Fire Breather

24.

I dismounted from Nim, stretching my arms above my head with a small smile while the others complained. The flight to our weeklong tour of a forward outpost was only five hours for me considering Nim's speed, which allowed me an extra hour to lazily lay across her back as we waited for the others to land.

"I'm pretty sure I'm dying." Nadine bent over, bracing her hands on her knees.

"I feel that," Violet groaned as she stretched.

Of course, Dain's posture was only slightly stiff as he and Professor Devera greeted a tall man in rider black, who had to be the outpost commander.

"Welcome, cadets," the commander said with a smile, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sure you'd all like to get settled and into something a little more appropriate to the climate. Then we'll show you around Montserrat."

Between me and Violet, Rhiannon inhaled sharply, her gaze sweeping over the mountains.

"You all right?" Violet quietly asked.

"Is something wrong?" I whispered.

"Later," Rhiannon dryly answered us.

Later arrived in exactly twelve minutes after I was shown to my double-occupancy barracks room. The room was only furnished with two beds, two wardrobes, and a single desk under a wide window. Due to our numbers, I bunked alone and took my time through the bathing chamber to wash off the ride and then I dressed into our summer leathers.

Not long after that, I found myself waltzing into Rhiannon's and Violet's room, only to halt at Rhiannon's silence. "Okay, what's going on with you?" I firmly but gently asked her.

Rhiannon's hands trembled as she strapped her sword to her back. "Do you know where we are?"

I slowly turned to a confused Violet before facing back to Rhia. "We're in Montserrat...?"

"We're about two hundred miles from the coast—"

"My village is less than an hour away on foot." Rhiannon's eyes drifted between the two of us with an unspoken plea.

Without hesitating, I sent her a warm smile, grabbing her hand while not caring for the consequences if we were caught. "You know I'm down for anything, Rhia."

Violet took her other hand with a nod. "Don't tell anyone," she whispered. "We have six days to figure it out and we will."

Someone pounded on the door. "Let's go, Second Squad!" And that someone was fucking Dain.

Shortly, we joined the others, and Major Quade gave us the grand tour of the outpost. The fortress was basically four massive walls, filled with barracks and various chambers with turrets on each corner and a large, arched entrance that looked ready to drop at any moment. At one end of the courtyard, there was a stable with a blacksmith and armory, and on the other side was the dining hall.

"As you can see," Major Quade told us as we stood in the middle of the muddy courtyard, "we're built for siege. In the event of an attack, we can feed and house everyone within for an adequate amount of time."

Adequate? Ridoc mouthed, arching a brow.

I rolled my eyes with a small smile and Dain sent him a look that promised retribution from beside Violet.

"As one of the eastern outposts, we have a full twelve riders stationed here. Four are on patrol now, four wait, standing by in case they're needed, and the other four are in various stages of rest," Quade continued.

A distinct roar of a dragon echoed off the stone walls around us.

"That should be one of our patrols returning now," Quade said, tiredly smiling. "So we'll get you riders fed and put to bed, and then we'll work on who you'll be shadowing while you're here," Quade went on.