The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain)

by Clausen, Nicholas

  “These are all the different events that will be held during the Festival of Games. You may read through it and see if there are any you think you would like to try. I do not recommend you attempt any of them, but I will not stop you if you want to try. At the bottom there are a few events that are separate from the list; those are the ones for our first year riders and first year ground troops. These are the ones that you will be participating in, and that I will train you to win. I should not have to say it but I will, common everyday ground troops should not beat riders, no matter what. You lot train twice as much and harder than them, you also learn more than just how to fire a bow in a general direction or one or two fancy sword moves. Now read over this and then we will talk about your events.” Their trainer passed one roll of paper to each of them and then went back the saddle again.

  He came back this time with a few juicy looking fruits that reflected to light of the sun and a stool to sit on. Hayden already knew that the fruit wasn’t for them, so he did not even hope that he would get a bite to help ease his now empty stomach. Their trainer took a bite out of the first fruit, a red apple, and Hayden could hear the crunch all the way in his bones.

  He could not help but to look up and watch as the juice from the apple poured down the trainer’s chin and into the grass. Hayden could smell the apple now, and his stomach began to grumble; it did not help that his trainer kept groaning about how delicious the apple was. His trainer finally heard Hayden’s stomach and decided to act upon it.

  “So, Hayden, you want a bite of my apple, I know you must be hungry?” He asked, holding the apple in front of him like a gift. Hayden shook his head vigorously and tried to stay focused on the events that he was going to have to compete in. His trainer shrugged his shoulders and took another crunchy bite out of the apple.

  Hayden read through the long list of events that would be taking place, most were self explanatory but some were just tittles. One in particular stood out to him.

  “What is the Crucible?” He asked.

  “The Crucible is the last event, the sort of grand finale to the Festival of Games. It takes a little something from most of the other events and mixes them all into one big one, plus the best part is at the end when all the people who make it to the last part gets to fight in one big battle. Last person standing who completed it wins. But like I said earlier, you lot won’t have to do those ones.” He pulled out a copy of the events and read off the ones that would have to do.

  “First off is weapon use; you get to choose which weapons you use against your opponents in a series of short fights. Next will be target practice, with bows, spears and throwing knives. Then there will be unarmed combat and tactical flying. And lastly will be a play battle where all the first years will be divided into two “armies” and you will face each other in battle.” The events did not sound too bad until Hayden heard the tactical flying one, he dreaded getting back on Draek’s back and leaving the safe, sturdy ground beneath his feet.

  “When is the Festival of Games going to be? You said one of the events is going to be tactical flying, but our dragons are not old enough to fly yet.” Shane asked the question that most were probably thinking, but Hayden had forgotten that he wasn’t supposed to know that the dragons could already fly. Hayden could not see Giles behind him, but the other young rider was staring intently at him, trying to find away to use his knowledge of Hayden already flying to his advantage.

  “That’s another reason for us coming out here, away from prying eyes and ears. First off the games will be held in a little over five months time, right before the first freeze should hit. That way, once the games are over we can focus back on your normal training for four more months.

  “Now about that dragon business: all dragons can fly shortly after they hatch, they can only do short distances, but within a month they are able to fly longer and smoother. At their current age they could fly you around the city a few times without any problems.” Everyone started to protest, everyone except Hayden, about not knowing this, but their trainer waved his hands to calm make them be quite.

  “Now it’s not till the eight month marker till they have it mastered and can carry you easily. At that point the majority of their training is done and they are more than big enough to carry you.” Their trainer had to speak up over the five young riders.

  “The reason that we do not tell you earlier is because we have had so many accidents in the past with young riders falling off their dragons and dying. So, many years ago they started keeping it a secret that dragons could fly earlier than eight months and blamed it on bad breeding. That’s the way it has been for years and we are going to keep it that way. So you lot better not go telling everyone about this or I promise you that you will wish you got to be a lowly messenger boy.” All joking had stopped and their trainer stared, with a look that left no one doubting his seriousness, at each of them to make sure they got the point.

  “The reason I am telling you this is because the Festival will be held right around the time that your dragons will turn eight months. So we will train you to fly in secret so when the Festival comes they will see what they think are fresh riders getting into the saddle for the first time and blowing them away with your natural skill. But by then you will already have been trained and actually by then be near the end of your training.”

  Their trainer let it sink in and waited patiently for the siege of question he knew was about to come out of each of their mouths. He was not disappointed, nor did he have to wait long, because soon four of the riders started asking questions.

  One right after the other and they were not waiting for someone else to finish before they started speaking, so there was no way for him to decipher what they were asking. But he was barley listening because he was wondering why Hayden, the one person who asked more questions than any other person he had ever trained, was remaining silent and calm. He then noticed that Giles, though he had asked a question to start with was now staring at Hayden with a look that made him worry.

  “What, no questions this time, Hayden?” he asked the young rider.

  “What? Oh um, what if we uhh, don’t like to fly? What happens then?” he asked.

