IRIDEN'S WEYR

Zefa one of the headwomen eyed the lean frame of the black haired and bright blue-eyed young man leaving the kitchen caverns. If she had any less manners she might have been drooling.

"Oh come off it, Zefa, you've already Larn to deal with," Yalina said as only a sister could. "Besides, he's too long in the torso for my tastes," she added, while spicing up some herdbeast flank.

"While you are looking for your dream stallion, I am content with the prospects at hand, sister!" Zefa replied, all in good conversation. She stirred the stew over the fire harder, to rid her mind of the appealing image of Iriden.

"You are you two talking about?" H'kor asked, coming in for some bread and a bit of stew. "Certainly not handsome Iriden I just passed now?"

"Yes we were," Zefa admitted with a sigh.

"Well, best turn you're eyes elsewhere, Zefa, he's not likely to fall for you," H'kor remarked, sitting down to eat his food.

"Well why not?" Zefa demanded. Yalina just giggled at her sister.

"Nothing against you, girl," H'kor added, and winked at her.

"Oh, you mean, he wouldn't find me attractive in the least little bit?" Zefa queried.

"Nope."

Zefa looked downcast, then brighten after a few moments, "Well then, there are other eggs to hatch. Good luck to you H'kor," and Zefa winked at him.

After a refreshing light meal from those nice Headwomen, Iriden went back to work. There was a pile of large pieces of firestone, to large for a dragon to chew, and it was his and some other candidates' job to break it into chewable pieces, A few other candidates bagged the pieces. Such was the work candidates frequently got saddled with. He didn't mind it much, though it was a bit of a lack-witted task.

There was a very dark complected fellow working beside him, about the same age of 17 turns. He whacked at the rocks furiously. As was hazardous about this job, a shard of rock flew out and whacked him in the face. Iriden saw from the corner of his eye, the fellow fell backward and howled. Quick as lightening, Iriden flashed over and caught him before the boy whacked his head again on the rocks on the ground. The fellow seemed even to be Iriden's own wieght - something he could carry fairly easily. Cradled awkwardly in Iriden's arms, the fellow whispered, "I think it got my eye," and Iriden saw the blood coursing down his face.

Belatedly, Iriden introduced himself as he bounded slowly to the infirmary and Weyrhealer L'nat. "I'm Jemadi," he boy said, clutching his eye. L'nat saw them coming and quickly ushered Iriden in and to lay Jemadi on the patient's table. His eyes blanked for a moment, bespeaking his brown Morinith. "Iriden its best you wait outside, Enis is coming and we'll do the best we can. Jemadi was whimpering. Iriden squeezed his hand and whispered that he'd be there to visit as soon as he was able.

Iriden felt a little numbed as he left. Such a nice fellow, and now perhaps he may havedone real damage to his eyes. They had been a dark klah brown. Back outside, work had ceased for the day. Everyone was dispersing, so Iriden wandered to his weyr for a change of clothes. He had already laid a set out on his bed. Iriden grabbed these up and slowly walked down to the public bathing facilities. A warm soak would do him well. From the noise, apparently the other candidates had thought the same thing.

The following story tidbit was wonderfully crafted by Sara Gray, (c) 2000

"It’s really warm in here," Iriden commented.

The tall dark skinned woman behind him grunted out a laugh. "Yes, it is. To make the eggs feel at home. Since the sands aren’t really on a proper hatching ground and all."

As Baeris showed the young man around the Healing Den, the small golden-green dragon she called Dulath made a little trilling noise.

Baeris turned her head and her eyes unfocused. "Yes?" She said, apparently to the mini-sized dragon. The dragon herself was small enough to fit in some of the larger hallways near the sands of the Den, and had wedged herself into one room nearby. Iriden almost thought that the dragon might have stuck herself.

He busied himself by looking around at the walls of the den, which had many items and tapestries on them. The shelves around each room were stocked with bandages, roots and salves, bottles and tinctures and all kinds of things suitable for a Healer like Baeris to have. The tapestries were interesting, those apparently made directly for her and her little dragons!

