It's always those in the middle who get screwed over in the end.
I pick a fleck of skin out from between the scales on my neck, grimacing as my pointed teeth snap at the freezing air in annoyance. The Over-freeze has caused nothing but problems, especially between classes. I'm a dragon hybrid, so I'm obviously rich and have privilege above all the other races, so no one gives me the time of day. But whatever. I won't give them it, either.
I slam the bird on the table of the butcher, yanking the arrow out of its chest and exhaling heavily as I put my best foot forward. The butcher, Paisley, comes out from the back and stops in the doorway, frowning at my presence with a "humph." I flash a smile in return. She's the only woman that can resist my charm... might help if she was fifty years younger.
"What do you want, Absyn?" She huffs, leaning against the counter as her eyes sweep lazily over me. "Your face is pinched."
I smile sickeningly sweetly and point at the bird. "Got a big one. How about more silver pieces than last time?"
She frowns. "I gave you bronze yesterday."
I return the frown. "My point exctly."
She grumbles something under her breath, her bulbous eyes reminding me of a toad's and her skin as wrinkled as a fat dog. Two tusks jut out from beneath her lower lip, making her look more menacing than she actually is.
"Absyn, no. Same as yesterday. Fifty bronze pieces. Take it or leave it."
"You've got to be kidding me," I groan.
She shrugs, a knowing gleam in her eye. "Go somewhere else, then. See if anyone wants to help a privelaged dragon in this eternal winter where people have difficulty not freezing to death. Too bad you can't breathe fire, or else you'd be living large and far away from the Yomzai."
I scowl, my pride swelling inside me as I yank the bird from the counter, hearing bones snap in its limp body. "Fine. I will. Ungrateful ogre—"
"Don't get bent out of shape, boy," she says, pointing a plump finger in my direction. "Fair's fair and you aren't starving, so there's no need for me to help you out any more than buying what you bring."
I frown. "Fine. One silver piece, then."
She shakes her head. "The highest I'll go is sixty bronze. I've gotta make a profit, dragon."
After a moment of debating on if I wanted to storm out there to make a point, I finally groan and return the bird to the table.
"Fine. You're lucky I need the money."
The ogre shakes her head as she digs in her deep apron pockets. "There are people that need it more than you."
"When will it matter that I have my own struggles too?" I grumble as I snatch the money from her open palm, careful not to rack my claws across it.
"When you either become dirt poor or filthy rich. Anything in between silences you, boy."
I narrow my eyes at the bronze pieces.
"Filthy rich, huh?" I turn back toward Paisley and smirk as a terribly crazy idea dawns upon me. "There's still a bounty on the Yomzai kind, isn't there, Pais?"
She hesitates before answering. "You aren't thinking about taking out one of those winter monsters, are you?"
I smirk, the coins clinking in my hands as I ball it into a fist.
"You're suicidal is what you are," she says as she slings the bird over her shoulder. "If you return with the head of one of them, I'll give you all the money in my shop."
I chuckle haughtily, but only once. "And if I bring in the head of the leader?"
Paisley lets out a guttural laugh as she moves back toward the back, shaking her head. "I'll give you my house."
She disappears, my eyes lingering on the doorway as I unclench my fist, looking down at the coins.
"I'll take that bet."
I tug the hood of my long coat up over my head as I exit the shop, shifting my long brown hair over my shoulder. Good thing my older sisters taught me how to braid—I'm terrified of cutting my hair. It's down to my butt now.
I stuff my hands in my pockets and shudder, willing myself to warm. My skin buzzes as the cold slowly disappears. I may not be able to breathe fire like, you know, normal dragons and dragon hybrids, but I can increase the speed at which molecules dance around me to warm myself. I've only burned myself once, that scar forever staining my palm a light pink. Scales cover the backs of my hands and my forearms, stopping at the insides of my elbows. It's the same for my legs. Scales from my ankles to just above my knees. They also cover from just below my collarbone to beneath my jaw. The rest is skin. No tail like a normal dragon, but that's what happens when you're a human-dragon hybrid.
"Absyn!"
I frown as I hear the voice calling over the howling wind. Turning, I see Babs bounding over the tall snow, and I rub the bridge of my nose. Why did I make eye contact?
"Absyn, warm me!"
She holds her hands out like a toddler wanting attention.
Narrowing my eyes, I turn toward her. "Why do you do this to me? Do you know how many strange looks we get when I 'warm you up'?" I ask, using air quotations. To it, she scrunches her nose.
"Why do you say it like that?"
Rubbing the bridge of my nose once more, I exhale, my breath coming out in a cloud of smoke. It's the closest I will ever and have ever gotten to creating fire from my throat. Babs looks up at me with wide brown eyes, completely confused and showing there's no light on in the attic. Her dark skin greatly contrasts with the pale snow, clothes completely concealing every part of her that isn't human. She's part goat; more like a satyr, in a sense, but without the... um... crudeness of one. Still a ditz and a clingy girl, though.
I say nothing for a moment and she takes it as an invitation. She plunges forward and wraps her arms around my midsection, her head only coming up to the bottom of my sternum. I groan internally and increase the heat, feeling her nudge closer. After a second, I grow tired of the exchange.
"Okay. That's enough," I say, pushing her away gently, careful of my sharp claws. They're more like wickedly curved and sharpened nails, but claws sounds more hardcore. "You're warm now."
"But—but—" she pleads, staring up at me with huge pupils as I take a step back, my mind returning to what it had formerly been brooding over.
"How are your fighting skills?" I ask her, peering down as I begin to make my way home. She follows behind with a shrug and a hop, bounding over a small mound of snow.
"Average, I guess. I'm better with a bow. Why?"
I give her a sideways smile as I peer around my hood. "Wanna take out some Yomzai with me?"
Fear taints her irises. "The Yomzai? The winter monsters?"
I give her a cheesy grin as I grip the sword at my side. "The very same."
"People have died from instant hypothermia when they get too close. There's no way to defeat them, either... Why would you want to do something that dangerous?"
I shrug. "The money. Plus I'm sick and tired of what they caused when they suddenly appeared ten years ago."
Babs shakes her head furiously. "But they're the ones that made your species the richest."
