The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain)

by Clausen, Nicholas

  As if just to prove a point, Rilora came screeching though the air towards them. She was flying much faster than Draek had been and instead of landing straight down like Draek had done she landed at an angle. With her still moving too fast when she hit the ground she had to run off the speed and ran right past the three of them.

  “So what are you up to, Hayden?” Shane asked from on top of the back of Rilora.

  “Well I was planning on doing some flying and showing Fendrel here what Draek could really do.” He pointed at his friend that Shane had not noticed during his high speed landing. Shane, hearing what the old man’s name was, quickly had Rilora lower her left shoulder so he could dismount and meet him properly.

  “It is good to finally meet you, Fendrel, sir, we have heard so much about you.” Shane clasped Fendrel’s arm right below the elbow and shook.

  “We?” Fendrel asked.

  Shane pointed up into the sky and both Hayden and Fendrel followed his gaze. Hayden knew as soon as he saw her that it was Cassidy in the air riding Shaylin. They watched in silence as the two landed gracefully and Cass dismounted and made her way over to the group.

  “About time you showed up, Hayden, I was beginning to think that you were going to ignore Draek.” She laughed at Hayden’s confused face, but before she could enlighten him on what she had done she noticed Fendrel walking slowly to Shaylin. He had a look of awe and admiration, not of fear.

  “Hello, I am Cassidy, and this is my dragon Shaylin, and you are?” she asked politely. Fendrel was staring intently into Shaylin’s eyes and he answered her without looking at her.

  “I am Fendrel; Hayden has told you about me apparently.” He wasn’t upset, but he was so focused on Shaylin that their conversation did not seem important. Shaylin lowered her head and allowed Fendrel to rub the sensitive skin around her eyes.

  Cass looked to Shane and Hayden and mouthed ‘Fendrel, the Fendrel?’. They both nodded at her and watched how Fendrel and Shaylin reacted to each other. Gold dragons were so rare nowadays and the only ones around anymore were old and thought too highly of themselves.

  After Fendrel and Shaylin were finished he shooed them into the sky; claiming he had held them earth bound too long and that he wanted to see what they could do. The three riders mounted and as one took to the air, they weren’t in any kind of order as they each struggled to gain height quickly.

  Once they had reached a suitable height, Rilora and Shaylin quickly fell in behind Draek, making a triangle in the sky. They had flown together a few times before like this but never for fun. Every time they flew together in training they had always had Draek take the lead because he was the biggest and it made it easier for the other two to keep up with his giant strokes.

  They circled where Fendrel had been standing, they could still make him out but he was getting smaller and smaller as they continued to slowly climb higher. Hayden could see close to a hundred dragons in the air around them. None of them were close, most of them flying near the city or even further out so that they were dark moving spots in the sky.

  When Hayden was flying he forgot about everything that was troubling his mind. Nothing could bother him while he was flying, and even though most of the dragons and their riders that were in the sky couldn’t care less about them it still made him smile to see all the dragons in the air.

  They did a few basic turns and shallow dives to warm up, and once they felt ready to really fly Hayden looked down to make sure Fendrel was still watching, but from where Hayden was sitting it looked as if he was bored and had lost interest in them.

  Lets give him something that he will have to watch shall we? Draek roared his answer, making Fendrel jump and wonder what was going on up there. Draek quickly relayed his plans to the others, and before Hayden could ask what he had in mind Draek’s voice came booming in his head.

  HOLD ON!! Hayden had no idea what was about to happen, but he knew that while flying a dragon if the dragon yells for him to hold on, it would probably be in his best interest to do that.

  Draek tucked in his right wing suddenly, causing him to turn over, but while he was upside down he snapped the wing back open and turned the role into a flip and then into a dive. Hayden lost his stomach, heart and other organs back where Draek had closed his wing, but for the life of him he could not get the smile off of his face. Hayden heard the others right behind him and he knew that the other two dragons had done the same maneuver.

