Author's Note: Sorry this took a while. It's hard trying to find a villain song for Viren in this circumstance. I had a different one before, but I decided against it. I think this is much better.

The song featured here is a parody of "Nothing Good" from the Netflix show, Centaurworld.

Any and all comments are welcome.

As the air got thinner, Callum, Ezran, Rayla, and Genie realized they had lost the angry mob and they were partly up the Cursed Caldera. They stopped to take a breath.

"I think we're safe." Callum said.

"Guys, this place is creepy." Ezran said.

"So does anyone have any ideas?" Rayla asked.

"Ooh. A blanket with sleeves?" Genie cried out. He was then interrupted by a telephone ringing sound coming from his hand. "One moment." He held his hand to the side of his head as if it was a telephone. "Hello? …WHAT?! What do you mean someone already came up with that idea?! It's hard to be original in this economy!"

"Genie, I meant ideas for finding this miracle healer." Rayla groaned.

"Oh. Maybe they know."

Genie pointed up at a pile of rocks and a large figure perched on top. The light revealed it to be the girl and her pet wolf who the boys met in the village.

"Hey, guys." Ellis greeted.

"Who's this?" Rayla asked.

"Me? I'm Ellis. And this is Ava. She's a wolf."

"Wolf? You don't say." Rayla said sarcastically. "I thought she might be a bird." Ava licked the side of Rayla's head making her cringe.

"Right. I should have introduced you guys." Callum said. "Ellis, this is Rayla. We originally met because… Well, she broke into our castle on a mission to kill Ezran. But it doesn't matter. We're past all that now."

"And this is our genie, Genie." Ezran introduced. "He came out of this oil lamp my dad gave me as a gift."

"People meet in so many interesting ways." Ellis said.

"Well, now that we completed our introductions, how do we find this healer?" Rayla asked.

"Truth is, I never found her. She found us." Ellis said. "We were hiding in a big, twisty, hollow tree up near the rim."

"Then we need to get to that tree." Callum said. "Even if it takes all night."

"Normally, I wouldn't listen to little girls riding on wolves, especially after the Red Riding Hood incident," Genie said, "But Ellis seems like a good kid."

"Wait a second." Rayla said. "That's all we have to go on? A weird tree where this miracle worker showed up two years ago?"

"It's our only chance." Callum said. "Got a better idea?"

"As a matter of fact… I do not. Suddenly, that 'blanket with sleeves' idea sounds handy in this case."

"Once we get to the tree, the healer will find us there and she'll save your egg." Ellis said.

"And maybe she can help your hand." Callum said to Rayla.

"Don't worry about my hand. The egg is all that matters right now."

"The Cursed Caldera. The final frontier. These are the voyages of royal kids, a handsome genie, an elf, a girl, and a wolf. It's a time sensitive mission: to find a miracle healer to save our dragon egg! To boldly go where no one has gone before!"

"Genie, do you mind?" Callum asked.

The group stopped at a cliffside clearing. They took the moment to look at the blazing sunset over the horizon.

"It's so beautiful." Ellis said. "It's like the sky is painted with honey. Too bad it also means the nightmares are about to begin."

"What do you mean nightmares?" Rayla asked.

"Oh, you know. Enormous monsters and indescribable terrors. Stuff like that."

"Why do I have a feeling things are going to get scary?" Ezran asked.

"Maybe it's because I'm doing this." Genie said playing ominous music on a stringed instrument he had with him.

"Sounds like we're going to need a plan." Callum said.

"How do you plan for something that's indescribable?" Rayla asked.

Suddenly, Callum's eyes lit up and a smile flashed on his face. "I got it! Flash! Woof! Whoosh! Slish-slash!" Everyone stared at his excited face with barely anything to say.

"Is he okay?" Ellis asked.

"I think he's finally cracked under the pressure." Rayla answered.

"I haven't cracked." Callum said. "That's the name of the plan. Ezran, you have the first job. You hold Bait in the air so he can flash and blind whatever monster we encounter. That's Flash."

"But then I'm not doing anything." Ezran said. "I'm just holding up Bait."

"You're support. Every team needs a great support." Callum said. "Ellis, you're next. Ava will bark and you'll ride around in circles barking to confuse the monster. That's Woof."

"What do you think, Ava?" Ellis giggled. "Do you think you can run around and bark a lot?" Ava barked happily. "She's ready."

"Then it's my turn." Callum said. "I'll use my wind breath spell for Whoosh."

"You're going to use magic?" Ellis asked excitedly.

"Oh, it's just a simple rune." Callum said. "Just this thing I picked up. No big deal."

"All it's going to do is blow on the monster." Rayla said. "It'll barely ruffle its fur."

"On the bright side, it'll do great for flying our kites." Genie said pulling out a collection of colorful kites.

