The Broken Scale (The Dragon Riders of Arvain) (60 page)

             
A guard handed Morgane a large silver broad sword. It was bigger than any of the blades that hung on Tynan’s walls. Morgane gave the blade a few practice swings, and when he was sure it was balanced, he hefted the heavy blade onto his shoulder and turned to face his brother.

             
The guard that stood on the platform with Fendrel handed him a dagger to defend himself with. Hayden recognized the dagger when Fendrel pulled it out of the small sheath, it was the one that he had made during his training. It was uneven, unbalanced, and poorly made; a bad match up against the giant broad sword.

             
“Are both of you ready?” Elizabeth asked. Morgane shouted a loud war cry to signal he was ready, but Fendrel did nothing. Elizabeth did not even look at him to see if he would respond, so it did not matter. “Fendrel, I hope you do better than you did that fateful day, or this will be over quickly. Begin!” she shouted.

             
Morgane began swinging his silver blade in circles, switching it from one hand to another but never allowing it to slow down. He growled as he moved towards his brother and prepared to kill him.

             
Fendrel turned his head and looked into the crowd. He instantly found Hayden and gave the young man a small smile. He nodded at Hayden and turned his attention back to his brother just as Morgane was lunging at him.

             
Hayden watched in horror as Morgane stabbed his blade at Fendrel’s chest. Morgane’s entire body was tensed up as he put all his force behind the blow, intending to run his brother through and end the duel in one blow.

             
At the last second Fendrel spun to his left and used his dagger to deflect Morgane’s thrust and send him stumbling past. Fendrel stepped back and lowered himself into the perfect dagger fighting stance.

             
Morgane looked at his brother and looked at Elizabeth. He had been expecting his brother to put up a small fight. He was not expecting a serious challenge from the old man, and that’s exactly what he was faced with: a chance that he might lose.

             
Before Morgane could start another attack, Fendrel took advantage of his momentary break and started his own attack. His reach was much shorter than Morgane’s, so he had to get in close. He covered the distance between them in a few short steps and started slashing and stabbing with his blade.

                            He kept the dagger in his right hand but he switched his grip on it just as fast as he slashed at him. Morgane was forced to defend himself from the continuous barrage of dagger attacks. He struggled at first because he was used to blocking full length blades, but with a dagger up close he had to time his blocks perfectly. He couldn’t use the length and weight of his blade to his advantage at such a short distance, so he pushed Fendrel back and slashed wildly at the space between them so that Fendrel couldn’t slide in again. 

                            Now that they were further apart, Morgane could swing his blade and bring it down with devastating force. Fendrel did the best he could to avoid the blade instead of trying to block, but the dagger couldn’t take too many strikes from the bigger sword without breaking.

             
“You have some skill brother, but do you think you are worthy to add your mark to my body.” Morgane stepped back to catch his breath while he talked. Both fighters were starting to sweat and Fendrel was already breathing heavily. Morgane pointed at the scars that covered his upper body as he spoke.

             
“The best fighters in all of Arvain, human and nonhuman, have made these marks before they each died by my blade. This blade in fact, and you think that you can scar me or even beat me? You might be good, but you are not that good.”

             
Morgane shook his shoulders and stretched his neck as Fendrel stood in his stance, unmoving. Morgane took a deep breath and ran back at his brother. Fendrel dropped lower into his stance and sprinted to meet his brother.

             
The sounds of their blades colliding rang off the walls of the hall. No one spoke as the brothers fought each other and grunted as they put all their strength into their blades. There was no clear winner as they continued fighting, and every time Morgane got the upper hand Fendrel did something to level out the field.

             
They broke apart again, but this time Fendrel was panting and rested his arms and his knees. Morgane paced back and forth like a dog that was being denied a meal. “You can’t beat me! You are old and weak. You were not worthy to be a dragon rider. I was and I still am!” Morgane was angry; he started screaming at Fendrel as he rushed at him. Fendrel was still calm and ducked underneath his blade and slashed at Morgane’s exposed chest.

              Morgane stumbled and fell down, dropping his blade and let it clatter against the platform. He grabbed his side and chest where his skin had been cut open and pulled his hands away to see them covered in blood. The wound wasn’t deep or life threatening, but it did hurt, and blood was flowing freely down his side. He slowly stood back up and examined the wound to make sure it wasn’t going to affect his swing.

                            The cut started near the center of his chest and went down at an angle until it ended above his left hip. The wound was going to scar and it was going to be the biggest scar on him. Fendrel stood up straight and faced his brother.

             
“You are unworthy to be a dragon rider. You were willing to kill your own brother because of your greed. Even now you can’t beat me even though you have all the advantages.” Fendrel’s voice cut through the room like a blade all on its own.

