Ruthless 🗡️/ Fourth Wing

Chapter 55

The wind stung my skin as it whipped across the vast, endless fields. The soft, golden grass shifted in waves, each gust of air making the world seem alive, as if the land itself were holding its breath.

And then there he was. Codagh. The head of the dragons. The one who had lived longer than most kingdoms, whose fire had burned longer than the memories of men. His body stretched across the horizon, black scales shimmering like the night sky. His wings beat, sending tremors through the earth, and I could feel the heat of him even from where I stood, hundreds of paces away. It was as if the sun had just exploded, burning everything in its wake, and I stood at the center of the storm.

Fireheart, he called, his voice thundering in my mind like an ancient chant, one that had been passed down from gods and monsters alike.

I swallowed hard, my heart racing. The moment I'd always feared had come.

"You've known this day would come," he said, his voice filling the air, vibrating through my bones. "Your time has come."

"I don't understand," I managed, though my voice sounded like a whisper against the weight of his presence. "I've been training. I've been here—at Basgaith. I can't just... leave Im not ready." I choked on the words, already knowing how futile they would sound. I couldn't leave. Not when everything I'd worked for, everything I'd sacrificed, was right here.

My eyes involuntarily flickered to the distant shape of the college, the stone towers rising in the distance like a fortress. My home. Where I'd been trained to fight, to serve, to become something I never asked to be. A rider. A soldier.

But Codagh wasn't here for Basgaith, and he wasn't here for me to stay.

"You think the college, this place, will save you from what is coming?" Codagh's laughter echoed across the field. It was a deep, rumbling sound that carried the weight of centuries. "Nora, you are not just a rider. You are the mother of dragons. You carry the bloodline of the very gods who forged this world. Your destiny is not here. It never was."

My chest tightened at his words. The bloodline. It was the thing I'd always known but never fully understood. I'd heard the stories whispered in shadowed corners, heard them in the way my father had looked at me sometimes—like I was something both sacred and cursed. The bloodline of the Flameborn. The ones chosen by the dragons.

"No. This isn't real. I'm no—" I took a shaky step back, trying to steady myself.

"Do not lie to yourself." Codagh's eyes—those molten pools of fire and wisdom—bore into me. "You have the same blood as they do. The same fire that runs through their veins. You were born for this."

I clenched my fists, trying to hold onto some semblance of control. "No. I'm just Nora. Just a soldier. Just a rider."

The wind howled around us, but Codagh was unwavering. "You are more than just a rider, Fireheart. You are the heir of an ancient line, a line that has long been forgotten by those who seek power. Your presence here... at Basgaith... is no accident. The dragons know you. And they have waited for you."

His words sent a ripple through my chest. A bond I couldn't see, couldn't fully comprehend, pulsed between us. The connection, the pull, the knowledge that I had been born into something far larger than myself. I'd felt it all along, in the way I'd grown, in the way Arrax—my dragon—had bonded with me so deeply, so completely. His thoughts were as clear in my mind as my own. He was aware. He had always been aware.

"What about Arrax?" I asked, the question slipping from my lips before I could stop it. "I can't just leave him."

Codagh's molten gaze softened, just for a moment. "He knows, Fireheart. He feels it as you do. He will be ready when the time comes." He stepped closer, lowering his head to be level with mine. "You have a bond with him. A deep one. But it is not just for him that you were born. You are destined to awaken all the dragons, Nora. All of them."

I staggered back, my mind racing to catch up with his words. Awaken all the dragons? I felt like I was drowning in this truth, unable to breathe beneath its weight.

"But I... I have a duty here!" I shouted, desperation creeping into my voice. "I have trained for this. I've fought for this."

Codagh's eyes flared, and his voice grew darker, more ominous. "Your duty was never to Basgaith, Fireheart. It was never to the war college, nor to the leaders of the Sanctuaries or Provinces. Your duty is to the dragons. To the world. To the bloodline you carry."

I tried to steady myself, but everything was spinning. My mind raced, my heart pounded, and every part of me wanted to scream in defiance.

"What about Xaden?" I found myself asking. His name felt like a dagger in my throat. "What about him? He can't—"

"No," Codagh interrupted, his tone final. "He cannot know. Not yet."

"He cannot know?" The words slipped out in disbelief. I felt like I was losing control of my own thoughts. Xaden had been my anchor. My partner. My everything. How could I walk away from him, leave him in the dark, with the war brewing on the horizon? How could I betray the bond we shared?

"The world will change, Fireheart," Codagh continued, his voice a low rumble. "When they know who you are, they will come for you. For your blood. For the power you hold."

I shook my head, trying to fight the panic rising in my chest. "But we're so close. The war—there's so much at stake. I'm supposed to be here. Training. Preparing."

"You think you are preparing for war," Codagh's voice thundered. "But you are preparing for something far greater than any war. And when the world realizes what you are, what you hold inside you, they will wage a war of unimaginable proportions. A war not just for power, but for survival. A war that will consume everything you know."

I swallowed hard, my breath ragged in my chest. Codagh was right. I felt it deep in my bones. The world was changing. And I was at the center of it. But I wasn't ready. I couldn't be ready.

"I... I can't leave him," I whispered, my voice breaking as I thought of Xaden. Of the way he looked at me, the way he needed me.

"You will," Codagh replied, his voice unwavering. "You will leave everything behind. Because you are the last hope. The dragons will not wait for you to be ready, Nora. You are born of fire. And fire never waits."

I stared at him, feeling the weight of his words settle over me like a cloak of destiny. Fire never waits.