novels whenever he missed her because the genre reminded him of her. He ended up becoming a fan of love-related literature. Yes, I like to believe that my son Soren has a brain shsujsishuahsia)

-"it says XX/XX/XXXX! Who did you meet on this day??"

-"I don't know! Where wer-THIS WAS THE DAY WE FOUND THE PRINCES"

-"...THE ELF GIRL, SOREN! THE ELF IS YOUR SOULMATE"

-"AHA! I KNEW SHE WAS INTO ME!" (Referring to when he says "did you catch that intense look I got from the elf? I think she's into me")

Claudia starts rambling about how the soulmate mark doesn't mean that Soren and Rayla really need to be a couple and that there must exist some spell able of detaching their souls, because of course her brother can't be forever bound to an elf.

While Claudia is panicking a little, Soren is just staring timidly at her. When she stops the rambling he says:

-"Claudia...... I... I don't think it's... bad..."

-"How is it not bad!?"

-"well... she is... a good fighter... and... she's also...pretty cute..."

Claudia:

.....

Rayla, on the other hand, is not so okay with the soulmate situation

Callum was the one to discover her mark when they were bathing/swimming in some river in Xadia (at some point they will have to bathe and will have to do it in their underclothing, so I'm assuming that Rayla's underwear exposes her lower back). He is a few meters away from her so he doesn't see it clearly and doesn't understand it is a soulmate mark:

-"Rayla, what does your tattoo mean?"

-"which tattoo?"

-"the one on your back...?"

-"I don't have any tattoo on my back"

-"um.....you do"

-"I don't!"

-"you do!"

-"Moonshadow elves only get tattooed when we turn 18 and become adults!"

He gets closer and reads it out loud

-"it says XX/XX/XXXX... Rayla... this is a soulmate mark!

-"it's a what?!"

-"a soulmate mark!"

-"WHAT IS A SOULMATE MARK, CALLUM?!"

(Since Rayla was raised by moonshadow elves, who don't seem to be very romantic, and lost her parents at a young age, I believe she doesn't know about soulmate marks, so Callum has to explain everything about them to her while she completely freaks out)

-"BUT CALLUM THE ONLY PERSON I MET FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT DAY WAS SoReN"

-"then Soren is your soulmate, Rayla!"

-"IT CAN'T BE SOREN"

-"Calm down, you don't need to marry him! I mean, I think the universe wants you to marry him but you don't have to! Destiny is a book you write yourself. Your souls are for some reason connected and that's all"

-"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! I'M NOT EVEN SURE IF HE HAS A SOUL"

-"don't be so dramatic, Rayla, he is my friend, he's nice"

-"HE WAS TRYING TO KIDNAP YOU AND EZRAN, HOW IS THAT NICE?"

-"You have a point but... Soren and Claudia just don't know yet that they are on the wrong side, they are not bad people"

-"YES THEY ARE! And Soren isn't even good at being bad! MY SOULMATE IS A DUMB BAD GUY!"

It takes Rayla a couple of days to stop grumbling about the topic. Knowing Soren is her soulmate only makes her dislike him more

........

I believe that soon Soren and Claudia will realize that their father is not doing the right thing (Viren is kind of possessed by Aaravos so now he will probably be even more cold-hearted than he usually is). Then they will change sides and start a journey to Xadia in order to search for Callum and Rayla and help them. This means that next time Rayla and Soren meet, they will already be on the same side. Callum will more than happily welcome his old friends, but Rayla still won't trust the siblings, especially Soren, so she will always keep an eye on him and be rude towards him (kinda how Katara acted when Zuko joined the gaang heheheeheh). At first Soren tries to win her over by acting flirty but this behaviour lasts for less than a week because Rayla can be very intimidating when she wants to.

However, Rayla gets less angry at him with each passing day because he proves to be loyal and to really care about their group's safety. As they become friends she will VERY SLOWLY get over Callum and grow really fond of Soren

Claudia and Callum will obviously ship them but no one will feel comfortable to talk about the soulmate marks, well, not until the day Claudia finds our two lovebirds secretly smooching during what should be their swordfight training........

[mama-m1na]

Journey of the Chaos Trio: Chapter 8

                                                  ~~~VIII~~~

As the red dragon flew over Xadia Runaan made sure the shadows didn’t get too close.

It was a tense ride as the dragon flew as fast as she could and the ravenette’s condition was only getting worse as she had to keep using her magic to keep the attention of the shadows.

“Mina, you need to stop,” Tijarah gently scolded as the girl coughed again.

Her hair looked ratty as she had been stressing for the two hours of their flight, she had turned quite a few shades paler, and her eyes were so clouded that they could have been classified as grey.

Before she could protest the ravenette looked down to see the saddened eyes of the baby dragon then up to the many worried glances of her friends before letting out a weak huff.

Three hours later the dragon landed in the clearing of the tree with the shadows circling above them.

“You need to keep them close but don’t let those things into the clearing,” Rhamina commanded weakly as Choe and Tijarah helped her off of Kerstin, “Them same goes for all of you. No matter what happens you do not come back into the clearing.”

“Rhamina, you’re too weak to even stand on your own,” Runaan said with a glare as he jumped of Kerstin.

“If you’re worried about me dying, it’s going to happen either way,” she said with a weak glare of her own before a shriek came from above them, “There’s no time anyway now go.”

With shaky hands Rhamina passed the bat to Chloe and ushered Zym to follow Tijarah.

“Come on, Hun, it won’t be safe for you here.”

The dragon refused to move from it’s spot next to her ankles before Tijarah picked him up and the girls warily let her go to stand on her own.

Rhamina watched as the group dispersed into the trees or into the sky followed by one of the shadows.

Turning to the tree she limped her way over almost tripping over herself a few times.

Kneeling before it she removed her hood from her face and took a deep breath.

She could feel the magic of the tree calling to her as she let her aura expose itself as her eyes closed.

Upon feeling the magic one of the shadows turned to the tree only to be smacked away by Kerstin’s tail.

