The Clash of Land and Sea_The Dragon Riders of Arvain

by Nicholas Clausen

  “If they are landing then they are probably still tired from their flight here.” Cass scanned over the map as if it held some answer that she had not seen before. When it gave up no such answers she returned to her hurried work.

  “If they had been smart they would have flown over us and started the battle with the arrival of their dragons. Instead they wait and by doing that they are giving us time to set up our defenses.” Cass said, more to herself then to Shane.

  “Why would they do that? If it will just give us a chance to prepare, why not attack us now?” Shane asked.

  “They don’t want to fight us, not while we are here. If they were to burn down the entire forest with just elves in it they wouldn’t think it such a waste. They still want us to come back to their side, they still think that they can talk us out of this.” Cass finished putting the papers in the tube a slung it over her back like a large quiver.

  “You mean they want you.” Shane said. Cass stopped in her tracks and looked up at Shane.

  “I am just a copper rider. I know that being a copper rider is still better than not being a rider at all and to be honest I like being a copper rider. But if it was just me that had done this they would have just killed me and moved on.” Cass tried to say something but Shane continued talking.

  “Hayden they might still try to win over but with two other silver riders this year he isn’t that important to them. You are a golden rider; you hatched a golden dragon which hasn’t happened in a very long time. You are worth this entire forest and all that lives in it to them.” Cass lowered her head while Shane spoke. “You are the only reason they haven’t already killed us all.”

  “You think I want this? You think I want to be something that’s better than everyone else just because?” Cass shouted at Shane with tears in her eyes.

  “No I don’t, but don’t think that just because you don’t want it that it doesn’t make it less true.” Shane shouted back.

  Shane knew that his emotions were boiling because of the upcoming battle but he couldn’t help it. “We are dragon riders, which means that no matter what we want in life we have a responsibility to the people of Arvain. And like it or not you are a golden rider and people will always look to you to lead them.”

  Cass was about to say something when an elf burst into the room, throwing open the doors so hard that when they smacked against the walls Shane ripped his sword out of its sheath.

  The elf stops just inches away from the tip of Shane’s copper blade. Shane was breathing heavy as he help the sword straight for a few seconds. Shane had to calm down and let his adrenalin run through his system before he lowered the blade.

  The elf stayed where he was and did not attempt to move even after Shane put his blade up.

  “What do you want?” Shane growled at the elf, trying his best to calm down and slow his heart beat back down to normal.

  “The Metallic Army…..the dragons landed……they sent riders on horseback to the tree line………they want to meet with the three of you.” The elf was panting while he tried to talk.

  “They want to talk to the three of us?” Shane looked back to Cass, all of his anger drained from his body.

  “The three Metallic Riders that ran away from Celestial City.” The elf was able to say in one breath.

  Hayden had no idea how long he had been talking. Minutes, hours, half the day, he just couldn’t tell while standing in the dark cabin.

  Several times the pirates would stop him to ask questions, a few times Rimney asked questions of her own. When he had explained what had befell Fendrel they all looked at him with understanding.

  Draek was still waiting just along the outskirts of island. A few times Hayden had to rely on Draek’s memories to help fill in the gaps that he had already started to forget.

  “So after you killed the riders and Kirin became queen, you decided to come and ask us for help?” The same old pirate asked. He had been the only one to speak besides Rimney during Hayden’s entire recanting of his journey.

  “To be honest no, it was not our first idea. We began preparing for war and Kirin called in all the elves from all over Eytherka. We began training their dragons and their soldiers how to fight against metallic dragons and after some time Kirin came up with the idea.” Hayden said.

  “Wait, Kirin, the Queen of the Elves, came up with the idea to ask us old sea dogs for help?” The pirate asked. When Hayden nodded his head the old pirate threw his head back in laughter.

  “Oh that is good, the Queen of the Elves asking us for help. Tell me, was she reluctant at first or did she say the words through gritted teeth?” Hayden was unsure how to answer the question.

  “To be honest she just asked me to do it. There were no teeth gritting or anything. She just realized that we couldn’t win without help and they would never expect the elves to seek help from the Sea Serpents.” Hayden did his best to answer their questions but so far he still could not tell if the meeting was going good or not.

  “That’s true, this is something much unexpected.” The old pirate became lost in thought and no one else dared to speak. After some time had passed finally looked back at Hayden and spoke.

  “So the question now is do we either help you fight with the elves or do we turn you over to the Metallic Riders at the Light House?” The pirate looked around the room as if he was waiting for someone to shout out an answer.

  “Turn me over?” Hayden asked. Rimney squeezed his arm to stop him but it was too late.

  “Yes, turn you over. You are, in fact, our prisoner.” The pirate smiled at Hayden.

  “Let it go.” Rimney whispered in his ear.

  Draek. Hayden didn’t know what he was about to do, or what he was about to ask Draek to do. Draek did not need to know the answer to either of those questions.

  Draek’s roar echoed throughout the floating island. The smile immediately vanished from the pirates face as if Hayden had just smacked it off.

