#fourthwing

As xaden finished up, he did the thing with his hand that he does when he wants me close to him. I walked a few steps over to him, now rubbing arms with the fearsome wingleader. He smells like mint and metal and it's so unbelievably addicting that I swear even when he's not around i still smell it in the air.

"See your squad yet?" Xaden leans down to me.

I shake my head. "Not yet. But I've seen a few people I'd like to have on it"

Xaden emits a low, deep chuckle from beside me. my best friend of 13 years was too sexy for his own good, and as I scanned the crowd I saw two first year girls giggling over him, and knew this would be a long day.

-

"Next!" I called out.

The rain was heavy, and if it had been first year me on parapet, I would've been shaking. With excitement. But everyone here is afraid and I can't say that I blame them.

"Name"

It's a girl with brown to silver hair. She is thin and frail and looks as though she's barely survived the trip here. I pityed her.

"Violet sorrengail"

I poked my head up to get a look at her properly after I ticked her name off the list and saw she was wearing a dragon scale armour that I knew only very little people wore here. "Ah, a sorrengail. You'll do...just fine"

She glances at me before she walks to parapet. I'm not really bothered to ask any more questions or think anymore on it. I know, xaden is down the row a little bit as he does routine checks on the first years. Sometimes, when I look at him for too long, I remember all the things we've been through together, and then it makes me afraid, and I begin to cry because soon nothing will be the same as before.

-

In the arena, I train the first and second years who celebrate their victory on parapet. I remember back on my first time and smile to myself knowing how it feels. And it feels good.

"Next in the ring is Barlow and sorrengail"

Cruel mix. Sorrengail approaches the ring as does Jack Barlowe from the other end. This almost seems like it could be entertaining, even xaden's group has stopped to watch. Sorrengail was a thin weak girl, and Jack barlowe was a human brick who could crush her skull between two fingers.

"You may begin" I say as I lower my sheet of names.

Xaden has left his group to stand beside me. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

I shake my head.

"No, but what can I do? Besides, she needs it"

Xaden watches, like many other cadets, second and third years too as sorrengail falters before Jack before he lands a hard punch to her stomach making her cough violently as she falls to her knees. A hush falls over the room.

The silver girl stumbles to her feet just as Jack hits her once again, this time on the jaw, before he laces his legs in hers and trips her to the ground. He remains unharmed and standing. Clearly aware he's going to win. Xaden turns his head to me, noticing I am focused on not just Jack but how weak sorrengail is.

"Tap out" Jack growls against sorrengails face as he holds her down on her stomach.

"You yield sorrengail" I announce, and barlowe lays off.

I walk to the ring where sorrengail is still coughing up bile and blood from Jack's assault. "Get up sorrengail" I command.

But she can't, so I kneel down to her instead. "You know why we make you fight above your level?"

She stutters. "N-no, some cruel t-trick?"

I chuckled. "Because you won't always be weak. But not everyone will be weaker than you” As as she lifts her head up, she can only make it to where the golden logo of riorson house sits at my hip. “And we don't always make you train like fools. But you can choose to look that way by your own actions. Now go clean yourself up sorrengail”

I walk back to xaden who has a slight smile on his face. “I must admit I thought it would be me who would kill sorrengail” he turns back to his squad, hot mouth against my ear as he says “but i think only one of us might die this year. You might be the death of me with that attitude”

Xaden leaves, his trail of scent and heat following behind him. There’s absolutely no reason for him to be this sexy.

“Next. tavis and matias”

---

The first years I train over the next few weeks refuse to acknowledge that I can't let them see riorson house. Second year, rider Rhiannon Matias, who is constantly whispering about the logo on my white uniform, is especially stubborn. She thinks i can't hear it when she rumors i am sleeping with xaden from across the arena, but when i call her up to fight on the ring, she has no doubt seen me roll the sleeve up on my white shirt and realised i’ve heard everything. As the girl approaches the ring, the look in her eyes is almost apologetic.

