Myrra POV

  It’s been two days since the Gleaca Council sent out the call to all guilds about the dangerous dragon and the large bounty on its head. I was lucky to have been out evaluating a party for a rank up when I received the notice from my messenger hawk. We were a day’s journey away from the last sighting of the dragon near the Evergreen Forest. A feeling of dread sat in my stomach since I read the notice. I knew the dragon was probably Athyra. There weren’t many dragons in Gleaca at the moment, and only one dragon was a frost dragon. Dragons may move freely around the world, but the dragons are heavily tracked by every nation. A dragon has the power to wipe out an entire kingdom in minutes, so every nation has agreed to keep tabs on the creatures. Most guilds would have turned Athyra away when she asked to join the guild, but White Rapids is a home to anyone who asks for it. I stand by that policy, so I accepted the girl and her runaway slave friend. Who was I to judge?

  All of this may have been an error on my part. Kaya sent word yesterday that her son, Katar, was the frost dragon’s victim. Katar had lost an arm in the struggle with the dragon, but the dragon’s ice kept Katar from bleeding out after ripping his arm from his body. Katar will live, but such an act from a dragon is a crime. The Gleaca Council has called for capture of the dragon to exile it for its crime. Naturally, that means sending guild members to capture the dragon for the council, but I didn’t want others involved if I could help it. I came out here with a soon to be S rank party, but I hope to avoid conflict if possible.

  Kaya had told me that Athyra was looking for information in Pine Row about a simian beast adventurer. It was then that I realized Athyra joined the guild to find Emalynn. Emalynn is on the run with Rory after an incident with a dark elf. Since the incident, a few people have reported a hybrid or strange wolf-like creature to the council. A few days ago, I even got a report from the council about a hybrid girl who broke into the wizard guild. It feels like something is pulling these girls together, which has connected the girls somehow. What is more concerning is who is pulling these girls together…

  “Myrra,” Lloyd, the party’s bard, called to me. “I see a clearing that appears frozen over, but the ground feels wet like a slush instead of snow.”

  “Well, it’s definitely gotten cold around here,” Uma, the burly swords woman, said, sarcastically, as she shivered.

  We entered the snowy climate almost an hour ago, and I can see the toll that the lower temperatures were taking on the party. None of us were dressed for chilly conditions. We only had our light weight cloaks to keep us warm. There were seven party members including me, but none of my guild members have encountered a dragon like this. Athyra was the first dragon most of the guild had ever seen, and now, this party might need to fight her. Bees buzzed in my stomach over what we might find in the clearing ahead.

  “I know it’s cold, but if this is Athyra that we are dealing with, then our guild stands the best chance at settling this without a fight.” I confessed. No one seemed surprised at me mentioning Athyra’s name.

  “Myrra, we all know the dragon is likely to be Athyra. That’s why having Waller here is important. He’s the best at fire magic in the guild.” June, the small healer and animal tamer of the group, patted Waller’s back. Waller was a fire mage that managed to master lava spells, which is rare in Gleaca. A well cast lava spell could make a frost dragon overheat and force it into

  hibernation.

  We made it to the treeline of the clearing. Newton, the archer of the party, scouted ahead into the clearing. From where we settled, we could see a giant cloud of fog enveloping a small area of the clearing. It wasn’t long before Newton returned with news of spotting the frost dragon above the thick fog and finding a battered man near death in the middle of the clearing. We could hear the angry growls and a woman screaming coming from the fog. It only took one look for us all to agree that we needed to get involved with whatever was going on.

  As we walked across the clearing, it became clear that we were walking through a blast zone. The further in we walked, the more torn up the ground became with giant chunks of ice scattered about. We approached the nearly dead man, but all I could smell was burnt hair and skin. The man laid keeled over on a small mound, which had kept out of the water surrounding him. There were ice shards covered in blood on the ground indicating some type of battle went on here.

  “Was the man burned to a crisp?” Uma asked, studying the scene.

  June ran through the water to the man. She bent down and checked him over. “He’s barely breathing.” She began pumping his chest with healing magic, but his body didn’t seem to respond. We waited a few minutes as June tried to bring the man back from the brink of death. Finally, her head hangs low over the crispy body as his body ceases breathing all together. “The man is dead.” She says a quiet prayer of the charred body before walking away from the body.

  “We should bury him,” Moseley, the older dwarf in the party, suggests. Moseley has been the silent heart of this party who specializes in defense to protect those he loves.

  “All right,” I nod as I slam my ax on the ground allowing my magic to pour into it. The ground opens, consuming the charred body. Small rocks mark the fresh, muddy mound as I lift my ax from the ground. Lloyd honors the man by playing a song on his lyre. Newton carved into a marker stone the name he found on the man, which read:

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  Master Renaldy

  A wizard who fell in battle against a mighty beast.

  Lloyd’s song ends, and I know we need to keep moving, so I try to refocus our party. “Do we know what did this to him?” I am concerned that either Rory, Emalynn, or Athyra may have caused this man’s death.

  “There are large paws in the slush ahead. It would appear to be a beast not the dragon that did this man in.” Newton answers.

  A final, loud scream of anguish fills the air, catching all of our attention. “Look, the fog is clearing.” Uma comments. “And there’s our frost dragon.”

  “Why is she just circling overhead?” June questions.

