The Cursed Caldera Part One

Caldor, hooded with a satchel over his shoulder, snuck into the courtyard. He kept hidden from the guards. He saw a chance and entered the front gates unseen.

Ellis and Ava guided the group up the mountain.

"So where do we find this healer?" asked Raylan.

"She found us," said Ellis. "We went inside this tree with twisted roots and that's where she found us,"

"Then that's where we're going," said Raylan.

Carol walked beside him. "Here," she pulled out the ointment she had brought. "It'll help with the hands," he stood still and held out his hands. Pulling out a cloth, she gently damped it with the lotion and gently dapped his hands. It stung a bit, but he later felt less pain than before.

"Thank you," he said.

"Hopefully your hands can hold on,"

"Don't worry about me. It's the egg that's important," he said. "Now come on. We've got to get to that tree even if it takes all night,"

They hiked up the steep slopes and out of the forest when they came to the edge of a cliff facing another. It was a short jump to reach the other side. Ava leapt across gracefully with Ellis on her back. "It's easy," her rider said.

"Okay," Carol took a moment then with a leap of faith she leapt across. She landed with the same degree of elegance on her feet. She turned to her siblings. "Okay. Your turn,"

"I'll go next," Ezran took a moment. Then he sprinted and leapt. Carol had to grab his hand so he wouldn't lose his balance.

"I'll carry you Willow," said Raylan.

"No Raylan. You can't hurt your hands. I'll be fine," she assured. She picked up Bait. Then she did a running jump and much to their delight she made it to the other side. Raylan followed behind and they were all safely across. Continuing to follow Ava, their path took them upwards, crossing bridges made of the tree- trunks and up paths swirling up the mountain. They came to a large clifftop that overlooked the great valley and village far below. They looked out and saw the gorgeous sunrise of many colours.

"It's so beautiful up here," said Carol in wonder; she imagined painting the scene.

"It sure is," Ellis agreed. "But it means the dangers will be getting closer. They come out at night. And it gets worse the higher you climb up

"We can't wait all night. We have to get to that tree. The fate of the egg depends on it," said Willow with determination.

"We need to think first. We can't just continue without a plan," Raylan pronounced seriously.

"He's right. Rumours say there's a giant monster that drinks blood," said Ellis, trying to sound horrifying.

"I've got a plan," spoke Carol suddenly. "We each play a role to defend our group. Raylan, you're on the lookout for danger. Ellis, you, and Ava can confuse whatever we face with woofs. Ezran, you hold up Bait and he flashes. I'll use my spells to keep the monster a bay,"

"What about me?" Willow complained.

"You've got the most important job. You're going to take care of the egg," Carol pulled off her rucksack and handed it to her sister. "This is the most important role of all,"

"No," Willow shook her head. "The egg has been calling to you. You're the one who has to be responsible for it. Please. It needs you to protect it. Not me,"

her sister knew she couldn't change her mind so she slipped it on her back again. "Okay. You can help Raylan then," she noticed that Raylan looked a little hurt. She felt regretful, thinking he was feeling useless. "I know you want to fight whatever we face, but you shouldn't fight with your hands like that,"

"I know," he said. "And you're right, I should look out for trouble. As an elf, I'll be able to sense anything a distance away,"

"You see Raylan, you're not useless," comforted Ezran. "You're important and you have a good heart, with or without your hands," the elf was touched by his words.

"Thank you," he said. "That means a lot coming from you," he admired the young prince.

"Then let's go," said Willow. "The sooner we get there, the better,"

"First we should just sit and rest our legs for a while," insisted Ezran. They agreed. It had been a very long day and they hadn't stopped for a single moment to rest. They sat down and Carol gave them some bread she had brought from the market and some fruit too. They sipped some water and Ava and Felix shared a bowl. As they did, Willow decided to drift off for a while against Carol's shoulder. She hugged her affectionately.

As her eyes closes, strange pictures appeared in her head.

A dark Viren walks out of a cell with a coin in his hand.

