Moon

by Aaron Ehasz

“Of all the treasures, artifacts, and relics in the lair of the Dragon King and Queen, they kept this closest to where they slept,” her father said. He ran his hand over the golden frame. “It must be important.”

  “Then we’ll figure it out,” Claudia said. “Whatever it takes. Hear that, mirror? I’m putting you on notice.” She held two fingers to her eyes and then pointed them back at the mirror.

  Viren shook his head. At least this child was bright, but her endless quirks were insufferable. He covered the mirror with the drape.

  “We have something important to discuss,” he said. “Your mission.”

  “To rescue the princes,” Claudia said.

  “Yes, but you will have a secret mission that is far more important.” Her father leaned in close. “Claudia, you must recover that dragon egg.”

  “Well, Dad, the princes have it with them, so it shouldn’t be a problem,” Claudia said. She loved her dad but sometimes he needed to lighten up a little. “Princes, egg … I’ve got room for a third mission, if you need anything while we’re out,” she said with a wry smile.

  Her father ignored her. “The egg cannot fall into the wrong hands,” he said. “It is too powerful, too dangerous. Whatever happens, whatever accidents or … tragedies may occur, above all else you must return with that egg.”

  “I understand,” Claudia said.

  “Good.”

  “One question,” Claudia added. “Let’s say, in the unlikely event we’re attacked by giant bumble-scorps, and they’re all buzzing and flailing their scorps at us …” Claudia made a buzzing noise with her lips and began circling her father.

  “Claudia, bumble-scorps only attack when people are alone,” her father interrupted. “Stick with your brother and you’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, I know, but say there’s some sort of crazy, brazen bumble-scorp that attacks both of us, and I’m forced to choose between saving the egg … and saving Soren. What should I do?”

  Her father stared at her, stone-faced.

  “Dad—it’s a joke. Relax, I’m kidding.” Claudia made another loud buzzing sound to show him she was only teasing. “Everything will be fine.” She turned to walk out of the study.

  “The egg,” her father said.

  Claudia paused but didn’t turn around. What?

  “If you must choose … choose the egg.”

  After an hour or so of walking, the princes, elf, and glow toad emerged from the forest into a valley. Steep, snowy mountains loomed on either side of them, but straight ahead there was a smooth, trodden trail. Callum observed the well-worn walkway, relieved that someone else had followed this path.

  “Wait. This path is too easy,” Rayla said. She put up a hand to stop them from walking farther.

  “No, it’s not. It’s exactly the right amount of easy,” Callum said.

  “Listen to me,” Rayla said. “The trail is well-worn, it’s flat, it’s soft. Sooner or later we’re going to run into somebody.” She turned and pointed straight up the mountainside. “We need to go that way. Tougher terrain is safer for us. The tougher the better.”

  “That sounds terrible,” Callum said.

  “Exactly!” Rayla replied. “Terrible is perfect.”

  Ezran happened to agree with Callum. “This is already tough enough,” he said, trying to keep the whine out of his voice. “Do you have any idea how heavy this egg is?” He tugged on his pack’s shoulder straps, which he feared were making permanent indentations in his skin.

  Rayla gave Ezran a look. “Uh, no, I don’t have any idea—because you won’t trust me to carry it.”

  Ezran looked at Callum. What was he supposed to say to that?

  “Should we trust you?” Callum asked Rayla. She was touching that ribbon thing again. “Have you told us the truth about everything?” He looked her in the eye.

  Rayla met Callum’s gaze and held it for a long while, as if trying to decide what to say.

  “Ugh, fine,” she finally said, breaking the stare. “Keep carrying the extremely heavy egg. But quit crying about it; we’re going this way.” She turned and started up a rocky path.

  Once again, Ezran and Callum followed.

  Back at the castle, Claudia made her way to the courtyard, her father’s words echoing in her mind. He couldn’t have been serious about choosing the egg over her own brother, could he?

  No, she decided. Her father was under a lot of stress; best to take everything he said right now with a grain of salt.

  She emerged outside and was glad to find Soren sitting on a bench next to a platter of jelly tarts. He was staring into space, methodically popping tarts into his mouth.

