As Autumn shows Skadi and I around, I make sure to give the dark dragonel a smile every so often. She’s started to rex as the Earthcws’ easy acceptance defrosts her a bit. When she smiles, she’s even prettier, and I can’t help but blush a bit.

  Once the tour is finished, Bryn joins us. “So, Rika. I’m guessing Khione set you up with somewhere to stay?”

  I nod. “Yeah, opposite a bakery! She recommends the breakfast rolls!”

  Bryn chuckles warmly. “Ah, I think I know it. Yeah, their meat and vegetable pasties are awesome. Our recipe took off over there, and I can’t help snacking once in a while. If you’re staying close to there, we’ll probably bump into each other fairly frequently!”

  I smile as Autumn chides her mate for sneaking off to feast on goodies behind her back, which Bryn accepts good-naturedly. Waving us off, the patriarch of the Earthcws and his cn bid us farewell as Skadi and I take off, our wings beating in the warm evening air.

  I spin in midair, looping and relishing the sheer thrill of flight. Skadi watches me, curiosity on her face. I hover, smiling. “What?”

  “You’re strange to me, Rika. Are all humans like you?”

  I ugh. “God, no! I’m pretty unique. I’m half-dragon, after all, and I only got these powers a couple of months ago. But you’ve never really met any humans, so you don’t have anything but me to base your thought process on, right?”

  Skadi nods, her glowing purple hair-tips swaying.

  “Yeah… although I kinda want to know more. What’s your home like? I mean, you’ve talked about your family, but not the rest of your world. Would you be okay with telling me about Earth?”

  I nod, as we head through the air, starting to talk about what my home realm is like. Skadi eats up every scrap of information I provide, her limitless curiosity gradually sated by my shared experience. By the time we reach the Cloister on the Winterwing home City, Skadi’s eyes are shining.

  “Your world sounds… fascinating! I’d love to see it someday…” she sighs, as I touch down, looking for the bakery Khione had mentioned. It’s easy to find, looking like a gingerbread cottage out of some fairy tale. Turning so the bakery’s at my back, I look for my home for the duration of my stay here.

  I stare, eyes wide. The house is a beautiful, picturesque log cabin-style building, snow bnketing the roof and forming delicate icicles, with hardy winter flowers determinedly pushing through the snow-covered window-boxes as a thin stream of woodsmoke drifts upwards from the chimney.

  I reach out to knock on the door, and, a few minutes ter, it’s opened by a dragon woman, her silver hair spilling down her back. She smiles at me, the crow’s feet around her eyes appearing to deepen. She’s… old, I realize.

  “Ah, you’re the young drake who’s come to stay, yes? Welcome, dear, welcome. Khio told me you were coming; I’ve already got the tea going. Would your friend like to come in, too?”

  I turn my gaze to Skadi, but she’s already shaking her head. “I have to go. My uncle’s already going to be furious that I didn’t report in immediately after our duel.”

  I smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow? Or soon, at least?”

  Skadi colours a little, but nods. “As soon as I can. Goodbye!”

  She darts away into a low-hanging cloudbank and vanishes from sight, her silhouette fading completely as the clouds eddy and swirl at her passing.

  I turn back to the elderly dragon dy. “Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it, especially on such short notice…”

  She smiles, the crow’s feet deepening further.

  “Don’t worry, young drake, Khio expined everything. I hope you’ll like it here. Now, in you come, out of the cold, there’s a good girl.”

  I step inside, and the dragon closes the door, bustling over to the hearth where a warm fire is crackling, a small cauldron bubbling softly with fragrant steam drifting from its open mouth. The elderly frostdrake approaches the bubbling vessel.

  “Would you like some soup? I put a pot on as soon as I found out I’d have a guest for a while.”

  I nod. “Yes, please. It smells amazing!”

  Reaching for a wooden dle, my hostess spoons the steaming soup into a bowl without spilling a drop, years of practice shown in an instant. She exhales softly, a gust of frigid wind blowing over the bowl, and pces it before me. When I bring the first spoonful to my lips, my eyes widen. Not only is it as delicious as it smells, but she even cooled it to the perfect temperature!

  Taking a seat opposite me, the old dragon-woman sighs. “When you get to my age, you’ll find yourself slowing down, young one. Khio was very insistent that I should have you stay here while you train. And, I must say, she always did know me better than I know myself. My granddaughter is far wiser than her tender years would suggest.”

  I blink. This dragon is… Winterwing Leader Khione’s grandmother?

  Shyly, hoping it’s not rude, I ask, “how long has Lady Khione been the leader of the Winterwings? She doesn’t look that old to me, but I only learned that there were real dragons two days ago…”

  The old snowdrake chuckles softly. “Ah, Khio did mention that you were half-human. Forgive me, I should expin. My granddaughter is almost nine thousand years old. I… am just shy of sixty thousand.”

  I almost breathe soup. SIXTY THOUSAND?!

  Khione’s grandmother blinks, before smiling. “You didn’t think I was so old, did you? Well, I am. And, before I forget, my name is Gwenyth. It’s a pleasure to py host to a youngling again. Ever since my own hatchlings left, it’s been… rather solitary here.”

  I feel a pang of pity for the lonely old woman. Finishing my soup, I smile softly. “Thank you, that was incredible….”

  “You’re welcome, my dear. Now, feel free to make yourself at home. Your room is the open door on the floor above. I’ve made sure everything’s in good order for you.”

  Gwenyth rises slowly, and leads me up the wooden staircase in the living room. The bedroom she shows me is beautiful, with a snow-white coverlet and sheets on the bed, the floor sanded and polished by years of bare feet, and there are even fresh flowers in a vase on a little desk. “This will be yours, little one. Khio will be here in the morning, so make sure you get some sleep, yes?”

