“What would I tell your mother if something happened to you?”
“I’ll be fine,” Tiona said.
“I’d like to see you a bit older before you break your first bone,” Xhinna told her.
“What’s a bone?” Kimar asked.
Xhinna touched his forearm and, pressing down lightly, traced the bone. “That is a bone.”
“They break?” Tiona asked, surprised at the notion and idly tracing the line of the forearm she was using to hold on to the top of the canopy.
“They do, indeed, break,” Xhinna assured her gravely. “And they take months to heal.”
“Months?” Kimar asked, his blue eyes wide.
“Months,” Xhinna repeated. “In a cast, something that keeps the bone still so that you can’t move.”
“Can’t move?” Tiona said, aghast. She examined her arm with more respect and slowly climbed back up to the canopy. “I’ll stay here.”
“You can follow me, if you’re careful,” Xhinna said.
“What if you break something?” Kimar asked.
“Well, I’d better make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Pretending to have more confidence than she felt, Xhinna cautiously picked her way through the canopy. Beneath it, she discovered a thick network of branches. It took concentration to negotiate her path through them, and after a while, she found herself at an impasse. With a sigh, she climbed back up toward the canopy, shooing Tiona ahead of her.
Tazith, keep an eye on Kimar, Xhinna thought to her dragon.
Always, the blue dragon replied laconically.
“There’s a thin tree here!” Tiona said as they moved upward. “It’s got a branch right here!”
Before Xhinna could say anything, she heard a grunt, and the toddler said, “Oh, these branches are much easier!”
Xhinna saw Tiona scamper on down beside her and wave from the other tree.
“I can go all the way down,” the little girl exclaimed.
“Wait!” Xhinna called. “Let me get over there, too.”
“Aw!” But Tiona waited for Xhinna to make her way across. The branch that Tiona had used was pretty thin for the adult dragonrider, but Xhinna managed and soon was among thicker branches. She glanced down and saw that Tiona was right: they could go nearly all the way down to the ground.
With Tiona still in the lead, the two went down to the lowest branch on the tree. Xhinna was relieved to see that there was a good half-dragonlength between it and the ground—high enough that she was certain neither a Mrreow nor a tunnel snake could negotiate the gap—not that Xhinna had ever heard of a tunnel snake climbing aboveground.
“Okay, time to go back up,” Xhinna said. Tiona groaned in protest, so Xhinna added teasingly, “Race you to the top!”
Tiona, as Xhinna had planned, won easily and was peering down at Xhinna as she broke through the canopy. Kimar was sitting nearby, cross-legged, staring into the distance.
“I kept watch,” he told them. “I think I saw some wherries.”
“Wherries!” Xhinna said. They hadn’t seen the avians on Eastern Isle. If they could be caught, they’d make good eating, particularly for the growing weyrlings. And their fat could be rendered into oil to soothe patchy dragon skin.
Tazith was stretched out in a circle on a thick part of the canopy. He looked comfortable enough. Xhinna scanned the treetops for other sites that might hold a dragon. She stopped when her count reached thirty—more than enough for the twenty-two of them.
Tazith, love, Xhinna thought softly to her blue, it’s time to go. We need to get back.
With a tree-shaking yawn and stretch, the blue got carefully back on his feet.
If we could find a place near the edge, I could just glide, he told her.
First, let’s get everyone here, then we can look.
“You want us to live in the trees?” Taria asked when Xhinna explained her plan to the others.
“It’s comfy!” Tiona said.
“And it’s nice,” Kimar added, then frowned. “Except for the pricklers.”
“It’s high off the ground, safe from tunnel snakes and Mrreows,” Xhinna said. “If it doesn’t work out, we can find another place.”
“How are we going to get Coranth there?”
“Tazith can lift her and then she can go between,” Xhinna said. “Up in the trees she’ll find it easier to rest her leg—she can stretch it out without bumping into anything.”
“What about when it rains?” Taria asked.
