DRAGONRISE
CHAPTER 2: THE NEXT GENERATION
3.23.507 After Thread.
We drove for several hours that first day, until we reached the end of the road. Then we had to unload our gear, pack everything onto horses, and abandon the vehicles to ride the rest of the way. Unsurprisingly, not everyone too keen about riding horses the rest of the way there.
Fort Weyr was nestled in the mountains, in a volcanic crater. Our horses were more like mountain ponies, suited for the rocky climb. Everyone mostly kept to themselves. Kyrie stuck around me. Luka and Aleksei stayed together. Imani and Imansk were everywhere, doing their job. Elara and Ezekiel were the loners. But I didn't care, as long as they stayed out of trouble.
But after two days of riding through treacherous paths, we reached our destination. The road that led into Weyr actually led into a network of natural caverns that would then lead out into the Weyr Bowl—according to historical texts. As we ventured into the tunnel, I grabbed my flashlight and turned it on. The others did the same, before we could be enveloped in darkness. Tiara shifted on my shoulders, actually sitting attentively.
"Um, Ari?" I looked over to see that Kyrie had ridden up to me. "Is this where we're supposed to go?"
I nodded. "This tunnel will take us into the Weyr. I've read that the Fort Road connected the Weyr to the Hold, and that there will be caverns further in, that were used for travelers and traders. There's no other way in—unless you can fly, anyway."
Just like I predicted, the tunnel opened up into a small cavern. I stopped my horse and gestured for everyone to do the same.
"Check for torches," I said, beginning to dismount. "There has to be a light source in here."
Everyone dispersed to begin searching. I could imagine Elara rolling her eyes, but it was too dark for me to see for myself. I shone my flashlight in the direction I figured the wall was, until I found what I was looking for. I had matches on me, but it didn't matter, because Tiara decided to actually jump off my shoulder and fly over to the torch. She breathed fire on the torch, lighting it. Well, guess it was a good thing I gave her firestone this morning.
I watched as Tiara flew around the cavern, lighting the torches with her fire. She then flew on ahead, disappearing into the next cavern. I took that as my cue to get back on my horse and ride after her. The others did the same.
This cavern was much larger. As Tiara flew, lighting the torches, I saw an entrance to what must have been another cavern was caved in by rocks. The stone walls were smooth, any rough edges knocked off by stonecutters by the Ancients. But in the distance, I saw sunlight coming through an opening. As the others lingered, looking around in awe, I rode on ahead towards that light. Tiara returned to perch on my shoulder.
I rode out into the open—into what I believed was the Weyr Bowl. The caldera's walls rose above us, made of dark, volcanic rock. Even at this distance, I could make out the entrances of the personal weyrs carved out of the caldera on the opposite side, sitting behind natural small cliffs. Below those weyrs were entrances to other caverns. There was also the Hatching Sands to my right, with the upper deck where spectators would watch the hatchings quite visible.
I slowed my horse to a stop. This wasn't the first time I'd visited the ruins of a Weyr. But Fort Weyr was by far the most extravagant Weyr I had ever seen. It was barely ruined. Even after all these years, it stood proudly, a testament to the Ancients' stonecutters and other technology that allowed them to carve their home out of nothing.
"This is amazing," I breathed. "Just imagine this place, with dragons…"
The sound of hoofbeats drew my attention away from my new discovery. My crew had finally decided to join me. I turned in my saddle to look back at them.
"Welcome to Fort Weyr," I said. "Let's set up camp."
"This place is amazing," I said, pacing back and forth in my newly set up tent. "I haven't even scratched the surface, but just looking at the outside, I can see proof of the technological advancement of the Ancients. We as a people have come so far since Thread, but I don't think I can even say that we could transform a caldera into a home for genetically engineered winged creatures."
Imani watched me walk back and forth, arms crossed over her chest. "Yeah, well. Discovering anything will have to wait until you decide what to do with your 'crew'."
...Right. I stopped and sighed. "I could probably get more work done without them."
"Maybe that was the point."
"I don't understand what Fort has against unveiling history," I said, pressing a hand to my temple. Never mind the secret job that the Masterharper had given me. "But you're right. Let's see how they're doing."
We stepped out of the tent. We had chosen to set up camp next to the lake on the far end of the Weyr Bowl, for easy access to water. A total of six tents had been put up—one for me, one for Imani, one for Kyrie, one for Elara, one for Luka and Aleksei, and one for Ezekiel. My tent and Imani's were the largest. I had the most supplies, and Imani had to house a wher. Just as we stepped out, so did Elara. And as soon as she spotted us, she walked on over.
I braced myself. My former best friend's pleasantness had carried on for the past three days.
Unsurprisingly, she ignored my bodyguard to go straight to me. "Arya, do you have a moment?"
I forced a smile. "For you, Elara? Always."
She scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just how do you expect us to live like this for who knows how long? In tents, with cots as hard as rocks, no running water?"
I gave her a flat look. "Have you never been camping, Elara?"
"No, I haven't," she retorted. "Nor did I ever care to."
