The Prophecy of Five

I: 26 :I

Callum

It was nice being home. Spending time with Ezran, Claudia, Ellis, even Soren. It was relaxing. Callum still missed Rayla, but he knew he'd see her again sometime. The whole day had consisted of him showing off his magical abilities and trying out some new spells he'd learned while in Xadia. Callum had nearly mastered the wind spells he knew but the sun spells were still a little difficult. Plus, they were way more dangerous if aimed poorly. 

A few hours (and several scorched target dummies) later, the group was starting to get a bit hungry. They walked to the kitchen while talking about Xadia and what Callum had missed out on back at home. Claudia was still trailing behind them a bit, but he chalked it up to being tired. She was normally full of energy, especially when it came to magic, but she just seemed out of it. She excused herself to her room as the group made it to the kitchen.

Several tens of jelly tarts later, everyone disbanded back to their rooms. Ezran and Ellis went to find her another room to sleep in now that Callum was back. He had made it to his room and was getting ready for bed when he heard the sound of armor clanging outside his door. This usually didn't mean much to Callum, there were soldiers all over the place, but he also heard Soren's voice as he cursed at himself. He peered outside his door and saw that the crown guard had dropped his sword on his toes.

Oof! That's gotta hurt.

He continued to watch as his friend picked up the rest of his gear and made his way down the hall as sneakily as he could. Which wasn't a very easy thing to do while in full plate metal armor. 

Something about how Soren was acting didn't seem right to Callum. He packed up this bag and quickly followed after him, making sure he stayed as quiet as he could. He followed Soren to the stables where Claudia's horse had mysteriously disappeared. The crown guard left on horseback, leaving Callum alone in the stables. Out of all of the 'princely duties' he had learned, horseback riding was probably the one Callum was best at. Taking a rather speedy looking horse, he mounted up and followed after Soren.

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He rode for what seemed like hours. The saddle was extremely uncomfortable and the horse had to stay at a trot to stay behind Soren without also alerting him. The woods were calm and quiet, only the faint rustle of the leaves breaking through the night. After a few minutes of riding in near complete darkness, Callum came across Soren's horse tied to a fallen tree. He secured his own ride before walking off into the darkness.

More walking. Yay.

He had no idea where to go. Callum wasn't much of a tracker and didn't know any spells that could help him either. He wandered for a few minutes before hearing the sound of snapping twigs and rustling leaves behind him. He turned around and followed the noise. Eventually he came to a clearing with a temple in the middle. It seemed to radiate magical energy, but something was off about it. 

Peering towards the temple, Callum could see a few wispy figures standing around the entrance holding ornate weapons. They reminded him a Rayla's swords, appearing to be elven in origin. He continued watching as Soren appeared from near the temple entrance, drawing his sword. The figures attacked him but were quickly cut down, leaving only puddles of darkness and their weapons in his wake. Soren sheathed his now glowing blade before heading inside. Callum decided that it would be best to follow him, seeing as he didn't want to stick around in case any more of those shadows appeared. 

The temple was huge, covered in vines and moss. The interior was no different. Massive columns supported the broken ceiling revealing the stars. The moon was nowhere to be seen, what little light there was was blocked out by some clouds. Soren had made his way to a doorway at the far end of the room, ignoring all of the strange items that littered the tables. Callum didn't recognize a lot of the stuff either, but it felt dark. An odd noise pulled his attention away from the tables and towards the door. He hid behind one of the columns near the temple entrance as a cloaked figure made their way up and out of the back door. Soren reached out and grabbed them by their hand, pulling them to the side.