“Your egg has been here longer than any other egg, it has been here so long we are not sure it would even hatch any more, at least not completely healthy anymore. So we will do what we have done in the past with such eggs. We will shatter it. So rejoice in knowing that your egg will not wait any longer.” Elizabeth had calmed down, but she had no remorse in her voice to show she cared about the wellness of the egg.
“What?!? How could you do this to an egg, what about the dragon inside?” Hayden jumped to his feet and Sebastian stood right in front of him with his chest bowed out. Shane had been stopped by Ricen.
“If there is still a dragon in there that is, but you don’t understand how the hatching works and I won’t explain it to a non-rider. You have had your fun, Sebastian, it’s time for this boy to leave and his egg to leave also. Since you wanted all this Sebastian, you can take the egg down to the egg chamber and destroy it.”
“With pleasure.” Sebastian went to turn around to grab the egg, his own dragonet was trying to get his attention, but he pushed it out of the way and reached out for the egg.
“I don’t think so,” Hayden said to Sebastian. He lost his egg; he had failed and lost the only thing he had wanted. There was nothing left to lose so there was nothing they could do to him if he tried to stop him. What was the point of living a life were you could not be doing what you wanted to, what you loved to do? He had nothing to lose to them.
Hayden struck Sebastian in the side of his head with his balled up fist. Sebastian made no sound, he did not even try to stop it, he smiled all the way to the ground where he laid there with his eyes closed and a fading smile across his face as he fell unconscious. Ricen pushed Shane back and ran at Hayden, the egg stood in between them, but that was not going to stop Hayden’s rage.
Hayden ran head long at Ricen, his adrenalin being pumped all through his body as his heart beat faster than it ever had before. He had forgotten about his injuries, he no longer felt them as he ran faster and faster.
Hayden went to jump over the egg and pushed off the egg with both hands to throw his legs over it. In his rage induced state he watched Ricen slow his run and try to back up, but he was moving too fast so that he slipped and fell onto his backside and slid a foot towards Hayden.
Hayden barely saw the light that fell on Ricen, but he did realize that his face was now distorted with fear. Hayden tried to think as to why he was so scared of him, Hayden had hoped to knock him out like he had done with his son but Ricen had gone from angry to scared in just a second. He tried, but was too angry to focus on any one thought.
Before Hayden’s feet touched the ground he saw a large silver dragonet streak across the short distance that remained between Hayden and Ricen. The dragonet lunged on top of the terrified Ricen. Hayden landed and ran the few steps to help whoever’s dragonet had attacked Ricen.
“Control your dragon, Hayden, or they will kill it.” Cass spoke strong and loud, her voice broke through Hayden’s rage and shattered it like a piece of glass. He stopped and looked back to where his egg had been but it was gone. He looked back at the dragonet and saw that it had its maw open and, with rows of short but sharp teeth, was about to bite down on Rican’s throat. Hayden was confused and his thoughts had not caught back up to him but he had to stop the dragonet.
“Stop!” he shouted. The dragonet closed its maw and slowly backed off the trembling Ricen. The dragonet had kept its back to Hayden so that it was facing Ricen. Hayden was amazed that a dragonet had listened to him. Why did it do that, he wondered, but then his heart that had been beating so fast just moments before now stood still in his chest as his thoughts started piecing together.
The dragonet turned to face Hayden and he saw the same dark diamond that had been on the egg was on the dragonet head, the bottom point of the diamond coming to rest in between the dragonet’s eyes and the top point was between where the horns would eventually grow.
My dragon? Hayden thought because although he could think again he could no longer control his mouth that was hanging open. The dragonet continued to stare at him, it looked the same as the other two silvers did but it had full use of its body as if it had hatched weeks ago where the other dragonets, except for Shane’s copper, were still flopping around while they tried to walk.
Hayden was aware of movement, and he looked away from his precious dragon to see Ricen getting back up and screaming at anyone who would listen to his ranting.
“Someone do something about this! He cannot have a dragon, there are supposed to be four not five riders! Did you see how his beast attacked me? He needs to be punished! I demand it!” He shouted so loud that the echoes continued bouncing off the walls for a few seconds after he quit yelling. His face had turned a deep crimson as he looked from one throne to the next.
The Rulers of Three leaned in around Elizabeth and conversed quietly amongst themselves for just a few seconds. Then Cain again got off his throne and walked down the steps of the platform; he walked past Ricen and walked strait to Hayden’s dragonet. He knelt down and looked the dragonet over, checking its wings to make sure they extended properly and examined it to make sure it did not have any deformities.
He spent a few minutes alone looking at the diamond on its head. He did not make a sound as he worked, and Hayden was shocked to see the dragonet that had just been ready to kill Ricen was now letting this man pull its wings out and handle it without a single complaint.
Cain stood up and looked back at the thrones. “The dragonet is completely healthy, he looks to be stronger than the others and he is completely in control of limbs,” he said.
“No, you can’t be thinking about letting him keep this beast are you?” Ricen yelled at them.
