Deleted Opening Scene
Flameborne: CHOSEN

NOTE: This content is first draft, and was ultimately cut/changed.
It may include errors, or inconsistencies with the published book.

~ BREN ~

 I woke, blinking against bright, morning sun.

With a gasp, I leaped to my feet, stomach plummeting to my toes because I was certain I’d already missed the ceremony. But the moment I darted past the trees and undergrowth between me and the launch hollow, I slid to a halt, my jaw slack.

Below me, in that great depression that seemed to have been pressed into the earth by God himself, were a dozen dragons, and easily fifty men.

Some of the divine beasts wandered, milling about like horses in a corral, their Furyknights walking at their sides.

Others stood along the edges of the bowl, heads low—while their knights checked straps, chatted… prepared to leave.

Where was Ruin? These men looked like they were soon to take off. I had to find him!

I didn’t give myself time to think, just stepped out of the shadows and trotted towards the edge of that deep depression in the earth.

At first, no one noticed me.

The tension in the air was palpable. The knights would mount soon, and then they’d all be gone. Had I already missed the blessing?

But no—to my relief, the Head Cleric remained, offside of center at the bottom of the bowl, talking to a man dressed in unrelenting black.

Five, ebony-black dragonscales adorned each of his massive shoulders and named him General Donavyn Arsen, the most accomplished, and highest ranking Furyknight in Vosgarde. And Ruin’s personal mentor. Personally selected. The greatest honor any Furyknight could receive.

The man was a legend. Even Ruin, who’d always resented authority, sang his praises.

He was also the man who’d given the order for this team to leave on this mission from which they might never return.

I couldn’t decide whether to love the man for seeing how special Ruin was, or despise him for taking Ruin from me.

My thoughts were interrupted when my foot caught on a clod of earth that had been kicked up by one of the dragons. I scrambled to right myself, but my flapping skirts drew the attention of a handful of men standing near the bottom of the bowl.

None of them were Ruin, so I gave them an awkward wave and moved on.

Ruin had said he’d be gone at least a year. He’d explained that it was a great honor that he was being included in this group—such an important mission. Despite it being only his second year as a ranked Furyknight, he was already invited into this… whatever it was. I could not know. Ruin had made that very clear.

But it was prestigious.

And dangerous.

The King Himself had declared that the work of this mission might avert war before it had even begun.

Ruin had been so proud—and I was so proud of him.

So, I hurried, heart bubbling into my throat with the dream of his smile.

I hadn’t seen his smile in weeks.

But then a shadow passed over me and I gasped, jerking aside as one of the dragons passed so near I felt the tremble of the earth under its feet. Pain crackled through my body at the sudden movement, but after gaping at the regal creature, its horned head higher than the roof of our barn at home, I caught myself and bowed my head, pleading with God that it wouldn’t be offended by my gawking.

Some of the furies could be… unpredictable.

Ruin had made that really clear, as well.

When the dragon lost interest in me and wandered on, I pushed away the lingering pain in my belly and kept walking, peering left and right, trying desperately to find Ruin’s sandy hair, his bright smile among the gathered ranks.

By the time I reached the bottom of the bowl, there were a great many more men and dragons moving around, and at first I quavered, suddenly certain would never find him in this milling mass of creatures that were terrifying up close.

I was afraid to just walk through the forest of legs thicker than my body and bodies bigger than my house, but what choice did I have?

So, I took as deep a breath as I could until my ribs zinged with pain, kept myself as small as possible, but set my course right through the center, dodging clusters of grim-faced men, groaning dragons, and piles on the ground that were the size of a small pony, until finally, one of the dragons moved from my path and…

There he was.

I stopped dead, heart hammering. A massive dragon, a male with gray scales that reminded me of the color of Ruin’s eyes in dim light, stood patiently, already strapped for riding, but with no other tether. And standing in his shadow was Ruin.

He stood speaking with another man who was even larger, and terribly handsome. Also in full uniform, but…

Oh dear.

Those scales on his shoulders.

It was General Arsen. He’d left the Cleric and now he stood here, speaking with Ruin, arms folded across his chest, and a grim look on his face. I would have known he was an important man even if I hadn’t seen him in the city once. He stood with the quiet assurance only important men had—no question of their own value, or that others might want to hear their words.

Or move out of their way.

The General stared down at Ruin like a father, worried about his child.

Did that mean I couldn’t interrupt them?

I stood for a moment, my skirts gripped in my hands, biting my lip. The Cleric would soon pray and then they would leave. I had to talk to Ruin first, but—

To my great relief the General clapped Ruin on the shoulder and turned to walk away. No dragon followed him. Of course, he would be among those remaining behind. But a part of me had hoped I might catch sight of his Fury. The herd Primarch, black as midnight and even more legendary than his rider, Kgosi was a sight I would relay to my grandchildren.