"Maybe you should have considered that before you broke the law," Imani said dryly, before turning to go. "I'll take me leave. If you need me, Miss Drake, you know where to find me."
I took my eyes off Elara for a moment, watching her walk away. She returned to Imansk, who was lounging outside of their tent, gnawing on some bone he found earlier this morning. But now that Imani was gone… I could voice my true opinion to Elara.
"Just what is your problem, Elara?" I demanded, immediately letting my temper go. "Ever since this journey started, you've been griping and whining. You even called Tiara fat and that was so uncalled for."
Elara rolled her eyes. "That's because she is fat. She wasn't like that last time I saw her."
"The last time you—ugh!" I ran a hand through my bangs. "That's besides the point. What in Faranth's name did you do to even get yourself here?"
The aggravated expression immediately faded, and she looked away. "...Why do you even care?"
"I care because-" I cut myself off. I care because you're my friend. I couldn't even say that anymore. "I care because you're acting like you've got a stick shoved up your ass and you're taking it out on everyone."
Elara gave me a withering look. "Haven't I always 'had a stick shoved up my ass'? You used to call me a stick-in-the-mud when we were kids."
My eyes widened. "...You remember that?"
She sighed. "Of course I remember. I'm not a complete asshole." She looked around the Weyr, at the walls and the weyrs and the lake. "This just… isn't me." She waved around at everything. "This was always you. Camping, going on adventures, dreaming of fairy tales. I just remember you being a little more shy and scared about it."
She wasn't wrong… But I was different back then. Back then, I'd been alone and afraid. Stories were all I had… besides her. But Elara hadn't always been around. She had her own life, in the city, with parents and riches and everything she could ask for. All I had was a firelizard and a necklace that belonged to my mother, whoever she was.
"Well, I'm not that girl anymore," I said. "I haven't been for years now."
"I can see that." It was strange seeing Elara suddenly not angry or bitter. It was almost like part of her had softened. "You're definitely a Harper."
I rolled my eyes. "So, are you going to answer my question about how you got here?"
Elara's expression immediately soured. "No."
Before I could even protest, she was gone. Shards… She was definitely trying to hide something. But what? I would have to wiggle it out of her somehow. With a sigh, I returned to my tent. There was still some planning and organization to do before anyone could start exploring.
3.24.507 After Thread.
It took an entire day to get everything situated. But that meant I now had time to do what I did best—search for knowledge. I also decided to pick one of my 'assistants' to accompany into the ruins. It would be a lot more fun for everyone that way. Or at least it would be, in my mind. But for today, I picked Luka. He seemed the most out of sorts here—the one who didn't belong, more so than even his brother.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking… where exactly are we going?"
During breakfast, I had told Luka to get his things together to be out for the day and then meet me at the edge of our campsite. I also told Imani to stay at the camp with Imansk, just in case. I didn't want there to be trouble while I was gone. I trusted Kyrie, but the others? Not so much. So, with my gear stored away in my backpack, my gun holstered to my hip, and my firelizard on my shoulder, I had met up with Luka, who looked anxious as ever.
"We're going to the Weyrleaders' complex," I said, handing him a flashlight. "The Weyrleader and Senior Weyrwoman weren't always romantically involved, but the dragonrider culture called for them to at least appear to be. Because of this, they lived together in interconnected weyrs that can be found in most of the Weyrs throughout Pern."
I started off, heading in the direction of our destination, according to the map of Fort Weyr I'd been given from the Harper Hall's archives. "I guess in the dragonriders' minds, if their leaders' dragons were a mated pair, so the riders should be too," I continued on, as he hastily followed after me. "It's weird to think about. What if the riders' sexualities didn't match? Then again, all goldriders and bronzeriders were believed to be heterosexual, so that wouldn't be a problem."
"Uh… right." Luka's cheeks darkened. "That's… interesting."
...I supposed speaking of sexuality so freely wasn't a common subject, even among this modern age. I scaled up the stone steps that led to the complex of caves that would've belonged to the Weyrleaders. There were two separate weyrs, connected by a small cavern where the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman would sleep. The senior queen's weyr sat to the right, closer to the Hatching Sands.
I glanced back at Luka, as he followed after me. Most of my suspicions of his and his brother's lifestyle had been proven true over the past few days. All of their clothes were worn from use. They ate the most food out of all of us, practically liking their plates clean. I hated to say it, but this was probably the most they'd been able to eat in a long time. But what I didn't get was how they both ended up serving community service—and such bizarre community service as this. Being assigned to an expedition wasn't exactly normal.
"If you don't mind me asking," I began, after I had waited for him to catch up and continued on, "why exactly are you on this expedition? You and your brother don't exactly come off as delinquents to me."
Luka immediately winced. "My brother was caught… stealing food. Since it was just food, he got off with just community service. But when he was assigned this, I… got worried. He's just a minor, and this expedition would take him out of school for who knows how long… I didn't want to leave him on his own, so I volunteered to join the expedition with him."
