Dream Walker✔️

1.7

Part of me knew why I would die, why my powers weren't working. At least, I suspected the reason for it. Phoenix dragons were natural shapeshifters, capable of hiding among other species for centuries.

But it came with a downside. For other shifters, turning back to their natural form was as easy as falling asleep or even just losing concentration for a few moments. For us, returning to our natural form was just as difficult as leaving it. We could store magic in our second hearts and use it after we'd transformed, but that was no use for me. Shade used the last of my birth magic to turn me human, so I didn't have any stored up.

If I could find another dragon or a magical artifact made with dragon magic, I might be able to transform. Then my draconic body could convert food and rest into magic all on its own. Unfortunately, finding a dragon was easier said than done. After the Draconic Plague, our numbers dwindled significantly. Even with Aster's help, it would've been nearly impossible to find one before I froze to death.

But of course, I couldn't ask him to stay. He was still crouching next to me like he hadn't decided whether to stay or not, but I wouldn't sway his decision. It wasn't fair to him, not after how hard he'd tried to stop me from dragging us all here.

"Before you go, could you- uh tell me what happened after I jumped into the ravine? How did all of us end up going through the portal?"

"You... fell, and I climbed down to you. Izzy ran down the long way, and Vance chased after her. They both ran through the portal, but I didn't realize until I picked you up and tried to carry you out of the ravine up the same path. The portal was invisible, sitting right in the middle of everything." He stood, stretched, and started shuffling around me in a circle. "Oh, and I never said I was leaving. I just said I couldn't carry you that long."

I groaned. "What are you doing?"

"Making an igloo." When he'd finished clearing a circle of snow, he started compacting lopsided blocks of snow as the foundation of his 'igloo.'

"This is ridiculous. By the time you get anything set up, Vance and Izzy'll be skinning something as a bed, sitting next to their fire, in their nice, wind-protected cave."

"Maybe, but it won't be as cool as an igloo."

"No, it'll be warm. That's the point. You don't want a cool house in this sector." I curled up for warmth, and the pain shooting down my legs nearly made me black out. Or maybe I did black out, I wasn't sure. All I knew was, one second I was trying not to whimper, and the next moment half the igloo was done and I was in a coat burrito.

Aster was nowhere to be seen. Not that that meant much—even with the twin moons overhead, it was too dark to see much farther than the confines of the little igloo. For a moment, I felt a flicker of hope and sadness at the thought that he might've come to his senses. But then he came back with another lopsided block of snow and stuck it on top of the short igloo wall.

"Take it back. The coat, you- you need it." I tried to wriggle out of the coat, but he'd tied his belt around the middle like a straightjacket. My brain was too fuzzy to figure out how to undo it.

"I'm fine, really. She's great at this." He patted his black fur scarf, which he definitely hadn't had when I may or may not have blacked out.

"Wha-"

The scarf raised its head and opened two amber eyes. "Sorry, I would've kept you warm, but you kept moaning and pushing me off."

"'Snot like you could've-" I stopped myself as one of Shade's lessons on voidcats popped into my head. They were meant to live in the void, a place so much colder than the planetary poles that no non-void or non-fire creature could survive there for more than a few seconds.