The Secret Weyr

[Monkeysrule]

The others mumbled and sat up, pealing more redfruit for their fire-lizards. Melina looked around at them, and came to a conclusion. Yes, these were fire-lizards. They had Impressed them, and now every one of them had at least one of the charming dragon-like creatures. They would be a handful to feed every day, but soon their hunger would taper off and they would be able to hunt for themselves.

Melina woke up, six days later. Those past six days seemed like forever, especially for Ronellad, who had three greens, a blue, and a brown to care for. Her brown, who she had named Threll, was tugging at her torn shirt. Zolen, her bronze, chittered frantically, his eyes whirling with excitement. "Whaddayouwant?" she murmured sleepily, annoyed at being woken up so early. She swatted at the bugs in the air, and sat up. Threll, Zolen, and a few other blues and greens led the way, zipping past trees and bushes, occasionally winking between and reappearing at Melina's side. Nobody else was awake.

[Monkeysrule]

Melina crashed through the thick vines, struggling to keep up with the fire-lizards. They were eager to reach their destination, and chirping in shrill voices. She was scratched, bruised, and sore, but she kept going. Zolen finally settled on Melina's head and let Threll lead the way. Twice she tripped over roots, only to have Zolen squeak a protest and dig his claws into her head. Finally they reached their destination.

It was a mountain, but it was too steep to climb. "You want me to climb that?" she said. Threll, who was flying in circles around her head, abruptly disappeared. So did the rest of them. Only Zolen remained perched on her head.

They returned, chittering. Then, making their decision, the fair proceeded to her left, around the mountain. It seemed to take hours, but Zolen and Threll gave her images of rocks in sand, of dragons disappearing between forever, and feelings of despair and hopessnessless. This kept her interest and greatly increased her curiosity. Dragons on this island? Dying? Just then, she reached a tunnel entrance.

[Monkeysrule]

Her heart pounded as she stared at the tunnel. It seemed to lead directly into the mountain, and she could almost see a faint light at the other end. Zolen flew off his perch and disappeared, and Threll took his place. Melina started to run. the darkness of the tunnel was creepy, and the erie stillness disturbed her.

Finally, she saw a ray of sunlight, and sprinted toward it. Suddenly, a swarm of fire-lizards appeared from between. She finally reached the end of the tunnel, and gasped. This wasn't a mountain.

It was a Weyr. Melina had been to Ista Weyr when she was younger to attend a Hatching, and this one had a similar exterior design. The bowl was much smaller, and off to her left was the enterence to the Hatching Grounds. Excited, she ran as fast as she could toward the Grounds. Something was wrong, though. There was not a dragon in sight.

[Monkeysrule]

Melina ran and ran, until her sore muscles forced her to slow down. She reached the entrance, and stepped in. The hot sands burned her feet through her worn soles as she walked across the Grounds. This was much smaller that the Ista Grounds, but had a similar design. Suddenly, she yelped as she bumped into something hard.

The rock was round and smooth, not unlike the fire-lizard eggshells that littered their beach. There were many of these stones in the sand; she counted twenty-two. Awed, she stepped over to the largest one. To her surprise and horror, a loud rumbling shook the cavern as a great, immense gold dragon lifted herself off the sand, stretched, and roared with incredible rage. The gold was guarding her eggs, and she would not let anyone go near them. Especially the queen egg.

[Monkeysrule]

The queen extended her great wings and whipped her tail about, flinging sand on her eggs and on Melina, who couldn't run anymore from sheer exhaustion. She stumbled across the sands, the dragon bellowing at her. They both froze as they heard a voice from the other side of the Grounds, where the queen was sleeping.

"Norelth! What's wrong?" the strange woman said suddenly. "What's wrong?" she repeated anxiously, looking distressed. Then she saw Melina, standing in the sand wearing tattered clothes and holey shoes. "Norelth, it's just a young woman. Who are you?"

"I'm Melina. I'm not of this Weyr..."

"It's called East Island Weyr. Not the most original name, but it fits," she said with a grin. "It was founded a century ago by a group of dragonriders from Monaco Bay, but a sickness wiped out most of us recently. It's over now, but we're out of candidates for the eggs. At the last hatching, eight dragonets died because they couldn't find any candidates left. Eight! Oh, I really don't want that to happen again," she said, immersed in the grief of remembering the Weyr's keening for the dead hatchlings. Melina suddenly realized that the others back on the beach must be searching for her.

[Monkeysrule]

"I really need go. They don't have any idea where I am right now."

"Who's 'they'?" Norelth's rider asked, puzzled. "I'm Maila, by the way. I'll have V'leddian take you on Thrilth. He's one of the only bronze riders left. Norelth, could you bespeak Thrilth, please? Tell him to take this young woman back to her people." An old bronze rider and his dragon appeared, with an extra riding jacket, a pair of boots, and a helmet.

"Wait! Can't you be a candidate?"

"I'd love to. But I have go. I will return soon."

"These are for you to keep. There's no riding a dragon in those rags. Even when you don't go between, it can get pretty cold. Here, need help?" he said kindly as he held out a hand for Melina to grab. She mounted the dragon awkwardly, grabbing the riding straps for handholds. "Hold on!" The great bronze lept into the air, throwing her head back painfully. It was th best feeling she had had in her life, soaring with the dragon, the air whipping her face refreshingly. "We can't go between because we don't have an image, so we'll have to fly straight," he shouted over the wind. "It shouldn't be a long way; this island's small." Melina didn't want it to ever end, so she was glad.

They finally spotted the group, feeding and oiling their fire-lizards. Reluctantly, Melina dismounted the dragon and ran over to them, Threll and Zolen close behind.

