Author's Note
I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern series.
This is the last proper chapter. There is one more to come, but it's more of a list of the dragonets, who they Impressed (because not all of them were shown or the dragonets named) and a little on their life going onwards.
Sirena stood at the mouth of the hatching sands and gazed out across them. Seventy two (well, seventy one since one hadn't hatched) baby dragonets, three Queens, and not one was hers.
Her mother laid a hand on her shoulder. "Pern needs more Queens. You can stand again at another Weyr. Kaya says Koyolth is to rise soon. She'll probably lay a Queen, since Ista only has the one now."
"No," Sirena replied.
"What?"
"I said no. I can't do this again."
"Sweetheart, you can't give up."
"How many times have I stood? How many times do I have to leave the sands disappointed? The dragons don't want me."
"That's not true. The dragons love you. And you shouldn't squander your gift."
Sirena jerked away from her hand. "I can't do this again mother. I can't stand and be rejected again, I can't do it anymore. I'm done."
"Sirena-"
"I said I'm done. This is me saying no more. I can't take it anymore."
Her mother nodded slowly, though Sirena knew in her heart she still didn't understand. How could she, with Nareth to love her?
"What do you want to do?"
"I don't know yet. I might ask if I can go to one of the other Weyrs, or a small Hold somewhere, train as a Healer, or a Headwoman's apprentice."
"You never told me you wanted to be a Healer."
"You never asked."
Jalenna sighed. "Come on. They'll be starting the feast soon."
"I think I might just… Stay here for a little bit."
Read: she couldn't bear to face them. The girls she'd grown close to, the boys she'd instructed and ordered about for chores, who were all now dragonriders with newly hatched dragonpartners while she wasn't.
"Don't stay out here too long. I'll speak to you later, alright?"
"Yeah."
Sirena deliberately didn't look as her mother walked away down the corridor. Everyone had always been so sure she would impress: the Weyrwoman and Weyrleader's daughter, the empath, the expert. Even Revina had impressed. Sirena had seen her feeding a sturdy little green handfuls of meat at the feeding area when she took Rasia over.
She sighed heavily and dragged a hand over her eyes. Part of her wondered whether she meant it – but no, she did. She couldn't do this again.
She had stood here too many times.
Dancer appeared from between, fluttering down to land on her shoulder. Her back and wings were scarring from the Threadscore, and soon she would be too egg heavy to be able to do so. Sirena sighed. "I don't need you checking up on me K."
Dancer trilled sadly and nuzzled her cheek, before fluttering off to explore the sands. Sirena cast another glance across them. They looked haunting and unfamiliar with the carnage from the Hatching still scattered across them.
Her gaze passed over her small egg, still motionless and forgotten.
A dud, just like everyone had said.
In a clutch of seventy one (seventy one!), it was probably inevitable.
She should never have laid her hopes on it.
It could have damaged her chances with the other hatchlings that she was preoccupied with an egg that was never going to hatch. She knew not to make that mistake again for the next time-
The next time that wasn't going to be.
She needed to leave as soon as she could.
Maybe one of the other Queenriders would take her back to their Weyr. High Reaches was probably in need of some help right now, and so was Dawnfall. She had seen three bronzeriders from Dawnfall at the hatching, watching the young Queens hopefully and eagerly. Without their Weyrwoman they might appreciate a helping hand.
Sirena smiled, her decision made.
She had turned away and taken the first few steps of the rest of her life when Dancer swooped in behind her with a note of urgency, diving in front of her face. Sirena batted at her. "I'm not in the mood for getting drunk and celebrating K."
Dancer shrieked in outrage, tugging furiously at her tunic. A bronze – one of Dorasa's Sirena recognised – and another Queen – Yariel's, presumably – flashed from between, the Queen dashing into the Hatching cavern while the bronze slammed into her stomach. Sirena grunted and pushed him away, glancing over her shoulder to where Yariel's Queen was now divebombing the small egg, scratching and screeching at it furiously.
They could just recognise it as unhatched and be confused – but Dancer had seen that several times before, Nareth laid duds every few clutches and Lulorth had laid several.
So what was the problem here?
Dancer gave another desperate cry and another bronze appeared from between, along with a brown and two blues Sirena didn't recognise and guessed must be Yornam's. The first bronze swooped over the small egg, shrieking in shrill alarm. Sighing, Sirena steeled herself and strode back to the mouth of the Hatching cavern to see what all the fuss was about.
The egg twitched.
Sirena stared hard at it.
