An arcane doom

Callum sighed, it felt so beautiful and lonely to sit up at the pinnacle of the Storm Spire.
He had finished his magic training for the day.
Under the guide of Master Ibis, he had much improved in the use of Sky Magic.

Immediately after the battle, he had journeyed back to Katolis, to assist at Ezram’s coronation. In a few months though, something had dragged him back to Xadia. He had spent the next whole year in Silvergrove, with Rayla.
Unsurprisingly, once their relationship had became public, they had met quite some resistance by the most conservative of her kind.
This caused a fracture between he and the Moonshadow Elf-girl. Rayla had just been re-admitted in the village, as a hero yes, but she still felt being judged by evreyone.
For a while, they tried to keep it low, reseving any display of affection to the private of their rooms, but the cat was out of the bag already.
Ultimately, the growing friction with the village elders had induced them to leave both, destination: the Storm Spire.

There Callum resumed his study of magic with Ibis, the Skywing Archmage.
Soon though, his desire to learn more of the other Primal Sources, to understand other Arcana had started to stir his thoughts.
His growing restlessness and dissatisfaction triggered Rayla that in the meantime had started questioning the rightness of their relationship.
She accused him of being selfish and to be unable to be happy with what they had already.
He accused her of caring more about her villager thought than about him.

That had happened almost fourth months ago.
Shortly after Rayla had left for Silvergrove. A message regarding some alarmed reports coming from a search party appointed to find the missing Sunforge stave had drawn her attention.
Too convenient for her to leave like that, but Callum couldn’t blame her.
They needed space, both of them.

In these last few months, the young human prince had given much thought about his desire to learn magic, at all costs.
He had always felt he was somehow destined to became a great mage, despite Rayla’s and even Ibis warnings that he should be content with what he had. He was a simple human, and yet he had found a connection with a Primal Source, what more he could hope to achieve?
But Callum didn’t feel that way, he simply couldn’t.

Determined to overcome his supposed human limitations, that very day he presented himself to Zym, Prince Azymondias, future king of Dragons, and his mother, the Queen Zubeya with a bold proposal.

“Mighty Queen Zubeya, and Zym, I mean Prince Azymondias, I come to you …”

“Young Callum, Prince of Katolis, friend of Xadia, your deference is noted and appreciated, but please, speak freely. What’s on your mind?” interrupted him the colossal, scaly being.

The young mage steadying himself under her questioning gaze.

“My Queen, Zym, I’d like your leave to travel around Xadia,” he uttered at last.

“Do you now? Don’t you enjoy our company anymore?” asked the Dragon Queen, "I see. Is that because of that Moonshadow Elf girl, Rayla? You are free to come and leave as you please, as you well know," replied the Queen, her deep voice resonating into the hall despite her gentle, motherly tone.

“No, It’s not like that. I dearly enjoyed my stay here at the Spire, with Zym and Ibis … and you my Queen, of course, but I feel I have learned much about the Sky Primal Source, maybe as much as I can, being a simple human...”

“You modesty gives you credit, Young Callum, but you are no simple human: you are the one and only true Human Mage of all Xadia. Only one of you kind before you has ever managed to accomplish what you did, and that was a very long, long ... long time ago. And he wasn’t nearly as bravehearted and kind as you are.”

“Gee, thanks, you will make blush, my Queen. I hope that you will still held me in such a high regard after I ask you what I'm going to ask. I would like you to intercede with the other Elf nations for me,”

“Intercede for what? You are an acknowledged friend of all Xadia,” asked the Dragon Queen, her scaly features contracted in perfect imitation of human puzzlement.
Zym too looked at Callum with his head cocked to the side. He had grown much, being now almost as big as the human mage, yet he was still dragonling and much of the meaning of the discussion had escaped him.

“Of course my Queen, yet I had the chance to test how little my renown weights against the Xadian tradition already once. I want to attempt to learn more about Primal Magic. I think with training I could obtain a link with others Primal Sources…”

The great dragoness raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“I know, I know, I should be content to have been able to understand even just one Arcanum, being a human. Everybody keeps telling me that. It's just... I can feel this is my destiny, my Queen, I don’t know if that makes any sense to you,” pleaded Callum.

Zubeya stared down on him, a living, mighty relic of a time past.