Two figures snuck through the caverns with the stealth of thieves and the terror of hunted criminals. The dark Underground was a decent mask for their escape, but each time they reached a pool of sludge or mud, Laila would order her companion to cover herself with the simmering ooze.
“Come on, in you go.”
“But Laila…” the mud-caked dragonet whined and lowered her head onto large forepaws. Aikya was already the size of a large greyhound but still a child by immortal standards, still able to pull the infamous ‘puppy dog eyes’ trick.
The drow elf wasn’t convinced. “Aikya,” she murmured firmly. “Do it. I know it’s gross, but you’re far too bright to go without.”
Aikya sighed and rose to her claws once more. Shaking off the loose chunks of old mud, she dipped into the mud pool and covered her golden hide with brown filth.
“There now,” Laila murmured as she rose from the depths like some kind of underworld reptile. “You look just like a bogbeast.”
Aikya didn’t say anything, preferring to sulk with her head low.

The pair fled Laila’s family, a vicious drow clan who had come into possession of Aikya’s egg by treacherous and vile means. Her uncle had never said how he parted a queen dragon from her precious egg, but she knew from the gleam in his red eyes that he had achieved his goal the way he liked best: Through slaughter.
Laila knew they were pursued, but so far they had managed to stay just far enough ahead of her family’s agents. However, they would never be safe until they reached the surface, a place where no drow could safely go. Laila would take Aikya to someone who could keep her safe, a long time friend, and then descend back into the Underground to seek shelter away from her family. As they walked, the drow pondered the sudden return of her friend to the upper world. She would have thought him dead if she hadn’t known of his plans. Several centuries ago he had sealed himself away from man and Sidhe alike, and she didn’t blame him; he had been passed around like a trinket in Faerie and then betrayed on Earth, leading to an inevitable emotional breakdown that had in turn lead to much mortal tragedy. But now Aramir had come back to the world of the living. Why? Laila could feel his presence as sharply as she ever had in the past, leading her to his exact location, and it didn’t make any sense. Not only had he come back, but he was on Earth, in the modern resurrection of the city his anger had leveled in the Dark Ages. She shrugged, pushing aside her reverie. Whatever his reasons, he was back and that meant he was her only hope for the safety of her little dragon pup.
“Laila?” Aikya blinked up at the drow, pushing her muddy shoulder against Laila’s armored thigh. “Where are we going?”
Laila smiled. “Home,” she replied. “A friend of mine is going to take care of you so you never have to be trapped down here again.”
Aikya frowned. “But what about you? I want you to come too…”
The drow sighed. “I know, kiddo. But I can’t. The surface is too bright for me.”
Aikya pushed herself closer against Laila and the two continued on in silence, drawing comfort from their closeness in their last hours together.

___________________________

On the surface, Emma watched a familiar face from behind a pair of dark sunglasses and a neutral green hoodie. She didn’t know if he could sense her (Probably can… stupid Faerie…) but she was taking no chances. After Aramir’s stunning departure the girls had scrambled to clean the house before Emma’s parents could discover the mess of wax and salt only to discover that he had taken the book with him. If she could have had no more contact with the prince she would have, but that book had cost her quite a bit, especially for something found second-hand, and she wanted it back.
Yeah… she thought. That’s all I want. Just the book. But was it really? She hadn’t spent a moment since meeting him without those sharp golden eyes caught in her mind’s eye, without the whisper of his voice drifting unheard through the air around her. It was just Faerie glamour, she told herself. But still…. He had taken command of her soul in minutes and it was all she could do not to run to him and demand he release her. For she found that, even as he crept into her heart, she hated him. Hated him for what he had done and for what he had stolen.
As she watched, sneaking along behind him like a burglar in the night, he stopped, glanced around warily, and stepped into a small, rundown looking shop. She trotted down the sidewalk, intent on following him even into the shop…. but couldn’t find it. Where had he entered? There was no rundown old shop here…? But she had seen him go in?

Aramir watched from the other side of the street as Emma looked around, confused. She darted into an alley to look for a door, then scampered back out in search of a camouflaged door on the outside. Silly human. She hadn’t even considered Faerie glamour yet, nor his ability to warp to wherever he chose at a moment’s notice.
Turning back into the dusty shop with a derisive shake of his head, he spotted his contact immediately.
“Aurius.” Aramir moved into the shadows at the back of the store where the old man sat in an old-fashioned suit reading a tattered novel. “I need your help, wizard.”
Aurius looked up, staring hard at Aramir from behind gold-rimmed spectacles. His mustache, as white as his immaculately groomed hair and beard, twitched as his lips bent up into a wry smile.
“Well, well, well,” The wizard said. “The prince returns at last. What can I do for you, lad?”
Aramir raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms across his chest. “You haven’t changed at all.”
“Course not,” Aurius scoffed. “I’m an old man. We aren’t liquid time like you damn Faeries. I say it again: What do you want?”
“I sense someone calling me, but I can’t place the voice. I need you to trace the call.”
“It would be something like that…” Aurius grumbled. “Well alright then.” He waved a hand and the shop closed itself as if it’s owner was on his lunch break. “Let’s get this over with.”

They went into the back room, where Aurius kept his books of magic and various arcane tools. For this he would use the crystal ball, kept immaculately clean even as the rest of his possessions sat under a layer of dust.
“You know the drill,” Aurius grunted as they sat on opposite sides of the pedestal. “Close your eyes and imagine it and I’ll do the rest.”

