The Clash of Land and Sea_The Dragon Riders of Arvain

by Nicholas Clausen

  “This is for my father!” Sebastian yelled as he pulled his sword high above his head.

  Hayden raised his arm to defend himself just as a rust colored trident flew over his head and landed just inches before Sebastian.

  Sebastian slid to a stop and looked above Hayden. Hayden followed his eye sight and saw Rimney flying on the back of Farius with another trident in hand.

  She sent the second trident flying at Sebastian but this time he was ready and was able to block it with his sword.

  Hayden jumped to his feet and, ignoring the pain in the back of his head, pulled out his own blade and ran at Sebastian.

  Hayden swung his blade at Sebastian’s head, the only part of his body that wasn’t covered in dragon scale armor.

  Before Sebastian could even raise his blade to block Hayden’s swing Giles stepped in and countered Hayden’s attack.

  Giles began his own attacks, striking low then stabbing at Hayden’s middle and quickly swinging for his head in a matter of seconds. Hayden had recovered enough from their first attack that his instincts and training took over and he blocked all of Giles’s attacks.

  Sebastian jumped into the fight and moved to Hayden’s back. Hayden had been training with elves that fought much faster than humans which allowed his blade to dance behind him and block Sebastian’s sword as well.

  Hayden couldn’t help but laugh as he kicked Giles in his stomach and sent him sprawling on the landing pad while he slashed as Sebastian with his sword.

  Hayden turned his attention to Sebastian and began pushing him back towards the edge of the landing pad. Hayden slashed and stabbed and even used his hilt to keep Sebastian from attacking.

  Hayden jumped into the air and brought his blade down will all his might, knocking Sebastian’s silver sword out of his hands and off the Light House landing pad.

  “You really have become an elf.” Sebastian growled and spit at Hayden’s feet.

  Hayden raised his sword and dug the tip into Sebastian’s throat. Hayden was about to push the blade though when Draek’s roar broke his concentration.

  Draek? Hayden tried to find his silver dragon while keeping an eye on Sebastian and Giles.

  Sebastian was still on his knees but when he turned to look where Giles had fallen but he was nowhere to be found.

  A roar forced Hayden to look up as Draek fell out of the sky completely engulfed in fire. Draek fell past the edge of the landing pad and narrowly missed two ships as he crashed into the water.

  “Draek!” Yelled Hayden as he looked over the edge to where his dragon had fallen.

  “Your dragon is going to be you’re down fall rider.” Giles said behind him.

  Hayden turned around to look at Giles but before he could bring his blade up to strike at him, Giles kicked Hayden in the stomach, knocking his sword out of his hand and sending him flying over the edge of the Light House.

  Chapter 27

  Shane smashed his shield into the nearest person, sending him sprawling onto the battle field to be dealt with by the elves charging up behind him.

  “Keep going!” Shane yelled as he continued to run further into the flow of enemies. He slashed into everything that moved around him and before long his limbs had taken on minds of their own.

  Shane saw his sword whip out and blocked attacks that he had scarcely seen coming. He kicked out legs from underneath shields and used his fists just as much as he used his sword.

  He caught glimpses of Cass surrounded by elves as she spun her deadly golden halberd over her head and brought it down with deadly accuracy.

  All around them metallic soldiers fell never to rise again while elves danced around dropping more bodies.

  Within a few minutes Shane was standing breathless with no one but elves and Cass around him. He looked to make sure that there were no soldiers left to fight and he let out a roar that matched his Rilora’s.

  The elves echoed his yell until they heard another horn blast ring out over the field.

  “Get ready, they are about to send more men for us to kill!” Shane shouted.

  This time the soldiers did not move, they did not advance like the last group did.

  “What are they waiting for?” Shane asked Cass as she walked up next to him.

  “They aren’t going to make the same mistake twice.” Cass replied. Shane was about to ask what she had meant when the ground began to shake underneath them.

  All along the enemies line troops began to move to make way for giant metal and wooden war machines. Shane made out what looked like catapults near the front but the ones further to the back he had no idea what they were for.

  “What are those things?” Shane asked. His question was the only sound coming from their side of the battle field.

  “The ones in the back are called galiants. They are long range catapults that only launch one projectile at a time, like trebuchets but they have four giant mounted crossbows attached to them to keep dragons from getting close to them.” Cass said.

  Shane counted ten of both the catapults and galiants. Shane was about to ask what they should when the machines stopped moving forward. Shane didn’t have to ask what they were doing.

  “Get back to the trees!” Shane shouted. He turned and ran, repeating his orders as he ran.

  The elves didn’t need to be told more than once as Shane heard the machines make loud clicking noises behind him.

  “Faster. Faster.” Shane yelled before he realized that the elves were quickly getting ahead of them and Cass and himself were being left behind by the elves.

  Before Shane could yell out another order he heard a loud, deep THUNK come from behind him. He pushed his legs as fast as they would go in his copper armor suit.

  A giant ball of fire flew over their heads and smashed into the center of their fleeing army, showering everyone around with fire and dirt.

