Chapter 43

            The day had gone by slowly, and the only time anyone talked was when Flamidar yelled at Inferno to speed up, or to slow down, or to go lower, or to turn a certain way. It had gotten very annoying by nightfall, but just as Cody was beginning to think they would have to force Inferno through the night, his father yelled for him to stop for the night. The dragon didn’t hesitate to dive into a nearby clearing surrounded by thick brush that would keep them well hidden.

            “You go hunt for something for us to eat,” the man ordered to Lars, who reluctantly slid off Inferno’s back and walked off into the forest. Pointing at Cody and Mora he said, “You two can gather firewood and start a fire. Dragon, if you can understand me, dig a hole for us to sleep in more safely.”

            Inferno dipped his head obediently as everyone else got out of their seats, but when the enemy turned his back he growled. “What scum! A warrior of the skies being forced to dig himself into the ground!”

            “You saw, or at least felt his fury. Would you be willing to face that again, when I’m sure he could do so much more?” Cody asked, trying to calm his friend down.

            Inferno snorted, “Of course not, but he should have more sense, or at least more heart. I’d love to throw him in the hole and cover it up again with my dung!”

            Cody felt a pang of guilt at the dragon’s words, since it was his father they were talking about after all. After picking up a large stick and adding it to the pile in his arms, Cody decided it wasn’t too harsh. The bond between a father and son was supposed to be a very special one, matched by few others, and Flamidar had made one from nothing but lies. What had he ever done for Cody, except ignore him and now, order him around and threaten his closest friend?

~

            “I think we should post a watch,” Cody suggested to everyone with his father well within earshot.

            The moon was looming above the trees; casting the whole forest in dark shadows and making the nocturnal animals scurry about eagerly. The fire Mora had started had died out long before and was now only a few brightly-glowing embers. Everyone was full-fed and satisfied, except for Inferno. Flamidar had mentioned nothing of him eating, and no one dared to give him even the smallest piece of meat with the man around.

            “What do you mean ‘a watch’?” Flamidar asked, glaring at Cody with deeply hostile eyes.

            Cody stared daggers at him right back as he answered, “You can’t exactly blame us for wanting to keep close tabs on a close enemy.”

            “Waste precious hours of sleep on watching me, what do I care if it gets me one step closer to conquering you?” Cody’s father hissed, laying down at the very edge of the hole that Inferno had dug. He was clearly uncomfortable there, but dared not say it.

            “I’ll take the first watch,” Pippi cooed comfortingly in Cody’s ear.

            “Thank you,” Cody managed to respond before snuggling close to Inferno’s side.

            The dragon made a comforting growling noise as he pulled his wing over him and the others. He avoided covering Flamidar for numerous reasons, and Pippi was going to have to stay outside to watch the traitor. Cody pulled himself as close as he possibly could to his dragon’s warm, smooth scales and quickly fell asleep.

            It seemed like only seconds later, Mora was in his face, rocking him gently to wake him up. At first he was very confused why she was waking him and Pippi wasn’t, but then he realized that it must have been several hours after he had fallen asleep. When she noticed that he was awake, she stopped moving him.

            “It’s your turn to watch over Flamidar. Lars already went, so you’ve got him until sunrise,” Mora explained before retreating a little ways away, close to Pippi who was already fast asleep.

            Cody reluctantly dragged himself to his feet and snuck out of the shelter of Inferno’s wings into the chilly autumn night. By the long-dead fire he noticed his axe, sword, and bow and arrows splayed clumsily across the ground. It was rather reckless of him to leave his weapons outside. If Flamidar had been awake, he could have easily stolen any one of his choosing when Mora went into the shelter of Inferno’s wings and out of sight. Cody considered himself lucky that it didn’t happen, or else he could have been killed easily in his sleep.

            The rider settled himself comfortably against a nearby tree. From where he sat, he could just barely see Inferno’s rough, dark shape in the hole he had dug, rising up and down significantly with each deep breath. Down, about ten feet from the tip of his tail, several feet closer to Cody, was where Flamidar slept peacefully. Cody thought that it was surprising he could look so peaceful, what with the darkness that cowered inside.

            For an hour Cody sat relatively still, occasionally rubbing his arms and legs and curling into a tight ball to warm himself up. The time was rather uneventful, as he spent most of his time listening to the sounds of the forest. He felt his heart fill with awe as he heard a pack of coyotes howling together in the night. It was beautiful.

            Then suddenly, Cody heard someone begin coughing badly. Immediately he rushed over and looked down at the man. He was on his hands and knees, but soon rolled over onto his back with a weak sigh. On the ground where the man had just been, a dark red liquid coated the dirt and soaked back into the earth. His father had been coughing up blood. The rider looked back at his father and saw that skin looked somewhat pale and clammy, and he shook, as if shivering, from head to toe.

            “Father?” Cody asked concernedly as he sat besides the man, forgetting his hatred.

            Flamidar shook his head to clear it before responding, “Cody. There isn’t much time.”

            The man seemed to clear up a little bit and tried to stand up. Cody had no clue what he should do, so he just grabbed his father’s left should and helped to drag him away from the others. He helped him sit down again against a green pine tree. Flamidar looked sternly at Cody, but in a fatherly way. He seemed very gentle and caring all of a sudden, though there was a small line of blood seeping from his mouth.

