Fire and Fury Part 2

While Willow sat beside the dragon's head, hugging her face, Ezran spotted a harpoon poking from her skin. "There beneath her wing!"

Raylan and Carol together lifted her wing gently so that Ezran could pull it out. She growled in pain but Willow kept stroking her. "Sh. It's all right. It's all right,"

Before they could do anything else, they heard the sound of loud neighing. Carol twisted her head and to her shock saw horses with riders in the distance. "Oh no. It's them,"

"We've got to go now," said Ezran urgently.

"We can't leave her," Willow hugged the dragon's head tightly. "She's defenceless,"

"We can't fight these soldiers all by ourselves," said Raylan regrettably. "I'm sorry Willow,"

Carol reluctantly pulled Willow away from the dragon. The group dashed back into the forest and peered out from behind a tree. They saw Claudia, Soren, and the mages with a group of soldiers. But their prisoners weren't there. They tiptoed away from the scene and retreated up into the mountains towards their cave hideout.

Willow sniffled. She didn't want to abandon the dragon to die. "Willow, we did everything we could," comforted Ezran. "We can't risk Carol and Zym's lives,"

Zym and Felix bounded over and hugged Carol who greeted them. Then Zym bounded over and offered a tearful comfort to Willow which she gladly accepted.

"I should have done something," said Raylan, feeling incredibly guilty for abandoning such a beautiful dragon.

"Raylan, there's no way either of us can fight a huge squadron of soldiers and those mages," comforted Carol.

But Raylan stared out longingly into the distance. "Every fibre in my being is telling me this is wrong,"

"It is wrong. It wasn't right that they attacked her and then shot her down," Carol agreed. "But it's a suicide mission trying to save them when we don't have the numbers or the magic to do it. If I had my primal stone, I could level the playing field. But without it, without magic…we're screwed,"

As the soldiers threw chains over the dragons, the mages and Claudia conversed near a tree. "There is so much you can do with a dragon," she said excitedly. "I even heard that you can use dragon snot. It's a powerful goo,"

"I quite admire your skills, milady," said Castor.

"Uh excuse me but what happened to our mission of finding that elf and those children?" Delmar asked.

"They're around here somewhere," said Lairus.

"Once we get what we want from this beast, we'll use a tracking spelling," said their leader.

Down in the dungeon, Caldor was at the cell window whistling out into the air. Gren and Corvus were just sitting on the floor, thinking about all the dragon noises they had heard the other night along with the sounds of crumbling and crashing.

"There has to be a way to get out of here and reach the children before they do," said Gren.

"With them distracted whilst finding that dragon, we just might have the chance," said Corvus. After hearing another whistle, he growled in frustration. "Ugh! Will you stop doing that?"

"I'm trying to get us out!"

"And how's that helping?" Gren asked.

"Hey!" shouted a guard. "Keep it down in there!" the men saw him march up to the door. "Be quiet or you'll have no food!"

"Ahh!" cried another behind him. The guard turned around and they saw a mighty eagle swooping around, trying to claw at it. With the guard's head turned, Caldor reached his hands threw and grappled his neck pulling him against the bars and knocking him out. Skyros made the other run into a wall and he was knocked out cold. He looked at his master. "Well done boy,"

The eagle chirped and did bird jumps to the unconscious guard and plucked the key from his belt before flying towards the cell door and dropping them in Caldor's offered hand.

"What a handsome bird," Gren complimented.

Caldor inserted the key into the lock but didn't turn it out. "What are you waiting for? We've got to reach the children before they do," Corvus persisted.

The moon mage turned around and faced them with a serious expression. "Before I free us, you must promise to trust me,"

"We do," said Gren.

"I can tell by looking into your eyes that you both still don't," said Caldor. As an illusionist, he was a master of manipulation and detecting lies. "I've explained everything to you both. And now I want you both to understand why my true identity must be kept hidden from Katolis. And the children,"

Corvus and Gren looked at each other sceptically. Could they still trust him? Though he had explained his entire story to them, his defecting from the cult, the late queen and the children's aunt knowing about him…there was still a part of him that was quite a mystery. The more they thought about it, the more they realised that if they were to save the children from their captors…they needed someone who knew the mages very well.

"Let's do it," said Gren.

"We'll trust you. For the children," said Corvus reluctantly. "But…if you keep any more secrets…I will not hesitate to reveal the truth,"

Caldor accepted his words. "Let's do this,"

The royal children sat in the cave eating apples, Willow ate hers slowly. Carol tried to side-hug her to comfort her.

"We can't just leave her to die," Willow begged.

"I wish I could think of a plan but I've got nothing," said Carol.

