Page 135 of Shadowborne: Reckoning

Benji looked up at me, wary curiosity in his gaze, but he didn’t speak.

“We’ll be riding the Primarch again, but we move with a different purpose this time,” I added quietly.

Benji looked around—in the direction of the clearing where he’d met the dragons in the past—then pointedly back at me. “Is Bren here?”

“No.”

“Where is she?”

“Never you mind about Furyknight Kearney, she has her own orders. I’m here to give you yours.”

Benji’s expression darkened at that, but he just shrugged, so I let it go.

“Listen,” I continued. “You’re coming with me to the dragons, and this time, we aren’t leaving until we have some clarity. Kgosi is coming with us, and he won’t balk from intervening—but it would be better if you speak to the dragons first and encourage them to accept Kgosi willingly.”

“He can force himself on them?” Benji forgot his anger and looked shocked.

I nodded. “But I’m sure you know, Kgosi doesn’t like to force himself anywhere he isn’t wanted. So… you have a very important role to play, Benji. You are… an ambassador this morning.”

But Benji’s frown reappeared. “He’s going to break their minds if I can’t get them to talk?”

‘I need to understand these dragons, and free them if possible,’ Kgosi inserted, and I was stunned to realize he’d reached for Benji as well. The boy’s face paled, but then his brow furrowed.

“How can he free them if he’s… violent?”

I looked at Benji, surprised. “You understand what kind of violation that is for a dragon?”

“Of course. Don’t you?”

I didn’t—or rather, hadn’t. Not truly. Not the depth of it. How had this boy—

‘He was a child when he came to us. He’s been taught by the herd, as any child would be—manners, boundaries, self-discipline. The dragons recognized Lionheart for what he was before you and your brothers did, Donavyn.’

I wanted to point out that the dragons might have filled us all in on that sooner, but it wasn’t the time. We were marching between trees at that point, and ahead the sunlight poked through more brightly. We were about to reach my dragon.

When we finally broke through the trees, Benji’s face lit up at the sight of Kgosi, and my dragon turned, grunting a greeting I hadn’t heard from him before. He nudged the boy when Benji trotted towards him and I gave Kgosi a look.

‘Where’s my hug?’

‘Envy doesn’t become you, Donavyn. The boy is hurting.’

‘He is?!’

‘He is. And he admires you, but is conflicted about your choices. I understand why information must only be shared in measures among your kind, but perhaps you can don your big-boy leathers and let me encourage him a bit.’

I huffed, chastened, but also irritated. Yet, there was no time for childish pouting. I was about to help Benji mount, but he grabbed Kgosi’s harness strap and clambered up his side like a monkey.

‘Well, if anyone chooses him, he won’t have to battle to learn mounting,’ I sent Kgosi dryly.

Moments later, we were in the air, and I felt the air around Benji shift as he stared ahead, clinging to Kgosi’s neck, his first smile of the day creeping up.

The flight to Hanson’s estate was shorter from the city, but still long minutes. I considered asking Kgosi to connect us for conversation, but I found myself weary and weighted, and I didn’t want that communicated to the boy.

So, I waited until Kgosi landed on a hillside, not far from the herd clearing, and we’d dismounted.

Benji turned from Kgosi the moment his feet hit the ground, as if he’d run to them. But I called him back.

Kgosi was already rumbling. Head high, ears flickering.