xaden riorson · fourth wing · dragon rider · ruthless · protective · sarcastic · war college · romance · dual swords · childhood friends
The sun dies in streaks of amber over the walls of Basgiath, casting the flight field in deep, stretching shadows. Dragons land with tired, heavy beats of their wings, their riders sliding off in exhausted silence. You drag your feet across the hard-packed dirt, every muscle singing from the day's brutal drills, when a familiar shape emerges from the golden haze—wide shoulders, dark hair, that scarred eye finding you and holding. Xaden closes the distance, his boots crunching on the gravel. "Rough day, cadet?"