The Clash of Land and Sea_The Dragon Riders of Arvain

by Nicholas Clausen

“Are we ready to go now?” Hayden asked for the third time.

  “Once again rider, there is much work to be done if we are to move our entire fleet into battle.” The elder pirate said. Hayden had since learned that his name was Jaran.

  Hayden walked over to the tattered the map that Jaran and the other pirates were looking over.

  “We need to head south and head up the river Savior; it’s the only river wide enough and deep enough to take all but the largest of our ships.” Jaran pointed to a blue line on the map.

  Hayden had brought out the papers that the elves had given him. It turned out that not only had he been carrying documents that asked the Sea Serpents for help but he had also carried maps that had detailed sketches of the elves locations.

  After Draek had done his magnificent introduction and the Sea Serpents agreed to help them, Draek had flown a few circles above the ships before plunging back into the water.

  “True but we would have to first clear out the Light House and that would take both time and man power.” Another pirate spoke out. “If we head north we can come in through one of the small lakes and make our way by land to the elves. The Metallic Nation would never expect that.” All the people in the cabin stopped and looked at the pirate.

  Finally after he had asked what it was that he had done wrong, Rimney grabbed the man by the back of his shirt and forcefully threw him out of the room. At her return, everyone leaned back over the map and continued working.

  “Yes we would have to clear out the Light House but they are missing three of their dragon riders and besides, if we are worried about attacking on building and a handful of dragons then we need to reconsider our agreement to join this war.” Jaran looked around hoping that someone would agree with him but when no one did he shrugged and went back to talking.

  “So we attack the Light House and leave our larger war ships and barges at the mouth of the river. Then the rest of ships will go single file into the river and make their way to the battle ground. If the elves are correct with their maps then we should come just south of the battle.” Jaran pointed with his fingers as he spoke.

  “Sounds great when do we leave?” Hayden asked after they agreed that this plan was going to be the fastest way to get to the elves.

  “We can leave as soon as you answer one more question Hayden. What happens if we win this battle?” Jaran asked.

  “To be honest we haven’t really discussed it.” Hayden admitted. “We would probably see what the Metallic Nation did next.”

  “Meaning?” Jaran said.

  “Well I guess if they decided to stop what they were doing and leave the other races alone then we wouldn’t fight them anymore.” Hayden’s words caused the pirates to break out in laughter.

  “Well we know that won’t happen so what’s your other plan?” Jaran managed to ask in between his laughing.

  “If they won’t do that then we keep fighting till they do.” Simple enough plan. Hayden thought after he said it.

  I like simple plans; they are much easier to follow. Draek agreed.

  Jaran looked to the other pirates and nodded his head. “I like it.” The other pirates had stopped laughing and were now looking to Jaran.

  “But I have one last question before we set sale. What happens if we win, I don’t mean just the battle but what if we win the war?” Jaran’s question brought out silence from his men.

  “That is a question I cannot answer.” Hayden said. “Because it’s not just up to me what will happen. I can only speak for what Cass, Shane and I are trying to do and that is free Arvain and its people from the Metallic Nation. How Arvain gets rebuilt after the war will be up to all the races, not just Metallic Riders.”

  Hayden didn’t know if he had answered Jaran’s question but he hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. He was sure that Cass probably had some brilliant plan already in her mind but he was more concerned about the battle that was coming, not what happened after it.

  Jaran put his hands on his hips and seemed to ponder Hayden’s answer. “Well that’s good enough for me then.” Jaran looked around to the other pirates to see if any of them had any further question but like it had been since they had met; only Jaran spoke.

  “If there is nothing else then let’s set sail for the Light House.” As Jaran spoke his statement was met with shouts and cheers. The pirates ran off in every direction to their own ships.

  “They are really excited about fighting the Metallic Nation.” Hayden said as he made his way to where Rimney was standing.

  “We’re pirates, we are happy to be fighting anyone.” Rimney said as she shrugged her shoulders. Before they could make it off the ship Jaran shouted after Hayden.

  “Hayden, take your armor and gear over to one of the blacksmith ships and have them get them ready for battle. The salt water isn’t good for them.” Jaran said as he made his way into his cabin.

  Hayden turned away and followed Rimney back to her ship. As they walked back the ships looked completely different than they had when they first walked through them.

  The giant canvas’s that had covered the shops were being rolled up and the goods were being stowed away. Captains were shouting orders at their crew and people were running everywhere.

  “We need to hurry to get your armor cleaned and back to you before we break free of the island.” Rimney said as she broke out into a job, which Hayden matched.

  Draek where are you, we are getting ready to leave. Hayden asked.

  I am swimming with these blue dragons. Hayden caught a glimpse in between the ships of the sea beneath them as they ran and saw Draek swim by a dozen blue dragons all around him.

  Hurry back to the ship whenever you are done, we need to be ready to go when Rimney is ready. Hayden and Rimney made it back to The Misty Maiden and immediately Rimney began shouting orders.

  “All hands on deck secure all cargo and prepare the sails.” Rimney yelled. Hayden ducked into the cabin and dug through his saddle and gear till he found his armor and sword.

