"Maybe we should go to the Banther Lodge?" Callum suggested to Runaan that afternoon after lunch and started traveling a faint deer trail. "It's mainly a winter lodge and is usually empty through the others seasons. We can gather supplies there."
"It's isolated from any towns," added Ezran. "It's used by the members of the royal family. We can leave at the first sign of trouble."
Runaan thought long and hard about it, clearly weighing the pros and cons; and they couldn't actually blame him. They know that anyone might stumble upon the lodge, while they're hiding there as well as running into a soldier by accident.
"I guess we have to lay low for a couple days," said Runaan.
After a while, Ezran said, "We made it!" He pointed through a thicket to the enormous hunting cabin tucked near a wide river. It looked odd this time of year with windows boarded up and the roof missing about a foot of pure white snow. A small fishing boat bobbed in the water near a tiny dock.
"Hold it." Diana returned Zym to Callum and chuckled as the baby dragon licked him. "Ezran. Didn't your dad told you to come here and wait for General Amaya to pick you up?"
"Oh no." Callum gave Diana the baby dragon before he and Rayla had immediately went on scouting duty to search for the general and her legion.
General Amaya was the princes' mother's sister. She was a great general and a fearless leader, known across the land for her brilliant battlefield strategy and improvisation.
But General Amaya didn't say anything to anyone — she had been born deaf and signed to communicate.
But not just that, General Amaya was Diana's mentor whenever she stops by for a visit at the castle. Diana has became an increasingly strong and skilled warrior. The combat training had gotten more serious each year. All in secret, she became the daughter her general never had. She could fight with swords, knives, and spears. She could use longbows without too much trouble. She gained sharp reflexes and swift agility during her training. But General Amaya wouldn't understand the weight of the situation and she has mixed feelings regarding elves.
"Is she there?" Runaan called out to Rayla.
"Nope, nothing here," reported Rayla.
"I think we've missed her and the legion." Callum had found some hoof-prints in the mud, not to far from the lodge. "They're making their way towards the castle."
"Well, that's lucky," commented Ethari. "Lets get inside before anyone spots us."
Callum walked cautiously towards the Banther Lodge, looking around warily to make sure that there's no soldiers around the area like deer checking for any hunters in a meadow and went into the bushes. He soon found a box in the bushes and gotten out a key. He headed towards the door and quickly unlocked the door, he quickly gestured for the others to come.
Tensed at first, everyone headed inside of the Banther Lodge. But after checking that no one was in the lodge, everyone calmed down and started resting in the living room as Ethari started looking for food for them. Callum had went into one of the rooms and came back just as quickly with a strange cube thing with every respective magical rune on it and slip it into his backpack.
Diana took out a loaf of stale bread that's surprisingly hard as a rock when Ram remarked, "I don't think I'll be eating that if that's what humans eat."
"None of us are going to be eating it," said Diana dryly. "The bread is so stale, you can knock somebody out with it." She banged the bread against the counter to prove her point. "Never knew human food could be dried out. I mean, who doesn't love a club sandwich?"
Runaan and Ethari both exchanged amused smirks, while the others snickered or laughed at Diana's sarcastic remark regarding the stale bread.
"Hey Father?" Zym asked Callum.
"Yes son?" Callum looked down at Zym, who was standing on his lap and looking up at him.
"Can you tell me another story?" asked Zym.
"Which one?" Callum asked his adoptive son.
Zym looked at Diana, who was speaking to Andromeda, and replied, "The legend about how some humans knew that unicorns exist still."
"Okay, the legend of the unicorns it is then," Callum agreed.
"Is he able to speak and understand Zym?" Ezran asked Diana.
"He was able to bond with Zym since he was the one who hatched him with his magic," Diana explained to him. "Zym thinks Callum is his dad after he hatched." She turned to look at Callum eagerly. "Now, lets listen to the story."
"Always the most selfless of Xadian creatures, the unicorns were gentle and compassionate beings and when they saw that humans were struggling because of their lack of magic, they pitied them and wished to help, thus fulfilling Hoole's desire to help the humans when his kind and the elves didn't want to. The dragons and elves argued against helping humans as they believed if humans were meant to do magic, they would be born with it. Yet, the compassion of the unicorns ran too deep for them to ignore them and created primal stones, gifted them to a few wise humans and taught them spells and the runes and words to release the spells. For the first time, humans no longer starved and struggled and were happy that they given help and have magic, all thanks to the unicorns. Because of this, they were revered and regarded higher than the elves and dragons."
The present elves who were listening to the story were shocked when they heard the human side of the story regarding the unicorns and felt bad for the humans' hard time in the western lands. They didn't try to help them and left them to suffer, no wonder some humans hold a grudge.
