I have the Fire by Riz one (unwicked), and it's great. It's my first sword, well balanced, and the handle isn't flipped (personally, I would never use one that was, it's like cheating to me). I haven't used the Kult of Athena one, but I asked around for referrals before I got mine, and the word of mouth info I was given was that it's not as high quality, and doesn't balance nearly as well. If you do a search in this tribe (for Dragon Scimitar), you can read the thread I started about a year and a half ago basically asking the same question. A lot of the replies I got there helped convince me to go with Fire by Riz.

I too got the Riz sword and love it! One of the deciding factors for me was also that the sword balanced guard up (guard down, imo, doesn't look right). When it arrived, I took it out of the box and plopped it on my head and walked around my office (I'd never balanced a sword on my head before). It also has a nice feel as an active sword (as in sword fighting). Unlike the KoA sword, I don't see the hilt coming off easy (since their sword balances guard down). For the extra money, I am glad I got the Riz sword.

There are other places that sell inexpensive dragon swords, but from all their sites, they also seem to balance guard down. I've also read that the Saroyan sword isn't as nice as it used to be.

Get the Riz and then come back and tell us how happy you are with it!