by Aaron Ehasz
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.
Well, so much for a detailed explanation of how to use the cube, Callum thought. Still, he held the cube aloft and looked at it with new wonder. Even Bait seemed to look at the cube with new respect.
As he looked back to finish the letter, Callum noticed something a bit odd. There were ink spots on the passage he had just read about the cube. The Archmage ink spot. The Key of ink spot. Callum was sure he remembered reading the name … Aaravos? He must have smudged the letter somehow.
P.S.: One last extra-super-secret bonus secret. Did you know that Bait—our most sour friend—secretly loves belly rubs?
Callum looked at Bait, and Bait eyed him with suspicion. Ever so slowly, Callum moved his hand toward the rounded, yellow belly and gave Bait a tentative scritch. Bait’s eyes rolled back, and he flopped on his back happily like a puppy.
Callum rubbed his gold and teal belly.
“Aw, who’s a tubby lumpa grump?” he said playfully. “Come on, Bait. Let’s go find Ez.” He scooped up Bait and hustled upstairs, walking right past Rayla and the captain, who seemed deep in conversation.
“Stand up,” Callum said to Ezran.
“Huh?” Ezran said. He was just waking up from his nap, and he rubbed his eyes. Then he stood up.
Callum wrapped his arms around his little brother, hugging him tight.
“What’s that for?” Ezran asked.
“You’re my brother. And you mean everything to me,” Callum said.
“Is this a trick?” Ezran said.
“No.” Callum suppressed a laugh. Maybe he should say kind things to Ezran a little more often. “It’s not a trick, Ez. I just love you,” Callum said.
“Well, I love you too,” Ezran said. “So, are we there yet? Are we close?”
“We are close! I smell land,” Villads said, who had also woken. He took a couple of deep sniffs of the air.
Callum’s eyes followed the direction of the captain’s nose … and there it was. In the near distance, he could make out the shore and mountains.
Callum was about to break out in a cheer when a large shadow fell over the deck.
“Hey, what was that?” Rayla asked. “A shadow?”
“You’re asking the wrong pirate,” Villads said.
“There’s something up there,” Rayla said. “Look.”
Callum looked up at the sky just as the silhouette of a dragon passed above the clouds. He inhaled sharply: There were dragons in Katolis!
Callum couldn’t believe it was time to say goodbye to Captain Villads. He could barely believe they’d survived the trip with Captain Villads, come to think of it. But there they were, on the other side of the bay and all in one piece.
“Well, thank you for everything,” Callum said.
“Aye, well, I do what I can to help out the young folks,” Villads said.
“Where will you go now?” Ezran asked.
“Oh, probably turn back and spend a bit of time on shore myself. Would be nice to see me beautiful wife, Ruth. Sure has been a long time since I laid eyes on her.”
Callum and Rayla exchanged a look.
“He means metaphorically!” Berto squawked.
“Good luck to you, kids,” Villads said. “And Callum, one last piece of advice. Always remember the wisdom of the wind. You cannot see it or hold it. You’ve just got to feel it.” Captain Villads sucked in some sea air and then exhaled directly into Callum’s face.
Callum scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Ugh, why do people always feel the need to blow on me when they’re making a point?”
“Oh, don’t take everything so personally,” Rayla said. “Come on, we’ve got to find a place to stay before it gets dark out.”
“Lead the way,” Callum said.
“I think there might be caves up in those mountains behind you,” Rayla said.
“This way?” Callum asked. He pointed over his right shoulder.
“No, that way,” Rayla said.
As Callum turned to look, Rayla blew on the left side of his face.
A few hours later, Ezran, Rayla, Zym, and Bait were sleeping peacefully in the warm cave Rayla had found for them. But Callum was awake obsessing over the Key of Aaravos. What could he achieve with it?
Eventually, Callum left the cave to go play with the rune cube undisturbed. He rolled the cube like a die and attempted a few spells. For a while, nothing worked. Then the cube lit up! Callum jumped with excitement. Then he saw that Bait had snuck out of the cave; the cube was just detecting the glow toad’s Sun primal energy.
