The Rider's Pride - 8. Chapter 8

Goreth comes, but it will be many minutes before they arrive! Liliath informed J’shon while she turned as tight as their speed allowed. They were high up and in front of the racing herd of runners. From here he could tell that there were two bandits, one on each side urging the frightened runners forward and one in the rear probably using a whip on any stragglers. His rider is unhappy, but approves of our plan. He says to be ready for danger, though. Why would we be in danger, we are dragons?

“We’ll be careful.” J’shon said, certain she heard him even if the winds tore away his words before the old Harper behind him could hear them. His exuberance of just moments ago had faded at the first mention of the Weyrleader’s dragon, and he carefully thought things over again.

Sharth says his rider has a place to go between in his mind if they shoot an arrow at him and Ojeth does as well. Liliath said with a bit of concern. Who would shoot an arrow at a dragon?

No one in their right mind. J’shon said. He contemplated if they should wait for the Weyrleader, but the herd was quickly approaching a ravine. The bandits might know it was there, but it was very shallow and only really visible from the air. He remembered at least one time where a herdbeast fell into it when they were letting them graze on the plains. It had taken them almost half a day to get the beast out of the ravine. At the speed they were running, the runners could break legs or worse if they didn’t turn in time. Then where would the hold be, much less the Weyr they tithed too?

Sharth says his rider is worried about the same ravine you are worrying about. Liliath told him, making up his mind. Goreth says it will be another five minutes before they get in the air. I have given them the image of where we are so they will come directly here. His rider reminds you that it is not the Weyr’s business to get involved in holder affairs.

“We go!” J’shon shouted for the benefit of Crivan who was holding tight to him and the ridge behind him. Liliath’s words scared him, but he ignored the possible wrath of the Weyrleader for the moment. Thinking of H’mal reminded him of B’rrell, but he pushed aside any concern he felt, confident the weyr-bred rider would have the image of a safe place already set in his mind. He too called up an image of their Weyr from above, just in case something bad happened.

That way Liliath could just jump between if needed. Liliath told the two brown dragons ridden by his brother and B’rrel, and as one they dived from their high altitude. Ojeth came in from the right, and Sharth from the left, diving right for the bandits on each side of the herd while J’shon and Liliath dove for the front of the galloping runners.

At the last moment, Liliath pulled up sharply, backwinging fiercely and throwing J’shon back into Crivan who let out a curse at the maneuver. J’shon could feel the riding straps stretching and made a mental note to check them over. With five great sweeps of her wings, Liliath went from a full dive to a hover in front of the lead runners, and let out a draconic roar that shook J’shon to his bones. It also scared the runners so that those in the lead lost control of their bowels before splitting off into two streams, one to the left and the other to the right, where they encountered bellowing brown dragons who forced them back in the direction they had come from. The bandit riders lost control of their own mounts and were bucked off before the mounts joined the other runners in heading back in the only ‘safe’ direction, straight towards the hold they had come from. The three bandits covered their heads as the runners stampeded around them, and J’shon grinned viciously at seeing at least one of them being trampled by several runners.

How are things at the hold? He asked Liliath who was still hovering while the last of the herd stampeded back to the safety of the hold.

Pinath says that the bad humans tied up several of your people, but they are free now and putting out the fire. Liliath answered with a bit of laughter in her voice. This is fun!

“You’re half-crazy, boy!” Crivan shouted from behind J’shon and the young man laughed at the statement. The last of the herd was heading back to the hold, and J’shon let out a sigh of relief.

“Set us down near the one who got trampled.” J’shon told his dragon when he saw the two brown riders setting down near the bandits that had been riding along the sides of the herd. Liliath beat her wings a few times and glided to a perfect landing next to the bandit who had been at the rear and had been trampled by several of the runners. As soon as Liliath’s feet had touched the ground, Crivan unhooked his safety straps and slid down her side to the ground where he fell to his hands and knees. J’shon slid down after him with some concern. “Are you okay, grandfather?”

“Now he asks!” Crivan muttered angrily and waved him off. “I’ll be fine in a minute, boy. Go tie that rascal up before he has a chance to do more harm!”

“Yes, Harper.” J’shon said with a smile and went to go grab one of the safety straps that had held the Harper in place. He then used that to tie up the bandit, a man in his late twenties. J’shon paid little attention to whether being tied up worsened the man’s injuries. He had little regard for a man who would try to steal from his father. Liliath’s welcome bugle told him the Weyrleader had arrived, and he looked up in time to see the large bronze Goreth gliding in to land near Liliath. Two entire wings filled the sky, over forty dragons, and J’shon shook his head as dust stirred around him with Goreth’s landing.

