Distantly, she heard the boy’s voices. Cassendir, shouting and waving his arms, with a dull blue light coming out of his sleeve. He knelt beside her and Kae, shining the blue light of his magic on them. Loren didn’t feel anything, nothing had changed. There was Kaiten, whipping this way and that, trying to find some place to hunker down out of the wind. Loren smiled. As contrary as Kaiten was being, she knew he was a good man. He had a good heart, under all that lion pride. He wouldn’t let them freeze to death, he would see them all get home safely. Everything would be alright after a quick sleep.
Loren’s eyes fluttered closed. The last thing she saw was a flicker of orange and yellow light on the horizon, and a swirl of ice and snow accompanying it. Cassendir and Kaiten’s voices rose in alarm, but Loren didn’t hear them.
She was surprised to wake, and to wake somewhere warm. Loren groggily turned her head, her vision still blurry. To her side was Kae’s sleeping face; the huntress’s skin was still pale, but no longer in danger of frostbite. Loren smiled, then tried to move. Her body was weighed down with something, and her arms were pressed close to her sides. She struggled and wiggled, and the weight shifted. Ma’trii lifted his shaggy head and looked over at Loren from where he was draped over both her and Kae. The wolf licked her face once, causing the princess to giggle.
“Oh, you’re awake. That’s good.” An unfamiliar voice said. It was male, that much Loren could tell. It also sounded thin and immaterial, like wind. Hide boots crunched against snow, growing louder as the man approached Loren, and stopped by her side. A gaunt face filled her vision, drawn and tired, with aged and wrinkled skin tanned dark from strong sunlight bouncing off the snow of the north. “You seem well.”
“Who are you?” Loren croaked, her voice hoarse. A flickering orange and yellow light fell on her eyes, and she squinted against it. “Where are we?”
“You are exactly where you fell, little dragon.” The old man said. “In the snow, beside your lover and with your wolf.”
Loren’s cheeks burned. “She’s not my lover!” she stammered. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she felt a tang of regret for saying it.
The old man only smiled. “My apologies then, I must have read the situation wrong. Your friends, the mage and the lion, are also here. Now, don’t struggle so hard, you might unwrap the furs. Just stay still and rest. I understand you have a long journey.”
Loren did stop struggling and had to take the old man’s word at face value. Neither she nor Kae were dead or injured, and Ma’trii wasn’t alarmed. He had fallen back to sleep on top of them, keeping them warm with his body heat. Loren craned her neck this way and that to try to see where Cassendir and Kaiten were, when she suddenly caught sight of something and stopped.
“Sir,” she started. “If we are where we’ve fallen, why is there a roof of snow above us?”
The old man laughed, it was like the tinkling of icicles in the wind. “That would be my doing, little dragon. I built this igloo around you, as I am far too weak to move anyone physically. We had to get you out of the wind, and my companion would rather not touch anything at the moment.”
“Thank you so much for saving us. I only wish I could stand and thank you properly.” Loren said, trying to see. “What is your name, kind sir?”
“I am Gershwin, little dragon.” The old man said with a polite nod. He kept his hands behind his back. “First Son, and pale star of the North.”
“A Son? You’re a mage?”
“Yes, though my markings cover my back and legs. I’d rather not have to disrobe just to prove to you.”
“Oh! No sir, no need for that.” Loren stammered. “I suppose I was surprised. You’re the first person truly from the north we’ve seen this whole time.”
Gershwin nodded patiently. “Understandable, little dragon. The people of the north are reclusive and nomadic. As no crops grow, they have to travel constantly to find food.”
“I have to ask, kind sir, how did you find us? Why do you keep calling me little dragon?”
“By your magic, of course.” He smiled. “Dragon magic has a specific energy to it. You do not need to have been born with markings like all mages to use it. You need only a catalyst — your pendant, as I understand — to be able to use it. And it is unique in that only those of the chosen line could resonate with it. I felt that unique energy spike earlier upon these fields, and my companion knew exactly what was happening.”
Loren attempted to crane her neck again. “Who are they, your companion? I would like to extend to them my thanks as well.”
She heard a laugh, and the light flickered again. “You already know who it is, princess. Don’t bother getting up. Sorry for being unable to go over there, I might melt the igloo, you see.” A voice said from the source of the light.
Loren gasped. “Seraphis? You came back!”
“Well, I ran into Gershwin on the way, and he said he felt some magic pulling at him, like a distress beacon. So we turned back and found you passed out in the snow.” Seraphis chuckled. “The mage looked about to keel over as well, and Kaiten explained the whole thing. What made you think this was a good idea?”
“Honestly, we were following your tracks.” Loren muttered. “How
