The Crown Part One

The sun was rising early the next morning in Katolis. The sunlight stretched through the windows into the chambers of King Ezran. Bait, who had already woken up croaked and the young king sat up on his bed yawning loudly. He stepped out of bed and pulled on his boots. He noticed that Bait was sitting near his father's crown; he had yet to put it on.

Knock. Knock.

"come in," said Ezran. He turned around and saw Willow entering his room. "Morning Willow,"

"Morning," she sounded depressed.

"You okay? Nothing bad has happened right?" he was beginning to panic.

"No. I didn't see anything," she pulled out a sketch. They looked at each together and they saw the two of them and their elder half-sister. "I went into her room this morning and I saw all her artwork and interest in magic,"

"I know. I miss her too," said Ezran, Bait croaked in dismay. "What's important is she and Felix are safe with Raylan and Zym,"

"Have you put it on yet?" Willow asked. "Your crown,"

Ezran went over to the chair and held it up. "No,". They walked out together onto the balcony and stared out into the distance, wondering what their sister was doing right now. "I bet they're in Xadia now. And someday, we'll make it there,"

"I'm scared Ezran. When our mother left Katolis, she…" she paused. "You know," she croaked. "What if we lose Carol the same way?"

"We won't," Ezran was brave. "I'm scared just as you are Willow. If I can be honest, I don't think I'm ready for this but I know I need to bear this burden,"

"Dad would be proud of you bro,"

"Proud of us," he swung an arm around her shoulders. "And Carol too. And when she gets back, she would make the perfect high mage to replace Viren,"

"I think she would want to," agree Willow. "We'd have to talk to her about it first,"

"I'm gonna make sure no one in this kingdom treats our sister badly ever," Ezran promised himself. They glanced into the distance wondering what she was doing right now.

The sun was rising across the Xadian lands. Carol, who had woken up early, sat at the edge of the cliff, her legs dangling over the edge. She watched the colourful forests beyond the horizon waking up to the first light. She heard birds flying everywhere, tweeting. They had beautiful voices. Felix barked, wagging his flaming tail.

She opened her journal and started writing it again.

Dear Diary,

It's been two weeks and I can't believe I'm actually in Xadia right now. It took such a long journey to get here and I can't believe we're only about a week away from reuniting the Dragon Prince with its mother. It's been such an adventure. An adventure that has changed my life forever. I don't even know how to take it all in or how much excitement I can take for the next steps we make on this quest. Xadia is more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

She made a quick sketch of the view she could see.

So much has happened.

Ezran has taken his place as king.

I've formed my own connection to Sky Magic.

My best buddy is a Firefox.

And it was not fun to face an archdragon.

She drew a picture of Sol Regem and then a picture of Felix with a fiery tale. Her best friend barked next to her.

"You know you're still my best friend," she said. "No matter what. You'll still be the same loving buddy,". He purred and she hugged him tightly.

Morning. Zym bounded over to greet them.

"Hello Zym," Carol stroked his head. "Are you happy to be in the land you belong to?"

Zym stared out. It's so beautiful.

I can't wait to see where your mother lives.

"See you guys are enjoying the view," remarked Raylan playfully as he joined them after waking up.

"I really wish Ezran and Willow were here to see this," Carol missed her family now more than ever. "They would have loved it,"

Raylan sighed, wishing they were here too. "One day we'll all come here together. We'll sit and watch this view. Maybe even have a picnic,"

She giggled. "That would be perfect,"

"Come on. We should make our way through the forest. And hopefully, we won't have to worry about any more dangerous dragons,"

I hope so. Zym prayed. I've had enough attacks in one lifetime.

They packed up their supplies and with Raylan leading the way, they descended down another pathway into the magical forests which would only have majestic wonders under its mighty trees. The trail took them to the towering trees' roots which formed bridges and pathways under the canopies.

As they walked through the network of magical, mighty floras, they heard the squeaks of magical birds high above them. They walked past mushrooms and flowers and saw little creatures climbing around the trees. Carol pulled out her cube and as she held it close to the different specimens of flora and fauna, the primal symbols lit up. Felix was amazed as well. He sniffled around the flowers and so did Zym.

