The Dagger and the Wolf Part 1:

By the time it was nightfall, the group had found a cave deep in the mountains and had built a fire. Ezran was wrapped in Carol's blue cloak near the fire, keeping warm. Willow was sneezing a bit. Felix and Bait curled up together, the latter under the former's tail. Raylan knelt in front of the egg wrapped in his cape in Ezran's rucksack; the colours were dimming too visibly that he felt a deep pit forming in his stomach.

Carol placed her knapsack under Ezran's head to be a pillow. "Is that more comfortable?"

"It's good thanks," Ezran sneezed and a bit of snot came out his nose.

His sister pulled out a tissue and he wiped himself clean. "You guys stay here and keep yourselves and the egg warm. I'll go look for some berries and more wood,"

"I'll come with you," Raylan offered.

"You don't need you. Your hands…"

"Two hands are better than one," he insisted.

"Okay. But don't overwork your hands,"

They walked out of the cave and into the forest where the snow fell gently; Carol carried a lantern that she had sparked with the lightning spell. Raylan was quite impressed with her use of spells. They came to a berry bush. "These are perfect," As a lover of books, Carol knew the difference between bad and good berries. She picked a bunch of red ones and then placed them into one of her belt pouches.

Raylan assisted her, trying his best to ignore the agonizing discomfort of his purple hands.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry," he spoke gently. "I shouldn't have called you a 'step-princess'. Especially in an insolent way,"

"It's okay Raylan. I shouldn't have…"

"No. It's not okay," he shook his head. She looked at him, surprised by his tone of guilt and regret. "Your siblings told me that you ran away because everyone kept calling you that. That they constantly made you feel like you didn't belong with your family just because you were your dad's stepdaughter and you were different from them. But the truth is you're amazing just the way you are. I've seen how you've cared for Ezran and Willow and that egg and you saved my life from your aunt. I was wrong to be a big jerk to you these last few nights and I'm sorry for that,"

Carol was touched by his genuine apology. She had never realised how heartfelt such regret could feel when one spoke it with deep sincerity. "I'm sorry too, Raylan, for my mistakes," she apologised, reflecting on her mistakes too. "Maybe we can both start over. And from now on try to respect each other's decisions,"

Raylan smiled and nodded; she went back to picking berries. "Thanks. How did you do that amazing ice skating by the way?"

Carol stared and blinked at him. "You saw me?"

"Ezran and I saw you skating down that ice bridge you must have made and…you twirled like a professional dancer in the air. And the way you rescued Willow from those wolves and then did those sharp turns to dodge them…" Raylan had never been more amazed than he had felt in his life; he felt awkward just expressing it to her. "What you did was magnificent,"

Carol blinked again. Then she felt her face flatter and her insides jiggle around for joy. "Thank you. I taught myself how to skate. We ice skate together every winter at the Banther Lodge and when no one's looking, I try out new tricks,"

"Well, your ice skating saved Willow and the egg," he said proudly. His smile dropped. "Until I dropped it," he lamented.

"It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have passed it to you. The egg will be okay. We're gonna save it," she spoke positively. "We just have to keep it warm and hope for the better,"

Raylan was motivated by her conviction. "I have something that belongs to you," he reached into his pocket and pulled out her ruby pendant. Carol's hands flew to her mouth. "I know you won't believe this but I…kind of tried to save you that day we met before you fell into the river. And when I reached to grab you, I grabbed your necklace instead and it ripped off and I wanted to…" Raylan was interrupted by an abrupt embrace.

"Thank you," she sniffled. "Thank you so much,"

Raylan though shocked by her act of compassion slowly hugged her back; he enjoyed it.

She pulled back and clipped it back around her neck where it belong. "Thank you," She meant it with all her heart. "I don't know what I'd do without it. Did your family give you your pendant?' she pointed to Raylan's only piece of jewellery.

