Ninth to Tenth Months of 1,266
- Over the following sevendays, we got to know our teachers and students better. Warlord Kriang led from the front and had a dominant personality. Commander Garaam was stern, but he took it down when he was off duty and socializing with us, which he did often. He was, we learned, the eldest son of a father who died honorably in combat. He and K’brin got on very well. The other Commander, Hakkun, was a competitive man and carried himself with confidence. He tended to drive those under him hard.
- Those under the three men were a mix of personalities. I didn’t get to know them terribly well, as I spent most of my free time learning combat and dragonhealing. Our wingriders teaching the Kirengari shared their observations:
- Dikata and brown Stareth – Private, vigilant.
- Kirkren and brown Gryseth – Mature, determined.
- Pang and brown Viroth – Conservative, firm.
- Tanyar and blue Zarth – Civil, orderly, Too methodical. Lost in the second phase of training.
- Shing and blue Honth – Tolerant, charismatic.
- Munjoon and blue Drith – Cautious, quiet. Couldn’t jump at first.
- Yupha and green Winth – Engaging, reasonable.
- Dusadi and green Tyth – Modest, steadfast.
- Nuana and green Shanth – Courteous, outgoing. Couldn’t jump at first.
- One thing became clear to me fairly quickly in my training, Selenath was a natural born combat fighter. She took to it like a fish to water, going so far as to brag to Valenth how well she was doing, which K’brin told me somewhat incredulously.
- T’grim learned fairly quickly, but it took its toll on him mentally. He was prone to panic attacks. I tried to help where I could, I think we all did. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but he was determined to learn so that he could teach K’brin.
- ‘Mala had physical issues that were mostly due to the age of her dragon.
- V’dos had a harder time than he had anticipated learning combat. He just didn’t have a natural knack for it, and I could see that it bothered him. I believed in time that he would learn it, through sheer stubborn determination if nothing else.
- About halfway through between training, Tanyar and blue Zarth were killed during three-vees. I wasn’t there, but K’brin told the four of us what happened. As soon as it happened, the other Kirengari started shouting “Shia! Shia!”, which was meant to call her attention to the rider who was lost, so she could guide them out of the darkness and into the heavens of Shia and the dragons of golden sun.
- We attended a ceremony held at sunset, where there were four “lamentation priests”. A bonfire was built and riders were led in a call and response prayer. The golds sang to comfort the other dragons.
- Eventually, those of us learning combat progressed to the point where we were ready for 4 versus 4 combat drills. Either we would get the flag that was around the neck of the other dragon or we would be forced to land.
- V’dos and T’grim were both forced to land, ‘Mala’s Jith (Jenrith) had to pull out with a sail tear mid-wing, and Selenath not only got the flag from her opponent, but even hung on a bit longer than was strictly needed. I couldn’t help but feel proud of her in that moment.
- Our trainers considered the combat drill a success because the dragons didn’t refuse to fight, they simply didn’t win. Had they balked at putting to practice what they had been taught, it would have been deemed a failure.
- The Kirengari learning to travel between had their own mock battle. One dragon ended up choking on its own flame and dying horribly, after being crashed into by Warlord Kriang’s dragon. He held nothing back – I think perhaps to drive home the stakes of what they were learning. An even bigger funeral was held because of how the dragon died.
- By the time we were nearing the end of training, both T’grim’s Rogenth and Selenath were starting to develop skiutes. It was strange to see the dragon I had become so familiar with over the Turns change, physically but also mentally. She continued to excel at combat, her previous hesitation a thing of the past, which she could no longer recall.
- K’brin tasked me with monitoring the four dragons learning to fight. How much did they eat, compared to before? Their wingspan, skiutes, and any other physical changes. Changes in behavior, really anything of note.
- I had a few talks with K’brin about the changes I was noticing in Selenath. It worried me, but in a “We don’t know how this will all turn out” kind of way, not a “I regret doing this” way. We were in uncharted waters and I wouldn’t let it stop me from doing what I believed to be right, but we had no idea how this would change things for us, for the dragons, or for Pern.
- One day, K’brin, ‘Zana and myself met with Princess Siri on a pavilion situated on a small island, far from prying eyes. I had learned enough about Satakam to know that based on the location, surrounded by water and air, it was meant to set an informal, fleeting, and calm tone.
- The Princess told us what she had shared with K’brin earlier — in Carindas and Terenmor, skiutes on gold dragons were seen as shameful, because the bronzes should protect them. In Galatia, whether a gold has skiutes or not depends on the family its rider came from before impressing, noble or not. In Kirengar, she told us, Satakam required training that would cause skiutes and mastery of dragonfire, or it would bring great shame to their Dynasty.
- I asked about the issue of golds chewing firestone (she’d said fire) and the issue of fertility. She said that golds would stop firestone chewing shortly before a mating flight. So, this meant that firestone might not make golds permanently infertile after all. We’d have to study samples of the firestone they chewed and compare it to what we had on Pern to make sure.
- I honestly didn’t know if this knowledge would change anything back home or at least, not at first. Would we want our queens fighting Thread? I wouldn’t think so. Or perhaps, it would mean some greens might be allowed to lay eggs? Or would it be unnecessary because of the Elixir of Two Moons and my ponderings were all for naught?
- The Princess also told us something quite interesting regarding how they can tell the color of the dragon in the egg prior to Hatching. They use sunlight and mirrors to look at the empty space in the egg. She warned that you can’t do this too early or it could harm the developing dragon.
- Also, when there is no more water in the egg, the bronzes begin to hatch and the rest then follow suit.
- K’brin asked questions about Talents, and she informed him that it was a matter for the Shian who teaches such things. He resolved to visit with Shian Zangli at the Temple later.
- When we asked about the instructions and ingredients for making the Winter Winds, Siri told us that she would ask the Queen for permission to tell our Princess. She gave a similar, brief answer when I asked about the blood staunching medicine I had observed Kirengari dragonhealers using on wounds. She would bring it up with them as a favor to us for our service. I would have inquired more, but with the setting being so informal, I didn’t want to push things by being too persistent on the matter.
- During the talk, there was a tension I picked up between ‘Zana and Princess Siri. Mostly in looks ‘Zana was giving to the other woman. I knew ‘Zana was occasionally sleeping with K’brin, but he’d bedded others back on Pern. Perhaps it was a matter of her being non-Pernese?
- Being Talented myself, I accompanied K’brin to the Temple to talk with Zangli. Learning what the Kirengari knew in regards to Talents and comparing it to what we already knew would hopefully be educational.
- She broke down the talents as follows, some of which we were already familiar with:
- Clairempathy – remote feeling.
- Clairvoyance – remote awareness.
- Clairaudience – hearing what people or saying or even think.
- Clairparlance – dragon speaking.
- Clairsentience – sensing emotions or reading impressions from Hynavaeth stones.
- Psychoproveny – controlling emotions; can extend to people or an area.
- Psychosembly – dissimulation/disguise.
- Psychoapery – making people see things that aren’t there
- Psychoantry – control of people on a small scale.
- Psychomury – mind block.
- We had come to the end of our respective training when Garaam declared it was time to visit Chonlam. We would fly south, towards the Yankong Sea, to get the fire pearls we needed for the Elixir.