A False Reality ||The Dragon Prince||

Chapter 18

Callum was pretty sure the entrance to Rayla's cell was in the almost abandoned corner of the library. It had been only too obvious when Claudia had tensed and gotten flustered when they had passed it during his only dark magic lesson. Callum wanted to get there as soon as possible, but they couldn't run because it would draw too much attention. So they fell into a brisk walk and after what felt like an eternity they arrived at the library. Then Callum guided the trio to the abandoned corner.

"Okay, Ez, do your thing," Callum said stepping aside so Ezran could get by.

"What thing?" Ezran asked.

"Oh, you figured out the secret combination for the entrance of the other hidden room so I thought..."

"So you assumed that I could crack another top-secret combination in, like, ten seconds?"

"Yes?" Callum said not sure if he should agree or disagree.

"Well," Ezran said as he pressed an unassuming rock on the wall, "You were right."

The floor slid away to reveal a descending staircase. Callum's heart began to pound. He was so close to seeing Rayla again. Callum couldn't wait for a second longer, so he rushed down the stairs but stopped when Ezran didn't follow.

"Are you coming?"Callum asked.

"Well, I was thinking you don't need my help anymore," Ezran said, "And there's one more thing I need to do before we go back to the real world."

"Okay, just be safe and meet us at the entrance to Virens lair. We will need your help getting in," Callum finished, wondering what Ezran was up too, but before he could ask Ez had already started to leave. Callum continued down the stairs and at the bottom he found a long hallway leading to a locked door. How could he have been this stupid, of course, the door was locked. Where could the key be? That's when Callum noticed something hanging on a hook right by the entrance of the hallway. It was the key. It couldn't be this easy, could it? Claudia must have felt confident that no one would ever find the hidden room or even want to release the cell's prisoner for her to leave the key out in the open. But freeing the cell's prisoner was exactly what Callum wanted to do. Grinning, he grabbed the key and headed down the hall.

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Rayla had never been good at being patient. It drove her insane just sitting in her cell thinking about how things might have gone wrong. What if Callum and Ezran were caught? What if they couldn't find the scepter? What if she had been wrong, and the scepter wasn't the source of the spell? The worst part was she couldn't even scream, talk, or doing anything that involved vocals since Viren had stolen her voice. Rayla was also worried about Zym. He hadn't woken up or eaten since they had gotten here and she didn't know how to help. She couldn't even offer words of comfort and encouragement anymore. Rayla reached up and touched the scarf around her neck. Callum's scarf. Just thinking of Callum brought a smile to her lips. Callum--kind, selfless, adorable, brave Callum-- had taken her heart before she had permitted him to take it. She guessed that's why they called it a stolen heart. When Rayla first met Callum she had been prepared to be alone for the rest of her life. After all, no one wanted to be associated with the elf whose parents had run away. But Callum didn't judge her based on her parents and for the first time, she felt like she could be herself, weaknesses and all. Callum had been a pillar of strength to her as her life started to crumble around her. He was always there and he was smart and brave and kind and--and Rayla could go on forever, but her mind was too tired to do much more thinking. So she laid down, snuggled up in Callum's scarf, and closed her eyes. It didn't take to long for her to fall asleep.

The click of the lock awoke Rayla. She was instantly on her feet and positioned herself between Zym and the door. The door opened and... no... her eyes must be playing tricks on her, or maybe she was still asleep because there was no way that Callum was standing a mere foot or two away. But he was, and he was holding the fancy jar containing her voice.

"Rayla," Callum said as he came closer, "Hold out your wrists." She did and Callum unchained her, she rubbed her wrists as the chains fell to the ground. They stood there for one unsure moment. Then Callum closed the distance between them and wrapped her in a suffocating hug, which Rayla eagerly returned. Did this mean he had gotten his memories back? Tears sprung to her eyes, it was so good to be in Callum's arms again. Callum pulled away just enough to brush away her tears and then touching foreheads he said, "I remember Rayla. I remember everything." Callum looked into Rayla's eyes, she knew he was waiting for a reply. So she opened her mouth and tried to speak, but no noise came.

"Oh that's right," Callum said breaking the embrace and picking up the jar, "I think this belongs to you." He opened the jar and the glowing orb returned to its owner. Rayla gasped and started coughing.

"You okay?" Callum asked.

"Oh Callum," she said as she hugged him again. Callum had done it-- of course, he had, "But how?" Callum smiled then told her everything, including their new plan and the added help from Soren.

"So you remember everything?" Rayla asked.

Callum leaned in close before saying, "Yep I remember everything."

Then he kissed her, and Rayla gasped against the kiss. It was so gentle and loving. She earnestly returned the kiss. She knew then that everything was going to be okay. Callum remembered her and he had found the scepter and her voice. So she let go of all her worries and dissolved into the kiss.

When they pulled apart, Rayla reached up to her neck and pulled off Callum's scarf. She started putting it back around his neck.

"You can keep it if you want," Callum said.

"Thanks," Rayla said, "But you look handsome in it, so you should wear it." She watched as Callum blushed at her compliment. She smiled but she had a feeling she had forgotten something.

"Callum we forgot to unchain Zym!" Rayla gasped as she rushed over to the comatose dragon.

"Oh, right," Callum said fumbling with the key. They were both still a little flustered from the kiss. Callum bent down and removed Zym's chains. Callum must have noticed the worry on Rayla's face.

"He'll be okay Rayla, we all will," He said than trying to lighten the mood he held out his hand, "Shall we?" Rayla smiled at him then scooped Zym into her arm and put her other hand in Callums.

"We shall." She said and the three of them walked out of the prison cell.  

###Author's Note###

Yay! Callum and Rayla have finally be reunited! I loved writing this chapter, so thank you so much for reading. Let me know what you think!-HappyLlama160