            “Cody,” Flamidar began again, “I am so sorry I never cared for you the way I should have.”

            The rider’s bitterness returned and he said, “I’m sure you are sorry. Any of the other children had a father who cared for them and loved them, but you hardly knew I existed.”

            Flamidar’s eyes filled with hurt before he answered gently, “That’s not true. I loved you more than any of those fathers ever could have imagined. You and your mother were the only things that mattered in my life.”

            “What happened to Mother? You clearly know how she died.” Cody asked.

            Flamidar coughed briefly before answering, “To tell you would take ages, if you were even willing to listen. I would have to start from the beginning and tell you everything.”

            “You mean, about how you became involved with such despicable people?” Cody growled.

            Flamidar looked down at his knees, obviously very deeply hurt by whatever he was going through, both physically and mentally. Cody felt badly. He looked at Flamidar, and didn’t see a vicious cold-blooded killer like Faltanar or Dongoithu. Nor did he see the father that he had loved in his childhood. He was a poor, ragged, dying man, in need of some sort of comfort.

            “Tell me,” Cody urged as he settled beside the man, watching his every movement with intense interest.

            Flamidar sighed before beginning his tale, “It was about 16 or 17 years ago. I brought you to a peaceful lake a few miles from our house. I always wanted you to grow up to be an amazing hunter and fisherman, so that you could provide for your mother long after I was gone. You were little more than a baby, and hobbled along the shore on those little legs of yours. I looked away for only a moment, and when I turned back you were gone. I was absolutely terrified. I searched high and low for you, until I found you in a wide field.

“You were just playing happily, hobbling through the grass, when I heard a growl. I looked over, and saw a skeletar. It was a monstrous wolf! Then more and more skeletars came out, their pale bones filled me with terror. They inched closer and closer to you, and I began to beg for someone, anyone, to save you. In a flash of light the beasts fled, and a man appeared in the field next to you. The man, who I later found out was Faltanar, picked you up and brought you to me. He told me that in exchange for saving your life, I owed him any service I could provide.

“After a while he moved to town and posed as a storyteller. Then Faltanar came up to me one day and said that I would have to follow him. He brought me to his master’s secret lair, where I met The Master himself. He said that I would have to find the next dragon rider within a few years, or he would kill me. He struck me with a spell, and only a few days ago I realized that it was meant to kill me on this very day. The only way I could live, was by bringing you to The Master in time, so he could remove the curse.”

            Flamidar began a long fit of nasty coughing, spraying blood all over the ground and the front of his clothes. He looked even weaker than before, though he was more clear-headed than earlier. Cody pulled himself closer to his dying father and remained there for several long, agonizing moments.

            “But what happened to Mother?” Cody dared to ask.

            Flamidar shook his head before answering, “The Master was growing impatient with me. I went off hunting, but when I returned, the house was a mess. Faltanar was standing right in front of your mother. Even if I could live through this, I would never forget the fear in her eyes. Faltanar waved his hand and a pile of bones manifested next to him to create a bear skeletar. It roared and struck your mother on the head. At the same time she toppled to the ground, the bear fell apart into a pile of ancient bones on the floor. Faltanar didn’t say a thing, but I knew the cruel message.”

            Cody looked guiltily down at his feet and thought about what he had learned. He had unfairly blamed his father for everything, when it was his fault all along. If it weren’t for Cody, everything would have been absolutely fine and life would have continued as normal for his father and mother. No doubt Faltanar had caused the skeletars to go after him in the first place anyways.

            “Cody,” Flamidar said, grasping his son’s chin with one hand and gazing him in the eyes. “I risked everything I had for you. Don’t you dare go to the lair and waste the last of our family’s blood on this man. Promise me that?”
            “Father, I…” Cody paused before continuing, “Possibly my two remaining friends in all of Semiones are there. If you can give me the slightest hope that they are alive, I will hunt day and night until I find them and the man who did this to you.”

            Flamidar glared at him but said quietly, “They are alive and well, I am positive. You may just have the strength to fight this battle, but it will be very, very dangerous.”

            “I need to save them, Father.”

            “Very well. They are in a cave in the mountains. You may just bring honor to the Ashheart name, for the first time in centuries. Just be warned: the enemy is well aware that you will be coming, and it will be difficult to even reach him alive.”

            Cody suddenly felt his father reaching out to touch his thoughts. The rider had no clue how he had learned it, but he was glad that he had. Flamidar somehow reached him and portrayed an old memory. He was soaring through the sky on the back of a bird-like monster that was clearly a skeletar. They flew right over the mountains where Cody had met the wolves, and they flew on for at least two days nonstop before landing in the mouth of a very well-hidden cave. After that the image faded, and Cody knew where he had to go to reach his enemy, and his closest friends.

            “One last thing, Son,” Flamidar murmured weakly as he eyes began to close, “Cherish that dragon of yours. Cherish friendship wherever you can find it. Without it, life is hardly even worth living. I only wish I…could have…saved our family.”

            With that, Cody’s father died.