“He was provoked by you and your son, and it was your son’s arrogance and pride that pushed Hayden to such actions. He did not try to take the egg but instead just tried to hurt you and your son.” Elizabeth quickly placed blame on Sebastian and Ricen. She ignored the fact that she had allowed them to push Hayden so far.
“My son!” Ricen interrupted Elizabeth and ran past Hayden and his dragonet, making sure not to turn his back on the silver beast, and ran to his son’s side. Sebastian was just starting to moan and ask where he was and what was going on.
“As I was saying, since it was not his intentions to take the egg we will not take it from him. Hayden, you will be trained and continue on just like you were supposed to.” Hayden’s heart started to beat furiously as he looked into the eyes of his dragonet. His eyes were of the same design as a humans, but his eye color was silver that was too brilliant to have been any persons.
“You can’t do that; look what he did to my son!” Ricen was standing over Sebastian and almost kicked him as he stomped his foot to show his aggression.
“I can, and I am not done, I am the Golden Queen who sits on one of the Thrones of Three and you will not tell me what I can and can’t do. Your son has grown up with you fixing his problems and taking care of his every want and desire; that ends today. Your son will continue his training, but for the next year you will go to the Ice Tower in the southern territories.” The room went silent as Elizabeth’s anger poured out of her.
“There you will be stripped of rank and titles and you will be given to the lowest tasks. Should you complete one hole year without a single complaint from your betters then you will be given your rank and title back, but you will miss your son’s first year and first flight.” Elizabeth nodded to the silver riders that stood around Ricen and they grabbed him and dragged him out kicking and screaming.
Sebastian was sitting up, but looked like he had just woken up in a dream; he was very disoriented and looked like he wanted to cry. “As for you, young man, you will have to learn to survive without your father rescuing you every time you need him to. You will also be ranked as a copper rider instead of a silver, you did not earn it and it was a mistake to listen to your father. Should you earn your own honor, you will then be given the rank of silver as your dragon deserves.
Now all of you line up in front with your dragonets.” Elizabeth spoke harshly to everyone; this was not a time to disobey her orders.
Hayden walked to his dragonet and placed a hand on his scaled head; the beast pushed his head up like a cat and forced Hayden to rub his head. His scales were ruff but not thick, nothing like the armor that they would grow into. He especially liked to be rubbed on the soft scale-less skin around his eyes. Hayden hated stopping showing his affection to the dragonet, but he did not want to abuse Elizabeth’s grace, so he walked slowly up to where the others were standing, his dragonet walking right beside him.
He stood in between Cass, who was on the right and the last one in line, and Shane, who stood to his left and had Giles on his own left. Sebastian tried to get someone to help him up and played like he was still hurt, but when no one helped him he slowly rose to his feet and made his way next to Giles.
Shane’s copper was starting to show some of the same characteristics of a dog and kept standing on its back two legs and propping its front legs on Shane. He kept telling it no and quietly tried to get the dragonet to stay still.
Cass’s golden dragonet sat just like the giant golden dragon Hayden had seen earlier did, it was like a small golden statue. Giles’s silver was the only one making noise as it whimpered at his feet, Giles tried to ignore the silver beauty, but when it got to loud he stomped his foot right next to its head and scarred it so that it quit making noise. Sebastian’s silver was acting like a snake as it bobbed its head up and down and kept shifting its eyes from one person to the next.
Hayden’s silver was playing as he sat beside his feet. The dragonet leaned against Hayden’s leg and was playing with his tail; he kept looking up at Hayden as if asking if he wanted to play with him.
“Here is what we are going to do now; we are going to continue on with the ceremony and present all five of you and your dragonets to the people of Celestial City. Then, once that is over, you will each be shown to your new rooms, and there you and your dragonets will be fed and you will sleep.” Elizabeth looked at each of the five new riders as she spoke.
“After the celebration, someone will come fetch you and give you orders as to what you will do from now on. You have one year before your first flight, one year to prepare for the dangers out there, do not waste your time here.” She stood up abruptly and the other two stood right after her. They walked down the steps and made their way to the giant doors. An older man rider came and instructed them to follow him.
Following him led them the same way that The Three had gone, but they made much slower time due to the dragonets. The dragonets were like small children in that they had to keep their attention and keep them moving or they would stop and play with each other. They finally made it to an archway that led out to the balcony they were going to be presented to the city.
The rider instructed them to wait as he went through to see when they needed to come out. He poked his head back out and said it was going to be a few minutes till they were ready for them.
Hayden, Shane and Cass kept their dragonets together and watched as they sniffed each other and proceeded to play with each other. They ran around each other and tried to roar but it came out as little squeaks. Giles and Sebastian’s dragonets obviously wanted to join the playing but every time they tried to join in they would get pulled back by their tails.
“I am so happy for you; I got worried there for a while. I really thought that they weren’t going to let you get a dragon.” As soon as the dragonets were deep in their play Cass gave Hayden a hug and spoke just loud enough for the three of them to hear.
“She is right, Hayden. Once they decided to let the riders decide I knew something was wrong, but I never thought they would actually try to take your egg away from you.” Shane seemed to be almost as distraught as Hayden had been when they first told him he was not going to get an egg. “But you still got your egg and that’s all that matters, right?”
