A False Reality ||The Dragon Prince||

Chapter 24

Claudia awoke with a start and looked around. She was back in the cold cave with her father's corpse. Claudia realized then that she had failed. Callum had broken the spell once she had been knocked out. She let out a furious scream and started throwing and hitting anything in sight. Claudia had failed, and now she was back to where she had started. Alone with nothing but the broken corpse of her father. Claudia's screams turned into wails of anguish and she sank to her knees. She clutched her hair in her hands and started rocking back of forth still wailing at the top of her lungs. How could this happen? She had been so close, but then Rayla had messed everything. All of Claudia's problems could be traced back to that elf. And apparently, Callum was in love with the elf, but not for very much longer. Claudia suspected that Rayla had already departed this life or was very close to departing it. Claudia took another look at her dead father and broke down into sobs. She had one question. What should she do now?

"Don't cry child," A mystical voice said, "All hope isn't gone yet."

"Go away," Claudia yelled at the giant bug, "I already failed."

"Not necessarily," The creature said as it crawled towards her, "Didn't your father give you a backup plan?"

Claudia gasped, the bug was right. She reached her hand into her pocket and felt a piece of paper. She pulled it out and looked down at the spell and gulped.

"I don't know if I can do this," Claudia said

"But you must do it! You wouldn't want to fail your father again."

Claudia shot him a glare and stood up, rubbing her puffing eyes. She grabbed her bag and the scepter, "How long were we in the illusion?"

"Though it was about a week in the illusion in the real world it was only a day."

"Good," Claudia said as she headed for the cave's entrance, "because it means that there will still be some elves roaming the battlefield. No one will notice one more dead elf."

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Everything from after Rayla was taken away was a blur. All Callum knew was that he had tried to enter the room she was in but they wouldn't allow him in. He had crossed the hall and slid down the wall. He willed his tears, not to come, but they had come anyways. Callum tried to stay awake but his mind and body were too exhausted, and he had fallen into a troublesome sleep.

Callum woke up when Amaya gave him a hearty shake. She smiled down at him and nodded. Callum stood up and entered the room. Inside was Rayla, lying unconscious on a bed, and a Sunfire elf doctor. Callum ran over to Rayla and clasped her hand in his, it was stone cold. Callum gasped fearing the worst.

"She isn't dead is she?" Callum asked afraid of what the answer might be.

"No, she isn't dead, but things aren't looking good. I don't know what she was stabbed with," The doctor elf said, "But whatever it was had some kind of magic that is making it impossible for us to heal the wound properly."

"Well, can't we do anything?"

"I can't do anymore. I've tried everything. Whatever stabbed Rayla seems to be draining her of her magic and for elves, that is just as deadly as poison. I think only someone with knowledge of the moon arcanum can help her now. "

"How much time do you think she has?" Callum asked.

"At best, maybe three days."

This wasn't good, there was no way that Callum could learn a whole new arcanum in three days or less. But if that's what it would take to save Rayla, then he had to try. He would do anything just to talk or laugh with her again. Callum just needed someone willing to teach the moon arcanum to a human. That's when an idea hit Callum. He knew someone that was connected to the moon arcanum and cared for Rayla. So Callum pulled out his sketchbook and started writing.

"What are you doing?" The doctor asked.

"I'm saving Rayla," Callum said as he started writing a letter.