"This is amazing Ray," she said excitedly. "Everything here is radiating with primal energy. Magic is all around us,"

"That's Xadia for you," he commented with a smile.

"I wonder…" Carol picked up a handful of dirt. "Amazing! Magical dirt?!"

Felix got excited and started digging around. Zym joined in.

"Come on guys," Raylan said. "We still have a mission. If we can get to my home soon, we'll be able to get some help,"

"I'm not sure about this Raylan," Carol confessed, her excitement suddenly evaporating.

"Why not?"

Sol Regem's words had tainted her with wretched guilt and uncertainty. "What if they judge me the way Sol Regem did?" she confessed. "What if they don't believe we can end the war by bringing Zym back?"

Don't say that. Begged Zym. That dragon was just being arrogant and violent.

He's right. Agreed Felix.

"I'm not gonna let that happen," said Raylan. "I know Ethari will listen to me. And we can keep this secret. Once they see Zym, they'll have to listen to us. I know we can do this,"

"Then let's do this," Carol saw some berries and offered them to Zym. He ate them. Then suddenly he belched out purple sparkles, making the others laugh. Felix ate a whole handful of them. But instead of belching out sparks, he barfed out purple gas.

"Eww!" Complained Ray and Carol. Zym just fell on his back laughing. Zym just growled in disapproval.

King Ezran and Willow were walking through the hallway. Ezran chose to carry his crown. Willow could still understand how unsure he was. As they did, they passed by Caldor who had been summoned.

"I've been summoned as you requested my king," he bowed.

"Caldor, you don't need to bow," said Ezran; he wanted to treat him as a friend and not a subject.

"I humbly insist I treat your majesty with the same respect as I did to your father," he bowed again.

"If that is what you wish," Ezran wanted to respect his wishes. "But I still want to treat you as a friend,"

Caldor was touched. He escorted them. Barius came to them with a tray of tarts. "Can I offer your majesty some jelly tarts?"

"Thank you," Ezran took one. "Take one Willow,"

Willow took one. "They're good," she said after taking a bite.

"All of you may have one," offered Ezran to everyone including the guards, much to their surprise.

"You heard the king," said Willow. "Dig in,"

They each have some tarts and they began to make their way to the throne room. "Caldor, where have you placed the orb?" he asked. The guards looked at each other with confusion.

"I've placed it somewhere secret," said Caldor. "In my shop,"

"Perhaps it would be wiser to put it in a secret room in the castle?" Willow offered.

"That sounds like a better option," said Ezran.

"I shall deliver it to you as soon as possible," Caldor was about to walk off when Ezran stopped him.

"It can wait. With what's about to happen, I feel like I could use your help," he requested.

"As you wish," he bowed again. Corvus joined them.

"How is Pyrrah?" asked Willow.

"She is doing very well princess," said Corvus. "I made sure she was well-fed and I told the guards to keep all metal away from her,"

"Thank you Corvus," said Ezran gratefully. During her stay here, they wanted to make sure she was as comfortable both physically and mentally as possible. He allowed their bodyguard to accompany them to the throne room doors where Opeli awaited them with the guards.

"This way my king," she said. "And your highness,"

They entered but Opeli wouldn't allow Caldor or Corvus in. "I'm sorry but High Council meetings are held by the high council and necessary security and no others,"

"It's okay Opeli. I have specifically made Caldor one of my advisors," explained Ezran. "And I would like Corvus to attend as well,"

The guards allowed the two men inside and Ezran walked towards his throne.

"How am I doing?" he whispered.

"You're doing great," Willow gave him the thumbs up.

"Really because I feel like I'm making a fool of myself," he was nervous with all the tense eyes laid on him.

"Don't worry we've got your back," she promised. She escorted him to the royal chair and he sat down, without the crown.

"So, how shall we start today?" he asked.

"Well, my king, usually today starts with reviewing messages received by the kingdom. Crow Lord?" Opeli called. The doors were closed, no Crow Lord. "Crow Lord!" her voice echoed.

A head popped out from behind a column. A black-haired man stumbled forward. "Oh! Sorry, the Crow Lord isn't here. He's taking a personal day,"

Caldor and Willow exchanged confused glances.