It looked still.
Maybe it was just the Queen shoving it; maybe she was imagining things-
But it twitched again, rocking ever so slightly. Sirena hesitated a little longer and it gave a more violent shudder. She turned to Dancer. "Tell K to bring my mother back to the sands."
Dancer gave a sharp trill and then dove across the sands to join the other Queen and the two began pecking and scratching at the shell.
Sirena sighed.
Typical.
Of course, she could run for her mother herself, but what if the egg hatched before they got back and there was no one there to impress?
Sirena stepped out onto the sands and made her way across them. There was a thin, hairline crack across the shell, small enough that it could have been missed during the chaos of the hatching. Sirena laid her hands on the shell. It was warm still, and she could feel faint vibrations and a presence inside the shell. It gave another rock, more violent and desperate this time. The crack spread a little further, but it wasn't widening or breaking like it should.
Sirena wet her lips and closed her eyes, tipping her head back and reaching further than she had ever reached.
The feast was in full fever. The entire Weyr – and, indeed, across Pern – was celebrating the birth of their new Queens, their siblings, and the new riders, however unusual they may be. Jalenna took a mouthful of her wine and gazed out across the hall. K'res nudged her. "Don't look so down. Nareth's clutch did amazingly. You and her have brought hope back to Pern."
"Sirena wants to leave."
His smile faded into a frown. "She what?"
"She wants-"
She was interrupted by Nareth, who suddenly screamed for her. Jalenna sprang to her feet, spilling her wine across the table.
"Jalenna? What is it?"
"It's Nareth! She says Sirena's still on the sands and the small egg is hatching!"
"And no one will be there to impress!"
"I'll try to round up some of the candidates- But most of them are in no fit state-"
Drunk, he meant. With a clutch of this size, even the disappointed candidates were celebrating, cheering for their friends.
"The egg hatches! There must be someone to impress!"
"Just- Do what you can. I need to be at the Hatching ground!"
The egg was still rocking and the crack spreading, but it was getting no larger or wider and no shards were falling or holes forming.
Like all weyrbred children, Sirena had been taught before she could walk that you must never break the shell for a dragonet. Those that couldn't break free themselves tended to be sickly or weak, deformed or dying in the shell.
And yet this one was clearly alive; alive and fighting for its life!
Sirena broke Rule Number One.
She slammed her fist into the egg, but at this point in their life, the shells were as hard as stone. Instead Sirena drew the belt knife she had replaced when she helped Rasia feed Kirioriarth and drove the hilt hard into the shell where it was cracking. It took a few good hits, but at last the crack began widening and a few shards falling off. The firelizards swooped above her head, humming loudly. Sirena slammed her knife into the shell again and again, tearing at the crack with her hands between pounds. The sharp edges bit into her palms and fingers, drawing scarlet blood.
Nareth appeared from the hidden entrance, gliding down onto the sand. She roared, caught between whether to hum or bellow when she realised what Sirena was doing. "You must not! The hatchling must hatch by itself!"
"She's trying!" Sirena screamed back through the pain in her head and arms, giving the shell one last hard blow with the knife hilt that finally split it open down the middle and revealed the thick inner membrane, the reason why the little dragon hadn't been able to punch through the shell with its own head or claws like other dragonets. Sirena struggled to hold her blood slippery hands still enough to slice through the slippy sac and at last free the tiny dragonet, which slithered trembling and exhausted from the ordeal onto the sands.
Jalenna raced out into the Hatching Cavern and found her daughter knelt in the sands by a small dark shape. Nareth rumbled discontentedly.
"The hatchling has impressed."
"You… broke the egg open?" Jalenna asked in disbelief. She knew better than that! K'res appeared from behind her with a few of the younger and less drunk boys behind him. They skidded to a stop to take in the sight in front of them, the Weyrwoman and her dragon facing off against her golden haired daughter, who was still knelt in the sands next to her tiny, midnight black dragon.
"She was already hatching," Sirena replied, her fingers tracing the little dragon's frail looking wings as she got to her feet. "She just needed some help."
Her mother gaped at her.
"Besides, what's done is done. I can't unImpress."
That was true, but part of Jalenna couldn't shake the idea that her daughter could have had a great golden Queen instead of this tiny little miscoloured thing.
"What's one more unusual dragon at this hatching?" K'res asked, breaking the silence. A few of the boys laughed awkwardly.
"Well Sirena? What's her name?"
Sirena smiled proudly. "Her name is Lairuluaith."