“By then we can probably make places for the dragons below the treetops and the leaves above will keep us dry,” Xhinna said after a moment’s thought. “We’ll leave as soon as the hunting parties return.”
“What about fire?” Taria asked. “I can’t see making one up in the trees.”
“No,” Xhinna agreed, temporarily stumped. “We can build a fire someplace on the ground. We can abandon it at night if we can’t protect it.”
Taria grinned at her friend. “It sounds like you’ve thought of everything, Weyrwoman.”
“Weyrwoman?”
“You’re making a weyr and you’re a woman,” Tiona said reasonably. “And you’re in charge, like my mother.”
Taria smiled at her partner. Xhinna shook her head diffidently.
“It’s either that or Weyrlingmaster,” Taria warned her.
“No, that’s K’dan’s job,” Xhinna said promptly.
Taria’s face drained of color at the mention of K’dan. She moved closer to Xhinna and spoke into her ear, “What about the Thread? Did it get him and the others?”
Xhinna moved back and smiled at her. “I don’t think so. In fact, I’ve an idea where to find them.”
“You do?” Taria asked, surprised. “Where?”
“When,” Xhinna corrected.
It took most of the day to move the hatchlings and their riders, two at a time, up to what R’ney instantly dubbed, “Sky Weyr.”
After a lot of fussing, the new riders settled down with their dragonets who were, as usual, hungry. Leaving Taria to care for Coranth, Xhinna collected R’ney and Jepara.
“We’re hunting wherries,” she told them.
R’ney insisted on bringing one of the nets they’d used as a makeshift carrier for the hatchlings, while Jepara produced a bow with a half-full quiver.
“I helped K’dan with the hunting,” she explained as she mounted Tazith. Xhinna vaguely remembered the younger woman as someone who’d returned from one of their wild Searches for Candidates rather than those who’d stayed in their holds waiting for the summons. She smiled fondly back in the direction of their camp. “Sarurth tells me that she’s hungry—I never even expected to Impress—let alone a queen!”
R’ney snorted in agreement as he took a seat behind her.
“I understand completely,” Xhinna said, mounting and telling Tazith to fly.
I see wherries, Tazith said in a little while, backwinging to slow down.
“What’s your plan?” Jepara asked.
“Why not circle wide, drop us farther on, and have your blue herd them toward us?” R’ney suggested.
“No, toward me,” Jepara said. “You stay with Xhinna and throw that net of yours if you think it’ll help.”
“Better,” Xhinna said before R’ney could respond, “we put you in position, Jepara, and when you start shooting, any wherries that fly from your arrows will be caught in R’ney’s net.”
“So we’ll get at least three,” Jepara said smugly.
“Three?” R’ney asked.
“Yes,” Jepara said, “you’ll get one and I’ll get two.”
R’ney drew a quick breath to retort, but let it out slowly when Xhinna reached back to give his knee a reassuring pat.
“Don’t shoot until you’re sure of your footing,” she warned as they dropped Jepara down among a group of broom trees.
“Of course,” Jepara said, waving them off.
“She’s going to get herself hurt with that attitude,”
R’ney said as he shook out the net.
“She might,” Xhinna said. “Better now than later, though.”
R’ney considered her response for a long moment before saying, “I suppose you’re right.”
“Taria and I have been handling the young for the better part of four Turns now,” Xhinna said. “I hope we’ve learned a little in that time.”
She turned her attention to Jepara, a small figure in the distance.
All right, Tazith, Xhinna said, urging her blue into a breathtaking dive. The dragon added a bellow of his own, and in a moment a flock of startled wherries flew into the air.
Keep it up, Xhinna said, as Tazith darted from side to side to keep the wherries moving in a straight line.
This is fun!
Yes, it is, Xhinna agreed with a broad smile. She patted her blue even as she urged him on and felt the strength of his muscles as he increased his speed, darting from one side to another, always herding the wherries until—
“There!” R’ney called when he spotted the first arrow. It went wide, but one of the wherries saw it and turned in midair. With a whoop, R’ney threw his net, careful to wrap the trailing rope several times around the riding harness while letting it slide through his wher-hide gloves.