"And you are?" Opeli asked.

"The Crow Master. It's similar, kind of like his number two. If the Crow Lord were to die, or to be otherwise incapacitated…"

"Okay, yes, I think we understand,"

"Can you please read the king his messages?"

He pulled out a small scroll and unravelled it. "It's so small," Ezran was surprised. "It's so small. There can't be too much stuff, right?"

"You have 417 unread messages," the man announced and right after that a huge wagon of scrolls rolled into the room.

"Oh…muffins," Willow and Ezran said together. The cart was pushed towards the throne and Opeli bowed.

"Perhaps we could start with the ones that say 'urgent'," she insisted.

"Please proceed," Ezran said.

Raylan led the party further into the forest of magical wonders. The excitement was about to get better. They came to a pathway of noise-making flowers.

Carol was attracted to the sound. "It plays magic," she hummed along to the rhythm of a tall purple flower with blue-glowing anthers.

"That's a melodaisy," Raylan said. "My mother's favourite," he walked ahead, a bit too fast. Carol and the companions were not happy with his pace.

"Ray…slow down," she begged. "This is my first time here in Xadia and I want to enjoy every moment whilst it lasts. You know there's a saying. 'Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses'. Or smell them. Or whatever,"

Ray saw a flower with green and yellow petals with pink anthers. "Mmm…maybe you're right. You know in Xadia, there's a flower with a more fascinating scent than anything in the human kings. Here," he picked up the flower and handed it. "Have a smell,"

Carol sniffed it. It suddenly bloomed and released a farty gas that made her cough. "Ugh! Yuck!" Raylan laughed centrally. "What was that?" she plugged her nose.

"Some call them flatu-lilies, toot-lips, peri-stinkles," they go by many names.

"You're gonna pay for that one mister," she promised.

"At the end of the day, it's a fart flower,"

"Wait a sec. Where are Zym and Felix?" Right after she asked that question, she heard loud farting and they turned their heads to see the boys playing around in the field of fart flowers, trying to pounce at each other. "Guys! No! No!"

Raylan laughed for joy watching her rushing over and picking up both boys from the flowers. She held her breath and dropped the boys in disgust. "You two…stink!"

Come on. We were just having fun. Complained Zym.

"that's it. You two are having a bath," she pointed a finger at them.

Nooooo! Felix sped off and she growled in irritation, making Raylan laugh even more.

"You're so cute when you're mad," he teased.

Just outside the borders of Katolis, Claudia and Soren were arriving, the brother leaning against the sister for some support whilst still using a crutch. It had been over a day since she had restored his walking but he remained weak as ever. His eyes closed for a single moment.

Carol was falling into the chasm with Felix and Zym. Her zipline had snapped. Soren was watching from a cliff; his plan had worked. But as she screamed, he felt himself struck.

Soren gasped, shocked to the core.

"Soren, are you okay?" Asked Claudia.

"I'm fine," he lied. "I'm fine,"

Claudia knew he was lying but didn't want to push him.

Castor spied on them from a tree, high up. He was cloaked and remained invisible to their senses. He had followed them. If Katolis was where they came from then that's where Caldor was, and if Caldor was there, so were his brothers which he would rescue. Without magic, he couldn't pursue Caroline, Raylan, and the baby dragon. Not without magic. And not without the rest of his cult of brothers.

The Crow Master went flipping through the scrolls finding the ones with the most important news. Ezran was yawning. Willow was rolling her eyes. Caldor and Corvus weren't pleased. The agitated man finally found a scroll and stuttered.

"Well?" Opeli asked.

"I'm not really comfortable reading some of these things out loud,"

"Well, can you summarise?"

The man skim-read the words and he became pale as a ghost. "There have been bad events. Perhaps we can wait for the Crow Lord to return?"

Opeli just scoffed and marched forward, grabbing the letter and reading over it. The man read another one. "This one also has similar…bad events,"

"What is it?" asked Ezran.

