“Please, they did not mean it, they couldn’t harm you anyway. Please don’t harm them,” Bureg begged, stepping in between Hayden and the other dwarfs.

              “I will not hurt anyone today; I just want to figure out what is going on, that is all,” Hayden told them. Draek and Hayden were both so connected that they did not have to speak to each other, they had become like one being.

              “Most of the clans have been broken apart since the battle where it rained blood. Four of the seven clans were coming together; as we journeyed we were attacked by your riders. They were swift, and when they had appeared in the sky above us all our riders were resting in the hills.

              “We took to the sky to meet them, in peace or in battle, but before we could figure out their intent they attacked. Our greatest warriors were plucked from the skies instantly; our chief of chiefs, who was trying to stop the battle, was captured. We scattered in every direction when they grounded our chief. This small group is all that is left of my family and I am one of the few riders that are left alive.”

              Hayden listened to Bureg recount what had happened to them. He had heard bits and pieces of the battle recanted from one rider or another, each one telling about some glory or another that had happened during the hectic fight. But he had not heard it from the mouth of someone who had lost the battle.

              He wished he had been shocked to find out that the battle was started by the metallic riders, but the more he learned about the dark secrets that where no longer just confided to the Celestial City the less he liked which side he had found himself on.

              Hayden continued speaking with Bureg about the state in which the small band of dwarfs was in. Hayden learnt of how much they suffered and how much they longed to make it back to their clan homes.

              Hayden wanted to stay longer and find out if they could help the dwarfs in any way when Draek spoke to him.

              The other dragons have put out the fire in the Orchard of Souls and are now wondering who did it and where we are. What do I tell them?

              Hayden did not have an answer right away; he did not want to lie to them, but he could not tell the truth either because it would mean certain death to the dwarfs. Tell them we are out searching for the ones who did it, we saw them fly away but we cannot find them.

              Draek nodded his head in agreement; Hayden did not like lying, but it seemed to be the lesser of the two evils. Hayden told Bureg what Draek had said and what his response had been, the dwarf did not hide that he was pleased to hear their answer.

              “I am glad that you did not tell them about us, we will be gone soon enough. You can forget about us because with these few sacks of fruit we will be able to survive till we reach our home land.” Bureg began saddling Trohen while the others took the sacks of fruit from Bureg and took them back into the cave they had come out of.

              They said their goodbyes quickly and Hayden jumped onto Draek’s back and they took back to the sky, speeding back towards his home.

              The dragons are still asking what we found, Draek reluctantly told Hayden. Hayden could tell that Draek really did not want any bad to come to the dwarfs.

              Tell them we will discuss it when we land, we need to focus on flying for the moment or we might crash. As Hayden told Draek that they both knew that it was not true; Draek turned his head back to face him just to make sure that Hayden understood he could fly perfectly fine without even facing forward.

              Hayden just smiled in response to Draek’s look and the two made good time on the way back to the orchard. Hayden was even more comfortable on Draek’s back now that they were not chasing a potential enemy and they could somewhat take their time flying. 

              Hayden and Draek continued to share their thoughts and emotions on what had just transpired, they still were only using words when they could not correctly show what they meant. They quickly came into view of the Orchard of Souls and they were shocked to see how bad the damage was.

              Hundreds of trees were gone, the fire had burnt away a whole so big that dozens of dragons could land comfortably at the same time. As if to reiterate that though, ten copper dragons and one silver dragon jumped into the air and came charging at them.

              Draek quickly told them who he was, and once they could clearly see he was a silver dragon and not an imposter with painted scales, they surrounded him in mid air and escorted him back to the still smoldering landing ground that had just a few short hours before been filled with life.

              As they landed Hayden noticed that someone had lit torches all around the clearing so that they could see where they were once it got dark. Hayden looked up at the sky and figured it wouldn’t be long till it was dark based on the position of the sun.

              Hayden braced himself as Draek pumped his wings to land, wishing now more than ever that Draek was wearing a saddle. As soon as Draek lowered himself so that Hayden could get off they were swarmed with people. Hayden heard the same question asked over and over again.

              “What happened here rider, what happened?” They all asked. Everyone shouted and pulled at the grey uniform that he wore. He tried to yell at them to release him, but he could not even hear himself over everyone.

              “Enough please let me be. ENOUGH!” No one heard what he said at first but a silence quickly went over the crowd as his last shout rang out above them. Hayden looked at the group dumbly, trying to figure out what had silenced them.

              It was as if a bonfire had been raging, but then all of a sudden all the air had been sucked out of it. No one made a sound, but they all turned and faced the center, the ones closest to the center took a step back to make a walk way through the crowd.

              Hayden stood in stunned silence as the three people he was sure he did not want to see right now strode up to him, walking through the clearing that had clearly been made just for them. As they walked, the people filled in behind them as if they had never moved in the first place. Everyone still remained completely quiet, allowing Hayden to hear their feet shuffle on the burnt ground.

              Hayden realized he was breathing heavily and tried to control it by breathing through his nose. He then got a good smell of what had once been filled with the smell of fruit but now smelled of burnt wood and flesh. He must be standing near where his horse had been.

              He focused back on the three people moving in his direction, and they did not lower their gaze as they got closer to him. Elizabeth walked in the center, Bryce to her left and Caine to her right, all three were in the same style armor that they had been wearing when he had first seen them. The only real difference was that they each now carried a shield strapped to their back and sword around their waist.

              They made their way to him, stopping just short of running into him, all three glaring into his eyes for answers that may be there. No one spoke for a few agenizing moments that seemed to stretch on like the sky. It was finally Elizabeth that spoke first.

              “What happened here?” she asked in a strong calm voice. Hayden knew immediately that he had no choice but to answer the question as she wanted. Her look told him that she was going to get what she wanted from him.

              Hayden told her why he had come here in the first place, trying his best to hide the fact that he was running away from Draek. During the flight back to Orchard of Souls Hayden had tried to find away to keep the existence of the dwarfs hidden from everyone.

              Draek, however, explained to him that there was no way to explain what had happened to the orchard or why the two of them had set off in full flight if not to chase down something. Hayden agreed that they had to tell them about the dwarfs, but they both agreed that they would mislead them on their direction and on every fact about them.

              He told them that there were three of them and that they headed off in different directions. He described them as each one being bigger and faster than Draek and that was the reason that he did not catch them. Hayden did his best to sound honest about what he was telling them but he did not want Bureg or the others to get caught.

              Elizabeth, Bryce and Caine listened to Hayden tell about what had happened in their now ruined orchard. When he finished the three rulers stood unmoving, giving no immediate response to what they had heard.

              Elizabeth was the first to respond; she had already suspected that someone had been stealing fruit from the Orchard of Souls. The caretaker, an old man who had only ever loved plants and nothing else, had been telling her every chance he  had that there was fruit missing from some of the bigger trees that no one had picked in years.

              She had always pretended to take an interest in it, assuring the caretaker that she would look into and place guards around the priceless orchard. In truth she did not care about this place, she hadn’t returned since she had first planted her own tree, which was more years ago than she cared to think about.

              Now here she was again, trudging through dirt and ash trying to answer a question she really did not care about. She would have to send riders out looking for the dwarfs, and when they found them they would have to punish them. Not because she cared, but mainly because of the citizens of her city. They would not stand for such a disgrace to go unpunished, they would ask for retribution. And Elizabeth would give them what they wanted.

              “I want this place cleaned up and replanted by morning.” She turned around and made her way back through the crowd, which quickly moved to let her through. Bryce and Caine turned and followed suit, falling in behind her.

              “Hayden, you have done well. Go back to the pyramid and rest; tomorrow you will have the day off, no training. By sunrise you will be our new hero.” She never turned around when she spoke. She just kept walking; leaving Hayden forced to watch her leave as he listened.

              When she had finished speaking the crowd filled in again, blocking his view of her. Shortly after the crowd moved they split up, some running to dragons that had been on the outskirts of the clearing and others started working on various things in the clearing.

              Everyone was so busy working and going about their own business that they ignored Hayden and Draek, who were still sitting in the center. Wondering if it was ok for them to leave or if they were still needed around; Hayden noticed someone pushing a heavy wheelbarrow and went over to help.

              “Hayden, you need to go back to the city and rest, we have it under control here,” the person told him. Hayden looked around and saw that everyone was doing their tasks and paying him no attention.

              I guess we are done here, Draek, you ready to head back? he asked as he made his way to his dragon’s side. Draek leaned down to make it easier for Hayden to get on.

