Chapter 23
Cody awoke at the exact time that Inferno predicted, after a day devoid of dreams. He felt refreshed and ready for his task, though he wasn’t very eager to begin. With a deep sigh, he crawled out of the fort and walked up to the dragon’s right leg. He leaned onto the saddle and removed every last coin, before turning around and racing towards the trail, following the direction that Inferno’s tail was pointing, since he had collapsed on the ground after going in an approximate straight line from the path.
With his swift feet he raced through the forest, careful not to trip or leave signs that were too obvious as to where he had come from. He could easily find his way back to where the dragon was resting, but he didn’t want someone else to and he couldn’t be sure exactly who would be walking along the main trail just looking for something interesting to track. No doubt someone would want to investigate an odd-looking trail that just jumped into the main road.
Using as little time as he could manage, Cody covered up his trail as best he could and continued on his way. He charged along the path with his amazing speed, hoping desperately that he’d make it to the gate before sundown so that he could get inside without paying a tax. Then again, the tax still could be a myth and just a way to rob people of their hard-earned money. But he couldn’t focus on that, he had to find Dongoithu and figure where his friends were, and whether they were even still alive.
Rather abruptly, Cody skidded to a halt and nearly tripped over his own feet when he caught sight of something animalistic ahead. If they were human, there was no way they could have seen him from that distance, but he couldn’t be perfectly sure. The outline of the creature was so faint it could have been anything from a dog to an elf. But Cody didn’t want to get closer to it.
It seemed to radiate a sort of evil chill as it strode along the path at a steady yet unusual pace. A gross scent invaded Cody’s nostrils, like the smell of rotting flesh that had somehow avoided being absorbed into nature. Like a body that had been rotting in the ground for centuries, but had still managed to be in perfect condition physically. Cody had to close his eyes and shake his head to try to get rid of the terrible visions and scents that raced around his head. But when he opened his eyes, the figure had disappeared and the forest had seemed to grow clearer and warmer.
Cody shook off the intense sense of fear that he felt coursing through his body as he continued on his path to the city. After a few minutes of walking he got to the position where the thing had been standing just before it vanished, but not a trace of it remained. The rider pressed further along the trail with his heart beating faster and faster with each step. He had followed the creature for a while, curious about what it was doing and where it was going, and he had felt sort of like a hunter, stalking his prey. But he abruptly became the hunted, or so it felt as he looked around at the forest, which seemed even more eerie since the creepy encounter.
The sense of relief was so profound that Cody could feel his skin practically buzzing when, far off in the distance, the flag that sat atop the massive wall came into view. While the flag itself couldn’t protect him, and the city was still very far away, he felt much safer with it in sight. The rest of his walk was spent completely in concern for his friends and worry about whether he’d make it inside with all of his money. Although, he was also pretty worried about what he’d do to get his information, when he didn’t know who he could go to.
He decided to stop at the clothing shop first, in the hopes that they would be open for him to legitimately buy what he needed. Then he would go to the tavern/inn that he had stayed at previously, but stop along the way at the antique shop. That reminded Cody of the two lockets he had purchased those few nights ago. The black one, he realized with a start, was still wrapped around his neck, while the white one was miraculously left unharmed in his pocket. He shook away his incredulity at the kidnappers, which took nearly everything he had, for not taking the lockets, as the actual gate of the city came into view.
Through the increasing darkness it was difficult to make out the two guards on top. Cody had arrived past sundown, but he still couldn’t tell if that “tax” was real. If it didn’t actually exist, he could only hope that there were different guards this time. But he quickly got proof that his luck was beginning to run out, since all three of his friends could very well be dead, and he would evidently go broke before he even entered the castle.
“What are you doing bringing your sorry carcass around here?” One of the guards said, and Cody recognized him as the one who had shot at him before.
“What are you doing!?” Cody heard incredibly faintly, a furious voice over the wind just after an arrow whizzed by his ear.
Cody held his place firmly, listening intently to the conversation that was going on at the top of the wall. He knew for a fact that he wouldn’t have been able to hear them without his heightened senses.
