The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain) (18 page)

             
They already know and your mouth is hanging open, you have some drool on your shirt,
Draek told him with just a slight hint of humor in his mental voice.  Hayden didn’t even try to hide his staring; he closed his mouth and used the back of his shirt sleeve to wipe the drool that he now felt off his face. Then, using the same hand, he wiped of the front of his shirt, never taking his eyes off her as she drew in closer to them.

             
She is so beautiful,
He thought.

             
She is, just look how her wings fall on her sides so smoothly.

             
How do you know the gold dragonet is even a girl?
Hayden asked.

             
She is, trust me, how do you know Cass is a girl?
Draek responded with slight agitation.

             
Look at her, of course she is a girl.

             
Exactly the same with the golden beauty, you just don’t know what to look for.

             
Before they could pass any more unheard statements, Cass and her dragonet where in the corridor that held all four of their rooms; Hayden tried to look over at the wall across from them as if he had not been staring the whole time.

             
“Hi, boys, I would like you to meet my dragonet, Shaylin.” Shaylin bobbed her head up and down at the mention of her name. Draek was the first to move, Rilora had stopped chewing on his tail and was content to sit and watch what was happening. He walked tall and strong, never breaking eye contact with Shaylin. He started leaning his head forward and sniffing the air, she copied his movements until they both were standing apart with their necks stretched out as far they could with the tips of their noses barely touching.

             
A short bugle sound erupted from Sebastian’s silver as it ran at Draek, more stumbling then actually running, and jumped on his back, pushing him to the floor in front of Shaylin. Draek tried to raise his head but the silver on his back swatted at him, forcing him to keep his head low to the ground.

             
“Sebastian, tell your dragon to stop!” Shane yelled before Hayden could protest to Sebastian himself.

             
“Why would I do that, if Hayden’s little pet can’t defend himself against a silver dragonet what’s it going to do against a dragon that really wants to hurt it. Plus, this is proof that they aren’t meant to be here, they aren’t meant to be dragon and rider.” Sebastian smiled at Hayden after he spoke, Giles stood beside him snickering in his hands.

             
Are you ok?
Hayden asked Draek.

             
I am fine, he can’t hurt me, and he is distracted by Shaylin.

             
Draek, get him off your back. Try rolling over and kicking with your hind legs, try to throw him into the wall.
Hayden tried to send mental images with his words so that Draek would not get confused. Instead of an answer he just felt Draek’s anger building up inside him and his adrenalin began pumping through his veins. He felt him try to envision what he was going to do so he wasn’t just blindly attacking.

             
Then, in a smooth yet aggressive movement, Draek rolled over onto his left side, causing Sullivan to expose his chest or get rolled over with Draek. Once Draek was fully over onto his back he kicked his hind legs into Sullivan’s gut, throwing him into the wall that was almost five feet away. Draek rolled back onto his feet to meet Sullivan, but when the other silver started to raise Shaylin slammed her tail to the ground, stopping them both in their tracks.

             
“Did you see that? Hayden’s dragon viciously attacked Sullivan for no reason. He needs to be punished!” Sebastian had jumped from the wall he was leaning on as soon as his silver had hit the wall. He was running at the dragons when Draek growled deep in his throat; causing Sebastian to stumble slightly and move more cautiously to his dragonet. “This is only to be expected from a savage and his pet.”

             
“All I saw was your dragon try to hurt Hayden’s, but as it turns out Draek knows how to defend himself,” Benet said with a look of contentment written upon his face; Sebastian knelt by Sullivan and glared up at Benet, never speaking the dark thoughts that lurked in his mind. “Quit playing around you guys and let’s get a move on; the whole city is waiting to grovel at your feet.” Benet turned and began to walk swiftly down the corridor, his leather boots echoing off the metal walls.

             
Hayden walked next to Draek and inspected him, making sure he was alright, even though Draek continued to protest, saying that if he was hurt he would be the first to know. Convinced that Draek had not been hurt Hayden and Shane, with Draek and Rilora following close behind, made their way up to Cass and Shaylin. The six followed Benet; leaving Giles and Sebastian with their dragonets behind.

