Chapter 14

            Blackscales was surprised when he dreamt that night, even though it wasn’t a message sent by Argos’s rider. He dreamed that he was riding Inferno as they flew high above the ground. He looked below and saw that the forest was replaced by wide open grassland; not a single bush, shrub, or tree for as far as the eye could see, even at that height.

            Then, a sudden howl erupted from behind them and Blackscales looked to see about a hundred Wargals and Wargs racing after them, each with a human or even an elf seated on them. There were an occasional few with a blurry figure on them and Blackscales assumed that they were the last unknown ally, and his imagination just didn’t know exactly how to put them together since he didn’t know who they were.

            It was clear to him that whatever race they were, they were his battalion of wolf riders and he was amazed by his power. A strange undiscovered part of him figured that his own physical power decided only half of how powerful he was, and how many loyal warriors he had beside him was the other. He felt pretty powerful, anyway.

            Blackscales and Inferno soared above them, high up in the clouds where the water soaked them but they still didn’t care. The rider suddenly felt his right arm feeling around the left side of his waist for something, and he pulled it up to his vision just too late; he woke up suddenly without a clue what it was that he had grabbed. He might have thought it was a sword, but it was too light and what little he saw of it told him that it was black.

            Before he could investigate it further, he was fully awake and saw Tornado Dust looming over him, with inferno stretching his head just above them both. There were three other wolves in the cavern waking the others, and Blackscales desperately wanted to know why.

            “Midnight Stalker no longer thinks it’s wise if you stay here, so we are supposed to escort you to the edge of our territory,” Another wolf announced as he entered the cavern.

            “Why isn’t it safe?” Aval asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

            The wolf, apparently having a dark personality replied in a somber voice, “He refused to say.”

            The new wolf was a big male, almost as large as Midnight Stalker. His fur was a dark grey, and Blackscales almost thought it was completely black. The wolf looked carefully over at a light grey female carefully before leaving the cave and sitting outside. The female had been nosing around Omen’s horse before she also turned to leave.

            Without a word, all of the travelers got ready for their long journey and abruptly left the cavern with the remaining wolves. They met with the other two after leaving the entire cave and emerging into the darkness. Judging from the moon’s position in the sky, Blackscales assumed that it was about three in the morning.

            Blackscales climbed onto Inferno’s back as they walked, since they felt much safer together. The other humans eventually mounted their horses, but the dragon rider was wary of the light grey she-wolf, who was walking very close to Omen and Inheritance. She suddenly seemed to look more certain of herself and picked up her pace to catch up with the dark grey wolf at the head of the group, though it was only then that Blackscales had noticed that she was nervous before. He shrugged and looked straight ahead at their goal.

            “How far until we reach the edge of your territory?” Blackscales asked as he tried to clear his thoughts about the she-wolf’s strange actions.

            The grouchy Wargal didn’t turn around as he replied, “Seven leagues by your measurements.”

            Blackscales was surprised since the wolf was only talking about the distance straight from the middle of the territory to the very edge, but from what he knew about ‘Weakling’ wolves, the average size of an entire territory was much less than seven leagues. He would have asked the Wargal why their territory was so much larger than other wolves’, but he knew better and figured that his guess was good enough. Unfortunately, the foolish Avalsmokes didn’t feel the same way.

            “That’s huge compared to normal, isn’t it?” Aval asked.

            The dark wolf stopped, turned around, and growled low in his throat before replying, “Only if you’re comparing us to Weaklings!”

            The venom in his tone immediately closed Aval’s mouth. Blackscales grew mad at himself as he thought of another question he wanted answered. He was wondering if they were going to have to camp out somewhere for the night, but he could guess that they would. In no way was he looking forward to sleeping with that wolf anywhere near him.

            They continued their travelling as the sun rose ahead of them; and Blackscales did his best to follow Icksazro’s advice and forget that they were going east in that case. But, despite his respect for the elf’s wisdom, he couldn’t help but take his father’s map out of his pocket and make a mental note of their direction. He also couldn’t help but notice that they were going straight towards a desert, renowned for its intense heat in all seasons, which claimed many lives in its time.

            Blackscales chuckled to himself when he suddenly wrapped his arms around himself, noticing the bitter cold of fall. He dropped his thick, leather reigns as he rubbed his shoulders with the opposite arms, trying to keep warm. He cunningly pressed himself against Inferno’s scales, noting the immense warmth that emanated from them even though scales were known to be amazing insulators, and he would’ve thought that they would keep all of a dragon’s body heat pretty well.