  “Hey, Sor-bear. What’s wrong? You look kind of down,” Claudia said. She ruffled his hair. “Grizzly Sor-bear.”

  “Did Dad say anything … strange to you?” Soren asked.

  Claudia looked away, unsure of where the conversation was headed. “Yeah, he kind of did. Did he say anything to you?”

  Soren paused and shoveled another jelly tart into his mouth. He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of being ordered to murder the princes. Finally, he decided it was best not to get into it. “No. Nope, totally not. Just the standard Dad chat. He didn’t say anything weird to me.”

  Claudia furrowed her brow. “Oh. Okay, I guess.”

  “So, what did he say to you that was so strange?” Soren asked.

  But now Claudia wasn’t sure she wanted to share her information either. She noticed a nearby squirrel eating a walnut.

  “Uh, he said that walnuts are his favorite … fruit! I mean that’s crazy, right?” she said. “Walnuts aren’t even a fruit!”

  Soren furrowed his brow and popped another jelly tart in his mouth.

  “I mean, what’s his favorite vegetable, ice cream?” Claudia continued. Then she laughed at her own joke and accidentally let out a snort. Her brother joined in—he could never keep it together when Claudia snorted.

  “Anyway. Are you ready for our mission?” Claudia asked.

  “Yeah. I guess I am,” Soren said. He picked up the leftover jelly tarts. Talking with his sister had calmed him down, and all this stress eating was bad for his figure.

  “Great. I’m sure you won’t die,” Claudia said.

  Huh? Soren turned to his sister.

  “On this mission,” Claudia quickly added. “I mean, eventually you will die. I assume. But who knows? Maybe you won’t.”

  “Thanks, Claudia,” Soren said with a smile. It was sweet his little sister thought he might be immortal.

  As the group climbed higher into the mountains, the wind whipped harshly around them. The snowdrifts had deepened, and the ice had slickened the farther they got up the mountain. Callum, Ezran, and Bait struggled to keep up with Rayla’s pace.

  Finally, Rayla paused and looked back at all the ground they’d covered. “All right, let’s stop and eat,” she said. “I’m starving.”

  “Finally,” Ezran said, collapsing onto the snowy ground.

  Callum dug his hand into his backpack for the bread. When he didn’t come up with anything, he stuck his face in the pack and rifled around more vigorously. Oh no.

  “I don’t have the food,” he admitted. “How could this happen?” He slapped his palm against his forehead.

  “What?” Rayla asked. “You had one job, carry our food. How could you leave it?”

  “You rushed us,” Callum said. “You were yelling at us and I just … You made me leave it.”

  “You’re blaming me for your mistake?” Rayla asked. “Explain to me how that works, please.”

  “Maybe. At least partially,” Callum said.

  “Oh, that’s right, because I remember yelling three things,” Rayla said. She unfurled three fingers from her good hand and counted off on them. “One, ‘Hurry, hurry’. Two, ‘Let’s go, go, go.’ And three, ‘Be sure to abandon all the supplies you need to survive in the wild.’ ”

  “What are we going to do?” Ezran cried. “We’re out of food.”


  Callum swallowed. He was suddenly starving.

  Rayla shook her head. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. “Well, sorry you won’t be able to feast on the terrible-tasting rocklike lumps you humans call ‘food,’ ” she said, “but I suppose I’d be willing to share my moonberry juice with you. Unless, of course, you’re worried it might be blood …” She paused, but the boys didn’t seem in the mood for joking around. She dropped the sarcasm. “You know, it’s packed with super nutrients, and I still have plenty.”

  She dug into her bag and pulled out the glass bottle … only to find that it was empty!

  “All right, which one of you stole it?” she said, holding up the bottle. “I knew I shouldn’t trust humans.”

  The princes looked at her blankly.

  “Come on, out with it. Which one of you went through my stuff?” she demanded.

  “I didn’t touch your things,” Callum said.

  “Don’t look at me,” Ezran said with palms facing up.

  Rayla pondered the innocent looks on the princes’ faces. Either they were masterful liars or they hadn’t taken her juice. “Well, I didn’t drink it,” she said. “If one of you didn’t sneak it, then—”

  HIC.

