The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain) (8 page)

             
He turned over and lay on his back with his hands behind his head. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before turning back over on his side.

             
“I miss the stars already,” he said to himself.

He listened to the muffled sound of the people on the street and waited for sleep to come; it was some time before that happened. He closed his eyes for what seemed like only moments and heard Fendrel knocking on the metal door.

              “Alright, boy, it’s time to get up; people are already making their way towards the Metallic Pyramid.” Fendrel seemed wide awake by the way he was talking, but Hayden was having a hard time focusing his eyes and his head was feeling fuzzy. He sat up and decided that was not a good idea and he lay back down.

             
“Boy, the trials are starting if you want an egg, get up NOW!” With the last word Fendrel must have kicked the door for how loud the knock sounded. With mention of the trials and the dragon egg that was to be his, Hayden woke up and became completely alert. He walked out of his room after he got dressed and with only a glance at Fendrel the two made their way out the door and headed off with the crowds to the Metallic Pyramid.

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              Nether of them spoke as they walked, they listened to everyone else talk about who they wanted to get an egg and some of the younger people talk about how they couldn’t wait till they were eighteen and they could try for an egg. Hayden could pick out of the crowd the people who were trying for an egg this year because they were not cheering and goofing off with the others. Most did not talk or show any kind of acknowledgement to the surrounding people. They were each lost in their own world and preparing in their own ways for what lay before them.

             
Hayden noticed that there was one person in particular that was making an awful lot of racket about how he was going to be getting an egg. Hayden heard bits and pieces about how his father was a rider of a silver dragon and it was only right for him to ride a silver or a gold. He heard him talk about if he got a copper he would kill it even if it meant death for him because he would not be caught alive on a copper. Hayden hurried through the crowd because he could not take listening to the boy talk about dragons like they were just a piece of clothing to be worn till they were of no more use to the owner.

             
As Hayden and Fendrel crossed over the bridge that led them to the military district, Hayden noticed a girl sitting on the railing of the bridge. He only saw her for a second but he could tell two things immediately after he laid eyes on her; one she was beautiful, and was causing many men to look at her as they passed, some whose wives elbowed them once they noticed, and two she was staring right at him.

Hayden looked at her and turned to make sure there was no one behind him
, but when he turned around again to get another look at her she was gone.

             
Hayden looked back forward, and for the remainder of the walk kept his eyes on the Metallic Pyramid. Although he could see it from the doorstep of Fendrel’s house, for it was a constant over shadowing building in a city of smaller houses, it seemed to be growing towards the sky. Hayden took a deep breath and began to head to the guard who was yelling for all eighteen year olds who would like to try to follow him.

             
“Good luck,” Fendrel said behind him.

             
As Hayden turned to respond he realized that Fendrel was no longer behind him and in fact no were to be seen.

             
“What is it with people disappearing today?” Hayden asked himself.

             
As he neared the guard who was speaking he noticed another guard who was pulling up everyone’s right sleeve and inspecting their arm. He did the same thing to Hayden, but before Hayden could ask what he was looking for the guard moved on to the next person behind him. Hayden felt like cattle as they herded all the eighteen year olds into the base of the Metallic Pyramid.

Right before they walked underneath the colossal building Hayden looked up and saw just how high it was
, and just for a second his stomach did a quick flip and he missed a step. Before he could even put out his hands to try to catch himself a hand caught him and helped him up. He looked to thank the owner of the hand and it was the girl he had seen on the bridge. He was trying to speak, but words were having a hard time making it from his brain to his mouth. She leaned in and put her lips almost against Hayden’s ear and whispered.

             
“Be careful, next time I will let you fall.” With that she smiled at him to show she was joking with him and turned to walk with the group as they continued to head deeper into the pyramid. Hayden tried to keep up with her, but people kept getting in the way and slowing him down. She turned and, seeing his attempt to catch up to her, let out a soft laugh and continued on her way.

             
Hayden had kept looking into her dark brown eyes for so long that he had forgotten to even look at the rest of her, but he was able to look at her black hair as it bounced off around a corner. As he went around the corner he found that everyone was standing in a crescent moon around the largest dragon he had ever seen.

It was a silver that stood almost twenty feet tall from shoulder to floor
, and its body was covered in rippling muscle. Its rider stood in front of it wearing armor that seemed to be made out of smaller silver scales. The rider was wearing a helmet that shadowed his face from everyone. As soon as the last person was standing around the rider and his dragon the rider spoke.

             
“Welcome, everyone, to this year’s trials. Only four of you will make it through to be given the honor and privilege to stand within our ranks and get the greatest treasure in Arvain, a dragon egg.” With the mention of the egg his silver dragon let out a puff of smoke from his nostrils. “Most of you will not be found worthy and some may even die, or worse, but that is a chance you must be willing to make. Risk life and limb for a chance at an egg. If you are not willing to make that sacrifice then please leave now.” Some did as he had suggested and left. “You that remain have passed the first and only easy test, choosing this for yourselves not because someone has made you come here; now ready yourselves for your trials start now.”