"Where've you been?" Keat asked. "Great Faranth! Is that a dragon? I've never seen one up close!"

"Yes, it's a bronze. His name is Thrilth and the rider is V'leddian, I think. You won't believe what happened!"

[Monkeysrule]

When Melina finished telling her story, everyone was speechless.Then Carellion spoke up.

"But they need candidates. Aren't we young enough to stand for the eggs?" he asked.

"But Carellion, that dragonrider left already. How can we come back in time? Maila said the eggs are going to hatch very soon."

"Can anyone here speak to dragons?" Jenima asked.

"No, not that I know of," Melina said. "But I can send Zolen and Threll to the Weyr with a request for a ride."

[Monkeysrule]

"Zolen, find Thrilth. Tell him to come here, and to take his rider. Tell him we have candidates!" Melina said. Zolen cocked his head at her, confused. "Zolen, fly to Thrilth, the old bronze dragon. She tried to plant the image of Thrilth in the fire-lizard's mind, and then repeated her request for the dragon. Zolen, finally understanding, gave a squeak and winked between. Threll followed suit.

"Mel, do you really think your bronze can relay a message to that dragon?" Ronellad said, his greens and blue playfully tusseling in front of him. His brown, Kerl, scolded the greens when they piled on top of blue Arral.

"Yes, and here is the proof!" she said as she stood up and waved at V'leddian and Thrilth. The huge bronze landed, showering sand all over the group.

[Monkeysrule]

"Hello, Melina," he shouted down from his dragon's back. "You wanted me? Your fire-lizards gave Thrilth an image."

"Well, we just wanted to help. Can you take us to Maila?"

"Sure..." he said, still not knowing what they wanted. "I'll need to take a few others to transport you all. Thrilth, will you, please?" His eyes briefly went unfocused and then he sat down wearily. "You know, I'm getting kinda old and all this riding is bad for my back," he sighed. "So I sent for some riders to transport you. Now, why do you need to know? I'm just curious."

"Erm...well, we were just thinking about those eggs, and...well, we're young enough still..."

The old dragonrider hit himself on the head. "Now why didn't I think of that?"

So they rode to East Island Weyr on dragonback, and arrived shortly. They immediately ran to the hatching ground, having Thrilth bespeak Norelth so she wouldn't be so protective. Melina was the first there, and she quickly told Maila about their idea. She approved with immense relief, and ordered some of the younger dragonriders to get food and klah for the guests.

"You would be welcome to stand for the eggs."

[Monkeysrule]

"Here, this one is the queen egg." She showed the new candidates the eggs, and they stared in adnmiration at the smooth, shiney eggs.

"How many other candidates are there?" Stelney asked.

"Only four, and they are barely old enough. There are twenty-two eggs, and nineteen of you, so that makes twenty-three candidates. There will be one disappointed candidate if every dragon Impresses, which might not happen. You all look like a likely lot, and it seems every one of you has Impressed at least one fire-lizard." Maila was mumbling to herself, and figuring out the odds of certain candidates Impressing, and how many hatchlings might not find suitible candidates on the sands. "Here, want to meet the rest of the Weyr?"

She led them to the bowl, where curious dragonriders had congregated to meet the new candidates.

[Monkeysrule]

"Hey, you younguns might have saved some lives. When a dragonet can't find a suitible candidate, it does't eat and it dies." An elderly dragonrider said.

"When will the eggs hatch?" Jenima said.

"They're supposed to hatch tonight. You'd better get some real clothes on. C'mon, we've got plenty of extras leftover from the people who...you know." The greenrider woman beckoned them foward to the empty weyrs. "Here's some clothes. Oh, and the candidate robes are over there. In fact, put them on now." She talked, gossipped, and asked questions as the young women and men went into seperate rooms to change. Several took quick baths to wash off the dirt that had been accumulated over the days spent on the beach eating redfruit and raw wherry meat. When they were done, they went to the dining caverns to have dinner.

"It's good to have some real, cooked meat," Ronellad sighed with pleasure as he fed his hungry greens, blue, and brown some herdbeast scraps.

"Yurp, ith niesh an' warm, too," Melina said through a mouthful of juicy herdbeast steak. She wiped her mouth with her towel, and sat back. The food was making her tired. She needed klah, so she asked the rest if there was any.

"Yeah, and you'll need it to stay awake tonight." Keat poured her a cup, and Threll sniffed at it curiously. Suddenly, the klah in the cup rippled as a sudden low vibration startled everyone.

"That's the welcome hum! The eggs are hatching!" one of the weyrbred candidates yelled in sudden surprise. He must be only fourteen, Melina thought. She downed her klah, which burned her throat and tongue. Then she joined the rushing crowd to the Hatching grounds.

[Monkeysrule]

They ran bare-foot on the burning-hot sands which were uncomfortable on their feet. The other four, three boys and a girl in their teens, set the example by forming a loose circle around the eggs. The eggs rocked more violently, and a crack appeared in a large egg near Norelth. Three more cracked, and one rolled over completely before cracking in half. Everyone sighed as the tiny green dragonet stumbled across the sand, creeling urgently. Then, with a wide sweep of her glistening wings, she attempted to fly but instead tumbled over and fell on her back. Jenima didn't think before rushing to the hatchling's assistance. Then, with a shocked expression on her face, she stared at the dragonet's whirling eyes. A wide smile broke out on her face as the green stared back. More eggs hatched.

"Yolenth! Her name is Yolenth." she cried in such a joyous voice that Melina couldn't help but grin. Then, without warning, the queen egg shattered with amazing force. The gold had already made her choice. Deep down, Melina didn't want the queen. She had a certain love for greens, and enjoyed the way they acted. She thought queens were too...well, she couldn't think of a word for it.

