Chapter 3

How's that human expression go?

When it rains, it pours.

Ever since she first stepped into the Human kingdom, Rayla had experienced complication after complication. Failing to kill that sentry, failing to kill Prince Ezran, failing to convince Runaan to stop the assassination on the king, and now, she was failing to keep her cover from being exposed. This time however, it was a fellow Moonshadow elf who was risking revealing her inhuman identity to this town's less-than-accepting populace.

Vivid memories of that man wielding a blade from the sunfire elves came flooding back. Those dreadful reminders of her culture's monstrous reputation made her lips frown with sour disgust. That was exactly how he looked at her: sour disgust. All she needed was his help to cut the binding off, and instead, he acted like she was going to rob or murder him in cold blood. She returned to the shadows between the stores; using its secluded corners and shadows to conceal her as she donned her cloak once more.

"Really wish I had time to go back and change out of this-this clown suit," she grumbled to no one in particular. If it was Runaan who sent this letter, she knew she'd be skewered on the spot for wearing 'filthy' human clothing.

Still…

The thought of meeting a grizzly end at the cold steel of Runaan's vengeful blades almost seemed worth it to see that ridiculous, goofball look on Callum's face at the restaurant. It was oddly comforting, though, she didn't know why. Her cheeks redden like freshly cut strawberries thinking of his bumbling awkwardness when he saw her legs exposed from the torn skirt.

Ezran mentioned that Callum used to stare at Claudia and fumble around her too, just like he did with me. I guess I just can't fathom what he ever saw in her. I mean she's not THAT pretty! Plus she's got all those creepy dark robes like her da, uses dark magic…ugh….WHY am I thinkin' so much bout her?!

"This is not jealousy, not jealousy," she repeated it like it was her new mantra. She found it harder and harder to focus on preparing for this impromptu meeting when words like jealousy, dating, Claudia and Callum brewed in her thoughts like deafening thunder clouds. "Just because I want to shove my blade through her nasty, Soulfang viper twisted face does NOT mean I'm jealous," she hissed whisperingly.

Rayla dared to glance back at the café tables and chairs she and Callum were sitting at mere moments ago. She felt a sense of unease and sadness swell inside of her conflicted heart. It wouldn't be long until Callum came walking out; feeling lost, confused and most hurtful of all: worried. She hated seeing him like this: afraid and concerned. They've been attacked by everything this war torn world could throw at them and it would only be worse if this Moonshadow elf exposed their existence and mission to unfriendly eyes and ears.

"I know yer probably imaginin' all kinds of terrible things have happened to me," she smiled sadly as she watched longingly at their still vacant table. With a mind as creative and artistic as Callum's, she knew he was no doubt concocting all kinds of creative and horrific scenarios Rayla could have fallen victim to. "I hate to do this to ya but I've got to make sure were all safe. I promise I'll come back to ya and Ez…heh…and that grumpy frog too, we still got a mission to complete…together," she said.

The frost haired lass vanished like the graceful warrior she was; disappearing from view just as Callum exited the bathroom.

"Rayla? Rayla, where'd you go?" he called out; curiously. His eyes wandered around the immediate area, desperately hoping to see that familiar shade of her exotic, pale creamy skin on her curvaceous yet muscular body and luminous purple orbs. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Rayla made it to the meeting point. She instantly felt the oh-so familiar waves of nausea and irritation washing upon her once she arrived.

"What is it with everyone and the need to be by soddin' water?" she grimaced bitterly.

The note demanded she meet the mysterious messenger at the docks where she and boys had visited not too long ago to procure a ship to continue their quest and return the Dragon Prince to his mother in Xadia. Their travel plans were thoroughly halted by an approaching storm, which also happened to be why the docks served as a perfect meeting place: no one was there. The clouds above were misshapen and foreboding. The sun grew fainter and fainter while the tombstone gray clouds rumbling with thunderous bellows grew closer and louder with each passing moment.

"I don't even want to think bout what it would be like sailin' in that nightmare," Rayla uttered. She shivered as she clutched her cloak tightly around her body.

