by Aaron Ehasz
Ezran raised an eyebrow. What was up with Callum? Where was he going with this? Callum had been out late with Claudia last night—maybe he wanted to talk to Ezran about dating. Ugh. This was going to be so awkward. Better get it over with.
“Is this the talk about ‘sandwiches’?” Ezran asked.
“Sandwiches?” Callum asked.
“Yeah, remember a few nights after we left the castle and you were hugging that loaf of bread while you were sleeping and, um, telling the bread how you felt about it? Then when I asked what your dream was about, you said, ‘Peanut butter sandwiches.’ ” Ezran knew that peanut butter sandwiches were Claudia’s favorite, but he decided not to mention her specifically. “You said one day when I was older we would have a heart-to-heart talk about ‘sandwiches.’ ”
Callum jumped. “No! No, not that! Definitely not that.”
Callum cleared his throat, and Ezran waited with growing impatience.
“Ezran,” Callum said, “for a long time, I treated you like a little kid. And that wasn’t fair. You’ve grown up so much, and I’m really proud of you.”
“Oh. Yeah …” Ezran said. Ezran was pretty sure he could see where this conversation was going now. Callum was disappointed that Zym hadn’t learned to fly yet. This was going to be a pep talk.
“But when you grow up, sometimes … you must face things you’re not ready for,” Callum said.
Ezran stared at the ground. “I know,” he said.
“You … know?” Callum asked. He seemed surprised and maybe a little relieved. Ezran decided to take the pressure off his brother and own up to his shortcomings.
“I know everyone’s counting on me to teach Zym to fly,” Ezran said. “And flying is just the beginning. Someone’s gonna have to teach Zym all the things he’s supposed to do. Everything he’s supposed to be.” Ezran paused and looked up. Phoe-Phoe was flying in circles high above the Moonhenge ruins, her fluorescent blue feathers lighting up the early morning sky. It was hard to imagine Zym ever soaring through the air like that.
“And he’s meant to learn it all from a big, strong king of the dragons! But he doesn’t have that. All he’s got is … me,” Ezran concluded.
He felt Callum’s hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself, Ez,” Callum said. “I know it’ll be tough, but no matter what, you’ve got us. Me, and Rayla—probably Bait. We’re all here for you.”
“Thanks, Callum. That means a lot,” Ezran said. “But I really wish Dad was here.”
Ezran was surprised when Callum didn’t immediately agree—wasn’t it just yesterday he’d sent their father a letter? But Callum had suddenly tensed when Ezran mentioned their dad.
“I keep wondering what would HE do? What would HE say to Zym? When I was little and I wasn’t listening to him, Dad would say … ‘Ezran, you’re a handful!’ ” Ezran puffed up his chest, put his hands on his hips, and executed his very best impression of his father trying to be stern. He was pleased to see Callum giggle.
“So,” Ez continued, “I tried that with Zym. I said, ‘Azymondias, you’re a handful!’ But Zym doesn’t understand. He doesn’t even have hands.” Ezran sighed. “I guess I just miss Dad. He’d know what to do … you know?”
But again, Callum didn’t say anything about their dad. “Callum? What’s wrong?” Ezran asked. He locked eyes with his big brother, trying to read the thoughts in his mind.
Then Callum knelt down and hugged Ezran tight. “Nothing, Ez,” he said. “I just really miss him too.”
Back in Runaan’s former cell, Viren hastily swept up the ashes and singed scrolls and papers from the fire he had started. He growled under his breath, angry with himself for his lack of control. It was difficult to clean the room as carefully as he desired in the dark, but he had no choice—the nature of this mirror appeared to be that its dim world was only visible to Viren if he kept his side of the mirror even darker. Every few seconds, he glanced back at the mirror, afraid he might miss something. But the view remained the same—a cozy study with many bookcases, an unlit fireplace, and a desk. The room was meticulously clean and tidy, but there was no sign of any inhabitant.
When he finally finished sweeping, Viren yanked a nearby chair in front of the mirror and sat down on it with a huff. He removed a tall candle from his cloak and sparked a flame with his fingertips. Why carry matches when a quick spell was just as effective? He used the flame to soften the base of the candle and drip a few drops of wax onto the arm of the chair. Then he pressed the candle upright onto the melted wax, making sure it was secure.