"My mother gave this to me the day she and my father left me to join the Dragonguard,"

"It's beautiful,"

"It's a real moon opal. I wore it for many years. But then I took it off when everyone accused my parents of being cowards. I guess I was afraid of carrying the shame that they were now carrying even though I knew they were innocent. But I regret doing that now,"

"At least you've kept it with you for years," she consoled. "That's important. I'm sorry about how insecure you've been feeling but I promise you, all will be right,"

"You don't have to worry about that," Raylan said. "What's important is we get that egg back to Xadia, once it gets better,"

Inside the cave, Willow and Ezran curled up together near the fire with Felix and Bait. Felix loved to cuddled by his person's siblings; they were like family to him too. And Bait loved to be snuggled like a teddy bear near him because his red fur kept him warm.

Ezran lifted Carol's sketchbook. "Do you think she'll mind if we look through?"

"She won't mind," said Willow. They flicked through the page. They saw pictures of woodlands and landscapes and Katolis. Their family and Felix and magical symbols. And then in the centre of the book, their mother: Sarai with her round crown and her long plait over her left shoulder.

Their faces shrivelled. They were so young when she died that they couldn't remember anything about her. Willow touched her face wishing she could look as beautiful as her. "You know Ez…when you fell through that ice, Carol and I were so scared. I was afraid we were gonna lose you. Like we lost her,"

Ez hugged her close. "But you both didn't. We're all together and that's what matters. I was so scared I lost you both too in the avalanche,"

"Do you think mum was watching over us?" his sister wondered.

Ezran didn't know. "I don't know. If she knew what she was doing, she'd be very proud of us. I wish she was here with us, with dad too,"

"But she is," Willow smiled. "Her spirit lives in our sister," she gazed at the picture seeing both their Sarai and Caroline on the same paper.

Ezran got the picture as he stared at the beautiful drawing. "You're right. We never had her. But we had Carol. "She would be so proud of her above all,"

They heard footsteps and they saw Carol and Raylan enter the cave with sticks in their arms. Carol bent forward and placed some of them in.

Raylan saw the sketchbook. "She's beautiful. She looks just like you Carol. Is that your mother?"

Carol flicked her head up and she saw her siblings had opened her sketchbook to their picture of their mum. They saw her wet eyes. Quickly Ezran put it away. "We're sorry Carol. We didn't mean…"

"It's okay," she assured. "How's the egg doing?"

They all glanced at the egg near the fire. It emitted no flashy rainbow glow like before. "It's not getting any better. If anything, it's getting worse," said Willow worriedly. "What do we do?"

"We have to find help," said Raylan. "But first we need to get some sleep,"

"Have you got any food?" Ezran sneezed again.

"Here are some berries," Carol fished out the fruit from her belt pouch and they all shared the juicy treats along with Felix and Bait.

"I've brought these too," Raylan fished out some green berries. "These'll do good for your cold Ezran," The boy took two and opened his mouth. "No. You put them up your nostrils,"

"That's disgusting," grimaced Willow.

Ezran ignored her and plugged his nostrils with the berries. "It's kind of helping,"

"We need to get some sleep," said Carol, yawning. "We should be safe here for the night," she laid down and Felix left Willow's arms to curl next to her. She stayed close to the egg.

Raylan laid down too whilst Ezran and Willow cuddled up together again with Bait. The fire burnt out but the warm cave made the party feel safe and warm.

The sun was rising high the very next day. Caldor was outside his shop, cleaning the windows. The kingdom was quiet and held no joy. The death of King Harrow had cast a dark shadow over their shoulders. But hope remained that his children were alive and out there. Well, they were happy that his biological children were.

The bookseller balled his fists as he heard a man walking by with his friend say: "Why should that step-princess be a big concern? It's not like she's the future queen,"

Caldor grabbed the man's collar and pinned him to the door of his shop. "If you ever talk dirty about Princess Caroline like that again, you'll answer to me. Got it?"

The man fearfully nodded and he shoved him away. The two dashed off.

"Bothering the people Caldor?" a mocking but lethal voice uttered behind him.

"Soren. Didn't you hear that mean man mock Carol again?" another voice hissed loudly.

Caldor turned around and saw Soren, armoured and Claudia equipped with a bag of supplies on horses. Tracker dogs were barking beside them.

