The Dragon Prince blog

She grimaced in pain, suppressing a moan. She glanced around the crater, rubbing her head and trying to figure out how exactly she had got into this situation and how to get out of it.

The answer was not one she could ever have anticipated, nor was it a welcome one at the time.

A bright light streaked through the sky and her eyes widened as it came closer, releasing a few seconds before the fact that it was going to hit her.

The realisation did nothing to cushion the impact as a very solid body slammed into her, the momentum of its trajectory knocking her and it across the large crater and smashing them into the ground.

Callum squeaked a little in surprise and pushed himself up, looking down at the woman he had crashed into. She was beautiful, dark horns and slender, pointed ears poking out from long silvery hair, shocking violet eyes and four-fingered hands. An elf, like his father had told him about before he left.

“Oh- oh, Mother, I’m so sorry–” he said, leaning back, though he was still on top of her legs. “Are you all right?”

“No, I’m not alright, and I’m not your mother!” She snapped, scowling at him. “Now could you please get off me?”

“You’re… not my mother?” Callum asked, tilting his head to the side and squinting at her.

“Do I look like your mother?” She snapped, gesturing at herself. “Do you particularly feel like a halfling? How old do you think I am?”

“Ah– right, sorry,” Callum said, getting off her properly and awkwardly offering her a hand up, which she ignored. “Do you need help?”

“You can help by leaving me alone,” she hissed, glaring at him. 

Callum bit his lip, feeling rather guilty about leaving her when he’d crashed into her at what must have been considerable speed. That was quickly forgotten, however, when he started to properly look around. He and the woman were inside a large crater, the faint smell of smoke and burned trees wafting from the rim. There was nothing surrounding them except for stone and debris.

Callum frowned, playing the instructions back over in his mind. “Light the candle and think of me… but I was, I was thinking about my mother…” his eyes widened in shock. “But I think Claudia and the star popped in…”

He whipped around, his eyes tracking over the crater. The woman watched him with a mixture of amusement and exasperation on her face, slowly pulling herself into a seated position.

“I’m terribly sorry, but have you perhaps seen a star anywhere?” Callum asked, turning back to her. 

“I have, actually,” the woman said, rolling her eyes. She pointed at the middle of the crater. “That over there is where she landed, after this–” her hand went to a stone inset in a chain sung around her neck. “Knocked her out of the sky while she was just minding her own business, and if you want to be really specific, right here–” she patted the ground she was sitting on. “Is where she landed after an idiot crashed into her.”

Callum blinked, squinting at her. “So… you’re the star?”

She shrugged, looking around. “I don’t see any of my sisters around here. What were you expecting, a hunk of rock?”

“Well, yes,” Callum said, plonking down on the ground and staring at her. “No offense.” Looking at her more closely he now noticed the slight otherworldly sheen to her skin, the way her silvery dress seemed to catch the starlight and glow on its own. What he had at first assumed were freckles he now realised were speckles of light on her cheeks, glittering. 

She snorted, rolling her eyes again. “Whatever.”

Callum sighed, rubbing his face. This was a mess… he couldn’t exactly go back empty handed, not after he’d made a promise. He glanced down at the candle he still held in his fist. He hadn’t even been able to see his mother. 

Behind him, the star groaned as she tried to shift her weight onto her left foot, and Callum ran to her side, supporting her.

“Get off,” she snapped, glaring at him.

Calllum sighed. “I will, but you clearly can’t walk on your own. I’ll help you to an inn, and then–”

“And you expect me to believe you’re not trying to get anything out of it?” The star snapped, wrenching her arm away from him and almost immediately falling over, her face contorted in a pained grimace. “I saw that look on your face earlier, you’re just trying to make me trust you so you can use me!”

Callum squinted at her, utterly lost. “Uh… no? I’m not doing anything like that–”

“Ugh, don’t bother,” the star said, slowly limping away from him. 

“If it helps, I was thinking about a promise I’d made to one of my… my friends,” Callum said. “She’s in a difficult spot, and I thought maybe if I proved myself to her father I could, you know… help her out of it.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” the star snapped, exasperated. 

“Well, it is you,” Callum said, gesturing at her. “I didn’t know you’d be, like… alive.” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “I guess I’ll have to think of something else now…”

“Oh?” The star said, crossing her arms across her chest. “So are you going to tie me up and drag me back to this woman you’re so desperate to woo?”

“No, nothing like that–” Callum said, shaking his head firmly. 

“I can see that enchanted chain poking out of your pocket,” the star said, casting a glance at his jacket. 

Callum started, glancing down and flushing. “I forgot I had that.”

The star snorted, genuine amusement in her eyes. “You may be the worst kidnapper I’ve ever seen.”

“Seen a lot, have you?” Callum said, unable to keep the smile off his face. 

“Maybe I have,” the star said, shifting her weight, a scowl crossing her face. “Ugh…”

Callum stepped forward, slipping an arm around her shoulders and taking some of her weight, slipping the candle into his pocket as he did so. “Come on. Looks like we’re both at a loss, may as well help each other out a bit.”