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And as I promised the new chapter is here. Enjoy :)
Presentation Day is unlike any other. The air is ripe with possibilities, and possibly the stench of sulfur from a dragon who has been offended. Never look a red in the eye. Never back down from a green. If you show trepidation to a brown…well, just don’t.
—Colonel Kaori’s Field Guide to Dragonkind
There are 169 of us by the time the morning is done and, and with our time we’ve placed first out of the thirty-six squads for Presentation—the piss-inducing parade of cadets before this year’s dragons willing to bond.
Anxiety seizes me at the thought of walking so close to dragons determined to weed out the weak before Threshing, and I suddenly wish we’d placed last.
The fastest up the Gauntlet was Liam, of course, earning him the Gauntlet patch. Pretty sure he doesn’t know how to take second place. But I’m really proud of him. He deserves it.
The box canyon that makes up the training field is spectacular in the afternoon sun, with miles of autumn-colored meadows and peaks rising on three sides of us as we wait at the narrowest part, the entrance to the valley. At the end, I can make out the line of the waterfall that might be just a trickle of a creek now but will rush at runoff season.
The leaves of the trees are all turning gold, as though someone has brought in a paintbrush with only one color and streaked it across the landscape.
And then there are the dragons.
Averaging twenty-five feet tall, they’re in a formation of their own, lined up several feet back from the path—close enough to pass judgment on us as we walk by.
“Let’s go, Second Squad, you’re up next,” Garrick says, beckoning us with a wave that makes the rebellion relic on his bared forearm gleam.
Theo and the other squad leaders stayed behind. It’s only the five of us.
“Into formation,” Garrick orders, his tone all business, which doesn’t surprise me given that his leadership style is more mission first, niceties last. Go figure he seems to be so close to Xaden. Unlike Xaden, though, the right side of his uniform has a neat line of patches proclaiming him Flame’s section leader as well as more than five patches advertising his skill with a multitude of weapons.
Interesting. We’re in the Tail section. Why is he here?
We comply, and Liam and I end up near the back this time.
Garrick’s hazel eyes skim over us. “Hopefully Theo has done his job, so you know that it’s a straight walk down the meadow. I’d recommend staying at least seven feet apart—”
“In case one of us gets torched,” Ethan mutters from ahead.
„Correct, Ethan. Cluster if you want, just know if a dragon finds disfavor with one of you, it’s likely to burn the whole lot to weed one out,” Garrick warns, holding our gazes for a beat. “Also, remember you’re not here to approach them, and if you do, you won’t be making it back to the dormitory tonight.”
“Can I ask a question?” Vila says from the front row.
Garrick nods, but the ticking of his jaw says he’s annoyed. I can’t blame him. Vila annoys the shit out of me, too. It’s her constant need to tear everyone down that makes most of us keep our distance.
“After Gauntlet I met a couple of the second- and third-years, and I talked to some of them…”
“That’s not a question.” He lifts his brows.
“Right. It’s just that they said there’s a feathertail?” Her voice pitches upward.
“A f-feathertail?” Rio sputters from directly in front of me. “Who the hell would ever want to bond a feathertail?”
I roll my eyes, and Liam shakes his head.
“Professor Kaori never told us there would be a feathertail,” Ethan says. “I know because I memorized every single dragon he showed us. All hundred of them.”
“Well, guess there’s a hundred and one now,” Garrick replies, looking at us as if we’re children he’d like to be rid of before glancing back over his shoulder at the entrance to the valley. “Relax. Feathertails don’t bond. I can’t even remember the last time one has been seen outside the Vale. It’s probably just curious. You’re up. Stay on the path. You walk up, you wait for the entire squad, you walk back down. It really doesn’t get any easier than this from here on out, kids, so if you can’t follow those simple instructions, then you deserve whatever happens in there.” He turns and heads over to a path before the canyon wall where the dragons are perched.”
We follow, breaking away from the crowd of first-years.
“They’re all yours,” Garrick says to the quadrant’s senior wingleader, a woman I’ve seen a few times in Battle Brief murmuring to Xaden. Her uniform still has her signature spikes on the shoulders, but this time they’re gold and look sharp as hell—like she wanted to throw in a little extra badass today.
She nods and dismisses him. “Single file.”
We all shuffle into a line.
Liam is at my back and Rio just ahead of me, which means I’ll be treated to his commentary the whole time, no doubt. Awesome.
“Talk,” the senior wingleader says, folding her arms across her chest.
“Nice day for a Presentation,” I joke.
“Not to me.” The senior wingleader narrows her gaze on me, then motions to the line of cadets before her. “Talk to your nearby squadmates while you’re on the path, as it will help the dragons get a sense of who you are and how well you play with others. There’s a correlation between bonded cadets and level of chatter.”
