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Kabyl nodded. “More than that. Are you up for starting today?”
Kana smiled. “Can I warm myself up?”
“I believe that is the idea. Just make sure not to overtax yourself, or you could end up passing out.”
Kana nodded and removed the cloak. “Can you hold onto this? I am pretty sure that it isn’t treated the same way my clothing is.”
Kabyl grinned. “Certainly. I will stand aside and keep an eye on you. Thermal monitoring comes with my dragon, so I can keep an eye on you for fluctuations.”
Kana nodded. “How would you like me to start?”
“Clear the snow around you in a ten-foot radius, and when that is done, take aim at the rock to your left and blast it with fire.”
She nodded and focused. Kana pulled heat up from inside her and pushed it out in a slow circle. The snow at her feet melted quickly, but as she spread out the circle, it was more and more difficult to evaporate the ice crystals.
The cold was pushing back at her as she tried to guide the energy outward. It was everywhere.
Kabyl stood with her hands linked loosely behind her and her feet apart. Kana could see her watching intently.
“You have reached ten feet. Start on the rock.”
Kana nodded and tried to focus herself on the rock. She got a line of melted snow leading up to the stone, but nothing touched the entrenched ice of the stone. It was cold, and it was going to stay cold.
“That’s enough for today. Let’s get you warm and settled in town. You will be staying with my partner, Elioth, and myself.”
“Staying with you? Wait, you have a partner?”
Kabyl chuckled and stepped forward. She wrapped the cloak around Kana in a supportive hug.
Kana realized she was cold, and her body was shaking. The cloak around her helped, but it didn’t reach as deep as she needed. “What is happening?”
“It is your body’s attempt to warm itself by twitching your muscles. If you do jumping jacks, it should ease the pressure on your system a little. You will be more fatigued afterward, but you will be warmer.”
“What is a jumping jack?”
Kabyl demonstrated by sweeping her arms up and over her head while her feet hopped apart, and then she reversed it until her hands were at her sides and her feet were together. “Try that a few times.”
It seemed odd, but after ten of the moves, Kana did feel warmer. “Oh, that’s better. Shall I try the stone again?”
“No, Kana. We are leaving now. Tomorrow will be soon enough to try again. I will explain why over lunch.”
“Lunch? I already had lunch?”
Kabyl laughed. “And a lecture on the curvature of the earth is needed. Elioth is a good lecturer if we can get him talking.”
“If he is your partner, why isn’t he here right now?”
“I thought it best not to overstimulate you right away. I know that you haven’t met many people yet, and Elioth... is different from most of the men or dragons you would have met in the capital.”
“How so?”
Kabyl smiled before she began her shift and said, “He isn’t human.”
She transformed into a dragon that sucked the heat from the air around her. Her skin was covered in an intricate lacework of patterns that all had tiny spikes. Kabyl held her draconic claws out again, and Kana stepped into them. It was time to find out what place Kabyl called home, and if her partner wasn’t a human, what was he?
The village was tiny by the standards of the capital. It looked like less than two hundred people were in the entire surrounding ten miles. Folks were waving and smiling as the dragon flew overhead. It appeared that Kabyl was well-liked.
The area where she was to land was snug, but she tilted her body and beat her wings until they lowered straight down. Kabyl set her down carefully and released her while she shifted back.