With another snap of his fingers, Viren lit the candle’s wick, turned to the mirror, and leaned forward to watch. A single candle’s light was all the faintly glowing world beyond the mirror would allow—anything brighter and Viren would find himself gazing at his own reflection.
For hours, Viren sat there, staring at the room. As exciting as it was to extract this secret from the mirror, watching an empty room was becoming dull. Viren rubbed his eyes and held back a yawn.
COUGH COUGH COUGH.
Viren woke in a choking fit. The candle had gone out, and he was breathing puffs of smoke. When he saw the melted heap of wax on the chair, he realized he must have been asleep for hours. He waved the smoke away from his face and ran his hands through his hair. Something flickered in the corner of his eye.
Viren snapped to attention and lurched toward the mirror. There had been some barely perceptible movement in the mirror’s room. But Viren had missed it. Did a door close? Did someone leave? Why did he have to fall asleep?
“Was there someone there … ?” Viren said to the mirror. He peered even closer, looking for even the smallest hint of change in the room. His eyes scanned the bookcases, chairs, and floor. Then he saw it. A flame was now blazing in the parlor’s fireplace!
Callum felt like a coward. He’d had the chance to tell Ezran about their dad, and instead of doing the right thing, he’d allowed the words to sit frozen on his tongue. Callum loved Ezran with all his heart, yet he couldn’t bring himself to cause pain to his little brother. They had a long journey ahead to return Zym to his mom. Maybe it simply wasn’t necessary for Ezran to carry that pain and grief across the world with him? Or was Callum just making excuses to avoid a painful conversation?
Callum would have to carry the sorrow for the both of them. He remembered how his stepdad had told him about his mother’s death—gently and kindly. He realized now just how brave King Harrow had been.
It’s not Rayla’s fault, he reflected. I have to find her and tell her I understand.
Callum wandered over to the outdoor area near the Moon Temple, where Rayla was sitting alone at a table, her head resting on her folded arms. It looked like she might have spent the night there.
Callum wasn’t angry anymore. He stood by Rayla awkwardly for a moment, and then sat down and touched her elbow. She looked up at him.
“I couldn’t do it,” Callum said. “I couldn’t tell him.”
“Callum …” Rayla turned to face him.
“And I understand why you couldn’t tell me,” Callum said. “When you care about someone, it’s hard to hurt them. Even when what you’re telling them is the truth.”
“I still should’ve told you,” Rayla said. “You had the right to know.”
“I think maybe I did know,” Callum said. “Deep down, I knew. I just hoped … if I didn’t think about it, maybe somehow it wouldn’t be true. But he’s gone. He’s really gone.” Callum’s insides churned. He couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.
Rayla grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug.
He relaxed into her embrace, thinking about how hard yesterday must have been for her.
Then Callum remembered something. Soren had said King Harrow wanted them home. Was Soren just trying to protect their feelings the same way Rayla was?
“Wait,” Callum said, pulling away. “So yesterday, when Soren said that Dad wanted us home, he was lying. And y
ou knew he was lying.”
“Yeah. He lied,” Rayla said. “I didn’t know what to do—I thought if I told you then, you would just think it was my word against Soren’s. And you’ve known Soren much longer than you’ve known me.”
“Well, maybe Soren was also trying to protect our feelings,” Callum ventured. He avoided Rayla’s gaze while he defended Soren. Even so, he could feel her incredulous look boring through his body.
“Oh, right,” Rayla said. “He definitely seems like a thoughtful, sensitive, feelings-protecty kind of guy. He’s a softy, that one.”
“Yeah, you’re right, that’s not really his style,” Callum said. It was getting hard to see Soren’s side of the story.
“Look, Callum. We don’t have a choice anymore. We’ve got to leave. And we’ve got to do it now—get as far away from Claudia and Soren as we can before they even realize we’re gone. They’re up to something dangerous.”
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Callum said. He held up both hands. “They’re still my friends.”
