Traveling North

"Okay." Melissa said, trembling from the icy winds that swept across the frozen plain. They began walking, their progress hampered by the ankle-deep snow, which made each step an effort.

"I can't believe any of this!" Melissa whimpered. "Finals are in one week, and I need to study, but I don't have my books with me, and here I am in the middle of something right out of Stephen King, and it's all just so strange and frightening!"

Fred, for his part, walked in silence, stunned by the extent of his failure. Who could have known that the Dragon would possess such terrifying power - to teleport persons to another location, perhaps to another world entirely? He had to find a way back to Allaria, to warn them of the danger - and yet here he was, trudging through an arctic waste with this mysterious girl, whose role in all of this he couldn't understand whatsoever.

"My feet are freezing!" Melissa cried. "I can't feel them at all! Why, why is this happening?!"

Fred glanced at her with concern. "Perhaps you should let me carry you, until we arrive at yonder hut."

"N.. no..." Mewlissa sniffled. "You don't have to..."

"But I insist." Fred said nobly. "Your footwear is rather insufficient for the terrain, whereas I have these thickly insulated boots of Sauroid leather. It would be a matter of no difficulty for me."

"Well... allright." Melissa said, looking rather relieved as she climbed piggyback onto Fred's shoulders. They struck off again, Fred rubbing Melissa's frozen ankles as he walked. "I feel so stupid!" Melissa cried. "Like I'm a little girl... and yet thank you... thank you very much!"

"Think nothing of it." Fred spoke. "It is the least I can do, as a knight."

They soon reached the building, a small structure of dark-gray stone, windowless, with a chimney and a wooden door. Fred knocked on the door as Melissa climbed down off his shoulders.

1. "Who is it?" came a rather odd voice from the hut.
2. No answer. Fred pushed open the door, revealing a small abandoned room.

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