I fought the urge to scowl. Being punished for trying to survive, huh… That just confirmed that they were poor. And that was such a Fort thing to do. How despicable.
"Aleksei is lucky to have a brother as caring as you," I said quietly.
"Ha…" Luka all but grimaced. "If only he'd say something like that."
Ouch… I guess their relationship wasn't as strong as I had thought. Or maybe they had just hit a rough patch? I'd like to consider myself good at reading people. Luka was easy enough to figure out, but Aleksei was just so… indifferent. Something had to have made him that way, but… it was none of my business. Some secrets weren't meant for a Harper's ears.
"Family can be hard," I said, in an attempt to be reassuring. "Not that I really have any expertise in that department… I have no family ties—much like the dragonriders of old. They didn't believe in familial bonds." Shifting the subject back to dragonriders would hopefully relieve Luka of any awkwardness. I looked on ahead, to where the senior queen's weyr awaited. "They supposedly didn't have enough time to care for both their dragons and their children. So the children were raised by the Creche, which was basically daycare, and by surrogates. Some riders didn't even acknowledge their children. Supposedly, it was to prevent debilitating loss upon the death of a dragonrider in the fight against Thread. But I'm not sure if I could get behind a life like that."
Luka also looked up at the gaping weyr entrance. "That almost sounds… cold. Having children, just to cast them aside like they're nothing…"
I gave a slight shrug. "They had their reasons. We don't have to agree with them. After all, we, the holders, survived, and they did not."
It was strange to think about it like that… but it was true.
"Let's go inside," I said. "History awaits!"
Not waiting for his answer, I headed into the weyr, switching on my flashlight. Tiara perked up, shifting herself on my shoulders so she wasn't flopped out so lazily. And for the first time in hundreds of years, light shone on the inside of this weyr.
The walls were smooth, clean cut thanks to the stonecutters of the Ancients. Every sharp corner had been worn away, as was commonplace throughout the entire Weyr. This weyr, however, was huge—much larger than I had ever seen before, and I'd been in High Reaches, Telgar, and Honshu. I stepped further inside, shining my flashlight around. I heard Luka follow after me.
"Amazing," I breathed. "There are even tapestries left behind."
Indeed, upon initial inspection, I found tapestries hanging on the walls—most likely to keep out the cold. I approached the nearest one; it was clearly of Benden make, but faded and rotten after five centuries of neglect. I wrinkled my nose at the stench. I left the tapestry to look around more. A large stone couch sat next to the far right wall, with a rotten mattress and remains of straw and rushes to cushion it. The mattress had even been covered with a fancy padded quilt, which had obviously seen better days.
I continued to wander around for my initial inspection, leaving Luka to his awestruck fascination. To the left was the middle cavern that connected the two weyrs, where the Weyrleader and Weyrwoman stayed. Finding some cobweb dusted torches, I took the moment to pull out my lighter and light them, illuminating the chamber. Tiara left my shoulders then, flying off to look at something that had caught her eye. I turned off my flashlight and approached the living area.
There was a large bed, fitted with blankets and quilts just as magnificent as the queen's couch. A couple of bookshelves were pushed up against the walls, along with a wardrobe, all made of rotting wood. I found a service shaft and ventilation ducts. I also found a doorway, once covered by a curtain of some sort, that led to a bathroom chamber with a hot spring for a bath. Well, I knew where we'd all be taking baths from now on.
For such a medieval arrangement, the senior queenrider had it made. The Weyrwoman in charge was essentially treated like a queen—and rightfully so, I supposed. Did that make the Weyrleader the king, then? I did read a few documents that described bronzes as the kings of the dragons. But the queens were who held the true power.
Tiara chirped loudly, drawing my attention away from my thoughts. I left the lavatory chamber, stepping back into the bedroom. I spied the gold sitting on a square table that I'd assumed served as a writing desk and dining table and so on. She nudged something white towards me—a sheet of paper? I immediately walked over, flicking my flashlight back on for some extra light. Indeed, there was a folded piece of stationary, yellowed and worn, but still solid. Beside it were the remains of a quill and a dried up inkwell. I carefully picked up the folded paper, and delicately opened it up, shining my flashlight on it.
This was a letter. Or a note? Regardless, there was writing on it.
To whoever may find this:
Asha was right. Her theory on what was happening to the dragons was right. I should have listened to T'kan, but R'mel has been so rigidly stuck in the old ways. I didn't exactly want to join in on the war against the traitors, not when keeping the dragons alive has been so difficult. It has been years since Zaniath last rose to mate, and I believe she will never rise again. Without Thread, our dragons' cycles have been disrupted. Asha suspected this, but no one wanted to believe her. Only her Kalianth seems immune to the inevitable. And Lorelei's Vanth, but we want nothing to do with them.
No one else knows about this—about our plan. We worked with the Southerners and their advanced technology to make this work. No matter how hard we try, the dragons as they are now will die out. Whether from lack of fertility or fighting amongst ourselves, the dragonsriders will cease to be. We have to change. Our dragons have to change.