Caldor cloaked and sneaked in the hallways.

A bird descending from the moonlight with a rider on top.

A giant spider that doesn't attack them.

A giant snake-like creature is about to attack them.

A voice saying, "There is no miracle healer,"

Black-cloaked men standing before their master. She couldn't see a face but a voice shouted: "You lost her?!"

A lightning bolt struck the egg as Caroline held it in the air.

"Willow? Willow!" a loud voice resounded through her head, breaking the façade of images.

Willow woke up in shock. "We need to go now," It was Carol. "You okay?"

Willow took a moment to breathe and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah. I'm fine. Let's go," in an instant, she walked ahead of the others who watched out to her in confusion.

"What's up with her?" asked Ellis.

"No idea," Ezran shrugged. "Come on. We should keep moving," they made their way. He caught up to Willow. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Not really," Willow confessed.

"What happened?" he asked. "You know you can tell us"

"I'd rather not," she said. "Right now, we need to focus on getting the egg to safety," she looked back and saw only Raylan, their sister, and guides behind them. "I'm scared Ezran. What if those men who tried to take Carol have followed us?"

"We've hiked up this mountain for hours. We would have seen them if they were behind us,"

Willow hugged herself. "What if something awful is gonna happen?" she wanted to tell her brother what she had dreamed about but she was too scared.

Caldor snuck through the hallways like a ninja hiding behind suits of armour or behind tapestries. He looked around and saw Viren walking down towards the dungeons with a tray of fruit, Xadian fruit as he could see. He had to follow him but he couldn't be seen. Behind the biggest tapestry in the corridor, he pressed a stone slab and a tunnel was revealed. He walked inside, pulled a brazier down and the tunnel closed behind him. He pulled out a crystal that burned like the sun and it lit the way. He followed it.

Still a bit behind her siblings, Carol wondered about this mysterious miracle healer whom they hoped to find, to save the egg. Her thinking was interrupted by her observation of Raylan gently holding his forearms. "It's gonna be okay Raylan. We'll fix your hands,"

"I'm not thinking about them. I'm just worried about Runaan," he lamented. Though he was deeply angry at his adoptive father for not listening to him before and for committing a heinous act that he had yet to tell his friends, nothing could quell his aching heart. "I know he tried to kill you…"

"It's okay Raylan. Once we deliver the egg, all will be well. I'm sure that he and the other elves gave up and they fled Katolis to safety. We'll clean this all up" Carol sighed when she realised her words couldn't cheer him up; she gave him some space. "Ellis…when you encountered this miracle healer…anything any chance there was some kind of creature with her?"

Ellis shook her head. "None. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious,"

Raylan knew she was fibbing. "You know you can tell us if you like if you don't wanna tell your siblings,"

Carol sighed. "You got me," she made sure her siblings were a good distance ahead so they couldn't hear them. "It's a story I don't them to know. It happened when I was eight,"

Before she could begin, they heard a low but audible call from Ezran. "We're here," he spoke. They looked around and found themselves in a spooky field of trees with no leaves. A see-through swarm of fog rose from the ground. But they saw nothing. Bait glowed a little brightly to provide some light; he didn't seem to attract any danger.

"Doesn't seem like there's anything here. Even though it's dark," spoke Raylan.

Carol peered around. "Nothing here but a cricket," she knelt before the cricket and Felix eyed it firmly. The cricket chirped. "Doesn't look scary to me,"

"Are you sure this is the Cursed Caldera? Who did we accidentally wander up Humdrum Hill?" Ezran's joke made everybody laugh.

"Maybe we took a wrong turn and wound up on Sleepy Slope?" joked Raylan. More laughter filled the air.

"About I check my map…" Carol pulled out her map. "Hang on a minute. We've hiked up Mount Monotonous!"

The group blinked; they didn't laugh. She huffed. "My jokes are never funny,"

They are to me. Felix laughed; it was a fake one. The cricket chirped behind them.