“That’s the guy I told you about!” The first, more familiar guard shouted to the other, like a child looking for an excuse for his mother as to why he did something wrong.
The other guard seemed to grab the first guard’s tunic collar in one of his fists as he hissed back, “I told you that if he comes back, you were to let me handle it!”
Sick of the arguing, Cody took his bow from his shoulders, knocked an arrow, and let it fly towards them, missing the rude guard by mere millimeters, exactly where he had been aiming. The more mature guard let go of the other and disappeared down the stairs, which Cody took as an invitation to come forward and he eagerly obliged.
When the rider made it to the gate, the seemingly friendly guard looked him over carefully. He pulled the lever without any hesitation, and allowed Cody inside. Evidently, the tax didn’t exist at all, since it was pretty much dark at that point.
“Follow me,” the guard whispered quietly for some reason, pulling the rider out of his thoughts.
The guard nodded as he confirmed that Cody would, and yelled up to the other, “Cover my shift until I send someone else!”
The more discourteous guard glared at him but didn’t dare defy his orders. Without another word, Cody was rushed away without any indication of their destination whatsoever. He grew fearful again as he was led through the town by this man that he was sure he had never seen before in his life, to a small house at a sort of secluded part of the town, with only three other homes nearby. Along the way, houses seemed to rush by in a blur of motion, with Inferno’s rider racing behind the man almost as fast as he could. Upon reaching the special neighborhood, the guard brought the rider into the largest, but still pretty puny house in the area, and locked the door behind them.
“How do you-”
“Not here, not now,” the guard hissed, rudely interrupting Cody.
The man looked through the keyhole in the door, as if to make sure they weren’t being followed, before he gripped Cody’s hand in his own, and rushed to another part of the house. They went through an unusual silvery-grey door, emerging into a sort of large study with bookcases on every spare inch of space lined with books. They weaved in between the bookcases until they made it to the center where a simple desk and two small chairs stood.
“Sit,” the man said anxiously, some sort of emotion glinting in his eyes as he sat in one of the chairs, but Cody couldn’t guess what.
The rider sat in the other chair and looked around briefly, looking for some sort of exit just in case, but he couldn’t even find the path that they had used to get there. He looked back at the guard, only to find the “hidden” emotion in his eyes stronger than ever before.
“Don’t worry, this particular room is safe,” the man said, not making the rider feel any better.
Cody looked at him carefully before asking more bravely than he actually was, “Who are you, and why did you bring me here?”
The man laughed, and his eyes glistened again with the emotion far stronger, just exploding orbs, of hope and enthusiasm. He quickly put his hand to his head, as if scolding himself for something, before he forcibly morphed his expression to one of cool and collected calm. He had seemed relatively unflustered before, but he did have some strong bouts of emotion that made Cody feel uncomfortable in some way.
“I am Mordon, captain of the guard in the city of Morgran, and I’m also quite a huge fan of reading, mostly historical pieces. I’ve brought you here, because I think you can help me.”
Cody gave him an innocent look before replying, “How would I be able to help you? I’m just a travelling merchant.”
“A travelling merchant all alone with poor clothing, no goods to sell, and going to the same time twice in one week?” The guard, Mordon, asked in mock-surprise. “Besides, with those weapons, no doubt you could do something towards helping me solve my problem.”
Cody winced, but remained silent as he tried to gauge his reaction. Mordon looked him over carefully, as if deciding something. The guard calmed down even more, the hope in his eyes replaced by determination.
“She is better than I first thought,” Mordon said to himself as he gazed off into space.
“Who is?” Cody asked in surprise and confusion.
Ignoring his question Mordon asked, “What is your name?”
The dragon rider thought carefully about whether he should reply truthfully, but he knew Inferno was only a thought away, so he said, quite proudly, “I am Cody, and I must admit that I am absolutely clueless as to why you’ve brought me here.”
Mordon seemed to scold himself once more before he explained, “My sister is sort of like a fortuneteller, in a sense. Recently, about a month ago actually, a dear friend of hers was kidnapped by bandits, and ever since then I’ve been looking for someone to help.”
“Oh I can’t-” Cody began, but was abruptly cut off.