The queen scattered sand about as she made her way to Lorell, who was busy watching Keat and his new bronze, Walth.

[Monkeysrule]

Melina watched as Lorell turned her head toward the gold dragon. The expression on her face was not unlike Jenima's. She walked toward the dragonet and held out her hand to stroke her new gold. Then Melina was distracted by a sudden squealing.

Two hatchlings, a brown and a green, were fighting in the sands. The green was on her back, under the larger brown, bawling pathetically. In a desperate attempt to free herself, she sank her teeth into his wing sholder. Screaming, he reared and struck at her, missing her eye by a fingerlength, but leaving a deep gash on her neck. Soon they were rolling over, biting and scratching each other.

Norelth bellowed at the two, sending then scurrying in fright. Melina ran across the sand to assist the helpless, hungry green. By then most of the eggs had hatched and Impressed.

The tiny green dragged herself across the Grounds to meet Melina. The blood oozed from her scratches, but she was clearly impatient to reach her chosen, so she kept going. Then, as Melina looked into her blue-green eyes, an incredible feeling of love and affection overcame all emotion.

I'm Aideth, Melina! I'm here with you. Always. Melina would have been puzzled by Aideth's voice in her head, but all she was was aware of at the time was how much she loved the dragon. This was the happiest day of her life. She would never be alone.

[Monkeysrule]

I smell meat. I'm very hungry! Aideth said suddenly. She rubbed her soft green hide on Melina's white robes, and Melina scratched her eye ridges, which her fire-lizards usually liked. Aideth crooned softly, then remembered the hunger that was gnawing at her stomach. Melina remembered too, and called for meat.

"There's some outside," the weyrlingmaster, K'mar said. "And oil." Melina thanked him and helped her clumsy dragon to the enterence. It was dark outside.

Food! Delicious, juicy meat! Aideth said. Melina laughed as Jenima handed a bowl of herdbeast and wherry meat to Melina. Aideth made short work of it, and was soon pleading for more. Then, with a sigh, she fell asleep right there on the grass.

"Melina, now's the time to fix up those scratches on your dragon's shoulder and neck. Here's the numbweed," Jenima said as she helped Melina spread numbweed on the cuts. "You know, I'm sure fighting makes a hatchling very tired. Let her sleep," Jenima said, returning to her oiling of Yolenth.

After oiling Aideth, Melina curled up next to the sleeping green and slept.

[Monkeysrule]

It was Zolen and Threll who woke her up later that night. They seemed distressed, for they were tugging at her candidate robe, trying to wake her up. Then Melina realized what the problem was.

"Aideth! Something wrong?"

It burns, Aideth said. My neck hurts. Melina peeked at her shoulder, and examined the gash. It stretched about four fingerlengths and was encrusted with sand and dirt.

"You'll need that cleaned before it gets infected," K'mar said kindly, walking toward them with a bowl of meat in his arms. He sent for numbweed and the weyrhealer, Jaylie. A few minutes later, Jaylie arrived with a bucket of numbweed and her apprentice, Garkon, who was around seven Turns younger than her.

"All right, is this the one that Jaith fought last night? I just finished doctoring up that bite on his wing shoulder. This one needs stiching." She got out the wherhide case where she kept her healing supplies, and began cleaning the wound.

"It's all right, Aideth. It's not going to hurt after the numbweed soaks in," Melina reassured her. She sat, tense, until the stiching was over. "You hungry?"

Yes. I didn't get my stomach full last night before I fell asleep. I won't gorge myself, i promise.

"Aren't you clever, good friend!" She scratched Aideth's head again, then gave her some more meat. Aideth kept her promise.

[Monkeysrule]

"Well, you'll need to take Aideth to the weyrling barracks when she's done. You should really sleep, since you'll be very busy for the next couple of months," K'mar said. "Gotta go. The others are waking up." She returned to Aideth, who was laying on her side.

"Come on, get up so we can sleep indoors."

I like it out here. But I am getting cold. Let's go. Aideth slowly got up and stretched her wings, which were bigger in proportion than the other dragons' wings. She crawled awkwardly to the barracks, and Melina followed. Suddenly, Melina became very weak and dizzy, which she supposed was from staying up late oiling and feeding her new dragon. It was all she could do to drag herself to an empty room before she collapsed on the padded stone bed. Threll and Zolen curled up by the green dragon.

The next few weeks Melina and the other weyrlings were too busy oiling, washing, and feeding their growing dragons to notice anything unusual.
Nobody paid attention to the change in the air, the slight vibrations in the ground, or the strange behavior of the wild fire-lizards. Even the dragons and the Impressed fire-lizards were unsettled. But nobody paid those signs any heed.

[Monkeysrule]

One morning, while Melina was lounging high on a ledge next to an eight-week-old Aideth, the ground shook. Melina first felt the rock under her bare feet shift violently, then shrieked as she felt the ground drop beneath her. Her stomach dropped too as found herself in the air, speeding toward the ground hundreds of feet below. This was the end, she thought, for both herself and her dragon, who was too young to fly.

Bye, Aideth. We go together, she said in a final farewell. This was the end, this was-

Suddenly she was dizzy again, more exhausted than she had ever been in her life. She barely felt the green talons gripping her back and the unexpected soaring sensation as she became very lightheaded and passed out.
***
Melina woke up and groped blindly for the familiar soft hide of her lifelong friend.

