Shelt was showing Tibitha the alternate fingers for the Letters Song when Reelon popped his head inside the room and made a jerking motion with his head to the common room.
"Keep practicing, that, and I'll check back in with you shortly." He said, standing and joining the Herdsman in the other room. Gwedli was there, looking worried.
"A Runner just came by, and gave Gwedli this." He held out a scrap of leather, the type used by the Herdbeasthall for mass produced messages. Shelt took the message and read it, slowly blanching.
"Is this for real?" He asked quietly. Reelon nodded.
"This is trouble then. For all of you. You might consider asking the your Halls to send a couple beefy apprentices to join you for the rest of the winter."
"The Runner said snow's already falling in the high passes. They'll never get here in unless they come in on dragonback." Gwedli sighed.
"You could always ask C'bay to do it." Shelt offered. Gwedli shook her head.
"He's been too busy with ferrying healers to attend Benden's blowbys. Cold season is always the worst for small holdings." She frowned softly, running a hand through sliver shot hair. "Our last letter to Charrie had to go by Runner."
Shelt glanced at the letter again, then handed it back to Reelon. "I could always put out the word that I was staying here for the winter, and have my students come here instead." He looked to Gwedli. "Do you have supplies enough to handle a small influx of people?"
"We always keep extra on hand, since she's the only Master Healer in the area," Reelon said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm only a Journeyman." Gwedli demurred, patting his hand.
"Only because you refused the rank." Shelt reminded her with a wink. "You didn't honestly think that story wouldn't get out?"
"I expected that the best man at our wedding wouldn't write a highly popular love song about it when he learned of it." Gwedli grumbled good naturedly.
"I had no idea it would be so popular," Shelt protested.
"Sure you didn't." Gwedli and Reelon said at the same time. Shelt laughed, and Flit winged in, landing on his shoulder.
"Alright, alright, I know when I'm outnumbered." He said, and pulled out a slip of thin beaten paper plant, and a nub of a grease pencil. "Let me alert Harperhall, and you can put me to work, getting the cot ready for boarders."
Ladyholder Minket preened under the attention, a proper parade of Hold watch and both watchwhers winging above, an hour after dusk the following day. Namul rode along side of her as Fulsa rode Telgarsk, the dragonkin careful to fly upwind of the procession so as not to spook the runner beasts. Mistle, in an unusual show of concern had been returned to the main Hold with B'ton, at her mother's insistence, although Fulsa uncharitably thought it had more to do with the impending betrothal. Lanterns had been lit and runners fitted with night lights, making for a rather pretty procession. Telgarsk sent Fulsa an image as a third body joined them in the night sky, flying off to their left.
Wubath?
I am here. The bronze's mental tone sounded like B'ton voice, but deeper.
May I inquire after Char? She asked, scanning the night sky.
She will live. The Weyrhealer says she broke her right leg in three places.
And Vaeth? Telgarsk snorted, and glanced back at his bondmate.
He was not hurt. He will not leave her side. The bronze replied evasively after a long moment. Fulsa grit her teeth, but didn't pursue the conversation further. The watchwhers both had woken their mindmates with crowded, confused images, from what must have been from the blue dragonet's point of view of a mountain of stone that keep burying something heartbreakingly vital every time some of the stone was moved away. Later E'lar, the brownrider left by B'ton to 'reassure' Minket, explained what happened. Except that the watchwhers seemed to think something more occurred, and it ate at her. Telgarsk sighed under her, and shared another image with her.
"Yes, Telly, I will ask her." She pat the wher's neck, and didn't much care if Wubath heard her thoughts on the matter.
Namusk intruded, alerting them to movement in the orchards to the east.
We are closer. Wubath announced before silently gliding away, the merest shadow under twin waning moons.
Something also peaked Namusk's interest to the south, and she flew ahead to investigate.
Telgarsk whined suddenly peering to the west, and Fulsa bit her lower lip.
"Go lower, Telly. I don't like this."
It's gone. Wubath announced suddenly his head swinging around like it did when he scanned the skies for errant Thread.
It went between? B'ton tensed up, and looked back at the Ladyholder's train in the distance.
Yes, it must have. Not 'he', B'ton noted, and was uncertain if it was deliberate on Wubath's part, or not.
I do not know it is the bronze wher or not. It was bigger than a man, and now it is gone.
Was it dragon-kin? B'ton asked him, scanning the skyline for telltale disappearing stars.
Yes. That was tantamount to admitting it was a wher. But it might be a wild wher, it wouldn't touch minds with me.
That was an interesting development, B'ton reflected. He'd never heard of a dragonkin deliberately ignoring the call of another. Even if they were on their way someplace else, firelizards always touched the minds of their larger cousins in passing.
The wild ones do not like to touch minds with us. We are as difficult to understand as they are to us. The bronze rumbled under him, catching and updraft. Telgarsk says there is movement to the south and west as well, his handler is having him fly lower.
A shudder suddenly went through the bronze. No! Fly high- They went between.
Telgarsk must have sensed something wrong for he popped between before Fulsa even felt the fabric of her riding jacket rip, but that didn't stop the cold from eating into her shoulder before they materialized above a screaming Namusk, who was flying straight at the gigantic watchwher bearing down on the Lady Holder.
On the ground Namul freed his spear, a special one with a harpoon's barbed head attached to the ironwood shaft, and jumped off his runner onto the back of Minket's panicking runner. The added weight might slow the runner down, but it also kept the beast from throwing the Lady Holder, who was fighting to keep it with the rest of the procession.
"Let it run!" Namul shouted at her, spear at the ready, Namusk shrieking in his mind and the night sky, temporarily diverting the diving bronze. He and the Watch had a plan, they always had a plan, and it was time to draw the titanic wher away from where it would do the most damage.
Hello all! If you see any grammatical or spelling errors please let me know ASAP. I'll see you all in a month.