Page 52 of Flameborne: Chosen

But he didn’t speak as we crossed the store, then back into the Academy building. He only muttered,“Through here,”when he ushered me back outside, then followed a cobbled path from the back of the building.

I couldn’t stop staring. There were more buildings on this side, all of them made from this incredible, glistening black stone that reflected blue where the sun hit it.

Then I heard a deep, vibrating rumble, and the pinch in my heart eased as Kgosi and Akhane lumbered around the corner to follow us up the path and onto a road that weaved towards the forest.

‘You look veryFlameborne,Bren,’Akhane said. It was only then that I realized how little she used my name.

I smiled my thanks, and touched my heart. Then followed the Commander before I stumbled over my own feet and turned this entire moment into a pantomime.

A Flameborne.I’ma Flameborne.

Bren Kearney, Flameborne.

It didn’t seem real.

Yet, the Commander led me up the road and into the forest. And not many minutes later, the trees gave way, opening to a massive clearing. The rustling I’d been hearing wasn’t the wind in the trees at all, but the wings of hundreds of dragons flapping and fluttering.

I was stunned.

I stood there, just inside the tree line, staring at a massive clearing surrounded by the forest, the land falling gently away from the road, down to an oval space at the bottom.

Dragons everywhere. Men everywhere.

Far more men than had been hurrying through the Academy halls.

And as the Commander strode out into the clearing, every one of them snapped to attention.

“Commander,Sir!”Their voices were so many and so loud, the call echoed over the forest several times.

Commander, Sir!... Commander, Sir!... Commander, Sir!...

“At ease!” he bellowed, and his words echoed too. As the men returned to what they’d been doing, and their voices rose in an eager hum, he turned to me, and he smiled.

“Come stand with me, Kearney. It’s time for your brothers to meet you properly.”

When I tentatively stepped up to his side, he turned back to face the massive crowd below, but kept his voice quiet through barely moving lips.

“No matter what happens, just go along with it,” he murmured. “There are traditions that belong only to us who are Chosen. Akhane will watch for you, and so will Kgosi and I. Do you understand?”

I didn’t. I wanted to shake my head and babble that I couldn’t be here, that they had made a mistake. But I felt the deep conviction in my dragon’s chest that we were exactly where we were supposed to be. And I saw the Commander’s measuring gaze when he turned his head to look down at me.

“I understand and I’m ready,” I lied.

“God go with you,” the Commander said.

And then hegrinned.

14. Welcome Aboard

~ BREN ~

“Furyknights!” His voice was deep and strong, booming as it rolled down the slope to reach every man and Dragon on the way. “The She-Dragon, Akhane, has Chosen!”

A roar filled the clearing, accompanied by a thunderous sound that made me look to the sky for a storm—only to realize it was the dragons. All of them tipped their heads back, calling at the sky and beating the air with their wings. The waves of air caught their roars and turned them into rolling, treacherous thunder.

Behind the Commander and I, Akhane heaved up until she stood on her hind legs like a rearing horse, beating her wings and giving a high, sonorous call.

The earth trembled under my feet when she dropped back down to earth and I startled, but then laughed when she extended her neck towards me and nudged my body, pushing me forward to stand next to the Commander, instead of slightly behind him.