Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
“As do I.” Glane takes three steps and launches us skyward with great beats of her translucent wings. “In that, we are matched.”
Wind rushes through my hair as I look down at the field, leaving Garrick behind. “I bet I’ll kill more of the enemy than you will.”
“Challenge accepted.”
I throw out my arms and let my head fall back to embrace the sun as we climb, headed for the flight field. “I made it,” I tell Katrina and Mom. “Just like you said I would.” A smile curves my mouth. “Tell Grandma I took her dragon.” More accurately, her dragon took me.
My body curves over Glane’s spine, and we head toward the flight field, sharing a secret that would destroy Kaori’s faith in the Empyrean.
But it restores mine.
Please note:
the rest of the stories in this collection contain spoilers for Fourth Wing.
633 AU
Feirge—Green Daggertail
(Female) Descended from the Uaineloidsig Line
Estimated Age: 87
Recorded Riders: 3
—The Compendium of Dragonkind,
last updated by Colonel Valin Kaori
Rhiannon
“Come find me.”
First-years scatter into the forest around me, disappearing behind trees until I’m trekking southward entirely on my own. It’s hard to believe Threshing is finally here, but I’m more than prepared. I’m jubilant, incapable of keeping a smile off my face or containing the excitement that has me practically vibrating with anticipation. Wish I could say the same for my friends.
Most of them are a mess.
Both Tara and Trina seemed all right, but Ridoc hurled his breakfast before we split up, Violet was even paler than usual, and Sawyer was so deep in his own head that I’m worried he might get passed over again. I wish dragons chose their riders in groups instead of individually so we could have all stayed together. If Kaori has been consistent with one message, it’s that we’re on our own out here.
My heart beats at the wing speed of a hummingbird as I head into the woods with a light step, willing my pulse to slow so I can think clearly. It does me no good to be excited if I stumble onto a cantankerous red and get myself turned into a bonfire. I did not cross the parapet in the rain with Violet’s borrowed boot just to become a scorch mark.
“Come find me.” The voice is feminine and clear as a bell, though it falls short of being called sweet. Kaori told us to listen to the call if we heard it, and though I hadn’t told any of my friends, I instantly knew what he was talking about.
I woke this morning with a flash of memory of the jade-green daggertail I’d seen at Presentation, that single command in my head, and a deeply rooted ache radiating from the center of my chest that felt as though someone had snatched a piece of my lungs while I slept. Even now, it stings slightly with every breath, like those early winter mornings when I’d ventured outside of our family’s house for firewood so my twin could sleep a little longer.
My heart twinges. Raegan should be having her first baby around winter solstice, and I can’t even receive a letter to hear how she’s doing until I complete my first year. Gods, I’d give anything to bring her here for even just a few minutes so she could share this exhilaration that has my nervous system crackling. She’d love it! I’d get her out before a dragon could get anywhere close to her, of course. I’d rather die than risk any harm to my sister.
“Come find me.”
“I’m trying,” I whisper to the breeze.
Someone screams from my left, and my stomach pitches. I can’t see much through the bright autumn leaves covering the massive trees, but that plume of smoke peeking between the branches can’t be good.
It’s no one you know. Stay focused.
Or better yet, maybe it’s Jack Barlowe. That asshole deserves to be torched at first sight for the way he bullies everyone around him, especially Violet. But dragons seem to find that sort of callousness attractive, so he’s probably surrounded by a bevy of interested snouts. Gods help us if he becomes the most powerful of our year.
Something tugs at my chest, pulling me north, and I follow, turning my back on the smoke and heading into the denser grouping of trees. The shade engulfs me, bringing a chill. It’s illogical to think a dragon could fit between these trees, but listening to Kaori has gotten me this far, so I follow the sensation and hope it’s the jade-green daggertail pulling me closer.
A green would be outstanding. They have a more stable connection to magic, and I appreciate how rational they’re known to be. Given the moodiness of everyone around me, I could definitely use someone in my life who’s emotionally stable. But I don’t want just any green. I want the one who chose not to turn Violet into a pile of cinders during Presentation because it recognized the scales in the armor she wears as belonging to her sister’s dragon.