The Bridge of Bones
Rain lashed against the mountains hard enough to sting skin.
Talia Evernight pulled her cloak tighter around herself as she stood at the edge of the ravine and tried very hard not to look down.
That had been excellent advice three seconds ago.
Unfortunately, she’d looked.
The drop beneath the bridge disappeared into darkness and jagged rock, the kind that would leave very little of a person behind if they hit the bottom. Mist curled through the gorge like ghost smoke while thunder cracked across the sky overhead.
And stretched across all of it—
The bridge.
Ancient black stone no wider than a coffin lid. No railings. No protection. Just slick rock suspended over death itself.
Rowan stepped beside her, rain dripping from her dark braid. “Well,” she said lightly, “this seems unnecessarily dramatic.”
Talia stared at the bridge. “I think the point is to kill us before classes even start.”
“That does save time.”
A boy ahead of them let out a strained laugh that sounded one breath away from vomiting.
Hundreds of first-year cadets crowded the cliffside behind them, soaked to the bone beneath the towering gates of Blackspire Academy.
The academy itself loomed beyond the ravine like a fortress carved from the mountain. Black towers pierced the storm clouds, torchlight glowing through narrow windows. Massive dragon statues lined the walls, their stone eyes fixed downward like judges waiting for executions.
Which, Talia suspected, wasn’t far from the truth.
A scarred officer stood at the bridge entrance with his arms crossed behind his back.
“Cross,” he barked over the storm. “Or go home.”
No one moved.
The officer smiled slowly.
“Ah,” he said. “Cowards this year.”
A girl near the front swallowed hard before stepping onto the bridge.
The wind hit immediately.
The bridge swayed.
Several cadets inhaled sharply.
The girl took another step.
Then another.
Halfway across, thunder cracked directly overhead.
She startled.
Her foot slipped.
Talia watched the exact moment panic overtook reason.
The girl grabbed for balance.
Missed.
And vanished over the edge.
The scream echoed for far too long.
Silence followed.
No one spoke.
The officer glanced down into the ravine with visible boredom before shouting, “Next.”
Talia’s stomach turned violently.
Beside her, Rowan muttered, “Charming place.”
Another cadet started across.
Then another.
One made it.
One didn’t.
The bridge became slicker with every passing second.
A tall blond boy nearby looked Talia up and down openly. His gaze lingered on her narrow frame, the slight tremor in her hands.
“You’re dead by sunrise,” he said.
Talia blinked at him. “What a strange thing to say out loud.”
A few nearby cadets snorted.
The blond boy’s mouth tightened. “You can barely stand in this weather.”
“She’s still standing,” Rowan cut in sharply.
The boy smirked. “For now.”
Rowan stepped closer before Talia could stop her.
It happened fast—that shift Rowan had always had. One second warm. The next dangerous.
“If you speak to my sister again,” Rowan said softly, “I’ll throw you off the bridge myself.”
The boy laughed nervously. “You threatening me?”
“No,” Rowan replied. “I’m promising efficiency.”
Talia sighed. “Row.”
“He started it.”
“You threatened murder in under thirty seconds.”
“Actually,” Rowan said thoughtfully, “I think it was fifteen.”
Thunder cracked again.
The line moved forward.
Closer.
Closer.
Talia flexed her fingers against the ache already building in her joints. The cold made the Splintering worse. Pain crawled beneath her skin like fractured glass, settling deep into bone.
Not now.
Please not now.
She breathed through it carefully.
Rowan glanced sideways at her. She always noticed.
“You good?”
“Fantastic,” Talia lied. “I’ve always wanted to die dramatically in a rainstorm.”
Rowan bumped her shoulder gently.
“You’re not dying.”
“You sound very confident for someone standing beside a death bridge.”
“I have instincts.”
“Your instincts once told you it was safe to punch a military officer.”
“He deserved it.”
“He absolutely deserved it,” Talia admitted.
The scarred officer pointed at them.
“You two. Move.”
Rowan gestured grandly. “After you.”
Talia narrowed her eyes. “You are older by four minutes.”
“And yet somehow wiser.”
“Debatable.”
Still, Talia stepped forward first.
The moment her boot touched the bridge, wind roared through the ravine.
The stone beneath her feet was slick with rain.
Don’t look down.
She immediately looked down.
Mist churned beneath her.
Wonderful.
Behind her, Rowan muttered, “Focus.”
Right.
Talia forced herself forward carefully.
One step.
Then another.
The bridge swayed violently.
Someone screamed behind them.
A cadet slipped several feet to Talia’s left, barely catching himself on the stone edge.
His panic infected the others instantly.
People started moving too fast.
Big mistake.
The bridge lurched.
Talia dropped lower instinctively, gripping the stone with both hands as several cadets lost balance.
One fell.
The scream disappeared into the storm below.
Another slipped to his knees.
Panic spread like fire.
Move smarter.
Not faster.
Talia forced herself to breathe through the chaos.
The bridge only swayed hardest when weight shifted unevenly.
Timing.
That was the key.
She watched the movement carefully, studying the rhythm beneath the storm.
Left swing.
Pause.
Right swing.
Pause.
Like a heartbeat.
“Talia,” Rowan warned from behind.
“I know.”
Another careful step.
Then another.
Someone shoved past in panic.
Talia twisted sideways at the last second, letting the cadet’s momentum nearly carry him over the edge instead.
He caught himself with a horrified sound.
“You almost killed me!”
“You were doing an excellent job yourself,” she snapped.
Lightning split the sky.
For one terrifying second, the entire ravine illuminated silver-white.
And Talia saw them.
Massive shadows circling high above the mountains.
Wings.
Huge.
Ancient.
Impossible.
Her breath caught.
Dragons.
Real dragons.
Not drawings in old books. Not carved statues.
Alive.
One let out a roar so deep the bridge trembled beneath her feet.
Around her, cadets froze in awe and terror.
The creatures moved through the storm clouds like gods.
Watching.
Waiting.
Hunting.
Talia stared upward, rain streaming down her face as something ancient and strange twisted in her chest.
One of the dragons tilted its massive silver head toward her.
And for one impossible moment—
It felt like it saw her.
