Maalik’s name angrily under my breath, but the moment I have the door open, I’m filled with relief and excitement.
It’s snowing out again, and I giggle madly as I waddle down the steps of the front porch into the yard. My feet sink into the fresh snow, and I clumsily stumble further away from the house. I only make it about a dozen yards before I have to stop and catch my breath, and I take a moment to look around.
The moons are bright enough that I can see everything clearly, all the way to the edge of the forest surrounding the cabin. It’s a stunning winter wonderland here, and the fresh snow makes everything look gorgeous and magical.
I tilt my head back to get a good look at these moons I’ve been speculating so much about. I gasp and widen my eyes in awe as soon as I see them. Even though I expected it, it’s still surreal to see three full moons shining down on me—one large, bright moon and two smaller yet equally bright moons on either side of it. Aside from the glittering moons, there are millions of stars shining in the sky too.
I’ve lived in New York my entire life where it’s impossible to see any stars most nights. Tears form in my eyes as I stare up at the sky in this strange realm. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.
Another savage roar breaks through the peaceful silence, and a chilly gust of wind makes me pull my borrowed coat tighter around myself. Something that sounds like thunder surrounds me, but when the wind becomes strong enough to nearly knock me off my feet, I realize the sound is actually coming from the beating of large, powerful wings.
I gasp when I see him. A huge, dragon-like beast slowly descends and lands with a crashing boom about a hundred feet from me. The force of his landing is enough to send snow flying up, and I lose my balance, falling backwards onto my butt.
The beast lets out a growl, but it’s almost gentle-sounding compared to the roars I heard before. I refuse to blink, watching him in wonder as he slowly steps closer to me. He’s huge—bigger than the cabin or any animal I’ve ever seen. His head resembles that of a large cat, with impossibly long whiskers and his lips pulled back from his sharp teeth. His fur is mostly white, shining like starlight under the moons, except for the black spots on his face, and black rosette marks on the fur of his chest. His ears are pinned back as he watches me, a quiet growl emitting from his throat that’s making the ground vibrate.
On top of his head beside his furry, feline ears, he has two large, curled horns that resemble a ram’s. He lowers his front legs so he’s half-lying down in the snow, so I’m able to get a better look at his entire body. His front feet are furry and cat-like, with large deathly-sharp claws. Right around his ribcage, the fur on his body begins to transition into shining, white scales. The entire back half of his body is much more dragon-like, all the way to the long, reptilian tail with black spikes on the end just like I’d seen in Reule’s book. His wings look nothing like I expected from the illustrations. They’re not spiky or leathery at all—they’re huge, and covered in shimmering silver feathers.
I’m shocked and wonderstruck as I continue to stare at him. I’ve been around supernaturals most of my life, but I’ve never come across or heard of anything like him. Is there even a name for what he is? I’m sure there must be, but I wouldn’t be able to understand it in his language. The closest thing I can come up with is a chimera—the technical term for a creature that’s derived from two or more types of animal.
He lets out a long whine, dropping down onto the ground as low as he can as he slowly shuffles closer to me. He’s still towering over me, but I don’t feel fearful at all. My heart and stomach flutter in excitement. I struggle to stand up, and I take a few steps closer to him until his head is right in front of me. He drops his head to the ground and breathes out of his nose, still making that rumbling sound in his throat.