I'm here, Melina, Aideth said, in a worried mental tone. You've been sleeping for two days already. I thought I'd lost you forever. Melina felt a pang of guilt for causing her dragon's anguish. But Aideth reassured her in a soft and loving thought. But you're back! It's not your fault. It's really my fault for failing to catch you.

But how did we live? If you didn't catch me and fly us to safty, then who did?

I don't know. It was an older green dragon who looked familiar, but I didn't get a chance to see her. I slept. That last sentence puzzled Melina, until she came to the conclusion that she wasn't the only one who had passed out.

She wanted to get up, to see her friends, to feed and wash Aideth. But every time she tried to sit up, a strong hand would push her down. It wasn't long before she realized that it was her own Aideth who kept her resting on the soft bed.

You must rest. Yolenth's rider cares for me. I am well fed. Just sleep. How nice of Jenima! To take care of not one but two growing dragons was hard work. She would have to remember to thank her once she was better.

[Monkeysrule]

Everything was dark. Her empty stomach rumbled more and more, but she couldn't move. So is this what it's like for a dragon hatchling? She couldn't fall back asleep; she was too hungry.

Aideth?

I'm here. Something's wrong with you. What is it? Are you all right?

I'm all right, I'm just so hungry. And thirsty.

Melina opened her eyes. The light shone brightly in the room, and her vision was suddenly impaired by flashes of white. She immediately closed her eyes again, for the light was unbearable. Her head ached, and she called aloud for water.

"Melina, you're not well! You need water? You're burning up." That was without a doubt Jenima's voice. She had been so helpful.

"Thanks." she mumbled as she took the glass of water. It was cool and refreshing, and was exactly what she needed to fall back asleep. It wasn't until she felt the drowsiness that she realized that the water had fellis juice.

Melina woke up to the voices of several people, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Aideth, however, could hear them and told Melina everything they said.

They say that you and two others are sick. Something about a plague, but I don't understand it. I thought that was over before I hatched. Norelth told me. It happens again? Clearly the dragon was confused. They say I keep you alive.

And she did. Melina heard her dragon's reassuring voice in her head every time shefell asleep. The next few days of recovery were blurs of drowsiness and falling in and out of sleep, so those days went by rather quickly. And Aideth was always well cared for.

When Melina was finally fit enough to care for herself and her dragon on her own, Jaylie, the Weyrhealer, came.

"I must ask you a favor, Melina. You see, Keat and L'son aren't doing so well. You made a relatively quick recovery. Do you think we can have some of your blood?" Melina found that an odd request, but remembered something she once read in the records about the cure to many sicknesses being found in the blood.

"Yeah, fine. We can't afford to lose two dragons and two riders." She held out her arm. Jaylie was quick about it, and soon after, Melina was sleeping again.

[Monkeysrule]

In a couple sevendays, Melina, Keat, and Lenson, who was now L'son, were healthy enough to begin weyrling training. They had already been lectured on the safety and the procedures of flight, betweening, and general dragon care. They wanted the real thing.

"We will start on basic flight, just around the bowl and down again. Everyone line up here with your dragons." K'mar studied the line of weyrlings and then made his decision. "You, you, and you three," he said, pointing at Melina, L'son, Lorell, Keat, and Jenima. "Your dragons look big enough. You know what to do. Just be careful not to overfly your dragons!" Melina and the others mounted their dragons. "And go!"

Aideth was the first to jump. Riding Thrilth may have given her the experience of dragonriding, but it was different, riding her own dragon. With the first sweep of her wings, they were soaring with great ease and speed. It was more wondersful than anything, besides the Impression itself. The thrill of being where she and Aideth belonged, of being in total control, of passing every other dragon in speed didn't last long enough, for before they knew it, the weyrlingmaster was calling them to land.

"You will be flying longer every day. And don't worry, you will all get to fly your dragons as soon as they're big enough. Here, R'nel and F'seld, your dragons look big enough. Go ahead. Everyone, watch how the dragons have to gain sufficient height before soaring. But they should be able to fly out of instinct."

[Monkeysrule]

In a sevenday and a half, every weyrling had flown his or her dragon at last once. Aideth had proven to be one of the fastest dragons in the group, second only to Lorell's golden Eaganth, whose broad, powerful wings allowed for great speed after some practice.

A few days later, every weyrling dragon was as skilled a flyer as any other dragon in the Weyr. They provided lift for those who needed transportation to their high rooms but didn't have dragons. Elevator duty, as it was called, became tedious after the first thrills of flight faded, and soon it became apparent to K'mar that the weyrlings were itching to learn to go between. He was reluctant to begin that part of the training, but it needed to get done.

"All right, I understand that you are eager to continue the training. As you know from the early training, the dragon needs a firm visual to safely and succesfully teleport. The first time, I will give each dragon the image, and the three of us will go between. Remember what I said! It should only take about as long as it take to cough three times."

The first to go was B'nar, one of the Weyrbred, and his brown Brennath. He and K'mar mounted Brennath, and they took off. Abruptly, they disappeared, only to reappear eight seconds later on the opposite end of the Bowl. He jumped off his dragon, shaking with fear, cold, and exitement.

"It's weird! It's like you can't feel anything. Nothing! And the cold is like you never imagined! There's a reason they didn't take you between to the Weyr. I've never been, and I'm Weyrbred!" Several people ran to get their new riding jackets, and were back by the time several more had taken their turns.

"Good thinking," K'mar said. "It's your turn, Melina."

[Monkeysrule]

Melina mounted Aideth, feeling both excited and fearful.

Don't worry, I know exactly what I'm doing, the green dragon reassured her. I won't let you fall.

