K’brin: Chapter 5, Journal 7 – Blooded

Posted on May 25, 2019 by K'brin
  • Following Seliana’s advice, I put N’lan in charge of coordinating Mountain View since he had formal training in administration. 
  • Master Karthen began training all of Faranth’s Wing in mental defense, since even non-Talents can learn to shield their thoughts through sheer mental discipline.  It’s not as good as a Talent, it’s but better than nothing.
  • After discussing with Faranth’s Wing and several others, I began working with B’dir to come up with one or more very dangerous visualization points that my riders could give in the Old World under duress.
  • A few days later, T’ria received notice from Healer Hall that Master Zemel had died.  She contacted ‘Zana, ‘Mala, and me to comfort her.  He left her a large mortar and pestle from his lab.
  • ‘Mala told us a few days later that Gold Kyloth of Igen Weyr was going to rise to mate within the next few days.  Igen always holds open mating flights but they desperately need another Queen – so they would be furious at any Brown who participated.
  • A few days later, we learned that R’ker’s Telorith had won, providing stability – which is what she said Igen Weyr needs right now.
  • A few days after that, we celebrated Shireya and Kevlen’s eighth Turnday.  They had many, many visitors that day – and received gifts from everyone on Faranth’s Wing.  M’din, in particular, went all out with a pair of small carved watchwhers for Shireya’s model Weyr and a pair of riding gloves sized for Kevlen.
  • I dreaded doing it, but I sent a letter to Eurielle the next day asking if she could arrange for the twins to visit with her and their grandparents at Ruatha Hold for a Gather, Turnover, their next birthday, or really whatever Lord Gavrian would allow.
  • The Spring Games arrived a few weeks later.  G’van and I wanted to participate, but our respective duties kept us too busy to train.  We resigned ourselves to cheering for our favorites from the bleachers this Turn.
  • Remembering my promise from Maranath’s first Hatching, I invited Jeralan – partly so he could see for himself that B’tron and M’nie were still doing well.  I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the weyrlings hadn’t reached the really dangerous parts of their training yet.
  • T’ria and I caught Senesta slipping off to throw up in the necessary during one of the competitions.  She was several weeks pregnant but didn’t want to announce it to the Weyr yet – so she swore us to secrecy for now.
  • We flew to Telgar Weyr for the Intra-Weyr Games a few days later.  I was finally able to share a friendly drink with J’kin and play some music – and gossip – with Master Dagmar.
  • While walking back to my quarters one night, I stumbled across Seliana in a heated fight with a Junior Weyrwoman of Telgar Weyr, Mikala of Gold Elaruth – who had transferred from Fort Weyr a Turn or two back.  I used my Talent and overheard Seliana tell Mikala in no uncertain terms that she had no problem with me siring children by whatever women they wanted – but not before she gets one first.  Everyone else has to wait.  I was floored.  Mikala was both a Gold rider and a Junior Weyrwoman, so she ranked Seliana in every way – but Seliana refused to back down.  Mikala was obviously no less shocked than I was, so she beat a hasty retreat.  When I asked Seliana about it later that night, she said that she had assumed part of the reason I had brought her with us to Telgar Weyr was to keep other women at bay.  And she did want for us to try for a child soon, preferably before Faranth’s Wing leaves on its secret mission.
  • A few days after we returned from Telgar Weyr, G’mar called a meeting of all Wingleaders to announce that we would soon have to fly a rare – and extremely dangerous – night Threadfall over the Verdant River region in Nerat.  He didn’t want to let Faranth’s Wing fly, but I insisted so he reluctantly agreed to let us fly Queen’s Wing.  We couldn’t afford to lose a Dragonrider so close to leaving for the Old World.
  • G’mar chose for Ista Weyr to fly in a tight wedge formation all at the same altitude.  This provides good protection, but at the cost of our dragons having to fly up and down to attack Thread.  This meant that the first Greens and most Blues would need to drop out of formation before the end of Threadfall.
  • Daena insisted on flying in the Queen’s Wing, so she and Liviath could use their abilities to make the dragons more aware of one another – decreasing the likelihood of a midair collision or fatal jump between in the dark. 
  • Valenth fought valiantly that night, but not without cost.  While flaming a particularly large clump of Thread, Valenth and I missed some smaller outlying tangles in the darkness.  He was hit on the left forewing and I caught burning fragments on my left chest and thigh.  Without thinking – and without being ordered – Valenth instantly jumped between.  Later, I would learn that this saved my life.  There had still been living Thread in the mass that hit my chest, and it would have burrowed into my abdomen in seconds if he hadn’t.  He saved my life.  Even wounded, we stayed in the fight until the very end.
  • When it was done, the medical barracks and a good portion of the bowl of Ista Weyr were filled with wounded dragons and dragonmen.  It was absolutely awful and I couldn’t help but wish that we could shield the weyrlings from this awful reality – at least for a little while longer.
  • 14 dragons and more than double that many dragonmen were injured that night.  A single bad Threadfall had effectively removed all of Liviath’s Clutch of 1,260, my clutch.  No one had disappeared between yet, but we weren’t at all certain that everyone would make it through the night. 
