Page 32 of Flameborne: Chosen (Emberquell Academy #1)
~ brEN ~
A few minutes later when my tears had passed and everyone had landed, Akhane nudged me out from under her wing to find the men all gathered, boisterously clapping shoulders and teasing each other with great delight.
“You were beaten by a girl, Voski.”
“Stop trying to distract from the load you left in your pants, Harle.”
“I did not shit my—”
“Enough!” Ronen barked once, and they all quieted down.
My heart still hammered at my ribs mercilessly, and I felt perilously close to bursting into tears, but I swallowed them back and made myself face the men.
All of them tall and strong. All of them confident and bonded to dragons. All standing shoulder to shoulder in their flying leathers and—
I shuddered and my stomach churned.
This isn’t Ruin and his squad. I don’t need to—
“Well done, Bren,” Ronen said quietly, smiling at me. “Very well done. These idiots won’t admit it, but you got through that faster than most of us.”
I blinked. “I did?”
He nodded.
“Don’t get too cocky about it!” someone piped up from my right, but Ronen shot him a glare. I wasn’t sure who had spoken.
“I know we were introduced at the Acknowledgment, but if you were anything like me, that’s all kind of a blur.
So, let’s make sure you know everyone now.
Because this is your squad, Bren. For better or for worse, whatever comes while you’re Flameborne, we’ll meet it with you.
This is the new life offered to each of us by the dragons.
But to succeed, we must work as a team—you understand?
So, I’m Ronen, your Wing Captain. My dragon is Ekko—the green back there.
” One of the dragons lifted his head. I raised a hand to greet him, but then wondered if that was stupid and turned back to the Wing Captain.
Ronen was brunette, his hair short and trim.
He looked older than the others, a little more rugged.
But fit. His build was trimmer than the largest men in the squad.
But he wasn’t slim. He was obviously very strong.
His body reminded me of Ruin—that effortless strength that seemed ready to meet anything.
Yet, Ronen was older and possessed something Ruin never had.
The way he held himself, his strength felt permanent. Immovable, like a rock.
“And this is Gil, your Wing Lieutenant.”
Gil, he man who’d been on the other side of the net, grunted, but offered his hand to shake. “My dragon is Runar,” he said, his voice very deep and rough. I looked where he tipped his head to see the large gray who’d flown at my left.
“H-hello.”
“We’re in charge here, Bren. No matter what this lot tell you,” Ronen said with a grin. Some of the others chuckled. “If they try to tell you a rule has changed, or anything like that, my advice is, check with one of us first before you believe them.”
“Ronen! God! We were going to—”
“I know,” Ronen said starkly. Then he looked pointedly at the man on the other side of him whose shockingly white hair gleamed in the sunlight.
“I’m Einar,” the white-haired man said quietly, taking my trembling hand and shaking it once. His voice was surprisingly smooth. “I won’t be trying to trap you. But watch out for Harle.”
“Thank you?” I said hesitantly.
“Hey!” Harle—the sandy-blonde haired one with the big smile that they’d all been teasing about shitting his pants—stepped forward, his jaw jutting forward.
“Don’t listen to them, Bren. It’s just because I’m the youngest and newest. Wait.
No, I’m not! Not anymore—thank God! Thank you, Bren!
Thank you!” he lifted me into an enthusiastic hug, and my heart flipped into my throat.
I sucked in and braced on his shoulders to push out of his grip, but the others had already protested, and Harle set me back down on my feet.
“Sorry about that,” he said scratching the back of his neck and looking sheepish. “I’m just so grateful!”
“You’re still the youngest brother, Harle,” another of the men muttered. “Don’t get too excited.”
Harle’s face fell as the tall man with the black hair stepped forward. “I’m Voski. And if Harle gives you any trouble, just tell me. I was raised before him and he’s still pissed about it, so I can get under his skin easy.”
I tried to laugh because I knew that it was funny, but my body was still trembling from the flight, and that unexpected embrace. My stomach churned as the men teased each other while the two remaining men introduced themselves .
I struggled to concentrate, my pulse pounding in my ears as Oros, the huge man with heavy brows and jaw who looked like a bull in human form shook my hand. Then Jhoare stepped forward and was introduced by Voski as the Whore, which made him mad, and made my heart stop again.
But then they all looked at me, expectant. Apparently, I was supposed to talk.
“I’m… I’m s-sorry I t-told you all to g-go fuck yourselves.”
Ronen threw back his head and laughed, and the others thought it was funny too, though I’d meant it.
But the raucous noise startled me and I jumped.
I tried to breathe through it. Tried to keep my head from spinning.
I knew the men were just teasing each other and relaxing, but my lungs didn’t work and—
‘Don’t panic, Bren. It’s all over. You’re safe. These are your brothers. They will protect you.’
“You okay, Bren?” Ronen asked quietly as the other continued to jab at each other with words.
I nodded, but took another step back, my stomach churning.
Gil turned from watching the others to frown at me. “It’s been a long day already and I bet you haven’t eaten since breakfast. Would you like to go get some food, Bren? We always eat together if we can.”
There was a chorus of hell yes, and let’s do it! from the squad. But as I opened my mouth to tell him that I didn’t feel hungry at all, pressure rose into my throat.
“I… just—give me a minute!” I squeaked, then whirled and ran, head spinning, stomach flipping, stumbling to my knees twenty feet away and heaving again and again.
I was left gasping, coughing, and mortified as I wiped my mouth, and the re-emerging tears as a chorus of sympathetic, wincing, “Oooooo” went up behind me.
But as I stumbled back to my feet, the deep voice of Gil rose across the field. “At least you didn’t shit your pants.”