A False Reality ||The Dragon Prince||

Chapter 9

Callum and Ezran sat on the stone floor and listened to the elf speak. Rayla was right when she said she had a lot to say. She told Callum and Ezran of how this reality wasn't real. It was all a result of an extremely powerful spell cast by Claudia. Callum had a hard time believing that, it just seemed so impossible. Rayla continued with her story, telling about how the three of them had found the egg of the dragon prince and embarked on a journey to bring the egg back to its mother. Rayla told them of their supposed adventures. From Rayla saving Bait from a giant fish to all of them climbing a cursed caldera. In his opinion, the elf was full of it but something told him to trust her, so he let her continue. Rayla told them story after story about their journey to Xadia. She said that they had accidentally almost killed the egg and so they had helped hatch the egg. That at least explained the presence of the baby dragon. She told how they had saved a red dragon from being killed and how Callum had mastered the sky arcanum. She even told of a great battle fought between Lord Viren's monster army and the elves. This battle was known as the Final Battle and it had been fought to protect the dragon prince and dragon queen. It was a lot to take in, and so Rayla asked if they had any questions. Callum had tons of questions, but he decided on one that had been nagging at him the entire story.

"Why did Claudia cast this spell?" Callum asked. He knew Claudia, and he didn't believe she would do a lot of the things Rayla said Claudia had done. 

"Well, her father died in the battle and Soren joined up with the elves," Rayla said while looking at the ground, "My guess is she wanted her family back."

"How did Lord Viren die?" Ezran asked as he petted Bait.

"Oh, well," Rayla refused to look either of them in the eye as she said, " I killed him."

"What?" Callum asked surprised. How had Rayla beaten Lord Viren if he truely had become as powerful as she claimed he had.

"Viren was going to kill Zym," Rayla looked up at them and cleared her throat before continuing, "I saw that my only chance to save Zym, and to save everyone, was to tackle Viren of the edge of the Storm Spire."

"But wouldn't that have killed you too?" Ezran asked looking concerned.

"Yes I would've died, and I fully expected to when I jumped. But," Rayla looked down and blushed, "But Callum saved me before I hit the ground." Callum froze trying to process what Rayla had just said. His dream where he was falling trying to save her suddenly made sense, and he started to blush too. Rayla hadn't said anything but he was starting to wonder if maybe there had been something between them.

"Okay well thanks for telling us this story," Callum said while standing, "It would make a great book."

"Do you believe me?" Rayla asked

"I'm not sure," Callum said, "I'll have to think it over." Rayla looked to Ezran.

"I believe you, Rayla," Ezran said, he pointed at Zym, "I can feel a special bond between us and so I know I can trust you too." Rayla smiled up at him then turned to face Callum again.

"Please, Callum, I know it sounds impossible but it's the truth, you have to believe me!" She cried out desperately, wanting for him to believe. Then her eyes lit up, "If you don't believe me then I'll show you that you can use real magic instead of dark magic. Just give me a paper and a pencil."

Callum considered her offer, it wouldn't hurt, but he and Ezran had been gone for along time.

"Okay," Callum said and watched as Rayla smiled up at them, "We will come back tomorrow."

"I'm not going anywhere so whenever's fine, I guess," Rayla said her voice filled with renewed hope. With that Callum let Ezran and Bait lead the way out of the room and back into the tunnels.

As they traveled back through the intertwining passages Callum turned his thoughts to Rayla and Zym. If he chose to believe her it would mean all those stories she told were true. It would mean King Harrow was dead and that thousands of soldiers had died. But it'd also mean that he had learned primal magic and that the elves and humans had reached peace. Callum was confused and didn't know what to think. Learning that reality was fake was quite a bombshell to drop. Could Callum trust Rayla? All his life he'd been told that elves were evil and cruel. Ezran had chosen to trust Rayla so maybe he should trust her as well. Callum sighed, he would try whatever magic test Rayla had for him. Then he would decide if he should trust her.    

###Author's Note###

I just wanted to say a quick thank you. So here it goes... Thank you for reading this fanfic! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Let me know what you think and have a great day! -HappyLlama160