  They dove right to where Fendrel was sitting, and at the last second pulled up and shot back up into the sky like arrows that had just been released from a tight bow string. Hayden only caught a glimpse of Fendrel being knocked on his back from the wind, and he barely heard him cheering as they passed over head.

  Once they reached a high point again, and most of their speed was gone, they decided it was time to play a game of chase. The rules were simple; one person and their dragon would be it and the other two would try to avoid them, if the ones that were it touched someone then they too would be it and would have to help catch the other people until everyone was it.

  There were no winners or losers, so everyone enjoyed playing the game. It also helped teach the dragon riders about offensive flying and evasive maneuvers if they ever found themselves in an aerial battle.

  It didn’t take long for them to agree to play the game and it was Cass that volunteered to be the first person to be it. Usually they had someone volunteer to be it first and then the last one to be caught was the first person to be it the next game.

  Cass quickly told them on the count of three she would start. Before she could say “one” Draek and Rilora took off leaving Cass and Shaylin hovering in the air. Draek flapped his wings one hard time and, using the momentum he had built up from the flap, he fell backwards, pushing Hayden against his back as he righted himself into the dive.

  Shane and Rilora dove straight down the normal way, going head first and having her wings half open. This dive was the fastest ways to gain speed and that was what they would need to escape Cass and her nimble golden dragon.

  As the wind rushed past Hayden and it became hard to take in a full breath, he heard the unmistakable roar a Shaylin preparing for the hunt; the game was on. Hayden did not have to look back to see which one of them they would go after first, they had played this game so many times before that they all knew the best tactics.

  Draek was the largest, so when he was able to get his speed up neither of them could catch him, but he was too big to do some of the tighter turns and dives that the two smaller dragons could do. Rilora was able to go from hovering to full speed in a matter of two good strokes but she had a hard time stopping and she got mad easily and would lose her focus.

  Shaylin was the smallest out of the three, but she was also the most agile. She could go one way and bend around so that she did not lose her speed, and go back the way she came. She also was the smartest one and could pick out weakness to use to her advantage in these games.

  Shaylin dove after Rilora, who was streaking through the air at full speed, leaving Shaylin with a lot of ground to cover. Draek was coming out of his dive and starting to climb again and was trying to put distance between them.

  When Shaylin caught up to Rilora she started nipping lightly at the end of her tail; because she knew it would infuriate her.

  Rilora started to turn her head around and let out a warning growl, Shaylin’s ploy was starting to work. Shane was trying to comfort her and keep her focused so that she could continue to out run Shaylin, but he knew he was fighting a losing battle. Rilora quickly lost her last burst of speed that she had put on to outrun the smaller gold. With her slowing down, Shaylin easily raked her front knuckles on the top of Rilora’s outstretched wings as she passed over her.

  They were now both it and if it had been a real fight Rilora would have just gotten her wings ripped open. Take out a dragon’s wings in mid air and chances are you just took out the dragon.

  Shaylin did one of her quick turnaround maneuv
ers and began to chase Draek and Hayden as they continued to put distance between them. Rilora was angry and it took Shane a few seconds to convince her to continue on with the game. She reluctantly gave in to his pleading and tore off after Shaylin.

  Draek was going at a great speed, but he wasn’t going as fast as he could; if he did they would never catch him, plus he would get far away and have to fly back the long distance. He also had a few new ideas he wanted to try.

  Hayden and Draek worked well as a team during these games, they kept their link open to each other and they both knew their jobs well. During Shaylin and Rilora’s flight Hayden had been turned around in his saddle watching it and relaying details to Draek so that Draek would not have to turn his head around to watch.

  She got her and is now heading straight for us, Hayden told Draek as soon as Shaylin bolted off after them. Draek continued to have confidence in his new plan, which he wouldn’t tell Hayden about, but Hayden noticed a slight increase in their speed as Draek pushed forward a little harder.

