-So- the boy said sounding unimpressed and playing around with his staff –You´re what this is all about- he grinned –I honestly don´t know why North was making so much of a fuss-

Merida didn´t talk, what was she supposed to do? Attack? Was this boy the danger they were supposed to be stopping? He didn´t look very dangerous at all.

Artair however seemed to know exactly how to react, with a quick comeback and even faster punches –Ye´ll ken soon enough-

Faster than Merida´s human eye could follow, Artair ran towards the boy and punched him hard in the chin and sent him flying against one of the stones in the circle. The pale, young man fell to the ground on all fours and wiped something from his lip. Blood? Merida couldn´t tell, it was a shiny shade of blue.

-Sae- the highlander mocked walking slowly around the boy while keeping his hands crossed behind his back –Ae don´t ken who this "North" lad is, but Ae have a feeling he shouldn´t have left ye come alone-

The pale boy looked up smiling dangerously –Who says I did?-

Before Artair could react a strange being had appeared from within the woods, it looked like a woman but covered in green and yellow feathers and from her back a pair of wings grew. She flew towards Artair and landed a brutal backflip kick on his chest.

At the same time three more figures appeared, Merida recognized them instantly but that didn´t make it any more credible.

The first one was a human sized grey rabbit and while saying it out loud caused Merida to giggle, looking at it in the flesh wasn´t funny at all. The anthropomorphic bunny looked dead serious, even heroic. Around his chest he sported a bandoleer in which he carried several Easter eggs and in each of his hands he held a boomerang. He also wore a pair of brown leather forearm guards with designs reminiscent of Australian tribes.

The rabbit had just popped from a hole in the ground that sealed itself as soon as he was done using it.

The second figure was even more incredible if it was possible, a very large man in a red winter coat. Every one of the pieces of his outfit Merida could relate to Russia. The black, furry hat, the black boots, even the gray pants. Not to mention the pair of Shasquas he waved in each of his hands.

Finally a small plump man, who seemed to be made entirely of golden sand.

-Jack? - The feathered woman asked sounding worried as he helped the boy back to his feet –Are you alright?-

-Yeah- he answered shaking the dust of his clothes –Thanks for that Toothiana- The boy called Jack held the woman by the shoulder and both smiled, gazing into each other´s eyes for a little too long in Merida´s opinion.

-No problem-

Artair had gotten back to his feet and was now backing off slowly, he kept looking around discretely, hoping Duncan and Andhra would appear soon.

-And just so that you know- the boy said slamming the tip of his staff against the ground –I can take care of myself- Then many things happened at the same time; the boy´s eyes began to glow with an eerie blue light and the wind began blowing wildly, so hard it almost threw the redhead of her feet. Merida felt something cold on her cheek, she looked up and gasped…it was snowing, more than that it was a blizzard.

The redhead wasn´t sure if everything was a dream but having met super powered humans and being friends with magically enhanced boys, could she really doubt what was happening now?

The woman had called the boy "Jack" and judging by what she was witnessing she could only mean Jack Frost. Then there was the rabbit, was he the one and only Easter Bunny? Was the man in the red coat the same that had left presents for her under the tree year after year? And the woman called Toothiana, was she really the tooth fairy?

With so many unbelievable facts on her head to process Merida did the only reasonable thing, she focused on the problem at hand. Popular folk figures were trying to kill her and years of training had taught her that in these circumstances the appropriate response was to fight back at her full capacities.

She fired an arrow aimed at Jack Frost but the fierce wind knocked her shot of target, she cursed under her breath for not considering that.

Meanwhile Artair was doing his best to knock the attackers of balance, he charged them but the Easter Bunny was right behind him seemingly matching him in speed. For every step he took the rabbit leaped twice and so he never managed to outmaneuver him.

Merida looked at the three figures in front of her, there was no way she could beat them at the same time, she gulped when she heard something smashing through the woods behind her.

It was Duncan! He was swinging an enormous log as a weapon and caught North straight in the stomach. The jolly fat man fell behind with a grunt.

-Sorrylateweare- Duncan apologized –Alrightareye?-

-Ae am belter now laddie- She answered feeling a bit awkward, she had never really called Duncan cute nicknames during their relationship.

While Duncan and Artair engaged North, the Sandman and Bunnymund; the redhead stared at Jack and Toothiana, her muscles tensing with anticipation.

The pale boy got into a battle stance wielding his staff forward and smiling confidently -I´ll make you a deal- he said –I´ll let you have the first move-

Toothiana grabbed one of her feathers and pulled it off, as soon as it left her body the feather became stiff and sharp as a sword.

Without hesitating Merida ran towards Jack and jumped attempting to knee him in the face, the guardian however stepped aside and fired a bolt of blue energy that froze the ground under Merida´s feet. She slipped and fell, then felt Toothiana´s sword against her neck –Give up child- she said warmly –You´ve lost-

The highlander wouldn´t give up that easily though, in a single fluid motion she rolled away from the fairies' reach and sprang back to her feet. The connected a roundhouse kick straight at the woman's ribs, who fell to the ground clutching her side in pain.

Suddenly a voice from within the woods yelled at Merida –The staff lass! Et´s the staff! - It was Andhra and Merida would never ignore an advice from him.

She raised her right foot as high as she could and the brought it down violently over Jack´s head, the boy tried to block the blow with the staff which shattered.

But it was too soon to call it a victory; the Easter Bunny had apparently defeated Artair and the Sandman had bested Duncan. Her friends were lying on the snow unconscious and to make matters worse, now the rabbit was throwing his boomerangs at Merida who barely had time to dodge one, two, three times the fourth hit her hard on the forehead opening a deep cut.

Everything was spinning out of control; she fell on all fours and looked up. The five figures looked at her.

The small man was waving at his partners too fast for Merida to understand what he meant.

-I think you´re right Sandy- Jack Frost stated –This guys are good but I don´t think they´re the ones we´re looking for-

-They´re not- a sixth voice interrupted. It was a boy´s voice but Merida couldn´t locate its owner until she looked up…she almost passed away.

An enormous black shadow was blocking out the morning sun above them, it looked almost like…a bat? No, that wasn´t right, the outline was much more elegant and defined and it´s flight was way more controlled than the erratic pattern of a bat.

The answer came to her, the word forming itself in her mind, a word she had once known but had been buried deep inside her imagination…dragon.