Through the ice part 2

Ezran and Raylan wondered about the snowy hilltops, the prince cupping his mouth. "Carol! Willow!" Bait croaked out as loud as he could but it was no use. Ez called out again to his sisters but no response came; he became scared. "Where are you?" he whispered.

Raylan gently clasped his shoulder. "We'll find them Ezran. I promise,"

Determined not to give up, Ezran gently made his way down through the snow carrying Bait following the elf who held his hands to his chest. "Raylan, what is wrong with your hands?"

"I can't talk about it now. We need to find your sisters first,"

Carol gasped for breath as she dug herself and Felix out of the snow. "You okay boy?"

I'm all right. Felix purred and licked her face.

She pulled herself out and sat down. "Willow? Willow?!" she stared around and tried to find her but she saw no sign of her sister whom she had accidentally pulled down with her. "Willow!" She and Felix dug through the patch of snow trying to find her. They found themselves on a short clifftop over twenty feet above a steep slope that led towards a lake of ice. She stared down at the saw Willow just below them at the foot of the lake. "Willow!"

The freezing princess stared up and saw her sister. "Carol! You're okay!"

"Is the egg safe?!"

Willow found her bag but no egg. "Oh no," she breathed. She spun her head around and saw the egg in the centre of the lake. "I'll go and get it!".

"No! Let me come down to you!" Carol tried to find a way to get down but they were quite high up still

"Don't worry about me. You find another way to get down! I'll get the egg!" she stepped lightly onto the frozen water and gently made her way over.

Her sister still couldn't find an easy way to get down. It was a drop-down to get to the slope that would lead downwards towards the lake. It would mean certain death without an avalanche of snow.

Willow made it to the centre of the lake and she picked up the egg. But before she could turn around, she heard low growling from the forest trees up ahead. She saw a pair of yellow eyes. Then four. Then six. A pack of wolves emerged, baring their teeth. They emerged in a circle. She stayed very still, holding the egg close.

Carol saw what was happening. "Oh no. What do we do Felix? What do we do?" They couldn't find a quick way to get down and they had no idea where Raylan and Ezran were. Felix started digging through her knapsack and he pushed the primal stone out. "Magic won't help. Magic won't solve anything," Her fox wouldn't give up. He pulled the spell book out and opened it to a page. "Felix, there's no spell that…wait," she looked at the pages and she saw an ice spell. "Of course. What would I do without you?" she stroked his head. She held up her stone. "Aspiro Frigis!" an ice spell was released from the orb of sky magic and an ice slope was formed creating a path downwards towards the slope. "Now, to find a way to get down safely," She dug through her bag. "Bingo!" she pulled out some ice skates. "I knew these would come in handy,"

She fastened them to her feet and packed her things. She stood at the foot of the icy path she had made and Felix wrapped his paws around her neck again. "Hang on boy," she narrowed her eyes at the wolves circling her sister. She took in a deep breath and jumped.

Ezran and Raylan made it to a clifftop; they saw the lake and Willow with the egg. "Willow!" cried out Ezran. "What do you do we do?"

"Look!" Raylan pointed to a figure sliding down an icy path. "Is that…"

Ezran saw it and gasped in delight. "It's Caroline!"

Raylan eyed her from afar. She was ice skating. They saw her streaming down the ice path down the slope towards the ice lake. He watched as she raised her hands and a jump was formed at the end. She shot into the air on her skates. The boys watched with admiration as she spun in the air. She landed gracefully on the ice and she shot like a rocket towards Willow.

The wolves growled as they closed in on the petrified girl. Suddenly they heard a loud howl and they saw Carol shooting towards them on skates. Willow feared for her sister. One wolf bounded towards her but as it leapt, she did a fast steer right and it crashed onto the ice lake. Another came at her and she dodged it again.

The other wolves focused on Willow but before they could attack her, Carol grabbed Willow and the egg and she skated off to safety.

"Carol! How did you…?" Willow tried to ask.

"Just hold on and don't let go of the egg," Carrying a ten-year-old girl, an egg a fox and her knapsack made Carol's ice skating more difficult but she managed to keep a good speed. The wolves chased after them. Carol took Willow and the egg to the edge of the lake. "Take the egg and get out of here!"

"But Carol…" Before she could stop her, Carol shot off skating in the opposite direction. The wolves chased after her. Willow wanted to cry out but if she did then the egg would be in danger. With no choice, she grabbed the egg and climbed up the snow slopes to get it to safety.

"Come on wolves!" goaded Carol. The wolves tried to catch her but she was too fast and too agile on her feet. As she skated, she managed to reach into her knapsack and grab her primal stone. "Aspiro Frigis!". She sent a swarm of ice that scared some wolves away. Then she cast another ice spell and the rest of them got scared away too. "Ha! That takes care of that!" she skated back over to the shore of the lake and took her skates off. She climbed up the snow to reach Willow.

Willow reached the top of the mound of snow but suddenly she felt herself falling. She screamed. She landed with a thud on another ice lake but the egg rolled away again. "No!" she stepped onto the ice but she heard a loud crack. She stepped back. The ice was breaking.

"Girls!" cried out Ezran. He and Raylan had managed to make their way down the slopes through the forest to find them. They saw the other ice lake nearby and Willow standing back whilst the egg was over a yard away from her position. "Why won't she walk onto the ice?"

"You go and get the egg and I'll get see if I can find Carol. Hopefully, she's still all right," He was so astounded by her ice skating that he knew that was no chance those wolves could catch her with her agility. They split off. He dashed through the forest trying to find her. "Carol! Carol!"

"Raylan!" before he knew it, he saw her rushing up to him, panting for dear life.

"Are you all right?"

"Is my brother safe?"

