[Xaden x Y/n] Love on the Parapet

Chapter 13

Xaden's pov

'It means if you die, I die too. We're tied.' I tell Sorrengail as I corner her on the flight field with all the other bonded cadets standing with their dragons.

'I figured.' Sorrengail shudders, her eyes shifting over to her side. I follow her gaze, catching Y/n's eyes. She quickly disconnects my eye contact, turning to her red daggertail.

'You'd better stay alive.' I tell Sorrengail, making my way over to Y/n. She glances at me walking over to her, her breaking in a sprint until she collides into my chest.

'Congratulations.' I tell her, although my mind feels occupied by the new problem of me and Sorrengail's life being tied together. I put my arms around Y/n, squeezing her against me.

'But you. You'll die when Sorrengail dies.' She whispers against me.

When she dies, not if.

'You put it together already? Of course you did with your clever pretty head.' I should have figured Y/n would have noticed even before I made time to tell her. I rub her shoulders, feeling her tears wet my flight gear.

'I'll make sure I don't die. You worry about you not dying. This won't change anything, I promise.' I reply, my voice sounding like a lie itself. But Y/n only rubs her face against my chest.

'Now. You shouldn't be crying for me on your big day. You bonded. To a red daggertail above all. And now, you'll also get your own private dorm.' I say again, lifting her face with my palms. It pains me to upset Y/n, my thumb brushing over her teardrop on her cheek. I feel my chest tighten as she stares at my chest, tears layering over her eyes.

'I know.' She replies softly, before Professor Kaori calls from the front of the field that everyone returns to formation.

Y/n's pov

You place your quiver beside the bed of your new room, flopping down on the mattress. The room was quiet, Rhiannon and Violet having dissipated to their own rooms too. You had half expected Xaden to show up to your room right away, but you assumed something with the leadership was occupying his time after Threshing.

Instead, you wonder back to the results of the Threshing today. 17 dead, 10 injured, and another dozen of the first year cadets having failed to bond. Which could only end in bloodbath.

The unbonded fighting over dragons with the bonded ones.

You lay on your bed, your finger tracing the runes Xaden had moulded on your black arrows. Despite the events of today, you feel your eyelids droop, fatigue taking over anxiety. Sighing, you let the sweet darkness envelop your consciousness.

'Good night, Cherry.'

Xaden's pov

I push the guilt aside for not being with Y/n to celebrate her bonding to a dragon, the type matching her fierce personality perfectly, and slip into her new bedroom. I had wanted nothing more than to hold her and shower her in congratulations with red velvet cakes now in my hands, but I had gotten caught up with the new crazy link between Sorrengail and me.

Closing the door quietly behind me, I place the cake within my shadows to prevent the warmth of the room making it go bad. Looking towards the bed, I feel myself smile at Y/n's sleeping figure. Her hair sprawled over the pillow, her face ever so peaceful and innocent despite the harsh strong mask she wears on herself during the day. To her annoyance, she never seemed to realise however strong she may be, to us, she'll always be the one we would do anything to protect.

Reaching over to her fingers, I carefully pick the arrow under them, placing it quietly back into her quiver. Not the first time I'd done this - most people would sleep with a book or a fluffy toy, but Y/n had a habit of falling asleep with her arrow. Especially when she's stressed.

I quietly slip into bed next to her, Y/n instinctively turning to curl into me. I put my arms around her, her lean toned muscles relaxing against my larger ones.

I press my lips on her head, closing my eyes.

Violet's pov

Wake up.

You'll die if you don't wake up.

I burst open my eyes, breath stopping as I look straight at the knife slamming down on my torso. The attacker flinches as it hits my armour, and I thank the dragon scale that Mira gave me.

I turn just as the attacker hits the spot I was in a second ago, my eyes quickly darting to count the number of attackers.

'Silver One!'

Tairn growls, although I have no mental capacity to think much.

Six. Six figures.

I make out the face of a girl who looked livid to have failed to bond in the corner as I unsheathe my dagger from the armour. They had come to steal my bond with Tairn, one of the most strongest dragons of all. A black morningstartail.

Xaden's pov

Sorrengail is in danger.

I open my eyes, drenched in sweat. Sgael says into the bond, and I can just feel something is wrong. Looking down at Y/n tucked against me, I quickly undo her arms from me, tossing myself off the bed.

Sorrengail dies, then I die too.

'Xaden?' Y/n calls me sleepily from her blanket, ribbing her eyes.

'I'll be back.' I say urgently, feeling the raw frustration at having to leave Y/n alone for the second time tonight. All because of the mating bond, not that I disrespected the dragons or blamed them. But it didn't change the fact that I hated the situation and felt the pang of guilt for Y/n staring at my back in confusion and worry.

I sprint through the hallway, finding Sorrengail's room. Without hesitating, I burst the door open, my shadows rolling through the room without a conscious thought - only survival instinct. The attackers choke on the shadows gripping their throats, and I pull the shadows back to snap their necks. Blood soaks the floor as I throw a knife at the furthest one charging at me, the rest taking the chance of battling me one to one and also falling in the pool of their own blood.

I turn, Sorrengail pinned on the wall by one of the cadets by her throat. Before he can do anything, I twists his neck.

The bodies litter the grounds, and I glance back at Garrick having arrived to clear the bodies after hearing from his dragon.

'Wow, Riorson. The shit you can do when it concerns your or Y/n's life.' He says, unsurprised at the brutality that I am capable of. I ignore his snide remark, letting him get on with the work. Sorrengail's eyes glances between the two of us, as if we would do her harm after what we'd found out today.

'Go to the infirmary.' I tell Sorrengail, her eyes wide in terror as I watch her arm bleeds.

'How did you know?' She asks, her voice hoarse from the guy's grip on her seconds ago.

'Sgael told me.' I reply, turning to leave. She nods silently, looking shook at the incident.

'I heard them say that...the others...' I stop on my tracks, turning to face her again, dread coiling my gut. 'The other unbonded one, I mean... They said they want the red daggertail.'

My gut drops.

I try to reach Sgael to find out about it through Hwad, Y/n's dragon, but the bond remains silent.