The Rider's Pride - 12. Chapter 12

“Go see what your father wants.” H’mal ordered J’shon fifteen days after most of Pern had traveled to their closest Weyr and seen the Red Star bracketed in the Dragon’s Eye. The Weyrs were all busier than they had been before that day, and the long hours were beginning to show on the Weyrleader. He’d spent most of the last day at a meeting in Fort Weyr, the oldest of Pern’s Weyrs. Traditionally that was the meeting place of the Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen to discuss business that affected all the Weyrs.

Since then, brown, blue and green riders had been stopping at each and every inhabited hold, no matter how small. They checked on the preparation of each hold for the scourge of Thread.If hold areas had not been cleared of green, they were warned to remove the offending growth.Flamethrowers were delivered and checked to make sure they were being properly cared for, and that there were people trained in how to use them.The Lord Holders assembled Ground Crews that would deal with Thread missed by dragonriders, and they were drilled with the Weyrs to ensure they did not panic at the sight of a flaming dragon.

Every dragon old enough to chew firestone stank of it now, and the older riders whose dragons could barely masticate tried to hide the bleeding gums of their dragons so they would not be left on the ground the first time Igen flew a Fall.The Weyrling class behind J’shon’s was going between now, and everyone practiced the firestone sack toss that would be how fighting dragons would receive new firestone in a fall.The average dragon would need at least one re-supply for his dragon each and every Fall. It was up to weyrlings to deliver those needed sacks.

“He never runs up the banner lightly.” J’shon reminded the Weyrleader.Kapian had left his wooden hold two days ago, driving his herds of runners and herdbeasts towards his new hold at Whitestone.The wood of his old home would be a deathtrap for anyone inside. Thread ate wood as easily as bushes, humans, or dragons.

“Yes, well there’s just so much to do these days.” H’mal said tiredly before turning back to the hide he was looking at with his Wingleaders.J’shon knew it was one of the recent discoveries by Fort Weyr whose Weyrwoman had been searching as many old records as possible and she had found some absolutely amazing charts of Threadfall on some material no one could identify. Harper Hall had several apprentices making copies for all the Weyrleaders.

That was none of his concern, beyond the fact that it would hopefully help the Weyrleaders prepare. The discovery had sent Febrina, and all the other Weyrwomen of Pern deep into their Records Rooms searching for similar finds. So far none were successful, but they were still trying.

J’shon made his way out of the Weyrleader’s conference room, past bronze Goreth who got a salute from him, and out into the bowl of the Weyr.Liliath was already waiting for him and took him up to his weyr with two beats of her wings. He was there just long enough to grab some safety straps in case he needed to carry passengers and then he was riding Liliath up into the air above the Weyr. They gave their destination to the watch dragon on duty and flew a few dragonlengths over the desert before going between.

It took a half-hour from the nearest landmark to find his father’s current position.Sweep riders in the area had regularly checked on his progress and provided landmarks close to his location.Liliath traveled fast from the nearest landmark, but not so fast as to tire herself out. In the last two sevendays she had built up more muscle and was now able to stay aloft for nearly six hours at a time.Since that was the length of a Fall of Thread, it was an important milestone.

Green dragons usually only fought half a Fall, but on bad ones they would be expected to fly the entire time, and he wanted to be ready. Liliath wanted to be ready as well, and pushed herself a lot. J’shon had actually had to encourage her to not take things so fast, to rest more on several occasions.

Together they spotted the procession that was his father moving his hold from the middle of the plains to their edge. He had a score of hands helping to keep the two herds, one runners, the other herdbeasts, and the train of six wagons moving the last of the old hold’s goods. J’shon was careful to come in upwind of the two herds as they would likely stampede if they caught a hint of dragon smell.

As Liliath landed near the rear of the procession, two riders broke off on runners.Both runners barely balked as they approached the dragon, and he soon recognized his father as well as Master Beastcrafter Rinald. His father vaulted off the runner when it balked at coming closer to Liliath, who was watching it with amusement.

“I was hoping they’d send you or K’mer!” Kapian shouted when he was almost to the dragon.J’shon was taken aback a bit by his father’s exuberance. He had to lean down as his father scrambled up Liliath’s side without waiting for permission. He already had a jacket on, and fastened the safety straps to himself with what was becoming practiced ease. “Rinald will take the runner back and manage things here until I get back.We need to get to Harper Hall immediately!”

“What’s going on father?” J’shon asked before acquiescing.H’mal would kill him if he just went and did what his father wanted without at least asking.

