After Katherine finally opened up a little, I thought she'd ease up on me. I was wrong, so very wrong. She didn’t care if my arm was still broken, she made me lift heavier and heavier weights. During the endurance exercises, I had to last the longest or she would make me do it again. Every afternoon ended with her knocking me out with the combat staff. Each night, I would be in excruciating pain, but at least she stayed with me, and we watched movies.

Eventually, she got the desired effect she was hoping for; I was beginning to heal faster and faster. I could cut my arm, and it would heal after an hour. Deeper wounds only took a night to recover from. After my arm had healed, Katherine broke the other one. It took a week to heal instead of three. My skin had toughened as well. I was able to punch through bricks without breaking the skin, and as I got used to the pain, it didn’t hurt too much, either.

“RAH!” My arms were shaking; my practice sword locked against Wolf’s. I could hear the wood straining. Wolf’s face was red as he pushed forward and my feet began sliding over the grass. “Not…this…time!” I huffed and shoved him back with all I could muster.

Wolf went spinning backward several yards. He would’ve gone further if he hadn’t been fighting my push. His shoulder hit the ground first and dug a deep gash into the field. Dazed, he got up and brushed the dirt off.

Neither of us hesitated, we charged towards each other. Wolf was pretty good with the practice sword; he twirled it around skillfully. My swordsmanship was decent. I could hit and I could block; I didn’t need to look fancy.

I knocked his sword aside as he tried to hit me. I jabbed mine forward to strike his chest. He spun out of the way. I heard the sound of water swooshing. I didn’t see where it came from, but a strong current blasted me. I was helpless before it. It threw me back against the grass. I lay motionless in a deep puddle of mud, panting and spitting out water. Wolf came over to me and jabbed my stomach with his sword.

“Dead,” he said.

A hard knot formed in my throat. His eyes went over to Katherine. She nodded with approval. Wolf offered a helping hand. I ignored it and I got to my feet on my own. My temperature had risen with my frustration. My clothes sizzled as the water droplets started to boil.

“You cheated,” I said.

“He didn’t cheat. You’re allowed to use your abilities,” Katherine said. She turned away to watch Lily and Spaz sparring.

“Not my fault if being a hot head isn’t a helpful power in a fight,” Wolf said under his breath. As he went past me, he knocked his shoulder into mine.

Ever since the first day of training, I’d been sensitive about my powers. I knew I was behind in figuring out the unique thing I could do. I’d tried a dozen times to do something other than raising my body temperature, but with no success. I was already mad that’d I’d embarrassed myself by losing during sparring hour. I didn’t need to be teased on top of that. I couldn’t help but explode.

“You can move some water around, so what?! Stop acting like you’re better than everyone!” I said, shoving Wolf back. He stumbled over his feet. I felt a bit of satisfaction. His eyebrows drew together. Now he wasn’t going to hold back.

“Everyone knows you’re the weak link, Kaine! You can barely keep up with us! When training is over, you’re going to be holding the entire team back!”

I growled and grabbed his shoulders. My hands were as hot as irons. I gripped him tightly so the heat would sink in. Wolf cried out and tried to wiggle out of my grasp.

“OW! Let go!”

“Kaine!” Katherine was beside us in an instant. Her palm slammed into my chest and threw me back.

Wolf doubled over and held his shoulders. I could see smoke coming off of his clothes. There were two hand prints burned into his uniform. My rage only intensified as I watched Katherine check his wounds. She looked back at me angry and disappointed.

“Are you alright?” she asked him.

“I’ll be fine,” he said. I threw my sword aside and stormed off.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Katherine said. I pretended I didn’t hear her and walked faster. “Kaine! I know you can hear me!” She ran to catch up to me. “Is this what you’re going to do with your powers? You’re going to hurt someone when you get jealous?”

I turned around. “I am not jealous,” I whispered. She looked at me in disbelief.

“Then why are you angry?”

“Because he’s right, I’m the weakest one here. I’m useless because I can’t figure out what I can do,” I said and pressed my eyes shut. I could feel the heat burning into my eyelids. My eyes were as dry as the Mohave.

“You already know what you can do,” she said. Her tone was softer now. “Why isn’t that good enough? Why do you need more than that?”

Because it’s lame compared to everyone else, I thought. For some dumb reason, I wanted to be the best. I wanted to have an awesome power that would make the others envious. I didn’t want to be the guy with a power that was useless. She waited for me to answer her.

“I don’t know.”

She knew I was lying. Her eyes filled up with sadness. “There’s nothing wrong with what you’re capable of, okay? Everyone is different.”

I nodded just to end the conversation. I knew she was only trying to make me feel better, but it wasn’t helping. I didn’t want to accept that getting warm was all I was capable of.