“Not on my watch, Bitch!” she exclaimed.

After feeling a connection with the tree the ravenette opened her eyes and began her spell.

“Shadow cold and dark. Make the final plea…”

The long locks of raven hair began to float around her as the air became thick and tense.

“Take the sands of time. And set the spirit free”

The tree began to develop cracks in it as she continued her incantation.

“Wither and decay. End this destiny…”

The cracks began to glow purple as it filled with energy.

“Break these earthly chains. And set the spirit free…”

As the ravenette looked down to her arms her veins began to glow the same shade of purple as the tree’s trunk began to split open at the cracks and reach for her.

“The spirit free…”

Everyone snapped their heads back towards the clearing once the moment they could no longer feel any trace of the ravenette.

“What the hell just happened?!” Kerstin asked as she pushed back one of the shadows.

“We need to go check, hoot!” Chloe exclaimed immediately running towards where they left the ravenette.

“Chloe!” Tijarah yelled as she remembered the directions she was given.

“Fuck!” she exclaimed, her worry overpowering her want to not mess anything up.

They weren’t the only ones because about five minutes later everyone of the group had appeared at the clearing looking for the female but all they saw was the tree.

It was balled up and only seemed to close tighter as a few got an idea of what happened.

“Did the tree just fucking eat Mina?” Sam asked as she watched a purple light pulse from the cracks that were still in the wood.

“Sam, Kerstin, how exactly did she meet the Fates?” Runaan asked still in shock.

“We don’t know,” Kerstin answered ignoring the distant shrieks of the shadows, “She never told us. Why?”

“She told me that this tree was a gateway to meet the Fates,” he explained looking at the tree.

“So do you think this was how?” Tijarah asked still slightly shocked, horrified, and disgusted.

“Most likely.”

“It worked!” Viren laughed as he looked into a crystal ball at his study, “She actually went to break the seal!”

“Indeed; however, there is no telling how long that could take,” the elf in the mirror commented.

“What do you mean?”

“With that spell she needs to reabsorb all of her previous powers while abandoning her human body and manifesting her other form,” Aaravos explained through the caterpillar on the human’s ear, “It was quite vast you know. Those kinds of  things take time.”

“You didn’t tell me of this,” Viren said with irritation.

“You never asked,” the elf smirked, “And if you want your plan to work then you will have to be patient.”

“Well, no matter the wait, our weapon will be revived.”

Rhamina felt as if she was floating until it felt as if she was falling.

Her eyes snapped open once she felt her ass hit the ground.

“Mother fucker!” she growled as she stood in the familiar desolate wasteland.

“You seem to be doing well,” a smooth female voice chuckled.

“Not the time Mer’as,” Rhamina huffed as she stood up and dusted off the white dress she was in before looking up at the female with olive skin, black hair styled into a bob and ram horns on her head.

“You seem grumpier than when we last saw each other,” a smooth, deep voice commented causing Rhamina to turn and flip off the male who had olive skin; long, straight, black hair; and curved goat horns on his head.

“Eat my fucking dick, Ruzamad!”

Both beings looked quite similar to each other due to the fact they were siblings.

The Fates who looked over this world.

They both wore black clothes with black leather straps and matching dark, metal collars.

The ravenette only rolled her eyes before setting off in a certain direction.

“Where are you going?” the female asked from her left as her brother fell in step from the right.

“What do you think?” she hissed, “I’m getting my body and powers back.”

The siblings gasped as their eyes widened.

“Are you sure you want to do that, Love?-” “Don’t call me that!” Rhamina snapped as the siblings were silenced by her glare, “You aren’t here to question me, you’re just here to test  those who try to find the truth and I’ve already passed.”

She continued walking in between the fates but quickly noticed the surroundings were different than when she was here last time.

“What is this?” she asked looking around only to see the siblings panicking, “Why is this part different?”

“What do you mean?” Mer’as asked.

“Nothing’s changed since you left,” Ruzamad finished only earning a glare from Rhamina.

‘Liars,’ she thought as her eyes soaked in the different sights and sounds as she kept walking in a straight line.

‘No way…’ she thought keeping a straight face as a realization came to mind, ‘Are these the truths of other worlds?’

“We’re here,” chirped Mer’as as the trio stopped in front of an oversized, black chest.

Rhamina did not hesitate to step forward as the chest as well as her pendant began to glow purple before the chest suddenly flung open and purple wisps began to surround the female.

She could feel herself changing as her feet left the ground. Her hair grew down to her knees and a pair of black fox ears materialized a top her head accompanied by nine, large, black fox tails tipped in purple.

Her attire changed to an elegant, black and purple kimono with slits running up both sides of them to allow for easier movement in combat.

“I’ll be asking you more questions later,” she snarled at the Fates before waving her hand.

In front of her a white door with golden flourishes appeared in front of her and she placed a hand on it before continuing, “But right now I have bigger problems to deal with.”

As the door closed behind the ravenette Ruzamad sighed and said, “Now their both awake and she has the full truth.”

“The others will most definitely not be happy with us,” Mer’as sighed as she looked up at the twinkling sky above her.

Viren could only watch with a large smile as a golden glow began to surround the female trapped in ice.

It grew even more as the ice began to crack causing the golden light to seep through.

“Yes...”

“Yes.”

“Yes!” he cheered as the ice completely shattered causing the female to fall to the ground.

She groaned as her eyes fluttered open and found themselves on the mage.

“What happened?”

The group was beginning to tire.

It had been about an hour since the female had been engulfed into the tree and they had been battling ever since.

“Fuck! How long is this going to take?!” Tijarah asked as she threw back a shadow for about the hundredth time.

“We shouldn’t have let her do this!” Sam exclaimed mostly in worry for her sibling’s wellbeing.

Suddenly a large surge of magic came from the tree they were protecting and it’s trunk straightened out before the branches uncurled revealing healthy plum colored leaves.

However, once it was fully opened a familiar form was there radiating with pure magic as her raven locks floated behind her.

