The Clash of Land and Sea_The Dragon Riders of Arvain

by Nicholas Clausen

  Over what felt like hours of fighting and flying they had finally destroyed the last of the catapults and galiants. Shane continued to look up into the sky just waiting to see countless metallic dragons taking to the sky to stop them but he saw no such thing.

  Where are they? Shane thought as they flew above the battle field to see how the rest of the battle was faring.

  You want them to be here? Rilora asked.

  Of course not, but I would like to know what they are planning. Shane was glad that they had destroyed all the war machines but he was still confused as to why they had allowed them to fly around and cause mayhem unchecked.

  Rilora and Shaylin flew over the battle field and Shane’s heart was lifted when he saw that the elves had pushed back the enemy and had littered the ground with their dead.

  Shaylin began a slow dive to land in the field near the elves but Rilora continued flying until Shane spotted a group of elves that had been in charge of the army. He pointed out the location and Rilora quickly landed.

  Shane jumped out of the saddle and ran to where the elves were.

  “Shane, we saw what you two did and it was amazing! We really hit them hard with this defeat.” One of the elves shouted and smacked Shane on the back. He didn’t have the heart to tell them what he was thinking about because he wanted them to enjoy the victory while they could.

  “What all happened after we passed by?” Shane asked.

  “Well your dragon’s fire spread as if they were dried hay and that caused them to break rank and get all confused. Some continued the advance while others stopped to help those that were burning and even a few ran back towards their base camp.” Another of the elves said with a grin on his face.

  “Once we got organized again it was easy to move through them and cut them down. Most never even saw us coming. By the time they realized what was going on it was too late and those that were left alive retreated.” The elves all around them began cheering and shouting.

  “It looks like we won’t need the Sea Serpents after all.” Another of the elves shouted from somewhere in the back of the group. Others cheered even louder at the statement but Shane was still unsure. He was about to ask another question when a shout rang out over the battlefield.

  “DRAGONS!”

  Hayden stood next to Rimney as she looked over her ship with a watchful eye.

  “We are making good time.” Rimney said. Hayden was not sure how she kept knowing what he was about to ask before he asked it but by this point he was getting used to it.

  “When do you think we will make it?” Hayden asked.

  “We should make it to the battlefield by morning I would guess.” Rimney looked up at the position of the sun as she spoke. Hayden followed her glance and saw that the day was already nearing the evening time.

  “Good, I hope we will be in time.” Hayden said. He hadn’t been able to think about anything else since he had first left Cass and Shane.

  Rimney did not respond but instead she focused her attention on Farius as he continued to help pull the ship through the water. Hayden glanced over at him and noticed that his wings weren’t beating as hard as they had once been.

  Even Hayden could see where the giant blue dragon was beginning to have a hard time breathing.

  “Farius is getting tired.” Rimney stated.

  “We can’t stop now.” Hayden knew what Rimney was thinking but they didn’t have a choice. They had to keep going as fast as they could.

  “Farius has to so unless you plan to grab the chain and swim we are going to have to slow down.” Rimney gave a signal and Farius doubled back and landed on the ship, heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

  We aren’t going to make it, there isn’t anything I can do. Hayden said.

  Maybe not but there is something I can do. Draek said as they finished undoing the chain around Farius’s neck. As soon as he was free Farius he fell over the edge of the ship and splashed into the water below.

  Before the deckhands could move to hook the chain back to the anchor Draek jumped out of the water and landed on the deck.

  “What is Draek doing?” Rimney asked.

  Hayden asked Draek the same question but before they could get an answer Draek lowered his head to the deck just as Farius had done to have the chain taken off.

  “Draek wants to pull the ship?” Rimney asked. Draek nodded his head.

  “He wants to make sure we make it in time to save our friends.” Hayden said as he smiled at Draek.

  Thank you. Hayden said as they attached the chain to Draek’s neck.

  Let’s go help our friends. Draek took off into the air with the chain hanging behind him.

  “This will help us get there but it won’t help the other ships. Their dragons still have to rest and we don’t have any more silver dragons to come help us.” Rimney pointed out.

  “The main goal is to catch Sebastian and Giles before they make it to the battle field. We need to have the element of surprise.” Hayden spoke as he watched Draek slowly pull the chain tight and begin pulling the ship forward.

  As the other ships allowed their dragons to rest The Misty Maiden began pulling ahead of them. Soon she was racing down the open river, leaving the other ships in her wake.

  “You should get some rest, there is nothing more for you to do now and by tomorrow we will need all the strength we have.” Rimney said and motioned for Hayden to go into the cabin.

  Hayden did as he was instructed and laid his head down on the bed. He laid there, listening to the water crash against the ship until Draek’s voice jumped into his head.

  How are you? Draek asked.

  Good. Hayden answered without even thinking about the question.

  You know we are going to make it? Draek continued.

  We can’t know that. Hayden fought back as fear and dread gripped his heart.

  Hayden and Draek continued to argue back and forth until finally Hayden drifted off to sleep.

  Hayden dreamt of being back in Celestial City with Cass and Shane when their dragons were still young. They were more concerned with the next day of their training then what was going on around Arvain.