“I figured out where I went wrong!” Kapian exclaimed excitedly.The records I thought proved the Red Star wouldn’t generate a Pass this time weren’t what I assumed they were.I think they might answer why the Red Star slowed before being bracketed.”

“You sure about this?” J’shon asked and his father slapped him on the back lightly.

I say we go. Liliath said softly.

“Liliath, tell the watch dragon at Igen we’re transporting Holder Kapian to Harper Hall on a priority issue.” J’shon said so his father would hear and Liliath did, acknowledging the watch dragon had heard. There was no objection from the Weyr, and so he braced himself as Liliath launched into the air. While picturing Harper Hall in Fort Hold, he warned his father a few moments before they went between.

Fort Hold, the oldest settlement on Pern, was also one of the grandest.Harper Hall had been built after the Hold itself.Unlike the Hold, it actually was a stone building made outside the cliff, but was still protected from Thread because it was of stone.Liliath settled into the courtyard with practiced ease, and his father was off before J’shon had a chance to say anything.With a sigh he slid off Liliath and sauntered into the Hall, waiting to see what commotion his father might have raised.

“…so you can crock up some more foolery to make people forget their duties?” An old Harper was shouting from where he stood facing Kapian.Several people were in the area, watching the unfolding argument.

“No!” Kapian’s voice wasn’t a shout, rather a controlled, anger-filled voice that still filled the hall. “I know where I made my mistake, Master Tolan, and I think it will help the Weyrs!”

“Master Harper.” J’shon spoke up, grabbing the attention of both men.

“What is it, green rider?” The old Harper asked irritably.

“Holder Kapian always performed his duty to Hold and Weyr, even when he believed Thread would not fall.” J’shon reminded the Harper.“That others used his ideas to justify what they would have done anyway is not his fault. If he thinks he knows something that will help the Weyrs, give him that chance.”

“You have a point, rider.” Harper Tolan said in a calmer voice before his eyes narrowed.“Are you not J’shon, his son?”

“I am, but I am a dragonrider first, Master Harper.” J’shon’s voice held its own firmness. “Thread is coming, and we should not deny anything that will help make the fight against it easier. He believes he has an answer as to why the Red Star slowed as it approached the Dragon’s Eye in every Weyr’s set of Star Stones.That has never happened before in the record of any Weyr.”

“Why is this important?” Tolan asked Kapian gruffly.“The Red Star was bracketed in the Eye, are you saying again Thread will not come again?”

“No, it is coming.” Kapian said softly. “If I am right in my remembering, it may be even more dangerous than we expected.”

“Explain.” Tolan demanded.

“The old records I looked at came from the Third Pass.” Kapian said with a sigh, settling in to convince the Harper to let him have access to the records.“The Red Star moves past the Eye as the Pass continues, and the Weyrs can tell when a Pass is close to ending because it leaves the final Star Stone in the skies. The Ancients built the Star Stones to track the time of a Pass, not just its beginning.”

“Yes, we remember that still.” Tolan said huffily. “Get on with it.”

“Towards the end of the Third Pass, the Red Star slowed its path across the last of the Star Stones.” Kapian said.Up to then, Thread fell in regular patterns, but after the Red Star slowed, Threadfall changed. It no longer fell where they expected it, where it had fallen in the same patterns as the last forty turns, and the entire time of the previous two Passes. The record said it had to do with changes in the stars. Now the Red Star slows at the beginning of a Pass. I took it to mean Thread would not fall at all, because of the pattern I saw between the position of certain stars and the notes in the records, but I haven’t seen them in years, and I know better than that now. What if Thread is going to fall in odd patterns that the Weyrs are unprepared for?”

“A good question.” Tolan said with a nod of his head.“But, you are a holder now, not a student in this Hall.I will have several Journeymen look for those records and report their findings. You will leave now, Holder.”

“But…” Kapian started to protest, but the glare in the old man’s eyes stopped him. With a defeated hanging of his head, Kapian left, collecting his son in his wake.As they mounted Liliath and strapped in, Kapian let out a sigh. “You will tell the Weyrleader?”

“Yes.” J’shon agreed, but he had a sinking feeling that his father had just wasted a lot of credit with the Weyrleader, and the next time a banner message flew, it would be some other rider than J’shon answering it, and the rider would ask several questions before letting Kapian mount his dragon.

