The Clash of Land and Sea.

Chapter Eleven, part B

Kirin spoke as loudly and quickly as she could because as soon as she finished her sentence an eruption yells and shouts deafened Hayden and Kirin.

Kirin had to have her dragon roar just to quiet the now angry crowd enough for her to hear herself talk.

"Enough!! This is a sacrifice we have to make!" She yelled.

"You cannot expect us to fight alongside the pirate scum!" Shouted and elf that could never be identified.

"They only fight for themselves; they will turn on us the first chance they get!" Another yelled, eves all around shouting their agreement.

"You will either fight beside them or die alone!" Kirin's statement silenced all noise in the crowd. Even Hayden was shocked by what she said.

"The truth is the Metallic Army is more than we can hope to handle on our own. If what Cassidy tells us is true they could possibly out number us four to one. That's not even including their dragons." If Kirin had not wanted to scare her people she had just failed horribly. Hayden saw the pure fear written across her people's faces.

"We need help and they are the closest ones too us. The Metallic Army will send just enough forces to crush us, they have been ruling over us long enough that they know just how many dragons and warriors we have. They will expect us to fight them with all our strength and then they will crush us and break us back into submission. They will not be expecting us to get help, let alone from the Sea Serpents. If they join with us we could out number them, we could surprise them and we could win."

Kirin looked over her people and Hayden did not see the strong queen that she had been playing as since her father had died. Hayden saw a young girl who was scarred and afraid and doing the only thing she knew to save her people. "We will win." She added.

Reluctantly the crowd began to cheer, a small trickle of people clapped and finally it began to catch on. Kirin leaned close to Hayden and whispered in his ear.

"It would help if you did not look like I was sentencing you to your death." Kirin raised her hands triumphantly and Hayden got the hint. He began to wave and pump his fists, doing his best to encourage the crowd and convince the elf nation that this was a good idea.

Kirin let the cheering go on for a few more minutes but then she settled the crowd back down so they could hear her speak.

"Enough of this talk of war. Let us move on to the reason that I have called everyone out here." Kirin smiled and Hayden saw the queen's demeanor reappear. "We have come here to cheer on this year's group of youngsters as they bravely attempt to get a dragon."

For the first time since Kirin had announced her and Hayden's plan, Hayden heard the crowd truly erupt in applause. Kirin added her own shouts to the wave of approval and she signaled to a group of armored elves that stood near the edge of tree line.

The elves began marching through the crowd, which reluctantly parted ways to allow them through, and behind them marched twenty young elves.

Hayden watched as the armored elves walked up to the make shift platform where Kirin stood. They stopped just short of the stairs and allowed the elves that would be competing to walk up and shake hands with Kirin and Hayden.

Hayden had seen a few of the young elves around Feren but only one of them stood out in his memory. Raena was the last of the elves to walk up and be congratulated by Kirin and Hayden. Hayden smiled as he watched his friend descend the stairs and find her place at the end of the line.

As Hayden looked down at the contestants that were about to embark on a life changing hunt for dragon eggs, he could not help but be reminded of his own trials. The nervousness, fear and excitement that he felt as he stood awaiting the go ahead to start the first event came rushing back, making Hayden feel like he was trying to get an egg all over again.