I tossed a match into the fire pit. The flames took their time crawling out from underneath the logs. Their heat was consoling, so I pulled the couch closer. The longer I watched the fire, the more I felt like the answer to my problem was staring right at me.

I heard the basement door slide open. I wasn’t surprised when I saw Katherine step outside. I was surprised by what she was wearing. She had on loose gray sweat pants, a clingy tank top, and a fuzzy blanket decorated with a colorful frog from the Amazon rainforest. Usually, she was so put together.

“You should be sleeping,” she said as she sat down beside me. She put her socked feet up on the fire pit’s stone ledge to keep them warm.

“I tried.” I shrugged.

“Still thinking about earlier?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” I said and played with my ninja mask. I kept it close in case anyone woke up and came downstairs. “I wish I could be happy with what I have, but I’m not. I want more.”

“Why?”

“Because I feel like I should be able to do more. People always say if you want something bad enough you’ll get it. I know I can do more than this,” I said. “The thing is, I just can’t figure out what it is.”

“Don’t try to rush things then. The answer will come when it’s ready,” she said. “Maybe you’re just a late bloomer.”

“Since you seem to know me better than I know myself, do you have any ideas?” I asked. She sat up and rested her chin on her knuckles like the thinking statue guy. She always looked ten times better in the firelight, so calm and cozy.

“Well…I think your emotions are a powerful driver for whatever gift you have. I notice when you get angry—or scared— the warmer you get,” she said. “My theory is: you haven’t reached such an extreme emotional state to be able to generate something other than heat. You aren’t an angry person, so rage wouldn’t be able to get you there. You aren’t scared all the time to be able to use that as fuel. I think if you want to find out what you’re capable of, you need to summon the strongest emotion you’ve ever felt.”

“How am I supposed to know what that is?”

“Oh, you’ll know it. Trust me; it will dominate every other thing. It will be the one thing you can’t possibly stop feeling no matter what,” she said.

A wolf howled. Involuntarily, we both leaned towards each other. We were both spooked. We listened for a while. The wolf howled again, and we realized it wasn’t close. The tension in my chest eased only a little.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but I’ve seen one too many horror movies where they eat someone’s face.” Katherine shivered and drew her blanket around her tightly as if it might keep her safe.

“Me too.” I tried to think of something to say that would lighten the mood. I couldn’t come up with much. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

She gave me a lopsided frown. “I haven’t really slept since I was thirteen. If I’m lucky enough to sleep, it’s never for long. Or, I have a nightmare.”

“You have a lot of nightmares?”

“No, just one. It keeps repeating over and over.” She shook her head slowly. “In the dream, I’m trying to get to someone who’s in danger. I’m running and running, but I don’t seem to be going anywhere. I start filling up with anxiety because I know I won’t make it in time. I feel like if I lose them, I’ll never be able to find happiness again. Finally, I know I’m almost there. But before I find out if I was too late, I wake up.”

“I hate those dreams.”

She rubbed her temples. “No kidding.”

“Maybe if you tried telling someone about the things you’ve lost instead of holding it all in, the dreams wouldn’t be so bad,” I said.

She made an apprehensive expression. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Probably not, but only because I know it’d be good for you,” I said. “I know what it’s like to try to hold everything in. You don’t want anyone to think you’re weak, but some days you need someone to understand how much it sucks to be you.”

“I don’t think I have a right to say it sucks to be me. I mean look around at all I have, all I can do,” she said, taking in the view of the valley. The scenery was dream-like under the moonlight. “It doesn’t suck. It’s just very hard.” For a long time, we sat in silence. Katherine tugged and fiddled with the corner of her blanket. “And I’m not the type of person who can just share their worst memories with someone. I’m used to suffering in silence.”

I snorted. “I’m the same way! I’ve never shared my worst memories with anyone. I’m too humiliated by them.”

Katherine frowned. She didn’t seem to like the idea that I had terrible memories. “What do you mean? What happened?” she asked like she was ready to go dish out punishment.

I froze as I realized I backed myself into a corner. “I…well…”

A light filled her eyes as she realized what I’d done. She grinned and leaned back. “Does someone not feel like spilling their guts about a painful past? Should I keep pestering you, hoping you’ll eventually cave because, and I quote, ‘it’ll be good for you?’”

I pretended to scowl at her. She giggled and went back to staring at the flames—no doubt feeling victorious. But she had a point; I couldn’t expect her to open up if I didn’t. I debated whether to let the whole thing go or gather the guts to be honest. After a couple of quiet minutes, I decided to go for it.