“Let this be a lesson to you on allowing a holder to waste a rider’s time.” H’mal said when J’shon reported the events of the day. “According to the charts, Thread is already falling over Southern Continent, but we don’t care what happens to that plague-infested land!No, we care what happens to Northern, where we live.In nine days, it will fall over Fort Hold.”

“It will?” J’shon asked suddenly breathless. They were in the Igen Weyrleader’s conference room, and while it was still an hour before dinner, H’mal looked ready to fall asleep.

“Yes, it will.” H’mal said with confidence. “Fort Weyr agrees that it will be best for Pern if all the Weyrs participate in the first fall. It will allow each of our best wings to meet our own first Falls with some experience under our belts.I will take my wing from Igen, and our queens will all fly in Fort’s Queens Wing. Even Zoeth will leave her clutch on the sands, under the careful gaze of several bronzes who are not going. You will fly with us, of course.”

“Thank you, H’mal.” J’shon said softly.

“Now, get ready for supper.” H’mal said by way of dismissal.“And take today’s lessons with you the next time I send you to answer a message banner from your father.”

“He likes you, both of you.” B’rrel said later that evening as they sat in their Weyr with K’mer, playing a game of cards. This was an old set, found by B’rrel in the Weyr’s storeroom when he was just a boy. No one remembered the faces of the dragonriders etched into the corners of the cards, but that only added to their value in the opinions of the three boys who were very careful playing with them.

“What do you mean?” K’mer asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I guess I can tell you.” B’rrel said with a sigh as he set down the Bronze card with S.C. initialed under the image. K’mer smiled as he put a Queen card down over it, and took both of them.The Queen card also had an SC under the image of a flame-haired woman. J’shon smiled as he remembered the story they’d come up with, that the woman was married to the man and had taken his name, but who knew if it bore any relevance to the truth. He put down his blue card, with the D.C. under it and smiled when B’rrel could only muster a numbered card. He took both of them and wondered how he would beat the Queen card when K’mer used it again.

“Tell us what?” J’shon asked. Cut as short as it was now, B’rrel’s hair looked a darker red, and he found that he liked it like that.

“How H’mal picks his Wing Riders.” B’rrel said. “He doesn’t really talk about it, but there’s a system to his picks.H’mal likes to pick young riders, just out of the Weyrling Wing, or who’ve only been in a Wing for a turn or two.They’re always riders he thinks are the smartest of their color group.He spends three or four turns training them in his wing, getting to know them and all that. Then he transfers them to other wings. Bronze and Brown riders become Wingleaders or Wingseconds. Then he moves the blues and greens to different wings as well and uses them as his eyes and ears in the wings. If there are problems the Wingleaders aren’t, or can’t handle, he uses the relationship he has with the other riders to find out about them.All the riders who have flown in his wing know they can always go talk to him. He hears half the Weyr’s gossip through that grouping.”

“So he expects us…” K’mer started to say but was cut off by B’rrel.

“He won’t expect you to spy on people.” B’rrel said defensively.“It’s not like that at all.”

“More like finding out about problems before they blow up on him?” J’shon asked and B’rrel nodded.

“He picks the smart ones, the best of each color.” B’rrel said.“He thinks they’ll also spread their training, their better skills to other riders in each wing.”

“Is that why you’ve never been particularly outstanding in anything?” K’mer asked him with a penetrating look and B’rrel laughed.

“No, it’s just that Ojeth and I prefer to have fun more than be too serious all the time.” B’rrel said with a chuckle. “Half the lines on H’mal’s face are because he’s too serious all the time.I decided a long time ago to just have as much fun as I could.”

“Oh.” K’mer said with a frown. “You know, H’mal kind of reminds me of father.They are two of a kind on most things.”

“Yes, they are.” J’shon agreed sourly and the play continued.He did manage to capture the Queen card when K’mer threw it down a little later. Saving his bronze card for just that purpose had been a good plan.Queens trumped a bronze when a bronze was played first, but a bronze played after a queen always caught the Queen.

“That’s it for me.” K’mer said with a laugh. “I need to stop by the Lower Caverns before heading to my weyr.”

“Going to spend time with the drudge?” B’rrel laughed and K’mer’s face darkened for a moment.

“There’s nothing wrong with Amosa just because she’s a drudge!” K’mer said vehemently.

“Whoa, sorry!” B’rrel said defensively as Sharth landed on their ledge.“I didn’t mean it as an insult!Drudge’s are good people. Faranth knows what we’d do without their hard work.It’s just, well you don’t hear about drudges ever really settling down as a weyrmate with a rider.”