"Ignore my brother Caldor," said Claudia. "We're off to find the children and bring them home,"

"Don't assume that once you find them they'll want to return home. Whatever reason they have for leaving Katolis it was for a good reason,"

Soren scoffed. "Do you ever hear yourself?" he mocked. "They were kidnapped by that elf,"

Caldor frowned and crossed his arms. "And who may I ask made you a Crownguard again?"

"He's not a Crownguard," said Claudia. "He's just wearing it in case we run into trouble with that bloodthirsty assassin,"

"I know you both may mean well, but general Amaya told me that Carol claimed the elf who was with them was their friend. When you find them, don't kill the elf until you know what happened,"

Soren chortled again and rolled his eyes. "You see Claudia. The guy is crazy. It's obvious that the elf placed an enchantment on the step-princess and now she's under his control,"

"Call her that again and I promise you it'll be more than just that pretty armour of yours that'll get dealt with," warned Caldor pointing a finger at him. "Claudia, I highly warn you to stop this dark magic practice. Don't make the same mistakes your father did when he didn't heed my warnings,"

"I'm sorry Caldor," apologised Claudia. "But this is the only chance we have against our enemies,"

"Where may I ask is Gren? Amaya told me he would be leading the search for the children,"

"Don't know. Don't care," Soren simply answered. "Now come on, the sooner we get this done, the better,"

"Goodbye Caldor," waved Claudia.

They yipped the reins and Caldor moved aside allowing them to ride through town to track down King Harrow's children. He narrowed his eyes; something wasn't right. Why wasn't Gren with them? Why did Soren mock him like this? He had to find out. He entered his shop and closed the curtains before walking up into his bedroom and pulling out a cape.

The fire had died out in the cave and sunlight was reaching through the opening onto the children. The egg remained dim and with very little colour flashing.

Carol. The voice called out. Carol.

Carol's eyes flickered and she sat up slowly. She saw the egg still dim but spots of flash sparking on and off as if to draw her to them. She crawled over and touched the eggshell, trying to sense the dragon that lay within it.

You must help me. Take me to a storm. It called.

"Carol?" It wasn't the voice.

Carol jumped and she turned to see Raylan staring at her with worry. "Oh, Raylan," she breathed out, closing the rucksack over the egg after wrapping it up tightly. "You gave me a fright there,"

"Why were you staring at the egg like that?"

Carol linked her hands and thought for a moment. She had to tell him. They were trusting each other now and she couldn't break that new friendship that was forming between them. "For the past few days, I've heard the egg calling out to me. At first, I thought it was my imagination but it sounds so real now,"

Raylan blinked at her. "I've never heard of such a thing,"

"It said the other day, 'I'm your destiny'. What does that mean?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "There has never been an elf or a human hearing a voice from a dragon egg. It's all strange to me as well," he regrettably unsettled Carol. "But don't worry," he clasped her shoulder. "We'll figure it out," his smile gave her confidence. "Come on guys!" He woke up the others. "We've got to get going now,"

The younger siblings, Felix and Bait stood up and yawned stretching their arms and legs and Felix's case, his tail too. They packed up their things and Carol hoisted the egg bag's straps over her shoulders. They left the cave quietly and made their way through the quiet forest where there was no fear of any wolves, much to Willow's relief. They hiked up a gentle slope and to their astoundment saw a grand town standing in front of a tall volcano-shaped mountain with a caldera circle at the very top.

"A town!" cried out Raylan in relief. "It's perfect! We can find a doctor or a vet and they can help the egg!"

"You're right. It's perfect!" cheered Ezran.

"Sure is," smiled Willow. "Apart from the fact that there are humans who will gladly kill Raylan the moment they see him," she ruined the moment.

"You'll have to wait here while we go and get the egg healed," Carol said to him.

"No way am I letting you guys go off without me. I've got this covered," Raylan pulled ut his cloak and in a twirl, his cape was on and the hood was over his horns and ears. "Introducing human Raylan,"

The girls hung unimpressed expressions at him. "Really? That's your disguise?" Willow asked.

"You'll stick out like a black sheep," remarked Carol. "Especially with those hands of yours with four fingers,"

"Relax. I'll just pair my disguise with m perfect human impressions. The illusion will be complete,d"

"And just how are you going to speak to humans?" challenged Willow.

