May the Stars Align -- Viravos & Rayllum

chapter 6

Crickets chirped and the air smelled of mildew and grass. Callum stood under a tree and watched its shadow dance as the wind tousled its leaves. 

"Put yourself in the headspace of a rogue, stalking an animal in the dead of night. Chase after your target, let the moon illuminate its body, but let its shadows eclipse your own," Lujanne instructed. 

Words filtered through Callum's mind. Enigma. Illusion. Conceal. Stalk. Hide.  

He closed his eyes and let the cold air mold around him. He needed to be one with the shadow. 

"You can't have a shadow without light, Callum. Just as you can't hide the truth from someone if you yourself don't understand what the truth is. There is no illusion if you don't know the reality." 

What was real? What was fake? Callum didn't know. 

He looked to Rayla. The worry creasing her forehead. The pain in her eyes. The fear in her gaze. Was it real? Or was this a facade. Rayla stood in the moonlight, her face glistening a soft silver. She looked beautiful. 

"To be in touch with the Moonshadow arcanum, Callum, you have to be okay with lying. You must be capable of dishonesty without it disrupting your conscience. That is what we do. Assess yourself." 

Callum hated liars. Once trust is broken, it is so difficult to put it back together again. But he needed to lie. The world depended on it. 

Callum stared at the tree and its long stalks groping, clawing at the sky. This was reality. The nature, the world he sat in, the air he breathed. This exists, it's tangible, it's real. 

People are fake. They create things, they say things, they do things that pull from the imaginary. They're synthetic. They are crafted. They are untrustworthy. Callum felt a hot tear drip down his cheek. Broken promises. His mother telling him that she'd read him a story each night before he slept. King Harrow telling him that he'd always be there for him and Ezran. Rayla's tender kiss. Callum put a hand to his mouth and stifled a gutteral cry. Rayla jolted with worry. Instantly, Callum was no longer in the forest. He was in his room, tucked into the bed, his head enveloped in a pillow. Tear-stained cotton sheets. 

Lujanne opened the door. 

"Well done, Callum." The illusion disintegrated into the night sky and Callum was lying, sprawled across the grass. Rayla sat beside him waiting for him to stir awake. He didn't. 

Viren woke to pages.  He sat up to find his feet rustle against them. Across from the pile, Aaravos sat with a smile. 

"Do you not sleep?" 

No need to. 

This was a lie. Startouch elves did indeed need to sleep. The truth was that Aaravos was a really bored guy. For decades in his prison, he passed time by sleeping. It was like a hibernation induced by boredom. It was only recently that he had found something of interest to stay up for. 

Viren began to unfurl the pages before him. 

You talk in your sleep, you know. Mumbles of people's names. I'm proud to say that mine appeared twice. 

This is weird but I wonder what you smell like. I haven't smelt anything in centuries, y'know? Stuck here. All I smell is fire and old books and, well, me. (Startouch elves just smell like stars which I guess no one would know. Stars smell like burnt toast)

What does a jelly tart taste like? 

What does a jelly tart smell like? 

Have you ever been heartbroken? 

Viren stared blankly at Aaravos, analyzing his expression. It looked contemplative, curious...shy. He sniffed. 

"Well. I smell like cow shit and fungi right now because I haven't been able to shower in weeks, so you're lucky you can't smell me."

I want to. 

Viren narrowed his gaze. 

You didn't answer my question. 

"Which one?"

Have you ever been heartbroken? 

"....yes, well. It's a very human experience." 

Explain. 

"Sometimes you fall in love. Any kind of love. Friendship, romance, family. Sometimes the one you love is someone you can't be with anymore." 

Oh. 

"It hurts. My wife, Claudia and Soren's mother...she died when Claudia was born. It hurt knowing I could never see her again." 

Do you still miss her? 

"Sometimes. Sometimes I wonder if I would've done what I did, gone down this path, if she was still here." Aaravos wanted to apologize. He wanted to say sorry for manipulating Viren's overwhelming need to protect his family and pushing him to commit atrocities. He wanted to say sorry for his loss and his pain. But he couldn't. "Oh and, erm, jelly tarts smell like sugar and butter, as you'd expect. They taste like sugar and butter too until the warm jelly inside explodes in your mouth and you get a taste of fruit in there." 

If I ever get out, I'd like to try some. 

"I know just the chef," Viren said with a soft smile.