              As long as we are flying, I am ready to go anywhere, Draek responded enthusiastically. As soon as Hayden was ready to go, Draek’s body hummed with anticipation for what was about to happen.

              Hayden took a deep breath and held it as Draek lowered himself and jumped into the air. Once Draek hit the height of his jump, at the point where gravity started to take over and pull the giant mass back down to earth, he unfurled his giant silver wings. Catching the air as he pumped his wings and began the difficult climb into the sky; Hayden liked flying well enough, but he was still uncomfortable when he had to sit through this part.

              I wonder if a saddle would make this easier, Hayden thought.

              We can always try tomorrow and find out, Draek suggested; Hayden had to admit that it did seem like a good idea to him.

              He smiled as they took to the night sky; the sun had finished setting after they had landed. Hayden tried to look at the ground bellow, but he could only make out shapes, so he decided to lean back and stare at the night sky.

              He had never been this close to the stars before, and he feltlike he could reach out and grab one. Before he knew what he was doing his hand was in front of him trying to grasp the brightest one in the sky.             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 17

 

 

 

The next day Hayden spent his time with Draek, high above the land. They only landed when they needed to rest, or in Draek’s case to eat a deer or two. They tried different maneuvers in the air, but before they had flown off early in the morning Hayden had placed a saddle on Draek to see if made flying easier.

Elizabeth had been right about word getting out about his part in the events the day before. By the time the sun rose, Shane had woken Hayden up before he went to do his training for the day.

“You flew Draek again and you fought a dwarf rider?” he asked as he barreled through the door. Hayden sat up and was forced to explain to him what had really happened. Shane had listened to everything he had said with growing hunger in his eyes; Hayden could tell he wanted an adventure of his own.

Hayden decided not to tell him about the dwarfs being friendly and where they were hiding at the moment. He was sure he could trust Shane not to tell on him, but it just did not seem to be worth the risk to him.

Shane stayed as long as he could, asking questions at every possible chance. He was very interested in the red dragon, Hayden definitely did not tell him that he knew the dragons name or had seen him up close. The more he described the red dragon the more he started wondering about the differences between all the dragons.

Draek had not yet blown fire, but they said that their dragons grew faster but took longer to fully generate their fire bladder. He had been told in one of Estraken’s lessons that some of the different kinds of dragons actually had different kinds of fire, some not having fire at all. He had begged Estraken to elaborate but the man had refused, saying that it wasn’t yet time to learn that information; they still had more important things to learn before that.

Hayden made up his mind that the next time he was in Estraken’s class he would ask again about the details of the other kinds of dragons and races of Arvain. After Shane left to head to the day’s training ground, Shane informed Hayden that they would start flying on their dragons today but just to cover short distances, nothing as intense as flying after dwarfs, Hayden got up and let Draek sleep in a while. He wanted his dragon to have a good day of rest before they went back into their own training.

He decided to walk the halls of the Metallic Pyramid and slowly take his time as he made his way to dining hall. Along the way servants and even other riders constantly asked him questions about his flight with the dwarf and red dragon. They all told him the many rumors that they had heard, some got so crazy Hayden was amazed that people even believed them.

“I heard that you chased the dwarf down, and while your dragon ate the red dragon you ate the dwarf. Is it true, is it true?” one young person asked while he was eating his breakfast. Hayden was so shocked that he just stood up and left, leaving his half uneaten food still steaming on the plate. 

It was that comment, and others like it, which led Hayden to decide to spend the day in the air and away from Celestial City. He did not like being treated like a hero, especially if the reasons that they were treating him like one were completely false, it made him more uncomfortable than anything.

Over the next few weeks things slowly went back to normal, as normal as they could be. The Orchard of Souls had been replanted and the search parties that had been sent to find the dwarfs had dwindled down and no one searched anymore.

Their training had started again after their day off and they did not take it easy on him or Draek. Their trainers made no mention to what had happened, which Hayden liked. The only ones who continued to bring up the event were Sebastian and Giles.

Every time the trainers called on him, or if he did good during a particular exercise they would say that it was because he was the local hero. They would mock him and say how could the local hero do anything but good.

Hayden went and saw Fendrel at least once a week, leaving as soon as his training was done and heading straight to his house. He told Fendrel about all that had happened so far, always giving him updates on his training and life.

Fendrel wasn’t happy when Hayden had to tell him about revealing to Lirand that Fendrel had been the one who told him about the dragons being able to fly. Fendrel was upset, but he said he understood that Hayden had only done it because there was no other way around it.

Their meetings became shorter, but never went away, as they neared the Festival of Games. Hayden was just too exhausted to stay out late anymore. Fendrel told Hayden that after the festival he planned to leave Celestial City for a while, he claimed he had a few more things to see in his life.

Hayden did not like the idea, but could do nothing about it; who was he to tell the man he could not go off and follow his own dream when the same man had helped him achieve his own.

“How soon after the festival do you plan to leave?” Hayden had asked near the end of his latest visit. He had only been with Fendrel an hour but he needed his sleep, and if he stayed any longer he risked falling asleep in the streets some were.

“Well that depends on how good you do. If you win something than I will stay till after they reward you and I will stay to congratulate you. Then I will head out immediately after that. If you do horrible and lose everything I will leave before the award ceremony.” Hayden nodded his head, missing the sly grin that crept onto Fendrel’s face, showing that he had been messing with Hayden. Fendrel liked Hayden, but he did not want the good natured boy to get run over in the world.

Lots of people want to take advantage of him, and as he grows so will that number, and sooner or later they will come and try to hurt him. There is no place for an honest person like him in their world, I just wonder what they will do when the realize that. I wonder what he will do, Fendrel thought to himself before speaking again.

“Look boy, I know you don’t like it, but I was planning to leave soon anyways, there isn’t anything for me to do here. I want to be helpful, and I want to see things that I have never seen before. Plus the riders don’t like me running around and spilling their dirty little secrets. They have been tolerant of it so far, but their good grace might end soon, and when it does I want to be long gone.”

Hayden still felt bad about telling on Fendrel; he knew that Fendrel did not bring it up to hurt him, but just to show the reasoning behind him leaving. Hayden still felt that deep down inside Fendrel’s leaving was his fault. He had forced the man out of his own home.

Before Hayden left he handed Fendrel the dagger he had made, he had since made a decent leather sheath and belt for it. Fendrel knew what it was and what it meant to Hayden, he had been forced to listen to him brag about it for many an hour.

“You will need a good dagger on the road,” Hayden told him, tears threatening to leave his eyes. Fendrel took the dagger carefully in his hands, there was no need to pull it out since he had seen it countless times before. Anytime something needs to be cut Hayden used the dagger, even if it wasn’t necessary.

“So then, I can trade this one for a good one?” he asked. Hayden nodded once, not realizing what had been said. His eyebrows came together and he was about to protest loudly about the comment when he realized that Fendrel was only joking with him. The old man had tears already streaking down his face.

With the dagger given Hayden began to make his way back to the pyramid. He needed his rest because there were only a few weeks till the Festival of Games, and now he was determined to win the whole thing, every event he competed in he would win.

The Festival of games was coming up fast; their training had started to veer away from the traditional as they began practicing the different events. Hayden was good with the long range weapons; he had no problem hitting any of the targets even if they were moving.

Shane was the best with the heavy weapons, two-handed broad swords and heavy axes. He could even use his shield as a weapon as well as use it for defense. Hayden enjoined practicing with weapons, trying different ones till he found the ones he was best at.

Hayden couldn’t get used to battle axes or the giant broad swords like Shane did, he preferred to use lighter blades that only required one hand to use. They all practiced in Tynan’s hall and the archery range outside of it.

Hayden noticed that both Giles and Sebastian were neither good nor bad at the different weapons. They were both talented, but they did not have the skill like Shane did with close combat or Hayden was with ranged weapons.

Cass still did not participate with them, but she often talked about how her battle training was going, so Hayden knew she would not enter the games untrained and unprepared. As the day of the festival grew closer Hayden was told that he would have another day off soon but he would have to spend it with a blacksmith.

He had to clean Draek first thing though, not because they had instructed him to but because as soon as he woke up that morning Draek was scratching himself against the walls. He complained of being itchy and that he needed to be scrubbed down immediately. When your dragon demands something it is usually in your best interest to do it quickly; that was lesson one of having a dragon.

He was supposed to head straight to the blacksmith as soon as he had finished cleaning Draek thoroughly. Draek was getting more off-days than Hayden was, he had all but mastered flying and the amount of food he needed to support himself required him to hunt every other day.

