Inferno Legacy: Loyalty of the Dragon (Book Two)

Chapter 31

(Sorry for the short chapters. I've really been lacking  inspiration...but thank you everyone who has encouraged me to continue writing!)

"You injured, nearly killed someone in your patrol. A senior, no less," the queen said softly, almost disbelieving, it seemed.

"Yes, your grace," Cody answered calmly.

Blissful watched him carefully for a moment from her throne, the massive pair antlers on its back stretching up high to embed its points in the stone above. Some men stood on a small stone shelf halfway up the wall, Cody noticed suddenly. But the queen's words brought him back to attention, "Not only that, but you disobeyed the king's orders, and defended someone ordered to die."

Cody only nodded.

Queen Blissful looked around seeming to notice the newcomers for the first time. "You of Purple Scales, do you consider yourself responsible for the others."

"Yes," Pippi answered, then Thunder's mental voice echoed the word.

"Tell me why you have come," Blissful commanded.

Pippi nodded and explained simply, "we sought protection, your grace."

"From what?"

"Another dragon and rider. They could very well have killed us by now, had we not fled," the weakened elf replied. "We did not dare to stay there any longer."

The queen stood and stepped down gracefully from the antlered throne before she stopped in front of Pippi. Her gaze roamed slowly over the new dragons, seeing how their scrawny frames quivered in undisguised fear, their riders showing no better signs of health. When at last Blissful's eyes drifted back to Pippi, there was a flicker of anger.

Her hand brushed gently against the elf's shoulder as she said, "You and your people may have until the next full moon to rest and regain your strength. Then you must either contribute to our patrols and our armies and provide for yourselves, or leave our territory."

Pippi's eyes gleamed in response, her mouth started to quiver as it sought to reply but all she could manage was to nod her head. The newcomers' relief was palpable as they heard the news.

"Tell the guards in the hall that they are to escort the dragons and their riders to the lower tunnels to find a suitable home, and have a healer see to them!" As they were leaving the queen turned a darker gaze on Cody. "You may have been right to wish to help these people, and my sister, but do not forget what you have done. Willful and Prowess will need punishment when they are healed, but for you...you will care for the newcomers of your homeland until they are healthy again, and settled. You will hunt for them, see to it that the sick and injured are cared for, and settle any disputes and tend to their affairs when needed. When I am satisfied that you have been punished enough then you may return to your training."

She walked off then, leaving her words to ring in Cody's head.

"You do realize what she's just done, don't you?" Inferno asked smugly.

Cody looked at him in confusion, "She's ordered me to spend a fair amount of time caring to every whim of more refugees than I care to count. She's keeping possible enemies together in the same pot that she can tend to more easily."

"She's also made you their leader. Not because you're a traitor, but because she trusts you to valuable citizens out of the refugees. She sees a loyal commander within you. This is no true punishment; the queen is rewarding you for standing against the king when his ruling was wrong."

Everyone followed the queen out of the hall and went their separate ways. Inferno had just begun to lead the way when a tall, pale-haired Dreamkeeper raced up to them, his eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" Cody asked.

"Nothing," he said, an urgent note in his voice. "The egg is hatching!"

Cody was confused for a second, until he suddenly remembered. "Tell the queen, and the others!"

The man nodded and raced off down the hall as fast as he could, just as Inferno bolted in the opposite direction, back the way they had come. Cody jumped up and grabbed one of the dragon's spikes and hung on for dear life as he broke through the doors. He slid to a stop and Cody crashed to the floor. When the rider stood and brushed himself off, he noticed that they were the only ones in the room. But just as the Dreamkeeper had said, the egg high up on the pedestal with flames dancing around it, shook a little.

The egg looked like gold in the firelight, but as it rolled a bit it smothered the fire and turned a ruddy brown hue again. A low-pitched chirping sound came from it, almost too quiet to notice. Cody didn't realize when the other dragons and riders came, or the queen soon after that, but before he knew it the pedestal was completely surrounded.

Following another small chirp, the egg jerked abruptly and rolled to a precarious position on the edge of its nest. A moment later it rolled back and sat still. It felt like ages before a louder chirp escaped the shell, quickly followed by a tiny black point. The little talon retreated and a thicker white point protruded from the egg. The horn broke off a few large chunks and the room became utterly silent as the dragon inside focused on the escape it had found. A few more strikes with its horn, a heave of its paws, and the dragon tore free of the shell.

The hatchling flopped onto the ashes and a thick cloud went up around it. A little shriek of surprise and a flap of wings stirring the thick air was all anyone could notice. Then the hatchling shook itself, the ashes cleared, and it came into full view. Everyone in the room gasped, the dragons hissed in shock.

With a little flap of its wings the hatchling leaped to the edge of the pedestal, its black talons curling around the edge. The bright horns were nearly impossible to make out on its snow-white scales, but when it turned its bright red eyes around the room he caught the motion of rippling white spines and lean horns that branched off into two separate points each. That's when everyone began to whisper of the hatchling, and inquire as to whether the albino drake was a blessing, or some dark omen.

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