They say that a dragon without its rider is a tragedy. But, a rider without their dragon is dead.
Excerpt of recovered correspondence of Lieutenant Xaden Riorson; beneficiary unknown.
Thana’s fingers brushed against the cool metal surface of the counter as she placed the last of the plates in their rightful spots on the line. The kitchen smelled faintly of fresh bread and spices, the soft murmur of other students chatting in the dining hall beyond just barely reaching her ears. Kitchen duty before breakfast wasn’t the most glamorous task, but it kept her busy—and at this hour, it was better than sitting alone in her room letting her thoughts spiral.
Across from her, Evander Vossir was fumbling with a tray of plates, his hands shaking as he tried to arrange them neatly. His brow was furrowed in concentration, but despite his effort, his movements were stiff and clumsy, and every few seconds, a plate would slip from his hands and clatter noisily against the counter.
Liam was sitting on the bench nearby, eating an apple, looking entirely too relaxed for someone who had been up at the crack of dawn for sparring. He raised an eyebrow at Thana, casually tossing the core of his apple into the nearby bin.
“So, about that girl in the mess hall yesterday—her name's Estella, right?” he asked, his tone teasing.
Thana shot him a sidelong glance as she adjusted a few plates, keeping her voice flat. “Liam, can we not talk about your lady friends while we’re doing this?”
“Just trying to lighten the mood.” He leaned back, hands behind his head, clearly enjoying the break.
Meanwhile, Evander dropped another plate, sending it crashing onto the floor, the sound harsh and grating. Thana winced as the pieces shattered.
“Take it easy, Evander,” she said, her tone softer than it might have been. She knew the kid was nervous; he was barely holding it together. She couldn’t blame him. Everyone was on edge, even if they weren’t showing it. “I know you're scared, but this is kitchen duty. Stop stressing yourself out.”
Evander looked up at her, his wide eyes full of panic. “I—I’m not messing up on purpose, I swear! I just… I can’t—”
“I know,” Thana said, cutting him off, trying to sound more reassuring than she felt. She paused, then added with a small shrug, “You’re not getting graded on how you stack plates.”
Liam chuckled, but Thana didn’t miss the way his gaze softened when it landed on Evander. He didn’t like seeing people struggle either, even if he made light of it.
Evander gave a shaky nod, wiping his hands on his apron as if to somehow clean away his nervous energy. “I don’t want to mess up,” he mumbled, mostly to himself, as his hands shook slightly.
“Evander,” Thana said, stepping closer and placing a hand on his shoulder gently. “You’re doing great.”
But just as she said that, the door to the kitchen opened with a soft creak, and in walked Xaden Riorson, his tall figure casting a shadow across the room. He was talking with Liam about something, his tone calm and easy, but Thana noticed that Evander stiffened at the sound of Xaden’s voice. It was almost as if the tension in the room doubled.
Thana looked over at Liam, who raised his eyebrows in amusement. Xaden’s voice was smooth as he greeted them casually, unaware of the other presence in the room. “Morning.”
Liam gave a lazy wave, barely acknowledging Xaden, but Thana offered a small smile, trying not to laugh at the sight of Evander quivering in the corner. Before she could say anything, there was a loud crash behind them. Thana whipped around just in time to see Evander drop the tray of plates, the clattering sound echoing in the quiet kitchen like a bomb going off.
Evander froze, his eyes wide and filled with horror. He bent over quickly, scrambling to pick up the pieces, hands trembling violently.
Xaden turned around, his expression unreadable as his eyes landed on the mess. “Evander?” he asked, his voice quieter now, tinged with concern. “You okay?”
Evander’s face was flushed with embarrassment, his mouth working but no words coming out. He nodded feverishly, as if trying to convince himself more than anyone else. “I’m fine, really. Just—just a little slip, that’s all.”
Xaden took a step toward him, kneeling down beside him and gently placing a hand on his shoulder. The contact was surprisingly gentle, a stark contrast to the tension that had filled the room moments earlier. “Evander, take a breath,” he said calmly. “You're going to cut yourself if you keep going like this. Relax.”
Evander didn’t look up, still scrambling to clean up the mess, his hands shaking with the effort.
“Evander,” Xaden repeated, this time more firmly. “You’re excused. Take a walk or something. Let someone else clean up.”
Thana watched as Evander’s face went even redder, but after a long, awkward pause, he finally nodded and stood, moving quickly toward the door with a muttered, “Sorry. Sorry, everyone.”
Xaden watched him leave, his gaze lingering on the door for a moment before he stood up and turned back to Thana and Liam. “You’ve got a lot of nervous energy around here today, don’t you?”
Liam smirked, grabbing another apple. “Tell me about it. You should see the other first years. It’s like watching a bunch of rabbits in a snake pit.”
Thana shook her head, but she couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped. She had a feeling this was going to be one of those days where every tiny thing felt like it might just fall apart.
They finished setting up the breakfast buffet before joining their peers in the dining hall.
Thana sat at the far end of the long table in the dining hall, her head propped up on one hand as she absently stirred her porridge with the other. The early morning sun streamed in through the tall windows, casting golden light over the breakfast crowd. Across from her, Liam was already devouring his food, as if the day’s lessons had already started and he needed every ounce of strength. Next to him, Bodhi was lazily picking apart a roll, making casual conversation with Imogen about the upcoming challenges.
“You look like you’re plotting someone’s demise,” Liam teased through a mouthful of food, his eyes glinting with humor as he glanced up at Thana.
Thana smirked, leaning back in her chair. “Maybe I am. Plenty of candidates around here.”
Liam chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t start your day by decapitating anyone, please. At least not before lunch.”
"Fine,” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “I’ll wait.”
