Chapter 42
Cody’s fast beating heart suddenly stopped. Falcon had just said that his father was named Flamidar. No matter how much he thought about it, the rider simple couldn’t rule out his father, even though he kept trying desperately. He felt his body beginning to shake, but he forced himself to control it.
“Thank you Falcon,” he told the woman in front of him calmly as he stood. “I’m afraid that’s all I needed to know. I will have to see you again soon.”
“You better, and tell your mother and father I said hi!” Falcon said cheerily, not sensing Cody’s terror.
Immediately Cody rushed from the living room and raced out the door, hardly slowing to say a final good-bye to Falcon as he left. He could faintly hear the others doing their best to follow closely behind him, but his pace was brisk as he made for the forest, not caring who saw. The others allowed him to walk in silence until the made it into the trees, and even Inferno seemed too shocked to speak. He had been listening to the entire exchange, until Cody began freaking out.
After a few more feet of walking, Cody just stopped. He sat down with a thump and rested his back against a tree as he tried to control his breathing. How could his father be serving the enemy? It must have been some kind of mistake. But of course, he knew it wasn’t. His father, no, Flamidar, had been acting strangely for a few months before he had found Inferno’s egg. He must have been searching for the rider, for him, the entire time. The man, who had raised him and “loved” him, was now trying to hunt him down. Who knew what he would do if he succeeded?
It took Cody a few minutes before he began to hear his companions and the dragon trying to talk to him. Mora had a hand on his shoulder as Pippi kept saying his name comfortingly, and Larson watched from a little ways away. Easiest to sense, however, was Inferno’s growls of comforting thought, urging him to snap out of his trance. The rider shook his head before burying it between his knees. He began to recall moments in his childhood when his father didn’t seem to care, when he was deep in thought or focusing on other things. He began to talk about each experience aloud, recounted his whole life with his father. He stopped for a minute when he reached the time that he had found Inferno’s egg. Cody slowly finished his tale.
“One morning I walked into our kitchen and saw him sitting at the table with his map, just gazing at it like he had been doing for a few months before, all hours of the day. I asked him what he was doing, and he joked that he was looking for Argos.” Cody threw himself at the nearest person and hugged them as he finished, “He wasn’t joking!”
Apparently Mora and Pippi had backed up to hear his story and only Larson remained close enough to him. Since the warrior didn’t seem to like hugs, Cody forced himself to draw away from the hug and wiped a fresh tear from under his eye. That was when the two women resumed their positions at his side to comfort him again with soothing voices.
“Get some sleep,” Inferno called to him softly. “It is getting dark, and you desperately need to rest.”
Cody ignored his companions as he slowly laid himself out onto the rough ground and forced himself to lie still. After a while, the others did they same and fell asleep. It took several horrendously long hours, or maybe just minutes, for him to finally fall asleep.
~
Cody awoke sometime later while it was still night. He felt unusual, but there was no tears, no shaking, and no reaction at all to the discovery of his father. Everything was absolutely fine and life was continuing for everyone else. The only thing that had changed was that Cody had found the man he had been searching for.
“That really is what it’s all about, isn’t it?” Cody asked Inferno, sensing the dragon’s consciousness.
“You certainly didn’t seem to be upset about leaving your father behind when you left with me and your friends,” Inferno reasoned. “It is unfortunate that your father is serving the enemy, but what does it matter? Your friends followed you into the unknown and risked their lives to be with you, but your father, apparently, may want to kill you. You can face a man whom you hardly know to save the people you truly care about, or cry about something that doesn’t exist.”
The last words seemed harsh, but they were comfortingly true to Cody. His whole life he had simply imagined that his father loved him and cared for him, but really he was part of a plot to destroy him. Inferno was right; he could risk the people he loved for a chance to save one he didn’t, or he could face his father and save his friends.
“Let’s go find Flamidar!” Cody thought confidently as he stood.
Inferno chuckled, “Wait until morning, when your energy is restored and we are all prepared for whatever is to come.”
Cody grunted unhappily before he reluctantly lowered himself to the ground again. There was no point in arguing, because the dragon was right again. He would have to wait to confront his father and find his friends. As he was trying to sleep, he couldn’t stop thinking about how close they were to saving Avalsmokes and Omen. And after he saved them, he could hopefully find out if Autumn had managed to make it to Mrana Akano Furista in time to be saved herself. He fell asleep imagining what it would feel like if him and his friends were finally reunited.
~
As soon as he wakened by the rising sun, the rider was already on his feet and waking the others, “Come on Lars, Mora, Pippi, we have to go get Flamidar!”
