The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain) Read online

  “You may have a seat over on the far wall,” Tynan said. The four slowly made their way to the cushions and collapsed down again. They waited silently; the only sound was their own heaving breathing and the sporadic gasp of pain when someone moved a sore muscle.

  Tynan moved smoothly across the room, taking far less steps then Hayden thought he would have had to take. He walked to each of them to ask if they were ok. Then he shouted a command and a young man came running in carrying a bucket of water for them to drink.

  They drank the water and Tynan insisted that they remain sitting while he spoke to them. He called in six other people, who all were wearing the same metal breastplates that Tynan was wearing. They all stood in a row, chests out and heads held high. Hayden could tell that they were all much stronger then he was.

  “Now there is no point trying to train you today, you are all worn and broken. You would do nothing but hurt yourselves or others. Watch my apprentices for today and see what I will be teaching you. Soon your morning training will not take such a toll on your bodies, and then we will truly begin.” Hayden was relieved to hear that they weren’t going to have to work out some more. He was going to try to watch and learn as much as he could without falling asleep.

  Draek, how is your training going? Hayden decided to take the time he had to speak with Draek while Tynan spoke with his apprentices and told them what he wanted done. Hayden could feel that Draek was tired and his thoughts came slow and sluggish.

  We are finished with our first training like you are; we are now resting on a hillside in the sun. We will continue resting till lunch then we will do our combat training. Hayden could tell that Draek was just as tired as he was and that he wanted to rest. Hayden did not respond, but paid attention to Tynan.

  Tynan had moved out from in front of them and had sat down with them. Hayden watched as the young men stood, just like statues, never moving. Hayden thought that they might have forgotten what they were supposed to do when Tynan spoke.

  “The first thing you must learn is discipline. They will wait for hours until they are given their next command; battle stance.” Tynan did not yell the words or change his tone at all when he said the last two words but as soon as he said them the young men burst into movement. They all reached behind them with their right hand and pulled out the same style blade that Tynan wore.

  They then moved their right leg back, bent their knees and put their left hand in front of them like they were reaching for something. They did not make a noise when they moved and they all moved at the same time and with the same speed. Once they had moved into their new position they froze in place; Hayden could not even tell if they were breathing.

  “You see how they answer the command perfectly, without hesitation? They work together, as one unit. When the heat of battle is on and others lose themselves and begin hacking and slashing wildly at their enemies, my men will keep their focus. Now let’s try the Spinning Storm.” Tynan leaned back and smiled when he finished talking.

  Hayden watched as the group of men started making smooth slashing movements, starting above their right shoulder and bringing the blade down to towards their left side, then switching the move so that they cut an imaginary X in front of them. Then they started spinning in circles and their blades spun from one hand to the other, slashing in the same X but all around them so it appeared that they were surrounded by blades.

  They all kept in sync with each other so no one was ever touched by another’s blade, but once they had done three rotations every other one crouched and spun their blades, fully extended, in one more complete circle. The men in between them who had not done that move jumped high to avoid the blade and when their feet hit the ground they did the same motion but while standing up. Anyone standing near them would have either been sliced at the legs, or if they somehow managed to avoid the crouching circle, they would have been cut across the chest.

  The six men were not breathing heavily or showing any sign that they were tired from what they had just done, which Hayden knew would have winded him. They held their crouching and standing positions for three seconds then they all put their blades in their sheaths and stood straight like statues again. Tynan Stood and dismissed them, and he beamed at the four riders that sat before him.

  “Now you have seen what I will teach you. You will be able to use every weapon you see here and use it well. I will teach you how to control your body perfectly, how to fight and win. You will be able to work together as they just did, but you will also be able to work on your own.” Tynan walked over to the book self and opened a metal box that Hayden had not noticed before. He placed both his hands into the box and Hayden heard the clinking sounds of metal on metal.

  Tynan slowly pulled his hands out and turned to face the four riders. Hayden was shocked because it looked like Tynan had dragon claws for hands. From his elbow down to his wrist was a copper metal that looked like scales, but instead of being flush against his skin like a dragons would have been, the scales stuck out like spikes. His hand was coved in the same scale spikes but only smaller, and each finger was made up of spiked links of metal that came to sharp points at his finger tips. Tynan flexed his hands, and when his fingers were extended the spikes on his fingers linked together but when he made a fist they went back to the individual spikes.

  “This is a dragon rider’s main weapon; these are dragonauts. They are a part of your armor and you will wear them in every battle.” One of the men who had just been doing Tynan’s demonstration came back in and carried with him something that looked like a man made out of straw and loosely covered in cloth. He set it down just out of arms reach of Tynan.

  “This is one of our archery targets. You will get more acquainted with these later on.” Tynan lowered his head and took a deep breath. The man who had brought in the archery target pulled out his blade, silently and swiftly. He ran past the target without making a noise, even as he crossed the floor, and brought the blade down straight on top of Tynan’s head.

  Tynan moved even faster than the one attacking him. Hayden was starting to think he was seeing things as the fighters were getting blurry. It wasn’t because Hayden was exhausted but because they were moving too fast. Tynan threw his left arm up and knocked the blade out of the way with his guarded forearm.