I scowl. "Not true. Dragons were always rich, especially the hybrids. It just so happens that those who can play with fire recreationally flourished even more under these conditions."
"Oh, right," she smiles at my bitter words. "And you're like the only one who can't breathe fire."
I exhale, slightly irritated, but nod. "Exactly."
Babs frowns, looking out with squinted eyes as she wraps her arms around herself. "Why should I go with you? All you want is the money. You don't even want to do it for the people the winter is effecting."
"Because it'll get you rich too, and whoever we recruit along the way."
"The more people, the less money."
I shake my head. "Not if we take out the head Yomzai."
Her dark face pales and she stops walking, making me turn around.
"You... don't mean that, do you, Absyn?"
I nod briskly. "Take him out and we'll be treated like kings."
She shakes her head and takes a few steps back away from me. "This is your craziest idea yet, Absyn. You can't—No one's been able to take out even one of them! Anyone who's seen one have died."
"One person drew a picture before he died, so no all hope's lost."
A hand flies to her mouth and there's resolve in her eyes as she shakes her head again.
"I can't do that, Absyn."
"You can. You're not giving yourself enough credit. Go gather some of your friends. Not centaurs, though. They're kind of... snobby."
She frowns, removing her hand as she narrows her eyes, angry suddenly. "You can't seriously be asking me to—"
"I'll keep you warm," I bribe with a grin, watching her face flush as I get close to it. Her dark eyes widen as her train of thought crashes. I lift my hand up as if I'm making an oath. "I promise."
She frowns, looking away from my eyes and taking an uncomfortable step back, clearing her throat.
"Fine." Her voice cracks a bit as she crosses her arms. "But I'm inviting Ross."
I groan like a child. "The idiot unicorn?"
She glares at me. "Yes. The idiot unicorn. His horn heals, so be grateful if he says yes." She sighs, puffs of smoke in the air from her warm breath. "I honestly hate you sometimes," she mutters. "I'll let you know when we have enough. You're lucky I'm the social type."
"Your ditzy personality helps too," I say innocently, earning another frown from her. I bark a laugh and ruffle her frizzy hair playfully. "Sorry, not sorry."
She swats my hand away, her face growing redder under her dark skin tone.
"You're so mean," she says, and turns to walk away. I watch her go with a half smile and head home myself, trying to come up with a game plan before I go off to either end my life or start it.
+++
The winter monsters have been a mystery for ten years. They appeared from nowhere and brought a worldwide winter, killing off most animals and plants. Those with enough money were able to fund engineering for greenhouses and heat-makers to keep warm. Those without warmth died out or eventually started getting handouts from those more fortunate. Us suckers in the middle have no help and barely any money to get by, but there are people who have it worse than us, so why bother finding pity here?
I run my fingers through my hair, brushing it out and trying to keep it from getting caught in the scales on my arms. It's been a few days since I told Babs to start gathering people for the expedition, and she showed up, asking me to meet her and the new crew at the tavern closest to our houses.
Shirtless, I stare at the spot my pale skin meets the scales just below my collarbone, the line between them almost clumsily placed. Dragon hybrids were genetically engineered by scientists who had too much time on their hands.
I slip a thin black shirt on and my long-tailed jacket, buckles up the front clanging against each other as I pull the hood over my head, braiding my hair so it isn't too wild in the whipping wind outside. Sheathing my sword, I turn to go, pulling a notice off my front door about paying rent. I'm a week late. Gotta pay it today or I'll be kicked out. What can you do?
The cold air hits me like a brick wall as my skin begins to buzz with warmth. Thank God for this power. I'm almost glad I can't breathe fire if this is what I get instead. The cold fricking sucks. So I guess it's a good thing I want to take down the Yomzai. I wonder... could I use this against them somehow?
I make my way to the tavern, warmth from the fireplace filling the room, another dragon hybrid behind the counter. The blue of his flames from the center of the room almost overtakes the orange flames on the wall, the colors mixing and creating strange shadows on the faces of those inside. He gives me a nod, welcoming me, and I make my way to the back, my eyes catching on Babs. She stands with a half-smile as she spots me, a group of different kinds of creaturs around her, including Ross the idiot unicorn hybrid.
"Absyn!" she shouts, leaping around the table, her bottom half that of a goat and covered with a skirt. She tackles me with a hug, nearly knocking me over. Ross grins up at me too, his white and silvery hair falling to his shoulders. A horn protrudes from his frontal lobe and his irises are all the colors of the rainbow. The only other thing that tells you he's a unicorn, if you missed the horn somehow, is the long tail protruding from his human backside.
"Absyn, it's nice to see you again," he says. I force a smile and nod, taking in the other five people.
There's a gnome dressed in overalls and a red hat--how stereotypical--and is named Danielle, her gray hair cut off just below her ears, a kelpie-hybrid, the last of her kind, with skin as green as moss and no resemblances to a horse whatsoever. Her hair hangs around her shoulders like seaweed and her teeth are like thousands of needles. Her name is Scralp. Next to her sits another dragon-hybrid like me, his scales a deep red and his skin a deep bronze. His hair is blonde and short, an eyepatch covering his left eye. His name is Vance.
I hate him right off the bat.
The other two are twins, their features pointy and elf-like--which is a good thing since they're elves. Self-proclaimed best fighting duo in the land. Whatever. Their names are Reuna and Rena.
After sitting around with them for about an hour to get to know them, I stand and chug the last of my drink, setting the cup down on the table gently.
"Babs has brought you here to accompany me in slaying the Yomzai leader."
The seven creatures sitting around the table watch me with scrutinizing eyes, when the dragon-guy speaks up. Vance.
"And what makes you think you'd be able to do that, when all others who have tried have failed?"
I hide my grimace from his deep raspy voice. He's everything I'm not at first glance—except the fact he's a dragon hybrid.
I shrug. "Nothing. I just want to try. I'm sick of barely getting by and of the cold climate, and I want to do something about it. If we take out their leader, the rest will either die or leave."
"Or another one will rise to take his place," Reuna speaks up, her heavy accent seeping through her words.
I roll my eyes. "Then we'll take that one down too. If the leader is the strongest one, then no one else can match it, right? So the other ones will be cake."
"And what if they aren't 'cake'?" Rena asks, using air-quotes around the word cake. "What if we lose our lives because you just wanted to have money to eat? Just ask for help from the government or get a better job."
