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Wrapped in warm clothes looted from the fort, Rhin pushed through curtains of heavy snow. It had taken her three days of travel just to reach the valley's edge. The commander's maps and reports proved invaluable in finding shelter on her journey. They also provided warning. No one he sent to investigate whether the valley was still warm had returned.

“Dragons probably got them." She passed her sword back and forth between her gloved hands, spinning the blade to keep her fingers warm. “That's what they fought out here, before all this."

“Remember when dragons were the only scourge?" Rhin danced a few steps through the powdery snow. “At least dragons could talk, when they weren't trying to kill us."

She jabbed finger in the air. “Me. Not us. Just…keep that straight."

“You're losing it, Rhin."

“No shit, Echo."

When the hills were nearly behind her, Rhin paused to check her map. By the end of the day, she should be nearing the edges of the valley's lowlands. With any luck, she thought, she might even stumble upon some greenery soon. As much as she wanted fresh meat, she would be even happier to fill up her pack with any sort of edible vegetation or medicinal plants.

As she tucked her map way, Rhin thanked her mother for being such a knowledgeable woman. Her mother was a wanderer who settled in a village with Rhin's father. As Rhin grew up, her mother taught her how to live off the land and use a sword and bow. That extensive knowledge helped her survive long after blind luck saved her from the first freeze.

Beyond the hills, Rhin passed through a dead forest, shrouded in thick fog. Barren trees loomed through the icy haze, countless monuments to a once-thriving woodland. Their trunks had a strange, shimmering appearance. Rhin soon realized it was ice, left by the mist. Skeletal limbs torn away by the ice's weight protruded from the snow like brown claws tearing through their white funeral veil.

A silhouette in the fog drew her attention, and she squinted as she tried to make it out. It was unnaturally boxy, with a strange, rounded shape at the top. Dread prickled at the base of her skull and trickled down her spine. Rhin eased her pack down and crept forward, gripping her sword tight. She cursed when she realized it was an upturned travel wagon. Half an upturned wagon. Rhin approached it and brushed snow off the side. The wood was painted the same blue as the fort's door. She scowled, and swept away more snow until part of the Outer Legion's symbol was visible.

“Guess we found the outpost's men."

“There you go with that 'we' shit again."

Rhin gazed around. The rest of the wagon was scattered in several pieces nearby. Further away, a second carriage lay on its side, partly buried under a snowdrift. Rhin clambered up the broken coach to peer inside. She didn't see anything useful, just snow and rust-hued stains on the wood. She hopped back down, wondering what attacked them. Clearing away more snow revealed gouges and shattered lumber. Rhin traced her fingers over a few of the gashes. Deep claw marks, but they didn't all look the same. Maybe there'd been an initial attack, and then-

Something moved in the fog. Snow crunched.

Her blood went cold. She turned her head a fraction of an inch. Past the wagon, something far larger than Rhin crept closer. Shit! She stepped around behind the carriage, hoping it hadn't noticed her. For a moment, there was silence again.

Then heavy footfalls thundered against the snow as the monster charged.

Rhin leapt away as the ruined wagon upended and crashed across the ground, missing her by a hair's breadth. Broken wood exploded and flew past her in splintered shards. Snow erupted everywhere. In an instant, the monster was upon her. Black claws swept through the air. Rhin darted just out of reach, acting on instinct.

A dragon. A sharp inhalation.

Fire was coming.

She dove and rolled under the dragon's head just as the beast sprayed flame across the frozen ground. The roar of dragon-fire met the hiss of snowmelt turned to steam. Beneath the beast, Rhin thrust her sword for his heart. The way the monster pivoted sent her blade deflecting off the segmented plates protecting his chest. Even before she could ready another blow, the dragon spun back towards her. Claws whistled through the air, aimed for her face. Rhin threw herself against the earth and the dragon stomped for her head.

Just in time, Rhin rolled away and lashed her sword at his foreleg. Steel caught against sturdy scales, forcing the dragon to pull his limb back. Rhin staggered to her feet, only for the dragon to twist away and swing his heavy tail at her. Once more, Rhin could only throw herself out of the way. The dragon's tail spines punched through a wagon wall, blasting shattered wood in all directions. In an instant, Rhin was on her feet and charging him from behind. She'd helped slay dragons, and remembered the Outer Legion's tactics.

