I'm getting better at remembering to update. Guess I'm settling back into the routine.
Even if I changed my name, I still wouldn't be the real Anne McCaffrey.
"Ready to fly, my friends? For the last time?" M'kai called.
"Yes!" the enormous group behind him roared.
"Then let's go!" M'kai cried, pumping his arm. As one, one third of Hanrahan Weyr took to the sky. J'nin's team had already fought off Thread over Paradise River Hold and the Dolphin Hall, but M'kai's Fall was over the Weyr itself.
"Thread!" came the cry from the lookout, and instantly, great dragon heads turned to accept firestone from their riders, crunching it into pebbles small enough to swallow, while the queen riders checked the nozzles on their flamethrower tanks. M'kai sighed in contentment as Tyrith swallowed the first lump and asked for another. Fighting Thread always made him feel truly alive.
"Everyone to their position!" he roared, and obediently, the oversized wing manoeuvred so each pair had a clear space around themselves to flame Thread without injuring another dragon. It had taken M'kai quite a while to plot all the positions, but it was paying off now. No dragon would be scorched by another in his wing!
The upper wings have made contact, Tyrith reported.
Very good, M'kai replied. Any problems?
No, Tyrith answered. Everything is going according to plan.
Then there was little time for reports as Thread descended to their level and they had to put all their concentration into fighting.
Be careful, Tyrith! M'kai cried. The wind's sending it into tangles.
Makes it easier to flame, Tyrith said smugly, searing a clump to char that flew back into M'kai's face and made him cough.
Are you all right? Tyrith asked, instantly contrite. I didn't mean for that to happen.
"I'm fine," M'kai choked, removing his goggles to wipe his streaming eyes.
Suddenly Tyrith roared and jerked, and M'kai was flung against his harness, the strap biting into his thigh. "Tyrith!" he screamed, the sensation of pain he was receiving from the bronze driving everything else out of his head.
I've been hit! Tyrith screamed. My wing is on fire!
Reacting to pure instinct, Tyrith flicked between, then re-emerged in the air above the Weyr. M'kai checked his dragon's wings, and gasped in horror when he saw that Tyrith's left wing had been nearly shredded. I'll get help, big guy, he reassured Tyrith.
Tyrith, what's wrong? M'kai heard Brekke ask Tyrith, her voice soothing, trying to calm him down.
I'm falling! Tyrith roared.
Tyrith's been badly hit. We need a rescue crew, M'kai sent via Tyrith, trying not to panic.
On the way, Brekke replied.
Within seconds, three dragons had lifted up from the Weyr and were speeding towards them. M'kai could just make out D'ron and Jarrath in the lead, D'ron's face grim.
"D'ron!" M'kai cried.
"M'kai! Unbuckle your harness!" he shouted. "We need to get you off Tyrith!"
M'kai nodded, and undid the straps that held him in place. He stroked Tyrith's neck, whispering comfort, then slid off into D'ron's waiting arms. He gave D'ron a brief but fierce hug, then turned to look at Tyrith. From here, his injury looked even worse, and M'kai felt ill at the sight.
"B'kennor, you and Dioanth get underneath Tyrith and support him," D'ron called. "J'nin and I will guard you." Faint cries indicated that he had been heard and understood, and the three dragons moved into position. M'kai felt agonising pain as Tyrith's tattered wing came to rest on that of the bigger bronze beneath him, then he and Tyrith both passed out.
x
"M'kai!" D'ron said in alarm, then relaxed a little as he realised his brother was only unconscious. Tyrith was losing a lot of ichor, and it was not unknown for a dragon to die from such injuries and for their rider to follow them into death.
"Is he all right?" B'kennor called from Timith's neck. There was no room for him to stay on Dioanth while he had Tyrith on his back.
"He's as well as can be expected, B'kennor," D'ron called back. "He doesn't seem to be injured, if that's what you mean."
"Let's get them back down to the ground!" J'nin called, pointing downwards. "Brekke's got everything set up for a wing reconstruction, and Kirsty's waiting for news of M'kai."
"Down we go then!" D'ron shouted.
They started their descent, Timith and Jarrath occasionally flaming random clumps of Thread that got through the upper levels. Odd updrafts buffeted them around, and Dioanth came perilously close to dropping Tyrith, but the disaster was averted by a quick nudge from Timith.
"Nice catch, J'nin!" D'ron called, giving him a thumbs-up.
He was then forced to grab for his straps as Jarrath caught his wing tip on a cliff and tipped off balance. He let out a yell as Jarrath fell beneath him, and M'kai was tossed into the air, landing halfway down Jarrath's back.
"D'ron! Are you all right?" B'kennor called anxiously.
"I've got to get M'kai!" D'ron called, and unbuckled his harness. Getting his balance, he crawled along Jarrath's back, using the wingridges that ran down his spine as handholds. He reached M'kai, but as he stretched out towards his unconscious brother, M'kai began to slide off, and D'ron was forced to lunge for him, barely catching the wingridges with his feet.
"Help!" he screamed. J'nin and B'kennor attempted to get in close enough to reach them, and Jarrath tried to roll to help, but there just wasn't enough space. D'ron felt his grip slipping, and screamed again.
Help comes, Jarrath called. Brekke has asked Ruth to come. He is the only one of us small enough to help.
It was only a momentary diversion, a slight slackening of his grip, but it was enough for M'kai's gloves to slip off his hands and for M'kai himself to plummet towards the ground. D'ron screamed, then to his horror, felt himself slipping as well. He tried to turn and grab one of Jarrath's wingridges, but it was too late, and D'ron felt himself follow his brother in a fall that would surely kill them, his own terrified scream and the shouts of his friends echoing in his ears.
I'm afraid this was another short chapter, but it was the perfect place to leave it: cliffhanger! Or should that be dragonhanger?