            He found himself craving a sweater or some sort of long-sleeved shirt and pants. While he was plenty warm against Inferno’s dragon heat, the saddle was digging into his gut slightly and he had to arch his back a lot more than he would have liked to avoid the minor pain, making him uncomfortable.

            The rider straightened up so he could stretch his back; feeling numerous cracks as his body readjusted, as well as intense cold where the heat had been just moments before. He felt like a despicable person when he smiled upon seeing the other humans in similar distress, though they didn’t have a warm dragon body to lean against.

            A sweet-looking black she-wolf noticed their irritation and said, “Just at the edge of our territory is a human town. You probably have money, so you could just buy some coats and warm pants there.”

            Blackscales nodded as he resorted to rubbing his shoulders again. He was wearing the coat he usually wore when he went out, but it wasn’t really for warmth. He didn’t actually know what it was for, just that it made him look like a good hunter, even though everyone who knew him well knew he wasn’t good. The coat had lost its glamour over the years with various stains, spots, and even some holes. He immediately reached into Inferno’s saddlebags (which they had both decided was a bit insulting and strange, but worked pretty well) and pulled out every bit of money he had.

            The rider had been entrusted with most of the money, and he held ten gold coins in his right hand, 50 silver and 30 copper in his left. The most money he had held in his hands before then had been one gold coin that his parents thought was the most magnificent thing, passing it around like a newborn child. It was actually the largest amount his family had ever owned at one time. Needless to say; he felt very excited.

            Then he began debating how much money he would need to spend on clothing so he would be warm, as well as shelter for himself and the horses. He quickly decided that he wouldn’t need to buy shelter in the town, since Icksazro had explained that there would be an ally in the town. Whoever it was could probably get them some food and shelter.

            Blackscales was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts by his companions chatting amongst each other, including the wolves, at least most of them; the light gray, jittery she-wolf and the dark gray, crabby wolf ahead remained silent. Putting his money away, the rider attempted to join the conversation.

            “Have you ever been to the town?” Autumn asked the friendly black she-wolf.

            She made loud barking sound, which Blackscales assumed was the way wolves laughed, before she responded, “None of us have; we do our best to keep our identities secret from the human race.”

            “Why?” Avalsmokes asked, somewhat defensively.

            The black she-wolf replied, “It’s sort of something all races try to do. The humans always mean well, but they are often foolish and can get into a lot of trouble when they can’t very well hold their own in battle. For their sake, for our sake, all races try to keep the humans in the dark as much as we possibly can. It may seem unfair, but you will likely learn our reasoning soon.”

            Avalsmokes crossed his arms in irritation before Blackscales inquired, “Why must you keep them, and us, in the dark? We struggle daily with the hardest tasks you’ll come across; surely we would only help.”

            The leading, dark grey wolf said in a tough voice, “Your race struggles with the weakest of challenges. This world hides much from your curious, prying eyes in the hopes that you won’t meet the gruesome fate you deserve.”

            Omen asked the only truly logical question, “Then why are we learning about some of these things?”

            The wolf erupted into a growl before replying in a joyless voice, “Because some deem riders fit to learn these secrets and enslave hundreds of my race for their own power.”

            “Someone sounds a little optimistic,” Inferno told Blackscales, not even trying to hide the sarcasm in his tone.

            “We only need to stay with him for a little while longer; less than a day actually.”

            The dragon let out a deep grumbling sound from the back of his throat in impatience, making tiny bits of light grey smoke escape from his nostrils and dissolve into the cold air. Unfortunately for his rider, the smoke lasted just long enough for him to pass through the light fumes. Blackscales gagged quietly; his own nostrils filling with it and the scent was that of acid searing through flesh and bone. He stuck his tongue out when he began to taste it; a sort of fiery metal blood scent.

            They began to talk to each other about whether the thought Inferno was beginning to get fire breath or not, since it was almost the right time according to their book. Blackscales’s attention soon turned to the book completely.

            “I think we should read it again some time soon,” Blackscales told the dragon. “We have much to learn from it still, and who knows how helpful it could be in the near future.”

            Inferno made his creepy, toothy grin before replying, “I totally agree; whenever you can manage to sneak away from the others with me, I will await you. Perhaps when we reach that town and you find shelter, when you wake up first you can seek me out again and we can learn more.”

