The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain)

by Clausen, Nicholas

  “That is something that I would have to agree with you about, boy, there is a war coming that will carve out the face of Arvain. Are you so sure that you are on the right side though?” Fendrel asked. Hayden thought about what Fendrel had asked while he slowly sipped on the fruit drink in his cup.

  “What are the sides; the metallic dragon riders against everyone else?”

  “That’s probably closer to being right than you realize. When the war finally breaks out the metallic dragon riders will band together as one giant army like they always do, while everyone has choices to make.

  “It could happen like the first dragon war where the metallic riders will go from place to place conquering everyone and forcing them to join their side. Then when those that remain free from them realize that they have to join together it would be too late,” Fendrel told him.

  “What if they tried to make a truce with the other races, tried to find some way to make everyone happy?” Hayden asked.

  “You know that that can’t happen right now. There have been too many wrongs done and with evil people who will only be happy when everything on Arvain is enslaved to their control, happiness cannot come easy.” Fendrel spoke as one who knew firsthand about what was going on. Hayden knew some of his past and that what happiness Fendrel had found had not come cheap. “Whatever happens will be bad for everyone in Arvain; that is one thing that we can be sure off.”

  Fendrel changed the subject from the war that he was sure was coming and started talking about Draek. “So how large has he grown by now? His shoulders should be taller than you by now,” Fendrel asked.

  “He is taller than me, when I ride him around the training grounds he has to kneel down so that I can climb up. I am surprised that he isn’t flying though, they have been working out their wings for months.”

  “Boy, you have so much to learn. Draek has probably been flying ever since he first doubled his size. They just don’t like the dragon riders knowing that because they don’t want you doing anything foolish, like actually trying to fly. Until you have been properly trained that is.” Fendrel laughed as Hayden tried to deal with the realization that once again something had been hidden from him.

  “Don’t feel bad though, boy, no one else knows about it. It is a secret that riders keep from everyone and they only tell the first years once they start training them how to fly. I am not supposed to know about it and neither are you, so don’t tell anyone, and do not try to fly Draek,” Fendrel told him.

  “I don’t understand why Draek hasn’t told me about this. I feel like I am only reading half a book and being told that there is no more and yet I can see the other half closed in their hands.” Hayden was having mixed emotions of anger and betrayal. He could feel Draek starting to awaken, so he focused on controlling his emotions and keeping them in his own head, not letting them run over into Draek’s.

  “And that is how you will feel for a long time still to come, boy. The riders are made up of levels of secrets, and once you make it to the next level and you think you know everything, there is another level on top of that one with all new secrets.” Hayden had a feeling that that was the case, but hearing it out loud seems to have had made it fact to him.

  “So Draek and the others can all fly, right?” Hayden asked.

  “That is right, you catch on fast, boy, I had forgotten how easily you figure everything out after someone explains it to you.” All the time that Hayden had spent with Fendrel he could tell when the old man was just trying to pick fun at him.

  “You said that they don’t want us trying to fly before we have trained, was there an accident or something?” Hayden asked.

  “All together there has probably been close to twenty accidents. Young riders trying to prove themselves by trying to fly a dragon that wasn’t strong enough and they plummet to the ground below them. A few just fell right off their dragons because the saddles weren’t on correct or they weren’t using a saddle at all. The last ones before they made up the story about dragons not being able to fly until eight months were all four new riders one year. They tried to fly through a storm that was more violent than it seemed.

  “They never found those young riders but one of the older dragons was trying to get them to land when they hit the worst part of the storm, that’s the only reason that we know what happened.” They continued to talk about what Fendrel had been doing since Hayden had gotten Draek, which wasn’t a whole lot of anything as far as Hayden was concerned. As the evening began to turn into night Hayden began making his way out of the house when he thought of one last question.

  “Fendrel, if they tried to keep all these secrets kept within the riders then how did you find out about them, and are there any more you know?” Fendrel leaned against the metal door and slowly started to close it behind Hayden.

  “That’s a different conversation for a different time,” Fendrel said as the door clocked into place. Hayden could not help but to smile, he had known that the old man’s answer was going to be something like that.

  “May there be no fear found in your heart,” Hayden told Fendrel, who was standing on the other side of the door. It was something that those trained by Tynan said to each other instead of good bye. Hayden was told that it was something of respect to tell it to someone else, and Fendrel was the only other person he had told it to besides those training with them.

  He wasn’t sure if Fendrel had even heard him, but he did not wait around for a response. The streets were dark as he made his way back to the ever looming pyramid. He walked quickly as the air began to have a slight chill that made him shiver. He made it back to his room and sat down with his back to Draek.

  The large silver dragon’s warmth, quickly getting the cold that had crept into Hayden’s bones out, was enough to make Hayden comfortable and fall right asleep. Draek rumbled, and the shaking woke Hayden up, he had only been asleep for a few hours.

  Are you mad that I did not tell you I could fly? Draek’s voice was low and almost ashamed, like a child that had done wrong.

