Duality | Fourth Wing

Prologue

(All characters belong to Rebecca Yarros and Fourth Wing except for Verena, Riagh and other OCs)

The battle had gone on for hours. Dragons, infantry and civilians were scattered before the city she grew up in. Dragon-fire and explosions threatened to decimate the high walls that protected her home.
Among the rubble of whatever had been outside the walls, there were corpses from both sides. Riders, dragons, soldiers, and sadly civilians.

Verena and Riagh circled the air above the entrance to Aretia, looking for any immediete threats. The infantry was holding off the Navarrian soldiers to the best of their ability. But the lines were starting to crack, after hours of fighting their troops had started to tire, and the Navarrians just kept pouring on.

Exhaustion started to numb her senses. While her dragon may still have a lot of energy left, hers was slowly seeping out after hours of brutal usage of her signet, and there was little left for her to give.

But it was her duty to Tyrrendor, and all the future victims if victory was not achieved. It was her duty to her father and brother to help bring this battle to an end, even if she died doing so. So she urged Riagh to fly towards the lines of soldiers, and he set the ones in silver armor ablaze meanwhile Verena kept an eye out for enemy dragons.

In the distance, behind the lines of Navarrian soldier, she spotted a green dragon take to the skies and due to the distance, she wasn't able to identify either the dragon or its rider, only that it was coming right towards them.

"A green is on it's way." she warned Riagh, and he ceased to burn soldiers in order to fly higher. Her stomach twisted at the color if the dragon, playing silently that it wasn't Ciuin and Atticus coming towards them.
She had hoped that Atticus would join Tyrrendor, but he was too loyal to Brennan, who in turn was loyal to his mother.

Ciuin was formidable, but she wouldn't be able to defeat Riagh when it really came down to it. The green dragon had its sights locked in on Verena and Riagh, and it wasn't about to turn around. A voice in the back of her head told her that the rider most likely wanted to glory of killing Verena Riorson themselves.

As it came closer and closer, Riagh pushed a burst of energy into her, readying to engage.

"They won't get to strike first." Riagh rumbled in her head and rose higher than the other dragon.
With a determined expression and calm mind, Verena stood up on the black scales of Riagh's back, and stepped over where his wing met his body, sword drawn and ready to drop down on the other rider.

When they aligned with the other dragon, she dropped down and landed on the green scales behind the rider.

The dragon must have alerted its rider since he quickly rose from his seat, drawing his own sword. Verena sprung forward and attacked, her sword only a flash of silver. In the middle of one of her swings, he dropped down and attempted to sweep her feet from under her.

In just the right moment she jumped to avoid being thrown on her back, but he was also quick back up to his feet and they once again engaged. The tip of his sword caught her upper arm, resulting in a slash going from her shoulder almost all the way down to her elbow.

It burned like fire and she grit her teeth and looked at the face of her opponent, who himself had a confident grin on his face. But that confidence would come to be his death.

He had dropped his guard for just a moment to bask in the breif victory, and it was enough for her to rush forward and bury her blade between his ribs, in his heart, and she could feel the moment it stopped pumping the blood through his veins.