I exhale, annoyed. "I make too much for help and I've been looking for better work for a year now. I get by with hunting." Standing upright, my eyes sweep over the lot of them. "Look. I'm sure Babs explained to you what will be going down to an extent and something about it seemed intriguing to you or interesting and you wanted to see what this was all about. Now we part ways if you don't want to carry through with it. If you want to leave, leave, because once you're in, you're in and there's no going back. If we fail, we die, and if we win, we'll be treated like kings. Now is the time to either follow me or leave this opportunity behind. If you have nothing to lose, than come with me. All we have to gain is everything."
I look out at the seven people before me, expecting them to get up and walk away forever, my heart pounding in my chest and my skin warming, buzzing as my anxiety rises. None of them move.
Vance leans forward, his pale grey eye staring intesnely into my goldne ones.
"Absyn, you have the biggest balls I've ever seen, and to that I raise my glass," he says, lifting his drink with a nod. "It's time to take down those monsters."
+++
Snow melts before it can reach my skin, the eight of us huddled together to keep inside my circle of warmth. No one has really been able to document these creatures in the last decade. There are two things we know: they are the ones that created this perpetual winter, and the leader is closest to our town, creating the coldest climate compared to the rest of the world.
"How far can you expand your power?" Vance had asked me when we began to head out to find the leader Yomzai. I was taken aback at his reaction to my not being able to breathe fire like he and every other dragon could. No teasing, no joking, just a slow nod as he processed it. "All dragon hybrids have varying degrees of their fire breath, and I'm curious to see if it's the same with your unique ability."
I shrugged. "I've never tried to increase its radius."
He nodded as he rubbed his throat, tightening his sweater to keep his throat warm and loose. Every now and then he would let out a stream of fire to keep it warmed up.
"I'd try working on that while we head up there. It might be the deciding factor."
I looked at him sideways. "What makes you say that?"
He'd shrugged, adjusting his eyepatch, shifting in his heavy winter suit. "I've never seen anything like what you can do," he began, "and neither has anyone here who decided to follow a stranger to the death. Babs talked to several different people. Six is a good turnout for your unrealistic goal, and it's an ambitious, suicidal one, at that. But you... something about you made us say yes... and for me, it was the difference between our abilities."I stared at him for a moment but said nothing more, brooding over that. The differfence between us? Did he mean our abilities?
The temperature drops again and I feel everyone move closer to me, shuddering. I've been focusing on expanding my ability the entire trip, but my muscles are beginning to grow fatigued. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep it up.
The expanse of ice suddenly sweeps into a large hill of jagged pieces of ice and snow, the clear pieces shimmering in the light. I hesitate for a moment in awe as a bone-chilling wind sweeps across my body, making me shiver.
"I think we're here, kid," Vance says as he takes a few steps forward toward the ice.
"I'm gonna cut the warmth," I say, Babs wrapped around one of my arms, trembling. She nods with wide eyes, her dual swords hanging from either hip and dragging across the ground as she walks, bow in her right hand. The freezing temperatures fill my senses as everyone steps away and I walk forward.
"Last chance to back out," I tell them, pulling out my own sword, adjusting the quiver on my back, my bow slung across my chest.
"Who's running?" Reuna asks with a smirk as she unsheathes her weapon, her twin standing right next to her with an intense focus on the home of the Yomzai, their heavy winter coats matching perfectly. Ross comes up next to Babs and digs his hooves into the deep snow, the horn on his head glistening in the light as Skrelp peers out from behind her layered bodysuit and thick clothing, specially enhanced to keep her body warm and moist so she doesn't dry out in the harsh climate.
I smirk and shake my head, taking in a deep breath as I begin to focus on myself.
"Alright," I say, lifting my sword. "Let's do this."
+++
The Yomzai bellows into the frigid air, the temperature dropping rapidly as it seems to grow, a flurry pulling at our clothes. Vance struggles to stand, using his sword as a crutch. His entire left side is purple, frost bitten and dying. My other comrades lie around me, some unconscious, and others having difficulty continuing on.
I grit my teeth and face the monster ahead of us, my skin vibrating with warmth as I try and spread it as far as it'll go. Snow begins to melt around me as my skin prickles with sweat, the wind picking up around me. The snow creates a makeshift tornado around me, barely missing Ross the unicorn, the furthest member out. The Yomzai cries out again and lurches forward, feeling the threat I possess. The snow thickens outside of the bubble I created, my knees wobbling, feeling like they're about to give out as fatigue quickly creeps upon me. I keep my eyes open and focused, taking in every detail of the Yomzai. They have a sludgy-looking figure, like a human body melting as if it were wax. Waves of snow explode from its joints as it moves, reminding me of a melted marshmallow. It's eyes are nothing but sockets, dripping holes where eyeballs should be, and its mouth is like a dripping black hole, shuddering in the flurry.
I stick the sword into the ground and lean against it like a cane, breathing heavily as the air around me begins to shudder with the cold. My vision begins to blur and my knees feel weak.
Babs stands on her good leg, her other one bleeding through her clothing. She looks at me with wide eyes, uncertainty filling them. Swords can't kill the thing, and Vance's fire won't reach it. Skrelp can manipulate water molecules to an extent, but it's as though the Yomzai has an even greater amount of control, so she can't reach it. The twins are laying unconscious off to the side, their bodies bitten with frost.
"Get everyone out of here," I instruct Babs as Vance tends to the twins. Ross the idiot unicorn kneels over them too, pressing his horn into their wounds. They heal immediately and sit right back up, groggy. The gnome moves to stand closer to me, her beady black eyes watching me.
"We can't just leave you," Babs says as the Yomzai lets out another cry filled with malice.
"Yes, you can," I say, shrugging off my exhaustion. It still pulls at my torso, however, forcing me to hunch over a bit. "I have to pay rent today anyway, or I'm getting kicked out."
"You can stay at my place," Babs pleads, touching my arm. She jerks it away immediately, getting too close. Her dark skin looks red with a burn and I grimace, sweat trickling from both of our brows.
"Nope," I say, trying to keep it lighthearted. "I'm good. I'll get through this."
