The League of Dragon Riders

MaChay Mountains

 The small inn looks almost identical to the one I used to call home. There is a small dining room that is already filled with drinking guests. I don’t know where they come from or where they are going but I suppose that doesn’t matter to me anymore. I follow Erin to the counter sitting right by the door and turn away as he starts talking to the lady that looks as if she’s seen better days. 

“So,” Erin grins as he spins around and holds up two keys. He seems happier than he has in the last two days. I don’t have time to think about why because he continues speaking, “who is sleeping with who? I can only afford two rooms.” 

“You and me will share while the two teenagers share the other one,” Fergus says, emphasizing the word ‘teenagers’. I look back and forth between the two men who were glaring at each other. Maxwell rolls his eyes as he snatches a key from Erin’s hand. He nods for me to follow after him and I walk after him without glancing back. I glare at my boots that are still covered in snow. I watch the snow fall as I climb the steps to the second floor. Maxwell opens a door and lets me enter before him. 

“Do you want to eat here? I can go grab dinner for us?” Maxwell offers. I nod as he steps out, shutting the door softly behind him. I turn toward the room and sigh as I let my bag fall to the ground. The room itself is small. There’s a small bed in the middle with a table sitting close to the floor beside it. I let myself fall against the bed and sigh contently into the soft blanket. While it isn’t as soft as my carefully constructed pile of blankets at my aunt’s inn, it is definitely more comfortable than the bedroll I usually slept on. 

“Alaina?” Maxwell knocks on the door. I groan and roll out of the blanket. I stumble toward the door and pull it open. The smell of something delicious hits me first. My eyes find the tray of food in his hands and I can feel my mouth watering as I step aside and let him in.

“Ready to feast?” he asks as he places it on the small table that stands in front of the small fireplace. Besides that, the room is rather small. It’s cozy and warm, just like I like it. I hold in a sigh as I look at the small bed. Fergus and Erin are sharing a room which means that Maxwell is sharing with me. 

“Obviously,” I answer as I grab a pillow off the bed and use it to sit beside the table. Maxwell does the same thing and starts digging in before I can even choose where to start. I groan as I bite into a tender piece of meat. I can’t tell what it is but it is amazing. The creamy soup is just as good and I can’t stop myself as I continue to stuff my mouth with food. 

I sigh as I reach for the tankard. I take a drink and nearly spit it out when my eyes land on Maxwell. His face is a mess. He has beer dripping down his face and his lips are stained red by some kind of fruit. I laugh as he tilts his head at me as he takes a bite of a chicken leg.

“What?’ he asks with his mouth full. 

“Nothing,” I say as I take another drink, “nothing at all.”

“Are you going to eat that?” he asks and, before I can answer, snatches it off my plate and shoves it into his mouth. I shake my head as I step away from the table with the tankard in my hand.

“You can eat more, can’t you?” he asks as he gestures towards the food remaining on the tray. I shrug as I sit on the bed and sip the liquid. He may have gotten beer but he was kind enough to get me water. I smile as I hold it in my hands. I drank too much one night and it did not go well. I’m glad Maxwell remembers that story.

He sighs as he continues to eat. Nothing will go to waste with him around. At the inn, we had loved customers like Maxwell. I drink the rest of my water before setting the tankard aside and pulling the blankets over me.

“I don’t know how you can eat that much,” I tell him as I close my eyes. I hear him laugh before slipping into sleep…

...I open my eyes and squint as sunlight stretches across my face. Unlike these last few days, dreams did not haunt me. I sigh in relief as I roll away to get away from the sun. I curl into the wall-wait-that’s too warm to be a wall. I look up and look into Maxwell’s sleeping face. He sighs in his sleep and, before I can move, wraps his arms around me. I blush as my face is pushed into his pale chest.

“Um…”

“Hm?” Maxwell hums sleepily before he opens his eyes and looks down at me tiredly. He frowns when his green eyes find me. He clears his throat before speaking again, “sorry, I should have warned you.”

“Warned me?” I ask as he rolls away from and to his feet. I stand as well and start to pull on my boots.

“I tend to cuddle with whoever I’m sleeping by. Fergus hates it,” Maxwell answers as he struggles to get his feet into his boots.

“Fergus?” I ask with a laugh as he finally gets his boots on. I watch as he pulls on his shirt before he speaks up again. 

“Yeah, I think Erin got jealous,” Maxwell tells me with a grin. I laugh as we step into the hallway. I follow him down the stairs, my previous embarrassment gone. Fergus and Erin are already waiting for us but they’re wearing thick pants and an even thicker coat over their normal dress. They don’t say a word as they hand us thick clothing as well. Maxwell pulls them on over his clothes and I do the same.

“Ready?” Erin asks as he heads toward the door.

“Of course!” Maxwell says excitedly as he hurries past Erin and leads the way out of the front door. We follow after him as he leads the way toward a trail barely noticeable in the deep snow.

“What about our dragons?” I ask as we walk down the path. 

“They’ll hide in the trees. Locals don’t like the dragons. They fear them. We’ve made a deal that we have our setup here and we keep our dragons away,” Fergus explains. 

I nod as we walk forward. The only sound to be heard is our footsteps crunching in the snow below. Otherwise it is silent. Eerily silent.

“It’s so quiet,” I say, my voice echoes off the mountain. Pine trees are covered in white while others have no leaves.

“It’s quite unnerving, isn’t it?” Erin asks.

“Yeah,” I mutter as I pull my thick coat tighter around my shoulders. It is too cold for me. Way too cold.

“Why do we go all the way up here?” I ask after a while.

“Because red dragons can’t fly up here. They aren’t built for it,” Fergus says. I sigh as I follow behind him. This is going to be a long walk.