Hayden had help with cleaning Draek today; it would have taken a long time for him to do it by himself. Hayden noticed that as he cleaned, Draek kept complaining about how itchy he was and no matter what Hayden did he could not relieve the itching.

“Draek keeps complaining of being itchy, is there anything else we can do?” Hayden asked as he watched Draek push his body into the scrubbing to try to relieve the itching. Hayden had been focusing on oiling the sensitive skin on Draek’s face that he hadn’t noticed what the servants cleaning Draek were doing.

He turned to see if they had heard him speak and was shocked to find each of them with a bucket full of silver scales at their feet. He realized that Draek was feeling less itchy around the areas were the scales had already come up.

Draek, you’re shedding! He knew that this was supposed to happen soon, but he wasn’t sure when. When a dragon has its first shed it means that the main growth spurt is over, Draek will continue to grow but at a much slower rate now.

I know it itches so much. Hayden was nervous as he pulled an old silver scale off of Draek’s front shoulder. The scale came off with a tug and Hayden was afraid that he was going to hurt Draek, but underneath he found a perfectly hard and fully formed scale.

Two more servants came in to help, but it still took a long time to remove all the scales off of Draek, none of them breaking, and they kept each one of them. When they were finished Hayden stretched out his stiff back and looked at Draek to make sure that they had not missed a spot.

Draek looked like a dog that had just had its winter coat combed out. He looked thinner and sleeker. The scales were larger, and where Hayden could push and feel the older ones give slightly under the pressure, the new scales felt like solid steel covering his body.

Hayden was impressed, and when Draek snaked his head back to view their work Hayden could tell that he was too. The servants made sure that all the scales were picked up, even the smallest ones that had been around Draek’s eyes, and made sure they all found their way into one of their buckets.

Hayden assumed that they were throwing them away because they picked all the buckets and hauled them off without so much of a glance back in his direction. Draek was ready to get outside and into the air to see if there would be any difference in his flying now that he had new scales.

Hayden led him to the large opening and watched him jump into the air and quickly climb into the sky. Hayden knew that Draek was going hunting today so he did not bother asking him where he was going. Hayden and Draek never said goodbye because they were always in each other’s mind; most of the time Hayden felt they were the same person, just in two different bodies at the same time.

              Hayden made the walk to the blacksmith; they had instructed him that he was to go to the same one he had already trained with earlier. Along the way to the blacksmith Hayden met up with Shane and greeted him warmly.

              “Hello, Shane, you going to the blacksmith too?” he asked. Hayden liked Shane, but he always felt like there was something in the way of them becoming true friends. He enjoyed spending time with him and they got along great, but something just wasn’t right. “Shane nodded his head vigorously; he could not help but stare at Hayden with a big smile on his face.

Hayden thought he knew what was on his mind but he decided to play along and ask him. “What are you in such a cheerful mood for this morning?” he asked, watching the excitement bubble up inside of Shane. He got worried that if Shane did not let it out soon that he would blow up.

              “It’s Rilora. Last night before I went to sleep she kept complaining about how itchy she was, and I figured that I might not have cleaned her good and something was stuck between two scales. But she said she itched all over and you’re not going to believe why.” Shane gave Hayden a few seconds to guess, during which Hayden had a quick battle inside of his head as he tried to figure out if he should ruin Shane’s fun as a joke or play dumb. In the end he figured paying dumb was the safe way to go.

              “I have no idea, tell me.” He did his best to sound like he had no idea and Shane must have believed it because he could not have smiled any bigger if he wanted to.

              “I went to clean her again, and this time when I did her scales started to come off, she was shedding Hayden. All of her scales were replaced with new, harder and bigger copper scales. Just wait till you see her, she looks like a whole new dragon.” They walked together to where the blacksmith was, and Shane continued to talk about his eventful night, and Hayden listened to the great detail in which Shane described how he pulled off the dragon scales around Rilora’s face.

              As they neared the entrance to the blacksmith Shane expected Hayden to be on his way to the blacksmith for a tool or some other thing. “They will be measuring me for my armor today; they will then use the scales from Rilora to make my armor. I cannot believe this moment is finally here, I am almost a fully fledged rider. By the way, what brings you here to the blacksmith, trying to replace your dagger that you had lost?”

              Hayden had decided to not to tell anyone that he had given his dagger to Fendrel, he actually did not want to mention Fendrel’s name at all. Hayden figured that enough attention had been brought to his old friend that mentioning his name at every available moment would just continue to make people ask questions about him.

              “Actually no. I am here to be fitted for my armor also. Draek started shedding this morning and I just finished helping pull off all his old scales.” Hayden knew that it did not feel good to always be in someone’s shadow. Having them best you at everything that you do; Hayden needed to watch that he did not do that.

              “But Rilora was shedding first, that is crazy. She is bigger than some of the coppers that are already a few years old isn’t she?” Hayden tried to get back on the subject of Rilora so Shane wouldn’t feel like Hayden was trying to be the center of the world again.

Hayden saw a physical change in Shane as he praised his dragon. “You are right, she was the first one, and she is huge. I think she might be the same size, if not bigger than Giles’ tiny silver.” Hayden laughed at the insult Shane had made. Shane pushed the door open to the blacksmith and Hayden followed him in quickly, letting the heavy door slam shut behind him.

              Hayden had become somewhat familiar with the blacksmith’s shop. It was made up of two large rooms; the first was a shop filled with beautiful trinkets and shiny weapons that were more for decorative use than real battles. In a real fight the person holding the glittery gold encrusted sword that is loaded with gems and jewels usually doesn’t live that long.

              There was a counter against the far wall; behind it was a large door that led to the workroom. The workroom only had the one wall were the door was, and the ceiling that stood over the work shop was held up by four large pillars. Each pillar was covered in various tools; a giant forge took up the center of the open room.

              There were four identical stations by each of the pillars; they each had one anvil and a cooling tank. This is where Hayden had done his short apprenticeship; where he had made his dagger. There was a small shed just outside the awning that was always locked, and inside was all the molds that they use to make most of the items. The more expensive stuff was all free-handed, but Hayden had only ever seen the master smith work without molds.

              There was an older man at the counter trying to haggle with the girl behind the counter. It was over one of the decorative swords that normally hung on the wall; now it resided in man’s grubby hands. The girl was thin, covered in tight muscles that had come from working as a smith. Her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, she wore the same grey clothes that most young girls wore, the same that Cass wore.

              “Look, little missy, this sword is at best worth three hundred gold, but you have it priced for four fifty. So let’s say I give you three hundred and we call it a deal?” He spoke with the authority of someone who is used to being obeyed.

              The man did not know that he was talking to the master smith’s only child. She knew as much about metals as her father did. The only things she was better at then her father were haggling prices and sword fighting.

              “Let’s say you pay me what I am asking for before I tell every respectable smith in the city that you are a cheapskate. Now that is a well balanced blade, sharpened evenly. The handle is solid gold, with three identical rubies and three sapphires on either side of the hilt. The sword is worth four fifty, the scabbard is another hundred. Take it or put it back were you found it. Either way hurry, because I have customers waiting behind you.” The man turned to see the two young men standing there. Hayden smiled politely but the man turned around quickly.

              He huffed and puffed for a few seconds, looking between the sword and the girl behind the counter. He pulled out a small bulging bag and loosened the opening at the top; he pulled out the gold coins and slammed them on the table. Putting the sword back in the scabbard, hard enough so that Hayden heard the clink of metal on metal when the guard hit the end of the scabbard, he pushed past them towards the door. 

              “I am so glad you two showed up, if not I would have had to have given him that sword for a discounted price. I knew he couldn’t be told what to do by a little girl, ha-ha. He had no choice but to pay full price and I even got him to over pay on the scabbard,” she told them as they made their way to the counter.

              “Glad to help, but we are here to see your dad, he is expecting us,” Shane said awkwardly. When Hayden had worked here he had only seen her in passing, never saying more than hello and goodbye. He had heard that she had made her interest in Shane known, but Shane had politely declined. Now he was even more nervous than normal around her.

              “Of course, you know where he is.” She pointed at the door behind her. Shane nodded his thanks and Hayden followed him through the door. As soon as the door opened Hayden heard the familiar sound of a hammer striking an anvil.

              “You two took your time coming here didn’t you?” A deep booming voice came from the largest man Hayden had ever met. The master smith, Rokesten, was tall, but it wasn’t his height that intimidated people. His broad barrel chest was like solid stone, his arms too big for any armor Hayden had ever seen made; he looked the part of a blacksmith.