             
“What were you thinking? Letting Draek get caught up in that fight, both of them could have been severely hurt,” Cass said as soon as they were turning down another corridor and could no longer hear Sebastian’s curses.

             
“I did not let him get caught up in that fight, he was attacked and he defended himself.”
I can’t believe we are getting yelled at by Cass about that fight, there was nothing we could have done to avoid it,
Hayden thought to Draek after he had finished speaking to Cass.

             
Cass had said something but Hayden had missed it because he had focused on relaying his thoughts to Draek. He felt like an idiot asking Cass to repeat herself, knowing it was more harsh words towards him. Draek did not reply to his statement, Hayden figured it was because Cass was still yelling.

             
“I said you could have avoided it instead of encouraging it.” She walked a few steps in front of them and Hayden tried to pay attention as he watched her dark hair bounce up and down with her furious steps.

             
“I did not encourage it!” Hayden defended.

             
“Oh really, then why did Shaylin tell me that when she asked how Draek had come up with the idea to roll over and kick Sullivan. He told her you had told him what to do.” Hayden looked down at Draek, who was still walking beside him, but was now looking at the walls away from Hayden to avoid eye contact.

             
Really Draek, you told her that?
Hayden asked his guilty-acting dragonet.

             
I might have let it slip,
Was his response after a few seconds hesitation.

             
“Ok, so I told Draek what to do, but how could I have avoided the fight? Sullivan was on top of Draek’s back, he could have really done some damage. What if he would have cut open his wings?” Hayden hated asking because it put the gruesome image into his head; he did not like the idea of Draek getting hurt.

             
“You could have asked him to call his dragon off, you could have asked him what he wanted or asked Benet to stop it, but you didn’t have to fight.” Cass sounded more upset as she spoke.

             
“I couldn’t have done that without making Draek and I sound weak and beneath him, which is what he wanted. He wanted to humiliate me and get his way; you saw him try to take my egg and if it wouldn’t have been for me fighting back then I would not be here, Draek would be a pile of silver ruble right now.” Hayden could not see her face as they walked; she never looked back at him. Shaylin turned her head back to stare at him with her big golden eyes, but not Cass.

             
“I am sorry if our actions have displeased you, but we will not just cower down because it is easier, we will not become a tool to be used for whatever purpose someone else sees fit to use us for. We will fight when we need to.” Hayden did not want her mad at him, not this early on but he had to let her know how he felt. Shane, who had remained quiet through most of the ordeal, patted Hayden’s back. Silently so Cass would not hear.

             
“I know, and I have no place to tell you what to do, but someone could have really have gotten hurt.”

             
“But no one did, so let’s enjoy the celebration,” Hayden said as they neared a door with light spilling from between the cracks.

             
Shane leaned in and whispered in Hayden’s ear. “She might not be able to tell you what to do now, but as soon as training is over she will be a gold dragon rider, she will have a rank as soon as we start that you and I can never reach.” Hayden did not understand how the ranks worked, but he figured as much since they were taking so much extra care for Cass because of her dragonet.

             
Benet stood at the door waiting to open it for them, Giles and Sebastian still hadn’t caught up to them. “Have fun out there.” He said as he opened the door; even though the corridors were lit up by torches it still took a second for their eyes to adjust to the blinding light of the sun. Then, while still blind, the cheers deafened them; the noise hitting them like a solid wall.

             
Once their eyes had adjusted they saw that they had come out at a field still within the short outer wall of the pyramid. The crowd that they had expected to be citizens turned out to be fellow riders. They all wore the same grey outfit as them; only they wore colored half capes died to match the dragons they rode. It was a sea of copper with a few islands of silver splashed through it. Hayden could not make out any gold riders in the crowd, which he thought was strange.

             
How many gold dragons are there right now?
he asked Draek because even if he shouted the others would not have been able to hear him.

             
Shaylin says that there are only six right now, she makes the seventh. Elizabeth is the youngest, besides Cassidy, and the others are old men who don’t even fly anymore. She says they just stay in the library trying to make up
answers to what questions they have.
Draek answered the question quickly and without hesitation, but Hayden could hear regret in his thoughts as he told him the low number.

