The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain) (40 page)

             
Shaylin was the smallest out of the three, but she was also the most agile. She could go one way and bend around so that she did not lose her speed, and go back the way she came. She also was the smartest one and could pick out weakness to use to her advantage in these games.

             
Shaylin dove after Rilora, who was streaking through the air at full speed, leaving Shaylin with a lot of ground to cover. Draek was coming out of his dive and starting to climb again and was trying to put distance between them.

When Shaylin caught up to Rilora she started nipping lightly at the end of her tail; because
she knew it would infuriate her.

             
Rilora started to turn her head around and let out a warning growl, Shaylin’s ploy was starting to work. Shane was trying to comfort her and keep her focused so that she could continue to out run Shaylin, but he knew he was fighting a losing battle. Rilora quickly lost her last burst of speed that she had put on to outrun the smaller gold. With her slowing down, Shaylin easily raked her front knuckles on the top of Rilora’s outstretched wings as she passed over her.

             
They were now both it and if it had been a real fight Rilora would have just gotten her wings ripped open. Take out a dragon’s wings in mid air and chances are you just took out the dragon.

             
Shaylin did one of her quick turnaround maneuvers and began to chase Draek and Hayden as they continued to put distance between them. Rilora was angry and it took Shane a few seconds to convince her to continue on with the game. She reluctantly gave in to his pleading and tore off after Shaylin.

             
Draek was going at a great speed, but he wasn’t going as fast as he could; if he did they would never catch him, plus he would get far away and have to fly back the long distance. He also had a few new ideas he wanted to try.

             
Hayden and Draek worked well as a team during these games, they kept their link open to each other and they both knew their jobs well. During Shaylin and Rilora’s flight Hayden had been turned around in his saddle watching it and relaying details to Draek so that Draek would not have to turn his head around to watch.

             
She got her and is now heading straight for us,
Hayden told Draek as soon as Shaylin bolted off after them. Draek continued to have confidence in his new plan, which he wouldn’t tell Hayden about, but Hayden noticed a slight increase in their speed as Draek pushed forward a little harder.

             
Rilora has caught up to Shaylin and they are now tailing each other and getting closer to us. They are coming from your left side.
Hayden continued to relay information as they flew.

             
Tell me when they break apart and Rilora comes after me by herself,
Draek replied. Rilora would get close and then break off by herself to win the game; just like she had done almost every game before.

             
They got closer and closer, and Hayden could see Cass shouting at Shaylin to go faster and Shane shouting at Rilora to slow down. Rilora started to pull away, but then Shane would talk her into allowing Shaylin to catch up.

             
They got closer and closer, but still they stayed together. Hayden was about to tell Draek that he had better do something because they were on him when Shane finally lost control and Rilora took off at full speed and once again left Shaylin behind.

             
She just broke off!!! Hurry Draek she is on us.
Hayden shouted with his mind, trying to make sure that Draek understood the urgency he was trying to get across. It turned out that Draek did not need it; as soon as Hayden told him that she had broken off he pushed his wings harder and changed his direction from straight to straight up.

             
Rilora was going too fast so she shot right under him and had to circle back, trying to match his steep accent but failing to. Shaylin had been further back so she was able to turn after Draek and continue to tail after him.

             
Draek pumped his wings with more force than Hayden had ever seen him do. Flying straight up in the air was the hardest part of flying for dragons, but Draek was eating up the climb. Shaylin was falling behind and Rilora was still trying her best to catch up to the two racing dragons when Draek’s wing beats started to slow down. Hayden was going to ask if he was ok when he started having trouble breathing, the air was too thin and cold for him to fill his lungs.

             
His injured face throbbed as they had flown steadily higher. Each wind beat sending a wave of pressure through his sore head. As Draek had reached far above the clouds Hayden struggled to keep his eyes open as it got harder to stay awake.

             
They had never flown this high before and Hayden mentally told Draek what was happening. Draek repeated the same dive that he had done at the beginning of their game. He threw himself into a backwards flip and ended the arch into a steep dive. As soon as Hayden was able to breathe again he filled his aching lungs and yelled at Draek.

             
“Never go that high again!” Most of his yelling was lost in the wind, but he knew that Draek had heard him. Draek roared his answer back as they plummeted down, his wings barely off his body so that they were committed completely to the dive.

             
Hayden hung on for dear life, not trusting the restraining straps on his saddle that were supposed to hold him in place. They were heading straight for Shaylin and Rilora, but moving much faster than either of them.

             
Right before Draek and Shaylin would have collided, Shaylin turned hard to get clear out of their path; Draek lightly pulled in his left wing and did four full rotations before righting himself back. The rotations had made sure he went the opposite way of Shaylin.

             
Rilora would not be thrown off so easily, Shane shouted with all his might for her to get clear but she wouldn’t listen. She had been made to look like a fool once and she wouldn’t look like a coward also. She pushed as hard as she could as she climbed straight up at the falling dragon.

