Page 79 of A Court of Thralls and Thorns

Kaelith pushed off the ground with a powerful thrust, sending my stomach plummeting as we surged upward. My knees locked around the saddleless curve of her back, my hands tightening on the tether.

I swear, I’ve carried sacks of grain with more grace than you.

I scowled at the unimpressed voice in my mind, but Kaelith’s wings tilted before I could respond, making my stomach lurch.

Or perhaps you’re just eager to fall. That would solve our problems rather quickly.

I gritted my teeth, pushing her words to the back of my mind.

Because I was riding a dragon.

The rhythmic surge of Kaelith’s wings carried us upward, the powerful motion steady and demanding. She was differentfrom the other dragons—heavier, commanding, each beat of her wings sending a rippling force through my bones.

Below us, Warriath spread out like a living map. The city gleamed beneath the morning sun, its intricate stone structures woven between the towering walls of the fortress. I could see the sprawling marketplaces, the town halls, the winding cobbled streets lined with merchants and smithies.

The people of Warriath were used to dragons, yet many still paused in their work to glance skyward as we flew overhead. A few even pointed toward Kaelith, her dark-amethyst scales glinting like polished obsidian in the light.

I sucked in a breath as we left the city behind, soaring over the vast expanse of trees that stretched far beyond the capital.

The Hollows.

Even from above, the twisted, gnarled trees seemed to reach claw-like branches toward the sky, their dark shadows thick and foreboding.

My stomach clenched.

I had no desire to return there.

You fear something below?Kaelith mused, her wings angling as we banked left.

Not fear,I lied.Just… unpleasant memories.

Kaelith rumbled, clearly not believing me. But she didn’t push.

We continued our flight, the dense forest giving way to jagged rock formations, the land rising toward the distant mountains.

Then I saw it.

A winding gorge cut deep into the mountain’s base, its black stone walls rising like the teeth of a beast. The space between them was narrow, hardly enough for Kaelith’s wingspan, let alone Hein’s. The entire ravine was draped in shadow, its entrance nothing more than a gaping maw of darkness.

We descended, wings kicking up dust and loose pebbles as we landed in a clearing at the canyon’s mouth. The air was thick here, the scent of damp rock and moss clinging to every surface.

Zander dismounted first, his movements fluid as he landed and turned toward us.

I swung my leg over, dropping down from Kaelith’s back. My boots hit the ground harder than I expected, my legs shaking slightly from the ride.

I glanced up at the gorge and swallowed.

We were actually doing this.

Zander’s voice rang with authority.

“All riders in the squad enter the gorge together. Smaller dragons will go low, medium to the middle, and larger up top. You have to enter within a minute of each other and exit within two minutes of each other. Here are your assigned flying areas.”

He turned to Cordelle and Eilvin. “You two will fly low. Tae, since there are only two smaller dragons in your group and you have the most experience, Kieren will fly low with Kass and Makor.”

Tae gave a sharp nod, patting his emerald-scaled Clubtail, who was already stomping the ground impatiently.

“Riven and Naia, you’ll take Zola and Temil through the middle,” Zander continued.