“No,” I said firmly, indignation stirring hotly inside me. “You. Are. Not.”
She arched a defiant eyebrow. “Either I go with you, or I will open my mouth and shout loud enough for every single member of the pride to hear me. They’ll be here in less than a minute.”
I gawked. “You wouldn’t.”
She shoved her tangle of wild, honey-brown hair back from her face. “Test me.”
“Kerstin, please.” Anxiety chewed through me. I could not stay one more moment in the walls of this cave, in this place that no longer fit me, that chafed and restrained me as much as the dragon rope Stig had used to bind me to that tree. “I have to go.”
“I’m not stopping you from leaving. You only have to take me with you.”
I exhaled a breath that suddenly felt as thick as the fog drifting at our ankles. “You’re impossible.”
I sighed and told myself it wouldn’t be so bad to have a companion, a friend, on this journey. Even if she was younger, she’d been at this dragon thing longer than me. Maybe she would even increase my chances of finding Fell.
She grinned then, looking every bit her sixteen years. “You’ll be glad to have me along. You’ll see.” She tapped at her nose. “I have an excellent nose for harpies. You haven’t confronted one yet. I cansniff them out quicker than anyone. It’s a particular skill of mine. And trust me, you don’t want to tangle with one of them. They’re quite … vicious. And theyhateus.”
Suddenly, staring at her, I was reminded of Alise. My throat tightened. Sweet, innocent … lost-to-Stig Alise. I vowed then and there nothing would happen to this girl. I would not lose her as I had Alise. I would not let her fall into darkness.
Shaking my head, I exhaled. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“No, you don’t.”
Relenting, I nodded. “Come then. I’d like to be far away before dawn.”
THE SNOW WASunrelenting.
I hadn’t lied when I said I longed for fresh air and the outside world. Except this was not any world I had ever known. It was so much blinding whiteness—clumping in my lashes, pelting my skin, wailing in my ears like a death scream.
We kept our heads low and plodded along, determined to put space between us and the pride. We couldn’t stop now, when our tracks were being so conveniently erased, eaten up by snow. Nor could we fly when the air was dense and visibility low. For all we knew, we could collide with one of the several rock faces rising around us.
My core heated, an internal furnace keeping me toasty enough. That was my advantage.
As an earth dragon, Kerstin’s blood didn’t run nearly as warm as mine, but she was still a dragon and able to withstand the extreme temperature.
We were all hot-natured. Not just me. Not just fire-breathers. I might run the hottest, with fire swimming in my veins, flowing beneath my skin, gathering at the back of my throat—but all of dragonkind burned.
And yet even as hot-natured as I was, I could recognize that this was cold. Bitterly,bitterlycold.
Kerstin’s teeth clacked. “We’ve got to find shelter and make camp.”She was a hazy figure in the snowfall. While the cold couldn’t kill her, it could make her miserable.
“It can’t last much longer,” I called through the howling chill.
She shook her head, her body bent over as she leaned into herself, resisting the cutting wind. “If it’s only a passing squall and not like this for the rest of winter.”
If?Therestof winter? Could that even happen? How would I find Fell and dig him free in weather like this?
“Please, Tamsyn, let’s take shelter and start a fire.”
“Just a little farther,” I encouraged her, clasping her hand and trying to imbue some of my warmth into her. Occasionally, I would strip off my gloves and blow fire into my cupped hands and then press my heated palms to her face.
We continued like that for a good while, making slow progress, but progress. It was the only thing that mattered.
I didn’t set out with a direction in mind, but I knew which way feltright. My booted feet lifted high, one after the other, slogging through snow while the heat flowed and ebbed in my palm, telling me which way to go.
We happened upon a large crevice in the mountain. Not a cave exactly, but close enough. It would get us out of the elements. With an arm around Kerstin, we took shelter inside.
“I was supposed to be of help to you,” she complained as she dropped down onto the ground with a heavy exhale.
