Archmage Akiyu

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**Archmage Akiyu** is the forty-first episode of *The Dragon Prince*. It is the fifth chapter of the fifth book, "**Ocean**".

Ezran convinces the group to look for an eccentric mage with critical information. Karim calls in a debt. Claudia tries to communicate with Viren.

## Plot

On the pinnacle of the Storm Spire, Ezran and Zym inform Callum, Rayla, and Stella that Domina Profundis revealed the true nature of Aaravos's prison. The Archdragon of the Ocean also revealed that Akiyu, the great Tidebound Elf Archmage who built the prison, might also know of its location. Ezran suggests that Team Zym should meet Akiyu so that they can find the prison before Claudia and Viren. However, Callum proposes that Team Zym should travel to the Star Scraper, an incredibly tall tower located far north beyond the Frozen Sea that is home to an ancient sect of Skywing Elves called the Celestial Elves who are guarding the Nova Blade, the magical sword that possesses the power to kill Startouch Elves. Ezran thinks that killing Aaravos with the Nova Blade should be a last resort and that they can find the prison without violence, but Callum believes that Claudia's head start might have allowed her to free Aaravos first. Rayla is annoyed that she will be the deciding vote for Team Zym's next move.

Inside the lair of the Storm Spire, Soren and Bait notice that Zubeia's wound is festering, with the Head Crownguard advising her that she should stay behind to heal. Zubeia claims that she had suffered worse and insists that she will be fine after making a quip about Soren being a dragon doctor. When the rest of Team Zym arrive to announce that they are intending to meet Akiyu, Zubeia uses her left wing to cover her wound.

Karim and Pharos venture into the Moonshadow Forest with the latter using his scarf to cover his dark magic infection. Karim reveals to Pharos that they will use Janai's Sun Seed to restore Sol Regem's sight, and that they will need the help of Kim'dael, the Bloodmoon Huntress, to acquire it.

Viren has entered a catatonic state ever since he woke up from his fever dream, and Claudia is worried that the resurrection spell is beginning to fade despite Terry's optimism.

Zubeia flies Team Zym to the tide pools where Akiyu resides. She then decides to return to the Storm Spire to regain her strength and promises to pick Team Zym up from the tide pools at sundown. As Team Zym explores the tide pools, they encounter a variety of large marine creatures such as Giant Hermit Crabs, Giant Sea Slugs, and Carrion Gulls that are large enough to view humans and elves as prey. Soren then comes up with the idea of using empty large shells to sneak past the hungry Carrion Gulls. The Carrion Gulls eventually figures out what Team Zym is up to and begin to harass them before being scared off by an elderly Tidebound Elf. When Ezran asks the Tidebound Elf if she is the legendary Archmage Akiyu, she laughs at the idea and introduces herself as "Tidebound Tina". Tina then uses a conch to let Akiyu know that some "ragtag weirdos" wish to meet her before she tells Team Zym that the Archmage is unavailable. However, Tina chooses to take Team Zym to Akiyu after Ezran told her about their quest of finding Aaravos's prison.

Claudia is disappointed that she is unable to gain any responses from the catatonic Viren after she spoke to him. Terry cheers Claudia up by teaching her to dance like bees as a possible form of nonverbal communication. The Being watches as Claudia and Terry start to dance happily in front of Viren.

Tina brings Team Zym to an underwater tunnel that will lead them to Akiyu. Despite Callum suggesting Rayla to wait by the entrance, she convinces him to swim with her. Team Zym soon reach a grotto on the other side while Tina informs them that the final passage to Akiyu is through what is allegedly a dark corridor. Upon realizing that the ooze surrounding the corridor's entrance is drool, Soren attempts to alert the rest of Team Zym that they have been lured into the esophagus of a large sea creature. The creature shuts its maw and Soren asks Tina to help his friends. Instead of aiding Team Zym, Tina says that they should not be looking for Aaravos.

