Only a few short weeks ago, I would have dismissed her suggestion outright. However, given all the recent events that had been happening to me, I wasn't going to dismiss even her most absurd ideas.
"Could be," I said. "So, what did you find out?"
"A strange pattern revolving around four particular dragons," Codric said. "Ixilthar, Syltharion, Morgateth, and Vyrassin. Each of them has had several riders die in suspicious circumstances. Some died in battle, but their deaths were due to mistakes that experienced riders shouldn't have made, and others in training exercises, again due to careless mistakes like not strapping the saddle properly."
My blood chilled. "How many riders?"
I remembered the discussion in the bar at Pilgrim's Lodge, and Ravel's suspicions about rogue dragons. Was he aware of the pattern of riders' deaths?
"Three each for Ixilthar and Morgateth," Codric said. "Four for Syltharion. And five for Vyrassin, all in the span of four decades. Guess who's Vyrassin's current rider?"
"Who?" Alar asked, though his tone suggested that he had an inclination regarding who it was.
"Captain Odinah has been bonded to Vyrassin for the past twelve years."
The silence that followed spoke volumes about the implications. Our strict, by-the-book training commander wasbonded to a dragon that had five dead riders connected to him in the past four decades.
"We can't jump to conclusions and accuse these dragons of murder," I said. "They might just be more volatile than others and therefore more prone to accidents. Besides, why would they keep bonding with new riders just to kill them later? No one is forcing them to choose a rider. They can refuse and wait until they find a good fit. And what's different about Odinah? It could be that she's a superior rider, so she survived bonding a wild dragon while those who came before her did not."
"We have some theories," Shovia said. "Maybe the dragons are looking for something specific in their riders, and that special trait is not self-evident from the start. Perhaps those who died didn't have that. Dragons are ruthless and the apex predators of our world. They are not sentimental, and some regard humans as little more than food. They only tolerate us because they need us. Killing those whom they deem inferior would not pose much of a moral dilemma for them."
"We have a pact," I murmured. "They can't just kill whoever they want," I added with not much conviction.
The pact was about mutual protection, but it didn't explicitly specify that they were not allowed to kill Elucians. To us, it might have seemed self-explanatory, but dragons didn't reason like humans.
Then again, Onyx had been wonderful with me, and he helped me with my fear of heights, pushing his warmth and strength into me. He would never think of me as food or as expendable. We were friends.
"Another possibility is that Odinah knows something the others didn't," Morek said. "Some way to keep Vyrassin in line."
Shovia snorted. "Yeah, she's so scary that even her dragon is afraid of her."
I wondered if now was a good time to tell them about the attempt on my life. "If we're already sharing disturbing news, someone tried to kill us at the Pilgrim's Lodge. Probably me specifically."
"What?" Shovia grabbed my arm so hard I'd probably have bruises.
"Are you hurt?" Codric was halfway off the bed.
"When?" Morek demanded.
I held up a hand to quiet them and took a deep breath. "Someone walked into the bar with a bomb in his backpack. The plan was to leave it near our table and detonate it remotely."
"Obviously, it didn't work," Shovia said with a voice that sounded strangled. "You are here."
"Commander Ravel had operatives stationed throughout the bar." Alar took over. "They intercepted the assassin before he could get close, threw him out, and tossed the backpack into an empty area in front of the bar."
"They wrestled the detonator out of his hand, but the bomb still discharged," I added quietly. "Someone triggered it remotely. The blast was so massive that it blew out every window in the Lodge. The assassin also had charges strapped to his chest, and those exploded as well. I don't know if they were also detonated remotely or if he did that himself."
Morek's face had gone pale. "Someone wanted you dead badly enough to send a suicide bomber with a backup plan."
"There's definitely a traitor in the Citadel," Codric said. "Someone who knew exactly when and where you'd be during your leave."
"These have to be two separate threats." I worked through the logic. "The dragon issue goes back forty years, which predates any current plots. Besides, dragons cannot communicate with Shedun. Nevertheless, someone in the Citadel must be feeding information to our enemies."
"The two might be connected," Shovia said. "What if the rebellious dragons are the ones passing the information? They could be using their riders, forcing them to do their bidding."
"Or the riders could be willing participants," Morek grumbled.
"We need to find out who the other riders are." Codric looked at me. "Odinah rides Vyrassin, but what about Ixilthar, Syltharion, and Morgateth?