Callum sat back down. He whispered “Fulminis” and closed his eyes. Maybe if he thought hard enough, he could invoke magic and light up the cube on his own. But when he looked down, the cube was dark and Bait was frowning.
“Ugh. Nothing. What do you think this thing is anyway?” Callum asked Bait. “He said it was a key—but a key to what?”
Bait didn’t respond.
Callum rolled the cube a few more times, noticing that the marks it was leaving in the dirt were all pointing in the exact same direction. Was he accidentally creating the pattern by rolling the cube the same way, or did it mean something?
Callum’s thought was interrupted by a rustling sound, and he jolted to attention … but it was just Rayla. She emerged from the brush with her arms crossed.
“Are you practicing magic, or are you losing to Bait at a game of rollycubes?” she asked.
Callum decided to ignore the sarcasm. “Oh—sorry I woke you up. I was trying to practice magic.”
Rayla’s expression was dubious, and Callum felt like he had to convince her. “Actually, I think I’m getting close,” he said. “There’s so much swirling around in my head, but I need a way to bring it all together.” Callum didn’t care if he sounded foolish. He believed he would figure out primal magic.
“Like some kind of breakthrough?” Rayla asked.
“Yeah! But … it’s not happening,” Callum said.
Rayla sat down next to him. “Well, I’ve learned some wisdom recently,” she said. “Half the moon is dark, the other half is light, and … life is like a river! Put it all together and you have …” Rayla trailed off.
“Moon river?” Callum asked. Rayla was talking nonsense.
“Yeah, wisdom is stupid,” she agreed.
Callum noticed that the cube’s Moon rune glowed when it got near Rayla. He felt a pang of jealousy. “Hey, wait—what about you, Rayla? You were born with the Moon arcanum.”
“I … suppose so,” Rayla said.
“So … when you do cool Moon powers, you’re connecting to the moon, right?” Callum asked. “What does that feel like?” If he could just understand what magical creatures felt, maybe he would be able to perform real magic, without a primal stone or killing an innocent creature.
“Uh, I don’t really think about it,” Rayla said, shrugging. “I just stand in the light of the full moon, and then there’s a feeling like …” Rayla stopped talking and looked at the moon. Her eyes began to glow. “It’s like shwa-wa-wawa-wa.” Rayla swept her arms in undulating motions. “And then there’s a sort of … TING!” Rayla shot up into a standing position. “And then: bfshhwowww. Moonshadow powers!” She struck a triumphant pose, head thrown back, arms reaching toward the sky.
Callum stared at her. He was feeling less and less confident about ever doing magic again.
“Does that help?” Rayla asked.
“Not at all,” Callum said with a smile. “But I enjoyed it!”
Rayla sat back down and Callum tried to explain himself. “I have to be a mage again,” he said. “We saw a dragon in the clouds. Things will only get tougher once we get int
o Xadia.”
But Rayla just shrugged again.
“And crossing the border, that’s going to be crazy dangerous,” Callum said.
“Well … maybe not,” Rayla said.
Callum wondered what she was talking about. The only entrance to Xadia he knew of was the Breach. “There’s a river of lava! One does not simply walk into Xadia,” he said.
“Actually, one does simply walk into Xadia,” Rayla said. “There’s a secret path—the Moonstone Path. It’ll be safe and easy, even for you, magic or no magic. It would be tricky for a human to find, but luckily you’ve got a smart, capable elf to lead the way.”
Callum felt reassured but glum at the same time. “You are smart and capable. I just don’t want to be useless,” he said.
Rayla stood up. Callum sensed she was frustrated with him. “Stop doing that human thing where you worry about things that are all in your head,” she said. “Come get some rest.”
“You’re right.” He sighed. “Let’s go back to sleep.”
They walked back to the cave together with Bait lagging behind. Callum felt a cold breeze blow. He looked up just in time to see a dark shadow passing high above their heads.