“Well maybe Amosa will break the mold.” K’mer said with a hint of hope in his voice.“The biggest problems drudges have is a lack of ambition. If they wanted to be more than a drudge, they would be.”

“There is that.” B’rrel agreed. “Have a good night, and good luck.Amosa is a pretty girl.”

“Good night.” K’mer said to both of them while J’shon carefully put the deck of cards away into their hide-bound wood case.

“He’s certainly falling for her big-time.” B’rrel said with a shake of his head as Sharth left their ledge. Liliath was curled up next to Ojeth on their larger couch. It was beginning to get cold at night and the dragons were already half-asleep as B’rrel went to pull the large tapestry across the entrance to their Weyr. It kept the worst of the cold out, and let the warm air from the ancient ventilation shaft keep the weyr at least decently warm.

“Yeah, he is.” J’shon agreed, worried about his younger brother with the slightly older drudge. Still, it wasn’t his concern, really, and he didn’t like the idea of interfering in his brother’s private life. K’mer was distraught enough at being transferred back to the Weyrling Wing now that they were preparing to face Thread.H’mal would not let anyone into a full fighting wing who wasn’t at least sixteen turns of age. “What about you, B’rrel?Has any girl caught your eye yet?”

“Not yet.” B’rrel replied with a frown. “Most of them know me too well, or have heard about me from those who did.I’m afraid I played one too many jokes on most of them when we were younger.”

“That’s too bad.” J’shon said with a smile. “You’re a handsome rider.”

“Why, J’shon, are you actually commenting on another man’s looks?” B’rrel said with mock surprise. “I do believe you’ve been hanging around D’kor and S’flin too much.Did you know that shortly after they got together, they made a list ranking all the dragonriders in the Weyr based on their looks?”

“They didn’t!” J’shon exclaimed and then shook his head.Yes, that would be something those two would do.

“They did, and H’mal was quite upset that L’sil ranked higher than him.” B’rrel responded with a laugh as he sat back down at the table and looked at J’shon with laughter gleaming from his eyes.

“L’sil…isn’t he that blue rider with the pretty lips?” J’shon asked with a smile.

“Yes, and that’s exactly how S’flin described him when H’mal complained about his ranking.”B’rrel laughed.“Then he launched into a description of what L’sil could do with his lips that sent the Weyrleader running.L’sil took it in stride, laughing along with everyone else.”

“Oh, I wish I had seen that!” J’shon said with laughter.B’rrel was a great source of stories on happenings in the Weyr.His parents had been weyrmates since Zoeth’s first mating flight, and when Zoeth became the Senior Queen in the Weyr, there had been no arguments that H’mal would take the Weyrleader position.Weyrleaders were decided when a dragon flew the Senior Queen. It was always a bronze, and usually the best man for the job, but once in a while an incompetent Weyrleader took over because of that particularly capricious way of deciding leadership.

“Did you hear about the prank that was played on Delonna today?” B’rrel asked after they’d settled down.

“Who would be stupid enough to play a joke on the Headwoman?” J’shon said as he shook his head at the stupidity.

“You know how she’s complaining about getting fatter but she still eats a lot of those pastries the new baker makes?” B’rrel asked and J’shon nodded.“Well the baker put the slightest bit of numbweed leaves in a batch and put it out where she could pilfer it while running around.”

“Oh no.” J’shon muttered with wide eyes and started to snicker.

“She couldn’t talk for half the day because her entire mouth went numb!” B’rrel laughed loudly and J’shon joined him again. He could just imagine the effect on the Headwoman.Numbweed could be safely ingested as long as it wasn’t in great quantities, and so there had been no real danger to the Headwoman, and she had been complaining about her figure lately.Everyone knew it was because she had her eye set on one of the older bronze riders, who wasn’t returning her interest at the moment.He had his eye set on one of the kitchen drudges who was just a turn or two younger than Delonna.

“You know, I never believed just how full of gossip a Weyr could be.” J’shon muttered as they finished laughing about Dellona’s numb mouth.“It seems like everyone’s looking at someone else who is looking at someone else.”

“It is a little worse than normal.” B’rrel admitted.“I think it’s because of… you know… Thread coming.In the best of Falls, a few dragons still get wing or tail scores. During the worst falls, dragons die and more are injured. A quarter of the Weyr right now is over sixty turns old and they’re still in good enough shape to fly Fall, but for how long?How many of them with slower reflexes, dragon and rider will not make it more than the first handful of turns?We live long lives, during Intervals, but Febrina’s records say we’ll be lucky if half the dragons and riders in the Weyr right now are still able to fly by the end of the Pass, and that’s only fifty turns!”