And now I want to switch places.
“Feel free to look at the dragons, especially if they’re showing off their tails, but I would abstain from eye contact if you value your life.” She pauses long enough for that bit of advice to sink in, then adds, “See you after your stroll.”
With a sweep of her hand, the senior wingleader steps to the side, revealing the dirt path that leads through the center of the valley, and up ahead, sitting so perfectly still that they might be gargoyles, are the hundred and one dragons who have decided to bond this year.
The line starts, and we give one another the suggested seven feet before following.
I’m hyperaware of every step as I walk down the path. The trail is hard beneath my boots, and there’s a definite lingering odor of sulfur.
We pass a trio of red dragons first. Their talons are almost half my size.
“I can’t even see their tails!” Rio shouts from in front of me. “How are we supposed to know what breed they are?”
I keep my eyes locked at the level of their massive, muscled shoulders as we walk by. “We’re not supposed to know what breed they are,” I respond.
„Fuck that,” he says over his shoulder. “I need to figure out which one I’m going to approach during Threshing.”
“Pretty sure this little walk is so they can decide,” I retort.
“Hopefully one of them will decide you don’t get to make it to Threshing,” Liam says, his voice quiet so it barely reaches me.
I laugh as we approach a set of browns, both slightly smaller than General Sorrengail’s Aimsir, but not by much.
“They’re a little bigger than I thought they would be,” Ethan says, his voice rising. He’s in front of Rio. “Not that I didn’t see the ones at Parapet, but…”
I look over Rio’s shoulder to see his wide gaze flickering between the path and the dragons. He’s nervous.
“So Ethan, how long do you know each other with Liam?” I ask him, continuing to walk forward past a handful of oranges.
“We’ve been squadmates for a few months now, but I don’t know much about you.” I try to distract him.
“Well our family were close before…you know.” He says slowly, tugging down his sleeves. Yeah, I know. “We practically grew up together. And we were always in trouble. Mostly because of him.”
“Come on, really?” I laugh and glance back at Liam. He smirks and shrugs.
“Yes. He and his sister were real troublemakers.” Ethan laughs with us.
“But you never said anything. You always took the blame with us.” Liam says behind me.
“That’s true.” Ethan nods. “Because we’re friends.”
“I didn’t even know about your sister.” I say over my shoulder, lowering my gaze immediately when I accidentally make eye contact with one of the oranges.
“She’s just like you. I think you would get along well.” Liam says. “Sloane is fierce and her personality is matches yours.”
“What do you mean by that?” I glare at him.
“You’ll see. She joins us next year.” His voice is thick with concern.
“Don’t worry, Liam. We will be there for her. I promise.” I smile at him.
I will do anything to make him survive the year. That’s the least I can do for him.
“And what about you?” Liam asks. “Are you going to write someone once we get priviliges?”
“Yeah. Probably for Mira.” I say. “She used to write letters for Violet and me. And I think it’s a bullshit rule that we are not allowed to write letters in the first year.”
“You don’t think it encourages loyalty to the wing?” He asks.
“I think I’m just as loyal to her whether I’ve had a letter from her or not,” I counter. “There are bonds that can’t be broken.”
“I’d be loyal to her, too,” Rio says, turning around and grinning as he walks backward. “She’s one hell of a rider, and that ass. I saw her right before Parapet and damn, Aelin. She’s hot.”
We pass by another set of reds, then a single brown and a pair of greens.
“Turn around.” I make the spinning motion with my finger. “Mira would eat you for breakfast, Rio.”
“I’m just wondering how one of them got all the good traits and the other looks like she got the leftovers.” He refers to Violet.
“You’re an asshole.” I flip him the middle finger.
“Just saying, maybe I’ll write a letter of my own once we get privileges.” He turns and continues walking.
We pass more dragons, and my breathing starts to settle. The smell of sulfur disappears, or maybe I’ve just grown accustomed to it. They’re close enough to torch us, but I can’t hear them breathing or feel it, either.
We pass the halfway mark and continue.
Is the way the dragons stare at us scary as hell? Absolutely, but they want to be here the same as we do, so at least I hope they’ll be judicious with their firepower.
“When did you come up with your plan about the rope? Or the dagger?” Liam asks. “I know it bothered you a lot, that Violet couldn’t make it to the top. You could have told me. You can trust me, you know.”
“I trust you with my life, Liam! And we didn’t think of it until yesterday,” I answer, taking the time to look over my shoulder so I can see him. “And if it didn’t work, I didn’t want you to be an accomplice. You have a real future here, and I refuse to bring you down with us.
“I don’t need you to protect me.”
“I know. But it’s just what friends do, Liam.” I shrug as we walk by a trio of browns, the soft crunch of our boots on the dark gravel path the only sound for a few minutes. “You protect me, I protect you. It’s simple.”