  “If you don’t like to fly, ha ha ha ha, if you don’t like to fly. That’s funny, you do realize that you are a dragon rider right? Your entire purpose, the whole reason why you are here and why I am wasting my time training you, is so that you can ride that giant sleeping dragon over there.” He pointed at Draek, who was deep asleep at this point. “Plus that won’t be a problem, you will enjoy it, you just haven’t tried it yet.” Before he could continue talking he was interrupted by Giles who was still sitting off to the back.

  “He has done more than try it, he flew almost all the way here.” The words hit Hayden hard, each one taking his breath away and drawing the color out of his face. It was like hammering a nail into his coffin, each stroke drove the nail a little farther down and as the hammer struck it vibrated throughout the whole piece of wood.

  There trainer was about to yell at Giles for lying, but the look on Hayden’s face, a look of sheer fright and guilt, told him that Giles was telling the truth.

  “How did you know that they could fly? Why did you try flying here of all places? How long have you known?” It was his turn to ramble out the questions, each one starting directly after the last one so they all almost ran together as one. He was able to say them all in one breath, but it resulted in him sounding like a fish as he gasped for air when he finished.

  The trainer began to feel bad for Hayden because his two friends looked hurt that he had not shared the information, and Giles and Sebastian both looked pleased with the turn of events. But it did not matter and he pushed his feelings out of his head, this was a big problem because it was a secret that was closely kept between the riders. So someone had to have told him, because the dragons tell the new hatchlings the importance of keeping it a secret.

  “I just found out, and once I had asked Draek abou
t it he confirmed it; this was the first chance we got to try to fly together so we decided to try it.” He quickly turned around to face Giles. “And how did you know that I knew?” he inquired of the young man.

  “I was behind you when you flew off to come here. I watched you stay low to the trees and head off to where we were meeting.” Giles smiled wickedly as he told of how he got his information. Not caring that a fellow rider was now in trouble.

  Hayden made to get up, but their trainer grabbed him by the shoulders and held him in place. “You lot go head back to the city and wait for me there. Hayden, you stay here, and remember you lot, no flying.” He held Hayden down, even though Hayden wasn’t going to try anything, as the others led their dragons back the way they had come.

  When they were alone, except for their two dragons, he let Hayden go and watched as the young rider jumped up and first stalked around and showed off his anger. Then, realizing what had happened and that he was probably in trouble, he stopped and just looked at his trainer.

  “I can’t be in trouble, it was just flying. And I would have been doing that soon anyways, and besides I hated it, so there is no harm done right?” Hayden asked.

  “Hayden, you are right it is not that bad, but I do need to know who told you. You are not in trouble because you did what any rider would have done. But since it was another rider that told you about it, another rider who had been sworn to keep it a secret, they have to be dealt with. So I will ask you one more time, who told you about the dragons?” Hayden thought about what had been asked of him and tried to find a way out of answering the question.

  “So Fendrel told you?” he asked. Hayden looked shocked and before he could ask how he knew a voice spoke in his head.

  I told him for you. I could tell that you were having a hard time answering so I did it for you; I told his dragon that it was Fendrel who told us. Draek spoke with honesty and Hayden could tell that he had not meant harm; this was the only thing keeping him level headed as he waited to hear what was going to happen next.

  “Fendrel, and who may that be, the name does ring a bell of familiarity, but I can’t place it. What is the name of the dragon he rides?”

  “He rides no dragon, sir. He was given a chance, but he was not willing to sacrifice everything to become a rider,” Hayden told him.

  “Fendrel, Fendrel, the brother of Morgane The Silver right? Hmm, you can head back to the city as well, I will be there shortly.” Hayden never got a chance to respond, mainly because his trainer was not talking to him but to his own dragon.

  “Nothing will happen to him though right?” Hayden asked as he made his way to where Draek was laying down.

  “Nothing will happen to him, you have my word,” he told Hayden.

  Hayden turned and walked away, but before he could make it out of the clearing his trainer yelled one last thing at him.

  “Lirand, my name is Lirand. You showed great potential today, you will make a great rider and you have earned the right to know my name.” Hayden nodded to Lirand and, with Draek walking beside him, walked back the way they came.

  Chapter 15

  Hayden walked along the path that not so long ago he had flown above. Draek no longer walked directly beside him but now ran from side to side, in a zigzag sprint, chasing imaginary animals and pouncing on them. Hayden’s mind was blank, empty of thought and emotion as he tried to replay what had just happened, but he failed to make sense of it.

  It was a much longer walk than Hayden had thought it would be before they finally saw the giant metal point that looked to be a spearhead pointed towards the sun. He had been expecting to walk into the gates and find the others so mad at him for holding secrets that they would not even talk to him. It seemed however that they were so mad that they had to talk to him.

  “You knew and you didn’t tell me? How long have you known?” Shane asked. He did not wait for Hayden to make it to the gates, but instead he and Cass had both waited for him. As soon as they saw him making his way down the path Shane had walked towards him and started yelling when as he thought Hayden would be able to hear him.

