Staring into what passed for her breakfast, it would be fair to say that Rayla was in a rather cranky mood.
"First all the food falls in a lake, and then most of what's left goes through the ice…"
Callum, sitting next to her as they waited for Ezran's fever to break, wasn't in much of a better mood. "Well, why don't I go and get something satisfying?"
"I dunno. Sounds like a really good idea for a human to have."
"Well, milady, we're in the middle of a blasted mountain range, and I have no idea where a settlement is."
"Really? Mr I don't need a map of Katolis has no idea where we are?"
"Actually, no, he doesn't, Miss World's greatest elven scout."
Prodding at his bowl, which contained a roughly equal amount of melted snow, soggy bread and what was left of their last frozen fish, Callum just sighed.
"And now we're fighting."
Rayla just hung her head. "I'm cold, you're cold, and we're both hungry as a shadowpaw."
"Want to hear a joke?"
Rayla couldn't help but crack a smile, knowing that whatever was coming would be atrocious.
"Oh, go on then."
"What's the difference between a King and a Emperor?"
"I dunno."
"A king still gets to shave himself."
"That wasn't a joke, was it."
"No."
Rayla grinned, trying to ignore how good sitting right next to Callum was starting to feel, and the urge to put an arm around his shoulder.
"You know, we do have one option… if we want something hot and filling…"
"How do you mean?" Callum asked.
Rayla pointed at Bait, who was serving as Ezran's stomach-warmer.
"That bloody frog drank all my moonberry juice, and then caused the avalanche."
Callum looked over at the glow-toad, unable to avoid the stirrings of temptation.
"It would be warm…" He sighed. "But Ez and Dad would be heartbroken."
"Oh, I dinno. If we told them how much trouble he'd been…"
"We're not eating Bait. And I thought you were against eating animals."
"I was. But right now, I'm cold, hungry and really, really want something decent to eat."
"When Ez wakes up, there should be a settlement nearby."
"Hang on, there's a settlement nearby? Why didn't you say?"
"Because we need to wait for Ez."
"Oh… right."
They sat there, not quite leaning against each other for warmth.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Uh… hey guys. Did we get the egg back?"
"You did it, Ez." Callum said, rustling his little brother's hair.
As they looked over at the egg, both of them noticed that it was definitely dimmer than previously.
"Rayla…" Callum asked, the rest of the question going unspoken.
"No, I know nothing about dragons. Or dragon eggs. We need someone who knows about animals."
"That village should have a vet." Callum mused.
"Then that's where we'll head."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Before they had quite reached the edge of the village, Callum stopped walking.
"Uh, Rayla."
"Yeah?"
"You do remember that elves really aren't welcome in Katolis, right?"
"No problem." Rayla said, slightly airily, as if she'd anticipated the current issue, before diving into Ezran's bag and pulling out her long, hooded cloak. "Get ready to meet… Human Rayla!"
"Yeah, I'm not sure that's gonna cut it." Callum replied, as Rayla stood there with her hands on her hips.
"Just wait. Once I pair my disguise with my perfect human impression, the illusion will be complete."
Callum just gave her a 'You've got to be kidding me' look.
"Greetin's, fella humans, human fellas. Ah sure do like hangin' out with other humans." As she spoke, she crossed over to Callum, prodding him several times with her elbow as he crossed his arms and refused to look at her. Putting her arm around his shoulder, she continued.
"And talking about things like money, an' startin' wars."
"That's… pretty good, actually." Ezran commented, as she posed dramatically with her cape.
"Totally, my good human friend. Bring it in. High four!"
Ezran high-four/fived her, while Callum just raised a finger.
"Uh, can you impersonate a fifth finger?"
Rayla gave her four-fingered hands a look. "Right… right… I need some kind of a hand disguise."
Glancing around, she spotted a snowman, right on the fringes of the settlement.
"Look, snow elf!"
"I'm pretty sure that's a snow-man." Ezran commented, as Rayla made a beeline for the snow figure, quickly stripping it of its gloves while using it as cover.
"Hand disguise!" Rayla announced, after pulling on the gloves, right before the pinky fingers flopped. She gave them a 'How could you?' look of bafflement, before wafting them back and forth several times.
"Just don't shake hands with anyone." Callum said, before leading the way into the settlement.
Behind him, he was pretty sure he heard someone snapping a carrot, followed by the scrunching of snow, and the words 'Snow elf' being uttered. He smiled. When Rayla forgot to be serious, she was… his brain came to a slight halt when he realised the word he'd been about to use was 'Cute'.
