No pressure. No pressure at all.
"That's harsh." Morek reached for one of the mystery foods on the platter he'd prepared. "But I get why it needs to be like that."
Ravel nodded. "Our first priority is the strength and integrity of the Dragon Force. Cadets' feelings are secondary. Flight evaluations begin at dawn, so make sure to get a good night's sleep." He turned to look at Kailin. "No tea tonight."
She lifted her hands in the air. "No tea. I had some last night."
"Good." He swept his gaze over the platter of mystery food. "My advice is to eat a light meal tonight so you can sleep well."
Morek shrugged. "I can eat whatever and sleep like the dead. Doesn't affect me."
"The advantages of youth that even immortality cannot grant." Ravel turned toward the door. "Good luck to you all tomorrow."
I lifted a hand to stop him. "Any advice for the interview? Should we prepare in any way?"
Ravel shook his head. "Just be yourself and open your mind and heart to Saphir and Nyxath and answer as honestly as you can. Don't try to be humble when you don't feel humility or brave when you are scared. Naked truth only."
I nodded. "Thank you, Commander. That's good advice."
After he left, Morek dropped onto the couch. "I can't believe it. I actually passed. The written portion was what I was most afraid of. The flying, the dragons, all that stuff is easy. But sitting in front of the thick questionnaire was one of the scariest things I've ever done."
Lucky him.
What I was scared of the most was the actual Day of Volition.
What if all the dragons rejected me?
The thought had been lurking at the edges of my mind for weeks, growing stronger as the Day of Volition approached. My friends assumed the quintet would bond successfully because we were part of the prophecy, but prophecies could be misinterpreted. What if one of us wasn't actually meant to be a rider? What if the prophecy required only four of us to bond, and the fifth was destined for something else?
What if that fifth person was me?
"What's got you frowning?" Codric smoothed a finger over the creases in my forehead. "You are lucky that you are about to stop aging, or those would be etched on your forehead forever."
"Who says we are all going to bond with dragons? The prophecy only said that we are all needed and described our attributes. It didn't specify in what capacity each of us would serve to save Aurorys. It could very well be that not all of us are meant to do it as dragon riders."
My statement landed on my friends like a sudden avalanche, seemingly robbing them of breath, and for a long moment, no one spoke.
Alar seemed to take it the hardest.
"We are all going to be riders," Codric said with enough conviction to lift their spirits, but not mine.
"You can't know that."
"I can." He hooked his finger under my chin and turned my head to face him. "Shovia, you're one of the most capable people I've ever met. You're fierce, loyal, intelligent, and sometimes absolutely terrifying. The Dragon Force would be lucky to have you."
It would be a lie if I claimed that his words didn't affect me. "You're such a flatterer."
"It's still the truth." He smiled. "I'm Elurian, remember? We're allowed to embellish. If I say you're amazing, it means you're at least reasonably impressive."
"Reasonably impressive?" I tried to sound offended, but I felt the corner of my mouth twitch. "How romantic."
"I try."
The tension in my chest eased but didn't dissipate completely. Even if he was right about my reasonably impressive skills, there was still the issue of the dangerous dragons and whether the one available would show up for the Day of Volition. Morgateth.
The others were bonded.
Every thirty or forty years, their riders died in accidents that experienced flyers shouldn't have had. Falls, collisions, equipment failures.