  “Shane, not so loud, we are supposed to keep the secret not blurt it out for everyone to here; plus maybe Hayden has a good reason for keeping us in the dark like he did. So, Hayden, what is your good reason?” Cass started off sounding reasonable, and at first Hayden thought that she might be on his side, but the more she spoke the quicker he realized just how wrong his first thoughts had been.

  “Look, I can explain. I just found out late yesterday night, and Draek and I wanted to fly together so bad that we did not wait to tell anyone this morning. I am sorry that I did not tell you guys, but I did not have a chance.” Draek stood close to him now. He sensed that something was wrong but he could not figure what was the cause of it. All he knew was that Hayden was very distressed and he wanted to be near him just in case whatever was causing the stress meant to hurt him.

  The others stood silently as he spoke, taking in every word. When he finished his short apology they did not answer or show any kind of emotion on their faces. Their dragons had moved beside them just as Draek had done for Hayden. It was Shane who finally spoke.

  “I guess I would have done the same thing if I would have found out.” He looked at Cass and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Ya, I would have to. Hayden, let’s just forget about this. We all now know that the dragons can fly. Soon we will start training to fly anyways, so it really doesn’t matter.” They all smiled awkwardly at each other until Draek and the other two dragons jumped into the air and flew off back towards the river; the three of them flying in a V pattern with Draek in the lead.

  Where are you guys going? Hayden asked, knowing the others were probably asking the same thing right then.

  We go to hunt. We are hungry and decided that the three of you can handle yourselves once you stop yelling for no reason, Draek told Hayden like it was a common fact, and he should not have had to ask. Hayden watched as they leveled out and glided over the river, no longer having to pump their large wings. Hayden smiled as he watched Draek, his silver scales shinning in the sun light, lower his front paw in the water and cause a small splash. It looked so peaceful and yet it terrified Hayden like nothing had before.

  “So, are we ok?” Hayden turned and asked his two friends. He knew that they had been distant the last few days, but he wanted to fix that. Although Draek was great company, it got lonely without another person to talk to.

  They both nodded to him and smiles slowly crept onto their faces. Hayden still felt that he had something else to tell them before they could begin to mend the bridges between them.

  “Guys, I am sorry what happened the other night, I let my anger get before what’s right. I am sorry for what I said and how I treated you guys.” Hayden was having a hard time looking them in the eyes as he spoke. He kept looking at his feet because he was scared that when he looked up he would find judgment lingering in their eyes.

  He had more to say, but when he finally lifted his eyes to their faces the smiles that had slowly crept there where now wide and demanding. In their eyes he saw forgiveness instead of judgment and he knew that their friendship would outlast this quarrel.

  ____________________

  After a few minutes of each one saying their unnecessary apologies, because they had already been forgiven by the other, they made their way back into the city to the fountain that they always met at.

  Waiting for them was Sebastian and Giles; both of their dragons where behind them, cramped and uncomfortable in the clearing that was not intended for dragon use. Both of the large dragons were fidgety and they kept snaking their heads around, darting it from one place to another.

  Hayden knew that that was a look of hunger, but for some reason Sebastian and Giles were not allowing their dragons to go hunt like the others had done. They were both deep in thought together when the three arrived. Hayden and Shane both kept their distance, which they did every time they saw them, and
choose not to speak to them, which the Giles and Sebastian replied in kind.

  It was Cass that broke the silence that the others were more than happy to continue.

  “Hello again, you two, any idea how much longer we will have to be waiting?” She directed her question to both of them. Giles turned to face her but he remained silence, and showed no emotion at all. It was as if he was looking at a plane rock.

  “Hello, Cassidy. No, we don’t know how long we will have to wait. We figured this would be as good of a spot as any to wait so here we are, right, Giles?” Sebastian waited on Giles to answer him, and when he did not Sebastian elbowed him lightly in the ribs.

  “Oh uh, yes we did,” Giles said quickly. Satisfied, Sebastian turned back around, with a smile that he had probably had practiced with many other girls before, and went to continue his conversation with Cass.

  If he would not have turned around so quickly after Giles had spoke than he might have seen the look that Giles gave him, a look that said we will talk about you elbowing me later. Hayden saw it for just a second because just as fast as the look was there, it was gone.

  Sebastian continued to talk to Cass while Hayden and Shane went and sat against the fountain, the same place they had sat in between their first to lessons. Shane leaned over to whisper to Hayden.

  “I don’t like them very much, they don’t treat their dragons right and I always feel like they are up to something. But Cass is always trying to play nice with them, she feels the same way about them, but she is sure that she can win them over with friendliness.” Hayden just shook his head at hearing that news.

  His feelings were on the same path as Shane’s were, but his were much further down that path, especially for Sebastian. He was still confused about how he felt about Cass, but he knew without any doubt that he did not like seeing her with Sebastian.