DRAGON'S TREASON
CHAPTER 7: THE RISE AND THE FALL
Day 11, Month 6, Turn 100, 9th Interval
The watchdragon roared—a clear, mournful roar that caught every dragon's attention.
The weyrlings, who had all been about to begin today's swim training, paused to look towards the watchtower. A familiar massive bronze had materialized in the air above the Bowl, closely followed by some browns and blues and a lone green. Asha immediately recognized Romanoth and Yezmuth. But as the dragons began to carefully lower themselves down onto the Bowl, she noticed their numbers seemed awfully small. She thought wings were bigger than this.
Something is wrong, Kalianth said.
"Shells," Y'gan cursed, as everyone turned towards him. "Half the wing is gone. Everyone stay here."
Asha's eyes widened. "Wait, what? What do you mean, half the wing is gone?"
Y'gan winced, as Scout perched on his shoulder. "Asha, you can come with me. Everyone else, stay here. I don't know how long this will take, so I'm leaving M'rek in charge. Please continue with your training while we're gone."
Before any other questions could be asked, Y'gan was on the move, Nerenth trailing after him. Asha looked down at Kalianth, who nodded, and they quickly followed after the Weyrlingmaster and his blue. By the time they reached the wing, the dragons had all landed and their riders were dismounting. Asha spotted both J'lan and C'zar standing together, beside Romanoth, speaking to each other, as the remaining wingriders assessed themselves and their dragons.
"J'lan! C'zar!" Y'gan called to them. "By Faranth's Egg, what happened?"
The two dragonriders immediately looked towards them as they approached. Asha noticed that J'lan's left arm hung limply at his side. Both men were covered in nicks. There was even a bloody tear in C'zar's tunic. Looking over at the other riders, they seemed to be in worse states, with actual visual injuries and bloodstains on their clothing.
"We were attacked," J'lan answered bluntly. "The Lord Holder of Bitra refused to give us any aid and ambushed us."
"What?" Asha gasped, eyes widening.
"We barely got out," C'zar said, squeezing his eyes shut. "A lot of us… didn't make it. They sprung on us while our dragons were outside. The younger blue and greenriders didn't stand a chance. And their dragons immediately went between. I don't think we'd be here if it wasn't for Romanoth literally plowing his way through the castle."
"Yes," J'lan sighed wearily, before reaching over to gently touch his limp limb. "My arm is broken, but that is the most severe injury out of what remains of the wing. I need to see J'lor immediately."
"But you're hurt," Asha said, taking a step forward. "We should take care of your injuries first-"
"No." He cut her off brusquely, shaking his head. "There is no time. Lord Sugol could be preparing for another attack as we speak. He must know there is no going back now. We must… ready ourselves for battle."
All color drained from her face. "But-" Asha began to protest, a knot tightening in her stomach.
"J'lan is right, Asha," Y'gan said with a heavy sigh. "Scout will deliver the message to the Weyrleaders. I need you to go back to the lake and get the weyrlings into the classroom. If we're going to war with these deadglows, we must keep the future generation safe."
She knew the Weyrlingmaster was right. She would only get in the way. And if anything happened to Kalianth, the future of the dragons could be destroyed. She glanced down at the young queen by her side, whose eyes whirred yellow-orange. She couldn't let anything happen to Kali, even if she wanted to help protect their Weyr. Besides… she didn't even know how to fight. The best she could do was care for the wounded. The thought infuriated her. Oh, she hated sitting on the sidelines.
But she nodded, admitting defeat, before turning her gaze onto J'lan once more, scowling. "Just don't get yourself killed, got it?" She looked over at C'zar. "The same goes for you."
C'zar flashed a cheeky smile. "Don't worry, Asha, I won't let your pool of options for Kalianth thin out too much."
J'lan let out an exasperated sigh. "Will you shut up about that?"
She knew the brownrider was only joking, but regardless, it made her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "I'll see you later," she said quickly, before turning away. "Let's go, Kalianth."
The little gold didn't protest and followed after her rider, and they headed off together.
It had taken a bit of effort to get all of the weyrlings and dragonets out of the lake and cleaned up, before returning to the weyrling classroom cavern. But everyone was talking at once, wondering where Y'gan was, asking what was going on, and so on. Asha struggled to keep everything in order, and even with her friends backing her up, it took twenty minutes to get everyone to sit down. And that was enough time for Y'gan to return, J'lan and C'zar with him. As soon as the three men entered the cavern, everyone erupted into noise, talking all at once again.
"Everyone, please calm down." Y'gan spoke, loud and clear, and it was enough for the banter to die down again. "We do not know for certain if we will be attacked. And even if we are attacked, there is still time before the holders arrive. They have to march all the way here, after all."
Asha glanced over at her friends briefly, before turning her attention to the dragonriders. It appeared that J'lan's and C'zar's injuries had both been tended to. J'lan's broken arm was now in a sling. Their worst cuts were bandaged up. Octavia had probably knocked some sense into them.
M'rek stood up. "Is it true? Did the holders really attack us?"
Of course he was the first to ask. If the situation wasn't so serious, she would've rolled her eyes.
