33. Annalise
Chapter thirty-three
Annalise
The riding grounds are already loud by the time Matt and I make our way across the glen.
Dragons fill the space, making the usually huge space feel like a cramped football field after the crowd has rushed the field, their bodies scattered across the grass and packed dirt in every shape and color imaginable.
Some lie stretched beneath the afternoon sun, wings folded neatly against their backs.
Others pace restlessly along the perimeter, tails flicking whenever a recruit gets too close.
The air smells of smoke, leather, and anxious recruit sweat.
“You nervous?” I ask Matt, who’s been even chattier than normal during our entire walk out here.
He looks at me like I’ve just asked whether he remembers his own name.
“Nope.”
I blink. “That’s it? You’re not even a little nervous?”
“Nope.” Matt shrugs as we spot the yellow dragon, who’s currently sprawled out and rolling in the grass. “Zest and I have been practically bonded for weeks. Today is just a formality.”
At the sound of his name, Zest lifts his head, and the moment his eyes find Mattey, his tail thumps wildly against the ground.
“See?” Matt says, grinning.
“Show-off.”
He bumps my shoulder with his. “You’re just jealous.”
“I already have a dragon.”
“Exactly. And you nearly got yourself incinerated before Tyr decided you were worth keeping.”
“We like to keep things interesting,” I lie, my gaze drifting to where Tyr’s keeping watch over the dragons in his hoard that are considering bonding today.
Matt laughs, “True, and at least you don’t have the pressure of hoping a dragon will accept the bond today.”
Pressure, because every dragon bonds differently.
Some riders and dragons seem to recognize each other almost immediately, the bond settling into place with barely any resistance, as though both sides have been waiting for the inevitable.
Others aren't so lucky with some dragons testing their potential riders first. Sometimes it's a simple challenge of strength or courage.
Sometimes it's endurance. Sometimes the dragon seems determined to discover exactly what the recruit standing in front of them is made of before it decides whether that person is worthy of carrying its bond.
A lot depends on how long they've spent together before bonding day: How well they know each other. How much trust already exists between them.
Matt and Zest? I swear they knew the first time Zest showed up to class. The one time Matt even considered getting on another dragon's back, Zest had snapped at its wing, forcing it to fly to a different section of the field.
I’d thought they would be another early bonded pair, but Tyr told me most dragons waited until bonding day so they could snuff out any hidden dealbreakers with the recruit they’re sealing the bond with.
The jokes I made after that about being so great he didn’t need to think twice were relentless, and if he didn’t already love me so much, I may have very well been scorched for how much I teased him.
We’ve just made it to Tyr when Major Lorenson steps forward. “Spread out!” she calls, and the recruits waiting to bond begin moving into position instantly, the environment changing almost immediately.
Every conversation comes to a halt as feet hustle through the grass and dragons raise their heads, snarling at recruits they aren’t interested in as they quickly walk past.
I move closer to Lorenson as Tyr drops down behind us, his demeanor radiating a protective and possessive energy over me the same way Vivent is doing over the Major.
Lorenson gives the recruits a final look.
“The dragons here will make their decision today. Do not mistake familiarity for acceptance. Today is not a ceremony; it is the final trial…the only one that truly counts in the dragon's eyes.”
A few recruits visibly swallow hard as Lorenson gives the signal, and then everything happens at once.
One recruit stands completely still as the massive blue dragon he approaches lowers its head and sniffs him from boots to shoulders.
Another dragon simply settles onto the ground and waits.
Then—
A yellow blur launches across the grass, and I barely have time to register it.
“Matt!” I scream as Zest hits him like a furry—well, scaly—missile.
Matt disappears beneath several hundred pounds of dragon as my heart leaps into my throat.
Then Matt's laughter cuts through the chaos…He’s…He's fucking wrestling with Zest!
Zest's wings flap wildly as Matt grabs onto one of his forelegs, rolling across the grass while the dragon snaps playfully at his shoulder.
“You two are insane!” I yell.
Zest lets out a deep, rumbling sound that almost sounds like laughter just as Matt manages to shove him away. Zest immediately pounces again, pinning Matt to the ground as his tail whips back and forth.
And then everything changes.
Zest goes completely still.
His eyes widen.
The yellow scales along his body begin to glow, not brightly, but a soft, unmistakable radiance beneath the scales, as if the sun got trapped beneath his skin.
Matt freezes, his expression changing too as the laughter disappears.
For one suspended second, my entire world seems to stop as I forget how to breathe…Then, as if it never happened, the glow is gone—Zest's scales back to their normal golden yellow, and he’s pressing his forehead against Matt's.
I smile before I can stop myself.
“Well,” I murmur. “That was the most beautiful and fucking stressful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Matt looks up at me, completely smug as he calls, “Told you!”
“Who tries to wrestle a dragon?” I laugh.
“He started it!”
I shake my head. “You're both fucking ridiculous.”
Zest nudges Matt hard enough to nearly knock him over.
“I told you not to worry,” Tyr boasts. “They were made to be bonded.”
I’m just about to tell him bragging doesn’t suit him when a scream tears across the grounds.
Everything inside me goes cold as I turn to see a recruit stumbling backward.
The dragon in front of him is livid, smoke billowing from his nostrils, and I can only assume the recruit must have failed whatever test the dragon gave him. His face is pale, his breathing ragged, and he's backing away with one hand raised defensively.
“Easy,” Lorenson calls, but it’s not enough.
The dragon snaps, and the recruit jerks his arm away too late.
One of the dragon's teeth catches him along the forearm, and the sound of fabric tearing is met with a sharp cry. Blood immediately begins running down his arm.
I flinch.
The dragon recoils with a furious snarl, shaking its head as it stalks away, while the recruit drops to his knees. The assigned healers on rotation are already moving cautiously toward him.
I glance toward Lorenson. “What happens to him now?”
She watches the medics reach the recruit before answering, “He failed. The dragon rejected him.”
“He gets another chance, right?” I ask, though my stomach is already twisting as I anticipate her answer.
Lorenson's expression doesn't change. “No.”
The words settle heavily between us before she continues, “He's dismissed from the academy.”
My eyes flick toward the recruit as one of the healers presses a cloth against his arm.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“But what does he do?”
“Most run home to their parents…unless they are too ashamed to take them in.” Lorenson's gaze shifts toward the wounded recruit. “In that case, they’re forced to live up to their service contract.”
Something about the way she says it makes my stomach drop. “The front line?”
She nods. “Yeah, they get dropped in with the infantry. Every war needs cannon fodder, and who better to sacrifice than the disheveled and disowned.”
I stare at the recruit who looks far younger now than he did ten minutes ago.
“This particular recruit’s family doesn't have enough influence to get him out of it,” Lorenson continues quietly. “So he'll probably be sent north within the month.”
I don't know what to say, my heart breaking for a guy who’s never cared enough to even say two words to me before.
“That could have been me had you not taken a chance.”
Behind me, Tyr shifts, his enormous body moves closer until I can feel the heat radiating from his scales. “No, Little Faren. He was weak of heart and shallow with his morals. That has never been you.”
We fall into silence, Vivent remaining beside Tyr, as they watch the scene with unnervingly intelligent eyes.
Today was supposed to be about finding the dragon who would choose us, but standing here, watching someone lose everything because a dragon found him wanting, I realize something I hadn't truly considered before—being chosen was never a guarantee.
It's a privilege.
And for some of us, it's the only thing standing between a chance at the life we want and the near promise of death waiting for us beyond these walls.