Page 39 of Wild Bond (Wild Bond #1)

“K new you could do it, Button!” Zade crowed as he slung an arm around my shoulders. I jostled a little, but he was careful not to touch the still tender spot on my upper arm that now bore the dragon rider tattoo; a more delicate, feminine version than the one on his own arm.

It was several hours after the last trainee had passed the Second Trial, and we were all standing in the banquet hall. The scene was much the same as the night before, if slightly more jovial and less tense. Except now, everyone was clad in rider leathers rather than the brown trainee leathers; black for Baldor, gray for Halmar, and a deep sandstone for Zehvi. The more experienced riders wore their dragonscale armor. I noticed, however, that several riders from Zehvi wore a small dragon insignia on their left breast over their armor, and when I asked Rake about it, he explained that they were members of the Fangdar—Prince Malik’s elite group of dragon riders that answered only to him.

Many of the dragons and their riders had left now that the trials and official ceremonies were over. Storm clouds were gathering outside, and many had wished to be on their way before the storm hit. Even so, this final celebration showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, even though it was now well after midnight.

“You’re one of us now,” Zade grinned, pulling me out of my thoughts, “and with so little training, too. Rake and Dembe are going to be insufferable now.” He gestured to the two men currently standing across from us. “Look at those smug faces.”

I glanced over at my two trainers with a smile, and neither of the men even tried to hide their proud, self-satisfied grins.

“We can’t take all the credit,” Dembe qualified, holding up the drink in his hand. “She had other trainers, and Rin was the one who pulled this off. It appears some of that training actually sank in.”

I laughed. “Gee, thanks. I’ll try not to let such a glowing endorsement go to my head.”

Everyone chuckled, and Zade and Dembe began debating the merits of certain training techniques.

While they were semi-distracted, Rake crossed over to me. “I’m proud of you,” he murmured quietly, and I flushed.

“Thank you.”

His eyes devoured me as he drew close. “You passing the trials was worth it just to see you in that uniform,” he joked in my ear. “I like seeing you in black. You look positively edible.”

“Careful, Commander,” I warned in a teasing tone that I knew would drive him crazy, “or people will start to wonder.”

Rake gave me a censuring look, though I could see the warmth in his eyes. “I told you before, I don’t care what people think. And you’re a dragon rider now, so I’m no longer your instructor.” He leaned down, nipping my ear lightly and making me bite back a gasp. “Besides,” his hot breath tickled across my skin and left goosebumps behind as he spoke, “I want everyone here to know you’re mine.”

“Are you sure it’s not just one rider in particular?” I taunted, glancing pointedly over to where Prince Malik was talking with another dragon rider not too far away. Rake’s gaze followed mine.

“Either way, the point is moot.” He stared down at me. “You’re mine. I’m tempted to kiss you here and now just to show them all who you belong to, decorum be damned.”

I wanted to melt at the sheer possessiveness in the words. I hadn’t bothered to tell him that the prince had already guessed at the nature of our relationship. And despite their mutual dislike, I didn’t think Malik had any intention of coming between us. Instead, I leaned up and whispered against Rake’s lips, “I’d much rather you take me somewhere more private and show me instead. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about last night . . . or this morning.”

His eyes flared, then turned molten. “Well then, I’ll just have to—"

A sharp warning cry went up, the roar of several dragons echoing from outside. Our heads whipped toward the sound.

“What—” I began.

A loud boom shook the mountain followed by the shattering of glass and stone and several alarmed yells and cries of pain. Rake and I both turned, instantly alert, to see that the massive stone balcony that took up a large portion of the right side of the hall, now had a huge portion missing from one side. What had once been flat, time-smoothed stone, was now a jagged, scorched mess. The thick glass doors had been blasted off completely, and a large hole now sat open to the chilly night air.

Several riders who had been out on the balcony were now scrambling away from the edge. One rider clutched a burned, mangled leg as her dragon pulled her to safety.

My gaze was drawn past the injured rider to the night beyond, wondering at what had caused the explosion. My eyes could just make out dark shapes in the sky, some of them still far off but growing steadily closer.

My blood chilled.

