Eepy_Meh

Ezran sat down. The elves didn't have chairs in the hollow Ram's father had led them to, above the Well of the Forgotten, but there were cloths draped conveniently over the floor, so it wasn't on bare wood.

"Ez?" Callum asked, worried, his brows furrowed so much they almost touched.

Ezran blinked. "I need a minute." He said honestly, trying to wrap his mind around what the Keeper had just explained.

Aaravos wasn't just an elven mage - Startouch elves were cosmic beings like the Great Ones that had made all things. Were they the same thing? Keeper Lyrennus hadn't said so, but what was the difference if they weren't? Dragons could fight the Startouch, he guessed. They were the only creatures in the world who could.

Except Zym's mom was sick, deathly ill, mages called from the far reaches of the kingdom to try and help her, and she'd responded to none of them. Like she was cursed somehow.

Aaravos had been the one to create dark magic, which was something that had taken even Runaan by surprise. Ezran glanced around nervously for other reactions; Runaan's husband was looking as concerned as Callum, frowning with concentration on something. Andromeda's looked oddly pale and was sitting down as well, with Andromeda leaning on his side with her eyes a little wide. The assassins and Keeper were all more composed.

"Maybe that's why Rayla found us," Callum thought out loud, and Ezran - along with most of the others - looked at him in confusion. He shrugged a little at their attention. "If - I mean if Ezran's the descendant of the human queen that helped stop him last time, maybe this was all supposed to happen."

The elves exchanged glances. Ezran's heart sank, and he cuddled Bait a little harder, casting his eyes back down to the floor of the hollow. Bait groaned softly, reassuringly.

Maybe Callum was right. It made some sort of awful sense.

But how was he supposed to stand up to an ancient cosmic being like Aaravos? All these people were running him away from the other humans in his home kingdom. He couldn't even handle regular mortals - so many people had been hurt or even died just protecting him. How could he protect everyone else?

"Rayla has always been . . . compassionate." Keeper Lyrennus said slowly, and Ezran peeked up at him without moving his head. The Keeper was looking pointedly at Runaan, who winced. "No future is set in stone. Time is a tapestry of threads, each choice a new stitch. There is no such thing as 'meant to be'. Your possession of the Key of Aaravos is more relevant than his possession of the Orphan Queen's blood."

Runaan straightened up with a slow sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It seems our current course of action is still limited. Azymondias must be returned to the Storm Spire. Even if the Dragon Queen is ill, for now she still lives, and we must act as such. She must be informed of the Key of Aaravos' presence in the human kingdoms. She may have answers for us about its purpose."

"Agreed." Keeper Lyrennus sighed, though his face was still a bit pinched. He had been vocally disapproving of the assassins' choices when they entered - he hadn't said anything explicit, but there was a chill in his blue eyes when he looked at Ezran that had him sticking close to Callum and Rayla.

He had warned Runaan that the rest of the Assassin's Guild would be told what he'd done. Runaan had taken it in stride, coldly replying that either he would deal with it himself or die before he could, but - it still weighed on Ezran.

The fact that he was alive might be ruining Runaan's life. The elf didn't seem to regret it, and he definitely appreciated still being alive, but it still felt bad to see someone suffer for it.

Lyrennus was still talking. "A small, fast group would be best suited to the mission outside the Forest. Take your mounts with you. Ethari, Elyrin, I will need you two here to help prepare our people for the worst."

Ethari, Runaan's husband, nodded grimly. "You know we can't fight, Keeper." He reminded, sounding tired. "Even if Zubeia doesn't fly to us, the flights she rules . . ."

"I know," Keeper Lyrennus said, shaking his head. Those piercing blue eyes suddenly looked as old and tired as Ram had said he was. "But we will need tools to rebuild elsewhere, if we're driven to run."

Elyrin shook his head, pulling his knees up toward his chest. "Where would we go?" He asked, voice cracking. "Xadia hasn't grown more friendly since the Massacres."

Ezran sat up at that, heart racing, seizing on something he could do. A way he could help. "Come to Katolis," He said immediately, and blinked when all the elves whipped around to look at him. "You'd have to stay hidden until I can get back and tell the kingdom, but - if I'm going to be king, I can do that, right? It was your home first. Go back there. The dragons won't chase you all the way over the border."

Keeper Lyrennus stared at him even as the others began to look at each other again. Rayla sat down beside him to give him a hug. "Thanks, Ezran." She said softly. "I mean - why not?"

