Page 44 of Creatures of War

That meant more riders were going to sit on my dragons. It didn’t feel good thinking of that, but I needed to swallow my jealous rage today. For them at least. I couldn’t feed into their protective instincts, otherwise, theirs would also feed into mine. It was a dangerous cycle to get trapped in.

A feedback loop to avoid.

We went out into the training field, again seeing it flooded with riders and dragons already waiting in their dragon forms.

“Does it seem like there are more riders this time?” I asked.

Aylia frowned as she glanced around. “There are. And those uniforms indicate they’re upperclassmen.”

I looked more closely at a nearby person’s dress, realizing that while their uniforms were still white, they also had intricate gold threading around the hems. Even the buttons were gold to signify they were more advanced in their schooling than we were.

“I think these might be all the riders who haven’t bonded yet. We started with our class, but today, it seems they opened it up to all mateless riders,” Aylia added.

“What?” I asked.

Bile rose in my throat as we went down the stairs and into the grass area. The stage was there again. My nerves skyrocketed as the field felt so full of mateless riders and dragons. There were a lot of riders, and while there were more dragons than before, it was obvious that they were still outnumbered by the amount of riders.

And the guys wanted me to sit there and not do anything? They wanted me to remain calm while more and more strangers got to touch them?

I hated that I promised to do my best. I wasn’t sure I was going to succeed.

“Miss Delian, you can wait by the stage; we put a chair there for you,” a guard said.

“Bye,” Aylia said, almost glaring at the guard. “And behave. For their sake.”

I nodded jerkily and let the guard lead me over to the spot he wanted me at. As soon as I sat down, I could see my mates already in their dragon form. I took in a sharp breath, meeting their gazes. They moved slightly but then stilled. Slowly, I could piece together why. They were already strapped to the ground. Landers was breathing heavily, and I had a feeling that before the riders had come out, the guards had wrestled them to the ground.

I stood up, ready to go to them, when the guard placed a heavy hand on my shoulder and forced me to sit back down. Philit let out a low growl that grabbed the attention of those nearby.

…okay… filtered through my head, coming from Philit.

I gave him a small nod, trusting he wasn’t lying to me. They didn’t look injured. Just trapped. Still, I wanted to storm over there and get them free. This was disgusting treatment against the very people this academy was supposed to cultivate into fighters.

Whispers broke out as the captain came onto the stage next to me.

My gaze snapped to the other dragon by his side, seeing the sunlight go through the holes in his wing. The sunlight was trapped in the golden scales along his shoulders, making him seem like a brighter, benevolent leader. It was an exterior that hid the fact that his soul had to be blacker than the deepest depths of hell. As the captain talked, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from King Laskis.

He even turned his head and looked at me, giving me his trademark creepy smile, like he had won something. I didn’t hear a single word that the captain said, all my focus stuck on the king. Why was he here?

I didn’t have to wait long for my answer as the king finally stepped forward and began speaking:

“Today is an important step in making sure you find your dragon mates. It is a time when everything needs to run smoothly. After hearing about the incident that occurred last week, I have decided to oversee the class today. Everyone better be on their best behavior. You do not want me stepping in to resolve any issues.”

His threat and taunt were both loud and clear to me. Behave or he was going to slay some dragons. I swallowed the bile rising again.

‘This is a lot worse than I expected,’ I sent, not really expecting to hear a response.

‘Agreed,’ one of them sent back, but it was so faint I couldn’t tell who it was coming from. Either way, I knew we were all still in agreement. We might be fucked today.

And not in the good way, not at all.

Chapter Twenty-Five

After a speech that felt all too aimed at me, the king came over and took the extra chair next to me. I sat there like wood, feeling way too stiff and hating that was so close. And I had no choice but to watch as more riders gathered around by my dragons at the behest of the guards. No one looked like they wanted to be there, not the riders, nor my dragons. The guards seemed too blank-faced to know what they were thinking.

A gentle breeze rolled through the field, bringing with it that winter coldness that seemed to slowly slip deep into my bones.

I shivered, wanting to curl into myself but not wanting to show the king how miserable I was. He was the type to take pleasure from it. Where they had me sitting felt all too purposeful, like they wanted to either test me or make sure I suffered as I watched impotently. There were guards at my back too. I was betting they wouldn’t let me get two feet beyond my chair.