AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER 1
“What should we call your specialization?” the Dean asked as she thumbed her sword.
She sat behind her desk like a regal queen and the weapon in her hands made her no less threatening.
A real-life Valkyrie was supposed to be intimidating, but I always found myself profusely sweating in her presence.
Swiping away another bead of moisture that had formed across my brow, I wondered how in all the realms I was still terrified of her.
I’d killed the Wild Dragon Queen and faced my father’s killer, for crying out loud.
Not to mention I’d overcome my fear of social gatherings, which in its own right was more terrifying than any battle I’d ever faced.
Dean Brynhilde raised an eyebrow at me and I realized that I was supposed to answer her. She stroked her braid in thought while her amber eyes made me feel like I’d been trapped in a predator’s domain.
“What do you mean?” I asked, glancing at Killian and the dwarf at his side, hoping for a save. I was totally tongue-tied at the moment.
Not to mention I wasn’t sure why the Dean had called us here after we had graduated. We had work to do. Talking about our “specialization” seemed trivial compared to the fate of the realms hanging in the balance.
My father had come all the way from the afterlife to warn me of Queen Nera’s last act. She’d sent corruption out through all the realms to influence the remaining Lost Queens—dragon queens who would be reborn like Solstice and my mother’s Onyx dragon: Eclipse.
If we didn’t find the others first… they would be born into madness and bring the psychotic Wild Queen back to life.
I’d killed her once. I didn’t want to have to do it again.
Finn McCarthy, the dwarf who maintained the Egg Sanctuary, crossed his arms and pushed out his lips. It forced his beard to poke out in all directions. He was so adorable and angry at the same time that I struggled to keep a straight face.
“What do ya think, Nephilim?” he asked Killian.
My fated mate and bonded dragonrider leaned closer to me. The movement seemed natural. I had noticed the urge to physically touch him as much as possible lately.
It didn’t have to be anything intimate. Just holding hands, or pressing our backs against one another was enough to feel secure.
Not that I didn’t want to be more intimate, but we both had a lot going on. The time had never felt right.
Especially now when a storm rumbled outside. Lightning struck, sending thunder rolling through the tower until it shook. Killian glanced at me, his whitewashed eyes blazing with purpose.
The corruption broke through the skies and had formed the storms just a few days ago, giving us all a sense of urgency to take my father’s warning seriously.
“I think titles are unimportant,” he said, forming the words better than I could.
I nodded in agreement. “We need to find the others.”
The Dean rested her sword on the desk. Its golden glow left a scalded mark on the parchment, but the Dean didn’t seem to care. “Rushing into things was a mistake you’ve made once. I’m going to ensure things are done properly this time around.”
“But, we won,” I protested as I scratched the birthmark on my arm. It constantly itched lately and I was afraid to question why.
Perhaps I’d burned out my goddess blood after my battle with Vera. I wasn’t sure what that meant for my ability to find the Lost Queens, but I’d decided to take this one step at a time.
Right now, the first step was to satisfy the Dean into allowing us off campus.
Her disapproval ran over her face as her amber eyes seemed to burn with an inner fire. “You won... yes. It doesn’t mean you’ll win again.” She leaned back, her words echoing in my mind as they resonated with my fears. “Some call it beginner’s luck. My people call that the fate of the gods. Whatever you want to call it, you can’t count on it to hold you up the next battle you face, or it may allow you to fail for being the fool you are.”
Harsh words, but I expected nothing less from a real-life Viking.
“Then give us a name and let us be done with it,” Killian said, then turned to the dwarf. “What do you say, Finn? You’re the one supposedly mentoring us. You can name the specialty program.”
I opened my mouth to protest—because really? Finn was going to give us a ridiculous name.