"You can think of one," Ezran tried to be motivating. "You're intelligent. You're smart,"

"I can't do anything," lamented Carol. "Without magic, I'm…useless,"

"No. You're the smartest girl we've ever met. And you've always got a plan,"

"I'm afraid I don't this time," she lamented, feeling she had let that dragon down.

"Wait. Carol, the moon opals," Willow reminded her.

Carol's eyes enlarged. She loved into her knapsack and pulled out the purse of moon opals, Lujanne had given her. "Of course. Willow, you're a genius," She stood up. "Raylan, I know how we can save the dragon,"

He didn't answer her. "Raylan…" All she received back was a chorus of parading footsteps.

"Will you stop pacing?" complained Willow.

Raylan, who had been walking back and forth in front of the entrance stopped. He took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. Determination coloured his face. Carol stood up knowing what he was about to do. "Raylan…"

"I'm going back down there. And I'm gonna do what I can," he pulled his hood over his head and tucked his head back in but allowing his side braids to still dangle by his cheek. "If I'm not back by nightfall, you can all make it to Xadia,"

"You can't do this by yourself," Carol said. "I'm coming with you. We can use these," she held up the opals.

"No. I won't put you in danger like this,"

"She's right Raylan. Let's do this together," Ezran said, joining them outside. "We're a team. Remember?"

"And friends always stick together," Willow ended.

"No. I promised the king I'd protect you all," said Raylan. "I have to do this alone," He looked at Carol. "If I don't come back, you can finish this,". He turned to leave but Carol grabbed his wrist.

"Take these with you," she offered the purse of moon opals.

Raylan remembered Lujanne's gift to her. He took it. "I will come back," he promised. He leapt from the cliff and pounced from tree to tree and disappeared into the forest.

The elf ninja made his way elegantly through the forest. He leapt on a branch and peered down seeing the poor dragon chained up, the soldiers, the two siblings and the mages still surrounding her. He had to get as many away as possible.

Whilst Soren was thinking of the many ways how he could goad about how he could tell Katolis how he 'killed' a dragon, even though it meant taking credit for Castor's work, the former star mage was talking privately with Claudia.

"Claudia, I'd like to ask you how you came to learn dark magic," She crossed her arms. "You can trust me. We are allies after all, are we not?"

Claudia still wasn't certain. "If I answer your question, you will answer my questions,"

"As you wish," said Castor respectfully. "Proceed,"

"If we hand Caldor to you, what will you do with him? Kill him?"

"No,"

"So you will keep him as a prisoner for the entirety of his life rather than sentence him to a lifetime in prison,"

"That is our intention. What is your next one?"

"One which we haven't had a chance to discuss. What is your business with that Moonshadow elf?"

Castor was uncertain for a moment. He had to choose his words wisely. Luckily an interruption saved him.

"Look!" shouted a soldier. He pointed a finger upwards. They saw a group of mighty dragons in the sky.

"More dragons!" cheered Soren.

The strangest thing was all they saw were a flock of shadows flying behind the clouds.

"Quite strange," observed Larius. "Very strange,"

Oblivious to the strange sight, Soren shouted out, "Let's go kill some more dragons!" he pulled out his sword.

"You are staying here," ordered Castor. "My brothers will be taking care of these dragons,"

His brothers nodded and mounted their horses. Soren complained and crossed his arms. Castor however stared up at the sky, squinting his eyes. "Something doesn't seem right,"

Raylan perched on the tree, observing three of the mages charging on steeds under the tree. He smirked. He leapt to another tree, observing the siblings, Castor and the eight soldiers still surrounding the captured dragon. He could still save the dragon.

He snuck behind a rock. A soldier came too close. He bashed it on the head and pulled it behind. He then grabbed a spear and threw it pole first at another's face, knocking him out too. He snuck behind the back of the dragon towards its chains. He cut the ropes attached to some poles dug in the ground. He snuck under her right wing and cut it. Then he crawled over her body and cut the rest of the ropes. Now for the chains.

"Didn't think we'd meet again moon-elf," spooked a voice.

He jumped and turned around to see Castor standing before him along with Soren and Claudia. He snarled. "That makes the two of us,"

"Wonderful. An elf and a dragon dead in one day," Soren pulled out his sword. "This one's mine,"

Raylan ignored him and glared coldly at Claudia. "How treacherous you are to join these men who you hardly know,"

"Tell us where the children are," Claudia demanded.

"So you can try and capture them again? I don't think so," Raylan hissed.

Soren leapt and attacked him. Their blades collided. They fought but Raylan managed to kick him back. Claudia tried to do something but Castor held her back. "No. I want that elf alive," he said.