We tried to change our culture, but that only resulted in war. The only other problems that remain are genetic. Our dragons have grown far too large to sustain, which has led to conflict with the Holds—never mind that they, along with our ancestors, have hidden the flourishing South from us. Our dragons have mutated from generations of inbreeding, and it has taken its toll. The only good thing that has come of this is perhaps the increased intelligence and self awareness of dragons.
We have to start over. That's the only way to save the dragons.
Our plan was simple. We took the DNA of the largest dragons—Kalianth, Romanoth, Behemeth, and Quiyeth—and used them as examples to engineer firelizards' DNA to mentasyth a new generation of dragons. The scientists at Landing also used their DNA to supplement the experiment. They did their best to copy how the Ancients bioengineered the original dragons. It took several tries, but they managed to create a viable clutch of eggs—gold, bronze, brown, blue, and green. They did not recreate the new mutations that came from all the inbreeding. As wonderful as Ciarth and the other adamant dragons are, upsetting the balance just made things worse.
Unfortunately, Lorelei and O'man discovered this. We're all worried that they will try to destroy these eggs. And even if they successfully hatch and find their bondmates, these new dragons will be small. They are genetically engineered to not surpass the size of the first dragons. They will not grow larger than draft horses—which will be much more manageable and useful for future generations. These dragons and their offspring will be able to go more places and be useful in more ways, with less mass to carry around and find room for. And these dragons will be no match for their predecessors. Kalianth alone is larger than Ramoth herself.
Asha has decided we have no choice but to bring this clutch ahead to the future. We've tried to dissuade her, but… she's more stubborn than her brother. She plans on taking Kalianth between, into the future by several centuries. As Benden is not safe, I volunteered Fort for where she should place the clutch's cryogenic container. Fort will not fall to the war. Our walls are too strong, and our dragons are fierce. We will protect the Weyr for the future. As Weyrwoman, I will see to it myself.
Asha is certain she and her gold will not return. She plans on going far into the future—farther than Lessa and Ramoth went back in time. It's a suicide mission. And she plans on bringing her twins with her… to leave in the future, to bond with two of the new dragons. I know she plans this so her children will not be subjected to this horrible war, and as a mother myself, I cannot blame her… But I can only hope that that going between will not harm them. J'lan highly objected to this plan… but he couldn't argue against her. My heart aches for him. He's lost so much in this war, and will only lose more. But I think he, of all people, can understand the meaning of sacrifice.
I do not know if this plan will be successful. But if it is, you will find the cryogenic container holding the eggs in the deepest caverns of this Weyr. We cleared out the chambers trapped by the rockfall for this specific reason. If Asha and Kalianth succeeded, you will find the eggs there.
I have no idea what the future holds. I have no idea what the world is like when you are now. But I hope you have an empathetic heart, full of the desire to protect Pern. We may no longer have Thread to fight, but our planet still needs defenders—even from itself.
My name is Altea, rider of Gold Zaniath, Senior Weyrwoman of Fort Weyr, and I am one of the last dragonriders of Pern. It has been an honor to fly through these skies, but our era has come to a end. Don't forget about us as you fly in our wingstrokes.
I stared at the letter. Tiara chirped again, leaping up onto my shoulder, but I didn't flinch. I didn't even blink. I could hardly breathe.
The signal the Computerer Hall reported… If this was all true, it had to come from the cryogenic pod that contained these dragon eggs.
This… This was the greatest discovery of all time. Not only did it shed light on what happened to the dragonriders of old—a war, no less—but potential dragon eggs? Was this even real? It sounded more like something I'd read in a novel.
"Luka!" I whirled around, letter still in hand. I caught him looking at a faded tapestry hanging on one of the walls. He nearly jumped out of his skin. "I've made a huge discovery! We have to tell the others!"
His eyes widened. "Wait, what?"
"There could be dragon eggs here," I said, carefully folding the letter back up. "Bonafide dragon eggs, Luka! There haven't been dragons on Pern in centuries! We could very well see the rise of a new generation of dragonriders. Fort and all the other countries may not like it, but… who cares? Pern's very own history could be coming alive!"
I didn't wait for him to respond. I rushed out of the Weyrleaders' complex, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him after me.
3.27.507 After Thread.
It took us three days. Three days of digging and following the map. Imansk was a major help. He actually did most of the digging and navigating. The wher seemed to sense something, but what exactly, none of us knew. Imani didn't even know. But we kept on going. I, at least, was determined to find out whether this suicide mission had been successful or not. I read the letter again a few times, trying to glean anything else from it. But each time, I never noticed something new. There was no hidden meaning or secret message. The writer of the letter, Weyrwoman Altea, was brutally honest.
I sent a missive to the Masterharper to tell him of the turn of events. He told me we needed to keep this quiet. If the eggs were nowhere to be found, or if they all died upon hatching, it would be better for no one to have known. If the eggs were found and hatched and bonded with some of us… we'd deal with it when the time came. To protect Fort Weyr and the other ruins, we had to keep this to ourselves.
