The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain)

by Clausen, Nicholas

  You did great, Hayden; you trust me. Hayden was confused again. He did not understand what it mattered if he trusted Draek if they were both about to die.

  The clouds above Hayden ruptured as Draek came tearing through the sky. The clouds exploded around him, and as he passed out of them they twirled around his wing tips. Two lines of white streaked behind his wings as he dove faster and faster, heading straight for Hayden.

  Hayden saw all that and was relieved to see his dragon; his friend. Draek had his riding saddle on and was catching up to Hayden. Hayden got excited as he realized what Draek was trying to do.

  Turn so that you are falling head first, you will go faster but I will still catch you. Hayden tried to do what Draek said but as it was more difficult than he had thought it was going to be.

  He finally got it right, and Draek was telling the truth because once his body was lined up he immediately started picking up speed.

  Draek was falling just like Hayden was, but faster. He gained on Hayden and accidently passed him. He opened his wings up slightly and slowed down, but then Hayden passed him. It took them a few tries before Draek got the speed right.

  Once they were falling side by side Draek turned so that the saddle was facing Hayden. Hayden had no say in where he was falling so it was up to Draek to slowly move close enough to him so he could grab on.

  The first attempt Draek did not move far enough over and Hayden was still out of reach.

  Move closer, you’re still too far, Hayden told Draek. Draek then moved too far over and knocked into Hayden, sending him tumbling through the air. Hayden immediately slowed down and Draek shot past him.

  Sorry, Draek said as Hayden tried to right himself. Draek slowed down and they tried again, but this time Hayden was in a hurry because he noticed that the ground was close, very, very close.

  Hayden was able to contain his panic and focus on getting into the saddle while Draek lined up to try again. This time he moved slower, and even though Hayden was upside down, he was able to grab onto the saddle.

  As soon as his hands gripped leather they went to work without his brain telling them what to do. Which was a good thing because his brain was saying “We’re going to die” over and over again in his head.

  He pulled himself onto the saddle and strapped his legs in. He had to look down to tighten his safety straps.

  Hurry up, I need to pull up, Draek seemed urgent and it caused Hayden to look up from his straps, which he had just finished tightening. They were close enough to the ground that Hayden could see people, who had been watching the dragons, were running away from Draek.

  I’m in, go!! Hayden leaned as close as he could to Draek as he pulled out of the dive. Draek tried to fly out of the dive instead of stopping himself. As he pulled out of the dive, not losing any of his speed, he flew right through the city.

  Hayden looked up just in time to see them flying straight for the golden dragon statue on the northern corner on the wall. Draek did a quick spin, and when he righted himself he flew clear of the statue.

  Draek did not have to flap his wings as they rose into the air; they were still going so fast he just glided.

  We have done it, Hayden, we are now Metallic Riders! Draek could not contain his excitement; he roared and blew fire in every direction. Hayden laughed at him, but joined in with his own shouting.

  An old man stood in the woods and smiled as he watched Hayden and Draek fly through the air. He had come a long way just to see them finish their training.

  “Good job, you two,” he grumbled to himself. He pulled his fur cloak closer to his body and tried to fight off the ever creeping cold. Now that he had come back to see them it was time to leave again. He knew that it was no longer safe for him around Celestial City. He turned to disappear back into the woods, but someone was standing right in front of him.

  “Leaving so soon, Fendrel?” the man asked. Fendrel recognized the voice and lowered his head. There was no way for him to escape his fate; even if he had run from it for many years.

  Hayden heard screams coming from above and turned to watch the others free fall through the clouds. One at a time he watched as they popped out of the clouds, only to have their dragon burst out right behind them and catch them.

  Everyone made it out fine, no one had as close of a catch as Hayden and Draek had. Giles and Sebastian flew off straight for the Metallic Pyramid while Hayden and his friends decided to celebrate before they went back.

  They lined up in their normal formation and circled the Celestial City; shouting the whole way. They each broke off from the formation to do flips and turns in the air, after which they would return to their spot.

  They did a few laps before making the flight back to the pyramid, where a crowd had grown. The people and dragons that were there moved away to make room for the three landing dragons.

  The ground was covered with people moving around like ants. Hayden guessed that they were there to congratulate them on finishing their training. As their dragons landed and the wind storm that they had created died down, the people around them quickly ran to them.

  “Go back to your rooms and get your weapons and gear then go to the Orchard of Souls and meet the other riders,” a guard yelled at them. Hayden was about to ask what was going on when Draek and the other two dragons raised their head and turned to face some unheard sound.

  “What is it?” Hayden asked out loud. He heard Shane and Cass ask the same thing to their dragons.

  Draek did not answer Hayden; he seemed to become a statue underneath him. Draek finally crouched down and almost threw Hayden out of the saddle. Hayden stumbled to get to his feet but Draek kept nudging him towards their room.

  What are you doing? What’s going on? Hayden asked. His friends were getting the same treatment from their dragons.

  Get your gear, quickly, we have to leave immediately, Draek finally told him. Hayden ran through their room and strapped on his sword. He grabbed his shield and his eagle helmet and tied them onto Draek’s saddle. He quickly strapped on his throwing knives and made sure that each blade was securely in its sheath.