As they finished breakfast, the bell chimed, signaling their next lesson. Thana pushed her tray away and stood, pulling her satchel over her shoulder. The group headed toward Professor Kaori’s lecture hall, their footsteps echoing in the corridors. The energy was tense—Presentation and Threshing were drawing nearer, and everyone’s mind was on the dragons that could either bond them or burn them to ashes.
In class, Thana’s attention drifted as Professor Kaori began speaking. She found herself sketching again, her fingers dancing over the page as she drew the scarred dragon that had been haunting her thoughts lately. She captured the jagged line across his eye, the powerful frame of his body as he perched on the ledge, and the fearsome image of him flying overhead, wings darkening the sky.
“Keep the temperaments of each specific breed in mind when you decide which dragons to approach and which to avoid at Threshing,” Professor Kaori’s voice pulled her back to reality. She glanced up, her eyes narrowing slightly as the professor’s signet projected images onto the large screen behind him. The latest was a bright red dragon with a whip-like tail, tipped with a venomous barb.
“The red scorpiontails,” Kaori continued, “are the quickest to anger. And if you piss them off…”
“You’re dead,” Ridoc finished the sentence from across the room, earning a few chuckles.
The professor didn’t seem amused. “That’s right. Does anyone know how to properly approach a red scorpiontail?”
Silence hung in the room, and Thana’s eyes flicked to the others around her. No one raised a hand. After a beat, Kaori sighed. “Approach them from the left, and make sure it’s from the front. They hate being surprised.”
Next to her, Liam scribbled down every word in his notebook, his handwriting neat and precise. Thana, however, was only half-listening, her thoughts flitting between Kaori’s lesson and the strength she felt growing in her limbs thanks to Garrick’s brutal training. Her sparring victories gave her confidence, but they also made her aware of just how much more there was to learn.
“For this Threshing,” Kaori added, “there are three red scorpiontails willing to bond.”
“Three?” Rhiannon asked, her voice rising slightly in surprise. “How many dragons total?”
The room fell silent again, and Thana felt a sense of tension creeping in. Kaori’s expression was unreadable as he replied, “There are one hundred dragons. But remember, some may change their mind at Presentation.”
A hundred dragons didn’t sound like a lot. Not when there were so many first years vying for a chance to bond.
A first year in the front row raised his hand. “Do they ever explain why they don’t want to bond?”
Jack Barlowe’s scoff cut through the air before Kaori could answer. “No, jackass.”
Kaori shot Jack a look, then turned back to the class. “If you respect their life, you won’t question their decisions.”
The projector shifted to another image, this time of a sleek blue dragon with shining scales. Kaori’s expression hardened as he turned to the class. “Now, you won’t have to worry about blue dragons this Threshing. None of them are left to bond.”
Thana’s heart sank. She had been hoping—foolishly, maybe—that the scarred dragon she’d been sketching might be one of them. But Kaori’s words dashed that hope.
Kaori’s gaze swept the room, landing briefly on Thana. It felt like he could see through her thoughts, straight to the disappointment she was trying to hide. He continued, “The most powerful of the blues, Sgayel, is bonded. If you see her without her rider, find somewhere else to be. She’s dangerous.”
There was a murmur of unease that rippled through the room. “What about the other blue daggertail?” someone asked.
Kaori paused. “The other blue is none of your concern. We hadn’t seen him near Basgiath in over a decade. He is even more unpredictable than Sgayel and he’s been known to kill on a whim. I can’t say whether or not he’d keep his rider alive.” Thana shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“Now,” Jack Barlowe spoke up again, his voice filled with bravado, “what about the black dragon?”
Kaori’s face darkened. “He’s a morningstartail. I haven’t seen him in five years. He doesn’t bond, and if you see him, run. He’s a killing machine.”
The rest of the class passed in a blur of dragon breeds and bonding odds, but Thana’s mind was elsewhere. Her fingers drummed lightly on the edge of her desk as she thought about the moves Garrick had taught her that morning. He had warned her she could decapitate someone if she wasn’t careful and they flirted with the idea of trying it on Violet Sorrentail. Or Jack. He’d do too.
As the bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson, Thana and Liam gathered their things. Thana ripped the pages of her dragon sketches from her notebook and stuffed them into her bag before they left the classroom. The crisp air outside hit her as they stepped into the courtyard, and Liam walked beside her in companionable silence for a moment.
“You’re over thinking again,” he finally said, nudging her shoulder gently with his own.
Thana sighed. “I can’t help it.”
Liam stopped walking, turning to face her with an intensity she wasn’t expecting. He looked into her eyes and she felt exposed. She though he was going to praise her for training so hard with Garrick but, he caught her off guard. “You’ll bond a dragon, Thana. You’re more worthy than any of us. And, I know you want it to be but, I hope it’s not him,” he said with a nod toward her sketch sticking out of her bag.
She shrugged. “Kaori said none of the blues are left to bond.”
Liam offered her a tight-lipped smile and Thana watched as he strolled toward the sparring gym. There was some girl he had promised to train but, Thana knew Liam better than that.
As she walked through the halls back to her bunk in the first-year dorms she kept thinking about the dragons from Kaori’s class. What was it like to bond a dragon? Can a dragon change their mind? What if she’s not worthy? What if no dragon even wants to bond with her?
As she unpacked her bag and stuffed her sketches under her mattress she saw a small sculpture on her night stand. She picked it up to examine it and in her hand sat the blue daggertail with the scars etched perfectly across it’s wooden frame.
Alongside the sculpture sat a note written in Liam’s handwriting;
I hope this reminds you of all that you’re capable of. If this scarred dragon is yours, I won’t lie; the thought scares the hell out of me. But I know you’ll handle it. You always do.All my love,xx