"Not the holders," J'lan answered, turning his gaze onto the younger man. "Lord Sugol's guards. I don't think the regular citizens of Bitra are involved with this."
"Yeah, I really doubt the holders would want to turn against us," C'zar said, frowning. "Sugol is just bitter about what happened to his daughter."
"Bitter enough to kill innocent riders and their dragons," Y'gan stated grimly. "We will have time to grieve for our lost brothers and sisters, but for now, we must protect what we cannot lose." He turned his attention to the weyrlings. "J'lan and C'zar will be staying here with you, in case we are attacked and are unable to keep enemy forces from going underground."
That wasn't reassuring… at all.
"What should we do in the meantime?" Asha asked after a moment of hesitation.
"Remain here," Y'gan said, meeting her gaze. "Don't let anyone leave. Until we can be certain that Bitra is not marching on us, we can't risk anyone above ground. I'm putting you, Asha, and M'rek in charge."
M'rek, who had come to stand next to her, nodded. "As you wish, Weyrlingmaster. We'll look out for everyone."
Y'gan managed a smile, like he was proud of them agreeing to work together. "Good. I'm counting on both of you."
With that, the bluerider turned around, nodded to J'lan and C'zar, and strode out of the cavern. J'lan said nothing else, walking over to the one empty table. He sat down, turning his back to everyone, running a hand through his hair. C'zar hesitated, before sighing and turning back towards the cavern entrance. Yezmuth ambled in, taking a seat in the corner where Nerenth usually curled up during lessons. Then C'zar walked over to stand by the entrance, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.
Asha glanced over at M'rek. Their eyes met for a moment, in which M'rek flashed his trademark smirk, shoved his hands into his pockets, and sauntered over to sit back down with his fellow bronze weyrlings. Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Asha once again did a headcount to make sure everyone was present. Once she was positive everyone was safe and sound, she looked around the cavern one more time.
Her gaze fell on J'lan, where he sat alone. Romanoth must be standing guard at the entrance to the lower caverns, as he was too large to fit inside the underground caverns. Normally, she would most definitely not choose to speak with him, but she needed to know… just what had happened in Bitra that led to this?
So she walked over, and took the seat next to him. He didn't acknowledge her presence, but that was nothing new. For a moment, she sat there, trying to assess his mood. He sat rigidly, stiff as a board, his expression mostly unreadable. But Asha was no stranger to the emotions smoldering in his eyes—a dangerous mix of anger and grief.
"J'lan," Asha said. "What happened?"
For a moment, he said nothing, glowering down at his free hand, resting on the table. "...I followed Octavia's orders. We went to Bitra. We asked for aid. Sugol outright refused, and ordered his men to slaughter us."
Her eyes widened. "Completely… outright?"
J'lan nodded, turning his head to face her. "Yes. Completely outright."
Her gaze flickered down to his broken arm, bandaged up and draped in the sling. "Are you all right?"
He snorted, turning his gaze away from her. "I'm alive. I would be dead if not for C'zar's quick thinking. The others were not so fortunate. Most of my blue and greenriders… were slaughtered like beasts."
"J'lan, I'm…" Asha faltered, glancing down as she felt her heart sink. "I'm so sorry. This is… This is all my fault."
If she hadn't asked for more food for the dragonets, Octavia never would have ordered J'lan to take his wing to Bitra for aid, and… everyone would still be alive.
If it's anyone's fault… it is mine. Kalianth rested her head on Asha's lap, her multifaceted eyes whirling yellow and grey. I complained about the lack of food.
J'lan sighed softly. "Don't blame yourself. Sugol still made the decision. You had no control over that. None of us did." He looked down at the young queen. "The same goes for Kalianth."
Kali hummed, some green flecking in her eyes. At least she found the bronzerider's words reassuring. Asha remained quiet, looking down at her partner, gently stroking the gold dragonet's head, trying to soothe her nerves. No matter what he said, she still felt responsible for the whole thing.
"...Do you think we'll be attacked?" she asked quietly, not taking her eyes off Kalianth.
There was a pause. "...If I'm perfectly honest? Yes."
She forced herself to look back up at him. J'lan had sat up straight, once again looking towards her. A knot twisted in her stomach. That was the last thing she wanted to hear right now.
"Sugol has no choice," J'lan continued. "He knows that my brother will retaliate—that he won't tolerate the murders of innocent dragonriders. He must strike now, or be stricken. I don't know what will become of this. I don't know how the other Weyrs and Holds will react. But Sugol… must pay for his actions." His hand clenched into a fist, as he glowered down at the table once more. "He cannot be allowed to go free."
Asha reached out, placing her hand over his fist. "We will catch him, J'lan. He will pay for his crimes. I promise."
His blue gaze flickered to their hands, then returned to meet her eyes. For a moment, he remained silent. She felt her throat tighten, her stomach giving a nervous clench. Perhaps… Perhaps J'lan wasn't so bad after all. Perhaps she was overreacting every time she became frustrated with him.
"...Yes," he agreed. "Thank you, Asha."
