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.

            Pippi thought for a minute before answering, “I have been to the desert before, and they probably sell desert-related head gear in the town. You could go without me to buy some and we can return together. But you should know that regardless of what you do to my appearance, it’s the very way my people speak, move, and exist that irritates those savages.”

            The matter-of-fact tone she took at the last sentence stung Cody, forcing him to say, “I guess there is a rivalry, and one that should not be messed with. If you feel so strongly, do you think the dwarves would instantly recognize your race?”

            Pippi shrugged, “If we’re lucky the inhabitants will have never seen many elves before.”

            Cody acknowledged her answer with a simple nod and said, “I think you should come with us though. Making two trips would be tiring and time-consuming and any guards they might have would question someone roaming around here alone. We can give you a hooded shirt for the time being.”

            Pippi reluctantly nodded, and within a few minutes they set off again eagerly, after getting Pippi the hooded shirt, of course. Cody led the way and kept a sharp eye out for anything suspicious. If Dongoithu had made it as far as the town already, he may have known that Cody would be in pursuit and put some sort of trap. The rider quickly discarded that thought, since anyone else that would have happened to come into the city would have triggered any trap that had been set.

            They walked about a half-hour longer, and all the while Cody couldn’t see anyone up on the walls. He lowered his gaze and saw that there was a large wooden door in the side of the wall that was wide open. The resulting space that was left for people to walk through into the city was just about big enough for all of the companions to walk through shoulder to shoulder if they had wanted to, and there was about ten feet of open air above them.

            They walked through, but Cody remained in the lead for the time being. It wasn’t long before Cody figured out why there were no guards on the wall: it was only about two feet thick at the most.

            “The desert has some horrible winds sometimes, so the wall must be here to protect the town from the damage it would cause,” Pippi explained when she saw where he was looking.

            “Oh,” was all he said in response as they continued walking.

            As the sun set behind them, Cody focused his attention on the buildings before him. They were made completely of stone, though some seemed to be coated in sand. They were relatively small buildings that appeared to be able to fit no more than a few people comfortably. The houses had no windows and the doors were fashioned from a thick, sturdy wood that Cody had never seen before, almost looking like rock. Almost all of them were connected to up to five other houses.

            Oddly enough, however, there wasn’t a single being in the streets. At this point it was night and the only sign of life was from a faint noise in the distance. Cody figured it was coming from a much larger building that was in the center of the town, though there were no windows in that either, so it was impossible for him to determine the cause of the noise.

            “Do you hear that?” Cody asked.

            Pippi nodded and said, “The dwarves. Laughing, singing, and drinking without a care.” Her eyes were shining with hatred, though shining eyes were useful for seeing in the dark, which elves were indeed good at.

            “Hear what?” Mora asked.

            “Elves and riders have superior hearing, so you probably can’t hear it yet,” Cody recalled.

            Lars shrugged, “Should we go check it out?”

            “That’s probably a tavern where we can find Bragg Randy, if he’s here yet,” Pippi reasoned. “Bragg may be able to tell us where Dongoithu is, if they were travelling together. We’re going to have to forget about buying anything for me to cover up though; every shop must be closed for the night.”

            “Probably. Toward the sound then?” Cody asked.

            Pippi looked at the others to get their silent confirmation before turning back to Cody and nodding. Without another word Cody proceeded through the empty streets, the silence giving him plenty of time to think about what they were headed towards. Just a little more walking and they would find out if they would be facing Dongoithu. In a little while, they would possibly confront his best friends’ kidnapper.

~

            They had finally reached the door about 10 minutes later, and Cody and Pippi were covering their ears to block out the sound dinning in their ears. Mora reluctantly opened the door for them, and the raucous, deep-throated song erupted around them.

“Grasp a drink herey oh!

Not some water, deary no!

Some dwarven ale and mead galore,

Pass some over and drink some more!”

            Cody suddenly gasped, recognizing the man leading the song. Bragg Randy. It was too loud to tell the others, so he merely gestured towards him with a stern look on his face. Lars nodded and began walking forward, about to force his way through the crowd of dwarves, but Mora suddenly grabbed his sleeve. Cody looked into her worried face and she pointed to their right.

            There, not ten feet away, a dwarf sat, watching them. A hood shrouded his face in darkness, but Cody could see his eyes clearly. One was yellow, while the other was dull and glazed over. Upon seeing them watching him, the dwarf stood. He was more than five feet tall, which was easily a foot taller than any of the other dwarves in the tavern. His legs were double-jointed; crooked and twisted.

            “Dongoithu,” Cody breathed.

            The dwarf smiled, somehow having heard Cody speak. He tilted his head slightly and strode forward, going out the door three feet from them.

            “Care to join me?” he hissed as he passed, not even looking over at them.

