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)
“Feel better?” She tilts her head, and a corner of her mouth ticks upward.
I blink and do a quick self-assessment. “Oddly, yes. A little.”
“Good.” She smacks my shoulder. “Look, I wasn’t asking what happened to you last year. You’ve been pretty clear since Parapet about that subject being off-limits. I was simply suggesting that we try the group thing, if you didn’t do it last year, considering you said you were taking opposite actions.”
“Right.” I bow my head and breathe in deeply before lifting my gaze to hers. “I’m sorry. That makes perfect sense.”
She gestures toward the center of the forest. “Shall we?”
I blink. “You still want to team up even though I just lost my temper and displayed how undesirable I am to the fire-breathing dragons in there?”
“Yep.” She doesn’t flinch. “Not like you didn’t find me hiding in a bush.”
“Excellent point.” Neither of us is at our best today. “Let’s do it.”
We turn and walk side by side into the depths of the forest, keeping quiet for the most part. We pause when we hear branches snap, then turn as voices scream in the distance.
“Is this how it was last year?” Her voice shakes as we pass by the severed lower half of a cadet’s body.
Gods, I hope that’s no one we know.
“There were more dragons willing to bond last year, but pretty much.” I throw my arm out in front of her when a set of green claws lands a dozen feet away from us, talons flexing in the soil. So damned close.
Both Trina and I lurch to a standstill as it lowers its head in our direction, leveling a glare. It bares its giant teeth, and a deep growl emanates from its throat.
“Lower your eyes,” I tell Trina, but I keep mine locked on the green.
Bond me or kill me. Your choice.
The green’s eyes flare, but it lifts its head instead of setting me on fire.
My ears strain, listening for whatever call Kaori thinks we’re supposed to detect when our dragons appear, but all I hear are leaves crunching under the massive claws as the green walks directly over us, swinging its sharp morningstartail above our heads as it passes by.
“Feel anything?” I ask Trina.
“No,” she whispers. “You?” Her neck cranes as she turns to watch it go.
“No.” That frustration comes roaring back. Not that I expected the first dragon I encountered to be mine, but it would have been nice.
The dragon disappears among the trees, and Trina turns to me with a furrowed brow.
“You didn’t look away,” she accuses.
“I didn’t.” I start walking, and she races to catch up.
“It could have killed you for your insolence.”
“But it didn’t.” I shrug and slow my steps to make it easier for her.
“That’s pretty self-destructive.” Worry lines her forehead.
“No more so than Parapet or the Gauntlet. Like I said, I’m doing the opposite of what I did last year, and I’m sure as fuck not going to be waiting around when they collect all the cadets who have to restart next year. I can’t do it again. I won’t.” Sunlight streams into a clearing ahead, and my heart starts to race for a reason I can’t identify.
“You’d honestly rather meet Malek like that mutilated cadet back there than try again next year?”
“I think instant incineration is probably a better way to go.” I lift my hand to my chest and focus on deep, even breaths, but my heartbeat only accelerates.
“That’s not funny.” She shakes her head as we dodge a scorched patch of ground.
“Never said it was.”
“No wonder you’re friends with Gamlyn.” Her focus shifts to her shoulder, and she pulls another thorn from the fabric of her uniform. “Shit,” she mutters, staring down at the bead of blood on her thumb.
“You all right?”
“Fine. Stupid thorns. I’m not the one with a death wish.”
“I don’t have a death wish.” My mouth tightens as I think that through. “At least not anything beyond normal for the quadrant. We all accept death as a possibility when we climb that tower on Conscription Day. We all risk our mortality for the chance to be riders.” Gods, now my chest hurts, too. I rub my sternum. How do I explain this to her? “This feels like a second Parapet to me. Either I make it across or I—”
The words die as we step into the clearing, and I drop my hand to my side.
Two dragons stand in the field, one a medium-size orange, one a larger red. Both are looking directly at us, as if they’ve been waiting.
The orange snarls.
Shit! I lower my gaze to the ground.
Given the unpredictable nature of oranges and the tempers of reds, we may have just entered the most dangerous clearing in the Threshing Valley. Suddenly, waiting until next year doesn’t feel like a half-bad idea.
“Mine,” Trina whispers, and my eyes dart in her direction. She’s staring in wide-eyed wonder at the orange on the left. “I think she’s…mine. What do I do?”