            Blackscales silently agreed before he noticed that the others were still talking. At that time, however, it was mostly small talk and bored all of the people who weren’t involved. Finally there’s something that me and that dark wolf have in common! He joked to himself. The minor similarity didn’t make him any less scared of the wolf, but he wanted to learn more about him while he had the chance.

            The rider told Inferno to pick up his speed a tiny bit until they caught up to the vicious wolf. Blackscales looked down at him, and he glared back before facing the forest ahead of them once more. Blackscales watched him walk for a short while, trying to gauge his mood.

            Not wanting to disrupt the other conversation, Blackscales leaned to the left towards the wolf slightly before asking nervously, “What’s your name?”

            “Fog Rot.”

            Blackscales was slightly dismayed by the short and strange reply, but quickly asked his worst question, “Why are you so rude to us?”

            Fog Rot glared at him again before answering, “Because your race is the worst of all and I’m eager to get rid of you. I am completely confused about why Argos’s rider chose to take on such a weak rider, as if you could help us against our foes.”

            Despite his first reaction being one of utter fury, Blackscales suddenly found himself with more questions and asked, “So, Argos’s rider isn’t human?”

            Fog Rot growled, “If he was, all of Semiones would have been doomed to death, chaos, and destruction hundreds of years ago.”

            Blackscales had a few more questions to ask, but he was already growing tired of Fog Rot’s grouchy attitude. He told Inferno to back up slightly until they were next to the nervous she-wolf that had also been left out of the conversation. She seemed to be gentle, sweet, and just scared to the rider.

            “What are you called?” Blackscales asked in a soft tone as he leaned over again.

            The she-wolf seemed to jump out of deep, troubling thoughts before replying, “I’m Benevolent Mist.”

            “Why are you so close to Fog Rot? Why do you seem so troubled?”

            “Fog Rot is my mate,” Benevolent Mist replied, startling Blackscales. “To answer your other question; I’m grieving the loss of our pup. He was only a week old and we didn’t even have time to name him before he was gone. My mate’s a bit grouchy because of it as well.”

            While she didn’t say it directly, Blackscales assumed that the pup was dead and he felt bad for her. He wanted to try to cheer her up, but was growing incredibly tired of the bad mood hanging around the front of the group, so he told Inferno to back up until they were level with their friends again. The two of them spent the rest of that part of the trip in silence.

~

            After many long, silent hours, they reached the edge of the Wargal’s territory. The wolves left unceremoniously soon after, not including a quick good-bye that the nice black she-wolf had given them. Fog Rot and Benevolent Mist quickly bounded away into their part of the forest, never to be seen by them again.

            As the other wolves followed them, Blackscales noticed that it was getting darker by the minute, and desperately hoped that they could reach the town by nightfall. The others mirrored his concern before omen led them forward. They soon found a broad road to follow, likely to the town they were targeting.

            “I’m kind of sad that they’re gone now; I really liked Poisoned Light and Dust Essence’s company,” Autumn said, probably talking about two of the wolves.

            “I had to talk to Fog Rot and Benevolent Mist,” Blackscales complained.

            “I don’t really like Fog Rot much either; I was close enough to him the entire time that I could practically taste his hatred for me,” Omen joked, tossing his words over his shoulder.

            Blackscales agreed and said, “Whether you liked the Wargal’s company or not; it’s good to be alone with each other again, right?”

            “You said it!” Aval asked. “I was sort of in between all of the conversations I could find, it was pretty boring not having anyone’s attention.”

            They all laughed, when suddenly Blackscales saw something from his high perch, “It’s the town!”

            The others craned their necks to see the town. As they got closer, Blackscales began to be amazed by it, and figured it was more of a city. There were giant walls looming above them made out of solid stone, and he suddenly noticed two men clad in thick iron armor with sharp swords in sheaths around their waists, and bows and arrows over their shoulders.

            “Inferno had better hide quickly, they’ll be able to see him if we get much closer,” Blackscales announced to both the humans and dragons.”

            Without waiting for a reply, the rider unlaced his leg straps with nimble fingers before leaping down to the ground as Inferno continued to walk. Pain lanced up through his legs but he ignored it, leaping up into his horse’s saddle and gripping the unusual-feeling reigns.