“I was walking to the bus stop after school when Derek and his friends caught up with me. They threw me up against a wall so I couldn’t get away. It all happened in a rush; I didn’t fully know what happened until later. But they ripped up my shirt and wrote stuff like freak, worthless, and ugly on me while they spat on me and kicked me. They shoved one of those jelly filled donuts in my mouth and some creamy cookie thing in my hair. I never even ate that stuff. They took a picture of it and sent it to the entire school.

“The bullying got a lot worse after that. I’d get texts from people I didn’t even know saying ‘fat people should die’ and ‘you’re dumb.’ They’d post things online. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get away from that stupid picture.

“I was too ashamed to tell my mom. The teachers knew what was going on and they didn’t do anything to stop it. I never felt so alone. I didn’t have much confidence but after that…I had nothing. I honestly thought I was useless and disgusting. I gave up hopes of ever finding friends.

“The depression only made me eat more, and I hated myself even more for that. Some days I didn’t even want to exist.” I swallowed hard. “If I hadn’t met you, I don’t know if I could’ve made it through another year. I might’ve dropped out and been stuck delivering pizzas forever, living in my mom’s basement— and no one thinks that guy is cool.” My voice was threatening to crack, and I had to fight to keep it steady. “You’re the only one that has ever made me feel special…and wanted.”

Katherine’s eyes were a swirl of anger, disgust, sympathy, and guilt. She squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry they treated you that way. No one should think that about themselves.” I nodded and did my best to hide my watery eyes. But she turned my head and looked me in the eye. “You’re the most sincere and thoughtful and caring guy I’ve ever met. Don’t ever think you’re not good enough. You’re better than enough, Daniel. You are great, okay?”

Those were words I’d thought I never hear. It was like seeing a pig fly. It took a second to process it. I made a wobbly, weak smile. “Okay.”

Her grip on my hand didn’t loosen, and we stayed that way for a while. She was squeezing out all of the negative things I ever thought about myself.

Eventually, she sighed. “Alright, I suppose it’s my turn then?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s okay if you don’t want to.”

“I know.” She rubbed my knuckles with her thumb. She got up and went to the back door. “Well, come on.” She beckoned me inside.

I followed her back upstairs. I thought she was taking me to my room to talk, but we passed my door. We kept going until we came to the double doors at the end of the hall.

“I thought you said I couldn’t go in there.”

“I’m making an exception,” she said and slipped inside. I gulped and went in.

The room looked nothing like a bedroom. Covering every available wall space were shelves stuffed with books, precious gems found in caves, and ancient artifacts. Four long windows overlooked the garden. In the center of the room was a mahogany desk with copper globes on it. Everything in the room gave it an earthy tone from the grays and soft green colors to all of the rough wood finishing. The whole room was unnaturally neat and organized, it was hard to believe someone lived in it.

“How do you sleep in here if there’s no bed?” I asked.

She laughed and pointed up to a loft area. All I could see was the railing. I was tempted to wander up there, but I didn’t think she’d appreciate that.

As Katherine unlocked a chest, I stepped closer to the bookshelves. Judging by the titles, most of the books were historical fiction. I read through a dozen but stopped when I came to a framed picture.

I guessed it was an old school photo. The girl was sitting at a desk holding an apple. She had frizzy hair that looked like a curly explosion and wore a flowery print dress with mega poofy shoulders. She had an awkward smile due to the headgear attached to her braces. Her entire expression seemed like she’d tried to laugh but snorted, and as the embarrassment began to fill her eyes, they’d snapped the picture.

“Don’t look at that!” Katherine snatched the picture from the shelf and hid it behind her.

“Was that you?” I asked. She slapped a hand over her face and watched me through her fingers. I grinned. “It is, isn’t it?”

“No one’s supposed to see this.” She groaned and put the picture back. It was crazy to think that the goofy girl in the photo grew up into…well…all that Katherine was now.

“Why? It’s not that bad.”

“It’s not that bad?! Look at my face!”

I chuckled. “I like it.”

“Well, then, you must be blind,” she said and turned away before I could see her smiling. “Come sit before you find something else to embarrass me with.”

She brought me over to the corner where two white armchairs guarded a table. Stacks of books surrounded them. I realized these were the chairs she’d often fall asleep on while reading. Once I sat down, I saw the thing she’d taken out of the chest; it looked like a wire with suction cups on both ends. She stuck one to my temple and the other on hers.

“What is this?”

She gave me a scolding look. “You haven’t been reading your handbook, have you?” she said. “It’s a Mind Wire. Preservation uses it to implant or pull memories from witnesses who aren’t easily silenced.”

“How’d you get one then?”

