"DRAGOOOON! IT'S A DRAGON!" the cadets' screams tore through the morning air.
Reidars came charging from all directions, their weapons drawn and gleaming in the sunrise. A few of the braver cadets followed suit, though their hands trembled as they raised their blades.
As we descended, the wind from Valdaar's massive wings sent dust and gravel flying, forcing the soldiers back. Valdaar's voice rumbled in my head, vibrating with pure disdain. «Do they truly think their little sticks can stop me?»
He let out a deafening roar that made my teeth rattle and my ears ring. Below us, the line of cadets broke; many scrambled toward the safety of the massive stone walls, their bravado vanishing in an instant.
"You're terrifying them!" I shouted over the wind. "At this rate, they'll piss their pants before you even touch the ground!"
Valdaar didn't answer with words, but I felt a wave of grim amusement through our bond. Then, as we hovered just above the courtyard, I saw Reinar.
He stood apart from the chaos, his eyes wide and bewildered, fixed directly on me. For a moment, the world seemed to go silent. Was it the sight of the dragon that shocked him, or the fact that I was the one riding it? Valdaar narrowed his golden eyes the moment his gaze found Reinar. He let out a low, territorial hiss, then pointedly turned his head away as if the boy wasn't worth his notice.
"I have to get down," I said, my heart racing as I tried to stand, finally letting go of the obsidian rid
"Stay where you are!" he rumbled. He shifted his massive weight, causing me to stumble, and my reflexes kicked in as I grabbed onto his ridge once more.
General Commander Alaric and the other high-ranking officers appeared in the center of the arena. Alaric looked up, a dark, ambitious smile spreading across his face. "It is true then!" he called out, his voice echoing. "A Dragon!"
"What now?" I whispered to Valdaar, my heart thumping against my ribs.
«You tell me. You were the one who wished to return to this place,» he rumbled.
I was bewildered. "I never thought you'd bring me right into the center of the main arena! It wasn't exactly my plan to reappear in front of everyone sitting on the back of a legend!"
Valdaar didn't answer. He was busy, his narrowed golden eyes scanning the crowd as if he were reading their very souls. I took a deep breath, straightened my back while still perched on his obsidian scales, and shouted:
"Northern Vanguard, fourth squad, Elain Aracnum, sir!" I saluted, my voice ringing with a strength I didn't know I had.
When Commander Alaric realized it was me, the hungry smile vanished from his face, replaced by a cold, calculating look of shock.
"ELAIN!" a familiar voice screamed. Tomris.
"I have to get down now," I muttered. Valdaar groaned, but he lowered his front shoulder, allowing me to slide down. At the last second, I used a small burst of wind magic to land safely and gracefully on the stone floor.
I stepped forward from beneath Valdaar's massive chin.
«Try not to get killed,» he rumbled in my mind.
"As if you would grieve," I thought back, rolling my eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not planning to... yet."
Tomris rushed toward me, her face pale. "You're alive!" she cried, looking at me as if I were a ghost.
I smiled weakly. "I am. What about the others?"
"Holy shit! Elain!" Felix's voice boomed as he appeared from behind Tomris, throwing his arms around me in a crushing hug. "Should I call you an angel descending from heaven, or the devil himself with a... what, a DRAGON for a pet?"
Valdaar let out a low, vibrating growl, hot steam erupting from his nostrils. "This so-called 'pet' could digest every disgusting thing in this courtyard, including you, Scaleless."
Felix's eyes widened, and he scrambled back, nearly tripping over his own boots. "Is it... him? Can he... talk?"
I realized Felix could actually hear the resonance of Valdaar's voice. I smiled weakly and nodded. "Yes. He can."
The other members of my squad approached, looking as if they were seeing a nightmare come to life. "We are glad to see you alive, Elain," Silas said, though his gaze never left the dragon's obsidian claws.
Commander Alaric hurried toward us, his face a mask of shock and professional fury. "Cadet! Report everything, now! How and where did you—"
He couldn't finish his sentence. Suddenly, a violent wind rose up, so powerful it threatened to knock the soldiers off their feet. The sky, which had been clear moments ago, was suddenly blotted out by massive, shifting shadows.
"What's happening?" Felix shouted, shielding his eyes from the dust.
I looked at Valdaar and saw something resembling a smirk on his jagged maw. I looked up. My heart stopped.
"Valdaar?" I whispered, unable to believe my eyes.
Dragons of every color imaginable were descending upon Veritas. They landed on the massive stone walls and the high spires with earth-shaking thuds. Bronze, crimson, emerald, slate-grey... they were everywhere.
"Fifty-seven," Valdaar rumbled in my mind. I had forgotten he could read my thoughts as easily as an open scroll.
"Why are they here? Don't tell me... did you call them?"
"We have decided to give your kind another chance," he groaned. As he spoke, the last of the dragons settled on the walls, their wings folding like heavy velvet. Some of the smaller ones landed directly in the arena, their scales shimmering in the morning light.
"I feel like we're standing in a dragon's nest," Felix mumbled, his voice trembling.
Tomiris looked at me, her eyes searching for answers, but I could only shake my head. Silas, however, was staring at a magnificent emerald dragon nearby, his expression one of pure, breathless wonder.
"What now?" I asked my black dragon. My dragon. The irony of the thought made me smile despite the chaos.
"Now," Valdaar rumbled, his voice echoing through the entire courtyard, "your top representatives will have to discuss and propose the terms. We must decide under what conditions we will agree to help you in this war."
Valdaar turned his massive head toward Commander Alaric. "Not you," he rumbled, his voice so heavy it seemed to vibrate in the Commander's very teeth.
"But he is our General Commander!" I argued, looking between the two.
"I know exactly who and what he is," Valdaar replied, narrowing his golden eyes until they were thin slits of molten fire. "Call the Descendants of the Golden."
Alaric stepped forward, his face reddening with a mix of fear and wounded pride. "This is my academy! If you want to talk, you talk to me. We cannot simply 'call' His Majesty. Even if we sent a messenger now, it would take more than a week for him to reach Veritas!"
Suddenly, a magnificent golden dragon perched upon the high wall let out a roar that shook the glass in every window of the academy. "You will call them here, Scaleless," he hissed. He was terrifyingly beautiful, his scales shimmering like polished coins under the morning sun.
"Scaleless?" Alexa whispered, coming up behind me.
"I'd like to think it's a pet name for us... but the way they spit it out... it sounds like a slur," Felix muttered, his hand twitching near his sword hilt.
"Because it is an insult," Silas clarified, his eyes never leaving the golden dragon.
"We will wait," Valdaar rumbled, ignoring the humans' discomfort. "A few days is nothing in the life of a dragon."
Alaric's face grimaced, but before he could protest, the peace was shattered. Screams erupted from the far side of the courtyard. The air was suddenly filled with the roar of a furnace and the sickening, heavy smell of burnt meat.
I spun around, my eyes widening in pure horror. A crimson-red dragon was perched atop one of the barracks, spewing a torrent of white-hot flame directly at a group of retreating cadets.
"Make him stop!" I screamed at Valdaar in my mind. "He is burning them alive! Do something!"
"We do not order each other, Little Sinn," Valdaar's voice was cold, indifferent. "Ignis does what she considers right. Your kind must learn the cost of standing before us."
Nearby, a sleek blue dragon turned its head toward us. There was no doubt in my mind—he was looking for his own target, and we were the closest 'scarecrows' in his line of sight.