Chapter 560: Ascending The Skyway

As much as a week of social misery gave Arc time to advance her understanding of the threads, she found herself intensely excited when she woke up early and realized that today was the day! She would enter the Skyway Tower to learn the secrets of how dragons chose their riders and leave as more than an aspirant to the Dragon Knights... she would leave as a candidate.

For a while, she lay in bed, running through all the dragon trivia she would use to impress the knights. She could name the nine domesticated species kept by the city off the top of her head. She could list most of their major bones and organs. And she even knew the theory behind the importance of gold in dragon nests, and how it allowed them to exercise magical regeneration, even in their sleep.

Eventually, she grew restless enough to hop out of bed and do a few light exercises, trying to use up some nervous energy. She showered and changed into her school uniform - might as well use the Academy’s reputation - and the moment the clock hit five, she was downstairs and banging on Owyn’s door until he groggily answered.

"It’s not even dawn... What is it?" he groaned through the crack.

"Today’s the day, and you said you were coming with!" Arc reminded him, annoyed he wasn’t dressed and she hadn’t thought to get him ten minutes earlier. She rushed him back to his room and, after waiting what felt like far too long, dragged him down to the sibliary house to retrieve Raven and Snow.

Raven was prepared, but Snow refused to uncurl from the balled position she slept in until Raven presented her with a steaming mug of coffee, which the pangolkin drank by curling her tongue inward and using it as a straw.

So it was that halfway past the hour, and a full half hour past when Arc wanted to be at the door, they showed up at the Skyway Tower to find the street in front of it cordoned off with sleepy-looking Knights in uniform waiting as they leaned against the nearby posts.

"Yes! We made it before everyone else!" Arc exclaimed as the guards waved them through the serpentine row. Unfortunately, Arc had celebrated too early, because the moment the door opened, it was to a room crowded with people, all eager candidates for the new role. She saw young people and old. Teens who looked like they might still be in secondary, and she recognised students from the Workers College, and even some from the Guild Schools. And of course, there were other Academy students there as well, all of them mingling as Dragon Knights came out intermittently.

And of course, she was at the back of the line.

The Dragon Knights, for their part... weren’t there. Instead, their squires were splitting up those at the front to ask them questions before taking them through the door that lead upstairs, or alternatively escorting them to the back door.

Arc’s height didn’t let her see exactly how long the line was, but she wasn’t about to risk her dignity by asking Owyn for a lift. She wasn’t the back of the line for long, however, once the dawn bell sounded and more people started to arrive. She was, in Owyn’s estimate, about halfway through when a Dragon Knight she didn’t recognise shouted that people would now be let through in groups of five, and that anyone who couldn’t handle the sight of blood should leave immediately.

No one Arc could see left, but the announcement did make her wonder what sort of test they had that might involve blood.

Then, when the end was finally in sight, another Knight announced that tests would continue tomorrow, before a loud bang drew everyone’s attention as the entrance was shut. Everyone inside was reassured that they would be tested today, which quelled the sharp panic that Arc felt.

It would have sucked to get to the front just to get turned away...

The one who received them was a burly elven Dragon Knight, likely a new member since Arc didn’t recognise them from any Dragon Games. "Right, you four are Academy," they glanced over the group, "Great, that makes this easier." Looking down the line, they let out a sharp whistle, mouthing for one of the squires to pull another Academy student out of the line. The student they grabbed turned out to be Margaret, the Student Council leader, and Arc felt a surge of frustration from her the moment their eyes met.

Arc flinched, wondering how annoyed Margaret had to be that someone burned the contract she’d worked hard on, to say nothing of the badmouthing happening around Arc in general, which probably got back to her since she was student leadership.

"Hey, Margaret," Arc greeted. "Sorry about what happened..."

"You aren’t to blame," she replied curtly, her emotion stuttering for a moment as she schooled her face into something professional for the Knight escorting them. Her emotions withdrew, but Arc still felt a bit of hostility.

"Alright, I’m Knight Sorrel. You five follow me!" the Knight gestured.

