Yet something nagged at Engell's mind. A tugging that he couldn't deny eminated from the old world. It angered him. He had watched as the dragons went from world to world and settled in, with pleasure.
Also he watched as the Aerie got its start. The beautiful gryphons had power that the dragons did not, and Engell could certainly appreciate that.
His son appeared at his door, silently. Well, as silent as the brown rider had ever been. To his father, K'yl eminated a graceful haze of confusion. K'yl's mind was never quite what his sire's was.
"Yes?" Engell said, eyes still closed and fingers still pushed down onto his eyelids.
"Dad, there's something I ... I don't know, did you need to go somewhere? Back to the old world?"
With a slight jolt, Engell took his head off his hands and tried to focus on K'yl. The young man's eyebrows were pushed together, and his hair flopped down over his face as usual. But there was a concern that showed through that Engell could not deny.
"Yes, actually. I would. Did you want to fly me there?"
"It's what you want?" K'yl asked, "I'm there! It's been a while since I visited..."
"... Ryslen." Engell said.
"Ryslen. Yeah, Ryslen. That's a good place to visit."
They left the room together, Engell had such a strange buzzing in his head that just wouldn't go away.
"It's too cold to land right now," he yelled over the wind.
Save your breath, son, I can read your mind remember? Engell thought to his son, but even now the world's odd pull began to dim his power. Let us go somewhere else and come back tomorrow.
"There's Tiynarea," K'yl squealed, and they went between to that weyr.
"Look what I found," Engell said, smiling as if it were the first time he'd ever seen a flitter egg. K'yl laughed and nodded as the egg began to crack.
"It'll be hungry, 's why I always keep something..."
"It's white," he whispered with a grin. The tiny presence of the hungry flitter's mind within his own was somehow welcome. Engell hadn't realized that it would never have interfered with his normal powers.
Or perhaps... Now it didn't matter. He hadn't had the time to relax and stop to smell the flowers so to speak, in more than fifty years on this world. Yet now with his people on Alskyr safe and fitting in just fine, he had an abundance mental energy and no one to blow it on.
K'yl encouraged him to feed the flitter who sat quietly, not even screeching, on his father's hand. Engell dangled a strip of meat and the white flitter snapped at it, chewing on it and finally going for more. She remained fastidiously clean, wiping her little paws and muzzle on Engell's tunic sleeve. Chuckling, he gave her a mental nod and she scampered up his arm onto his shoulder.
There, she blended in particularly well with his sparkling white hair. "Snowflake," Engell announced. "Her name is Snowflake." He turned to K'yl and added, "Time to head off to Ryslen, eh?"
"You're confusing me, dad..." K'yl said, but they went to Yenitoth and climbed back on. They went to Ryslen weyr with their new companion.
They soared into the weyr bowl, and Yenitoth found a place to rest among the other dragon roosts. Engell and K'yl went to the main entrance and were greeted by the Headwoman and Steward.
"We had no idea you'd be visiting us," the headwoman said, with her hands fluttering about her face. "Such a distinguished guest and no warning..."
"It was just a thought to come here," Engell said, as the Weyrwoman brushed past.
"Well well, the prodigal weyrleader..." Tiyanni smirked.
"I've never said I was a weyr leader, only a lord..." Engell lied. "I don't know what came over me, though. I just ... wanted to come here. You've made the place up for winter," he commented as they wandered through the corridors.
"I have, well, everyone has. It's the winter Flurry season, after all."
Engell tilted his head, and his new little white flitter did likewise. Tiyanni finally noticed that there was a fire lizard on his shoulder and laughed.
"The Flurry flight, I don't recall seeing any of your Alabaster folk there, but there were some Kshau Protectorate dragons in it." Tiyanni explained. "All lights and whites, you know. For winter."
"What, like those Frenzies?" Engell said, surprised. Snowflake cheeped with curoisity.