              “Sorry Rokesten, we did not intend on being late,” Hayden said. Shane might not have had a smooth tongue for the smith’s daughter, but when he was getting yelled at he clammed up completely.

              “Well I should hope that you did not intend on being late, if you had I would not be making you two your armor.” He turned to face the boys, and in his hand he had a shield he had been working on, but the front was not smooth metal like most shields, it was covered in silver dragon scales.

              It was then that Hayden noticed the buckets of scales, half of them silver from Draek and the other half copper from Rilora. He had only just started putting the scales on the silver shield, but Hayden saw Shane reach for another shield that was propped up against the nearest pillar, this one was finished and covered in copper scales.

              Hayden had not gotten the chance to examine a dragon rider’s armor up close yet. Shane’s shield looked like he had taken it off of Rilora in one whole piece.

              “So I take it you approve, young Shane?” Rokesten asked, and he laughed as Shane nodded his head as he found his tongue no longer obeyed him. Shane looked at his own reflection in the shield, he marveled at how the scales flowed together just like on Rilora herself.

              “Well I know you young riders are busy with the Festival of Games coming up, and with me having to make your armor I won’t be sitting around doing nothing either. So let’s get the measurements done so you can be off on your way.”

              Rokesten put Hayden’s shield down and led the way out into the open area behind his shop. There was a table set up that had various pieces of armor on them, none of them fancy by any means.

              “I will get you two to try these all on, then I will use the ones that fit you as a template to make your real armor. Any questions?” Both of them shook their heads, it seemed simple enough. The table had different kinds of each piece of armor and varying sizes. There were helmets, sabatons which are worn over a leather shoe, greaves which are worn over the shins and quisse which cover the knee and thigh of the rider.

              Hayden had to ask what the proper names of most of them were because he had no idea what to call them. He knew what the breastplate was and the chain mail that were on the tables. Then Rokesten brought out a few different paldrons when none of the ones on the tables fit them, paldrons to cover the arms and shoulders.

              The last things that they tried on were the gauntlets, which a rider wore over his hands when he wasn’t wearing dragonauts. Hayden and Shane tried on each piece enthusiastically, taking them of just as fast as they had put them on so that they could put on the next piece.

              It took longer than Hayden would have thought, but by lunchtime there were two piles of complete armor. No two pieces matched, but they all fit and that was all that Rokesten needed. He was going to use the armor as molds to make a complete matching set. Hayden and Shane could not wait to see the result, they were about to have their very own sets of armor.

 

_________________

              Hayden stood alone in his room, he was about to put on his shirt when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He could barely remember how he had looked before coming to this place. His body had become tanned by the working in the sunlight; the body that had once been smooth was now covered in muscles.

              Hayden now saw the changes after months of work, but he had not been able to see it during the struggle.

              Like all of life’s journeys I guess, you never see why you went through it till you are done going through it. He no longer thought to himself because he knew that Draek was always there, whether he wanted him there or not. Draek agreed with him, but he was busy working on diving from high in the sky and striking at targets on the ground.

              Hayden would have normally been training today, with the Festival of Games only a week away, but he had been given the day off to take care of something very important. He was to get his dragon riding armor today; one of the last things that would make him a fully fledged Dragon Rider of Arvain. All that was left after this was to make it through his first flight ceremony, which happened after the Festival of Games.

Well I guess there isn’t a lot left, huh? This time Draek didn’t even acknowledge him.

 

Chapter 18

 

 

 

             Hayden sat on a bench with his head held low as he tried to calm his breathing. His heart was racing and his nerves had gotten the better of him. It was about to be his turn and although he had been training for these games he was still nervous.

              He was sitting around with a bunch of other men and women wearing different variations of armor and carrying every kind of weapon that Hayden had ever seen. This was the Festival of Games, the first event was about to start, and Hayden had signed up for it; he had actually signed up for almost every event.

              They were using a field just outside the city as the arena; Elizabeth had a crew set up stands to hold scores of people that would make up the crowd. They put tents up around the arena to house the waiting participants and gear for the events. Hayden was in one such tent now, awaiting his turn.

              The event was one-on-one combat, with any weapons. Elizabeth was in the process of addressing the people and officially starting the Festival of Games. Hayden was wearing his new dragon armor and it weighed more than ever at this point; he stood from his seat and made his way to the flap of the tent.

              He almost walked right into Shane as he entered the tent. Hayden hadn’t had a chance to really talk to him since the day they went to the blacksmith together. Shane was wearing his new armor also, which matched Hayden’s expect for the copper color his metal had and the copper scales that covered his chest plate. The handle to his large broad sword stuck out over his right shoulder and he wore his kite shield slung over his back. Like most of the fighters he carried his helmet in his hands, it was too much trouble to wear it all the time.

              Most of the fighters in the events weren’t riders, the riders saving their strength to participate in events that allow them to have their dragons with them; there were foot soldiers from within the city and from some of the surrounding towns. This was their chance to make names for themselves.

              That was part of the reason that almost everyone had different styled armor on, and the biggest difference between their armor and everyone else’s was their helmets. All the riders had the same design for their helmets; their helmet covered their heads and the back of their necks, the length of the helmet going almost to their shoulders. They are very plain, with a T-shaped section cut out for the person wearing it to see out of and breathe easily. The bottom part of the helmet fanned out so that if a sword did glance off them it would be forced out and away from the body. No decorations or anything unneeded was placed on the helmets.

              Shane and Hayden both had all their gear on, making it obvious that they were both riders, and they stepped out of the tent to allow them to talk freely without everyone listening to them.

              “There are some strong opponents in there.” Shane nodded as Hayden spoke.

              “There are some strong opponents out here too.” Shane added.

              “You realize that we can’t both win right, we might have to face each other.” Shane spoke somberly. Hayden had thought of that and he did not want to have to face his friend in a fight.

              “If I am going to lose to anybody, I would be ok with it being to you.” Hayden did truly feel that way, but he would much rather not lose. Hayden wanted to talk to him more before the events started, but before he could a runner came sprinting around the tents and ran straight into the tent they had just left.

              “I wonder what that is all about,” Hayden said. Shane shrugged his shoulders and together they made their way back into the tent to catch what the runner was saying.

              “Everyone has to come now.” They had walked in while he was in the middle of a sentence. The man was hunched over and holding on to his knees as he spoke. He tried to catch his breath in between words.

              “What is going on?” Shane asked bluntly to the crowd. “Where do we have to go?”

              “He tells us that Elizabeth the gold wants us all out on the field to fight at the same time.” A woman spoke up from the front row of people who had formed a circle around the still panting man. She had on leather pants and a black chest plate that was shaped to cover a woman’s chest. She had two short swords on her back that Hayden was sure she knew how to use.

              “How could we fight at the same time, the event is supposed to be one-on-one.” A different person in the crowd asked this time.

              “Come and you will find out. If you want to compete then you must follow me, otherwise if you stay here you forfeit this event.” The runner turned around and walked back the way he had came, but this time at a much slower pace. Hayden looked at the others in the tent, and when no one made a move to leave he turned and walked after the man.

              He quickly heard the clinking of armor as the others fell in behind him. They walked in between the tents until they came up to the main road that led into the arena. The arena looked to Hayden like a giant bowl that was made out of stands, with only one large entrance that they were heading for. As they got closer Hayden lifted his silver helmet up and lightly placed it on his head. Once he was sure it was on right he hooked the leather strap underneath his chin and tightened it till it was snug.

              Good luck, Draek’s voice spoke in his mind. Draek was off hunting with the other dragons since they would soon be competing and they needed all the strength they could get before their events started. Hayden was amazed at how smoothly he was walking when he felt like his legs were water about come out from underneath him at any moment. For the fifth time since he had made it into the tent, which was less than an hour ago, he had the sudden urge to use a washroom to relieve himself.

              Hayden took a deep breath and tried to push his nerves and other feelings out of his mind and focus on the event that he was about to have to perform in. He wanted to do good, he wanted to win, he needed to win.

              The walked into the center of the arena to the roar and thunder of the crowd; the audience jumped to their feet as soon as they saw them. The arena had once been a grassy field but now, from all the workers walking over it constantly, the ground had become hard packed dirt.

              They stood together in the center of the field, looking up at the platform where Elizabeth sat with the other two rulers. She was the only one of the three standing to great them. They still wore the same decorative armor and they had servants around them with drinks and foods in case they needed anything.

              Elizabeth smiled down on them like an owner would smile at their fighting dog, not out of love for them but for what they could do for her. The more Hayden learnt about her the more he disliked her.