             
It hit everyone’s heart, and soon the riders were looking at each other as they realized the truth in his words.

             
“You are wrong Fendrel, I am worthy of being a dragon rider and I can beat you.” Morgane picked up his blade, smearing his own blood across the swords hilt. They stood apart from each other and glared into each other’s eyes.

             
Fendrel lowered his head and closed his eyes; he was tired and worn out from the fight. Morgane ran at him and the fight started all over again. After a few quick blows, Fendrel pulled away and tried to retreat to catch his breath, but Morgane was ready to finish the fight.

             
As Fendrel moved to the far side of the platform with his back to Morgane, a thought crossed Morgane’s mind. If he tried to run at him, Fendrel would hear him and counter him just like he had done every time before. He needed a new strategy and he had just thought of it.

             
Morgane held his blade over his head and started to run at Fendrel. Fendrel started to turn to block his brother’s attacks, just as Morgane knew he would do. Morgane was still well out of reach from Fendrel and instead of continuing running at him he stopped and threw his blade with all his might.

             
Fendrel had just turned completely around when the silver sword plunged into the center of his chest and dug in all the way to the hilt. He felt the force of the blow, but was still in shock as he stared down at the protruding hilt so he didn’t feel the pain.

             
His body gave out and he fell to the floor with the blade sticking out of his back, propping him up so he couldn’t lay flat. Morgane walked over to his dying brother and bent down so that they were only inches apart.

             
“And brother, I am still willing to kill you.” Morgane stood up and pulled his blade from his chest, allowing Fendrel to lay flat on the floor as he died.

             
Hayden had not registered what had happened when Morgane pulled his blade out of Fendrel. The sound of the blade leaving flesh and metallic scent of blood filled his senses. He watched as Fendrel’s body stopped moving, as his friend died by his own brother’s bloodied hands.

             
Elizabeth cheered and soon others followed her example. Morgane held his bloody blade above his head and yelled until his face turned red and his veins bulged out of his neck.

             
Cass covered her eyes and buried her face into Hayden’s shoulder. Shane lowered his head and closed his eyes tightly. Hayden just looked on as the other riders cheered for his friend’s death.

             
They carried Fendrel’s body off the platform and through the door that he had, just moments before, walked through. The guards put his body down and walked back into the hall, but they left the door open.

             
Hayden gently pushed Cass off of his shoulder and made his way through the crowd. People got mad as he pushed his way through, but no one tried to stop him as he made his way through the door.

             
Fendrel’s body had been put to the side of the corridor so that no one would trip over him. Hayden knelt down and grabbed his still warm hand. He quietly said his farewells and thanked his friend for everything that he had done for him.

             
When he finished, he wiped the tears from his face and stood up to leave. He hesitated, and before he walked away, he knelt back down and took the dagger that had once been a gift off of Fendrel’s chest and held it carefully in his hands.

             
He did not walk back into the Hall of Stories, but instead went down the corridor and made his way back around to his room where Draek awaited him. When he opened the door, Draek was already knelt down and ready for Hayden to jump into his saddle.

             
Hayden moved quickly and silently over to his dragon and placed the dagger he had taken in one of the saddle bags. As he climbed into his saddle he noticed a pool of water underneath Draek’s head.

             
He was about to ask what it was from when Draek turned to look at him and he realized that Draek had been crying. He had no idea that dragons could cry, but it was something he never wanted to see again.

             
I am sorry, Draek,
he told his closest friend. Draek had witnessed everything that had happened through Hayden’s eyes, Draek had even used Hayden to say his final goodbye to Fendrel. Draek did not answer, but there was no need. There was nothing that could have been said to ease the pain of losing Fendrel. Hayden tightened his straps and patted Draek on the neck, signaling to him that he was ready to go.

              When they made it out of their room, there were two dragons waiting for them. Hayden thought that their plan had been discovered already and that they were going to have to fight their way out. That was, until the dragons stepped closer and Hayden saw Shane and Cass sitting on their dragons with their own saddles loaded down just as Hayden’s was.

              “What are you two doing?” he asked even though he knew the answer.

             
“We are coming with you,” Cass said. Shane nodded at Cass’s words.

             
Hayden knew that there was no point in arguing with them. Truth be told, he wanted them to come with him. Going on this journey alone scared him and he could use his friends.

             
“Thank you, all of you.” Hayden wasn’t just talking to Cass and Shane, but to all three dragons that were willing to follow their riders.

             
With nothing else to be said,
the three riders and their dragons took to the night sky and started out on their long journey.