Mordon quickly continued, “Please let me finish. About a week ago, she saw you fighting all of those men in the tavern at the edge of the city. At that moment, she got one of her many brief visions that constantly force their way into her conscience. While she couldn’t quite make everything out in this particular one, she told me that you were somehow destined for greatness unlike anything we know. She said that you were riding some sort of cloud of shadow and fire in this vision, chasing down her friend’s kidnappers.”
Cody paused after hearing this, waiting for him to continue, but he never did. They both simply sat there perfectly still, just watching each other and gazing at each other expectantly. The rider could assume what the guard was trying to propose, but he wanted to hear it aloud and didn’t even know how to respond if he was correct.
Finally, Cody spoke up, “So you want me to go after your sister’s friend’s kidnappers?”
Mordon nodded eagerly before answering, “Of course. I really need you to do this, and save her, since I am a pretty good friend of hers as well.”
“I have so much on my shoulders right now as it is, and I’ve never actually fought or tracked anything except maybe deer for food. I’m afraid that I can’t accept,” Cody announced and stood, eager to leave.
“No please!” Mordon said as he stood as well, begging now. “I will pay you handsomely if you succeed! Piles and heaps and mounds of gold! Anything you want, it’s yours.”
Cody stared at him in surprise, and heard Inferno’s words echoing through his head, telling him to do it so that he could actually do what the riders were known for. He sat back down reluctantly at outstretched his hands for the guard to continue, making relief crowd over the man’s face.
“Obviously you’re holding something back,” Cody said, observing Mordon’s eager gaze.
The guard shifted nervously for a second before saying, “Me and my sister would like to accompany you. My sister, Mora, is very determined to find out more about you. She told me that she has never felt such potential power from someone before, not even the city’s most powerful warriors.”
“Accompany me!?” Cody asked, more nervous and uncomfortable about the whole confrontation than ever before.
Immediately, as he tried to control his panic, he decided that he would call out for his dragon. He really didn’t want to go on this quest if it meant that his own friends would end up suffering more because of it, but he also didn’t want to turn the man down, just because it would insult the honorable and noble rider inside of him.
“Inferno!” He finally called out, closing his eyes and focusing all of his energy on the slumbering dragon.
“What’s wrong!? Are you in trouble!?” the dragon roared in alarm and Cody could feel him leaping straight up into the air in surprise.
Cody controlled his breathing slightly before replying, “Yes and no. One of the guards on the wall dragged me away to his house, and wants me to help him find a friend who was kidnapped by bandits. I am really confused about what I should do, so I thought I should ask you.”
As quickly as he could so he wouldn’t keep Mordon waiting in confusion much longer, Cody described everything to Inferno. He included how the guard and his sister wanted to accompany them, and how they were willing to offer almost anything for their help. Afterwards, he eagerly awaited the dragon’s reply, needing his seemingly superior wisdom.
“There are many problems and opportunities with this,” Inferno explained as he continued to think. “Perhaps he could tell us something useful since he seems to be a pretty knowledgeable and respected member of this community. If these…bandits are close enough, you could bring them along with you and only travel a day or two out of your way, and we’d never have to expose me. We could be on our way with everything we need to know, and we will have helped someone out.”
“But perhaps we shouldn’t hide you from them? We could have someone to spread tales around of our existence which could end up in our favor. In the very least we could have two more people to help us in the fight against our enemies,” Cody suggested as he rubbed his chin.
“Well?” Mordon asked anxiously.
Inferno sighed and said to his rider, “Fine, accept the offer and learn what we need to know, but keep me a complete secret until the opportune moment.”
“But we still don’t know if we can trust me alone with them, where these bandits actually are, and for all we know Avalsmokes and Omen are being tortured as we speak,” Cody said, suddenly leaning towards the other option.
Inferno snorted in anger before replying, “Just choose whatever you think will benefit the most and we can leave immediately either way.”
“I accept,” Cody suddenly announced, making Mordon lean back in his chair with relief.
What had the rider gotten himself into? He was going to be travelling with complete strangers, possibly for another month…or maybe even the rest of his life if he and Inferno were “unsuccessful” at defeating their enemies, whoever they were. Cody began to panic, briefly wishing that he hadn’t made up his mind so quickly. With a few deep breaths he decided that what was done was done, and he was going to have to follow through with his decision.