“Do you enjoy spreading rumors, cadet matias?”

She doesn't look at me.

“Answer me”

“No, wingleader”

“Mmm, that’s what I thought. Get into position cadet” i set up stance, my left foot behind my right, both fists in the air in front of me. Matias is sloppy, but not bad.

“Do you know the first rule about fighting cadet?”

“Always have a plan,” she says confidently.

“Close”

I swing my fist. As she goes to catch it, I swing my leg at her knee, spinning her around and to the ground where I pin her down. All within seconds, I proved not every move is truthful. “First rule to win a fight is to never let your opponent know your next move” I announce as I help Matias to her feet.

“Should you ever find yourself in this arena talking about me like you were, I will not hesitate to have you expelled cadet. Am I clear?”

“Crystal” she nods before I dismiss them all.

I hear claps as xaden walks up to the ring. He's smiling. He's actually smiling. "Glad to see you're not so rusty"

I tuck strands of my hair behind me ear and stance back up. "What do you say we test that rustiness huh riorson?"

Xaden chuckles. Not the sweet or funny kind, no, this is the kind of chuckle where he's saying my condolences. And unfortunately for me I found that unbearably attractive.

The second and first years around us begin cheering. Most of them because xaden had taken his shirt off. Not that he had to, but he knew how much it distracted me. And I despised that he knew that.

"Regretting all your life choices, xa?" I laughed and swung at him, but he caught it.

"One of us certainly will"

Xaden strikes me in the arm, and I swing back at him in the jaw. I always forget fighting xaden is like wrestling a dragon. I strike at his stomach, getting him in the side. Xaden twists my wrist before I can hit him again and in a swift move he's got my hands behind my back and I am pinned to the floor by his knee.

"Real cute riorson," I groan from below him.

He let's me go, and I stand back up. I can't let myself be intimidated by him. He's my best friend. He's my best friend. He's my best friends best friend. Shit, gods bless Garrick tavis.

I swing at xaden, who catches my arm agin, this time, I slide myself through his legs and grab them both on my way, knocking him down with a thud. I kneel at his head with a smirk.

"Not too untouchable, xa." I smiled at him.

Staring down at him, I hate how's stupidly gorgeous he is. His stupid gleaming tan skin, his stupid smile, stupidly crystalline eyes, and don't even get me started on the body. Xaden has always been too perfect for his own good. Too beautiful to be scary. He's never been scary to me although he's tried.

And I couldn't argue that, in a sense, xaden was almost like a husband to me. Obviously not literally, but I've spent so much of my life with him and seen so much of him that i might as well be his wife.

---

A month passes without any issue. I hear that xaden has taken up training the sorrengail girl, who bonded two dragons. I may not like her, but that's a pretty big deal. But the real possibility that xaden is fading from me is becoming true. Like I knew he would one day.

He doesn't talk to me unless werr in the same room and he doesn't reply to my letters anymore. If he had been anywhere else, I could've understood, but he was training his enemy just 6 feet away from me. Yawn.

It's only then when I see Garrick walking towards me. He strides right past xaden and directly to me, which is odd. The metal on his clothes clicks as he sits down.

"What is it tavis?"

"You know yours and xadens dragons have been non-stop rubbing on each other? It's weird" Garrick shivers.

It would've been funny if it hadn't been for the fact that our dragons werent bonded. It's not unusual for unbonded dragons to be overly affectionate, but this seemed more like a cry for attention.

I stood up and walked to xaden, where I informed him of everything. I expected him to care, but what i didn't expect.

"I'm a little busy right now"

Was that.

"Too busy for your own dragon? Xaden-"

"I said I'm busy!"

The tone in his voice strikes me right in the centre of my heart.

"You don't have to be such a dick about it." Garrick steps in, but it's not enough defence to block off xaden.

Nothing quite is.