“What did you think you were doing?” H’mal demanded as J’shon stood. The Weyrleader bent over to check the binding of the bandit and ignored the man’s moans of pain.

“Did you see the ravine, Weyrleader?” J’shon asked softly, beginning to wilt under the man’s angry glare. The Weyrleader blinked and then took a deep breath.

“That was the landmark we used to get here.” He said in a much calmer voice as he put a hand on J’shon’s shoulder. What does the ravine have to do with you going after bandits!”

“If we waited, the beasts would have fallen in the ravine, been injured, or died. Kapain tithes to our weyr, does he not? We’d have lost food from our table!” J’shon said as the Weyrleader’s words reminded him of several lessons during weyrling training.

“They Weyrs do not get involved in the affairs of holders, J’shon, not even when the holders are family.” H’mal’s voice was tight with anger. “Next time, remember merely to observe where they take the beasts, unless you’re trying to tell me the only reason you got involved was to save the beasts, which I’m sure is a reason no one can fault you for, after all the beasts are valuable no matter who possesses them.”

“That’s correct, Weyrleader.” J’shon answered, not daring to breath as a slow smile filled the Weyrleader’s face. “We were very careful too. We all kept an image in our heads in case the…uh….people misinterpreted our warnings and endangered our dragons.”

“What image did you have?” H’mal asked. “Show it to Liliath and have her show it to Goreth.”

J’shon complied, and received a nod of approval from H’mal.

“You only forgot one thing.” H’mal said softly.

“The position of the sun!” J’shon groaned.

“Yes, but considering that you were in a dangerous situation I will not give you a punishment.” H’mal said sternly. “Just remember when we fly Thread to keep the image updated as to the hour of the day, or night.”

“Yes, Weyrleader.” J’shon said, suitably chastised.

“I’m you Wingleader, not just your Weyrleader.” H’mal said firmly. “When it is just weyr-folk around, you are to call me H’mal, do you understand that, J’shon?”

“Yes, H’mal.” J’shon said with a smile.

“Good, now get that trussed up bandit on the back of your dragon and take him to your father’s hold.” H’mal ordered. “Crivan, would you like to travel with me or should I peel off a rider to take you back to the Weyr?”

“I’ll ride with you, H’mal.” Crivan said with a slightly shaky voice.

“Let me help you with him.” The familiar voice of the green rider S’flin startled J’shon as he struggled with the heavy bandit who was now kicking for all his worth and shouting obscenities. S’flin bent down and stuffed a dirty rag in the man’s mouth before securing his legs. The man was kicking too much to get him up on Liliath’s back, so she gleefully took him in her forepaws, testing his weight by tossing him up and down a bit. The foul smell of urine and darkening of the man’s hide pants told them he’d wet himself at the treatment.

There, that should keep him quiet. Liliath said as the man went limp. She relaxed her grip, careful to not cut him with her claws while J’shon mounted and refastened his safety straps. S’flin saluted him and went back to his own dragon, Tabath. The Weyrleader was already gone, but several more dragons were on the ground while their riders helped K’mer and B’rrel with their prisoners. Lilith took off gently, careful of the man in her paws. Dragons were predisposed to not hurt humans if at all possible, although she seemed to have no problem scaring them when the situation called for such actions.

She set a slower pace back to the hold than when they’d chased after the herd, so by the time they returned, J’shon could make out Jeton, Miral, and his two older brothers herding the runners back into their corrals. Their father was talking with the Weyrleader in the middle of the clearing between the large hold building and the corrals. Liliath came in for a perfect landing near them, and set down her unwilling passenger a little roughly. The unconscious man rolled for two feet as J’shon slid off his dragon and took off his goggles and helmet. It was hot here, although not as hot as Igen Weyr. J’shon unfastened his jacket and left it open as he approached his father.

“Thank you for the help, son.” Kapian said with an approving grin. J’shon felt himself straighten at that grin and returned it gently. He was surprised to see that he was now just a hand shorter than his father, who had towered over him just a turn ago.

J’shon wanted to answer, but stayed quiet as H’mal spoke up first. “Wingrider J’shon was merely trying to warn the beasts that they were about to fall in a ravine, Holder, not helping.”