Dragons. Dozens and dozens of them. For a moment, I couldn’t comprehend it. Why would wild dragons be attacking . . . but then I saw the rider sitting tall on the back of the nearest dragon. The same one I surmised that had just shot a stream of fire directly at us—at Three Points itself. So, not wild dragons then, this was other dragon riders.

Skye came to land at my side in her minor form, as Naasir did the same for Rake. Many dragons were following suit throughout the hall as we all took in the unknown threat.

“Mount up!” Rake bellowed, his order carrying in the large space. “We’re under attack!”

His words were the catalyst that had everyone springing into action. Weapons were drawn and people ran for their saddles. There was a limited amount of space at the edge of the partially destroyed balcony, even though it took up the length of one side of the hall. Only four or five dragons were able to shift and take off at once. I watched in fascination as lines quickly began to form leading up to the balcony. One dragon and rider would mount up and take flight as the dragon behind shifted into their natural form and their rider saddled them. Riders from all three kingdoms did this with the ease of long practice. In that moment, I was thankful for all the times Rake had made me practice saddling and unsaddling Skye until I could do it perfectly in less than a minute.

As we ran towards the balcony, Prince Malik fell into step beside us, all of us having been on the far side of the cavern.

“Yours?” Rake demanded, glaring at the prince.

Prince Malik glared back at him. “No. My riders would never attack the sanctuary. No Zehvitian would dare disobey my orders so flagrantly.”

Rake shot him a look that conveyed his doubt of that statement. But if the cold rage on the prince’s face was any indication, I couldn’t help but think he was telling the truth.

Just as we reached the mass of riders crowded near the balcony, Dembe and Zade appeared with my and Rake’s saddles, as well as their own. I hadn’t even seen them take off for the tack room where all the saddles were stored. As I thanked Zade and took Skye’s saddle from him, a Zehvitian rider appeared at Malik’s side and delivered his saddle.

Before long it was almost our turn and Skye began to shift at my side as I threw the saddle over her back.

“And you?” Malik barked to Rake, as he saddled his intimidating crimson dragon—a dragon nearly as large as Naasir—almost before he had stopped shifting.

“Not unless the council is acting without my knowledge,” Rake bit out as his large form swung gracefully onto Naasir.

That left Halmar , I thought. But even as I climbed up Skye’s leg and into the saddle, I could see Princess Helene and her golden dragon launching into the fray from the crumbled edge of the balcony. It seemed unlikely that her kingdom was behind this either.

But who, then? Some rogue group? I knew that couldn’t be. There were no rogue dragon riders. Those who bonded were coveted and monitored too closely by their kingdoms.

And yet . . . here they were.

Lightning split the sky and a rumble of thunder shattered the darkness. The promised storm had arrived, though it wasn’t raining yet. I took in the scene of the battle. Dragons and pillars of flame filled the sky, with the backdrop of the other mountains behind and the ravine below. It was breathtaking in a brutally violent way.

I watched as Dembe, Zade, and Prince Malik dropped off the edge and joined the fray. Pulling my eyes from the sight, I shared a look with Rake.

A world of unspoken emotion was in his eyes. “Be careful!” he said, his mouth a hard line. I could tell that he wanted to say more—possibly ask me to stay close to him, or not participate in the fight at all—but I knew he wouldn’t do that.

And I loved him for it.

I loved him.

It was a strange moment to have such a realization . . . but then again, I was pretty sure I had known it for a while now.

A wild, reckless part of me was ready to tell him just that when Rake’s words stopped me from opening my mouth.

“Not here!” he commanded, his eyes blazing. He must have seen something in my expression or guessed at what I was about to say. “Save it for when our lives aren’t in danger. I want to be able to respond properly.”

“Yes, Commander!” I hollered back with a mocking smile. And despite the currently dire situation, I felt Skye’s amusement in the bond as I faced forward. I forced myself to focus on the circumstances at hand as our dragons leapt into the sky.

It took me a few seconds to get my bearings, taking in the chaos that surrounded us as the battle raged. Unlike us, Naasir and Rake didn’t hesitate. Naasir swooped down then shot up from below towards an enemy dragon who had its mouth around the neck of another dragon, knocking it hard and forcing it to let go of its opponent. The blow sent the dragon and its rider careening sideways.