  Rilora has caught up to Shaylin and they are now tailing each other and getting closer to us. They are coming from your left side. Hayden continued to relay information as they flew.

  Tell me when they break apart and Rilora comes after me by herself, Draek replied. Rilora would get close and then break off by herself to win the game; just like she had done almost every game before.

  They got closer and closer, and Hayden could see Cass shouting at Shaylin to go faster and Shane shouting at Rilora to slow down. Rilora started to pull away, but then Shane would talk her into allowing Shaylin to catch up.

  They got closer and closer, but still they stayed together. Hayden was about to tell Draek that he had better do something because they were on him when Shane finally lost control and Rilora took off at full speed and once again left Shaylin behind.

  She just broke off!!! Hurry Draek she is on us. Hayden shouted with his mind, trying to make sure that Draek understood the urgency he was trying to get across. It turned out that Draek did not need it; as soon as Hayden told him that she had broken off he pushed his wings harder and changed his direction from straight to straight up.

  Rilora was going too fast so she shot right under him and had to circle back, trying to match his steep accent but failing to. Shaylin had been further back so she was able to turn after Draek and continue to tail after him.

  Draek pumped his wings with more force than Hayden had ever seen him do. Flying straight up in the air was the hardest part of flying for dragons, but Draek was eating up the climb. Shaylin was falling behind and Rilora was still trying her best to catch up to the two racing dragons when Draek’s wing beats started to slow down. Hayden was going to ask if he was ok when he started having trouble breathing, the air was too thin and cold for him to fill his lungs.

  His injured face throbbed as they had flown steadily higher. Each wind beat sending a wave of pressure through his sore head. As Draek had reached far above the clouds Hayden struggled to keep his eyes open as it got harder to stay awake.

  They had never flown this high before and Hayden mentally told Draek what was happening. Draek repeated the same dive that he had done at the beginning of their game. He threw himself into a backwards flip and ended the arch into a steep dive. As soon as Hayden was able to breathe again he filled his aching lungs and yelled at Draek.

  “Never go that high again!” Most of his yelling was lost in the wind, but he knew that Draek had heard him. Draek roared his answer back as they plummeted down, his wings barely off his body so that they were committed completely to the dive.

  Hayden hung on for dear life, not trusting the restraining straps on his saddle that were supposed to hold him in place. They were heading straight for Shaylin and Rilora, but moving much faster than either of them.

  Right before Draek and Shaylin would have collided, Shaylin turned hard to get clear out of their path; Draek lightly pulled in his left wing and did four full rotations before righting himself back. The rotations had made sure he went the opposite way of Shaylin.

  Rilora would not be thrown off so easily, Shane shouted with all his might for her to get clear but she wouldn’t listen. She had been made to look like a fool once and she wouldn’t look like a coward also. She pushed as hard as she could as she climbed straight up at the falling dragon.

  Hayden saw Shane pound on Rilora’s back and he knew that she was going to try to intercept them in mid air. She was a big dragon, but Draek was bigger, and the impact would hurt all of them.

  Draek she’s not going to stop.

  What? Draek was trying hard to control their fall he had not noticed Shane.

  She’s not going to stop; SHE’S NOT GOING TO STOP. PULL UP!! The last words Hayden yelled in his mind and out loud. Draek realized what Hayden meant and snapped his wings open immediately. The force of his wings opening and filling up with air so quickly caused Hayden’s ears to pop; the momentum of their fall and their immediate stop made Hayden smack head first into the back of Draek’s neck.

  His face was sore from his earlier fight with Shane and now all the pain was back plus a whole new wave of pain he had not known before. His face was bleeding all over again and Draek’s scales had made tiny cuts on his forehead and cheeks.

  Rilora was close when Draek had suddenly stopped, close enough that Shane had covered his eyes and was trying to guard his head. Rilora tried to take advantage of his stop and lunge in to make the tag.