              “Brave fighters, you have come here today to prove who is the best among you, and you will do so in front of us and the citizens of this great city. I know you will each fight hard and bravely in the upcoming event.” She took her eyes off the fighters in the center of the arena as she spoke; she was making it clear that this speech was for the crowd and not them. She paused dramatically, allowing the people to cheer and clap for her; when the noise died down she continued.

              “I know you were expecting to fight one at a time, but I have decided that the people need more than that.” More cheering followed. “You will all still fight one on one, but at the same time. You will be broken up into your pairs and once all the fights are over we will pair you up again with one of the remaining fighters.

              “As soon as you have bested your opponent you must step back and end the fight. There will be a judge to tell you when the fight is over and help escort the looser out of the arena if necessary.” She sat down on her throne when she finished speaking.

              Her sitting signaled for the judges to make their way to the center of the arena and address everyone.

              “You heard what she said, now are there any questions?” No one had any because they had all been addressed on what the rules to this event were before they had left the tent. They each would fight with one opponent until they were hurt, fell down, submitted, or the judges intervened with the fight and deemed that it is over. The rules were simple, and easy to go by.

              The judges started to pull numbers out of a golden helmet; each fighter had been given a number when he or she had signed up to fight. Luckily, as they called out the numbers that would be fighting, Hayden and Shane were not paired together in the first round. Hayden was paired to fight a man that was probably close to his age and carried a giant two handed sword that was too big for him to carry. The young man’s armor did not fit right on him and gave off the impression that it was not his but that he had borrowed it to fight in.

              Shane was given a ground soldier from Celestial City that had just finished his training. He wore simple militia armor and carried a standard one handed blade, but he was strong and the training was still fresh in his mind.

              Once they had each been paired off they were led to random spots in the arena floor; they appeared random to Hayden, but once everyone was in place he realized that they were all spread an equal distance away from each other.

              There were thirty groups all together and, after the first round, the one who finished their fight the fastest got to rest the next round and would come back in during the third round. The winners moved on and the losers did not, no exceptions. They would keep going until only one winner remained, and they would be the overall champion.

              The judge that was watching over Hayden’s fight stepped in between the fighters and asked if they were both ready. Both fighters nodded and Hayden noticed that all around him the other judges were doing the same thing. Almost at the same time every fighter had nodded their head, signaling that they were ready to begin. The crowd grew as quiet as they could; large numbers people gathered together and forced to be side by side are never silent, they just get less loud.

              Hayden took a deep breath and held it in his chest, awaiting the signal to start. The fighter in front of him was crouched and tense, every muscle tightened in anticipation. He kept licking his lips and opening and closing his jaw. It reminded Hayden of a dog about to devour a meal.

              “Let the fight begin!” Elizabeth’s voice rang out over the murmur of the crowd.

              Hayden’s nervousness had grown so much he was shaking, but as soon as he heard Elizabeth and took his first step he left his nerves in the dirt behind him. He stayed loose and balanced on the balls of his feet, his hands held his sword comfortably and shield comfortably; his body knowing what to do without his brain telling it what to do.

              The man saw Hayden advancing and anticipated an attack so he hid behind his shield, protecting him but also blinding him to what Hayden was doing. Hayden knew that an attack with his sword would be useless so he sprinted the last few feet and smashed into him, shield to shield.

              The other fighter was expecting a hit from Hayden’s blade so he had braced himself, but not enough. Hayden slammed into him and sent him sprawling back, trying to keep his balance. Hayden took the opening and slashed his sword in a downward arc; the other fighter had enough time to throw up his shield in a last second block.

              His feet weren’t set and he still hadn’t gotten back his balance so when Hayden’s blade crashed down on him he barely remained standing. Hayden followed up with a back swing that finally sent the young man sprawling on his back side. Hayden wanted to finish this fight now so he jumped at his opponent, eating up the short distance between them, and thrust his sword at his opponent’s exposed chest, but his blade never made contact.

              The judge had intervened once the fighter had hit the ground, and he had used his own blade to block Hayden’s last attack. There was no anger in the judge’s eyes as Hayden realized that the fight was over and that he had almost taken it too far.

              “This fight is over; Hayden The Silver is the victor!” the judge turned and yelled up at Elizabeth. She nodded approvingly at the judge.

              Hayden walked over to the benches that lined the side of the arena floor, and as soon as he sat down a servant brought him some water to drink. He realized that he was still carrying both his sword and his shield and he had not even taken off his helmet yet. He removed them and placed them on the ground around him and sat in silence to watch the others fight.

              There were a few that appeared to have relative skill with weapons and one on one combat, but his eyes soon fell on the Shane’s fight, and he could not look away even if he had wanted to.

              The ground soldier was slashing out with his blade and then quickly getting behind his shield to block Shane’s attack. Shane was trying to land any kind of hit, but he couldn’t get past the man’s shield. They both stood there trading blows until the soldier started to lower his shield slightly and his swings became slower and with less force behind them.

              Shane noticed it too, and it was the moment he had been waiting for. He had planned to allow his opponent to tire himself out and then he would overwhelm him with sheer power. As soon as the soldier’s shield dropped just slightly Hayden saw Shane put more of his body behind his swings, his hits no longer just glancing off the man’s shield but now starting to push him back.

              After just a few swings from Shane the soldier quit trying to strike and tried to just withstand the onslaught that was hammering him into the ground. This allowed Shane to strike faster and harder now that he knew there was no return attack. Shane threw his own shield to the ground and picked his sword up with both hands and, lifting it high over his head, he brought it down with all his might.

              The hit was so powerful that the ringing sound of the sword hitting the shield lingered around the arena for a few seconds. The sound was quickly replaced with the ground soldier’s cries of pain. He had held his ground when the hit came, but since he was flexing when the hit came his body had no give and the force behind Shane’s swing broke the man’s arm and threw him to the ground.

              Shane did not pursue his challenger after he fell, as Hayden had done; Shane was in complete control and knew that as soon as his swing found its mark that the fight was over. Shane stepped forward and tried to help the whimpering man up, but the judge was afraid he was going to try something underhanded and would not let him close.

              Hayden replayed his own fight and Shane’s fight to Draek, trying to be as detailed as he could. He knew how frustrating it was to not be somewhere where something was going on.

              Draek was resting on his usual hill, letting the sun warm up his blood and muscles, when Hayden told him that he had won his first fight. Draek was proud of what his rider had accomplished; Hayden felt his pride and emotion run over their mental bond. Sometimes it was frustrating never having privacy in his own mind, but it was moments like this that made it all worth it.

              Once Shane finished his fight it did not take long for the others to finish theirs. The crowd stomped and screamed as they watched the fights. Hayden was the first to finish so he not only got a break during the next round but he also got to watch everyone who had made it through the first round compete in round two.

              Shane and the other fighters came to rest on the benches near Hayden but no one spoke. Some concentrated on catching their breath so they would not start round two panting like animals. Hayden relaxed more than the others because he did not have to fight the next round.

              The break seemed to be over rather quickly and the fighters got back to their feet and made their way to the judges, who were going to tell them who they would be fighting next. Once that was done they went to different spots on the field with their opponent and waited to be told to begin. Hayden wanted to try to watch as much as he could so that he would have somewhat of an advantage in the next round.

              The judges told the fighters to begin and Hayden quickly became confused and lost in the initial melee. Almost every fighter added his or her battle shout to the continuous loud noise of the crowd, and everyone started hacking away at each other at the same time.

              Hayden became so lost he almost missed Shane ending his fight just as fast as Hayden had done in the first round. Shane never drew his sword; he had no need for it. The fighter against him tried to ram him with his shield as soon as the judges started the fight.

              Most fighters would have either tried to dodge it, or if they thought they were stronger they would have lowered their own shields and met their opponent head on. Instead Shane used all his might and stomped his foot right in the middle of the shield.

              The other fighter flew back from the impact, but his feet kept trying to run in the air until he landed in a cloud of dust on the ground. Shane made no move to continue the fight because it was obvious from the lack of movement from the fighter in dirt that the fight was over. It was a mistake that cost the fighter the competition.

              None of the other fights were nearly as monumental, but they were all still entertaining. At this point in the competition most of the fighters that did not have a chance had lost. So the remaining fighters gave the crowd a better show and some of the fights lasted a few minutes.

              Soon the second round was over and Hayden was back on his feet, feeling his nerves growing back inside of himself, preparing to take the field again. When they called the remaining fighters over no one spoke again. The judges had no need to tell the fighters to quiet down but they still did so.

              The numbers were called out and the fighters began to hear their fate and learn who was to be their next opponent. Most of the numbers that were called Hayden heard but did not understand; his mind was only truly looking for his own number.