  • I played music and used my Talent more aggressively than I had in Turns to fill Ista Weyr with a sense of pride and accomplishment at what they had done that night.  Instead of concentrating on their injuries and on their friends – dragon and dragonman alike – who might not make it through the night, I encouraged them to concentrate on this mighty victory that they had won.  I distantly sensed Liviath and Maranath doing the same for the dragons.
  • Like every other dragonrider with a wounded dragon, I slept with Valenth out in the bowl that night. 
  • The next day, I continued to use my ability to bolster Ista Weyr’s morale.  It made me sad that my Talent was suddenly so needed again, just like when I had first returned home to Impress.
  • I heard rumor that ancient healer Master Elgin had worked through the night and into the day on wounded dragonmen, pushing himself well beyond any safe limit.
  • T’grim found me early that morning and hugged me so hard it hurt.  He gathered the Wing together, and insisted that we celebrate my Blooding.  I was finally a ‘real’ dragonrider in his eyes.  He no longer had to worry that I would disappear from his life the first time I was wounded in combat.
  • That afternoon, the Lower Caverns staff threw an impromptu party – celebrating the fact that not one dragon or dragonrider had died, despite horrible odds and horrific injuries.  Everyone had come home.  I used this as another opportunity to improve the morale of all of Ista Weyr.
  • S’lina’s Green Lirfeth had caught a clump of Thread on her back, and wasn’t feeling nearly as much pain as she should be – making the dragonhealers worry that she had spine damage.  S’lina was beside herself with worry and self-guilt, feeling that she should have seen the Thread coming down even though it was behind her and in the dark.  The dragonhealers told me that she wasn’t sleeping, and was barely eating or drinking – so I used my Talent to convince her of the truth:  What happened to Lirfeth wasn’t her fault.  It was just a terrible, random accident – the definition of bad luck.
  • We were awakened around 2:30am the next morning by our dragons keening.  Master Elgin had died in his sleep, undoubtedly from overexerting himself over the last two days – and, rumor had it, extensive use of stimulants to keep his mind sharp and his hands steady.  When I was asked to speak, I said what was in my heart:  He had died doing his duty, saving lives at the cost of his own.  He had a true dragonman’s heart, and we should honor him for it.
  • Eight days later, Thread was scheduled to fall over Ista Weyr territory again.  Benden’s spare Wing came to help us, due to our extensive injuries.  Valenth balked at this because his wing was healed enough to fly, and he couldn’t understand that it would cause lifelong scarring if he went between before it finished healing.  He was still pacing back and forth angrily, tail whipping like an agitated feline’s, when Shireya came up and hugged one of his mighty forepaws.  He immediately stopped moving, and she announced imperiously that she was sleepy and that he should go back to sleep with her.  He settled down, and she went to sleep between his forepaws.
  • We celebrated the first anniversary of Faranth’s Wing’s Founding Day the next day.  I was tempted to give a formal speech, but knew from experience that most of my wingriders had little tolerance for such things.  Instead, I organized a beach party in a remote cove I knew with plenty of different alcohols, good food for us and our dragons (Valenth and I had rolled several large pigs into a pit he had dug the day before), and live music provided by one of our harpers.  Most of us slept out on the beach that night.  A good time was had by all. 
  • A couple of days later, G’mar again summoned all Wingleaders to his meeting room.  Lord Renatus had died and we were expected to perform an honor flyover during his funeral.  We were also welcome to attend the funeral ceremony, if we wanted.  I immediately volunteered, since I hadn’t had an opportunity to show Lord Renatus that I had finally given up my grudge after he politicked in my favor at the Conclave of Lord Holders.  I also wanted to start our relationship with the new Lord Ista, Lord Stefan, out on the right foot.
  • N’lan correctly pointed out that we would be representing Faranth’s Wing, so he and T’ria volunteered – and I asked L’nos to come with us.
  • Countless people wearing black sashes, belts, or other black accessories as a show of respectful mourning gathered outside Ista Hold.  Only invited guests were allowed inside, where a succession of young women and small choirs of boys were taking turns singing beautiful, bittersweet songs.  Deeper inside the Hold was a circular ceremonial chamber with a gold cloth draped over a white stone bier, upon which Lord Renatus lay in state.  He had been dressed in formal clothes but wore no jewelry, and looked some less grim in death than he had in life.  Curved stone benches flanked by ornate standing Glow holders ringed the bier.  Four guards kept watch over his body at all times.
  • As the sun sank low in the sky, starting to turn a burnt orange color, guards in formal uniforms came and lifted a platform beneath the gold cloth – carrying him out.  Three women in ivory white dresses followed, one carrying purple tulips, one carrying Lord Renatus’ sword, and one carrying a cypress wreath.  His family followed behind in order of rank.  Garrett, the Captain of the Guard and B’dir’s father, was assisting the obviously-distressed widow Volanda.