“But they lied to you,” Rayla said. Her voice was fierce. “You don’t owe them a polite goodbye.”
“Soren lied to me,” Callum said. “But Claudia told me the truth. We can’t just leave them.”
“Leave?”
Callum whipped his head around in time to see Claudia at the door of her hut.
“But where would you go?” she asked.
Callum felt a little rattled. Claudia was walking slowly toward him and Rayla, with Soren not far behind.
Callum glanced at Rayla. She nodded.
“Yeah. I’m sorry,” Callum said. He spoke only to Claudia and ignored Soren. “We’ve decided. We’re leaving today. This mission, taking the Dragon Prince back to Xadia, it’s the most important thing we’ll ever do. We can’t go home with you.” He waited for them to argue, but Claudia just nodded.
“Are you sure?” Soren asked. “Your dad is gonna be really disappointed—”
“Soren! What is wrong with you?!” Claudia asked. She slapped him on the shoulder. She seemed genuinely furious with her brother.
“I’m just trying to—”
“Don’t! Stop it, Soren!” Claudia shouted.
“Ugh, fine. Do what you want,” Soren said. He turned away and stormed off through the trees.
“I’m sorry about him,” Claudia said. “But before you go … Callum, I have something I need to give you. In private.”
“Oh. Uh, all right,” Callum said. This was a surprise. He could sense Rayla’s impatience growing.
Claudia smiled at Callum, and he felt the butterflies in his stomach again.
“Come with me,” she said.
“I’ll meet you in a few minutes,” Callum told Rayla. He followed Claudia quickly before Rayla had a chance to stop them.
Claudia went straight into her hut, but Callum lingered by the door.
“So, closed door? Open door? What’s, uh, what do you—”
“Closed is fine,” Claudia said.
“Closed. Good. Okay.” Callum shut the door and waited.
“I have something for you. Something I wanted to give you last night, actually.”
Callum’s thoughts raced. He closed his eyes and leaned forward just slightly, instantly feeling as nervous as he had been in the moonlight beside the lake. Then he heard what sounded like Claudia digging around in her bag.
“Where is it?” she said, sounding frustrated. “Aha!”
Callum opened his eyes. With a huge smile on her face, Claudia presented Callum with a scroll—a scroll bearing the king’s seal. It was Callum’s lost letter from his stepdad.
“Where did you find that?” Callum asked, his eyes wide. For the first time since he’d learned about his stepfather’s death, he felt a flicker of hope. He thought he’d never see the letter again.
Callum took the letter from Claudia’s outstretched hand and gently ran his fingers over the unbroken royal seal.
“That’s … my letter. From him,” Callum said. “You didn’t open it?”
“Why would I do that?” Claudia asked as if it had never occurred to her. “It’s for you.”
Callum smiled and nodded. Even if Soren was a jerk, he knew he could trust Claudia.
“Though, I mean, for the record, I could have opened it and easily resealed it with magic,” Claudia said. “My kind of magic,” she added with a wink.
“Wait—did you?” Callum asked.
“Did I?” Claudia said with a mysterious smile. “We may never know! But no.”
Now Callum was confused. A moment before he had trusted Claudia completely, but now he thought there was a … 5 percent chance she had read the letter? Maybe a 10 percent chance.
“So, are you going to open it?” Claudia asked.
Callum stared down at the letter. “No. I don’t think I’m ready yet. But thank you, Claudia.”
“You’re welcome. So … I guess this is goodbye,” she said.
Callum looked up from the letter. Without saying anything, he hugged Claudia and then turned to leave. It was time to press on to Xadia.
“Wait, Callum,” Claudia said.
He paused, his hand on the door, his back to Claudia. “What is it?”
“I just have one thing I want to ask you,” she said.
Get in the backpack, Zym,” Ezran commanded in his most serious voice. But the dragonling slipped out of Ezran’s grip and scampered away.
Callum had just burst in the door and announced it was time to get packing for Xadia if they were going to make it out by the next morning. Three seconds later, he’d disappeared again. Callum was always doing this—he never gave Ezran any warning. Ezran was frustrated—it had been hard enough lugging that heavy egg around in his backpack, but a live dragon was a different story altogether. Ezran had gingerly tried to push Zym into his pack headfirst. Zym wiggled and squirmed, twisting out of Ezran’s grasp. Ezran found it impossible to keep the bag open while guiding Zym’s flailing legs into the bag.