              His was the second to last one to be called, leaving his opponent to be the last one called. He did not know the fighter that belonged to the number that was called off, but he soon learned who it was as he made his way to were the judges wanted him. Hayden tried to loosen up as best as he could as Shane stood in front of him and prepared to fight his friend.

              Hayden cleared his mind of his doubts and worries; in his mind he was not fighting his friend. He was fighting another nameless warrior who stood in his way of the competition. He knew that neither of them would get seriously hurt, but accidents did happen during these games.

              Hayden controlled his breathing, deep long breaths to slow down his heart and pump oxygen into his lungs. His shoulders rose and fell with every deep breath; Shane’s body was a mirror image of his own. They had both been trained by the same man and they both knew what they had to do.

              Hayden saw the judge point at him and ask him a question; he did not hear the question but he knew what was asked so he nodded his head to show that he was ready. His mind blocked out the crowd, the judges, other opponents and every other sound. All he could hear was his heart beating throughout his whole body. All he could see was the man clad in copper armor in front of him.

              He was focused on this fight and this fight alone, to him the whole world had stopped to watch this fight play out. He never heard judges start the fight or cheering of the crowd at the expected action, but once Shane lunged forward he knew that the fight had started.

              Shane did not move in slow motion, if anything he moved faster than he had before. Hayden’s body knew how to react before his mind knew that he was responding to the impending fight. Shane tried to strike first and brought his heavy sword down towards Hayden’s right shoulder.

              Shane kept his shield held up just under his chin to protect himself from the counter attack that Hayden was most likely to do. As the sword feel down, Hayden parried it with his own blade and went to hit Shane with his shield. Shane was thinking the same thing and the shields hit with such force that it knocked Hayden back and gave off a loud ringing sound that echoed throughout the whole arena.

              Shane quickly advanced with a thrust, but Hayden had already regained his balance. He dug his left foot into the packed dirt and moved his shield to intercept the sword. Shane’s blade, deflected off of Hayden’s shield, would have caused a normal fighter to stumble, but Shane used the momentum from his thrust to turn his body around and slash at Hayden.

              The move sent the crowds to their feet, seeing the two riders go at it and for Shane to almost flip in the air as he struck at Hayden. Hayden never lowered his shield, so he was able to block the second blow, even though it was not well placed and Shane had just thrown it at him hopping to hit something. The sheer force behind it almost dented Hayden’s shield and he was sure that his shoulder would be sore the next day.

              Hayden knew that he was only on the defensive and if he didn’t start throwing some attacks against his friend he would lose this competition. As soon as Shane’s sword cleared his shield Hayden swung a counter attack, stabbing his sword at Shane’s side that had become exposed during his giant leap.

              Shane lowered his shield to block the move but it was what Hayden was expecting him to do; he knew that with his body in the middle of moving that he would not be able to step out of the way and with his sword finishing out his previous swing he had no choice but to block with his shield or get stabbed.

              Once he made the block, Hayden slammed his left shoulder into the center of Shane’s chest. He was armored, so it did not hurt much, but it did succeed in sending him stumbling back and knocking the wind out of him. Hayden took the opportunity to sprint at his friend and bring his own sword down in a large over handed swing.

              Shane inhaled a deep breath and raised his sword to parry Hayden’s. The moment the blades hit, and Hayden’s bounced up slightly, Shane head butted Hayden as hard as he could. Hayden felt his sword meet resistance and saw Shane’s helmet come down towards his face. For just a second he could see his own shocked reflection in Shane’s copper helmet before it made contact and Hayden’s world went dark.

              “Hayden, wake up. Hayden can you hear me?” Shane asked. Hayden heard the words but found it hard to answer them, his mind was a little fuzzy, but his body was not responding at all. He finally managed to open his eyes and all he could see was blurry shapes.

              “Good, he is awake. Can you hear me, Hayden, can you speak to me?” Shane continued to ask. At first Hayden wished that he would just go away and let him sleep the massive head ache off, but his mind started to recall what he had been doing before he got knocked out.

              “I cand talkd fined,” he tried to say. The words did not sound right to him at first than he remembered the head butt he had gotten and tried to gently touch his face. His nose and lip were badly swollen, his nose probably broken, and when he removed his hand there was a decent amount of blood on his fingers.

              Shane looked at him apologetically, but Hayden was not mad, he understood that it was a competition and he was trying to win at all costs just as Hayden had been trying to do. Shane was still wearing his helmet and there was still blood smeared on it from where he had hit Hayden.

              “So Id tate it Id did not wind?” he asked as they tried to help him up into a sitting position. Shane tried hard to laugh at his friend, but he failed at his attempt.

              “Yes, I am sorry you did not win, but you gave it a good shot.” Shane tried to encourage his friend while he wiped up the rest of the blood that had settled on Hayden’s armor. Shane had to leave because the next round was starting and he had to take his place.

              There was a group of people that stayed in the arena during the different events and helped wherever they could. Doing everything from bringing water and stretchers to the competitors to cleaning up blood and sometimes cleaning up worse; they did whatever was requested of them and at this time they were helping to clean up Hayden.

              Hayden was unable to watch the next round, which was made up of only four fighters, but Shane returned to his side quickly and told him that he was going on to the final round. He told him that he would be fighting a female fighter that had yet to be touched, but he was more worried about Hayden than the fight.

              Hayden was able to sit up on his own finally, and all the bleeding had stopped. His eyes were watering, but that was because they had just reset his nose. Hayden watched as Shane made his way to the center of the arena for the final round. Shane was calm and relaxed, he did not underestimate his opponent, but he was confident in his own abilities.

              Hayden was in awe as the two began the dance of fighting. Hayden could not follow either of them; as soon as it seemed that one had an advantage the tables would turn. Hayden sat with his mouth open, like almost everyone else in the arena, and waited for someone to tell him that the fight was over.

              It seemed to last for ages, seasons appeared to change around them as the two fought with all their might. Shane had strength on his side while the woman had speed; they appeared to have almost equal amount skill with their weapons.

              In the end it was Shane who pushed through, hitting harder and harder with each hit until it started to chisel away at her defenses. They had started off trading blows, but she started to receive them more than she dealt them. She tried blocking his strikes every way possible but, as sweat began to make its way down her face, her own moves became slow, and as the two blades met in mid air it was hers that got pushed back.

              The sound of metal on metal was a continuous ring that sounded throughout the arena, allowing those that could not clearly see the fight a way to hear it and know what was going on.

              She was not done yet though; she tried a few quick jabs and side swipes at Shane’s mid section. Shane ignored the strikes and continued to hammer down his devastating blows. She could not follow through with the attacks; she had been planning for Shane to stop his barrage of offense moves to block her quick attacks and allow her a few seconds to right herself before his sword started to come back down.

              Since he ignored her swipes and jabs she had to pull them all back before they could make contact. If not she would have left herself completely vulnerable to his blade, and although she might have done a little bit of damage to him if he landed a hit he would knock her out or worse. Finally the judges stepped in and tried to call the fight.

              “Enough, this fight is over. Clearly Shane The Copper is the winner!” The two fighters stopped their onslaught and turned to make their way back to the judge. Shane was happy to have won, but he did not gloat or hold it over her head. There was a time for celebration, but right now was not that time. 

              His opponent was not mad; she had figured out early on in the fight that she was out matched and had tried everything to get the upper hand. But as the fight lingered on she slipped further and further down until right before the judges called the fight she was about to give up. She held her head up though because she had made it all the way to the end, the last round, which was much further than most of the other fighters had gone.

              Before they could make it to the judges a strong voice cut through the cheering and silenced the crowd; causing Shane and the female fighter to turn to and face the thrones.

              “I am sorry judge, but I do not think that Shane The Copper is clearly the winner. I believe that this young lady still has some fight left in her. I say that the fight continues until I can clearly pick a winner, which won’t happen till one of you can no longer stand up.” Elizabeth had stood up in front of throne that way all could see her. She looked on expectedly, awaiting their cheers.

              When they did not come her smile faded and the soldiers and riders that were in the crowd started cheering and pushing everyone around them till they started cheering too.

              The crowd did not like this change; the two fighters had both fought well and Shane was the winner without a shadow of doubt. To force the two fighters to continue on until someone gets hurt was not how these games were supposed to go.

              Shane was torn on what to do, but he decided that he could not disobey a direct order in front of all the citizens of Celestial City and get away with it. He mouthed “I’m sorry” at the other fighter and made his way back to where they had fought; awaiting the fight to begin anew.

