It's an executable offense to attack any cadet while sleeping.
Article Three, Section—
The Dragon Rider's Codex
"How would you know that? Did you try to kill him, Melgren?" Jack sneers at me from a group of cadets near ours.
"For the love of all the gods shut up you idiot!" Rhiannon growls loudly, everyone stepping back a little in shock.
Violet elbows me softly, "We have to pay attention. Commandant Panchek scares me, and he is staring at us..."
"As the Codex says, now you begin the true crucible!" Panchek shouts to gain all five hundred or so of us that I estimate are in the courtyard. "You will be tested by your superiors, hunted by your peers, and guided by your instincts. If you survive to Threshing, and if you are chosen, you will be riders. Then we'll see how many of you make it to graduation."
Statistically, about a quarter of us will live to graduate, give or take a few on any year, and yet the Rider's Quadrant is never short volunteers. Every cadet in this courtyard thinks they have what it takes to be one of the elite, the very best Navarre has to offer... a dragon rider.
I can't help but look at my best friend and wonder if I will have to bury her or if she will last to become a rider. Commandant Panchek was right, this will be the true crucible. Seeing who I become along the way, as all the bullshit gets cut away and walls get torn down, that's the easy part.
"Your instructors will teach you," Panchek promises, his hand sweeping to the line of professors standing at the doors to the academic wing. "It's up to you how well you learn. Discipline falls to your units, and your wingleader is the last word. If I have to get involved..." A slow smile spreads across his face. "You don't want me involved."
I look at Liam and imitate his attempt at a sinister smile, "Did I get it right?"
Liam tries not to laugh, "That is genuinely terrifying. How did you learn to impersonate his smile?"
"He helped train me; everybody has to follow the general's orders." I look to the ground, "But I realized how scared Violet was of him, so I taught myself his smile to freak her out."
Liam looks at Violet to see the fear in her eyes while she is looking at the commandant. He subtly steps closer to her, like he would protect her, as I wiggle my eyebrows at Rhi. She just smirks back, having noticed as well.
"With that said, I'll leave you to your wingleaders. My best advice? Don't die." He walks off the dais with the executive commandant, leaving only the riders on the stone stage.
"How is that advice?" A guy standing near our small group asks us.
"No idea, but he isn't wrong." Violet jokes back with a kind smile.
A brunette woman with wide shoulders and a scarred sneer stalks forward, the silver spikes on the shoulders of her uniform flashing in the sunlight. "I'm Nyra, the senior wingleader of the quadrant and the head of the First Wing. Section leaders and squad leaders, take your positions now."
Violet gets hit in the shoulder as someone walks by, pushing between her and Rhiannon, before Liam pulls her into his arms. Xaden can't keep his eyes off of our group and seems to just be getting angrier the more Liam spends time with us. The other leaders follow suit until there are about fifty people in front of us, spaced out in formation.
"Sections and squads," I whisper to Rhiannon as she was looking around trying to figure out why they were spaced out like that.
"Three squads in each section and three sections in each of the four wings." Liam finishes for me.
"Thank you," Rhiannon sends us each a look of gratitude.
Dain stands in the section for Second Wing, facing us but averting his eyes.
"First Squad! Claw Section! First Wing!" Nyra calls out.
A man closer to the dais raises his hand.
"Cadets, when your name is called, take up formation behind your squad leader," Nyra instructs.
The redhead with the crossbow and roll steps forward and begins calling names. One by one, cadets move from the crowd to join their squad in formation. I know Violet is keeping count, so I make snap judgements based off of clothing and arrogance.
"It looks like each squad will have about fifteen or sixteen people in it," Violet slides up next to me.
In return, I point out the cadets she needs to avoid no matter what. "The ones that are quiet, standing tall, and listening, they are determined. They have something to prove, whether it be to themselves or someone else. Like Liam, but he's too nice to be a problem. He isn't the type to hurt people just to hurt them, unlike Jack Barlowe." I notice him getting called into the Flame Section of the First Wing. "Stay away from him at all costs Violet. I'm serious, I won't be able to protect you from everyone."
"How do you do that?" She asks. "You always know how to read people."
Tara gets called into the Tail Section, before they move on to Second Wing. Dain is a squad leader in this wing, and Xaden is not the wingleader who steps forward. At least I know Violet will be safe from him.
"You will learn over time who you can trust and who you can't Vi. This place will help you learn really quickly." I tell her, sad that she will lose this innocent side to herself soon.