  “What’s that?” Rayla asked. The three turned to the source of the juiciest hiccup they’d ever heard. Bait was glowing a deep shade of purplish red and licking his lips. He hiccupped again.

  “Wait,” Rayla said. “Did that little frog monster—”

  “Bait wouldn’t do that,” Ezran said. “You have no reason to think—”

  HIC, Bait bellowed again.

  “Don’t accuse him,” Ezran said. He was intent on defending his pet, but he was feeling less and less sure of Bait’s innocence.

  “Look at how he’s glowing,” Rayla said.

  “Well, Bait glows different ways depending on how he’s feeling,” Ezran said. Rayla maybe didn’t understand that yet. “Like, he has one color if he’s lonely. Or he glows another way if he’s hungry.” He walked over to Bait and sat down in front of him.

  “So, what does this particular shade signify?” Rayla asked.

  “Hmm,” Ezran said. He was wondering that himself. “Actually, I’ve never seen him glow that color before. Kind of a reddish purplish … berry color.”

  UUURRRPPP. Bait let out a belch right in Ezran’s face.

  “Yeah, he drank it,” Ezran said as the smell of moonberry juice washed over him.

  Rayla shook her head, put the bottle away, and continued walking.

  Everyone moved on in silence.

  Hours later, Ezran adjusted the backpack on his shoulders. The farther up the mountain they had traveled, the deeper and more treacherous the snow had become. Rayla and Callum didn’t know how easy they had it, what with their long legs and no heavy dragon egg on their backs.

  “Rayla, can you slow down?” he gasped. “It’s getting a little tricky.”

  Rayla ignored him, but Callum turned around and offered a hand to Ezran.

  “Rayla! Come on,” Callum said. “You’re the one who made us take this crazy route, at least let us keep up with you.” He was practically pulling his little brother—and the egg—up the mountain now.

  Ezran suddenly let go and plopped down in the snow. “I just need to put the egg down a second and catch my breath,” he said. Bait stopped to keep Ezran company.

  “Stopping is not keeping up,” Rayla said. Finally, she spun around to look at the princes. “There is a solution, you know. You can just let me carry the egg.”

  Callum shook his head. “That’s not happening.”

  “You realize that I could just take it, right?” Rayla said. She crossed her arms. “I could just take it from you, any time I wanted.”

  “Yeah, that’s good, Rayla. Way to increase trust,” Callum said.

  “But I haven’t taken it—that’s the point,” she said.

  “Oh, well, congratulations,” Callum said. “You haven’t threatened us and forced us to give you the egg? You deserve a medal; you’re a hero!” He shouted the last word at the top of his lungs.

  Ezran listened to the word echo throughout the mountain, and then another sound caught his ears. Small fissures were forming in a wall of ice nearby. He waved a hand to alert Rayla and Callum, but they were absorbed in their argument.

  “Well, I could take it,” Rayla shouted. “I could go return that egg all on my own, and as a matter of fact, I would be a hero,” she said. “It would be glorious—I’d go down in Xadian history.”

  “Guys, you need to keep it down,” Ezran whispered. He tugged on Callum’s sleeve and pointed at the cracking snowdrifts above them, but neither Callum nor Rayla paid him any attention.

  “Yup, I could take the egg from you,” Rayla barreled on. “I’d be the most celebrated elf. They’d call me … the Egg Bringer!”

  “Then take it,” Callum screamed. “What’s stopping you?”

  “The fact that I actually want to stop this war,” Rayla spat back. “The egg must come from you. Human princes, returning the egg to the Dragon Queen. That’s the gesture that matters. That’s the gesture that could end the war and change the world.”

  “Guys, SHHHHH,” Ezran said as loudly as he dared, finally grabbing their attention. “You guys need to stop fighting. Look.” He pointed to the huge sheets of cracking ice. “All your yelling is breaking up the ice. If we’re not careful, we could start an avalanche. Got it?”

  Callum and Rayla both stopped yelling.

  “Got it,” Callum whispered.

  “Not a peep,” Rayla mouthed to Ezran.

  “Good,” Ezran said. He gave them the thumbs-up sign, put a finger to his lips, picked up the egg, and resumed walking up the mountain. Rayla and Callum followed behind silently.