“It’s a long story. Basically, the guy who owned this one died, and now I have it,” she said. “Now, shh, while I concentrate.” She closed her eyes. I sat back and wondered how a wire and suction cups could—

Suddenly, I was sitting in a crowded auditorium. Everyone around me was in a ninja uniform. In the dim light, all I could see were floating eyes and foreheads. They were all clapping and cheering. Someone touched my shoulder.

I looked back to see a man. His uniform was different than everyone else’s. Instead of a black shirt, his was brown and trimmed with cream and white colored bands around the neck. His cloth belt was a brilliant scarlet. On his head was a metal conical Asian hat. Side by side around the bottom of the hat were small red wooden squares. Above the red border was a gold strip, and the pointy tip of the hat was bright green metal.

“I want to speak with you,” he said with a grainy voice. I nodded and got up to follow him. Either I had shrunk, or everyone else had grown. I’d somehow lost a few inches in height.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Where was I? How’d I get here? I almost didn’t have to wonder because the answer was already in my head. I was at a ceremony for a retiring jonin. I even knew the man I was following. I’d known him for nine years. He was my commander, Sirus. He was like a father to me, especially now since—my mind was abruptly bombarded with images. I saw a burning house, my sister screaming for help as the flames ate away at her skin, my mother lying motionless on a hospital bed, and the voice of my father filled my head…you did this! Get out of this room and stay away from us! Get out!

For a moment, an unbearable agony strangled me until it was impossible to breathe. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. I took a deep breath and tried to push the memories back. I shuddered from the immense hole blown into my chest. I grasped my shirt just to make sure I was still intact.

Get it together, don’t let them see you like this, I thought. I staggered forward, then I forced myself to stand up tall, shoulders back, and wiped any expression I had on my face. I am a rock. I feel nothing.

I followed my commander outside to a garden lit up by floating paper lanterns. Now that we were alone, he took his mask off.

Without his uniform, he was wearing a golf shirt and dress pants.

Even though he still looked to be twenty-five, he was much older. It was written clearly in his weary eyes. The years and the missions had slowly taken their toll.

“Well, Katherine, I’m sure you know what it is I’ve brought you out here for,” he said.

Now I understood what was happening. I hadn’t gone anywhere. I was experiencing Katherine’s memories. I could see what she saw; I could feel what she felt. I was able to separate myself a little from her so things could make more sense in my mind.

“Do we have to have this conversation?” Katherine asked. She sounded tired like she hadn’t slept in days.

“It’s time, and you know it.”

She knew this had been coming for a long time now. In the beginning, whenever the team went on missions her commander was always giving orders and long speeches. They couldn’t do anything without his guidance, but lately, he’d been quiet. He only went on missions to observe rather than to help.

It was the natural order of things. Parents eventually had to let their children go, and teachers must stop teaching at some point. The only problem was that this was the most inconvenient time to be on her own. Her squad was the only family she had left.

“I’m not ready,” she said and kicked the sand beneath her feet. “You’d be stupid to recommend me.”

The insult didn’t faze him. He pointed to her as he sat down on a big rock. “No one is born great. No one’s circumstances make them great. People become great when they choose to be. When I look at you, I see a girl fully capable of making that choice,” he said. “There’s never going to be a perfect time. Sometimes you’ve just got to jump.”

“You can’t force me to be a commander. I won’t do it,” she said.

His brow furrowed. “Then you’d be doing a grave injustice to the world by holding back! And you can’t say that you aren’t! You’re not that dishonest with yourself.”

“You have six other genin you can recommend! What about Argo? Or, Juniper? They’re the better choices.”

“They’ll get theirs in due time. They’re not the ones sticking around because they’re afraid,” he said.

She lowered her head. His comment stung because it was true, but how could she be expected to guide a team when she felt so lost? Every decision she’d made lately, she’d second guessed. If her teammates weren’t there to fix her mistakes, someone else would get hurt. How many more people were going to die under her watch?

“I understand things have been hard after what happened with your family,” he said. “You could’ve broken down and given up, but instead you came back, more determined to do your duty than ever. That’s what being a commander is all about, pressing on when it makes no sense to, and giving it all you got. Not another soul on my squad has given as much as you.”

“I can’t, okay? I just can’t!”

They both stopped moving. She knew there was more they both wanted to say, but it’d be like putting salt on a wound. At last, he sighed and showed signs of life.

“The folks from the Science Division want to go to the ice cap, think there’s something there, something important.”

Her heart fluttered. “By the ice cap do you mean…?”

He looked at her with a heaviness in his eyes. “Aye, the Great White. Not the Arctic.”

“Have they lost their minds?! Forget trying to survive the cold, how will they get past what else is down there?!” she said.

“I believe that’s where our squad comes in.”