              She had other plans though.

              “I am sorry, Lady Elizabeth, but I have lost this fight and do not wish to be hurt by or to have to hurt this fighter. I will politely decline your offer.” She bowed low and turned her back on Elizabeth, heading to the exit of the arena.

              “I am your queen, not some noble woman to be disobeyed. Now stay and fight.” Elizabeth was doing a good job at not screaming at the woman, but her anger and irritation was evident in her tone.

              “You are queen of the dragon riders and of the people of the Celestial City. I am neither, my Lady, and with that said I will take my leave.” She made it to the arena entrance, leaving everyone stunned and their mouths gaping wide open. No one had ever done such a thing, and no one knew what was going to happen next.

              Shane and Hayden were both sure about one thing though. As the disobedient fighter turned and got out of their view Elizabeth turned to the guards around her and started giving out commands; as gossip spread over the crowd like a tidal wave they both knew that they would never see the fighter alive again.

              The only other person who was sure of it was the fighter herself; as she ran as fast as she could to get away from the arena. She did not even clear the tents when she heard the thundering sound of hooves charging towards her and the unmistakable sound of a dragon taking to the air. She stopped running as the sounds grew closer; she drew her sword and held her shield up. She was going to die, but it was going to be on her terms and she wanted to take some of them with her.

              Dying alone did not seem like much fun, better to let a few of them enjoy the cold embrace of the eternal sleep with her.

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 19

 

 

 

Hayden did not plan on competing in any of the events for the rest of the day. He had originally signed up to compete in all of them, but decided it would be best if he waited until the next day’s events, which just happened to be the archery and other long range weapons tests.

Hayden was sure he would be up to participating in those because they did not directly involve contact to his face. A runner kept coming into the medical tent to ask if he was going to compete for each event.

              For the most part he was alone in the small tent; the medical area was made up of one large tent where everyone that had been hurt was first brought in to make sure they were going to live, and it was surrounded by ten small tents where the patient would go once they were deemed not dead. This gave him time to connect with Draek.

              He was mad at himself because during the two rounds that he had fought he had all but pushed Draek from his mind. He tried to stay focused on the task at hand that he had forgotten about the ever constant presence of his dragon in his mind.

              I am sorry you know, he thought to Draek for what had to be the fifth time. Draek was probably getting tired of hearing it but it reassured him of just how bad Hayden felt. Draek might be a dragon, but to Hayden Draek was a part of him like nothing else could ever be.

              I know you are, you did fight very bravely and you have greatly improved since you first started. Draek’s thoughts always seemed to surround Hayden, taking over his whole mind. On more than one occasion he found himself ignoring a conversation he was having with someone to listen to Draek speak. Most people seemed to be ok with it, since he was a rider and all, but sometimes a person would get very frustrated with him.

              Thanks, but I still lost the event, and I was sure I was going to win. He knew that Draek was going to try to make him feel better, but deep down inside he did not want to feel better, he had lost.

              You did, but you lost to another great fighter, who won the event and happens to be a friend of yours. You heard what he said about your fight with him being the most challenging. Shane had come to see him after the medic said he was ok, and had in fact told him how good the fight was.

              It did kind of make him feel better that the person who beat him went on to beat everyone else; but he still did not like to be beaten.

              So what do they have you doing now? Hayden asked.

              Well, since it will be our turn to compete soon they don’t want us doing much work so that we don’t hurt ourselves before we get a chance to show off our strength. They also want us to hunt as much as we can right now so that we won’t miss any of the events.

              Hayden and Draek continued to communicate for most of the morning, and around lunch time the games came to a stop for everyone to eat and rest and celebrate what all they had witnessed.

              Fendrel came into the tent to see Hayden during the lunch break. Hayden could hear the cheers and commotion coming from the arena as its many occupants began to trickle out in search for food or drink. Hayden guessed that most of the taverns had been working all morning preparing large quantities of food in anticipation for the crowds.

              “How are you feeling, boy?” He asked as he pushed Hayden’s leg to the side so he could sit at the foot of the bed.

              “Better, but they want to me to rest until the afternoon games start to make sure that I did not hurt my head real bad.” Hayden had stopped bleeding a while ago, and although his nose was very sensitive to the touch he did feel much better. He was ready to get out and watch the rest of the events before turning in for the night.

              “That’s a good idea; you did really well out there by the way. You definitely showed everyone what a rider was made out of.” Fendrel patted Hayden’s leg as he tried to encourage him.

              “Thanks, I appreciate that.” Hayden was like everyone else and liked to hear if someone thought that he had done a good job.

              “Don’t worry about it. I really was impressed by you right up until the point where Shane busted your head open and dropped you like sac of rotten onions.” Hayden had been sitting up, but when Fendrel spoke he threw himself back onto the bed. The rubbed his temples to try to relieve the headache that he was getting and he let out a soft groan to show his how uncomfortable he was.

              “Don’t feel bad; if I would have been hit in the head like that I would probably have a major headache too.” Fendrel laughed as Hayden groaned even louder.

 

____________________________

 

              Hayden was sitting next to Fendrel on one of the benches in the arena. The Festival of Games had started again and the crowd was now full of excitement and watered down ale. Add the sun beating down on them and so many people crammed together that fights quickly become a favorite pass time.

              They tried to keep the events coming one after the other to keep the crowds’ attention. Any amount of down time led to more fights and soldiers had to be called in to break them up.

              The next event to take place was another close combat; all the single events were done first before they went to the team events. Shane had decided to take this one out as well but he had politely declined their invitation for him to join them in the stands.

              Hayden still hadn’t seen Cass yet and he knew that Sebastian and Giles would probably not compete until the dragon riding contests. Shane and Hayden were actually the only two dragon riders who competed in these competitions. Dragon riders tended to already think that they were better than everyone else so they did not waste their time with the open competitions.

              Even if Hayden and Shane were to win every event they would just tell them that they had won against commoners and that it did not matter. Hayden had long since stopped trying to befriend the older riders; for one thing their beliefs and ideals were so different than his own that they argued more than they talked. The biggest problem was that most of the older riders were off doing missions of some sort.

              Hayden had once thought that Celestial City was home to the dragon riders, but since his first arrival he had learnt that it was more like a tavern than a home. The dragon riders would fly in from all parts of Arvain, spend a few nights and head off in another direction to another untold adventure.

              Hayden shook his head clear of the doubts and questions that he had for Dragon Riders; this was not to place or time to be worrying about that now. Hayden watched as the next events began, and this event was hand to hand combat with no weapons.

              Hayden watched as the combatants were thinned out just as they had done when Hayden had fought. So the crowd was given many different fights to keep their attention; at least that was the plan.

              When the final two fighters started the last round they quickly ran out of steam and the fight dwindled out until they were both bent over trying to catch their breath. The crowd quickly became bored and started booing.

              It wasn’t long before some members of the audience decided that they could put on a better show than the fighter on the arena floor. They believed it so much that they decided to show people, and fights quickly broke out everywhere again.

              Hayden and Fendrel watched as ground troops tried to flood the stands, doing their best to stop the fighting without adding to it. The crowds saw this as a chance to expand the fight and did their best to push everyone around them, forcing the fight to grow bigger and bigger.

              “We should probably try to head out before the real guards show up,” Fendrel yelled over the roar of the fights so that Hayden could hear. Hayden was about to ask what he was talking about when he heard the sounds of giant wings flapping.

              The sun got blocked out as if rain clouds were in the sky, but as Hayden looked up he saw the sky had been filled by three dragons and their riders.

              What’s going on there, Herrdiga just sent out a call that three dragons and their riders were needed at the arena. Draek’s thoughts came quickly and sounded as if he was shouting in his mind.

              Nothing to be worried about, just most of the crowd is drunk and bored and they started fighting and it has all gotten out of hand. Fendrel and I are trying to leave right now; who is Herrdiga? Hayden had never heard of that dragon before.

              They were in fact trying to leave, pushing through the crowd with enough force to make it through but not enough to cause someone to try to fight them, as the three dragons circled overhead and shot flames out and made their presence even more known by deafening everyone with their roars.

              She is the golden dragon that is ridden by Elizabeth. Hayden had already guessed that that was who had sent the call out but he still had to ask. Are you sure I don’t need to come, I can be there quickly?

              Hayden thought about how crowded it was and how hard it would be for Draek to land anywhere near them and decided he should leave on his own. He told Draek what he thought and Draek’s response was an image of him landing on people and everything else that might be underneath him. Hayden laughed, but insisted that he did not have to come.

