A sneak peak

A special look inside the book that will only be available on Kickstarter until autumn.

Also, you may have missed your chance on getting all seven free books, but for the rest of this week, you’ll be able to get six.

When Esgeril sat down at the table for lunch, she had a look in her eye that told me she wanted to revisit the conversation after I’d been putting off for months.
In the six months since she’d dropped her bombshell on me, we had mostly avoided the topic. First, I’d told her no, and then I’d told her I needed more time to process things. And then I just started avoiding the topic and coming up with reasons to leave. Telling your best friend that you love them isn’t something you just drop on someone.
What was I supposed to tell her in return? Until a year ago, I had been engaged to a boy I’d been set up with since we were toddlers. I’d never had to even consider my sexuality. Esgeril had to understand that.
Besides, my track record with dating wasn’t great. My first boyfriend dumped me when I became a Dragoneer, and my second sold me to pay off his gambling debts. Not that Lewon had been a real boyfriend.
“Are you going to eat that?” Esgeril asked, her lips in a lopsided grin.
I’d gotten lost in my head; my fork speared with a slice of beef hung inches from my open mouth.
I put the fork down and pushed the plate toward her. It was hard to eat when every time I saw her, my guts twisted inside. “Go ahead. I’m full.”
The large bell outside tolled, cutting off any further conversation. Dragoneers around the cafeteria abandoned their half-eaten meals as they rushed for the door. Another round of Capture the Flag was about to start.
My stomach rumbled as I trotted to the field where Farean preened among the other Blues. I’d lied about not being hungry; I’d barely started my meal. Colonel Authand was like that, though. He’d call a game during meals, classes, even at night once. He wanted us to be prepared for battle no matter when.
At least Capture the Flag teams were sorted by dragon color. I wouldn’t need to deal with Esgeril over with the other Reds.
I’d progressed quite a bit since my embarrassing start at the game last year. My first game happened less than an hour after I arrived, with no harness. I’d been grounded and forced to watch as a spectator until Lewon had tricked me into believing I could win the game. Instead, I had cost our team the win.
The third-year’s had long memories, though. The new captain, Pene, refused to take advantage of Farean’s superior flying abilities compared to the other Blues. Or Greens. Farean could do nearly anything that any color dragon could, but Pene didn’t seem to care about that. Didn’t seem to care about me. Jealousy of our skills should have disqualified him as our team captain, but I got outvoted.
By a lot.
Nobody voted for me for captain. Nobody would admit that I was clearly being punished for that long-ago mistake. I was still the princess that nobody wanted.
To punish me for daring to run against him, he put me with the first-years guarding the flag. His brilliant strategy was to put the three-year-old dragons, those who were reaching adulthood, as offense. The yearlings took defense, and the two-year-olds wandered about looking for opportunities.
Farean and I excelled at defense, of course. We’d hardly be the heroes of the Battle of Tulta if we weren’t excellent defenders. But we could be so much more. And I would show them. Once Pene and the other third-years were out of my way, I’d win this game single-handedly.
With my help, of course,” Farean said.
Oh, yes. I always count you as part of me, my heart,” I reassured her. And it was true. A year ago, I would have never imagined a bond as absolute as the one between Farean and me. Our hearts were one, almost literally. Saving her life after the battle had almost killed me.
The whistle blew to signal the start of the game. I dutifully carried our flag to the hiding spot Pene had decreed. He only had three spots that he ever used, and it had been found in each spot multiple times. We might as well have left it in the middle of the field.
“You five,” I pointed at random. “Form a perimeter around the flag. I want groups of five at each of the other two spots we hide the flag, as decoys.”
“That’s not what Pene ordered,” one complained.
“There’s sixteen of us,” said another.
“His orders are stupid,” I snapped. “Aren’t you tired of losing?”
