My Choice
My name is Caranth.
I am a fighting dragon,
Pride of
Alinna
The fair-haired,
The laughing,
The spark,
My Alinna.
The time to fight Thread
Has come,
And we are ready.
High in the sky
We fight!
We flame and swoop,
Her and I.
We fight for all of
Pern,
Our home.
A trickle of silver falls.
Of course, I breathe
To singe it.
To burn it.
To destroy it.
There is no flame, though.
No spark.
The silver death falls
Onto me.
It burns!
I cry out my pain.
So does she.
It did not touch her, but it eats me.
It hurts her.
We fall together, and I feel my wings
Disintegrate.
Dissolve.
Become nothing.
I blink into between.
The blessed cold envelops us,
Killing the death.
Out, out
Into the sun!
The warmth thaws
My frigid bones,
Now gleaming in the light.
Alinna falls off.
The straps that kept her safe have
Dissolved as well.
She sees me.
Screams.
My Alinna.
I am wingless.
A dragon without
Wings.
The high-flyer is
No more.
I will never again
Feel the singing of the wind over my
Wings,
Never to dive again at
Prey,
Killing it from the sky.
No more. No more.
The pain is too much.
I will, I must leave.
I cannot stay.
It is for Alinna.
How would she fight
Without a flying partner?
I close my eyes,
Tell her of my choice.
She cannot believe me.
She will not let me go.
She cries.
My Alinna,
I must.
I must.
Alinna,
You are young!
You can try again,
For another
Partner.
I will only keep you
Grounded,
Tethered,
Unable to choose.
I do not want you to be unhappy,
My Alinna.
She understands.
Of course she does.
Now I can be
Free
From pain.
My Alinna nods.
I will go, but not without a goodbye.
Goodbye, Caranth
May you fly again,
Or rest forever in peace.
Goodbye, my Alinna.
May you live
Long and happily.
Darkness envelops me,
Folds me into its soft caress.
Now there is no pain, and
I can
Rest,
At peace.