Inferno Legacy: Loyalty of the Dragon (Book Two)

Chapter 29

                Cody cried out in alarm as the scarlet assailant struck at Talon with the speed of a viper. The gryphon screeched, and a second later Cody felt himself get torn roughly from his perch on Talon's back by a hard paw. The unseated rider twisted around instinctively to face the attacker and gasped in surprise as the view hit him like a tidal wave.

The foe before him was a dark, stormy purple color. It's incredibly long, lean body was angled away from him, ready to defend its crimson ally, the narrow, pointed head turned almost perfectly on Cody so that the slit-pupiled eye could keep watch of him and plan its next attack. It stretched its wings upward to either intimidate Cody or protect the tall, cadaverous woman seated on a dark leather saddle on its back.

Cody took a moment to study the woman. Though her face and hair were hidden in a rusty, weathered helmet, he could tell much about her. She was obviously immensely weakened, perhaps by months of rough travel, though she handled the blade in her hand with obvious experience. A second later, however, Cody didn't have any more time to look.

The purple dragon (a male, Cody slowly pieced together) lunged at him suddenly, twisting in the air to offer his rider an opportunity. As the woman's short sword swept towards his neck—albeit with better speed and strength than he was expecting—Cody easily dodged. Using a trick that only a dragon rider could have learned, Cody used the swift upstroke of the dragon's wing to propel himself upward and around to the creature's hindquarters. He sympathized with the warriors, but, loyal to his duty, threw the rider from the saddle and drove his own sword deep into the dragon's flank.

The dragon roared in pain and twisted swiftly around to meet Cody, who slashed a line across its jaw before leaping from its back. He was suddenly assaulted by the rider, though he easily defended against her weak attacks. He paused to glance at talon. The red dragon was very young and Talon was doing well with it, so Cody resumed his fight with the others.

The purple dragon struck with surprising ferocity, considering its injuries. The woman swiftly mounted again and the pair charged at him again. This time the dragon refused to underestimate him and swiftly pinned Cody to the ground. Its jaw opened and it hissed in Cody's face. Even through his helmet he could smell the vile stench of melted carrion on the beast's breath. It bled heavily from the scratch just below its eye, the dark liquid splashing against Cody's chest and seeping through his armor to coat his skin with the warm, sticky blood.

A murderous roar sounded just above, loud enough to make the purple dragon wince in pain.

Inferno fell through the trees, ripping entire trunks to pieces with the force of his landing. Off to the side, Cody saw mournful and her gryphon race to help Cody's gryphon fight the red dragon. He had just enough time to theorize that they were alone because they didn't have time to reach the others. He hoped that someone would notice their absence.

Finally Inferno was fully within view, his long, muscular body trembling with rage and his eyes blazing like sheets of deadly frost. He stretched his wings out wide and blew smoke in the purple dragon's face.

"Inferno!?" The woman gasped loudly in an unrecognizable, strained voice, nearly falling out of her saddle. Her dragon jerked back suddenly, as if Cody were a puddle of acid.

Cody stood slowly and backed away from the purple dragon, and noticed that the red had also stopped and retreated behind the purple, perhaps to get a view of Inferno, who seemed uncomfortable after being fully prepared to kill all of them. They were all frozen for several long moments, silent as death. The purple dragon crouched low to the ground and whimpered, an evident reaction to something in his rider's thoughts.