Raylan pretended to be a human. "Greetings fellow humans or human fellows,"

"That's not how you greet someone," judged Carol, making Ezran chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"It's your tone of voice," he cackled.

"Willow clicked her mouth. "That's inappropriate," He silenced.

"Can't you use a disguising spell or use something to cast an illusion of a fifth finger?" Carol asked him. "You're a Moonshadow elf after all. You're connected to it,"

"I can't do that without the moon," Raylan pointed up to the sun. "Also I don't know a lot about doing moon magic," I'll just find something to cover my hands. He stared around and to his surprise saw a figure of snow built near a hug. "Perfect! A snow-elf," he dashed off to it.

"That's a snowman," corrected Carol. She watched him run to the snowman made of three large balls of snow with twigs poking out its sides and a carrot and stones resembling a mouth of teeth, eyes and a carrot.

The elf pulled the gloves off the sticks and covered his hands. "See perfect," he held up his gloved hands but the pinkie fingers fell.

"No way is he going into town like this," refused Willow.

"I would say so but we might as well let him come," said Ezran. "Let's go,"

They walked off towards town but not before Raylan pulled the carrot nose out of the snowman's face and split it in half to place it on top of the head as ears. "Snow elf,"

They walked into town strolling past huge buildings. They made their way down a wide street with people sitting at their houses, some staring down at them, some pushing cats around with fruit and veg.

Raylan kept talking out loud as a human and it made Carol flush in embarrassment. "Just walking into town…" he added a high-pitched accent to his voice. "Just walking into town without a care in the world, despite my sub-century life expectancy,"

"Way to keep up the human disguise" answered Willow sarcastically. "Please stop doing that," she implored. They reached the town centre where on the ring of a fountain of stone with a tall statue stood a tall man with a curly moustache of gold and a furry cape with a strange scabbard attached to his belt.

The group watched as they gloated about victories against Xadia which he claimed were because of his unique special dagger. He suddenly started to dare anyone who could try and beat him in a duel. The first point he pointed to was pulled back by his mother. Then he pointed at Raylan who was uncertain what to do.

A large hulkish man marched up behind the dagger-bearing man carrying a massive sword. The crowd made bets on the bigger, more robust man. The man with the dagger accepted the challenge without hesitation.

"Let's go," Carol tried to lead everyone away but Raylan stopped her.

"Watch this,"

The dagger man unsheathed his dagger; it glowed bright like fire or molten rock. The man with the sword battled him but with a slash of his dagger, he cut the sword's top and then the sword in half. "Oh, dear. I hope that wasn't your best blade," he gloated in victory. His defeated opponent ran off crying like a big baby.

"Was that…a Sunforge blade?" asked Carol ecstatically to Raylan.

"It sure was," he smiled.

"What's a Sunforge blade?" asked Ezran curiously.

"In Xadia, Sunfire elves can make magic weapons that stay as hot as the moment they're forged for hundreds of years," Raylan explained.

Carol observed the man getting given money for his victory. She eyed the scabbard intently. "The sheath is inscribed with special runes to protect him from the heat,"

"Otherwise, his pants would be on fire?" joked Willow making them all laugh.

"Exactly," her sister explained.

Raylan admired her again for her knowledge. "You're so excited to go to Xadia Carol and yet you know so much about it,"

"You can have Caldor to thank for that," Carol thought of her surrogate uncle figure. "He taught me so much about Xadia when I became curious about magic,"

"How does he know so much?" asked Ezran curiously.

"No idea," she shrugged. "Wait a minute," her mind was flashing with a solution to Raylan's hand problem. "Raylan, if that dagger can cut through anything, maybe it can…"

"Cut through my bindings," he finished. "That's perfect. Carol, you're a genius,"

"Incredible," breathed Willow. "You've got to get that dagger Raylan,"

"But what about the egg?"

"You leave that to us," said Carol. "And as well as that, we'll get some food and more supplies," she reached into her belt pouch. "Oh no. I must have lost my money in the avalanche,"

"What are we going to do about food then?" complained Ezran.

"I've got an idea," Willow suggested. "Carol, you should sing and you can earn coins,"

Carol turned pale. "I can't do that. I can't sing in front of a crowd. What if they make fun of me?"