“You keeping any other secrets up there?” He asks.
“I think it’s impossible to know everything there is to know about someone. But you know me the best.”
He snorts a laugh. “If that wasn’t skirting the question.”
“At least I was honest.” I laugh too.
“You guys done bonding back there?” Rio sneers. “Because we’re almost to the end of the line, if you haven’t noticed.” He pauses in the middle of the path, his gaze swinging right. “And I still can’t figure out which one I’m going to choose.”
“With arrogance like that, I’m sure any dragon would feel lucky to share your mind for the rest of your life.” I pity whatever dragon—if any—chooses him.
The rest of the squad is gathered ahead of us, facing our direction at the end of the path, but all their attention is focused to the right.
We pass the last brown dragon, and I inhale sharply.
“What the hell?” Rio stares.
“Keep walking,” I order, but my gaze is transfixed.
Standing at the end of the line is a small golden dragon.
Sunlight reflects off its scales and horns as it stands to its full height, flicking a feathered tail around the side of its body. The feathertail.
My jaw drops as I take in the sharp teeth and quick, darting movements of its head as it studies us. At its full height, it’s probably only a few feet taller than I am, like a perfect miniature of the brown next to it.
I walk straight into Rio’s back and startle. We’ve reached the end of the path, where the rest of the squad has been waiting.
“Get off me, Melgren,” Rio hisses and shoves me back. “Who the hell would bond that thing?”
My chest tightens. “They can hear you,” I remind him. “And who the hell would bond you?”
“It’s fucking yellow.” Vila points right at the dragon, disgust curling her lip. “So not only is it obviously too small to carry a rider in battle, but it’s not even powerful enough to be a real color.”
“Maybe it’s a mistake,” Ethan says quietly. “Maybe it’s a baby orange.”
“It’s full grown,” Liam argues. “There’s no way the other dragons allow a baby to bond. No human alive has ever seen a baby.”
“It’s a mistake all right.” Rio looks at the golden one and scoffs. “It’s freakishly weak.”
“It looks powerful enough to burn you to death,” I counter.
“Maybe you should be the one to burn to death, Melgren.” He sneers. “You’re useless. You’re only trying to protect Sorrengail because she’s weak, and because of this you’re weak too. The likes of you should be eliminated.”
Before I can say anything Liam lunges between us, grabbing Rio’s collar. “Don’t ever say that about a squadmate, especially not in front of unbonded dragons.”
“Let him go—he’s just saying what we’re all thinking,” Vila mutters.
I turn slowly to stare at her. Is this what happens to us the second we’re out of hearing range of any superior cadet? We turn on one another.
Ethan puts his hand on Liam’s arm. “Don’t make a mistake in front of them. We don’t know what they’ll do,” he whispers. And now we’re grouped up.
I shuffle backward a little as Liam drops Rio’s collar.
“Someone should kill it before it bonds,” Rio sputters, and for the first time in my life, I actually want to kick someone while they’re down…and keep kicking until they stay down. Or I should simply kill him. It would be easier.
„It’s just going to get its rider killed, and it’s not like we get a choice if it wants to bond us.”
“You’re just picking up on that now, are you?” Liam shakes his head.
“We should go back, they’re staring at us” Vila says, her gaze darting around the group.
We take off one by one, leaving the suggested space between us. Rio is the first, Liam goes before me this time and Ethan follows behind, with Vila bringing up the rear.
„They’re pretty incredible, aren’t they?” Ethan says, and the wonder in his voice makes me smile.
“They are,” I agree. “I’m so excited to see which dragons will choose us.”
“They’re honestly a little underwhelming after seeing that blue at Parapet.” Vila’s voice carries all the way to Liam, who turns around with a glare.
“Like this isn’t stressful enough without you insulting them?” He asks.
I need to defuse this quickly. “Yes, Sgaeyl is amazing but, don’t think these dragons sizes mean they’re weak. And it could be worse. We could be walking past a line of wyvern, right?”
“Oh please, Aelin, spare us. You’re ridiculous.” Vila says sarcastically. “Let me guess. Wyvern are some elite squad of gryphon riders created because of something we did at a battle.
“You don’t know what a wyvern is?” Liam asks, then begins walking again. “Didn’t your parents tell you bedtime stories, Vila?”
“Do enlighten me,” Vila drawls.
I roll my eyes, continuing along the path. “They’re folklore,” I say over my shoulder. “Kind of like dragons but bigger, with two feet instead of four, a mane of razor-sharp feathers streaking down their necks, and a taste for humans. Unlike dragons, who think we’re a little gamey.”
I notice each dragon as we pass, but my heartbeat steadies. “Violet’s father used to read to us those fables every night,” I tell her. “And Violet seriously asked him one time if her mother was going to turn into a venin because she could channel.” I laugh at the memory.
