K’brin: Chapter 5, Journal 9 – Penumbra
- Eventually, the first sets of Carindi clothes were ready for final fitting. ‘Mala looked sour and T’grim objected vehemently. “If someone starts having nightmares because they saw me in this thing, I’m going to have my dragon burn them all to ash.” I took him aside, and pointed out that I bleed Ista Orange, Harper Blue, and now Faranth’s Wing Purple. And I was a former Master of Harper Hall, so concerned with telling the truth that everyone in my Wing has given me a hard time about it at some point. BUT we have a mission, probably the most difficult and important in over a thousand Turns. We’re not going to fail, no matter what it takes – even if we have to lie, cheat, and steal to accomplish it. We will not fail. He grudgingly agreed.
- I had one of my wingriders take Karthen out to explore Great Isle and see the memorial statue.
- Gil stayed busy during most of this time, carefully excavating the Phrenium fragments from Old Ruatha Hold.
- Teaching Mind Block, or at least Mental Resistance to my Wing riders, yielded mixed results. M’din was the worst; his mind was like a long, straight hallway filled with doors that could be easily opened to explore.
- ‘Zana was the next worst, simply because her mind was very orderly and straightforward – and very quick to offer up the correct answers, even when she didn’t really want to.
- N’lan learned Mind Block just like he had learned everything else – by rote. He was passable.
- V’dos had a very disciplined mind, but he couldn’t maintain his Mind Blocks for long due to lack of patience.
- L’nos proved surprisingly adept at defending his mind, mostly because he was good at throwing up a maze of dirty jokes, old songs, and other useless information.
- When the Weyrlings from the Clutch of 1,265 took their first mounted flights, I sent a bottle of wine to their table with my compliments to the ‘new dragonriders’. I also played a few pro-dragonrider songs.
- A few days later, G’van announced that the Weyrlings would be going between to Red Butte for the first time. I warned my wingriders, so they could stay or leave as they chose. Only ‘Mala, T’grim, and V’dos stayed. Everyone else left. A’nia of Green Nefanth didn’t make it to Red Butte. She was lost forever between. Daena had me perform in the Lower Caverns that night, and Shireya snuck out of the children’s creche to give each of the Weyrlings a little hug. She looked sad, but much less so than the last time we had suffered a loss.
- A few days later, L’nos fetched me on behalf of T’vin. L’nos and I kept him company on the ramp leading up to Senesta’s complex while she was in labor. Hours later, she gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy named Jayvin with blonde hair and blue eyes.
- A couple of weeks later, the young dragons began chewing firestone. Valenth insisted that we watch, because being able to chew firestone and breathe flame is extremely important to them. They take their ability to fly for granted.
- That evening, I felt M’nie’s Green Liseath radiating a strange emotion, and she smelled overwhelmingly of garlic. I asked S’van about it and, instead of answering me, he requested that all Bronzes – and Valenth – fly up to the Northern Barrier Range to bring back as much ice as we could. T’grim accompanied us without being asked, since he knew where we could find good, loose ice – and had much experience with securing it using cargo nets.
- We used the ice to make a giant ice couch for Liseath to lie on, in the hope that the cold would make her throw up the firestone she’d eaten. Dragonhealer Master Shonara thought Liseath had swallowed firestone into the wrong stomach, which is toxic and can easily be fatal.
- Near sunset, Liseath was trembling and gasping while M’nie cried openly, begging her dragon to throw up. Pain started rolling off Liseath in waves shortly after. A few minutes after the pain started, L’nos announced that he and T’grim were taking the twins camping. I took this as a very bad sign.
- After sunset, Daena and Senesta emerged from their complexes and, by 10:00pm, all four of us – Daena, Senesta, T’ria, and me were trying to shield the entire Weyr from Liseath’s screams of agony. It was far worse than any Thread hit I had ever felt. Much, much worse.
- Around midnight, Liseath started having awful seizures and Shonara reported that her heartbeat was dangerously irregular. The few dragons who had been silently watching from their Weyrs, including Valenth, retreated into them – radiating fear.
- Around 2:00am, Liseath fell completely unconscious and we were able to relax our mental shield. Shonara said that Liseath had been belching out firestone gas and then inhaling into her lungs, burning them with every breath. She had finally passed out from lack of air and would never wake up again. M’nie still didn’t know.
- By dawn, the braziers that had been placed in the Bowl were starting to gutter out, the ice around Liseath had melted into mud, and everyone was exhausted. Liseath still lay in an awkward, unnatural position – where she had stopped moving after her awful, thrashing seizures.
- Around 7:00am, our dragons keened for the loss of Liseath. M’nie snapped, and Shonara and T’ria were forced to wrestle her down so Shonara could inject her in the neck with something that knocked her out quickly.
- The Bronzes and Valenth netted Lisiath gently, and then carried her body between.
- When we returned from between, Daena asked me to check on G’van, V’lir, and S’van. G’van was in his office in case any of the Weyrlings needed to talk, which some of them probably would. S’van was throwing and breaking things in his weyr. V’lir was drinking heavily, which was dangerous for a man his age. I spent some time with him, letting his vent his anger and frustration until he was exhausted and insensible – and I put him to bed.
- Later that day, Daena told me that M’nie had become Mind Lost – searching the Weyr for Liseath. She said the sooner we returned her mind to her body, the better. I found and approached M’nie in the Place Where People Glow, but she wouldn’t come back with me. “No. You’re in the light. She’s not. I have to find a way through.” When I tried to compel M’nie, she started trembling and then powerful emotions began sloughing off her in a way I’d never seen before. Suddenly, these fragments of emotion – like pieces of glass – exploded from her, peppering me with fragments of powerful emotion and disjointed bits of memory. It was shockingly painful.
- Startled and hurting, I tumbled out of the Place Where People Glow. When T’ria and I returned a few minutes later, we found Daena flickering from place to place whispering, “No, child. Over here.” A waking person wouldn’t have been fooled, but M’nie was in her altered state. She kept following Daena in circles.
- Thinking hard, I concentrated and pushed wistfulness for things of the waking world toward M’nie: the wonderful taste of a favorite food, the joyful sounds of laughter, the welcome chill of an Autumn breeze. She looked thoughtful for a moment, flickered up to her weyr, and then seemed to curl up on Liseath’s couch to sleep.
- I offered to play for M’nie, to remind her that there is still much good in the world even without Liseath – but Daena forbid me. She said that it had to be M’nie’s decision, and that I had my own duties to tend to.
- A couple of days later, M’nie was starting to recover a little so Daena had her sent back to her family at Kimmage. They will decide what to do with her. Daena’s decision was harsh, but necessary. Much of the Weyr bore emotional scars from Liseath’s terrible death, and T’ria and I even more so from trying to help her in The Place Where People Glow.
- Seliana wouldn’t let me perform publicly for a few days, probably at Daena’s or Senesta’s orders. I didn’t blame them; I would have done the same thing.
- T’ria flung herself at L’nos, probably as a distraction from what we’d seen and felt helping M’nie and Liseath. Finally.
- I missed Kalisith’s mating flight this Turn because it was close to time to leave for Varlada and I had too much going on to leave Ista Weyr and Mountain View.
