Wild and Out of Control

|chapter eight|

"It is a grave offense against Malek to keep the belongings of a dead loved one. They belong in the beyond with the god of death and the departed. In the absence of a proper temple, any fire will do. He who does not burn for Malek will be burned by Malek."

- MAJOR RORILEE'S GUIDE TO APPEASING THE GODS, SECOND EDITION

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|danica|

"Doria Merril," Captain Fitzgibbons says from the dais. We're much closer to the front now, due to our formation getting tighter with each fallen cadet.

     It's Presentation Day, and in order to get to the flight field, we'll have to climb the Gauntlet first. Everything about the Riders Quadrant is designed to weed out the weak, and today is no exception. A few more names get called, but I pay no attention to him as I begin thinking of all the possible outcomes of today. 

     I could die. Unlikely, but still a chance of it happening.

     Violet could die. More likely to happen.

     Captain Fitzgibbons steps away from the dais, and the formation breaks. Dain steps in front of our Squad, putting on his serious face—which is his normal face if you ask me—as he gives out orders. "Second- and third-years, unless you're on Gauntlet duty, head to class. First-years, it's time to show us what you've got." Dain forces a smile and skips right over Violet as he looks over our Squad. 

     "Good luck today." Imogen tucks an errant strand of pink hair behind her ear and aims a sickly-sweet smile right at me and Violet. "Hopefully you won't fall...short." She aimed that last comment at Violet. I know it. She knows it. Our whole Squad knows it.

     "See you at class, Pinky?" I reply, lifting my chin to her as I walk away. I don't bother waiting for the rest, knowing they'll catch up soon anyway.

     They catch up with me a few minutes later, with Dain taking his spot in front of us, sending me a disapproving look, and I scoff silently. He's never liked me ever since I knew him. He thinks I'm a bad influence on Violet and will get her injured—he still blames me all these years later about the time I got Violet's leg broken while we were climbing trees together.  

     I feel Violet and Rhiannon's presence come up beside me. "Good luck today, ladies," Rhiannon says, looking at us both. 

     I know I didn't need any luck with this, but Violet...

     She needs all the luck in the world for her plan to succeed.

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An hour later, I watch as Violet's feet fly over the spinning posts of the staircase, and she jumps to the safety of the gravel path, with three out of five ascents to go with no ropes touched.

     I hear a few snickers from my left where Tynan and Luca wait at the bottom with for their turn at running up the Gauntlet. I can only ignore them as I watch Violet make it to the chimney—the one obstacle she can't pass. The obstacle is meant to test a cadet's ability to scale a dragon's foreleg and reach its saddle. And she's too short.

     "Hawthorne, start now," Dain orders from my right, his eyes never straying from Violet as she faces the chimney.

     My time begins now.

     I run up the first few ascents easily, only wobbling on the second. But when I reach the spinning posts, I hesitate. They were always my weakest point, the spinning of them making me dizzy enough that I might fall. Taking a deep breath, I begin to cross. "Just keep walking," I mutter to myself as I jump onto the first one. I stumble forward but catch myself just in time so I won't fall to my death.

     Then, the second, the third, the fourth, and when I make it to the next one, I hear a primal scream from above me. My head snaps up to see Violet scaling the chimney using her dagger, her shoulder at an odd angle and probably dislocated or something. It only takes one second of distraction to cause me to stumble forward and fall. Instead of panicking, though, I reach out and grab the edge of the ground in front of me, lucky that I was on the last pole. 

     I pull myself up and run through the next one like it was nothing. When I approached the chimney, I saw from my position here that Violet and the strawberry-blond Wingleader from Third Wing, Amber Mavis—the girl I saw Dain with that day—were in the middle of a heated discussion. Yeah, no. I think not. No one messes with Violet without going through me. I take a running start and jump up, grabbing the lip of the ramp to pull myself up and over the chimney, landing on my knees. I quickly straighten and place myself in between Mavis and Violet.

     "There a problem here?" I ask, my eyes tracking each and everyone here. I see Rhiannon and Sawyer a couple of feet behind me with Ridoc alongside them. Garrick stands with Riorson to my right, an indescribable look on the latter's face, with Liam behind them.

     Mavis turns her attention to me, her face going from pink to red as she stares long and hard at me. "Yes, there's a problem here. She cheated! She used a foreign material not once but twice! I already had to explain it to them." She jerked her head toward Riorson and Garrick.

     "Shouldn't you be recording the time Wingleader?" I direct to him, then turn back to Mavis. "And to your accusation, she did not cheat."

     "I just said she used—" she starts.

     "A foreign material, yes, you said that before," I finish for her. "But you see, that—" I point to Violet's dagger "—is not a foreign material, not for her at least. A rider may only bring to the Quadrant the items they can carry—"

     "Are you quoting the Codex to me?" Mavis shouts.

     "Yes, because, clearly, you forgot. Anyways, where was I? Oh right. And they shall not be separated from those items no matter what they may be. For once carried across the Parapet, they are considered part of their person. Article Three, Section Six, Addendum B."

     Her blue eyes flare wide as I glance at her. "That addendum was written to make thievery an executional offense."

     Violet steps up. "Correct. But in doing so, it gave any item carried across the Parapet the status of being a part of the rider." She unsheaths the chipped and battered blade. "This isn't a challenge blade. It's one I carried across and therefore considered part of myself."

     I cross my arms over my chest, a slight twinge in my shoulders, probably from the force of saving myself on the spinning poles. "She has you there, Mavis."

     "On a technicality!" She turns to Riorson. "You can't let this happen! It's against..."

     "It's against what?" he draws as he comes closer. "The Codex states that whatever is brought over on the Parapet is a part of their person and Sorrengail brought the dagger over. It's not against any rule."

     She fumes, and I can almost see the smoke coming out of her ears. She turns and marches off, my shoulders sagging in relief. "Shouldn't you be recording the times?" I ask Riorson again before grabbing Violet's wrist and pulling her toward where the rest of our Squad stands. 

     Ridoc stands tall and proud, with a wide grin displayed on his face as he beams at us. "You totally showed her up!" he exclaims, grabbing a flask from Sawyer and taking a swig. "She was like, "You cheater!", and you were like, "Well, umm actually no", and it was amazing!"

     I laugh as the flask gets handed to me. I take a swig, cringing at first when I realize it's pure whiskey, but slowly accept the burning sensation and the light buzz it gives me. 

     We made it past the Gauntlet. Now all that awaited was Presentation.