“Mina!” cheered the girls tiredly.

“I’m sorry I took so long guys,” she said as she floated to meet the group on the ground as the shadows seemed to watch, “You can sit back now. It’s my turn.”

“Rhamina, we’ve literally tried everything!” Callum panted as the ravenette laid him down gently.

“I know that’s why I’m here now,” she spoke quietly before turning to the shadows and glaring.

“I don’t know what you’re planning but you got what you want!” she announced looking directly at each individual form, “I’m fully awake and so is Marianna. Just know that you will repent for provoking me!”

As soon as she was finished speaking she stepped forward and her tails whipped around striking each shadow once before it’s form dissipated leaving behind a magenta wisp.

She held out her hand before flicking her wrist towards herself and the wisps floated closer to her.

“Sknaht rof eht leam!” she chirped before consuming each one.

She then turned to the group who basically sat in shock while Sam and Kerstin were filled with excitement to have their sister back at full strength.

“You really are something aren’t you?” Runaan smiled, still trying to catch his breath.

“Yep, and that something ain’t good,” she chuckled before going to her bag and collecting a large flask as a soft glow covered her form leaving her in her previous clothes save for the cloak, “You all take a breather and I’ll be back with water.”

As soon as she got back Rhamina passed around the flask and sang the song of healing again to take care of the groups injuries as the bat flew back to hook onto the front of her shirt.

“So does this mean Marianna is awake again?” Sam asked causing the ravenette’s ear to twitch.

“Yes.”

“Oh, my god we are so fucked,” Kerstin laughed as she threw her head back, “Peace here didn’t work, Viren’s on our ass, and Marianna’s awake.”

“Arrrrrrrrrr,” Sam nervously chuckled, “The Chaos Trio strikes again.”

“So what do we do now?” Callum asked as the past few events came to sink into their heads.

“Since the Queen of Dragons won’t want peace then maybe we can convince the humans,” Rhamina suggested with her back to the group, “We can take it up with the other four kingdoms and work to get Viren out of control of Katolis; which, reminds me. Shouldn’t Ezran be ruling right now?”

“That’s right, it’s been weeks he should be king by now and he wouldn’t order an attack like that,” Rayla said in realization.

“Do you think Viren was just kicked out and working from somewhere else?” the prince asked.

“No, that couldn’t have been him on his own,” Rhamina replied without skipping a beat.

“Yeah, it was way too strong for him on his own,” Tijarah added.

“Too strong for a single human,” Rhamina said, “Even with ‘Dark Magic’.”

“Well there’s at least one good thing that comes out of Marianna being awake,” she sighed rubbing her temples.

“What possible good thing could there be about that bitch being awake?” Sam scoffed.

“She was on board with Dark Magic but hates it being used so if Viren uses it all the time she’ll get pissed off and hopefully kill him for us.”

Back in the room of ancient treasures Viren lowered himself to one knee and bowed his head as he said, “Welcome back, Princess Marianna.”

“Who are you?” the ravenette asked as she stood holding her head before her eyes widened, “Where is the Queen?!”

“Your Highness, please calm down and let me explain our situation,” Viren said as he looked up at the armor-clad female.

As he explained what happened in the past thousand years, Viren led the female knight down the halls of the castle earning strange looks from the staff.

“Isn’t that Rhamina?” one whispered.

“Didn’t she go missing?”

“Her hair is so short now!”

“Where did she get the armor?”

“When did she get that serious?”

Once the pair had entered the mage’s study the ruby-eyed teen asked, “You say there were two princes in this kingdom? Where are they?”

“I’m afraid to say that they are deceased.”

“I’m not fond of liars, Mage,” she growled narrowing her eyes at the male, “Just now some of the maids were talking of how Prince Ezran was being locked up in his room and considering the fact his father is dead, he is next in line for the empty throne.”

“W-well, as he is now he is not fit to rule,” Viren tried to explain, “He is too young and I am acting as his regent.”

“Take me to him.”

“W-what?”

“A kingdom without a ruler is just asking to be overthrown,” the ravenette said standing up, “Let me meet the boy and I shall decide if he is fit to rule or not.”

“B-but-” “I may not have been the one to take the throne but I am still the oldest member of the royal family,” Marianna said sternly, “If anyone should judge what it takes to rule it would be Kitsami but she isn’t here at the moment so I will have to do.”

“With all due respect, Your Highness, Kitsami abandoned the humans.”

“She did not abandon us!” snapped the teen,eyes glowing red as a surge of energy blasted through the room causing the ground to shake slightly, “Those elves and dragons took her from us! All she wanted was to be cared for and no one gave it to her. Even I didn’t realize it until it was too late… But I will be getting her back. She is the one who woke me up after all so I know she’s alive.”

“Now,” the knight said calming down as every object that was floating dropped to the ground, “Take me to the Prince.”

“I-I… Of course,” Viren said gaining his composure in front of the powerful being, “This way, Your Highness.”

Ezran looked up from his bed as three knocks came from the door.

“Prince Ezran, there is someone who is here to see you,” the voice of Viren said from behind the door before it creaked open.

“Rhamina?” he asked seeing the teen’s face only to be confused at her attire, hair length, and eye color.

“Why is everyone asking if I’m ‘Rhamina’?” the ravenette asked turning to the mage before sighing, “Nevermind, answer that later.”

“Hello, Prince Ezran, I am Princess Marianna Verum Salvator Ibadora, and I would like to speak with you for a bit.”

“If the human side is willing to have peace then maybe Xadia will as well,” Rhamina said, “After all morals and crap. If they’re willing to stay true to their honor then they won’t attack a side that shows no aggression.”

“That is true,” Runaan said, “But how are you going to get the humans to agree?”

“I don’t have to get everyone, just the rulers at least. If anyone gets in the way I can take care of them individually.”

With that statement everyone looked at the ravenette with sceptical looks.

