Burning Promise I a fourth wing ff

Grasping the Gauntlet

"Who even came up with this shit," I say looking up at the cliff.

"Well, that's..." Rhiannon swallows, looking the same way. It's an obstacle course, carved into a ridgeline, which is so steep that it's basically a cliff. I can't even fully comprehend what's going on from down here.

"Amazing." Aurelie sighs. Right she might be more whacked then I am.

"You think that hellscape looks amazing?" Rhiannon asks, looking exasperated.

"I've been waiting for years for this!" she grins.

Do I look like that when I fight? Because I get Ridoc's teasing now. You know what, good for her.

"My dad - he was a rider until he retired last year - used to set up obstacle courses like this all the time so we could practise, and Chase, my brother, said it's the best part of being here before Threshing. It's a real adrenaline rush."

"He's with the southern wing, right?" Violet asks.

"Yep. Pretty much desk duty for all the action they see near the Krovlan border." Aruelie shrugs. "He said to watch out for those giant posts jutting from the side of the cliff, they spin, and you can get crushed between them if you're not fast enough," She says pointing at them. Must be fun to get crushed between them, I groan inwardly.

"Oh, good, I was wondering when it might get difficult," Rhiannon mutters.

The wall is so high it might count as the tallest building in Basgiath.

"Still not sure why they call it the gauntlet," Ridoc chimes in for the first time after seeing the wall. He blows into his hand to warm them. It's early morning and the sun doesn't reach here at this angle yet, so it's quite chilly.

"To ensure dragons keep coming to Threshing by weeding out the weaklings." Tynan sneers, answering Ridoc, but stares straight at Violet.

"Knock it the fuck off," Ridoc snaps finally losing his temper.

"What's your problem?" Tynan turns to ask Ridoc, staring at him, trying to be intimidating. Furthest thing from it, as he's shorter and half as wide as Ridoc. Stupid fuck. I roll my eyes.

"My problem? You think because you made friends with Barlowe and Siefert that you have the right to be a dick to your own squadmates?" Ridoc challenges.

"Exactly. Squadmate. Our times aren't just ranked individually, Ridoc. We're scored as a squad too, which is how the order of the presentation is decided. Do you really think any dragon wants to bond a cadet who walks in after every other squad in the processional?" He rants pointing at the gauntlet and then motions to us.

"They're not timing us for Presentation today, asshole." Ridoc takes a step forward.

"Bold of you to assume a dragon would want to bond with you at all." I snort and move beside Ridoc in case Tynan gets any ideas. Not that Ridoc can't defend himself.

"Stop." Sawyer shuffles between us and Tynan shoving him into the girl behind him.

"Take it from someone who made it through Presentation last year: your time doesn't mean anything. The last cadet to walk in last year bonded just fine, and some cadets in the first squad onto the field were passed over."

"Little bitter about that,aren't you?" Tynan smirks. That's out of line. I move to punch the little shit in his face but Sawyer grabs the collar of my uniform and Tynan moves back out of my reach.

"You talk shit but when it comes to it you run away like a little bitch," I snarl at him.

Ridoc pulls me back even further and hugs me from behind constricting my hands beside me. This has become somewhat of a routine to us. Someone says something incredibly stupid. I pounce, but get pulled back by Sawyer and Ridoc. Sometimes they leave me to my free will when someone says something particularly fucked up. I guess they decided they didn't want any punching this morning.