Hayden’s little silver looked up from the ball of dragonets that had been rolling around and looked at Hayden as if waiting for an answer. “Of course, he is all that matters now.” Seeming to agree with the answer Hayden gave, his dragonet went back to wrestling on the floor.
They did not speak to much as they waited; instead they watched the beautiful colors that were reflected off their dragonets. Hayden just stood in amazement as he watched his silver play with the others. He had wanted this for so long, and now it amazed him and made it feel like a dream now that it had arrived.
The man came back through the door and he ushered them through quietly, as quietly as you could move five just hatched dragons. As they neared the edge the man told them to stop, and whispered to them to wait here until they heard their names called, and then they were to walk out beside The Three and line up with their dragonets. Hayden was last in line, but he could still hear what Elizabeth was saying.
“This year’s trial has been an extraordinary one, testing the limits of tradition and going above and beyond what any past year has ever brought us.” Cheers from the crowd filled the air. “As I have said, tradition has been stretched and things that have not happened in a long time have happened today. Let me introduce the new riders; Giles The Silver, Sebastian The Silver, Shane The Copper, Cassidy The Gold and Hayden The Silver.” She yelled all their names out so close together that they all ran right behind one another.
There was no more cheering as they listened to her rattle off the names of the riders and the colors of their dragons. From what Fendrel had told him just a day before it had been many years since they had a silver egg chosen. The past couple of years had all been four coppers and it had been longer than anyone cared to remember since a golden egg was hatched.
Hayden could tell that from when they had been in the Hall of Stories, there had been more copper armor then anything, but there were only a handful of golden armor seen. Now this year they were getting three silvers, a gold and a copper. Then they broke loose as one man cheered, Hayden knew the voice as soon as he heard it and it made a smile come to his face.
Fendrel, he was cheering as loud as he could over everyone else. He had started everyone else clapping and cheering. The three new riders waved awkwardly at everyone, while Giles and Sebastian just stood like statues with grim looks on their faces.
“Now that you have met the new riders it is time to enjoy the celebration of our most successful trial yet. To stick to tradition, the riders will be spending the night alone with their new dragons, and then tomorrow they will come and join the festivities.” Elizabeth had to shout to try to speak over the continued cheering, the crowd might not have heard what she had to say but everyone on the balcony did.
The man that had guided them this far was going to take them to their new rooms. They turned and left the cheering people behind and went back to walking through the torch lit hallways of the Metallic Pyramid. Their footsteps were muffled by the thick paws hitting the ground and the constant clicking noise made by the dragonet’s claws.
“Since we only ever have four new riders each year we only have four rooms ready for you, but our queen has seen fit to allow you, Cassidy The Gold, to have a room with the other gold riders.” He stopped them at a side hallway where an older man wearing golden armor nodded to each of them and beckoned for Cass to follow him.
The gold rider was slightly hunched over with a white beard and long white hair pulled back in a ponytail. He turned and motioned for Cass to follow him as Hayden and the others continued on. She said good bye to Shane and Hayden and they watched as she disappeared with her golden dragonet down the corridor.
After she had left their walk continued for a short while until they came to an open room that looked like a large circle. Four doors were evenly spaced apart and they all appeared to be identical. The man again stopped and instructed them on what to do next.
“These will be your rooms for the next year; you will come back here every night unless told otherwise. There is food and drink in each roo
m for you and your dragon. Tomorrow, someone will come to awaken you and take you to the city to celebrate your triumph.” The rider could not have been any less interested if he had tried.
“After tomorrow your training will begin full swing. You will be given a schedule and you will be expected to follow it every day. Are there any questions?” No one had any, or they kept them to their selves. “Good, now each room is the same so it does not matter which one you pick. Good night, good luck, and I will see you in the morning.” He gave a slight bow and turned on his heels and walked back down the corridor they had come through.
“So who wants which room?” Shane asked. Giles gave an exasperated sigh and walked into the furthest room on the left, Sebastian then took the one next to him without a word or sound. They both slammed their doors as soon as their dragonets were through.
Shane looked at Hayden and Hayden just shrugged his shoulders. “Well I guess that narrows it down, which one do you want?” he asked Shane.
“I don’t care really, I wouldn’t mind the one on the far right though, if it’s ok with you.” Hayden had no objection to which room his friend took so he opened the door for Shane and ushered him and his dragonet in. Once he closed the door behind him he went to open his own door. He pulled his door open and let his dragonet go through first, and it led the way by sniffing all over the floor just like a hunting dog would.
Once his own dragonet had made it through the door way he entered, and while closing the door behind him looked around his new home. His first impression was that it was much larger then he thought it would be. The walls were rounded from the floor to the ceiling so it appeared the whole room was an oval.
The ceiling was nearly thirty feet high and, like everything else in Celestial City, everything was made out of metal. The room that they were standing in seemed to be the common room and bedroom. The whole back side of the room was vacant and there was a bed that was a straw mattress lying on the ground with a few blankets that Hayden guessed were for him.
The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain) Page 11