Before she could utter a word, J'lan pulled his hand out from underneath hers, stood up, and walked over to where C'zar was standing guard. Asha watched them for a moment, as they exchanged some quiet words. She finally released her breath, realizing she had been holding it, and looked down at Kalianth.
"I hope everything turns out all right," she muttered.
They may have weapons, but we have dragons, Kalianth mused. And dragons have fire. We will be fine.
Asha wished she could be as optimistic.
A few hours passed. Asha wasn't sure if it was three or four, but time seemed to drag on. After the first hour, C'zar and J'lan swapped places. Eventually, Phoebe and V'rin came over to sit with her, as she had not left the table where she had spoken with J'lan. When C'zar's watch was up, he joined them in their chat. He didn't seem too worried about the situation, but he also could be hiding it very well.
After the second hour passed, J'lan returned and C'zar excused himself to go on watch again. Unfortunately, J'lan did not join them. Instead, he took to leaning against the wall, away from the table, keeping to himself, staying closer to Yezmuth. Asha decided it would be best to leave him be. He was probably still reeling from the attack. She truly couldn't imagine what that had been like.
Everything seemed to blur together after that. V'rin tried to lift the mood, but neither of them seemed to want their moods to be lifted. Asha eventually zoned out of the conversation, nodding off, with Kalianth resting her head on her lap and dozing. With her arms folded on the table, her head resting there, she would have been content to nap right there. But it was short lived.
The watchdragon roared—a clear, bellowing roar that signaled the enemy had arrived.
Everyone snapped to attention, only to erupt into chaos. Asha jolted awake, along with Kalianth, who immediately stood up. Sitting up straight, Asha rubbed her eyes, trying to regain her bearings. All color had drained from V'rin's face, while Phoebe had pursed her lips in a hard line, worry swimming in her eyes. Asha immediately turned her attention to the dragonriders. C'zar was on watch again, and J'lan had immediately strode over to him.
"Looks like they are attacking," C'zar stated grimly, turning towards his friend.
"Stay on your guard," J'lan said. "Romanoth will inform us if they get too close."
C'zar nodded. "Roger that."
Asha stood up, brushing against Kalianth. The dragonet shifted away, allowing her to move by. She needed to make another headcount—to ensure that everyone was present. One by one, she counted her fellow weyrlings, making sure she saw every single familiar face. She relayed the information to Kalianth as she went.
All bronze weyrlings are present... All brown weyrlings are present... All blue weyrlings are present… All green weyrlings-
She cut herself off, the color draining from her face. She looked around the cavern again, quickly counting every head she saw. Much to her horror, the young twins and their greens were nowhere to be seen. They were the only twelve-year-olds, so she knew she wasn't miscounting.
Anais and Laia are gone.
Kalianth's eyes whirled bright orange, the color drowning out everything else. We must find them.
Scorch it. This was her fault, in more way than one. If she hadn't fallen asleep, she might have noticed the two girls slipping away. Of course, no one else was paying attention, with how everyone was panicking over the Weyr actually being attacked. Not wasting another moment, she hurried over to where their two dragonrider guards were discussing the situation. Kalianth quickly followed after her.
"Anais and Laia are missing!"
Both men stopped, looking over at her, frowning. J'lan glanced over at C'zar, who gave a shrug, before returning his attention to her.
"Who?"
"Twin weyrlings," she answered, trying not to let her irritation show. "They both have greens. They're not here. I did another headcount, and they're gone."
J'lan sighed, pressing a hand to his temple. "We can't afford to go looking for anyone now. Not when Bitra is on our doorstep."
"They're twelve years old," Asha stated darkly, her hands clenching into fists. "They're children! We have to find them."
J'lan squeezed his eyes shut. "Asha, my orders are to remain here and protect the weyrlings. The Weyrleader commanded this himself. I cannot go against these orders."
Her anger flared, and for once, she couldn't hold her tongue. Nor did she want to.
"Is that all that matters to you?" Asha demanded, scowling fiercely. "Orders? Laws? What about people? Do they matter to you at all? Do you ever follow your heart? Do you even have one?!"
For the first time since she had met him, J'lan showed full emotion. His eyes widened in pure shock, like he had just gotten slapped in the face. Even C'zar looked surprised, like he hadn't expected her to just explode on him. It was true, she was calm more often than not, but this had crossed the line. But he remained silent, not challenging her accusation. She had shocked him dumb.
"I don't care what you say," Asha retorted, taking a step away. "No one gave me orders. If you won't look for them, Kalianth and I will." She looked down at her bonded partner, who was almost at eye level with her. "Come on, Kali."
The young queen did not protest. She followed after her rider as Asha rushed out of the cavern, before J'lan or C'zar could try to stop her. They picked up their pace, running down the tunnel, until they reached the exit, just as Romanoth was shifting his massive form out of the way. Large eyes watched them, swirling red and orange, as they emerged from the tunnel.
"Sorry, Romanoth, but we're looking for missing weyrlings," Asha said, answering the dragon's silent question. "We'll be back as soon as possible."
Some yellow mixed into the whirling hues in his eyes, creating quite the miasma of color. Be careful. The enemy approaches.