"Yes. He's fine! He's heading towards Willow and the egg is on a pond. I fear it may be quite thin,"

They rushed through the snow together to reach the others.

Willow saw Ezran. "Ezran!"

"You okay?" he called back.

"I'm fine!"

"I'll get the egg!" Ezran put Bait and his bag down.

"Ezran! Don't!" Willow cried. "The ice is…"

The moment Ezran stepped onto the ice; he heard a quiet crack. Still, he kept on going, Willow crying out to him to be careful. She heard the crunching of snow and saw Raylan and Carol rushing up to her. "The ice is thin! It might break any minute!"

Ezran reached the egg. He turned around but he heard loud cracking under his feet. The ice he was on was breaking apart together.

"Ez! Don't move!" Carol cried out. "We're coming!" they ran around the shore of the frozen lake to the closest point. "Stay here," she told Felix. He reluctantly leapt onto the snow to stay with her bag.

"Can't you just freeze the lake? Make it thicker?" asked Willow.

"If I do that, I could free Ez and the egg," Carol stepped lightly onto the ice and crawled slowly over to Ez until she was close enough. "Easy does it. Just pass it over,"

Raylan tiptoed over with Willow but the ice cracked under them with too much pressure. "Stop," he told her. "As an elf, I'll be much lighter,"

"But your hands…"

"Just stay here," he ordered and stepped closer to Carol. As she took the egg from Ezran, she tried to step towards the elf but the ice cracked a little more. "Carol, I know that you have no reason to…"

Carol held up the egg much to his surprise. . "I'm going to hand you the egg. I'm sorry if I was a jerk before Raylan. I do trust you. We're lucky to have you as our friend,"

Raylan moved to take it but his purple hands made him stand back. "No. I don't deserve your trust," He couldn't keep it secret anymore.

"Raylan, you need to take the egg," Willow urged.

"No. I have to tell you all something. The big rush this morning was because I was attacked by someone. A human. I fought him off and it was hard because of these," he held up his wrist bindings and his weakening hands.

"We don't need to do this now,"

"No. You all don't understand. These are assassin bindings. A Moonshadow elf ritual. Before I met you all, I swore an oath. I bound myself…to end Ezran and Willow's lives," Willow and Ezran's nervous eyes made him tingle. And these bindings will never come off while they're alive. They will just get tighter and tighter until I lose my hands," he showed them his half-purple hands. "But I'm ready to pay that price,"

Willow and Ezran nodded in understanding. Although shocked at his previous goal to eliminate they were touched that he was willing to sacrifice his hands so they would live.

"Thank you for telling us but we must focus on the situation," Carol offered the egg but still Raylan wouldn't take it.

"There's one more thing," as he spoke he felt tormented with guilt. "The night I met you, something bad happened," he closed his eyes.

The ice cracks spread under Carol's feet. "Raylan, there's no time. Just take it,"

"Carol, I need to tell you. Your dad…"

"Just take it!" she screamed, feeling the ice about to break under her feet. She gave Raylan the egg but he cried in pain and the egg fell out of his hands and it broke through the ice. "You dropped it!"

"My hands are messed up! Why did you give it to me?"

"Why didn't you send Willow to come forward and get it if you knew your hands were in a bad state?!"

"Guys!" screamed Willow. "Stop arguing! The egg is sinking!"

Suddenly they heard a splash. They turned around and saw a splash of water but no Ezran.

"Ezran!" screamed Willow. "I'm going in after him!" she tried to dive in but Raylan grabbed her. "Let go of me! He could drown!"

"He'll get it. I know he will! If you go too, we could lose all of you!"

Reluctantly trusting him, Carol stared into the freezing water to try and find him. "Come on Ez. Come on,"

Willow bit her nails in anxiety. They saw no bubbles, no glimpse of him or the egg. A tear fell.

Carol turned pale. "No,"

Willow sobbed and she hugged her sister.

"I'm so sorry," Raylan apologised, guilt crushing on his shoulders again. He looked at his bindings. Both remained tight. "Ez is still alive! We just have to look through the ice!

Instantly the sisters leapt to their feet and glanced through the ice to search for the ice. Suddenly they heard loud thumping coming from underneath their feet. Willow stared down and to her relief saw Ezran with the egg. "Guys! Over here! We gotta break the ice!"

Raylan pulled out his left retracted sword but he was cringing in pain.

"Let me do it!" Carol offered. He gave her his weapon and she banged it against the ice, breaking a hole. Ezran floated on the surface but his eyes were closed and he was so cold. "Pull him out! Quickly!" they heaved him and the egg out and he lay cold on the ice with the egg rolling away. Quickly she pulled off her cape and wrapped it around him. "Come on Ez," she begged. "Please. Come on. Wake up,"

Willow knelt on his other side. "Please wake up. You saved the egg. You saved it so you'd better wake up now,"

Ezran's eyes slowly opened. He shivered. "I think I got a case of the frozie-toasties,"

Carol cried in relief. "You're okay," she hugged him tightly, Willow hugging him too. Raylan smiled. "I was so afraid we lost you,"

Raylan looked at the egg. "Oh no," he breathed.

"What is it?" Carol asked. She watched him kneel before the egg. "Oh no. Something's wrong with it," the egg was now dark and flickering and it didn't give off any rainbow colours; something was indeed wrong with it.

"We have to get somewhere warm," said Raylan seriously. He pulled out his cloak from his knapsack and wrapped it tightly and carried it, the siblings not distrusting him for a single moment. They made their way safely across the ice and gathered their things. Felix saw the worried look on Carol's face and purred. She held Ezran close to her in her cloak so he could absorb her body heat and get warm. They walked off into the forest to find shelter as the sky darkened.

That's another chapter done. I hope you all enjoyed it. What did you think of the new additions I added to this episode. See you all later.