             
So few, I thought there would have been more. How many other riders are there?

             
There are thousands of coppers, I am not sure how many because Rilora doesn’t even know for sure, she guesses close to three thousand and the other dragons I have asked guess that there are near two hundred silver riders.

             
Hayden would have had a hard time believing him if it wasn’t for the ocean of riders cheering for him now.
When have you talked to other dragons?
he asked after he realized the gravity of what Draek had told him.

             
Since before we made it to our room, almost immediately after I hatched I could already communicate with them. For dragons, mind speech is like yelling across a big open room, you can pin point it down to were only one dragon hears you or you can project it out so that all dragons near you hear it. That’s how we learn so fast and can find answers to almost anything; we just ask an older dragon.
Draek seemed to be amused with himself, as if he had pulled off some elaborate joke on Hayden.

             
Benet had come out behind them with Giles and Sebastian and their two silvers, the people had already been cheering for a while so they did not add the dying noise which Hayden could tell irritated Sebastian.

             
“Well don’t just stand there, go out and celebrate, you have about an hour to spend with the other riders before they let the rest of the city in to see you,” Benet said, and turned to walk through the door they just came through, closing it behind him.

             
Hayden was the first to walk down the steps leading to the awaiting crowd. Draek walked proudly beside him with his head held high, which was almost to Hayden’s elbow. Hayden spent the next hour shaking someone’s hand, taking a step and then shaking someone else’s hand.

             
At first people noticed his bandaged hands and tried to be gentle but as time wore on no one noticed it anymore. They would grasp his hand hard enough to make him wince slightly and then the next person was up to do the same. After the first few people he decided not to try to remember any one’s name, they just blended in together.

             
At one point he turned around to see the others in a line behind him doing the same thing; he tried to listen to what everyone said but soon that too started to blend together.

             
“Congratulations!”

             
“You will do great.”

             
“Glad to have you with us.”

             
“Your silver looks so strong; he is going to get big.”

             
These were the most repeated things said to him and Draek, and became the easiest to remember. Draek and Hayden began playing a game in their heads, keeping count of how many people said which of the most popular greetings to them. They even tried to guess, before the riders spoke, which one they were going to say. After the riders greeted each of them they all walked to the giant gate that was now closed. They could hear a great number of people behind the gate, all sounding like they had been having a good time for a while.

             
Hayden realized that the he had seen the giant gate, nearly thirty feet high, from on top of the hill when he had first seen Celestial City. As he was looking at it the ground under his feet started to rumble, a low moan that shook the earth and sounded like a mountain yawning. The gates started to shake and Hayden noticed all the birds that had perched nearby had taken to the sky. The gate continued to shake and then it started to shrink into the earth; it continued to lower itself till it was level with the metal street that led out of the city and to the surrounding fields.

             
Hayden wanted to spend some time looking at how the gate worked, but as the gate had gotten lower they were able to see the thousands of people all eating and dancing in hundreds of small parties scattered around the giant field, there were bards moving from group to group playing as they went. Waiting right in front of the gate, standing all alone, was Fendrel.

             
Hayden ran to meet him, Draek trying to keep up, and as he tried to run his wings started to open up just slightly, leaving the others behind. Once the crowds realized that the gates had opened and riders were coming to celebrate with them cheers and applause began to start in the nearest groups and spread throughout the whole crowd.

             
Hayden reached Fendrel and stood just before him, Fendrel smiling at him. Fendrel opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but he closed it again when Draek appeared. He looked at silver dragonet and he seemed to approve until he saw the diamond pattern on his head

             
“That mark, it was on my egg,” he said to himself as much as to Hayden.

             
“It was your egg that I hatched, this is Draek.” Hayden put his hand on the back of Draek’s head as he spoke.
He was supposed to hatch you a long time ago, but they asked him to do something horrible and he was unwilling to do it, and he has thought about you every day for many years,
Hayden told Draek while Fendrel still stared open mouthed at Draek.

