The Book of Brennan

*The Book of Brennan* is a small journal that Brennan Sorrengail wrote for Mira Sorrengail the summer before she entered the Riders Quadrant. It's a journal with everything that Brennan learned in the Quadrant written to help Mira survive. Later, Mira bribes a scribe to get the book to Violet's bunk on her second day in the quadrant.

## Extracts

Page 1: Mira, You're a Sorrengail, so you will survive. Perhaps not as spectacularly as I have, but we all can't live up to my standards can we? All kidding aside, this is everything I've learned. Keep is safe. Keep it hidden. You have to live, because Violet is watching. You can't let her see you fall. Brennan.

Page 3: You survived Parapet. Good. Be observant the next few days, and don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself. I’ve sketched a map that shows you not only where the classrooms are but where the instructors meet, too. I know you’re nervous about challenges, but you shouldn’t be, not with that right hook of yours. The matches might seem random, but they’re not. What the instructors don’t tell you is that they decide challenges the week before, Mira. Any cadet can request a challenge, yes, but instructors will assign your matches based on weeding out the weakest. That means once the real hand-to-hand starts, the instructors already know who you’ll be up against that day. Here’s the secret—if you know where to look and can get out without being seen, you’ll know who you’re fighting so you can prepare.

Page 46: Don't underestimate the challenge of the Gauntlet, Mira. It's designed to test your balance, strength, and agility. The times don't matter for shit, only that you make it to the top. Reach for the ropes when you have to. Coming in last is better than coming in dead.

Page 47: Everyone thinks most Riders cadets die from dragon fire. Truth be told, it's usually gravity that gets us.

Page 50: Just because you survive Threshing doesn't mean you'll survive the ride to the flight field. Being chosen isn't the only test, and if you can't hold your seat, then you'll fly straight into the ground.

Page 61: Don't freak out if you can't immediately channel your dragon's powers, Mira. Yeah, I know you have to be the best at everything, but this isn't something you can control. They'll channel when they feel you're ready. And once they do, you'd better be ready to manifest a signet. Until then, you're not ready. Don't push it.

Page 64: The first rush of power is unmistakable. The first time it forms to you, surrounds you with a seemingly endless supply of energy, you'll be addicted to the high, to the possibilities of all you can do with it, to the control you hold in the palm of your hand. But here's the thing, that power can quickly turn and control *you*.

Page 70: I know you don't want to hear this, but sometimes you have to know when to take the death blow, Mira. It's why you have to be sure that Violet enters the Scribe Quadrant. She'll never be able to take a life.

Page 77: The Squad Battle is more important than the two wingleaders will let on. They like to joke that it's a game, that it's just bragging rights for the squad leaders and the winning squad, but it's not. They're all watching. The commandant, the professors, the commanding officers—they're watching to see who will rise to the top. They're salivating to see who will fail.

Page 80: Winning the War Games isn't about strength. It's about cunning. To know how to strike, you have to understand where your enemies—your friends—are most vulnerable. No one stays friends forever, Mira. Eventually those closest to us become our enemies in some way, even if it's through well-intentioned love or apathy, or if we live long enough to become their villains.

Page 84: It is one thing to cross the parapet your first year. But watching countless candidates lose their life to it feels a little like dying, too. Don't watch if you can help it.

Page 91: At some point, probably during your second year, you'll realize the trust you feel for your friends and family has nothing on the loyalty you develop for your squad.

Page 96: There's a course second year that I can't tell you about, other than to say that it's hell. My only advice? Don't piss off anyone else's dragon.

We do not eat our allies - Tairn's personal addendum to the Book of Brennan. As quoted by Cadet violet Sorrengail.