Ruthless: A Fourth Wing Fanfiction

Chapter 8

There are 169 of us by the time the morning is done, the chilly morning air getting warmer as the sun goes up. The lines of squads are shorter than I remember, the cadets lost on the Gauntlet taking its toll. We have almost our entire squad still here, only losing Tanner and Avina.

Avina was tall, but ever so lean. She was almost as fragile as Violet. Tanner, however, was bulky and muscular. That was his downfall, as his weight was the cause of his death on the rails.

I spot Liam a few cadets ahead in the line, staring straight ahead. Arkea is behind me and Tara behind her. Warrick and Lukas are in front of me. Warrick is a prick, almost as horrible as Jack Barlowe. But at least Warrick hasn't snapped a fellow cadet's neck.

I shiver. That memory is not one I enjoy.

Anxiety seizes me by the chest at the thought of the enormous dragons and walking so close to them. If one of them determines that I am too weak to survive to Threshing, they will scorch me without a second thought.

Liam was, according to the riders with the stopwatches, the fastest up, even though he helped me, earning him the Gauntlet patch. I don't think he knows how to take second place. But I was around third, so I don't really mind.

The box canyon that makes up the training field is spectacular in the morning sun, with miles of autumn-coloured meadows and peaks rising on three sides of us as we wait at the narrowest part, the entrance to the valley.

And then there are the dragons.

Averaging at 25ft tall, they're in a formation of their own, lined up several feet away from the path - but close enough to torch someone if they are deemed unworthy.

"Let's go, Third Squad, you're up!" A rider barks.

"Can I ask a question?" Arkea pipes up.

The rider gruffly nods.

"Is it true there is a feathertail?"

"Yep. Now get moving, cadets," the rider ushers us down the path.

"Who would want to bond a feathertail. They are the weakest," Warrick scoffs.

We walk in a single file down the path.

"Talk to your fellow cadets. It will give the dragons an idea of who you are and how you get along with others," the rider snaps, shutting Warrick up. "And if you insult their fellow dragon, I don't doubt they will decide to set you aflame."

"Avoid eye contact. If you come across a scorch mark, make sure nothing is still on fire before continuing," the rider says, hesitating before turning on her heel and leaving.

"This sounds delightfully fun, and absolutely not a death walk," I mutter under my breath, bowing my head as a green - swordtail, I can see - stares me down.

Tara laughs. "I think the dragons love your sarcasm." She gestures to a brown and an orange also staring me down.

"Or they are mentally deciding which will set me on fire until I'm nothing but ashes on the ground," I snort.

"I can't see their tails! I want to see which dragon I'll approach at Threshing!" Warrick whines.

"It's not for you to choose, they choose. Humans do not command dragons," I snap back.

A gust of wind loosens strands of my hair, and I turn around and walk backwards so that the wind pushes the strands back so I can tuck them into the rest of my hair. I turn forwards again.

I hear a roar above me. I look up, pausing. A blue silhouette is circling the field. A dragon. The dragon must be huge, because for how high the dragon is, the shape is pretty big.

"I wish I could write to my family and tell them about this. This is amazing," Arkea breathes, examining each dragon.

"That rule makes me want to practically rage. Not writing to my brother is not going to 'encourage loyalty in the wing," I scoff.

"I'd be loyal to your brother," a girl from the squad ahead of us quips. "He's one hell of a rider, and those arms. I saw him saying goodbye to you before Parapet, and damn, how is he so fucking fine and you look like you got the measly leftovers of the genetical plate?" 

Her friends laugh and I just scrunch my nose.

"At least I got leftovers and don't look like I came from the garbage itself. Now, whoever the fuck you are, turn back around. Damon's fist is bigger than your brain. He would beat you up for a daily routine," I reply.

We reach the end of the line. But no one is turning around to head back. Everyone's eyes are fixated onto... the feathertail.

"Someone should kill it before it bonds. Not only will it get it's rider killed, we don't have a choice if it decides to bond us," Warrick shakes his head, drawing his sword.

WIthout thinking, I leap in front of it, dangerously close.

"If you even try, I will not hesitate to slit your throat," I snarl, drawing my axes. "Feathertails do not bond. If you kill it, it is without reason."

Surprisingly, Warrick backs down, sheathing his sword.

A blastingly loud roar is heard from above. I look up. The blue is slowly coming down from the air.

We turn around and start making our way back up the path.

Suddenly a yell is heard from ahead. A red steps one claw forward and breathes out a gust of fire, scorching whoever was there before.

A putrid smell fills the air.

I shiver as I feel something nudge my neck. My heart thunders and I slowly turn around.

My eyes meet the eyes of an orange. Fuck. Oranges are the most unpredictable of dragons.

Its golden eyes blink. It stares into my eyes. Then, it looks down at me hands and knees, dried blood from gripping the Gauntlet for dear life. Then it looks at my nose.

"Can you smell where she hit me?" I whisper. "Thankfully I hit her harder."

The orange slowly lifts its head, seemingly like a nod, as if I have permission to continue.

"Woah," Tara breathes as I rejoin the line.

"How did you fucking get out of that alive?" Arkea gasps. "That orange had its snout around your entire face! One breath and you would have been ash."

"I honestly have no idea. It smelled where Imogen broke my nose."

"I wish it would have eaten you," Warrick rolls his eyes.

Orange claws reach forward and I scream.

The earth before me where Warrick was standing is now a burnt, black piece of pavement.

My gaze flicks back to the orange. It flicks its tail, showing me that its a swordtail. I think I've found my dragon.