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Aleksandr got to his feet. Despite the hearth fire, his fingers<br />
were stiff with cold and it took a long minute to unlatch the<br />
sinew tie that held the door locked.<br />
On his doorstep lay a large, snow-covered basket. Wind<br />
whined through the trees like an old woman’s wheezing breath.<br />
Babba Yagga come to steal his soul perhaps. Aleksandr shivered,<br />
glancing at the trees, and then dragged the basket inside. He<br />
slammed the door against the storm.<br />
The wailing of the wind outside gave way to a different<br />
wailing as something woke within the basket. The snow shivered<br />
and shifted, falling away so that he could see it was not snow, but<br />
a blanket covering a tiny babe. The child’s eyes were green as a<br />
beetle’s shell and fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she let out<br />
another howl. The blanket twitched and twisted, shimmying lower<br />
in the basket as something else moved under its heavy weight.<br />
He grabbed a corner of the blanket and pulled it back,<br />
prepared for another scrunched, crying face. Glittering dark eyes<br />
stared back at him instead. Two black creatures rested on either<br />
side of the baby, both watching Aleksandr. Long necks rose from<br />
plump, scaled bodies with tiny wings tucked tight against their<br />
backs. One of the creatures opened its jaws and flicked the air<br />
with its tongue. Rows of sharp fangs filled its mouth. Dragons.<br />
Aleksandr stumbled backwards, eyes wide.<br />
The child let out another wail, and Aleksandr edged closer.<br />
One of the dragons hissed, eyes fixed on him, and whipped<br />
its tail, thumping the side of the basket. The other dragon rested<br />
its head against the baby’’s chest, and she stopped crying. She<br />
hiccupped and blinked sleepy eyes, sucking on her chubby fist as<br />
she fell back asleep. Her little lips made wet, smacking sounds.<br />
The dragons curled closer, protecting the baby. No need to rescue<br />
the child, then.<br />
Aleksandr backed to the opposite wall and kept his distance<br />
from the foreign creatures, each equally terrifying. From<br />
a corner of the basket, he could see a roll of creamy yellow paper<br />
dappled with damp from the melting snow and held in place by a<br />
loose loop of vine. He ignored it, fearing the dragons’ fangs.<br />
February 2014 45
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