The Clash of Land and Sea_The Dragon Riders of Arvain

by Nicholas Clausen

  Shane looked around the camp and up in the sky but still he couldn’t see a single Metallic Dragon anywhere.

  Something is not right. Shane thought. He had no idea what they were planning to do and that bothered him. The idea of battle and war did not bother Shane, but the secret plans and traps left a sour taste in his mouth. He wanted to face his enemy head on but it would seem that was not an option here.

  Shane took one last look around the enemy encampment and turned back into the woods, disappearing from sight. Once he was deep enough into the woods Shane called out to his copper dragon.

  Rilora, I need you to come get me and take me to Cass. He said, looking up through the clearing in the trees, half expecting Rilora to burst through the branches.

  Now are you going to tell me what you are up to? Rilora asked. Shane laughed and made his way to an opening in the woods that was large enough for a dragon to land in.

  I will tell you and Cass at the same time. Shane replied just as he saw a flicker of copper streak across the horizon.

  “Are you crazy?” Cass yelled. “No seriously, do you have a death wish for you and Rilora?” She asked without giving Shane a chance to answer.

  Shane was about to answer but once again, Cass cut him off before he could utter a syllable.

  “We are about to go to war and you go for a leisurely walk to see what the enemy was doing, without your dragon?” Shane had met Cass in their old room in Out Post. Since everything that had happened Cass had kept their old room and Shane had gotten his own quarters.

  “Ok I know you are mad but it wasn’t like that.” Shane finally was able to speak up.

  “It wasn’t like that? Really, then please explain what really did happen. Because it sounds to me like you went off unarmed and without your dragon to get a better look at the enemy whose only reason for being here is the three of us.” Cass shot back at Shane.

  When Shane had first gotten to Cass’s room and tried to explain to her what all had happened he had only gotten to tell her that he had been spying on the enemy on his own accord.

  “Well yes that’s what happened but I wasn’t just trampling about around them, they have no idea that I was even there.” Shane said, trying to do his best to dig himself out of the hole he was in.

  Cass threw her hands up in the air and turned her back to Shane to look out the window.

  “Shane we need to be careful.” Cass finally said after a few moments of silence.

  “Cass you know I wouldn’t have done anything stupid.” Shane responded, feeling slightly guilty that Cass was worried about him.

  “It’s not just that.” Cass began. “This battle that we are about to fight is because of us. Countless elves and humans are going to die because of us.” Cass’s words hit Shane like a kick to the chest.

  “We have to do whatever we can to protect them and going out and being reckless isn’t helping our cause.” Cass shouted.

  “I know but I wanted to see the enemy I am going to be facing.” Shane replied. He did not want to fight with Cass but he wasn’t going to back down and be talked to like a child.

  “Shane you already know what we are up against. You have trained with them for a year.” Cass pointed out.

  “I know but I wanted to see them with my own eyes. See their camp and their numbers.” Shane knew what they were doing was right but it still made him feel uneasy fighting people he used to call his own.

  “See if there was anyone out there you knew?” Cass asked.

  Shane looked into Cass’s eyes until she lowered her head and turned away.

  “I will do what needs to be done. I will fight. I will kill.” Shane started but Cass interrupted him again before he could finish.

  “No one is doubting that Shane. That is not what I meant by that.” Cass apologized. “But since you have already scouted out the enemy is there anything more you can tell us other then what we already know?” Cass asked. She quickly changed the subject after the look Shane had given her.

  “Nothing really.” Shane shook his head. “You were right about their numbers and the war machines.” Shane had to admit that Cass’s guess on how the Metallic Nation would attack had so far been correct.

  “The only thing that seemed really odd was that I couldn’t see any dragons.” Shane admitted. It had been because of the lack of dragons that he had come all the way to Cass to tell her about his discovery.

  “Hm, well they may be out hunting or something.” Cass guessed, shrugging off Shane’s discovery.

  “That’s what I thought at first too but I still would have seen some dragons right? One coming back in from a hunt or leaving to start one, but I didn’t see a single dragon anywhere in the sky or on the ground.” Shane protested.

  “They might be patrolling around the forest then.” Cass said.

  “The sky was clear this morning, not a single cloud or dragon in it. I couldn’t even see a place for the dragons to land. It’s like they don’t have any dragons with them and they aren’t planning on any coming in.” Shane had tried to think of every possible explanation as to the whereabouts of the missing dragons but the only explanation was that he could come up with was that they weren’t here, and they weren’t coming.

  “Something is not right. They would never go to war without their dragons.” Cass said to herself more than to Shane. “The dragons are their strongest weapon.”

  “Maybe they don’t think we have united all the elves and are only expecting a handful to fight them. They might just think that they are going to surrender and there is no need to summon the dragon riders.” Even as Shane said the words he knew there was little truth to them.

  Cass shook her head but remained silent.

  “What are you thinking?” Shane asked.

  “I am thinking that we are standing in front a storm and we can’t see what’s behind the rain.” Cass had a worried look on her face that only made Shane worry more.

  “As long as Hayden makes it back in time with help we will be fine.” Shane said as strongly as he could, trying to hide the worry in his voice.