  Tynan and the man moved in circles, Tynan blocking each one of his attacks using the dragonauts. All of a sudden the man holding the blade jumped off the side and Tynan ran at the archery target.

  Tynan started punching and slashing at the target, straw went everywhere and ribbons of cloth fell in large clumps to the floor. The archery target was all but destroyed when Tynan hit its head with the back of his hand. Part of the scale spikes on his forearm caught the fabric, but when his hand made contact with the target it exploded with straw. When his dragonaut left the target Hayden could not see where the fake head had been.

  Tynan was barely breathing hard when he turned around to put the dragonauts back into the box. Hayden tried to lean forward on his seat, but his stomach would not let him get up.

  “That is why it is a dragon rider’s main weapon. You can’t drop it like you can a sword, or run out of it like arrows. It works in tight spaces and it does terrible damage. When you do what I did to this target to a real person in battle, the enemies sees that and it will terrify them to see you tear a man to shreds with your hands.” Tynan came back and sat in the center of the room.

  They continued to talk for a while longer before Tynan told them it was time to eat lunch. Hayden had thought he was not sore anymore because he hadn’t moved in a while, but as he started walking all the stiffness just added on to the pain that he had accumulated though out the day.

  They slowly made their way back to Metallic Pyramid, and Hayden listened to the others grumble and complain about how much they hurt, and it made Hayden feel better about his own pain. They were led by Tynan, and Hayden still felt like he had no idea where anything was in the pyramid. Draek was still resting and
was ignoring all of Hayden’s thoughts.

  “Draek told me that they would be doing combat training after lunch, but he is still resting. Have you heard from Rilora at all?” Hayden asked Shane.

  “Not since she started resting on the hillside, but they will be ok; they are probably about to start their combat training.” Shane did not seem worried to Hayden and that helped him feel better about the long silence he was getting from Draek.

  “Don’t worry about your scaled friends, they are alright. They need longer to rest then you do, but after you eat you will go back to Estraken’s library for more lessons. Your dragons will meet you after that.” Tynan walked past them and opened a door to a well lit room full of long tables.

  There were over a hundred people sitting scattered around the tables, and the tables were not even half full. Most everyone in the room was wearing the same grey training clothes that Hayden and the other new riders were wearing.

  “This is one of the dining halls, it happens to be the closest one to where we train and it is not far from Estraken’s library.” Tynan went and sat down at an empty table and motioned for them to do the same. Hayden limped over and slowly sat down on the opposite side of the table.

  “Who are all these people?” he asked.

  “Oh, there are a few from every trade here; you have first year ground solders over there, the ones wearing the same thing as you. They are mostly made up of the men that tried for eggs and failed, or some of them knew they would not get an egg so they didn’t try for one at all.” A young girl, probably close the Hayden’s age, came with a large pitcher full of water and an arm full of metal cups, one for each of them.

  Walking right behind her was a large bellied man with a giant pot of steaming soup that he placed on the table and walked off as soon as it was down. The girl followed him, but she returned swiftly carrying bowls and spoons and a platter full of bread.

  They put off talking as they each filled their bowls up with the hot soup. Hayden finished off the first bowl with using only bread and not touching his spoon at all. The other three were acting just like Hayden and their actions caused Tynan to laugh as he savored his own food. They were finishing up their second and third bowls when Tynan started to fill up his second bowl.

  “As I was saying, they are training to be part of the ground army. Their training will last half a year and then they will be put into the main army. They are doing the same physical training that you all are doing, just for a shorter time. Then there are a few archers, the ones that don’t have right sleeves on their shirts. The ones over in the corner by themselves help take care of the animals and dragons throughout the city.” The four riders looked everywhere that Tynan pointed to, but they did not stop shoveling soup and bread into their mouths.

  “There are mostly Karons here though.” Tynan finished off half of his water.

  “What are Karons?” Hayden had never heard the word before. Hayden was expecting Tynan to answer but he was surprised when it was Sebastian who spoke.

  “Karons are the workers of Celestial City. They are made up of slaves, people trying to avoid going to the dungeons for crimes or some who just couldn’t master a craft, so the Karons where the only place to go. It does not pay anything, but you get three meals and a place to sleep so for some it’s not bad.” Sebastian must really be exhausted because he wasn’t being mean, he spoke to me like a friend would, Hayden thought to himself.

  “Anyone who is from Celestial City knows that though, only outsiders have to ask such a dumb question. You really have a long way to go before you are even equal to a child from the city.” Sebastian and Giles both started laughing at Hayden as his face began to flush with anger.

  He will never be friendly to us, it is not who he is. Draek’s thoughts came back clearer then they had all day. Hayden almost jumped from surprise when he heard his dragon’s voice again. No one seemed to notice him jump except for Tynan.

  “I believe your dragon is now awake, Hayden?” Tynan laughed as he watched Shane, Giles and Sebastian each get the lost look that riders got when they concentrated on talking to their dragons. “I take it by your silence that all of them have woken up?”

