Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
This is as serious as it gets.
“I’ll trust your judgment.” I study the distance to her foreleg and let the swelling anticipation I’ve felt since deciding to volunteer for the Riders Quadrant take over in the best possible way, giving in to the full thrill of the moment.
“Before or after I expire from waiting for you?”
I can’t help the laugh that bursts through my lips.
“Oh, you’re dramatic, too. Got it. Let’s do this.” I don’t waste another second, pushing off the ground and breaking into a dead run toward her foreleg. My boots eat up the distance quickly, and I use the curve of the top of her claw just like the ramp in the Gauntlet.
Unlike the Gauntlet, halfway up her leg, I realize I don’t have a prayer of reaching the top. Her leg is huge.
It feels like time slows as my momentum reaches its zenith, and somehow, I know that if I fail this attempt, Feirge won’t give me a second. Instead of watching Violet flail from the top of the Gauntlet, I’m suddenly the one who’s about to struggle.
Violet. I need to take a page out of her book.
My weight begins to shift, and instead of thrusting a dagger into the wooden ramp like Violet did, I jab my hand into the small opening between Feirge’s scales and use the leverage to haul myself up. It’s harder than I expected, and I love every second.
I don’t bother to pause to soak in the joy when I reach her shoulder. I head straight for the smooth dip of scales that makes up her seat and take my place. My hands grip the substantial ridges of her pommel, and I lock the toes of my boots into the gaps between her scales. There’s a clicking sensation behind my ribs, like the final piece of a puzzle finding its home, and I relish the feeling. My grin threatens to split my face clean open.
Who wouldn’t want to ride a dragon? That’s what I said to Violet before we stepped onto the parapet, and I still mean every word of it. This is the pinnacle of my life. Now I just have to hold on.
“Don’t worry. The flight is the easy part.” She jumps skyward, launching with surprising ease for such a small space and heaving us upward with heavy beats of her wings.
By the first vertical dive, I fully comprehend the depth of her sarcasm while I search for my stomach.
I only vomit once before we land on the flight field.
So worth it.
633 AU
Sliseag—Red Swordtail
(Male) Descended from the Berradhdyr Line
Estimated Age: 73
Recorded Riders: 2
—The Compendium of Dragonkind,
last updated by Colonel Valin Kaori
Sawyer
I would rather die in this forest than repeat another year at Basgiath. Macabre but true. Even the love I carry for my parents isn’t enough to keep me chained to this place for another godsforsaken year if I leave this forest unbonded again.
By the end of this day, I’ll be a rider or a corpse. Period.
I just hope the people I’ve come to care about have better luck than I now expect from this place. Zihnal definitely shows his favoritism around here, and though he’s never taken a shine to me, I pray he looks out for Rhi, Violet, Ridoc, and Trina. Kind of hope Tynan meets the pointy tip of a swordtail, though. Maybe that makes me a dick, but the last thing our kingdom needs is another bully with the ability to wield.
Statistically speaking, we aren’t all coming home today, and that knowledge has me torn up like a battle-mangled sword. One of my edges is sharpened by the fury that I’m setting myself up for the humiliation of rejection again, but the other is chipped and jagged with the fear that I can’t save my squadmates from the same fate. The tension of holding both emotions simultaneously is unbearable.
My ribs clamp down on my lungs as I watch my squadmates melt into the forest ahead of me, all carrying their own share of baggage. Well, except Rhi. That woman practically skips off to her fate with a shit-eating grin. I have zero doubt she’ll be the first of us to bond. Confidence like hers is magnetic to everyone around her, but especially to dragons.
I lose sight of Ridoc, sharing one last look and a nod as we head off in separate directions among the trees. The usual golden undertones to his complexion are still leaning a little green, which I hate for him, but at least he’s taking this seriously. The fact that he survived Presentation while running his mouth like usual is all that keeps me positive when it comes to his odds. Too fucking bad, because I really like him. In fact, he might be my favorite in our year. His ability to joke about everything balances out my inability to find damn near anything amusing. I’ve tried hard not to like anyone. It hurts too much when they die…or move on without me.