“Ah, yes, I understand.” Kapian said with a slight grin. “What shall we do with these men?”

“You can try these men here, under the Charter.” H’mal said with an approving nod to the two brown riders. “Or we’ll take them to Lord Bisal and he will try them at the next Gather. Either way is permitted under the rules upon which Pern was founded.”

“I know the Charter, Weyrleader.” Kapian said with a frown. “How much to transfer them to Keroon? I’m just not comfortable with imposing a sentence on them myself. I’m so angry right now I can’t imagine they’d get justice from me, just revenge. Serece has marks on her wrists from where they tied her up!”

“There will be no charge.” H’mal said quickly and held up a hand to forestall Kapian’s protest. “If you wonder why, you can ask my wing’s newest rider.”

“Who’s that?” Kapian said darkly.

“Right there.” H’mal said with a grin, pointing to a blushing J’shon.

“He can’t have made…” Kapian started to protest, but he stopped and instead smiled before giving J’shon a small bow of respect. “Congratulations, son.”

“K’mer has been assigned to my wing as well.” H’mal said with another smile as K’mer joined the loose circle.”

“A double celebration is in order, then.” Kapian said with a wider smile. “I trust they are ready for this, Weyrleader.”

“They would not be given the responsibility if they were not.” H’mal said confidently. “We do not needlessly risk dragons or their riders.”

“No, I would hope not.” Kapian said. “Well, the day is right and properly ruined for all of our plans, I suspect.”

“How did they do this?” K’mer asked with a frown. “Why didn’t the canines warn you?”

“It appears they approached early in the morning.” Kapian said with a shrug. “Larana has already checked, you know how she loves those animals. They’ve all been poisoned. Last I saw, your mother was consoling her over their loss.”

“That will be a grave blow.” H’mal said with a frown.

“I will have to find more to take their place, and soon.” Kapian said. “It takes at least a turn or two to train a canine properly.”

“If we transport these prisoners to Keroon today, you could place your order for them now.” H’mal suggested. “You will need to go anyway, to file the charges properly, as will the riders who saw it happen, and of course Master Harper Crivan. I suspect with so many witnesses there will be no problem trying them for their crimes.”

“Yes, I will go prepare to leave.” Kapian said. “The other hold will have to wait. Maybe it won’t be needed after all. Every time we plan to travel there, something seems to come up that prevents it.”

“It will be better to be prepared now, holder.” H’mal’s voice held an edge to it this time and Kapian nodded before walking off towards the main hold, where J’shon could now see Ramina leading a sniffling Larana out to see the gold dragon. It shocked J’shon how much bigger she seemed to have grown over the last turn.

When they did leave, Crivan traveled with J’shon’s father on the Weyrleader’s dragon while the prisoners were transported on other dragons from the wing. J’shon and K’mer flew in formation with the more experienced riders, while A’toly and B’rrel escorted Ramina and her queen.

Keroon’s Lord Holder, the middle-aged Bisal came down the steps of his hold before they’d all dismounted. His anger at the news was genuine, and it grew worse when he recognized one of the men as being a guard he’d hired last Turn. Apparently there had been several holds raided over the last few months, and this man had been to all of them while in the Lord Holder’s service. The three prisoners disappeared into the hold, where they would be closely watched and interrogated as to where they operated from, and who led them.

The Hold’s resident Harper took down all their statements onto expensive, fresh hides, and Lord Bisal promised the men would be tried publicly at the next Gather in a little over a month. By the time they returned Kapian to his own hold, the day was almost over, and he had a lot of work to do.

“If you do not mind, we will make our plans for the trip in the morning.” Kapian told his two sons, who quickly agreed. Ramina expressed that she would come as well, and would bring a few drudges to help the women who were planning on doing a lot of cleaning. Kapian tried to protest, but she stared him down.

“No, oh no.” J’shon murmured the next morning when he woke up and saw Liliath. She was still sleeping, but even in her slumber he could see and feel the changes that were happening.

“What’s wrong?” B’rrel asked when he came out of his room and saw J’shon staring at his dragon. She slept on the easterly perch, which was a little smaller than the perch that Ojeth used across from her. “Is something wrong with Liliath?”

“No, nothing is wrong.” J’shon said with a sigh. Just under five days from now he might disagree, but he knew it was just a natural part of who she was.

“Then why are you…” B’rrel started to ask but he stopped and smiled. “I see. How long?”