"Absyn—"
"Go," I tell her, narrowing my eyes as my hair falls in my face. My clothing clings to me from pools of sweat gathering along my skin. "I've ticked it off. It'll just follow us to the city, anyway. Don't worry, you'll see me again."
"I know you've never liked me, Absyn," I hear from the opposite side of Babs, just as I feel my barrier take another devastating blow, the warmth growing cooler. My knees nearly liquidate and I stumble toward the voice a step. "But if you're going to stay and make it out alive, you're going to need this."
Just as my eyes focus on Ross, I feel something sharp stab just below my ribcage. I cry out, dropping to my knees, the heat suddenly overpowered by the freezing cold. Babs, Danielle the gnome, and Ross are flung from me, as are Reuna and Rena, in the arms of Vance. Skrelp is thrown the farthest, but I face-plant into the snow, cringing from pain. He'd stabbed me?
I turn to look around me as my skin begins to buzz again, the pain suddenly beginning to disappear. I gasp as where he'd struck me begins to tingle. The feeling it reminds me of is like when you eat something minty and drown it in water.
I sit up and look down, a bit of blood on my shirt. Through the hole, I see something shining with light and I glance back at him through the blizzard, finding my legs and standing, using the sword as a crutch. I see him nod once as my attention is drawn to his horn. He and Vance are able to make the other members of our party turn back and begin the long journey home.
I touch the wound, feeling the hardness inside it. Maybe he's not such an idiot, after all.
I can feel the Yomzai directly behind me, and I take a deep breath, my skin tingling with warmth—just enough to keep me comfortable in the freezing weather. And as it lifts and crashes around me, I feel my chest swell with certainty.
This is it. It's over.
Snow crashes around me and I'm lifted from where I stand. I fall down into the coldness, the snow hard and slushy, and land inside a large ice structure that reminds me of ribs. There are no organs, nothing that tells me this creature digests its prey. Perhaps any threat it has, it nullifies by swallowing it whole and waiting for it to die of hypothermia.
I close my eyes and sit on the hard pelvic bones made of hard ice, a thin layer of ice cradling me between the holes in the structure. How complicated is this creature? It has a bone structure, but it doesn't seem to have any muscles, looking around at the snow. Reaching out and leaning forward, I touch the lining of the stomach, more curious than anything while hoping it isn't going after those in my party. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and focus as I stand, trying to keep my footing on the slick ice.
Goodbye, winter.
The air around me begins to buzz as I exhale, molecules speeding up faster than the ice can regenerate itself. Sweat immediately begins to saturate my body and the stomach melts, followed by the bones around me. The Yomzai cries out and it shakes the walls, nearly making me topple over. Water begins to collect at my feet and I can feel myself sinking into the snow as the ice layer melts away. Faster and faster, I sink, until my feet touch soil, water falling all around me. There's a spark at my fingertips, catching my eye and making my heart jump. A spark?
Water saturates and smothers it, and I grit my teeth. There's a final, pitiful cry from the creature as I turn to spectate, its head collapsing to the snow that remains. In my wake, water surrounds me like a wetland, and I press the warmth outward even more, watching the cold disappear, no fatigue filling me. I touch the wound that would forever be healing and forever be wounded and thank Ross mentally. Without it, I don't think I'd have been able to live to see this through.
As the last of the snow melts away, there's something that takes me off-guard, frost covering it. I rush over and push away the water gathering around so it can get air.
A girl.
Clothes much too small for her body hang off her, sopping wet. Her hair is white like snow and her skin is almost transluscent in the moonlight. Had she been in the Yomzai?
Immediately, I remove my jacket and lay it across her body, her eyes fluttering open only once to reveal one brown and one ice-blue iris. Just after, though, she shuts them again and frost begins to cover her shoulders.
"Hey, hey, wake up," I urge her, shaking her shoulder, and she stirs slightly, her eyes unfoucsed. They slip closed once again and I curse under my breath, sweeping her up in my arms. She needs to get to a doctor.
"Absyn!"
Babs's voice is far away, but my ears perk up at the sound of her voice.
As I walk, the ice melts away and she stops in her tracks once we meet in the middle. I continue to press forward, her brown eyes wide as she stares at the girl in my arms, unconscious, her hand flying to her mouth. The remainder of the crew is a good distance behind her, but they stop too, staring. They say nothing to me as I continue to walk, finally falling into line behind me as I move briskly. It takes all night to reach the town, but by daybreak, the snow is almost gone. This part of the world was never supposed to get that cold.
People come out of their houses to see us marching down the roads, cheering and whispering as they turned in our direction. No one approached me, but a few spoke to Vance. I don't hear what he tells them; I'm moving too quickly through the crowd.
Passing by Paisley's shop, I see her unlocking her door, and our eyes meet. Her eyes widen and I nod, taking a right to head to the hospital, where they hook her up to monitors and electronic things that I don't know the name of. They tell me she's in a state of comatose and that they can't tell me when she'll wake up. When I explain to them what had happened, they seemed stunned at the fact I'd found her in a Yomzai. Their faces were ashen, though when they were leaving the room, and they seemed to be in rather a hurry, their energy seeming nervous.
I stayed for an hour, thinking that maybe she'd wake up and answer my questions, but it never happens.
My stomach growls.
"I'll be back," I tell her in a whisper, making my way to the tavern my party would most likely be at if they weren't sleeping.
"Absyn," I hear, several voices calling my name. My eyes move to the back of the room and I see my comrades stand from their seats and lift their glasses, several people around us doing the same. I take a step back, confused, when my eyes meet Vance's. He nods with a grateful smile.
"To Absyn."
"To Absyn!" the tavern shouts, taking a swig of their drink as Babs pushes one into my hands as well. There's a warmth that wells up inside of me at the scene, and I take a drink, myself. People ask me about the Yomzai, listen to me tell about what happened after it swallowed me whole. It goes on for a few hours, and I slap Ross on the back, nearly making him spit out his drink.
"Thanks for your help," I tell him, my eyes flicking up to the end of his horn. The very tip was missing from it, but I knew where it was.
"No problem," he says, coughing on his drink.
The celebration wanes to a close and I make my way out first, heading back to the hospital. Comatose... Nothing can describe how badly I wanted her to wake up.
I reach her room and stop in the doorway.