"Assassins," the grim word from Opeli's frightened lips sent everyone's spine-tingling. Bait was scared; he quivered in Willow's arms. "There have been attacks in other kingdoms. Successful attacks,". Everyone began muttering with each other. "King Florian and Queen Fareeda are dead,". The children gasped. Willow was particularly scared; the dangerous word made her mind tingle with memories of a vision she had seen not too long ago. Caldor held her close. "King Ahling is gravely injured,"

"How could this have happened?" asked Caldor out loud.

"It appears that Xadia is waging war on all of humanity,"

"No. That can't be true," said Ezran, shaking his head. He shared a petrified look with his sister. If this was happening, it meant that everything Carol and Raylan were doing to take Zym back to his family would be for nothing.

"What do you mean my king?" asked Opeli. "It can't be a coincidence. They came here to kill your father. And now they've killed Evenere and Del Bar's rulers,"

"But Xadia had no reason to attack those kingdoms,"

"You're right. They didn't,"

"No. I mean seriously. Katolis was the only kingdom it wanted revenge on,"

"Why do you say that my king?"

Ezran became scared. He was in a tense situation right now. Caldor and Willow eyed him with worry.

"Perhaps the king should take a moment to absorb these tragic events," suggested Caldor.

"My king…" Opeli spoke up. "I know this is a shock to you. But with what has happened, we must be prepared. And I humbly implore you to tell us, what has happened to your sister Princess Caroline?"

Ezran knew she was right. They had yet to tell all the important members of Katolis what had become of his half-sister. He had to tell them. He took in a deep breath and spoke. "She is in Xadia right now,"

Ray and Carol together washed the stinky dragon and the stinky fox in a very shallow stream. After they were cleaned, she flung water into his face and he flung water back at her, making her giggle. Zym and Felix rolled their eyes at their interaction. They got back to walking and they found themselves at the edge of a forest cliff where ahead of them lay more acres of forest.

"So, how do we get down?" Carol scanned the area for a pathway but it seemed like they had reached a dead end.

"We go up," Raylan pointed to the top of the tree. "Follow me,". He pulled out his butterflies and bent them into pick-axes. He offered one but saw that Carol had already begun climbing. "you wanna turn this into a race,"

"If you wish," she said. "Already ahead of you,"

Raylan laughed and the race up the tree began.

"The elf assassins came here to kill our father…" Ezran included him and Willow; they eyed each other with deep sadness. "Because they thought he killed the king of the dragons and destroyed his only egg: the dragon prince. But it was Viren, who did it behind his orders," his words shocked everyone. Caldor smiled proudly at him for taking a stand. Willow gave him the thumbs up, encouraging him to keep talking. "Our father died because of Viren's actions which provoked Xadia to strike back at us, for crimes he didn't commit. When they came here, we found the dragon prince's egg, hidden in Viren's secret lair. One elf defended us against his people when he realised it wasn't our father's doing. And he said that if we could take the dragon prince back to his mother, we could end the war once and for all and bring peace. That's why we left Katolis in the first place…but when we learnt of our father's death, we came back and Carol continued with him into Xadia. She is delivering the prince of the dragons back to his mother as we speak,"

"My king…" spoke up another member of the council named Salem. "I know you think your sister is trying to resolve an issue which you claim Viren caused, but if Xadia killed Florian and Fareeda when they didn't do anything wrong and they know it, why would peace be a solution?"

"It doesn't make sense that Xadia would attack the other kingdoms when they know it was one of our own and only him that did it. We can't be impulsive as to assume that," spoke up Caldor.

"And since when does a bookseller have the right to speak?" spat Saleer.

"My brother made him a member of this council," defended Willow strongly.

Before an argument could arise, a soldier stumbled into the room.

"We are in the middle of an important discussion!" spoke Opeli boldly; she hated interruptions.

"Two traitors have been arrested," alerted the soldier. "And we need King Ezran's judgement,"

Two people were pushed into the throne room. They were Claudia and Soren. Willow and Ezran glared at them. Bait growled. Forced onto their knees, Claudia and Soren looked at the cold eyes of the two children.

"Did they have something to do with Viren's act of treason?" asked Ezran to Opeli.

Claudia was shocked. "Treason? What are you talking about?"