"I knew you lacked heart greenie, but I didn't know you lacked a spine as well," a cool, calloused female voice said. Rayla's eyes widened at the voice. She'd recognize that jagged tone anywhere.

The young elf turned to face her host. There stood another female Moonshadow elf. She was slightly taller than Rayla; sporting dark violet horns wrapped in pale grey bindings secured in the back with a chain that rain across her milk white waist length hair. Two small grey hair clips twisted her white locks into braids that dangled on the sides of her cheeks, over her metallic shoulder pads and rested limply on her dark blue vest with light ocean blue lines running across the lines of the shirt collar. Her chocolate brown complexion was marked with two ink blue lines running along her eyes and curving across her cheeks. At the base of her forehead was a curved crescent moon that looked like a curved, uppercase U. Only one hand rested at her hip near a brown belt with a silver crescent moon belt buckle. Her other arm sported a gangly stump tightly concealed in brown bindings. Long blackish boots climbed to mid-thigh; exposing small patches of her muscular and well-toned thighs.

"Cressla" Rayla seethed bitterly.

To say she was surprised to see her former fellow assassin had survived the King's guards would be an understatement, but her anger outweighed her surprise. Cressla never wasted a moment shooting dirty glances and venomous snide remarks during their training sessions. She gleefully reminded her of her parent's cowardice as dragon guards whenever she could. Runaan often got an earful from her for bringing such a "green newbie" on such a high profile assassin mission. Even on the very day they departed Xadia, she doubted Rayla's commitment and her courage to go through with it.

Of course she was right but that didn't mean she had to be so vicious about it!

"I see you survived," Rayla flashed her blades in Cressla's direction. She knew she lost her good graces with the Moonshadow elves after she took on Runaan, a decision she does not regret. It brought Callum, Ezran and Zym into her life after all. "A lot's changed since that night ya know? Though, somethin' tells me you haven't," she grunted gruffly.

"Oh you know, a few things here and there," she waved her stump casually; rolling her eyes with a humorless laugh. Cressla's mint colored eyes flashed sharply towards Rayla. "You on the other hand managed to completely change and also remain exactly the same at the same time," she frowned, "It's nauseating really."

Rayla raised an eyebrow at that comment. "How so?" she asked. The young elf never lowered her focus or her blades however. One handed or not, Cressla was a dangerous and deadly warrior who was not to be trifled with or underestimated.

"Look at you, dressed like a human, sitting down and eating lunch at a human restaurant with an actual human; acting like one even…try and have some pride, Rayla," she angrily spat at the ocean. "I knew you didn't have the guts to take a life but I didn't think you were so fangless you'd stoop to associating yourself with those sludge brained barbarians," Cressla barked.

"I'm sorry for not bein' there for Runaan and you and the others when ye needed me…but I'm not sorry for what I did," Rayla declared.

"It's more like what you didn't do that hurts the most," Cressla removed a twisted elven dagger from the back of her belt. She aimed it threateningly at Rayla. Cressla's eyes flashed with fiery levels of brewing hatred. She wanted nothing more to charge towards Rayla and show her what it's like to work with only one set of fingers. "Well, that and this…obviously," she motioned towards her missing hand. A menacing smirk appeared on her face. "How did you manage to remove your binding by the way? We both know you didn't kill Prince Ezran otherwise I wouldn't have to resort to such human measures to remove it. I'm dying to know," she hissed scathingly.

"Cressla, I'm sorry I really am but this isn't the time or the place for this. The Dragon prince is alive and safe with me and my friends. We're goin' to return him to his mother, were goin' to end this war. There's no need for any more blood to be spilled," she explained.

Cressla strongly disagreed however. Her pent up feelings of anger, frustration and betrayal boiled too hotly in her blood. Scorn and rage burned deep within her very essence. Cressla's sole hand tightly gripped the handle of her curved crescent blade; eager to soak it's cold, lethal metal in traitorous elf blood.

