Issue 11: Dragon's Flame

Dragon's Flame is the eleventh issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
It has been a whole week since Bloom left Alfea and the remaining Winx are not in high spirits. After school, the girls try to cheer each other up by going shopping in the city, but things take a turn for the worse when they learn that Bloom had been followed on her way back home by the Trix. Stella rushes to Earth to bring Bloom back and she returns late at night, where they all learn that Bloom was the Keeper of the Dragon's Flame: the magical spark that created the entire Dimension. It turns out that the Trix managed to corner Bloom while on Earth and steal the Dragon's Flame from her, planning to use it for their dimensional conquest. In order to uncover Bloom's magical past, the Winx are teleported to the icy remains of Domino, where they learn of the Ancestral Witches and the kingdom's downfall. Just as they are being attacked by an army of goldums and a giant snow monster, the Winx are rescued by the Specialists. However, all is not well, as it is revealed that while they were away, the Trix had already taken over Cloud Tower, destroyed Red Fountain and are headed for Alfea with their Army of Darkness. In order to reclaim her powers, Bloom sneaks off for Cloud Tower with Stella, Sky and Brandon as Knut leads the way, all while Tecna, Musa and Flora have to stay behind to defend their school. Meanwhile, now that the Trix have the Dragon's Flame, they have no need for their little mole anymore.

Plot
Wizgiz is holding his usual Metamorphosymbiosis class as the Winx look back at Bloom's empty seat. As the class ends, the girls head to lunch as they talk about how much they miss Bloom and cannot believe that she left.

They flash back to Faragonda being upset at Bloom's departure as well, but she advised the girls to notify her if something about Bloom comes up.

Stella tries to get the girls to stop thinking about Bloom, who has been gone for two weeks, by insisting that they go have fun in Magix City. As the Winx are shopping in Magix, they run into Greta and learn that Bloom quit her job at the White Horse before going back to Earth. Greta also tells the girls that, as Bloom was leaving, she was being followed by "a witch with strange wild hair" into an alleyway. Stella concludes that it was Stormy and uses her scepter to go to Earth; leaving the rest of the Winx behind.

Later that night, the rest of the Winx are waiting for Stella to return. Stella returns with Bloom in tow but, before the girls can celebrate Bloom's return, Stella tells them that the situation has gotten worse. Flora and Stella set Bloom down on the couch, where Stella reveals to the girls that the Trix succeeded in stealing Bloom's powers. Bloom then reveals to them that, while on Earth, she learned that she is not a normal girl. It turns out that she is actually a princess from a realm called Domino and that her parents, Mike and Vanessa, are her adoptive parents.

She explains that the Trix ambushed her home and threatened to kill her parents but, when she tried to save them, Icy froze her to the wall and the Trix used a spell to take her powers. The girls realize that Bloom possessed the Dragon's Flame and they go warn Faragonda now that all of the Magic Dimension is in danger. However, Faragonda has found out due to the Trix already having taken control of Cloud Tower. Faragonda has faith that Griffin will be able to handle the situation and advises that the girls come up with an alternative plan before the Trix come to take Alfea. She leaves the girls to help Bloom recover her powers with the help of Professor Palladium.

At the simulation chamber, Palladium warps the Winx to Domino. As the girls brave through the harsh cold, they encounter a snow monster on their way to the royal palace. The snow monster attacks the Winx, causing Bloom to fall into a crevice. The snow monster leaves and the Winx use that opportunity to look for Bloom, but come to discover the frozen royal palace instead.

As Stella uses her powers to thaw out the palace, Bloom is exploring it from the inside. The palace starts melting around her and Bloom reunites with the girls. Soon after, a ball of light suddenly appears and it turns out to be a nymph by the name of Daphne. She explains to Bloom that Domino was attacked by the Ancestral Witches when she was just a baby and, before they could destroy Bloom along with the rest of Domino, Daphne sent Bloom to another dimension. Bloom asks where her actual parents could be and Daphne insists that they are still alive somewhere in the Magic Dimension. Now that she knows the truth, Bloom vows to defeat the Trix.

