Page 65 of Flameborne: Chosen
The bond hummed with reassurance and admiration.
Ronen gave another command that I didn’t hear.
I stared at my dragon, met her gaze, and pleaded with her.‘Please don’t let me go. I have no one else, Akhane. No one.’
Pain sang from her heart to mine—an embrace, empathy, and grief at my words.
‘I’m here for you, Bren.Always.Now… jump.’
And with a scream that was equal parts rage and terror, I did.
18. Free
~ BREN ~
My stomach lurched sickeningly as I swung to and fro beneath the net, a pendulum in truth.
The leggings jerked uncomfortably between my legs as my belt pulled up against my bodyweight, but after the initial jolt of hitting the end of that strap, once I’d stopped screaming and flailing, I realized I could just hold onto it and swing.
The men hooted, and called, jeering at each other.
“She did it! First time!”
“And look, Harle, she didn’t cry!”
“Kiss my ass, Voski!”
I knew I should have laughed. Should have been elated. Should have lifted my arm and saluted orsomething.I’d done it! But all I felt was cold. And exhausted.
While the men laughed and jabbed, I swung there, shaking.
‘You are brave, Little Flame.’
‘No I’m not. I’m terrified.’
‘Ah, but courage is not the absence of fear, Bren. It is the strength to hold your course in the face of it.’
‘Is thereanychance we can hold our course back home to bed now?’I asked earnestly.
A strange, bubbling sound in my head was accompanied by a burst of joy in the bond.‘Soon, Bren. Very soon. Your tasks are nearly finished.’
I gaped.‘Nearly?! What else is left?!’
But before she could answer, Ronen was barking again.
“Tuck your knees to your chest and wrap your arms around the strap and your knees if you can. Stay as still as possible. Let Akhane come to you!”
I tried to do as he said, but my body was so tired, I struggled to hold my knees up. My legs kept falling. I managed to hug the strap and myself to it, though.
‘Akhane, what is he talking about?’
‘You’re going to fly with me. Don’t worry, this is a maneuver, not a test. A reward! You’ve done it, Bren. You’ve succeeded where others fail. This is no small feat.’
I knew I should feel pride, but my guts were a strange tangle, and my body so wrung out, it seemed impossible to feelanything.So, I watched mutely as Akhane dropped a few more feet and slowed her pace, her long tail—thick as a tree trunk at its base, but thinning to a branch, with high, razor-sharp fin on top, and two more flat at the sides instead of leaves—slipped underneath me, then her broad back. Her leathery wings extended well beyond the width of the net. She was gliding mostly, only half-flapping to keep herself steady and safely under the bodies of her brothers.
I was unclear what was happening until she spoke in my head.
‘In a few moments I’ll rise to meet you, Bren. You’ll take your weight, standing on my shoulders, only long enough to unclip. Then we will fly. My brothers will follow beneath us with the net to catch you if you fall, but you won’t. We’ll do this together, Bren. I’ll keep you safe. I willalwayskeep you safe. You have my word.’