He did not stop them. He let them pass without a problem, and once again they were on their way.
At least he understands we have to find them, she grumbled.
Romanoth is very reasonable, Kalianth agreed.
They followed the rim of the Weyr Bowl, heading immediately to where the weyrling barracks were. It was a special cavern where there were multiple weyrs, two weyrling pairs to each weyr, until the dragons got large enough to require their own space. Asha and Kalianth only didn't reside there because of their special status and Octavia requesting that she had them close in case of emergency. Anais and Laia shared their weyr, which had made them very happy when the weyr assignments had been given out. And that was where Asha guessed they were. Where else could they have gone?
But the Weyr was in chaos. Dragons flew around above, in the air, riders fastened in their harnesses. Others were on the ground—mostly weyrfolk, passing around weapons and arming everyone as quickly as possible. But they could see, in the distance, that Bitra had arrived, just as Romanoth had warned.
Thankfully, the lake helped their defenses. A lot. The Bitrans had to stick to the narrow pathway, which prevented them from outright charging in. But they were moving in fast, flanking some sort of black contraption, as they flooded into Benden like a horde of spinners.
Asha faltered, slowing down as she saw that weird contraption halt in the center of intersection that led to different areas in the Bowl. It consisted of a black metal cylinder that rested on what appeared to be a wooden wheelbarrow. It was open on one end, but not on the other.
She watched in confusion as someone began to raise the cylinder so the open end was pointing towards the sky. A cart pulled by horses stopped next to it, while other soldiers continued on, meeting their matches with shouts and clanging metal. The driver hopped down, and retrieved something from inside the cart—a large black ball that glistened like it, too, was made of metal. He heaved the ball over to the contraption, dropping it inside the cylinder after staggering back as he tried to lift it. The other man did something behind the contraption. And then, with a deafening, BOOM! something fired out of the cylinder.
Flinching away from the sound, mixed with shrieks and screams, Asha watched as the black sphere struck a bronze dragon in the air. She watched in horror as she saw his coppery hide crumple under its pressure, his rib cage sinking into itself. The dragon was knocked out of the sky with a terrified cry of agony, sent spiraling until he crashed into the Bowl below, crushing his rider and the unfortunate weyrfolk who had been unable to get out of the way in time.
Wh-Wha-
Furious roars resonated around the entire Weyr, as the dragons who weren't already out and about stuck their heads out of their weyrs, all but emerging and taking to the air. Kalianth, too, let out a enraged roar, though hers wasn't nearly as menacing due to her youth. All Asha could do was stare in shock, trying to process what happened.
They just… blasted that bronze… out of the sky. What IS that thing?
I do not know, but I will destroy it, Kalianth growled.
Asha snapped out of her daze. Not at this size you won't. Come on, we need to hurry.
Not had she taken another step forward when a familiar voice called to them. "Asha!"
Gritting her teeth, she paused again, looking behind her to see none other than J'lan running towards them. Shards, her balking had allowed him to catch up. She forced herself to turn around to face him, but Kalianth glanced back, only to turn around when she noticed Romanoth was following. Trying not to look too irritated, Asha crossed her arms over her chest.
"What do you want?" she demanded once he had caught up, his dragon's movement causing the ground to tremble with each step.
"If you're going to be reckless and do this, the least I can do is come along and ensure your safety," he said, before glancing back at his massive bronze and sighing. "Besides... Romanoth would never forgive me if I let weyrlings die."
So Romanoth was his moral compass. Why was she not surprised?
"Fine," she said, turning back around. "But we have to hurry."
Asha didn't waste another moment speaking to him.
Once again, she was on the move, Kalianth right behind her, leaving the man and his dragon to keep up. The earth trembled, making them nearly lose their footing, but both girl and dragonet managed to stay balanced. Asha looked up to see Romanoth above them, gliding through the air, to land on one of the ledges that led to a personal weyr. His claws clipped against the rock, sending dust and bits of stone raining down upon them. Once they had run past that ledge, he launched himself off it, gliding to land on the next one, keeping himself above them.
Unfortunately, the weyrling caverns, as they were called, were across the Bowl, closer to the bridges that connected the entrance to the Weyr to the main Bowl. And as one could probably guess, that was where the bulk of the Bitran forces had gathered. But they had no choice. That had to be where Anais and Laia fled to. It just so happened to be a hotbed of dangerous activity. Asha was about to step out into the open, away from the Weyr's walls, away from Romanoth's shadow, when J'lan grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her dead in her tracks.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded. "Running right into the fray?"
Asha turned towards him, scowling. "The weyrling caverns are there. Anais and Laia have to be inside. There's nowhere else for them to go." She yanked her wrist out of his grip. "You don't have to go if you're too scared. Kalianth and I can do this ourselves."
Romanoth rumbled, lowering his head into clear view. We are no cowards. I will burn them with my fire if I must.
J'lan sighed. "I was afraid it would come to this. J'lor had us feed our dragons firestone in anticipation of the attack."
