The fields of Kor Lahru may have been forbidden, but that only added to its appeal. It certainly didn't stop people from building a sprawling resort town around its southern border, and now the streets and lodges bustled with hormonal honeymooners all in hopes of conjuring themselves a Gifted child with help of its mana spring.

"We'll stick to the western path", said Leon leading them away from the noisy Greenway. "It's not as easy of a hike and the flow is weaker, but that means less people to worry about."

"You call this a path?" Petra grumbled, yanking her leg from the greedy bramble. "It's nothing but briar."

"I just said it wasn't easy."

"At least it comes with dessert," Syra said, tossing her some berries off the vine.

"It shouldn't take too much longer, so bare with me. The border's just up ahead."

Leon brought them down into a gully where a bloated mountain stream cut open the greenery, but stopped them at the water's edge.

"Wait here," he said, his voice surprisingly firm, "and do not cross until I say so."

He flitted over to the opposite bank and hovered just outside treeline, as if taking time to gather himself.

"You think he'll be alright?" Syra hushed to Aidan, passing a glance over the twins. "He's been away for a while, and you know what years can do."

"He's also a squire, apparently. So, let's hope that honor of his goes both wa—"

A loud snap jolted the air as Leon's landing brought roots up and around him, ensnaring the fae in a wooden chrysalis.

"Leon!" Syra bolted forward.

"Wait!" Aidan snapped her back before her feet hit the water. "He said to wait, remember?"

"But—"

"Just watch."

For a moment the air stayed still and quiet. No screams or cries for help came from wooden lump, and Syra began to fear Leon dead already. But then there came a faint rustling beyond the treeline.

"Look," Aidan said, pointing, "they're here."

The brush sparkled as a patrol of fae descended upon the lump, and Syra held her breath. Even with her sharp vision they were specks against the green curtain, and she charged her eyes for a closer look.

"Who is it this time?" A guard gave the lump a hard tap, releasing the intruder and revealing a knelt Leon. "Well, tickle my twigs, the gorya is finally back."

Leon winced but kept his head bowed and silent as the patrol searched him over.

"Looks like he also brought company." A second guard stiffened and pointed his sword at the party across the stream. "Human company."

At this the first guard latched onto Leon's collar and heaved him to his feet, "You little snake! Did you really think you could sneak these humans past us?"

"We're not sneaking. We're ex—"

"I shouldn't be surprised with that soft spot of yours. Just wait until Vesna hears about th—"

"Queen Vesna already knows." A larger fae with draping tendrils for hair landed next to Leon and pinched the guard's hand away.

"Ledon Tyl, sir!" The guards snapped to a bow at their captain's arrival, leaving Leon to gawk in a half-daze.

"So, the errant squire has returned?" Tyl shooed his guards aside to size us his wandering apprentice.

"Y-yes, sir," Leon bowed. "Thank you for the welcome, sir."

The corners of Tyl's mouth twitched, "I'm pleased to see you've at least grown some." Despite his stature and broad shoulders, the first layer of bark already graced his hairline, no doubt bringing affection for the eager youngling along with it.

"I've been told Queen Vesna is expecting you," he turned a discerning eye to the human party, "and them."

"B-but sir," the guard spoke up without raising his head, "humans are forbidden here, are they not?"

"Normally, yes. But these orders come from Queen Vesna herself. Additionally," he gave his patrol a stern look, "you should look closer before approaching a potential threat. If you had, you would have noticed that they're actually not human at all. Not completely, anyway."

He gave Leon a light pat on the shoulder, allowing him to rise, and waved over at the awaiting party, "Come! I will escort you to Queen Vesna."

By the time they waded into the fields, shadows crept from their holes under the trees and into the breadth of field and sky that welcomed them.

"Welcome to Kor Lahru," said Leon, hovering a head above the sprawling blades of green and gold. Through the fronds and thickets and scrubs he led them. Some parts short and mossy, while others swathed over Syra's head like green curtains. All glimmered in the late afternoon light, and even the air brimmed with mana.

"Why is this place so...warm?" Aidan asked, rubbing his arms, "The air, it...tingles." He waved his hand through the empty air as if it were water, "It's like I'm swimming, but there's nothing here."

Syra laughed as he waved about like a child in a pond, "Oh, there's plenty there, you just can't see it. Kind of like the wind. It's always been around you, but never strong enough to catch your attention."