Runaan was shaking his head. "If things should go that far south, I doubt any of us will be returning home." He said gently. "There will be no one to inform your kingdom of your wishes."

"We can hide from humans easier than dragons." Elyrin replied, his ears flattened in nerves. "At least for a little while, until we find space in Xadia again, it could be managed, at least for a few of us."

Ezran held Keeper Lyrennus' eyes until the old man finally looked away, blinking a brightness from them. "We will be splitting into small groups." He said grimly. "There is a higher chance of survival for our people if we are not all in one place. Some can try Katolis, if they wish. We will find each other when the violence has died down."

His voice was rougher, and Ezran realized he must be on the verge of tears from a simple offer of help. His heart sank further. Even if they succeeded . . .

If they succeeded, he could make the same offer. He set his mouth into a line, deciding right away that he would do it again. The Moonshadow elves would have mercy in Katolis even if Xadia didn't give it to them for their service.

Saying goodbye again so quickly ached in Runaan's soul, but he knew his duty. He had saddled Shinx and Astari. Rayla would take the shadowpaw. Ram and Andromeda brought their own shadowpaws, and Andromeda's brother Sirius had arranged for Callum and Ezran to use a pair of the scout cats that were not bonded to a rider. Lyrennus had suggested they take gryphons, but gryphons would not be able to cross the Midnight Desert alone either, so bringing mounts that required less personal space would be more advantageous.

They would need a guide and an ambler. With shadowpaws they could manage with only one. With gryphons and the space they required, they would be forced to seek two, and that was a delay they couldn't afford.

He held back with their mounts as Ethari and Rayla said their goodbyes. Neither of them had told Rayla about Ethari's confession. He hadn't had time to ask if it burned in his husband's mind as much as it was burning in his own. Was this something Ethari had known about himself? Or was he as surprised as Runaan?

At any rate, it didn't seem to dim his affection for the girl. He hugged Rayla as tightly as ever, sighing into her fluffy hair and lovingly tucking her braid behind her ear. "Be careful, moonberry."

They hadn't had time to tell him much else, either, of anything that had happened between them personally, and suddenly Runaan wanted nothing more than to tell him everything. Tell him he was right. Tell him Runaan was sorry, for pushing her so hard, for ignoring his warnings . . .

Rayla bit her lip as she looked up at him. "I'm . . . I wish I could tell you more," She confessed Runaan's thoughts for him. "There's so much ye should know."

Ethari smiled sadly down at her. "I know, little one. But you have your duty right now, and I have mine."

Her duty.

Rayla winced at the reference and Runaan's heart twisted in his chest.

He should never have pushed her so hard. He had thought - she had wanted to be an assassin, demanded to learn from him, and he'd given her a chance. He had thought he was encouraging her to follow her dreams. Only now did he understand how much of a mistake that had been. He should have pressured her into trying other things more. Giving another path a chance.

Maybe then she wouldn't be haunted so much by the one she had chosen.

The one he had chosen.

In the end, she didn't say anything more about it, just hugged Ethari again. "Thanks for lettin' me borrow Astari," She said roughly. "I'll try to send her home, even if things get . . . bad."

"Don't worry about that," Ethari ruffled her hair lovingly. "I'm sure she'll find her own way. Be careful." He pulled the necklace from his neck, draping it around Rayla's shoulders instead.

"A real moon opal," She said, looking down at it in surprise.

Ethari nodded. "Be strong, moonberry. I know you are." He took a deep, visible breath and let it out. "When I gave its match to Runaan, I said 'my love will be with you even when the moon is not.'" He met her gaze. "I love you."

Biting her lip even harder, her little fangs showing, Rayla replied, "I love you too, Papa."

Ethari blinked and his amber eyes immediately filled with tears, though he smiled broadly down at her. "Oh, Rayla." His voice cracked and he tugged her immediately back into a hug that made Runaan feel as though he were breaking free of a wave.

He knew how Ethari loved. It was an intense, personal thing, he valued his own over the lives of others; it was a trait he leaned on even as he didn't share it. Ethari's personal loves overrode whatever compassion he had, though he had plenty of it.

His decision to Ghost Rayla, if she had betrayed him - it wasn't at odds with that love. It was perfectly in response to it. If she harmed his other love, he would not be able to cope with that betrayal. Of course he would reject her - if she'd betrayed Runaan it would be as good as betraying Ethari himself.

He could have kicked himself for not realizing it sooner.

Ethari wasn't choosing him over Rayla. He was trying to say he would choose a victim over a traitor, should he believe that was the choice he was presented with.