No, definitely not thinking that. No way.
He shook his head, and moved on.
After a few minutes searching, they found a barn with a heart-shaped sign outside showing a horse and dog head. "Look! Do you think this is some kind of animal doctor?"
"I think so. Or... A dating service for pets."
"Probably an animal doctor. But that's a good idea, right Bait?"
Bait made a growling noise that sounded moderately frustrated, before turning purple.
Inside the barn were two rows of stables, with an older man standing at the end.
Hearing the door open, he called "I'll be right with you."
Rayla took a seat to one side of the door, while Callum and Ezran approached.
As the kindly looking human finished with the gray horse he was looking at, he turned, and, from a distance, quickly examined Bait, who let out a grumble.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." He said, gently, looking at the glow toad. "There's nothing I can do for that poor creature."
"Oh no, no no no. He's fine." Callum said. "We have, uh, a different problem."
Meanwhile, Ezran was crossing over to the gray horse. Placing a hand on his nose, he asked. "Oh, what happened to you, little sweetie?"
It whinnied in response.
"Oh, you saw something so scary, didn't you?"
"She sure did." The doctor replied. "This one ran away up the Cursed Caldera. Whatever she saw, she's lucky it only scared her. Won't make that mistake again. So, what can I help you with?"
Callum and Ezran glanced at each other, then Rayla, before pulling the egg out of Ezran's backpack, and handing it to him.
"I've never seen one of these before. Only pictures in books. I'll do what I can."
The doctor dipped his head, before tapping the egg several times, listening to whatever noises came from inside the egg.
"I do hear a heartbeat."
"That's good, right?" Ezran asked.
"It's faint, and slow." He looked up from the egg, sadly. "I'm afraid it's dying. I don't know what I can do to save it. I'm so sorry."
"No, there has to be something you can do!" Ezran objected. "Anything! Please..." Before throwing his arms around the dimming egg.
"Come on, Ez. Let's go." Callum said dejectedly, wrapping an arm around his younger brother.
As they were about to leave, the doctor called to them from behind.
"Wait!" He said. "I'm hesitant to tell you about this, because it might be incredibly dangerous. There was a miracle that happened a few years ago. But it happened... On the cursed Caldera. There's someone you should meet."
He conducted them quickly through the snowy streets, before knocking on the door of a large house. It was answered by a girl around Ezran's age, wearing a fur cap.
"These boys need to hear about your miracle." The doctor said. "I'll be at my surgery if you need anything."
"I'm Ellis!" She said, after a moment. "And this is my sweetie wolf, Ava!"
The wolf moved in, and the two nuzzled each other, making cooing noises.
"The doctor's right. There was a miracle. I still don't really understand how it happened. But I do know this: Without it, Ava would be dead. Two years ago, I found her in the woods, when she was just a little cub. Somehow, she'd gotten herself caught in a hunter's trap. Her front paw was crushed in the rusty metal jaws, and she was scared. But she still had fight in her. I got her free and took her back to the village. But things got worse, and her leg had to be amputated. After that... My father wanted to put her down because she wouldn't be accepted back by her pack. I took her where no-one would follow us: up the slope of the Cursed Caldera. It was like the legends said: The higher you climbed, the more terrifying the creatures that lurked in the shadows. But we kept going. We found a cave and crawled inside. I tried to make Ava feel better, but inside, I knew all was lost. That's when it happened. A woman suddenly appeared in the cave. She said Ava was beautiful and reached out her hands to take her. I told her that she was hurt as she took her. She said Ava was perfect, and there was a glow. I couldn't see, but when the light faded, Ava had all four of her legs again. She came galloping over to me, and I hugged her so hard. When I looked around, the woman was gone. As I cuddled Ava, I noticed she was wearing a new collar with a gemstone on it."
Ellis finished her story by hugging the wolf again.
"We have to find this miracle healer." Callum said, as Ezran jumped to his feet. Rayla was a few moments behind. "If she can save a cub's missing paw..."
"Maybe she can save a dragon egg." Ezran completed.
"Wait, a what?" Ellis asked, jumping down from her own chair.
Callum stammered a couple of excuses.