            Cody shivered and stood where he was for at least 10 seconds before he quickly followed out the door. He saw Dongoithu, his clothing shining silver in the moonlight, disappear behind one of the stone houses. The rider shivered again and followed without reluctance. He turned behind the house to find that Dongoithu had pulled down his hood, revealing his burned and scratched face.

            “All alone I see?” Dongoithu said with obvious glee.

            Cody turned around to see that he was right. If the others had followed him, they were probably a ways behind. Or maybe they had fled. He winced, and the dwarf’s grin widened significantly.

            “Let’s have some fun, shall we?”

            Before Cody could even think, he saw a tongue of flame shoot from Dongoithu’s left hand. He managed to twist out of the way just in time, letting the fire roll harmlessly past and he saw it dissipate not far away.

            “Don’t know magic?” Dongoithu said with a sneer. “Oh well, I can still have some fun with you.”

            In a moment, Dongoithu lifted his hands again, and black smoke hurtled towards Cody and enveloped him. He flew backwards a few feet from the force of it, and he struggled to breath for a few seconds until it faded away like the fire. As soon as he managed to stand, he saw a long rock headed straight for his head. Just before it reached him, he saw Pippi step in front of him and the rock instantly shattered into a million pieces. Cody watched as the bits of rock somehow faded into the soil, never to be seen again. He was fascinated by it.

            Cody looked back over to see Dongoithu staring at Pippi through his one good eye. “Ah, an elf. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one. How are you dear?”

            Pippi hissed in response and she shoved her hand forward. Cody gaped in amazement as several thick, green vines shot from her palm and wrapped themselves around Dongoithu with excellent precision.

            Dongoithu rolled his eyes and sighed, “A simple ‘not too great’ would have worked alright.”

            The dwarf twitched his head downwards, and a long tendril of water severed the wild ropes so they fell. Like the rocks, they sank into the soil and disappeared, along with the water. He wiped his sleeves as if it were nothing and looked back at her.

            “Thank you for helping me to show this human what magic is all about. Are you quite finished?”

            Pippi growled, “I will never be finished with scum like you. You are the worst of all the dwarves.”

            Dongoithu shook his head and asked, “Are you elves still so naïve?”

            In response, Pippi held her arms next to her at about the height of her waist. She lifted them up and threw them forward with tremendous force, and Cody watched as sand rose up around them and followed her arms’ movements. The flood of sand rushed at Dongoithu, but he seemed only bored. At the last second, Dongoithu lowered his head and clasped his hands together, facing the sand. With a rush of wind, the grains of rock flew harmlessly around him and settled just behind his heels.

            “Well, I think I’ve had enough fun with you, time for you to leave us alone.”

            With a flourish of his hand, Dongoithu lifted the sand around Pippi. Before she could even scream for help, the sand swelled around her until she fell onto the ground, looking like no more than a rock.

            “Is she…”

            “Oh she’ll live, I’m sorry to say, but she’ll be no trouble to us for a while so we can talk,” Dongoithu explained.

            Cody gulped and asked, “T-t-talk?”

            “Relax!” Dongoithu commanded. “I understand you have a question to ask me?”

            “How did you know?” Cody asked, regaining his courage.

            Dongoithu sighed, “I think you’ll find that I know a lot of things, Cody, but for the answer to your question, I’m afraid I’m not the person to ask.”

            “How do you know what I wanted to ask?” Cody said curiously.

            Dongoithu smiled and said, “Because it’s obvious. You want to know where the enemy stronghold is so you can storm in, save your friends, and go home after a long day’s work, right?”

 Cody narrowed his eyes and stared daggers at the dwarf.

            “My master told me that I was to redirect you to your hometown. Flamidar can tell you everything you need to know.”

            “But I-”

            Dongoithu quickly interrupted him, “So long, Rider, and good luck.”

            The dwarf twisted around as if he were going to walk away and jet-black smoke seemed to pour from his very skin until he couldn’t be seen. When the smoke had cleared, Dongoithu was gone without a single trace of his existence besides the pile of sand that rested behind the place that he had once stood.

            A cracking sound caught Cody’s attention. When he looked over, he saw Pippi break free from the rock that encased her, gasping for breath. He grasped her hand and pulled her upright, but he almost let go when he felt how badly she was shaking.

            “You alright?” he asked.

            “Fine, what did that dwarf say?”

            Cody shrugged and replied, “I couldn’t get him to tell me much, but he did say that we should go to my hometown. A man named Flamidar lives there and he can give us the answer. Funny, I lived my whole life there and never knew anyone by that name.”

            “Maybe it’s a nickname?” Pippi said.

            “Maybe.”

            Cody turned around and saw Larson and Mora running towards them. They looked terrified.

            “Are you two alright?” Cody asked.

            Larson nodded, “We’re fine, are you?”

            “Just a little shaken up,” Pippi replied with a weak smile crossing her face.

