Page 161 - Fourth Wing

obstacle.

She continues. “Trust me. If you pause, it’ll roll you right off.”
I nod and bounce on my feet, dredging up whatever courage I have left.

Then I run. My feet are quick, making contact with each post only long

enough to push off for the next, and within a few heartbeats, I’m on the
other side.

“Yes!” I shout, throwing my fist up in celebration as I get out of the way

for Aurelie.
“Go, Violet!” she shouts. “Here I come!” Her footwork is more agile than

mine as she springs from spinning post to post.

A roar sounds from overhead, and I jerk my gaze up just in time to see
the underbelly of a Green Daggertail as it flies directly over us, headed back

to the Vale.
I’m never going to get used to that.

Aurelie cries out and my head snaps toward hers just in time to see her

wobble and slip on the fifth post. The air freezes in my lungs as she careens
forward, her belly hitting the next-to-last spinning log as if in slow motion.

“Aurelie!” I scream, lunging for her, my fingertips skimming the seventh
post.

Our eyes meet, shock and terror filling her wide black eyes as the post

rolls her away from me and she falls. Halfway down the cliff.

…

The sun burns my eyes as we stand in morning formation.

“Calvin Atwater,” Captain Fitzgibbons reads, his voice solemn like

always.
First Squad, Claw Section, Fourth Wing. He sits two rows behind me in

Battle Brief. He sat.
There’s nothing special about this morning. Our first trial on the Gauntlet

has made the roll longer, but it’s just another list on just another day…