  The whole time Hayden was getting his gear Draek didn’t answer him anymore and he kept looking out of their room like he was expecting to see something coming.

  The last thing that Hayden grabbed was his bow and quiver; he left his bow unstrung and he strapped the quiver onto the saddle and made sure that he had everything.

  Draek started to almost walk in place because he was so nervous. Hayden could feel him being anxious to go and thinking of nothing else but getting into the air.

  Are you going to tell me what’s going on? I know you know something, Hayden asked as he climbed up and got in the saddle. He strapped himself into the saddle; it was much easier staying still and doing it than while falling.

  Draek did not answer, and the moment Hayden was finished Draek broke into a sprint and ran out of their room. Hayden held on tightly and tried not to get jerked back.

  Draek did not stop running when they cleared the Metallic Pyramid; instead he jumped onto the roof of one of the buildings and used it to throw himself into the air. Draek was flapping his wings as soon as he left the building’s roof.

  “Draek, what’s the matter, what is going on?” he shouted in his mind and out loud; hoping that either one would get through to him. Hayden quit talking when they got high enough over the tree line for Hayden to see that the clearing in the center of the Orchard of Souls was full of dragons.

  There were more in the air above the orchard, just flying lazily in circles because there was no room for them to land. Draek joined the circling dragons, but flew low enough to the ground so that Hayden could make out who some of the riders were.

  Who is that in front of everyone? Hayden asked Draek. Draek’s mind seemed calm again now that they were with the other dragons.

  Elizabeth, she is telling everyone what has happened, Draek replied solemnly.

  Hayden waited for Draek to elaborate, but
no more came from his dragon. He wondered what could have happened to cause all this. A few dragons took off from the ground and it allowed Hayden and Draek to land in their spot.

  As soon as Draek folded up his wings he moved in between two other dragons so that he could make more room for others to land. From this place Hayden could hear what Elizabeth was saying.

  “They have finally gone too far, pushed us when we have done nothing wrong,” she shouted over the dragon riders and many cheered.

  “The dwarf rider spoke true when he said an army was coming. A few of the clans have banded together and are on the war path.” A hush went over the crowd as she spoke. Hayden couldn’t hear the few hundred dragons around him; everyone was silent and trying to hear what Elizabeth had to say.

  “They killed our riders that were guarding the northern tower; they have killed all our friends. That is why we had no warning; that is why they have made it so far. All of our scouts that they have encountered have been overrun and slaughtered.” Angry growls came from both dragon and rider alike.

  “But they did not expect us to have patrols flying all around our great city. They did not expect our riders to spot them and now we can avenge them that have fallen by those devil’s hands!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

  Hayden could not believe what he was hearing; war had finally come to them. Draek jumped into the air before Elizabeth could say any more. Part of Hayden wanted to know what else she had to say but a bigger part of him wanted nothing to do with any of it.

  Draek flew straight up through the circling dragons, making his way higher and higher as they neared the clouds. He leveled off when there were no more dragons above him and circled high above the others.

  What are we going to do, Draek? Hayden asked. He leaned over and looked at the multitude of dragons bellow. He didn’t know how many dragons the dwarfs had, but he was almost certain it wasn’t enough.

  We wait, Draek responded. Hayden did not have to wait long before he saw Shaylin and Rilora fly up from the circling dragons and fly level with Draek.

  “What’s happening?” Hayden yelled out as soon as they were within ear shot.

  “The dwarfs came down out of the mountains a few nights ago and killed everyone at the northern tower. Every group of Metallic Riders they have encountered they have killed, that way no one could warn us,” Cass shouted back.

  “They are close now; a local patrol group spotted them less than a day’s flight away. They are marching straight for us and we are going to go out and meet them before they can make it to the city,” Shane added.

  Hayden had no idea what to say or do. He knew that being a dragon rider meant that he would have to fight. He had spent the last year training with weapons, not just for tournaments, but for actual battles.

  “Hayden, they expect us to fight also, now that we are full riders,” Cass yelled.

  Hayden had guessed as much, but hearing it out loud put a lump in his throat that made it painful to swallow.

  “How though, we haven’t trained with any of the wings; we won’t know how they work together,” Hayden knew what Cass’s response was before the words left his lips.

  “We are going to fly together, the five of us,” Cass said. Hayden looked down at the ground and found Giles and Sebastian on their dragons. They were easy to pick out because they had the smallest silvers.

  Hayden heard roars from down bellow; he heard them and he felt them as all the dragons roared in unison.

  What’s going on now? Hayden watched as the dragons started flying off in different directions. Most flew towards the northern point of the city, but a lot of them flew out randomly.

  She is done speaking; now it’s time to fight. Draek turned and began flying in the same direction as most of the dragons. Hayden didn’t have to tell his friends to fall in behind them; they already knew what to do.

  Hayden knew that Giles and Sebastian would eventually join up with them, whenever it was convenient for them. So he did not worry about trying to talk them into hurrying up.