“Late afternoon, four days from now.” J’shon said with a sigh and hung his head.

“Don’t be so glum about it.” B’rrel said with a chuckle that just made J’shon feel worse. “At least you’ll still be able to join us today and tomorrow.”

“Please don’t.” J’shon said irritably. His friend was trying, but he was just making it worse. He didn’t want his father even thinking about this aspect of his son being a green rider.

“Fine.” B’rrel said with a spark of irritation and disappeared into the sanitary. J’shon let out a sigh and moved to stand close enough to Liliath so he could run a hand along her warm, smooth flank. She opened an eye and looked at him with blue and green whirling eyes.

Are you okay? She asked him. You feel upset.

“I’m fine, and a good morning to you, love.” He told her with a genuine smile. Yes, he was upset about what he was seeing, but if he had to put up with it in order to have her, then he’d smile all the way through the experience, no matter how awful it was. She was worth anything in the world.

I love you too. She said smugly and closed her eyes to get a little more sleep. Ojeth stirred in his sleep, opened his eyes to look at J’shon for a moment and then he shifted slightly before going back to sleep.

They had both fed on a flight of wild wherries that had crossed their path on the way back to the Weyr. Liliath had claimed two while Ojeth worked his way through four, and Sharth had matched Ojeth bite for bite. Even Ramina’s Pinath had joined in on the feeding, taking down the fattest wherry of the flight and all but devouring her in a single gulp. Liliath had complained that the queen didn’t need to chew.

“Why are you so upset about this?” B’rrel asked softly. J’shon hadn’t even heard him come into the room. “You’ve been here for a turn, you’ve talked about it with other green riders, you saw how happy N’sor was after Sortath flew. Do you really believe it’s wrong?”

“Yes.” J’shon murmured and flinched from the hand that touched his shoulder. B’rrel let out a sound of exasperation and headed into his room, shutting the door behind him. Part of J’shon wanted to go talk to him, but he knew that would be a disaster. What would he say, what would B’rrel say? They were good friends, in J’shon’s opinion. Would B’rrel want Ojeth to fly Liliath? What would that do to their friendship? Could J’shon still live in this weyr with B’rrel after they had done that?

J’shon knew his father found it so disgusting he wouldn’t even mention that such a thing was possible. What would his brother say? No, he already knew his brother’s opinions. K’mer was actually better suited to Weyr life than J’shon. K’mer had been talking up one of the girls in the Lower Cavern every night lately, and she’d been positively enamored of his Wing Rider’s knots, and his new badge showing he was part of H’mal’s wings.

When they’d entered the Cavern for dinner, a brown rider J’shon did not know and S’flin had come over and escorted them to the table where H’mal’s wing normally sat. Most of the time riders sat wherever they wanted, except at the high table, but that night H’mal’s entire wing sat together to welcome their newest members.

J’shon had not missed the looks of jealousy from several of their weyrling mates still sitting at their usual table together.

Feeling the stirrings that meant Liliath really was starting to wake up, he left her side to go do his morning ablutions before getting dressed. It was still dark outside as he exited his bedroom to find that B’rrel was gone already with Ojeth and Liliath’s eyes held a faint trace of yellow to them.

What did you say to upset Ojeth’s rider? She demanded as soon as she saw him. It was obvious she had been waiting for him to finish getting dressed before tearing into him. He is your friend. Friends should not fight.

“Sometimes friends do fight.” J’shon said firmly as he grabbed the riding straps and fixed them to her. Crivan had stayed the night, and would be staying another night at Kapian’s insistence, but he would need the extra straps for later. He’d gone over them carefully late into the night and found they were all in order.

I do not fight with Ojeth and he is a good friend. She argued peevishly.

“It’s a human thing.” J’shon fell back on the old statement and she snorted.

We should go. She said. The others will be ready to return to the place with all the herdbeasts that look very plump.

“Just don’t let my father hear you describe his hold that way.” J’shon laughed, forgetting all the other problems. “He depends on those beasts for his income.”

I know. She said with a little snuffle that was her way of sounding exasperated. I do think they look very tasty though.

“I’m sure you do.” He replied as he began to fit the straps around her. Liliath’s skin wasn’t even patchy this morning, which was one of the few days that had occurred since she’d hatched. The Lower Caverns were nearly empty of riders that morning, except for their group. J’born, one of the wing’s blue riders and S’flin had both volunteered to go with them today, and Ramina had wheedled six drudges from Dellona’s work force to go with them.