"I don't know whether to be amused or outright insulted." Everything Rayla said was as ludicrous as it was inconceivable. The dragon prince's egg was destroyed by humans, end of story. There was no way those savages would have saved it. Cressla leapt at Rayla. She plunged her blade towards her former teammate; sparks flew as the blades grinded nosily against one another. "Didn't think it was possible but you've gotten even softer, traitor!"

Rayla struggled to shove back Cressla. She figured she would have literally the upper hand in this situation, with Cressla wielding only one blade, but Cressla's skill and strength proved formidable even with one hand. The lethal blade inched closer and closer between Rayla's widening violet eyes.

"When I'm done with you, I'll go see this so-called newborn dragon prince for myself and if he truly has hatched, I'll bring him back to Xadia myself," she smirked ruthlessly, "after I've killed those rat brained humans of course!"

Those words sparked an explosive wave of horrific images into Rayla's mind, images of Callum lying face down in a pool of his own blood. That was a nightmare she could not let become reality! She knew she was against the ropes here, she knew Cressla had her pinned, but just thinking about the words "dead" and "Callum" in the sentence stirred a bottomless fury inside of her aching muscles that could not be contained. Rayla summoned strength neither she nor Cressla could comprehend. The young warrior lifted the blades away from her face and slammed her feet into Cressla's stomach. The blow to the gut stunned her for a moment. She doubled over; clutching her gut tightly. Rayla hurled one of her blades at Cressla's head. She knew she'd deflect it with her only arm, which left her distracted and unprepared for a leg sweep. Cressla cried out as she dropped to the ground. Rayla flipped to where her second blade fell, picked it up and quickly kicked Cressla's weapon away from her reach. Cressla was down and defenseless.

"If you put so much as a single nick on Callum's handsome face, I will chop every remainin' piece of you off until you look like a soddin' campfire log," Rayla growled; aiming her twin blades at Cressla's throat.

The sudden realization of those words struck the elf warriors like lightning. Everything froze in place; falling to the wayside as silence escaped their gasping lips. Did they both hear correctly? It seemed so insignificant and yet it spoke volumes of something neither believed existed until this very moment.

Rayla and Cressla broke free from each other. Their stances were equally unbalanced; caught off guard by the sudden situation they found themselves in. Why, why did Rayla say that just now? Or more importantly, why did she only say Callum's name when she threatened Cressa? Of course she'd defend Ezran with her very life as well, so then why was Callum the sole person she singled out like that?

The cold chill of the crashing waves did little to quell the rising warmth flooding across Rayla's cheeks. Cressla loathed humans, the very mention of their species sent waves of revulsion gurgling up to the back of her throat. No matter how much she despised them however, she couldn't deny the nagging sensation of curiosity; starving and aching to know more. The frigid female warrior raised a curious eyebrow at Rayla as she pocketed her lone blade.

"So…are we going to talk about this or-"

"Talk about what? I mean, what-what's there to talk about? Just sayin' don't want ye hurting my friends."

"See it's funny you say friends when you only said one name, one friend."

"Wha…I…no…nah…that-that can't be right I mean I obviously have more than ONE friend. I mean that's just, just silly."

"I knew you didn't have what it takes to kill them but I didn't think you were daft enough to actually be sweet on those horrid creatures."

"Oh for the love of…you don't even know him!"

Cressla's eyebrow raised, a smug sense of confidence emanated from her domineering glare.

"Them,that-that's what I meant to say, you don't even know them!"

"So, tell me about this Callum; there must be something especially unique about this primitive piece of human filth to have your boots quaking like this."

Rayla aimed one of her gleaming blades at the fowl mouthed elf besmirching her friend's good name. She stared down Cressla alongside that gleaming piece of remorseless metal. The thought of taking a life churned her stomach, but she had to admit, the more Cressla spoke the sweeter the idea sounded.

"Yer gonna want to reframe from talkin' bout him like that, Cressla. If you knew Callum like I do, then you wouldn't-"

"Oh yes I would, I'm absolutely positive. I would."

"He is not what you think he is!"

"It, you refer to humans as it, just a mindless thing that steals lies and kills. Those beasts don't deserve any sentimental acknowledgment."