            “You okay? You could have at least given us time to stop.” Autumn asked as everyone stopped.

            Blackscales nodded before replying, “I guess I’m just worried that they’ll find out about Inferno. It’s a large-looking city so they’re probably a bit more wary of travelers; make sure we look like just travelers.”

            Without question, Inferno walked off of the road and vanished into the forest. Blackscales was somewhat relieved when he noticed that the sun was still just above the horizon; they therefore had much more time to get into the town and find a place to stay before they would get too tired.

            They pressed on in silence, and one of the guards pointed them out to the other with a finger poking out of his iron gauntlets. One of them climbed down a small staircase that led through the wall before emerging from a door on the inside of the city. There was a huge gate with long strips of metal that appeared to be woven together in between the guard on the inside and the approaching adventurers.

            The guard on the inside waited for them to stop about ten feet from the gate before saying, “Who goes there?”

            Blackscales looked up nervously at the guard that had his bow out and was just about to knock an arrow before he replied, “I am Blackscales, these are my siblings Autumn and Avalsmokes, as well as my father, Omen. We need food and shelter for the night.”

            “You’re going to have to go elsewhere,” The guard behind the gate said. “We don’t let people into the city after dark unless they pay tax.”

            Blackscales heard inferno growl at the back of his mind before he asked angrily, “What kind of city would force people to pay tax? We’ve come to spend money in your city, why must we also pay at the gate?”

            “It’s the law,” The guard said with a devilish laugh, making everyone assume he was just trying to rob them. “One gold coin and you’re welcome into the city.”

            Blackscales glared at him, but hopped off of Chase’s back, grabbed a gold coin from Omen, and handed it to the guard through the gate. He half expected him to just walk away and leave the gate closed, but was relieved when he reached behind him and pulled on a lever by the wall. The gate creaked and lifted off the ground about six feet above them.

            Blackscales hopped back onto his horse’s back and Omen led them through the gate, the dragon rider glaring at both guards as they passed by.

            All that the guard said as they passed was an evil-toned, “Welcome to Morgran.”

            They all cautiously rode their horses through the city, wary of the guard’s tone. They silently looked around at the many tall houses and stores as the horse’s hooves clipped and clopped on a cobblestone road. Blackscales felt a shiver run down his spine when he noticed the dark clouds blowing above the dark houses and blocking the low-lying moon.

            “We’re looking for some sort of tavern or inn to stay at, and maybe a stable for the horses,” Blackscales explained, and suddenly remembered how cold it was, and began rubbing his shoulders again before adding, “And perhaps somewhere to buy warmer clothing.”

            The others nodded, and Aval almost instantly pointed out an unusually large building before saying, “That looks like it might be an inn of sorts, and there’s a stable right next to it.”

            Blackscales laughed at how simple it was, before a man was thrown out of the building head-first onto the cobblestones. The rider gulped as Omen jumped off of Inheritance’s back and handed his reigns to Blackscales.

            “I’m going to go inside and see if there are rooms available for us, you three take the horses to the stables and try to find someone.”

            “Hold on, I’m coming with you,” Blackscales said to Omen.

            Omen just glared at him for a moment before replying, to all of them, “I suppose I could use the help of a…you, and Aval and Autumn have weapons.”

            Blackscales nodded, noticing how Omen had almost called him a rider when there were people around to hear. Nevertheless, he ignored it and got off of his own horse before handing the reigns to Aval and Autumn.

            “We’ll meet you in the stables,” He said to Aval and Autumn, then turned to Omen and said, we should probably get all of our valuable things out of the saddlebags; we don’t want Aval and Autumn to have to carry everything back, and we certainly don’t want everything stolen. I have a feeling that the guards aren’t the only people in town with sticky fingers.”

            Omen silently agreed and began to empty Inheritance’s saddlebags and put the things in his pockets. As Blackscales did the same, he smiled and noticed something circular and black disappear into the blacksmith’s pockets; he had the scales with him. They quickly emptied the saddlebags and felt their thin coats weighing them down much more. Aval and Autumn got Off of Misty and Myrtle’s backs and led all six horses away.

            “You ready?” Omen asked, making Blackscales glance over at the man that had been thrown out of the building, and seemed to be unconscious.

            He gulped and replied, “Ready.”

            They reluctantly pushed their way into the inn (which they then assumed was also partly a tavern), their eyes closed tight as they braced themselves for what it could contain.