Page 43 of Flameborne: Chosen (Emberquell Academy #1)

~ DONAVYN ~

It was late by the time I left the King’s Advisory.

I’d taken Kgosi to the castle because when the Advisor’s met, they often asked for insight from my dragon.

It wasn’t a long distance to the castle, barely a mile, but we were both tired.

When I left the castle—sweating because I’d dodged the Queen’s sly approach at the end of the meeting—I asked Kgosi how he’d feel about flying back.

‘It would be my honor to save your weak legs the walk.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Thank you for humbling yourself.’

‘You’re welcome.’

We were in the air in moments. It was such a short flight and still within the confines of the Reach walls, I let Kgosi watch for danger and turned my mind back to the intelligence reports we’d been receiving from the field that I’d discussed with the King, and his concern about them.

I asked myself once again to piece together what it meant that multiple teams reported different conclusions.

But then I felt Kgosi bank slightly to the right—away from the stables and I blinked.

‘Is there a problem?’ I asked him, not yet alarmed, but on alert. Kgosi didn’t divert from our path without discussion.

‘Not a problem exactly, but…’

‘But what?’

‘Look ahead—can your eyes make them out?’

I peered into the dark, but all I saw on this cloudy night that blocked out most of the moonlight, was the blanket of trees and the shadows of the mountains rising in the distance.

‘No. Make out what, Keg? ’

‘The girls.’

He meant Akhane and Bren. I tightened my grip on his neckstrap. ‘Where are they? Are they training with her squad?’ I’d kept my distance today, second-guessing whether it had been wise to give her the gift. But also wondering if she’d liked it.

Perhaps I could watch the training and speak with her afterwards, just to make certain the book wasn’t too complicated in its language.

Could she even read? I had assumed so when I’d seen her look at the books, but with the poor, you never knew. It was possible—

‘They’re training. But I don’t believe it’s with her brothers,’ Kgosi said, his tone a touch dark.

I frowned. ‘Then, who?’

‘That is precisely my question,’ Kgosi growled and flapped faster, propelling us forward.

Moments later I heard a distant shriek and my heart jumped.

‘Keg—’

‘On it.’

My heart pounded in my chest as every possible danger a young dragon and an inexperienced Flameborne could meet ran through my head in ever-more-alarming scenarios.

By the time we over-flew them, I was leaned forward on Kgosi’s neck, urging him faster, a cold sweat chilling my skin where it was bare.

But when I saw what had caused that shriek, the cold chill ignited into pure rage.

I didn’t even need to speak to Kgosi—he was already angry. I wondered if my dragon was rehearsing his lecture as well.

They were out here at night, alone, not another dragon or Furyknight in sight, flying. In direct contradiction of the orders given to every Flameborne in the Reach.

Kgosi gave an angry blast and Akhane jerked her head up, her wings tilting instinctively away from the sign of aggression—which tipped her body and to my horror, threw Bren sideways bodily.

Bren was tossed over Akhane’s shoulder with another shriek. I gave a shout of alarm, praying she’d clipped into her safety strap—and it cut off in my throat as her momentum was stayed suddenly like she’d been yanked by the hand of God.

Akhane corrected her line, flying up and into Bren’s overbalance and moments later they were climbing, Akhane calling frantically, no doubt trying to reassure an angry Kgosi, while Bren grabbed and scrambled, desperately pushing herself back into her seat.

I didn’t know how she’d caught herself, but I was just glad that she hadn’t fallen—we’d all had more than one landing swinging on the end of a safety strap. And no one walked comfortably after that for a time.

But Bren was so weak…

God, my blood ran cold.

“Land your dragon! NOW!” I roared .

Bren’s head snapped up and for a moment we were close enough that I could see her eyes—wide and terrified. Then she hunched over Akhane’s neck, and Akhane banked again, spiraling down to a small clearing among the trees—not even the launch hollow.

I opened my mouth to roar at them to fly back to the Keep, but Kgosi came to life in my head.

‘No, Donavyn. This shouldn’t be addressed in the presence of others,’ he growled.

I couldn’t tell if he was angry about the rule breaking, or about being forced to adjust my assessment of it, but I trusted my dragon.

So I glared down at the females until they swooped into that clearing, Kgosi and I right on Akhane’s tail.

And to my horror, as Akhane lurched to backflap and slow their momentum, Bren was once again thrown sideways.

But this time, her dragon had no room to go swerving into her fall.

