Page 169 of Shadowborne: Reckoning

Both he and Akhane watched the dragons as they swooped and gathered—like a flock of starlings near the lake in summer—and suddenly they were all flying to the south and west. Together.

“What the—?” Donavyn muttered.

“What is it? What’s called them?”

Donavyn glanced at Kgosi, so I reached for Akhane who also stood, ears perked and head high. ‘What’s going on?’

“Holy shit,” Donavyn breathed. Olve and I both looked at him, shaking his head as he stared at the sky, scratching at the stubble that was thickening to a beard because he’d been flying for days. I was about to ask him what had surprised him, when Kgosi rumbled again and every dragon in the vicinity suddenly raised their heads and turned, following the sudden migration of the wild dragons in the sky, all of them pouring away from us, and towards the south.

“What’s going on?”

“They’re coordinating,” Donavyn said, his tone thoughtful.

“I thought they didn’t have a leader.”

“They didn’t,” Donavyn murmured. “But someone’s called them and they’re answering.” Olve looked at him, but Donavyn shook his head. “I’ll explain later,” he said to the Captain.

‘Akhane? What’s going on?’ I asked my dragon in the bond.

‘Kgosi says the Wild Ones are retreating… and they are coordinating.’

‘Isn’t that what dragons usually do?’

‘Yes,’ she said, sounding amused, and a little startled. ‘But these dragons were never healthy in their minds. They didn’t understand true leadership. There has been no challenge for dominance, or even scuffles among the males…’

‘Then who is leading them?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘But Kgosi says it would take a true lionheart to call them and give them the confidence they need.’

Lionheart? Wasn’t that how Kgosi referred to Benji? I blinked and looked up at Donavyn. “Is he saying—”

“I think we can leave the dragons to sort out their own hierarchy, right? If they aren’t following Kgosi… they’ve earned their freedom,” he said. ‘I don’t want to tempt men or dragons to pursue them, Bren. Kgosi says let them go, so we will.’

I nodded, swallowing hard, but following the last of the dragons as they rose slowly out of sight, flapping towards the mountains and the wicked seas to the south.

Akhane must have heard my thoughts because a slow wave, like a growing smile, glowed in our bond.

‘Everyone, but especially the young, and isolated, must find their purpose, Bren. Whether it aligns with the traditions of men, or not.’

And I supposed that was only true. So, I said nothing as the dragons slowly disappeared from sight, and the Furyknights and their furies all returned to the work they’d been assigned after this dramatic night.

But I couldn’t help smiling a little myself as we strode out of the launch hollow towards the stables. It wasn’t until Olve had been sent to a new task by Donavyn, and we entered the nearly-empty stable aisle, our boots echoing on the stone, that I paid attention and asked Donavyn.

“What are we doing here?”

He walked with a determined air, his expression somewhat stern, eyes focused on the intersection of aisles ahead—and to the right, which would be towards Kgosi’s stable.

“We’re getting the last of your things before we return home—our home—and rest,” he muttered.

I opened my mouth, a reflexive argument on my lips—then stopped myself.

No. He was right.

We were right.

This was our purpose.

And to hell with anyone who thought it didn’t fit with tradition.