Rayla ducked past him to get to Astari, elbowing him to get him to go say his own goodbyes. It was by silent agreement that she always went first. He rolled his eyes at her but went anyway, stepping into his husband's embrace one more time.

He had wanted to stay the night, at least for Andromeda's sake, but Lyrennus had made a point about their limited time. The sooner they set out the better, as they didn't know how long the Midnight Desert would delay them. They could sleep on the ambler.

Ethari sighed into his shoulder and when they drew back his brows were tight. "There is so much more I want to say." He murmured.

"I know." Runaan whispered back, hoping his face could speak the apologies he had no time to voice. He cupped his husband's cheeks and cradled his face into a kiss, as Ethari's hands settled on his waist. Ethari's mouth was warm, pressing into him with all the same urgency that Runaan felt, his breath shaking minutely at the goodbye so soon after their last one. "Be strong, my guiding moon."

Warm amber eyes closed as Ethari rested his forehead on Runaan's. "My heart always flies out with you, my darling."

"As mine beats with you." Runaan took a deep breath of his scent; warm metal, fire, sparks, the spark of magic and cool night air. "I will return."

"I know. If not in this cycle, then the next. I'll find you, my little mouse." Ethari's words were whispered, too soft for anyone else to hear, and Runaan blinked back startled tears. It was a name Ethari had used for him twenty long years ago, early on, teasing him for walking as soft as a mouse.

He nodded in response to the statement anyway. "I would find you in every phase. Be safe, my love."

Ethari didn't return his warning, both of them all too aware he couldn't afford to be safe. It wasn't his duty to be safe. He risked everything so that those he left behind would not have to, though sometimes . . .

Sometimes it still hurt to step away as he was doing now. One last kiss that held a promise of finding each other again, and then he turned his back and did not look again.

"Be reserved." his father was telling him, frowning down at Ram, though his brows were drawn with concern rather than anger. "When you reach the Storm Spire - you have my temper. Do not let it get the best of you."

Ram let out a puff of breath through his nose. Had he been that transparent with his growing resentment of his place in life?

He had chosen this duty, after all. It was hardly his father's fault, or even the dragons' fault, that he now felt stifled with it. Did he have any right to be bitter?

Of course he did. He had the right to be as angry as he liked. Emotions weren't something one could ignore. He just had to control his reaction to that anger. Which was the warning he was being given now.

His father narrowed his eyes sternly at him. "Ram."

"I know, Father." He relented, and let himself be pulled into a farewell hug. Something in his core had settled after, in a brief moment of respite, he had offered to braid his father's hair. It hung down his back in a simple braid to replace the tail he usually wore, subtle but something, the way Ram's mother had always done it for him.

His father had given him a new jacket to replace the one that had been worn by their journey to Katolis, one with runed stitching that held no power on their own, but he felt the affection in them all the same. He wore it now as they said goodbye.

"Be careful. Mind your tongue, and rely on your speed." His father continued as they parted. "Keep close eyes on that Key. I rely on you to know how important this is. Runaan is . . . an honorable warrior, but he is distracted. He will be protecting the lives you are escorting."

Ram understood, at this. "So allow him and Andromeda to worry about the princes and their efforts for a peace between kingdoms. Focus my energies on the Key and the salvation of our own people."

His father nodded. "Both missions are important. I cannot ask an assassin to abandon their duty but what you do now is not the duty you were assigned, it is a desperate bid for the survival of the world as we know it, and a chance at peace. You alone, I think, are of a mind to focus on survival over theoretical peace."

"I will." Ram promised, and squeezed his arms affecionately one more time. "I love you, Father." It made a lump rise in his throat, remembering how close he had been to never seeing him again.

His father's face softened, showing age lines that he hadn't even just a few short years ago. "I love you too, my son. I am proud of you, in spite of everything." He gestured vaguely towards the others, sighing at the situation they were placed in. "You have done well."

It meant more than Ram wanted to admit to hear him say it. He hadn't let himself think about what his father would say to their treason - for whatever their reason, refusing an order from the Dragon Queen still amounted to treason. It soothed a pit in his stomach to know the old Keeper didn't hate him for it.

"Go continue to uphold the path you've chosen to walk, and know that my love is with you." His father told him gently, and Ram nodded, stepping away.

"Goodbye, Father." He mounted Elros.

"Goodbye, Ram."

"I'm sorry." Andromeda said, wrapped tightly in Elyrin's arms, feeling the way he trembled in hers. "This is bigger than even we were made for, and it is more than I ever wanted you to face, my love."

