Samantha Edwhan

Alita's Youth

Chapter 2

Winter 2822

It was a cold day. Alita huddled up against her mother’s side as another cold gust of wind howled through the caves. Despite the shelter from the snow outside, the gaping entrances to the caves didn’t help block out the icy chill of the wind. Evangeline tucked her wing over Alita as she shivered.

“Don’t worry, dear,” Evangeline said softly. “The winter storms won’t be here forever.”

“It’s so cold.” Alita’s teeth chattered as she spoke. “Why is it so cold?”

Evangeline lifted her wing slightly and smiled at Alita. “That’s the way winter is, darling. But don’t worry. The storms will be over in the next few weeks and spring will warm up the world after that.”

Alita nodded slightly. She peeked her head around her mother’s wing to try and look at Evelyn. She was tucked up with her aunt and cousin while her mother helped Robert take Liam to the healers for a scrape wound. Tiffany smiled at Alita and raised her wing just slightly so that Evelyn and Kyle could peek out. Evelyn spotted her and immediately grinned. Alita grinned back for just a moment.

“Are you cold?” she asked.

“Only a little bit,” Evelyn said.

Alita felt a wave of jealousy. Ice Dragons were lucky. They were resistant to the cold. Fire Dragons were lucky too, if the stories she’d heard of their ability to heat their bodies were correct. She would give anything to have one of those two abilities.

There was a scuffing near the entrance to their little nook of the caves. Evangeline lowered her wing again before Alita could see who it was. She pressed herself into her mother’s side, enjoying the extra warmth, as she wondered if if were her father and Liam coming back.

“Chieftain Clyde.” Evangeline’s polite greeting got Alita’s attention.

“Evangeline, Tiffany,” Clyde’s deep voice replied in kind. “I hope you don’t mind the intrusion, but we have some newcomers.”

“So I see,” Evangeline said.

“They look half frozen,” Tiffany added.

Intrigued, Alita poked her head out from under her mother’s wing. Along with the sudden rush of cold air on her face, she saw Clyde standing next to two adult dragons and a small nestling about her age.

“Indeed,” Clyde agreed. “Evangeline, I was hoping your family might help them get accustomed to our way of life here, seeing how you also joined us a few years back.”

“Of course, Chieftain.” Evangeline smiled and nodded to the strangers. “It’s good to meet you all. Come, sit with us.”

The male adult didn’t hesitate to shuffle over to the cave wall and plop himself down. However, he kept a fair distance from everyone else. The female followed and sat next to him, placing a wing over his back. She smiled gratefully at Clyde.

“Thank you so much for letting us join the Tribe,” she said. Then she turned to Evangeline and Tiffany. “My name is Rochelle. My grouchy mate here is Riley, and this is my son, Matthias.”

Alita stared at Rochelle. She was red-orange in colour. Was she a Fire Dragon? Could she heat her body like the stories she’d heard? Was she doing it now? A small brown head popped out from between them. Alita blinked, remembering the nestling they’d brought with them. She smiled and wriggled out from her mother’s wing to greet him, ignoring the sudden rush of cold air.

“Hello!” She grinned widely at him. “I’m Alita.”

Matthias tilted his head at her. “You look like me.”

Alita glanced down at her own brown fur, then back at him. He was a little darker in colour, but he was right. They both had the colours of Rock Dragons.

“Can you move stone?” she asked.

Matthias nodded and scratched up a pebble from the cave floor. It rolled up the back of his foot and circled around his ankle before dropping to the ground again.

Alita grinned. “You’re a Rock Dragon like me!”

Matthias smiled. “Yeah!”

“Alita.” Evangline’s voice had lowered in pitch. Alita turned to see her mother smiling pointedly at her. “Are you going to introduce yourself to Matthias’s parents?”

Alita looked up at the two other dragons. Rochelle smiled sweetly at her. Riley, however, merely cast her a dismissive glance and turned away. He unnerved her slightly, but Rochelle seemed nice.

“Hello, I’m Alita,” she said. Her smile had vanished, leaving her with a small sense of fear on the back of her neck.

“Hello, Alita,” Rochelle said with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you. Play nice with my son, okay?”

Alita grinned. “I will!”

“Can we play now, Mum?” Matthias asked, craning his neck backwards to look up at Rochelle.

Rochelle smiled. “Of course, if Alita’s mother says it’s okay.”

Matthias blinked and scurried up to Evangeline with wide eyes. “Can Alita and I play now, Alita’s Mother?”

Evangeline smiled and cast a glance at Rochelle and Tiffany. “Of course, Matthias. Just don’t leave the caves.”

“We won’t! Oh!” Alita suddenly turned to Tiffany. “Can Evelyn and Kyle play with us too?”

Tiffany smiled and raised her wing. “Of course. If they’d like to.”

She glanced down at Evelyn and Kyle. Evelyn grinned and bounced towards Alita. Kyle got up and trotted after her.

Alita smiled and turned back to Matthias. “We’ll show you all the best hiding places for hide and seek.”

“What’s hide and seek?” Matthias asked, tilting his head.

Alita blinked. How did he not know hide and seek? She had always known how to play it. Was it because he wasn’t from the Tribe? She stepped back and thought of how best to describe it.

“Well… it needs at least two dragons to play. One hides somewhere and the other has to look for them. When there’s more than two dragons, everyone but the dragon looking has to hide.” Alita glanced at Evelyn and Kyle. Evelyn nodded along with a small smile. It seemed her description made sense.

“Okay. Let’s play it!” Matthias grinned at her.

Alita grinned back. It would be so much fun to play with another Rock Dragon her age. It was usually only her, Evelyn, and Kyle. Sometimes Liam would play too, but he was old enough to leave the caves now, so she didn’t see him as much anymore. But since they were staying in the same area of the caves, Matthias would be there to play with her whenever she wanted. That thought was exciting.