Inferno Legacy: Loyalty of the Dragon (Book Two)

Chapter 10

            The next few days passed by somewhat uneventfully. Autumn, Mournful, and Micah slept in one room of the town’s inn, while Cody, Omen, Avalsmokes, Destiny, and Ashheart slept in another. Unfortunately, Inferno was forced to sleep outside wherever he could, often trying several different spots throughout the night because of the noise, activity, or being too far from his rider.

During the day, Cody forced himself and his dragon to stay in the town, though it seemed to do no good. People were intimidated by the large black ‘brute’ and few came close to either of them. The only ones who did come near were Xia and no more than five others, all adults and still slightly wary. More than half the time Cody felt a pouting snarl forcing itself to the surface, the resulting scowl making him appear even more threatening. He knew it, but what would be the point to fix his attitude? Inferno was only slightly less irritable.

As for what the others did, Cody had no clue. A glimmer of gold there, a flash of white here, but he didn’t care enough to look anymore. He spent a lot of time thinking with Inferno, which helped him to uncover the problem slightly. They were eager to find out more about their newly discovered power of teleportation. It seemed oddly different from the other dragons’ abilities, but there was no way to have the question answered until they got back to The Hidden Mountain Pass. With luck, the others would be willing to leave soon.

On the fourth day, Cody was sitting outside the inn with Inferno’s head lying limp beside his knee, both of them as bored and irritable as ever as the sun began to rise above the treetops. That was when Omen gestured through a window for him to come inside again. With a sigh, Cody stood and walked through the door, ignoring Inferno’s many complaints. He followed the wolf rider through a hallway until they walked into a more secluded room, the only things occupying the space being a small table and four chairs. Cody brightened slightly when he saw only Ashheart and Mournful there. Somehow he felt that he could trust those three beings the most in the world, besides Inferno.

“What is this about?” Cody asked as he slid into one of the chairs, berating himself silently when he realized how rude it sounded.

Omen settled into a chair, looking almost as irritable as Cody. “I get it; these past few days have been…less than pleasant. The five of us all want to get out of here as soon as we possibly can, but Autumn, Aval, and their dragons are having the times of their lives and I doubt we can leave now.”

“Cody…” Inferno suddenly growled quietly from outside, but Cody ignored him.

“So what do you suggest?” Cody snapped, his patience wearing out by the second.

Mournful sighed, “Omen said there was this cave that the two of you searched a long time ago and he wants to visit it again.”

“What are we waiting for!?” Cody asked, suddenly excited as he recalled the dark tunnels.

Omen’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm before he answered, “I need to get some more kindling for the torches and find the ones that we have left. I need you all to wait outside while I get it.”

“Cody…”

“No problem!” Cody announced as he stood and began walking to the door.

The others joined him in a race for the exit. Cody was finally feeling something besides boredom and loathing for the first time in a while and all of his happier emotions burst forth abruptly with the news.

This time, Cody heard the urgency in his dragon’s voice, “Cody!”

The smile was wiped right off of Cody’s face at the note of worry in Inferno’s tone. He burst from the door and drew his sword instantly as he peered around the houses and neighboring buildings for whatever it was Inferno was scared of. When the plea came once more, he looked up into Inferno’s frosty blue eyes and saw a tiny flake of white drift onto his muzzle.