Aithne Melgren has been in the shadows too long. She has been forgotten, she has been ignored. But she goes for the Riders Quadrant in hopes to escape, to have freedom. To soar through the skies with her very own dragon.
But she has something speci...
A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.
-Article One, Section One
The Dragon Rider's Codex.
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The man in front of me stared down. He looked as though he would slash me a thousand times if I did not heed his words. He looked at me with such malice, such ferocity that could rival even the stare of a dragon.
The stubble on his face moved as he spoke, "You will not fail me. You will cross the parapet, you will bond with a dragon, and you will not die. You, Aithne Melgren, are my only living child. You will not shame my family by heading to any other quadrant."
The posh office, decorated with hints of red never looked so bland. These cursed, black walls and polished floors quickly became my enemy. I had never wanted to leave so bad. Never before.
The way he said myfamily, not ours disgusted me in some way. It unfurled a coil of emotion in my body, which I suppressed. My face remained blank, not a twitch of muscle. "Yes, General. I shall not fail you." He was always going to be a General to me. Never a father, and I couldn't care any less.
"And last warning. Do not try and go with that Sorrengail. She will only bring you down. You do know that, right? Remember what happened last time, Aithne."
I clenched my teeth at the mention of the past and my oldest friend. There was a fire that ignited in my eyes, one which I had to put out if I wanted to get out of this office. "Yes, General."
He smiled, "Good. You are dismissed."
I nodded my head at him and bit out a small, forced grin. As I was about to grab the golden, carved door handle, he spoke once more. Mentally I roll my eyes. "Don't forget about the separatists' kids. Keep an eye out, and from a distance. You know all too well what I am talking about."
I bit down on my retort and simply nodded my head, gripping the handle and closing the wooden door with a thud. There were no goodbyes between a General and his subordinate. There was only dismissal.
I sighed, my breath coming out in a white cloud. Instead of dwelling in my thoughts, I moved towards General Sorrengail's office, blatantly ignoring my father's threat. I just knew Mira would be arguing with her mother for Violet's sake.
I heard the muffled sounds coming from behind the almost same door as my father when it opened and the oldest-now oldest Sorrengail came barrelling out, the door closing shut before I could have glanced inside. "She's being a stubborn bitch again?" I asked
"Of course she is. Fucking emotionless bitch, trying to get another kid killed." I huffed a laugh in reply.
"So, how's Violet doing?"
"How do you think? She's coping with the 6 months of training she's had. But she can barely carry her rucksack! 'm just worried about her."
My eyes softened as I looked at her. She's just looking after her younger sibling, and it must be hard. With a smile on my face, I said, "I'm sure she'll be okay. After all, I'm there to be with her. Just know that I won't protect her because she doesn't need it."
