Page 28 of Flameborne: Chosen (Emberquell Academy #1)
“Flameborne Kearney. This is your trial. This is your flight. I call you to stand to Attention and lift your chin in the pride of a Chosen. See the world from your dragon’s eyes and thank the God who made you that you share this view so few men—and even fewer women—will ever see!”
“You want me to stand up? Is this a joke?”
“No.”
“I’m not killing myself for your amusement, you can all go fuck yourselves!” I didn’t know where the words came from. I’d never spoken to a man like that in my life.
A chorus of “Oooooo” rose from the surrounding dragons, followed by a few chuckles. But even though they were obviously waiting to see me punished, I didn’t take it back.
I meant it.
On the verge of tears, I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed.
To my surprise, the skies were quiet for a time. The only sound was the dragons flapping, and the wind rushing past my ears, and snapping in my shirtsleeves.
“Gil?”
“Yes, Wing Captain?”
“Please relay to Flameborne Kearney the tale of Harle’s first flight.”
“And don’t forget the part where he shits himself!” one of the men called from overhead.
Instinctively, I looked at the man on the dragon to my left. Gil. The Lieutenant, I thought. He rode a gray male that flew like a seal in the sea, barely flapping, riding the winds like they were waves .
He was a big man.In build and coloring he reminded me of the Commander, though his hair was short. But the smile he shot me when he saw me looking at him was far too bright and pleased.
“Flameborne Kearney, you will be gratified to hear that on the day our Harle was Chosen, we brought him up and not only did it take him four tries to salute, but I think he wept when we made him stand up.”
“I did not cry!”
“He did shit himself though.”
“Shut up, Voski!”
It was all so surreal, I almost laughed, but I was on the edge of tears. I was losing my mind. My back ached from hunching on this constantly moving net. But standing up? They had to be deluded?
“The good news is, Harle no longer soils his pants when he has to stand, do you Harle?”
“I never did!” Harle snapped back while the others all laughed.
“Harle, please demonstrate for Flameborne Kearney how we stand attention on dragonback.”
There was another groan, but in a few seconds that beautiful dragon dropped into sight just ahead and below and I watched in horror as the man once again leaned forward, pulled his feet up under him, bracing his feet in the ridges of his dragon’s shoulders, and then he stood up .
He leaned slightly forward into the wind, but he was upright.
The others crowed and whooped, and Harle raised a fist to the sky before dropping back down to sit and looking at me over his shoulder. “It feels impossible, but the net’s even easier. You balance better if you have one foot forward of the other. You’ll be fine!” he called back.
“I can’t,” I sobbed.
“You can. And you will,” Ronen called, his voice stern, but patient. “Every one of us has lived this moment before you, Kearney. We understand it. But you must teach your body that your instincts are incorrect. You will not fall. And even if you do, your Dragon will save you.”
‘I will, Bren,’ Akhane said softly. ‘You know I will.’
Her conviction and kindness washed through me in that bond and I shook my head.
‘I know you will. I know you mean to. But, I can’t do this!’
‘You can, Little Flame. You can. I give you my word. The Creator put you here for me. You can do this. We can do it together.’
“Flameborne Kearney, we won’t land until you have walked the trial. Stand attention!”
Chest throbbing, eyes blurred with tears, I locked on Akhane in the bond and just told myself over and over that she’d catch me. She’d already done it once. She’s proven that she could. And so had I.
If I fell, I would live.
Swallowing back the pinch in my throat and blinking away the tears, I slowly shuffled my feet forward, inch by inch on the strings of the net, struggling when the sole of one boot caught and I had to lift the foot to release it.
But eventually my toes were almost to my palms. But then I had to let go with my hands, and I couldn’t.
“C’mon, Kearney!” one of them called.
I choked.
“You can do it. We all did!”
All men. All strong. All bigger than me and probably—
‘Their strength and size is a disadvantage in this,’ Akhane said carefully. ‘The wind flows catch them harder because they’re broader, and if they get off balance, their momentum is harder to slow.’
“Do it, Kearney!”
“You’ve got this!”
“Well, Akhane does, anyway.”
“Akhane definitely won’t shit herself.”
“Shut up, Voski.”
I laughed. The sound was slightly hysterical and accompanied by tears, but as I reached up with one hand to wipe my eyes, I accepted that I wasn’t going to get out of this. They weren’t going to let me say no. And neither would Akhane.
“God, help me!” I cried.
“That’s the spirit!”
Teeth gritted and heart pounding, I positioned my feet wide, with one slightly ahead of the other, then with a silent prayer, let go of the net with both hands, keeping them low enough to grab the twine again if I needed to.
“Yesssss!”
My hands were still only inches from the net. I was bent in half, wobbling like a child learning to walk. But the cheers went up anyway.
A gust of wind rocked over us and the net rippled. I gasped and grabbed for it again.
“No, no. Stand up, Kearney. Come on! You can do it!”
Tears tracked across my temples, blown by the wind. I wasn’t sure if I cried them or the wind blew them from my eyes, but I let go of the net again and straightened slowly, inch by inch, until I stood almost upright, hands out and to the sides for balance.
“Lift your chin. Look, Bren!” Ronen called excitedly, and pointed. Instinctively I followed his hand, my head lifting and eyes focusing in the distance… and I was washed in awe.
To the left, the coastline spread ahead of us, an endless serpentine of rocks and sand that faded into sea mists and purple mountains beyond where my eyes could focus. The sky was mostly clear. To the right the sun gilded the few wispy clouds in peach and gold over the deep blue of the sky beyond.
Then someone whooped and I realized I was doing it. I was upright. Well, mostly. But I was flying.
And I was free.