  Of course not, Draek, they made you keep a secret, but at least now we can talk about it together.

  We can, but not now; they have cancelled all of tomorrow’s work outs and lessons. They have something else for us to do then, and we get to be together for it. Draek’s voice had quickly changed to a more excited tone. We have to leave early though because it is a long walk and if we are late they will still make you wear the heavy thing. Draek told Hayden as he starched and yawned. Hayden had to watch out when he did this so he didn’t get knocked down by a wing or tail.

  We could get there faster is we flew there together instead of walking, Hayden told Draek, and he saw the excitement and rebellion in the large silver eyes.

  Yes we could!! Draek soon fell asleep, but it was not that easy for Hayden, knowing that soon he would be flying a dragon. But sleep did come and it seemed as soon as he fell asleep Draek was waking him up. Hayden got up and ready as fast as he could; today he awoke with plenty of energy.

  Let’s go, hurry up!! Draek said as Hayden climbed on his back, feeling intense heat coming from the smooth scales underneath him.

  Hayden smiled as they made their way out of the room. He tried to move with Draek and not be such a burden.

  You usually aren’t this warm; you’re almost too hot to touch, why is that? Hayden asked. He could feel the heat quickly through his pants and it began making him uncomfortable. The air was still cool because the sun had just started to rise but, Hayden was already sweating as they left the pyramid.

  When I get excited or my heart just beats faster it causes my blood to heat up a lot more than normal. That’s what the older dragons told when I made my first kill. I had bathed in a stream nearby right after I ate to cool off and steam went everywhere when I hit the water.

  Hayden laughed as Draek shared the memory with him, he could feel Draek’s pride in what he had done. Draek stood in the clearing right outside the city walls and stretched his wings out. Onc
e they were fully extended he crouched down and prepared to leap into the sky.

  Neither reminded the other that they weren’t supposed to do this or how much trouble they would get into if they got caught. The only thing Hayden did was shout as they shot into the sky, and Draek snapped his giant silver wings up and down to gain height. Draek joined in with a roar as he flew with his rider for the first time. They never noticed that Giles and Kurok were both exiting the city and watching them fly into the sky.

  Chapter 14

  Hayden had dreamt about soaring through the skies on the back of his very own dragon; the feeling of riding the winds and leaving the ground far behind, the feeling of freedom. Hayden first realized that what he had imagined his first flight to be like was nothing like it really was, and the second thing was that he could scream like a small child.

  Draek took to the sky quickly, but not as gracefully as the older dragons. With every wing beat Draek lunged forward towards the sky, but then quickly fell from back down a few feet as he pushed his wings back in front of him. Hayden was rocked back and forth violently as Draek tried to get over the tree line. Hayden was terrified and held on to the back of Draek’s neck as they flew.

  Open your eyes and look around you, we can only fly for a short time and I would like you not to be so scared, Draek told Hayden. Hayden tried to take his advice and open his eyes, but when he saw the trees that were soaring by underneath him he suddenly lost the contents of his stomach over Draek’s side.

  He had a hard time knowing which way was up and down. He was terrified of the ground below him, falling seemed like a real possibility as he swayed back and forth. He was holding on so tightly that he could feel his legs going numb. He decided to look up at the sky instead of the ground. His fear of falling towards the ground was replaced by a strange fear of falling into the sky and never coming to rest anywhere.

  Hayden begged Draek to land so he could get off before he lost his grip and fell off Draek’s back. Draek slowly landed without complaint, but Hayden could feel the disappointment of his fun ending short. As soon as Draek’s back paws hit the ground and the large dragon pumped his wings fiercely to stop the descent, Hayden collapsed onto the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

  Hayden gasped for breath and made sounds close to that of a frog that had been stepped on. Draek stood by nervously, circling him like a cat would over a kitten. Hayden was finally able to regain his breath, but as he stood he realized he was still dizzy and disoriented from the flying. He had to rest against Draek until the ground and sky went back to their normal places.

  How much further till we get to where we are going? Hayden asked.

  Draek jumped back into the air, but this time going almost straight up into the air, climbing higher than he had when Hayden was on his back. Seeing this, Hayden quickly fell down to the ground and lost what little food he had left in his stomach.

  We have a while to walk still, you should feel better by the time we get there. It looks like we will be the first one there though the others a far behind us. Draek told him as he plummeted back to where Hayden stood. Draek’s landing caused a strong breeze to stir up around Hayden. Hayden leaned against him and started walking slowly in the direction that Draek led him.

  I hope we get to fly together soon though; we didn’t get to try any of my upside down flying or any of my dives that I do when I get so high above the clouds that you can’t see the ground below, Draek told Hayden as they made their way down the path.

  Draek put images in Hayden’s mind of him doing those things in the air, but seeing it did not help Hayden’s stomach to feel better. They walked in silence for a while before Hayden could finally walk without having to lean against Draek. When he was feeling better Draek tried to talk to him more about flying, but Hayden changed the subject every time.

  I can’t wait till we can fly again.