Asha's eyes widened. "You can't be serious-"
The bronze's eyes whirled red and orange. I do not relish in my ability to take life. But I will do what I must to protect the Weyr, dragons and humans alike. J'lan agrees.
"Yes…" The bronzerider squeezed his eyes shut. "We have no choice."
But there was no time to dwell on this horrible realization that they could very well burn people alive, because the black contraption fired again. This time, the shriek of pain belonged to a blue dragon. The metal ball struck him in the abdomen, snapping his back and sending him spinning like a boomerang, crashing into the Weyr's wall. There was a horrified human scream as his rider, who was on the ground, was stabbed from behind by one of the Bitrans.
"Romanoth."
The mighty bronze didn't have to be told twice. He launched himself off the ledge, soaring over the three of them, to blast a stream of bright flames right on the enemies. Luckily, any riders who had been in that skirmish quickly figured out what had been about to happen, and dove out of the way, only being grazed by the fire. Romanoth perched on one of the ledges above the entrance to the weyrling caverns, his eyes burning red with anger at the deaths of his brothers. Other dragons—blues and greens—came darting in to aid their riders who were on the ground, as the Bitrans flailed around, screaming in agony as they burned, before dropping dead.
Romanoth raised his head, shifting to his full height, and let out a deep roar that resonated through the Weyr, joined by his fellow dragons. More dragons took to the air, breathing fire on any Bitrans who were stupid enough to stick together in groups.
This… This was horrible. Why was Sugol doing this?
"Go," J'lan said, as Romanoth jumped off the ledge to glide down and land behind his rider. "Find the weyrlings. Bunker down in the caverns if you must. We won't let anyone get by."
Asha's eyes widened. "What about you?"
"We will ensure that that thing doesn't steal any more dragons from the sky," J'lan stated grimly, before taking a step forward, closing the distance between them. He unstrapped his sword's sheath from his belt, and handed it to her. "Take this. Use it if you're attacked."
"I don't know how to use a sword," she protested, pushing the weapon back towards him. "And your arm is broken. You need something to defend yourself with."
J'lan shook his head. "I have Romanoth. You and Kalianth are practically unarmed. I'd feel better if you could defend yourselves somehow."
She took the blade, albeit reluctantly, and quickly bound the sheath to her belt. J'lan nodded, appearing to be satisfied, and turned around to face Romanoth, who was waiting. Kalianth's mind pressed against hers, reminding her that they needed to hurry. She forced herself to turn her back on J'lan and Romanoth, and bolted for the tunnel entrance, her dragonet right behind her.
Unsurprisingly, the tunnel was vacant. The only sounds came from the fighting outside and the heavy footsteps of weyrling and dragonet as they hurried down the path. Kalianth fumbled a couple of times, still a bit ungainly with her long limbs, but she managed to keep up regardless.
If Asha recalled correctly, the twins' weyr was further inside, near the end of the tunnel. The duo slowed down as they approached the caverns. Kalianth reached out with her mind, searching for her two sisters. Just in case, Asha peeked inside each weyr they passed, hoping that she hadn't missed any other weyrlings in the chaos. Thankfully, she found no one else.
Voices sounded in the distance. Two lithe green dragonets emerged from the farthest weyr. Immediately, Kalianth leaped forward, awkwardly shifting her wings to try to keep balance. Winonath and Tallulath let out relieved cheeps at the sight of their golden sister.
"Anais? Laia?" Asha called as she reached the entrance to their shared weyr.
She spotted the two girls further back, standing in front of the dresser between their beds. They both jerked towards her, still shocked, despite their dragons' warnings. Asha still wasn't used to seeing them together, with how they were identical. They both had the same brown hair and green eyes, their faces shaped exactly the same. The only difference was that Anais kept her hair in a braid and always wore pants, while Laia kept her hair in a bun and always wore a skirt. Winonath was bonded to Anais and Tallulath was bonded to Laia.
"Asha?" Laia asked, eyes wide in surprise, as her sister clutched something to her chest.
She walked past the young dragons, entering the weyr and hurrying over to them. "What were you thinking, coming back here? You could've been killed!"
Both girls flinched. For a moment, Asha felt guilty for being so harsh, but it was true. They all could still be killed. Them coming here was foolish and reckless.
All Asha could do was hope that it didn't cause the death of any more riders and dragons—especially J'lan and Romanoth. It was true she wasn't particularly fond of the man, but Romanoth was kind in his own way. Both would make fine future Weyrleaders. Perhaps she and Kali weren't as needed, with the many queens in the Weyr, but Benden could not afford to lose those two.
"We're sorry…" Anais said quietly, looking down at whatever she was holding in her arms. "But we had to… we had to get our mama's journal." She lowered her arms to show that she was holding a journal; it was bound with leather, the cover scuffed and beaten up, tied together with a strip of leather. It had obviously seen better days. "It's all we have left of her."
...Oh.
Asha blinked, caught off guard. She… hadn't expected this. "What… happened to your mother?"
"It was always just the three of us," Laia said softly. "We never knew our father. But people treated us awful for it… for being bastards."