When Akhane’s feet met the earth with the resonant thud we were all accustomed to, Bren was shaken out of her seat entirely. But instead of swinging on the end of a strap, she was plastered to her dragon’s shoulder, like a frog on a wall.

“She’s fucking tied down!” I snarled.

Kgosi rumbled his disapproval and we plunged, my anger rising higher every second.

~ brEN ~

After being shocked at the appearance of another dragon in the sky over our head, I lost my concentration, and the force of Akhane’s landing threw me off.

It was frustrating, but the new straps I’d added to the harness kept me high on her shoulder, close enough to crawl back up once things settled down.

I’d known I wasn’t likely to a sit landing yet, so this stopped me from getting wrenched too far off her back, or swinging on the end of a safety strap, unable to get up or down until we found someone to help.

But the straps had stretched with all my falling, and instead of keeping me against her withers, I was plastered against the base of her neck, both legs dangling over her shoulder.

There wasn’t enough give in the straps to let me straighten and reclimb the mounting strap, but there was too much to keep me on her back.

Dammit.

I was a sitting duck.

‘Akhane, can you lay down really slowly so I can get a foot on the ground and push my weight up—’

‘No, Bren. I cannot. The Primarch orders that I stand and wait. The General will help you. ’

Every hair on my body stood up. “The General?” I gasped at the same moment a massive gust of wind washed over us, fluttering the strands over my cheeks that had fallen out of my braid.

Heart sinking, I looked over my shoulder to see Kgosi settling to the earth next to us…

and as Akhane chittered and chirped, a worried noise I hadn’t heard her make before, a dark shadow appeared on the ground next to Kgosi, the General emerged from that shadow like an avenging angel.

He lifted one hand to his face, then leaped at the mounting strap dangling below me, and sprinted up Akhane’s side, muttering curses as he climbed.

I hunched and tipped my forehead against Akhane’s neck as I waited for his punishment.

But I’d barely taken a breath before a large, steel heat was at my back, curses were growled, and his breath fluttered in my hair.

Then a thick, masculine hand appeared in front of my face holding a gleaming blade.

“Akhane, don’t even twitch!” he snarled, then placed that blade against one of the two new straps.

“Sir— no!” But I was too late. He cut it in two, and with the tension released on one side, I slipped further down Akhane’s shoulder.

I gasped and grabbed for the safety strap at my waist just in time as he laid that blade to the other extra strap I’d added to the harness and I dropped—then caught hard, the safety strap grabbing at my waist and digging into my back, right where bruises bloomed from falling so many times and being caught by the straps attached to my belt.

“Ow!” I was left swinging helplessly again, just like I had been the first time we landed and Gil had been forced to lift me so Ronen could get me unclipped.

“Be grateful to the Creator that it’s only bruises,” the General snarled, then slid halfway down the mounting strap to my side, his feet braced against Akhane’s side. “Put your arm over my shoulder and hold on.”

Shaking, I did as he said. My breath stopped when he pulled us both another step up the mounting strap, then held our combined weight with one straining arm, while he reached around me with the other to unclip the safety strap from my belt.

“Lean forward as far as you can. Keep your feet straight down in case you fall,” he muttered. Then there was a click and the clink of the strap and clip falling back against Akhane’s side.

I slipped the moment my weight was entirely on my arm. The General cursed again, that arm tightening around my waist to hold me.

“Let me go. I’ll—”

“You’ll keep your fucking mouth shut and do as you’re told!” he snarled.

I did as I was told.

Huffing and blowing, he inched us both down Akhane’s side, letting the strap slide through one hand with each step which made me wince, because I knew how that leather burned .

When we reached the ground, I scrambled out of his grip and stumbled back while he searched for the blade he’d dropped, then sheathed it, before turning to look at me, his chest and shoulders rising and falling with his rapid breathing, and his eyes dark with anger.

“Sir, I’m sorry. But you didn’t need to—”

“Keep. Your mouth. Shut.”

A long, low rumble of disapproval from Kgosi behind me had Akhane dropping her head and chittering again.

I bristled. “Punish me,” I muttered. “But Akhane did nothing but help me—”

“Do you truly not know the meaning of shut your mouth?!” the General roared, stepping in and shouting in my face.

I flinched and stumbled back a step, instinctively raising my hands to defend myself. But he hadn’t moved. His brows rose and his eyes widened.

I was hunched and peering at him from behind my hands. He stared back, stunned. Then he cursed.