Chapter 10

"No I'm not,"  I reply, confused. "I'm Lasair's rider."

"You are both of our riders. We choose you."

What the fuck. Since when do two dragons choose one rider?

"Since now. My name is Nithegandr, descencing from the Tarneduveris line, but call me Nithe.I am a blue scorpiontail."

She flicks her tail, showing off an excessively huge poisonous barb hanging from her spiked tail.

Two dragons.

"You have probably already guessed, me and Lasair are mates."

I nod. "Why did you choose me? Me of all people?"

"Because you are cunning. Quick-witted. Strong. Determined. Stubborn. Smart. Skilled. Courageous. Ever since the Empyrean mentioned the daughter of Codagh's rider who was entering the rider's quadrant, I knew you were mine. And Lasair here figured that he did not want to be left in the Vale, separated from me when you graduate."

"Which one of you do I ride out of here?" I ask in awe. Two. Fucking. Dragons.

"You might want to have a go at riding me. You've already ridden on Lasair, and I'm a tad bit bigger than him."

"Okay."

I jog up Nithe's dark blue wings. The little dip in her sapphire scales is big. I sit and grip her scales. In fact, her horns are so long that I could almost hold them.

She lifts off into the sky, Lasair behind her. 

Unlike Lasair, she doesn't loop to see if I can hold my seat.

"It's because I already know you will be able to."  Nithe says. "And you need to fix that wound. Your blood is on my scales."

She flies straight to the flight field, where the both land, Lasair on Nithe's right.

I slide off. That part is fun.

I head to the rollkeeper.

"Name of dragon and of rider?" The rider mumbles.

"Lasair and Nithegandr," I say, unsure. They might not believe me.

The rider arches their eyebrow. "Strange name for a human."

"Those are my dragons. I'm Ruth Melgren," I repeat. I watch her scribble out Nithe's name from the rider's list and replace it with mine, then rewrite Nithegandr on the dragon side, underneath Lasair.

"You have two dragons?" She asks. I nod.

"Not again..." She mumbles. ....Again?

I leave. 

I spot a sharp red tail and a flash of blonde hair. Smiling, I walk over to Liam.

"Liam!" I wave.

Suddenly, I collapse on the grass. By now, every single part of my body apart from my neck and head is coated in red.

"Ruth!" Liam yells, his footsteps thudding on the grass.

My throat and chest tighten, and each breath becomes harder and more shakey.

"You're losing too much blood," Liam murmurs, cradling my head. He picks me up from under my legs.

He practically sprints over to the healers.

My ears are ringing.

"She's bleeding, do something," Liam shouts. 

The healers bustle around me. They lift me on the count of three and put a stretcher under me. I don't hear the rest of their shouts. They tear open my shirt with a knife and cut through the binding on my chest that is already torn from Tynan's sword. They apply a salve that makes me flinch at the cold.

I bite my lip as they stitch the gaping hole in my chest. They bind my chest back up with fresh bandages.

Liam is sitting by my side. His eyes are glancing at my wound and at my eyes.

Soon, the healers are done stitching. I sit up, swinging my legs over my bed. I wince as my stitches tighten as I move. Liam's hand moves my back as if I'm about to fall.

"I'm fine," I say both to my dragons and Liam, grunting as I get up from the stretcher. I stand up.

Liam still hovers behind me was we walk to his dragon.

I look up at his red daggertail.

"This is Deigh," Liam says.

Deigh nudges my hand with her snout, and I place my hand on her snout.

"Her tail looks fucking sharp," I smile.

"What about you? Where's your orange?" 

"Actually, I have two. Nithe's a blue. Both of them are over there," I point a bit further down the flight field.

Newly bonded riders rush around in a flurry of black.

"Two dragons? I've never heard of that happening."

"Neither," I laugh.

Liam suddenly goes serious, and sort of... upset.

"I'm sorry I didn't help you. Deigh somehow knew you were capable enough to get yourself out of there."

Liam stops all of a sudden, turning his back to Deigh. Deigh unleashes a torrent of flames onto his back. Liam cries out. Then, the flames are gone. 

On his back, instead of a burn, is Deigh's red silhouette, her wings stretching to his shoulder blades and her tail curling down his lower back.

"That's beautiful," I whisper. The details of Deigh's spine and tail and scales are so intricate. It isn't small, but its not huge like I've heard Xaden Riorson's is.

"Go and get yours," Liam says.

I walk back to Nithe and Lasair, my feet crunching on the grass.

"About time." Lasair grumbles.

Nithe and Lasair open their mouths, releasing two jets of fire onto my back.

I hold back a scream as it sears the skin on my back.

The pain quickly subsides.

I look on my arms. The relic definitely isn't there.

A cold rush goes over my body and my eyes are no longer looking at my arms, but on my back.

The burnt fabric is gone, showing a huge orange dragon, the torso taking up most of my back, wings stretching around my sides and the wingtips touching the nape of my neck. The tail winds down, disappearing underneath whats left of my shirt.

A tingling sensation fills my neck and chest, so I look down.

I see two blue wingtips touching my neck, connecting to the orange ones.

I hide behind my dragons and unbutton my jacket and shirt. Escaping from the bandages wrapped around my chest, a blue silhouette of Nithe trails up my chest, tail curling just below the waistband of my pants, the head at my collarbone and wings stretching around my ribs.

My entire body is covered in colour. Purple and green bruises, my dragons relics and the dried stains of blood all over me.

I feel like a rainbow.

I quickly button up my clothes again before I flash someone. 

I walk back around Lasair and Nithe.

"Why are there two dragons hovering over you?" A snarky voice says. Jack. What is he even doing here? The coward ran away from the fight.

"Because they are my dragons," I reply. "Where's yours?"

Jack scoffs. "Yeah right. My dragon is over there." He points to a medium sized orange scorpiontail, puffing out his chest.

"Nice." I really hoped that he died during Threshing. Guess I'll have to kill him later then.

Wait. What the hell am I thinking?

"Do not be afraid. You are starting to think like a rider." Nithe rumbles, a bit of pride radiating off of her.

Right.

"That orange swordtail is pathetic. Baide's poisonous barb could easily take your dragon out with one hit," Jack spats.

"Lasair is twice Baide's size. So is his tail," I snap. "So don't start being a fucking arrogant prick, because I think we both know that Baide could not defeat Lasair."

As if on queue, Lasair steps forward with a snarl.

Jack sneers and walks away. Honestly, I think Baide is on the small side anyways.