  I gratefully nod. “I will, as soon as I’ve put my belongings away.”

  Gwenyth bids me goodnight, and I hear her shuffle off downstairs. Putting my few sets of clothes away doesn’t take long, and I check my phone. There’s no signal, and the battery’s only got about 47% left. I shut it off. Until I find a way to charge it, I’d better conserve the power.

  There’s some paper and a few sticks of charcoal wrapped in thin leather. Pencils, of a sort. I guess bottled ink or fountain pens like in my world would freeze here… picking one up, I begin to write a letter to my sisters, smiling even though I know I won’t be able to send it to them, at least not for a long while.

  “Dear Dad, Niko, Phili, and Tricia (and mum too, I suppose),

  The Drakeblooded Cities are AMAZING! There’s so many different kinds of dragons, and they’re all divided into cns, led by a priestess, or patriarch, or something. They all have unique ways of life, and work together in order to thrive. The Earthcws are the farmers, gardeners, and produce-growers, while the Deepwater are fishers, surfers, and the like.

  There are the Bzehearts, dragons who can control and command the very fmes around them, and the Stormscale, who can weave thunderstorms into existence out of nowhere! Then there’s the Sunwalker cn, and the Onyxblood, though I don’t really know much about them. And then there’s the Winterwing faction, led by the priestess, Khione. That’s the cn I’m part of, thanks to my ice powers.

  I even made a friend here, though she did try to fight me at first. Her name is Skadi, and she’s an Onyxblood drake. She’s really strong and fast, and surprisingly sweet once you get to know her a little. She’s even being trained as the next Deathcw, which is sort of an executioner and judge of the condemned. It doesn’t seem like she’s that much older than me, so I think we’ll get along well.”

  The charcoal is surprisingly easy to write with, and I fill page after page, detailing as much as I can without breaking any rules. No stuff about how I got here, or anything. I’ll probably have to hide the letters, just in case Caliban tries to cim that me missing my family is somehow the same as spying on the Drakeblooded Cities and preparing to lead an entire army of fighter jets and bomber pnes here to try and kill everyone. Not that I would even think of doing that. No-one else would believe me, and all that would happen if I hypothetically DID manage to convince every world leader that dragons were real would be to get every single bomber, fighter, and helicopter gunship destroyed in a matter of hours with all crews K.I.A, no survivors.

  Shaking my head, I keep writing, feeling a little less homesick as I pour out my thoughts onto the paper. Finishing up, I stack the letter into a pile and tuck it into a drawer on the desk, before brushing my teeth and getting into bed. My eyes close, and I’m out like a light….

  When the sun rises, I feel myself wake, then sit up. “Yep, still in Dragonnd. I hope Skadi didn’t get into too much trouble with her jerkbag of an uncle for losing to me yesterday…” getting up, I dress and pad downstairs. The fire’s been lit, but there’s no sign of Gwenyth. I spot a small pouch sitting on the table, with a slip of folded paper bearing my name in an elegant hand. Picking it up, I open it and read.

  “Rika,

  The rest of the council and I have taken a vote, and, for as long as you are here, we have elected to grant you temporary citizenship, and, as part of this, you have been awarded the same monthly stipend as a regur young drake. Your training will begin today. Please report to the arena by the hour after dawn.

  Khione.”

  Picking up the pouch, I curiously tug the drawstring open and tip it, but spluttering in shock as a coin made of what is unmistakeably genuine ruby rolls out onto the dark wood. The next ‘coin’ is sapphire, then emerald… even diamond.

  Swallowing, I pick one of them up. “I have no idea how they make these, and I don’t WANT to imagine how much just one of these is worth back home…

  Scooping the money back into my pouch, I pause. “Wait…. I need breakfast. Well, I guess I could try that bakery that Khione mentioned…”

  Heading to the door, I step out into the cold, blustery sunlight. There’s a wonderful smell drifting from the bakery, and I approach, pushing the door open and stepping inside. It’s warm in the shop, and there are shelves filled with loaves of fresh bread, racks of pies and cakes, and trays of pastries and all sorts of sweet and savoury goodies.

  There’s a blonde woman reaching into the oven, and I can see her adjusting various pans and baking tins. Then, she kneels and looks into the fmes dancing in the lower half of the oven. Judging by her head-shake, it’s not hot enough, and she purses her lips, draws in a deep breath, and exhales a thin stream of fire straight into the back of the oven.

  Once she’s satisfied that the temperature is just right, she shuts the door and turns to me.

  “Oh, a customer! Good morning, miss! What can I get for you today?”

  While she greets me, I bite my lip. “Um, two breakfast rolls, and… two of those cinnamon buns, please?”

  “Certainly! Just give me a moment!” the blonde dragonel almost dances around the racks and shelves, her hands darting out and scooping up the items I’d requested, bagging them for me. “There you go, that’ll be one Ruby and three Onyx, please!”

  Fumbling in my pouch, I hand over the gemstone coins, and she takes them with a smile. “Thank you for your business, we hope to see you again soon!”

  Leaving, I open one of the two bags, digging out one of the breakfast rolls. They’re huge, almost a full loaf in their own right, with a beautiful glossy crust. When I bite into it, my eyes widen. Sausage, eggs, bacon, cheese, mushrooms and tomatoes, all at once! It’s literally a whole breakfast IN a roll!

  Despite the size of the giant bread, I manage to finish it easily. Frowning, I check my waistline. Nope, still slim and fit. It’s like… I’m eating to fuel my DRAGON side as well as my human. Does that mean, the more I eat, the stronger I’ll get and the faster I’ll grow in power?

  Shrugging, I unwrap one of the cinnamon rolls and bite into it, frosting forming a little moustache on my upper lip as I commit a second scene of culinary GBH…