“I am not sure how I should take that.” The copper rider said with a smile. None of them were amused, but it was Cass who continued to speak.
“I don’t care how you take it.” Cass snapped. “Why should we not kill you?”
“I don’t want to fight the three of you.” The copper rider responded.
“That’s smart,” Shane growled, tightening his grip on his sword.
“I just want to talk.” The copper rider said slowly with her hands still in the air.
“What’s your name?” Cass asked.
“I am Catrin The Copper.” She said. “This is Fal, my dragon.”
“Ok Catrin, talk,” Cass said.
The copper rider lowered her hands slowly. “We have been out in search for the three of you. Elizabeth has sent the copper riders out all over the land to find you.”
“Why would she do that?” Shane asked. Cass was an unmovable statue, staring into the eyes of the copper rider.
“She wants this war to end; she wants you three to end this while there is still time,” Catrin said.
“Still time? There is no going back anymore. The war has begun.” Hayden all but shouted. Cass lifted her hand to Hayden, telling him to hold his anger.
“Why, why does she want three riders so badly?” Shane asked. Catrin didn’t answer right away; she lowered her gaze until Hayden raised his bow again.
“I… don’t know for sure. I am just a copper rider.” She said looking to Shane for understanding. Thunder roared off in the distance, away from the direction they had been going but the storm was building on the horizon and coming to them.
“What have you heard?” Cass asked. “Tell us.” This time she didn’t ask Hayden to lower his bow, she kept her eyes on Catrin.
“They are only whispers, idle talk.” She explained, but Cass didn’t respond. She stood firm and waited for the information she wanted to hear.
“She want’s you,” Catrin said, pointing at Cass.
“Because I am a gold rider, we know that,” Cass said with a shrug.
“We think that you might be the last. That you hatched the last of the golden eggs, they had. Elizabeth’s golden dragon Herrdiga has never been able to lay eggs.” Cass didn’t know how to respond; she turned to look at Shaylin.
“She has never said anything about it but she did tell us that the others could die but you we were supposed to bring back alive,” Catrin explained.
“The last?” Cass asked Shaylin.
“That’s what we all think. You know dragons can cross breed and have a clutch, but only a golden dragon can produce a golden dragon egg. If Herrdiga can’t lay eggs with Estraken’s ancient dragon, then you are the only hope the golden dragons have at continuing the line.” Cass looked at Shane and Hayden before turning to face Catrin.
“I will end this war, for the golden dragons,” Cass said. Shane and Hayden were just as shocked as Catrin was.
“You will come back with me?” She asked.
“No, Elizabeth can come and surrender to me, for the better of Arvain and the dragons.” Shane and Hayden quickly looked to Catrin and watched her face fall from joy to sorrow and anger.
“You know she won’t do that,” Catrin said, defeated.
“Then she does not truly care about the lineage of our dragons or their future.” Cass took a step away from Catrin. “You can go back and tell your queen that if she does not surrender, then she will have to fight.”
The sky had darkened above them as they had been speaking. The storm had grown angry and fierce and had reached out over the land. Lighting crackled across the sky, and the thunder was like the sound of ten dragon’s roar.
Before Catrin could speak again, rain began to fall, not with a light mist or a refreshing rain that would not be bothersome. The sky broke, and a torrent of water fell around them. Soaking them in their armor and turning the ground around them to mud. The dragons did not seem to mind the rain, but their riders were a different story.
“Are those your final words?” Catrin asked with a shout, putting her helmet back on to help cover her head from the rain.
“It is,” Cass said, they left their helmets off as Catrin moved slowly to her dragon with her hands still raised. She climbed onto her dragon’s back and started tightening her straps. Hayden watched as she seemed focused on her straps as if the conversation was over.
“I know this was not the answer Elizabeth was hoping to hear,” Catrin said. They all had to speak louder, or their words would be drowned out by the rain.
“I am sure she will get over it,” Shane said flatly.