            Cody found himself explaining everything that happened, feeling like a child as he explained the magic fight. Larson and Mora listened in silence, while Pippi slowly calmed herself down until she was looking a little better and stopped shaking. Cody finished his story with a big breath of amazement.

            “So…we’re going to your hometown?” Lars asked.

            Cody nodded. “We’re going to find Flamidar, whoever he is, and save Avalsmokes and Omen.”

~

            It was cold.

            Everyone had agreed that it would be best to get an early start, though it took much convincing from Cody. They were supposed to reach Inferno at or before dawn, and then they would immediately begin flying to Cody’s hometown. They would take turns sleeping in the saddle, but Cody was beginning to think that it would be impossible to make it back. It was even colder than it had been hot the day before.

            Cody’s teeth were chattering uncontrollably, but he kept silent. He forced himself to focus on his friends. It felt like ages since he had seen them last, and he was already used to his new companions. He looked back at them, and thought of the three separate stories from each of them about the days they all met. He also saw how much colder Mora and Larson were than he and Pippi, but that only made him more determined. I won’t let others come to harm under my watch, he thought.

            “That’s good,” Inferno thought back to him with a humorous tone of thought.

            “You’re not helping!” Cody thought bitterly.

            Inferno chuckled and replied, “I could if you asked me to, but with that tone, I guess you don’t want my help.”

            Cody stopped walking, suddenly understanding what Inferno was saying. He said aloud, “The town is unguarded and it’s the middle of the night.”

            “So?” Larson said, shivering badly.

            “So it would have been a lot easier to just have Inferno pick us up,” Cody grumbled, making groans erupt around him.

            “I’m on my way,” Inferno laughed.

            Cody continued walking to save as much time as he could, but all the while he was furious. He was mad at Inferno, mad at himself, mad at the others, but mostly mad at Dongoithu and whoever his “master” was.

            “Why didn’t you tell me before!?” Cody suddenly yelled at Inferno in his mind.

            Inferno’s mind shrunk back in response to his anger as the dragon replied, “I didn’t think of it until now…why didn’t you think of it sooner?”

            Cody became weighted down with guilt and he said, “I’m sorry Inferno, I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m angrier with Dongoithu. I’m sure he could have told us where our friends are being held, but instead he sends us to find a man named Flamidar, whom I’ve never heard of.”

            “You need sleep to work out your anger,” Inferno crowed. “Besides, I’m sure there was one person you didn’t know from your town. Can you think of no one?”

            Cody laughed dryly under his breath before he replied, “Not a single person. I could still list off every single name for you if you want proof, going through each and every household and business, as well as three recluses.”

            “That would actually help significantly,” Inferno said with excitement. “Wait until we’re in the air though, I’m almost to you and you’re going to need better concentration to make sure you list every single house.”

            Cody responded with a simple thought of agreement and decided to tell his companions about their idea. He explained how it would be best for them to keep as silent as possible as he and Inferno went through the names. But the more he thought and talked about it, the more Cody was beginning to think it was hopeless. Clearly the name Flamidar would have conjured some sort of memory. Just then, Inferno jumped into his thoughts again.

            “There can be no harm in trying. Maybe you know a slightly similar name like Florin, or something, that would at least be worth looking into. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to make sure you remember everyone’s name. We are going to your town, so you might need to talk to everyone.”

            “I suppose so.”

            Just as Cody responded, He could faintly hear Inferno’s wings beating faintly. It was clear that he was trying to be as quiet as possible, but Cody and Pippi easily heard him coming. However, no matter how hard they looked, they could not see his black shape in the night. Luckily, it wasn’t more than about 20 seconds before he was landing safely onto the sand, spraying bits of it a few feet in every direction as he came into contact.

            “All aboard,” The dragon said contentedly as he lowered his stomach onto the earth.

            Cody moved first, sitting behind the dragon’s had for once instead of between his shoulder blades. The others showed no hesitation in climbing into the saddle, Mora and Larson sharing the leg straps as best they could.

            “Don’t worry about us making much noise, Cody. We’re going to take turns resting,” Mora explained tiredly as she leaned back into Pippi.

            “Thank you, but it shouldn’t take much longer than ten minutes,” Cody explained.

            Once he was sure everyone was secure, Inferno stood and quickly leaped off the ground, soaring up high into the sky. His tail shivered in the wind behind them and he turned sharply to the right to go towards the general direction that he remembered the town to be in. He straightened out and his wings began to beat the air rhythmically.

            “About three days until we’ll be there, give or take.”

            Cody nodded and replied, “Hopefully it won’t be part of some wild goose chase!”

            Inferno snorted in agreement, sending smoke out several feet ahead of them through his nostrils. In a few seconds, it overtook Cody and the others, though it vanished quickly. With a quick cough, Cody took a deep breath, and began going through every name he could remember.