She's gone.
I pick a fleck of skin out from between the scales on my neck, grimacing as my pointed teeth snap at the freezing air in annoyance. The Over-freeze has caused nothing but problems, especially between classes. I'm a dragon hybrid, so I'm obviously rich and have privilege above all the other races, so no one gives me the time of day. But whatever. I won't give them it, either.
I slam the bird on the table of the butcher, yanking the arrow out of its chest and exhaling heavily as I put my best foot forward. The butcher, Paisley, comes out from the back and stops in the doorway, frowning at my presence with a "humph." I flash a smile in return. She's the only woman that can resist my charm... might help if she was fifty years younger.
"What do you want, Absyn?" She huffs, leaning against the counter as her eyes sweep lazily over me. "Your face is pinched."
I smile sickeningly sweetly and point at the bird. "Got a big one. How about more silver pieces than last time?"
She frowns. "I gave you bronze yesterday."
I return the frown. "My point exctly."
She grumbles something under her breath, her bulbous eyes reminding me of a toad's and her skin as wrinkled as a fat dog. Two tusks jut out from beneath her lower lip, making her look more menacing than she actually is.
"Absyn, no. Same as yesterday. Fifty bronze pieces. Take it or leave it."
"You've got to be kidding me," I groan.
She shrugs, a knowing gleam in her eye. "Go somewhere else, then. See if anyone wants to help a privelaged dragon in this eternal winter where people have difficulty not freezing to death. Too bad you can't breathe fire, or else you'd be living large and far away from the Yomzai."
I scowl, my pride swelling inside me as I yank the bird from the counter, hearing bones snap in its limp body. "Fine. I will. Ungrateful ogre—"
"Don't get bent out of shape, boy," she says, pointing a plump finger in my direction. "Fair's fair and you aren't starving, so there's no need for me to help you out any more than buying what you bring."
I frown. "Fine. One silver piece, then."
She shakes her head. "The highest I'll go is sixty bronze. I've gotta make a profit, dragon."
After a moment of debating on if I wanted to storm out there to make a point, I finally groan and return the bird to the table.
"Fine. You're lucky I need the money."
The ogre shakes her head as she digs in her deep apron pockets. "There are people that need it more than you."
"When will it matter that I have my own struggles too?" I grumble as I snatch the money from her open palm, careful not to rack my claws across it.
"When you either become dirt poor or filthy rich. Anything in between silences you, boy."
I narrow my eyes at the bronze pieces.
"Filthy rich, huh?" I turn back toward Paisley and smirk as a terribly crazy idea dawns upon me. "There's still a bounty on the Yomzai kind, isn't there, Pais?"
She hesitates before answering. "You aren't thinking about taking out one of those winter monsters, are you?"
I smirk, the coins clinking in my hands as I ball it into a fist.
"You're suicidal is what you are," she says as she slings the bird over her shoulder. "If you return with the head of one of them, I'll give you all the money in my shop."
I chuckle haughtily, but only once. "And if I bring in the head of the leader?"
Paisley lets out a guttural laugh as she moves back toward the back, shaking her head. "I'll give you my house."
She disappears, my eyes lingering on the doorway as I unclench my fist, looking down at the coins.
"I'll take that bet."
I tug the hood of my long coat up over my head as I exit the shop, shifting my long brown hair over my shoulder. Good thing my older sisters taught me how to braid—I'm terrified of cutting my hair. It's down to my butt now.
I stuff my hands in my pockets and shudder, willing myself to warm. My skin buzzes as the cold slowly disappears. I may not be able to breathe fire like, you know, normal dragons and dragon hybrids, but I can increase the speed at which molecules dance around me to warm myself. I've only burned myself once, that scar forever staining my palm a light pink. Scales cover the backs of my hands and my forearms, stopping at the insides of my elbows. It's the same for my legs. Scales from my ankles to just above my knees. They also cover from just below my collarbone to beneath my jaw. The rest is skin. No tail like a normal dragon, but that's what happens when you're a human-dragon hybrid.
"Absyn!"
I frown as I hear the voice calling over the howling wind. Turning, I see Babs bounding over the tall snow, and I rub the bridge of my nose. Why did I make eye contact?
"Absyn, warm me!"
She holds her hands out like a toddler wanting attention.
Narrowing my eyes, I turn toward her. "Why do you do this to me? Do you know how many strange looks we get when I 'warm you up'?" I ask, using air quotations. To it, she scrunches her nose.
"Why do you say it like that?"
Rubbing the bridge of my nose once more, I exhale, my breath coming out in a cloud of smoke. It's the closest I will ever and have ever gotten to creating fire from my throat. Babs looks up at me with wide brown eyes, completely confused and showing there's no light on in the attic. Her dark skin greatly contrasts with the pale snow, clothes completely concealing every part of her that isn't human. She's part goat; more like a satyr, in a sense, but without the... um... crudeness of one. Still a ditz and a clingy girl, though.
I say nothing for a moment and she takes it as an invitation. She plunges forward and wraps her arms around my midsection, her head only coming up to the bottom of my sternum. I groan internally and increase the heat, feeling her nudge closer. After a second, I grow tired of the exchange.
"Okay. That's enough," I say, pushing her away gently, careful of my sharp claws. They're more like wickedly curved and sharpened nails, but claws sounds more hardcore. "You're warm now."
"But—but—" she pleads, staring up at me with huge pupils as I take a step back, my mind returning to what it had formerly been brooding over.
"How are your fighting skills?" I ask her, peering down as I begin to make my way home. She follows behind with a shrug and a hop, bounding over a small mound of snow.
"Average, I guess. I'm better with a bow. Why?"
I give her a sideways smile as I peer around my hood. "Wanna take out some Yomzai with me?"
Fear taints her irises. "The Yomzai? The winter monsters?"
I give her a cheesy grin as I grip the sword at my side. "The very same."
"People have died from instant hypothermia when they get too close. There's no way to defeat them, either... Why would you want to do something that dangerous?"
I shrug. "The money. Plus I'm sick and tired of what they caused when they suddenly appeared ten years ago."
Babs shakes her head furiously. "But they're the ones that made your species the richest."
I scowl. "Not true. Dragons were always rich, especially the hybrids. It just so happens that those who can play with fire recreationally flourished even more under these conditions."
