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)
“Is that what your sister recommended?” How are we even having this conversation?
“Katrina died when I was fifteen, so we didn’t really get to have these chats.” She taps her chin. “But I definitely think she would recommend fully experiencing what life has to offer.”
“Well…” I struggle for words. “I’d like this conversation to end—now.”
“Fair.” She retreats a few steps, then turns her back and walks away. “See you on the flight field. The world could use another Mairi in rider black,” she calls back over her shoulder.
Except this Mairi doesn’t want to be wearing rider black. I stand there for what feels like an eternity, staring at my brother’s figurine. Screams echo in the distance. The breeze comes in with a hint of sulfur. Wings beat high above me as cadets bond.
Only when I have every detail of the figurine memorized do I tuck it into my pocket and begin walking.
Thoirt. Maybe knowing her name should change my mind about bonding, but it doesn’t. I ignore the tugging sensation in my chest that tells me to head east and continue southward. She’ll be far better off with someone who wants the power, who doesn’t abhor the thought of wielding.
And in the next few hours, I’ll finally be free.
I let the rage bubble back up as I walk for the better part of an hour, coming across a few frazzled cadets and one Brown Swordtail who doesn’t bother to look my way.
Shit. There went a wasted chance.
An hour later, I step directly into the path of a Green Morningstartail. It stalks toward me, huffing steam through its nostrils, and I hold my position, chin raised, arms locked at my sides. My heart starts to pound as it comes closer, crushing leaves under its claws.
Twenty feet away. I look it straight in the eye.
Ten feet. I hold my breath and brace for collision.
Now.
It steps right over me, its talons striking the ground no more than a few feet behind where I stand.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
The rage within me doesn’t just simmer, it starts to sizzle.
By the time another hour passes, a Red Clubtail has blinked my way and continued on, and a pair of browns pick their way over me. I’ve seen countless dragons take to the sky through the holes of the canopy, heard their wingbeats as they bring their riders on their first flight. I bet there are only a few dozen of us left out here, and we’re so scattered that I haven’t seen another human in what feels like ages.
Gauging from the position of the sun, because gods know I didn’t think to bring a pocket watch, I only have another two hours before Kaori scoops up all of us who haven’t bonded and sets us back a year.
Fuck no. Absolutely not. I’m tired of living in limbo, and I won’t do it for another year.
“Come on!” I scream up at the forest, the sky, at whoever might be listening. “I don’t want to be here! I don’t want any of it!” It’s so freeing to finally voice the insidious thoughts that I can’t stop once I start. “Take me already or let me go!”
I throw my arms out, exposing every vital organ in my body as I walk between towering redwoods that have seen more of this kingdom’s history than I could ever stomach.
A giant Orange Swordtail swings its head in my direction, then pivots and moves straight for me, coming from about fifty yards away.
My stomach clenches. This is it. I know in the marrow of my bones that this creature brings my fate closer with every step.
“Yes, you!” I shout, holding out my arms. “Come on! I don’t want to be a rider!”
The orange lowers its head and narrows its golden eyes as it approaches.
“Mairi!” a deep voice yells, tickling my brain with recognition, but I ignore it.
“I don’t want your power!” My voice rises as I walk toward the orange, more than willing to meet my destiny halfway and uncaring if anyone sees. If it’s a second- or third-year, they’re bound by Codex not to interfere. “Fuck this place and these people. I’m not meant for this!”
The orange unhinges its jaw, and its tongue curls.
“Mairi!” The voice grows louder. “Move!”
That’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m moving, extricating myself from a future where I’m nothing more than a sharpened blade used to harm other people.
Fire rolls up the back of the orange’s throat, then shoots forward, barreling toward me in a stream that will only take seconds to arrive.
I close my eyes and welcome the impending release.
Liam. Mom. Dad.
I’m hit in the side so hard, my feet leave the ground and I’m sent careening through the air. Arms band around me as heat rushes by, stinging my exposed skin, but the agony I sought doesn’t arrive. Instead, a different pain strikes my left shoulder, and my eyes pop open to see the world somersaulting as I’m hurtled along the forest floor, pulled tight against a rigid chest.