Soon Soren got the upper hand on Raylan and kicked him back too, sending him rolling towards the dragon. He became surrounded by more soldiers. He was not going to make it.

The other three mages came out from the other side of the forest and saw the dragons high above them. There were three red ones just like the other dragon. They narrowed their eyes. What was stranger was they were just flying around in circles. Still, Lairus pulled out his primal stone. "Missilem Ignem!"

He threw three fireballs right into the sky and they imminently struck the dragons, causing them to plummet from the sky. The soldiers cheered but the brothers were sceptical. They didn't even fight back.

"Wait a minute," Delmar approached them. He touched them. They dissolved into sparks of moon magic. "They're illusions!"

"Impossible! It can't be Ihar!" said Tellus.

"We've been tricked!" said Lairus. "Tellus, go to the jail! Delmar, we regroup with Castor!"

On the cliff of the cave, Carol walked around in circles worried for Raylan.

"Will you stop pacing?" complained Willow.

"I can't," she said. "What if Lujanne's moon opals aren't enough? What if he gets captured?" she was panicking a lot. She sighed. "I never should have let him go alone,"

He has to be all right. Said Zym worriedly.

She bent down and picked him up so she could hug him.

Felix on the floor flicked through the pages of her art book. He came to a page and barked. Ezran and Willow noticed she had drawn some lovely sketches of Raylan.

"You sure know how to draw Raylan," said Willow. "Mind if we…"

She nodded. They continued flicking through pages till they came to a picture of Claudia. Their hearts dropped just thinking of her.

"I should rip that page out," said Carol. She bent down and picked up about to rip the page out so she didn't have to think of her former friend when she stopped. The picture was of Claudia holding a book. A Dark Magic book. What if…

"Guys stay here," she ordered, standing up.

"Carol! No!" Ezran begged, grabbing her hand. "It's too dangerous!"

"You two have to stay here and take care of Zym, Felix and Bait. I'll be back soon!" pulling her hood over her head and tucking her braid in as the rain poured, Carol bounded down the pathway from the cave, Zym and Felix being held back by the kids.

"I hope she knows what she's doing," said Ezran worriedly.

Willow wished she could see a vision of something happening but it was something that she could control. It just came on instinct.

Raylan fought off the spear tips that tried to poke at him. Then he backflipped onto the dragon. Soren pointed his sword at him. He reached into his purse and pulled out a moon opal only for Castor to cast a dark spell that disarmed him of both his weapons and the source of moon magic. "Mmm.." he held one up. "Moon opals. You really thought moon magic would be enough to help you save this dragon," the elf could tell that he knew he had conjured that illusion. "It's gonna take more than that,"

"Let's take him," Soren was desperate now more than ever to kill him.

"Kill him and I kill you," Castor warned. "And he can lead us to the children,"

"Don't bother!" shouted another voice. The group turned around and they saw Carol right under the trees. Raylan feared for her.

"Carol!" cried out Claudia joyfully. "You're safe!" she tried to walk over but all she received from Carol was hurtful betrayal and distain.

"I trusted you Clauds," she said bitterly. "You lied to me," Claudia shrivelled, still overcome with guilt for betraying her. "And now you're teaming up with him?" she glared coldly at the man who had tried to kidnap her and who had taken hostage of Caldor and the others.

"To help you," Claudia tried to explain. "They're only trying to help you and your family,"

Carol scoffed. "By trying to kidnap me? Or harming my siblings if they get the chance? Or taking some of our people prisoner" Castor felt his heart jump. They had worked to lengths to keep the teenage Dark sorceress from discovering the truth. They couldn't lose her trust.

Claudia was shocked. She turned her face to Castor. "Is this true?" she snarled, beginning to believe her.

"Really? Are you gonna believe her? She's just trying to protect her elf friend,"

As usual, Claudia believed what she said. She turned her head to meet Carol again but paused when she saw her book in her hand. "What are you doing?"

"Your kind of magic," she held up a magic worm.

Back at the cave, Ezran and Willow held each other worried sick. Willow's eyes closed.

Carol collapsed, weakened.

"Carol!" cried Willow waking up instantly.

"What is it sis?" asked Ez, instantly worriedly.

"It's Carol. I saw her collapsing," she cried. "We've got to get to her,"

"Okay. You stay here and I'll…" he paused. "Zym? Felix?" he realised that both the fox and the dragon had disappeared. "Oh no," he breathed.

"No, Carol! It's dangerous unless someone shows you," Claudia tried to warn her.

"You already did," Carol regrettably crushed the magic creature and cast a black spell. Green magic from the creature flew from her hands as her eyes glowed dark pink. They flew to the chains, turning into snakes that slivered off the dragon towards the guards. They screamed and ran. Castor and Claudia tried to fight them but they fought back, tripping them over.

