We continued to follow the road and I occasionally stopped to check the cart tracks in the muddy ground. It wasn’t common to use a cart during the winter as it was far to easy to get one stuck making it far easier to track them. Most of the mountain folk would use sleds if they needed to move anything. I assumed they would stop at the next town as well but it was best to be observant. 

I crouched down to examine the road when I heard Teras come up behind me close enough I could feel his breath wash over my back. I controlled my reaction and looked over my shoulder at him. He stared down at me, ears partially back in an expression I had learned meant he was worried.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He looked up at the sky and tasted the air, then gave himself a shake. “Snow is coming. Big.”

I sniffed the air and looked out across the mountains. “I don’t smell anything and it looks clear.”

He shook his head. “Can smell and feel. Bad snow. We need to shelter.”

“How long?”

He cocked his head. “Do not know your time. Soon.”

“Can we make it back to Frostford?”

His ears drooped and he shook his head “No. Need shelter quick,” he said and I could hear the urgency in his voice.

“Alright, alright. Look around for a cave or and outcropping. Fly if you need to,” I told him and started down the path again at a brisk pace, eyes sweeping over the surroundings trying to find a place to shelter. I had no idea how bad this storm would be but if it upset a dragon it stood to reason that it was likely to be severe.

I caught sight of a rocky outcropping and muttered a prayer, hoping there would be a cave or at least enough rock to shelter in. Scouting around it, in formed a C shape with walls that went up at least seven feet if not higher. There was a fairly deep indentation where it looked as if a stream had once flowed, reaching back a good six feet into the rock, the roof of it about four feet high. Not a complete cave but good enough for shelter, I hoped.

I climbed up one of the rocks and looked around the sky to see if I could spot Teras. He was nowhere to be seen so I clambered back down the rock and started to clear a spot for a fire and a place to pitch my small tent. I reasoned I could pitch it in front of the indentation, leaving the back open, and that would make for more room and more stability. I busied myself clearing out brush and rocks and setting up the support for my tent when I heard the sound of dragon wings.

Teras landed a short distance away and cautiously walked over to where I was setting up camp. He looked around, ears rising and falling, then nodded. “Small cave, should keep most of the snow off.”

“I hope so, Teras.”

He watched for a moment, then trotted off towards the trees. A few moments later he came back with several large branches in his forearms, walking a little awkwardly on his hind legs. He stacked them a short distance away from where I was setting up the tent then went back for more.

I watched as he built up a wall of logs, branches, sticks, and rocks. I had to admit he was a resourceful creature and rather industrious. I finished setting up the tent, leaving the back open to the cave and part of it sticking out, bracing it with the poles I had brought and some of the branches that Teras had brought over. Teras brought some large rocks to keep the tent secured to the ground.

The wind started to pick up, carrying a sharp, cruel bite of cold with it, as I finished putting the sailcloth I purchased in Frostford over the branches to give a little more protection and I could smell what Teras had detected some time ago: there was a decent sized snow coming. I only prayed that it wasn’t a blizzard. 

Teras watched me, head cocked and it suddenly occurred to me that there was no shelter for him. “Teras, where are you going to shelter?”

He looked puzzled “Here.”

“You won’t fit in that cave! I don’t even fit in it completely!”

He shook his head. “No, in front. I curl up with branches and lay in front of cave. It help keep you warm.”

I just stared at him for some time. “You won’t be cold?”

He shook his head again. “No, not unless stuck for days. Dragons fly high, is very cold up high. Snow is no great deal. Used to bury myself to scare my brothers.”

“Oh,” I said, a little dumbfounded at this information.

He hesitated. “You do not like me close.”

“It’s fine, Teras. That was before.”

He cocked his head, “Before?”

I could feel my face flush. “Before I figured out you weren’t really shadow touched,” I mumbled.

I kept my gaze averted and flinched when I felt his nose bump gently against my shoulder. I looked up at him and he cocked his head in a gesture that was rapidly becoming familiar. 

“Thank you,” he said, then sat back on his haunches and sniffed the air. “Will snow soon.”

I took the opportunity to turn away and double check my preparations, making sure the walls of the tent were secure and weighed down, praying that it would be enough. 

I drew my cloak around myself and went to the fire to warm up and make one last pot of tea in case the blizzard made it impossible. The dragon watched me for awhile, then snuffled around in the snow, sniffing here and there, finally stopping to dig.

He drew out a large tuber and awkwardly brought it over to me. “These are good,” he said, ears coming up. 

I looked it over and sniffed it a few times, then cut a bit off and touched it to my tongue, testing for any reaction to it. It tasted a bit like potato. It suddenly dawned on me that I had magic that would be sure of it and I shook my head and laughed.

“Laugh?” Teras asked, confused.

“Yes, I have magic that would make sure it wasn’t poison but I didn’t think to use it. Sometimes I forget about the ability all together really. Mostly don’t use it when making my medicines and such.”

I chanted softly and the root glowed briefly with no sign of anything bad. I nodded to the dragon and carefully set it near the fire to cook. Teras sat down in front and mantled his wings to keep the wind off.

“Thank you, Teras,” I said, remembering to thank him, and he bobbed his head at me.

I set the tuber to cooking, poured myself a cup of tea, then pulled the bowl I purchased for Teras out of my pack and poured some for him as well. I turned to hand it to him and his ears were so far forward it was amazing they didn’t pop off his head. I chuckled as he took it from me and he glanced at me, then started to lap up his tea.