“She will I am sure. Sadly, I don’t think Ansila and Curtis will.” Catrin said as her dragon opened its wings and took to the dark, rain-filled sky. Thunder cracked overhead just moments after lightning ripped across the sky.
“Who are Ansila and Curtis?” Hayden asked, having never heard the names before.
“That’s my mom and dad,” Shane said, all anger had left his voice, and all that was left was pain.
Chapter Seventeen
“Shane, their your what?” Cass shouted as the rain and thunder crashed around them. Hayden didn’t move or speak. He just watched as the copper rider and her dragon flew off into the darkened sky, as rain soaked through his armor and clothes. “Shane answer me.” Cass pleaded.
Hayden turned and found his friend looking straight ahead with a blank look on his face. No emotion showed on his face as Cass pulled at his arm. He seemed to forget about the storm and everything around them. He was lost in his pain.
“Cass. They have his family.” Hayden said as he pulled his eagle helmet over his head even though his hair was already stuck to his face as if he had been swimming. As the words fell from Hayden’s mouth, Shane turned to face him.
“They have my.. my… my family? How does this happen?” Shane asked. They had all hoped that their families would have gotten out of Celestial City when the war had started, but it appeared the Metallic Nation had acted first.
“I don’t know, I just… I don’t know.” Hayden wanted to have something comforting to say or some answer to give him, but Hayden couldn’t come up with anything.
“What do we do? What do I do?” Shane asked, almost pleading for an answer. Hayden couldn’t answer him. It had just been a few days earlier that Hayden and Draek had flown off on their own, in the middle of a battle, to try to save the village he had grown up in. They hadn’t been family in blood, but they had been in every other sense of the word.
“We have to keep going Shane; we are at war. All of Arvain is at stake. We can’t give up or surrender to them now. Not when we are this close.” Cass said, pulling Shane to where the dragons were waiting. She watched as the decision began to be made in Shane’s eyes. She reached into Rilora’s saddlebag and pulled out his bull helmet and put it over his head, hiding his face behind a copper mask.
“No Shane, you need to stay with us. We need to get going and get out from under this storm. Isn’t that right Hayden?” Cass asked.
Cass turned and looked to Hayden for help and support. “Don’t end up on the other side of my sword,” Hayden said bluntly.
“Hayden!” Cass shouted, appalled at his answer. Shane, however, did not seem shocked by his answer.
“It’s his family.” Shane climbed up into Rilora’s saddle, his dragon looking more defeated then he had ever seen her appear. Rain fell on their dragon’s scales, making them look as if they had a faint glow. Shane didn’t bother tightening his straps; he simply looked in the storming sky to find where the other copper dragon had gotten to.
“I am serious Shane, do what you must but don’t try and fight me,” Hayden said. “I will do what I have to do as well.” Shane nodded his head as Rilora lifted into the air and began following the copper dragon that was already disappearing into the distance. Thunder ruptured in the sky as more lightning crackled around them as Shane and Rilora flew off.
“How could you let him go? We need to go after him.�
� Cass argued, almost screaming. She ran over to Shaylin and climbed into the saddle as she desperately tightened her straps, watching Shane and Rilora fly off.
“Cass, stop.” Hayden tried to reach out to Cass, but she pulled away from Hayden and tried to get Shaylin into the air. Sitting atop her dragon kept her out of Hayden’s reach.
“Cass, we need to get out of here, this storm is getting worse.” Hayden had to almost shout as the rain fell harder. The wind began picking up, bending the trees around them to the point Hayden was sure they were going to break.
Cass watched Rilora vanish from sight in the storm. Shaylin moved her golden head to face Hayden and Draek.
“But he was our friend,” Cass said defeated.
“He still is, I just hope he won’t tell them too much of what we are doing,” Hayden said. He climbed into his own saddle, the leather was soaked and almost slid off once.
“That doesn’t matter,” Cass said. They were both sitting atop their dragons, but neither one wanted to take to the sky without Shane. The rain was the only thing pushing them to leave.