  His dream turned to the night Hayden and Draek had flown around Celestial City. Hayden’s dream changed again and soon he was standing in the arena having just won the archery challenge, the crowd shouting his name.

  RRRAAAWWW! Draek’s roar pulled Hayden violently out of his sleep.

  “What’s going on?” Hayden asked as he sat up in the bed.

  RRAAWW! Draek roared again, this time causing Hayden to jump out of bed and run out of the cabin to see what was amiss.

  Draek what’s wrong? Hayden asked as he stepped out of the cabin to find his dragon trying to break the chain that was holding him to the ship.

  Hayden was about to ask what Draek was doing when he saw two objects jump into the sky off in the distance. The sun was setting and the stars were just beginning to shine in the sky.

  “What is that?” Hayden asked as he squinted at the objects.

  Draek roared again and suddenly Hayden knew exactly what he was looking at.

  “Undo his chain quickly.” Hayden yelled as he ran back into the cabin and grabbed his sword.

  “Why, what’s going on?” Rimney asked as Hayden scrambled back out of the cabin.

  Draek had landed and allowed the deckhands to release his chain by the time Hayden made it beside his dragon. Hayden climbed onto Draek’s back and began strapping himself into the saddle.

  “Where are you going? What’s going on?” Rimney asked. She tried to make out the two shapes that were about to disappear further up the river.

  “After them.” Hayden said, finishing the last of the straps.

  “I don’t understand.” Rimney said.

  “Those are dragons out there.” Hayden pointed to the fleeting objects. Rimney looked at the shapes again and when she realized Hayden was right Draek was already flying off after them as fast as he could go.

>   Chapter 30

  “DRAGONS!” The elf yelled again. Soon the call was being echoed among all the elves. Shane turned around and saw that a single silver dragon had taken to the sky and was flying at them.

  Shane looked over and saw Cass franticly getting back in her saddle and he scrambled to do the same.

  Can you tell who the dragon and rider are? Shane asked as he strapped himself in.

  Yes its Shynari and her rider Lirand. Rilora said. Shane’s stomach tightened into knots as he watched his old trainer fly at them.

  They had to send someone we know. Shane thought as Rilora took to the sky.

  But that doesn’t change anything. Rilora said. Cass and Shaylin flew beside them as they made their way towards the center of the battle field.

  Shane braced himself for Rilora to do some kind of aerial maneuver as they got closer to Lirand and his dragon. He was expecting to be at a severe disadvantage fighting Shynari because she had trained Rilora. As Shane and Cass neared Lirand the prepared themselves for Shynari to attack the moment she could.

  Instead, Lirand landed his dragon in the center of the field.

  Rilora and Shaylin circled overhead like birds flying over a dying animal.

  What do we do now? Rilora asked. Shane leaned over the saddle to get a better look at what Lirand was doing.

  I have no idea. He is just sitting down there. Shane said as he watched Lirand.

  Cass says we need to go see what he wants. Rilora said as she began circling closer to the ground.

  What? No we can’t do that fly up, fly up! Shane shouted with his mind. Rilora continued flying lower to the ground with Cass and Shaylin right behind them.

  No they are right we need to see what they want. Rilora argued back. The moment she landed on the ground Shane lunged at Lirand who had already gotten off of his dragon as well.

  As Shane neared the rider Lirand undid his sheath and allowed his sword to fall to the ground. Shane slowed his running but did not put his sword away.

  “Shane.” Lirand said. Shane nodded at him but not speak.

  Lirand looked to Cass and lowered his head slightly as he spoke to her. “And you must be Cassidy.”

  “I am, and you are Lirand the Silver, rider of Shynari.” Lirand smiled and nodded his head.

  “You are just as I had expected a rider of a gold dragon to be.” Lirand said with a smile. He looked around to the skies looking for the third dragon. “And where is Hayden?” He asked, the smile removed from his face.

  “He isn’t here.” Shane said quickly, still not having put his sword away.

  “Well that is obvious Shane but where is he?” Lirand asked again.

  “Not here.” Shane growled to get his message across.

  “That’s a shame because I had wanted to speak with all three of you.” Lirand looked back to his dragon and remained silent for a few seconds before speaking again.

  “No matter, the two of you will do.” Lirand turned and faced the two riders again.

  ‘What exactly are you doing here?” Cass asked as she stepped closer to Shane.

  “I am here to discuss the terms of your surrender.” Lirand said with all seriousness.

  Shane couldn’t help but begin to laugh until he realized that Lirand was not kidding.

  “You mean you are here to surrender to us, correct?” Shane asked. “You did just see us decimate your galiants and catapults and kill half your ground troops while the other half fled?”

  “No, I am not here to surrender. I am here to talk about your options.” Lirand said. As Lirand spoke he did not try to hide the regret in his voice. “The two of you on dragon back changed the battle in your favor when all hope was lost for your men. If it wasn’t for you two and your dragons the elves would already be dead.” Lirand spoke just as he had while he was training Shane and Hayden.

  With hard truths.

  “But we were here and we won today.” Shane argued back.

  “You did win, because we allowed it to happen.” Lirand said sadly.

  “You what?” Cass asked.