Soren and Claudia had barely slept since they’d captured Corvus. They’d trudged along on horseback, their prisoner tied up and marching behind them. It took a few days, but they’d followed one of Claudia’s magic maps and eventually arrived at a border town. Several soldiers were patrolling the streets, although it was the wee hours of the morning. They barely noticed Soren, Claudia, and Corvus.
Soren, for one, was sick and tired of their prisoner, who kept trying to escape.
“Hey, Claudia, now that we’re at a town, we can ditch Corvus in jail or something and be done with him, right?” Among other things, Corvus was slowing them down.
“We’re so far off Callum and Ezran’s trail now,” she said. “Do you think we can catch up with them?”
Was Claudia ignoring him? Soren didn’t feel all that confident about catching up with the princes, but he’d learned in times like these to appear bold and overly confident.
“Of course, we can catch up,” he said. He rolled his eyes at her. “We promised Dad.”
“You know, I could help you track them,” Corvus said. He held his bound wrists up to Soren. “If you untied me, that is.”
“Oh no, no, no, no! If I untie you, you’re just going to try and escape. Again,” Soren said.
That incident had been one of Soren’s more embarrassing moments. Corvus was an expert tracker—was it so ridiculous of Soren to hope the guy could help with their mission? Claudia seemed to think so when she returned from the bathroom to find Corvus untied and running full speed through the forest. She’d performed another one of those snake-turning-into-chain spells to get him back, and she hadn’t been happy about it.
“No, not this time,” Corvus said. He opened his eyes very wide. “This time will be different. I promise.”
The guy had an honest aura about him, Soren had to say. He tilted his head and considered untying Corvus.
“What are you thinking?!” Claudia yelled from her horse.
Soren immediately reconsidered.
“Hey! You’re just trying to trick me.” Soren whipped around to glare at Corvus. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times … back to you again!”
“That’s not how it goes,” Corvus said.
Soren stared at Corvus and shook his head. “Shame. On. You.” Then he hurried over to a group of soldiers.
“Yoooo-hoooo, yoooo-hoooo. We’re looking for a town jail,” Soren said. He waved his hand in front of one soldier’s face. “We’ve got a horrible traitor to lock up for, uh, traitorous words and deeds. Standard traitor stuff.”
Why wasn’t the soldier paying attention to him? Soren flashed his crownguard insignia. “Uh, excuse me? Crownguard here.” He tapped the insignia, but the soldiers all kept their eyes on the sky.
Claudia frowned. “Something’s … weird,” she said.
“I know! No one’s listening to me,” Soren said, still pounding his insignia.
“What?” Claudia asked.
Even his sister didn’t have time for him. What good was being part of the Crownguard if no one took him seriously? Soren pouted.
“AHHHHHHHH!!”
Soren looked up. A soldier was screaming and pointing at the sky. “It’s back!”
Soren snapped to attention and turned his gaze to the sky. A huge shadow was passing above the clouds. He heard a low rumble, and then it appeared: A dragon—huge, magnificent, and powerful—broke through the clouds at full speed. It dipped low over the town, flapped its rust-colored wings, then rose again. It was circling the town.
“Is that—?” Claudia stammered.
“A dragon?!” Soren finished for her. For once it was his sister asking the stupid questions. “You’d better believe it.”
Claudia didn’t say anything. Even Corvus wasn’t smirking anymore.
Soren tapped one of the soldiers on the back. “What’s going on here, soldier?” he asked.
“It’s the third night it’s flown over us,” the soldier said. Soren could tell he was a high-ranking soldier from his uniform, but the man’s face and lips trembled as he spoke. What was wrong with these townspeople? They would just watch as a dragon intimidated them? They didn’t ask for help or take action? Soren could barely believe the cowardice. He could show these people, and Corvus and Claudia, what he was made of.
“What? And you haven’t shot it down yet? What are those ballistas for?” Soren asked the soldier. Three ballistas stood ready on the town-wall ramparts.
“Well, it hasn’t attacked us,” another soldier responded.
“So? We’re in a war against Xadia!” Soren shouted. “That dragon is the enemy. I’m taking command here. Crownguard, I might have mentioned.” This was his chance to prove himself. If Soren could knock out the dragon and save the town, everyone would start listening to him.