Without warning, the world became jumbled, like someone had hit the fast-forward button. Other memories rushed past. I caught bits of conversations and emotions. Then the chaos stopped.

Katherine was now strapped into a seat on some air craft. Ninja occupied all of the seats; her teammates were in the regular black uniform, and the researchers with them wore an entirely white one.

Argo, a guy who always looked like he was squinting because a smile must’ve never left his face, was sitting on her left. On her right was Juniper, a girl with russet skin and hypnotic chocolate colored eyes.

Argo held up his fist like it was a microphone. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Great White, located a convenient five minutes from Hell.”

Katherine laughed and rolled her eyes. “You’re such an idiot.”

“Okay, I’m going to freeze my toes the second I step out there,” Juniper said. All three of them looked out of the window. The ground below was buried under a dense layer of snow. Dark gray clouds filled the sky.

“Come on, we got this. We’ll be in and out before you know it,” Argo said and put on his headphones. Before he could press play on his archaic cassette player, Juniper leaned over.

“You do realize we’re staying here for six months, right?”

“Alright!” The commander popped out of his seat. “In a moment, we’re going to land. I want a solid perimeter while the researchers get their bags to the pods. Let’s try not to have anyone die on our first day here!”

The aircraft slowed down to a hover and began to descend. Seatbelts unbuckled, and everyone came to their feet. Katherine, Argo, and Juniper joined their teammates by the door. Once they landed, the door dropped down to form a ramp. The team ran outside, wasting no time.

The cold bit into Katherine’s skin. The instant her foot touched the snow, she slid. Argo snatched the back of her shirt and hoisted her up. “Watch where you’re going butter feet,” he said and ran off. “That doesn’t even make sense!” she said and found her footing.

Now the team seemed to be guarding an invisible path from the aircraft to the small modules in the distance. Katherine kept her eyes peeled as she observed the tundra before her. She was a little distracted because of the snow. She liked having solid earth underneath her feet; dirt, moss, and rocks—anything with friction. She couldn’t even feel it buried underneath the snow. They must’ve been on an ice shelf.

The realization put her on edge. She had nothing around her to manipulate. If there was an attack, all she had was the sword on her back to defend herself.

“Fall in!”

The team trudged beside the researchers. The pods ahead resembled turtle shells connected by steel tunnels. They’d gotten airlifted in the day before. Lights started coming on as they approached.

There was nothing warm or inviting about the interior. Everyone’s feet thunked against the cold metal floors. The walls were sterile white. The hum of the heating vents was all that helped keep their voices from echoing.

Katherine and Juniper found a room with two bunks. Before they could start unpacking, their commander came in. “You two will be on first watch tonight, wear something warm,” he said. Both girls grumbled.

When they were ready, they found the researchers in the largest pod. They were unpacking all kinds of equipment. Most of them moved as white blurs, and in no time a monitoring station was set up.

“Let’s get the drills going!”

Katherine followed a woman carrying one of the drills outside. She did her best to stay out of the way. She pretended to appear occupied with scanning the horizon for danger. Now I know what it’s like to be in the secret service, she thought.

“What are you looking for out here?” Katherine asked.

“This was an area rapidly affected by climate change. We think there might be some interesting creatures buried beneath the ice,” the woman said.

Katherine tensed. “Should we be digging them up? Sounds a little dangerous if you ask me.”

“Oh, it’d be a miracle if anything were alive.”

She nodded, and they both stepped back. The other two drills were ready to go. The sound of the drills powering up obliterated the silence. Katherine looked back. If there were anything out there, it would be drawn to the noise. The ice breaking made a terrible grinding/screeching racket.

CRACK! The whole ice shelf shifted. The researchers started yelling and sprang to turn the drills off. Everyone fell still and listened. The ice kept cracking deep below their feet. It got louder and louder. Then the ground split apart. All of the drills were swallowed up. Katherine snatched the woman beside her and jumped back. They narrowly avoided falling in.

Once the ice settled, Katherine got up and inched her way towards the chasm that had formed. She couldn’t see the bottom. A cold draft of air—colder than the wind above ground— was coming out of the rift. She thought that was strange.

“Get the rope!” someone said.

The woman she’d rescued ran to the others. Katherine watched them drive stakes into the ground and pull on climbing gear. Her stomach twisted into knots.

“You’re going in there?”

“It’s what we came for,” a man said. She’d be biting her lip if it weren’t for her mask. Something wasn’t right. We shouldn’t go down there; we shouldn’t have come at all. She glanced at Argo and Juniper; they were chatting as they kept watch.

“One of us should go down there with you,” Katherine said.

“Don’t be silly, there’s nothing dangerous down there,” the man said. “We need you up here.”

“It’s fine, we got it covered,” Argo said.

