Inferno Legacy: Valor of the Dragon (Book One)

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

            “Come on sleepy, wake up!”

            Cody stretched to prepare for a long day of travel, only to remember that he was supposed to take his shift and watch over the camp, and then they would decide whether they would travel or not, and just how far they would go. He sat up, his eyes still shut firmly as he didn’t want to have to wake up yet, not after his deep sleep. But finally he yawned, cracked his back, and opened his eyes to gaze at the world.

            Nothing was different at first glance.

            Mordon had kept the fire going throughout the early half of the night, the sky was just as dark as before, and everything seemed just as awkward and uncomfortable as before. He looked over to his right to see that Mora was standing and walking around for a bit to loosen up her muscles, with her brother already fast asleep, having taken over her old bed.

            Inferno was out of sight, and Cody could only guess that he was curled up in his own little clearing not far off, welcoming the sleep that had evaded him for so long. The fire cracked and popped rhythmically, almost lulling the rider back to sleep, but he forced himself to remain upright and even pull himself to his feet. He was a little bit wobbly at first since he was unaccustomed to the movement, but he quickly overcame it and leaned against the tree he had slept under with a bit more energy.

            “You got it covered?” Inferno asked him groggily, interrupting the rider’s thoughts for the second time that night.

            Cody nodded, but since he knew his dragon couldn’t see him, he thought for him to hear, “Yeah, I think I’ve got this. I just need to go for a brief walk to get my muscles moving.”

            Inferno let out a deep breath that only Cody could hear from that distance, but he could easily imagine the faint smoke that would be swirling above the dragon’s head afterwards. He couldn’t help but wish that his dragon had managed to learn how to breathe fire. It had to be almost time according to the book. But before he could question the dragon about it for the second time, he was asleep.

            Cody sighed, both envious but empathetic for him because he got to sleep, but he did have to stay awake for much of the night anyways. He began to wonder why Mordon had chosen to have two guards instead of one, since everyone clearly needed more rest. He even began to loathe the man for not having enough trust in the sole remaining rider and dragon, as far as he knew.

            “I’m going to go for a walk to stretch out a bit,” Cody told Mora, mostly to gauge her reaction.

She didn’t seem disappointed, nor did she make an attempt to request to go with him or even just follow. Perhaps Inferno was wrong about her. But he honestly didn’t care either way, since she seemed like a very nice woman, but still not quite…amazing to him. He shrugged his shoulders and began to walk away, expecting her to at least speak to him and acknowledge that he had spoken.

Cody walked around for a while, using the majority of his walk to scour the surrounding area for anything unusual. But, aside from a few rustling leaves and the sound of the wind passing through the empty trees, the world seemed completely devoid of any movement whatsoever. He returned to camp, already feeling thoroughly bored with his task.

Unfortunately, and much to his surprise, Mora was flat on the ground with her face squished against the frozen earth without much care. She could have been asleep even before he left and he didn’t realize, and the thought made him chuckle. It appeared as though everyone did need some severe rest.