At roughly that moment, several more kids bundled into the house. Rayla eyed one of them rather sceptically, as they looked very human. Kneeling down next to them briefly, as the rest bundled on top of Ava, she muttered "tha d' adhaircean a' nochdadh." The kid flinched and patted themselves on the top of their head. "feuch ri coimhead beagan nas lugha na cuibheasachd an ath thuras." Rayla said, before standing back up. "agus cuimhnich nach eil falt daonna a' deàrrsadh cho mòr."
As Callum watched the miniature riot, he noticed a slight glow from the bag containing the egg where it was resting against his backpack. Curious, he fished out the primal stone, and was surprised when the glow faded. Without hesitation, he dropped the primal stone into the bag with the egg, satisfied by the sudden glow. Ezran was now fully embroiled in what looked like a game of tag, humans Vs wolf.
"Ez!" He called, before waiting for his brother to emerge. "Can you and Ellis get us some supplies? She'll know where to buy things."
"Uh, sure. What are you going to do?"
"I was thinking that me and Rayla could get a bite to eat. If she wants to, of course..." Callum added hastily.
"Oh, I don't know... I could eat a shadowpaw, but..." She broke down laughing at the look on Callum's face. "Of course, I'll let you buy me dinner." She then went bright red when she realised what she'd said. "After all, someone has to stop you getting attacked by a fearsome squirrel again."
"I thought we'd agreed not to bring the squirrel up again." Callum shot back.
"Is this a date?" Ez asked.
Both teenagers went bright red and began stuttering.
"Well, see you when we've got the supplies."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
After a brief stroll through the snowy village, Callum and Rayla found the tavern, a stout building carrying the sign of 'The Black Prince.'
"Well, looks like this is it." Callum said, before Rayla barged inside, stamping the snow from her boots.
"Don't catch yer death of cold, now!" She called, as he followed her inside, smiling.
Taking a seat at one of the smaller tables towards the back of the room, the two quickly browsed the fairly minimalist menu.
"Is there anythin' in the 'Hunters Stew' yer'd recommend I avoid giving a miss?" Rayla asked.
"Er… Rayla, that contains meat."
"And I'm absolutely bloody famished, haven't had a warm meal for three days, and have spent two of them on a snowy mountain! Right now, I'd eat just about anythin'!"
Callum wisely let the matter drop, before heading over to the bar and ordering a pair of hunter's stew, and a flagon of small beer to share.
"Is this different to home?"
"You know, it actually isn't that different. I mean, full of… people… more than home is, but it's actually pretty much the same. Lots of people trying to just… live."
"If we do make it to your home, is there anything you're missing?"
"I cannot wait to share a moonberry surprise with you. Although perhaps I'll get myself one, and you can share another with Ezran. After all, I'm the one doing all the work."
"You mean climbing trees, posing in them, and discovering that there are berries in Katolis that make you come out in rashes?"
"That were once! And I thought we'd agreed never to mention that again."
"Well, you did bring up the squirrel…"
They both started laughing.
"I'm curious, though…" Callum said, after a moment. "When I tied you up… sorry, by the way, again…" he stammered. "Why didn't you escape?"
Rayla looked at him for a moment. "Just cos I'm… a… you know… doesn't mean I can do anythin'. I couldn't move me arms enough to get free."
Callum turned red for a moment. "Oh… I… uh… have no intention of doing that again."
"Why not?" Rayla said, wickedly, watching as the human's entire face tuned more or less the same colour as his staff, and he choked on his drink. She started cackling as he stammered out a confused jumble of vowels and consonants. "Humans need to breath, don't they?"
After a couple more minutes, their bowls were mostly empty, and Rayla was trying to pretend that she hadn't actually liked the taste of hunter's stew. There was a sudden draft of cold air, as the tavern door slammed open, and a group of six or so rough looking men swaggered inside. They made their way straight over to Rayla and Callum's table.
"'Ere, wots all this? A posh noble in our humble tavern? Honoured to make yer acquaintance, Squire. Don't know if nobody told you, but this place gets real rough at times. Not somewhere for a nobleman to be hanging around. You might accidentally get hurt." One of them said, looming over the table.
"This place looks fine." Callum said, shifting awkwardly in his seat.
"Maybe you didn't hear me clearly." The tough said, increasing his looming quotient. "This isn't a place for people like you. And if you stay here, you might get hurt."
"Rayla, we're going." Callum said, sizing up the six wardrobe sized toughs, and their slightly unkempt state of dress.
"I haven't finished my ale yet." Rayla replied, not even looking at them.
"Seriously." He said, reaching under her cloak and grabbing her arm. "Let's go."