"Oh, right," she smiles at my bitter words. "And you're like the only one who can't breathe fire."
I exhale, slightly irritated, but nod. "Exactly."
Babs frowns, looking out with squinted eyes as she wraps her arms around herself. "Why should I go with you? All you want is the money. You don't even want to do it for the people the winter is effecting."
"Because it'll get you rich too, and whoever we recruit along the way."
"The more people, the less money."
I shake my head. "Not if we take out the head Yomzai."
Her dark face pales and she stops walking, making me turn around.
"You... don't mean that, do you, Absyn?"
I nod briskly. "Take him out and we'll be treated like kings."
She shakes her head and takes a few steps back away from me. "This is your craziest idea yet, Absyn. You can't—No one's been able to take out even one of them! Anyone who's seen one have died."
"One person drew a picture before he died, so no all hope's lost."
A hand flies to her mouth and there's resolve in her eyes as she shakes her head again.
"I can't do that, Absyn."
"You can. You're not giving yourself enough credit. Go gather some of your friends. Not centaurs, though. They're kind of... snobby."
She frowns, removing her hand as she narrows her eyes, angry suddenly. "You can't seriously be asking me to—"
"I'll keep you warm," I bribe with a grin, watching her face flush as I get close to it. Her dark eyes widen as her train of thought crashes. I lift my hand up as if I'm making an oath. "I promise."
She frowns, looking away from my eyes and taking an uncomfortable step back, clearing her throat.
"Fine." Her voice cracks a bit as she crosses her arms. "But I'm inviting Ross."
I groan like a child. "The idiot unicorn?"
She glares at me. "Yes. The idiot unicorn. His horn heals, so be grateful if he says yes." She sighs, puffs of smoke in the air from her warm breath. "I honestly hate you sometimes," she mutters. "I'll let you know when we have enough. You're lucky I'm the social type."
"Your ditzy personality helps too," I say innocently, earning another frown from her. I bark a laugh and ruffle her frizzy hair playfully. "Sorry, not sorry."
She swats my hand away, her face growing redder under her dark skin tone.
"You're so mean," she says, and turns to walk away. I watch her go with a half smile and head home myself, trying to come up with a game plan before I go off to either end my life or start it.
+++
The winter monsters have been a mystery for ten years. They appeared from nowhere and brought a worldwide winter, killing off most animals and plants. Those with enough money were able to fund engineering for greenhouses and heat-makers to keep warm. Those without warmth died out or eventually started getting handouts from those more fortunate. Us suckers in the middle have no help and barely any money to get by, but there are people who have it worse than us, so why bother finding pity here?
I run my fingers through my hair, brushing it out and trying to keep it from getting caught in the scales on my arms. It's been a few days since I told Babs to start gathering people for the expedition, and she showed up, asking me to meet her and the new crew at the tavern closest to our houses.
Shirtless, I stare at the spot my pale skin meets the scales just below my collarbone, the line between them almost clumsily placed. Dragon hybrids were genetically engineered by scientists who had too much time on their hands.
I slip a thin black shirt on and my long-tailed jacket, buckles up the front clanging against each other as I pull the hood over my head, braiding my hair so it isn't too wild in the whipping wind outside. Sheathing my sword, I turn to go, pulling a notice off my front door about paying rent. I'm a week late. Gotta pay it today or I'll be kicked out. What can you do?
The cold air hits me like a brick wall as my skin begins to buzz with warmth. Thank God for this power. I'm almost glad I can't breathe fire if this is what I get instead. The cold fricking sucks. So I guess it's a good thing I want to take down the Yomzai. I wonder... could I use this against them somehow?
I make my way to the tavern, warmth from the fireplace filling the room, another dragon hybrid behind the counter. The blue of his flames from the center of the room almost overtakes the orange flames on the wall, the colors mixing and creating strange shadows on the faces of those inside. He gives me a nod, welcoming me, and I make my way to the back, my eyes catching on Babs. She stands with a half-smile as she spots me, a group of different kinds of creaturs around her, including Ross the idiot unicorn hybrid.
"Absyn!" she shouts, leaping around the table, her bottom half that of a goat and covered with a skirt. She tackles me with a hug, nearly knocking me over. Ross grins up at me too, his white and silvery hair falling to his shoulders. A horn protrudes from his frontal lobe and his irises are all the colors of the rainbow. The only other thing that tells you he's a unicorn, if you missed the horn somehow, is the long tail protruding from his human backside.
"Absyn, it's nice to see you again," he says. I force a smile and nod, taking in the other five people.
There's a gnome dressed in overalls and a red hat--how stereotypical--and is named Danielle, her gray hair cut off just below her ears, a kelpie-hybrid, the last of her kind, with skin as green as moss and no resemblances to a horse whatsoever. Her hair hangs around her shoulders like seaweed and her teeth are like thousands of needles. Her name is Scralp. Next to her sits another dragon-hybrid like me, his scales a deep red and his skin a deep bronze. His hair is blonde and short, an eyepatch covering his left eye. His name is Vance.
I hate him right off the bat.
The other two are twins, their features pointy and elf-like--which is a good thing since they're elves. Self-proclaimed best fighting duo in the land. Whatever. Their names are Reuna and Rena.
After sitting around with them for about an hour to get to know them, I stand and chug the last of my drink, setting the cup down on the table gently.
"Babs has brought you here to accompany me in slaying the Yomzai leader."
The seven creatures sitting around the table watch me with scrutinizing eyes, when the dragon-guy speaks up. Vance.
"And what makes you think you'd be able to do that, when all others who have tried have failed?"
I hide my grimace from his deep raspy voice. He's everything I'm not at first glance—except the fact he's a dragon hybrid.
I shrug. "Nothing. I just want to try. I'm sick of barely getting by and of the cold climate, and I want to do something about it. If we take out their leader, the rest will either die or leave."
"Or another one will rise to take his place," Reuna speaks up, her heavy accent seeping through her words.
I roll my eyes. "Then we'll take that one down too. If the leader is the strongest one, then no one else can match it, right? So the other ones will be cake."
"And what if they aren't 'cake'?" Rena asks, using air-quotes around the word cake. "What if we lose our lives because you just wanted to have money to eat? Just ask for help from the government or get a better job."