"Anyway, it is a little odd that nothing bad has happened yet," Ellis said staring around.

Willow looked around. "Ahh!" she screamed. "There's a monster!" She frantically pointed ahead and the group saw a large animal with holes in its body.

"It's dead," remarked her sister. She approached it.

"be careful," begged Ezran.

Carol examined the creature. "These circles…" they were read, the same shape and size and had tiny holes, like teeth marks. "something's rained it of all its blood,"

"But what?" wondered Raylan.

As they examined the creature, something long and slimy slithered in the fog. Felix's eyes twitched. So did Ava's. They growled.

"What is it guys?" asked Willow.

"Uh…guys…" Raylan pointed his finger and they saw a giant leech-like creature, the size of a giant snake tower over them and the corpse. "I think that's the creature,"

The monster bit at them and they screamed running for help.

"Time for the plan! Ezran, you're up!" alerted Carol.

"Got it. Way. Where's Bait?" Ezran realised the glow toad wasn't with them. "Where is he? Where is he?" he saw Bait near the cricket whom he devoured in a single gulp and sprinted forward. "Bait, you're up!"

Bait suddenly lit in a flash of blue and yellow and everyone screamed as his glow burnt their eyes.

"Too soon! Too soon!" cried Carol.

I can't see anything. Mumbled Felix, covering his eyes with his paw.

You told me to glow. Complained Bait.

"I can't see!" Raylan tried to rub his eyes

"None of us can!" screamed Ellis, struggling to see alongside Ava. The wolf heard the leech biting and managed to use her sense of hearing to dodge it.

"What do we do?! What we do?!" freaked out Willow.

"Don't use lightning, Carol!" Raylan pleaded.

"I'll use my air-blowing spell!" she insisted.

"No! No! Bad idea!"

Ezran tried to pick up Bait but once he did, the blinded wolf bumped into him and he dropped him again. Willow and Raylan toppled over each other and Carol tripped over her fox.

Hey. He whined.

"Sorry buddy," she apologised.

Ezran managed to regain his sight. "What's the new plan?"

Carol rubbed her eyes until she could see and grabbed Felix. "scatter! Everybody run in different directions!" She, Ava, and Ellis ran one way, Raylan and the others went the other.

"Here! Hop onto Ava!" Ellis offered a hand and she pulled her onto Ava who carried them up a giant mould of rock to the very top and the leech monster rammed its head into the stone surface.

The others came to the foot of a tree. Raylan fished his rope hook from his knapsack and with a painful swing, lassoed the hook to a branch. "Climb up," he instructed. "I'll buy you guys some time," he pulled out one of his blades and it bent into a pick hook.

"But your hands…" Willow worried.

"Don't worry about me," he said. "Just get to safety,"

Ezran with Bait on his rucksack and Willow climbed up, leaving Raylan to face the monster.

Carol, Ellis and their animals saw what was happening. "Raylan!" she cried out.

Raylan faced the leech monster as its three tall eyes were aimed at him. He swished and slashed from side to side keeping it back. Willow and Ezran reached the top. "Climb!" they screamed down to him. Raylan grabbed the rope and bearing the agonizing pain from his hands he reached the top of the tree and breathed in and out, cringing from his hands which he felt had only a few hours now left to live.

The leech creature roared and snaked around the tree.

"Raylan are you okay?" asked Willow.

"I'm fine," he cringed, scrunching his eyes to hide his tears.

Ezran and Willow eyed his hands sorrowfully.

Carol peeked down and saw the creature hadn't moved away. "We'll just have to try and wait out it!" she called to the team.

"Why does it want to eat us?" Ezran asked. "We don't even have that much blood! We would be a very unsatisfying snack!' he called down to the monster who roared in response.

"Please don't do that," begged Willow.

Carol cursed herself. "I'm sorry my plan was a mess!"

It's not your fault. Felix barked.

"It's my fault! I told Bait too soon!" said Ezran. "Your plan was good! I just messed it up!"