We were in second place, only a game behind Green, but it grated me that, with Lewon as their captain, they were beating us. Florian certainly held it over me whenever she got a chance and she wasn’t even a Green. She was a Red, like Esgeril
Federa’s nose crinkled. With anyone else, I would have taken it as disgust, but I’d noticed that Dragoneers with extra abilities were more common than Colonel Authand and the others let on. She could smell other dragons in the air. I’d once asked her if the Greens smelled worse, or just their riders. That had elicited a chuckle from her and an admission that it didn’t work that way. It would be a good skill in a teammate, but her flying was still not. Besides, Esgeril had already agreed.
“Scatter,” I shouted even though I held my ground. Federa’s dragon passed the direction of an intruder on to Farean. Just before Florian and her Red dragon, Masta, burst through the trees, we leaped into the air, blocking their view of the flag. They took the bait and gave chase, although they were no match for us in a sprint. After a minute, they gave up and broke off, heading for their base.
We landed with the others as they returned to our flag’s hiding spot. “Red is going to know we are here within minutes. We still have time to move the flag. Take it to spot number three while we still have a chance.”
A completely new hiding spot would have been better, but a lot of thought needed to go to flag placement. There were rules involved. You couldn’t just stuff it in a tree. Hiding a flag in Capture the Flag was about strategy. And the flag had to be in its final position within ten minutes of the start of the game. Getting caught moving the flag after that would count as a disqualification.
There were mutters, but I shouted, “Now!” in the tone I’d been trained since birth to give orders with. It didn’t help my reputation as being a spoiled princess, but there was little time.
That sent them moving. “Which group are you going with?” asked the Dragoneer who had pointed out our numbers before. “With the flag?”
I grinned. “I’m going to a flag. Just not ours.”
Most dragons flew the game in short bursts in the sky before dropping into the trees again to avoid detection. The Greens’ maneuverability and ability to fly below the tree canopy was their advantage.
As it was ours. For some reason, Farean’s abilities overlapped with the other colors. We weren’t as maneuverable as the Greens, steady as the Reds, or big as the Oranges, but we were more of those things than any other Blue we’d encountered. Just one more thing that made her special in ways I was too scared to question.
Which is why I knew it was intentional when a branch struck my arm. “Ow!”
I rubbed my arm as I pushed some healing energy into the bruise, just enough to keep others from knowing it had happened. My ability hadn’t been as strong since healing Farean from the brink of death and it took more out of me than before. Yet, after the game, I’d be expected to heal everyone’s injuries. I only did major ones, like broken bones, and acted like cuts and bruises, like the one on my arm, were beneath me.
The truth of the matter was that, without taking a heavy dose of stimleaf, even just healing those major injuries would put me in a healer’s berth next to my patients.
“That wouldn’t have happened if you were paying attention,” Farean said, her tone smug. “The threat you don’t notice—
—is the one that kills you,” I finished. “Yeah, I know. But you were paying attention. You did that on purpose.
Farean ignored the accusation. “I don’t like the way you’ve been. We won’t win the Dragon Run like this. With this amount of insubordination, we might not even get to compete. Plus, it’s hard to make friends with the other dragons when none of their riders can stand you. Your feelings for Esgeril are getting in the way.
I sighed. “I don’t have feelings for her; we’re just friends.”
You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me,” Farean grumbled. “I know what your heart says.”
I don’t even know what it says,” I snapped. “And even if I did, it doesn’t matter, so there’s no need to have this conversation again. We have a game to win,” Farean grumbled once more, but she kept her thoughts to herself. She knew I was done with this conversation.
We flew above the trees, heading perpendicular to our goal. As we flew, we rose until the air grew cold and winds buffeted us. We couldn’t last long at this altitude, but we didn’t have to. In the blue, cloudless sky, a Blue dragon was almost impossible to notice.
The same couldn’t be said of a bunch of Orange dragons. The Orange team had a few scouts around, trying to score points, but most of the team concentrated on defense.
Few people ever dared to attack the Orange flag, because you would have to avoid a sea of big dragons.
