Dragon Frost

by Viola Grace

I examined your boots, and there are two pairs in the chest that will fit you. There is also a cloak that will shift with you. Everything will shift with you. Knowing that you will not be vulnerable when you return to your human form will help your frame of mind. Surprisingly, fear of public nudity is what sticks a lot of dragons in their first few shifts.

  Included, and at the bottom of the box, is a peacekeeper uniform, suitable for your environment. There is still a debate about training you raging, but I am winning. Just so you know, I always win.

  I look forward to seeing you soon, you are a really impressive person with skills that I envy.

  Oh, and know that the dragons you have already met can be called upon at any time. Even Doc Weathering. She’s grumpy, but she’s loyal to you.

  So, enjoy the new clothing, have fun learning how to harness who you are and what you are, and feel free to scream into the night when you need to. It helps sometimes.

  Your friend,

  Trin

  Kabyl went through the chest and pulled out clothing to wear the following day, smiling at the lightly boned breast bands that would be fairly easy to wear.

  With her clothing for the next day sorted out, she closed the chest and went back to bed.

  There would be time for so much more in the morning, and going to sleep happy was the best way to do it.

  Epilogue

  Four days after the chest arrived, she was out in the meadow firing tiny bolts of frost at stone targets when her father ran up, a letter clenched in his canine jaws.

  Elioth stood next to her and waited. “Well?”

  She looked at the letter, and her hands started shaking. She read it once and then read it again.

  She looked at Elioth and smiled. “This invitation is for both of us.”

  He shrugged. “I might have sent my application along with Trin. Apparently, it has gone through.”

  “You want to be a peacekeeper?”

  “I want to walk in the world again, as my people used to. This is a good place. Nature still is in firm control. To keep the peace in a place like this is something I could definitely do.”

  He was smiling again. She hated that. It made her heart flip.

  Her dad’s wolf head pushed against her. His tail was wagging furiously. “Yes, Dad. I am going to be just like you but with better hair.”

  He huffed and turned, flicking snow at her.

  She grinned and watched him head back. She glanced at Elioth. “We need to leave here in a week so that we can arrive by the end of the month.”

  “That is two weeks away, why do we need to leave so early? Can’t you fly us there?”

  She blinked and started laughing. “I forgot all about that.”

  He laughed, she laughed, and as she laughed, the dragon laughed, the crystal frost wings springing from her back.

  Kabyl tried to look behind her, but it was when she flexed the wings forward that she could actually see them. “This is so pretty. Is this what I look like?”

  Elioth leaned on the bow and laughed. “You don’t know?”

  “There is usually something more important than my appearance when I shift.” She flapped her wings, and she rose off the ground. Elioth smiled and watched her as she flew around the meadow, a few feet from the ground.

  When she finished her test, she slashed at one of the nearby rocks. It shattered, and she ducked.

  Elioth brushed her cheek with his fingers. There was a small bit of blood on them. “You cut yourself.”

  She held his hand and smiled. “Get used to it. I hear that peacekeeper training is brutal. I will probably bleed a bit more in the weeks that we are there.”

  “I will be at your side through the whole thing.” He smiled. “Oh, I have a gift for you.”

  He reached behind his belt, and she heard a click. He handed her a small rectangle. “Congratulations on acceptance to the peacekeeper academy.”

  She looked at the item, and it was carved with the designs she had doodled in the notebook that they had used on the night they had taken the census of the dead.

  She held it and flicked it lightly, the bow sprang up, but the bowstring was made of energy. “What is this?”

  “It will stop your burning through your strings. A light enchantment that Zzara passed along.”

  She nodded and drew the energy string, placing the frost arrow into it. She fired, and the amount of power that she brought to bear was times five. “Oh, wow. Thank you, Elioth.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “My community made it for you. That is what our branch of the family does. It makes weapons. Even the forest folk need to hunt.”

  “Everybody has something that they need to do.” She had a thought and laughed. “Oh, dear. My grandmother is going to have to postpone her trip. No sense her being here if I am down south in an obstacle course.”

  Elioth smiled, and they started to walk back to the house. “And to every dark side, there is gleaming daylight.”

  She nodded, and they kept trudging through the snow, bows in hand. The scent of food coming from the house made her smile. Her dad was back to cooking, and that was a huge relief.

  She reflected on the sensation. When her life was in turmoil, knowing that her family was fine made her able to do what she had to. Even wounded, her dad had been in a safe place, so she could put herself in harm’s way to protect those around her. It was weird, but it seemed that jumping into danger was a family trait. It was definitely nurture over nature in her book. Every time.

  Author’s Note

  So, obviously, Kabyl is going to have more of a story. And Elioth will be there, and both grandmas might face off. I might not have to guess, which one would win in a dragon versus wolf fight, but I do know which one can cook.

  About the Author

  Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

  An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around, and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.

  In real life, she is now engaged in beekeeping, and her adventures can be found on the YouTube channel, Mystery Bees Apiary. Just look for the cartoon kittens.