  The scales in Hayden’s armor were stiff and sticking together and the shine was gone from all his gear. “Huh, Jaran was right.” Hayden said as he inspected his gear.

  “He usually is.” Rimney said from behind Hayden. Rimney whistled and two of her crew members came into the cabin.

  “Take Hayden’s gear to the blacksmith two ships over. Stay with the gear and make sure they take care of it correctly. If they don’t throw them over board and find another blacksmith.” The crew mates nodded and began picking up all of Hayden’s gear.

  “How should we pay for it?” One of the crew members asked Rimney walked over to the chest against the wall and grabbed a leather bag and threw it to the crew member.

  As they grabbed the last of the gear, a little bundle of cloth fell out onto the bed; it was wrapped with a necklace that had a hammer on the chain. One of the crew members grabbed it up and added it to his pile before running out the door.

  “Wait that’s not..” Hayden began but Rimney put her hand on his chest to stop him.

  “We don’t have time; don’t worry about them they will make sure your gear is properly taken care of. Our smiths might not be what you are used to in Celestial City but they do good work.”

  “It’s not that, the bag they grabbed wasn’t armor.” Hayden was about to tell Rimney what was in it but decided against it.

  “They will bring it back with your gear then, don’t worry about it.” Rimney looked down into her own chest and began pulling her armor out. It was mixed matched just like the armor the blacksmith had used to measure Hayden and the others.

  “Are you still sure about this?” Rimney asked.

  “Are you?” Hayden responded.

  “I was never sure with it to begin with.” Rimney said as she took off her coat and hat and laid them on the bed. “But anything has to be better then what we have now.”

  Hayden was about to say that it didn’t seem that bad until Rimney turned to face Hayden and took off her
boots. She starting to change and as she lifted her shirt to her navel, Hayden saw her brand just as he turned his back to her.

  “You Sea Serpents aren’t shy are you?” Hayden asked.

  “We spent all of our time on ship together, privacy and modesty goes overboard quickly.” Rimney said. Hayden nodded and stepped out of the cabin and onto the deck.

  The deck of The Misty Maiden was full of movement as they prepared to push back out to sea. A few ships had already broken off the floating island and were drifting slowly away.

  After some time Rimney came back out of her cabin in fresh clothes but no armor.

  “Are we almost ready to go?” Hayden asked.

  “We are but we are just waiting on your gear.” They had to wait almost an hour before the crew members returned with his gear.

  Most of the ships were already on their way south to the Light House, they weren’t going full speed but they were moving.

  Rimney and Hayden walked into the cabin with the gear to look it over.

  “What took you so long?” Rimney demanded.

  “The extra parts that were in the bag, it took a while to figure out what to do with them.” The crew member said.

  ‘What parts?” Hayden asked. “There wasn’t any bag of….” Hayden realized that his leather bag with Fendrel’s dagger, Kirin’s green scale and the dwarf hammer were missing.

  Hayden quickly laid his gear out and saw just what the blacksmith had done.

  “Well that’s different.” Rimney said.

  “What did you pay the blacksmith in?” Hayden asked already knowing the answer.

  “Scales from Farius.” Rimney said, confirming what Hayden had thought.

  Hayden’s armor was oiled and shined and looked just as it had the day it was first given to him, except for a few differences.

  On his sword belt they had added Fendrel’s dagger to the opposite side of his sword and in the center of dagger’s sheath they mounted the hammer from the dwarf’s necklace. The way Hayden wore his sword on his back would put Fendrel’s dagger sitting in the center of his chest. The most noticeable change they had made was on either side of his chest plate, right at where his collar bones would be there were two new scales.

  On the right side was the green scale that Kirin had given him and on the other side was a rich blue scale from Rimney’s dragon Farius.

  Chapter 25

  Morning finally came after a long sleepless night. The elves were in place for the battle and had spent the night waiting in the woods.

  Shane and Cass had been up most of the night trying to make last minute preparations but it quickly became apparent that there was nothing left for them to do.

  The sun rose lazily above the horizon and turned the sky all manners of red and yellow. Beams of light landed on Out Post to find to Cass and Shane dressed in their armor and standing with their dragon’s enjoying the first few moments of morning in peace before heading to the front line.

  Shane took his time as he mounted Rilora and began strapping himself into the saddle. Cass seemed to be in no more of a hurry then he was. Shane had half expected Hayden to come flying in with an army behind him but they had yet to hear any word about where their friend was.

  Their dragons took off into the crisp morning air and together they made their way back to the burnt hole in the forest to meet with William and his men.

  Shane and Cass touched down on the still ash covered forest floor, the ash sticking to them with the morning moisture.

  They did not have to go far before William walked out behind a tree. This time he had come with a sword upon his back.

  “I see Hayden is still not joining us?” William both asked and stated.

  “Yes he is still needed elsewhere.” Cass replied coolly.

  “And I take it that by your lack of gear and overabundance of armor that you will not be joining us on our way back to camp?” Again Cass had to agree with him.

  “We need to speak to Hayden.” William finally said.