I was okay with that. It's not like I had anyone to blab to out here anyway. We were miles away from civilization.
But today, with the help of Imansk, we had cleared out the last of the rubble. When Imani gave the okay, I headed into the tunnel. Today's helper was Ezekiel, so he begrudgingly followed after me. Dust and debris was still settling, clouding the stagnant air. I couldn't help but cough, waving my hand around to get the air moving as I ventured down with my flashlight.
"You really think we're going to find a five hundred year old cryogenic pod down here?" Ezekiel asked skeptically as he caught up to me.
"I have no idea," I said, as we rounded a corner. "I want to believe we will, but who knows?"
Tiara remained on my shoulder, as per usual. Ezekiel also had a flashlight, shining around as he took in our surroundings. This area obviously hadn't been touched since the rockfall, which made me wonder how the queenrider who supposedly went back in time even got back here. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. The air was stale and reeked of must. I found myself coughing frequently.
It was too dark to really make out anything. But for once, history wasn't what I was looking for.
3.30.507 After Thread.
It took us three more days to make our way through the corridors. These caverns were filled with ancient plasfilm, buried under dirt and other debris along the walls. I worked on drawing a map of the area and marking where such relics were found, to be retrieved later. It was a tedious task, but it needed to be done.
I had picked Elara for today, having cycled through everyone else through the week. She wandered on ahead without me as I cataloged some more plasfilm.
"This is so fascinating, Tiara," I said, as I finished marking off my map. "All of this was left behind after the rockfall. Imagine what lost historical records of the Ancients we'll find once we're able to read these."
Tiara chirped tiredly, curling back around my neck. I laughed, reaching up to give her a scratch. For her, being out all day was exhausting. My lazy little firelizard.
"Uh, Arya?" I heard Elara call. "You kinda want to see this."
Frowning, I tucked away my map and headed down the corridor to where her voice had come from. Tiara shifted, perking up a little now that we were moving. The tunnel went along for a few more yards, until it opened into a large cavern. I stepped inside, my eyes widening as I took in the sight before me.
A large, circular cryogenic container was most definitely there—but what immediately caught my attention was the ginormous dragon skeleton laying next to it.
"Shards," I breathed, eyes wide. "It's bigger than an airplane."
"How did that thing even get in here?" Elara asked, as she came to stand beside me.
"Teleportation," I said. "Dragons could teleport just like firelizards. Dragonriders called it going between. Apparently, dragons could even use going between to traverse time. I have no idea how that even works, though."
I didn't wait for her to respond. I approached the dragon's remains first. The bones were massive, the tips of the wings nearly reaching the naturally domed ceiling. Upon closer inspection, I saw some leather straps, worn and rotten, hanging from its shoulders—perhaps some of riding harness. The skeleton curled around the pod, like it was trying to protect it. I walked around, trying to see if there was anything else I could find… only to almost step on another skeleton.
Tiara squeaked, nearly falling off my shoulders as I hastily stepped back. Then she blinked between, and then appeared right next to the newly discovered skeleton. This one belonged to a human… leaning against the massive femur of the dragon. I was no scientist, so I had no idea if this person had been a man or woman. Their clothes had rotted away to rags, so that was no help either. I crouched down to get a closer look.
"Interesting…" I muttered to no one in particular, except my firelizard. "It looks like they were holding something… Their arms are in a cradling position. Maybe that letter was right… about the queenrider bringing her children." I looked over at Tiara, who had sat down. Her eyes whirled lavender-gray, which was… odd for someone she never knew. "I wondered what happened to them…"
There were no identifying marks on the skeleton… no pieces of jewelry or anything. We'd have to remove her remains to be cremated or buried somewhere. As for the dragon… the Masterharper has been wanting to open a dragonrider museum for a while now. Having the skeleton of an actual dragon would seriously help that.
But for now, we needed to get those eggs on the Hatching Sands to see if they were still alive.
Today was conveniently very warm for the third month of the year. By the time Imansk heaved the circular pod out to the Hatching Sands, it was noon. The sun was high in the sky, warming the sands that once incubated generations of dragons. Everyone had come running as soon as I sent Tiara out to deliver the news. But I told them to stay back until we were sure everything was all right with the eggs.
After all, they'd been frozen in time for four or five centuries.
Imansk hauled the pod to the center of the Hatching Hands. Imani unhooked him, letting the wher go free. He immediately plodded to stand behind her, eying the container with a mix of suspicion and curiosity, according to the whirling of orange and green in his eyes. Imani stayed to the side, crossing her arms, but watching me carefully as I proceeded.
"This looks like the Ancients' tech," I said, both to myself and everyone else who was here. "They must have taken it straight from Landing and AIVAS. Even we haven't been able to replicate this."
"We get it, it's amazing," Elara drawled, and I could just imagine her rolling her eyes. "You're a dragon nerd, we know."
I glanced back at her and the others. They all stood together, a little further off from where Imani and her wher were. They were an odd little group—all of us were. And if we were about to become the first dragonriders in centuries, we would probably be the strangest ones of them all. In a way, we'd be like the very first…
I wondered if the Ancients would be proud of Pern's progress.