             
Hayden saw Shane pound on Rilora’s back and he knew that she was going to try to intercept them in mid air. She was a big dragon, but Draek was bigger, and the impact would hurt all of them.

             
Draek she’s not going to stop.

             
What?
Draek was trying hard to control their fall he had not noticed Shane.

             
She’s not going to stop; SHE’S NOT GOING TO STOP. PULL UP!!
The last words Hayden yelled in his mind and out loud. Draek realized what Hayden meant and snapped his wings open immediately. The force of his wings opening and filling up with air so quickly caused Hayden’s ears to pop; the momentum of their fall and their immediate stop made Hayden smack head first into the back of Draek’s neck.

             
His face was sore from his earlier fight with Shane and now all the pain was back plus a whole new wave of pain he had not known before. His face was bleeding all over again and Draek’s scales had made tiny cuts on his forehead and cheeks.

             
Rilora was close when Draek had suddenly stopped, close enough that Shane had covered his eyes and was trying to guard his head. Rilora tried to take advantage of his stop and lunge in to make the tag.

             
Hayden felt the pain in Draek’s wings from being opened so fiercely and the strain they were taking on his muscles through their mental bond. Likewise Draek felt Hayden’s pain and anger and it added to his own that was bubbling up like an inferno inside of him.

             
Draek realized that she was still trying to win the game; that it was still all about winning even if it meant all of their safety. He raised his wings for a normal pump but brought them down as hard as he could; pushing such a force of air down that Hayden almost smacked his head again as they quickly jumped a few feet in the air.

             
The wind that Draek had caused hit Rilora like a tidal wave and pushed her on her back in mid air. She extended her wings out fully to try to right herself and just for a few seconds the two dragons were suspended in mid air together.

             
Both dragons were parallel to each other and facing one another. Their wings spread out and claws extended to meet the others. Rilora opened her jaw to roar defiance but Draek beat her to it. His opened up and he arched his head back but instead of a defining noise a stream of fire shot out and raced to meet Rilora’s head.

Chapter 20

Rilora saw the inferno of yellow flames blasted at her and quickly folded her wings against her body, allowing herself to free fall out of harm’s way. She turned back over so that her back was to the sky once again. The ground was close enough for her to see details but not close enough for her to land right away. Shane was still yelling out loud because she had stopped listening to his mental thoughts.

             
She decided to try to out run the large silver, she knew he was mad but she hoped that with him having to open up his wings with such force, which she imagined had to hurt, that he would be unable to catch her.

             
She started to pump her wings and she quickly picked up speed; she was sure that she was going to escape the silver’s wrath when Shaylin swooped right on top of her and started to force her back to the clearing they had all taken off from.

             
Shaylin was close enough that Rilora could not fully raise her wings without hitting her so her superior speed was now useless. They circled the clearing in a slow decent, Rilora trying to set the pace to make herself feel better and as if she wasn’t being forced down.

             
Once her claws touched the ground Shane quickly jumped off her back and stood next to her head. He started yelling at her, but she was not listening, she looked into the sky for Draek. Her rider was mad and she could make that better, she wasn’t worried about that. It was the silver’s anger that she feared.

             
Draek was enraged; the copper had endangered all their lives. If something had happened to her rider or his own then that would have been the end. Most dragons died because their riders had died, not from old age. He tried to control his dive as much as he could but his wing joints were sore and he had limited use.

             
He wanted to chase after Rilora but he knew that he was unable to in his condition but he was relieved when Shaylin had soared down to stop her from fleeing. They landed first in the clearing and Draek made his way to them, he flew carefully and it was resulting in him dropping faster than he had intended to.

             
There was no graceful landing like before, no soft touch down with his hind legs first and then with one last back stroke he would settle down his front legs. About ten feet above the ground his right wind finally gave out and he fell the remaining distance, jarring both himself and Hayden.

             
Hayden had just tried to hold on after Draek had snapped open his wings, which proved to be almost too much for him to do. His face was still bleeding and he could feel the places were blood had already dried up and was crusting over.

             
He tried his best to get off carefully, which meant really slowly. Draek got up and tried to bring his wing back in; it took a few tries and he groaned a good bit but it finally went back in. Once he knew he was ok he turned his attention to Hayden.

             
Hayden, are you ok, you are bleeding.
He moved his head close to Hayden, turning so that his large silver eye was centered on Hayden’s face.

             
I am fine; it’s you I am worried about.
Hayden could feel the heat coming off Draek’s breath, it was much hotter than normal which was probably because he had breathed fire just moments before.
You breathed fire!

             
Hayden heard the rumbling that meant that Draek was laughing. It made him smile which in turn hurt his nose.

             
What’s so funny?

             
We almost die, we are both hurt and you are still bleeding, and yet you are excited because I can breathe fire.
Draek laughed even harder which Hayden felt in the ground as the silver dragon shook. Once Draek knew that Hayden was ok he turned and faced a nervous Rilora.

             
Well what should we do about her?
Draek asked. He was still angry, and Hayden was too, but he was unsure about what they should do.