  Shane put his shield in front of his face to block the intense heat. Shane heard the panic induced screams mix with the screams caused by pain as fire eagerly climbed over dozens of elves.

  “Get back to the trees!” Shane shouted again as he pushed through the flames with Cass right behind him.

  “We have to do something for them.” Cass shouted as they ran near a blackened elf that was rolling on the ground trying to put out the flames. Shane saw the damage and quickly stabbed the elf as he passed over him, never once slowing down.

  “You killed him!” Cass shouted as another of the war machines fired its projectile at them.

  “He was already dead.” Shane yelled back as the second projectile landed behind them, only adding more fire to the already burning field.

  As they entered the tree line they slowed to catch their breaths.

  “How could you kill him, he needed our help.” Cass said in between breaths.

  “I did help him the best I could. What did you want to do drag him to the woods where he would have died? If we would have stopped to help him the second projectile would have killed us and then he still would have died but a few feet further down the field.” Shane snapped at Cass.

  Cass yelled at the tops of her lungs and ripped her golden helmet off. “I hate this.”

  Shane stood up and grabbed Cass by the shoulders and shouted. “Enough.” Cass stopped her screaming and looked at Shane like a child who had just gotten their hand smacked.

  “I know you hate this, we all do but we have no choice. Pull yourself together, you are a dragon rider.” They were in a battle and Shane did not have to time to help Cass deal with what was happening around them but he couldn’t afford to lose her.

  Shane turned back to field and watched the giant war machines move slowly towards them.

  “We need to take those things out. How do we do that Cass?” Shane asked. Cass stared across the smoldering battle ground, her eyes shooting around from detail to detail.

  “Send the stags up towards the fire and have them go around it at the last second. They will get to the machines faster than they can fire thei
r projectile as them.” Cass said through a haze. Shane liked the idea and shouted the command.

  All the other ground troops picked back up their bows and arrows and prepared for what was going to happen next.

  Hayden woke up on the deck of a ship, soaking wet and with his breastplate missing from his armor.

  “What happened?” He asked his throat sore and raw and his lips and tongue were dry.

  “You got knocked off the Light House.” Rimney said angrily.

  You are awake. Draek said softly. Hayden was about to answer when he remembered what had transpired on the top of the Light House.

  Are you ok? Hayden demanded, remembering how Draek had fallen out of the sky.

  I am fine. Draek insisted.

  Are you hurt? Hayden asked as he tried to sit up, his entire body sore and aching.

  Just a few scratches and a wounded pride. Draek said in a low voice. Hayden didn’t have to ask what was bothering Draek because he knew the taste of defeat did not set well with either of them.

  “What’s happened?” Hayden asked. Rimney handed him a skin of water which Hayden took eagerly.

  “What part of knocked off the Light House did you not understand?” Rimney asked as she stood up.

  “I understand that. I meant since then. Where are Giles and Sebastian?” Hayden looked around to get his bearings back. The Light House was still towering over them but the sky was filled with giant winged blue dragons, not a metallic dragon in sight.

  Where are you? Hayden asked when he couldn’t find Draek. Draek’s head appeared by the railing of the ship as an answer.

  “Where did who go?” Rimney asked.

  Hayden took his time standing up but once his feet were underneath him he walked over to his dragon.

  “Giles and Sebastian are the silver riders I was fighting.” Hayden said as he laid his head against Draek’s.

  “They jumped on their dragons and took off right after you hit the water.” Rimney said. It was Hayden’s turn to get angry.

  “Why didn’t you stop them of go after them?” He demanded.

  Rimney did not back down as Hayden began yelling.

  “I don’t know maybe because you had just been kicked of the top of the tower and your dragon was burnt right out of the sky. We figured that it might have been important to save you at the time.” Rimney yelled back at Hayden.

  “That doesn’t matter we have to go after them and stop them.” Hayden started climbing over the edge of the ship to get onto Draek’s back.

  “Oh no we don’t.” Rimney said as she grabbed Hayden by the shoulders and pulled him back onboard. He was too weak from the fall to fight her off.

  “Yes we do.” Hayden demanded as he tried to thrash around but despite his best efforts he could not get free of Rimney’s grasp.

  “Why is that?” Rimney asked.

  “Because they are going to meet up with the Metallic Army and tell them that we are coming. If they know we are coming then they will send for reinforcements and slaughter the elves if they haven’t started that already.” Rimney let go of Hayden and he got back up to his feet.

  “We have to stop them before they get to the battlefield. If not then we are doomed.” Rimney listened to Hayden and realized the truth to his words. She looked up to the sky towards the mainland as if she would still be able to see the two metallic dragons flying away.

  “We need to move ahead with our plan then.” Rimney went silent for a few seconds until Farius roared from somewhere on top of the Light House. “The smaller ships will begin going down the river Savior.”

  Rimney walked over to the helm of the ship and began shouting orders. Immediately the crew quickly began responding to her orders and making themselves busy on the ship’s deck.

  “Are we going to chase after them on dragon back?” Hayden asked as he walked up behind her.

