Winterbound, Part 2 - Descent

Anaya stood still and in awe. She could not stop staring at the dragon, but she grabbed at the air on her left. When she found Tiu's arm, she pulled her to closer and squeezed hard. That made her feel stronger and calmer.

The dragon flew slowly, or rather floated as if it was weightless, in large circles above the town. Its head turned lazily from side to side, and it observed the ground carefully. It was a majestic beast, at least twenty meters long and very slim. It had two horns on its head and eyes shined like emeralds. Its body slid through a thin layer of fog, as it cooled the moist jungle air when it passed. The cloud turned into bright snowflakes like tiny diamonds that sprayed around in the morning sun with a whisk of its tail.

It was shaped like a snake with wings and two pairs of feet. No, three pairs. Anaya was surprised. Of course, she had never seen an ice dragon, but she immediately recognised it from the pictures in her fairytale book. Except the pictures always showed two pairs of legs. Anaya glanced at Tiu, who was intensively looking at the ice dragon, mostly amazed but also in confusion. 

What they saw did not exist except in tales and stories of old people. But this was real. She knew it. They knew it. She felt very awake now, and her vision and senses felt more intense, more precise. She could never dream this. 

The ice dragon was not in a hurry, but Anaya was sure it was not just idling around. It had a mission. It was looking for something, but she couldn't imagine what. Estirão was just a tiny town in a large forest, and it was not special or important in any way. The uroxoo tree was the most special thing there, but mostly for them, as there were many, many other uroxoo trees in the large forest.

Suddenly Anaya felt a tight grip in her arm, which pulled her out of her thoughts. Tiu was now very stiff and all color had disappeared from her face. She stared at the ice dragon. It had stopped and now it floated very still in the air. Its eyes were pointing directly toward them.

"It saw us, we must go!" Anaya tried to whisper but she couldn't hear any words coming from her mouth. But Tiu had understood that already. They just could not move. Her entire body was screaming "if we stand really quietly, it goes away". So they stood there and gazed at the dragon, and it floated stationary in the air and watched them. 

Time moved slower than ever, and Anaya could feel the slowflakes when they gently touched her hair. She also felt curiosity. No, she did not feel that way, but she had a feeling that there was curiosity in the dragon's eyes. She couldn't explain it, as its face did not show any expressions. But the dragon was so intense, it was so alive and so there. 

Finally, after a period that felt like eternity, the ice dragon started to move again. Very slowly it slid forward and after a few meters, it turned first its head and then neck and body directly toward them. It was high above the houses, but now it started to descend, and its speed increasing by the second. 

The spell was broken and the two of them dashed away. Flight had won and they were running, scrambling to get away from the fast approaching predator. They ran back on the slippery streets where the thin layer of snow thawed as the sun rose higher in the sky. Slush and mud sprayed all over their legs, their blankets dragging on the ground, though they barely noticed.

 

They ran for the uroxoo tree. They would be safe there. Anaya held onto Tiu's hand tightly, and she squeezed hers back. Her lungs were hurting but her she kept running.

 

Tiu's hand slipped from hers.

It took a second for her brain to understand what happened, but then, without hesitation, she turned back to reach for Tiu who was lying face down in the mud. Anaya glanced up and saw the ice dragon only ten meters away and approaching rapidly only three meters above the ground. She leaped forward and covered Tiu's body with her own. She closed her eyes just when the dragon's head was so close that she could have touched it.

Suddenly it was silent. No stomping feet, no brief screams, no panting as they were holding their breath while waiting for the worst. Only a slight breeze was humming in Anaya's ears, and cold shivers were running down her spine.

 

She waited, until she could not wait any more.

 

Anaya raised her head just a little, and felt something touching her hair. She opened her eyes and saw the ice dragon just above her head, moving at a scary speed. Its tail approached her face faster than she could react, but just at the last moment the dragon pulled it up, causing a small cloud of snow to hit her and fill her eyes and mouth.

Tiu was still watching to the direction they had been running, and she saw the huge dragon start to rise again, gain height with strong flaps of its wings, and disappear behind the trees. She was trembling and breathed heavily for a minute. Only then she started to realise that she was lying on cold, muddy ground and Anaya was on top of her. They crawled slowly up from the slush.

