It’s not sky. It’s a boulder.
We’re about to become debris thanks to a triggered trap.
“Take cover!” I shout, throwing up my hands and pushing back against the cliff wall, making myself as small as possible while I reach for Tairn’s power as a boulder hits the edge of the ledge an ascent above and barrels toward us.
My heart beats in my ears. It’s just like turning a door handle. Just like twisting a lock. It’s a lesser magic. I can do lesser magics…
With a boulder the size of a feathertail?
I envision the boulder changing course and twist my hands—
Black streaks through my vision a second before an explosion sounds above me, and I cover my head with my hands as pebbles rain down.
Tairn pulverized the boulder with his tail.
“Thank you.” I sag back against the rock wall and take a couple of deep breaths to slow my hammering heart.
“Vi!” Rhiannon yells from up ahead.
“We’re all right!” I shout back.
“Holy shit.” Maren leans next to me, her hand on her chest.
“Morningstartail?” Sloane asks.
“Morningstartail,” I confirm, watching Tairn level out, then fly back our direction.
Within seconds, he’s hovering in front of me with precise beats of his wings, his golden eyes narrowing.
Maren ducks her head, and Sloane looks away.
“Hey, that wasn’t my fault. I didn’t slip.” I lift my brows at him.
“It would be a shame to have gone through the last year just to have you kill us on a measly hike.”
I scoff. “Noted.”
He flexes his wings, air gusting against my cheeks before he dives again.
“Is…um…that normal?” Maren asks as we resume the trudge, my heart pounding through the surge of adrenaline.
“Which part? Tairn saving my ass? Or being grumpy about it? Because yes, both are normal.”
“When you walk your parapet, there are rocks thrown at you?” she clarifies.
“Oh.” I shake my head. “No. You just have to cross it, which is harder than it sounds. What do you go through to be chosen?”
“We walk to the edge of Cliffsbane, look out over the river—it’s about thirty feet deep at that point—and wait for the drifts to fly by.” Her tone lightens, and when I glance back, she’s smiling. “When they approach, we jump.”
“You jump?” Sloane whips her head back, her eyes wide.
Maren nods, and a dimple forms in her cheek. “We jump. And if we can land on a gryphon, climb into position, and hold on, they bond us.” She reaches up and scratches under Dajalair’s chin where beak turns to feather.
“That’s pretty badass,” Sloane admits begrudgingly. “What happens if you miss? Do the bodies wash up on the shore?”
We both pause, turning fully to watch Maren respond. Have to admit, I’m curious, too.
Maren blinks. “Bodies? No one dies. It’s just like cliff jumping. If we miss, we swim to shore, dry, and shake off the embarrassment—and pick another branch for service. Infantry and artillery are popular.”
Sloane and I exchange another look. “You just…swim to shore,” I say slowly. “Yeah.” Maren nods, then points between Sloane and me. “And before you ask, it’s you all who are the weird ones, killing cadets on your conscription day.”
I draw back, letting her words sink in.
“Technically, they’re candidates,” Sloane mutters. “We’re only cadets once we cross.”
“Well, I guess that makes it better,” Maren quips sarcastically.
“Hey, are we moving or what?” Sawyer calls from behind us.
“Moving!” I answer, then turn and keep hiking up the incline as a pulse of star-bright energy courses down the bond from Tairn.
“Whoa,” Sloane says, putting her hand over her heart. “What was that?”
“I felt it, too.” Maren blinks.
“Aretia’s first hatchling has chosen to emerge,” Tairn tells me, his tone clipped, considering the news.
“We have hatchlings?” I grin. “Why don’t you seem happy about it?”
