I nodded hurriedly. “I understood that, only… the walking?”
“If you fall, take a moment to steady yourself, then begin again from the point where you fell. Donotcrawl. Don’t move at all unless you’re on your feet. Lean into the wind and let its power take some of your weight as you shift from foot to foot.”
“But—”
“Assess and overcome, Flameborne. It’s a test. Meet it with the best of your ability.”
He had to be joking.Was this a prank? Did they tell Flamebornes this was possible, then laugh at them when they tried and failed? Was that why they didn’t give all the instructions?
The net sank under my weight. Where I stood, the strands were inches lower than even a single step ahead. I would have to lift my feet like walking stairs just to stop my boot soles catching. If one tripped me and I tumbled…
I could feel the yawning chasm behind me—one wrong step, one missed grip and the wind would tumble me backwards off the net and to my death.
‘I’ll catch you, Bren!’
A shudder rocked through me as I remembered the sensation of falling from the cliffs, watching death rush towards me—
Panicking, I dropped to my knees again, grabbing the net, and shaking my head. “I can’t. I can’t.I can’t!”
“Youcan,”Ronen said firmly. “Every one of us did it on our first flights, and you will too. The only question is how long it will take you to find the courage. Make no mistake, Bren: Furyknights are not devoid of fear. We’re only willing to grasp the Creator’s hand and walk through it.There’s no other choice. We live on the edge of death. We sleep cradled in the arms of danger. Stand, and walk.”
I wasn’t sure if it was acceptance of my fate, or pure will that pushed me back to my feet, but I made it once more, shaking like a leaf from both cold and fear. I leaned into the pounding wind and prayed silently, then lifted my right foot—and was immediately blown half a step backwards, arms pinwheeling, my weight shifting as the pull of gravity moved with the net andholy shit, I was going to die.
I cried out, but the cheers and encouragement rose.
“Lean into the wind! Let it prop you up!”
“Lift your foot slowly, feel your way!”
“If you wobble, lean forward and bend your front knee to drop your center of gravity!”
Instructions, advice, curses when I hesitated, or lost ground.
My heart banged against my ribs and pulsed so loudly in my ears, they were the only thing I heard over it.
I fell three times, once tumbling back half a body-length until I threw a hand out and hooked numb fingers in the net.
To my surprise, the chorus of hisses and groans from the men didn’t condemn my inadequacy, but rather, swelled with empathy.
They understood.
And finally, I grasped what Ronen had meant by telling me over and over that they’d all lived this day.
They were living it with me again. Right now.
All the teasing and cocky assurances, all the male chest-beating and one-up-manship was how they made each other remember that they were there. Together.
The jeers became cheers. The warnings, encouragement. And the laughter was celebration, not mocking.
It took a lifetime to move the twenty or thirty feet from the center of that net towards its forward edge, but in that time Iunderstood.
These men truly flew together.
A brotherhood.
Just like Ruin had described.
I wondered if, just like Ruin, their loyalty stood even in the face of things thatshouldbe shamed? And would they expect that of me?