"Look, it's either the wind spell or half of the lightning spell. Specifically, the half that doesn't shoot out of my fingertips."

"The monster won't know what hit it." Ezran said. "Oh, wait. It will know what hit it. It'll be wind."

"Anyway," Callum continued, "Rayla, you're last. You're the finisher. You'll take the blinded, distracted, windblown monster down with your blades. Slish-slash."

"My hand is in pretty bad shape." Rayla said waving her bruised hand. "I'm only going to use one blade."

"Okay, no problem. We'll revise. You're just Slash."

"No way. That won't work. The other hand's my Slish hand."

"Really?"

"No, not really, dummy." Just then, a thought entered Rayla's mind that made her gasp out a smile. "Callum, you are a dummy, but you're not a fool!"

"Am I supposed to feel flattered by that comment?" Callum asked.

"You said that Claudia called you fool when you interrupted her lightning spell, but I'll bet she was actually saying 'fulminis'. It's the Draconic word for lightning."

"So if Fulminis is the trigger word…"

"Then you know the spell for lightning!" Ezran finished. "That will make your part a lot more effective."

"All right!" Callum said. "Revised plan. Flash! Woof! Zap! Slash!"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Genie waved his hand up like a second-grader who eagerly wants to talk. "Callum! What about me? What's my part?"

"Oh, right. Genie, I was actually thinking about making you the secret weapon. You can't really help unless we wish you to, and we should only make a wish if we have to."

"Oh. I see." Genie said.

"I don't get it." Ellis said. "If you have wishes, why don't you wish for the egg to get better?"

"It's a dragon egg." Rayla explained. "Genie magic doesn't effect dragons."

"In that case, I might as well get on with my nap." Genie said. "If you need me, I'll be resting up in my sardine can." In a whiff of smoke, he whisked back into his lamp.

"Is he going to be okay?" Ellis asked.

"He'll be better later." Ezran said.

"Well, let's get going." Callum said as he continued up the mountain with his friends.

Long story short, the plan didn't work out as well as expected. As soon as the kids came across a large leech monster, they immediately panicked and executed the plan in the wrong order. And what's worse, when Callum decided to summon Genie, he tripped and dropped the lamp. Before he could get it back, the leech chased him away from it. The group fled to the tops of different trees.

For a good few minutes, the kids had a heart-to-heart with each other. Ezran made Rayla feel better about not being an assassin and Ellis assured Callum that he would be amazing even without his primal stone.

Once there was no sign of the leech, the kids returned to the ground. They were sure the coast was clear, but they were then proven wrong when the leech surprised them. This time, the plan went off without a hitch. Ezran raised Bait up to flash at the leech, Ellis and Ava woofed and ran around it, Callum cast his first lightning spell to zap it, and Rayla finished it off with a good slash to its neck. The leech was beheaded and everyone finally rested.

"So is it dead?" Ezran asked.

"I think so." Callum said.

"Of course it's dead." Rayla said. "I cut its…" She was interrupted by the ear-splitting squeals coming from the monster's corpse.

Everyone suddenly became afraid when thousands of baby leeches squirmed out of their mother's severed head. And what made them even more horrendous was that they had wings. Rayla panicked as they began to surround her body.

"HELP! HELP ME!"

Callum looked around and found the bronze oil lamp. He rolled over to grab it and rubbed its side roughly. "Genie, I wish you would get rid of those things attacking Rayla!"

Genie whisked out of the lamp's nozzle and what he carried was a large vaccume. He pointed it and pressed its on-button. "Suck this!" With a strong pull, all the winged leeches broke off from Rayla and into Genie's machine. In only a second, they were all sucked right in.

Rayla took a moment to give a deep breath. "Thank you, Genie. You really helped."

"Yes." Genie changed into Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, but with blue fur instead of orange. He bounced around on his tail excitedly. "Helping is what genies do the best. Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!"

Mirage roared in frustration as she threw a goblet full of wine at the wall. She glared her cat eyes back at the projection of the kids at the Cursed Caldera.

"That irritating genie! I sent that cursed leech to delay them, but it barely did much! At this rate…" She stopped her ranting and took a breath. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter anyway. Those kids have no idea how much their troubles have been in vain."

Back at the royal castle, Viren has been interrogating Runaan, the elf leader. He wished to consult him on a certain relic in his possession, but Runaan wouldn't humor him. He already accepted death, so nothing Viren did would phase him. Since then, Viren promised to find something Runaan feared more than death.

Viren returned to Runaan's cell with a large object covered in a blanket. "In a moment, I will remove this cover and you will tell me what you know. Understood?" Runaan gave no answer. He remained where he was, chained with his arms up. Viren held up a pouch full of coins and waved it in front of the eld. "I've brought something I hope you will find motivating."

Runaan scoffed at the pouch. "You're more foolish than I thought. Don't you know only humans can be bribed?"

