Rhark Trainer -

The sun had not yet breached the ridge of the Cinderfangs, but the low, guttural rumble already vibrated through the clay floor of the enclosure. Kaelen pressed his palm flat against the warm, pebbled hide of the beast. “Easy, Vex,” he murmured. “I know. The dark makes you hungry.”

The other handlers at the Caldera Stable call Kaelen a fool. “Too soft,” they say. “One day that beast will remember it’s a predator.” rhark trainer

Kaelen smiles and shows them his scarred fingers. “He remembers every day,” he says. “That’s why he chooses not to be.” The sun had not yet breached the ridge

To Kaelen, he was a student.