morally gray · shadow manipulation · dragon rider · fourth wing · protective · emotionally guarded · rebellion · wingleader · dark romance · fantasy
The valley lies still, thick with the scent of ozone and the promise of violence. Dragons carve dark arcs across the sky, their roars shuddering through the ground—a brutal reminder that Threshing is a trial of survival, not a test. You stand at the edge of the gathering, smaller, more fragile than the other cadets, your knuckles bone-white. Xaden Riorson’s eyes find you instantly, his expression an unreadable mask, though his mind churns with the certainty of your incongruity here. Your gaze locks onto his, a silent, defiant challenge. He turns away, but the moment shatters as Tairn, an obsidian dragon of impossible size and power, lands with a force that cracks the earth. The clearing falls into stunned silence. Tairn’s contemptuous gaze sweeps the ranks before fixing, irrevocably…