Before the girls can return to Alfea, they find themselves surrounded by an army of snow monsters until the Specialists fly in on their ship to save them. Sky and Brandon are able to fend off the monsters long enough for the Winx to get on board their ship. As they fly off from Domino, Brandon tells the girls that they were barely able to escape the Trix's attack on Red Fountain and that it has already been destroyed; leaving Alfea is the only college left fighting. They then explain to the girls how the Trix's army is made up of insect-like creatures that can form together into powerful monsters.

Bloom thinks that all of this is her fault for letting the Trix steal the Dragon's Flame, but Sky tells her that no one is responsible for anyone else's evil actions. The Winx and Specialists arrive back at Alfea, where Stella notices that Knut is also there. Knut explains that he no longer works for the Trix and asked for protection from them. Stella is not sure if they can trust him but Codatorta tells her that Knut helped fight the Trix's Army of Darkness at Red Fountain. Bloom then tells Faragonda that she needs to get into Cloud Tower to take her powers back. Faragonda insists that it is much too dangerous but Knut tells them that he would know his way to Cloud Tower by using the underground tunnels. Sky and Brandon decide to go with her just before the Army of Darkness arrives at Alfea. Faragonda fends off a monster from destroying one of the school's towers and Bloom protects Faragonda from an attack from behind. A pixie watches from her hiding place. She and two animals try to escape the insects until one of the animals traps them in a vase.

As the battle ensues, Bloom decides to go to Cloud Tower with Sky, Brandon and Stella, and she tells Flora, Musa and Tecna to stay and help everyone fend off the Army of Darkness. They wish each other luck before Knut leads them to the secret tunnels.

As Knut leads Bloom's group to Cloud Tower, they worry that their friends will not be able to fight off the Army of Darkness for much longer. Brandon wonders where Riven is in all of this, to which Sky tells him that he has seen Riven running around with Darcy. He even suspects that Riven could be working for the Trix.

Meanwhile, Riven has been locked in the Cloud Tower dungeons by Stormy and Darcy now that they no longer have any use for him. Riven berates himself for being fooled so easily and vows to escape and help his friends fight. He soon meets Griffin, who has been locked up in the cell across the hall from him, and her learns that she and the rest of the Cloud Tower Witches have been locked up by the Trix as well. Riven finds an old nail near his cell door and sets himself free by picking the lock. Griffin warns him that her cell door is locked with the help of a powerful spell but Riven tries to pick the lock anyway. He fails and this alerts the guards that he has escaped. Riven runs from the guards but reaches the end of the hall, where only a balcony lies. Not wanting to be captured again, Riven jumps from the balcony.

Back at Alfea, Musa feels a large pain in her chest and says that something worse has probably yet to come.

Spells Used

 * Power of the Sun - Used by Stella to thaw out Domino's royal palace.

Debuts

 * Concorda
 * The Army of Darkness
 * Daphne
 * Pepe
 * Ron

Mistakes

 * When Greta tells the girls that Bloom quit her job, she gains a peach-colored headband that never appears again.

Characters

 * Winx Club
 * Bloom
 * Stella
 * Flora
 * Musa
 * Tecna
 * Enemies
 * Trix
 * Icy
 * Darcy
 * Stormy
 * Army of Darkness


 * Specialists
 * Sky
 * Brandon
 * Timmy
 * Riven
 * Alfea Staff
 * Faragonda
 * Griselda
 * Wizgiz
 * Palladium
 * Concorda
 * Knut
 * Cloud Tower Staff
 * Griffin


 * Red Fountain Staff
 * Saladin
 * Codatorta
 * Animals
 * Pepe
 * Ron
 * Nymphs
 * Daphne
 * Humans
 * Mike
 * Vanessa
 * White Horse Staff
 * Greta

Trivia

 * This issue covers the plot of several Season 1 episodes, starting with Episode 18 and ending midway into the plot of Episode 22.
 * This issue shares the same title with Issue 143 in Italian.