  Shane smiled widely and Giles and Sebastian just nodded. Hayden could feel that Draek was still tired and worn out from this morning’s exercise, but he was still determined to continue on.

  “They are probably getting ready to go for their first hunt. You can all wait here while I go tell Estraken that you will be a little late. You all need to focus on your dragons and watch them on their first hunt. It is a big step and it would be a good idea for you to share it with your dragons.” Tynan stood up and walked out of the room.

  Hayden looked at Shane and shrugged his shoulders. He watched as new Karons came and cleared the table; they pretended not to notice the four riders and they just worked around them.

  Draek, are you about to go hunt? Hayden asked Draek. Draek did not respond in words but in images as a dragon that’s paws were larger then Draek was gave him images where to hunt. The large dragon crouched down and Draek climbed onto his back; the dragon was a silver and it wore a saddle that fit all four young dragons and could have fit many more.

  Hayden watched the images that Draek sent to him; he saw the large dragon spread its wings and take to the sky. Hayden closed his eyes and concentrated on Draek, the images starting becoming more realistic and they started coming faster. The silver dragon flew over what looked like an ocean of trees, and there was a clearing, which looked like an island in the forest that the dragon was angling towards. The giant landed and the four dragonets jumped off and bounded off at full speed in different directions.

  Hayden watched the images of trees, bushes and overgrown roots fly by as Draek hunted for something. Hayden felt Draek’s sense of communication drop as he surrendered to his instincts and searched for something to quench the fire in his stomach.

  All of a sudden he stopped running and stood completely still with his head extended in the air. Hayden could tell Draek had heard something and Draek slowly lowered his head to the forest floor and began sniffing like a hunting dog. There was a small stream that Draek jumped over, and when he landed on the bank on the other side he looked down and saw a clear print in the wet dirt. The print was that of a large deer.

  Draek looked around and found a few more prints that went along the river bank and he sprinted off in the same direction. Draek followed the prints to a small clearing in the forest; the trees broke and let rays of sun fall down into the thick green grass. There was a small mound near the center of the clearing and on the mound stood a large buck.

  The buck was the same size as a horse, bigger than any deer Hayden had ever seen in his life and its antlers were thick with a wide spread. Draek quickly glanced at the surrounding trees, and he could see where the buck had been scraping its antlers against the bark.

  Draek, don’t go after it, it’s bigger than you, and look at the antlers. Just back up and find another one. Hayden tried to get Draek’s attention off of the massive buck, but instead Draek crouched down low and started slowly moving forward.

  Draek must have stepped stick and all of a sudden the buck turned and was facing Draek. Hayden expected the buck to run from a dragon, but it seemed to not even think that was an option. Instead it stomped its hooves on the hill and started grunting and doing something that sounded like blowing its noise.

  Draek stopped moving forward and stood to his full height. He then gave a low growl and dug his claws into the ground. The buck stomped its hooves harder and started thrashing its head from side to side. When that did not convince Draek to leave it lowered its head and pointed it antlers at Draek. Without warning the buck shot at Draek like an arrow and gave a long grunt as it swiftly closed the distance.

  Draek pushed off at the same time, as if he had anticipated its movements, and tried to match the bucks speed. Draek was still weakened from the exercises earlier that day so his first burst of speed slowed down dra
matically. The two were about to collide when Draek suddenly reared up and opened his wings wide. The move was enough to startle the buck and cause him to dig his hooves into the ground, causing the soft grass to become dislodged from the earth.

  As the buck slowed down its headlong charge it raised its head back to avoid the collision with the now bigger dragon. When the buck had turned its head to the side Draek struck at its exposed neck and clamped his jaw right below the bucks head. The second the buck realized that Draek had bitten him on the neck and was not letting go it began thrashing about and trying everything to get Draek off and get away.

  Draek and the buck began rolling around in the clearing and Draek wrapped his tail around the buck and grabbed it with all four claws. Once Draek had the buck restrained he made a quick jerking movement and Hayden heard a loud crack and knew that the fight was over.

  Even though the buck had stopped kicking, Draek did not let go of it. He waited for a few seconds, and even gave it one more shake to make sure it was dead. Then he released his kill and spread his wings out over the buck’s body and roared with all his might at the sky. Hayden saw countless birds take flight from the surrounding forest until he became aware that someone was shaking his body.

  “Young man, you must stop, you must stop right now!” An older lady had grabbed him and was shaking him. Hayden realized that he had been holding on to the table so hard that his knuckles had turned white and his hands were cramping. His throat felt raw and on fire and he heard someone yelling at the top of their lungs. The lady kept shaking him and Hayden finally figured out that he was the one screaming; he had yelled just like Draek had roared.

  “Where do you think you are, acting like that?” The lady, knowing she had gotten Hayden’s attention, stormed off towards the kitchen grumbling under her breath about young men acting like animals.

  Hayden turned to look at the others, but they all had their eyes closed and appeared to be deep in thought. Hayden smiled to himself knowing that Draek had gotten the first kill out of the group. His mind wondered back to the size of the buck and just how big its antlers had been.