We sat together in silence, drinking our tea, as I stared into the fire and brooded over the current situation and the task ahead of me. Well, us, I thought, correcting myself. I made a conscious effort to think of Teras as a person, not just an animal, and an active participant in the search. 

As I gazed into the fire a soft rumbling sound started to rise, so low that I could quite nearly feel it. I looked around a little alarmed. Earth tremors weren’t common in the mountains but where I lived during my training they happened with some frequency. A low rumbling was usually a precursor to them.

 I stood up cautiously, waiting for the ground to start shaking, the cave looked sturdy enough to hold, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to risk it. I took a step closer to Teras and suddenly realized it was coming from him.

The dragon was rumbling. It sounded like a deep, low version of a cats purr.

Teras was purring! 

I looked at him in open mouthed astonishment. He looked up and noticed me gaping and the sound stopped suddenly and he looked down, ears drooping, looking for all the world as if he had been caught doing something wrong.

“Sorry, Teras, didn’t mean to embarrass you. I just… I didn’t know dragons could purr!”

He ducked his head a little further and nodded. “We call it thrumming. Is sound we make when happy or sometimes angry.”

“That’s rather amazing, Teras.”

He lifted his head and looked at me uncertainly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The wind continued to pick up, skirling as it blew through the trees and branches, as I sipped at my tea and looked out at the building clouds with apprehension. Not only would the snow delay us but it would cover up any tracks, leaving us to following blindly and hoping the kidnappers followed the road to wherever they were going.

I shook my head. No need to borrow trouble; there was more than enough to deal with currently as the snow started to come down in earnest.

The wind howled outside my tent as I huddled down, peeking out the opening. Teras lay there, his wings partially out providing more shelter, his body heat helping to keep me warm along with the fire that was starting to gutter in the wind. I wasn’t sure how much longer it would last.

I crawled out to feed it some more sticks and branches to the fire, trying to prolong it for as long as possible. I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to survive without it’s heat. Even with Teras blocking part of the wind the cold slammed into the tent with a vengeance. I wished I had the ability to bore a hole in the roof of the cave to let the smoke out but that was beyond my abilities. 

I retreated back into my tent and wrapped my bed roll around me, teeth quite nearly chattering, and looked up at the dragon to find him watching me curiously. I flinched a little bit, still not completely used to his close presence or him watching me, then scolded myself mentally. He didn’t need to know that I still had some doubts and fears. 

I rubbed my hands together and looked up at him. “How much longer do you think this will last?”

He cocked his head. “Hard to say. Maybe one more sunrise. Maybe two.”

I shook my head. “We’re loosing a lot of time but I suppose there’s nothing for it.”

He sighed and lowered his head. “Maybe they are stuck too?”

“We can only hope, Teras.”

As the sun went down the wind started to pick up violently, blowing the snow everywhere and reducing visibility to the branches that Teras had piled up. Doubtless without them and him I would have been buried and fighting for my life at this point.

The fire guttered out and I wondered if I would be fighting for my life anyway. It was already dangerously cold with the fire, without it I feared for my survival. I attempted to use my magic to reignite it but it wasn’t enough to keep it going with the snow and wind blowing so hard.

I grimaced and huddled in tighter to my bed roll and cloak, thankful the wind wasn’t directly on me or I would have fallen into a sleep that I’d likely not awaken from hours ago.

Teras dozed in front of me, or at least his eyes were closed, and I watched him for a moment. As he said, the cold didn’t seem to be bothering him in the least or at least no signs that I could see. I briefly worried that he was freezing and just not saying anything then wondered once more at my feelings towards this dragon that I had known only a scant few days.

An hour or so later I found myself shivering hard inside my bedroll as the winds picked up further and sun disappeared below the horizon, leaving the camp pitch black with no stars nor moon to be seen. I said a prayer with stuttering breath for a break in the weather or some solution to keep myself from freezing to death, unable to control the shaking any longer.

“You are shivering.”

I looked over to see the dragon looking down on me, his ears back and his eyes narrowed.

“I’m c-cold, Teras,” I stammered. “If this c-continues I may b-be in trouble.”

He lowered his head and sniffed at me and I flinched back. He stood and shook the snow off of his back carefully, then took a few steps forward and crouched down, opening his arms. “You lay with me. I keep you warm,” he said with some urgency in his voice.

I stared at his arms for some time, hesitating. It was one thing to travel with a dragon, quite another to be held close by one.

Teras sniffed the air and shook his head, motioning again with his arms. “Here! You are too cold!”

“I…I…”, I stammered, teeth chatter. “I’m n-not sure…”

Teras cocked his head, then hunkered down to lean on his forearms, making a space between his chest and the ground. He closed his eyes. “Please? I will not hurt!”

My body was shaking so hard that I was having trouble seeing straight or thinking. “T-Teras, I…I think…”

He gave himself a small shake, then stretched his neck out as far as it would go, his nose only a few inches from me. “Erin,” he said in a soft, low voice. “I will not harm you and you need to be warm or you will die. Come here, Erin. Please?”

I took a hesitating step forward and he gently reached out and pulled me to his chest. A feeling of dread washed over me, sheer panic, and I quite nearly cried out as his claws closed around me, pulling me forward, then the heat of his body reached me and I couldn’t think about anything else.

He curled his head down and breathed over me, the heat of his breath providing blessed relief from the deadly cold that had crept into my bones. I looked up into his eyes and stammered “Thank, you.”

He nudged me gently. “You are welcome, Erin,” he said in that same deep, soft voice. “Sleep now. The snow should be stop in the morning.”

I curled myself tighter in his arms and drew my cloak up around myself and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.