Nothing more was said. They all just sat down patiently and waited.

Caldor walked through the tunnels until he came to a small rock slab entrance at the other end. He pulled it gently open and he saw a large prison hallway beneath him. The bannisters above were his only way through. He leapt through the air and landed gracefully on the first wooden bannister, making no noise. He peered down and saw Viren pushing forward a giant covered object through the hallway. What are you doing Viren? he wondered.

Ezran stroked Bait as he slept on his knees. "I'm so sorry I screwed up the plan,"

"Don't beat yourself up Ezran. We all make mistakes," comforted Raylan. "Even I do. All the time," he lamented.

"But you're so great at everything," Willow complimented. "You can do acrobatics, you're amazing with swords, you're intelligent…"

"And I always screw up right at the moment when it matters," he finished with a deadpan expression.

"Why would you say that?" asked Ezran.

"Because I hesitate, think too much, and get confused about the right thing to do. And the next thing I know, I failed,"

On their rock mound, the girls and the animals stared out at the others. Felix peered down and still saw the leech monsters snaking around the soil. He shivered and shuffled backwards. "It's okay," Carol picked him up and hugged him tightly. "I'm here,"

Thank you. Felix licked her face.

"You're so amazing to be a mage," complimented Ellis as she stroked Ava taking a nap. "I've always wanted to meet one. But you're not at all what I expected?"

"What were you expecting?" the mage asked curiously.

"I thought you'd be taller, wearing robes and having a beard," Carol giggled at her comments. "And maybe have a weird amulet or something?" Ellis looked at her pendant. "That's still a beautiful magic stone though,"

"Oh, it's not a stone," Carol shook her head. "It's just a normal ruby pendant. It belonged to my mother. It's one of my most important treasures. I never take it off,"

"You're so lucky to have something like that. You're so confident too, Caroline. You always seem to keep everyone else confident too and you're so intelligent and reliable,"

Carol was touched by her faithful words but insecurities twisted her mind. "I'm not sure I'm confident," she scratched the back of her head.

"Why not? You have so much power. I saw how you took down those guys that tried to capture you,"

"I only have magic because of this," she pulled out the primal stone from her bag. "All the magic, all the power, all the confidence is because of this stone which my mother left to me. Without it…I'm just a regular person. Without it, I'm just a 'step-princess'. I'm not as confident or reliant as you think I am," she lay down downheartedly on her back and lay down looking up at the sky, Felix purring next to her licking her face.

Raylan lay down on the thick branch looking up at the sky. The siblings copied his actions.

"Why would you consider yourself a failure?" Ezran asked.

"Because I'm the reason my team and I were discovered," Raylan closed his eyes remembering the day he had met their sister. "The day we came to Katolis, we discovered your sister and surrounded her. When Runaan told her we had come to kill you two and your father, she was so afraid. She told us that we were wrong and that he hadn't killed the king of the dragons but none of us believed her. All my life I was raised to hate humans…but my mother always told me that there was more to humans than what we knew,"

"So, what happened?" asked Willow.

Raylan remembered the words Carol uttered as she pleaded for her family to be spared. If you wish to take a life to sooth your anger, take me instead. "When we didn't believe her, she offered her life in exchange for yours," His words scared Ezran and Willow. "When I looked into her eyes, I saw selflessness. The fact that she was willing to die even though she hadn't done anything wrong made me wonder if perhaps there was more to humans than what I was taught to know. But that's not the moment when I screwed up. When your sister cast that spell to escape, I was ordered to chase her and take her life to stop her from warning the kingdom,"

Carol tried to run but Raylan landed right in front of her. She cradled Felix protectively. He pointed his blade at her. "You made a big mistake using that spell. I don't know how you stole that Primal Stone but you will regret it dearly,"

"I didn't steal that stone. My mother left it for me,"

"Then your mother is a thief,"

"How dare you say that!" retorted the heated princess. "My mother was a wonderful woman. And your king of dragons took her from me!" a tear escaped her eye.