  But Bait stood still as a statue in the snow, a strange, almost pained look on his face. His cheeks puffed out, and his eyes bulged—he felt something coming. If he could go back in time and not drink that moonberry juice, he would. There was no stopping what was about to happen though. Bait gave into it.

  UUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPP.

  Ezran, Callum, and Rayla froze as the megaburp echoed through the canyon, as loud and menacing as a clap of thunder.

  A moment later, an ice sheet broke free in the distance. It began slipping down the mountain, picking up speed and snow as it went.

  “Avalanche!” Callum yelled. “Run!”

  Ezran scooped up Bait and they took off running, but Ezran’s legs were too short to move through the deep powder very fast. He slipped and grabbed one of Rayla’s hands to catch his balance, but she moaned and shook him off. Ezran noticed that her hand looked … purple?

  “Oh my gosh,” Ezran said. “What’s happened to your hand?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just run,” Rayla said. With her good hand she yanked Ezran’s arm and they continued down the path. But a few moments later, when she looked over her shoulder, Rayla knew the avalanche would overtake them.

  “We’re not going to make it,” she said. “It’s like a snow-nami.”

  Callum skidded to a stop on his heels and turned around to face the snow. Rayla was right—they could never outrun the avalanche. He had to do something. He reached into his bag.

  “Callum, what are you doing?” Ezran asked, his voice full of fear.

  “Get behind me,” Callum said. “I have a plan.”

  Rayla, Ezran, and Bait obeyed.

  Callum stepped forward and held the primal stone in front of him. He drew the wind breath rune in the air. The wall of white doom was only feet away.

  “ASPIRO!” Callum yelled out into the storm. He blew with all the air he had in his lungs—a gust so strong that it split the snow, creating a sanctuary for the group. The avalanche rushed past them on both sides.

  Callum blew and blew until he thought he would pass out. Finally, there was no more air left in his lungs. He inhaled, and snow pummeled into him, sweeping him off his feet.

  Over and ove
r he tumbled, careening down the mountain in a flurry of white, the primal stone tucked against his body. He finally came to a stop under several feet of snow.

  He gasped for air as he pushed his way to the surface. It seemed the snow had settled peacefully on the mountain. But where were Rayla and Ezran?

  “Is everyone okay?” Callum shouted into the eerie quiet. Then he saw Rayla’s legs sticking out of the snow. A second later, she had kicked her way out of the drift and righted herself.

  “I’m good,” Rayla said, dusting some powder off her pants. “Where’s that hiccupping, juice thief, frog-monster?” She held her hands out, ready to seize Bait by the neck.

  Nearby, Bait popped up and shook the snow off himself.

  “He’s right behind you,” Ezran said. “And he’s okay.” Ezran had landed on the icy surface of a frozen lake, yards away from everyone else. He looked himself up and down and determined he was still in one piece. “We’re all okay!”

  But the feeling of relief didn’t last. Ezran checked his backpack—the egg was missing!

  He twirled around in search of it. There it was—it had spun around on the ice and was lying a good ten feet away on the icy surface, glowing and unscathed but completely alone.

  “I’ll go get the egg,” Ezran said. He stood up slowly and with great care made his way to the egg. He picked it up, but the extra weight of the egg was too much for the fragile ice. Small cracks started to form and multiplied quickly around his feet. Ezran froze clutching the egg, not knowing what to do.

  “Ez! Don’t move,” Callum called to him from the shore. “We’re coming to get you.” He and Rayla slid down the snow to the edge of the lake. Callum crawled out onto the ice on all fours, trying to distribute his weight as evenly as possible, just like King Harrow had taught him on a winter holiday at the Banther Lodge years ago. “Stay still, we’re almost there,” he said. Rayla slid out onto the ice behind him.

  As Callum approached Ezran, he reached his hands out for the egg.

  “Easy does it. Just pass it over,” he encouraged his brother.

  Ezran carefully handed the egg to Callum.

  But as Callum stood up with the extra weight of the egg, cracks formed in the ice beneath him. He turned to Rayla, who was much closer to the shore.