I know you won't. I'm just nervous. Melina said as she grabbed the riding straps. K'mar sat behind her, and directed Aideth to go between as soon as she was flying well above the ground. Both K'mar and Melina gave her the image of the other side of the Bowl, and she went between.

From the moment the blackness and the sharp cold enveloped her, she wished she had brought her riding jacket like the other riders did. She groped frantically for the straps, but she couldn't feel anything, even her dragon. She was floating in frozen space. Her only ray of hope was that all-important image, and she focused it during the few seconds which felt like an hour.

Soon the image became real life as they burst out into the warm sunshine. That was the strangest place she had ever been.

Between isn't a place. It is between, Aideth informed her.

Tell me something I don't know, Melina told her dragon. They sat down and basked in the sun as they watched the other dragons, one by one, go between.

You'll have to get used to it, Aideth said. She was right.

[Monkeysrule]

In a couple sevendays, Melina and the others had gotten used to flying between and no longer needed the weyrlingmaster's assistance. He said that their group was lucky not to lose anyone during that dangerous part of the training. He said that poor visialization confused the dragon and led to their death's between. Melina carefully avoided that.

Aideth was now ten months old, and had almost reached full height. She still had the greatest wingspan of all the greens, even though she was one of the smallest. As a result, she flaw faster than the rest, and could make surprisingly sharp turns without unbalancing herself and her rider. To Melina, she was the most perfect dragon on Pern.

Melina, lounging in the shade away from the hot summer sun, was startled when Threll nipped at her shirt. His eyes were the yellow of worry, and spinned frantically as he chirped at Melina. He gave her images of Zolen and several bronzes flying, and of their old beach. Melina suddenly realized that she hadn't seen Zolen all day, and immediately hopped on Aideth to go find him.

"Aideth, can you take an image from me? You've never been there, but I have."

Yes, I can. I can go anywhere with a picture.

"Oh, thanks!" She grabbed the straps and they took off. They came out of between above the familiar beach. It didn't seem right, somehow. Everything looked exactly the same as she remembered, but there was something different. Something wrong.

[Monkeysrule]

They soared above the beach, searching for any sign of Zolen. It was obvious he was flying a queen; Melina could sense it. She decided to let him go, and wait for him instead. So Aideth flew lazily above the water, ready to go between back to the Weyr. But she stopped abruptly when she spotted something in the water below her.

Is that you? she asked. The question puzzled Melina.

I'm right here. But you're right, that does look like me. Far below them, there were people swimming in the warm waters. They were all swimming to shore, and didn't notice the green dragon swooping down to investigate. The one that looked like Melina began to tire, and dragged herself ashore. It was very familiar.

Aideth, that is me! But how?

We went between times, Aideth said calmly.

"We did what?" Melina said aloud.

We went between times. If dragons can go between one place and another, we can do the same with time. It seemed logical, but it was still hard to digest. Then, with a sudden realization, she urged her green to go another place and time.

"Do you realize what this means? It wasn't Yolenth who rescued us that day the ground shook. It was you. We need to go to that when."

We go.

[Monkeysrule]

They burst out of between above the Bowl. Far below, several young dragons and their riders slept on the grass, including Melina and Aideth-the-hatchling. It was late in the night.

"This isn't right. We fell off the ledge in the morning, eight sevendays after this when."

Sorry.

"It's all right, Aidey. It's not your fault. We haven't timed it much-" The cold blackness caught her off guard, and she nearly fell off her dragon between. She grasped the straps , but panicked when she couldn't feel them. It took dreadfully long, and the biting cold was crawling to her bones. In a desperate attempt to grab whatever she could, she lost balance.

The sun shone on her frozen skin as she found herself hanging upside down by her riding straps. Her back was up against her green's back, and the wind whipped by as Aideth's sudden swerving threw her back onto her the dragon's neck. It didn't take her long to reposition herself. Then, turning on wing tip, she dove with incredible speed to catch the falling dragon and rider.

Naturally, Aideth went for Melina first and grabbed her with her right hand and then, with a speedy maneuver that only she could do right, she flew almost straight up to catch the younger Aideth. Melina felt her neck snap back as she was thrown back. The famliar dizziness of being in two places at once nearly made her faint, but her dragon reassuerd her.

Everything's going to turn out fine. It already did. And don't sleep now; we have work to do.

The older green dragon caught the younger one by the wing shoulders, and spread her wings to soar to the ground. When nobody was looking, she set both dragon and rider gently to the ground and took off.

I'm very tired. It's hard to carry a dragon.

"We've done our work well. Let's go."

[Monkeysrule]

Meanwhile.....(Landing, same time)

"We're getting a report from the Yokohama. It appears that an iceball is speeding toward us. According to the calculations, it's going to pass right by us. It came from the Oort cloud."

"A comet? From the Oort cloud? But...isn't that where thread comes from?"

"Yes, it is. It's will most likely drop its Thread on us for about three months, before Pern moves out of its reach. Then we won't be botherd."

"But...the dragons? Do they know?"

"Well...they seem to sense the danger, but can't tell exactly what's bothering them. Well, we know now."

"Alert the dragonriders! Every dragonrider on Pern must know!"

[Monkeysrule]

Melina woke up, feeling restless. A knot in her stomach kept her awake through the night after the draining rescue of herself, and was getting stronger by the second. It must be Aideth's dreams, she thought as she yawned wearily. The green dragon was sleeping fitfully, tossing around and throwing sand all over Melina. Irritated but tolerant, she brushed the sand out of her hair and gently prodded her dragon.