Without further argument, the man handed Katherine a rope. She tied it around her waist and came towards the edge of the rift. The other researchers were already down there. She could see the beams of their flashlights disappearing into the darkness.

She took the light she kept in her belt out and began to lower herself into the ice. Being underground didn’t bother her, she didn’t have to fear a cave-in or earthquakes squashing her. It was a whole different story now. Any moment, the ice shelves could press back together, and she’d be helpless to stop it.

The air had to be ten degrees colder in the rift, and the temperature kept dropping the further down she went. She lost sensation in her fingers and toes. She moved her flashlight over the ice. She could see some fish frozen in there.

After an hour, she finally reached the bottom. She saw sand frozen underneath her feet. All around her was a seaweed forest. The prehistoric ocean was perfectly preserved down there. She found the others all huddled up against the wall of the chasm like kids trying to see something in a museum.

“That’s gotta be it!”

“Well, what’re we waiting for?!”

They took out their picks and began hacking at the ice. Katherine had to get onto her toes to try to glimpse what they were going after. Whatever it was, was frozen a good ten feet from them. It looked like the size of a whale.

Katherine paced back and forth as they carved out a make-shift cave around the creature. Then, at last, they began taking away the layers of ice wrapped around it. She moved closer to see what it was. One guy hit a sweet spot, and a giant chunk fell off of the front of the creature.

“Oh, my God…” Katherine stopped breathing.

From the shape of the head, there was no doubt about what it was. A dragon. The teeth were the size of a man’s leg, the talons looked like they were made out of pearls, and the scales were a shimmering blue-white color. It had no wings, and its body was half lizard-like and half snake-like. The dragon had to be bigger than a cargo ship.

“No one has seen one in how long now?” someone whispered.

“This is amazing!”

The researchers began cheering and hugging one another. Then there was a rumbling sound like a distant drum mixed with a horn. The group stopped moving. Shivers went down Katherine’s spine.

A breath escaped from the dragon. The eyes blinked. The nostrils glowed with heat. The ice chamber grew hot and started melting. The dragon broke free from the rest of the ice encasing it. Everyone watched in wonder as it shook itself off. The dragon took a step and wavered. Once it got used to moving again, the corners of its mouth twitched and pulled back into a snarl.

Katherine blinked and the next thing she knew, the dragon snatched a research assistant into its mouth. With a loud crunch, the mouth snapped shut. Blood sprayed in every direction. Warm drops of it sprinkled across her forehead like rain.

Chaos broke out. Everyone else scrambled to get back to the ropes and escape. Katherine jumped in front of the dragon, hoping to stop it from killing more people. The dragon swatted her aside, moving faster than even a ninja. Her skull threatened to crack open as she struck the ice wall and slid down to the floor. She lay twitching in pain as the dragon picked people up one by one and swallowed them.

Once everyone was either dead or had climbed back up to the surface, the dragon pushed its way out of the abyss. Now she was all alone in the dark. Her knees were shaking. The smell of blood burned in her nose and her eyes watered.

Screams from above ground echoed down to her. Slowly, she gathered herself. She had to get out of there. She had to help the others. She stumbled back to where she left her rope. Gripping it stung because her fingers were so cold. Somehow she managed to climb out.

A storm had rolled in. Snow fell in livid heaps. The wind tried to shove her back into the crevasse. What little daylight had shown before was now gone. She could barely see.

The researchers that had climbed out ahead of her hadn’t made it far at all. Pieces of bodies were strewn all over the place. In the distance, it sounded like huge metal cans getting crushed. Then it hit her. Those were the pods!

Sure enough, when she looked up, the dragon was stepping all over them, effortlessly flattening them under its weight. The dragon would lean over and pull someone out of the wreckage, fling them into the air, and swallow them. Not all of them were dressed in white; some of them were her teammates.

“No!” Katherine screamed. Pain struck her like a train. The impact should’ve left her lying useless on the ground, but somehow she remained standing. She struggled to run towards the wreckage. Her feet kept slipping in the snow.

Not again, she thought. Her eyes turned to the sky. Don’t do this to me again!

She didn’t know who’d gotten crushed in the pods, or eaten. As she got closer to the wreckage, she could see more of her teammates. They were scrambling to evade the dragon’s teeth, talons, and sword-like tail. She couldn’t help but notice they were missing three people, including their captain and commander.

Dakota turned into a black spiky sphere and rolled towards the dragon. Usually, she was a ball of rolling death, but the dragon squashed her like a bug without even flinching. Sasha’s hands shot out in front of him, and fog surrounded the dragon. Instead of becoming dazed, the dragon nearly split Sasha in two with its tail.