“Why doesn’t it matter?” Hayden asked.
“They will find Erskine in ruin eventually and with a stone dragon in the rubble. They will know that we did it and that we took over the Ice Keep. Even if Shane hadn’t…..” Cass couldn’t say the words. “The copper rider had seen us out here. Once they put it together, Elizabeth would have realized that we had gotten the Frost Fangs to join us and were on our way to either find the dwarves or Bone Thieves. They would know what we are doing regardless of what Shane tells them.” Cass said.
Finally, turning to face Hayden, Cass looked to Hayden. Whether for strength, guidance, comfort or just help, Hayden couldn’t tell, but he could see that she needed something. He gave her a slight smile and shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what else to do.
That seemed to be what she needed. Cass smiled back before she turned to face where their friend had been before leaving them.
“We need to move quickly before Elizabeth can send riders to stop us or attack Kirin before we are ready,” Hayden said. Cass laughed, a sound Hayden hadn’t expected to hear.
“Sometimes you amaze me, Hayden,” Cass said, shaking her head and wiping her eyes. “You fight like a copper rider and act like one half the time; then you turn into a leader like a gold rider. Making plans, looking ahead.” Cass tightened her saddle straps, and Hayden knew it was time to leave. “You are unlike any other Metallic Rider I have ever met.”
“That might be because I am not a Metallic Rider. I am a dragon rider, from Erskine and we fly for all of Arvain.” Hayden said, Draek nodding his head in agreement.
“Hmm. The Dragon Riders of Arvain. Not a bad name for us.” Cass said. Without another word, Shaylin took to the sky, leaving Hayden and Draek on the ground. Draek waited for a few moments; they watched Cass and Shaylin fly off in the direction opposite of where Shane had gone. The rain hadn’t gotten worse, but the wind was dying down slightly.
I am sorry. Hayden said. He didn’t have to explain; they had both lost a friend to the Metallic Nation.
I am as well. Draek replied. His voice a hollow echo of its normal thunder. I hope nothing bad happens to them. Draek lowered his shoulders and prepared to jump into the air.
Hayden didn’t respond. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to his friends either but this was war, and this was the Metallic Nation. Nothing good came from either of them.
Draek opened his wings and let the wind pull him into the air. He rode the violent wind until he was in the midst of the passing storm. The clouds around them were dark and constantly swirling about, making flying rough and unpredictable.
As soon as they broke through the bleak clouds, they were nearly blinded by light as they flew above the storm that now looked like a sea of darkness raging beneath them, the occasional flash of lightning lighting up beneath them. Draek came out of the storm second and quickly spotted Shaylin flying away from the sun above.
Instead of taking the lead like they normally did, Draek followed Shaylin, letting the gold dragon take the lead for a change and giving Draek a chance to fly a little easier.
The land flew by underneath them in a blur. Partly because the storm had darkened the land and partly because they were each lost in their thoughts, distracting them from their flying. Soon the trees became sparser, and the grass began to thin out to a grey landscape.
The storm broke, behind them, thunder and lightning continued its eternal battle but before them was grey sand and a darkening sky. They had made it to the Shadow Desert. Shaylin lowered to the ground with Draek following quickly behind.
“We made it,” Cass stated. Any emotion that had once been in her voice was now gone. She had spent the entire flight thinking about the doomed fate of their friend, just as Hayden had done. It had taken them the rest of the day to make it to the edge of the Shadow Desert, which was a long time lost in thought.
“We did,” Hayden replied. “Do you think we should keep going or rest here for the night?” Hayden asked, looking up at the sinking sun to see how much daylight they had left. It wasn’t nearly as much as he had hoped.
Cass pulled out their map they had been given and worked out where they had made it to. “We are far enough south of the nearest town that we should be able to stay unnoticed here,” Cass answered as she continued to go over the map as if she was reading a book.