  “I hope you are right.” Cass said. “I hope Hayden is making progress, where ever he is.”

  “I am sure he is on his way back now.” Shane said with a slight smile. I hope you are Hayden. Shane thought. I hope you are.

  Hayden tried to open his eyes but the immense amount of pain radiating from his head stopped him from opening his eyes any more than a sliver. Hayden heard someone beating on a drum over and over again in his head.

  He finally opened his eyes to find himself back in the captain’s cabin bed. Hayden sat up and tried to stop the room from spinning.

  “Whatever you do, don’t throw up.” A voice startled Hayden.

  Hayden jumped out of the bed and fell on the hard, cold wood floor. Hayden’s heart was beating so fast that along with the drum beats in his head there was a constant humming sound.

  Hayden sat up and faced the bed to find Rimney smiling at from the other side of the bed.

  “What are you doing here?” Hayden demanded. Each word echoed in his head and made his eyes start to water.

  “Well I was sleeping in my bed when you woke me up.” Rimney said calmly as she stretched and got out of bed. She was still fully dressed except for her boots and new coat.

  “I was having a good dream too.” Rimney said until she saw her new coat laying on the floor. “Hmm wasn’t a dream.” She said as she grabbed the coat and put it on.

  “What… what happened last night?” Hayden asked as he climbed back onto the bed and rubbed his temples to try to relieve the pain in his head.

  “Nothing really.” Rimney shrugged. “We drank, you more than me, and then I carried you back here and we went to bed.”

  “How do you get this headache to go away?” Hayden asked as he tried to piece together the fragments that he remembered from the night before.

  “I couldn’t help you there. I don’t get headaches anymore.” Hayden looked up at Rimne
y to find her already uncorking a bottle and taking a drink. Hayden couldn’t imagine why someone would ever want to feel this bad again. He waved off the glass when Rimney tried to offer him a drink.

  “I feel horrible.” Hayden said. “I feel like I am going to be sick.” Hayden said.

  “I don’t see how you could get sick after all the throwing up you did. At one point you drank an entire mug at once and then threw up in it and filled it back up. It was quite impressive to be honest.” Rimney said with all seriousness.

  Hayden felt his face heat up and turn red. “Oh no.”

  “Oh yes.” Rimney corrected him. “The really amazing part was that you didn’t spill anything.” Hayden could not believe what he had done before.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it too much though. We have a meeting with the Heads today.” Rimney slid her feet into her boots and opened one of the windows to let fresh air into the cabin.

  “Who are the Heads?” Hayden asked as he got to his feet. He couldn’t tell if the ship was rocking or if he was.

  “The Head is a group of the leaders of the Sea Serpents that govern over us. Where the head goes the body will follow.” Rimney said as she walked out of the room and onto the deck of the ship.

  Hayden struggled to put on his own boots but when he had he tried to walk as fast as his body would allow him to go.

  “Wait I don’t understand.” Hayden called out after Rimney. Hayden was nearly blinded by the sunlight when he stepped out of the cabin. The warm sunlight and the salty air helped to wake him up and get his senses back in order.

  Rimney was already stepping off the deck of The Misty Maiden and onto the ship they were lashed too. “You don’t understand what exactly?” She asked him as she slowed down her walk to let him catch up.

  “What’s The Head?” Hayden had the strange feeling that people were snickering all around him and he even saw one guy pretending to throw up in his mug.

  “I told you that already. The Head is a group made up of Sea Serpents and they sort of lead us.” Once Hayden had caught up Rimney continued her walk but she paid no attention to the people they passed that were making fun of Hayden.

  “So they tell you what to do, kind of like a king.” Hayden thought that was the closest thing he could match them too.

  When Rimney heard Hayden’s comment she stopped walking and turned to face him. “We have no king and no one tells us what to do.” Rimney said quietly but with all the authority of someone barking orders in a battle.

  Hayden nodded his head but didn’t reply.

  “They keep us organized and make sure that we don’t raid the same towns twice in a year. They don’t command us but they do keep the Sea Serpents on track as a whole.” Hayden didn’t understand how that was any different than having a king tell you what to do but he decided not to bring it up.

  Be careful with these Sea Serpents. Draek’s voice echoed softly in his head.

  I will, where are you? Hayden asked. Most of the time he could tell when Draek was near him but he could not sense his dragon.

  I am hunting underwater with Farius he needs help bringing down some giant fish he says can grow bigger than us. Draek seemed pleased to be off hunting and Hayden didn’t want to bother him.

  Be careful hunting. Hayden was hoping that his warning would make Draek be more causes but instead he knew that his dragon was excited to hunt something so large.

  “So where do we find them?” Hayden asked as he jumped onto the next ship behind Rimney. Hayden had to bring his focus back to walking across the rocking ships or he would fall in between them.

  “Oh they are not hard to find, they are at the center of the ships. It’s their ships that first lash together and start the island.” Hayden continued to trail Rimney quietly. He tried to take in the sights and smells off all the ships around him.

  After a particularly large, sweat covered man passed by Hayden decided he had taken in enough of the smells and settled on just taking in the sights.