“Zym! Come on! You loved it in there as an egg,” Ezran coaxed. Eventually, with a little more coaxing and a lot more squirming, Ezran managed to stuff Zym into the bag.
Rayla poked her head through the hut door and stared at the brown sack on the floor.
“Rayla, look,” Ezran said. “He can’t fly yet, but he should be safe in my bag.”
“There’s nothing in there, Ezran,” Rayla said.
“What?” Ezran looked down. The bag was empty. Zym was on the other side of the room!
“Hey, Zym! How’d you do that?” Ezran asked. He looked in the bag again. This time, Bait poked his head out. “Bait! You’re not helping.”
Rayla laughed.
Then Callum came in, holding something in his hand. He avoided eye contact with Rayla and Ezran.
“How was Claudia?” Rayla asked in a not-so-nice voice. “Let me guess. Once she had you alone she tried to manipulate you and convince you to go back home again?”
Ezran frowned. He hated when Rayla and Callum fought about Claudia. He tried to focus on pulling Bait out of the bag. But the glow toad had made himself quite comfortable at the bottom of the sack.
“No. She didn’t try to manipulate me,” Callum said. “Actually, Claudia really understands how important it is to get Zym back to Xadia.”
Uh-oh, Ezran thought. Here’s where Rayla gets super defensive.
“Oh. That’s unexpected,” Rayla said. “But good.”
Ezran was relieved to hear Rayla back down.
“In fact, she understands it so well that she and Soren want to come with us,” Callum said to Rayla.
“That’s great!” Ezran said. “Maybe Claudia can help me get Zym in this sack with some magic.” The more people they added to their journey, the safer Ezran felt. Soren was amazingly strong and Claudia could do anything with magic. He didn’t understand why Rayla looked so unhappy with this turn of events.
“WHAT?” Rayla asked Callum. “That’s the worst possible plan.”
&
nbsp; “How is it bad?” Callum asked. “They’re offering to help.”
“Or … it’s a trap,” Rayla said, looking Callum in the eye. “I know you trust them,” she said to Callum. “But if we let them come with us, by the time we know the truth, it’ll be too late.”
Ezran froze. It seemed like Callum and Rayla were having a secret conversation even though he was in the room. “Why wouldn’t we trust Claudia and Soren?” he asked.
“Do you understand? We’ll lose everything,” Rayla said to Callum.
“So, what are we supposed to do? How can we figure out if it’s help or a trap?” Callum asked.
“I do have an idea,” Rayla said. “Will you follow my lead?”
“I did it!” Ezran yelled. He’d finally stuffed that stubborn dragon into the sack. The bag bulged and strained as Zym struggled inside it. But Callum and Rayla weren’t paying attention.
“I’ll follow your lead,” Callum said to Rayla.
Ezran wasn’t sure what was going on, but he decided that if Callum was following Rayla’s lead, he would follow Callum’s. Not that either one of them had given him any choice in the matter.
Just then Zym poked his head out of the flap and gave Ezran a big goofy dragon smile. “See! I told you it would be nice and cozy in there,” Ezran said.
Rayla thought Callum was delusional about Claudia, but she also knew she still had to earn his trust. Callum didn’t seem angry anymore that she had kept the king’s death a secret. Nonetheless, she was going to have to prove that she was a better friend than Claudia. Luckily, Rayla had an idea—she just needed a little bit of help making it happen.
“Knock knock,” Rayla said, rapping on the wall of the Moon Temple. She could see Lujanne sitting there, legs crossed, eyes closed. She looked like she was in some sort of trance. Meditation was the one subject in Rayla’s assassin training that she’d never been any good at. Runaan had always said meditation was about achieving focus, and that the goal was to achieve the unflinching momentum and singularity of purpose of the point of an arrow. Runaan’s joke about Rayla meditating was that she had achieved the singularity of purpose of a wet noodle.