  “She’s either watching or waiting for something.” Newton said as he watched the winged dragon stay in the same loop above us.

  “Do we know for sure this dragon is Athyra?” Waller asked me.

  I look at the forty foot long lizard flying above me. Her white and icy blue scales feel familiar just like her cold, mysterious presence. Yet, I can sense something more from the dragon. A heated wave of anger and calm wash over me as I watch the dragon fly overhead. “It’s her. She feels familiar to me, but she is full of anger at the moment. Although she also seems calm at the moment.”

  “Well, you’re the guild master. What do you want to do?” June looks at me with curiosity.

  “I think we need to deal with the beast on the ground before we move onto the icy lizard in the sky.” The rest of the party agrees to follow my lead. “As long as Athyra is focused on something else, we should have to worry about her paying attention to us.”

  We all began to slowly approach where the fog had been. I see a change in the ground as we approach the mysterious area. There are holes all across the icy ground. Waller doesn’t wait as he chucks fireballs into the first few holes around us. We watch as the glow of the fireballs lights a different hole as it travels forward until it finally smashes into a wall underground. I signal everyone to wait before we move in case a beast pops out of the tunnel network below. All the holes reminded me of the ground worm’s holes in the Northern Mountains, but as I looked closer, I realized these tunnels were dug by paws and terrain magic. A few species come to mind, but only one would make sense here. Rory is here in her wolf form or someone like her, but I have no idea what they look like. Would the wolf beast be friend or foe?

  “Do we stay above ground or go below ground, Myrra?” Lloyd elbows me to get my attention.

  “Above ground, but stay ready everyone,” I commanded.

  We move forward slowly to avoid falling into the tunnels below. Newton points towards a collapse in the tunnel network, which makes my gut flutter with ugly butterflies. The sun was getting low as we passed the collapsed tunnels, but I saw a giant, fuzzy mess of animal laying on the ice ahead. Everyone else seems to tensed up around me, but I sense no malice from the fuzzy creature ahead. There’s another familiar feeling that washes over me as I get closer to the reddish mess of a creature. Everyone else stays put and watches me as I approach the animal.

  The red stationary animal was indeed a wolf beast. If it was standing up, I was sure it would be at least as tall as me. Except, I am a dwarf, so I am not that tall to begin with. The wolf was bloody and breathing heavily. As I came around to face it, the wolf raised its head and looked at me with sad desperate eyes. Is this my Rory? The wolf was indeed a female and young. She didn’t seem afraid of me as I reached out to touch her. Her whole body was covered in blood. Some of it was dried, but there were many open wounds on the wolf. She leaned her head into my hand. Her fur feels dirty in my fingers, but I can feel a connection with this wolf like I did when I met Rory’s wolf form. This has to be her.

  “You guys can come here. She won’t hurt us.” I call out to my party.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure.” A new, annoying male voice called out. “I watched that beast kill two wizards today. One was my master and the other a fellow apprentice from the Wizard’s Guild.”

  I turn around to find an awkward, gangly human male speaking to me. This guy is from the Wizard’s Guild? “Really? This heavily beaten animal killed two wizards?” I let out a sarcastic chuckle. “How could she have possibly done that? Sure, she might have some terrain magic, but I doubt she could best a master wizard.”

  “I am not sure how, but this beast has lightning magic.” The man answers.

  “Wolves can’t do that kind of magic. Are you sure you are a wizard?” Waller asks the intruding man coldly.

  “Fine. Don’t listen to me, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Some simian girl claims that the beast is her familiar, so that beast could be capable of anything. Hell, we found it locked in battle with the dragon above us in a giant ice cube.” The man became agitated. “Nothing about today has made sense from what I have been taught about magic.”

  “Sounds like you might need some more magic lessons, kid.” Waller laughs. “Go back to your guild and learn something.”

  The man throws his hands up in the air in frustration. “Fine, Mr. Half Elf. Risk your life. I am done with all of this shit. Silas is on his own, and I am not waiting around for that dumb orc.”

  “Hey!” Uma comes forward in all orc glory. “Do you have a problem with orcs?” The man shakes his head no and runs off in the other direction. Uma was about to give chase, but Moseley pulled her back. The man wasn’t worth the effort.

  I turn back to see an exhausted, weak red wolf silently watch everything unfold. “June can you come work your magic on this supposed familiar?”

  “Myrra, are you sure?” June seems uneasy trying to approach the red wolf.

  “This ball of fluffy is in no state to hurt a fly. I am confident we are safe. Besides, if she really did fight Athyra before then she might help us to convince our guild mate to come home.” I see the red wolf tilt her head at my words.

  June approaches and I take her hand to pet the red wolf’s head. The wolf seems to enjoy her attention as the wolf leans into June’s hand. I watch as June begins to relax, so I pull my hand away. June doesn’t seem bothered as I scoot back to give her room while she begins to heal the red wolf. The party asks if I am confident this wolf was safe after what we saw and heard today. I reassure them as I suggest we start a fire. The cold temperatures haven’t subsided since we walked into this clearing. Waller and Moseley melt away the ice in a small area while Uma and Lloyd gather kindling. I can’t stray far from June because I don’t want her to feel uneasy. Newton has gone out scouting again, so I just watched Athyra sail through the sky.