  “What do you mean you allowed us to win?” Shane asked.

  “Do you really think that two dragons could destroy so much of our army without us allowing it? Do you not realize how easy it would have been to fly just a few dragons out to stop you?” Shane was going to argue but in his gut he knew that Lirand was right.

  Shane and Cass were both exceptional warriors and dragon riders and their dragons were well above average but they were no match against an army of dragons. Not by themselves.

  “But I don’t understand. Why would you allow so many of your men to die if you could have stopped us so easily?” Cass asked.

  “Because we needed to show the two of you just how devastating two dragons and their riders could be.” Lirand said, his voice cracking as he finished speaking.

  “You let your own people die just to teach us a lesson?” Cass said, obviously disgusted by the idea of what Lirand and the Metallic nation had done.

  “They are not just my people.” Lirand said with a confused look on his face. “You two are my people as well; they are our people.” Shane’s anger flared up as Lirand spoke. “We wanted you to understand how dragons truly affect the outcome of a battle.”

  “But why does it matter? Why try to teach us a lesson?” Shane demanded. The answer, however, came from Cass who was standing behind him.

  “Because they want to take us back alive, they are hoping that we will still join them again.” Cass said. Lirand nodded his head and smiled.

  “You truly are as smart as Elizabeth has said.” Lirand said slyly.

  “I still don’t understand why you would let us kill your men. We already knew what dragons were capable of doing.” Shane said.

  “Yes but now you have seen what two dragons can do, now times that by a hundred.” As Lirand spoke Shane finally caught up with what he was saying. Lirand turned to look over the battle field at all the bodies.

  “Cassidy you are correct that Elizabeth wants the three of you back, especially you and Hayden.” Shane didn’t know if Lirand meant the comment to be disrespectful but he took it as such.

  “But she does not want to keep the three of you locked up like prisoners. Her orders are to bring you back willingly or to burn the entire forest down with you all in it.” Lirand turned and picked up his sword and climbed back onto his dragon’s back.

  “Tomorrow morning if you have not surrendered to us willingly and end this war then we will attack. You have seen the power of two dragons; tomorrow you shall see the power of two hundred dragons.” Lirand and Shynari jumped into the air and bolted back towards their base camp.

  “I am sorry.” Lirand yelled out. “Please, surrender and return willingly.” His voice echoed over them.

  Or die defiant. Rilora’s voice repeated Shynari’s words.

  Can you still see them? Hayden asked Draek as they flew towards where they had last seen the dragons.

  No, they seem to have disappeared. Draek said in frustration.

  How? I don’t understand, we were up in the air just as fast as they were. Hayden said as he looked around. They were still flying the same route as the river but they had gotten so far away from the ships that they could not see them anymore.

  I don’t know. I just don’t understand they are not in the air anywhere. Draek said. Hayden was hoping that they would have found them but he had to admit that they were gone.

  They aren’t in the air. Draek said.

  I know, you said that already. Hayden replied. Draek did a sharp turn in midair. If Hayden hadn’t been wearing his safety straps he would have been thrown to his death.

  Draek what’s wrong? Hayden asked as he tried to right himself in the saddle.

  They aren’t in the air! Draek started flying as fast as he could.

  And? Hayden asked.

  If they aren’t in the air then that means they landed already. Draek roared his frustration and pushed himself even faster.<
br />
  Ok but if they landed then why are you……Rimney! Hayden realized that Sebastian and Giles must have landed after they had seen Draek go into the air without Draek noticing. Hayden knew that Giles and Sebastian would not resist the chance to ambush the ships as they passed by.

  Hayden and Draek flew in silence for a few minutes until they saw the stream of smoke rising up out in the distance.

  Hayden and Draek roared together as they continued to fly towards the smoke.

  Oh no. Hayden thought as flew around the last bend in the river to find two of the ships on fire.

  They had over twenty ships total that had been able to make it down the river but they needed everyone for the battle. One of the ships that were burning was already sinking while the deckhands of the second ship were trying desperately to put out the flames before their ship met a similar fate.

  There they are. Draek’s voice thundered in Hayden’s head. Hayden looked into the sky where a dozen blue dragons were chasing two silver dragons in the air. Draek roared at the dragons and flew straight into the fight.

  Hayden did the only thing he could when dragons fought, held on tightly. Even after flying around for most of the evening Draek was still in better shape than any of the blue dragons. He was able to catch up to them quickly but the blue dragons kept flying in their way.

  Tell the blue dragons to land and help defend the ships. Hayden said as Draek had to duck under another blue dragon.

  Draek did not respond but Hayden knew that Draek had done what he had asked as the blue dragons all went back to ships. Kurok and Sullivan hovered in the air watching the blue dragons leave until they finally noticed Draek flying on the other side of the fleeting dragons.

  The dragons roared at Draek and dove at him at the same time. Draek did not back down from the two dragons. Instead he charged at them roaring. Just as the dragons were about to collide, Draek opened his wings to stop his charge.

  Draek let loose his flame and smothered both dragons in his fire as the two dragons were about to smash into Draek. Draek pulled in his wings and dropped below the two dragons as they slammed into each other.