After a hearty porridge breakfast, they mounted up on their dragons and lifted off from the Weyr’s bowl just as the morning’s light was brightening the sky. It was going to be another clear day, and they followed Pinath’s leap up into the chilly morning sky. There was no hour-long flight this time after going between. They came out of the dark coldness right over the wooden hold and circled down to a perfect landing. Tabath had carried three of the drudges while J’born’s Zeth carried the other three.

Serece met them at the steps of the hold with Kapian at her side. Little Larana, who was now just entering her teen turns peeked out from around her mother’s back and smiled brightly when she saw the golden dragon. Kapian frowned at all the people in his courtyard, but visibly sighed and straightened his shoulders as K’mer and J’shon led the procession towards him. Technically, Ramina should have been in the lead as senior person there, but this was K’mer and J’shon’s home.

“I see you’re wearing your correct knots today.” Kapian said with a very slight smile. J’shon just smiled back at him.

“It’s so good to see you boys!” Serece exclaimed after giving her husband a warning look. She stepped forward, stood on her tip-toes and gave each of her sons a kiss. “Have you eaten already? Do you need some klah to take the cold of between out of your bones?”

“Some klah would be nice, mother.” J’shon said and the two adults stepped aside to welcome the party into the house. His mother was prepared, with many extra cups for klah, more than enough for all the riders and their passengers. The youngest children of Kapian and Serece, as well as the other holders living there, were busy clearing the table of breakfast, and Kapian invited his guests to be seated.

“We will be ready to leave shortly, weyrwoman.” He told Ramina who nodded in reply as Larana came up to her with a wide smile and many questions about her gold dragon.

“It will be a pity to abandon such a fine home, even if it is made of wood.” S’flin said softly amidst the buzz of Kapian and his eldest two sons gathering various pieces of equipment from dusters, broom, bins, and a whole assortment of tools and cleaning solutions, all neatly placed in wood bins and prepared for travel on the back of a dragon. Delonna had also sent a good amount of supplies best used to clean stone as well, so Ramina motioned for one of the senior drudges to confer with Kapian about what was needed and what was already loaded onto a dragon.

“I would have woken every night scared, were I to live under wooden roof.” J’born said with a shudder.

“I don’t remember much about living in Keroon before this.” K’mer said with a shrug. “It took me most of a turn to get use to the stone of the Barracks, and I’m still not certain about my weyr. At least there are plenty of rugs. So far I’ve either frozen my feet off in the morning or tossed and turned at all the heat the stone trapped. At least here there were always windows to open for a breeze.”

“Igen is just off the desert.” J’shon reminded his brother. “It’s naturally cooler here anyway.”

“Well the desert loses all its heat at night so we spend the days baking and the nights chilling.” K’mer said with a shake of his head. They’d argued enough about it over the last turn that it was now a familiar topic for them when they were bored with nothing else to do.

“We’re ready to get loaded, dragonriders.” Kapian said before J’shon could argue back. That had been fast. He’d barely finished a third of his klah. His mother reappeared in a set of trousers and a blouse better suited to working hard in a dusty environment, and J’shon was surprised when Larana appeared wearing the same along with two others of the hold’s women. He realized with a start that his little sister was old enough now for the work detail. At least his two younger siblings were still young, and a stray note of music when things fell silent for a moment hinted that Crivan was enjoying giving some lessons to his youngest grandchildren and the other children in the hold.

“Let’s get to work.” Ramina said with a dramatic flair and then proved she had no intention of lifting a hand to the boxes as she marched out the door. Fortunately, there were plenty of other hands, and the various pieces of equipment were soon loaded onto the dragons and securely fastened into place. Who was riding with whom was quickly sorted out, and J’shon was just as happy that his father was riding with J’born. Karnen, the brother who was just a turn older than he would be riding with him on Liliath while K’mer transported his brother and B’rrel took two of the drudges while A’toly took the other four. With full dragons, they lifted off, and took their coordinates from J’born who had been to the new hold before.

This is nice. Liliath said as they came out of between above the new hold that his father had been offered. J’shon knew that it had once been called Whitestone Hold because of the pale granite that had been carved out of the hillside. The hold itself was four stories tall, and had once been home to over four hundred holders. Every single one of them had died in the plague at the end of the last Pass, and it had remained largely vacant since then. Smaller holds dotted the hills around them, and three times in the last two hundred turns holders had tried to stake their claim, but had fallen on ill luck.

