Page 50 of Flameborne: Chosen (Emberquell Academy #1)

SOUNDTRACK: Claws by The Haunt

~ brEN ~

Hold your line, the officer had said.

I looked at Saul and he looked at me. I gripped Akhane’s neck strap more tightly.

‘Akhane, if we hold the line—’

‘Obey your orders, Little Flame.’

Suddenly the clusters of Furyknights made more sense—they were to measure when we lost our nerve… right?

‘I don’t want to get you hurt,’ I sent uneasily to Akhane.

‘Following orders will never be intended to hurt me, Bren. You must follow your Commander’s just as I will follow yours: there cannot be uncertainty. You must do it. This is your assessment.’

‘But—’

‘Don’t waver. Hold your line until they tell you otherwise. I will hold the line until you tell me.’

I swallowed hard.

All those speeches Donavyn and Ronen had given me at different times about the need for trust among squads, and the connection with your dragon.

As we flew ever closer and the details of the other Flameborne could be made out more clearly, my stomach tied in knots.

Half a mile apart.

Saul leaned down on Bich’s neck, and I wondered what he was planning with her.

Quarter of a mile .

I wanted so badly not to fail this—but I’d been told over and over and over that my dragon’s safety was paramount. Never disobey orders. Orders were to keep you and your dragon safe and on task.

But if this task was what I thought it was, it was cruel.

And they had a team of three.

Then it didn’t matter what I thought because the others were approaching. And that dark-haired fucker was smiling.

I took a tighter grip on Akhane’s neck strap and gritted my teeth. I was not going to let these idiots tell anyone that they’d proven my worthlessness.

‘Akhane, we have to time this correctly.

‘Time what?’

‘I think they’re waiting to see who’ll break first.’

‘It doesn’t matter what they’re doing, Bren—you should follow orders whether you know the goal or not.’

‘I am. Level means level—keeping the height. And phalanx means tight—which we’re doing.

But if these fuckers fly up on us with three dragons, they know we’re the ones struggling for space because we’re both forced between two dragons to evade, while their outside flyers only have one and everyone knows which direction they’re moving. ’

‘It doesn’t matter—’

‘It does, because we’re not leaving the line, but if we don’t get called off, we’re going to roll. You tuck and fly through them. I’ll hold on for dear life. I know that’s a correct maneuver, I heard Ronen teasing Ekko about how he was too fat to do it.’

Akhane didn’t respond immediately. And when she did, her tone was tight with worry.

‘It is a maneuver, but we haven’t practiced, and…

Bren if you fall, I won’t have the space immediately to correct for you.

I will have to finish the roll and be free of the others before I can make any attempt to assist you. ’

‘I know. But what’s the worst that can happen? I get caught by the strap again? It’s not like I haven’t practiced that.’

I was gratified when my dragon gave a little huff at my joke.

In truth, we both knew that the plan wasn’t without risk.

Though it would lower the chance of Akhane’s wings being tangled with another dragon, it did leave her committed to the line through those we faced.

Which meant I was on my own if I fell. And while the safety straps were there, they weren’t flawless, either.

Still, if there was one thing I’d practiced countless times, it was trusting our equipment.

‘We’re doing this,’ I sent.

Akhane sighed in my head. ‘Very well. But please, hold on tight.’

The dragons to left and right, watching this face off, called and screamed as we drew closer and closer.

I saw that dark-haired fuck raise a fist and shout, a beaming smile on his face.

He rode center—pivot for the other two, all dragons flying wingtip-to-wingtip—which meant neither Saul nor I could evade without moving off our line.

Every muscle in my body went rigid as I silently pleaded with the Officers at a safe distance to call a new order, to let us evade. But I didn’t hold hope.

I thought I understood the point—and why we hadn’t been warned that this would be part of the assessment. For a moment I was furious. But Donavyn’s words echoed in my head again.

Once you meet an enemy, battle never goes to plan.

Your best strategies fall apart in the chaos of war and eventually, the rank and file are only arrows nocked at a target, and their leaders the bows shooting them.

When you’re given an order, Bren, do it.

And if you think you’ll die, confess and be certain your soul rises to the Creator.

I’d thought he was being dramatic, preparing me for tasks and responsibilities I wouldn’t have for years. But I’d been wrong.

Then we were within wing flaps of the others and my heart stopped as the chaos came to us.

One of the dragons lifted its head and screamed.

