The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain) (49 page)

They did not have their heads down as they stood in front of her. Their hands were chained in front of them and their feet were shackled together. They each held their heads up and met her gaze as she stared at them.

“How do you know that it was them that did it, did they admit to it?” Cass’s voice rang out like a bell over the crowd, stunning them as they heard her question. Although Hayden could only guess how nervous she was her voice did not give her away.

“They did not need to admit to it, young Cassidy. We know it was them who burned down our beautiful orchard. It was the dwarfs that have time and time again insulted us and attacked us when all we have ever wanted was to live in piece together.” Elizabeth might have been looking at Cass, but she was speaking to everyone.

“But wasn’t one of them supposed to be a ri
der? Where is the red dragon?” she asked. Hayden wished he could have stopped her, he knew that these were the right dwarfs and that at this point there was nothing that could be done to save them. Cass was only making it worse for them and for herself.

“This one here is the rider.”
Elizabeth pointed to the Bureg. “But his dragon fled and abandoned his rider as we neared their encampment. The red dragon was last seen flying as fast as the wind would carry it with it tail between its legs. I myself am surprised that it hasn’t yet died from embarrassment.”

The crowd laughed with Elizabeth
, but everyone quickly quieted down because Bureg was also laughing. Elizabeth looked both shocked and disgusted as the bloodied dwarf gave a deep husky chuckle that ended with him spitting a glob of blood at her feet.

“You arrogant
fool,” he choked, his deep voice sounded muffled by the swelling in his face. That was all he got to say before one of the guards standing near him punched him in the face. Elizabeth raised her hand at the guard.

“Let him speak, it’s the last words he will get to say.” She smiled maliciously at the dwarf and made a hand gesture for him to continue.

“You prove your folly by what you say, rider of the golden demon. Nothing but lies and false boastings seep from your forked tongue and drip into the wounds of your blind people, causing them pain that you call pleasure.” Hayden had to tell himself to breathe, and by the mouths that hung open all around him he knew that others had to also.

No one had ever spoken to Elizabeth, or any of the other three, that way before. Bureg knew he was about to die so he had no reason to hold anything back. Maybe Elizabeth wanted to hear what else the dwarf had to say or maybe she was just so shocked that she couldn’t stop him, either way he continued on.

“We dwarfs had done nothing but stand by while you and your metal atrocities have tried to extinguish us like a fire that you have kicked dirt on. But this time you have gone too far. While you kept us in cages and beat us, Trohen my brave dragon has flown to my brother, my clan chief. He got there last night and has told my brother everything you have done to us.

“The old drums and have been brought out
, and now the mountain tops ring with the beat of war. The dwarf clans are uniting to end your rule once and for all. Soon the dwarfs will come as an avalanche and burry you in the rock.”

He
finished his speech without anyone interrupting him; no one thought to move or make a sound as the raspy voice told them his message. Elizabeth continued to stare at the dwarf; Hayden had no idea what horrible thoughts lurked within her head.

Hayden thought that the situation could not get any worse when something unimaginable happened; Bureg saw Hayden and recognized him.

“Silver rider,” he said. It was this statement that woke Elizabeth from her angered state. She followed the dwarfs gaze and saw that he had spoken about Hayden.

“You know him, he was the one that saw what you had done in my orchard and he chased you away into hiding. He told us all about what happened, if it wasn’t for him we would have never had found you.” Elizabeth leaned in as she spoke to him.

Even though she was lying there was no way for Bureg to know. All he knew was that he had been captured and that they had known immediately what they had done, and the only person who could have told them was Hayden.

Hayden barely heard what Elizabeth said to Bureg
, but he could not make a sound to protest what she was saying. The look of anger, hurt, distrust and betrayal one Bureg’s face kept him immobilized.

“That i
s enough of a confession for me,” Elizabeth said. She walked away from the dwarfs and towards her throne where her halberd was. Bureg held his head up high, without breaking eye contact with Hayden, and bit down on his lower lip, causing his matted and pulled out beard to poke out.

“Trohen, I am so sorry. I have failed y
ou, forgive me,” Bureg struggled to say through tears that just started to flow down his face. He was not afraid of dying, but he knew that his death meant that Trohen had to die also.

Hayden’s heart felt like it was getting ripped out of his chest, he could only imagine what Bureg was going through as Elizabeth walked back up to where he stood.

“Any last words?” she asked as she
leant against her weapon, using it like a walking stick.

Bureg opened his mouth
, but before any noise could come out Elizabeth went into action.

She kicked the bottom of her halberd with her heal and flipped the weapon over so that she held the bottom part in her hands and the axe head was high in the air. Bureg never saw her move because he was still looking at Hayden.

She did not hesitate once the axe head was at its highest point; she swung it as hard as she could, grunting as she did so. The axe head seemed to glide right through Bureg without touching him.

Elizabeth followed through with her swing and brought the weapon back to her side so she could rest on it.

“I believe you have said enough,” she said.

Hayden was still looking into the dwarf’s eyes when the bottom part of his beard fell free in one solid piece. Bureg’s eyes never changed as his body fell to the floor and his head rolled off the platform.