“What? I’m not going to kill them!” she whined, “Shock them maybe but that’s as far as it will go. The only problem we’ll have is getting Katolis on board especially if Marianna is there. She has a way with words to get people to follow her.”

“Mina, you would say similar shit in order to convince people of things,” Kerstin said, “And most of the time it wasn’t true.”

“Yeah,” Rhamina shrugged, “We both had the impeccable gift of bullshitery; which, brings up another problem. We had almost the exact same strengths and thought processes so the moment she suspects I’m up to something she’ll probably be able to come up with a counter.”

“Yeah but, Mina, you have a lot of things over her,” Sam said as the trio of thousand-year-old females smirked.

“Exactly, you’ve been here constantly learning new things and strategies while she’s been stuck in ice for the past thousand years,” Kerstin added.

“Mainly the fact I’ve got physically got nothing to lose so I have no problem just rushing in and decking someone in the face,” Rhamina chirped causing the everyone to erupt into laughter, “No, I will but I’ll be careful. I swear.”

“So which kingdom would we try to convince first?” Chloe asked from her spot.

“I would say Duren,” Rhamina said, “Queen Amaya is much more reasonable than most of the adult rulers and the others won’t take much convincing unless Viren tries to bash her reputation and risk war amongst human kingdoms.”

“Wait, Rhamina- no, Kitsami, I guess,” Callum said a little confused as to what he should call his elder.

“Either one is fine,” she chirped as her tails wagged slightly, “But yes?”

“Did you ever step down from the throne?”

“I mean I flew off on a dragon while flinging the crown into a crowd.”

“Did you formally give it up though?” he asked with widened eyes.

“No, I didn’t, why?”

“If you took back the throne in Katolis then could you convince the other kings and queens?”

“What?!” exclaimed the ravenette in surprise, “Callum, what are you saying?!”

“Mina, he’s right you know?” Tijarah commented, “You still have power over the humans by technicality.”

“Ibadora doesn’t exist anymore,” she huffed as her ears twitched in irritation, “And, Callum, what about Ezran? Don’t you want him to be king?”

“I don’t want to take anything away from him but he’s too young,” Callum spoke sadly, “He deserves to live a bit.”

“You’re right about that,” Rhamina sighed as she looked up to the afternoon sky, “Being the ruler of a kingdom is taxing on the mind and body.”

“All the paperwork, making sure the kingdom is safe before yourself, assassination attempts, people constantly trying to manipulate or kiss up to you for power, holding comments to keep your reputation, never knowing if people are your real friends or using to to get power, keeping secrets, and a whole shit tone more,” the ravenette continued, “It sucks ass.”

“Well, at least you never got the brunt of it,” Kerstin shrugged only for the ravenette to shake her head.

“I actually think it’s worse as a child who is next in line,” Rhamina spoke, eyes narrowing as she remembered her own childhood, “When you’re young you’re naive and people try to take advantage of that. They try to teach you that their own way is right and influence you so that when you’re older you do anything they want. Those born into ruling families are pawns right from the start. We’re only tools for political power to anyone who gets to us first.”

“Is it really like that?” Rayla asked turning to Callum who was looking down the entire time as the ravenette was talking.

“Now that I think about it, yeah, it was,” he sighed, “I remember a lot of the time when Mom or Dad was away important people were always trying to talk to me and Ezran to convince us about their ideas.”

“Your father was a good father and king,” Rhamina smiled, “very rare to find now a days, he realized them trying to manipulate you both and did his best to keep them separate from you. You should have seen the frustration on their faces.”

“Based on the way you act, I’m guessing you helped with that?” Runaan asked with a smirk as the female’s ears perked up and she began to stutter.

“Nope! I did- nope- not really- well, only a little!”

“Mina! some of those politicians almost shit themselves. Hoot!” Chloe chirped with a bright smile.

“Why do you think Dad always kept you near the boys when people like that were over?” Tijarah chuckled, “You always glared them down anytime they got remotely close.”

“You were just like a mother fox protecting her kits!” Kerstin laughed as the ravenette’s face began to turn red and her tails stiffened in embarrassment.

“Well what else was I supposed to do?!” she exclaimed using her tails to cover her body like a shell, “Let them corrupt the precious children?!”

“Awe, Mina, you floof!” gushed Sam as she reached out to glomp the female.

“No, I’m not fuck off!”

Soon Chloe and Kerstin added onto the pile with the ravenette reaching out for help from the rest of the group only to be met with laughter.

“Why?! I trusted- Ahh!”

Everyone stopped to look down in surprise at the ravenette who let out the high pitched yelp.

Rhamina immediately stopped her movement and covered her mouth as she turned to glare at the females on top of her.

“Who the fuck grabbed one of my tails?!” she asked as her face became even more red.

“Mina!~” sang Kerstin and Sam with smirks on their faces as the ravenette struggled to get out from under them.

Poof!

As the smoke dissipated a little black fox with nine tails and a bat clinging to her back stood growling and baring her teeth at the females as the dragon and elf approached her.

Backing up the fox ran to Runaan before skillfully climbing up to his shoulders using her tails to keep her there as she hissed and batted at her partners.

“Awe, that’s cute!” Rayla cooed only earning a glare from the black fox.

“I’m not cute!” she barked, “I’m an all powerful fox! I will eat you!”

This only earned more laughter from the group and irritation from the fox.

“Now, let’s calm down shall we?” Runaan asked reaching up to scratch under the fox’s chin causing her to release her hold on him and flop down to his lap.

She then began nuzzling into him before looking up and asking, “More pets?”

“Mina!” Chloe exclaimed not happy at the female’s contact with a male despite him helping them quite a bit.

Runaan brought his hand to keep petting the fox who let out happy trills at the attention.

After about ten more minutes the group made their way to the nearest village to get some rest.

At this point Rhamina was now in her humanoid form as the group walked into a barn a couple let them stay in.

“Hey do you guys want to hear a story?” The ravenette asked with a large smile as her tails wagged.

“Yes!” Chloe chirped as the bat squeaked in agreement.