As soon as she said that word, the two greens returned, weaving around Asha to stand by their rider's sides. Asha felt a nudge on her shoulder, and knew it was Kalianth. Tallulath pressed her face into Laia's side, while Winonath shifted to stand so she brushed up against Anais's side.
"We've never had much," Anais said, reaching out to scratch Winonath behind a headknob. "But we never needed much either, as long as we had each other. We tried not to care what other people said about us, but… we saw how it hurt Mama. We saw how the scorn and mistreatment wore her down."
"Then she got sick," Laia continued solemnly. "Within a week, Mama was… gone."
"The orphanage took us," Anais said, a bitterness sharpening her voice. "It was awful. We ran away. Left the town. Tried to find somewhere else to live. But we ended up stuck on the streets in Benden Hold, scavenging for food. I'm not sure which is worse."
"But then G'eran found us," Laia said, smiling a little. "He's a bronzerider. He found us living on the street. He Searched us so we could get off the streets. We had nowhere else to go, so we went with him. Even if we never Impressed, we'd at least have a safe place to live."
"And look how safe it is now," Anais muttered.
That… most definitely was unexpected. Asha couldn't even be angry with them now. Of course they wanted to make sure their mother's journal was safe… If she was in their situation, she would probably do the same. She couldn't blame them. Not at all. These poor girls had been through so much.
Romanoth says to stay in here, Kalianth said, breaking the silence as she projected her voice inside everyone's mind. We should be safer-
BOOM!
The surrounding rock rattled above them, dust and particles raining down on them. The twins squeaked in fear, immediately latching onto their dragons. Kalianth let out a low growl, turning to face the exit. Asha turned as well, wondering what in Faranth's name that had been.
A pained roar that radiated rage sounded from outside, muffled by the layers of bedrock between them and the outside. Kalianth tensed, her eyes turning pure red. Anais and Laia shifted back, their eyes wide, their dragons' eyes whirling yellow and orange. Asha remained quiet, instead stepping up to stand beside her bondmate. Whatever was happening outside, they needed to keep to themselves, and not make the young girls even more afraid.
What's happening? Asha asked.
Romanoth just got clipped by one of the metal balls, Kalianth growled. He is fine. It just bloodied him a little. He's going in for the metal monster. Oh, he just crushed it. The Bitrans are angry. One just shot at him with this contraption like a miniature version of the metal monster.
Another angered roar resonated through the Weyr, followed by a series of other roars. Asha reached out to place a hand on the young queen's shoulder, trying not to shudder. Despite knowing they were mostly safe inside the weyrling caverns, she couldn't help but think of her fellow weyrfolk who were outside, fighting for their lives. Her heart pounded inside her chest, anxiety spiking with each dragon's battle cry. Everything else was too muffled to make out, but the dragons were loud.
The dragons are united. No more of us will die. A jolt of surprise spiked from Kalianth's mind, shocking Asha a little. Mother and Father have joined the fray. They are infuriated.
As if on cue, the faint roaring of two dragons sounded from outside. It was harder to hear, as it was more far away, but it was still there. Maybe now Bitra would retreat and leave them alone. But that hope was short lived, as the echoes of footsteps began to sound further down the tunnel.
Asha froze.
A voice sounded from down the tunnel, muffled but still audible.
Shards.
Asha immediately reached for the borrowed sword, as Kalianth tensed, arching her neck. She glanced behind at Anais and Laia, mouthing Hide. She wasn't sure where they could actually hide in here, but it was better than being completely out in the open. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt of the blade, but she hesitated. Could she really do this? Could she really, truly kill someone, even in self-defense?
She didn't have much of a choice. She slid the sword out of its sheath, hands trembling.
Two men appeared, wearing chainmail underneath tabards that displayed Bitra's coat of arms. As soon as the invaders saw them, one raised his blade. Asha panicked, freezing in place.
"It's the little bitch who mauled Lady Velda!" one of them snarled.
Kalianth let out a growl, her entire body tensed as if she was ready to pounce. She arched her neck and unfurled her wings, as if to try to make herself look larger. The man with the raised sword took a step forward. Asha immediately pointed her borrowed weapon at him.
"Not a step closer," she said, trying to make herself sound intimidating, but the tremble in her voice betrayed her.
"Or what?" the other man demanded. "You'll run us through? Put that sword down, girl, before you hurt yourself."
"No," Asha spat, scowling. "Back off."
"Enough of these games," the first man snapped, before lunging forward.
He moved faster than either woman nor dragon could have anticipated. The next thing Asha knew, the borrowed sword had been smacked out of her hand. The force knocked her off balance, sending her sprawling onto the ground. Kalianth snarled, leaping forward as the soldier raised his blade to strike. The young queen swatted the sword out of his hand, claws tearing into his flesh, and pounced, slamming him into the dirt. His scream of terror was cut off short as she ripped out his throat.
No one hurts Asha, Kalianth growled, eyes whirling red, projecting her voice for the remaining soldier to hear. Leave us, or you will share his fate.
She must have been terrifying, standing over the corpse, red blood staining her claws. The man's eyes were wide, his mouth open. He took a tentative step back. And then another. And another. Before finally turning tail and fleeing. For a moment, Asha sat there, her own eyes wide, trying to process what had just happened. Kalianth stepped off the body, before glancing back at her bondmate, her eyes mellowing out to orange and yellow.