  As they neared the center of the floating island Hayden noticed the ships became more ornate and decorative. The pirates were better dressed and the gear that was for sale was a much better quality.

  When they finally made it to the center ship, Rimney told him it was the center but Hayden had no idea how she knew, Hayden saw that the ship had windows all around the hull.

  They had to climb a gangplank to get up to the ship because it was a few feet higher up then the ships around it and once on board a large man stood in the way of them getting off the gangplank.

  The man stood with his arms crossed directly in front of Hayden and refused to move.

  “Before you can have council on this ship you must relinquish all weapons.” The man growled at Hayden. Hayden looked back to Rimney who was standing right behind him on the gangplank.

  Rimney nodded that is was ok and pushed Hayden lightly on the back. Letting him know to do what the man said.

  Hayden quickly patted himself down and realized that he was already unarmed.

  “I don’t have any weapons.” Hayden confessed to the man. He tried to step off the gangplank and onto the deck of the ship but the man stepped in his way and rolled his eyes.

  “Ah yes, you don’t have any weapons, might have worked if everyone didn’t try that one. Now hand over your weapons.” The man stood with his hand out stretched.

  “No I am serous I don’t have any weapons, I forgot them in our cabin.” Hayden pleaded. He patted his chest to show that he wasn’t hiding anything. The man sighed and grabbed Hayden by the shoulders and pulled him onto the deck.

  The man then proceeded to pat Hayden down, during which Hayden kept yelling for the man to stop. The man finished his search, which came up empty handed, and he looked over to Rimney as if to ask if Hayden was serious.

  Rimney lowered her head and sighed. Before Hayden could ask what he had done wrong the man held out his hand to Rimney for her weapons

  Rimney pulled out her sword and handed it to the man. He placed the sword in a barrel next to him and continued to hold out his hand. Rimney glared at the man but finally pulled out three daggers, a handful of knives and what looked like a small crossbow that could be fired with one hand.

  “There, happy?” Rimney asked as the man poured all of her gear into the barrel. The man gave one last look at Hayden before he replied.

  “Happier.” He said shaking his head at Hayden.

  “What did I do?” Hayden demanded once Rimney was on deck with him.

  “How could you not have any weapons on you?” Rimney asked him. “That is an insult and on top of everything it isn’t safe to run around here without some kind of weapon.”

  “We ran out of the room so fast I didn’t think about my sword or anything.” Hayden complained.

  “I didn’t think I would ever have to tell a rider this but never go anywhere without a weapon, for you and your dragon’s sake.” Rimney said with all seriousness.

  Listen to her Hayden that is wise advice. A dragon never goes anywhere without a weapon. Draek said.

  That’s not the same thing, you are a weapon. Hayden replied.

  Love you too. Hayden smiled as Draek replied to him.

  Rimney looked around and quickly pulled out a small dagger from the seam of her pants. She concealed it against her wrist and stealthily placed it in Hayden’s hand.

  “I thought you gave them all your weapons?” Hayden whispered to her.

  “Not even close.” Rimney smiled and led the way to a door that appeared to go to the captain’s quarters. There were two heavily armored guards in front of the door but they moved out of Rimney’s way without a single word.

  Rimney passed through the door and into the darkened room with Hayden close behind her. Hayden’s eyes had to adjust to the poorly lit room but he could hear someone talking to Rimney as the door closed behind him.

  “Ahh Rimney Sky, a pleasure to see you again.” A male’s voice came out of the darkness. “And it looks like you brough
t us a friend.”

  Hayden had an unsettling feeling in his stomach as the hair on his back began to stand up on end. He couldn’t see anything expect a few shadowy shapes but he had a feeling like someone was reaching for his back and missing by only a few seconds.

  Something doesn’t feel right. Hayden said to Draek.

  “We would like to welcome you to our humble lodgings, Silver Rider.” The voice cracked like a whip. Hayden’s heart stopped momentarily and somehow he had the small dagger in his right hand.

  Draek help.

  Chapter 22

  Shane rocked on his feet while the elf pulled the leather straps tight on his armor. He was able to put most of his armor on by himself but the breast plate straps on his sides were hard to get too and having a second set of hands made it much easier.

  When the elf had finished with his armor Shane stretched to make sure the armor was on tight and that it wouldn’t obstruct his movements. Satisfied Shane nodded to the elf and motioned for him to leave his room.

  It had been only a day since Shane had discovered the lack of dragons flying around the enemy camp. Since Cass had no idea what they could be doing she had insisted that they be battle ready at all times.

  I think wearing armor every day is going to do more bad then good. He thought. Rilora was waiting on top of Out Post for him and he knew she would be agitated about having to wait for him to put armor on.

  I don’t see how it could be a bad thing. It’s not that heavy so you shouldn’t get tired from wearing it. Rilora replied.

  It’s not that it’s heavy but it’s not the weight that will bother the soldiers, it’s that they will be preparing themselves for battle every morning and everyday it doesn’t come it will chip away at them. Shane could already feel his heart beginning to speed up slightly.

  Anticipating battle was different than putting on armor and knowing your enemy is right outside your door.