But that didn't matter right now. Right now, these eggs needed to be freed.
Tiara chirped, giving me a reassuring nudge on the cheek. Steeling myself, I turned back towards the cryogenic pod. Having read about them in the archives at the Harper Hall, I knew that to open it, all I had to do was press the blue button. So I did.
Click. Clouds of frosty air came flowing out as the lid of the cryogenic pod unlocked itself and lifted up. The lid folded back, revealing its contents. My eyes widened and I gasped. There were so many eggs.
Twenty eggs were packed into that cryogenic pod. All of them were about the same size and color—indistinguishable, much like firelizard eggs. The only exceptions were the four large golden eggs that had to be, without a doubt, queen eggs. Each of them were a different shade of gold—one was a rich shade, almost metallic, another was a deep orange-gold, another was a pale rose-gold, and the last one was a pastel yellow.
Four queen eggs… Three girls… Best case scenario, only one of the baby dragons would die. That was sad enough.
"Let's get these on the Sands," I said, turning towards everyone. "They need to be nice and warm if we're to save them!"
For once, no one argued. They simply complied. The eggs weren't very big—perhaps just a little larger than a cat—which made transporting them onto the sand very easy. Everyone moved slowly and carefully, carrying the eggs with a delicacy I didn't know some of them were capable of. Like Ezekiel. He was just full of surprises.
I personally inspected each and every one before they were moved. I discovered a couple of them were cracked, the shells broken prematurely and the dragons frozen inside. A few eggs had freezer burn and smelled of decay. But we got all of the ones that seemed healthy situated on the Hatching Sands—ten to be exact. Unfortunately, the bright gold egg was one of the freezer burned ones.
I was all set to leave them there to warm, when all of a sudden, Tiara chirped excitedly. Even Imansk, who had been dozing off, snapped to attention.
"What is it, Tiara?" I asked, mildly confused.
She projected an image to my mind—of an egg hatching and a little dragon crawling out. My eyes widened.
"They're hatching already?!"
A loud crack caught my attention. I immediately looked towards the source of the sound. The orange-gold egg gave another violent shake, a crack splitting right down the middle. I watched in shock and awe as the egg broke in half, revealing a tiny queen just as colorful as her egg.
The little dragon could've been no larger than Tiara herself; in fact, the firelizard was slightly bigger. She was a deep orange-gold color, rich and vibrant—a stark contrast to the stone and sand of the Weyr. A dark burnt orange color covered her face like a mask, reminding me of a horse's bald face. That same color trailed along the back of her neck and spine, with streaks flaming out down the sides, very much like fire. The back of her wings were also burnt orange, as were her legs, also sporting the flame markings. She staggered, almost losing her balance, bits of shell still clinging to her damp hide.
"Jays," I breathed. "She's stunning. I never imagined dragons would be so colorful."
With all my research, I'd always pictured them as single colors, even though my own firelizard had unique markings.
The tiny queen gained her balance. Her eyes whirled red-orange as she looked around, at each of us. And then she moved, stalking forward. She almost tripped over her ungainly legs. She paused, took one look at me, and continued on. Completely ignoring anyone else, she walked straight up to Elara.
The hatchling headbutted Elara in the leg. Elara's eyes widened, her jaw dropping, as the baby dragon's eyes began to whirl rainbows. Elara looked at the tiny dragon at her feet, then at me, and the back at the dragon again.
"...Her name's Jezrieth."
Success! The first dragon of 507 was named Jezrieth. I'd have to write this down later, along with any other dragons that hatched. This was so exciting.
Elara crouched down to pick up her new dragon, scooping her up into her arms. I heard more cracking sounds, so I returned my attention to the eggs. It took a couple more minutes, but three more dragons hatched out of the eggs—two blues and a green. These babies were even tinier, almost dwarfed by their golden sister. They began to wander around with a panicked urgency. They were both vivid shades of their respective colors.
While the green remained panicked, the blue made his way over to Aleksei. He was a bright little thing, with lighter sky blue hued on his face and upper neck, along with lower ends of the undersides of his wings. He reminded me of the transition from night to day… albeit without the warmer shades of dawn.
Aleksei's eyes widened at the dragon's approach, but as the blue got closer, he crouched down, reaching out his hand—a soft, tender gesture. The little dragon sniffed at his hand, before pressing his entire face into Aleksei's palm, eyes whirling rainbows.
Aleksei's eyes remained wide. "Zeruth…"
Yes, another-
A horrible screech tore me away from my silent celebration. Just in time to see the little green dragon disappear between. She didn't come back.
...So… that was true, too, then… If a dragon didn't find its partner, it threw itself between and died… I read that it was so there would be no wild dragons, but… that was horrible.
I glanced around. Everyone looked stunned.
This was going to take a while.
