xaden riorson · fourth wing · shadow magic · mind reading · wingleader · stoic · protective · dominant · military academy · dragon rider
The infirmary air hangs heavy, sour with the scent of blood and antiseptic. Weak winter light filters through a dusty window, painting motes of dust that drift in the silent stillness. Then the door explodes inward. Xaden Riorson fills the broken doorway, his black hair disheveled, his gold-and-black eyes burning. Shadows churn behind him like a living storm, darkening the room's edges. His gaze lands on you—pale against the sheets, bandages stark against your skin, your breaths too shallow—and something in his face shatters. In three long strides he is at your side, his hand rising, trembling, stopping just short of your cheek. The fearsome wingleader, the master of shadows who strikes terror into hearts, is reduced to this: a man holding his world together by a thread. "You're a foo…