They got halfway to the door before one of them said "Hey, darlin'… if you tire of the pretty boy and want a real man, I'm right here!"
Callum stiffened but kept dragging Rayla in the direction of the door. His entire goal was to get out without a scene.
When they got to the door, however, Rayla pulled her hand free, and pushed in front of him, before reaching for the deadbolts.
"Modhan…" she said, snapping the first into place as the entire tavern stilled.
"a' Dèanamh…" The second deadbolt slammed into place.
"Duine." The final bolt rattled into place. "Do ye know what that means?"
"It means you're in a world of hurt, Girlie!" the spokesthug said, dropping Callum's ale mug on the floor.
"Nah." Rayla said, picking up a walking stick from by the door. "It means you are!"
Dropping her own ale mug, she swung the walking stick, smacking the thick pewter vessel across the room straight into the thug's face, dropping him like a rather smelly tree.
The other five thugs paused for a moment, before charging Rayla as a body.
The first caught the walking stick straight in the solar plexus, dropping him to the floor, gasping in pain as he tried to get his breath back.
Two came in roughly at the same time. Rayla leant out of the way of a haymaker, which slammed straight into the face of the other thug attacking her, knocking him into the bar. A strike to the head with the walking stick sent the thug who'd thrown the punch stumbling into a table.
As the thug she'd winded came back at her, she noticed a flash of silver, and pulled him into the way of a folding hunting knife, before kicking his feet out from under him, and dodging a haymaker from another thug, who'd been furthest back when the fight started.
The thug who'd been hit in the head with the walking stick lunged at her from behind with a knife, which she ducked, before disarming him and pulling him close, before spinning again to use the stick to parry and disarm the thug who'd hit the bar, before lunging at her with a knife. He grabbed a bottle from the bar after being kicked in the ribs. This time, she kicked him a little lower, and he collapsed to the ground.
As two of the previously floored thugs retained their feet, she used the walking stick as leverage to slam one of them head-first into the other, knocking them both unconscious. The first knifeman then came back in, before being briefly fenced with, disarmed, and thrown upside down into the bar.
The final standing thug came at her again with a knife, only to be hit in the face with the walking stick, kicked in the fork, and slammed to the ground, all in a single blur of movement.
"Rayla, down!" Callum shouted. She obeyed, instantly, recognising the urgency in his voice, before a large knife whistled past her face, missing by an inch, and tugging at her hood. She cartwheeled forward, before hitting the man between the legs using the walking stick and posing on top of him.
She turned around at the sound of a door slamming, to realise that they were now alone in the bar.
Then she felt a draft around her ears, and turned around.
"When he threw the knife…" Callum confirmed.
"Well, the Pandorums out of the bag." She said, as the sound of an angry mob surrounding the tavern began to build.
"Rayla… just let me handle this." Callum said. "I'm sure we can reason with them."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Oh, sure, the dumb human prince can reason with the angry, elf hating mob." Rayla commented, trying to find a position to stand in that was remotely comfortable."
"At least they only threw us in the pillory." Callum responded. "As opposed to, say, hanging both of us from the nearest tree."
"Oh, give them time. I'm sure they'll get round to it."
"I'm sure that the mayor really was planning to write to Castle Katolis."
"And in the meantime, we're both locked in this fucking contraption, in the snow, outside, in the cold, and completely at the mercy of any human who decides he doesn't like elves."
"Can't you get us out of it?"
"I mean, sure, I can pick locks. It would help if I could actually reach my lockpicks, and we weren't shackled in this device, and if the padlock keeping the dumb thing shut wasn't on the dumb human's side of the device. You know, the one who tried to negotiate with an angry mob and who, even if I did give him the lockpicks, couldn't pick a lock to quite literally save his life!"
Callum just sighed. Something told him this was going to be a very long night.
Translations:
"Tha d' adhaircean a' nochdadh. Feuch ri coimhead beagan nas lugha na cuibheasachd an ath thuras. Agus cuimhnich nach eil falt daonna a' deàrrsadh cho mòr.": "Your horns are showing. Try to look a little less average next time. And remember that human hair doesn't shine that brightly."
"Modhan a' Dèanamh Duine" : "Manners... make... the man..."
AN: I'd spent a little while planning this chapter. Hopefully, it hits the right notes. I'd like to thank Snowy Monday, MarauderPrime12, TheFranninator and Dragon Lord Draco for posting reviews, and encourage anyone with thoughts about this story to do so.