For one whole night and for a good while this morning, the door was unlocked.
“Are you okay, my love?”
I might as well have invited the dragons inside.
I didn’t even check the door, like I do every night before bedtime. It was getting cold, and I wanted Dolly under a roof as quickly as possible. And in the hut, warm and cozy together and with the coldness kept outside, we both fell asleep fast.
“Wait here. I’ll get the medpack.” Dolly runs into the Factory.
The cold rain pummels me, streaming down, but I barely notice. I’m much colder on the inside now.
This was too close. If I had been five heartbeats later, they would have disappeared in the mist. If I hadn’t run in the right direction immediately, the same result.
If I hadn’t stopped hammering in the forge, the same.
Dolly returns and unpacks the medpack with quick, slender fingers. “Something cut your forehead. And you have little nicks all over. Come on, let’s get out of the rain!”
She tries to drag me back into a standing position, and I let her, following her to the nearest roof.
She sits me down and kneels beside me, tending to my wounds. “Sweet Fate. That was quite a fight. But you won.”
I close my eyes. My fears have all become real. I can’t be trusted to keep anyone safe.
Dolly’s hands are cool against my skin. “I’m sorry I got taken, Brank’ox. I don’t know what happened. Suddenly, they were behind me. They had almost dragged me all the way out before I thought of calling for you. They do weird things to my mind, those dragons. Remember Isualic? The old one with the white robe? Felt the same way. Like I’m drowsy, or like it’s just a dream. I think the rain made it worse. Say something, love.”
“I don’t know what to say,” I manage. Even though I know it perfectly well. I just want to put it off. “I left the door open last night. That’s how they came in.”
“Oh. I never thought they would want to come in here. If they want in, I don’t think a wooden door can stop them.”
“Stopped them until today.”
“You handled it fine. Three of them! You know one of them was really badly hurt? Dripping with that ichor that they have for blood. That’s why he stayed mostly out of the fight.”
I don’t reply. That fight should never have been necessary.
My thoughts are a dark chaos. Of course, this couldn’t last. I allowed myself to think that it could. But Isualic the Old is right. I’m not a dragon slayer who can keep someone safe. In my company, it’s only a matter of time before they get Dolly.
“The cuts aren’t deep,” she says, applying green paste. “Looks like claw marks. Those dragons are so creepy.” A shiver goes through her.
But it’s not because of the dragons. It’s gotten much colder, and the rain has become much quieter. It’s also darker.
I nod out of the shack, towards the Factory. “It’s snowing.”
28
- Dolly -
I turn. There’s already an inch of snow on the ground outside, and the air is thick with it. Like everything on Xren, when it snows, it snows at a fever pitch. “Hopefully, it won’t go on for long.”
“It will,” Brank’ox says, not looking at me.
“We don’t know that,” I say, not feeling too sure. “But if it snows like last time, it could get impossible to do more work here until it melts. We should get into the hut and stay there. Except, I’m not sure how we’ll get food in there if we can’t get to the stores. The snow was really deep last time.”
Brank’ox stands up. “Everything will be slippery with ice. It’s a long fall.”
I stand up, too, alarmed by the rate the snow is falling. A minute ago it was one inch deep. Now it’s almost three, and the snowflakes are so heavy and fall so densely that there’s a hiss of static in the air. I’ve never heard snow fall to the ground before. It’s really dark now, and it’s getting colder really fast.
“Yeah,” I agree, suddenly afraid. This is not a peaceful, idyllic blizzard. This is dangerous. “This could get bad. Brank’ox, should we get back to the village? We can always come back here. The Factory is built now.”
He’s quiet for a while, just staring out at the blizzard. “We can never come back,”