"That's Nidus Ryslen." said J'rin.
"What did you call it?" asked Daranel.
"Nidus," answered J'rin. "It's an ancient term we use for weyr, considering Ryslen isn't exactly a weyr anymore."
"Why is that?" Daranel asked.
J'rin smirked, "You'll see."
As they circled down into the crater, Daranel noticed other dragons flying in and around the weyr. It was then that he noticed the colors of the dragons. There were golds and bronzes, but there were silver dragons, and pruple dragons, and even orange ones! One dragon that soared over them was half bronze and half white! There were so many different colors that Daranel couldn't keep track of them all!
"By the Dawn Sisters!" he exclaimed.
"Not exactly what you expected, is it?" asked J'rin, laughing.
"Well..there were rumors...at the Hold...I believed them, but.." Daranel stammered, "Is that dragon really red?"
"Indeed he is, that's Xhimboth, another Search dragon." J'rin said, "Of course, colors aren't the only unusual things here. Some dragons don't even breathe fire!"
"What?, then what do they breathe?"
"Lightning, some of them," answered J'rin, " and some dragons have healing powers, among other things."
"That's incredible!" Daranel exclaimed. J'rin laughed again.
Once they had landed, Daranel was shown to the candidate barracks. He was surprised to see that some of the other candidates weren't even human!
"Excuse me," he asked a passing dragonrider, "Where are all of the candidates from?"
"Various worlds, from Alskyr to, well, anywhere. " He answered.
Daranel couldn't believe it. Here he was in the legendary Ryslen Weyr! No one at home would believe that any of this was happening!
That night, Daranel thought about the many dragons at Ryslen. The prospect of Impressing a dragons with healing powers or the ability to breathe lightning was intriguing. He hoped that someday soon, he would Impress a dragon that was truly unique to Ryslen.
