Nightrift: Trial of the Shadow Bond

The bond is formed. The law says she must die. The Headmaster says she will train under watch until the Council decides her fate. The noble houses whisper of risk and ruin. Rivals sharpen their blades and their pride. And in the halls of Nightrift, someone cuts straps, loosens bolts, and leaves warnings chalked on her door.

Kael of Orwyn, heir to a house that lost his mother to a shadow rider's fall, takes her measure with cool eyes. He is her rival, her guard, and the one who stands before the Headmaster to demand proof of loss of control before sentence. He means what he says: if she falters, he will end it. If she holds, he will record it. Between them lies a record of steel, silence, and something that tastes like trust and threat in equal measure.

The trials do not pause for her bond. She climbs cliffs where ropes swing over sheer drops. She faces dragons whose breath can freeze, burn, or shatter stone. She learns to match stance to breath, to fight without pride, and to listen to the hum of the seal that burns on her wrist. She feeds the dragon that waits in the pen, its scales black as midnight water, its voice a tide in her mind. She names it Vesper. It names her Binder.

Enemies call her danger. Allies call her risk. But some see more. Fin, the shaved-headed girl whose life she once saved on the cliff, offers her bread and company. Mara, sharp-eyed and storm-quick, marks who leaves chalk on doors. Brann, the handler with scars on his hands, watches her with a patience that says dragons notice what men forget. And always the Archivist reminds her: pride locks doors, breath opens them.

Yet danger grows. A hooded figure walks the terraces at night, leaving no sound. A cut strap nearly drops her from the gantry. Rivals push for her removal, citing law and fear. The Council demands control, proof, and patience that the world has never granted a shadow bond before. And all the while the bond hums, steady and deep, not threat but promise.

To live, Lyra must hold when the world expects her to fall. To prove her bond, she must face every trial Nightrift sets before her, with allies at her side and enemies in her shadow. To claim her place, she must decide what the word "mine" means-surrender, promise, or defiance.

Nightrift: The Shadow Bond is the first book in a new dragon rider saga. Perfect for readers of Fourth Wing, Eragon, Seraphina, and Graceling, it delivers dangerous trials, forbidden magic, and a heroine who refuses to kneel. If you love academy fantasy where dragons are more than beasts, bonds cut both ways, and every choice carries fire, then step into the shadows of Nightrift.

The bond is made. The law is clear. But some bonds are stronger than fear.