Cara Jensen pulled a red stocking cap over her spiky black hair and looked out the window ,  frowning at the 3 more feet of snow. Being in Alaska was not her idea of a good time but for her initiation and her punishment, she thought as she let the curtain fall, she had to work on this horse farm for a year. Healy, Alaska, the arm pit of the world, as far as Cara was concerned, was where the coven priestess had assigned her to work, alone.<br/><br/>“I know nothing about horses or living in Alfuckinaska.” She had protested but the priestess performed a spell that set all the knowledge of living and working in the tundra deep in her brain.<br/><br/>“We will send in shipments of supplies once a month. You do have access to the internet during nice weather. Your job is to tend the horses and the two Huskies that belong to Grand Dame Genevieve and learn your craft better. When you come back to Florida, you will appreciate the Fire dragons and perhaps will be ready and willing to learn to ride them.”  The voice of the high priestess rang in her ears. That was the only sound that rang in her ears, other than the crackle of the fire and the piercing shrill of an eagle<br/><br/>Fire dragons, Cara thought with a grimace. She didn’t like Fire dragons at all. They were evil at least the ones used by her coven were. They lived in Miami, the coven, not the dragons and housed the dragons on one of the Keys where no one had yet to live to tell about finding them. Some of the sister witches, used them to pirate in the Bermuda Triangle. The stories that circulated about missing planes and boats in that area were actually pirating raids and the vehicles with all their passengers incinerated once they had been stripped of all riches. Now that she was nearly 25, she realized what was going on and had expressed her disapproval to some of the newly accepted witches. Big mistake.<br/><br/>Cara shook her head and tied on the knee high boots that were a necessary part of her gear here in the Frozen North country.  At home, flipflops and bikinis made it possible for her athletic form to be tanned all year round. Here, the parka that hung on the nail by the door was well worn and two sizes too big but Cara shrugged into it anyway.  The snow that had collected on the path to the barn lay thick and Cara was in no mood to shovel it or listen to the roar of a snow blower , so she did the next best thing.  She closed her eyes and flung her hand at the snow and slowly, slowly the snow began to split apart, like a dark serpent winding through the bright white glare. Bit by bit, the snow opened to reveal a smooth path clear to the barn.<br/>With a decisive nod of her head, Cara trudged off to the barn.  There were large prints in the deep snow and she hoped that no bears had been snuffling around, but then bears hibernated in the winter, she thought. With a shake of her head, she opened the barn door to the dim light and the warmth of animals. She switched on the light and surveyed her charges.<br/><br/>Ten horses, all used for summer excursions into the mountains and two Huskies that were old and spoiled rotten. These dogs had been hand raised since pups so small they didnt have their eyes open and were content to eat the same food that kept the horses alive. They were high strung and disdainful, blinking blue eyes and long lashes. Cara was to keep them washed also while she was here and hated that job more than she could tell. The Darlings, as the Grand Dame called them, liked bath time even less than she did. Today, though, the horses as well as the Huskies were nervous about something.<br/><br/>The lead mare was kicking the side of the stall and tossing her head. This restless action transmitted itself to the others and soon they were blowing and neighing as well. The huskies, Will and Darth, were sending out a high pitched whines and lower pitched growls. Cara stopped and listened to see if there was an obvious reason for this upset. She shook her head and petted Belle, the lead mare on the nose.<br/><br/>“Let me fill your feed boxes, kids and then I will open the barn door so you can go out and romp in the snow while I clean out the stalls.” She said, her voice sounding small and tinny in the empty barn. Since her magic has worked well to clear the pathway, she used it on filling the mangers and flinging open the large doors on either end of the barn. With a flick of her finger, she opened all the stall doors and gestured for the animals to leave. They all just stood there.<br/><br/>“Come on,” Cara shouted, gesturing toward the bright sunny outdoors. “Get some sunshine. I know you don’t want to just stand around in your own shit all day. Go, Shoo.”<br/>Finally, she turned on her heel and went out the door, calling over her shoulder.<br/><br/>“Look there is nothing out here that will hurt you.” But when she turned around, she was face to face with the largest  dragon she had ever seen. It shimmered in the snow, white opalescent scales looking like hard frozen plates of ice or diamond. There were bristles on his back, like  jagged spikes and his eyes were the blue of glaciers. Cara backed up a step and the dragon stepped closer to her, stalking her. She had never seen a dragon like this one before but Grand Dame often told stories of Frost dragons that flew high above the Earth well above the clouds, but Cara had thought them only legends. Her breath caught in her throat as this "legend' pinned her against the barn wall.