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| Killaria and Liosliath burst from -=between=- with a startled thunder of wings. Far below, a delicate, ordinary green lifted her head, and cried a surprised welcome. The stars, so close and thick and bright that Killaria entertained wistful fancies of snatching them out of the air if Liosliath gained any more altitude, were strange to her. Strange to Killaria, a sea trader captain! The cool air was at odds with the sweltering heat she had left at Ryslen, and she drank it in, eagerly. Strangeness and oddities had been her stock in trade, and Killaria was frightened of no piddling change in climate and compass-heading. This was beckoning glory! This was adventure! This was Baeris Kshau’s Healing Den that quietly wrought the next-best thing to miracles on the already none-too-mundane genes of its dragons! Liosliath, the color of first light on the ocean, energetically backwinged to a landing, neck arched, tail coiling. His chosen spot was next to the green who had bid them welcome, and she sidestepped shyly as he flexed his muscles and preened. <<A pretty little thing, but too wary for me,>> her blue commented. <<I mislike overpowering my own kind.>> >>Oh, yes, Liath, and you’re so handsome, she’d fall right at your feet, should you decide you wanted her. C’mon, be a bit realistic. We’re here for the cross-gender flight…or whatever they choose to call it here. Funny, how they didn’t say which lad-ridden female was flying…<< <<The little green, Gebrochenth, is close to flying. I hope it is not her,>> Liosliath said anxiously. <<She might break…>> >>Who appointed you clutchmother? Let me down, Li.<< She rappelled down his pale flanks, and the blue offered an elbow with great dignity. |
| Port of Call: Ryslen Weyr Destination: Baeris Kshau's Healing Den Captain's Log: Candidate Killaria Killaria's Impression Weyrling Killaria Liosliath chasing Resarith |
| Liosliath had been most satisfied with the cross-gender flight, even if Killaria had been startled to learn that it was a frenzy. Luckily, his attentions had been singleminded and intense, and he had caught the little green that had so caught his eye. Their children had been beautiful and unusual, and even Kila had to admit to his prowess as a sire. Unfortunately, green Gebrochenth and her charming rider Fi'elt had completely disappeared after the hatching. Crushed, the blue and his rider had thrown themselves back into life at Ryslen with a vengeance. And after a time, Liosliath's unhappiness transmuted into a fierce need to replace the green, to banish her memory by chasing multiferous other females. He had once sought to catch the golden Sasiath for a Weyrleader's flight. Though he had lost, the taunt of that gold and the larger browns and bronzes stung his pride. And Liosliath, most unusually, remembered. She was flying here at Ryslen again, but she would let no blues near her. Yet there was another on the flight boards who gleamed gold, and this dragoness had invited the blues to participate... "Liosliath!" the lithe, tan lady rider snapped, glaring. Green eyes shifted past violet and into red as the blue dragon glowered right back. <<I am chasing. There is nothing you can do about it,>> he said with finality. "Liath," Killaria gritted, "I still happen to be very fond of Fi'elt. I am still not attracted to female riders. And, for your information, you shouldn't be chasing a bloody green-gold creature around the sky! I thought you liked Gebrochenth!" Liosliath stared at her unyieldingly. <<Gebrochenth abandoned me. Fi'elt abandoned you. We cannot hold on to them forever.>> "Oh, brave and faithful Liosliath! She's only been gone three months. They'll be back...Fi'elt wouldn't abandon his duty like that. He knows his responsibilities!" <<And who says a baby is his responsibility? He's a Lord's-son, and Lords could care less about any extra offspring,>> the blue snarled. Her jaw clenched so tightly she could have splintered teeth, Killaria shifted her gaze to the ground and counted to ten. "Fi'elt," she gritted, "is not like that. Fi'elt will come back for us." <<I want this flight. It is not as if you're handfasting the woman.>> "We're...waiting...for...Fi'elt." <<I am not looking for another mate. I merely want to chase.>> His mental voice was aggravated, that prickly emotion layered over betrayal and bitterness. <<If Gebrochenth returns, I will stay with her. I will have this flight, Killaria.>> She threw up her hands, hazel-gray eyes snapping. "Fine. But I am not cooperating!" Arms crossed over the gentle swell of her belly, the ex-captain stamped back into the weyr. <<Her name is Navinth,>> Liosliath murmured as Killaria sat down for dinner. <<Her rider is Cereena. She sits near you.>> Kila's stomach lurched with renewed tension. A knot settling in her belly, the bluerider scanned the other people at the long table. <<What does she look like?>> she asked shortly. <<Olive complexion, hazel eyes, golden brown hair, three inches taller than you,>> Liosliath replied, sending her an image. He, having gotten his way, was ignoring her temper entirely. Taller? She didn't like this at all. Hazel-gray eyes flickered across the woman, seated a ways diagonally from her. And younger. Scorch him! Her mind already closed, Killaria glared at the green/gold rider over the rim of her glass. If only she didn't have to think of the baby, she could drink something a lot stronger.... In the back of her mind, she could hear Liosliath's commanding tones softening to court, very delicately, the green queen Navinth. |
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