I exhale, annoyed. "I make too much for help and I've been looking for better work for a year now. I get by with hunting." Standing upright, my eyes sweep over the lot of them. "Look. I'm sure Babs explained to you what will be going down to an extent and something about it seemed intriguing to you or interesting and you wanted to see what this was all about. Now we part ways if you don't want to carry through with it. If you want to leave, leave, because once you're in, you're in and there's no going back. If we fail, we die, and if we win, we'll be treated like kings. Now is the time to either follow me or leave this opportunity behind. If you have nothing to lose, than come with me. All we have to gain is everything."
I look out at the seven people before me, expecting them to get up and walk away forever, my heart pounding in my chest and my skin warming, buzzing as my anxiety rises. None of them move.
Vance leans forward, his pale grey eye staring intesnely into my goldne ones.
"Absyn, you have the biggest balls I've ever seen, and to that I raise my glass," he says, lifting his drink with a nod. "It's time to take down those monsters."
+++
Snow melts before it can reach my skin, the eight of us huddled together to keep inside my circle of warmth. No one has really been able to document these creatures in the last decade. There are two things we know: they are the ones that created this perpetual winter, and the leader is closest to our town, creating the coldest climate compared to the rest of the world.
"How far can you expand your power?" Vance had asked me when we began to head out to find the leader Yomzai. I was taken aback at his reaction to my not being able to breathe fire like he and every other dragon could. No teasing, no joking, just a slow nod as he processed it. "All dragon hybrids have varying degrees of their fire breath, and I'm curious to see if it's the same with your unique ability."
I shrugged. "I've never tried to increase its radius."
He nodded as he rubbed his throat, tightening his sweater to keep his throat warm and loose. Every now and then he would let out a stream of fire to keep it warmed up.
"I'd try working on that while we head up there. It might be the deciding factor."
I looked at him sideways. "What makes you say that?"
He'd shrugged, adjusting his eyepatch, shifting in his heavy winter suit. "I've never seen anything like what you can do," he began, "and neither has anyone here who decided to follow a stranger to the death. Babs talked to several different people. Six is a good turnout for your unrealistic goal, and it's an ambitious, suicidal one, at that. But you... something about you made us say yes... and for me, it was the difference between our abilities."I stared at him for a moment but said nothing more, brooding over that. The differfence between us? Did he mean our abilities?
The temperature drops again and I feel everyone move closer to me, shuddering. I've been focusing on expanding my ability the entire trip, but my muscles are beginning to grow fatigued. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep it up.
The expanse of ice suddenly sweeps into a large hill of jagged pieces of ice and snow, the clear pieces shimmering in the light. I hesitate for a moment in awe as a bone-chilling wind sweeps across my body, making me shiver.
"I think we're here, kid," Vance says as he takes a few steps forward toward the ice.
"I'm gonna cut the warmth," I say, Babs wrapped around one of my arms, trembling. She nods with wide eyes, her dual swords hanging from either hip and dragging across the ground as she walks, bow in her right hand. The freezing temperatures fill my senses as everyone steps away and I walk forward.
"Last chance to back out," I tell them, pulling out my own sword, adjusting the quiver on my back, my bow slung across my chest.
"Who's running?" Reuna asks with a smirk as she unsheathes her weapon, her twin standing right next to her with an intense focus on the home of the Yomzai, their heavy winter coats matching perfectly. Ross comes up next to Babs and digs his hooves into the deep snow, the horn on his head glistening in the light as Skrelp peers out from behind her layered bodysuit and thick clothing, specially enhanced to keep her body warm and moist so she doesn't dry out in the harsh climate.
I smirk and shake my head, taking in a deep breath as I begin to focus on myself.
"Alright," I say, lifting my sword. "Let's do this."
+++
The Yomzai bellows into the frigid air, the temperature dropping rapidly as it seems to grow, a flurry pulling at our clothes. Vance struggles to stand, using his sword as a crutch. His entire left side is purple, frost bitten and dying. My other comrades lie around me, some unconscious, and others having difficulty continuing on.
I grit my teeth and face the monster ahead of us, my skin vibrating with warmth as I try and spread it as far as it'll go. Snow begins to melt around me as my skin prickles with sweat, the wind picking up around me. The snow creates a makeshift tornado around me, barely missing Ross the unicorn, the furthest member out. The Yomzai cries out again and lurches forward, feeling the threat I possess. The snow thickens outside of the bubble I created, my knees wobbling, feeling like they're about to give out as fatigue quickly creeps upon me. I keep my eyes open and focused, taking in every detail of the Yomzai. They have a sludgy-looking figure, like a human body melting as if it were wax. Waves of snow explode from its joints as it moves, reminding me of a melted marshmallow. It's eyes are nothing but sockets, dripping holes where eyeballs should be, and its mouth is like a dripping black hole, shuddering in the flurry.
I stick the sword into the ground and lean against it like a cane, breathing heavily as the air around me begins to shudder with the cold. My vision begins to blur and my knees feel weak.
Babs stands on her good leg, her other one bleeding through her clothing. She looks at me with wide eyes, uncertainty filling them. Swords can't kill the thing, and Vance's fire won't reach it. Skrelp can manipulate water molecules to an extent, but it's as though the Yomzai has an even greater amount of control, so she can't reach it. The twins are laying unconscious off to the side, their bodies bitten with frost.
"Get everyone out of here," I instruct Babs as Vance tends to the twins. Ross the idiot unicorn kneels over them too, pressing his horn into their wounds. They heal immediately and sit right back up, groggy. The gnome moves to stand closer to me, her beady black eyes watching me.
"We can't just leave you," Babs says as the Yomzai lets out another cry filled with malice.
"Yes, you can," I say, shrugging off my exhaustion. It still pulls at my torso, however, forcing me to hunch over a bit. "I have to pay rent today anyway, or I'm getting kicked out."
"You can stay at my place," Babs pleads, touching my arm. She jerks it away immediately, getting too close. Her dark skin looks red with a burn and I grimace, sweat trickling from both of our brows.
"Nope," I say, trying to keep it lighthearted. "I'm good. I'll get through this."