“Yay, this one is about me,” she smirked, “And something I did like a hundred years ago I think?”

“As we were out a-hunting, one morning in the spring. Both hounds and horses, running well, made the hills and the valleys ring,” Rhamina sung as she looked up at the moon from the open door, “But to our great misfortune, no fox there could be found. Our huntsmen cursed and swore but still no fox moved over the ground.”

“Mina, no. No more foxes.”

“And up spoke our master huntsman, the master of the chase. ‘If only the Devil himself come by, we'd run him such a race!’” the ravenette smirked as she continued her theme, “And up there sprung like lightning a fox from out of his hole. His fur was the colour of a starless night, and his eyes like burning coals.”

Her smirk only grew bigger as she could hear fox calls in the distance.

“And they chased him over the valley, and they chased him over the fields; They chased him down to the river bank, but never would he yield,” Rhamina sung over the desperate cries of Sam and Kerstin, “And he's jumped into the water, and he's swum to the other side. And he's laughed so loud that the green woods shook. Then he's turned to the huntsmen and he's cried:”

“‘Ride on, my gallant huntsmen! When must I come again? For you should never want for a fox to chase all over the glen. And when your need is greatest, just call upon my name And I will come, and you shall have the best of sport and game!’”

Soon the group could see the glowing eyes of tens of foxes as the ravenette continued her call.

“And the men looked up in wonder and the hounds run back to hide. For the fox, it changed to the Devil himself where he stood on the other side,” she sang with a large smile and all nine tails wagging at the sight of her brethren, “And the men, the hounds, the horses went flying back to town. And hard on their heels come a little black fox, laughing as he ran.”

“‘Ride on, my gallant huntsmen! When must I come again? For you should never want for a fox to chase all over the glen. And when your need is greatest, just call upon my name. And I will come, and you shall have the best of sport and game! Ride on, my gallant huntsmen! When must I come again? For you should never want for a fox to chase all over the glen.’”

As soon as the female stopped singing the foxes were running around and playing in the empty barn.  

“Mina!” cried all the girls as the foxes ran on and over them while Rhamina was on her knees reaching out to play with them.

Soon enough all the foxes began to trill and sing to which Rhamina did the same.

A large smile was on her face and all of her tails were wagging happily while the bat fluttered around the barn playing as well.

“Come on aren’t they all adorable?” the ravenette gushed holding one up who was visibly smiling.

Rayla laughed as she played around with the canines as well.

“They are quite cute,” she chuckled as one jumped up onto her shoulders.

After about half an hour the foxes left and went back out the barn while the group began to set up their beds.

“So how exactly are we going to make it past the border?” Kerstin asked as they grouped up, “Mom, is back at the border now and things are getting quite literally heated with her and the Sunfire elves.”

“Well if this is going to be fair then we might as well make a big entrance right?” Sam asked, “We are the Chaos Trio after all.”

“Chaos Trio plus five,” Kerstin corrected.

As the others were talking Rhamina curled her ninetails around her to act as a blanket for the night.