Upon finding an abandoned mausoleum inside the Moonshadow Forest, Karim tells Pharos that during the reign of Luna Tenebris, a cult of Moonshadow Elves known as the Order of the Blood Moon practiced forbidden blood rituals to prolong their lives and enhance their magic. When Avizandum rose to power after the death of Luna Tenebris, he abolished the Order of the Blood Moon and exterminated the cultists until Kim'dael was the only survivor. Kim'dael traveled to Lux Aurea to ask Queen Aditi for sanctuary from Avizandum, and the Sunfire Elf granted the blood-drinker's wish in exchange for a magical binding called the Mercy Debt. As a descendant of Aditi, Karim possesses the power to summon and make Kim'dael do his bidding by igniting an enchanted lantern inside the mausoleum. The lantern's ominous red glow terrifies Pharos.

Soren struggles to pry the large sea creature's mouth open with his sword as the rest of Team Zym realize that they are being digested. An angered Zym emits a large amount of electricity to zap the creature's stomach, which forces it to spit Team Zym out. Callum then calls Tina out when he realizes that she is actually Akiyu.

Claudia kisses Terry for calming her anxiety before she spots a dragon flying overhead. Terry uses his powers to make a tree hide the raft next to a large rock as the dragon lands nearby. Despite his catatonic state, Viren uses his hand to shut the Being up and prevent their cover from being blown. The dragon gradually flies away as Claudia hugs her father.

Akiyu transforms her walking stick into an Ocean staff before she decides to tell Team Zym why she tried to kill them with ink that she had poured into a nearby pool. 300 years ago, Akiyu allowed a human mage who was known as the Jailer to borrow her powers after the Archdragons gave her the task of building a magical prison that could hold the Startouch Elf Archmage Aaravos. Aaravos's nature as a master manipulator meant that the Jailer needed to protect all knowledge of the prison's location, material, and true nature before she carefully divided the information to each of the Archdragons. But after Akiyu unintentionally saw the map that marked the prison's location, the Jailer threatened to have the Archdragons kill the Tidebound Elf. The Jailer eventually chose to spare Akiyu after the latter made a vow to die before she could reveal the location of the prison to anyone. Since Akiyu could not kill Team Zym, she attempted to overdose herself with magi-kelp glow-juice shot to take the secrets to her grave. However, upon learning that Claudia already knew about the prison's location, Akiyu decides to give Team Zym a map to the Sea of the Castout. She also gives Callum an enchanted amulet that will allow him to perform Ocean magic despite being annoyed by his enthusiasm. Akiyu then orders Team Zym to leave the grotto so that they can continue their mission.

Pharos confesses that while he admires Karim's ambition of restoring the former glory of Xadia and their people, he questions the idea of enlisting the help of someone of Kim'dael's ilk. An insulted Kim'dael appears before the two Sunfire Elves and demands Pharos to elaborate before she pins him against a pillar and extends one of her right claws toward his left eye as he calls her evil. Kim'dael chooses to release Pharos after Karim revealed his identity as the great-grandson of Aditi. Kim'dael smiles upon learning that Karim intends to revoke the Mercy Debt if she accepts the task of stealing Janai's Sun Seed.

As night falls on the tide pools, Team Zym waits for Zubeia to pick them up and fly them to the Sea of the Castout. Unknown to them, the corruption of the Sunforge begins to take hold of Zubeia's body, thus preventing her from reuniting with Team Zym.

## Characters and Cast

* Callum (Jack De Sena)
* Rayla (Paula Burrows)
* Ezran (Sasha Rojen)
* Bait
* Stella
* Azymondias
* Soren (Jesse Inocalla)
* Zubeia (Nicole Oliver)
* Viren
* Claudia (Racquel Belmonte)
* Terry (Benjamin Callins)
* The Being
* Karim (Luc Roderique)
* Pharos (Deven Mack)
* Akiyu (Julie Lemieux)
* Kim'dael (Laara Sadiq)
* The Jailer
* Avizandum
* Rex Igneous
* Domina Profundis

## Trivia

* The story of how Aditi enslaved Kim'dael is detailed in the side story "The Queen's Mercy".
* Callum wearing an amulet as a mage is foreshadowed by Ellis in "Cursed Caldera".