Scalding hot air swept across the floor, waking me. Chick must have left the bloody windows open again. How many times do I have to remind him how hot the burrow gets, even during the winter months? 

 Wait. I don't live in the orphanage anymore. I opened my eyes to find myself staring up at the roof of a cave. All at once, the previous night rushed back to me: the ritual, the wyvern, the constellation. After I guessed the wyvern's true name, it dropped me off at a cave in the mountainside. While the wyvern flew away, doing gods know what, I passed out from exhaustion.

Slowly, I sat up to find two onyx eyes pinned on my face, narrow as knives. The wyvern perched at the cave's entrance, its shoulders tense and coiled to lunge. Had Elio survived? Or was this his last sight before he died? I forced the thought from my head. One problem at a time. I had to make sure the wyvern did not kill me first.

"Brox – toh – sis," I said slowly, my tongue tripping over the foreign word, butchering its name.

A low growl tumbled from its throat, and its lips pulled back, revealing a cruel set of jaws.

"Toh?" I tried again, sticking to the only syllable I was confident pronouncing.

It settled back down, its lips drawing into a flat line. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but it hadn't bitten my head off yet, which was probably the closest thing to a 'yes' I'd get from a dragon. Swallowing hard, I picked myself off the floor. Every rational part of my brain said run for the exit, but I forced myself to do the opposite.

Keeping my eyes pinned on the wyvern, I slowly drew forward. I half expected the wyvern to lunge, to close its jaw around me with a vicious snap, but it stayed completely still, like a statue in the garden. 

Only its eyes moved, the cat-like slits tracking my every move. All too soon, I was only three feet away, standing close enough to breathe the same air. Then I was a foot away, and I stretched out my hand in offering – only for my boot to snag on a crack in the ground, making me fall flat on my chest.

"Heh heh heh."

The wyvern made a rhythmic hissing noise, almost like a succession of snorts, then prowled out of the cave. I blinked several times, staring at the empty space it had just occupied – had it just bloody laughed? Then I pushed myself up, following it out the exit.

The cave perched on a mountainside, hundreds of feet in the air. Its height gave a full view of the valley ahead, of the rolling green mountains extending as far as the eye could see. The burning sun rose over one of the mountain's shoulders, painting the river at the base of the valley a glimmering silver. 

Cassian called it the River of Tears. While the winners fly into the amphitheater to be received by massive crowds from all over the kingdom, the dragonless pledges use the river as their guide out, making the long trek on foot. I've overheard many pledges call it a fate worse than death, but they'll have to make peace with it soon. Today was the final day of Blood Fest, after all.

The wyvern – Toh – tipped its shoulder at me, the smallest of movements. From Instructor Gallagher's lesson, I knew it was doing the stance that allows its rider to climb on its back. Or at least a modified version of it. Most dragons stooped low, bowing their head all the to the ground in a sign of respect, but it seemed Toh wasn't quite there yet. Toh bent, like, all of two millimeters.

I took one look between the long drop and the hatchling, and then I backed away to scale the mountain by foot. My fear of the wyvern had nothing on my fear of heights.

As I descended the rocky decline, Toh prowled a few paces back, probably waiting for me to change my mind and climb aboard. I didn't even consider it, though, too busy wondering if there was enough time to find another dragon. A tamer, older dragon, one less prone to bouts of –

Toh growled. I tensed, throwing a glance behind my shoulder. The wyvern stared back at me passively, a tendril of smoke trickling out of its nostrils. Bloody hell, was that a coincidence, or had it just read my thoughts? 

Regardless, I dismissed the idea of swapping dragons nearly as quickly as it came. Finding another dragon this late in Blood Fest was a losing game. The best dragons – the ones Cassian would let me keep my parlay for – already had riders. 

Even if by some miracle they didn't, I thought, my mouth pulling into a grimace, if Toh already considers me its rider, it might kill any other dragon I try bonding with. Or me. But probably both.

As the sun crawled across the sky, chasing the morning chill away, Toh grew bored following my human pace. At first, huffs warmed my back, as if Toh was sighing with exasperation. Then Toh began flicking its tail at my heels to trip me up. 