_________________________

             
Hayden woke up from his dream covered in sweat. It had been almost two months since the dwarfs had been killed in front of him, but still every night he had the same dream. A dream where he stared into the lifeless eyes of Bureg’s severed head.

             
He sat up and tried to clear his head and catch his breath. He dreaded going to sleep any more, knowing what awaited him in his dreams every night. He had found himself sleeping less and less until it started to affect him. He then decided that he had no choice but to deal with it. Whether he slept for hours or only a few short minutes did not matter. As soon as his eyes closed he saw Bureg.

             
Hayden still remembered the cheers as Elizabeth herself cut down each dwarf, one by one she stabbed at them and left them bleeding to death on the platform. Soon the platform looked the deck of a fishing ship that had started to gut the fish on deck; blood everywhere and a few of the bodies still shaking.

             
Hayden had dropped to his knees and screamed over and over again, Cass and Shane had to drag him away as the crowd pushed to be closer to the killings. None of the dwarfs had screamed, but Hayden had done enough for all of them.

             
Cass and Shane had taken him to Fendrel’s house, hoping that they could get him out of eyesight there until he regained control of himself. Fendrel’s house however was locked.

             
They had beaten on the door for a few minutes while Hayden was still trying to scream, even though his voice had gone out, before they had even made it back to the city. An older lady saw them knocking in the door and came up beside them.

             
“Hello, young riders, if you’re looking for Fendrel he is gone, he packed up and said he wasn’t coming back for a while.” She
had spoken softly because she saw that Hayden was in bad shape.

             
They had no other choice but to go back to the pyramid and do the best they could on their own. Nothing could help Hayden; his mind had all but gone at that point. Cass had gone and gotten him something to drink that had put him to sleep.

             
That was the first night that the dreams had started. He relived the moments when the dwarfs died again and again that night, and for many nights to follow. Over the next two months there was a different feeling around the city.

             
It was one thing to talk about a battle and people dying when it was far away and you did not have to see it, but when the killing was right in front of you it was something completely different. The streets seemed empty because parents did not want their children running around. Everyone seemed to keep their windows closed at all times now, not just because winter had come and snow had started to fall just after the Festival of Games.

             
A cold front had blown in from the south right after the festival, and it brought with it frost in the morning and a constant gray forecast over the city. Farmers were making sure that their fields and barns were ready for the winter that was upon them.

             
Hayden had barely noticed his training starting back up. His physical training had slowed back down and he was almost numb to the sessions. He saw Lirand yelling at him but the words never made it to his ears.

             
He did the workouts, but he did not get tired or even feel like he had done anything at all. Shane would be sweating and out of breath after their workout and Hayden would just stand there as if he was ready to start.

             
Estraken had given them the last week off; he said that he had one last lesson to give them before they were done but he needed time to prepare it. This gave Hayden and Draek more time to fly above the city together.

             
The dragons had finished their training before the Festival of Games so they had nothing to hold them to the ground. One time Cass had seen Hayden standing in a clearing all by himself, he was wrapped in winter grays and just staring at the sky.

             
It had been days since she had heard him speak so she got Shane’s attention and together they were going to go and talk to him. When they looked to make sure he was still there, even though it had only been a few seconds, he was gone and she could barely make out the shape of Draek flying away. The snow continued to fall in sheets and bur all signs of life under its glittering wonder.

             
Hayden sat in his bed and closed his eyes, knowing what would come but unable to stay awake. He awoke the next morning and tried to forget the horrible night he had, even though it was becoming an almost nightly event.

             
Two more months and they would be fully fledged riders; they would end their one year training when winter ended. Hayden felt better this morning than he had in a while, and they would have no physical training today because they were going to spend the whole day with Estraken.

             
Draek had gotten up with the sun to go hunting; he said the prey was easier to find when they were first waking up. Hayden got ready and made his way to the door, and he passed by the pile of dust covered gear that he had gotten during the Festival of Games. It was still where the servants had put it; he had yet to even touch them.

             
He went through the winding halls until he was at Estraken’s door, which was open, and he walked right in. He was used to seeing Shane, Giles and Sebastian, but today Cass was with them. Giles and Sebastian had pulled themselves even further away from the group, now they didn’t even make fun of Hayden or Shane.

             
Cass smiled softly at Hayden as he made his way into the room. Hayden hadn’t spoken to her in some time. He was afraid to speak to any of his friends except for Draek anymore, he was afraid that they would judge him for what he had done. For his part in the dwarfs dying.

             
“Good, you’re here, that’s all of you right?” Estraken counted each of them while pointing at them. “Now today is going to be your last lesson, after that if you want to continue to come here and ask question you can but you are no longer required to.”

             
He coughed into his hand and pulled his golden cloak tighter around himself. “This cold weather gets to me every year.”

             
“So what is our last lesson?” Shane asked. He did not do it rudely, but they had learned that if you don’t keep Estraken on track he was liable to ramble on for hours.

             
“Ah, today we are going to the lowest room in the Metallic Pyramid,” he said proudly.

             
They all just stared at him for a few seconds, no one quite sure how to respond to what he said.

             
“Ok, but why did that take you so long to get ready for it then if all we are doing is going down to the lowest room?” Sebastian asked.