"Then why can I feel it now?"

"Because Kor Lahru is a mana spring," Leon explained, "the second-largest on the continent I've been told. That's why so many magical plants can grow here, and why the Greenway is as busy as it is. Now that I think about it, I don't even remember ever having a winter here."

"No winter, huh?" said Aidan, "I'm surprised people haven't tried to build here."

"Oh, they did," called Tyl with a smirk, "at least that's what we're told."

"Is that why it's forbidden?"

"Aye. This is Fae ground. You're better off stealing light from an evening bug." Tyl buzzed off to the top of the next hill and waved them over.

Some ways off, in the center of the rolling plain, a large tree towered: a living monolith with branches as wide as streets, and vines that stretched and wavered just above the ground like a verdant fountain among bushy hardwoods.

"That tree there is older than any of your human cities," Leon said. "Before you, or the dwarves, or even the Tal laid claim, it stood here guarding these fields, and my people. To separate the fae from this land would be to separate a babe from the womb. We are a part of it, and it with us."

Leon looked back to see somber faces staring back—poor Petra seemed lost completely.

"Come," he said, catching a breeze down into the valley, "it's better if we show you."

Across a trickle of a stream, specks hovered among the vegetation. Perched like dew drops atop the bramble and bushes, fae sat with outstretched wings facing the evening sun, the light glinting off them in a myriad of colors.

"We all come from Mother Tree," Leon explained, motioning to the glints swarming from their seats. "As a flower buds and blooms from its stalk, so do we from those vines. I'll have to show you one day," he added, "it really is a spectacular event, to see a fae born, I mean."

As they neared Mother Tree, fae zipped and hovered around them with round curious eyes. Watching them swarm, Syra noticed they avoided both Aidan and Leon.

"Look, the gorya's back," some whispered.

"And he's brought a human! Vesna isn't going to be happy."

Leon ignored them and kept his gaze fixed on Mother Tree, whose canopy blocked out the sky as they approached.

Tyl gave the trunk a quick rapping, "Queen Vesna, Leon and his guests have arrived."

"Thank you, Tyl," came a voice from inside the trunk, "you can leave them with me."

With Tyl's departure, they were greeted by the sound of creaking wood as the bark shifted and bent to form an opening in the trunk. A fae with long, tendrilled hair and large black eyes greeted them from what looked to be a throne room.

Leon flittered to her side and knelt with head bent low, "My queen, I have arrived with the guests."

"You've been gone quite a while, Leon. Am I to assume you were in their company this whole time?"

"My apologies. I...I was captured by human bandits while surveying."

"No surprise."

Leon winced, "They are the ones who released me."

Queen Vesna analyzed the party, black eyes boring into Aidan, "This is the human boy? The Altairan prince?"

"Yes, my queen. Prince Aidan. The others are Syra, Petra, and Cassius of—"

"I know who they are," Vesna said, raising a hand and rubbing a thumb across the silver ring about her finger.

"Then you will help them? One night stay should—"

"Perhaps."

"Beg pardon?" Leon's wide eyes strained to look up at her.

"I agreed to provide the shard, not shelter. That requires another deal."

The party looked to each other confused.

"A riddle," she explained. "Solve my riddle and you may stay."

"A riddle?" Cassius asked, looking to Syra, expecting her to eagerly accept.

"Yes," Vesna said with a spritely air, "as is tradition when accepting visitors. We might be small, but we're quite territorial." The narrow wings that cloaked her back quivered a subtle warning to Aidan. "As I'm sure you're aware by now."

"What's the riddle?" Syra asked finally.

Vesna's pupils widened as she stared between Syra and Aidan with examining precision.

"From the maws of fire and fury,

Came a sojourner hardened and weary.

Though millennia old,

Oh, the stories it told,

From its perch on thy left finger, three."

Syra and Vesna locked stares in silence.

"You may ask your human friend if you'd like," Vesna said with a teasing grin.

"Is this really necessary?" Leon asked, raising his head.

"Are you questioning my judgement, Leon?" Vesna said with narrowed eyes. With a mere twitch of a finger, vines flew around Leon's arms and neck, pulling him tight to the wooden floor of the hollow.

"N-no, ma'am!" Leon wheezed, averting his eyes from the Fae monarch.

"Good," The queen said, watching him struggle against the vines.

"Stop!" Syra pleaded, "Let him go."