But no matter. Nerves and fear and love and joy coiled in my belly, as Ruin turned from the General, back to his dragon, slapping the beautiful creature’s leg so that it snorted, then turned towards me—but disappeared behind the body of another passing dragon, a redscale. I froze so as not to annoy it, as the sound of several men cheering rose behind its thick legs. I caught glimpses as the creature passed, saw the sun on Ruin’s hair and a flash of his smile, but then the dragon’s leg obscured my view again.

That glimpse of his grin lifted my heart and I opened my mouth to call to him, to tell him I was here, but then the dragon shifted his bulk and Ruin…

Ruin gathered a girl into his arms.

No, a woman.

A beautiful, tall, blond woman in a fine dress, her hair perfectly curled, each golden spring bouncing with even the slightest movement. Her porcelain cheeks pinked as she was drawn into the arms of the beautiful Furyknight who’d leaned her back and kissed her the way he used to kiss me.

Like a lover.

Then he lifted her back to her feet and my heart shriveled in my chest.

A chorus of shouts and whistles rose from the other men, several of them calling taunts, and teasing Ruin about not knowing his way.

But he did.

He did.

He knew his way very well.

I knew that he knew his way.

I almost screamed as much, until the woman took his chin in her elegant, perfectly gloved hand and tipped it down, forcing him to meet her eyes. But then he gave her that smile as she murmured something I couldn’t hear, and then…

Then it was clear to me that she already knew that, too.

I couldn’t move. My feet encased in stone, forcing me to stand there, mute, as he stared down at her, his hands on her waist possessively in a gesture I’d always adored…

“Ruin?” The word cracked in my throat.

Ruin turned, curious eyes bright, his smile wide—until his gaze landed on me and he froze. The woman turned her head to follow his gaze… to me. Clearly confused, she frowned prettily.

How did a woman frown prettily? Yet she did.

“Ruin?” she asked, her voice low and refined. “Who is the peasant? Is she your servant?”

Ruin’s face paled, then his eyes widened.

“Bren?”

The woman blinked and her frown was no longer pretty. “Who—”

She cut off as Ruin snapped his attention back to her, gripped her tightly and leaned in, murmuring something to her I couldn’t catch. I tried to take a step, tried to call to him, but then he left the woman. My heart lightened as he raced towards me, closing the space between us so quickly with those long legs…

Almost weeping with relief, I opened my arms and tipped up my head, preparing for a kiss—but Ruin barely broke stride when he reached me. He clasped my hand and jerked me back in the direction from which I’d come.

“Bren, what are you doing here?” he hissed, his face a tense mask, eyes darting left and right as I stumbled in his wake, gritting my teeth against the pain and trying to keep up with him.

“Ruin, I came to say goodbye. You said you might be gone for—”

“Quiet. Not here.”

Swallowing nausea, pushing away the images now burned into my memory of him with that woman in his arms, I trotted, taking two steps to his one, my body clenching with pain at every footfall. I tried to keep my expression clear, kept looking up at him, tried to find the words to ask questions I didn’t want answered. But Ruin didn’t look at me as he dragged me towards the side of the bowl and we began to climb. Though he looked over his shoulder every few steps, his brows drawing down harder each time.

But he kept my hand in his, helping me up the steep side of the bowl even when looking back, scanning the people and dragons below.

When we reached the top I thought he would slow, but he pressed on until we were deep into the shadows under the trees. Then he turned on me, and released my hand as if it burned him.

“Bren, what are you doing here?”

I suddenly wished I hadn’t come. I stammered and gulped, trying to find the words that would smooth the creases from his brow.

“Y-you said this was… goodbye. I thought… I w-wanted to—Ruin, I needed to see you!” Even I heard how pathetic I sounded, my voice trailing up at the end in a plaintive, childlike plea.

“How did you get here? Did your mother drive you?” Ruin’s tone was dark. He looked over my shoulder, then muttered something under his breath and grabbed my hand again, pulling me further into the trees.

“No, I… I walked—”

He pulled up sharply and turned on me, his eyes narrowed and lip curling back in a sneer. “You walked? That must have taken all day—”

“All n-night,” I admitted, my teeth beginning to chatter. Why was I so cold? “But… Ruin… aren’t you… didn’t you—”

He started stomping away again, but then caught himself once more and whirled on me, his face twisted and his beautiful eyes afire. “I can’t believe you came! After… after everything! Do you have no self-respect?”

I felt the blood drain from my cheeks. My tongue suddenly too thick for my mouth. “Why… why would I n-need… that?”

​

...