11. CHAPTER 11
Rider’s Judgment had been a dream of mine ever since I decided to become a Rider.
My dad’s majestic dragon, Kim, was a striking grey with black dapples along her powerful wings.
She was a decent-sized dragon, standing nearly sixteen feet tall.
She was my first experience with a dragon, and she always watched over me intently.
Without her, I believed every dragon would frighten me.
“I am Major Bhatta, and I will be your instructor, teaching you about all the fliers. We have three majestically beautiful creatures that you can ride: dragons, griffins, and phoenixes. Today, you will face the Rider’s Judgment.
If you’re not familiar with that term, let me explain.
You will be given a serum that lasts during the walk among the fliers.
They will pass judgment on you. If you have bad intentions or they feel you are not worthy, they will incinerate you or take your head.
You also get to see your options. You will walk a single line among the fliers.
When you reach the end, you will return to the outdoor arena.
There are thirty dragons, twenty griffins, and eighteen phoenixes ready to bond with Riders. ”
I looked ahead and saw all the fliers lined up about two hundred feet in front of me.
They were so beautiful that I thought all the color options were there.
They stood facing each other, leaving an aisle for us to walk through.
My dad always told me never to look them directly in the eyes, but to observe all the fliers during judgment.
He said to appreciate their beauty, stand tall, and not show any fear.
We all moved into a tight single-file line.
I wasn't sure how many Riders there were, but I believed we outnumbered the fliers, which made sense because the judgment usually took several of us.
My stomach clenched as I remembered that not all of us would make it out alive, and I braced myself for another encounter with death.
Thora, who was in my platoon, moved behind me, and I caught sight of Torvi up ahead.
We had exchanged greetings here and there, but she belonged to a different platoon than mine.
About fifty feet before the aisle where the fliers awaited, a stern Historian sat at a sturdy desk.
She meticulously took names and handed us a vial of glowing serum.
We advanced slowly, each step heavier than the last. Up ahead, the growling and stomping of the fliers echoed loudly, stirring my stomach into a painful churn.
My breakfast threatened to resurface, but I clenched my jaw and refused to let it.
“I am so nervous…” Thora whispered behind me as we took another step forward.
“You have to get it in check. They will sense it,” I said.
We moved forward. I was now at the desk with the female recording our names.
“Auriella Blackcreek.” She lifted her eyes at me and raised her eyebrows.
“Gen—”
“Yes,” I cut her off. I didn’t want people to hear.
She nodded her head, like she understood.
She handed me the serum. I poured it down my throat and moved forward.
I was now between two dragons, five feet behind the male cadet in front of me.
It felt like we were moving slowly. I was observing him, and gods, he was nervous.
I saw the shake in his legs. With that, I fell back another foot, because I wasn’t sure this was going to go his way.
The first two dragons facing each other were stunning.
The one to the right of me was a solid black dragon, standing about fifteen feet tall, which was about average in size.
The one on the left was a beautiful red that had various shades of red throughout her scales.
I made a point not to stare them in the eyes, nor to show fear or avoid them.
Next to the black and red dragon were two griffins, followed by another group of dragons. One of them was also red, but more vibrant. I watched her twist her head at the cadet in front of me and quickly pull it back. Oh fuck. I knew that look, and before I could even yell at the kid in front of me—
Whooooosh.
She threw a perfect flame at him. Before I could react, the ground turned to ash beneath my feet.
The air reeked fiercely of sulfur and not solely from her.
I kept walking at the same steady pace, observing the beautiful creatures we could be bonded with.
About a quarter of the way through, I spotted a group of stunning phoenixes, which slightly intimidated me—strange because dragons surpassed them in size.
They shimmered in shades of vivid red and fiery orange.
The one to my right tilted her elegant head toward me, causing my entire body to freeze in place.
“You’re a small one, are you sure you don’t want to ride a phoenix?” said a voice that made my head spin around to see where it came from.
“It’s me…” and the phoenix on my right bobbed her head, but her mouth didn’t move. Wait, that was in my fucking head.
“How did you do that?” I said. I knew fliers could communicate with their bonded Rider, but I was not bonded. My mind spun.
