The Fount of Dragon Fire

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Oh, now look at that, Evie." Laughing, Conner turned to his wife where she sat, lips curled upwards uncomfortably, as he carefully maneuvered their truck through the snowy embankment that was supposed to the be the driveway of their mountain cottage. "How can you look at something that... that... picturesque and not be put at ease. This place is perfect!"

Evie held in her breath as she tried not to dampen his spirits. At the same time, she couldn't quite bring herself to feel the same enthusiasm. Where he saw a beautiful snow-covered cottage, she saw a drafty wood house on top of a mountain, far from aid or even a basic cell tower. They were alone and isolated long before they reached this driveway, and that made her uncomfortable.

Conner picked up on his wife's emotions easily. Smiling, he put the truck in park before touching the hand that she had clenched into a tight, white-knuckled fist on her leg.

"Evie, you promised to give it a chance."

"I know..." She sounded pained, but tried to smile for his benefit. "M-Maybe it's nice inside."

"That's the spirit!" Laughing, Conner turned to look in the backseat. "What do you think, kiddo?"

Camry, strapped tight in her car seat, wasn't even looking at the cottage. She was staring outside at the snow that was piled up high all around the drive. Her mouth was hanging open, revealing the empty socket where she had recently lost one of her baby teeth, as she gazed in wonder.

Conner laughed. "They don't have snow like this in the city, do they?"

"Can I go play?" She asked eagerly, already reaching for the buckles on her car seat.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Evie turned frantically. "Not like this. You have to put on your coat and your gloves and scarf. All of it. All of it. You'll catch your death out there."

Conner was humming excitedly as Evie supervised the donning of their winter gear. The heater in the truck kept it more than comfortable inside, so the cold weather accessories had all been piled into a large heap in the back seat. Most of it was buried under half-eaten snacks and drinks that they had been picking up along their drive to and up the mountain as well as the toys that Camry had been systematically playing with and discarding once they lost their appeal. The rest of their luggage was in the bed of the truck, already covered in a few errant snowflakes that had descended while they climbed the mountain.

Only once both Camry and Conner both were bundled up to Evie's satisfaction did she allow him to turn the truck off and open the door.

The blast of cold air hit the cabin like a hammer and, nearly instantly, all the warmth was sucked away and replaced with a nose chilling cold.

Camry didn't notice. She already had her door open and was jumping down off the high step – too excited to hear her mother tell her not to and to wait for her to come help her down. The crunch of snow under her thick boots was an entirely new sensation and her little bluebell eyes widened in delight to hear and feel it crush under her weight.

Laughing out loud, she began stomping excitedly just to trample the snow. Evie climbed from the cabin of the truck, hastily pulling on her gloves, as she stared in worry at her daughter. She had barely opened her mouth to tell her to be careful when Camry slipped and fell butt first into the pile of snow just off of the drive.

The white wall closed around her like a cloud and she laughed harder as she kicked her feet and bounced her hands inside.

Evie was there in a flash, admonishing her carelessness as she pulled her out.