The Hidden Mark

New Friends?

It is unlawful for a rider to cause another harm, while in a quadrant formation or in the supervisory presence of a superior-ranking cadet as it will diminish the efficacy of the wing.
Article Three, Section—
The Dragon Rider's Codex

"Your father murdered my dad!" Xaden growls at me as soon as he comprehends my last name, looking like he is about to shove me out of the opening before I even touch the parapet.

"Yeah? Well he killed my mother too. Doesn't make you all that special Riorson." I step closer and whisper to him, "You saved my life back then, are you really just gonna take it now?"

He backs up a step and looks at me with shock in his eyes. Eyebrows pulled together, trying to puzzle out what I was saying without actually telling him. Soon he realizes he is showing emotions and burys everything under the surface.   "I won't need to kill you, the parapet will do it for me. Better get moving."

I nod at him and step out onto the parapet. Violet has already made it to the halfway point, when I have to watch her slip and fall onto her knee before getting back up. Rhiannon is at the 3/4ths marker. Thank goodness. I have a feeling I'm gonna need Rhiannon's help protecting Violet. Especially with the boy behind me, who just gave the name Jack Barlowe. The arrogant little asshole seems to think that he will become wingleader. As if.

I keep my center of gravity, all my strength within my core, abs flexing as I keep my balance and walk quickly. I am right behind Violet before long, listening to her yell facts in the air. I stall and let her get to the 3/4ths marker, so she doesn't feel the need to walk faster and fall.

I look over my shoulder when I hear a yell, watching Jack grab another smaller boy by his backpack and casually toss him off the parapet. Jack looks up, smirks, and points at me, "You're next Melgren! After that, Sorrengail will die."

I roll my eyes and turn forward, walking again. Noticing Violet stop as she reaches the safety of the enclosed area before the end of the parapet I yell, "Violet, get off the parapet. Now!"

She runs the last few steps before jumping off and giving her name to the redhead with the crossbow.

"Just because she got off, doesn't mean you will Melgren, you bitch!" Jack screams at me, much closer than he was before.

I keep up my quick walk and can see the fear in Violets and Rhiannon's eyes as I get closer. I sneakily pull out two knives from my ribs and jump the last few feet to the ground, spinning on Jack once again. My first knife is slashed across the hand he used to try and grab me, before coming to rest at his throat. The second is pressed hard against his balls.

Seething, I tell him, "I don't need to let you off of this parapet. I am a cadet, you haven't crossed yet. Do you want to make it long enough to see a dragon in person or die without that honor asshole?"

The redhead looks at me bored. "Name?"

"Aelin Melgren." I smile at her sweetly while not moving my blades.

She chuckles, "With that move, I'm not surprised. And what's your name?" She asks again, pretty sure that one was aimed at Jack.

"Jack. Barlowe." Pure malice in his features, promising retribution.

Violet starts to recite the codex, Article 3, and finishes with, "We are technically at formation."

"Well, Jack," the male rider on my right says slowly, scratching the trim lines of his dark goatee. He's not wearing a cloak, and the rain soaks into the bevy of patches stitched into a worn  leather jacket. "Cadet Melgren has you by the actual balls here, in more ways than one. She's right. Technically, you're not on the grounds yet, so you are not a cadet. She is. And Cadet Sorrengail is also right. We do consider this to be at formation. Which means as soon as you step down, you have to wait until challenges or your own time to kill them."