Infinitesimal: A Tale of Dragons and Daring Deeds

Chapter 10: Townies

The ride down the mountain was uneventful. Cael navigated once more, his head perched on Lou's shoulder and shouting random directions every few seconds to see if Lou was still listening. Of course she was. Lou was an ever-diligent knight. She would never lose her way.

Dirty pathways quickly morphed into beaten-down roads. Lou saw the glimmer of a city ahead. She smiled and Cookie sped up until they nearly reached the city's entrance. Lou looked behind her. They seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. The trading pathways, as Lou assumed, went off in a completely different direction.

Lou slowed Cookie down. She looked up to the guards, with eyes like daggers, with the warmest smile she could imagine. One of them waved at her. Lou waved back. Cael slapped her hand down.

Cael shuffled closer to his ally on the back of Cookie. The forest felt like it was watching him, and not in the way he was comfortable with. It was oddly quiet, and even Cookie seemed put-off. Lou didn't seem to mind – or notice, for that matter.

She was humming to herself, thinking about how close she was done with this mission. She could just go in, investigate and, if alive, kill the dragon, and be home and seen as a hero. Lou's chest puffed up. Oh, how proud her father will be!

"Louanne..." Cael muttered.

"Yes, thief?" That was weird. Cael didn't usually call her by her first name.

"I'm... Unnerved by this place."

Lou gave him an odd look. "Unnerved? How so?"

Cael shook his head, searching for words. "It feels like there's something large here. And it's concentrating. Hard."

"On what?"

"I don't know."

"Nevermind it then. We can ask the locals when we get into town."

Lou felt Cael's uneasy gaze, but she elected to ignore it. It's not as if she can do anything about it, she's more out of touch with the natural world. Cael is the one who's supposed to know the difference between muddy water and watery mud.

The town started to loom over the trees. Tall spires with dragons etched into them were hidden in them. Lou could understand Cael's uneasiness. She shivered. Cael's grip on her waist got a little tighter.

The gates of the town sped in. Lou hadn't noticed she'd been edging the horse on. The instant they passed through the gate, all worry flooded off Lou's shoulders. The town's buildings were made of stone and wood, intricately carved with close precision. Each building sported an odd looking dragon on top, and the overcasted clouds made the whole city look grey.

Louanne grinned. She practically jumped off her horse and bolted for the gates of Dragon Valley. Cael took the horse to the stables. Even if he was only a slow trot behind the girl, his heart hammered with worry.

Cael worried about where the little blonde was running off too, but he worried more about why his heart fluttered when he rode behind her. He was used to this close contact by now, but he felt he shouldn't be.

Cael shook his head. Those thoughts shouldn't be with him right now. He should be more worried about where on earth Lou was going.

The thief reined Cookie at the stables and rushed to Lou. She was chatting up a farmer on the road, trying to coax information out of them. Their fields were an expanse behind them. A small barn and hundreds of yards of wheat sway in the wind.

"So, you're saying we should talk to the Lady of this town?" Lou asked.

"Yesum." The farmer replied. He looked very wary of a blonde knight in a bright pink skirt, but Cael was thankful he replied.