There were voices before there was anything else.

"How's her leg?"

"Better. The medicine has been working well the past few days. But it'll be a few more days before she can walk well. And it'll leave a nasty scar."

"Thanks, Mimi."

"Not a problem. Do you know where Anne is?"

"Check the storage room. I think she's with Jack."

Amy heard someone laugh like bubbles popping and felt a warmth in her leg. Then she was aware that she could feel her body. It was warm and soft.

"She'll probably wake up soon."

"I'll talk to her."
Someone left the room and there was pressure on the bed near her hip as someone sat beside her. Amy twitched her hand and pried open her eyes. There was a girl sitting on her bed. She had blue eyes and straight brown hair pulled into a ponytail. She was curvy and smiled with a hint of mischief.

"I'm Shelly."

Amy coughed, trying to speak, and accepted the glass of water Shelly gave her. She sighed after a few gulps, and pulled herself to sit upright.

"What's your name, girlie?"

"Amy." She coughed again, and said, "How long have I been asleep?"

"A few days. You'll be hungry soon, if you aren't already." Shelly paused for small moment before asking, "Do you have a last name?"

"Yeah, it's—"

"We don't care about it." Shelly interjected, ice cresting her words.

Amy bit her bottom lip and frowned, "But you just asked for it."

Shelly softened her eyes and said, "It's nothing personal." She took the water from Amy's hand and set it on the table beside her. "It's just that some of us here don't remember who we are. At all. So we don't use our last names out of respect for them."

"What if I hadn't remembered it?"

"We usually have a name in our head. Maybe it's our first name, middle name, last name, or even a nickname. Maybe it's belonged to someone else, or a product name, or a pet's name. But we have one, so we use it to us as their own."

"Oh."

"You're lucky you remember who you are."

Did she? What if it was the name of someone else? Amy wasn't really sure now. There were things she did know, but things she didn't too.

"Don't look so worried. You're safe. They can't get in here."

"Where is here? I didn't see anything in the snow anywhere."

"Right, and there isn't anything out there except the Cathedral. But we're under the snow and ice. We're in the tunnels."

"Tunnels?" Amy looked at the wall beside her. A red wall of fabric covered it, but when she pressed her hand against it, she felt the cold from behind. "So the walls are actually made of ice?"

"Yep."

"They said they were all dragons."

"They are. And so are we."

Amy shied away before she could think.

But Shelly laughed, "I don't blame you, but don't worry. Those of us here haven't changed yet."

"How do you know you're dragons then? I mean, if I hadn't seen it I wouldn't believe any of... that."

Shelly stood up and pulled some clothes from a bag. "If you'd had a chance, you would have seen the rest of the cathedral. There are carvings in most of the hallways, and hundreds of books and scrolls in the library." She held up a long shirt and started to fold it. "There is no doubt that we are all dragons. That's why we're here."

Amy frowned, and nibbled on the inside of her lip. Shelly sat down at her feet and Amy tucked her legs against her chest under the blanket, so Shelly stood again.

"I'll let you get changed, and be back with some food. Later, if you feel up to it, come find someone and ask for Silene, she'll tell you everything."

Shelly gave Amy's shoulder a little squeeze before she disappeared down out the door. Amy got up and limped to the doorway, a strange tightness and tingling underneath the bandage insisting she walk with care and at a low speed. She leaned into the hallway and looked after Shelly. The corridor was misty and filled with blue light.

All of this was too much for her. Amy slid down the frame of the door and sat on the frozen floor. Everything was cold and made of ice. It was horrible and unpleasant.

Shelly reappeared after a moment, with a carved bowl of something hot and a wooden cup.

"Stew and water. There's not really anything else to drink during the winter. And it's kind of always winter. But the stew is good." Shelly nodded her head back towards the bed, "You don't want to eat on the floor. You'll freeze."

So she pulled herself up and limped back to her bed. Shelly didn't linger to chat, so Amy was left alone again.

The stew was good and when it was gone, she moved on to the clothes Shelly had left. Other than the shirt, there was a pair of long pants and some thick boots. On the chair beside the bed was a big coat and a pair of gloves.

After Amy was dressed (she'd pulled the boots on over her injured leg as if dressing an infant) she ventured down the hallway, not sure she could make it.

She walked for a while before she saw someone. It was a man, taller than Amy, and he wore a thick heavy coat that hung down almost to his knees. He pulled the hat he wore off when he saw her coming. She noticed his eyes were an abnormal kind of vibrant dark blue, and his hair was a beautiful dark blonde color.

"You're the girl we found outside." He said in a deep voice.

Amy nodded, a little struck by his looks.

"What's your name?"

"A-Amy."

"I'm Micah." He pushed the hat into the pocket of his coat, "You're light for someone as tall as you are. You're, what, up to my chin? How tall are you, anyway, 5'10"?"

"Good guess. How do you know I'm light?"

Micah smiled, "I carried you in from outside and you said I smelled like smoke. Don't you remember?"

Amy shook her head, "I just remember being picked up, not anything else."

He nodded, "You're leg seems to be better. You looking for Shelly?"

"Silene, actually."

"Ah, of course. She's this way, c'mon." He led her down the hall. "You can usually find Silene in our little 'library' cave."

He emphasized the word "library" with little curls in his fingers and Amy giggled. They walked for about 5 minutes, passing a few doorways that flickered with the orange light of fire.

"Um," Amy tugged Micah's coat sleeve, "Is it safe to have fire in these tunnels? I mean, with all this ice?"

Micah shrugged, "They've been using the candles and lighting fires in here since before I came. And the ice never seems to melt from it." He glanced at her. "Probably because of the dragon thing."

Amy shivered, having tried to forget that.

He continued, "But it's not all ice down here. In fact, just the front part of the tunnels is ice. You'll see."

They walked for a while longer. Amy began to feel pain in her wounded leg, and wondered how much longer, when they turned a corner and she saw the ice stop short. But the tunnel went on into rock corridors, carved with surprising clean lines. She followed Micah on, agape at the difference, while the stone crunching beneath their boots and echoed off the walls. But despite the lack of ice, it was still cold, if not colder.

Micah led her to a wide doorway, through which Amy saw a small fire pit with a red fire curling and flickering. The area beyond the doorway felt warm and the air seemed thick and dusty. The fire pit was in the middle of the large cave, but lining the walls were stone shelves. On the shelves rested books and old pieces of paper and animals skins. Things one would expect to find in old libraries. There was a block of stone near the fire, and a far-too-large book sat opened on it.

"Wait here." Micah said, before slipping out of sight.