Page 84 of Under Restless Skies

Some recruits are holding the bars and attaching themselves to the gliders, as if about to fly, then hanging from the equipment. I suppose if they close their eyes, they can imagine they’re flying.

What they’re training for is incredibly dangerous, but I can’t help the pang of yearning rising in my chest. Nelly is sitting on a corner, watching.

Beside me, Celine snorts. “I was excited too, when I started. Who doesn’t want to fly?”

I almost ask her what changed, but I don’t want to poke her pain. “It can be scary.”

“It’s not only the dragons. When we started jumping from the outer hill…” She takes a deep, shaky breath. “Not everyone got it right. Sometimes the wind was treacherous.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Her eyes are wet with unshed tears. “I’m not jealous, I swear, but I wish I had someone to ensure I didn’t have to fly, someone to keep me safe.”

“Doesn’t Mallor want to expel you?” I’m starting to think that the strict commander might have good intentions, but I don’t want to say that to her. “Maybe you should⁠—”

“No. I have nothing else. My hope is that Instructor Katrine will make me her apprentice. There are more ways to fight the riders, don’t you think?” The glint in her eyes is one of hope.

“Of course. You’re very smart, and Dracolius is lucky to have you.”

“Yes, and I’m counting on Foros.”

The unreliable god. My stomach twists, but then I consider that she’s here, she’s taking first-year classes again, and she’ll likely become a scholar.

I smile at her. “I can’t wait for you to answer all my dragon questions.”

“Oh. We could study now. Do you want to go to the library?”

I glance at the gliders and the lesson I wish I was taking, despite all the dangers, but I suppose I’ll have more chances to watch it. Learning more about dragons could really help me make sense of things.

“I’d love to,” I reply.

She leads me up the stairs to a long hallway, then to a gigantic wooden door. My heart speeds with anxiety as I wonder what kind of knowledge hides behind it, how many books, how many stories.

When she pushes the door open, my shoulders drop. The room is barely larger than Katrine’s classroom, with three bookshelves lining the walls, holding about a hundred books at most. Dozens share similar covers, and I wonder if they’re multiple copies of the same text.

A woman sits behind a desk and raises her eyes to us. “Yes?”

“We want everything you have about dragons!” Celine says, her tone excited.

“Over there.” The woman points to the bottom of one of the bookshelves. “That’s where we keep the dragon manuals.”

“There’s really no other book?” Celine asks.

The woman pauses and points higher up on the shelves. “You can check Riders’ Culture. That should have some more information.”

Celine nods, pulls one of those dragon manuals off the shelf, and places it on a circular table. As I sit to look at the book, I realize it’s identical to the one we saw in class, and can’t believe that it’s all they have.

“Is there another library?” I ask.

“I don’t think so. Not in the academy, at least.” She taps the book. “But it should be enough, for now.”

“Don’t you already know this book by heart?”

Celine blushes. “Not every little detail, no.”

“But you know a lot more than I do. What do you find the most interesting?”

She taps a finger on her lips, thinking, then says, “Not interesting, but useful.” Her fingers shuffle the pages quickly, until she comes to a diagram. “Their most sensitive parts. Where you can hurt them easily.”