We circled until we spotted the flag, barely a spec from this height. Farean tucked in her wings as we dove. We gained speed as we fell, faster and faster. The ground rushed toward us, and all I could hear was wind.
They spotted us just a hundred feet above their heads.
When you are big, you are slow. And we were moving fast. Very, very fast. I saw an Orange dragon roar in alarm, but I couldn’t hear it over the sound of the wind rushing past my ears. Before they could even move, we’d dropped the final distance. Farean rolled at the last second, and I grabbed the flag. As soon as the fabric was in my fingers, she rolled again and snapped her wings open.
My teeth snapped shut at the sudden jolt. Farean pumped her wings as the Orange dragons converged on the spot we’d resided just a breath earlier. Several gave chase, but we were out of Orange territory before they were more than a few feet off the ground.
Farean banked toward the common area, where the flags were brought to be awarded points.
No,” I told her. “We are getting them all.
Even the Green?”
Nobody had found the Green flag all season. Holding on to one flag while searching for another was risky enough. Holding on to two while searching for the third was foolhardy at best. But I was tired of being underestimated. I was the hero of the Battle of Tulta, but we were never allowed to explore our full potential. I didn’t know what the limits of Farean’s and my abilities were, but they certainly extended further than sitting on the ground protecting a flag. I yearned for offense.
Thinking of her brought a pang, but I pushed it aside. An unwritten rule of Capture the Flag was that you left relationships and friendships at the gong.
My surprise attack on their flag had roused the Orange team. Most chased after us, a fool’s task if there ever was one, but several fanned out into the Red, Blue, and Green territories. Orange was going on the offense for the first time since I had arrived at Tulta.
I hoped that the three first-years I left guarding our flag were up for the task. A nearly full-grown Orange was an intimidating sight for a dragon only a month old.
I followed the contingent of Oranges heading into the Red territory. We flew just a few feet above the canopy but behind them. Unused to doing more than guarding their own flag, they weren’t checking their rear.
The threat you don’t notice…” Farean clucked.
“Fortunately for them, I’m not interested in taking them out,” I responded. One of the things that Flatch, who taught history, but always laced strategy through it, had taught us: let your enemy do your work for you. He meant it in the sense that you wait for the enemy to come to you, but it seemed to work for this, too.
Orange dragons found and tagged Red dragons with ruthless efficiency. For the game, each team was outfitted with mock weapons, similar to what we would have in battle but designed not to injure. A wooden sword coated in blue chalk hung by my side. Three hits, and a dragon was considered disabled.
A fallen Red spotted me, but kept his mouth shut. On the battlefield, the dead couldn’t warn their comrades, and neither could fallen dragons or riders in Capture the Flag.
As long as Orange continued to commit to blind offense, they would lead us right to the Red flag.
The Orange contingent banked hard to the right and picked up speed, as much as three-ton dragons could. Their formation remained perfect, even in the game.  Roars from the Red dragons erupted when they spotted the Oranges. I counted half a dozen, met by a dozen in return. If this was a battle, it would have been a bloodbath. We dropped well below the canopy. If Farean extended her legs, they would drag on the ground.
Following the sound of the battle above, we found the Red flag in a lone tree in the middle of a large-ish clearing. Their dragons flew around it, slightly above and slightly below, flying in opposite circles.
The Red defenders bore bows with blunt-tipped arrows, coated in red chalk. The Orange dragons descended on them in waves. The archers took out a couple but more took their place. We used the distraction to swoop up at the base of the pole, inside of the dragon perimeter. The flag came free in my hands, and we continued to shoot up before the Red team realized what had happened.
Bows swiveled to us but one Orange dragon continued its attack, taking out two of the archers before they could shoot.
The others, both the Reds and the Oranges, followed after us. We dipped below the trees and took a hard turn before heading toward the Green territory. It wouldn’t shake our pursuers completely, but it would slow them considerably.
Two flags down, one to go.