“So we live our lives now because who knows if we’ll be alive then?” J’shon asked rhetorically and shook his head. He hadn’t thought of it that way, but it seemed B’rrel had.His friend reached across the table, and put his hand over J’shon’s.The green rider looked into his friend’s eyes and saw something burning there he hadn’t expected.

“We should, yes.” B’rrel said in a thick voice. “You know, J’shon, you’re the best friend I could ever imagine having.I don’t think I’ve said that aloud, but it is true.I grew up in this Weyr, and I’ve got friends of all ages from riders down to drudges in the kitchens, but you, you’re by far the best of them.”

“You’re a good friend, too.” J’shon said softly, turning his hand to grip his friend’s briefly before withdrawing it from the table. B’rrel’s eyes clouded over for a moment but he nodded at the end and J’shon breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew what B’rrel was implying, but it made him afraid.

Why? Liliath asked. He is a good rider.Neither Ojeth nor I would mind.We would be happy actually. Ojeth is concerned because his rider has been sad these last few days.He doesn’t know why, but he thinks it has to do with something his rider wants but cannot have.

I, I don’t want to lose him as a friend. J’shon answered her silently while B’rrel gave him a ‘good night’ before heading into his sleeping room.If we were…that way, it’d be different.He’s a brown rider, not a blue.He might find a woman he likes better as a weyrmate.I worry our friendship would break if that happened.

Why would he want a woman when he could have you? Liliath snorted.

What if he wants kids someday?” J’shon thought and she laughed a little as she leaned against Ojeth.I cannot give him children.

Why would he want children? Liliath asked. He is a dragonrider.If dragonriders have children, they foster them.No rider raises his own children.

When did you get so smart?” J’shon asked as he saw her point.Still, there was the point of B’rrel also liking women.He hadn’t denied it, just that he wasn’t interested in one right now. Green riders weren’t supposed to be jealous, but then most green riders didn’t share their weyr with someone. Right now he knew his friendship wouldn’t suffer if B’rrel started to see someone the way K’mer was. Would he feel the same after something happened between them?

J’shon had to admit that the experience with D’kov during Liliath’s flight had been a good one, and he still looked back on it with fondness.He had not repeated it with anyone though, and only part of that was because of his upbringing and the way he had thought before Liliath’s flight. A bigger part was that he was afraid any experience outside of a mating flight would pale by comparison and suffer from that comparison.

I am the dragon of a smart rider. Liliath answered his question after a long pause, and he went to bed chuckling.

Good night, love He told her after he had undressed and crawled under the warm sleeping furs.

That was the last night of leisure either of them had for the next several days.As the time for first Threadfall drew closer, the activities of Igen, and all the Weyrs, grew to a fevered pitch.Holds had to be inspected, and those that still lagged behind found dragons flaming the green off of their holds.It was a dramatic step, and they were careful no holders were endangered, but the flaming of the holds made it clear that green plants near a shelter would not be tolerated.All it took was one strand of thread and one small plant to endanger an entire hold, and by extension all the holds near that one.

Word came that Kapian had reached Whitestone, and while dragonriders did visit the Hold, J’shon wasn’t one of them. A’toly did go, and reassured both J’shon and K’mer that Whitestone Hold was properly prepared.Lord Poldice had extensive caves he had opened to the holdless, men and women who did not have a hold to call their own.Some were criminals, some were Traders, more were lazy louts, but still more were honest men and women down on their luck.A few less-than-ethical Lord Holders in the northern areas had raised their demands for tithes and summarily thrown out holders unable to make the payments. Lord Poldice sent some of the best downriver to Whitestone Hold where Kapian made them welcome.

The first two levels of Whitestone, according to A’toly, were now fully habitable and furnished. Serece had found several looms on the third floor and was working at making them operable for the winter.It was her plan to weave rugs for those floors herself, and with other women in the Hold.Kapian had six ground-crew teams fully equipped and ready to find any Thread that escaped the dragons, and had equipped several with runners to provide assistance to the closest holders who lived about an hour away as runners traveled at a quick trot. He would also extend his grown crews as far out into the plains as possible.

Kapian’s planning and good use of all the hands being provided him eased the Weyrleader’s ire at the Holder for the Harper Hall incident.Whitestone Hold now sheltered almost two hundred people, and J’shon longed to see it again, but knew he would have to wait.Once Thread had fallen, the tensions everyone felt now would be eased. Until then, there was little to do but prepare, train, and wait.