I will do what you cannot, she said, yellow taking over the whirling in her eyes. I will protect you.
Asha staggered to her feet. She moved beside the young queen and threw her arms around the dragonet's neck, burying her face into the soft hide of her neck. And she wept.
Day 15, Month 6, Turn 100, 9th Interval
The next three days went by quickly.
Bitra ended up calling for retreat as soon as both of their cannons—as the Council had taken to calling them, claiming that the designs had been present in AIVAS's historical files—had been destroyed. In the chaos, Octavia had sent one of her firelizards to the Lord Holder of Benden, Elam, the Weyr's staunchest non-dragonrider-related ally, to call for help. He had reacted quickly and sent men immediately, who caught Bitra from behind. Sugol and his highest ranking officials had been arrested and surrenders from the soldiers had been taken. Anyone who resisted was killed. But the Lord Holder of Bitra was now locked away in the dungeons of Benden Hold, and that was all that mattered.
But the Weyr had taken losses. The cannons had blasted craters in the stone walls, along with slaughtering dragons. If their riders did not die in battle, they committed suicide shortly after. Many riders had perished in the conflict, as humans were more vulnerable. Their dragons had gone in between. In the end, Benden Weyr had lost at least ten percent of its population, if not more. Many more were wounded. The infirmary was overflowing. Thankfully, Lord Elam had offered to take some of the injured to his Hold for treatment. Regardless, the healers were working almost nonstop, and were constantly switching out on shifts.
Asha found herself busy. She helped in the infirmary as much as she could. Her presence was more to boost the morale of the wounded. The dragonriders were relieved that their young queen was safe and sound. Weyrling lessons were canceled until further notice, so she spent more of her time helping Octavia and Kasa put everything back together. Of course, Lorelei was of no help.
Octavia was, without a doubt, beyond stressed. When Sugol had been captured, Serelath had to assert her dominance over every dragon in the Weyr so they would not follow J'lor and Rionneleth's orders to continue on to attack Bitra. "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth," the Weyrleader had said, enraged by what had happened. But Octavia believed that would make them no better than Sugol. And they had to be better. This was unprecedented. They had to set the standard for how a Weyr would handle an attack. Asha had to agree with her.
None of the weyrlings had been injured. C'zar and Yezmuth had kept them safe and sound. But J'lan and Romanoth were not so fortunate. Asha knew he was bound to get hurt, seeing as he had given her his only weapon. He had been stabbed right through the gut—which had triggered Romanoth's rage—but thankfully it had been a clean thrust and missed any vital organs. Romanoth's hide had been scraped and bruised by the cannonball that had grazed him; it had enough force to bruise his ribs, even. J'lan was holed up in the infirmary instead of his weyr, as the healers didn't want to take any chances with complications. Asha had insisted on helping C'zar care for Romanoth, as J'lan's injury was partially her fault.
The fourth day arrived. After breakfast, Asha oiled Kalianth and walked her to Romanoth's weyr, as she wished to keep him company. Then she headed off to the council room where the Senior Weyrwoman made her office. As usual, the door was left wide open, but she could hear voices from within—Octavia and J'lor, by the sounds of it. Their voices sounded tense, like they were all but outright arguing. Asha was hesitant to interrupt, but she had promised to meet with Octavia every morning after breakfast.
"...have lost too much." J'lor sounded curt, anger sharpening his voice. "Several greenriders have miscarried because they had to go between to avoid cannonfire and they were simply trying to reach the wounded. That, added to all the injuries and casualties, has made everyone restless. They want Sugol to pay for his crimes."
"It breaks my heart, J'lor… it truly does. But we cannot answer violence with more violence. That is not our way." Octavia sighed so loudly she might as well have been standing in the tunnel. "Sugol is locked up. That is all we need. R'mel of Fort has agreed to send a young bronzerider here to replace G'eran, may he rest in peace, with how few bronzes we have."
...G'eran? Why did that name sound familiar? Wait…
That was the rider who Searched Anais and Laia. He must have been the rider of the bronze who was the cannon's first victim. Her heart sank. Oh, she hoped the twins hadn't heard yet… They would be devastated by the news.
"I've also gotten in touch with the other Weyrs," Octavia continued. "They all agree we need to have a mass meeting with the Lord Holders about what to do with Sugol. We should ask Elam if he could contact the other Holds about this."
"Diplomacy won't fix everything, Octavia," J'lor said coldly. "Times are changing. We need to investigate what happened on the Southern Continent."
"We have more pressing matters than what happened down South," Octavia answered brusquely. "Let me do my job, and I'll let you do yours."
There was a loud slam. "Scorch it, Octavia, you aren't letting me do my job!"
Heavy silence. Asha hesitated. Perhaps it would be best to just leave and come back later? Cautiously, she peered inside. Octavia stood behind the table as usual, while J'lor was across from her, on the other side. His hands were on the table, leaning into them. She realized he must have struck the table. J'lor stood up straight, and she hastily jerked back into the tunnel, so she wouldn't be spotted.