All three of them were confused by his new attitude but remained silent as they stood nonetheless. Pippi and Mora began whispering after they began walking back towards the miniscule clearing that Inferno had forced himself into the previous day. It took a bit of help, but eventually Cody found his way. He felt a little bit of his humor return when he saw that the dragon had tipped over several trees and entirely uprooted even more in his sleep.
“You try sleeping with your arms, legs, and neck practically strapped to your sides by rough wood,” Inferno snorted, reading his thoughts.
“Never mind that, we have to find Flamidar.”
“To your home?” Inferno asked as everyone climbed onto his back.
Cody simply nodded as he grabbed the tip of one of Inferno’s horns with his right hand. With a growl the dragon fought to unfurl his wings and jumped with all of his strength into the sky. He was careful to avoid going to high, but had to get some space between him and the treetops to turn around, back in the general direction of the meadow. He flew through the sky as fast as Cody had ever seen him fly until, after what seemed like no time at all, Cody’s old home came into view. Inferno immediately lowered himself directly onto the small road.
“Isn’t it risky to have you out in the open like this?” Cody asked as he slid off with the others.
Inferno growled in slight laughter before he answered, “A little, but I’m sure there aren’t many people coming down this trail, and I’ll head into the forest as soon as you set off. Besides, it would have been far more dangerous for all of us.”
“I suppose so. Wish us luck.”
“You won’t need it,” Inferno answered confidently as he nuzzled Cody’s chest with his forehead, “But good luck.”
Cody chuckled warmly and nodded. He patted Inferno’s scaly hide to urge him to leave before he could be seen. A long time had passed, but Cody could still recognize the road and knew that his house was just around the next turn, too close for comfort. Getting the message, the dragon leapt into the cover of the trees and vanished from sight.
The rider led the way about 20 feet down the road and, sure enough, his old house came into view as soon as they followed the road along a turn. They could have shouted, and anyone by the house could have heard their calls easily. Perhaps if they yelled loud enough, someone inside might have been able to hear them.
For some reason, Cody just knew that his father was inside. He could feel his very consciousness in the area, probably sitting at the table with a new map to plot his attack. Cody half walked half jogged until he was about ten feet from the house’s door. He glared at it with hatred as he was buffeted by the rough, cold wind. He was possibly only a few steps from finding out where his friends were and if they were alive. More likely, however, he was only a few steps from a dangerous ambush.
Cody stepped up to the door and quickly decided that it would be best not to knock. Taking one last worried glance at his companions and a deep breath, he opened the door. Flamidar sat, tense as ever, hunched over the dining table with his back to them. He somehow tensed even further, as if sensing Cody’s presence as he had done.
“So Rider, you have come.”
His father’s voice was cold, deep, and terrifying. He slowly stood and walked towards them before lifting his head to see them. Cody did his best to hide his gasp when he saw Flamidar’s eyes, seemingly a little out of focus. It was obvious his father didn’t even recognize him, which was very surprising to Cody.
Flamidar’s eyes flashed with shock, but hardened a bit again. Obviously he was infected by something, but since that moment of surprise, he had obviously sobered up a bit and Cody’s father was a bit more normal. For the first time the rider noticed that the house seemed empty and barren, though a little messy.
“Where is mother?” Cody asked somewhat worriedly.
“Dead,” the cold voice replied.
Again Flamidar’s eyes flashed, and Cody could sense the people behind him shifting uncomfortably against his terrifying gaze. Pippi stepped ahead of Mora to stand next to Cody, but still a bit behind him.
“He is fighting with strong magic, Cody. In a minute, I’m sure he can overcome it and last a few days without his mind being controlled by it,” the elf whispered so no one else could hear.
Cody turned to her weakly and whispered back, “Can you reverse the magic, or somehow make him normal permanently? It would be easier to talk to the man I thought I knew, not this zombie.”
Pippi thrust her hand forward, but nothing happened.
“The magic is too strong, probably the work of our enemies. Your father will be able to pull himself from the curse for a week, but after that he will be a slave to it for the rest of his life. Just wait a minute more and he will come out. You can talk to him then.”
Cody nodded and watched as Flamidar’s hands and legs twitched and his eyes kept flickering. Finally, his father seemingly pulled from the trance and his eyes looked at Cody with the affection fathers always gave to their children. All of a sudden, he collapsed onto the ground with a thud.
Forgetting everything and following his instincts, Cody lunged forward and pulled his father from the ground. He carefully dragged him on to a conveniently-placed pile of sheets for him to lie comfortably upon. The man coughed once or twice before lying completely still, and suddenly opening his eyes again.
“Cody? What are you doing here?”
“I came to find you,” Cody growled. “Then you just told me my mother’s dead. What happened?”
Flamidar’s eyes flashed with an unreadable emotion before he answered, “I don’t remember telling you that and I don’t know what happened, but she is dead.”