I asked Imani to take Elara, Aleksei, and their new dragons away from the Hatching Sands. The hatchlings needed food, and anywhere was better than here. With each new hatching, another death followed. For an hour, we waited, listening to those horrible, anguished screeches. I had Tiara retrieve a blanket, notepad, and pen from my tent so I could sit down without getting sand everywhere and record the happenings.
So far, only two eggs hatched and bonded successfully—a gold and a blue. And three had hatched and died—a green, a blue, and a brown. That was half of the total eggs we'd been able to save. Only five more remained. And there were only four of us left.
Kyrie came to sit with me. We ended up playing Hangman on on notepad to pass the time. Tiara continued to hum. Three deaths during the first hour. No hatchings at all during the second. I was beginning to wonder if any other eggs would hatch. I knew a lot about dragons, but my research never went into detail on hatchings.
There was someone who'd know, though. That eccentric scientist I had to get information out of a couple years back. As… quirky as he was, he would be an important ally in whatever chaos would follow after this.
Kyrie glanced up from our current game of Hangman. Her eyes widened and she reached over to tap me on the arm.
"Ari, look! Another queen is hatching!"
I immediately looked up. The pastel yellow egg had begun to stir. Kyrie scrambled to her feet, so I set down my notepad and stood up as well.
It took a few minutes for the shell to fracture, but finally a tiny head butted out, covered in goopy eggshell. We watched as the dragon clawed its way out of the egg, stumbling onto the sands. This dragon was almost the exact same shade as her egg—pale yellow in soft pastel hues. Even with her gangly baby body, it was easy to tell she was built more delicately than Jezrieth. She looked around, eyes whirling yellow.
She seemed to notice Kyrie and me. She stared at us for a moment. And then, without a sound, she blinked between.
"No!" Kyrie gasped, tears welling up in her eyes. "Not another one…"
I sat back down. I picked up my notepad and pen and recorded the the loss. "Four more. And then it's over."
Kyrie plopped back down beside me and buried her face in her hands. "This is horrible… I hate it… How could people do this, over and over again? Watching the baby dragons kill themselves…"
I sighed. "I don't know, Kyrie."
We didn't return to our game of Hangman. Kyrie was too busy trying to hold herself together and not cry. Tiara's humming had finally tapered off and she'd curled up on my shoulders, around my neck. Her presence was warm and comforting.
This time, only five more minutes passed before another egg began to sway.
It was the tiniest egg. It began to rock violently, back and forth and back and forth. We all looked up, caught off guard by the abrupt activity. Squeaks could be heard from the egg. And then suddenly, two legs broke through the shell and the dragon caught itself before it could send itself and its egg tumbling.
Two tiny pale green legs.
The dragon, still encased in its egg, tried to move. It took two steps in our direction, draggings its egg along with it. Kyrie hopped back onto her feet.
"It needs help!"
After all these deaths, I wasn't about to stop her. Traditionally, dragons weren't aided when hatching from eggs… because the eggshell was genetically engineered to prevent unhealthy dragons from hatching. But this little girl was trying hard enough. I think she deserved a chance. Besides, most dragonrider traditions were bizarre enough as it is.
Kyrie rushed over to the egg. She pulled out a pocket knife and began to try to cut through the shell. I watched in anticipation, beginning to feel some hope that maybe we'd finally get another dragon. We needed a bronze or brown more than anything, but I would be happy with just about any color surviving.
Kyrie managed to break through the eggshell with her pocket knife. She carefully wedged open the crack, which apparently was enough for the baby dragon to free her head. The egg completely split open. Kyrie pulled the new hatchling out, scooping her up into her arms. The little dragon chirped happily, her hide covered with mucus and shell shards. She reached up to nudge Kyrie on the cheek.
She was by far the tiniest dragon we'd seen today—even compared to the other green that had hatched. She was a pale shade of green—almost like pastel tea green. Lighter, almost whitish spots speckled her lowered body and the lower undersides of her wings. She was a beautiful little thing.
Her eyes whirled rainbows.
"Tanith," Kyrie breathed. She looked up over at me with wide, excited eyes. "Her name's Tanith! I can't believe it… I… I have a dragon!"
I smiled and gave Kyrie a thumbs up. If anyone here deserved a dragon, it was her. And then I set Tiara off to fetch Imani.
Another hour passed. I went over my list.
Gold: 1 hatched, 1 lost, 1 dud
Bronze: 0 hatched, 2 dud
Brown: 0 hatched, 2 dud
Blue: 1 hatched, 1 lost, 2 dud
Green: 1 hatched, 2 lost, 4 dud
Three more to go. A queen and two others.
I could tell the boys were getting impatient. Mostly Ezekiel. I couldn't really blame him in this situation. I think even Luka had nodded off. With Kyrie gone, I was bored out of my mind. I ended up doodling on the margins of my notepad. Tiara sat perched on my shoulder, attentively watching the remaining eggs.
I was beginning to nod off myself when Tiara let out an excited chirp. I snapped wide awake, immediately looking towards the eggs.
All three of them were shaking. The smaller of the three gave the most visible shake, while the queen barely so much as stirred. But they were moving. That was all I could ask for.
