Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 126358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 505(@250wpm)___ 421(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 505(@250wpm)___ 421(@300wpm)
But F’lorn had always been in a violent temper—probably partially because my father was bad-tempered as well—but some of a dragon’s temperament is his own. I wouldn’t have dared to get on his back—he would have bitten me in two before I got close enough to even try.
If I had to decide who to save—G’lornie or F’lorn—I knew which one I would pick.
At last, after a lot of thought, I wrote:
"The value of a dragon cannot be measured by mass. A Gold-wing may coordinate an entire Wing of dragons. A Silver-wing may be bonded to the Academy's only healer. Two Bronze-wings may transport more riders than either. Tactical value depends on mission requirements, emotional bonding, temperament, and other factors—not just bloodlines or physical size."
There—that was as good as it was going to get, I decided. I hoped the professor grading the test agreed with me. If not, I was going to lose a lot of points on that one.
The final problem was one that required a lot of thought as well.
Problem 100 was an essay question that read:
A mature Silver-wing dragon and rider have successfully flown together for twelve years. During a routine patrol, the rider unexpectedly experiences intense fear after witnessing a fellow rider fall to his death.
The Silver-wing immediately begins to:
— lose altitude,
— overcorrect during turns,
— flap harder while generating less lift,
— eventually enters an uncontrolled spiral.
No physical injury has occurred to either dragon or rider.
Using your understanding of Dragon Bond Psychology, Aerodynamics, and Emotional Amplification, explain why this occurs.
Your answer should discuss:
— the dragon/rider emotional bond,
— how amplified emotions affect decision making,
— why increased physical effort alone cannot restore stable flight,
— the proper procedure for recovering control.
That one took me a long time, and I had to raise my hand for extra paper to complete it. By the time I was finally finished proofreading my answer, several other cadets had gone to the front of the classroom to turn in their tests.
Larson was one of them. He gave me an angry glare, his thin lips curling with rage, as he walked past me. I tried my best not to notice but my stomach felt icy cold as I finally finished checking over all my work and brought my test to the front.
“Ah, Cadet Lysandra, let’s see what we have here,” Professor Griven remarked when I handed him my thick sheaf of parchment.
He began rifling through the papers, nodding as he did so. When he got to the ethics question about which dragon to rescue during an evacuation, he gave me a sharp look. He started to read my essay at the end, but then simply nodded.
“I’ll have to save this for later,” he told me.
I felt my heart beating in my throat.
“Did…did I pass?” I asked. The answer would determine my entire future.
“I can’t very well grade it right this minute, Cadet,” Griven said dryly. “Rankings will be posted in the common areas and the Mess Hall tomorrow at breakfast. Now go and enjoy your dinner—you’ve earned it.”
I left the testing room feeling uncertain—I thought I had done well on the math and physics questions, but I wasn’t at all sure about the ethics and essay sections of the test.
I wished I could have gotten my ranking right away. Still, I supposed it was unreasonable to expect the professor to grade every single test as soon as he got it. Auren’s tutor always had, but he’d only had two students to worry about.
As I stepped out into the hallway, I cast a cautious look around me to be sure Chud Larson wasn’t waiting to beat me bloody. Auren’s tutor had only taught us academic subjects and while our father had trained my brother in hand-to-hand combat, he had refused to teach me even the simplest hold or throw.
“You’re a woman, Aurora,” he reprimanded me when I begged to learn everything that Auren did. “Your place is in the kitchen—not on the battlefield.”
So I was woefully unprepared to defend myself—though I was fast. Hopefully I could run away from the angry upperclassman if I saw him coming for me. Or maybe if I stayed out of his orbit long enough, he might just forget about me. That was probably too much to hope, though.
But there was no one waiting for me out in the broad corridor but Jorn-o, who broke into a grin when he saw me.
“Hey, there you are, Auri—how did it go?” he asked.
I thought about protesting the nickname, but found I kind of liked it. It was hard to remember to always answer to my brother’s name. It might be nice to have a name that was all mine here at the Academy.
“All right, I guess,” I said cautiously. “How about you?”
“All that math…” Jorn-o shook his head. “I studied for six months for the entrance exams but once I was taking the test it all seemed to fly right out of my head like a Bronze-wing soaring for a Mating Flight.”