Twice a drought had struck the region making it impossible for the people there to thrive. The other time a sickness had overtaken the hold after two turns, and people whispered that the plague was lying dormant somewhere inside the hold, just waiting for new victims.

What politics had gone on with his father being allowed to lay claim here. Crivan had tried to explain it to him once, but he’d been distracted by Liliath, who was sharing some Weyr gossip with him. Like most greens, Liliath loved her gossip, and so he’d not heard much after Crivan saying that Lord Bisal had promised his father a hold capable of holding all his current herds and expansive enough fields for all the crops of fodder. He’d even be able to transplant his grove of fellis and red-fruit trees here, and in another six or seven turns, they would be as big as those he had now. What more had gone into the deal, he hadn’t really heard.

He’d been just too embarrassed to ask Crivan to repeat his explanation.

Too much green. Liliath complained and J’shon laughed aloud.

“What’s so funny?” His brother complained. Karnen had not liked the view from the air, and had come out of between with a death grip on J’shon.

“I’ll explain later!” J’shon shouted so his brother could hear while Ramina signaled for them to land at the foot of the large hold. How his father would hold the place with just thirty-odd people was beyond him. Still, there was almost as much land for foraging as there was back at the wooden hold, and even more importantly, once they had completed clearing all the vines and other growth, it would provide a good stone cover.

“It looks like it is falling apart.” Karnen complained as they slid down Liliath’s side. She waited until they had unloaded several boxes from her before taking off and heading for the hill above the hold. The rock was cut right out of the side of the hill, so its top was covered in bushes and low trees that Liliath and the other unencumbered dragons took a great deal of pleasure in uprooting. Their strong front arms even uprooted several trees that were promptly dropped from the top of the hold.

“I never thought I’d see dragons do that!” Kapian actually laughed aloud, earning odd looks from his two older sons and smiles from his younger dragon-riding sons.

We do not like green living near where people will live! Liliath said fiercely as she pulled up several bushes and threw them down to the lower ground below the hold. J’shon laughed again at how his dragon didn’t get the comparison running through his mind of green plants and green dragons.

“Dragons do not like plants so close to where people live.” Ramina said with more diplomacy than Liliath was using. She did wink at J’shon just then.

“Does she like you or something?” Karnen asked as they lifted some boxes. He’d noticed the wink. “I thought you green riders didn’t…”

“If she did, it would be Weyr business anyway.” J’shon snapped in an irritated tone with his brother. He did not feel like trying to explain to his brother that it was possible to be friendly with a woman who wasn’t family without wanting to plant her on her back. He knew full well what his brothers got up to at the infrequent Gatherings they attended.

Serece was taking charge of the drudges and the men carrying boxes while her husband went up to the large double doors made from iron. There were dozens of windows on the front facing of the hold, all protected by metal shudders that would protect from wind and rain as well as the deadly threat of Thread. Kapian had a large iron-bound key that he used to open the hold, and the metal hinges creaked with disuse as they opened a bare inch before freezing. S’flin dug through two boxes until he found a jar of oil, and he joined the holder in using it to loosen up the hinges. With the help of J’shon’s older brothers, they managed to push open the hold’s doors.

“It’s big.” Larana said in a small voice as they used glowglobes brought from the Weyr to lighten up the massive entryway.

“It has to be.” Kapian said softly. He was frowning and there were tears in his eyes that no one remarked on or looked at for longer than the most fleeting of moments. J’shon understood intuitively. His father had dreamed of holding away from stone, the most ancient of constrictions on holds since recorded history. He had done it too, for over eight turns before the fear of Thread had driven him back to stone.

“If we must give up our beautiful home, at least it is to a place that will challenge even your skills, my husband.” Serece said in a calm, clear voice that made J’shon’s heart leap in his chest. His parents had never been much for showing affection in front of others, but in this moment, in his mother’s voice, he finally understood just how much she loved Kapian, and his dreams.

“It will be a worthy challenge.” Kapian agreed with a nod of his head. “Lord Poldice has said his caves are filling with the holdless who fear the oncoming Thread. If I can find a dragonrider willing to carry me there, I will look to see if a small number are truly just fallen on hard times instead of being scofflaws.”

“I will carry you there on Pinath so they will know their future holder is worthy of their hard work.” Ramina said from where she stood behind him and Kapian nodded in gratitude.

“We are here to work.” Serece said firmly. “Let us get to it!”