Tiyanni chuckled again, and scratched the little flitter's chin. "Indeed. There will be some very interesting dragons from this clutch, I think. Would you like to see the eggs?"
"I'd love to," Engell said, and allowed the weyrwoman to escort him to the hatching sands.
There, quite out of the blue, several of the dams raised their heads to watch as the fifty-eight year old man walked with their weyrwoman through the area. Something about them... No, him.
He would stand. He will. Isn't he old? You are old, older than me. I am not so old! I recognize a good candidate when I see one!
Tiyanni stood with her jaw slack. She'd been privy to the conversation because of her contact with queen Litayth. Engell seemed blissfully unaware. He was still half-entranced by his day-old flitter, who gleefully scampered along his shoulders and hid perfectly under his hair.
Don't say a thing, girls. Tiyanni bespoke to her dragon, who relayed the request to the queens on the sands. I don't know if he wants to be a candidate, and perhaps a surprise would drive him away.
He is not a frightened child, my rider. Litayth informed her. He is a grown man. Perhaps too grown for my tastes, but my children are not on the sands this day.
That is why I say, perhaps he'd do without the surprise. We will keep him here while he's distracted, and by the time the eggs hatch maybe... We'll see. He's ...
Almost as old as Kalkin was when he impressed Sixth, J'rin's dragon clearly piped up. I spoke to Sixth quite a lot while I was still at Alabaster, Amitath cheerfully thought. The general consensus was that Engell was to be kept busy long enough to get him back to the stands or the sands, when the time came.
Perhaps he'd over heard? But no... Even with his strong telepathy, he'd rarely been able to break into dragon-thought. The bonds between dragon and human were even harder to open, so their wherry-prattle and gossiping would go unnoticed.
Now if they could keep the riders from butting in...
They met up with Baeris, Shard and Rue, and E'tan later on... Then, the hatching...
Clever. He absently petted little Snowflake. This would be a magnificent hatching, with all these beautiful dragons. The buzzing in Engell's head did not go away, in fact it got louder as the day wore. He was glad that Kalkin wasn't here -- he'd be complaining bitterly that the dragons were so loud.
Engell had never really been truly privy to the thoughts of dragons, though now, it seemed that they were totally abuzz with greetings and ... They were even betting on the candidates?! That was new...
There were more eggs than met the eye, of course. Buried beneath the hot red-colored sands, many eggs were being uncovered and more were being guessed at. It was a good thing, too. Because when one set of nine more eggs were uncovered, one of the original group shook itself apart. There on the sand was a beautiful silver-point white.
I have waited so long! He stretched his slender wings. Engell stood up, balancing with his hand on his neighbor's shoulder.
"Did you hear that?" Snowflake chirped, and Engell didn't bother to notice that others around him were looking stunned. He was stunned, too, but in a different way.
The silver and white hatchling stepped a few feet across the sands, So long! And now you're so far away!
"We didn't hear anything, sir," Said one of the nearby onlookers.
Are you coming?
"Of course, of course," Engell shook his head and started moving down toward the sands, making people move their knees and feet so he could pass.
"Lord Engell?" Asked Tiyanni, whom he passed at the edge of the stands.
"He needs me," Engell said weakly, but sure.
"But --" Someone was about to say something rude and stupid about being too old, or being a Lord, or whatever, but Tiyanni silenced them with a sharp, "Just let him go."
At last, the little white and silver dragon watched as his bond came to his side. "Tehndarinth, where have you been all my life?" His heart sang, though his mind was surely muddled by all that was happening.
Where have YOU been? I've been waiting forever!
Forever is a strange concept for a dragon who's only just hatched, my dear Tehndar, Now, is that you that's so hungry? Even Snowflake here wasn't as ravenous as you are!
Laughing, smiling to himself -- now he knew, now he understood. Why Kalkin was so infuriated and so madly in love with that blue beast of his. How it would be, to have a companion who he could neither control nor refuse, always present -- always. There was no such thing as 'too old' for a hatchling.
