༄ؘ 𝑨𝑹𝑪𝑨𝑵𝑬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦

༄ؘ ✧ 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬

"Magic isn't murder!"

"Yes, Claudia! The kind of magic that you and your father use is murder. He's just blinded you into thinking that it's the right way to do things, and it's not."

Marin felt her anger grow. She stepped up next to the elf and much like she had for her brothers before, she placed her hand out in front of the elf to protect her. But this time, it was protection from someone she thought was her friend. Who she'd known her whole life. And Marin exploded. "Back away, Claudia! I won't let you have the egg, and I won't let you hurt the elf either. You know me well enough to know that I won't back down from what I believe in. And right now, you look like a threat to my family and to every innocent Xadian creature."

Claudia's eyes flashed with hurt before she glanced at the elf and drew a rune made of pure lightning. "Don't make me do this, Marin. Just bring that thing here."

"It's not a thing!" the elf shouted, brandishing her swords in front of her. "It has a mother, and it needs to go back to her!"

"You're right," Ezran said. "It wants its mother."

"Ezran, be careful," Claudia said, the energy from her rune crackling around her.

Ezran glanced at the elf, who smiled warmly at him and at Marin instead of the cold glare she sported for Claudia, and he said, "Follow me," to the elf.

He ran opposite the way that they came in and through a door at the other end of the cellar, the elf following close behind. Claudia glared in annoyance, readying her rune with lightning in her palm. "Don't worry, I won't hit Ez."

"You're mistaken if you think I'll let you lay a hand on either of them," Marin sneered.

Callum looked back and forth between his sister and Claudia, who were locked in a serious staredown. He'd never seen the two fight before, not even bicker with one another. Now here they were facing each other and his sister more rageful than he'd ever seen.

Just as Claudia was about to say the words to release the lightning in her palm, Callum grabbed onto her arm and locked it in a chain that hung from the ceiling, making her drop the Primal Stone she carried. "Fulminis━Ah! Callum, what are you doing?!"

"The right thing! I hope," he said, turning away from her and picking up the Primal Stone, grabbing onto Marin's hand with his free one and running after Ezran and the elf. "I'm sorry, Claudia!"

"Callum!" she screamed.

"Run!" Marin told her brother, hearing from behind them as Claudia started chanting the words for a spell. She knew that whatever Claudia was doing, it wasn't going to be good for them.

And she was right. As Marin looked back for just a mere second, she saw two wolves made of pure smoke and shadow. Ravenous and gnashing teeth, chasing them just on their heels. Marin and Callum ran faster, breathing heavily as the wolves' howls echoes throughout the tunnels. They finally caught up to Ezran and the elf, and Callum said, "There's something after us!"

The elf, hearing the words, unsheathed her swords again and glared in the direction that the threat was coming from. "Keep running," she told the three of them.

The siblings listened and raced on, but as Marin and Callum started to go one way, Ezran shouted, "Wait, not that way!"

"Why not?!" the two chorused, right before both of them ran face-first into a stone wall. Callum dropped to the ground and rubbed his head, Marin only wobbling dizzily and stumbling a bit.

"Because it's a dead end!" Ezran caught up with them, holding the egg carefully in his hands.

The elf caught up to them. "I can't stop them, they're just smoke. My swords pass right through."