  Hayden felt the pain in Draek’s wings from being opened so fiercely and the strain they were taking on his muscles through their mental bond. Likewise Draek felt Hayden’s pain and anger and it added to his own that was bubbling up like an inferno inside of him.

  Draek realized that she was still trying to win the game; that it was still all about winning even if it meant all of their safety. He raised his wings for a normal pump but brought them down as hard as he could; pushing such a force of air down that Hayden almost smacked his head again as they quickly jumped a few feet in the air.

  The wind that Draek had caused hit Rilora like a tidal wave and pushed her on her back in mid air. She extended her wings out fully to try to right herself and just for a few seconds the two dragons were suspended in mid air together.

  Both dragons were parallel to each other and facing one another. Their wings spread out and claws extended to meet the others. Rilora opened her jaw to roar defiance but Draek beat her to it. His opened up and he arched his head back but instead of a defining noise a stream of fire shot out and raced to meet Rilora’s head.

  Chapter 20

  Rilora saw the inferno of yellow flames blasted at her and quickly folded her wings against her body, allowing herself to free fall out of harm’s way. She turned back over so that her back was to the sky once again. The ground was close enough for her to see details but not close enough for her to land right away. Shane was still yelling out loud because she had stopped listening to his mental thoughts.

  She decided to try to out run the large silver, she knew he was mad but she hoped that with him having to open up his wings with such force, which she imagined had to hurt, that he would be unable to catch her.

  She started to pump her wings and she quickly picked up speed; she was sure that she was going to escape the silver’s wrath when Shaylin swooped right on top of her and started to force her back to the clearing they had all taken off from.

  Shaylin was close enough that Rilora could not fully raise her wings without hitting her so her superior speed was now useless. They circled the clearing in a slow decent, Rilora trying to set the pace to make herself feel better and as if she wasn’t being forced down.

  Once her claws touched the ground Shane quickly jumped off her back and stood next to her head. He started yelling at her, but she was not listening, she looked into the sky for Draek. Her rider was mad and she could make that better, she wasn’t worried about that. It was the silver’s anger that she feared.

  Draek was enraged; the coppe
r had endangered all their lives. If something had happened to her rider or his own then that would have been the end. Most dragons died because their riders had died, not from old age. He tried to control his dive as much as he could but his wing joints were sore and he had limited use.

  He wanted to chase after Rilora but he knew that he was unable to in his condition but he was relieved when Shaylin had soared down to stop her from fleeing. They landed first in the clearing and Draek made his way to them, he flew carefully and it was resulting in him dropping faster than he had intended to.

  There was no graceful landing like before, no soft touch down with his hind legs first and then with one last back stroke he would settle down his front legs. About ten feet above the ground his right wind finally gave out and he fell the remaining distance, jarring both himself and Hayden.

  Hayden had just tried to hold on after Draek had snapped open his wings, which proved to be almost too much for him to do. His face was still bleeding and he could feel the places were blood had already dried up and was crusting over.

  He tried his best to get off carefully, which meant really slowly. Draek got up and tried to bring his wing back in; it took a few tries and he groaned a good bit but it finally went back in. Once he knew he was ok he turned his attention to Hayden.

  Hayden, are you ok, you are bleeding. He moved his head close to Hayden, turning so that his large silver eye was centered on Hayden’s face.

  I am fine; it’s you I am worried about. Hayden could feel the heat coming off Draek’s breath, it was much hotter than normal which was probably because he had breathed fire just moments before. You breathed fire!

  Hayden heard the rumbling that meant that Draek was laughing. It made him smile which in turn hurt his nose.

  What’s so funny?

  We almost die, we are both hurt and you are still bleeding, and yet you are excited because I can breathe fire. Draek laughed even harder which Hayden felt in the ground as the silver dragon shook. Once Draek knew that Hayden was ok he turned and faced a nervous Rilora.