At almost the same moment, I saw Nesenya and her dragon tackle another dragon and shove them into the side of the rocky mountain face. A familiar white dragon flew past, and I watched as Prince Pierce threw a knife and it struck one of the rogue riders in the chest.

Then my eyes caught on the rider from before—the one whose dragon released that first blast of fire. The rider was slim and covered in dark armor from head to toe, including a helmet that covered their face entirely except for a slit for the eyes.

There, I prompted Skye. She knew where I was looking and arrowed towards the rider without a second thought.

Skye banked and spun to avoid the snapping jaws of a much smaller dragon attacking from the side. Skye whipped around, biting into the end of its tail, and yanking it off course. In a show of strength that shocked even me, she flung the enemy dragon into another that was passing us. Both dragons let out sharp cries as they collided and tried to stop their sudden tumbling plummet towards the ground.

Both enemies forgotten, Skye spun back around and continued heading for our target. The unknown rider was still sitting atop what I could now see was a maroon-colored female dragon. The rider hovered above the battle raging below. Something about the way the rider was holding back made me think that they were simply observing the fight—almost analyzing it.

My point was proven a moment later when the armor-clad rider simply watched as one of their comrades was attacked by a Halmarish dragon rider. The dragons clawed and bit at one another while the Halmarish dragon rider leaned far over in the saddle and slew the rogue rider with a single swipe of his sword. The helmeted rider did nothing except watch the rider and dragon fall. It didn’t seem like the rider had any intention of participating.

I was about to change that.

Skye let out a stream of fire as we approached, aimed directly at the helmeted rider. At the last second, the rider saw us coming and tried to duck out of the way. Even over the roar of flames, and another boom of thunder, I heard the feminine cry of pain as the fire burned through part of the armor at the shoulder.

So, the rider was a woman, and her armor wasn’t made of dragonscale or she wouldn’t have been burned. Of course, she was still better off than I was, since I only wore my riding leathers.

But to my surprise, the rider didn’t counter with an attack of her own. Instead, she and her dragon fled, diving downward toward the valley below.

“After her!” I yelled to Skye, but she was already giving chase. It still amazed me how fast Skye was and how quickly she could turn her big body and change direction.

We plunged after the fleeing pair, dodging and twisting to avoid other battling dragons. We quickly gained on the other dragon. I leaned forward as Skye put every ounce of speed into her wings that she could.

I quickly scanned our surroundings for any more combatants that might be drawing close, and that was when I noticed something was wrong. The rogue riders I could see seemed uncoordinated and unskilled, and the ease with which they were being slain spoke to a lack of training. Even their dragons seemed clumsy and erratic in their movements, something that dragons never were. I also noticed that most of the dragons appeared younger for the most part, their sizes making me think they were not quite or just past maturity.

Skye roared, and I once again focused on the dragon rider we were pursuing, dismissing the disconcerting thoughts for now. We were so close.

During the chase, the fleeing rider had flown downward. She began flying erratically in hopes of throwing us off, but Skye was having none of it. Now we were skimming low over the rocky ravine floor, possibly only several dozen feet from the ground. Letting out another ferocious roar, Skye’s head reared back before striking out like a snake. Her entire body shuddered and jerked beneath me as her jaws latched onto the other dragon’s tail.

The other dragon bellowed in pain and flailed, but no matter how much she thrashed, Skye refused to let go.

In a desperate move, the other dragon’s head whipped around and released a shot of flames in our direction just as Skye used her grip on the tail and lashed the other dragon downward. The dragon’s momentum had them careening off course and spiraling towards the barren valley floor. But I was unable to see what happened before my vision was filled by a wall of flames.

The flames wouldn’t hurt Skye, but without dragonscale armor, my fiercely protective dragon wasn’t so sure about me. Her instincts kicked in, and she swerved to avoid the fireball coming towards us.

“Watch out!” I cried, as we barely missed colliding with the top of a large dead tree in our path. Again, Skye’s speed and expert flying allowed us to miss it by mere inches.

Unfortunately, Skye’s maneuver placed us too close to the ravine wall, and she didn’t have time to avoid the large stone outcropping up ahead. Horror filled me as lightning lit up the night, and I saw the wall of stone in our path. Skye roared. There was nothing I could do but brace for impact as we crashed into it.