“Got it!” he called, as Tazith turned in the air to accommodate the sudden weight of the trapped wherry. R’ney pulled on the slip knot to close the net and then hung on tightly as the wherry tried in vain to fly clear.
Xhinna glanced around urgently. “Where’s Jepara?”
“Just get me to the ground and go find her,” R’ney said.
Xhinna complied and was airborne again in moments, her eyes searching the broom trees for the young queen rider.
Suddenly Tazith scooped air, turned in one quick move, and stopped abruptly, throwing Xhinna forward on her fighting straps.
“Three!” Jepara cried up at them, holding up three fingers on one hand. “I’m going to need some help, though.”
At Xhinna’s urging, Tazith found a spot where he could let her alight and she moved carefully over two treetops to join Jepara.
“Well done,” Xhinna said as she picked out the forms of three wherry carcasses lying in the nearby trees.
“We’ll need the rope to get them out,” Jepara told her. She glanced toward the blue dragon. “Where’s the smith?”
“R’ney,” Xhinna said, emphasizing the honorific contraction, “is dealing with his catch.”
“I’ll bet he’ll be green with envy at my catch,” Jepara crowed.
“And, gold rider, if he is, you’ll be certain to ease his shame,” Xhinna said abruptly.
“That’s right,” Jepara said. Her look was challenging. “I am a queen rider, and that means you answer to me, doesn’t it? So why are we taking orders from you, a mere girl who rides a blue?”
“Because my blue is the only dragon who can fly right now,” Xhinna said. “And because it’s wise for youngsters to listen to their elders so that they might, one day, become elders themselves.”
Jepara’s eyes flashed in rebellion for a moment, but Xhinna met them unflinchingly. A moment later, Jepara said, “Sarurth’s hungry—we need to get back.”
“We’ll get back when we’ve got this straight between us,” Xhinna said, not moving.
“My queen is hungry, blue rider. Will you let her starve?”
“No,” Xhinna said. “Will you?”
Jepara’s jaw dropped in amazement.
Xhinna had heard only good things about Pellar and Halla from K’dan and C’tov so she couldn’t quite understand why their daughter would be such a wherry-faced brat. But with that thought came the answer: It was because her parents had such a reputation. She could do no wrong because they could do no wrong. Xhinna guessed that, devoted though they might be, Pellar and Halla had so many duties running Fire Hold—where they mined the precious firestone—that they’d lost track of this child, assuming that she could easily adapt to their unconventional ways.
“Impressing a queen is a great honor,” Xhinna said softly. “Impressing any dragon is equally a great honor—” She turned wistfully toward Tazith, assuring him that she would not have any other than him no matter what. “—but with honor comes responsibility.”
She saw Jepara flinch.
“So, gold rider of a hungry queen,” she continued, “what are you going to do? Are you going to learn manners and have your hatchling fed, or are you going to put on airs?”
“I’m sorry,” Jepara said, lowering her eyes to the ground. “It’s just that—”
“I know.”
“How can you know?” Jepara shrieked. “You’ve been in the Weyr your whole life! You know everything about dragons, and you act like you ride a queen yourself.”
Xhinna turned back to face her and shook her head. “I was an orphan. When I came to Fort Weyr, the headwoman took a disliking to me because I like girls more than boys. I had to keep quiet, keep out of sight, got the worst jobs, and had no one to—” She found the word hard to say, even now. “—no one to love me, even when I felt like I would die.”
Jepara’s eyes widened.
“And then I tried to Impress the queen, only she went to Fiona, so I hated her, too,” Xhinna said. Her lips turned upward slightly as she added, “Until I got to know her and realized that she accepts me for what I do.” Xhinna shook her head and corrected herself: “No, she loves me because she sees something more in me than I can.”
“She loves you?”
“Like a sister,” Xhinna said. She smiled. “You haven’t seen enough of our Weyrwoman; she uses friends like blankets and she gives off love like others give off heat.” She paused for a moment, then added, “When she left for Igen Weyr, I thought she was dead. And when she returned, I swore that I’d never lose her again. And now she’s back in Telgar; I’ve lost her, and so have her children.”