We lost our pursuers inside the Green territory and stopped at a stream for water. This wasn’t the hardest Farean had pushed herself, but she wasn’t holding back, either.
I slid off her back to refill my canteen. Always fill it when you have a chance, even if you’d only taken a sip. That was another lesson Esgeril had taught me.
“Still running off on your own, I see,” Lewon said behind me.
I managed not to jump; that would be exactly what he wanted. Instead, I internally berated myself for not making sure everything was clear.
“Still underestimating me, I see,” I retorted as I finished filling the canteen. The lid secure, I slid it into its spot in my harness. He didn’t have his sword out, at least not yet. If I reached for mine, he was the quicker draw. Plus, he was a better duelist by far. I’d have to outwit him. At least on that battlefield, he was outmatched.
Lewon didn’t respond to my taunt. “Did you think you could hide from the Orange and Red teams out here? I’m just debating whether to tag you myself or to lead them here to you. That might be entertaining to watch.”
While he bragged, I took a small step toward him. To someone not paying close attention, the motion would have looked like I was shifting my weight. It’s something he should have spotted, but as usual, he was overconfident. “I’ve been debating whether to force you to admit what you did to me or to just bring Roland to collect you.” Another step.
His nostrils flared and his hand went to his sword. “Go ahead. He’s after you, too.”
I see the flag,” Farean said. “It’s in the tree behind Calen.”
My eyes flicked in the direction of the Green dragon perched on a thick branch. The entire pole had been mounted in a hollowed-out portion of the trunk, leaving the flag partially hidden in the leaves.
“Interesting spot for the flag,” I told him. “I’m not sure it’s one hundred percent in line with Colonel Authand’s rules. Maybe we should call him here to check. Or you can just give it to me, and we can keep it between ourselves.” Another step.
“Ha.” He laughed. “It would be on the ground before he got here. Your word against mine. He trusts me. You’re just a spoiled little royal.”
Another step. I now stood just a few feet from him, and he hadn’t even noticed. Farean leaped at Calen. She twisted out of his reach just before reaching the Green dragon.
Lewon turned his head to watch, as Farean feinted again. “Are you going to try to scare him out of that tree? Is that your master plan?”
“Or maybe she’ll just attack,” I responded. “Look.” I pointed. Farean flew at Calen again, claws out. It was a dirty move for the game, and technically illegal, but it got the job done of turning Lewon’s entire focus off of me.
I drew my blade. Not the wooden sword on my left but the knife at my right. I don’t know why I did it. Maybe I just wanted him to suffer for a change. Charging, I knocked him down just as Farean turned her claws back in. Calen’s attention shifted for a second to us, and Farean took advantage of broadsiding him with enough force that the branch cracked.
I pressed the point of my knife against his neck, which put a quick stop to his fighting against me. If I had used the mock weapon, they would have been out of the game, but I didn’t expect Lewon to acknowledge that.
I pushed until I drew blood. With my other hand, I pushed healing energy into the wound with the blade still piercing his skin. He howled in pain; it had to be excruciating. After what he did to me last year, tricking me like that, trying to sell me to a nightblood, and then lying to everyone about it, lying again after I saved his life, I wanted to hurt him. It took all my restraint to not push the blade all the way into his neck.
Calen flew at us, but Farean knocked him down. “The flag,” I told her.
She hesitated, but I glared at her, and she let Calen up.
The Green went for us again, but I bared my teeth at him. “Come closer, and I kill him.” I pressed the knife deeper, to prove my point.
Calen hesitated. Farean grabbed the flag and landed beside me. I let up on the healing energy to grab the wooden sword. It was awkward with my off hand, but I smacked it hard against his chest. Proof that he had been bested by a Blue rider.
I sheathed the knife and healed the wound. “You can try telling the colonel, but it will be your word against mine. And then you would have to admit that the spoiled little royal beat you.” I climbed up Farean and clicked my harness into place.
Lewon glared as I flew off.
Let’s go win this game.”