The Broken Scale. Book 1 of The Dragon Riders of Arvain

Chapter Twenty Four, part A

Hayden watched in horror as they marched the dwarfs up onto the platform. At first no one in audience made a sound, everyone was shocked into silence at the sight of the dwarfs. Then the sound came like rain that you were watching from a distance as it moved, and eventually washed over you. The sound of cheers, insults and demands that they be killed on the spot where the shouts that reached Hayden's ears.

The dwarfs barely resembled the ones he had met. All their worn clothes were now ripped rags that covered nothing. Their nakedness was concealed by dried up blood and dirt that had clumped together.

They all wore wounds that had not even begun to heal; some Hayden could tell were clearly infected. All of their hands were bloody and raw, liked they had been worked down to the bone.

"NO!" Hayden screamed so loud that his throat instantly became raw. His voice was lost in the crowd and not even the people standing next to him could hear him.

Elizabeth allowed the people to rile themselves up to the point that they wanted to climb onto her platform and take matters into their own hands. She raised her hands to quiet them and when that did not work her golden dragon roared so loud it shook the ground beneath their feet.

"These are the dwarfs that have destroyed most of the Orchard of Souls. They stand before us now ready to face their judgment." She turned to face the dwarfs.

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 they 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 peace together." Elizabeth might have been looking at Cass but she was speaking to everyone.

"But wasn't one of them supposed to be a rider? 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." She 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 spoke, his deep voice sounded muffled by the swelling in his face and the loss of his teeth. 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, these are 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 they mistake for pleasure." Hayden had to tell himself to breath and, by the mouths that hung open all around him, he knew that others had to also.