Her jaw set in grim determination as she swore, “But as long as they have me, Tiona and Kimar will have parents. And if something happens to me, then Taria will care for them. Because that’s what we do, as weyrfolk, and particularly as dragonriders—we care for each other. We’re all we’ve got.”
She looked at Jepara and smiled. “Now that you’re one of us, you’re part of that, too,” she said softly. Jepara looked up at her with a hint of wistfulness.
“And we take care of each other,” Xhinna went on. “Which means we accept praise rather than crow over our success, we give aid when needed, we work to keep all our spirits up.”
She paused to let her words sink in, before finishing: “One day, gold rider, you may be a Weyrwoman in your own right, and the whole Weyr will look to you.”
“They look to you now,” Jepara said. “We all look to you.”
Xhinna nodded, unable to avoid that truth. “When Fiona comes back, she’ll be the Weyrwoman, and I’ll be happier.”
There was a moment of awkward silence, and then Jepara spoke. “We’d better get back to R’ney.” Her tone was much lighter than before. “He’ll think we’re slacking or something.”
When they returned to camp, the wherries were hastily—and clumsily—butchered and fed to the twenty ravenous dragonets. In the end, the four wherries were just enough to fill them.
“We’re going to need more food,” Jepara declared as she tried to rub wherry ichor onto a nearby leaf.
“And something to clean with,” Taria agreed. She beckoned for Xhinna to come close to her and whispered, “We need help.”
“We’ll have to make do with what we have,” Xhinna said.
“Until when?”
“At least until we can stockpile enough provisions that Tazith can get a good night’s rest,” Xhinna said. Taria raised an eyebrow, but Xhinna merely shook her head, saying, “Later.”
They spent the rest of the day taking stock and organizing their “Sky Weyr.” Xhinna still hated the name, preferring to call it a camp and having a greater deal of sympathy for Fiona’s repugnance at naming the old camp “E
astern Weyr.” They managed to find enough fruit to satisfy the twins so they would settle down for an afternoon nap, while Jepara took charge of a scouting party to search the surrounding forest.
In three days, Xhinna, R’ney, Jepara, C’nian, and Hannah had developed themselves into an expert hunting group, bringing home up to six wherries each outing. Taria, not comfortable straying far from Coranth, had volunteered to stay at the camp and watch the twins, but she’d still managed to locate several stands of nutfruit trees, as well as several with the sorts of edible leaves that they’d enjoyed back in Eastern Weyr.
“Tonight, I think,” Xhinna said to Taria as the sun set and they started their climb up into the canopy from the fireplace over which they’d roasted their evening meal. F’denol took watch on the lowest branch. After their first cookfire, they’d heard Mrreows and other marauders in the night, and Xhinna wanted to be certain that they weren’t surprised by some tree-climbing carnivore.
“Now?” Taria asked. Coranth was healing; they’d found the plants they needed to make a good salve and managed to boil some cloth to replace her blanket-bandages, but the green was still weeks away from complete recovery. If anything happened to Tazith, the camp would not long survive.
“We need help,” Xhinna said.
Taria nodded reluctantly and moved closer to Xhinna, hugging her tightly. “You come back.”
“I will.”
“And not three Turns older,” Taria growled as she released her.
“Mind the twins,” Xhinna said.
“Always.”
Tazith circled the camp once in the growing dark.
Do you know where to go? Xhinna asked, sending her dragon the final image.
Yes, Tazith replied and, with Xhinna’s assent, took them between.
The cold nothingness that was between lasted longer than the usual mere three coughs. They broke out into daylight, circling the old Eastern Weyr. Tazith started a steep descent toward where they’d last seen K’dan and the others.
Xhinna let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding when she saw K’dan and Bekka waving up at her.
“Hurry,” she called, “we’ve got to get out of here!”
Sky Dragons: Dragonriders of Pern Page 3