  “No we need to stay together.” Rimney began to turn the ship as her blue dragon dove into the water next to the ship. “Just in case they were to double back and attack the ships while we were gone.”

  “But are we going to be fast enough to catch them?” Hayden felt like he had stones settling in his stomach.

  “We will be fast enough.” Rimney smiled as Farius climbed onto the deck and let one of the crew members attach a metal collar around his neck. They undid the anchor from its chain and linked the chain to Farius’ collar.

  Once the chain was in place Farius took the sky and flew until the chain pulled tight against his neck. The ship lurched forward and almost knocked Hayden off of his feet. Hayden steadied himself as the Misty Maiden pulled around the Light House and began working its way into the mouth of the river.

  Hayden looked back behind the ship and saw more dragons take flight with chains around their neck and began pulling in behind the Misty Maiden. The ship quickly began going faster than Hayden had ever thought possible as Farius worked vigorously in the air.

  “Is this going to be enough to catch two flying dragons?” Hayden asked. Draek had jumped out of the water and was circling above the ships.

  “It should be, they flew off in a hurry but from the looks of it Draek gave them a decent beating. They will need to stop and rest soon and their injuries will slow them down.” Rimney said as she began to navigate her way through the river.

  Hayden stayed on the deck for some time until his body threatened to collapse beneath him. Rimney made Hayden go and rest in the cabin where he found the missing pieces to his armor.

  Hayden undressed and laid down on the bed. He began to think about the things that Sebastian and Giles had said to him but before long he was drifting into sleep.

  Chapter 28

  Shane felt the ground beneath his feet rumble to life as mounted stags came billowing out of the trees.

  “Stay to the fire!” Cass yelled at them as they passed by. The riders heard her command and obeyed, angling their mounts to stay hidden from their enemies view behind the smoke and flames in the center of the field.

  The elves and their stags were thundering down the field, hidden from the enemy by the smoke the galiants and catapults had caused. As they neared the fire they turned at the last possible moment and made their way around the fires, quickly disappearing from Shane and Cass’s view.

  Shane listened as the shouts of men and elves came rising up from behind the flames. He could only guess the damages that their quick moving mounted troops were causing. Shane had first doubted the effectiveness of using stags over horses but when he had seen just how quick and agile they were.

  Shane stood beside Cass and listened as the battle raged on without them. Seconds turned to minutes which began feeling like hours creeping by.

  Shane was about to suggest that they get to their dragons and get to the air to see what was taking place when their stags came sprinting back towards them. Shane shouted in triumph when he first saw the stags running towards them until he realized their numbers had been cut almost in half.

  As the stags made it around the fire Shane caught a glimpse of a horse riding amongst them, the rider viciously attacking one of the elves.

  “A horse and rider amongst our riders!” Shane shouted out to the nearest elf with a bow in hand. The elf stepped forward and drew two arrows, notching and firing both within a heartbeat of each other.

  Shane and Cass watched the arrows climb into the air and plummet back to the ground again. The first arrow hit the horse in the back of the neck and dropped the animal instantly. The rider was flung from his saddle and while in midair the second arrow hit him in the back of the neck as well.

  “Amazing.” Shane said as he watched the stags continue to get closer to the tree lines.

  “Horses!” An elf shouted out from further down the trees. Shane and Cass quickly scanned the battle field looking for more horses but could not see any.

  “Horses!” The elf shouted a second time, pointing straight into the still burning flames on the field.

  Shane raised his hand over his brow
to block the midday sun as he searched for the riders.

  A strong wind blew up from the south and raced across the field, blowing the smoke away just long enough to see the entire force of the Metallic Nation’s cavalry creeping behind the fire to remain hidden.

  “Archers, get ready!” Cass yelled beside him, having seen the same thing that Shane had.

  As the woods took up her order and echoed it out the cavalry broke rank and charged at the elves, galloping as fast as they could.

  “Aim for the horses in the front, don’t hit the riders hit the horses!” Cass yelled and watched as their first volley of arrow went out over the field and hit the horses leading the charge.

  Some of the horses were wearing armor that shielded them from the arrows but more were not so lucky and fell with arrows protruding out of their flanks. The horses that fell to the elves crashed into the ground and caused more horses to trip over them.

  But where two or three horses fell ten more quickly sped up to take their place.

  More and more arrows flew out of the forest as their stags finally made it to the wall of trees but they were not taking down enough horses to slow down the charge. Just as the stags jumped into the forest Shane heard the unmistakable thunk sound of one of the galiants launching another projectile at them.

  Shane watched as several giant fire balls came soaring across the field and crashed into the trees further behind them. Setting fire to the forest around them and forcing the elves to step out of the burning woods and into the path of the cavalry.

  “Kill their horses now!” Shane yelled and ran towards the burning woods.

  “Where are you going Shane?” Cass asked as she tried to keep up.

  “To Rilora, we need our dragons.” Shane jumped through the flames while covering his face with his shield.

  “We can’t bring our dragons out until they bring theirs. Stick to the plan if you want to win this war.” Cass grabbed Shane by the shoulder and tried to turn him around.