Carol collapsed, weakened.

"Carol!" cried out Raylan. He wanted to rush over to her but the dragon fighting back was their only option. "Come on!" he begged to try to get the beats to wake up and fight but she wouldn't.

"Congratulations elf," mocked Soren. "That was impressive. Really. You did everything you could to save a monster that torched a town of innocent people,"

"It only torched the town because you attacked it, unprovoked!" Raylan spat back.

"Doesn't matter. It would have done so anywhere. And it's dead. You failed elf," Soren's arrogant victory was cut off by the sound of snarling. The dragon rose from the ground slowly, alive, and well again.

"You were saying?" Raylan mocked the bully.

Zym and Felix bounded through the forest trying to find Caroline. They were scared of her. Suddenly they heard footsteps. And voices. They bounded over to a boulder overlooking a cliff. They looked down and saw three men far below. Felix recognised them as Caldor and Gren but the other one he didn't know. They were the prisoners that Viren's children and the mages had taken prisoner. But now they had escaped.

"We must hurry!" cried out Gren. "I fear we may be too late,"

Let's just keep going. Said, Felix to the dragon.

They continued on their way, keeping higher above the men.

As the dragon rose high, regaining the strength and will to fight, Raylan rushed over to Carol who was pale as snow. The dragon roared at Soren. Impulsively he charged at it but it fought back, nearly butting him with its head. He managed to cut off one of its horns. Then all of a sudden, he was thrown back by the impact of its tail and he crashed into a body. Raylan sensed a crack. A painful one.

Zym and Felix emerged from the bushes. They saw Carol so weak. They purred; afraid something had happened. The dragon saw them and growled. Zym was sacred. Felix was brave. He stood in front of her.

"Zym! Felix!" cried out two voices together. Ezran and Willow emerged from the bushes and crouched behind them as the dragon closed in on them. But the dragon recognised Willow. She stood up and reached her hand forward, her heart overwhelmed with joy. The dragon reached its head forward and smelt her hand. It purred and then it licked her, much to her amusement. And Ezran's too. It then flapped its wings and flew to freedom.

"Come on Carol," Raylan tried to wake her up but Castor approached them. "You can't have her!" Raylan pointed his regained weapons at him. "If you want her, you'll have to go through me!"

"So be it!" said Castor.

"You were lying!" shouted a voice. Castor turned around and saw a bitter Claudia. She finally realised that it was indeed his goal to capture Caroline as well.

"So, what if I did?" he said. "That's your fault for trusting strangers!" he cast a dark spell and she was suddenly bound up in unbreakable bands. He turned his attention back to them. As he did, Lairus and Delmar emerged from the forest and they surrounded the children. They were scared.

"All in one goal," he mocked. "This should be fun," He prepared to fight Raylan when all of a sudden, the dragon swooped down out of nowhere and breathed fire upon him. He dodged. Using the opportunity, Raylan hoisted Carol into his arms and took off with her. The children followed after them.

"After them!" Castor shouted but the dragon fired upon the mages too, saving the children. Then he swiped his tail and slammed Delmar into a boulder, breaking the bottom part of his spine severely. Then instantly he smashed Lairus's primal ball to pieces.

Willow could see that the dragon was giving them time to escape as a thank-you for saving its life. They managed to escape into the woods. The dragon took off into the air again. Castor growled that they had once again failed. He tried to follow after them but he stopped when he saw his brothers were down. One of them was bruised, the other one paralysed, unable to walk. He growled and stumbled over to them. "Get up. We've got to go,". Their lies were exposed and they had to flee. He helped Lairus onto his feet and they went over to lift Delmar off the ground. They needed to get him somewhere to heal.

Just then Tellus appeared, panting for life. "They escaped the village," He took over carrying Delmar from Lairus who was too weak to do so. They wandered off towards the forest.

"Wait!" pleaded Claudia, still bound up. "My brother. He's hurt!" she begged.

Castor looked back and saw the dreadful state she was in. He waved his hands and she realised. He then left them behind and she went to check on her brother who was weak and bruised all over.

A while passed. The three men rushed over to the spot where they found out the dragon had crash-landed. But all they were large tracks, chains, ropes, and poles.

"We're too late," breathed Gren.

"Not quite," said Corvus, kneeling down. "The children were around here,"

Caldor noticed something was left on the ground. A purse of moon opals. He took one out. "Historia Viventum,"

That's another chapter done. Just two episodes of Season 2 to go. What did you all think? I hope you've enjoyed this. See you all soon. Thank you for your support. Please keep sending ideas if you have any. Bye and see you hopefully next week.