Without warning, a sudden wave of emotions and images swept through her mind, and it took her a while to distinguish them. Fear, danger, a forgotten past, a streak of blue-white fire against a dark sky. But most of all, danger. Something was bothering the dragons of Pern, like a universal message. Someone, or something, was trying to warn them. Melina tried to use her mind to wake Aideth up, but the dragon just rolled over and slept almost peacefully.

In the morning, Zolen returned with a rolled-up hide in his claws. Melina had no idea how it got there, but took the message anyway. Still puzzeled, she unrolled it:

East Island Weyr,

I don't know how to best put this, but Pern is in danger. Remember the Thread from five hundred years ago? It will return, a perpetual Fall, starting over at Boll and making its way west. Prepare your dragons to protect your Weyr and any holdings you might have set up over the Turns.

It is calculated to reach your area in approximately two sevendays, and fall for six hours until it reaches the sea. Threadfall charts below for your reference. Sorry for the timing of this message.

~D'wan

[Monkeysrule]

Melina couldn't believe her eyes. She knew of Thread, and how the dragons had miraculously moved the object that kept dropping Thread into Pernese skies, the Red Star. So how could Thread return? Another object, maybe? Keat, who still didn't have a dragonrider name, tapped her back, Lorell right beside him.

"What does it say? Who sent it?"

"Here, read it. I'll get the Weyrleaders." She handed him the message, and climbed on her dragon's back. "Take us up to the Weyrwoman's quarters. I have to tell her the news." Just before Aideth jumped, Threll fearfully dug his claws into Melina's shirt on her back. As soon as they landed on the ledge, Zolen came out of between on top of Melina's head, chirping wildly. Maila came out of her weyr and stared at the young greenrider.

"What is it? And why are your fire-lizards clinging to you like that?"

"We have news from elsewhere. Do you know D'wan?"

"Who?"

"Well, he's the one who sent the note. Anyway, come down. It's really important news." The instant Norelth and Aideth touched the ground, the two dragonriders dismounted and ran to S'ney, who was staring at the note in disbelief. The blue rider handed the Weyrwoman the note. She read it with the same expression S'ney had.

[Monkeysrule]

After reading the message several times, she looked up.

"But...how are we supposed to train every dragonrider here in fourteen days? Nobody here knows how to fight Thread. That was over five hundred Turns ago. I suppose we could search the records..."

"Do we have any holdings here?" Jenima asked.

"Not that I know of," the Weyrwoman replied, "But there are several Weyrs in this area. According to the records, the dragonriders spread out to just about every suitible island on Pern. Well, we have no time to waste. The record room is that way," she said, pointing.

Keat, Lorell, and C'rellion, a brown rider, offered to search the records. "But the rest of you need to find firestone on one of these islands. It can be found just about anywhere near a volcano. Come on now," Keat said, taking charge before going to the record room.

All the dragonriders except the Weyrleaders and those searching for answers mounted their dragons. "We're flying straight, of course," B'nar said. Soon the dragons were soaring above the islands.

Your bronze has found firestone, Aideth informed her. I told the others. We land. They landed on the rocky land and found what they were looking for. It took all day to bag the firestone. They fell asleep right on the stone.

[Monkeysrule]

The next day, Melina and the others woke up with sore muscles. But they had no time to waste. Melina decided to take charge since Keat, Lorell, and Maila weren't there.

"Wake up, everybody! We have work to do. F'seld, get the others up. We need to return to the Weyr. L'son and R'nel, get your dragons loaded with the sacks. You too, Jenima. Here, Aideth, is that too heavy?"

I can carry it. I can carry much more, too.

"Good. Jenima, take charge while we unload our dragons at the Weyr." Jenima began waking people up, and L'son, R'nel, and Melina took their dragons to the Weyr and dropped the sacks to the ground. Ignoring her stiff muscles, she made three trips between with several others. In an couple hours, they had all the firestone they would need ready in bags at the Weyr.

Lorell, Keat, and C'rellion returned from the record room, looking triumphant. "We found them! A detailed description of Thread, how to chew firestone and flame, and how to treat Threadscores. Starting tomorrow, after the three of us have looked over these hides, We will train you. The first Fall will most likely mean injuries and even deaths, so we must pratice carefully. Did you know a single thread burrow can turn this lush island into a bare wasteland in very little time? We need to arange ground crews. Unfortunately, the records state that flame throwers or agenothree tanks are required, and we have neither. So, we need to arrange a wing of bronzes to fly low and flame any threads that get through the other wings. Usually the queens do that, but we have no flamethrowers. Tomorrow, at dawn, meet here with your dragons to train. Our Weyr must never be defeated!"

[Monkeysrule]

"Now, to chew firestone, the first thing your dragons do is think of their second stomach. Oh, and Lorell, you and Eaganth can just watch if you want. I forgot to tell you golds can't chew firestone because it makes them sterile." Keat took charge of the training, after memorizing the records, and their progress was surprisingly quick, even for the older dragons.

"It's natural to them," Jenima once said after her Yolenth blasted a large clump of the stained ropes they used to simulate Thread. Yet, they were still underprepared for the first Fall when the day came.

[Monkeysrule]

Melina's heart pounded as she fed her dragon firestone. This was the day they had all been preparing for. Since there was no Weyrleader, Maila was incredibly busy organizing the wings. She decided to appoint Keat, a strong leader, as wingleader and chose two brown riders as wingseconds for the largest wing of twenty. Even though he had just finished weyrling training, the young wingleader was just as experienced in Thread-fighting as any other dragonrider in the Weyr.

Melina and Aideth took the rear of Keat's wing and prepared to go between to the leading edge. As soon as Keat gave the signal, every dragon in the wing disappeared.

