“My tummy hurts,” she whispered, curling tighter under the cloak.
This could not continue. We would have to brave the storm and leave the cave.
I stood and her head snapped up. “Where are you going?”
I knelt so we were eye level. “We must leave.”
She shook her head immediately, her fear blooming fast. “No, Veskor. The storm is too scary. Stay here. I’m OK. I don’t need food.”
Her small voice cracked on the lie. My resolve tightened.
“You do need it,” I said gruffly. “And warmth. We must go out and find both.”
My claws dug into my palms.
She swallowed, nodding slowly. “OK.”
She held her arms out and I picked her up. I wished I had something to cover her up with, but there would be nothing to shield either of us from the storm.
A tiny hand grabbed my claw. “Veskor?”
I looked down.
Her voice was barely a whisper. “We’ll be OK, right?”
“I will try,” I said and stepped into the storm.
The blizzard hit us like a living wall. Snow ripped sideways, cutting visibility to arm’s length. The wind roared in my ears, drowning out my own breath. I wrapped my wings tight to the sides to shield us the best I could, forging forward into the blinding white.
Every few steps I lost orientation.
East felt like west, and up felt like down.
If the other drakens were chasing us, they could be feet away and we wouldn’t see each other.
My claws sank deep into drifts and my scales stiffened with ice. The cold gnawed at the joints in my wings until movement hurt. Hours passed—or minutes. The storm made time meaningless. I focused on feeling Perri’s breathing and shaking against me. It at least meant she was still alive.
Keep going.One foot in front of the other.
I tried so hard. My eyes drifted shut, just for a moment as the blizzard howled louder around me.
My heartbeat slowed …
Slowed …
“VESKOR!” A blast of heat burned against my chest, jolting me.
Perri burned against me, her strawberry hair alight with tendrils of flames.
“No!” I told her. “Keep yourself warm. Do not waste your magick on me, I–”
She only burned brighter, stubbornly refusing to rein in anything.
My feet burned, but it wasn’t from heat. It was the bad kind of burn that came from too much cold. But Perri’s heat against me pushed me forward. I had to get somewhere—anywhere, before she burned herself out.
Two shadows moved through the snow.
No—three. Were those wings?