             
Draek moved slowly to Fendrel, easing his head up higher to look at him better. Fendrel got down on his knees, wincing as they creaked, so he could be level with the silver dragonet. They locked eyes for many moments, and the entire time tears flowed freely down Fendrel’s checks. Finally Fendrel reached out and touched the scales on Draek’s head, right next to the diamond mark.

             
Tell him I am very grateful to meet him and I am sorry we could not have met earlier.
Draek’s thoughts were heard loud and clear and startled Hayden out of the silence they had been enduring.

             
“Fendrel, Draek says he is very happy to finally meet you and he apologizes that you two could not have met earlier.” Hayden watched a thin smile creep across the old man’s face.

             
“I wish I could have met you earlier too, but the stars do not always line up the way we want them to, I have truly spent my whole life wondering what had happened to you. Now for the first time in many years I can rest easy tonight knowing you have hatched and are safe.” Fendrel stood up, the motion awkward and jerky, and then he dusted the front of his pants off and moved his eyes from Draek to Hayden. “And you, Hayden The Silver, how are there five riders this year instead of the usual four, and we have three silver, a copper and a gold?”

             
“Well it’s a long story,” Hayden started, but Fendrel raised his hand and cut him off, motioning for the pair to follow him. They walked behind him and came to rest around a small fire. They sat down and Fendrel insisted Hayden tell the whole story of what took place during the trials.

             
It was slow going because everyone came around to see the new dragon and rider, so Hayden had to keep stopping the story to talk to the new strangers who wanted to wish them luck on the upcoming year; but after many interruptions he was able to tell the full story to Fendrel.

             
Once he was done, Fendrel just sat looking into the fire, then he called for someone to come bring them drinks. A man from the large open tent next to them came and gave both men a cup of something that reminded Hayden of what they used to clean horse stalls. Fendrel stood up and raised his cup above his head, everyone around them following the motion. Then he spoke with a voice that bellowed like thunder.

             
“Cheers to our new protectors, to our new dragons, to the dragon riders of Arvain!” He shouted the last few words and his short speech was met with enthusiastic yells, and then everyone drank deeply from their cups. Hayden took a small sip, gagged and then spit it out. Everyone began moving about as before, greeting the new riders and embracing the old ones.

             
Soon Hayden began to walk through the crowds with Draek, leaving Fendrel behind telling anyone who would listen around the fire about how he had brought Hayden to Celestial City and taught him how to get a dragon egg. Hayden gently stretched out his fingers as they walked; his hands were just starting to feel better from all the hand shaking he had done.

             
The celebration was going by in a blur; people smacking him on the back, pulling him in one direction or another. Then once the other riders started to leave he saw dragons fill the sky. Hayden and Draek tried to communicate, but they both became so exhausted by the celebration they simply just walked together. Some people were less friendly, asking if it was true that Hayden had stolen the egg from Sebastian. To those people, Draek’s growl was enough of a response that they left him alone.

             
He bumped into Shane and Cass only a few times, and they appeared to be just as worn out as he was. Then a loud horn was blown and, from the same gate that they had come through, the Rulers of Three came walking out to greet the city’s people.

             
“We thank you all for coming out today to join us in welcoming our newest members, but as all things must come to an end, so must this party. You may all continue your celebrations, but I am sorry to say that the five new riders and their dragons all have training that starts bright and early.” Elizabeth spoke over the crowd and there was not even a whisper as she talked. No one dare move or make a sound, which confused Hayden.

             
He did not have time to dwell upon that because as soon as she finished her last word and turned her back to them Draek entered his mind again.

             
We have to follow her now,
his voice rang out.

             
How do you know that?
Hayden asked, but Draek was already moving in her direction. Hayden wanted to know how Draek knew that, but he still trusted Draek not to lead him astray.

             
Her dragon told me, we have some sort of lesson tonight before our training starts tomorrow.
Draek was right beside him and Hayden looked around to see that the others were moving the same way. He was able to catch Fendrel’s eye right before they crossed over where the gate would go up and waved good bye to him, a gesture that Fendrel returned with enthusiasm.