              They forced their way out of the arena as the dragons came closer and closer to landing in the center. It was obvious that being as big as they were only one could land safely, but one dragon was enough to scare the people back to behaving somewhat normally.

              Hayden could make out the riders, wearing matching armor that he had worn, as they sat high in their saddles as they tried to make sure the crowd was getting the hint that they meant business. They each carried a giant spear in one hand and held on to the saddle with the other.

              They decided it was time that they got away from the arena, and Fendrel suggested that they retire at his house, seeing as he could not very well go into the Metallic Pyramid with Hayden.

              The evening games would continue on after everything calmed down, but they decided that there was no need to head back; Hayden had no interest in participating in anymore events for the night.

              “So are you still going to leave after the Festival of Games?” Hayden had tried to wait to ask Fendrel. He did well with not blurting it out until Fendrel closed his door behind him.

              “About time you finally asked. The only thing worse than your constant barrage of questions is when you have one sitting on the tip of your tongue. It starts to make me actually curious to know what you are about to ask and that drives me insane.” Fendrel opened up the windows to let in some light and to get a soft breeze running through the stuffy room. “And yes, to answer your question, I am still leaving as soon as the Festival is over.”

              “I wish you would stay though,” Hayden began, but Fendrel quickly cut him off.

              “And why is that, you will be leaving as soon as your training is over and you won’t come back for five years at the earliest. So why would I stay, what is here for me?” Hayden had not thought about that, he had quickly grown used to idea of having the older man near.

              Even though his visits had grown few and far between the further along his training had gotten, he still had the reassurance that Fendrel was in the city if he needed him. Hayden knew he was being selfish about this but he was starting to get used to having friends, and now one of them was trying to leave him.

              Hayden and Fendrel did not have much time to spend together because shortly after Hayden had arrived at his house Draek spoke to him.

              I am bored, Hayden, let’s go flying together. Draek’s voice came quickly, and it had been a while since Hayden had heard from him, so when the voice came through his mind he almost jumped out of his chair.

              “Hah, Draek wanted something didn’t he. I could tell by the way you jumped.” Hayden felt the slight warming sensation that came from turning red when he was embarrassed. “No need to feel bad about it, boy, be happy that you have a dragon to share the empty space you call a head. What did he say anyways?” Fendrel loved talking about Draek, but Hayden always felt weird about it. If history had gone differently then Draek would be Fendrel’s dragon and chances are Hayden would have never made it here.

              “He would like to go flying with me now, he is bored. I told him that I was with you though and that it would be rude for me to leave in the middle of a visit.” He actually hadn’t told Draek that but he was getting to it.

              “Nonsense, it would not be rude, if Draek wants to fly then you need to go flying with him. Besides I am coming with you.” Hayden smiled as he heard the old man. He wasn’t expecting him to join him, but he had hoped that before he left he would come and watch them fly together.

              Flying with Draek was something that Hayden had become very good at, although when he had first tried it he had nearly died from fright. Hayden did his part of flying exceptionally well, which was holding on and not letting go.

              Hayden did not try to argue with Fendrel. One, he liked the idea, and two, it would not have made any difference. They quickly left his house and walked through the main gate that was by the housing district, they were just trying to get out of the city as quickly as possible.

              Once out, Hayden asked Draek where he was and the soon he was watching his silver dragon soaring over the trees to a clearing that Hayden had picked to meet at. Draek landed with a thud and sent loose grass and fallen leaves everywhere, it was a sight that Hayden never got used to.

              “He really is magnificent; I have never seen a dragon mature so fast and have such control. Did you see how graceful his landing was?” Fendrel wasn’t really asking questions to anyone, he just loved Draek as much as Hayden did.

              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 maneuvers 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 copper 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.

              Well what should we do about her? Draek asked. He was still angry, and Hayden was too, but he was unsure about what they should do.

              “Are you two ok?” Shane left Rilora and made his way to them but only after they had had their time to check on each other. Hayden nodded his head and allowed Shane to continue talking before he spoke. “I am so sorry for what happened up there, I don’t know what got into her.”

              “Is everyone ok?” Fendrel had backed away out of the clearing when the dragons all came into land. It would have been real easy for one of them to overlook him and land on top of him. He made his way back to them after Hayden and Draek had landed; he was worried that there was going to be a fight.

              “We are fine, Fendrel, there is nothing that a little time won’t heal,” Hayden said, not just for Fendrel but for Shane also, to reassure him that everything was ok.

              I think that we should not intervene; if we hand out the punishment then we are setting ourselves above her and that’s not right. We should let Shane decide what to do, Hayden told Draek and Draek agreed with him, seeing his rider was not seriously harmed had helped calm down his anger.

              Fendrel walked past the three young riders as they each in turn told the others what they had seen during the incident. Fendrel walked past them and went to Draek’s side; putting his hands gently on his wing joints.

              “Draek, you have a few pulled muscles but nothing serious, you will sore for a while and it might be best if you don’t compete in Festival of Games. You should heal fine and be able to forget this ever happened.” He patted Draek on his wing joint, and when Draek winced he quickly withdrew his hand and mouthed ‘I’m sorry’.

              Hayden listened to what the old man had to say, hoping that it really was nothing serious. He had been worried that something could have torn or been pulled out of place and Draek would have been grounded for a while if not indefinitely.

              Rilora slowly walked over to Draek, with her head held low and she must have been apologizing to Draek. The riders and Fendrel decided to carry on with their conversation and give the two dragons some privacy.

              “Rilora and I are going to sit most of the events out; we still might do the Crucible ones, but the ones that we had wanted to do together we won’t. I am worried that this could happen again, but the other dragon might not be like Draek, and instead might just slam her out of their way.” Shane was still so shaken up about it. Cass stayed silent for the whole time they talked; she just kept staring at Hayden.

              They stood around for a few more minutes, reassuring each other that they were ok, before Fendrel finally broke them up.

              “Ok, the dragons are hungry and it looks like they are getting bored. Let’s all head back to my house while we wait for them to return; the Metallic Pyramid will be empty still and I think you guys could use the company just as much as I could.” With no one having an argument to that they decided to go with him. Rilora nodding one last time to Draek, and lowered her head so that Shane could rub her tender eye ridges.

              She than jumped into the air and was off to her normal hunting grounds. Shaylin followed her example and sped off to her own hunting area that she had had lots of look in before.

              Fendrel started to walk back to the city with Shane by his side; Shane turned around to make sure the other two were following, but Fendrel turned him around and started telling him a story from when he was young. Hayden leaned against Draek and Cass stood near him with no one speaking until they could no longer hear Fendrel’s voice echoing off the trees.

              “I am sorry, Draek, if Shaylin and I hadn’t antagonized Rilora none of this would have happened. It’s all our…” She stopped because Draek leaned in and gently nudged her with his head; even though it was gentle it still almost knocked her off her feet. Draek winked his silver eye at her and jumped into the air to go hunting himself.

              Hayden saw how different Draek was flying and how labored each pulse of his wings seemed to be. His heart ached because he could only imagine the pain that his friend was in through the feelings that leaked over into his own mind.

              “And I am sorry to you too, Hayden. I am sorry you got hurt again.” She kept her head held low and Hayden was worried that she was about to start crying.

              “There is nothing to apologize for; this sort of thing happens to me all the time.” He tried to make her laugh, but only succeeded in getting her to look at him. He could see the glisten in her eye that confirmed that she was on the verge of tears.

              She smiled wearily at him but did not dare to speak because she knew if she opened her mouth the only sound that would come out would be her crying. Instead they just stood there and stared at each other for a moment. Cass with her bottom lip softly quivering and Hayden with his face bruised and covered in dried blood and tears that he would never admit to.

              Cass walked slowly to him and tenderly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her head on his shoulder. She was wearing her normal grey outfit so when Hayden put his hands around her waist he felt her warm skin slightly shiver at his touch.

              Hayden felt his heart beat all through his body; it was so strong he was sure that she must be able to feel it too. He could feel her chest fill with air and slowly deflate as she breathed softly in his arms.

              Hayden felt like he was about to burst out of his skin; every inch of him crawling with the anticipation of her touch. He truly felt like he was floating just a few inches above the ground as the held each other.

              He wanted nothing more than to kiss her and feel her soft lips against his own. She turned her head so that she was facing him but still resting on his shoulder when he closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her.

              He was close enough to her to feel her breath on his lips when she turned the other way and broke their embrace. She slipped out of Hayden’s fingers and began to walk back to the city. She turned to face him when she realized that he was not walking with her.

              “Well are you coming or not?” she asked.