Inferno Legacy: Valor of the Dragon (Book One)

Chapter 16

            Blackscales grabbed Autumn’s chin with his left hand, firmly but tenderly turning her head to face him. It had been a long time since they had even mentioned the incident where she hurt his dragon, but he hurt her in turn. He was never able to get a look at it in good light, and seizing his opportunity, he gazed at her face as he tried to determine exactly how much it had affected her. He thought the same as before; it did nothing to harm her complexion in any way.

            The rider tried to return to their earlier conversation by saying in a rather misleading way, “You must be meant to go on this trip with me, and you’re destined to follow me. I’m sure your mother would understand, and I’ll see to it that if she doesn’t, you will be able to explain it all to her someday; someday soon. As long as you’re with me I won’t let you be harmed in any way.”

            Realizing he was still holding her chin, he awkwardly pulled his hand away before staring at the counter in front of him in slight embarrassment. He was relieved when she seemed to ignore his discomfort and give him a comforting smile.

            “Thank you,” she said. “I’m glad I can count on you.”

            There was short silence before she pulled her hair back with one hand as she looked down at the floor shamefully and said, “I’m really sorry for prying into your secrets. Your…friend probably isn’t as mean as I first thought; I just automatically assumed that everyone of his race was dangerous. I had completely forgotten that you are completely faithful and wouldn’t lie to me or keep secrets from me without good reason.”

            Blackscales smiled, noticing that she was doing her best to hide everything in case someone would overhear and give away their location and identities to the enemy, even though neither of them knew who their enemy was yet. He was thankful for her willingness to accept that he had much to hide and wouldn’t reveal it until the time was right. He was also glad that she was so honest and even willing to go with him on his adventure.

            After another few moments of silence, Autumn pulled her own coat around herself tighter and said, “It isn’t getting warmer anytime soon, you want to go find some place to buy better clothes?”

            Blackscales nodded, “Yeah, it’s even colder upstairs in the hallway.”

            That was when they left. Blackscales took one last look at the space behind the bar to see that the bartender had left, probably for a short time during his and Autumn’s awkward conversation. He then stood up and followed his friend over to the door. They bundled themselves up as tightly as they could before opening the door and heading out into the cold night. It seemed to the rider that it was colder than it should have been, and he assumed that it was just because they were going further to the northeast as they traveled. With a sudden, slight fear, Blackscales realized that they would probably have to go much further north, in the dead of winter. He shivered at the thought; he loved the cold, but that seemed just too cold.

            He shook away the cold thoughts and started to lie to himself, thinking that they were going south where it was much warmer. He instantly felt his body relax at the thought of warmth, and took the lead on their search for a clothing shop with renewed vigor. They passed by the shop with the curios and Blackscales forced himself not to stop and look for Geragror’s unique physique in the window.

            Luck was on his side when he caught sight of a small building with bundles of cloth that at least looked like clothing hanging up neatly or folded delicately on tables. He led Autumn that way, and they peered at the clothing from a window before abruptly noticing that no one was there.