There goes that urge to kill again; steadily rising with each venomous word out of her lips. Cressla, like many elves, housed an infectious hatred towards all humans. They were nothing but savages, liars and killers and the only good human was a dead one. Nothing she said surprised Rayla. Everything she was saying and feeling once made perfect sense. Now Rayla sees clearer, now Rayla knows better…now that she knows Callum.

"Yer crossin' a mighty deep line Cressla, I'm warnin' you-"

"No I'm warning YOU! The line was already crossed when you abandoned us and your mission, siding with those bloodthirsty monsters. You've been blinded by their lies and trickery; just being prepped and primed to be stabbed in the heart."

"No I'm not! That's not him, that's not Callum. He trusts me with his life and I proudly do the same."

"HA I knew it! You actually have feelings for that…that…THING!"

"I don't know. Maybe, maybe yer right, maybe I do have feelings but I'm not certain…not yet."

Her firm stance and tone softened suddenly. Questions and thoughts buzzed through her mind like chattering parrots; all trying to shout over one another to be heard. She didn't know what she was trying to hear or even what she wanted to hear. The truth was all so confusing and murky. War and lies had muddied the waters; she felt like she was drowning.

"But there is one thing I'm certain of."

Rayla's voice stiffened; rigid with authority and determination. Her questions remained unanswered but her mission and her devotion was crystal clear. The young elf approached her opponent; teal boots clicking across the clanking wood of the docks. Soft droplets of approaching rain splashed along her footsteps. Cressla readied herself for Rayla's advance; hand already reaching for her belted blade. Rayla stopped directly in front of Cressla and spoke with a ruthless, cold and clear tone Runaan had always told her was reserved for her targets before ending their lives with a slash of cold steel and a splatter of ruby red blood.

"Callum is my closest and dearest friend, Ezran too. We are returnin' the dragon prince to Xadia, together. Our business is ours and ours alone. Ye don't need to drag anyone else into it. We can settle up once Zym is back with his mother if ye like. However, make one wrong move against me or Callum and I swear it will be the last mistake ye ever make."

Cressla smiled deviously; forcing back a laugh that nearly escaped her pale blue lips.

KRAKKABOOM!

A deafening thunder clap caused the clouds in the sky to shudder horribly, flashes of light and deafening rumbles momentarily distracted Rayla. She looked back and found herself locking eyes with nothingness. Cressla was gone.

"Prince Ezran was our secondary target, wasn't he? If you're all traveling together then that means your little party wouldn't leave this place without you. That means there still here."

Cressla'a voice reverberated from the creaking ships rocking in the storming waters. Rayla frantically searched for her former comrade. Unfortunately, the rain started to pour down harder, faster. It was impossible to tell where be with all of this noise and pounding weather. Her snowy locks and teal suit clung to her body as rainfall soaked her.

"Much as I really wanted to finish our original mission by finishing off the young prince, I think it'll be far more satisfying to kill this precious Callum of yours first. We'll see how warm he makes you when you're snogging next to his cold, lifeless corpse!"

The faint sound of feet moving and leaping from one place to another could be briefly detected. Cressla was gone. Panic struck Rayla like a bucket of ice cold water. Cressla didn't know what Ezran looked like or where he was so she knew he and Zym were both safe. However, Cressla does know what Callum looks like. She spied on them during lunch after all. It would only be a matter of time before she found him and-

"No, I won't let that happen! I've got to find him!"

Rayla headed towards town, back to that outdoor café. Callum no doubt wandered around town looking for Rayla after she vanished. She worried he might have gone too far to the point she couldn't find him in time. However, Callum was responsible and smart enough to know not to go too far. He would have most likely stayed nearby the restaurant in case she came back. Callum may come off as a wonky, dummy of a human but deep down, she knows he's smarter and more considerate of others than most give him credit for. That thought brought a comforting smile to her face.

"I've got to focus though. He doesn't know what danger he's in, he knows to be careful but wouldn't be expecting an elf sneaking up on him; other than me of course," she thought to herself. She spotted the spot where the café's tables once were, must have put them away before the storm had hit. "That's the place! Now, if I were Callum where would I go?"