The call wound it’s way through his mind, a sinuous, dark tune that echoed through the souls of the two mystical beings and the crystal through which they channeled their magic. When it had built up enough power to resonate in the depths of the sphere, Aurius listened, then smiled. “We have company,” he commented. “It’s no wonder you could hear her so clearly; she’s been coming for days, by the sound of it.”
Aramir frowned. “Speak clearly, old man.”
“I don’t care how much royal blood you’ve got, you be respectful of your elders,” Aurius snapped back. He composed himself. “She’s coming up in the basement. I suggest you go meet her.”
Aramir grimaced but stood anyway and pushed through the steel door at the back of the room to descend into the basement, which was a tunnel into the Underground, the dark world ruled by the drow and their wars.
He glanced around in the darkness, seeing nothing and waiting for his magical sight to kick in. Below ground, there was no way to see without magic. A shadow shimmered in the distance, with a bright glow beside it. The glow was muted, as if hiding from the darkness, but there was no concealing it from his eyes. He was sensitive to the light, and this creature was as bright as could be with his magical vision.
As the pair drifted into clarity, Aramir started and smiled. How could he have forgotten the call of his best friend?
“Laila,” he called through the darkness. “You called?”
“Aramir!” Her voice was full of relief. “I’m so glad to see you.” The drow darted through the shadows to greet him with a fond embrace; she was the only one in Faerie or Earth he would allow to do so. “Why did you come out of the Abyss?” she asked, still clinging to his neck as if he would disappear when she let go. “The last I heard you destroyed a city and vanished…”
He chuckled and disentangled himself from her arms. “Yes,” he replied. “That’s true. I was… revived… not so long ago. But enough of that. I sense fear in you. What happened?”
She sighed and looked away, down toward what Aramir could now see was a muddy dragon pup at her feet. The poor creature had collapsed at her side and was panting on her side on the cold stone, exhausted from their flight. “My uncle captured her from her mother as an egg. I don’t know why he wanted her, but I knew I had to get her away before he used her for… whatever he wanted to do. And when I felt your presence on the surface again… You have to help her.” Laila’s crimson eyes begged her longtime friend to agree as she looked up at him and his stony heart melted a little. For Laila, one of very few beings ever to see him as more than simply the prince or an instrument of war, he would do almost anything.
“I will do what I can,” he murmured. “What is her name?”
“Aikya. Thank you, Aramir. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“A dragon!” Aurius had followed Aramir down into the Underground and now stared at Aikya with wide eyes through his gold-rimmed glasses. “Great Goddess, she’s…!” the wizard glanced up at the staring pair before him and gestured firmly with one hand. Come upstairs now, both of you. It’s not safe down here anymore.”
Laila instantly reached down to coax Aikya off the stone and led her up the stairs, followed by Aramir.
“What’s going on, Aurius?” Aramir asked sharply as they ascended. “Why the sudden haste?”
“The Ring is active again,” the wizard replied. “And that dragon is one of the High King’s chosen spirits.”
“The Ring?” Aramir was incredulous. “It can’t be. They died off centuries ago.”
“Not true. They are still very much alive, my boy, and they hunt for the blood of the Chosen.” They entered the magical back room and Laila closed her eyes painfully against the light, very bright through her dark-tuned eyes. Aramir guided her to a chair, where Aikya rested her golden, muddy head on Laila’s knee.
“As far as I am aware, there are four Chosen, and three of them have only recently come into contact with their power.”
“And the fourth?” Laila asked.
“He stands here with us in this room,” Aurius turned a steely gaze on Aramir, who froze for an instant then rolled his eyes.
“Of course,” the prince scoffed. “I am one of the Chosen and over the course of my many centuries, none of the mages surrounding me ever sensed it. I’m sure you’re right, old man.” The sarcasm in his voice didn’t go unnoticed and Aurius grimaced as Laila tried to conceal a laugh behind a false-sounding cough.
“You have been the target of assassination attempts, have you not?” Aurius snapped. “And your life riddled with tragedy? Have you not seen the Mark on your neck? I should have thought the thing obvious.”
Though skeptical, Aramir felt his confidence slipping and he put a pale hand slowly to the left side of his neck, where a strange prickling had begun to annoy him.
“Yes, that’s it,” Aurius smiled smugly. “It’s glowing even now. And look, hers shines to match it’s brother.”
Indeed, when Aramir looked down at Aikya, a golden shimmer pierced the mud on her forehead, twisted into a sinuous mark like an alchemist’s arcane symbol. The dragonet raised her lizard-like head and made a curious little chirping sound.
“Laila,” she murmured plaintively, “Why does my head itch?”
“Because you’re tired,” the drow replied absently, stroking her charge and beginning to chip off bits of dried mud. “Go to sleep and all will be well when you wake up.”
“What does this mean?” Aramir directed his question to Aurius.
The wizard paused before answering. “For you? I don’t know. I had thought to see you killed long ago, but somehow you have survived. The Chosen die regularly – if they don’t, they are too easily tracked by the Ring. The High King and Queen created them this way to protect their power. Perhaps when you hid in the Abyss it was counted as a death; perhaps you are destined to die soon. Are you afraid?”
“I fear nothing,” Aramir replied coldly.
“Good. Because I’m going to hide you myself to protect you.”
The prince snorted derisively. “How will you do that, old man?”
Aurius smiled smugly. “You’ll just have to wait and see,” he said. “Laila, you and the pup must be hidden as well. Come now, all of you. I must to set a Circle to do this right.”