  At first the sky seemed to be full of chaos as the couple hundred dragons tried to get to their wing leaders and form up. It didn’t take long before they were all flying in their organized patterns and Three Rulers took the lead in front of all the other dragons.

  As they cleared Celestial City, Hayden’s heart sank even more as he saw the thousands of soldiers marching in a line. There were still more pouring out of the city and joining the ranks. Mixed in with them were wagons and giant weapons being pulled by horses.

  They flew further on and began ascending, Elizabeth wanted them flying above the clouds so that the dwarfs would not see their numbers. Right before they broke into the clouds Hayden saw another large number of horsemen ridding in the same direction that they were all going.

  Hayden had heard their trainers boast about how quickly the cities army could be summoned and ready for war, but Hayden was still shocked to see it firsthand. All the soldiers seemed to move in together and become one giant army; it reminded Hayden of a bunch of small streams and creeks merging together to form a river.

  This river just happened to be thousands of soldiers and dragons flowing straight for an unsuspecting dwarf army. Hayden did not want to fight, let alone kill any of the dwarfs, but it seemed that that choice had been taken from him.

  It was quickly going to become a matter of kill or be killed.

  Chapter 27

  Hayden and Draek broke through the clouds and flew into the clear skies. Hayden looked down at the blanket of white underneath them. He watched as more people poked out of the clouds as their dragons rose up. He turned to watch Cass and Shane quickly fall in behind him and level out, just as they had done over and over again. Giles and Sebastian were slower to follow, but they were there nonetheless.

  All the other riders got in their wings, and soon all the dragons were soaring smoothly like birds flying north before winter came. Elizabeth’s wing was made up of the Three Rulers and two of the biggest silver dragons Hayden had ever seen. As they started to make good distance, one of the silver dragons in Elizabeth’s wing broke off and circled back to Hayden’s wing.

  As Hayden watched the giant dragon fly through the other wings, the dragons in its way had to move unless they wanted to get hit. Draek slowed down to make more room between him and the wing in front of them.

  The giant silver turned sharply and flew right in front of Draek, forcing him to fall in behind. Their wing adjusted to the change and they flew with three on one side and two on the other. As they moved back into position, Hayden heard Cass’s voice over the winds.

  He turned to face her and realized she was shouting, but he could barely make out what she was saying. He couldn’t hear her clearly but he could see her yelling “no” over and over again.

  What’s going on, Draek, what’s wrong with Cass? Hayden asked. Shane had the same confused look on his face that Hayden had. Elizabeth has commanded that Cass go back to Celestial City. She says she is too valuable to risk in this battle. Draek had no emotion as he spoke, his mind was still focused on the upcoming battle.

  Hayden heard Shaylin roar in frustration as she turned around and made her way back the way they came. Cass was rubbing her eyes and Hayden guessed she was crying as he watched them dive into the clouds and disappear from his sight.

  They are both upset, Draek said. Hayden did not respond right away. He hated seeing Cass and Shaylin upset, but he also was glad that they were not going to be a part of what was coming. Hayden did not want to be part of what was coming.

  Their new wing leader flew them faster than the other wings were going, so they moved up closer to the front. They overtook all the wings except for Elizabeth’s, who stayed in front the whole time.

  Hayden got more and more nervous as they continued to fly. They were going very slow, so they wouldn’t get too far ahead of the ground troops, but Hayden felt like they were going too fast.

  Draek stayed quiet throughout most
of the flight. Whenever Hayden tried to see what he was thinking about all he saw was difficult aerial moves that he was concentrating on. Hayden tried to think about everything he had learned over the past year, all the weapons training that had been drilled into him, but no matter how hard he tried to think about it, the only thing that popped into his head was the thoughts of death. His mind followed that path and he saw himself having to watch Shane get killed. He shook his head, trying to make the thoughts fall out.

  He decided to watch the clouds pass underneath him as he settled for just being distracted. That’s when he noticed Elizabeth turning in her saddle and shouting at the other two Rulers. Hayden thought that maybe the dwarves had already given up and she was telling them it was time to turn around. His heart skipped a beat when she lowered the face guard on her helmet, grabbed a spear from the side of her saddle, and with her dragon roaring underneath her, they dove into the clouds.

  The other dragons in her wing all performed the same maneuver: they flew up into the air a little higher, and then dove straight into the clouds. Before Hayden could finish making sure his helmet was on tight, Draek was lunging into the air and diving into the white mist bellow. It took everything Hayden had not to scream, it was just like his first flight all over again. Falling wasn’t all that bad, but falling when you can’t see anything around you was different.

  Hayden did not know what to expect when they came through the other side of the clouds. He tried to clear his head as best he could as the clouds started to thin out and Hayden made sure his shield was on securely, and he grabbed a spear from the side of his saddle.

  They broke through the clouds right behind Elizabeth’s wing. All of the dragons kept their wings in tightly so that they did not slow their fall just yet. The scene bellow Hayden was something that he had been told about, but nothing he had ever seen: thousands of armored men stood in lines with their weapons pointed in the air, Some of them carrying flags that flapped in the wind. The snow covered ground in front of them was pure and clean without a single footprint in it.