The Dragon Prince: After the War

8-Callum

8

Callum

Rayla and I peek out of her room and immediately retreat back in. There are guards patrolling the hallways. Somehow, I must have gotten lucky when I ran to her room, catching them in between shifts. No such luck now. And, though I could probably convince the guards to let us through, I do not want them to know we were out. Gossip spreads faster than wildfire.

"Callum," Rayla whispers loudly to me once her door is closed. 

"What?" I whisper back.

"I have an idea," she answers. I groan. Ideas of hers usually end with me moaning in pain from having to do physical exercise. She grins at me mischievously. 

"Oh no," I answer as she dashes to her closet and displays all of her emergency equipment. She has stashed a shield (Soren was confused by its disappearance), a bow and arrow (I don't even know if she knows how to use one), a hook (don't ask), and a bundle of rope. A doomsday prepper if I ever saw one.  She takes out the rope and runs to her window. I follow her, looking down at the courtyard. I see guards with weapons marching back and forth. 

"This is the tricky part," Rayla says, grinning at me. "We can't be noticed. As soon as you get down to the courtyard, hide behind a tree."

I groan again. "Are you sure there isn't an easier way to do this?"

She smiles again. "Probably. But I doubt any of them are as fun as this."

"Fun," I say, my voice heavy with sarcasm, but she's already gone, back to the closet.

"As much as I enjoy the sight of you in your pajamas, you will stand out like a human in Xadia. Put these on," she says, tossing me some black pants and a black shirt. Surprisingly, they're my size.

"How-"

"Never mind that. I'll change in the bathroom. Tell me when you're done," she says as she pulls out another pair of black clothes and rushes through another door.

Finally, we stand by the window looking like two very strange ninjas. Rayla has the rope in her hand, along with her blades which I've never seen her without. She ties the rope to the ledge and looks down, making sure the guards are patrolling the other side of the courtyard.

"Ready?" she asks.

"Um?" I answer.

"Good. I'll go first, and you join me. Only come when I give you my signal." Before I can answer, she is plummeting down the rope with surprising stealth, considering she's, well, plummeting down a rope. She lands softly on her feet and quickly rushes towards an evergreen. She's almost invisible with her black garb and, if I didn't know she was there, I would probably think I was looking at darkness.

Too soon, she gives me her signal. I sigh, not at all ready for what I'm about to do. "If I die, I will kill her," I mutter to myself as a shimmy down the rope. I reach the bottom with a thud. I can swear Rayla's rolling her eyes at me. She glances at the guards who look too tired to notice us and darts towards the rope. Using some strange warrior trick, she loosens the rope and it comes falling down. She catches it soundlessly. I have no idea how she does that.

"C'mon!" she whispers urgently. We dart back to the trees and hide in the bushes as the guards come back around. As soon as they're out of sight, we crawl on all fours to the building which contains the library. 

Once we reach the library, it's my turn. I grab a particularly heavy rock and thrust it away from us. It lands with a bang. Immediately, the guards rush towards the sound, giving Rayla time to pick the lock on the library door and for both of us to arrive to the safety of the bookshelves. 

"Did ya bring the candle?" Rayla hisses to me.

"Yes," I say, pulling out the wax tube from one of the many pockets in these black clothes. She pulls out some matches and lights the candle. I blink as the light hits my eyes.

"Do you happen to know where books would be about an evil archmage?" she asks me innocently.

I roll my eyes at her. "Let's start at the 'A' section."

After maybe an hour of searching, we find a book about elven sorcerers, another about dark magic's origins, and another about elven fairytales. I start to open one when Rayla grabs my hand and points to the large stained-glass windows. 

"It's almost sunrise! We need to get back to our rooms before the librarian comes and notices we're here. We can bring the books."

I gingerly close the book. "How're we going to get back, and with the books?" I ask, hoping she doesn't say what I think she's about to say.

Of course, she gives exactly the answer I'm expecting. "Same way we got in."

That's how I end up climbing a rope with a book under my arm. "I'm so going to get her back," I collapse in her room, panting from the ordeal. 

She gives me a wicked smile as she hoists herself into the room. "Don't count on it."

I roll my eyes again and open one of the books, finding a passage about Aaravos. Then, the strangest thing happens. All the writing blurs together till the page becomes one giant pool of ink.

"What?" she asks.

I open other books. The text relating to Aaravos blurs in pools of ink as soon as I open them.

"They must have some kind of a... spell on them," Rayla says nervously.

I don't answer. I just stare at the pools of ink, our only lead gone.