Get under the belly, or get onto his back, and-

Just before she got there, the dragon blasted fire again. This time he flattened his wings, and sprayed the liquid flame just above his back at her. Pain washed over Rhin, and it was all she could do to escape with only a scorched cloak and singed hair. She rolled across the snow, flames licking her. Rhin yanked at the ties to release her burning cloak. Somehow, she kept a grip on her sword.

For a second, she thought the world's unraveling must have driven the creature mad. Dragon scales were resilient but not impervious to fire, and their wings even less so. No dragon would risk burning themselves unless…In a moment of sickening fear, she realized the beast was baiting her. He wasn't crazy, he was experienced. He'd fought humans enough to learn their tactics.

No sooner was Rhin on her feet than the dragon was upon her. This time, she wasn't fast enough. The dragon's forepaw struck her so hard it lifted her off her feet. Sharp claws sliced through coat, clothes, and flesh alike, gouging her to her ribs. Rhin hit the ground and her vision flashed red. She tumbled across the snow. White-hot agony stole her breath.

Rhin fought the pain and rolled to all fours. She crawled across the snow to her sword. Blood soaked her clothes. As the dragon approached, she staggered to her knees. He was either out of fire, or didn't want to ruin his meal. She glared at him, her arms limp. Her fingers brushed her sword hilt in the snow, but she hesitated. Even as he drew back his foreleg, Rhin waited.

Only when his claws streaked for her head did Rhin act. At the last moment, she snatched up her sword and thrust it straight into the softest part of the dragon's paw. The blade pierced all the way through the bone and out the other side. Momentum wrenched the weapon from her grasp and tossed her back to the snow.

Agony bubbled in the dragon's scream as he stumbled away from her. Rhin's sword bobbled in his paw, wedged in the bone. Dark red blood gushed down his foreleg. With another anguished shriek, he collapsed. The beast reached for the sword with his other paw, limb shaking.

Hot pain rolled through Rhin as she drew the long knife from under her coat. She grit her teeth, focused on survival. All she needed was an opening. The dragon tried to grasp the sword in his other paw, but only jarred the blade against the bone. He screeched, beating his tail on the snow.

When the monster lifted his bloodied, shaking foreleg to his muzzle, Rhin tensed, ready to pounce. The dragon took a few deep breaths, then bit the sword hilt. With teeth locked against it, he dragged his paw back down the blade. His clamped jaws muffled his anguished roar. Blood smeared over steel inch by inch, until the dragon's paw finally slid free. He spat the sword into the snow, and clutched his ruined paw to his chest plates, writhing.

Rhin seized her moment. She pushed through her pain, closing the distance in an instant. Rhin flung herself onto the dragon's neck, just below the end of the spiny frill that ran down the back of his head. She circled her arms around him, and pressed her dagger for his throat, just beneath his lower jaw. Dragons were softer there, and she could open him deep enough to end him.

With her blade pressed against the dragon's throat, Rhin hesitated.

“Speak!" Rhin rasped her words, her blade trembling. “Athellian, can…can you speak it?" Her throat tightened, and tears brimmed in her eyes. “Say something!"

“I'm not…" The dragon's words came in staggering pants, terrified but proud. “Going to beg! I won't beg. So just do it, murderess!"

Rhin squeezed the handle of her dagger tightly. Waves of emotion and exhaustion swept over her and tears blurred her vision. After a few moments, wrecked by the first voice she'd heard in years, she dropped her knife. Her arms went slack, and overwhelmed by sudden sobs, she slipped off the dragon's neck into the snow. Her pain faded, and her fear ebbed. In its place came a strange sort of relief.

She wasn't alone.

She wasn't the last.

The dragon shifted, his breathing pained, and labored. Snow crunched. Rhin closed her eyes and waited, unafraid. Death couldn't be any colder than this. Only when she heard the dragon's footsteps getting softer did she open her eyes again. The dragon limped away, clutching his maimed paw to his chest. A trail of fresh blood marred the snow behind him.