It's all right, I know exactly what to do, Aideth reassured her. Pride replaced fear as she affectionately slapped the dragon's green back. Then, as the challenging bellow from Walth was echoed by the trumpeting of many other dragons, her stomach dropped. Diving with incredible speed and belching flame, Aideth dove at the shimmering strands that emerged from the gray cloud above. The fight was on.

[Monkeysrule]

Aideth swerved past the other dragons, nearly unseating Melina. The young dragonrider had never seen Aideth like this before, with that read gleam in her eyes that was almost frightening. However, it satisfied both dragon and rider to watch the Thread curl up in dragon flame, falling to the ground as harmless char.

Far below them, the wing of elderly bronzes served as a queen's wing, as they were not as agile as the smaller and younger dragons. Aideth, spotting a clump of Thread the bronze wing had failed to flame, dove almost vertically to flame the deadly organisms before they could burrow into the island's rich soil and suck out all the life.

This went on for hours on end, and the smaller greens and blues began to tire. Melina cringed whenever she heard a dragon scream, and hoped that her beloved dragon would never get scored. Her arms ached from holding onto the straps so tightly during the exhausting Fall.

Then, as they ducked between to avoid a clump, she forgot to visualize a destination, and frantically grasped an image to bring them out of the cold nothingness. Unfortunately, they came out in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Monkeysrule]

Melina was instantly aware of the Thread clump eating away at Aideth's neck. She could only stare in disgusted horror at the squirming rope that was cutting into the green hide before they went between. Once again, her distraught mind failed to visualize the Weyr, and instead they came out behind the rest, where Thread no longer fell.

"We must go to the Weyr," she said, "before that score gets any worse. And the riding straps were severed, too." The long gash was only a couple feet in front of her, and had cut through the straps that secured her to her dragon. She held on tightly to the neck ridge.

They were not safe for long, however. A single Thread, missed by the bronze wing, was blown their direction. Barely avoiding the Thread, Aideth turned on wingtip and flamed it. Melina, caught off guard, lost grip and was falling, falling to the faraway trees below.

[Monkeysrule]

The immense satisfaction Aideth felt from destroying their deadly enemy diminished quickly as she felt the fear of her beloved rider. Shocked that anything could happen to Melina without her noticing, she frantically twisted her body midair and dove to catch the falling body far below her. Ignoring the stinging score on her neck where her rider should have been sitting, she concentrated only on saving the person she couldn't live without.

Melina's scream of fright was lost in the rush of air as Aideth surpassed her. To slow down her descent, she spread her wings and gracefully pulled out of the dive. Shards, she thought, she sure was getting plenty of practice catching falling things.

She suddenly felt the impact on her wing sail as Melina fell on her soft membrane. Then, Aideth gave her a warning not to panic. In a dangerous maneuver for both rider and dragon, she jerked her wing up, sending Melina flying. Then, trying to regain ger balance, she caught her right in her hand.

Aideth took them between to the Weyr.

[Monkeysrule]

Melina was still winded from landing hard on her rescuer's wing and then being thrown in the air again. To add to the shock, she wasn't expecting to transfer between so abruptly. Had Aideth not been holding her so tightly, she would have fallen off her dragon in the fright.

She felt Aideth put her down gently on the bowl floor before calling for assistance from the weyrhealer. Still shaking with cold and fright, she gestured for Jaylie and Garkon to come over from where they had just finished helping another injured green and her rider. Another glance at the injured pair and Melina realized that it was Jenima and Yolenth who had been injured in the Fall. Melina hurriedly dipped the cloth in the numbweed and smeared the wonderful stuff on her dragon's relatively minor scoring.

A half hour later, Melina bumped into something large, gold, and solid. Looking up, she found herself staring into the furiously whirling red eyes of Eaganth. Agitated, the huge queen roared at the gray smudge of distant Thread. The occasional flash of fire could be seen, but as this was the last few minutes of Thread before it fell on the sea, Melina and Aideth did not return to continue fighting.

The two queens of the Weyr had to be calmed by their riders until the Thread was no longer visible. One by one, the Wings returned, exhausted and stinking of firestone. But one dragon, a young blue, was alone, covered with blood from both rider and dragon. Struggling to keep airborne, the screaming blue beat his tattered wings desperately. Soon he gave up his fruitless attempts to fly, and instead plummeted to the ground with a loud crunch. His rider gasped as he crawled as fast as he could toward the nearest dragonrider.

"Melina, get the numbweed, quick! L'son and Strath are severely injured. Lorell, go help Melina fix up Strath. I'll do L'son's scores," Keat ordered. He really would make a good Weyrleader, Melina thought as she slathered numbweed on the writhing dragon's wing. He would probably never fly again.

"Oh no, oh no," Keat cried despairingly, feeling L'son's wrist for a pulse.

[Monkeysrule]

Melina rushed over to the bloody dragonrider and, after examining his chest carefully, she saw what was killing him.

"A Thread punctured his right lung," she told the others, "and he's having trouble breathing." Garkon, Jaylie's young assistant, arrived with water. Lifting the man's head carefully, they slowly poured the water down his throat. L'son couldn't swallow, and instead coughed up the water along with a large quantity of blood. He made a strange gurgling sound with his throat. It took a while for the others to realize he was trying to speak.

"Strath...fly?" Nobody could make sense of what he said. "Willee?" Then, realizing what he was trying to ask, Melina lowered her head sadly and answered.

"His wings are torn to shreds. Even Jaylie couldn't fix them."

L'son groaned and lay still, dead.

[Monkeysrule]

Strath was the first to react.