Chapter 5

The rider led the way down a dark twisting hallway
, barely large enough that his dragon could follow with lowering its head. As they walked through the continually descending walkway a man in copper armor walked out of a doorway carved into the side of the hallway and got alongside the rider who was leading them.

             
“We started out with one hundred and forty three applicants, twelve left during the first trial, sir.” The copper rider did not try to whisper; he wanted the remaining people to hear their conversation.

             
“We seem to start out with less and less potential riders and it seems every year we have more and more leave during the first trial.” He turned to his right, while still walking, so he could see his dragon. “You can go ahead and eat, Siron, just make sure you meet us in time for the end of the second trial.” The dragon nodded its giant head like it understood every word the rider had said; it then further proved Hayden’s thought by turning and leaving the group immediately. They continued on for a few more minutes and finally came to a halt in front of the largest doors Hayden had ever seen.

             
The doors themselves stood close to forty feet tall, but they sank into the floor so there where steps leading down to the base of the door. The rider stood to the left of the door on an elevated platform so he could see over the crowd and everyone could see him. He waited till everyone was in the chamber before he spoke.

             
“What lies before you is the door to the second trial. This is where we will test the very fabric of your being and see if, deep down, you have the stuff that makes a rider. Here is where most of you will fail and where we will thin out the herd. Your task is a simple one; make it through the labyrinth and climb atop our home to see as we see. Take a few seconds to prepare yourselves, and when the doors open you may begin.”

             
Hayden did not understand exactly what was being asked of him, but he knew what a labyrinth was and he knew it wasn’t going to be fun. He made his way clear of the group and sat with his back against the wall, trying to control his breathing and his heart rate. His nerves were beginning to give him problems even despite him trying his best to remain calm. He could feel his heart beginning to speed up and his stomach was feeling tight and in knots. He tried looking around at the chamber he was in to take his mind off of what he was about to do. 

             
They had actually gone so deep that the walls where made of stone instead of metal; Hayden was shocked that he had not noticed the transition earlier. Their where fire pits setting in large metal bowls scattered around the room. Hayden watched as the rider moved from fire to fire and threw a stick out from behind his back into each fire. As soon as the stick hit the ever hungry flames the smoke began to get thicker. At first Hayden could see the walls and watched the shadows that the fires were casting, but it wasn’t long until Hayden could barely see the giant door. He began to stare at the door because it was the only thing he could still see. He could still make out the giant metal rivets that were sticking out of the door. He noticed that at the top of the door and all along the sides it seemed like the door was bleeding as some kind of black liquid began to poor over the hinges and completely covered the door. 

             
Hayden could barely make out the rider as he stood next to the fire pit closest to the large door; he could tell it was the rider just because his armor made him shine even in the smoke filled chamber. He watched as the rider stuck a torch into the fire, and once it was alight he moved to the door so everyone could see him.

The rider
said nothing; instead he just took his time looking from one cluster of people to the next. He then held up his torch as high over his head as he could.

             
“Begin!” He shouted with a voice that echoed throughout the chamber, and before his voice stopped ringing in Hayden’s ears he spun around and tossed his glowing torch at the door, which was now completely black from the liquid that was covering it. It erupted in flames the moment the torch touched it; sending a flash of light so bright Hayden had to cover his eyes and look away. Hayden jumped to his feet and took a few steps back because the heat was so intense; Hayden thought he might just catch fire from being to close.

             
Hayden kept his eyes shielded away from the worst of the inferno, but he dared a look at the door and realized that although it was on fire it had opened in the center and there was a gap almost five feet wide, wide enough for him to go through. Hayden was arguing with himself for only a second when he noticed the same girl that he had kept running into ran right through the fire doors and into the darkness that lay behind without a look back.

Hayden ran forward
, and fear grew in his heart because the closer he came to the fire the more he felt like a roasted pig on the fire. Right before he thought he could take no more he noticed the temperature drop, and although he was now in the dark he was still seeing white spots. He was the second one to make it through the fire and he slowed down his headlong run to try and take in his surroundings. Hayden realized he had no idea where he was, and going back was not an option.

             
Hayden waited for his eyes to adjust and saw that he was looking down a long hallway with ten openings on either side. The smoke was already pouring into the hallway and clogging up Hayden’s lungs and eyes. He started moving forward at a slow jog when he noticed that others were starting to make it through the doors; the sight of them caused Hayden to start running and he turned down the third right on the hallway.

             
As he continued running he started turning down more and more open hallways until finally he stopped and realized that he could no longer hear the others, or anything for that matter. He looked up and saw that the walls that were around him did not go all the way up to the ceiling but stopped at almost fifteen feet high. After that there seemed to be nothing but darkness and Hayden could not see the ceiling. He began hearing strange noises and the smoke started billowing over the walls around him. He started running again, this time as fast as he could.

He did not care which way he was going he just wanted out. He kept the pace up until he was starting to breathe heavily and his legs felt like they were on fire. He turned down another hallway and saw that he had gone down a dead end; he had gone down a few the past couple of times he had made turns. He sat down in the corner with his back to the walls and tried to catch his breath. He was alone and in the dark, surrounded by smoke and strange noises; he could feel that fear had a hold on his heart and he made no move to change that. He was tired and ready to get out of there.