“I’ll help you track down your friend,” Cody began, taking another deep breath before he continued, “But I want quite a bit in return.”
Mordon suddenly looked very sorrowful as he asked, “How much do you need?”
“Not money at all,” Cody said, making the guard relax much more. “First I want some warm winter gear, since I am completely unprotected. Secondly, I will need your help on one of my own missions. Lastly, I need information.”
Mordon glared at him before answering, “First you must tell me of all of your missions, and then I’ll consider the other things that you’ve requested.”
Cody nodded and voiced, “Me and my closest friend had travelling companions while we were in Morgran the first time. One of them was poisoned, and the other two were kidnapped much like your own friend but by worse foes, and I would like to get my revenge and save my friends. Of course you might not want to travel with us, so the other option is that you help me and my…brother get a little more famous around here.”
Mordon laced his fingers together and pressed them against his lips as he thought about his options. He sat there silently for a long time, for once giving Cody the time to look over his features like his sandy blonde hair and light green eyes with olive skin to make him look pretty much yellow from head to toe aside from his clothing.
“It sounds like I’m getting the bad end of the deal,” the guard abruptly announced, making Cody wince as he was pulled out of his thoughts.
Mordon continued to think deeply before adding, “Obviously my sister chose you to help us for a reason, and I would like to learn more about you, Cody. It would be my honor to help you save your friends as well as my own, especially since I enjoy adventures.”
Cody sighed with relief and he could feel Inferno relax slightly as well, but the deal still could fall through as well. Cody was quickly reminded this fact, after what the guard said next.
“Now what is this information you want to know?”
Cody winced for the third time that trip before giving his response, “I know the name of the man who poisoned one of my friends, and if I manage to find him, he could reveal where my others are being held. The last place that I heard he was at was here in Morgran, and I was hoping someone here would know of him.”
“Well who is he?” Mordon asked curiosity glinting in his eyes.
Cody was cut off as a very tiny noise sounded through his ears, and he immediately turned his head towards the sound that Mordon must not have heard. The guard sighed with resignation as he seemingly realized that the person in front of him discovered something that he was hiding. With a wave of his hand and another deep sigh a woman walked out into the open, clutching a book in her hand.
“This is Mora, my sister. I was keeping her hidden by the bookshelves so that she could listen to our conversation,” Mordon said.
Cody looked at her with curious eyes. While he had expected her to look fragile and gentle like most women he had seen in his life, with the exception of Autumn and Fril of course, she was instead appearing to be muscular and fit. Her yellowish-blonde hair hung down to the middle of her back while her eyes glistened like marvelous gold in the pale light that originated from a few small candles that Cody hadn’t noticed until now.
“I am pleased to hear that you are willing to help. No doubt you are of noble lineage of sorts,” Mora said as she pulled up a chair and sat, though she seemed to be forcing the grace into her voice which made the rider think that it usually wasn’t in her nature to be so formal with people other than strangers.
“Please continue. Who is the man you are looking for?” Mordon asked impatiently, probably not enjoying Cody studying his sister.
The rider shook his head to clear his thoughts of the woman. He didn’t really feel that she was someone he would ever really grow to love, but he really enjoyed looking at her. He began to realize that she reminded him greatly of Autumn, aside from their different hair and eye colors, but she did seem to have the same adventurous attitude and sort of battle-hungry feel to her.
“My apologies, sir, she just reminds me of the friend of mine that was poisoned,” Cody said sadly, making the guard stare at him apologetically.
Mordon asked again, this time with more affection, “Tell us who poisoned her, and perhaps we can bring him to justice and find your other friends.”
“He is a dwarf named Dongoithu, and I know nothing more of him, except that he might be antisocial unless necessary to find something important and he doesn’t stick in one place for long.”
Mordon thought for a moment, but almost immediately replied, “I wouldn’t have heard of him at all if not for that guardsman you saw with me. He was on guard duty the night that both you and that Bragg Randy left, and he would not let me forget about either of you, and the shadowy dwarf he was travelling with. Since Bragg was someone everyone was eager to be rid of, he made quite a name for himself when he left.”