Her name gets called, into Dain's squad, Second Squad, Flame Section. Rhiannon gets called right after; I don't get to join them. They get into formation quickly, lining up in a square. A quick glance tells me they have a female executive squad leader, four riders who look like they might be second- or third-years, and nine first-years. One of the riders with two stars on her uniform and half-shaved, half-pink hair has a rebellion relic that winds around her forearm, from her wrist to about her elbow, where it disappears under her uniform.
"Do I need to be worried about her, Liam?" I nod to pink hair who can't seem to keep her angry gaze off of Violet.
"Imogen, a second-year rider. She is one of the best fighters here and a genuinely nice person, but she had to watch her mother and sister die at the hands of General Melgren's and General Sorrengail's dragons. I would be wary when it comes to her." Liam warns softly.
I nod my understanding, knowing that I will have to warn Violet and Rhiannon before any on the mat challenges begin.
We get through the rest of the Second Wing and Third Wing before Liam and I are called into the same squad, Claw Section, in Fourth Wing, Xaden's wing. Shit.
I don't know if I just have bad luck, or if Xaden asked them to put me here, the same way Dain did with Violet and Rhi. Liam pulls me into the formation as I make eye contact with Xaden. Xaden, who is now watching me with a cold, calculating look. If he is planning my death, at least he doesn't have Violet.
As if Xaden could read my mind, he turns to the Second Wing's wingleader. Every wingleader joins in on what's obviously a heated discussion and my spine stiffens. Finally, the wingleaders turn around to face us, and the slight tilt to Xaden's lips makes me instantly queasy.
"Dain Aetos, you and your squad will switch with Aura Beinhaven's," Nyra orders.
Who the fuck is Aura Beinhaven's? I watch the Flame Section squad leader of the Fourth Wing nod and call for her squad to follow her, as her and Dain switch places.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me.." I groan. There's a smirk on Xaden's arrogant, handsome face. Violet and I are both now entirely at his mercy, subordinates in his chain of command. He can punish us however he likes for the slightest infraction, even imaginary ones.
Nyra looks at Xaden as she finishes assignments, and he nods, stepping forward and finally breaking our stare down. Pretty sure he won, based off how my heart is galloping like a runaway horse. Not that I would ever admit that.
"You're all cadets now." Xaden's voice Carrie's out over the courtyard, deeper and stronger than the others. "Take a look at your squad. These are the only people guaranteed by Codex not to kill you. But just because they can't end your life doesn't mean others won't. You want a dragon? Earn one."
Almost all of the cadets cheer, but Liam, Violet, and I keep our mouths shut.
Over sixty people fell or died in some way or another today. Just like Dylan, whose parents would either collet their bodies or watch them be buried at the foot of the mountain under a simple stone. I can't force myself to cheer for their loss. I guess Liam and Violet feel the same way.
Xaden's eyes find mine, and my stomach clenches before he looks away. "And I bet you feel pretty badass right now, don't you, first-years?"
More cheers.
"You feel invincible after the parapet, don't you?" Xaden shouts. "You think you're untouchable! You're on your way to becoming the elite! The few! The chosen!"
Another round of cheers goes up with each declaration, louder and louder.
No. That's not just cheering, it's the sound of wings beating the air into submission.
"They are beautiful." The girl next to me whispers, hearts in her eyes, as they come into view - a riot of dragons.
I've spent my life around dragons, but not in a good way. I have been closer to them than is safe for most people for my punishments. They don't tolerate humans they haven't chosen. But these eight? They fly straight for us - at speed.
It takes everything in me not to back away from them, knowing that if I run, I will die. If I stay still, eyes on the ground, they can't get mad and kill me.
Just when I think they're about to fly overhead, they pitch vertically, whipping the air with their huge semi translucent wings, and stop, the gusts of wing-made wind so powerful that I nearly stagger backward as they land on the outer semicircular wall. Their chest scales ripple with movement, and their razor-sharp talons dig into the edge of the wall on either side. The edge of the fortress is a gods damned perch.
My mouth drops open. In my five years of living here, I've never seen this, but then again, I've never been allowed to watch what happens on Conscription Day.
A few cadets scream. I wish I could too, but I know that only makes the punishments worse. It takes everything in me not to visibly react, but it is easier that none of the dragons look like Codagh, General Melgren's dragon. I know the dragons can smell fear, so I hope mine blends in with all the cadets around me.
Steam blasts my face as the navy-blue one directly in front of me exhales through its wide nostrils. It's glistening blue horns rise above it's head in an elegant, lethal sweep, and it's wings flare momentarily before tucking in, the tip of their top joint crowned by a single fierce talon. Their tails are just as fatal, but I can't see them at this angle or even tell which breed of dragon each is without that clue.
