Inferno Legacy: Loyalty of the Dragon (Book Two)

Chapter 13

                That night, Cody dreamed once more. This time, the dream was more vivid and easier to remember afterwards. Inferno was flying in the dream, with Cody and Mournful riding on his back. All three of them were wearing armor, though in Cody’s dreams he couldn’t quite visualize any of it, even his own, though he knew it wasn’t his normal armor. The clouds around them obscured his vision, but he could see shapes around him. There were shadows in the clouds, some equally as massive as Inferno, others the mere size of pigeons, as far as Cody could tell.

                They flew through the clouds, and Cody could hear the buzzing of mental conversation all around him. The noise was similar to that of a large group of people in a massive hall, only it echoed far more and by the time he singled out a specific conversation it was over with. From the “sound” he could tell that there were hundreds of them talking about little, unimportant things. Inferno skillfully dodged a tall pinnacle of rock rising from a mountain. The resulting movement forced him close to one of the things accompanying them. Cody just caught a glimpse of grayish-blue feathery skin before Inferno twisted to dive out of the creature’s way. The creature let out a mighty roar, something akin to the sound of an eagle screech or a dragon’s roar.

                Inferno dove down lower until he was flying over the lake. Cody couldn’t tell which direction they were flying in, but wherever they were going, he sensed that they were getting close. That was when the dream faded as Cody was awoken by the sound of movement. His eyelids flickered open abruptly and he glanced around at Inferno’s inner wing shelter. Aval and Omen lay comfortably and silently in front of him, closer to the edges of the tattered tent. It was barely dawn, the sun not even poking out of the mountains yet, but he heard movement again.

                Quietly as he could, Cody pulled himself out of Inferno’s wing shelter to see what the noise was. He emerged to see Mournful shifting out of her gryphon form, with Destiny and Ashheart still asleep next to her. When she was fully in human shape she waved to him in silent greeting and pressed a finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet. Cody nodded and cautiously tiptoed around Inferno’s head, trying not to cringe at the hot, damp air that came out of his open jaws and enveloped his legs. Mournful followed on silent feet. The two continued to walk silently away from the group until they were well out of hearing range, some ways into the beginning of the forest.

Cody smiled and sighed before saying, “I suppose Inferno needs all the sleep he can get.”

“Well of course, he’s going to need his strength.”

“What do you mean?” Cody asked, his interest piqued.

Mournful sat down on a log and answered, as if it were already obvious, “We have to leave.”

Cody stared at her for a moment, confused. “Why? Inferno can barely lift his head without killing himself.”

This time it was Mournful’s turn to stare as she explained, “It’s not that bad, and no doubt he will feel a lot better after he’s had a good sleep.”

“No, what he needs is more sleep, a lot more. If he moves now, he’ll reopen all of his wounds and probably kill himself! Besides, why do we need to move?”

Mournful glared at him before responding, “In case you’ve forgotten, Blackscales, Aval and Destiny spotted us two or three days ago. That means that anyone that bothers looking this way, whether it be Micah, Argos, or their riders, will see us and know that something is up. And do you know what trouble we’ll be in then? You and Inferno will be killed, Goldscales’s name will be forever tainted by their one mistake, and Omen, Ashheart and I will undoubtedly be banished, or worse. Now tell me, would you rather condemn us all to certain death by staying here until Inferno is in better condition, which could take weeks, or you could give us all a fighting chance by helping Inferno to heal quickly in the next few hours before we have to get going.”