They watched each other trying to find something to say. They didn't, so instead they tried see if the other was hurt. They couldn't yet tell about themselves, as adrenaline was still rushing in their veins. But as the other looked relieved, they both started to calm down and get their speech back.

"Wow," said Anaya. "We survived. Are you okay? You seem okay. Tell me you're okay."

"I think so," replied Tiu. She touched her forearm and hissed. "I have a painful bruise here, but I don't think any bones are broken, or anything."

"Oh, good. Great. I already thought it caught you when I saw you had fallen."

"Yeah, me too," said Tiu, and then paused. "You saved my life. You came back for me."

"No. I mean, yes I did come, but it was not about to kill us. It could easily have done it. It was so close that I touched it, but it turned its tail away to not harm me. It was just curious."

"How do you know it was curious? Maybe it was just satiated?"

"No, I felt it." Anaya was about to explain but then she realised that that was everything she was able to describe about it. She fell silent, and Tiu looked at her in surprise. But apparently she didn't know what further she could ask, so she dropped the subject. Instead, she looked around and noticed her blanket a few meters away. She probably had stepped on it while running.

She walked to the blanked and leaned down to pick it up when something whooshed just beside her ear and thumped into the mud. Tiu looked at it and saw a snowball, while Anaya looked at where it came from. There was a boy standing behind a tree and holding another ball in his had and grinning.

"Whee whoo! That was really something! Are you crazy or what?" he yelled at them.

Tiu shouted back, "What are you doing? Scaring us to death! Stop fooling around!"

"Oh sorry, I did not mean any harm. But it was a-ma-zing! First there is snow and then there is an ice dragon and then there is this huge escape!" The boy was tossing the snowball up and down as he spoke, his face split into a huge grin. "You are really lucky to be alive. Ice dragons eat people like... like snowballs!" He shook the ball in his hands for emphasis. "Why on earth were you standing there in plain sight? And did you know that you can make snowballs out of snow? I did, because my cousin Zuzun lives up north and I have visited him and he has told me everything about snow things."

"Oh shut up," said Anaya, who was annoyed by the boy's enthusiasm. "What are you doing here at dawn, anyway?"

"What do you think? Making snowballs, of course. When I woke up and noticed the cool air and looked outside and saw the snow, of course I came out. But wow did I guess what I would see?"

The boy fell silent, and Tiu and Anaya looked at each other, surprised. They had already thought that this is one of those annoying elementary school boys that talk constantly about everything they are interested in, which is not usually the same things as with other people. But the boy stood there, without saying anything. He was keeping his elbows back and hands in fists and shaking them slightly up and down while looking at the girls one after the other. He was also holding his breath.

The boy was already turning slightly purple and Anaya started to be worried, when she realised that he might actually be waiting for an answer to his rhetorical question. "No...?" she said, and the boy burst talking again.

"No, I did not!" he shouted. "This is the best day ever! I have never seen an ice dragon in our town before, and it was much bigger than the regular ones. And I have never seen that an ice dragon leaves people uneaten if they decide to chase them! You must be very special, and the dragon wants something from you."

Anaya's jaw dropped. She was sure that the dragon was up to something, and what this little kid said made sense. The dragon had a reason not to eat them.

"Okay, what's you name, anyway? And how do you know so much about ice dragons?" Anaya asked.

"I told you. I have been to the north to visit my cousin Zuzun. He knows all about ice dragons. And my name is Kimo."

"Of course you are," snorted Tiu. "Every cheeky little boy is called Kimo."

"That is not true," said Kimo defiantly. "My cousin's name is Zuzun."

Anaya burst into laughter. "OK, Kimo. I think it is time for you to run home before your mother starts worrying about you."

"Hmm, you might be right. But remember, you must find out what the ice dragon wants from you. And you need my help in that, because I am the best ice dragon expert in the town. I live in the blue house near the market place. Bye."

And then Kimo pulled his hand back to throw the snowball he was still holding, looked at the girls for a second but then turned, tossed it, and hit right in the middle of a tree trunk. "Yess," he said to himself and ran away.

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The topic for tomorrow is Dispute.