Meanwhile, I was shocked. I never knew how quickly blind terror could become annoyance. With every passing second, Toh was less of a wyvern and more of a pestering younger brother.

"You can fly ahead, you know," I muttered, jumping to avoid Toh's tail as it once again swept across the ground. "Stretch your wings, stop bruising my shins."

The pathway twisted, nearing the ledge of the mountain. Despite Toh's antics, we were making good time, now less than a couple of stories off the ground. We'd be off the mountain before dark, even though I had to slow my pace near the bottom of the valley, where the rocks were small and slid between my boots with each step. 

 Just as I rounded the corner, Toh's tail clipped my boot, and my heart lurched. I nearly plummeted off the side of the mountain, but I windmilled my arms, catching myself just in time.

I whirled around, my eyes wide. "You could have killed me!"

Toh made that same huffing nose as when I fell in the cave – a noise I was now positive was laughter. Heat flooded my face. I yanked off my boot, but just as I hurled it at Toh's head, the wyvern took off and was soaring through the clouds in less than three flaps. 

Scowling, I summoned my boot back with the divine, only to remember that using the divine right now would probably kill me. I had a spilt second to panic, then a wave of the excruciating agony rocked through my body. Gritting my teeth and squeezing my eyes shut, I managed to keep it together. And then my boot slammed into my forehead. 

My eyes shot open. "AH! MOTHER F–"

I didn't see Toh again until night fall. I had just struck up a fire when Toh emerged from the woods, dragging a fully grown grizzly bear. I watched in amazement for a few seconds, then turned back to my own dinner – a handful of berries I had scavenged from the bushes. I ate them slowly, trying to make them last as long as possible. 

A month of poor nutrition in the arena has made me feel a level of hunger that I have not experienced in years. Once I return to Skydescent, I'm eating a whole cow if they let me. Suddenly, Toh went quiet. I glanced up from my berries, just as Toh threw me the bear's chewed-off arm.

I paused, glancing between the arm and the wyvern. "Thanks."

Toh snorted and turned back to the bear.

The final stretch to the amphitheater was a pain in the ass. If I thought my injuries were bad before, they were nothing compared to the fresh hell I woke up to. My blood was still far more black than red, and every bone in my body was stiff. 

Pangs rattled up my legs with every step I took. It didn't help that the amphitheater was a four-hour walk from the mountains, and six hours using my route. I traveled deep through the trees to avoid crossing paths with any other pledges. Toh lingered a few paces behind me, snorting its hot breath against my back.

"Your breath reeks," I muttered.

Toh's ear swatted the top of my head.

"Ow, you –" I broke off, staring at Toh. Toh must know my intentions on some level, but surely it did not understand human language. "Can you understand me?"

Toh stared back at me, not so much as twitching. I felt a little moronic for trying to have a conversation with a dragon in the first place, but I swallowed my pride and tired again. "Blink twice if you can understand me."

Toh's snout twitched.

"Does that mean you can't understand me? Or you refuse to take instructions from puny humans?" Toh prowled forward, ignoring me. I tried repeating the question a few more times, but it was like talking to a wall.

Soon, the ground lifted into a hill, and from the top, the amphitheater could be seen rising in the far distance, towering above the trees. The finish line was close, less than a few miles away. I should be ecstatic, but instead, my stomach twisted. According to the books, when past wyverns entered the amphitheater, their riders gave grand speeches to the crowd, outlining their plans to shape Scaldril for centuries to come.

Polixenes changed everything we thought we knew about dragons. Geralda spoke of liberating the masses. Torrance the Terrible promised world domination. What grand words did I have? Guess who's alive and kicking, cunts? 

And who would listen to me anyway? Who would want the most powerful force in the kingdom – in all the kingdoms – in the hands of a criminal, a lowborn orphan from the burrows? 

Past wyvern riders had the power to back up their claim, but Toh was just a hatching. No doubt a fierce dragon, but not quite the kingdom conquerer just yet... With a snort, Toh prowled forward, toward the amphitheater. 

I blew out a breath and followed.