  “I am the rider of the golden dragon, it was my decision and as I already stated Hayden is not here.” Cass said firmly.

  “Then where is he?” William looked around him as if Hayden was going to pop out and say here I am. “Did he run away and leave the two of you to clean up his mess?”

  “No, once again he is elsewhere preparing for the battle, which is where we must go as well.” Cass turned her back on William and began walking back to Shaylin.

  “If he is not here then there is only one place he could be. He has gone to go get help.” William said. Cass stopped during mid step and turned around to face William.

  “He did.” William said as he and his men took off to the tree line where their horses were waiting.

  Shane took off after them with Cass close behind him. “I thought you said they would never guess what Hayden was doing.” Shane shouted from under his bull helmet.

  “I never thought they would.” Cass admitted as they ran. William and his men made it to the horses before they could catch them. Shane and Cass ripped out of the forest just as the horses began galloping away from them.

  A group of elves melted out of the woods with bows in their hands. Shane shouted at them as soon as he saw them step out from behind the trees.

  “Bring them down, now!” He yelled. The elves pulled back on their bows and loosed their arrows just as fast as it took Shane to turn around to look at the horses getting away.

  All at once all four riders fell off their mounts with arrows sticking out of their backs. Shane nodded to the elves and turned to walk back into the forest.

  “We killed them.” Cass said as she watched the horses run off without their riders.

  “There is going to be a lot more of that before this is over.” Shane admitted.

  “But they were messengers; they just came to talk to us.” Cass seemed to be talking to herself.

  Shane quickly grabbed her and shook her by her shoulders.

  “They were the enemy, this is war. We did what we had to do and we will keep doing that. There is only one rule in war, win. Anything else will just get in the way of following that rule.” Shane said after he lifted the face shield of his helmet up. He could only see in through the slits of Cass’s helmet but that was enough for him to see that she was crying.

  “They will attack tomorrow.” Cass said, trying to change the subject. “First they will send their cavalry to smash into us. When that doesn’t work they will send in their archers and ground units.” Shane wanted to finish talking about what they had done but he found himself looking over his shoulder at the camp that was now full of activity.

  They had seen their riders killed by the elves. They didn’t know the secrets that they took to their grave but they understood what Cass’s answer had been.

  “Then they will send the dragons?” Shane asked.

  “Then they will send the dragons and try to burn the forest down around us. They will try to cut off our escape. They want to keep us out in the open fields where they can kill us easily.” Cass seemed to harden her heart as she spoke was Shane knew that it would take more than words to prepare someone for the horrors of war.

  “And you have a plan for that right?” Shane asked as he saw a group of Metallic Dragons take flight and head back towards Celestial City. “To make sure that we don’t get stuck out there.”

  “Yes, were never going to leave the forest in the first place.” Cass turned and walked back to Shaylin.

  “But I thought you said that they were going to burn the forest down?” Shane was beginning to feel nervous about all the plans that everyone had made.

  “That’s what I am hoping for.” Cass said as Shaylin jumped above the trees and into the air.

  Hayden sat upon Draek as they flew over the fleet of ships making their way to the Light House.

  Hayden had made a point to avoid the Light House when he had first set out to find the Sea Serpents but Rimney promised him that the journey would be far sh
orter than Hayden’s original trip.

  We are finally on our way back to our friends. Hayden thought as he looked over the ships sailing underneath him.

  It will be good to be back with Shaylin and Rilora. Draek made it to the front of the fleet of ships and made a large turn and began flying back over the ships.

  Draek’s head lifted up as if he was listening to someone and Hayden knew that one of the dragons must have been talking to him.

  Rimney needs to see you on her ship. Draek said as he pulled in his wings and began to dive towards The Misty Maiden.

  As they neared the ship Draek turned slightly and aimed to the water just beside the ship.

  You’re going to stop right? Hayden asked. Draek pulled in is wings even closer and straightened his neck. Hayden lowered his body to Draek and help on as tight as he could.

  Draek hit the water like an arrow and shot straight under The Misty Maiden. Hayden held his breath and waited for Draek to resurface on the other side of the ship.

  You didn’t have to do that. Hayden thought to Draek as they broke the surface of the water and Hayden did his best to wipe the water out of his eyes.

  I know but I thought you would like it. Draek replied. Draek turned his giant silver head around to face Hayden.

  “If you two are finished playing around, I need to see you up here Hayden.” Rimney was leaning over the railing of her ship as she yelled down at Hayden.

  Hayden tapped Draek on the neck and his silver dragon swam to the ship like a giant serpent. Draek stretched his neck out until his head was level with the ship’s deck and Hayden quickly climbed up his neck and onto the deck.

  “Well let it be said that you two really know how to make an entrance.” Rimney said. Hayden smiled at Draek and pressed his head against Draek’s snout.

  Be safe, and don’t get too far away. Hayden said. Hayden never felt more alive than when he was with his dragon.

  Draek winked at Hayden as he dove back into the water and disappeared into the blue water.

  “You wanted to see me?” Hayden asked as he walked over to Rimney.