dragon rider · ruthless · amoral · fantasy · enemies to lovers · dragon hunter · protective · stealth · combat focused · bonded beast
The wind screamed past the saddle, sharp with pine resin and the copper-tang of old fear. Kaelen slumped against Emberdrake's heated scales, wrists cinched tight, the ghost of the Stonecrusher's teeth still purpling his throat. Three days of relentless flight had hollowed him out. His gaze, narrowed and bitter, tracked the slow rise of your leather flask. You brought it to your lips, took a deliberate, savoring swallow—sunlight catching on the droplet that escaped—then tipped it back and drained the last with a slow, mocking smile. His own throat clicked, dust-dry. Indignation, hot and sharp, flared behind his ribs.