Two days before the First Fall over Fort, H’mal had the entire Weyr turned out for a final training run.It was the most exhaustive training he had yet devised, and although most riders and dragons were already tired from the constant tasks being demanded of them, they rose in the late afternoon with an excitement that had even tired dragons moving adroitly. While the other wings slung long ropes to simulate falling Thread, H’mal’s wing chewed firestone and flew in formation, charring the fake Thread with a passion.

J’shon and Liliath were assigned to fly the second part of the six hour exercise, and waited with the other two greens from their wing that had to sit out the first part. Above them, dragons from their wing appeared and disappeared as part of the exercise, practicing the life-saving maneuver when Thread ‘scored’ a dragon or rider.H’mal charged one entire wing with jumping in from between above his wing and ‘hitting’ a dragon with ‘Thread’.The hit dragon would go between back over the Weyr and then return to the exercise.

After three hours of watching the dragons appear and disappear, it was time for J’shon and the other two green riders to replace the now-exhausted greens in their wing. S’flin saluted him as the tired Tabath went between to rest at the Weyr, and Liliath cut loose with a precise ball of flame that incinerated a strand of ‘Thread’.Twice riders tried to ‘hit’ her with Thread, and both times she dodged them nimbly, holding back her flame because the other dragons were actually too close.

Both J’shon and Liliath were determined they would not accidentally hit another dragon.

In the next two hours, they flamed every piece of ‘Thread’ that came into their zone, and they managed to dodge each and every ‘attack’ by the other wings except twice when the rope hit Liliath’s tail. Each time, they went between immediately.J’shon had carefully kept the image of the Weyr fresh in his head for just such an occasion, and they paused over the Weyr for a single minute before returning to the exercise, precisely in their formation spot.

The exercise was drawing to a close, and H’mal’s tired wing was more than ready for it to be over when it happened. Bernath, the blue dragon closest to J’shon’s position had been fighting the entire exercise, and was obviously growing very tired.His flame was ragged, and his wings beat slower than they should.The last two times riders had ‘attacked’, he’d just gone between instead of even trying to dodge. The third time he was ‘hit’, he went between again and J’shon hoped it would be the last time that had to happen. The normally vibrant blue Bernath had been almost gray.

NO! Liliath’s cry tore through J’shon’s mind even as she began to keen, along with every dragon in the sky. His eyes watered behind his goggles, and he felt his shoulders shake with silent sobs as Liliath’s grief, and the grief of every dragon swarmed over the riders, who no longer tried to sear fake Thread from the skies.In their sudden grief at the loss they had just sustained, the men of the fighting wings reacted with nothing but numbing grief.

They broke out of the all-encompassing grief as two golden dragons appeared above them in the failing light of sunset, their golden hides gleaming.Pinath was reaching her more mature growth, and easily outsized every bronze dragon in the weyr. Willeth was even bigger, and the tone of her bugling shook off the despair the male riders were feeling.

We go back to the weyr. Liliath said softly as she stopped keening and turned slightly to prevent a collision with a brown dragon from one of the other wings who had descended a little too far without noticing. Dragons began to go between, but J’shon waited until H’mal gave the signal before ordering Liliath to return home.She landed in the weyr bowl with the other dragons of their wing, and began to regurgitate the mash of firestone she had chewed throughout the practice session. Later a drudge or weyrling would come clean up the mess left behind.Then Liliath flew up to their weyr, turning on its ledge and began to clear the last of the fire that was still in her belly.Other dragons did the same, and J’shon felt like the bursts of fire from throughout the weyr, along with the keening of so many dragon throats was, in a way, a memorial to the dragon they had just lost.

Ojeth comes.Liliath said a little later after she had spent most of the residual gas in her second stomach.She stank of firestone, and he was debating on whether to get her to go down to the lake, which was being lit by dozens of glows, or if he should just let her rest. The brown dragon landed, and B’rrel, who had been with the Weyrling Wing practicing the delivery of firestone sacks to the fighting wing flew off his back and all but leaped into J’shon’s arms, tears still trailing down his face.

They stood like that for several long minutes with B’rrel sniffling into J’shon’s riding jacket. He didn’t seem bothered that it was filthy with the dust of burnt firestone and charred rope.Finally, the sobs wracking his body calmed and he pulled back, sniffing one last time and wiping his soot-covered face.