"They won't," said Ezran. "If you can sing Mum's lullaby so beautifully, you can sing in front of a crowd. They will love you,"

His sister remained reluctant. But giving in to his adorable encouraging eyes. "Okay. I'll need to get through this myself. You guys just go and do what needs to be done. Let's all meet at the fountain once we're finished and Raylan…be careful,"

"Don't worry. I'll just ask nicely," he assured. Then in the blink of an eye, he disappeared in a flash.

Carol rubbed her arms in anxiety.

"They'll love you," Willow promised. "You've just gotta close your eyes and sing,"

She's right Carol. Barked Felix. You can do it. He had absolute confidence in his person.

Who wouldn't want to her you sing? Croaked Bait.

"I'll do it. For you guys. You two and Bait just go and get the egg sorted out. I'll sing just one song, get money and buy the supplies that we need. But after this, no more. Deal?"

"Deal," Ezran shook her hands but crossed his fingers behind him. They swapped bags and he and Willow with Bait walked off to find an animal doctor. They walked through the streets and to their relief they found a wooden sign with a heart-shaped hole and engraved animals above it. "Bingo," he was about to knock when Willow gently grabbed his wrist. "Willow, I know how nervous you feel but we have to tell the vet about the egg. He might not know what our problem is unless he sees it,"

Trusting his judgement, Willow knocked on the door for him. "Hello, is someone in there?"

"Come in," a voice answered from inside. The children walked inside and they saw a doctor tending to a frightened horse. "I'll be with you in just a moment,". They watched as he struggled to calm it down. "Easy boy. Please,"

Willow saw a pile of apples and picked one up.

"What are you doing?' Ezran hissed. "Those are for the animals,"

"I know. Now keep quiet," she hissed. She walked gently over. The horse saw her and whined in horror. "It's okay,"

"Miss, will you please step back?" the doctor asked.

"Please let me try sir. Let me try," Willow offered an apple to the horse and he ate his tenderly. She stroked his snout, saying soothing words to him. "It's all right. It's all right,"

The horse instantly calmed down; she had tamed it just like Carol's one back in Katolis.

"Thank you lass," the doctor said gratefully.

"No problem. What happened to him?"

"He got scared. Saw something in the cursed caldera and ran away," the doctor patted him. He stood up to face the children. "How I help you?"

"Sir…" Ezran spoke up nervously. "Something…terrible has happened," he twiddled his fingers in worry. Was telling him about the egg the right thing to do?

"I can't help you unless you tell me what it is," the man said kindly.

The siblings shared worried glances. "If we tell you, you have to promise not to tell anybody," Ezran implored.

"I won't," he led them to some seats and Ezran lifted the rucksack onto his knees.

"We think something is wrong with this egg," he opened up the flap revealing the egg, darker and dimmer than the previous night.

Raylan followed the daggerman, who juggled with his money prize, through the snowy streets from a distance. He kept very quiet but managed to quicken his walking pace. He got closer. And closer. And closer. He reached a handover.

Suddenly the dagger man turned around and saw him, he kicked snow into his face and he dashed off into a nearby street. Raylan leapt up onto the rooftops, leaping from tile to tile keeping a firm watch on the man running below. His shadowy leaping spooked the man, causing him to run into a blocked alleyway past a bundle of hay. He tried to run back the way he came but Raylan leapt in front of me. He wielded his dagger in defence.

"I won that money fair and square,"

"I'm not here for your money. I want your help,"

Carol sat at the fountain, her entire body quivering under her cloak. She eyed Felix nervously. "I can't do this," she wished that her siblings were here with her. She didn't want them to see her so nervous but since they weren't with her, it made her feel more afraid than ever. "I don't know. What should I sing?"

Felix pulled out her journal and flipped to the very back with his nose, revealing sheets of writing. He picked the first one up with his teeth and raised it to her. She looked at the sentences of musical melody. "You think this is the right one to sing?"

Felix barked. Yes. Now just stand up and sing. I'll be with you the whole time.

That's another chapter done. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please send reviews and let me know what you all thought. Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you all are the holidays. See you all soon.