Spring Snow

By J. L. Ender

Let me tell you the story of a dragon who wanted to be a man.

My name is Eleanor Thornhail, and I’m a worldhopper—long story—and I’d gotten myself stranded on a strange world of magic and dragons.

One dragon in particular was my ticket out. I’d found him hiding among the humans, working as a librarian for the Infinite Library. Once, so I gathered, this wouldn’t have been so odd, but now humans and dragons were at war, and he’d been sent as some sort of spy.

Powerful magic had been used to give him the ability to change shape. It wasn’t spellcraft of this world, with its runes and imparted willpower. I suspected blood magic.

We sat cross-legged in the disguised dragon’s room, surrounded by books on magical theory and the beginnings of a powerful spell.

“You’re sure this will help us find the portal?” The dragon frowned at the scattered accoutrements. Private by nature, he hadn’t revealed his real name, but the magic scholars called him Gavin.

“No. I’m not sure of anything.” It kept me up at night. A lot of universes were out there, and I knew precious little about most of them. “But I think it’ll work,” I added. “And that’ll have to do.”

Gavin shrugged. “Worth a try, right? What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Well, to be honest, we could be pulled outside time and space or lose our minds. We could become astral ghosts, stranded from our bodies. We could alert the authorities of the Infinite Library and get caught…”

He scowled. “So we get caught. Mages practice magic everywhere, all the time.” That’s the possible outcome you’re worried about?

I arched an eyebrow. “An offworlder and a dragon might set off different alarms in an investigation.”

He snorted, turning a fierce glare on me. “No more hemming and hawing. Let’s do this.”

Picturing golden dragon eyes staring over a long snout, I nodded and swallowed.

The spell was a simple one. We’d created a circle of stones with runes carved into them, which we sat inside. Putting a hand to one stone each, we poured our will into it. A faint neon blue glow illuminated the runes one by one.

Gavin took a deep breath. I closed my eyes, and noticed the crackle of the fireplace, the chatter of students outside.

“It doesn’t seem to be working,” I began. “Perhaps one of the runes—”

Early spring.

The snows had mostly thawed, but a few fading whitecaps still clung to the upper reaches of the highest cliffs. Stretching my wings wide, I reveled briefly in the joy of flight.

It wouldn’t last, though. The Council wanted to send me on a mission, a mission among the humans.

The world below hovered between cold and hot, death and rebirth, and here I am about to be reborn. Cold and hot. The humans were an icy plague on this world, a winter we could escape from, if we could just drive them away. Saving my people was worth any risk, even if I would never fly again.

Back in the circle, my eyelids fluttered. I briefly caught a glimpse of Gavin’s room, of his gold and green scales and spikes sprouting from one arm. A flash of darkness.

Early spring.

I was much smaller. I flew high in the air alongside my mother. We were soaring in the cold reaches among the high clouds, as far up as dragons can soar. It’s safer up here, where the human arrows and ballistae could never reach.

Safe but cold, even for one with the fire within. And there was poor hunting among the cloudborn, who offered little meat. I knew Mother was hungry, but too stubborn to admit it.

Far below, a pasture opened up, dotted with white balls of fluff.

Sheep!

In an otherwise empty meadow. A few of those would be perfect for Mother.

I tilted my wings and dove.

“Son!” Mother cried in alarm.

Descent! I was an arrow in flight. I shot down toward the unsuspecting prey, mouth already watering.

A magician appeared amidst the sheep, a huge ballista beside him. It began launching bolts into the air. The mage grinned and flung out long, crackling veins of electricity.

The bolts flew over my head, the lightning below. I had nowhere to flee. The two attacks drew tighter like a noose. I dodged and weaved in blind panic, but in seconds I would be skewered or fried.

Mother flew between me and the attackers. “Up!” she roared.

I flapped back into the safer reaches of the high heavens. Mother joined me a moment later.

I let out an elated puff of fire. “Close one!”

Mother grunted. We flew back toward our own over-hunted high grounds. In all the excitement, my hunger was momentarily forgotten.

Then Mother fell.

She collapsed amidst a small copse of trees, scattering birds and cracking trunks until she landed in a fading patch of spring snow.

Tucking my wings, I shot down to her side. “Mother?” I nudged her snout. She groaned.

I checked her belly and found three bolts, thick rivulets of blood gushing out. A long burn mark scalded her hide.

“Mother, get up!” I wailed. Sizzling tears stung the corners of my eyes. “No, no, no.”

My eyes snapped open. Suddenly I was back in Gavin’s bedroom. Softly glowing stones surrounded me, the illumination in the runes fading.

I turned to Gavin, horrified that he might’ve gotten a glimpse at my past as I did his. How can I explain?

But he grinned. “Got it. I know where to find our portal. Should have seen it coming, really.”

I stared at him for what felt like a hundred years.

He blinked. “You okay?”

“It worked for you?” I asked, tone hollow.

“Of course. Like a charm. Well, suppose it was a charm…”

We stared at each other for another long moment. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why? Wait, what did you see?”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. L. Ender is the author of the superhero series Steel Fox Investigations and mecha vs kaiju mayhem The Cold Below, as well as a number of other novels and short stories. Ender has worked as a dishwasher, a beef jerky labeler, a warehouse worker, a shelf stocker, a greeter, a traveling technician, a laser engraver, a package handler, a copywriter, a graphic designer, a librarian, an editor, a dispatcher, a phone operator, a hotel clerk, and hopefully someday soon as a novelist… He lives in Ohio with his wife and fellow writer SCE Ender.

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