  “What is your dragon doing?” He growled at Hayden.

  Before Hayden could even as Draek the same question the door behind him burst open, all but blinding everyone in the room.

  “A silver dragon has been spotted!” The new comer shouted with fear. “It’s heading straight for us.”

  At once everyone ran out of the cabin to see what Draek was doing, Hayden included. They climbed onto the upper deck of the ship and with all the sails rolled up they were able to see Draek clearly.

  Hayden had to admit that even he was scared.

  Draek had just come up out of the water and was flying straight at the ships. His mouth was open and fire was seeping out of the sides of his mouth and down his silver body, leaving a trail of smoke behind him.

  The water in between Draek and massive island of ships began to churn as blue dragons shot out of the water. But it was quickly apparent that Draek was much larger and stronger than a small group of blue dragons.

  “Your options are join me or fight me.” Hayden said. He turned to face the group of pirates that had rushed out of the room to see Draek. Hayden pulled the dagger that Rimney had given him out.

  “You can’t possibly be serious.” The pirate said.

  Draek roared the answer to the Sea Serpent and shot a column of flame at the water below him, causing steam to shoot up from the water.

  “We need time to make a decision.” The pirate said as he began to back away from Hayden with his hands outstretched in front of him.

  “No, you decide now.” Hayden started. Hayden looked around and realized that the ship was completely surrounded by pirates that had all ran to the main ship at the sight of a silver dragon.

  “Are you going to join us against the Metallic Riders and free these seas away from their grasps or will you fight me, and send countless of your people to their deaths?” Hayden asked loud enough for everyone around them to hear.

  “The Metallic Dragons are planning to attack every race, just as they had done years ago. They will burn down your ships an
d your homes and kill your families, just to prove that they are the true rulers of Arvain.” Hayden yelled out.

  “If my lone dragon brings so much terror to your hearts, what are you going to do when there is an army of dragons descending on you? This will come to pass, one way or another. So I ask you again, will you join me and fight them off and free yourselves or will you fight me here, today?” Hayden asked while leaning down into a dagger fighting position.

  He waited in silence until finally the old pirate looked to the others that were part of The Head. They all nodded to each other in agreement. The old pirate began to laugh a hearty, loud and obviously fake laugh.

  “Hahaha, well I believe our decision is obvious.” When none of the other pirates laughed he stopped. “Of course we will join you in your quest. As I said before, there is nothing we hate more than Metallic Riders.” He said with a growl.

  Hayden knew right away that they were not going to help him out of friendship, but because they had no other choice.

  None of that mattered. Hayden had accomplished what he had originally set out to do. The Sea Serpents were joining the war.

  Chapter 24

  “What are we going to do?” Shane asked.

  “We have to meet them and see what they want.” Cass said.

  They reached the top of Out Post and Rilora and Shaylin were both waiting on them.

  “But what if it’s a trap?” Shane asked as he climbed onto Rilora’s back.

  “They wouldn’t try anything so close to our army and so far away from theirs. It would be suicide to attack us.” Cass made sense and that helped to calm some of Shane’s nerves.

  “And what are we going to do about Hayden.” Cass stopped strapping herself into her saddle and looked at Shane.

  “We will have to come up with something. I guess we could tell them that he is somewhere else in the forest.” Cass suggested. “We could say that he is getting ready for the battle.”

  Shane wasn’t sure if they were going to believe that story or not. Let’s get going. Shane told Rilora. Rilora was the first to take off of Out Post but Shaylin was close behind her.

  As they flew Shane reached into one of the saddle bags and undid the straps holding it closed. The leather bag opened up and Shane pulled out a copper bull helmet. Shane pulled the helmet onto his head and tightened the chin strap, locking the helmet into place.

  Shane pulled the face shield down, covering his entire body in copper armor. He looked back behind him and saw Cass put her golden phoenix helmet on.

  We need to look intimidating when we land, we don’t need to show them any fear. Shane thought as he tightened his gauntlets for the third time since they had taken flight. When the tree line came into view Shane began scanning the grassy fields for the horsemen.

  It only took a few minutes before Rilora spotted the horses tethered to a sapling at the edge of the forest.

  Do you want to land next to the horses? Shane asked.

  I don’t want to be in between them and our army. I think we should land inside the forest with our people. Rilora said.

  Shane looked over the tree tops but he couldn’t find a clearing big enough to fit two dragons.

  I don’t think we have that option; there is no room for us to land. Shane looked over his shoulder to look at the enemy’s camp but it was too far away from them to see any details, or any dragons.

  I am a dragon, I make room. Rilora flew low over the tree and when she was near where the horses were tethered she let loose her fire on the trees directly below her.

  The trees immediately went up in flames. Rilora kept up her flame and poured out her fire over the already burning trees. The leaves went up in a thick smoke but the fire was so hot the trees just melted away underneath them.

