Dragon Kiss

Lost Little Girl

Prologue Part Four

Zero's POV

I wake up to the sound of my mother's scream. I get up right away and run to her. She's standing outside of Tessa's room.

"What is what's wrong?" I ask.

"What happened" Icera almost runs into the wall in his haste to get to our mother.

"She's gone."

"Who?"

"Tessa, she's gone."

"What's wrong?" my dad comes out of Nao's room.

I look into the room and my blood goes cold when I see Tessa's empty bed. The blankets are on the floor. It's not really surprising Tessa doesn't like being too hot.

"When I was heading to the kitchen the door was wide open and now she's gone."

I head out of the door and the snow is still falling and there are no footprints in the snow. That means Tessa left sometime in the night after the rest of us went to sleep. I head to my bedroom and get dressed as quickly as I can. Iglis comes out of her room looking confused.

"What's wrong?"

"Tessa is gone" I head to the door and grab my boots and that's when I see Tessa boots and jacket still by the door.

If those are still there that means Tessa left without putting them on.

"Zero let's go" My father comes out of his room and quickly puts on his boots. Icera is right behind him. My grandfather grabs his jacket and heads out the door yelling for Tessa.

This can't be happening right now. Tessa knows better than to go out during a storm. I know the cold doesn't bother her as much as the rest of us but she's not immune to it. If she's out there for too long she could freeze to death. My mother is beside herself and my grandmother is trying to calm her down. I go outside.

I look everywhere but I don't find her my grandfather, father and brother also find nothing and no one has seen her. The snow is still falling and I get the impression that it's not going to stop anytime soon. The wind picks up and we have to go back inside. Neige roars loudly mirroring the frustration I feel inside.

"We didn't find here she's not in the village" My dad look takes some hot tea from my grandmother.

"How far do you think she get?" Icera asked taking a drink of his own tea.

"It depends on when she left. I don't understand why she would leave in the middle of a storm no less" tears run down my mother's face.

My grandfather has a grave look on his face.

"Where could she have gone she can't have gotten that much of a head start on us" Icera gets to his feet and heads for the door.

"Icera no" My grandmother says.

"I can't just sit here."

"You can't go out there right now the snow is too thick. Going out there blindly won't help anyone" My dad stands up and looks at my grandfather "Father you are the chief of the village it's up to you."

My grandfather closes his eyes and lets out a deep breath.

"First of all we all need to calm down. As much as we want to we can't rush into a rescue. First of all we need to prepare because we don't know how long it will take to find her or how far she managed to get. We need food, water and fur's. Each of us will need extras in case we find her."

"That makes since" I agree with him.

"We will need to let the storm lessen."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing" I get to my feet.

"Calm down Zero."

"Calm down. It's our job to protect Tessa and now she's gone."

"I know that" my father yells "But you know as well as I do if we go out there now we won't be able to help ourselves let alone anyone else."

"Your father is right" My grandfather stands up "Once the storm dies down we will be able to ask the other villagers for help. There are twelve dragons and fifteen Snow Leopards in this village. We will use every resource we have in order to find her. I know you want to find her but we need to do this smart otherwise we won't be of any help at all."

"Could someone have taken?" Iglis asked.

"What do you mean?" Icera asked.

"I've heard rumors that some of the outer villages have been raided by other kingdoms. Could someone have found out and taken her?"

"No" my grandfather shakes his head "If this was related to that they wouldn't have just taken Tessa to would have taken everyone they got their hands on. We will deal with those people when the time comes but the storm was approaching and we would have been stuck elsewhere unable to do anything. We will find Tessa the gods and Sacred animals will protect her. Let's pray and then start getting everything we will need together."

An hour later I'm in my room going through my fur's. I am usually fine in the cold. However even with Neige at my side eventually the cold will get to me and I'll get cold. Also Tessa has been out there far too long and she's probably already feeling the cold. The extra furs are for her. I knows she's alive she has to be. Once I'm done I decide to put my stuff be the door. I stop when I hear my grandfather and father talking.

"Tessa told me she's hasn't been feeling like herself lately and she sometimes feels like she doesn't belong here. She feels drawn elsewhere."

"That's not true she belongs she is a part of our family no matter what. Maybe we should have told her."

"No I stand by our decision of not telling her she is a child she doesn't need that kind burden at her age."

"She's always been special she doesn't understand just how much."

"I know But we can't afford to charge after her blindly. We honestly don't know if she left on her own or if someone found out about how special she is and snuck in and took her while we were all sleeping."

"No I'm sure she left one her own we would have been alerted in some way. Driftro sleeps right next to her window he would have heard something. If she was taken against her will. Also Suno slept right outside of her door last night."

"Where should we begin looking?"

"Honestly I don't know. She never said where she was being drawn to. When she fell into the lake I don't remember which way she was facing. Maybe the gods are calling to her."

"Or a Dragon maybe a Snow Leopard I don't know. I don't want to think about how alone she might be or is feeling right now."

"Zero is taking it hard."

"They are very close I'm not surprised he takes her safety seriously and he's the oldest he feels responsible for anything and everything that happens even though he doesn't need to. He'll make a good chief one day if that's what he wants. He needs to learn not to rush into things head on. Sometimes being cautious is the best course of action."

"I don't expect him to wait for the storm to let up."

"I think he understands that he needs to wait no matter much he wants to run after her. Even Neige will be able to fly in a storm like this with the wind blowing like it is."

I listen to their conversation. They aren't wrong as soon as the food was ready I was going to go out alone if I had to. The longer we wait the harder it will be to find her. But they do have a point going now wouldn't do my any good. As much as it hurt's I need to wait.

I put my stuff by the door and go outside to Neige. I notice Hayle and Sleat, they look completely miserable. My parents are taking Tessa's disappearance even harder than I am. I remember the day she was born and how she showed us just how special she truly was that day. After that we protected her as much as we could no matter what. She was never allowed to go outside of the village unless she was with someone unlike other children who were allowed to do that. We were always afraid someone would find out about and take her away.

I can't help but think our protection maybe one of the reasons she felt so out of place here. No I can't think like that. Right now Tessa is a lost little girl and that is all. Anything that is lost can be found again. I'm sure she will be alright. The gods and the sacred animals will protect her until we get to her I'm sure of it. I can't doubt because if I do I'll go crazy with worry and probably do something stupid.

A few days later the storm lets up enough to begin searching for Tessa. Most of the men in the village have agreed to help search for her as did everyone who was bonded with a sacred animal. My grandfather gives a small speech and the people who are looking on foot head out. Everyone else mounts their dragons and flies off in different directions.

"Come on boy, let's go find our sister."

Neige growls loudly in agreement and takes to the sky. We'll find her I know we will.