Raylan kept his pose but his ears absorbed the words that she had just said. He saw the grief in her eyes, her tears that were not drops of rainfall.

"Go ahead," she dared. "Kill me. And you'll be just what you think humans are,"

Raylan raised his blade to end her life. But as he did, he didn't see her shut her green eyes. In those enchanted eyes, he saw courageousness, selflessness, and graciousness. And most importantly innocence. How could he take the life of a pure-hearted human girl who had done him no harm? He lowered his blade.

"I had a chance to kill her…but I didn't. She hadn't done anything wrong and yet she was still a human, my enemy,"

"Because you felt for her," Ezran explained.

"I did. But that shouldn't have mattered, I had a job to do. It was my duty to kill her to stop her from warning Katolis,"

"But you still spared her life," said Willow. "You saw she was innocent,"

Raylan sighed. "I did. When I looked into her eyes, I saw everything I never believed was in a human. Courage. Generosity. Selflessness. And most importantly innocence. How could I take your sister's life like that when she hadn't done anything wrong? Even though she attacked us, it was only to defend herself. Not to kill us. And that's not all. She gave us a chance to leave Katolis and she never acted aggressively towards us. It made me think that everything we knew about humans wasn't true. Maybe some of them are good,"

"And you were right," said Willow.

"Carol once said it takes more courage to spare a life than to take one," Ezran spoke. "And I think you think you showed more courage than anyone else could have,"

Raylan was stunned by their choice of words. "Really?"

"Yes," they both said together.

He smiled. "You guys are so lucky to have Caroline for a sister. I've always wondered what it's like to have a brother or a sister,"

"It's the best thing in the world," Ezran lifted Bait in the air as he turned green and blue. "It means that you'll always have someone to turn you when you feel down or feel like you can't do anything,"

"When we lost our mother, we were too young to grieve for her. But dad's heart was so broken and Carol through nearly six at the time cried for days, feeling so alone," Willow lamented, her voice broken. Though she was only a baby when it happened, she would have given anything just to meet her mother just for once. "With dad still devasted and burying himself in his duties to distract him from his grief, it seemed like our family was always gonna be broken with that huge void, it had with her mother gone,"

"I'm so sorry that you guys lost your mother," Raylan apologised deeply. "I always knew the King of the Dragons took human lives just to defend Xadia…but I never considered how much pain it brought to others,"

"But Carol filled up that void. Whenever I try to imagine what our mother looked like….I always see her," said Ezran emotionally. "I always remember her as the one who raised us, the one who looked out for us, took care of us when dad had duties to our home and at times when he remained distant with everyone when he was broken-hearted. She's taught us so much. Without her, I don't know where we'd be. She may be the most heartbroken in this family apart from dad. But she's the strongest of us,"

"She's the one who's kept our family together. She's the mother of this family," said Willow proudly. "I wish we knew how to tell her that, how so proud our mother would be of her if she knew how much she had done to keep us together,"

Raylan thought for a second. "Just tell her that. That's all you need to do,"

"I'm not sure she'd believe us. She's been so insecure her whole life that she never seems to acknowledge herself as a strong person,"

"Well, she should. I've seen how much she's cared for you this whole journey so far," Raylan sat up. "I can't believe I'm saying this…but I think she has a way of changing people's lives. If I hadn't met her, I don't where I'd be right now,"

"Thanks for not killing our sister," Ezran said gratefully as they sat up too. "And for saving her,"

"And thanks for not killing us," Willow added in.

"You guys are worth losing my hands for," Raylan looked against his hands all purple, lacking blood. "You guys are the best friends I've ever had,"

"We're glad you're our friend," Ezran gently punched his shoulders.

Another half of an episode is done. Just three more chapters and then that's the end of Season One. I hope you all enjoy this. I guess you can all estimate what Willow can do. Credit goes to Wildgirl6. Thank you. Also (spoiler alert) that won't be her only gift. See you all soon. Please send reviews and let me know what you all thought.