  • As people gathered for the funeral ceremony, G’mar found me and the other Wingleaders, and led us on a by-the-book slow honor flight over Ista Hold’s promontory and into the setting sun.  Most of the Wingleaders, including G’mar, returned to Ista Weyr after the flight.  R’nal stayed behind to represent Ista Weyr, while I stayed behind to represent Faranth’s Wing.
  • At the end of the funeral ceremony, Lord Stefan lit the funeral pyre upon which Lord Renatus had been laid, and the crowd moaned and cried out – the first public display of grief.  The pyre lit quickly and burned brightly in the waning light.
  • I used my Turns of training at Harper Hall to make a good showing for Faranth’s Wing.  I spoke with Captain Brychan for a bit, and thanked him for humoring a young boy with a tour of the Cormorant – it had helped foster a love for travel and adventure that would one day take me all over Pern.  I also met Master Lancaster, Masterharper Cameron’s understudy, but resisted the urge to monopolize too much of his time while he was working.  We spoke briefly, and he said that he would be happy to come visit with us at Mountain View in the near future.
  • A few days later, T’ria began teaching basic human and dragon health care to our Weyrlings.
  • A week after that, it was finally time for T’ria and me to steal firelizard eggs.  I had asked her to use her Talent to locate multiple nesting sites weeks before, so we already knew where to find them.  I had her use her Talent (Dragon Empathy) in combination with small bits of meat to lure the firelizards away while I climbed up, down, and into cliff faces to steal two or three eggs from each nest.  One Queen was especially reluctant to leave her nest, so we asked Chance for help.  He offered her morsel after morsel of meat until she approached T’ria herself to imperiously demand food.  I plundered the Queen egg that she had been guarding and ran.
  • T’ria wasn’t always successful at drawing all the firelizards away, so I was bitten a couple of times – but never bad enough to draw blood.  By the end of the day, we had collected 12 eggs to distribute:
    • Queen Egg – Seliana, per R’nal’s request – so Ista Weyr can hatch our own firelizards.  Named her Corona. 
    • Lord Stefan of Ista Hold.  Green Clover.  Didn’t take offense at being given a green because he knows enough about dragons to know that you can’t really pick colors.
    • Lord Ackerley of Keroon Hold.  Brown Buck.  “You sent me a little Valenth” 
    • Lord Desimar of Nerat Hold.  Bronze Striker. 
    • Lord Bestian of Big Bay Hold.  Blue Storm. 
    • Master Senell – let him pick his own egg; got a “Harper” blue that he instantly fell in love with and named Toccata.
    • 2 eggs to R’nal to help pay some of Ista Weyr’s bills. 
    • 4 eggs that I sold through our Trader who, after taking his small cut for brokering the deal and transporting the eggs, gave me 500 Marks.
  • R’nal spent an entire day delivering all of these eggs directly, without going between. 
  • A sevenday later, I received a letter from Deckitt, Aide to Lord Colton of Ista Hold.  It was a formal invitation to attend the marriage of Lord Colton to Lady Margery of Ista Hold, daughter of Lady Rianne and Lord Stefan, Granddaughter of Lord Renatus and Lady Volanda.
  • After some thought, I invited Seliana and T’ria invited L’nos.  The actual wedding ceremony itself was attended only by immediate family, but almost 100 guests were invited to attend the subsequent reception and afterparty.  A circle of tables were laden with a veritable feast; musicians, acrobats, and masked dancers provided entertainment; and a number of games – tower, bowls, skittles, and archery for the men – had been set up in the courtyard.
  • The Lords of Nerat, Keroon, and Big Bay attended.  Lord Bestian and his wife asked us how their grandson, T’gerian, was doing.  T’ria floundered quickly, so I stepped in and covered with generic – but true – information about Weyrling training and how quickly his beautiful Bronze dragon Kalenorth is growing.
  • Lord Colton spent a few minutes speaking with us, and insisted that I simply must come to visit with them this coming Autumn Gather so that he can finally appropriately thank us “for all our gifts.”  He strongly suggested that I spend at least one day at Ista Hold, and then spend another attending the runnerbeast races at Ruatha Hold.  I didn’t want to take up too much of his time on his wedding day talking about family politics, so I diplomatically answered, “If I can secure an invitation, I would love to attend.  We can discuss the details on another day, Lord – when you’re not so busy.” He accepted this and my well-wishes graciously, and went to speak with his other guests.
  • As the night wound down, I asked around to see if someone could teach me the fundamentals of archery – and was shocked when Seliana claimed, and then proved, that she was more than competent with a bow.  She flirtatiously said that she’d teach me anything I wanted to know.
  • Eventually, Master Lancaster – Masterharper Cameron’s designated understudy and eventual successor – was free and I introduced myself, as though we both didn’t already know who the other was.  He seemed very aware of Cameron’s comings and goings, even going so far as to say, “I’m pleased to hear that you’re glad that Masterharper Cameron is as busy, but less frenetic, than last Turn – seeing as you had a good bit to do with the pace.”  I diplomatically assured him that I was doing my best to schedule things better, and then briefly made some additional pleasant conversation before excusing myself.  I knew that he was working and, truth be told, it was more than a little awkward interacting with the man training for the job that I had trained for, and some part of me still wanted.
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