All are deadly.
There are three dragons in various shades of red, two in shades of green - like Teine, Mira's dragon - one orange, the beautiful, enormous navy one ahead of me, and a brown one, like Aimsir, General Sorrengail's dragon.
Fuck. Sweat starts rolling down my back as the fear and pain of knowing what Aimsir's fire feels like while I am tied to a post, immobilized, starts to come back to the front of my mind. It is slowly becoming overwhelming and I can't seem to ground myself in the present.
Liam grabs my hand, which I use to center myself, taking deep breaths. I look at him and wince, whispering, "You are a great friend, Liam."
I look back to the dragons, not letting go of Liam's hand. My heart is threatening to beat out of my chest, and I absolutely agree with it, because I'd like to run, too. Just thinking that at some point, if I survive, I will have to actually ride one of these is fucking ludicrous. They're all massive, overshadowing the structure of the citadel as they narrow their golden eyes at us in absolute judgement.
If they didn't need us puny humans to develop signet abilities from bonding and weave the protective wards they power around Navarre, I'm pretty sure they'd eat us all and be done. But they like protecting the Vale — the valley behind Basgiath the dragons call home — from merciless gryphons and we like living, so here we are in the most unlikely of partnerships.
A cadet bolts out of Third Wing, screaming as he makes a run for the stone keep behind us. I refuse to turn and look, knowing what will happen before he can even reach the safety of the giant arched door at the center. I can see the words carved into the arch in my minds eye, having had to memorize them already. A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.
This is why dragons choose their riders carefully, so they aren't humiliated by picking a coward. Not that a dragon would ever admit to making a mistake.
I notice the red dragon on the left open it's vast mouth, revealing teeth as big as I am. Fire erupts along its tongue, shooting outward towards where I know the fleeing cadet is. I flinch as I feel the heat from the flames blasts the side of my face, bringing my eyes back to the chest of the beautiful navy dragon in front of me, she seems to be the least agitated of the eight dragons.
More screaming sounds around me, I lock my hand harder against Liam's and pull him to my side, just before two more gusts of heat go past us. The girl who was closest to Liam is gone a second later, along with a cadet in the squad next to us.
Three more dead for the roll count tomorrow morning...
The navy dragon seems to tilt its head at me, as if its narrowed golden eyes can see straight through me to the fear fisting my stomach and the doubt curled insidiously around my heart. I bet it can even smell the ointment and see the wrap binding my back. It knows I'm at a disadvantage, dragons always know.
I will not die today. The words repeat in my head, stopping myself from running. I wouldn't be standing here if I'd quit every time something seemed impossible to overcome. I force my shoulders back and lift my chin, still not making eye contact with the dragon who slowly looks away.
"Anyone else feel like changing their mind?" Xaden shouts, scanning the remaining rows of cadets with the same shrewd gaze of the navy-blue dragon behind him. "No? Excellent. Roughly half of you will be dead by this time next summer." The formation is silent except for a few peoples untimely sobs. "A third of you again the year after that, and the same your last year."
Xaden suddenly makes eye contact with me again, "No one cares who your daddy or mommy is here. Even King Tauri's second son died during his Threshing. So tell me again: Do you feel invincible now that you've made it into the Riders Quadrant? Untouchable? Elite?"
No one moves, let alone cheers. The breeches on the first-year ahead of Liam darkens, the color spreading down his legs.
If the wingleaders and dragons wanted us scared, they win. Mission accomplished. I don't think any of the first-years feel safe anymore. If they did before, that is.
"Because you're not untouchable or special to them." Xaden finally looks away from me, pointing toward the navy dragon and leaning forward slightly, like he is going to let us in on a secret. "To them, you're just the prey."
Another blast of heat rushes — this time directly at my face — and every muscle in my body clenches, preparing for incineration. But it's not the pain of the flames... just steam, blowing back the hair that fell out of the braid Mira did for me earlier, as the dragons finish their simultaneous exhale.
Maybe the codex was wrong. Maybe there will be many crucibles, not just the college itself, but everything that comes with it. For me, it's not just Violet in this death college, but also finding the ability to get over my fear of dragons. Finding the ability needed to survive this death college that I and the other marked ones have had no choice but to join. Survive or die. I can't survive, not if I stay afraid, not if I can't get passed the damage my punishments really inflicted on me. Not on my body, which is bad enough, but the true damage to my mind.