Liam chuckles as we walk by a set of glaring reds. “Did he tell you people supposedly only turn into venin if they channel directly from the source?”
“He did, but it was after her mother had a really long night, and her eyes were bloodshot red, so she freaked out and started shrieking.” I laugh harder. “She took her book of fables away for a month because the guards all came running, and Violet was hiding behind her brother, who couldn’t stop laughing, and, well…it was a mess.” I keep my eyes front and center as a large orange sniffs the air when I pass.
Liam’s shoulders shake with laughter. “I wish I could have seen it.”
“That sounds like some border-village nonsense.” Vila scoffs. “Venin? Wyvern? Anyone with a modicum of education knows that our wards stop all magic that isn’t channeled directly from dragons.”
“They’re stories, Vila,” I say over my shoulder, and I can’t help but notice how much ground we’ve covered.
One of the dragons blows air on us. There’s a smell of sulfur. Maybe we should hurry before the dragon decides to scorch us.
„Oh my gods, the smell,” Vila complains.
“What did you expect? They’re dragons.” I roll my eyes, turning around to level a glare at her, but Liam’s face makes me pause.
His eyes are as wide as saucers, and his mouth hangs open. “Aelin.”
It’s a whisper, and I wonder briefly if I heard him as much as I saw the word forming on his lips.
A warm huff of steam blows against the back of my neck. My heart thunders, the beat increasing erratically as I take what might be my last breath and turn toward the line of dragons.
The golden eyes of not one but two greens meet mine, consuming my field of vision.
To approach a green dragon, lower your eyes in supplication and wait for their approval. That’s what I read, right?
I drop my gaze as one chuffs another breath at me. It’s hot and appallingly wet, but I’m not dead yet, so that’s a plus.
The one on the right chortles deep in its throat. Wait, is that the sound of approval I’m looking for? Shit, I wish I’d asked Mira.
I lift my head and suck in a sharp breath. They’re even closer. The one on the left nudges my hands with its giant nose, but I somehow stand my ground, rocking back on my heels to keep from falling over.
Greens are the most reasonable.
The one on the right sets its nose right at my breasts and chuffs again.
It inhales, making that noise in its throat, and the other shoves its nose into my ribs, making me raise my arms just in case they feel like taking a little nibble.
“Aelin!” Liam whisper-shouts.
“I’m all right!” I call back, then wince, hoping I didn’t just seal my fate by screaming in their ears.
Another chuff. Another chortle, like they’re talking to each other as they sniff me.
The one under my arm moves its nostrils to my back and sniffs again.
Realization hits and I choke out a tight, surreal laugh. “You smell Teine, don’t you?” I ask quietly.
They both draw back, just far enough for me to look them in their golden eyes, but they keep their jaws shut, giving me the courage to keep talking.
“I got if from Mira.” Slowly lowering my arms, I run my hands over my snot-covered vest and the armor carefully sewn into it. “She collected Teine’s scales after he shed them last year and had them shrunk down so she could sew them into the vest to help keep me safe. You will meet her sister too. Violet is here and she has the same vest as me.”
The one on the right blinks.
The one on the left sticks its nose in again, sniffing loudly.
“The scales have saved me a few times,” I whisper. “But no one else knows they’re in there. Just Violet, Mira and Teine.”
They both blink at me, and I lower my gaze, bowing my head because it feels like the thing to do. Professor Kaori taught us every way to approach a dragon and exactly zero ways to disengage one.
Step by step, they retreat until I see them take up their places in line in my peripherals, and I finally raise my head.
“Thank you for not eating me.” I smile at them.
Taking several deep breaths, I try to lock my muscles to keep me from shaking.
„Aelin.” Liam is only a few feet away, a look of terror in her eyes. He must have been right behind their heads.
“I’m fine.” I smile and nod. “I have dragon-scale armor under the vest,” I whisper. “They smell Mira’s dragon. Please don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t,” he whispers. “You’re all right?”
“Other than having a few years of my life shaved off.” I laugh.
“Let’s get out of here.” He nods, his gaze darting toward the line of dragons.
He turns and walks back to his place, and once there’s fifteen feet between us, I follow.
“I think I just shat myself,” Ethan says, and my laughter only pitches higher as we move through the field.
“Honestly, I thought they were going to eat you,” Vila remarks.
“I wouldn’t have blamed them,” she continues.
“You’re insufferable,” Ethan calls back.
I focus on the path and keep walking.
“What? She’s obviously not fit to be a rider. We need to be strong and mercless. We need to choose a dragon-“
A blast of heat singes my back and I halt.
Don’t be Ethan. Don’t be—
“Guess the dragons think she’s insufferable, too,” Ethan mutters. Our squad is down to four first-years.
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