The high-ranking soldier nodded. “Follow the Crownguard!” he shouted at his troops.
Soren ran to the wall and scrambled up to the top of the tower. He would act fast and decisively. This dragon wasn’t scared—it wasn’t expecting a battle. Soren would catch it completely off guard.
A bunch of soldiers followed him. Claudia and Corvus were not far behind.
“Hold on, Soren!” Corvus yelled after him. “Please think this through. The dragon isn’t attacking. It’s just trying to intimidate us.”
“Well, then, I’ll just have to show it that humans won’t be intimidated,” Soren said. As if he would consider advice from a prisoner.
Soren leaped onto the ballista, turning it hard and taking aim at the dragon as it circled high above.
“Soren—please. Don’t start a fight you can’t finish,” Corvus said. He was almost begging.
For a moment, Soren hesitated. He gazed up at the dragon. Even from such a great distance, Soren thought the dragon had spotted him. It seemed to hold his gaze. It swooped low over Soren’s head and snarled.
Soren wound the chains around the ballista as tight as he could. He felt fierce and unbeatable. He fired.
Soren’s aim was spot on. The bolt streaked across the sky … but at the last second, the dragon dodged the bolt and swept back up into the clouds. The bolt fell back to the earth, taking out a portion of the town wall.
Everyone on the ground fell into a tense silence, waiting to see if the dragon would return. But Soren was sure that it had left for good. “Heh. See?” Soren said. “Scared it off. Dragon problem solv—”
But a furious roar from a reinvigorated dragon above interrupted his bragging.
The dragon swooped down for a second pass, but Soren was ready. He orchestrated the release of three ballista bolts. The soldiers aimed well, and the bolts arced toward the dragon.
Despite its size, the dragon was nimble and managed to dodge all three bolts. In response, it opened
its jaws and sprayed a wave of fire toward the ramparts. Soren and Claudia and the soldiers dove for cover.
When Soren opened his eyes, he saw that the dragon had incinerated two of their ballistas. Soren backed away from the last ballista.
The first lights of dawn were scattered around the burning town. Villagers ran in every direction, some so scared they ran toward the fire. Screams pierced Soren’s ears from every angle.
He had only been trying to help, but Soren knew he was in over his head. He turned and looked at Corvus, who was on his knees with his wrists bound together. Soren drew his sword and lifted it above his head.
“Soren! What are you doing?” Claudia asked, trying to get between Soren and Corvus.
SLASH! Soren brought down his blade, slicing through the ropes around Corvus’s wrists.
“I don’t understand,” Corvus said. He rubbed his wrists.
“These people need help,” Soren said. “Get as many as you can to safety.”
Corvus nodded slightly at Soren, searching his eyes.
Soren nodded back. He wanted to say something, to wish Corvus luck, but no words came.
“Don’t get yourself killed,” Corvus said. Then he rushed into the chaos to help.
“I think I really messed up this time, Clauds,” Soren said. “I don’t know how to stop it.”
“Don’t say that yet,” Claudia said. “I have an idea.”
She dug around in her bag and yanked out a tiny velvet box. When she flipped open the top, Soren peeked inside. He immediately wished he hadn’t looked. The things his sister carried around with her.
“What is that, Claudia?” he asked.
“It’s the eye of a griffin,” she said. Claudia didn’t seem grossed out at all. “With this, I can enchant a ballista bolt to never miss its target—no matter what!”
“So, you just carry a griffin eyeball around with you? Who does that?” Soren asked.
“How about, ‘Thank you for carrying a griffin’s eye with you, Claudia’?” she said. “How about, ‘You’re so prepared, you’re the best’?”
Soren stared at her. He managed to muster a reluctant “Thank you, Claudia.”
But that was enough for his sister, who smiled and rushed off to the last ballista. She slipped the griffin eye out of the box and gently closed her hand around it. When she opened her hand, it was bursting with searing magical purple energy. Her eyes glowed the same color.