  Hayden thought about the experience he just went through before he answered. What do you think this meeting is about, I hope there isn’t more training that they are going to pile on top of us? We already have so little time to ourselves as it is without them giving us more to do, Hayden responded.

  Draek remained silent to Hayden for a few seconds, and Hayden was sure the silver dragon was upset at his sudden change in subject. They walked in silence and Draek turned his head so that one large silver eye was on Hayden and the other was on the path in front of them.

  With a large sigh Draek turned back to face the path. I guess you are right, we don’t have enough time as it is. Hayden was sure that he had made Draek upset, but just the thought of leaving the ground again terrified him; he was trying to figure a way to overcome his fear but so far he had nothing.

  They continued to walk for a while still and the trees around them grew thicker and thicker. If they had still been flying there would have been no place to land by this point. Hayden was about to tell Draek that, but quickly thought better of it. They pressed on through the woods and Hayden began to hear what sounded like running water.

  We are here, and we are the first ones to make it. Draek told Hayden as they came to a clearing. The trees seamed to make a natural bowl around them, and through the center ran a wide stream that had so many rocks jutting out if it would have been impossible to swim through. The clearing was not empty though; most of it was filled with one of the largest dragons Hayden had seen yet.

  The dragon was laying down, coiled around itself, with its large head resting next to their trainer. It was the same silver dragon that Draek had ridden during his first hunt. Draek slowly made his way to the dragon and laid down next to it.

  This is one of my teachers, her name is Shynari. She says she is glad to meet you and that she is excited to see what we will become when we are her age. Draek relayed most of their conversation to him, but he was sure that they were talking about other things because after Draek had finished speaking. Shynari raised her head and looked form Hayden to Draek and back again.

  Hayden saw his trainer standing shin deep in the stream and he walked over to stand with him. Hayden had learned early on that it was not a good idea to talk to him before he was addressed so he stood beside him and waited in silence.

  The wait continued to drag on as Hayden watched the world around him move and make all kinds of noises. He waited until the others came through the same path with their own dragons, just as he and Draek had done. Giles was the next to arrive and Sebastian was close behind him. The three riders waited near their trainer in silence.

  Shane was last, but with him was Cassidy and both of their dragons. Hayden was shocked to see her because this was the first time since their eggs had hatched that all five of them had been summoned together; most of the time they left Cassidy to be trained by others since she had a golden dragon.

  All their dragons went and rested together, except Giles and Sebastian’s, theirs left a gap between them and the others. Cass smiled shyly at Hayden, but before he could respond their trainer began speaking.

  “Good, glad to see no one died on the walk here. Now let’s get down to business because I have a lot to get you all to still do today, and I wouldn’t want you lot to not get everything done.” He turned and smiled at them.

  “Now the reason that I had you all meet me out here was just because I wanted to. But I also have to discuss something with you lot. As you know, Celestial City has been in a state of panic ever since the battle over Bergelmir. Everywhere you turn you hear whispers of war and people saying that we can no longer protect the people and keep the peace in Arvain.

  “We want to put an end to these thoughts and regain the people’s faith in us by bringing back an old tradition that hasn’t been done in years. We are bringing back the Festival of Games.” Their trainer smiled at them and Hayden had a feeling he was about to be made fun of again for not knowing something that only those born within the walls of Celestial City would have known. But he was surprised to see that the other four riders where wearing the same confused look that
he was.

  “Obviously you lot don’t know about the Festival of Games, but then I would have been shocked if you had. The Festival of Games was something that the original riders established shortly after they conquered Arvain. They were dealing with a lot of people causing riots and forgetting the true strength of their military because they had to spread so thin to keep an eye on all of Arvain.

  “Plus it didn’t help that most of their military was getting lazy and bored and they began over using their power and doing whatever they wanted to. So the first rulers decided to host the Festival of Games once a year to serve a dual purpose; it gave the military something to keep them busy and keep them in their best shape and it also reminded all of Arvain just how powerful their military force was when they all gathered for the Festival of Games.”

  “So what happens during these games? Do we get to compete?” Hayden had never heard of any of this before and had so many questions that he had to ask.

  “You know, if you would let me finish talking I would have answered your questions. Now the games have many parts to it; hand to hand combat, sword fighting, archery, jousting, and that’s just the ground troops. There are many kinds of aerial races, battles and other challenges that will test the riders in every way. The winner of each set will get a reward and the satisfaction of being the best in that particular set.

  “Since you are all first years you won’t participate in most of the challenges, but you can in some of the easier ones. Elizabeth The Gold wants as many riders and ground troops involved as there can be to show the size of our military, she also wants the five of you to show how well trained even the youngest of our riders and soldiers are.” He walked out of the stream and made his way to his dragon. Once at his side, right past the left wing joint, he climbed up the saddle and grabbed a sack that had been resting there.

  He threw it down to Shane and climbed back down, dusting his knees off and complaining about stiff bones and growing older. He had the five young riders sit around him in a semicircle and he opened the pack and pulled out five rolls of paper.