There was no place to fear when I found the last eight tiles of the bridge missing, "Eight missing tiles at the end, jump high!" I screamed to them as I launched myself off the bridge, my eyes on the landing and not on the huge hole that would definitely cause a bad death give the sharp edges of the cliff plus the nasty dragons waiting to have us as a snack.
I landed more than a meter far from the edge of the cliff, crunching not to hurt my legs more, heavy breathing, but instead of resting, I turned around, waiting for them to get to me. Not wanting to lose those four bastards yet, not even Sage.
Barbie came first while screaming high-pitchedly with her curly golden hair even messier than when we met back in the climb, next came Percy who landed beautifully like a hero in a pose worthy of a fucking painting as his straight jet black hair moving in the wind with his and my backpack on him. Sage, on the other hand, landed like shit, falling ugly on his side, his buzzed blonde hair ashy, panicking and cursing. When I finally got a sight of Davalyn, her long ebony black wavy hair flying as she landed beautifully and elegantly like a Lady, her brown skin glowy with sweat, but not even that was able to make her less graceful.
That second I made sure they were all safe and the damned red backed off since we were off the bridge and safe, we all collapsed in the ground. Them way more than me, but I was unable to keep my cool, not because of the fire of any of that, but because of the falling, getting caught, dropped, and caught again shit.
"What did you… say about… teaming up… again, Grace?"
Forcing myself to my side, I glared at Percy, "Fuck… off!"
"See? We… survived by… sticking up… with you," he poked me.
"I almost… got you all… fucking killed!" I snapped annoyed.
"Key word….: almost!" He giggled, but started crying. "We survived, B."
She cried, they all began to cry actually, even Sage, and I found myself spilling tears down my eyes, tears of relief. Because fuck, we almost died, many, many times, all of us, and mainly me.
"We survived… thanks… to Grace's… song!" Sage groaned, still shaken.
"Still calling me… Grace, are you… motherfucker?" I provoked him.
He gave me his middle finger, "Fuck off… Disgrace!"
"That's more… like it," I huffed, falling onto my back. "I did it," I cried.
"You… saved us all… Gracie," Barbie cried. "Thank you!"
"I didn't… do it… for you," I brushed it aside.
"We grew… on you… surviving… together… didn't we?" Percy giggled.
"Totally… like a tumor," I growled, because I will never admit the truth.
"Aw, aren't you… the cutest?" He messed with me.
"Fuck off… Percy!" I scoffed, covering my face with my hands.
"I knew you would make it, Grace Madalverel," the familiar voice of that old woman came from behind us, and I instantly realized they must have teleported to this place after sending of all us out. "Like mother, like daughter!"
"With all due respect, Celebrimbor," I didn't spare her a look, too annoyed with her voice already to do so, "I am nothing… like my mother!"
"You climbed the bridge as the 88th, you crossed as the 8th, rejoice."
I cringed, finally glaring up at the woman, "Rejoice? Are you fucking with me? I was burned alive," I yelled, "then I fell from this fucking bridge, and I fell again, and I may not be able to actually die yet, but the sensation is the damn same!"
She scoffed, "But it doesn't kill you!"
Clenching my jaw, I forced myself to stay up, obligating my legs to hold my weight despite how they are screaming to let go, "Did you say that to mom?"
Her eyes darkened, "What?"
"Did you say that bullshit to my mom, too?" I hissed. "Better yet," I took a step closer to her, "when you were here, as her rival-wannabe, did you attack my mom with your dragon's fire?" Clenching my hands in fists, I allowed my nails to dig deep enough to draw blood, since the unbonded dragons can't do shit to us yet. "Did you ever do that, Gléowyn Celebrimbor?"
I think she may have seen the danger I represent to her in my eyes, because the woman turned ashen pale and took a step back, even though she is bonded to a dragon and has magic at her will, and I don't. I guess that says a lot.
"Whatever happened between me and your mother, it was between us!"
The audacity of this bitch. "If I catch word, that you tried to kill my mom, tried to make her experience death by your hands, when she was immortal, before she mated my father and lost that privilege, I will," I stepped into her personal space menacingly, "make you suffer like you did her, not caring if you are immortal or not!" My voice was a hiss, a threat, and she got it.
"Hah," she scoffed anxiously, "I guess you are a Madalverel, after all!"
"You still doubting?" I mocked, but there was no funny tone in my voice. "And I thought my flame hair and the fact that I don't die were proof enough."
"You don't look as broken as I thought you would," a guy exclaimed.
Cringing with the audacity of the stranger, I snapped my eyes at the guy who said that, finding a pale guy with sholder-length dark cherry red hair, eyes so golden it felt like staring at a ray of the sun, covered in blood and playing with two daggers, staring at me with a joyful grin on. I never saw him in my life, but… but there is something painfully familiar about him, something I can't pinpoint yet. He has a dark energy emanating from him, the kind that comes from trauma like my own, he feels older, but something tells me that he's younger than me.
The blood, the daggers, and the wicked grin were enough for me to know who exactly he was. Or, barely. Number 100 turned number 1, Davalyn's hookup.
"So, you're the so-called psychopath," I tilted my head.
He mimicked me, tilting his head to the other side and his hair followed, and as he did that, I noticed a scar cutting the very left side of his strangely pretty face, from the top of his forehead to his jaw and down the top of his neck. "Me?" Playing innocent, he baited his eyelashes, "I'm not a psychopath."
"Are you the one who finished the climb and the bridge first?" I asked.
"Yes, that's me, Princess Disgrace," he smiled, and I scowled.
"What's your name?" My voice was a hiss.
"Katos," he licked his lips, eyes going behind me. "Glad you're alive, my Lady," his lips took what was supposed to be a sensual turn, it failed miserably, but by how Davalyn squeaked behind me, he must be talking to her. When his eyes came back to mine, they darkened, "I've been invincible for quite a while, but that won't last long, not as in the way it is right now. I don't wish you for the same."
"What?" What the fuck is he talking about?
When he rose up, he stood almost two heads taller than me, easily the 2nd tallest here after Marvor motherfucking Velothren, taller than Nevil, taller than my father, which is a feat, "You got quite the big dragon there. Black dragon, uh?"
I swallowed, feeling something off about him, but not… the bad kind?!
"I didn't get any dragon, psycho boy, he was messing with me!"
Katos grinned amusedly, "I never heard of any black dragon, though I may not have received the best of the studies like you, or like my Lady behind you, but I come from a military orphanage in the area of Tower 888, far up north, and it was commanded by a retired Ark-Rider, a woman, and we were always around those from the tower. I saw countless dragons and I've learned from them that there has never been a black dragon before, it goes as they say, there are only nine: rubi red, night blue, quartz pink, bright orange, amethyst purple, emerald green, ice blue, then the strongest that are moon silver and sun golden."
He's an orphan from the northernmost Ark-Riders post? Rash environment that one, no wonder he has a lingering accent, I can tell he's good at adapting since it ain't so strong, but it's there. Living around ruthless riders explain why he's like this, why he acted the way he did ever since the climb, or how he came prepared.
"Yes, and?" I crossed my arms over my chest, already knowing all that.