I heaved myself up onto my feet right as the smaller egg began to crack. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the boys coming to attention to. It became clear that this one was meant for them, because the dragon that wiggled itself out of the battered eggshell was brown.
I'd read that it was possible for women to bond with browns, but it was extremely rare. I guess we'd just have to wait and see what happened.
This little guy was about the average size for a cat—not too big, not too little. He was a deep, rich shade of dark brown, almost like mud. On the inside of his wings, and the back and front of his neck, his hide was an orangy brown. Brown and orange splotches splattered his shoulders, halfway up the sides of his neck. But his eyes whirled red-orange, which meant he was very unhappy.
But as he begun to skulk around, the other egg cracked. Fracture lines spread out from that crack, until the eggshell shattered and a small bronze dragon emerged. If there was any doubt that these dragons would go to the boys, this one was for sure. Similar to golds, bronzes only ever bonded with men.
At least, I hoped one of them would bond with one of the guys. Having a gold was great and all, but we can't save the dragons without a bronze or brown. I hated feeling so powerless to help these creatures… They were part of our history, but they were also living beings. They had died out once before… I didn't want to see it happen again.
The bronze was somewhat bigger than the brown, but still obviously smaller than Jezrieth. He was vivid, warm shade of bronze, with darker points on his nose, his legs, and the ends of his wings. Despite the simplicity, he was a handsome little guy.
The two dragons looked around, whirling that red-orange. I watched with anticipation, hoping that neither of them would die in the next few minutes. Even Tiara was attentive, sitting upright, her claws digging into my shoulders.
The brown moved first. He skulked forward, completely ignoring me to approach Luka and Ezekiel. He approached Luka first, sniffed at his boot, snorted, and then immediately moved onto Ezekiel. In a display of what might have been empathy, Ezekiel crouched down to get closer to the brown. Another moment passed, as the little dragon seemed to eye him skeptically, but his eyes began to whirl rainbows.
Ezekiel looked up, a big grin on his face, and was about to say something, only to be interrupted by the bronze tearing across the Hatching Sands to ram himself right into Luka's legs. Luka's eyes widened in shock as the bronze fell back on his rear and looked up at him, his eyes a multitude of brilliant colors.
Ezekiel looked up to Luka with a smirk. "So, we got ours, huh? This guy's name is Rath. What about yours?"
Luka smiled sheepishly. "Osmuth."
"YES!" I cheered, drawing their attention to me. Even Tiara chirped happily. "This is great, guys!"
I was about to head over to them to congratulate them, when a loud CRACK stopped all of us in our tracks. All of us, including the baby dragons, turned to see the final egg give a violent shake, a single fissure running down the side of the pale shell.
The queen… She was finally hatching.
This last egg had been moving before, but my hopes that it would hatch and find a partner had been slim. I was the only one left. And in all of my fantasies, I had never even considered myself worthy of a queen. Even as a child, hearing stories about the dragonriders, my daydreams and doodles had only ever been of green dragons.
A head burst through the fissure, closely followed by a body, as the tiny queen shimmied herself out of the misty eggshell. She stumbled at the last minute, nearly tripping over her own legs.
My eyes widened in awe. I had thought all of the dragons had been beautiful, but this gold… She was absolutely dazzling.
The little gold was almost the complete opposite of the other queen. Her hide was a bright rose gold that seemed to ripple and and shine in the afternoon sunlight, as she tried to regain her balance. She started out a pale white gold under her wings and along her belly, but the color deepened and darkened into a brilliant, fiery shade of gold along her legs and back. She looked like she belonged in the sunlight.
Something about this one was different. As she gathered herself with a surprising amount of dignity, I found myself pulled towards her. But I was still in so much shock and awe that I was unable to move.
The queen looked around, her eyes only whirling orange. She seemed panicked for a moment—until she spotted me.
Arya!
A voice sounded in my head—low and resonant, reminiscent of ring bells. It chimed in my mind like a perfect melody. It soothed all my worries and anxieties over this entire situation.
The rose gold queen ran over to me, not wasting another moment. I had been so worried you would be gone, that I would be too late. But you're still here.
My eyes widened. You know me?
Of course, she said. All of us have been watching… waiting to see if your group would find us. Our physical forms may have been frozen, but our minds weren't. It has been… very lonely, waiting. I worried you would never return.
Oh… That sounded absolutely horrible. I crouched down to get closer to her. But return? What did that mean? I had never been here before.
I winced. I'm so sorry you had to wait so long.
It no longer matters. My name is Kizath. The queen's eyes whirled that beautiful array of rainbows as she reached out to press her head against my hand, which I realized I had been holding out. We are together at last. I will never leave your side ever again.
Kizath… What a perfect name.
Without a second thought, I scooped the little dragon into my arms, hugging her. "Welcome to our family, Kizath."
Tiara chirped happily, looking down at the other queen. That made me smile. They would get along just fine.
For the first time in my life, the feeling that something was missing, that some part of me was gone… completely vanished.