“Where did they go!?” Cody asked as he suddenly leaped from his chair, Inferno’s own surprise helping to fuel his actions.
“Uh, uh, uh,” Mora said with a more casual and wicked grin, but still friendly. “We won’t tell you where they’ve gone until you help us. I trust that you’re a man of your word, but you must understand that getting tiny bits and pieces of information at random isn’t worth us entrusting my friend’s life with you.”
Cody had been close to bursting with rage until she said that to make him see reason. He sat back down in his chair and looked at the two people that he suddenly realized would practically be replacing his friends. He wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the idea, but he and Inferno had had their fair share of alone time. There were also quite a few positives with this, but the dragon quickly reminded him that they needed some more details about the trip.
“How far away do you think these bandits are?” the rider asked.
Mordon smiled and replied, “One of my other guards said that they were last spotted about two day’s travel away on horseback, I can easily get the horses we need though, so don’t worry. Do you and your brother both need horses or do you have some?”
Cody grinned and felt Inferno’s glee many times stronger as he replied, “I have a mount for all of us.”
He knew he was giving them a sort of devilish grin, but he couldn’t help it when he thought about how surprised they would be to see a dragon twice as tall as them at the shoulder. Inferno would definitely have some trouble carrying all three at top speed when he was as tired as he was, but it would only be about six hours by dragon back. That was when the rider realized that they would be the first people other than himself to ride on the dragon’s back, and there wouldn’t even be much space for them.
“They can be seated in the saddle and I can carry you in my talons, if you trust me enough,” Inferno suggested.
“I trust you. I will do it if you think you can.”
Inferno nodded just before Mordon said in confusion, “If you are willing to supply us with mounts, I guess that’s fine. When do you think we should leave? The sooner the better, but it’s nearly midnight by now.”
“For their peace of mind, so they don’t just see a shadow stalking them in the dark when they come to see me, you should probably stay there until morning even if you can’t sleep,” Inferno suggested.
“We’ll leave at dawn,” Cody said.
Mora nodded and said, “We have a room for you and your brother if you’d like to sleep here, and we’ll settle some of the more important details in the morning.”
Cody nodded and replied, “Please, lead the way. My companion prefers to sleep in the forest though.”
Mordon gave him a confused look but shrugged it off and stood from his chair. “Mora, would you show our guest to his room while I alert the mayor of my future absence?”
“Gladly,” his sister said with a broad grin on her face as she stood too and pulled Cody away.
She led the rider through the maze of books and bookshelves until they reached the grey door and she pushed right through. They both remained in silence as Mordon followed them briefly, but left them again to leave the house. Mora then led the rider through a plain brown door and pointed to the bed.
“You are free to sleep here for the night, and I am glad that you chose to help me and my brother. In the morning we will provide you with food and clothing, and we will leave. While I don’t know who you are, what you’re doing, where you came from, why you’re helping us, or what my vision meant about you, I’m glad to at least have someone that seems as trustworthy as you to help us,” she said before abruptly leaving.
“Weirdest fortuneteller ever,” Cody told Inferno as he flopped onto the dusty mattress that was probably riddled with bugs of all sorts, merely happy to rest after suddenly feeling his weariness.
Inferno snorted in disapproval before replying, “I know you enjoy her company; she reminds me much of Autumn as well just from how she speaks with such confidence. Besides, she must be a fortuneteller that really isn’t exactly one, and just has a minor power to see into the future. To be perfectly honest, I’m eager to have someone like her as well as her brother to accompany us in our hunt.”
“We have to hunt for their friend first, and you will grow very weary from carrying three, maybe even four if their friend chooses to accompany us,” Cody said, making Inferno snort as if he’d been insulted.
“You just watch me carry all four of your lazy carcasses to the other end of the world in one day!” the dragon joked, making his rider laugh.
Cody smiled and settled in his temporary bed before saying, “Good night Inferno, and we’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good night Cody,” Inferno said in response, making the rider smile upon hearing his name before they both drifted off into sleep.