[Gift] The 11th Hour | Tundra

Rivia wouldn’t say she hated snow but this experience might change her mind.

The purple dragon trudged across the frozen tundra with her head lowered against the wind, claws crunching through layers of old snow. Ice clung to the spikes along her tail, making every movement heavier. Above her, the gray sky darkened until it swallowed the last traces of daylight. Then the blizzard had come. Snow exploded across the plains in violent waves. Wind screamed over the ice hard enough to shove Rivia sideways. She narrowed her bright blue eyes and pushed forward anyway, though she could barely see more than a few feet ahead.

Her breath fogged around her muzzle. Frost gathered across her face and shoulders. Rivia searched desperately for shelter, but the tundra stretched endlessly in every direction. No trees. No caves. Nothing except white emptiness and jagged rocks buried beneath drifts. A gust slammed into her broad side and nearly knocked her over. Growling under her breath, Rivia curled her tail around herself for warmth and kept walking. Snow piled across her back faster than she could shake it away. Her paws ached from the cold. Even the spikes on her tail felt numb.

Hours seemed to pass inside the storm.

Finally, through the swirling white haze, Rivia spotted a ridge of dark stone rising from the snow. She forced herself toward it, stumbling the final few steps before collapsing beside the rocks. Curled tightly against the stone wall, trembling and exhausted, Rivia listened to the blizzard howl around her while she waited for morning to come.