"Oh, it's not a bribe. It's more of a threat." Viren opened the pouch and poured out the coins inside. "Go on. Take a closer look."

Runaan glanced at the coins only for his expression to be surprised and disgusted at once. His heart was twisted at what he was seeing. "You're a monster."

"You're mistaken. I'm a pragmatist." Viren arose and removed the sheet revealing the same full-length mirror he had been obsessed with. "Tell me what you know about this relic or I will seal your fate."

Runaan looked at the mirror and suddenly, his fear became greater than it had been when he saw the coins. "You have succeeded."

"Have I?" Viren asked.

"That mirror? You have found something worse than death."

"Then tell me." Viren demanded. "What is it?"

"I will never help you!" Runaan hissed. "If you value your life and the life of your face, you will discard that mirror! In your hands, it will only be used for unspeakable evil!"

Viren sighed. "Why is it so hard for everyone to understand? What I'm doing isn't evil, it is necessary." He picked up his staff and began to cast projections to visualize his incoming argument. "You are much too naïve to understand what I have to do.

Viren:

I'm not a villain

With an evil plan

Or ill intent

I'm just willin'

To do what I can

For mankind's ascent

Humanity can't evolve with a shield

But no sword

Sometimes, we have to think ahead

So we can move forward

No more border

No more holding back

To survive, we must be ready to kill

We'll have order

When we counterattack

The right choice needs a strong will

Whoever chooses to follow their heart

Will be remembered as a fool

Sometimes, in order to be kind

You just have to be cruel

So…

NO MORE BORDER

NO MORE HOLDING BACK

TO SURVIVE, WE MUST BE READY TO KILL

Runaan:

This is still evil

Viren:

No

THE RIGHT CHOICE NEEDS A STRONG…

WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILL

Viren then pointed his staff to cast his spell on Runaan.

Just outside of Runaan's cell, there were three prisoners—Gren, Abis Mal, and Haroud. The bandits had their own cell while General Amaya's right-hand man was shackled to the wall so he would stay out of Viren's way. They were quiet most of the time, but the silence was broken by Runaan's screaming. The elf leader's agony shook the three to their very cores.

"Haroud, I'm scared." Abis Mal confessed.

Once the screaming stopped, Viren emerged from the room, but his appearance was certainly frightening. The high mage's eyes were black and hollow and his skin was pale and ghastly. The sight of his demonic form made everyone uneasy.

"Sweet mother of… What's wrong with you?" Abis Mal screamed.

"Oh. This?" Viren asked rubbing his cheek. "That's just a side effect of using my magic. Nothing a good treatment won't fix. The elf on the other hand…" He held up a small, golden coin. "I always seem to capture the same expression. Defiance, giving way to fear."

Viren held the coin for everyone to see. Much to everyone's fear, it revealed to have Runaan's face on it and it was moving. It was clear what had happened: Viren trapped Runaan in the coin.

"Okay. That's quite disturbing." Abis Mal said.

"He wasn't useful anymore." Viren said. "I ask him about one mirror that I took from the Dragon King's nest, and he wouldn't answer."

"A mirror?" Haroud asked. He stood and approached the door. "My lord, if it means that much to you, why don't you let me and my partner take a look at it?"

"What?" Viren asked.

"What?" Abis Mal repeated.

"It's true." Haroud said. "Believe it or not, Abis Mal and I pulled off some surprising jobs in Xadia. We know a few tricks. If you give us some time looking at this mirror, I'm sure we can find out what it's for."

Viren glared his hollow eyes before walking up the stairs. He didn't yet leave before giving his answer. "I'll think about it."

"Haroud," Abis Mal said, "You really think we can find out about this stupid mirror? We're not exactly the biggest experts in dragon culture. We just went to Xadia to take some loot."

"I don't know if we can pull it off." Haroud answered. "But this might give us the opportunity to escape."

"Oh. Good plan. Glad I thought of it."

Haroud sighed. "You're a mastermind, sir."

"There it is!" Ellis called out. "That's the tree!" She pointed up the mountain just a kilometer away. There was a tree there with a very hollow opening.

Genie materialized a telescope and used it to zoom into the tree. Once it was inside, he bent it to search everything. He then sent it back.

"Didn't see anyone there."

"Well, I had to be inside of the tree for her to show up." Ellis said.

"Then let's go." Callum said. "We're almost there. We just have to get up to the rim, find the healer, and save the egg."

Ezran smiled, but became surprised when he heard Ava's whine. Her whimpering made Ezran's heart break as if he had lost all hope.

"Oh, no."

"What?" Callum asked. "What is it?"

"I have really bad news." Ezran walked a couple of feet before turning to his friends. His heart sunk when he delivered his message. "Even if we make it to the rim, it doesn't matter. There is no miracle healer."