Inferno Legacy: Valor of the Dragon (Book One)

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

            It was hot.

            The sun was almost directly above the four people as they trudged through the thick sands, their legs already exhausted. Cody had decided to leave most of his armor behind so he wouldn’t arouse too much suspicion. With just his boots, gloves, sword, and 50 silver pieces jingling around in his pockets, he still felt as though the weight of the entire desert rested on his shoulders. Sweat poured off of his head in thick waves, flooding his eyes and soaking his shirt through.

            He was too tired and sweaty to think straight, and yet he knew he was only a little more than halfway to the town. He was finally beginning to see its rough shape on the horizon, but he was too exhausted to focus on it. Based on one bleary-eyed look, his companions felt similarly. It seemed as though his skin was soaking up the sun itself, sucking its very essence into his body needlessly.

            Cody was mad at himself for being so weak. He would have thought that a simple day’s walk wouldn’t be so bad. Instead, it was a day’s work trudging through sand that kept trying to bury his feet with seemingly no end on the surface of the sun. Hard as it may have been, a Dragon Warrior would make easy work of such a journey, maybe even covering the same distance in merely a few hours without breaking a sweat.

            “Don’t think like that,” Inferno growled. Unfortunately, his thoughts seemed weaker and more distant because of the land between them, which only lowered Cody’s spirits.

            Now I don’t even have Inferno, he thought bitterly.

            “I heard that!” Inferno snapped with frustration. “Focus on the city and try to make out the details of it. That should keep you preoccupied until you get closer.”

            Cody grumbled to himself as he obeyed. He spent two hours focusing intently on the town. Over that time period, he began to make out a few slim trees scattered around a massively tall wall the color of the sand beneath his feet. He could see nothing else even as they approached and came within an hour’s walk with it.

            “Water!” the rider suddenly shouted at the top of his longs.

            Cody hadn’t fully realized how thirsty he had been until he saw the small puddle in the shade of a small clump of trees. He suddenly found himself racing his companions, using all of his remaining energy to reach it first. Of course, the elf beat them all. They all came a little less than a minute after her, while Pippi already had her head lowered to the water to drink. Clearly Cody had imagined her exhaustion, since she quickly stood, looking ready to run full-speed into the town.

            After everyone had had their fill, they silently started walking towards the city again, though it was clear how much everyone was anticipating the upcoming hours. 20 minutes later, they paused to rest under the shade of a tree. Cody and Mora sat and rested their backs against it while Lars and Pippi stood looking around at the land they had covered.

            “What are we going to do when we get there?” Mora asked weakly while she wiped her sweaty forehead with her shirt sleeve.

            Cody’s mind was clear enough for him to see problems in the way they were intending to go into the town. Obviously they would try to blend in and look like average travelers coming from Morgran.

            “We definitely need to find a way to hide Pippi’s hair and ears. No one would believe we are harmless with an obvious elf in our presence. If word of my existence has actually spread this far, people will get suspicious seeing us together. Plus, there is a large rivalry between elves and dwarves and we don’t want to draw attention,” Cody explained his doubts.