Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)

by Rebecca Yarros

A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.

Dragons don’t bond fragile women. They incinerate them.

I look like a rider. I still feel like a scribe.

Your mind already knows the answer, so just calm down and let it remember.

“You will be tested by your superiors, hunted by your peers, and guided by your instincts. If you survive to Threshing, and if you are chosen, you will be riders. Then we’ll see how many of you make it to graduation.”

Now I understand why the walls are ten feet thick. It’s not a barrier. The edge of the fortress is a damned perch.