Prints in the snow indicate the direction of my prey. But I knew I wasn't alone. There was a snowcat also following the trail of the deer. I had seen the flicker of movement from the corner of my eye as white moved against the snow. Its pelt was perfect for this weather, acting as camouflage with the snow-ridden world. It blended in and made not a sound. I was jealous of its movements, such a big creature and yet the snow didn't even creak under its weight.

I kept pace with the snowcat, making sure to keep an eye on it as I maneuvered between the trees and large snowbanks. I knew the cat could sense me near it, its head went in my direction whenever I made too loud of a noise. Sometimes it even growled in my direction. It was almost like the cat was telling me to be quiet, just like how Naxan does in the condescending tone he uses towards me. I knew he was only teasing though, so it didn't bug me.

The dragon had ventured off again to hunt his own meal instead of sitting around and waiting for me. We were both stubborn that way, not wanting the other to provide a meal for each other when we were perfectly capable of hunting for ourselves. It was a vicious cycle between us, but Naxan was normally happy when I brought back something larger because then he could eat what I didn't. But I did smoke some of the meat so I was able to have meat strips on me at all times. Alec was quite handy in the ways of survival, I've learned a lot from him with my time spent with him.

He was getting larger as the months passed on. It was incredible to witness. He would be a couple of months over a year now, the colder season should be coming to an end even though it didn't look like it. The ground was frozen with the cold that crept into it and the snow had stayed steadily on the ground the whole season. The only useful thing about the snow is that I could track an animal far better, it was almost like a cheat to survival.

Ahead of me, I saw a patch of snow that was yellow. It was still steaming so the deer was extremely close. I got my bow and arrow ready, continuing to follow the tracks. And that's when I saw it, scuffling its hooves through the snow to find some sort of vegetation to munch on.

I was quick with my actions as I aimed my arrow at the deer. My target was the eyeball which would lead into the brain, instantly killing it. I released the arrow and watched as it sailed towards the deer, but instead of making contact with the brown creature, a white figure emerged from hiding and lunged in the air.

My arrow sunk into the hide of the snowcat and the deer ran off at the threatening scene. I kicked the snow in frustration, what an idiotic creature that cat was. The cat was limping on its three, uninjured legs, the arrow being in its left shoulder. Seeing the injury sparked a current through me that instantly reached my fingertips. I pushed through the snow and made my way towards the cat. Its head turned towards me and a threatening snarl pushed through its throat. I didn't doubt its capability of hurting me even though it was injured, so I remained cautious as I approached the cat.

The cat swiped a large, white paw in my direction, but stumbled as it lost its balance.

I put my hands out. "I'm not going to hurt you," I said, laughing at myself sarcastically. It couldn't understand me. It probably felt threatened as I came towards it, especially being injured.

I was meters away from the cat, it sat on its haunches with its ears flat on the top of its head and mouth wide open. Its teeth were incredibly large. Even though the cat looked pitiful, it was still intimidating.

"I'm going to help you, even though you got yourself into this mess." I glared as the cat snarled at me.

I must be losing my sense of fear, dealing with dragons five times this cat's size and all. But the dragons actually listened to me, this cat had no idea what my intentions were. Especially since it blamed me for the current injury inflicted on it.

In a quick motion, I was pushing the beast back with all the strength I had in my body. I ripped the arrow from the beast's shoulder and used my healing abilities as quickly as I could. I dodged out of the way just in time as its teeth came dangerously close to my face. The wound was only half-healed, but at least it wouldn't bleed out and its muscles were intact.

The cat shared a look with me while glancing at the wound. With one more threatening hiss, it ran off into the woods.

The cat's blood was splattered on the snow around me, and yet I had no kill to bring back for my meal. Feeling defeated, I turned around and went back to the cave that Naxan and I were currently occupying.

Naxan threw me a chunk of bison meat. I glowered at his smug look, but took the meat anyways and began to cook it. Naxan snorted in my direction, continuing to eat his meal. "Just eat meat," Naxan said as he stripped a piece off of the animal's hide and let it slide down his throat.

"Humans are a little different than that, Nax. We have to cook our meat." I hung my meal above the flames and watched as the flames grew high as they licked at the fat dripping down.

"Twolegs are weak."

I breathed heavily through my nose, ignoring the dragon as he ate. My stomach growled as the delicious scents of a cooked meal filled the cave. I willed the fire to cook the meat faster. I was ravenous.

Soon, I was eating my piece of bison meat and Naxan was discarding the bones of his meal somewhere far from the cave. I didn't want any unnecessary attraction towards our home and he agreed with me. Large cats, which Naxan calls big tooth, weren't the only hungry carnivores living on this island. I had encountered a smaller pack of wolves and a couple of bears, which I then steered clear of, not wanting to become their next meal.

Naxan returned from dumping off his garbage as I was just finishing up with dousing the fire. He had a worried look on his expression as he walked into the cave. "Twolegs are here."

I went rigid. There hasn't been anyone here since my encounter with the hunters. "Where?" I turned to face him.

"Close." He shared the memory through the bond and he was right. They were dangerously close.

Panicked, I scrambled to get my things together and shoved them into my bag. With everything packed and not a trace of anyone living in the cave, Naxan and I left. "Cover my tracks. I don't want them to know I'm here." I climbed onto Naxan's back and he was quick to squash my footprints left in the snow. We hurriedly went in the direction I had gone when tracking the deer, Naxan making sure to cover my tracks with his own. Once we had reached the spot with my run-in with the snowcat, he paused at the sight of the blood droplets on the snow.