‘The Chaos Trio has been revived and so have you, so you will decide how our war will end… With peace? Or will you deny the truth again?’

~~~Fin. Chapter 8~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Picture: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/558939003739231659/

Songs Used: “Hurt Incantation” - Tangled the Series (My Cover); “Black Fox” - Heather Dale

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Trust No One: Aaravos as Plague

This is a messy and convoluted and branching set of headcanons and theories so I’m going to keep it to bullet points as much as possible. But if you ever want to know more about something on here, just ask!  My thanks to @kotikala​ for brainstorming with me for a few hours one night last week (and for making the gif below). It was a whole ride, and we had crazy amounts of fun.

It all started when I got to looking, yet again, at these two pix:

1000 years ago, the Sunfire and Moonshadow rulers held their own staffs

but 300 years ago, they had diversified into warrior and wizard

in the first pic, Aaravos’s eyes are glowing

in the second, the two staffbearer elves’ eyes are glowing

glowing eyes means using big magic

Aaravos’s eyes glowed when he was controlling Viren

so what’s he up to in the pic? Controlling someone else?

is that even Aaravos or do we just see his spooky astral form while he’s actually possessing some other poor elf there, like he did with the Sunfire mage at the Sunforge?

Theory: Aaravos hacks people with his magic. He’s is a hacker, and he can spread his influence from person to person this way, like a plague.

It’s what he did with the elves after Xadia was split.

It’s what he’s doing with Viren.

He’s going to keep using the same tricks.

It’s what Viren was trying to copy with a dark magic workaround.

And it’s what Aaravos is doing to others in the show already.

It’s what he did with the elves after Xadia was split

The most terrifying thing about Aaravos isn’t his powers. It’s that you never know who Aaravos is, so you don’t even know when his powers are being used. Who can you trust, when more than one person around you might be Aaravos, or Aaravos-manipulated?

Basically: TRUST NO ONE (ghhhh I love shows like this so much)

Aaravos sent a caterpillar to Viren because a worm is a type of virus

Dark Callum was an attempt to hack Callum’s mind while he was sick, and he was only saved because of Harrow’s influence on him

the plan to split Xadia interfered with Aaravos’s own plans, so he set about foiling the elves by hacking them and puppeting and/or impersonating them, and then making important decisions of state in disguise, by manipulation, and by creating an environment of isolation and mistrust

at some point, the elves finally realized what Aaravos was doing and had to band together to stop him

enter the Sunfires and the Moonshadows, defenders of the border and the peace, such as it was

the book pages involving Aaravos all show Sun, Moon, and Stars on them, but no other identifiable primal symbols

so what did they discover? Aaravos can turn into other people, using their primal magic, in perfect copies of them. The elves had no way to tell which among them were the OG elves and which were Aaravos

It’s what he’s doing with Viren

the pod that’s growing at the end of S3/in TTM has a black-eyed Viren inside it--eyes black like Aaravos. Yet the Viren we saw Claudia resurrect has normal skin. Maybe Aaravos stole Viren’s magic--and his gray skin with it--and plans to impersonate him, while Claudia resurrected Viren’s corpse using enough vitality to restore him to his original appearance after Aaravos pulled his magic out. Each of them only intended for there to be one Viren, but now there are two, because Claudia took a shortcut

the pod is the final step in copying a person, but it starts with the blood ritual, and the caterpillar needs primal magic to grow (see: Viren getting irradiated by the Sun staff and spitting out a much larger caterpillar than he swallowed)

that means it would be a lot easier to grow elves than humans, because they already have primal magic in them, and they’re in Xadia which is also full of primal magic. Aaravos had to lure Viren to Xadia to get the caterpillar to grow

not knowing who to trust among the ruling elven leaders changed things up

the elves split their rule, from having a single ruler who also wielded the primal stone staff to having two. 700 years after Xadia was divided, the Moonshadows are led by a mage and an assassin, and the Sunfires have a queen and a mage. That way, if one of them gets podded or possessed by Aaravos, they can’t make unilateral decisions and use their power or magic to create chaos

but not everyone Aaravos manipulates has to be a ruler. If he can whisper in a baker’s ear, or a servant’s, or a certain soldier at just the right time, that person can do the influencing on rulership for him. There are always myriad targets for Aaravos to choose from. How can the elves possibly protect their people?

cue the Sunfires and Moonshadows again, as basically the Order of the Phoenix--oh hey, Phoe-Phoe!

we saw what Queen Khessa did with the Sunforge, using it to attempt Viren’s murder. She’s probably killed other humans this way over the years. We see the device as cruel and the practice as racist.

but once upon a time (and this is what gives this theory some actual weight for me) the Sunforge could have been a tool of detection in a world of lies and deceit

the Sun arcanum is about revealing truth, just like Viren’s true face was revealed

300+ years ago, Queen Aditi used the Sunforge to test her fellow elves for truth or Aaravos-level deception. Any false pod elven pretenders who were placed in its scorching beam would be destroyed, while true elves who had not touched dark magic would not be harmed

the Sunforge was one of the only ways the elves could truly trust each other: they all had to submit to the bodyscan, just like in Among Us.

maybe the Moonshadow elves had to turn a bit KGB in this part of the story, using their stealth to sneak in and drag people out of bed in the night to take them to the Sunforge by dawn so they could be tested by Aditi

possibly Moonshadows were sent on pod hunts back in the day, to take out creepy pod people who weren’t finished growing--or who had become nothing but batteries for Aaravos’s schemes--a dark mercy either way, but very Moonshadow

but if the Sunforge was a detection device, the Wonderwall was a prevention device. A firewall, run on Moon power

Nyx said that the Wonderwall keeps out soulfangs and husks. Each of those is an unnatural creation: either too much soul or too little. Either way, the Wonderwall seems to let living things pass only if they have one soul and one body (that match, if it can detect that)

Aaravos couldn’t step in there inside another elf without getting burnt out of them

the oasis isn’t just a safe haven from the desert, it’s a safe haven from uncertainty and mistrust, the one place Moonshadows know they can trust someone to be who they seem, possibly used as a meeting spot to plan Aaravos’s capture, and maybe even execute it

Aaravos had to take Aditi out somehow - she ran the Sunforge and it was ruining his plans. The way he destroyed Khessa looked like he was burning her Sun magic out of her, and that’s super karmic not only because she was trying to kill Viren that way, but if that’s how Aditi ran the Sunforge the last time he knew her

He’s going to keep using the same tricks

the first place that Aaravos took Viren in Xadia was back to the Sunforge, to disable it. Now the Viren body he’s growing in his pod cannot be detected in the usual way, and he can go about doing whatever he wants. Except that Claudia totally resurrected OG Viren, so... Claudia actually becoming a problem for Aaravos? Hmm.

