FADED STONES -~- ₁FOURTH WING!

chapter one (Conscription Day)

Strutting up the last stone steps of the open chamber, she finally set her onyx eyes on the rutty parapet she'd climbed hundreds of flights of stairs to get to.

'Well shit,' she thought. That was a whole lot smaller than she'd been led to believe.

Lighting struck, streaking the gray sky pearl for a moment. The wind blew through the large opening, causing chills to run down her spine.

The dark sky above was perfectly portraying her somber mood.

She adjusted the heavy rucksack slung over her shoulder, nerves tingling her skin like hungry mosquitos.

Mara had trained the majority of her life for the Riders Quadrant. Today she would cross the parapet. She would prove she deserved to be on the back of a dragon.

A small, half-mile long stone pathway. That's what the parapet was. Her booted foot would approximately take up the entire surface, leaving absolutely no room for her to screw up.

She took a deep breath. She could do this.

Scratch that, she had to do this. For her brother. Her cousin. Her best friends. She would do it. If not for herself, then for them. Her family.

Speaking of family, her eyes wandered over to a matching pair of onyx ones.

Her big brother, Xaden Riorson.

Mara's heart swelled at the sight of him, and she longed to run into his protective embrace.

The last time she'd seen her brother was when the guards were dragging them away from one another.  At their father's execution.

Mara was soon after dropped into a foster home with Bodhi and Imogen, reaching the maximum limit of three per home. Of course that hadn't lasted long. All marked ones had been in at least 2-3 foster homes in the last five years. If not several more.

But they had stayed in contact. A letter every week. Bribes to make the mailers take them, to tell them where the other was. It was probably the only reason she survived her foster homes.

However, letters were nothing compared to actually seeing him.

She stared, hoping he'd look back.

He did not.

Instead, Mara's eyes found a short meek looking girl a few people ahead of her.

Like, very short. And thin. Mara's head tilted to the side, 'she kinda resembles a bug.'

Mara knew better than to underestimate the girl though. Even insects could spread their wings and soar.

A sharp scream sounded throughout the chamber, drawing Mara from her pointless chain of thought. Her head snapped towards the parapet.

Murmuring began as everyone set their hungry gazes on him. To them, he was competition. Just another lamb to slaughter for warm wool.

The blonde man was hanging onto the stone with his muscled arms. Dangling like a fish trapped on a hook.

Her heart pounded through her ears.

Was he going to pull himself up?

A bronze skinned girl in front of the short one yelled, "Pull yourself up Dylan!" The other girl offered encouragement too. It was pointless.

He tried, his arms flexing. Dylan let out a loud grunt, attempting the impossible. But the rain was not helping him. His fingers slipped, and he screamed again. This time, it was met with weighed silence.

He was another body lost to the Rider's Quadrant. Another unlucky soul who thought they had what it takes to prevail.

She knew she had what it took. And she'd prove it, too.