Her eyes scan across the immediate area. While she lacked the desire to take another's life, her tracking and hunting skills were without question. She knew she made it here before Cressla did, she knew her skills and knowledge of Callum's mindset gave her distinct advantages. To think she was too late was an irrational and baseless thought. However, try as she might she still found her mind being plagued with horrible imagery of what could happen if she did find Callum first. Fear and panic were unavoidable expectations. Thoughts of grizzly, blood splattered nightmares flashed in and out like the flickering flame of a dying torch. She forced them out of her mind. There was still time, there was still hope she'd find him…alive.

Her blurred mind flashed clean at the sound of a creaking door. Rayla looked towards the source and spotted a shadowy figure. The figure was lurking inside of a horse stable. Instinct kicked in and she bolted towards the source; blades bared and gleaming luminously from the glittering raindrops cascading down the cold steel. The elf warrior barged in and aimed her blades at whomever or whatever was cowering in the vacant stable.

WHAM!

Callum smashed a wooden water bucket over the hooded elf's head, it shattered to pieces and clunked loudly as it fell to the floor. The young prince grabbed a nearby pitchfork wedged into a bale of hay. He raised the weapon high above his head; prepared to strike down his would-be attacker before suddenly recognizing those white locks and familiar horn bulges from under the hood. The pitchfork fell from his hands and clattered to the ground.

"Rayla, is that you?!" he exclaimed far more loudly than he expected.

"OW! What in the bloody Hell is wrong with ye?" she cried out; clutching her throbbing skull. Rayla stumbled around in rain flooded boots. Her steps were wobbly, dizzying; she was clearly having trouble standing. Rayla removed her hood to more effectively feel the no-doubt freshly planted red mark forming on her forehead. "Was that bucket full of rocks or something?"

Callum immediately went to help her. Rayla shoved him back; cringing as the pain worsened the instant she moved to push him aside. "Rayla I am so, so sorry. I just-just didn't know it was you! I thought it was Claudia, or Soren or someone else trying to take us back or-or kidnap Zym and I just-" he suddenly ceased his frantic babbling. One glaring look from Rayla's purple hues sent frigid chills running up his spine. "Look, I panicked, that's no excuse for hurting you but I was just trying to keep safe until you came back," he explained.

"You won't be safe from me if I find out you broke one of my horns off, you-you…dummy!" she shrieked angrily. Usually Rayla used the word "dummy" as an affectionate, endearing term for Callum's eccentricities. This was definitely not one of those times.

The boy laughed weakly; sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. He felt like he was being crushed under the weight of his monumental stupidity. Things between him and Rayla had been going so smoothly. He was actually looking forward to walking back to the inn meet up with Ezran and Zym after their little lunch date. As simple as it sounded, the idea of walking side by side with her chatting up a storm sounded like a truly wonderful way to spend a day. Though he'd never verbalize it, Callum was starting to see this delay to Xadia caused by the storm as a blessing in disguise.

Well at least until now anyway.

It was at this time Callum realized Rayla had been soaked to the bone. Her cloak, clothes and boots dripped buckets worth of water to the floor. She groaned as she wrung her clothes out; puddles formed under the collective mass of icy liquids dripping off every aching part of her.

The young prince tenderly reached out to check Rayla's head; she fiercely swatted his hand away. He recoiled and backed up a bit. "Rayla, I just wanted to check to see how badly you were hurt," he wanted nothing more to mend things; he hated seeing her miserable like this; even knowing fully well he was the one responsible for her pain. "Can you at least let me take a look?"

"I'm fine! Positively peachy! We need to get moving back to the inn, before it's too late," she barked irritably. Rayla removed her cloak and swung it like a flag; shaking off any excess water. Callum saw her forehead exposed for the briefest of moments. Her horns were intact, thank spirits for that, but a bloody mark was definitely evident by her left temple. Rayla donned her cloak once more before Callum could do anything about it. "It's not goin to get any better with ya gawkin at it like that. Didn't ya hear me? We have to get movin' RIGHT NOW!" she snapped.