  Rilora lowered herself into the inferno, her wings pushing smoke and flames out away from them. Shaylin added her fire to the trees and landed just heartbeats after them.

  Shane looked around and saw just a few fires burning through the smoke. The grass all around them was black and smoldering, adding their smoke to the blanket that was floating around them.

  Shane was struggling to breathe through the smoke but he was a dragon rider and fire and smoke were part of the job.

  Shane undid his saddle straps and lowered himself down to the burnt earth beneath him. His boots crunched into the charred earth and sent ash up into the air. Shane looked back to Cass and saw her walking towards him.

  “Ready?” Cass said when she had made it to Shane. Shane pulled his blade out of its sheath and tested its perfect balance.

  Shane could only imagine how they looked while they walked out through the smoke. Two riders clad in armor with their dragon’s silhouette behind them.

  “Riders.” A voice rang out through the forest. Shane was still having a hard time seeing because of the smoke but he could tell the general direction that the voice came from.

  Shane motioned for Cass to stand behind him as he slowly made his way towards where the voice had come from.

  When they got away from the smoke and further into the forest Shane saw four armored men standing behind trees. Shane and Cass walked up to the group and the horsemen just stood in silence, looking at each other.

  How many are there? Rilora asked.

  Only four and they don’t look armed. Shane was already sizing them up just in case a fight broke out.

  “Cassidy the Gold and Shane the Copper?” One of them men asked.

  “We are, and what are your names?” Cass asked.

  “My name is William and these men are my men.” William said as he took the lead in front of his men.

  “And your men don’t have names?” Cass asked. Shane knew it was better to let her talk because they still looked at a golden rider as higher than a copper rider.

  “Their names aren’t important my lady. What is important is where the third rider is, Hayden The Silver I believe.” William looked around as if Hayden were about to walk out from behind a tree.

  “He is not here, the upcoming battle has called his attention elsewhere.” Cass said.

  “We had asked to speak with all three riders.” William pointed out as if Cass was not aware of what they had asked for. Shane tightened his grip on his blade and was already playing the short fight in his mind.

  “He is not here, so you will speak with Shane and myself or you may leave our forest.” Cass spoke with such authority that Shane had to smile behind his bull mask as William looked over to his men, obviously uncomfortable.

  “We are here to offer you terms.” William started. “Elizabeth does not know what has transpired since your flight away from Celestial City but she is willing to forgive it all if the three of you will return with us.” When William had finished his eyes left Cass and made their way to Shane then to Shane’s sword and he quickly took a step back.

  “And then what, your army will just turn around and head back to Celestial City with us?” Cass demanded.

  “Sadly no my lady. Elizabeth wants the elves to be cleansed and brought back under her rule. We are to escort the three of you away from the forest and then we will attack.” William began to sweet and had to wipe his brow with his hand.

  “We will attack with you here or with you gone but Elizabeth did instruct us to tell you that if you were to come back with us then we are to show mercy and restraint.” William added.

  “Mercy and restraint?” Cass asked. She was doing an amazing job keeping her anger under control. Shane thought that she actually sounded interested in William’s offer.

  “We are to let live all those who surrender and we are not to pillage or plunder anything. We are to fight until they surrender and then leave.” William made it sound as if their arrangement was a grand gesture in their favor.

  “And if we don’t go with you?” Cass asked.

  “Then we are allowed to do whatever we please. Women and children will be slaughtered or enslaved and we will take all the riches from the forest. We will all bu
t exterminate the race of the elves.” William might not have tried to make it sound like a threat but the there was no doubt in Shane’s mind that he was speaking true.

  Shane took a step forward but Cass put out her hand to stop him. Rilora and Shaylin snaked their way through the trees until their heads were directly above Shane and Cass. William and his men stumbled backwards at the sight of the dragons, forcing Cass and Shane to walk towards them.

  “Thank you for your generous offer; may we have some time to discuss this with our third rider?” Cass asked. The only person more surprised by her answer than the William and his men was Shane. He took his eyes off of the riders and looked at Cass.

  William looked back to his men and it became obvious that they had not expected her to even consider their offer.

  “I guess that will be ok.” William started, unsure of his own answer. “We will meet back here tomorrow morning then?” He asked Cass.

  “Yes, we will have our answer for you tomorrow.” Cass nodded her head and waited for the four men to turn and leave. They did not need to be formally asked to leave because once Cass dismissed them they all but ran away from the dragons.

  Shane pulled off his helmet and turned to Cass as soon as they were gone.

  “We are not considering their offer.” He stated rather than asked.

  “No we are not.” Cass said as she took off her phoenix helmet and shook free her hair.

  “Then why did you tell that we were?” Shane asked.

  “To buy us some more time, to buy Hayden more time.” Cass said as she climbed back onto Shaylin and together made their way back to the burning hole they had made in the trees.

  Hayden wasn’t sure what he had expected the Sea Serpents to do after they had agreed to help him. He had hoped that they might grab their weapons and head off to go help the elves but it seemed that was not going to happen.