Fire Breather

12.

   EVERY year on October first was Threshing. It didn't matter if it was a Monday or a Thursday, it was always on the first of October—a day for the first-years of the Riders Quadrant to muster up their bravery and enter the frosted valley in hopes to come out with a dragon.

Which would be better than death.

"You're okay," I softly cooed Ridoc as he heaved up the contents of his stomach. "I told you not to stuff your face this morning." I continued to rub circles on his back while shaking my head in hopes that the rancid smell would fuck off soon.

"Really? You're going to lecture me now?" he grumbled before throwing up again, nearly getting it on my boots.

I slapped the back of his head, standing up again. "Now you're on your own, dickhead," I muttered, walking away from him before joining Liam's side. Furrowing my brows, I crossed my arms over my chest and watched his biceps tense with each push-up. "I shouldn't be surprised that you're doing damn push-ups already."

During the night, Liam had woken me up to sneak out to the river and I was pissed at first, until I remembered about Threshing, meaning last night could've been the last night we ever snuck out to smoke churam.

It was a comfortable night of silence, allowing us to forget the life we were forced into...until the sun rose, casting hues of pink and orange over us and reality snapped back into place and the two of us had to prepare for today.

"You ready for this?" he asked me, somehow not out of breath.

I nodded, changing around my daggers for the third time this morning. Before breakfast, Xaden slipped me one of his daggers with a special rune and told me it was fathers. Now it was sheathed against my right thigh, the first dagger I would go for if I was somehow disarmed from my longsword that was across my back.

The other seven of my daggers were sheathed to my shoulders, left thigh, kidneys, one in my boot, and the last one on my hip. I was literally a walking weapon.

"Remember to listen here," Professor Kaori advised us, standing before the 147 cadets while tapping his chest. "If a dragon has already selected you, they'll be called. So pay attention to not just your surroundings but your feelings, and go with them." He grimaced. "And if your feelings are telling you to go in the other direction...listen to that, too."

"Do you know which one you're going for?" I asked Liam as he stood up, his battle axe hanging from his side and daggers sheathed into his shoulders like mine. A small gift I gave him last night.

"A red one," he confidently stated, running a hand through his messy blond hair. "I can just feel it already. What about you?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted, stretching my arms back. "None of the dragons left an imprint on me during Presentation." I used the thin leather strap on my wrist to tie my three braids together at the back of my head. "But I know for a fact that I'm not leaving without a dragon. Even if it means I die trying."

Something hard hit the back of my head and I swore, looking up at Liam whose lips were pulled into a thin line. "You're not dying on me, B. You're not dying on any of us. Understand?"

I nodded but then kicked him in the shin, making him hiss in pain. "Slap me on the head again, and I'll cut off your balls." Before he could argue, I stood on my tippy toes, fixing the collar of his black fighting leathers. "Xaden will be observing us with the other second- and third-years. If something goes south, hopefully he'll be there to save one of us," I whispered, our faces inching closer to each other as he leaned down so no one else could hear us.

"He'll save you before me," he said lowly, his voice taking a raspy turn. "I would rather you be saved before me, B."

"We're going to make it to graduation together, remember?" I cleared my throat, my boots flat on the ground as I dropped my hands and took a step back. "You're stuck with me for life, Mairi."