He was leaving.

“Couldn't do it either, could he…" Rhin grimaced and sat up. She didn't want to talk to her echo anymore. She wanted to talk to someone real_._ “Please don't leave!"

The dragon stopped.

“My…my name is Rhin!"

Slowly, the dragon turned around.

“Do you have a name?"

“Elgaros." He stared at her across the bloody snow. “My name is Elgaros."

A name. A genuine name.

All at once, the dragon's details crystallized in her mind, as if his name made him real. His scales were green, a sickly, pale shade. He was too slender for a dragon, ribs pressed against his hide. Ridged black horns spiraled from his skull. Bronze-tipped spines lined the frills behind his pointed ears, and between his horns. More bronze marked his wings in uneven blotches. A cold, haunted look shone in his golden eyes.

He knew all the same horrors she did.

“Don't leave…"

Elgaros limped a single step towards her. “I fear we have killed each other."

Rhin knew he was right. He was losing blood, and facing likely infection. Hunting would be difficult, at best. And Rhin doubted she could make it home as wounded as she was. She crawled across the snow to rest against a section of broken wagon.

“It's nice to meet you anyway, Elgaros." She leaned her head back, smiling.

Elgaros lifted his paw, gazing at the jagged hole in it. A fresh trickle of blood coated his pale green scales. “I cannot say the same, Rhin."

Laughter bubbled from her, a joyous escape. “At least we don't have to die alone, now."

The dragon hobbled closer. He stared at her, then gave a long, weary sigh. “Perhaps that is best. I think I am ready for death. I am tired, and so weary of the cold."

“So am I. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

“Matters not." Elgaros whimpered, then sucked in a breath, his whole muzzle contorted in pain.

“Would you talk to me? While we wait?" Rhin tilted her head back, staring at the falling snow. “I've hoped for years, just to hear a voice again."

“Very well." The dragon eased onto his haunches, frills flattened. “It would be nice, to speak more before I die. I have not used words in some time."

“I talked to myself." Rhin cringed, glancing at her side. Blood drenched her coat. “Where've you been living? In the valley?"

“I did, until it grew too dangerous. Whatever monstrosities were unleashed when the world broke were drawn to what little warmth lingered there."

“So, they're real?" Rhin shifted, gritting her teeth against the pain.

“They are, and they hunt in the valley's fog. I live in a ruin, now. A cold ruin. I thought it safer." The dragon glanced at Rhin, rumbling what she could only describe as a bitter laugh. “But it seems it is dangerous here, too. A shame." He lay down in the snow, closing his eyes. “I had hoped to die somewhere warm."

Somewhere warm.

Rhin sat up straight. “I have a place. There's food and medicine left. I can't make it back on my own now, but maybe you could--"

“We are not friends!" The dragon cut her off with a snarl. “Your people killed us! I have done the same to men, and--"

“Doesn't matter." Rhin let out a long sigh, leaning her head back. “Everyone's gone. It's just us, now." She closed her eyes, her thoughts starting to drift. “Just us."

“So it is." Elgaros' voice softened. “What are you…offering?"

“A chance to die somewhere warm." Rhin forced herself to focus, opening her eyes. “And I could bind your paw, if you help me get there."

The dragon turned his head, gazing across the snow and fog. “I should like to feel warm again, before the end."

“Can you fly?"

“Yes, so long as I stay quite low. The higher clouds are icy and dangerous to my wings, now."

Gripping the carriage, Rhin dragged herself to her feet. “Then let me guide you. Please."

“So be it, human."

*****

And that is where this excerpt ends. I hope you've enjoyed! If you'd like to see how the story starts, or what happens next, where their lives lead them, or just how close they grow? If you want to read the scene that inspired the cover art? Then please, pick up a copy of the book! It'll show support for me, and the other great writers who also have tales inside, including Resolute, Whyte Yote, and Kandrel, and cover art by Rukis. Feel free to leave comments here on the excerpt or on the complete story if you've read it.

Thank you for your support!

The purchase links once more:

Physical copies: https://furplanet.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=951

Ebook/Digital copies: https://baddogbooks.com/product/feral/

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