“You’re a mess.” J’shon was surprised at the soft, gentle chuckle that escaped from him.

“You’re covered in soot.” B’rrel complained softly. His amber eyes were still sad, but there was a hint of a smile on his face.

“That’s what happens when your dragon chews firestone.” J’shon said with a shrug and realized he was still holding B’rrel closely. Despite the grief, a part of him reacted to the closeness.He wanted to pull away because of that reaction, but he sensed his friend needed the closeness more.He settled his arms lower, so that his hands rested in the small of B’rrel’s back. His friend rested his head again on J’shon’s shoulder.

“C’fon was my father’s milk-brother.” B’rrel whispered softly after a few more minutes.“When I was six I managed to wheedle him into giving me a ride on Beranth. It was the first time I’d ever ridden a dragon.H’mal was so furious, but he didn’t punish C’fon because they were milk-brothers. He kept C’fon in his wing because they were good friends.I guess… I guess you can say that C’fon was like one of my uncles.”

“I’m sorry.” J’shon said softly, running a hand through B’rrel’s hair.Outside in the Weyr proper, most of the dragons had settled down and were no longer keening. Most were a light gray in color though, rather than their natural bronze, blue, brown, and green. Eventually J’shon moved to the couch where he sat down and B’rrel stretched out with his head in J’shon’s lap.

Dear, I know we should take you down for a bath now. J’shon said softly to Liliath who had moved inside with Ojeth and was now sheltering under the larger brown’s wing.

I can wait for morning and Ojeth says he won’t mind for the night.Liliath’s voice was as soft as she could make it in his head.We will go down early.Zoeth has announced that tomorrow must be a full rest-day for all wings. No one is to leave the Weyr without the permission of their Wingleader or a queen.

“That’s fine, you’re not hungry anytime soon, are you?” He asked her in a soft whisper.

I will hunt after tomorrow, after we have faced Thread and charred some in the memory of Bernath. Liliath said fiercely.You will help me remember to do that, won’t you?

I will. He promised, this time remembering to not speak aloud.B’rrel shifted in his lap a bit before finding one of J’shon’s hands and squeezing even as he slipped off to sleep.He had barely known the older rider, but he could very well remember how he’d have felt if it had been D’kov who had not come back that way.Since D’kov flew in their wing, that was a very distinct possibility.

The next morning, the lake was crowded with riders who had not cleaned their dragons the night before. The water was chilly, but B’rrel and J’shon had finished up cleaning their dragons fairly quickly.Both of them had spent the night on the couch, ending up with J’shon curled up between B’rrel and the back of the couch. Fortunately J’shon’s mother had sent a fur to go over the back of the couch, and J’shon had pulled that down to keep them warm.

Ojeth had woken them just before dawn, and they’d headed down to the lake together.J’shon even helped B’rrel with Ojeth, who was now almost twice as large as Liliath and took much more time to clean.While both dragons returned to their shared ledge and waited for the sun to rise and dry them, J’shon and B’rrel headed to the Lower Caverns, having brought clean clothes down with them to change into.

H’mal wishes to speak to you when you have eaten. Liliath’s voice was a soft purr in his mind. Goreth says not to hurry.

Okay.J’shon said and ate with the riders from his wing who were at their table. There wasn’t much conversation, but the riders all shared firm looks with each other, silent promises that they would not let it happen again.Their looks included J’shon, the youngest of their number, and he was gratified at their ready acceptance of him as one of them.

After finishing his meal, he headed up the stairs to the Weyrleader’s weyr.Usually there was the hustle and bustle of Wingleaders, Wingseconds, the Weyrlingmaster, or any number of bronze or brown riders entering or leaving H’mal’s office. J’shon himself had spent hours of different days there, standing by in case the Weyrleader, his Wingleader, needed a message run or some similar type of assistance.

The corridor was empty, and as he entered the Weyrleader’s office, he found it was empty of everyone but H’mal. Entering the room tentatively, he looked at the worn Weyrleader and wondered if the man was feeling alright. B’rrel got his hair from his father, obviously, although the Weyrleader’s face looked even more worn than normal.When he saw J’shon there, he frowned softly before motioning him forward.

“J’shon, good, I was waiting to talk to you.” H’mal said softly.“I wanted to make sure you understood why I’m doing this.It’s really for your own good…”

“What is for my own good, H’mal?” J’shon’s voice was tight. He could feel the waves of despair rolling off of the man who was to lead their Weyr against Thread.He wanted to panic, but he didn’t.Instead he sent a silent word to Liliath, who passed it on.