"Im sorry, I'll finish up here and ill-"

"No." I say. "You've made it perfectly clear where your loyalties now lie"

Before xaden gets another word in, I'm already walking towards the dragons with tavis, and somewhere along the way, I collect mairi and durran. The only thing I missed was xaden riorson.

-

Thunder pounded the college, rains battering the stone walls. Still, I found myself outside carving into the fountain with a small stick, bored out of my mind. The tears have since been washed away by rain and I am now red from cold not from upset.

"What the hell are you doing out here?"

It's xaden. He's wearing a black tee shirt and leather pants. I'd say he must be cold but xaden is never fucking cold. It's kind of annoying.

"I'm bored can't you tell?"

"Can you not do that inside? It's freezing out here!"

I'm not replying to his concerns. For it feels like he has none anymore.

"What is going on with you?!" He yells over the thunder.

"Me?! What's going on with you!" I stand up.

"What changed that made you so far from me?!" Xadens fists are white.

He's so pissed off that I almost feel sorry for having feelings and emotions like I do.

"You did!" The statement is short but powerful enough that the next lightning strike doesn't begin to compare to how that felt.

"People change! Why is this such a crisis for you!"

"YOU WERENT SUPPOSED TO CHANGE!"

It's then when I can now feel the difference between rain and tears as my eyes well up again and I am sat back down on the fountains edge with my head in my hands as I get soaked from rain.

"What is this about? I can't help you if you dont let me"

Xaden is now kneeling before me.

"I just wanted you to stay the same"

"Is this about sorrengail?"

Even her name leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I suppose this is actually going to happen now. I'm actually going to tell xaden 13 years of built up feelings based upon one tiny thing that keeps me sane.

"No xaden, it's about you. Fuck it's always been about you, I've never felt so strongly about anyone before in my whole life and now I'm losing the one person who I thought felt the same"

Xaden lift my head up to look at him. His touch has never been so light and gentle. He almost makes me feel like a feather.

"You aren't losing me"

"I already have"

Xaden shakes his head and pulls me into his chest. The rain has made his clothes cold and wet but I don't care about it. Or anything now.

"There is nothing on this earth that could take me from you." he kisses the top of my forehead.

"So why did you refuse to come with me when I was going to the dragons?:

"Because I already knew what was going on. And i didn't want to be there when you found out"

I couldn't believe any of this.

"That our dragons are bonded?"

"Yes," he nods.

"This changes so much xa"

"It might. But I'm not going to change again. I am yours so much as you are mine"

ACT ONE: First Year

~79k

Stage one: The Parapet

Stage two: Aptitude Testing

Stage three: Broken and Beautiful 

Stage four: Establishment of Trust

Stage five: The Gauntlet 

Stage six: Presentation Day

Stage seven: Fire and Fashion

Stage eight: Threshing

Stage nine: Bonds

Stage ten: Sleeping Signets 🌶

Stage eleven: Confession of a Sinner

Stage twelve: Cracks and Conspiracies

Stage thirteen: Bodhi Durran 

Stage fourteen: Fleeting Feelings

Stage fifteen: Signets and Secrets

Stage sixteen: Breaking Point

Stage sixteen bonus: Bodhi

Stage seventeen: Friendship Means Forgiveness

Stage eighteen: Temporary Fixes

Stage eighteen: Temporary Fixes bonus scene 🌶

Stage nineteen: Mending Threads

Stage twenty: Beautifully Fractured 

Stage twenty-one: Returning Favours 

Stage Twenty-Two: Things Better Left Unsaid 

Stage twenty-two Bonus: Bodhi  pt 2

Stage twenty-three: The Games We Play 

Stage twenty-four: The Prices We Pay

Stage twenty-five: Ashes and Aftermath

Stage twenty-six: The Sound of Obedience

Stage twenty-seven: Terms of Surrender

Stage twenty-eight: Lost and Losing

Stage twenty-nine: Unravelling Ends

ACT TWO: Fourth Wing Begins