Sometimes when we find out a secret that has been kept from us for so long, it's not the secrecy that kills us, but what is actually unveiled.
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Xaden Riorson x Oc, Liam Mairi x Oc, Oc x Oc, Ridoc Gamlyn x Oc,
Sawyer Henr...
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There is nothing quite as humbling, or as awe-inspiring, as witnessing Threshing...for those who live through it anyway.
—Colonel Kaori's Field Guide to Dragonkind
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Chapter Thirteen
| Wrenley's POV |
October First is always Threshing.
Monday, Wednesday, or Sunday, it doesn't matterwhere it falls on any given year. On the first of October, the first-year cadets of the Riders Quadrant enter the bowl-shaped forested valley to the southwest of the citadel and pray they come out alive.
All I know is that I will not let myself die today.
I was smart enough to not eat this morning. Ridoc, however, is a different story. He's currently heaving up his breakfast at a nearby tree. Honestly I can't do vomit.
Rhi has a sword strapped to her back, jostling against her spine as she bounces, stretching out one arm at a time. My sword is secured in the sheath at my hip and I have a few hidden daggers sheathed at my ribs, thighs and I have one hidden up my sleeve. You can never have too much back-up. I'm jittery. I really need to start asking for decaffeinated coffee.
"Remember to listen here," Professor Kaori says from in front of the 148 of us here, tapping his chest. "If a dragon has already selected you, they'll be calling." He thumps his chest again. "So pay attention to not just your surroundings but your feelings, and go with them." He grimaces. "And if your feelings are telling you to go in the other direction...listen to that, too." Ew, this involves feelings? No thank you.
"Which one are you going for?" Rhiannon asks quietly.
"I don't know." I answered unsurely. I don't think I've ever been more disappointed in myself. From everything Mira's told me and from what I read in Knox's Guide, they just kind of knew. But me? I had no quick connection to any of the dragons at Presentation. Besides one. It was barely there, but I could feel a small tug.