“I’m transferring you to the Weyrling Wing with your brother and B’rrel.” H’mal said softly.“I’ll not be throwing you away by making you fight Thread before you’re ready.”

“Why am I not ready?” J’shon asked as calmly as he could given the panic flooding through him. Liliath was growing alarmed, but he could almost feel Ojeth calming her down.

“Don’t argue with me about this, it’s done!” H’mal stated flatly.

“What’s done?” Br’mar asked from the doorway. Behind him stood almost all of H’mal’s wings.H’mal looked at J’shon with narrowed eyes before turning to the Weyr’s WingSecond, the third highest leader of the Weyr, and Wingsecond of H’mal’s own wing.

“I’m transferring the boy to Weyrling Wing.” H’mal said with some bitterness and he looked angry at Br’Mar. “The boy is too young to fly Thread with us. I will not loose another rider because he’s pushed beyond his limits.”

“Yes, you will.” Febrina said as she pushed her way through the crowd in the corridor and planted her hands on her hips as she examined her weyrmate with a critical eye.“You never went to bed last night, did you?”

“How could I sleep?” H’mal shrugged and then looked angry.“I’ve said it, Rina, I refuse to lose another rider because I pushed him too hard!”

“And I told you last night that you will!” Febrina retorted hotly.“Losing riders is the hardest part of being Weyrleader, but you will do it and we both know it as well.You’re going to have to push everyone to their limits for the next fifty years, and some of them are going to break along the way.It happens! It’s happened in every Pass since mankind came to Pern!How do you think Sh’gall felt when he lost Moreta?Moreta was lost because she and the dragon she rode were pushed past their limits! It has happened, it will happen, and the best we can do is pick up and carry on!”

“She is right you know.” Br’Mar said softly. “J’shon has trained with us for the past few sevendays and he’s good enough I’d fly him against anything any other green rider in this Weyr could go against. Don’t force us to fly a rider short or find a replacement who doesn’t have the experience flying with us that he does!Replacing him now endangers all of our riders, and the Weyr!”

“He’s just a boy.” H’mal protested.

“I’m sixteen, and a dragonrider.” J’shon said. “I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be, and no matter what you may feel, H’mal, I will fly against Thread. I will risk my life defending Pern. I’d rather do it where I am now, but no matter what, sooner or later, I will fly, and I’ll never be quite as ready as I am now.”

“Fine, he flies with us.” H’mal said with a sigh. “Now get out of here, the lot of you.”

For the first time since Bernath’s disappearance, the weyr was treated to the sight of laughing riders spilling out of the Weyrleader’s weyr.Delonna, seeing it with her own eyes let out a sigh of relief.She knew, as surely as anyone, that for the next fifty turns the Weyr’s bowl would resonate with the sounds of injured and dying dragons, as well as their riders.Such moments of happiness as she saw now were to be treasured, so that they could hold at bay the bad times and the bad sounds.

J’shon rested that day, playing cards with his brother and B’rrel almost all day, not even breaking for lunch. At dinner, they joined the rest of the Weyr for dinner in the Lower Caverns, and J’shon took his turn playing with the Harpers who sought to raise everyone’s spirits for the next day.

Just after noon of the next day, J’shon and Liliath joined H’mal’s wing in taking off and making the trip between to assemble over Fort Weyr. Each of Pern’s Wey’rs had sent a wing that waited in the skies over their planet’s first Weyr. At a signal from the Fort Weyrleader, they followed Fort’s four hundred and six dragons to the South and East, where they could watch Thread approach over water before engaging it to stop it over land.

Liliath’s eyes spun in red agitation, as did every other dragon’s.She wanted firestone, but he kept it in the two sacks around her neck in front of him. He’d give her some to chew on the signal from his Weyrleader.It was Fort’s Honor to attack the Thread first, but J’shon and the rest of Igen would have their chances.For two hours they circled, and waited for the gray cloud that would be Thread coming. The records said it looked like a low thunderstorm on the horizon, but the sky was clear. The wings from each weyr kept circling as minutes turned into hours, and the sun set towards the horizon.

No one gave up though, until it was too dark to see properly anymore.With a bellow of frustration from Goreth, the signal passed through Igen’s ranks: Return home.

B’rrel gave him a curious look as he landed on their ledge, complete with still-full firestone sacks. “What happened, J’shon?”

“Thread didn’t come.” J’shon said sourly, and closed his eyes, wondering what would come next.