Hayden slid down Draek’s side and began working on removing his saddle. You and Shaylin should go out and hunt but do your best to remain unseen. Hayden told his dragon as he undid the last of the straps and pulled the saddle off towards himself. The saddle was too heavy for him to carry, so he had to drag it on the ground.
Two large, metallic dragons should be almost invisible out here. Draek said sarcastically. It made Hayden smile, a first in several hours.
The dragons flew off together but even going off to hunt they lacked the excitement they normally had when they got to fly off together.
Hayden didn’t help Cass as she continued looking around only to quickly turn her gaze back to the map, double checking that she was right about their location. Hayden finished pulling the weighted saddle over to where he thought it best to start setting up camp.
The land around them was all hard-packed grey dirt, dry to the touch from lack of rain.
Cass started clearing off a small area that they could use to start a fire. Hayden moved to help her.
“Don’t; I got this.” She said. Hayden knew that she could start a simple fire by herself. He knew that at the best of times Hayden had to struggle just to keep up with Cass. He knew all this, but he had still tried to help her because he simply wanted to help.
He knew better than to push against Cass, on anything. Dreak, did you see any water while you were flying near here? Hayden asked. He silently walked over to his saddlebags and pulled out a leather bag that he used to get water.
I did. Draek replied and sent him a quick image of where he had seen the water. Hayden looked back at Cass and was about to tell her where he was going, but he decided against it. He quietly snuck away and made his way to where Draek had said the water was.
He tried to stay in his own mind and process what had all taken place and what was going to have to happen. He found the stream, but as he neared it, Hayden was worried that is was so small that if he filled his leather bag, he might take all the water there was.
He made his way back to where they made their temporary camp to find Cass had already made a small fire that was crackling and popping as it devoured the wood.
“I got us some water,” Hayden said as Cass lifted her gaze to look at Hayden. Hayden placed the bag down, making sure that it sat up and didn’t spill. “I think we need to talk Cass,” Hayden said as a knot formed in his stomach.
“About what? About how you sent our friend off to join our enemies?” Cass asked. She looked up to Hayden with piercing eyes that made Hayden lower his gaze.
�
��I didn’t send our friend to our enemies Cass; his family was at stake,” Hayden explained. “I didn’t want him to go either, but it was his family.”
“That doesn’t matter Hayden. There is a war going on, Arvain is at stake.” Cass shot back.
“And what happens if we win the war but lose all those that we love? Is it still worth it?” Hayden asked.
“No, but what happens if we lose it all? If we lose Arvain and our loved ones?” Cass demanded.
“Then it doesn’t matter either way,” Hayden said a little harsher then he meant to. “I don’t understand; I thought you understood why he had to go?” Hayden asked.
Cass looked into the fire but didn’t respond. She rested her head on her knees, pulling her legs to her chest. “I thought I was ok with it. At least as ok with it as I can be but…”
“But what?” Hayden asked.
“You told him to go, you didn’t even fight for him to stay,” Cass said, still not looking at Hayden.
“So, you think I didn’t care about him; you think I wanted him gone?” Hayden asked, more offended then shocked.
“I know you care about him; I don’t know.” Cass closed her eyes.
“You’re mad that he left us, but it’s not my fault Cass. He needed to go, and you need to understand that. I helped him make the decision he needed to make.” Hayden said. The fire that erupted in Cass’s eyes was hotter than the flames that burned in front of her.
Hayden didn’t know what he had said that was wrong, but he was sure that some part of it was absolutely wrong.
Stop talking. Draek said quickly.
Why she needs to understand that… Hayden started to defend himself.
No, stop. You are only making it worse; you need to leave her alone. Draek insisted. Hayden held his tongue and sat on the other side of Cass.
They remained silent for a few moments until Hayden reached out to Draek. Can I apologize to her? Hayden asked.
If that’s all you’re going to say then yes, it’s ok but don’t say any other words than I am sorry. Hayden hated being told what to say.
The Dream of Shadows Page 14
