Page 126 - Fourth Wing

“He’s huge,” Rhiannon says. “And is that a clubtail?”

“No. A morningstartail. He has the same bludgeoning power of a clubtail,
but those spikes will eviscerate a person just as well as a daggertail.”

“Best of both worlds,” Jack calls out. “He looks like a killing machine.”

“He is,” Professor Kaori answers. “And honestly, I haven’t seen him in
the last five years, so this image is more than a little outdated. But since we

have him up here, what can you tell me about black dragons?”

“They’re the smartest and most discerning,” Aurelie calls out.
“They’re the rarest,” I add in. “There hasn’t been one born in the last…

century.”

“Correct.” Professor Kaori spins the illusion again, and I’m met with a
pair of glaring yellow eyes. “They’re also the most cunning. There’s no

such thing as outsmarting a black dragon. This one is a little over a
hundred, which makes him about middle-aged. He’s revered as a battle

dragon among their kind, and if not for him, we probably would have lost

during the Tyrrish rebellion. Add to it that he’s a morningstartail, and he’s
one of the deadliest dragons in Navarre.”

“I bet he powers one hell of a signet. How do you approach him?” Jack
asks, leaning forward in his seat. There’s pure avarice in his eyes, mirrored

by his friend next to him.

That’s the last thing this kingdom needs, someone as cruel as Jack
bonding to a black dragon. No thank you.

“You don’t,” Professor Kaori answers. “He hasn’t agreed to bond since

his previous and only rider was killed during the uprising, and the only way
you’d ever be near him is if you’re in the Vale, which you won’t be,

because you’d be incinerated before you ever got through the gorge.”

The pale redhead across the circle from me shifts in her seat and tugs her
sleeve down to cover her rebellion relic.

“Someone should ask him again,” Jack urges.
“It doesn’t work that way, Barlowe. Now, there is only one other black