Inferno Legacy: Valor of the Dragon (Book One)

Chapter 21

 Chapter 21

          Blackscales walked towards the clearing where he thought Inferno was still fast asleep with Autumn hidden by his wing fort, but when he arrived, the dragon’s shadowy, scaly head curved around to meet him. His icy blue eyes seemed somewhat surprised when the rider entered, but he quickly recovered and rested his head on the ground once more. His tail swished along the ground briefly as he relaxed, but it quickly went back to its usual motionless position.

            “You didn’t seem very surprised by my new weapons,” Blackscales stated in a sort of disappointed tone of voice.

            Inferno dragged his head through the dirt to face him and replied, “I awoke a while after you left and was startled by your disappearance, but I had a feeling that you’d gone into the town for something. While a weapon, or several weapons, wouldn’t have been my first guess, I’m not very surprised. I’m assuming you brought something along so I don’t have to carry Autumn around in my claws?”

            “I figured it was uncomfortable for you,” Blackscales said as he neared the dragon and held up the coil of rope. “Unfortunately, the only thing I could find that we have enough time to use is this rope.”

            Inferno looked at it briefly before saying, “That reminds me; the saddle seems to be getting pretty tight, could you adjust it for me?”

            As Blackscales walked over to adjust it, the dragon said, “Actually, I thought you would have bought some better clothes.”

            “Obviously you don’t understand how much heat you can give off,” was Blackscales’s reply. “You may be keeping most of the heat inside, but you still do lose a lot, I should be fine until the more severe weather hits, and by then we will be able to stop at another town.”

            Inferno gave a wordless sound of approval as he lifted his neck up slightly so Blackscales could undo the straps on the saddle. It took the rider a few minutes, but when he finally unbuckled it, the straps burst free as if they had been under immense pressure the entire time. That was when they got their proof that the dragon was growing; when they saw that the straps had almost been sawed through by the tough scales on his hide. They would still hold the saddle in place pretty well, but it was still a little surprising.

            “Remind me to keep adjusting it frequently, or else your iron skin will chop right through these!” Blackscales replied jokingly, but he was going to make sure to adjust it often anyways.

            “I will,” Inferno said as Blackscales buckled the saddle again. “Are you ready to go?”

            “Yeah,” Blackscales said.

            While he hadn’t been moving around too much with his new weapons, they were already starting to make him a little sore. The dragon seemed sympathetic, but never said anything and just let the rider have his space. Blackscales adjusted his battle axe and bow slightly so his shoulders weren’t hurting so much, before he asked Inferno to fold his wing so he could get to Autumn.

            As the dragon obeyed, they saw the young, unconscious woman become exposed to the chilly air of a late day in fall. They also noticed that the sun was quickly setting, and even with Blackscales’s superior eyesight he wouldn’t be able to see in the dead of night, so it was mostly up to Inferno to get the right path. Blackscales quickly shook away all of his worry and returned to the fact that unless they found Mrana Akano Furista, and fast, Autumn was going to die. It was an even worse prospect by far, but it was the only truly important and permanent one.