Dragon Training
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The wind cut through her leathers like they were little more then paper, and as she leaned low into the back of her dragon Svala thought that she would need to rethink her rider wardrobe. A haze filled the air around them, a technical break in clouds as they moved from what had been thick fluffy shapes into more deep and dangerous rumbling ones. As they burst through the first blue cloud, heavy with rain and charged with electricity ready to explode she laughed and Tuarana took that as her signal that serious time was done and they were to play. She looped through the air, leaving Svalas auburn hair to streak behind her and then fall right into her face as they corrected flight again. Sputtering the locks out of her mouth she whistled around a laugh and Tuarana instantly shifted flight. They dropped from the clouds and below them a thick ice covered mountain range took form. The peaks would have glittered in the sunlight but since the storm blowing in was a thick one now everything was hazed with an early falling dusk. They had entered the cloud bank hours before and now her fingers felt stiff with the cold, which was a solid indicator they should break for rest.

Svala and Tuarana didn't have as tradition harness in play while they rode and practiced together. Her dragon was too smart to need something as simple as a bridle so while they had fashioned a seat to keep Svala aboard during battle the rest was simple communication and Tuarana getting much better about taking vocal cues. Svala stroked the scales down the left side of the dragons neck and then told her, "The ridge with the outcropping down below. Thats where we will camp tonight." And watched as her dragon changed course and glided them right to the proper ridge. Chilled as she was Svala lifted one leg and slid down Tuarana's side before stretching her lithe body. Then she walked around to stroke her beasties maw. "You did good up there. Im pretty sure uncle Thor will be impressed with our progress. Now I need to make a fire to warm up, and I need food. You are to hunt and come straight back here." Though her nose was infinitely smaller Svala pressed hers to the dragons and smiled when a snort from the beast sent a cold spray of air out at her. "Yeah yeah I'll hurry up." Walking back around she undid the latches of her saddle and then rubbed the spot that had been covered before she stepped back and ordered, "Hunt," and watched as Tuarana shot into the air again. Svala watched her rise into the clouds and then she moved about making some semblance of a camp. She started with a fire, the underbrush here not covered in snow and so easy tinder. Then she pulled food out of her bag and ate by the meager fire. 

She did well in the cold, it was the benefit of being half Jotun herself, so with the low heat now going she also pulled out her journal and made notes for her uncle and her brother who headed the Order of the Dreki. She noted how her dragon moved in the clouds, how she reacted to the storm. As she wrote she made sure to comment on each difference her Tuarana had with the other dragons. Her dragon was very different from the others and it helped for them all to understand just how a resurrected Ice Dragon might differ from her fire breathing and continuously alive brethren. Svala was lucky, she hadn't had to break Tuarana of bad habits of the wild because she had been raised just for her, her fathers magic breathing second life into the poor beast. And Loki though trusting his daughters abilities had also ensured that she had a dragon who would heed her, bond to her and ultimately offer protection to her in battle because they shared a bond that wasn't through simply training but also companionship. She wrote for a while, noting how Tuarana had taken to the wilds of Northern Alfheim. And when she heard the beating wings of her dragon returning she smiled. She continued writing though, noting how they could travel the cold longer with no aide, marking the miles it took them and how long they had maintained cloud cover. And when she was done making notes she finished the cold bread she had been nibbling and wrapped her pack back up.

She unfurled her bedroll and the thin blanket she carried with her before kicking out the small fire she had built. Like with flying in storm clouds this was another test. How well could they manage alone with minimal elemental support. "Nice and full?" She asked Tuarana as she shifted the bedroll closest to the outcroppings wall leaving the dragons side to face the worst of the elements. Using her bag as a pillow she laid back and covered herself with the thin blanket. Tuarana settled in and unfurled her wing, letting it cocoon over Svala like a tent. It blocked out the rest of the wind that the rock ledge had let slip by and though her dragon could never be classed as warm it ultimately made Svala warm enough for her eyes to get heavy. "It should be snowing when we leave so we will push south. We can stop for the evening at the southern Palace. Aragorn and Isabella wont mind us camping out in the woods. And from there back to Dreki Stone. We can give our reports to Lif and Jor and break for Asgard by the end of the week." She stroked one chilled hand down Tuarana's side before she curled it under her blanket and let her heavy eyes fall shut, drifting into a dreamless sleep.

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