Dragon's Legacy

Declaimer- I don't own the monkey team Ciro Nieli does. But I own the other characters.

Chapter Three: Arctic Blizzard

Every dragon launched out of their stalls at the same time and into the tubes. The air was filled with the sound of pounding feet. Icefire ignored all of it. Her head was level with her body as she straightened out her neck.

Chiro leaned forward to get less wind in his face. He closed his eyes when the wind began to make them sting. He felt Icefire's rippling muscles beneath him.

They were close to the arctic and dragons were already beginning to tire. But not Icefire, she was still going strong. By the time her feet touched the snow only 5 out of 12 including herself were still running.

The snow slowed the dragons. Icefire plowed through the snow. I'm going to have to hunt for two now. The wind began to pick up. Icefire instantly new what it was. Blizzard. I will only stop if it gets really bad.

Soon it was so bad Icefire couldn't see more than 100 ft in front of her. Now would be a good time to stop. Icefire turned her head to see Chiro. He was shivering and would freeze to death if she didn't do something.

"Chiro!" She shouted over the storm's wind. Chiro looked at her. " unstrap your self from the saddle!" Chiro tried but his fingers we to cold to unstrap himself. Icefire used the hand like a appendages on her wings to unstrap him.

Chiro slid from her back to the ground. The snow was waist deep on him. Icefire lied down on her side and made sure her wing was stretched out beneath her.

Chiro instantly clambered onto her wing and sat with his back against her belly. Icefire curled around him and draped her other wing over them like a tent so the snow and wind wouldn't get in. " Don't worry Chiro if you stay close to my belly the fire inside me will keep you worm." Chiro nodded and curled up by her belly. I have to do something to heat him up. But what? My breath, that warm!

Icefire kept her mouth open and let her warm breath flow over Chiro. She wanted to close her mouth but she new she had to leave it open. She kept breathing in and out, in and out. Soon Chiro stopped shivering. He rolled over to face Icefire.

" Aren't you cold?" he asked.

The question made Icefire chuckle. " No, young one. The fire inside me kept's me warm. Rest, little one, you need sleep."

"I'm not that much younger than you and..." he yawned, "I'm not little." He replied sleepily. "What about you aren't you going to sleep?"

"No I don't need sleep. I can go weeks without sleep. I already slept all day yesterday." She answered.

"Oh..." Chiro's eyes closed signaling that he was asleep. Icefire watched him and continued to allow her warm breath to flow over him.

In his dream Chiro was floating in darkness.

"Chiro," a deep gentle voice called.

"Antauri?" Chiro asked.

"Yes, Chiro? I could sense your distress. We are still connected through the Power Primate. Are you all right?" A silver monkey with ice blue pools for eyes materialized.

"Yes, I am now thanks to Icefire. I had almost froze to death but Icefire let me lie against her belly for warmth ." Antauri nodded. Be careful Chiro, we don't want to lose you ."

"Don't worry you won't."

Antauri walked over to Chiro, who knelt. When Antauri was standing right in front of Chiro, Chiro wrapped his arms around him the silver monkey seemed surprised. "Don't worry I will win the race and free you guys."

"I must go now Chiro." Chiro let go of Antauri.

"Good bye Antauri."

"God bye, chosen one."

The next thing Chiro knew he was lying next to Icefire. Her yellow-green eyes were closed. I thought she didn't need to sleep for weeks. Chiro sat up and stretched.

"Good morning, little one." Chiro jumped and seemed annoyed at being called "little one." Icefire still appeared to be sleeping.

"I thought you were asleep."

Icefire opened her bright yellow-green eyes. "Didn't you hear what I told you last night? I don't need to sleep for weeks at a time. I was in a trance that very few dragons can use. Using my mind I searched for something I could hunt so we could eat."

"Find anything?"

"Yes, a herd of ice horns."

"Ice horns?"

"They're sort of like deer except they're white with a single twisting horn in the middle of their forehead."

"Oh."

"By the way the blizzard is over. The other racers are getting up now. Don't look at the snow to long it could blind you."

"What about you?" Chiro asked as he closed his eyes. "Won't it blind you?"

"No, my eyes can adjust to any condition I need them to." Icefire lifted her wing so it was vertical with the very tip pointing toward the sky. The snow slid down her wing and landed with a thump right behind her. Icefire folded her wing.

Chiro slowly opened his eyes and allowed them to adjust to the bright light reflecting of the snow. He stood and stretched his stiff muscles while standing on Icefire's wing. "Chiro I need you to step off my wing so I can stand."

Chiro did as Icefire said. But the moment his feet touched the snow... fwump he was in snow that reached his eyes. For a moment surprise shone in his blue eyes then he glared over the snow in agitation. Icefire stood and the snow slid of her scaley body. She folded the other wing.

Icefire lowered her head and gripped the back of the glaring Chiro's shirt with her teeth. She lifted him out of the snow and bent her neck in such away that she could place him in the saddle. Once in the saddle Chiro strapped himself in.

Icefire lifted one foot out of the snow and spread her toes. The webbing in between her toes would act like snow shoes. She placed her foot down in the middle of the snow and it did not sink she did the same for every foot .

She bolted in the direction of the Ice horn herd. She came upon them fast and she pined a young buck under her foot. The pressure caused it's back and neck to snap and it died instantly.

Most of the morning was spent hunting once both of them were satisfied on the focused on the race again. Using her sense of smell Icefire could tell the other dragons were not to far behind them.

But that soon changed. Because the other dragons didn't think of the snow shoe trick. Soon they could see a mountain. And this encouraged Icefire to go faster.