Nolan snorted, and wisps of smoke escaped his nostrils, disappearing into the wind.
I moved closer to Keoni, and Nolan gazed at me for a moment before lowering his head and spitting out a bright orange stream of fire.
The blaze melted the snow around us instantly, but merely skittered over our skin like a warm breeze.
"Wow," Keoni breathed, and I hummed, unable to look away.
Nolan swung his big head toward the path he'd cleared, and I blinked. Right.
I made sure Keoni's cart was completely free, then helped him move forward. Nolan moved back, slowly clearing the way to the exit as Keoni followed, and I left them to it as I hurried to Draven's workshop.
I threw the door open with a shout of his name, then stopped short. He sat by his forge, warming his hands, and raised a brow at me as I came in.
"Close the door, will ya?"
"We need to get out of here."
He waved me off. "I'll be fine."
"We don't know that. We don't know what will happen next."
Draven grumbled under his breath, and I narrowed my eyes. "I'll pick you up," I threatened, and his gaze flashed to mine.
"You won't."
We stared at each other, not backing down, and he sighed. "Fine. Let's go."
I opened the door, and he followed me out. I glanced back, and he blinked. The snow was up to his chest, and he was wading through the mush like he was swimming.
"Maybe I can—"
"I got it." He cut me off, and I sighed, and kept pace with him as we reached the path Nolan had cleared. A few inches of snow had already covered the ground again, but Draven could walk on it, and we hurried to the door.
Outside, Nolan was back in his human form, and Keoni was ruffling his hair.
"Dude, your fire is great for my hair," he said, and Nolan snorted.
I smiled, glad to see them getting along, then shook my head.
"We need to check on the others."
"Let's split up," Nolan suggested, and I nodded.
Turning to Draven and Keoni, I asked, "Can you see if Zephyr is in his office? And anyone else? Silas, especially." As a troll, Silas would be able to push through the snow with ease if it was there in the other areas too.
They nodded and took off, and after sharing a glance with Nolan, I headed toward Darkness while he went to the Lakes area.
Nolan
The sun was bright. Too bright, even for me.
Shading my eyes, I scanned the area. I hadn't been here yesterday, but the label on the door had told me it was the water area, and yet the river looked like half its water had evaporated.
"Anybody here?"
Someone came running, and I realized he was a human. He had a scar over one brow, and looked like he could handle himself in a fight.
His brows furrowed when he saw me, but then cleared. "Nolan, right?"