The next step should be the oasis then, since it’s specifically meant to keep out Aaravos’s puppets (a term used in the art book, and possibly meant literally as well as figuratively). He should be looking for a way to bring it down, which means more Moonshadows and Nyx

since we haven’t seen pod Viren hatch yet, I’m not sure whether Aaravos needs the original alive as a tether for his copy, or if he discards them like he did the Sun mage. Maybe he did want Claudia to resurrect Viren after all because he needs his life force to power pod VIren. Or maybe he was genuinely done with Viren because he had all the power he needed (ahaha Viren quote) to grow his own Viren, and it can live on its own now

It’s what Viren was trying to copy with a dark magic workaround

remember when the creators said in an interview about Harrow that yes, he’s dead, but that we would see him again?

maybe Viren was trying his darnedest to make that happen in S1

yes I’m back on my Dadbird bullshit okay, it’s a really fun theory, bless whoever came up with that one

here’s the new hot take: Viren did swap Pip and Harrow’s souls via the soulfang, and once he had Runaan imprisoned, he did indeed plan for the elf to “walk out of here” once he cooperated...as Harrow

in the novelization of S1, Viren used a black candle to aid in transferring Runaan into the coin, whereas the red candles are used for making smoky creatures come to life

in the show, there was a black candle in the dungeon cell on the table

That bowl of ash could be Harrow’s ashes, his DNA basically, Viren never throws anything away, too pragmatic

the second that Runaan gave up the goods on the mirror’s secrets, Viren would’ve “repaid his wise counsel” in a different way than he did for Lain and Tiadrin: by using Harrow’s ashes and the black soul-transfer candle to scoop Runaan’s soul out of his body, morph it into Harrow’s form using his DNA imprint from the ash, and then fetch Pip from the cage to put Harrow’s soul back in a body that looked exactly like his old one. Runaan’s body would’ve walked out of that cell, but it wouldn’t have looked like him anymore, and he wouldn’t have been inside it

looking at that mirror and knowing he was being watched by an elf who’d crawled inside other people and ridden them around Xadia must’ve been so freaking creepy, especially to a Moonshadow, no wonder Runaan got skeeved and called it worse than death--and he barely avoided the same fate himself, even if neither he nor Viren knew the connection

And this whole plan of hopping bodies and souls? It’s the dark magic version of what Aaravos does with his pod people, just like the coining spell is a dark magic version of how Aaravos is trapped

It’s what Aaravos is doing to others in the show already

once you realize that a character has the ability to flawlessly imitate other characters, all bets are off on who’s who

that goes for anyone else Aaravos might already be talking to in caterpillar form or possessing astrally, since he probably can’t make pods of people in Katolis due to a lack of primal magic

I started wondering if there was another poor person Aaravos was already puppeting in the background, and I found one: Saleer

in S2E1, Councilman Saleer advocates against retaliation in a council meeting and Viren isn’t pleased

what do you do with those who defy you to your face? You persuade them to join your side

in S3E1, Ezran’s banther just up and growls at Saleer, as if it can sense that something’s off about him, hmmm animal instincts

Saleer is the last to bend the knee to King Ezran

later in the same episode, Saleer reacts differently than everyone else to some surprising news, seeming to murmur about it toward his own right ear

at some point I think Wormavos bit Saleer, and he’s been puppeted by Aaravos ever since, just like the Sun mage was--except that Aaravos is keeping Saleer alive because he’s not done with him yet. This is extra scary because it means Aaravos could be controlling Viren, Saleer, and the Sun mage all at the same time, or be able to switch at will amongst them, a la Horde Prime or Ultron

Saleer orchestrates Viren’s release from the moment he hears that Rayla and Callum are taking the egg back to the Dragon Queen, but our eyes are usually on Viren so we don’t really notice that he initiates everything including working the crowd

basically every time other people are shocked, Saleer isn’t

when Viren does the Hearts of Cinder spell, Saleer moves to stand on his right to avoid getting bespelled

then back to back shots show that Aaravos replaces Saleer on Viren’s right. Even though Aaravos has 4 inches on Viren in height, he’s shown shorter than Viren

since the HoC spell takes place after the Sun mage’s possession and death, it seems Aaravos’s sudden appearance is a direct hint that Aaravos is currently possessing Saleer’s body like he did the Sun mage, and by inference has been for some time, what with all the calm collectedness and the smirking he’s been doing most of the season

Saleer survives the final battle unscathed and is arrested without anyone knowing of his connection to Aaravos or his extra connection to Viren. This raises the question: what will Saleer’s fate be in S4 and onward? Will he die mysteriously, abandoned now that he’s of no use? Will Aaravos keep using him to cause chaos in Katolis? Will anyone figure out that he is/was a puppet?

I sure hope Jonathan Holmes is having fun voicing his complicated messy evil guy with Jason Simpson! The boys deserve to have fun at work.

the fandom is contractually owed one (1) conversation between Barius and Runaan as balance now, I don’t make the rules

So, to sum up

Wormavos functions just like a worm virus, establishing itself in a host and then seeking out additional systems to infect via bite, and everyone that gets bitten becomes an at-will vessel for Aaravos to use, expanding his system exponentially

it’s impossible to tell who is under his control without extraordinarily powerful primal magic tests, which he’s disabling

he’s already spreading and no one knows he’s even there yet. Saleer might not be the only character Aaravos is operating, and we might not know who he gets a hold of in the future until it’s too late

in short, trust no one, and fix the Sunforge asap.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

Impressions from TTM

Spoilers, spoilers everywhere. Just a big bulleted list of thoughts as I read through the graphic novel. Not a lot of detail included, so it’ll make a lot more sense if you’ve already read it yourself!

looks like Moonshadow elves cross the arms of the dead... when they have a body to bury

it’s nice to see that Rayla imagines Runaan with all his shirts, the way she last saw him

kinda looks like Rayla changed into her jammies right on her bed and dumped her clothes on that little table. maybe she’s afraid of letting the few things she actually possesses out of her sight

listen we get one little panel of Opeli in here and it’s great

Soren’s cape smacking Callum in the face, 10/10

Lujanne’s appearance out of nowhere, along with Allen’s is just adorable, she’s so sparkly. And also she can apparently just turn totally invisible with an illusion spell? Even at a new moon? Probably because of the Nexus I guess

Lujanne’s “Big strong man with big strong feelings.” She and Runaan have exactly the same type and I support them

Allen’s face when Lujanne says it aches to miss Phoe-Phoe

Callum eating off Rayla’s plate and wondering how Lujanne suspected they were a couple, hmmm

Soren and Allen bonding

Rayla warning Lujanne about hand disguises, as if that was something Runaan made very sure she knew

Rayla’s cute chaos grin when Callum’s Aspiro spell goes off is my favorite pic of her in this whole graphic novel

Lujanne’s “Oh.” afterward is my fave pic of her, too, she does not seem to handle reality well!

Bait’s tongue will never get old