"But when the Dark Mages have believed brought the extinction of unicorns, the opposite is the truth. One day, when the wise mages were punishing the Dark Mages for their terrible deeds in a mountain village, a young daughter of one of the wise mages was exploring the woods by herself. Her name was Sasha. She felt sorry for the Dark Mages, but she knew it was the right thing to do. Especially since one of the Dark Mages' spells had killed her mother when she was little. But as Sasha was thinking about the trial, she had accidentally tripped and fell into the deepest parts of the thickets. She quickly learned that she was lost when she was found by Yosuzume, night sparrows. They are usually harmless unless you have a evil heart and soul. The birds flew up ahead of Sasha and led her to a cave. She thanked the night sparrows for their aid and rested there. But when she had awakened, she heard singing within the cave. Seeing that it's coming from further into the cave, she cautiously approached the sound and other side of the cave had led her to another patch of forest that felt like it was timeless and magical. But her grief of her fallen mother has been remained, so she rested there. Then, all of the sudden, the music has returned. Then, she saw the source of the sound. Coming towards her was one of the most beautiful magical creatures ever: a unicorn. He was of light blue and sparkling, silvery spots in the shapes of stars. His mane and tail was sparkling silvery-white like stardust. His eyes were of the deepest blue that sparkled like sapphires. His golden horn shone with a unique light above a star-shaped mark on his forehead. Sasha couldn't believe the creature before her. But the unicorn comforted the girls and ease her sorrows. The unicorn convinces Sasha to ride him and he brought her out of his domain. They hid themselves when they caught sight of Sasha's father and some tracking dogs, looking for any trace of her. The unicorn told Sasha to spread the word about unicorns aren't extinct to the wise mages. Sasha had agreed to spread the word. The unicorn watched as the girl reunited with her father and told him everything about her encounter with the unicorn and spread the news to the other wise mages. Legend says that when an unheard song is being sung or when new miracles are being sprouted from the earth, it's the unicorns letting us know they're still here, waiting for humans, elves, and dragons to figure out how to get along. Yes, the world believes the unicorns are gone, if they ever existed at all. But the wise mages and the pure-hearted people... We know otherwise. And we'll guard the secret until the time comes when unicorns can return in peace."
All of the elves were stunned to silence by Callum's story to Zym, but Diana and Ezran were both smiling at hearing the story. The elves exchanged the glances. They forgotten that there are good humans as well as bad humans due to two terrible deeds that has been done by King Harrow and Lord Viren. But they haven't considered the good hearts of the people of the Human Kingdoms.
"What an amazing story," Zym said eagerly. "I'm glad that Sasha had discovered that unicorns are still here." 
"I'm glad you like the story, son." Callum chuckled as Zym jumped on him and started giving him zappy licks again.
After the story, everyone decided to help Ethari out with dinner. Diana has went to the river with a fishing net and tossed it into the river. It wasn't long till some fish were were caught in her net. Diana smiled as she placed the fish into the baskets.
She caught the gazes of the impressed elves and the happy princes. She smiled as she brought over the caught fish, letting Rayla and Ethari carry the baskets full of fish into the lodge. After shaking off the shock, the elves started helping out too; Callisto and Ram both gathered some apples from the apple trees, while Andromeda and Skor both collected some moonberries. Callum and Ezran were both busy keeping a protective eye on Zym, while Diana and Rayla were both speaking to each other and looking after the princes.
Feeling restless, Diana went outside to see how everything's going for the elves. She soon spotted Ram fishing with his archery by the river. As Diana headed towards him, she saw some raccoons raiding Ram's caught fish.
Ram caught sight of the raccoons and yelled, "Hey!" Catching them in the act and made them scampering into the woods with three fish.
Diana snickered at the sight and remarked playfully, "And that's why you don't leave your catch unattended."
"Gee, thanks," said Ram sarcastically. "I had no idea."
Diana laughed at Ram's sarcastic response before she shook her head and went back inside of the lodge. It wasn't long till the elves had came over and brought the food to Ethari. Ethari thanked them for their help and started working on their lunch.
As Ethari continued cooking and Runaan was assisting him, everyone was resting in the living room. Diana and Ezran was talking to the elves and laughter filled the air, while Callum gently played with Zym. Diana was busy polishing her blade and was leaning against the wall.
She looked outside and a faint memory entered her mind from the time she had discovered why the lodge was called the "Banther Lodge." Her family were having a vacation at the Banther Lodge with the royal family about nine years ago. Diana was playing outside with Callum and Ezran when a group of banthers had came out of the woods, curious about them. The two princes were quickly shoved indoors of the lodge, but Diana was by herself and didn't realize that the banthers were coming out of the woods till the last minute. Truth be told, she was more curious than scared. A banther had took Diana to its den for some reason and made her join the banther's cubs. It had almost gave her family a heart attack and a nervous breakdown to boot. It took both of her parents to talk to the protective banthers into giving Diana back to them, much to her amusement.
"Dinner is ready!" Ethari called out to everyone, snapping Diana out of her thoughts.
The humans, the elves, the grumpy glowtoad, and the baby dragon went towards the table to eat some fish stew sided with moonberries for the evening.
But what they didn't notice was that they were being secretly watched by someone from the shadows of the woods. A cloaked man with a stern expression was watching the Banther Lodge. He was tall and muscular, but he stepped lightly. He was stunned to see that the human princes and their friend has been held hostage by Moonshadow elves. He'll bind his time and wait to the right moment to free the princes from the elves.