Knight Sorrel led them up the spiral staircase, each floor proving to be larger on the inside than the tower was on the outside. The group passed a floor where other groups were taking some sort of written exam. "You don’t need to take that; the Academy has stricter entry requirements," the Knight explained, turning their head as they answered the question at the tip of Arc’s mind.

One floor up from that, they were brought to a briefing room ringed by offices and sat down. Each chair had its own small desk, and the Knight sat them down before passing out forms. "Sign these," they said. "The top is your safety waiver, followed by a nondisclosure agreement related to the choosing process, and last is an Oath you will make with regard to the second. Read them thoroughly. Any questions?"

Owyn raised his hand. "I’m just here to support my friend..."

"Then why were you..." The Knight pinched the bridge of their nose and let out an exasperated sigh. "Anyone else not here to become a Dragon Knight?" Raven raised her hand, and the Knight’s tone became sardonic, "Great! That saves us some paper. You two can support your friends from here."

After taking back the forms from Raven and Owyn, Arc saw the two sharing some strange, perhaps respectful, look. Even though she knew they were just here to support her, she felt a little annoyed because who wouldn’t want to ride a dragon? It made sense for Owyn, he was massive, and as far as she knew, there were no giant dragon riders, but Raven was normal-sized. Though now that she thought of it, dragons were known to circulate and use magic, and given Owyn’s condition, it might not be safe for him... Maybe once he was cured, they could circle back to it.

At any rate, she blazed through the contracts, signed her life away, and stood while Snow and Margaret were still reading.

Knight Sorrel gave her a quizzical look.

"I’m ready to take the Oath," Arc said.

"You’re sure you’ve read it all?" the Knight asked.

"Yes!" She might have skimmed past the nondisclosure agreement, but she’d been ready for this day since the first time she saw a dragon flying after learning her wings were nonfunctional.

Knight Sorrel chuckled. "Alright, fast-reader. Let’s get you ready." They gestured for Arc to come to the front of the room, and there they administered her Oath, the magic mediated by blood applied to the contracts. Once the magic settled, they asked if Snow and Margaret were ready and, receiving head shakes, shrugged before escorting Arc up the stairway opposite the one they entered.

As they passed room after room, floor after floor, Arc couldn’t hold in her questions.

"Hey, so... I’ve been thinking about this for a long time... How do dragons pick their riders? Is it true I’d have to move in with my dragon?" Not that she would mind, it’s not like she had a lot of attachment to living in an attic. "Do I get to name them, or will they already have one?"

"I’m surprised you don’t know already. Aren’t you Lord Gale’s daughter?"

Of course, he knew who she was... "How did you know?"

"I was here when Lord Gale brought you into the Skyway the first time, a few years back."

Arc said, unable to hide her annoyance with the situation. "I’d rather not get in just because of who my parents are." But then she felt a dissonance with what he’d said. This is my first time in here, right? Sure she’d been outside a bunch, but she felt she would have remembered if her Father had brought her into the place that fascinated her...

"Don’t worry, blood means nothing here." Sorrel said, as if reading her mind, "And that has to do with how dragons choose riders."

"How?" Arc asked.

Knight Sorrel smiled cryptically and continued climbing. What felt like twenty stories up, Arc’s legs were burning when they finally stopped at a large set of doors.

Knight Sorrel turned. "I’m supposed to offer you a last chance to turn back, but you took the stairs like a champ, so I’m going to guess you really want this."

"More than anything," Arc said, a bit winded.

"To answer your earlier question, do you know the story of how dragons came to Norneau?"

Arc nodded enthusiastically. "After the apocalypse, a flight of angels and their dragons came through the Veil. They were running from the Demon Lord, and they’d stolen dozens of eggs from Araqlun. They were trying to find some place she couldn’t find them."

"Very close," Knight Sorrel said as they opened the heavy iron doors.

Arc gasped.

Inside the circular space, which was much, much larger than the circumference of the tower, were cushioned pedestals, and each pedestal hosted an egg. The smallest were the size of Arc’s head, but the largest rose more than half of her height. There weren’t dozens of eggs inside... There were hundreds.