Page 154 of Flameborne: Chosen

Two or three of my brothers snorted. Ronen rolled his lips together tightly, and Gil chuckled. I blushed as I finally grasped the euphemism—I’d heard Ruin refer to it asnuttingwhen he found his release.

But then I caught Harle, blushing to his roots and turning the spit like he had a grudge towards it. “Don’t listen to them, Bren. They just like to tease me. That’s not why the dragons call me that.”

Voski opened his mouth and I was sure he’d needle Harle again, but Ronen spoke up quickly instead.

“We all have dragon names—some more interesting than others. They named meDragon’s Crest.Ekko tells me in their language it’s more about the image than the name. He said that I carry a… a crown.” He shrugged, uncomfortably. “He doesn’t mean anything royal,” he hurried to assure me. “More just a leadership thing.” He shrugged again and looked back at the fire, but he was obviously pleased.

“That’s lovely.”

“Thatislovely, Ronen,” Gil said smiling.

Ronen shot him a look. “It is—so why don’t you tell her yours, Gil?”

Gil’s lips tipped up on one side. “I’mthe Bat.”

Oros rolled his eyes.

I frowned. “Why?”

Gil opened his mouth to answer, but Oros interrupted, which surprised me. He was usually so quiet.

“Because he’s a flying rat.”

The others burst into laughter. Gil gave Oros a flat look, but he was still smiling.“No.He said it’s because I can see through the dark.”

I frowned. “Can you?”

That was met with another burst of laughter from the others, but Gil ignored them. “It’s a metaphor. He said I’m good at not getting lost. At seeing the truth about things even if others try to obscure it.”

His smile had gotten less smug and more thoughtful, but the others were still teasing about flying rats and seeing in the dark.

I thought it was a wonderful name. “I can see that,” I said. “You help me see the way to go.”

Ronen agreed with me, which kept the others from getting too raucous in their jokes. Then one by one, the others shared their names.

Oros had been namedthe Rockwhich had the others crowing about how much he ate and his poor dragon having to carry his bulk. But Oros just smiled at me and shrugged. “When I’m sure of my course, I’m not easy to move,” he said.

Einar, with his startlingly white hair and pale blue eyes was calledMoon Eyes,though he insisted his dragon said it was to do with not being deceived by darkness—he shone light into it.

Voski admitted his name was Goldfinger. “Kham says mine is like Ronen’s. It’s more about a picture—he said I’ll always have success at anything I turn my mind to.”

“What Voski means, Bren,” Gil said quietly, “Is that he has the devil’s own luck and no matter what he tries, it never seems to go wrong for him.”

“That’s interesting.” I was about ask for a story when Voski turned.

“So, that only leaves Jhoare!” he said with a broad smile.

Everyone turned to Jhoare—who was so handsome, he was almost pretty. I didn’t know him well, but I liked him. Quietly confident, charming, and usually wearing a smile. I’d seen the others tease him many times, but unlike Harle, he never grew flustered.

Now, his handsome smile was back. The one I knew would make girls in the tavern swoon and try to catch his eye.

As the others nudged and called for him to speak up, he grinned at me. “My name is Horse.”

I had just remembered the bread in my hand and taken another bite. I choked a little bit. And coughed, had to wait a minute while my throat cleared and I blinked away tears.

“I’m sorry… did you sayHorse?”

Jhoare smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I did.”