"Absyn—"
"Go," I tell her, narrowing my eyes as my hair falls in my face. My clothing clings to me from pools of sweat gathering along my skin. "I've ticked it off. It'll just follow us to the city, anyway. Don't worry, you'll see me again."
"I know you've never liked me, Absyn," I hear from the opposite side of Babs, just as I feel my barrier take another devastating blow, the warmth growing cooler. My knees nearly liquidate and I stumble toward the voice a step. "But if you're going to stay and make it out alive, you're going to need this."
Just as my eyes focus on Ross, I feel something sharp stab just below my ribcage. I cry out, dropping to my knees, the heat suddenly overpowered by the freezing cold. Babs, Danielle the gnome, and Ross are flung from me, as are Reuna and Rena, in the arms of Vance. Skrelp is thrown the farthest, but I face-plant into the snow, cringing from pain. He'd stabbed me?
I turn to look around me as my skin begins to buzz again, the pain suddenly beginning to disappear. I gasp as where he'd struck me begins to tingle. The feeling it reminds me of is like when you eat something minty and drown it in water.
I sit up and look down, a bit of blood on my shirt. Through the hole, I see something shining with light and I glance back at him through the blizzard, finding my legs and standing, using the sword as a crutch. I see him nod once as my attention is drawn to his horn. He and Vance are able to make the other members of our party turn back and begin the long journey home.
I touch the wound, feeling the hardness inside it. Maybe he's not such an idiot, after all.
I can feel the Yomzai directly behind me, and I take a deep breath, my skin tingling with warmth—just enough to keep me comfortable in the freezing weather. And as it lifts and crashes around me, I feel my chest swell with certainty.
This is it. It's over.
Snow crashes around me and I'm lifted from where I stand. I fall down into the coldness, the snow hard and slushy, and land inside a large ice structure that reminds me of ribs. There are no organs, nothing that tells me this creature digests its prey. Perhaps any threat it has, it nullifies by swallowing it whole and waiting for it to die of hypothermia.
I close my eyes and sit on the hard pelvic bones made of hard ice, a thin layer of ice cradling me between the holes in the structure. How complicated is this creature? It has a bone structure, but it doesn't seem to have any muscles, looking around at the snow. Reaching out and leaning forward, I touch the lining of the stomach, more curious than anything while hoping it isn't going after those in my party. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and focus as I stand, trying to keep my footing on the slick ice.
Goodbye, winter.
The air around me begins to buzz as I exhale, molecules speeding up faster than the ice can regenerate itself. Sweat immediately begins to saturate my body and the stomach melts, followed by the bones around me. The Yomzai cries out and it shakes the walls, nearly making me topple over. Water begins to collect at my feet and I can feel myself sinking into the snow as the ice layer melts away. Faster and faster, I sink, until my feet touch soil, water falling all around me. There's a spark at my fingertips, catching my eye and making my heart jump. A spark?
Water saturates and smothers it, and I grit my teeth. There's a final, pitiful cry from the creature as I turn to spectate, its head collapsing to the snow that remains. In my wake, water surrounds me like a wetland, and I press the warmth outward even more, watching the cold disappear, no fatigue filling me. I touch the wound that would forever be healing and forever be wounded and thank Ross mentally. Without it, I don't think I'd have been able to live to see this through.
As the last of the snow melts away, there's something that takes me off-guard, frost covering it. I rush over and push away the water gathering around so it can get air.
A girl.
Clothes much too small for her body hang off her, sopping wet. Her hair is white like snow and her skin is almost transluscent in the moonlight. Had she been in the Yomzai?
Immediately, I remove my jacket and lay it across her body, her eyes fluttering open only once to reveal one brown and one ice-blue iris. Just after, though, she shuts them again and frost begins to cover her shoulders.
"Hey, hey, wake up," I urge her, shaking her shoulder, and she stirs slightly, her eyes unfoucsed. They slip closed once again and I curse under my breath, sweeping her up in my arms. She needs to get to a doctor.
"Absyn!"
Babs's voice is far away, but my ears perk up at the sound of her voice.
As I walk, the ice melts away and she stops in her tracks once we meet in the middle. I continue to press forward, her brown eyes wide as she stares at the girl in my arms, unconscious, her hand flying to her mouth. The remainder of the crew is a good distance behind her, but they stop too, staring. They say nothing to me as I continue to walk, finally falling into line behind me as I move briskly. It takes all night to reach the town, but by daybreak, the snow is almost gone. This part of the world was never supposed to get that cold.
People come out of their houses to see us marching down the roads, cheering and whispering as they turned in our direction. No one approached me, but a few spoke to Vance. I don't hear what he tells them; I'm moving too quickly through the crowd.
Passing by Paisley's shop, I see her unlocking her door, and our eyes meet. Her eyes widen and I nod, taking a right to head to the hospital, where they hook her up to monitors and electronic things that I don't know the name of. They tell me she's in a state of comatose and that they can't tell me when she'll wake up. When I explain to them what had happened, they seemed stunned at the fact I'd found her in a Yomzai. Their faces were ashen, though when they were leaving the room, and they seemed to be in rather a hurry, their energy seeming nervous.
I stayed for an hour, thinking that maybe she'd wake up and answer my questions, but it never happens.
My stomach growls.
"I'll be back," I tell her in a whisper, making my way to the tavern my party would most likely be at if they weren't sleeping.
"Absyn," I hear, several voices calling my name. My eyes move to the back of the room and I see my comrades stand from their seats and lift their glasses, several people around us doing the same. I take a step back, confused, when my eyes meet Vance's. He nods with a grateful smile.
"To Absyn."
"To Absyn!" the tavern shouts, taking a swig of their drink as Babs pushes one into my hands as well. There's a warmth that wells up inside of me at the scene, and I take a drink, myself. People ask me about the Yomzai, listen to me tell about what happened after it swallowed me whole. It goes on for a few hours, and I slap Ross on the back, nearly making him spit out his drink.
"Thanks for your help," I tell him, my eyes flicking up to the end of his horn. The very tip was missing from it, but I knew where it was.
"No problem," he says, coughing on his drink.
The celebration wanes to a close and I make my way out first, heading back to the hospital. Comatose... Nothing can describe how badly I wanted her to wake up.
I reach her room and stop in the doorway.
She's gone.
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