The eggs grew harder as the eager Candidates sat through their lessons with the Weyrlingmaster. No one could wait for the Hatching to begin.

But there were lessons to learn and chores to do until then. The great Yasmuth sat protectively over her eggs, her first Clutch, not allowing anyone but her rider onto the Sands.

The Weyrlings were starting their first flying lesson only two sevendays before the new Clutch was due to Hatch. G'plin had allowed the Candidates to have a day off to watch. Most of them lay against the warm rock of the open ledge, sunbathing as they waited for the dragons to appear. Several adult greens were to fly up in formation to illustrate the proper technique but they had yet to show up.

Suddenly, five green dragons burst from between, the riders laughing as their dragons shrieked in delight.

Each green spun in the air gracefully, flipping over backwards twice in a tight curl before diving towards the ground. They descended at incredible speed, their wings held tight to their chests, unfurling them at the last instant, and back winging to land on their hind feet. They settled to the ground effortlessly, the same distance apart as they had been in the air.

The Weyrlings and Candidates stood in frank amazement for a full minute before one clapped. They all joined in enthusiastically, adding their shouts of approval. Someone whistled piercingly.

"Alright. Now you all are going to try," Weyrlingmaster G'plin said, "I want you to mount your dragon and, when I give you the go-ahead, I want you to tell your dragon to launch off of the lip of the ledge, then use the freefall to slip into a glide. I promise you, you won't kill yourselves."

Wide eyes met his announcement. G'plin simply smiled.

"R'for, you first."

A tall boy led his bronze out to the edge of the rock. He looked down nervously before climbing aboard his dragon. The bronze snorted, backing up slightly. He bunched his massive hindquarters, wiggling them, and then sprang up.

With a mighty thud, they crashed back down to earth, barely a meter ahead of where they had been before. Laughter burst forth from the Weyrlings and Candidates. The rider's face flushed an embarrassed pink.

G'plin rubbed his lips, masking any amusement.

"That was good for a first try, R'for. This time tell Hemanth to concentrate on putting his energy into going forward instead of up."

The rider nodded and the two jumped again. This time they managed to get halfway into open air when Hemanth scared himself and leapt backwards, his legs grabbing onto the rock.

"Again, R'for," G'plin said.

ØØØ

Buthaynah's stomach heaved as she saw a blue and his rider jump off the edge. The dragon's color reminded her too much of the berries she had eaten at breakfast. She clapped a hand to her mouth and ran back into the Weyr, praying to Faranth that she would not make a mess of the hallway.

She reached the latrines. The sick smell did nothing to make her feel better. Buthaynah dropped to the floor. Her stomach clenched and hot, acidic vomit shot out of her mouth. She choked, her hair falling into her mouth.

A hand, not her own, pulled her hair back gently.

"Thanks," she groaned before she heaved again.

Her stomach muscles seized up again and again, even when nothing more came out. Buthaynah leaned back, her hands on her thighs. Someone combed her hair back from her face. A wet cloth was pressed against her forehead.

"You want some water?" a voice asked. It was Ghaliyah, her friend.

"Yeah," Buthaynah said.

A glass of water was given her and she took a sip, swishing her mouth out. She spit the water into the latrine and stood up.

"Uhmh," she grunted, the sudden movement bringing even more nausea.

Buthaynah sipped the water as Ghaliyah used the cloth to clean her face and clothes, the first girl still too weak to do it herself.

"You're sweating!" Ghaliyah said, surprised, "Come on, let's go outside."

She pushed Buthaynah out of the latrine room towards the cool morning air. Buthaynah tried to tell Ghaliyah that she normally became overheated after throwing up but Ghaliyah kept insisting they get out in the fresh air.

They sat down on the ledge to watch the last Weyrling, a green, fly off to meet the rest of the class. The beating of her wings pushed a great draft of air onto the girls. The other Candidates were gone, having tired of watching the repeated miss attempts to fly.

Suddenly, a huge shadow flew over Ghaliyah and Buthaynah. A streak of gold, then another, went past. It was two of the queen dragons coming in to land. They swooped down on the girls, who jumped up and ran back to the entrance to the Weyr. With a soft thump, the queens touched down on the rock ledge, their gigantic forelegs each as big around as the two girls combined.

A rider swung herself from the back of the closer queen, pulling her helmet off as she walked towards Buthaynah and Ghaliyah. A shower of reddish-brown hair poured out and the woman gestured towards Buthaynah, an indecipherable look on her face.