“What?” Thora said, her brows knitting as her head tilted.
“The serum you took let us read every cadet’s intention, and mind speak without a bond.”
“Nothing,” I said to Thora.
That was crazy. I didn’t even know how to respond. She was gorgeous, but I had always seen myself as a dragon Rider.
“That’s a shame, you will make a fantastic Rider when the time comes.”
Shit, she was in my head. They were all in my head.
I smiled in her direction and kept moving, trying not to think about anything, but my mind had never not thought about anything.
It always went down so many rabbit holes.
After the phoenixes, there was another set of griffins.
They made a chortling sound at me, but I pressed on.
“You’re the young Blackcreek,” a young female voice said inside my mind, but I wasn’t sure who it belonged to. I stood between the two smaller dragons I met during the courses, the silver and the grey one. The silver huffed a steamy breath at me, and I turned my head toward her .
“Yes, that was me. You’re a brave one, I like you,” The voice said.
“Is that why you blew your breath at me?”
“It’s better than incinerating you, isn’t it?” Before blowing another breath at my face.
“I do appreciate that.”
She really was a gorgeous dragon, but she was pretty small, but so was I.
“Yes, I am small.”
Shit. I forgot they were in our heads. “I said you are gorgeous too.”
“Remember me on bonding day.”
Up ahead, I heard another dragon breathe fire, followed by screams. My stomach dropped, and my heart skipped a few beats.
“Don’t worry, you have worthy intentions and are a worthy Rider.” The silver reassured me.
“Thank you, I guess.”
I kept walking, stepping over many charred spots, and I wasn’t even close to the end of the judgment line.
“You don’t want a baby dragon. I would choose you if you chose me.” I heard a deep voice this time, and to my left, there was a dark blue, silvery dragon. His scales shined at certain angles. Goodness, he was a beautiful dragon. I’d never seen a blue like that before.
“Babies can’t bond…”
“I am not a baby, and I may be more powerful than you.” I heard the silver’s voice, and at the same moment, I heard a small roar from down the line.
“Well, no, but she is young, never had a dragon Rider. I have the experience and power you need,” he quipped.
“Ohhhh—you have a big ego too.” I smiled while still looking to his side. He stood about seventeen feet tall, which was on the larger size. He blew a small puff of fire at me.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to offend you,” I said.
“Hmm. I think you did. You aren’t wrong, though. I do have an ego.”
“It seems I have a lot to think about,” I told him before nodding my head and moving on .
I continued down the path, admiring all the various dragons, phoenixes, and griffins.
“Did you know they can talk to us?” Thora asked.
“I knew bonded fliers and Riders could, but not unbonded ones. Did they talk to you?”
“One, it truly startled me at first.”
“Same, I wasn’t expecting that.”
I made it to the end of the Rider’s Judgment, and I was still alive.
I also had three fliers talk to me, which meant I had options—assuming I made it to bonding day.
There was another desk at the end with another Historian.
She asked for our names and gave us another serum.
I lifted the vial to my mouth and poured it in.
No more fliers in my head. That felt so violating.
I guessed I should get used to it because once I bonded with my dragon, there would be open communication with them.
“Head to the outdoor arena,” she said.
Thora was close behind me, so I slowed my pace so we could walk together. We both headed towards the arena.
“Still going for a griffin?” I asked her.
“Yes, and a beautiful dark blue spoke to me. What about you?”
“I had a phoenix and two dragons speak to me, but I am leaning towards a dragon.”
“Which one?”
“I am not sure yet. I don’t want to make an impulsive decision about this.”
“That’s fair. Super cool that three fliers wanted you.”
“I am honestly not sure what to think about it.”
We both entered the arena. There were two large gates for dragons to pass through, one on the flight field side and the other in the courtyard.
The entire perimeter had a twenty-foot-thick stone ledge to support landing and perching fliers.
There were seats lining the walls, similar to a stadium classroom.
In the center was a large open field. In the upper corner, where it met the dining facility, there was a stage with twenty high pedestal chairs overlooking the arena. Officers occupied the area .