Chapter Four: Frozen

“Of course I left my phone at home.”

My breath came out ragged—and visible. Thin white clouds puffed in front of my face, each one shorter than the last. I hugged my backpack to my chest, arms trembling as the cold bit through my clothes like they were nothing.

I fumbled with the zipper, fingers stiff and clumsy, and dumped the contents onto the floor. Books. Loose papers. A notebook bent at the corners.

I grabbed my textbook—some useless chapter about equations and rules—and flipped through it desperately, as if there might be a section titled What To Do If You’re Locked in a Freezing Government Facility With a Giant Shadow.

There wasn’t.

My hands started to ache, deep and sharp, like the cold was crawling into my bones. I gave up and shoved everything back together, spreading my backpack and books on the floor before curling into a tight ball on top of them.
 

If I moved, I felt like I’d shatter. Like glass left out in winter.

I exhaled shakily.

Was I going to freeze to death?

Or get eaten by whatever that massive shape in the corner was—because it still wasn’t moving.

“H-hello?” I breathed, my voice barely more than air.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then—

A sound.

Soft. Broken. Almost… sad.

A low, whimpering coo echoed through the room.

My heart lurched.

“C-c-can you help me?” I whispered.

A tear slipped down my cheek. The second it hit the metal floor, it froze.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to stand.

Every step sent a shiver through my body, knees wobbling as I moved toward the sound. The air felt thicker here, colder—steam curling faintly off my skin as my body heat fought a losing battle.

Then I heard it.
 

Clang.

Metal shifting.
Chains.
The sound echoed, slow and heavy, vibrating through the floor beneath my feet.

I followed it through the fog, each breath burning more than the last. My vision blurred at the edges, lashes stiff with frost, until—

I saw it.

White.

Blue.

Massive.

The shape shifted again, and another sound slipped from it—

“Mmphuuuu.”

It recoiled suddenly, chains snapping taut with a violent clang that made me flinch. My foot caught on nothing and I went down hard.

“Oof—!”

The cold slammed into me as I hit the floor. I tried to push myself up, but my hands barely responded, fingers numb and useless.

I sucked in a breath and forced myself upright.

Then—without thinking—I reached out.

My hand hovered an inch away.

Warmth radiated from it.

Real warmth.

I touched it.

The creature flinched, pulling back with a startled huff, but I didn’t let go. Heat rushed back into my fingers, painful at first, then grounding. I gasped as the frost on my lashes melted, my vision clearing, the ache in my chest easing.

I wiped my eyes and finally looked at her.

An ice dragon.

Her scales were white with blue ridges along her spine, thick and powerful even as she trembled. Horns curved back from her head, and her wings—huge and beautiful—were pinned down by thick metal rings bolted into the floor.

She was shackled to a massive metal plate beneath her body.

Too tight.

The cuffs dug into her scales, raw and angry.

My stomach twisted.

“They’re hurting you,” I whispered.

She let out another low, exhausted sound and lowered her head slightly, breath fogging the air between us.
 

I stared at the chains.

Then had the worst, most idiotic thought of my life.

“I can… fix that,” I said quietly.

The dragon’s eye flicked toward me.

I reached for the shackle.