Vesna loosened the constraints, but turned a glare to Syra, "The life of this gorya is mine to do with as I like."

"But that's so cruel!"

Cassius tugged her arm for her to stop, but she ignored him, enraged at the haughty bug.

"He's done nothing to you!"

Vesna sneered and shoved her small face into Syra's. The tendrils attached to her head pulled apart like a lily unfurling, and curled forward to face Syra.

"Do not attempt to speak of things you know nothing about, wyrmling."

Barbs slid from their petal sheaths and playfully tapped at Syra's hair.

Vesna's eyes bore into Syra's, "You think all of your books and spells make you intelligent...special...even powerful." Vesna sneered, "Yet you hide behind your walls and sense of entitlement, completely oblivious to the people and world around you. I bet you didn't even know about the Black Thorn or its people before now."

"That may be so," Syra spat back, "but what I do know is that Marrak will not stop with us, or the humans. He will come and raze your fields all for a show of power."

"And if that day comes, we will turn to the ground, to the mana flows beneath this land where fire cannot reach. The fae were here before you dragons and humans, and we will still be here after you have destroyed yourselves."

Vesna's barbs pricked Syra's scalp and face, and Syra felt her energy being siphoned away.

"Now answer the riddle if you don't want me to suck you and your siblings dry. Not that you have much mana left to drain."

Syra scowled and clenched her jaw, hesitant to give her the satisfaction of an answer.

"A diamond," Aidan called from the rear of the group. "The answer is: a diamond."

He looked to Vesna with crossed his arms, anxious to be done with this frivolous trial and the drama it brought.

A soft chuckle escaped the queen's throat and she stepped away from Syra, the petals of flesh folding back behind her head, "Correct."

The vines released Leon and disappeared back into the grains of Mother Tree's trunk.

"Are you alright?" Syra asked, leaning over to check on the poor pixie. Teal bruising circled his throat and arms and made his minty complexion appear sickly.

"I'm fine," he coughed and wheezed back his breath, but remained kneeled, "thank you."

"They may stay the night," Vesna said, turning from them and walking over to her tiny seeing glass, "but for now, show them to the pool. They're weak and will need their strength to reach Mirna. I'll contact Valen and inform him of your arrival."

"Yes, my queen." Leon said, standing.

"Oh, and Leon," Vesna called from the mirror, "thank you for bringing them here safely. You did well."

Leon beamed and bowed, his previous grievance seemingly forgotten, "Thank you, your majesty!"

Leon led the quiet party away from Mother Tree and into the glen of the eastern fields. Beyond which, stood a grove of old but sprawling hardwoods. If she squinted, Syra could make out the tiny dots of fae flitting around its perimeter.

"What was that all about?" Syra asked Leon once away from the canopy of ears. "It was like she didn't even want us to be here. I thought the Kesh Raza were all supportive of this journey."

"I know close to diddly about the Kesh Raza," Leon said, setting his course for the grove ahead, "but I do know Vesna to be a fierce but just leader."

"Just?" Syra exclaimed, "She nearly strangled you over nothing, and you call that just?"

"It wasn't over nothing. I spoke out of turn and disrespectfully."

"But to claim that your life is subject to her whims is just deplorable! What kind of ruler has the right to that?"

"One that spares your life," Leon said with remorse.

The group fell silent and Leon sighed, not particularly pleased to share his dirty laundry.

"Traitor," he finally said, "that's what gorya means."

"A few seasons ago, the colony was having trouble with this incessantly curious and stubborn root badger. It would trample our herb and thistle plots and dig up any bulbs it could sniff out. I thought if I could scare the beast away, Vesna would take my request to become a squire seriously." He gave an awkward chuckle, "I only managed to piss it off and lead it back to Mother Tree, where it found a ravenous taste for its roots. Not only did it damage Mother Tree and the growing buds, but injured several of our soldiers when we chased it off."

"You made a mistake, that's all," Syra said. "It doesn't make you a traitor."

"Perhaps, but that mistake led to injury of the colony, which is seen as the same thing. I was lucky Vesna saw it for what it was, and pardoned me. She even took the backlash when she made me a squire. She probably still does."

"Fair points," Cassius said.

Guilt smacked Syra upside the head and she chided herself for jumping to judgement too quickly. Perhaps she should apologize when they returned.

"Anyway," Leon said, changing the subject, "the pool is just inside the grove. You should feel a hundred-percent after a good soak."

