After that meeting, they hadn’t just become more attentive to my schedule, they were inviting me to lounge with them after the dinner meal when they weren’t on patrol. We shared more meals. I’d even been to the taverns with them once, though it was during the day and no one drank very much.
I’d learned that Einar loved to read as much as I did, and we’d exchanged books, though he found mine a little too colorful, he said, which I took to mean, too romantic.
I’d learned that Jhoare was a quiet charmer. The others called him Whore more than anything else. And he didn’t mind. But I hadn’t seen him with a single woman, so I still didn’t understand the reference.
Oros was a gentle giant who reminded me of a male version of Akhane—encouraging and strong, but not to be trifled with.
I had come to understand that Ronen turned a blind eye to pranks, but not to cruelty. That Gil had a wicked sense of humor, but you had to be close to him because he generally murmured his comments quietly so they’d be missed by anyone who wasn’t at his side.
Voski was the coldest of my brothers and still an enigma to me. But he adored making Harle squirm and looked for any opportunity to take a dig at him—sometimes to the point that Ronen grew sharp with him.
And Harle was like a puppy. Cute and full of boundless energy, but sometimes deflated when others didn’t share his excitement.
They were all complex, capable men that I didn’t fully understand. But I liked them. And couldn’t quite believe that they liked me, as well.
“…I think that’s everything. Do you have any more questions before we go, Bren?”
Ronen and Gil both looked at me expectantly. I opened my mouth, but the truth was, most of my questions were ones they couldn’t answer.
“I think I’m ready.” I sprang to my feet, nervous energy suddenly radiating to my limbs. But as I was about to step away from the table, Gil caught my elbow and shook his head.
I stopped, only to find Ronen walking around to come stand at my side.
With both of them looming over me, the fear coiled in my guts, but to my surprise, Ronen lifted a hand to place on top of my head, closed his eyes and dropped his chin.
“May the Creator guide you in your day of trouble,” he murmured. I stopped breathing as a strange, tingling feeling started on my scalp and trickled down the back of my neck. “May he carry you in his arms, and sustain you with His power. May he give you what your heart desires and show the world your whole purpose. Let us all join and shout for joy when you raise the banner for truth, honor, and wisdom. Amen.”
I was touched. “Thank you,” I breathed.
Ronen flashed me a grin. “Now get out there and make them shit their pants, Kearney.”
I snorted. “I’ll do my best.”
There was a moment, half an hour later, when we walked out to the launch hollow, Akhane and I at the front with Ronen and Gil and their dragons behind, and the rest following, that I think I felt the true unity of a squad for the first time. I did not walk alone. And even though I knew that in theory I never had been since I was Chosen and assigned to Seventh Squad, Ifeltthem with me then.
It was still dark outside and the air was cold, and here I was in the very same launch hollow where I’d seen Ronen and Ekko that first morning when I was looking for Ruin. But even as I skittered away from thoughts of Ruin, the surreal power of being here as one of them didn’t leave me.
Just months ago, I was small, weak, tired, and hunched in the trees across the clearing, watching a magical creature emerge. Now it was me walking alongside my dragon in the early dawn light, smoke and steam rising in thin tendrils from her nostrils.
My skin still tingled from Ronen’s blessing, and I found myself beaming as we entered the launch hollow and started down the slope to its bottom where many men and dragons were already gathered.
I felt full. Satisfied. Ready.
May the Creator carry you in his arms, and sustain you with His power. May he give you what your heart desires and show the world your whole purpose.
Yes.Yes.
Help me. Show them my whole purpose.
Please!
38. Interference
~ DONAVYN ~
The rush andwhomphof the wings of eight dragons whipping past to either side of us was a sound that would never cease to raise the hair on my arms. The wind of their wings buffeted us, and to my right, the Queen gave a small gasp and grabbed for my arm, while on my other side the King chuckled.
I’d told Ronen to give the royals a show, and he hadn’t disappointed, calling the squad toVanguardformation—meaning an aggressive arrow-point of dragons roaring down on a target. It was used in battle for an overt attack, or when great speed was needed because the dragons flew in each other’s slipstreams and could approach a target with extreme speed.