Argo stabbed at the air, a bolt of lightning shot away from the tip of his sword. It bounced harmlessly off of the dragon’s scales. The beast roared and swiped at Argo. Its talons raked across his chest.

“Argo!” Katherine yelled.

Before the dragon could eat him, Katherine unsheathed her sword and made a quick flick. The crushed pods flew through the air and hit the dragon’s head. Irritated, the dragon launched itself towards her. She raised her arms to summon a protective rock wall…nothing happened. She backed away, tripping over her feet in a panic. The stupid slippery snow made her fall over. She shut her eyes and prepared for death.

Suddenly, the dragon made a terrible cry. She opened her eyes to see Sirus on the dragon’s back. He’d gotten a chain around its neck. He yanked it backward with all his might. The dragon flailed like it was being choked and frantically scratched at its neck. A talon caught on the chain and ripped through it.

Sirus lost his balance and fell onto the ground in front of the dragon. He was on his feet in an instant. He pulled his sword free and batted the dragon’s tail away. No matter how hard the dragon tried to kill him, he was able to match the beast’s speed and strength.

Multiple howls tore through the air, but they didn’t come from the dragon. Katherine turned around. A horde of creatures was bounding over the snow. They were covered in grungy, white fur. They had long, spindly limbs and bulbous bodies. Instead of toes and fingers, they had razor sharp claws.

Katherine looked around. Only four of her teammates were still standing. The rest were dead or too wounded to fight. They were outnumbered.

“Forget this!” Stirling said. He started racing across the snow to the aircraft that had brought them there.

“No! You won’t be able to…” She was about to chase him but stopped halfway. She could only watch as the snow monsters swarmed the aircraft. Stirling was fighting to get the door open when the creatures piled onto him. “…get in.”

“What’re we supposed to do?! I don’t want to die!” Jemma shouted. Katherine looked back at her teammates. They were letting their fear get the better of them.

“Look, we can’t run away, and we can’t hide. If you want to live, you’re going to have to fight for it!” Katherine said and took a ready stance.

It was hard to stay in one place and wait for the army of snow monsters to reach them when her instincts told her to run. The pounding of their paws on the snow grew louder and louder. Their stench filled the air, making everything smell like urine. The gap between them disappeared. Fifty feet, twenty-five, ten—a monster jumped towards her. She waited until she could see the creature’s pale blue eyes before slicing its limbs off. The rest of its body landed uselessly beside her, unable to move.

She emptied her mind until the only thing she knew how to do was slash, stab, and cut. She struck anything that moved. The fuzzmonsters came in an endless wave. Places on her body lit up with a stinging pain. Somehow she must’ve gotten hurt.

At last, there was a break in the attack. She was able to look around. The creatures were darting around the wreckage, feasting on what remained of her teammates and the researchers. Rage roiled through her. She tried to kick a monster away from her teammate, but their body was locked tight in their jaws.

“My friend is not your food!” She buried her sword into the monster’s skull. It dropped her teammate’s limp body. She rolled what was left of Jemma over. Somehow, she was still clinging to life. “It’s okay, you’ll be okay.” Katherine scanned the area. She couldn’t see Juniper anywhere. Jemma made an agonized gurgling noise. “Stay with me!” Katherine was about to reach for the cloth wrapped around her shin when her teammate stopped moving. Katherine screwed her eyes shut as a wave of grief hit her.

A cloud of fire flew over her. If she’d been on her feet, she would’ve been cooked. The rest of the snow monsters yelped and retreated. Katherine got to her feet. Sirus was still fighting the dragon. He looked like he was starting to get tired. She tried to run to help him, but her legs didn’t have much energy.

The dragon growled and sent a blast of fire at Sirus. He dodged to the side, but the dragon had finally outwitted him. By the time he realized he’d jumped towards the dragon’s tail, it was too late. His head rolled across the ground like a ball covered in red paint.

Katherine froze. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Sirus had survived so much. He couldn’t die now, not like this. Hot, angry tears filled her eyes.

She ran in front of her commander as the dragon tried to eat what was left of him. One tooth pierced her shoulder while another dug into her side. Her arm wobbled uselessly, attached only by a thin strip of muscle as the dragon threw her up into the air. Then she fell into the dragon’s mouth.

Somehow, she managed to bury her sword into the roof of its mouth, but her legs were halfway down the throat. The dragon choked and struggled to swallow her. She shouted as she fought to hold onto her sword. Putrid smelling saliva covered her. Still wedged between the dragon’s teeth was the flesh of the dead.

At last, it spit her back out. Now that she was wet, the wind quickly tore what little warmth she had left from her body. She curled up into a ball. Blood gushed out of her wounds. Her head was getting light, and her vision was failing.

