Trial By Shadowflame

Best for attracting readers of the genre (e.g., fans of F She was sent to the cliff to die. Instead, she became a nightmare. Kaelith Veyra is a scribe, not a warrior. But in the eyes of the Empire, she is something far worse: Death-Marked. Condemned for the void-dark stain on her arm, she is dragged to the Offering Cliff as a sacrifice to the dragons below. She was supposed to burn. But when Nyxarth—the legendary Shadowflame dragon, a creature of myth and murder—rises from the smoke, he doesn't kill her. He chooses her. Now, bonded to the most dangerous dragon in existence, Kaelith must survive the brutal trials of Drakenhold Academy. From the mind-breaking Labyrinth to the poisonous Volcanic Wastes, every test is designed to break her. Yet her greatest danger stands right in front of her: High Warden Kade Draven. Cold, disciplined, and ruthlessly efficient, Kade has been ordered to train her—and to execute her the moment she loses control. But as the shadowflame rises and the trials turn deadly, the spark between rider and warden ignites into a fire that defies protocol. With the Capitol watching and a target on her back, Kaelith must master the darkness within or be consumed by it. Because in Drakenhold, you don't just graduate. You survive.