Legions of Bone: Dragon Rider Book 3

Chapter 48: Gin

Hi friends! Guess whose back? It's me. I've FINALLY finished school and have more time to write again. I'm not promising to publish a chapter every week but maybe every other week for now while I get back into the grove of things. This chapter has been so stressful and I hit a major writers block with this thing. It underwent SO MANY revisions and POV changes from council talks to big battle scenes to emotional conversations until I finally felt good with this one

Thank you guys for being so patient with me too. You have no idea how much your support and kind words meant to me. I love all of you guys so much and this series would be nothing without you all. So thank you.

Without further ado... the chapter

Dagen

The skies above were a relentless adversary, a ceaseless onslaught of biting winds and swirling tempests. Nature, in its chaotic symphony, seemed intent on dislodging Dagen from Thorn's back. Icy fingers reached out, tearing at the edges of his cloak, threatening to snatch him away like a stray leaf in the storm.

Dagen clung to Riveta's dragon with a tenacity born of survival, each gust of wind a potential harbinger of a long, almost endless fall to the grounds below.

He couldn't fathom the logic behind dragon riders dismissing saddles during times of peace. The lack of restraint only made it more effort during flight and put the dragon at a potential risk of losing their rider.

"We're almost there," Thorn said breathlessly, her massive wings casting shadows in the storm.

Dagen strained his eyes against the swirling snow and biting winds obscuring his vision. In the storm, he sought any trace of Scylla or the dozens of other dragons through the storm, or hear their wings and whistles over the howling winds, but he could feel their faint sparks of life.

"Dagen," Scylla's voice, cut through his concentration. "We just landed. We're on the lower levels of the Main Halls. There was too much chaos to land on the big landing zone."

"Got it," he replied.

"We might be taking on enemies," Milo added. "There's a battle up ahead. Norah says we'll most likely be meeting up with you. We're going to try and make our way to Cedric and his council."

Bitterness soured Dagen's tongue. Out of all the people Norah could have chosen to go with, she'd chosen to go with Nevaeha, Milo, and Adam. He understood going with Scylla - riders rarely separated from their dragons. But he was a necromancer and they were dealing with a god that brought back the dead. The more Dagen thought, the more defeat sank in.

Milo was a good fighter. He was calm and a quick thinker. He also knew his way around any forest. Adam had his wind. But Dagen was still better. He'd been here since the start. He knew death. He knew ghosts and locks. Nothing was off limits for him and Dagen knew he could grow far more than what anyone expected of him. He just wished Norah saw that too.

Thorn reared back, her wings angled forward enough that Dagen caught hazy lights in the distance. The landing zone was engulfed in lights. Dragons and their riders made their way to the giant, double doors leading in while others dove off the ledge again, disappearing into the abyss of dark clouds.

Dagen slid down Thorn's side, his boots hitting stone just as she landed. He started off toward the Halls entrance —-

Fingers wrapped around his wrist. He twisted.

Riveta's dark eyes bore into him, full of worry and... determination. Like she believed in him--in his abilities. "Please, be safe."

He inhaled sharply, lungs stinging from the cold air. "Of course."