"I'm going to check up on the wounded," J'lor said, breaking the silence before it dragged on further. "Is there anything you need?"
"No. I'm fine."
There was another moment of quiet. Asha took that chance to back up further, so it would look more like she was just coming down the hallway, instead of eavesdropping for the past couple of minutes. It was a good thing she did, because J'lor stepped out of the council room. He noticed her as she walked back down the tunnel, gave her a nod, and continued on his way.
Fighting back a sigh, Asha forced herself to continue. She walked into the council room to find the Weyrwoman still standing behind the war table. Octavia looked up at the sound of footsteps, tensing, only to relax again. That argument must have really put her on edge.
"Is this a bad time?" Asha asked, hesitating.
"Oh, no, come in." Octavia waved her off, glancing down at the map for a brief moment. "How may I help you, Asha?"
"Well, I was wondering if you had any work for me," she said, walking up to the table.
"Ah…" Octavia shook her head. "No, the midwife has ordered me to take today off. This stress… is not good for the baby." She rested a hand on her belly. "You should take today to relax as well. A lot… has been going on. We need to take every chance we get to breathe."
Asha frowned. Well, that was understandable… especially with the disagreement she had just overheard. She decided it would be best not to argue, and nodded.
"All right, I will," she said. "Are you sure there isn't anything you need?"
Octavia smiled tiredly and shook her head. "I'm fine, Asha. Truly. Go enjoy your day off."
Asha nodded, excused herself, and headed on her way.
Though drudges came through regularly to clean her weyr due to her being a weyrwoman, Asha decided to use the time to tidy up and reorganize. It was strange not having Kalianth present, but she knew the young dragon was enjoying her time chatting with Romanoth. It would be selfish of her to call her back just to have company. No, she'd have to keep herself busy.
With everything that had happened, it was still hard to believe that this was her life now. She would never return to the farm. She probably would never see her parents again, unless she found the time to visit, once Kalianth could fly. Still, she wasn't getting her hopes up. There was so much going on now. Who knew what things would be like once they could fly?
She moved to clear off the desk, only to find the stack of books that J'lan had lent her months ago. She had completely forgotten she'd finished reading them all. Perhaps now would be a good time to return them. J'lan had be bored laying around in bed all day, as he was ordered to stay bedridden. Plus… it would be a good opportunity to apologize, considering her outburst the other day.
So she gathered up the books, told Kalianth she was heading to the infirmary, and went on her way. In a few minutes, she had arrived.
The infirmary was still just as packed four days later, but healers were rushing around less and there wasn't as much moaning. Asha knew the person she sought was further back in the cavern. She shifted her hold on the books, trying to make them not look too obvious. A couple healers greeted her as she walked by, which she returned, but not without mentioning she was just here to visit.
Finally, she reached J'lan. He was propped up against some pillows, covered by a blanket, his arm still in a sling. His eyes were closed, his chest slowly rising and falling, like he was asleep, but she wasn't sure. She hesitated, glancing over at the nightstand. She could just put the books down there if he was asleep.
Kalianth? Could you ask Romanoth if J'lan is awake?
There was a pause. Yes. Romanoth says he is trying to ignore everything.
Why was she not surprised?
Asha cleared her throat. J'lan opened his eyes, his gaze immediately flickering over to her. For a moment, neither said a word.
"...What?" he asked curtly, breaking the silence.
Asha fought the urge to scowl and retort. No, she needed to be the better person here. She had come here to apologize and return his books, not be baited into another argument. Briefly, she closed her eyes and took a breath to calm herself.
"I wanted to… apologize." Asha forced herself to open her eyes and meet his gaze. "For what I said the other day. It was uncalled for and I shouldn't have said it. You were simply trying to do your job and I overreacted. I'm sorry."
J'lan remained silent, his gaze shifting away from her, before returning. "Don't apologize. You were right… as loathe as I am to admit it."
Asha's eyes widened. What?
He looked away again. "I should have agreed to look for the girls, or at least sent C'zar to do so. But I didn't. For that, I apologize."
For a moment, Asha didn't know what to say. She honestly hadn't expected this. Maybe she truly had been wrong about him. Maybe she had misjudged him. She thought of how Remma asked her to be his friend. She supposed she could do that, now that she saw he wasn't actually all that bad.
"...I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," she said quietly. "Anais and Laia are. And they're… traumatized by what happened."
It was true. After they had seen Kalianth… maul that soldier to death… they'd been waking up to nightmares. Asha felt awful. It was her own fault for being so weak. If she hadn't balked, Kali never would have done that. The death would have been clean. The twins would have at least been less traumatized. This all was just one huge mess.
J'lan sighed, looking down. "Yes. Of course."
Asha hesitated. "I… I also thought you'd like these back." She finally set the books down on the nightstand. "You could use them more than me."
He looked back up, at the books, and then back at her. Letting out a sigh, his shoulders relaxed and he closed his eyes once more, a faint smile tugging on his lips.
"Thank you, Asha. I'll put them to good use."