Angry that it couldn’t eat her, the dragon put its paw on her and began applying pressure. The pressure rapidly went from uncomfortable to blinding. Katherine wailed. Her lungs were compressed, and the air was shoved out. She couldn’t inhale. Her muscles were squashed to the point where the veins were bursting. Her bones shattered.

For some cruel reason, the pain hadn’t knocked her out yet. All she could see were malicious yellow eyes watching her slowly burst like a grape. She wondered why she wasn’t dead yet. She wanted the pain to be over.

When she shut her eyes, she could feel her body fighting to mend. The more it broke, the harder it fought to heal. It was just like training only sped up. Now it was a race to see if she could heal before the dragon could kill her.

The moment the bones in her arms snapped back into place she pushed against the dragon’s paw. She’d lifted buses, collapsing roofs, and a yacht, but those felt like feathers compared to this.

She pushed the paw up enough to take in a breath. Life flowed into her, charging her with power. She grunted and heaved with all four limbs, then rolled out to freedom. The dragon’s paw fell into the snow. She jumped to her feet before it could try to crush her again.

She held out her hand. Her sword came flying out of the dragon’s mouth. She caught it and charged towards the beast. The only thing she could reach was a leg. She tried to cut it, but her sword couldn’t get past the scales.

The dragon kicked her far off into the distance. She landed hard on the snow. When she got to her feet again, the dragon was coming towards her. It opened its mouth. She could see a bright orange light coming from deep within its belly. A scorching torrent of flames flew at her. She jumped out of the way.

She concentrated on the dragon’s scales. If those were made out of what she hoped they were…The dragon skidded to a stop as its scales began moving. They stood up like the hairs on a cat. Katherine made a fist. The scales went slicing into the dragon and diced it into a million pieces.

The scene changed again. Katherine was sitting in a chair in some office. She’d just gotten back to the base after being rescued.

The Jonin of the Ninth Legion was sitting in the chair across from Katherine with a stern look in her eyes. The jonin’s conical hat was like the commander’s hat, but tigers were engraved on the metal and the trimmings were white. She wore a dark grayish purple robe that cut off mid-thigh. Underneath the robe, she had on a lighter grayish purple shirt that was folded closed. Her cloth belt was spotless white. Her pants were gray, and the wraps around her shins were black. The band that ran across the top of her mask and the symbol on her cheek were silver instead of gold.

“In the absence of your commander, it is my duty to decide what to do with you now,” the jonin said. She’d already spoken to Argo and Juniper, the only other survivors. Katherine was going to be the last to receive the bad news.

“You’re going to separate us, aren’t you?” she asked.

The jonin shook her head. “No, I don’t feel that would be right. Not after all that you’ve been through.” She stood up and came around her desk. She sat on the edge and tried to meet Katherine’s eyes. “I’ve decided to promote Argo and Juniper for their courage in overwhelming circumstances.”

The corners of Katherine’s mouth twitched. She was happy for her friends. They deserved to move up. They were ready for it.

“So, where are you putting me?”

“I suppose that all depends on you, doesn’t it? I can put you on another team, and you can continue as you are. You can keep being fearful and unsure, or…are you ready for more?” The jonin leaned closer. “Are you finally ready to be the woman you were meant to be?”

I heard a pop as Katherine tugged the wire from my temple. I rubbed my head and blinked a few times. I looked down, relieved that I was back in my body.

Tears built up in my eyes. I was still feeling the aftershocks of her emotions. I felt the empty hole where a heart should’ve been, the heavy weight of knowing I’d killed everyone who’d gotten close to me, and the long years of loneliness with not a soul to share anything with. It’s all my fault…my fault…and I deserve it. Now I understood why she was afraid to lose anyone else. I couldn’t imagine piling more pain on top of what she’d already endured.

I shuddered and tried to breathe as I wiped my eyes. “Is this what you feel like all of the time?” I fought to say. I was on the verge of bawling, but Katherine sat there stiff as a tree.

She twisted the Mind Wire back and forth in her hands, unsure if she could answer that. “It used to be.” Her fingers were trembling. “You say I make you feel special and wanted, but I don’t know how. All I do is yell at you and tell you to quit. If anything, it’s the other way around. No one else wants to watch my hoaky movies. You saw the worse picture ever taken of me and you liked it.” She chewed the corner of her lip. “You never have a bad thing to say about me.”

“Why would I?”

“I’m not perfect.” She traced the frog’s eye on her blanket with her finger. “Someday you’re going to see that and regret doing this.”

My ears filled with heat. I felt like I’d gotten caught with my hand in the cookie jar. I tried to laugh it off. “You think I’m doing this for you?”

She looked at me like the answer to that was obvious.