Journey of Phantasia: The Changeling (Short Story)

Part 1

Bad weather taking the shape of a white cloudy storm had caused the group to search for shelter, before they would get engulfed by the thick snow. The group followed a curling road of gravel between and through the fields. On the sides of the road were waypoints, large rocks buried in the ground and just now buried under the snow as well. Sometimes only a tip of the stone protruded from the earth. 

The road kept dragging them further and further to the lands near the chain of mountains that separated North-and South-Phantasia.

"Sword-Mountains." Said the wizard. "We're close to the Troll-Mountains as well." He had a coarse, rough voice. He squinted his eyes and put the cap of his mantle deeper over his face, to not get blinded by the endless snow. The wizard wiped some of the snow off of his prickly hay-coloured beard and stuck his fingerless-glove-covered hands deeper into the pockets of his coat. 

"I would prefer to not seek shelter there."

"I think they would prefer it if you didn't seek shelter there as well, I think. When they see your face..." The dragon-girl with the black hair and the sun-kissed skin laughed at her own joke. The wizard did not. He stomped through the dust-like snow in front of him and followed the barely-seen road onward. The road forked two ways:

The road to the left lead to a hill, on which a strong village was seemingly built. The road on the right was barely seen. But where it was visible, it was awfully close to the Troll-Mountains...

"If you want, I can call them for you. Let's see who will laugh then... Foolish child." The wizard snarled. He tilted his head down and his yellow eyes, like that of a hawk, stared at the not-so-distant mountains where the trolls lived. The dragon-girl was not impressed. "Did they ever nibble on old leather, then?" She laughed at her joke again and from nowhere, the air around her rustled and a black, wooly coat that looked very much like her own hairs appeared around her shoulders.  The wizard growled, his hands trembled... 

"Can we at least try to keep it civil, please? That is what you'd both promised, before we departed." Said the princess, in a gentle but strict voice. She adjusted her coat of white fur so that it was tighter around her shoulders, to not grow cold. Even still, her face was red from the cold climate. She sniffed and dabbed her nose with a handkerchief she had brought from home.

"Yeah, sure, sure... Fine." The dragon-girl tried not to pay attention to the princess. "I can't ever do anything fun. Horribly boring, you two are." She continued her song of complaints. The princess walked in front of her, and the wizard walked in front of them both. He paved the way, and at the fork he stopped. 

The wizard rubbed his hands and blew against them. Hot air escaped through his fingers and ascended to the cold heavens above, where it clumped, slowly, before it turned into a small cloudy pillow. He seemed completely focussed on the little pillow above him. 

"Skiptingr." He grumbled, and the little heap of clouds flew, against the wind and between the falling snow. The wizard pointed at his little cloud-pillow, that remained still in the air until they arrived. 

"Shelter is that way. It might be close to the trolls but with a little luck we will only be here for a few days." The wizard explained. The princess nodded and continued to walk towards the left, to the village on the hill. 

The dragon-girl just huffed. 

"We can also just fly away, you know?"

The wizard turned around within a second, crossing his arms like an angry child. 

"Fly on your own. In this weather you won't even last for a minute." And the dragon-girl huffed once more, out of discontent this time. Small flames spewed out of her nose, and the hue in her eyes turned redder and angrier. Gleaming black scales started to form on her arms and her face...