Elyrin shook his head and drew back enough to look at her. "You had no control over this." He reminded her. "Don't apologize. I just wish - I wish you had." He smiled weakly at her. "I wish you had more control over your life, our life, sometimes, though I love the dedication that drives you to this duty."

Andromeda winced, reminded once again she had intended to retire. She had wanted that control back. She had wanted her life to be their life, in a way Elyrin could not face so long as she continued her dark work. "I do, too. After this one. Just this one more, Elyrin, I promise." It felt hollow to her own ears, as she had planned for the one before to be the last as well.

Elyrin smiled at her with such trust, though, and she knew he didn't doubt her for a second, though even that made her feel a little rotten.

Damn her heat. It always made her more sensitive.

"Be careful, Andromeda. I won't ask you to be safe, I know that's a promise you can't keep. But promise me you will be careful." Elyrin ran his fingers through her loose hair behind her braids, eyes tight and worried. "Keep yourself safe as well as these children."

She smiled in spite of everything; Elyrin had met the children but a handful of hours ago, and he worried for them anyway. They were children; that was all he needed to be concerned about their safety. "I promise." She agreed. "Promise me the same. Should worse come to the worst, promise me you will be careful. Get yourself out safely. Live, my love, even if I don't."

His face spasmed with hurt at the very idea, but he nodded anyway, hugging her tight again. "I promise."

Andromeda turned her head to kiss him softly, sweetly, ignoring where it made her blood rush to focus on the bittersweetness of his goodbye. She mounted her shadowpaw with his hand still in hers, and his fingers trailed over her palm as she turned away. She wore one of his charms on her horn chains, and she would treasure it with the memory of his touch until she could see him again.

A smile tugged at her lips despite herself when she looked at the others. Ram wore a new vest, likely a gift - she recognized the Keeper's stitching from other such gifts over the years. Rayla had a necklace she had seen on Ethari earlier, and Runaan was wearing a scarf that definitely wasn't his.

Seemed they were all giving in to a bit of sentimentality their work usually did not allow.

Rayla's pride was arrayed around them as they waited for the adults to finish their goodbyes. Rayla was already mounted up, but that didn't stop Hadan from tugging her into a hug from Astari's back. He patted her shoulders before letting her sit up again. "Do us proud, Rayla." He teased gently.

"You know she will," Vela pointed out, just reaching up to clasp Rayla's arm. "I'm sure you've heard all the 'be careful' you can stand from Ethari, but still - listen to him for once, would you?"

Rayla flushed at the tease anyway and nodded. "I'll try, Vela."

Sirius had only joined them after saying a brief farewell to his sister, most of which had been spent in a silent embrace that they seemed to understand though no one else did. "The same goes for you two," He added to the princes, to their visible surprise. "Be careful. The assassins will be doing all they can to protect you, but you can make their job easier."

"Where's Altari?" Rayla asked, his absence nagging at her mind.

Vela shook her head, looking at the boys for an explanation that had Sirius shrugging. Hadan grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're not going to like the answer," He hedged.

Rayla furrowed her brows at him, giving him a fierce glare when that didn't work. "Where is he, Hadan?"

Hadan sighed with a grimace. "I'm not sure exactly, but I know he wasn't gonna say goodbye. He's . . ." His green eyes drifted over to the princes briefly and he said only, "Upset. Give him time, Rayla. When you get back - we have ta believe you'll be back - he'll cool off."

Rayla let the glare fall, her heart sinking. Altari had been oddly quiet while she and the princes were at the Pride Den, and none of her pride had been permitted to come with them to the Hollow of the Well. She should have known something was wrong. He was probably frustrated and disappointed with her - she'd failed to make the choice she insisted she was ready for, one that Altari wouldn't have hesitated to make.

The reason he had chosen not to become an assassin - knowing he could end life so much more easily than she could, that he could become heartless with it. Of course he was disgusted that she had failed to do it when she had fought so hard to be given the chance.

Hadan must have seen something in her face, because he put a hand on her knee and signed to her, correctly guessing the princes didn't know shadow sign. "He's scared, Rayla. You know he withdraws when he's scared."

She did. She doubted Hadan was right, but she smiled at him gratefully anyway. The effort to reassure her was a balm to her battered heart.

Final farewells made, they set out from the Silvergrove at a faster pace than they had managed since before the last full moon. Runaan and Shinx held nothing back, and the rest of them followed as fast as their shadowpaws could carry them. She let the wind take her breath and with it her anxiety.

They had new supplies, answers, and support from home.