"Hurt?" Naxan asked me, sifting through my mind to find if I was the one who was bleeding. I shared an image with him and he relaxed. He moved to erase the rest of my prints in the snow and then he took off into the sky, heading in the opposite direction of the people now on the island.

My heart rate that was beating so rapidly I could feel it in my ears eventually settled as my mind did. The intentions of these people were unknown and I didn't want to stick around to ask them what they were doing here. Instead, I would watch from afar and figure out their motives. If they were hunters... My fingers curled into tight fists. If they were hunters, I would deal with them accordingly. They would not be taking any more dragons from this island.

Naxan flew up into the mountains and landed on a rocky platform that jutted out. I unblocked my mind and focused on only one thing. At first, this new power I had was difficult for me to use. It was a rough go at first, every background noise flooded my senses and I actually passed out a couple of times from the pressure inside of my head. My failure was always followed by an impatient feeling coming from Naxan, and with that, my frustration grew until I gave up. I gave up a few times, deeming that I was useless and could not learn. But Naxan was persistent, that was the only thing that kept me going. The real tricky part about using this power was when nightfall came around. When I tell you I felt like I was dying...

Every single creature that was in the shadows flooded into my mind at once, exploding visions before my eyes. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but Naxan said I was passed out all day. He realized that I was not ready and said until I mastered using my powers in the daytime, I would have to wait until I could use them during the night.

I focused my power as my mind jumped from shadow to shadow that was cast by the thick forest below. I honed in on the people walking through the snow, the shadows they cast underfoot allowed me to count seven of them. When the shadows cast by the large trees fell onto them, I searched their faces. I didn't recognize any of them.

Naxan and I watched them until they settled on a place to stop. They travelled deep into the island where they set up camp. I brought myself back to my body, finding it boring to watch them continue with their mundane activities.

"They don't look like a threat, yet." I turned to my dragon, watching his ears twitch in my direction. He was still watching them, but he could also hear me as I spoke. "I want to figure out why they're here. We'll investigate tonight."

Naxan turned to look at me, giving me his full attention. "Wants to go closer?" His voice was laced with an underlying worry.

"It'll be okay," Is all I said, wanting to believe my words. My curiosity was high, but I still understood his worry. It'll be okay.

Naxan and I stayed on our perch until nightfall was upon us. It didn't take long as the day had been almost over.

We made our descent, Naxan landing further away from the camp. "You stay here." Naxan was quick to growl in dislike of my plan. "Watch me from here. I just want to get close enough to look around or hear anything that's going on."

Naxan huffed but agreed. "Stay safe."

I smiled at the dragon, hoping to ease his worry. With one final look towards him, I turned and trudged through the snow. I followed in their footsteps, trying to not make any new ones.

Smoke billowed through the trees from their campfire. Five people were sitting around the campfire, and the sixth was gathering up a few logs left by a tree. I was warry about not being able to find the seventh one. I scanned the area, trying to figure out where he was.

The five were eating or talking around the fire in hushed tones. I couldn't hear what they were saying. I moved closer behind another tree and got a better view of everyone. Naxan growled through the bond, I could feel him walking closer towards me. "It's okay, Nax. They can't see me."

They were all dressed in warm fabrics and boots, their winter gear was stitched with a man-made precision. I thought of my attire. My clothing was ragged from the months spent wearing it, and it definitely wasn't suitable for winter conditions. But I made do with what I was given. I did, however, have a bison skin, which was wrapped around me as I used it for a makeshift jacket. It was also used as a bed mat. It kept me warm enough, but it was beginning to get worn from my use of it.

"You're up, Kayne." Someone says as they emerge from the trees on the opposite side as me.

The man stood from his seat, setting down his plate as he stood. He grabbed a sword beside him, it glinted gold in the firelight. He walked into the shadows without a word. I tried keeping an eye on him but his form soon melted into the shadows. I was not going to risk using my abilities and then passing out from the exertion.

The man who just appeared sat on a log and dug out some food from the cauldron sitting over top of the fire. They didn't talk much, only about small things like the soup wasn't flavoured enough or that the weather on this island was different than where they lived.

A younger male who looked to be younger than me spoke of something that piqued my interest immensely. "I just can't wait to get back to the academy." He tossed his empty plate on the snow beside the other dirty dishes.

"Quit you're complaining. You four are the reason why I'm on this stupid island. I had a date that was supposed to happen tonight, but I'm stuck on babysitting duty." One of the men grumbled. He looked like he was in his early twenties.

The one sitting beside him spoke up. The scar on his cheek stretching as he talked. "Shut it, Baylen." He grumbled while chewing on his food. "I was here when you were chosen. Now you can understand what I went through when I had to put up with you."

In an abrupt motion that had me falling forward into the snow, I was pushed from behind by someone rather harshly. I couldn't contain my yelp of surprise and fear. The commotion caused the others to get up to see what was going on.

I turned to face the person, scooting back as he stepped out of the shadows. He was wearing a cloak that hid his features. As I scooted back more, I was in the firelight and everyone could see that there was an invader in their camp. Looking around, I realized my stupidity and that I was screwed.