Ashes of the Bound

In a world where only the strongest survive the bond of dragon and rider, Valerie Jhones is a girl forged by pain - short, scarred, sharp-tongued, and far more dangerous than she appears. Haunted by memories she can't explain and a mark on her back she refuses to show, Valerie enters the Riders' Quadrant to claim a future that has always tried to break her.

But when she bonds not one, but two of the rarest dragons alive - an obsidian beast of pure shadow and a snow-white dragon of eerie stillness - the world takes notice. And so do the wrong people.

Whispers trail her. Dreams blur into visions. And deep in her skin, a strange tattoo pulses with something ancient, something forbidden - something awakening.

As Valerie navigates the brutal politics and deadly tests of the Riders' stronghold, her dragons begin reacting to a presence that terrifies even them: Rhydian Veylor, a cold, hostile rider with a monstrous past and a dragon tied to ash and silence. He knows more than he says. He sees more than he should. And when their fates cross, his silence may be deadlier than any sword.

Worse still, something else is stirring.
A third presence. A creature of black and white scales, bound to death, time, and illusion - seeded in her dreams and tied to the mark she hides. Its name is only ever whispered:

Nyxara.

And when betrayal comes - as it always does - Valerie will learn that some marks aren't curses.
They're calls to war.

Rider... stay sharp, stay scarred, and don't get attached.
Most of them won't survive the first week.
But you?

You're about to break the world Valerie.

This story has elements*fourth wing*. Not entirely the same. Not all of these characters are mine. If you have read it before you will know what is mine and what isn't.