Nestled under the thick canopy and overhanging branches, a large pool of clear water greeted the party. About its edges, fae restored themselves in its healing waters. Most flitted off with angry or confused faces as they approached, but Leon paid no heed.

"Oh!" Syra laughed and pointed to the pools bottom, "So that's how it works!"

Littering the bottom and sides of the pool like a geode, amec and syllic crystals shimmered through the still water. "I had no idea Kor Lahru was on a boundary. That explains a lot."

"No, it doesn't," Petra said flatly. "And I don't care to know." She cut Syra off mid-breath before she could proceed to lecture them on magical geography.

Syra conceded with long exhale, "Just get in."

The twins shed their clothing with no heed to human modesty and climbed in, surprised by how quickly the water took effect.

"Oh, good Lord, yes," Petra said with a moan, sinking down to her chin. Her short red locks looked like kelp floating about her head.

"This might be even better than our cavern pools," said Cassius.

Syra burst in laughter at her siblings bobbing heads and quickly followed suit.

"Hey, two-legs!" Petra called to Aidan from her watery throne, "Get you scrawny ass in here! I'll be damned if we get slowed down by you."

"Wow, this stuff really does work miracles if you're inviting him," Cassius teased.

"I'll just stick my feet in, thank you," said Aidan, keeping his gaze averted from their bareness splayed out in front of him.

Syra relished in the lighter mood brought on by the sweet air, greenery, and cool water that sent her skin tingling and warmed her sore muscles.

We better enjoy this while we can, she thought, Mount Tenlok isn't going to an easy hike. I doubt the snow has even melted yet.

Through the gaps between branches, she could see the slopes of the tallest mountain of the Elder Mountain range.

Somewhere on that peak is the next shard, and we have to get it before Marrak does.

***

Night came quickly and brought with it salad greens, roasted nuts, and nectar for the colony and its guests. Despite the stigma surrounding him, the wee fae listened in wonder to Leon's stories of adventures beyond the fields, while others took to braiding Cassius' long blonde tresses. Even Petra grew a soft spot for their large eyes and fat faces.

"Petra," said Vesna, fluttering over to their campsite by a soft bed of moss, "may I speak with you?"

Petra swallowed her mouthful, but looked suspicious, "Um, sure?"

"Alone?" Vesna added, eyeing the rest of the group.

Petra went to stand, but Cassius held her by the shoulder.

"Why?" he asked, leering up at the monarch.

"I'd like to talk with her leader to leader. Is that a problem?" she asked, lowering her face into his and staring deep into his eyes for several moments.

"No," Cassius said, blinking and releasing Petra, who still hesitated. "Go, it's fine," he nodded and she left with Vesna for a walk about.

"What was that about?" Aidan asked when Cassius had settled himself.

"Nothing, just...seeing if I could trust her."

"I could've told you that," said Leon.

"Yes, but you're biased."

Leon shook her head, "And you insist on her planning to stab you in the back."

"She does seem a bit...unstable," said Aidan, "You know, with strangling you one moment, then thanking you the next?"

Leon held his tongue, but then pointed to a group of spindly shadows off in the distance, "You see those trees over there?"

"Barely."

"She grew up there, before she knew she was to become Queen. A human snuck in one day, enraged for some reason or another, and brought with him a beetle—one from a distant land that we fae had never seen. They spread slowly at first, most being picked off by birds and whatnot, but then they found the sweet wood of those Faebul trees, and they began to bore. In days the entire stand was infested. Sucked dry, they were. Vesna knew they would only spread further. So, she went to her Queen to petition a counter offense."

"Which was what, exactly?" asked Srya, more interested in the bugs than the story.

"To burn it. She sacrificed her own home to ensure that others' were not. And she wasn't even Queen yet."

"That would explain her disdain for humans," said Cassius.

Leon nodded and looked a might disappointed, "I know you can't trust everyone, but, I just ask that you at least trust me."

Tension lifted with an agreement met, and Aidan tapped Leon's fist with his fingertip, "Aye, little one, we'll trust you."

Leon beamed, "Thank you, Bati."

"But seriously, why do you keep calling me that?"

"Why not? You are a b—"

"You eat all the berries while I was gone?" Petra called as she trotted back to the fire.

"What was that about?" Syra asked and passed the berry bowl.