“He’s lying,” Inferno pointed out simply, though Cody had already noticed the telltale signs.
“How do you know she’s dead? Tell me everything you do know,” Cody urged his father sternly.
Flamidar glared at him for several moments, as if deciding something, before he answered, “I have no clue. The people in town told me.”
Cody looked at his companions to make sure they were picking up on the deception. The rider was heartbroken that he had no reliable family left, but focused on his own confusion. The most social person he knew, Falcon, had seemed very cheery to see him. If she had known that his mother was dead, she definitely would have been a little more somber during their meeting. Not to mention the fact that she asked Cody to say hello to his mother and father as he was leaving. His father was clearly hiding something about his mother’s death, meaning it probably had something to do with him or his allies.
Inferno encouraged gently from his mind, “Now you have to figure out how much he knows and how to take him. He doesn’t seem to know that you are the rider, but it would be safe to check. Then we have to figure out how we are going to get him to tell us where the enemy’s hideout is.”
Cody silently agreed and returned his attention to his father again. He glared at the man he thought he knew and forced himself to form a sentence to give to Flamidar. Finally he came up with one.
“Why are you lying to me?”
“Why won’t you tell me what you want instead of wasting time for both of us?” Flamidar answered rudely as he forced himself into a standing position, facing away from Cody.
Cody sat silent for several seconds before he finally said, “Because you know what I want. You know what I am, what I do, and what I seek.”
“You ‘seek’ your friends, who Dongoithu stole from you and hid in a place that you cannot find on your own, and certainly not in time.”
“You mean the friends that you stole from me,” Cody growled. “Just tell me where they are and you will never have to see me again.”
Flamidar turned around and his eyes were filled with hurt before he protested, “I didn’t take them! It was Dongoithu and his minions!”
“You are as much a part of it as he is and you know it. Tell me where they are!” Cody roared.
His father looked down at the floor for a second before looking up and shouting back, “Fine! I will take you to The Master, but it will mean your death!”
“I’m not taking a bastard like you with me.”
Flamidar rushed forward and grabbed him roughly by the shoulder before yelling, “If you want even the slightest chance of finding your friends alive, you will take me with you!”
The man pushed him backwards until he fell down onto his back. Cody’s father then stepped over him and boldly led the way to the door. He stood alone on the threshold, watching them all for several long moments. His harsh but normal gaze went around each one of them, as if daring one to protest.
“Well,” Flamidar began, “I don’t know the way to that snake-skinned worm, lead the way.”
Cody heard Inferno growl at the insult but did his best to ignore it as he glided past his father as majestically as he could manage. Without waiting for the others, the man followed directly behind the rider, leaving no room to slow down. Meanwhile, Inferno told Cody the general area that he was located in, about a minute’s walk at a speedy pace from the edge of the farmland.
It wasn’t long before Cody forced himself and his father to a stop at the place that Inferno was near. Looking back, he was relieved to see that his three companions had followed close behind, despite their obvious fear of the enemy. It wasn’t long before Inferno wove his way between the trees to meet them. The dragon stopped five feet from Flamidar and roared mightily right in his face. His message was clear; Flamidar would not be the one in charge on the trip.
Cody took a step forward, satisfied that the message had come across. However, he watched as Flamidar grabbed a branch from the ground and swung it forward with both hands, striking Inferno heavily on the cheek. The dragon was unprepared, and half yelped, half growled when the branch split in half against his jaw. Flamidar threw the half he was holding to the side and glared at Inferno harshly. The dragon whimpered quietly and lowered his head in defeat, but the man hardly noticed.
“Keep that brute under control, or your friends are as good as dead.”
Cody gulped and nodded; his eyes wide with fear. After that display, he was going to think twice about even shooting his father a hostile glance. The rider slowly pulled himself onto Inferno’s neck, just behind his head as he had always done recently. He could only hope that it was what his father wanted. Mora and Pippi uncomfortably settled themselves in the saddle where they normally sat. Then Cody looked at Lars, who seemed to be having a silent contest of dominance with his father.
Just as he was beginning to hope Flamidar wouldn’t knock him out, Larson strode forward and settled himself ahead of the spike that was in front of the saddle, though he never took his eyes off the enemy. Flamidar reluctantly pulled his own body into the saddle where Larson usually sat.
“Go on then,” Flamidar said moodily as he glared at Cody.
Inferno hesitantly spread his wings, and Cody began hoping deeply that everyone would survive the trip, and that he would get to see his friends alive again. They took off into the air and flew away. Cody took one last look at his old house, hoping that he would live to see it another day. Just as he was about to turn his head away, he saw something, or someone, moving in the doorway.
Was that Faltanar?