With an anguished cry, the riderless blue launched himself in the air to go between. Before he could gain sufficient height, however, his wings failed and he fell to the ground. With another loud scream, he thrashed on the bloody grass and made another failed attempt to fly.

"Get every dragon over here. We need to help him," Keat ordered. Blindly following his directions, every dragon in the Weyr that could fly, even the scored ones, appeared at the half-dead dragon's side. "This is what we do. We need four large dragons to carry Strath between, since obviously he can't do it himself."

"We can't kill a dragon!" someone yelled.

"Strath is already dead," R'nel whispered. Everyone stared at him. "No, not physically dead, you deadglows. But how would you feel if your dragon died?"

"Uh...half-dead?"

"Exactly. He's worse than dead."

[Monkeysrule]

It took two greens and a blue to lift Strath off the ground. He did not struggle, for he desperately wanted to follow his rider in death, and welcomed the dragons' assistance. Melina watched in horrified fascination as all four dragons went between. Only three emerged.

Aideth and the other dragons suddenly simultaniously stood on their hind legs, using their wings to balance. The loud piercing cry the dragons and fire-lizards uttered echoed throughout the Bowl. The keen was almost unbearable, especially for Melina and their group, who had never witnessed a dragon death. When it stopped, Maila lowered her head even further.

"I should be used to it, since we heard it countless times during the plague, but I'm not. It still tears my heart to see a riderless dragon, especially one who can't suicide. You did a brave thing, helping him. It's difficult to kill a dragon. I couldn't have done it myself."

That night, an elderly brownrider told the young riders that they were actually very lucky to lose only one dragon in the first Fall in over 500 Turns. "I once had to copy the records of death rates in Falls once and some of them were just horrible. One fall, they lost eighteen dragons from Thread injury and failing to come out of between," he said, shaking his head slowly. "But I'd never heard of a dragon unable to suicide because he couldn't fly."

The following day, they all took a long, well-deserved rest. The previous day was a hectic one, which included a burial for L'son and tending to other injuries. Melina, gazing at her dragon, noticed that, from just one Fall, Aideth's wing shoulders had become quite bulky with muscle. The long score was healing nicely, too, and didn't seem to bother the sleepy dragon one bit. Which, Melina reminded herself, was probably because she smeared numbweed an it every hour just in case. She would never let her valiant Thread warrior ever be uncomfortable, especially in times like these.

[Monkeysrule]

Aideth's Threadscore formed a thick scab over the next couple of days. The Weyrwoman told her that it would be fine to fly the next Threadfall, which was in two days. According to the charts, the frequency times of the Falls would reach the maximum in six sevendays and taper off until the third month of this mini-Pass. Then the Thread would not return until another object could penetrate the Oort cloud and drag the matter to Pern.

Images of the falling blue dragon and the bloody rider haunted the dreams of every dragon and rider in the Weyr. Because of this, everyone was in a cantankerous mood from stress and lack of sleep the day before the next Fall. The only one who managed to stay calm was Keat, who took charge of the Weyr while the rest were training to fight Thread.

Melina woke up with a start the next morning. Aideth lifted her head slowly, opened one eyelid, and fell back asleep. Wide awake, Melina decided to take a walk to ease tense nerves. Threll and Zolen flew over and perched on their favorite spots, her head and her shoulder.

To her surprise, several others had woken up early, too. Several were already preparing firestone bags and strapping their dragons. In two hours, the second Fall would begin.

[Monkeysrule]

Just as Melina finished loading her dragon with firestone an hour and a half early, a sound from behind distracted her. Far across the Bowl, a squealing herdbeast was being pinned down by an immense gold dragon. This was unusual, for right before a Fall the animals always sought shelter. Even more strange was the dragon's behavior. With a second glance, Melina realized that the dragon was not eating the animal whole, but instead was sucking at the blood in the neck and snarling viciously. She immediately recognized this as mating behavior.

Lorell, who was helping to load sacks on the dragons' backs, immediately froze and stood rigid. By now everyone noticed Eaganth's glowing hide, but nobody looked as shocked as the Weyrwoman.

"She's a Turn premature!" she exclaimed. "And so close to a Fall. Well, it should be quick, anyway. It usually is." She suddenly realized that Lorell had no idea what to do. "Lorell, don't let her eat the flesh."

"She isn't. She's a very clever dragon," Keat said. "Look at the bronzes," he said in amazement. Some of the bronzes decided to blood kills of their own; others simply sat waiting, ready to spring when necessary. Walth, Keat's bronze, had already sucked one buck dry, and was tensed for flight.

"There's something I forgot to tell you," Maila said suddenly. "Norelth won't rise to mate anymore, and I no longer have a weyrmate. Therefore, the outcome of this flight will determine the new Weyrleader. Yes, indeed," she added wearily.

[Monkeysrule]

Eaganth, her face a mask of warm herdbeast blood, pounced on another beast and sank her teeth into the neck. She greedily drank the blood as though it was all she had eaten in days. Then, without warning, she gave one powerful leap and took flight.

The young queen was soon seen only as a tiny speck, followed closely by four of the bronzes, swerving and diving. Craning her neck upwards, Melina could just make out the closest bronze grabbing Eaganth's bulky legs and pulling her toward him. Soon they were out of sight.

Melina didn't notice that the bronze riders and Lorell were gone. She simply stared in awe at the place the dragons were only moments before. She had seen fire-lizard flights, mostly green but also one gold. However, this was a much more amazing sight, and on a greater scale.

"Well, let's get ready," a rider of one of the bronzes who didn't catch the queen said. "We have Thread to fly." They had just returned from Lorell's weyr.

Melina counted heads in the crowd of disappointed bronze riders. Keat was nowhere to be seen.
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