"Just what she said: leadership things." She popped fruit into her mouth with an odd grin. "You know, 'stay alert', 'family first', 'don't fucking lose this.'"

Petra opened her hand to reveal a purple-and-green crystal no bigger than her palm.

"Is that the shard?" Syra exclaimed, startling away some of the fae.

"Shh! Of course, it is. No glass is this warm."

"Let me see," Syra reached over but Petra yanked it away.

"Nope. This one's mine. She gave it to me."

"But why? Aidan answered the riddle."

"Aidan's also human—something we both dislike. She probably just trusts me more than a sympathizer. And I don't blame her."

Syra squirmed against the urge to tackle her sister, "Come on. After all this you could at least let me see it."

"You did. Just now. In my hand. And now," she shoved her hand into a vest pocket, "it stays here. Until we find a better place for it."

***

Daybreak brought the wailing of the tiny wee fae, and even tinier tears. Petra would have preferred her backpack to be filled with meats rather than nuts and berries, but she didn't dare upset them more.

Leon held back his own tears as his bid the party farewell.

"But I thought you were coming with us," said Syra, holding him in her hands.

But he shook his head and gave her a small grin, "My job was to bring you here. And, as much as I would love the adventure, I've been away for far too long already." He glanced back at Vesna who stood rather proud atop a draping fern watching over them, then turned back to Syra and gave her a tight squeeze to her thumb, "My place is here. Now it's your turn to find yours."

Syra nodded and watched him flutter back to Vesna's side.

"You know, I think I'm going to miss that little jabbermouth," Aidan said as they left the fae to their fields and turned their sights to the mountain.

"Me, too," said Syra.

Spring had blessed them with clear trails, but it was a tad chilly with the colder mountain air sweeping down the slopes. Cassius and Petra walked assured in their human forms, but their legs still ached from the steepening slope. By sundown, Syra caught a glimpse of sunlight shining off the roofs of the Talian city and the troop huffed with excitement to be done with the constant uphill climb.

It was the frigid, northeasterly wind that drew Syra's attention from the city to the wall of thick, gray clouds that followed them.

"I'm not liking the look of those," Syra said, stopping.

"They'll pass," said Aidan, giving the front a quick glance before continuing up the road.

"No, she's right," Petra said, halting with Cassius. "That's a strong front coming in, and with our elevation it'll be on top of us in no time."

"We should find some shelter before it hits," Cassius said, taking it upon himself to run ahead, searching for any overhangs or hollows in the rock.

"We should just keep going," said Aidan, "The city isn't far and I don't see any cause for alarm. They're just clouds."

"You also don't fly or live on a mountain," Petra said, following after her brother. "It's also getting dark and I'm not about to get caught in a storm, at night. So let's go." She grabbed him by the cloak and shoved him forward.

They weren't a quarter mile further when the flurries started. A swirling gray swept overhead and down the mountain's face, and the party pulled their cloaks tight against the wind.

"Told you!" Petra yelled through the bundle of cloth pressed against her face.

White layered itself atop their hoods and boots. Petra's lips quivered and Cassius rubbed his arms for heat, their thin skin prickling with goosebumps.

"Find anything yet?" Syra called out to Cassius.

"No!" he replied, barely visible through the white curtain, "there's nothing! Just straight rock or ground."

"What about bushes? Some kind of ground cover?" asked Aidan, "Even a thicket would be better than being exposed like this."

Some ways up, a gathering of hedges grew just off the path. But the cover was thin with new growth and their toes peeked out from the edges. They huddled there, shivering, while the whiteness grew around them. Through the shelter of bracken, the forest canopy was dark lines across a slate sheet, and the airy howls told of no quick relief.

And here we thought we'd be safer away from the cities and the Black Thorn, Syra thought, burying her face between her knees and tugging at her hood for just one more inch of cover. Feeling had already left her fingers and toes. What kind of dragon freezes to death?

Through the wind and the creaking of trees, the shuffle and snap of twigs neared and circled them.

"What was that?" Petra asked, peeking her nose out from her hood.

"I don't know," Cassius said, sniffing, "I can't smell anything."

Aidan readied his blade and Syra crouched under the branches, both straining their eyes to catch the shape of the approaching sound.

"There!" Syra whispered, pointing to the four-legged blur sniffing and trotting about the nearby trees.

"Timberwolves?" asked Aidan.

"No," said Syra, "we're too high up."

"Do we attack it?" Cassius asked.