Shouts rose from the men watching.

That dark-haired fuck smiled so widely all his teeth showed and his eyes flashed with satisfaction when our gazes met.

Not today, fucker.

Saul shouted and I gasped, pulling up on the neck strap and pulling myself into Akhane’s back and tucking my body as tightly to hers as I could.

For the moments we stared each other in the eye, fear whimpered in my head and my heart pounded so hard my ribs vibrated.

Then it was a flurry my mind could only untangle later.

As a crash became imminent, the left hand dragon in the V shrieked and pitched left, dropping and wheeling, screaming in frustration.

Shouts rose again from the Furyknights around us, but I didn’t hear any of them as Saul bellowed and Bich dove at the last possible moment, her wings drawing along the bellies of the dragons we faced.

Which left me no room but for the roll, just as I’d planned.

Later I’d be grateful—Saul’s line was off. Ascending would have been too slow. The enemies would have plowed into Akhane’s belly before we were out of reach. And if I’d tried to dive as well, Bich and Akhane would likely have tangled each other. Instead—

‘Now, Akhane!’

A male voice screamed, “Are you fucking insane?!” as I tucked my head against my dragon’s neck and the world flipped.

My heart pounded, the whomph of multiple dragon wings, a dragon scream, men’s shouts—it was true chaos, just like Donavyn had said.

And in it, Akhane surged forward as her tucked wings increased our speed—but then our momentum shuddered and I gasped, for a moment convinced that I’d given the order too late and she had tangled with another dragon.

But then air appeared between my knees and my dragon just as something hard slammed on my arm where I clutched the strap—like a fist, trying to punch its way through my arm.

My hand was torn off the strap and then I was tumbling free, screaming, arms splayed and feet pedaling as I fought to center my gravity—then grunted when the straps caught and I was yanked around and backwards.

My chin was forced to my chest because the force was so strong, as if a giant planted his hand on the back of my head and pushed down. My arms and legs flew outwards like a rag doll’s tossed into the sky.

And then the air around us was clear and I swayed at the end of the strap, fluttering alongside Akhane, out of reach of her wing, but trailing at her side like a ribbon in the wind of our passage.

I blinked and gulped and tried to breathe. Managed to get my good hand gripping the strap and find the horizon with my eyes so I knew where was up and what was down…

The arm that had taken the blow sang. That hand felt numb and wouldn’t grip properly. But I was alive.

And we had held the line.

“You did it, Akhane!”

‘Are you well, Bren? You felt pain?’

“I just can’t grip with that hand. I was hit on my funnybone. I’ll be fine—Akhane, we did it!”

Then Saul and Bich appeared, rising back to the line from their dive, Saul still in his seat, and Bich flying with ears pricked.

He looked at me, a worried question on his face, but I smiled, because I didn’t care. I didn’t care that I’d fallen. We made it through. We held the line. That had to count, right? We’d taken the order. We’d held the line!

I was elated. I tried to get myself back onto Akhane like I had a few days earlier, but my trembling hand didn’t want to grip, and that arm had no strength.

When an Officer appeared alongside us, his face tight with anger, I was shaken. But he ordered us to ground.

Saul and I gave both dragons the instruction, and they shifted their line back to the clearing where the assessment began, then wheeled in circles to slow before coming in to land.

I was forced to just hold on and wait until we reached the ground.

To my surprise, the moment Akhane stopped, it was Donavyn, rushing to her side and up the mounting strap, his face tight and eyes blazing.

“How bad is it?” he muttered.

“I was whacked on my arm—hit the funny bone, it will be fine—”

“It will not be fine, Bren—I mean, Kearney,” Donavyn growled.

“That was… nevermind what that was.” He pulled me in tight against his side as we’d done dozens of times, but looked over his opposite shoulder and bellowed at the men on the ground.

“Bring a healer, and Captain Gunnar—this should never have happened! ”

There was a scurry of activity under us. I was confused, but all I could do was tuck my numb arm against my side, hook my good arm over Donavyn’s shoulders, then wait for him to unhook me and lower us to the ground, which he did in record time.

The moment I was on my feet, he stepped back, as if he didn’t want to touch me and I blinked.

But of course, it would seem odd to all these men if he took a second longer to release me than necessary. I wasn’t sure why his tension and apparent anger unsettled me. But now that I was on my feet, it was clear something wasn’t right.