"I strongly insisted they'd be thrown in the dungeon," said Caldor. He pointed at them. "They worked with mages to try and capture the children, particularly Princess Caroline," Opeli was shocked. She had cared greatly for that girl since she was a child. "And they arrested Corvus, Gren and me when we set out to stop them. Their father chained up Gren when he was supposed to be leading a mission to find the children and he sent his own instead. I freed Gren and we pursued them,"

"And you didn't think to inform us?" sneered Saleem.

"They had no evidence," supported Corvus. "And we found it when they tried to capture them," he pointed to the prisoners.

"King Ezran please…" Claudia implored.

"Silence!" shouted Corvus. "You do not get to speak,"

"Please listen," implored Soren. "We only worked with the mages to bring them home. We didn't know they wanted to capture them,"

"Says the guys who tried to kill our sister," spat Willow venomously; everyone gasped again.

Opeli glared at Soren. "You should be hung for this,"

"Yes," he lamented. "I should,"

"No. Soren's just saying that because he feels guilty that we trusted these guys. Our dad sent us to bring the children home. Not kill them," Claudia put forward her case.

The gasping only worsened.

"'Kill them'?" spoke Opeli. "Your father wanted you to kill the children and your brother was following orders?"

"No one," Claudia was petrified with fear. "Please Soren, say something,"

He raised his head. "I did try to kill Princess Caroline," his heart quivered seeing Ezran and Willow so red-faced at him. "And I regret it deeply,". The twins were unexpectantly surprised by his tone of voice. Nevertheless, they refused to forgive him. "Our father gave me a secret mission to kill the children. But Claudia had nothing to do with it. She only worked with the mages because she thought they could help us get the children back in exchange for the elf. She's done nothing wrong. She never wanted to betray them,"

Claudia was befuddled. She didn't know what to say.

"My king, you need to make a decision," implored Opeli.

Ezran stood up. "Lock Soren away," he ordered. "In the meantime, Claudia's punishment will be decided. I need a moment to think,"

Soren was heaved up and taken away much to Claudia's sorrow. She was escorted away to a place to eat.

He stepped down from his throne. "I need a moment to think everyone. If you will excuse me. Caldor, Willow, would you come with me please?"

His sister and their close friend followed him out of the throne room and they walked up to his room to think things over.

"Ezran, I strongly insist Claudia be locked up with her brother," Caldor said. "Her dark magic is as dangerous as her father's,"

"That's not what's on my mind right now Caldor," said Ezran. "I just need to think about how we're gonna handle what's happened,"

"He's right," Willow agreed. "If the human kingdoms choose to go to war with Xadia, everything we've done and everything Raylan and Carol are doing will be for nothing. It just doesn't make sense,"

"You're both right. Xadia wouldn't attack the other kingdoms," Caldor agreed. "If we don't find out what really happened, things could go very wrong very quickly," his grim voice send tingles up the children's spines. They were scared now more than ever.

Ezran went into deep thinking. "Unless…Willow. Back when we were riding on Pyrrah, you said you saw a vision of people killing kings and queens. And you saw Viren, consumed by dark magic,"

Willow's eyes enlarged. "You don't think…"

"If Viren knew words wouldn't be enough to sway the other kingdoms to join him on his cause for war, then he might have turned to other alternatives," said Caldor gravely. Before he could say another word, they heard loud knocking at the door.

"Come in," said Ezran.

Corvus entered. "I'm sorry to interrupt but someone else has arrived in Katolis,"

"Who?" asked Ezran.

"It's Prince Kasef, son of King Ahling,"

"Oh no," breathed Ezran. He was the last person they wanted to see aside from Soren and Claudia.

What did you all think? Hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as i've enjoyed writing it. For those of you who offered OC Characters, i quite like the look of them. They could be really useful for the next story. We've got about two months till the next season. Time will move quickly. I have some questions and if possible do you think you could think of some suggestions please?

1) Do you all think we're learn more about The Jailer: A human dark archmage who had witnessed the almighty Startouch archmage Aaravos? She was in the credits for one of hte episodes in Season 4. If so, what do you all think will happen?

2) do you think in the next season or in season 6, we'll learn who Callum's biological father? I feel it has so much potential.

if you could answers these questions, it would be most helpful. See you all either on the weekend or next week. Bye for now.