"I say we hit it before it sees us," said Petra, going for her scabbard.

"No, wait, don't," Aidan said, holding her back, "Don't call any attention. If you all can't smell anything, maybe it can't either."

Petra relaxed, but Aidan was wrong.

It followed their trail and circled the thicket, ears perked and snout puffing up clouds of mist and snow.

"Now?" Petra hushed, and Aidan slammed a hand over her mouth.

But the creature's ears twitched and its head shot up to stare straight at them.

"Now?" Petra muffled under his palm.

"Now."

All four sprang from the brush and faced the beast with shining metal. Closer up, the blur showed itself to be of a lithe canid frame, but full in body from a coat of thick, white fur. To Aidan's surprise, and disappointment, it did not move.

"Away!" he yelled, swinging his sword in warning.

But again, it did not move. It merely watched with steady, round eyes, unblinking despite the snow.

"I said, go away!" Aidan lunged forward with a second swing, and the creature bolted with both Aidan and Syra powering after it through the drifts.

"Wait, come ba—" Cassius called, but Syra was already down the hill.

"She never changes, does she?" Petra huffed, following after them.

They slid and stumbled through the understory, tripping over rocks and limbs hidden by snow and shadow, until they reached a slab of rock jutting from the hillside.

The siblings halted behind Aidan, who stood with raised sword, in a stand-off with the creature outside of a small cave that cut into the rock face.

Its ears perked up and its tail waved from side to side, panting softly from its small, pointed snout. Aidan went to scare it off again, but Syra grabbed his arm.

"Wait," she said, "I...I don't think it wants to hurt us."

"What?"

"Just look at it."

As if on cue, the creature trotted to the cave mouth, circled a few times, sat, and gave a quick whine.

"The cave," Syra exclaimed, releasing Aidan's arm. "It led us to the cave."

As she crunched over to the opening, the creature shot from its post and bounded away up the hill, only stopping to give them one last glance before disappearing over a ledge.

"Well, that makes no sense," Aidan said, putting his sword away.

"Nonsense or not, I'm getting my tail out of this weather," Petra said, following Syra into the hollow.

"I second that," said Cassius, joining them.

The cave was large enough for them to fit single file, but everyone save Syra had to bend their knees to sit.

"Might as well sleep here for the night," said Aidan as he settled himself down on the cave floor, draping his cloak over himself.

The others did the same and the nook became quiet. It was deep enough that the snow did not blow on them, but the wind still reached inward to nip their ears and fingertips.

"I cannot sleep like this," mumbled Petra with her cheek pressed to the stony floor, "It's too cold."

Despite their deep, rocky lairs, the hot springs under the Silvercrest Mountains kept the cavern's heat well, so neither of the twins had dealt much with lingering cold.

Syra looked about the cave for something to block the wind, but found nothing but stone slick from humidity and groundwater. And then she stood, startling everyone.

"What are you doing?" Aidan asked as she stepped over them and stood by the opening.

"Closing the door."

She breathed and focused on her body heat, feeling the pulse of warmth travel from her chest and down her arms to her hands. Her pupils widened as she concentrated on the icy scene in front of her. The warmth in her hands turned to a numbing cold and the glow around them lightened to a frosted lavender. Forcing the mana outwards, she slammed her hands against the wet stone walls. A wave of ice shot from her hands in an expanding arch of feathery crystals that covered the entrance walls, ceiling, and floor in a layer of ice. Aidan watched wide-eyed as the crystals grew and merged into an ice sheet that covered all but the top notch of the opening.

Syra's hands fell to her sides and she took deep, controlled breaths before returning to her spot in the back of the cave.

"That...was impressive," Aidan said.

Syra gave him a quick salute and sat herself down in her small nook.

"You missed a spot," said Petra, seeing the hole near the ceiling.

"Do you want to suffocate?" Syra asked, lying down.

With the chill blocked, Syra became aware of how quickly her cloak warmed her. She pulled her knees tighter to chest and wrapped the ends around her legs and feet, swaddling herself. Next to her, Petra and Cassius looked on with judging eyes.

"You look like a cocoonbug," said Petra.

"What? It works." She pulled her hood over her face and curled into a ball, focusing her energy on heat generation.

The twins snickered to themselves, but when Syra's warmth reached their toes, they all followed suit as the warmth filled the narrow hollow and was soon echoing the soft breaths and snores of its guests.