Lujanne’s whole speech during Phoe-Phoe’s rebirth ritual is so touching and beautiful, my heart

Lujanne putting the newborn Moon Phoenix into Ezran’s hands, like she knows he’ll have the best connection with her

Callum’s tears as he reminds Rayla that Runaan killed Harrow, he’s trying to move on, but it hurts

Rayla’s self-soothing behavior when she has her second nightmare in the book--she must have these most every night :((((

the big symbol on the Moon Temple doors looks like a stylized Moon staff, like it’s a building for mages

Lujanne saying Rayla might not want or need the truth right after Callum mentions Runaan’s name to her, he sassily asks about her husbands and she turns it into a compliment

Callum’s big reaction to the moon opals is adorable. The only other one he’s seen was part of a pair of treasured gifts between long-time spouses, so it kinda looks like he’s all “uhh we just started dating”

also Ethari must’ve made cute metal swirly covers for the pair he and Runaan wore, since these two are undecorated--maybe he got his from Lujanne?

listen Lujanne is a hoot and all but she’s both an ally and an antagonist. Her actions are trustworthy but her advice is generally terrible. It’s an interesting parallel to how Runaan says a lot with his actions too, but he talks a lot less than Lujanne

Rayla yeeting herself into a fight just to ask Soren for a talk is 10/10 Moonshadow assassin goals

but her hood is up when she’s lurking in the trees--she might not have known where she’d find Soren and was anticipating something less fun on the feels-o-meter

Rayla in the mud again. Soren keeps making people fall in the mud

Allen’s grumpy squiggle

Callum, I love you, but you have no respect for moon opals. It’s like they wronged you in a previous life or something

that dancing elf has very long hair and shoulder pauldrons, and they start off dancing with six kneeling, watching, hooded elves around them--Moon Druids wore hoods even before they were assassins. Considering what Lujanne said about why the portal was sometimes opened, maybe those six kneeling elves are waiting under their emotion-hiding hoods to farewell a loved one who’s recently died?

can’t tell for sure but maybe the elf is dancing along the lines in the stone like they mark patterns for ritual dances, which would be the bomb

Soren and Rayla’s conversation is pretty wrenching. Seeing Soren have to struggle with what he did because it’s tangled up with Viren is rough because as a Crownguard it should just have been his duty to defend his king and he’d have nothing to feel weird about

Rayla dissociating herself from the term “assassins” and Soren dissociating from calling Viren “my father” in the same conversation is 10/10 excellent growth

Soren must know what happens to prisoners his dad gets a hold of, even if he doesn’t know the details :(((

“we captured him” and “Viren took him” seem to be talking about the Crownguard and Viren, not the brodigies and Viren

Rayla having a wooden sword at the end of the day bc she played swordfighting with Allen and Soren all day long

the panel where Rayla doesn’t say anything at all after telling Callum that she asked Soren about Runaan actually says so much, you can hear it

every time Lujanne’s white lies idea gets repeated, things get worse

Allen’s reading glasses, there must be one optician in the human village and he caters to soft kindly gentlemen of a certain age

in the moon phase montage, baby Phoe-Phoe is flying next to Ezran after one week at the Nexus. Maybe he’s paying her back by helping her learn to fly after she helped him teach Zym how to fly! Did they bond as tightly as Ezran did with Zym? I support Ezran just bonding with the most powerful flying creatures in all the land.

the irony of Callum using Lujanne’s tactics against her is amazing, but really the white lies thing is a giant ball of chaos in this story and it does not play favorites

Bait on the stone pillar during rebuilding

all the noises the Moonhenge makes are 10/10

Rayla dancing with Callum even though there’s almost no chance she’s ever done that dance before

Lujanne’s pupils going white, that is a cool effect, what’s it mean?

the black moon in the pink sky is so spooky! Is it just me or does the color scheme here kinda vibe like the space outside Aaravos’s library?

the smoky assassin squad, 10/10 creep factor, I love it

the lightning being a literal crack of doom with “CRAK-DOOM” as Katolis Castle appears, “echoes of thunder” indeed, very nice

Lujanne being mad but she can’t decide if it’s at Callum or herself

when she says pulling Rayla out now will leave her soul on one side and her body a husk. After the Insta live stream last night where we learned that soulfang serpents are Moon primal creatures, that’s... super interesting

smoky assassins go tssh in the rain like they’re still hot from being cremated, thanks I hate it

Andromeda finds Rayla first and seems closest/most aggressive so I wonder why she might hate Rayla more than the others

the assassins’ wrist bindings have gone red but they’re still attached and seem to trap the souls where they are. But all they need to be free is to perceive that Rayla completed their task, even though we know otherwise. So... would that work for killing any target? If you’re certain that you did it, does your binding fall off even if you’re wrong? eyes Pip

this must not be the actual afterlife since the spirits kind of mist up toward the moon and vanish, it’s more like a lobby, no one stays here unless they get stuck

portaling around just by shouting at villains, excellent

Rayla literally dropping a sword at the sight of the pod Viren’s in, yeah, it’s that creepy, I agree

Viren’s eyes are so black I think they’re Aaravos’s. I got a whole headcanon on Good Viren and Evil Viren for S4 now, wow

Phoe-Phoe pulling out a feather for Callum, awww my heart! This is why Ezran had to come, to bond with her so together they could save Callum and Rayla, it’s so sweet

so these humans are from the Storm Spire battle, bc that’s the Storm Spire behind Rayla and Callum on p108, with the rune-written arch. Did they die hating Rayla and Callum from the battle? Did they even know Rayla was up there? Or is pod Viren/Aaravos actually making them attack out of hatred for Viren’s death? One of these is definitely creepier and more awesome

Rayla’s confidence that Callum can and will boost her at the right moment with his magic, my heart, I love battle couples

that one panel that mirrors the Ghost Feather key art, hhhhhh

Rayla being the better swimmer, such precious irony, thanks Runaan

them holding hands and swimming upward together on the full-page panel is blessed

Lujanne pulling Rayla out of the lake with both arms gives me feels bc my grandma saved my life once

Lujanne being super soft over Rayllum, she is indeed a hopeless romantic

Rayla says “gone” about her parents and Runaan, and that’s the word Ethari used too, and I’m suddenly wondering if Ethari reached right into that pool and has always known that the lotus is half-submerged and if the sword he’s been making is for himself

I’m so glad Rayla told Callum what she saw of Viren

Rayla deceiving Callum and heading into danger alone because his life is more valuable to her than her own is exactly what Runaan did for her the night of the full moon in Katolis. I’m leaning toward her having thought this over and doing it on purpose bc she believes it’s a sign of deepest love--that Runaan’s actions and Lujanne’s words match up in her head, so she thinks it’s the right thing to do bc the mage and the assassin agree. Alas, Callum doesn’t understand the Moon arcanum yet, so he will have a different opinion. That mage and that assassin do not agree!

Rayla’s cloak has that Moon Temple symbol on its back. Is it Lujanne’s cloak? Any Moonshadow who sees it will probably know where she got it and who helped her. That could be fun!