"What's the big rush? There's a storm coming. We can't just go running into it blindly, we should at least wait it out in here," Callum calmly explained.

"It's just a light drizzle, nothin' more," she grabbed Callum's arm and dragged him to the entrance. She ignored his protests and did her best to ignore the throbbing pain drilling into her skull like a twisting knife. The small trickle of blood dripping from her eyebrow thankfully went unnoticed by Callum. The last thing she needed was him having another excuse to sit here like sitting ducks; just waiting for Cressla to cleave their hides. "We can avoid it if we hurry, move it Callum!"

Before the doors could be opened, a blinding flash of white scorched across the sky. The crackling roar of thunder bellowed like howling devils. Rayla's four fingers hesitantly recoiled from the door as she saw the relentless downpour of rain dribbling through the cracks in the wood frame. Punishing winds hammered the stable with such pounding force that it creaked and rocked the entire structure.

One step outside and Rayla and Callum would be blown right out of their boots. They would never make it to the inn. It wasn't far from here but in this kind of weather, they'd be lucky if they even made it half way. The only good thing about this dreary predicament was that Cressla would be forced to seek shelter as well. Callum and Ezran would be safe from her former teammate's murderous wrath.

"Ugh…fine…I guess were stayin' for a while," Rayla dryly snipped. Every word was laced with morose irritation; Callum could practically feel her frustrating coming off of her as she spoke. She was still mad at him but not enough so to blindly barge out into a raging storm.

Rayla headed back to the center of the stable. Callum had apparently made a makeshift seat/couch out of the bountiful piles of hay nearby. She plopped down onto the pile. The splashing splat her rump made when coming into contact with the hay caused her to groan out loud. She tossed her soaked cloak to the side but kept her blade in hand. No horses seemed to be occupying this particular stable, not really surprising the elf girl as she noticed how rundown and crumbly this stable was.

"Thank you," his voice rung with warmth and sincerity; he sat down beside her and timidly watched her bleeding forehead. He knew she said she was fine but her wound clearly said otherwise. Even though steam was practically sizzling off of her, he couldn't just leave her like this. "Now since were both going to be stuck here for a while," she huffed in annoyance, "would you please allow me to try and-"

"No, here's what we're goin' to do were goin' to play every elf's favorite game, it's called the Quiet game: whoever talks first, loses. The game ends when the storm ends. Got it? Good, great, let's play!" she said; her voice dripping with boundless hostility.

ACHOO!

Rayla's sudden sneeze caused a shift in stability of the roof's structure. A hole opened up and rainwater crashed down onto Rayla, her body was consumed by the frigid, encompassing waterfall. The soaking spritz ended just as quickly as it began. This really wasn't turning out to be her day.

"I really, really, really, really hate water…"

"Um Rayla, does this mean I win the Quiet game because you talked?"

Rayla threw her head back and screamed.

Hey everyone.

Wow I did not think it would take this long to put this update together. Truth be told, I'm going to get a bit real for a moment. I was honestly considering cancelling this story at one point. This pandemic caused lots of depression issues I was not mentally prepared to handle and it's affected every part of my life, including my hobbies/interests. I doubted myself and lost faith and hope and felt this story wasn't going anywhere and I didn't know what I was doing. I felt trapped and discouraged and I didn't know how to fix it. Reading other people's fan fictions made me think mine were inferior and I didn't know if if it was even worth continuing a story I've become uncertain on. I decided to change my original plan for this story and just throw canon caution to the wind; fudge the timeline a bit more and just do my own thing. I'm not seeking sympathy or throwing a pity party for myself or my story, I just wanted everyone to know why things took so long. I decided I am going to finish this but it won;'t be super long and I'm going to change some things in the story for my ideas to work.

Thanks for your patience and (hopefully) your understanding.

PS: I checked it out and none of the other Moonshadow assassins were named so I came up with my own and expanded on her backstory/personality for the sake of the plot. Bye for now!