The smell of one of the other rooms reminded Iriden of the candidate he’d taken to the infirmary not so long ago, Jemadi. He hoped the dark young man was going to be all right.

Baeris finally came out of her telepathic speech with her dragon. "Well, go ahead, then silly!" She said, and Iriden turned with his brows furrowed.

"Not you," she said, patting his shoulder. "Dulath."

"Dula-" he started but then a brilliantly sweet mind came to his.

You are a good person, Iriden. Strong and strong willed! And Baeris thinks you are quite handsome.

"Dulath!" Baeris blurted out, with a blush on her. She was probably close to twice the lad’s age, and quite married anyway! She licked her lips and smiled, "I said that he and I look quite similar, my dear dragon, and that in my amazing egocentric way, that must mean he is quite the looker. Do you understand you silly beast!?" She spoke probably more to soothe her own surprised ego than to really explain herself.

But then Dulath continued speaking. Her voice was round, smooth around the edges, like light on leaves just like her hide.

There are many eggs on our sands, but these here might be best for you. Come! This way! Follow me!

Dulath turned and slunk through a warm dark corridor, as the pair of humans followed. Then, light hit their eyes and made both blink. The sands with the smaller eggs on it were where Dulath beckoned. She sat upright and looked abnormally intelligent as she gazed at the teen.

Yes, come along! If you cannot choose one, perhaps one might choose you!

Iriden was confused for a moment, but then walked among the small eggs. The largest of them was almost the same size as a normal egg one could expect a Brown to hatch from, but the rest ... Some were almost as small as a children’s hoop-ball (the size of a medicine ball), and most were not any larger than the size (and shape!) of a large curled-asleep canine.

They were of all colors, too! So many of them! Unlike their larger counterparts in the full sized hatching sands, these eggs were far from one boring shade of creamy-grey. These were dark and light, mottled, had faded shades around them, and came in most every color of the spectrum!

"If the egg is pink," Iriden asked, "will the dragon be pink too?"

"Perhaps, but more likely not." Baeris explained, "Dulath’s egg was a color like she is, but there were others which were paler or darker than their respective dragon. It might indicate some aspect of color, though."

Satisfied with that, Iriden went back to his slow paced amble through the sands. Dulath spent some time turing several of them, testing them for hardness and deciding to shift this or that way. The candidate became calmer the longer he was in the room.

An adventure awaits, words came to him, but it wasn’t Dulath’s mind. It didn’t much sound like the voice he always had in his head, his own, either.

His eyes moved from one egg to another, he was between several. Then, he found himself looking more intently at a largish seafoam-on-beige colored egg. The others seemed to pale beside it. Suddenly he looked back up at Baeris and Dulath, they were all the way on the other side of the room.

"This one," he said. "This one is for me." He pressed his hands onto the egg, hoping that he wouldn’t break it but knowing he couldn’t really ever do harm to his chosen egg. His hands had the beginnings of callouses on them, and he pulled them away. The voice that had come to him was almost too delicate for rough hands! Dulath rumbled a bit.

It will be fine! You will see, hatchlings love to be scratched, Iriden, and what we love most is to get a good rubdown. All that hard work you do with the candidates will pay off.

Iriden nodded. "So ... now what?"

Baeris smiled. "So now we will separate that egg away. It will have its own private little weyr sand," she passed her long hand to the right, and indicated another small set of rooms off the main hall, where already several other such eggs had been placed. "When it begins to hatch we will bring you back. So do not be surprised if soon you get a visit from Dulath here, or one of the others. They’re all quite happy to convey candidates to their little siblings."

Baeris motioned for Dulath to remove the egg, and for Iriden to come away with her. "We’ve some information for you to bring with you back to your own Weyr. Or Hold? Weyr." She nodded. "Just in case they don’t ... approve of your choice you will always have a place around us. But I’m sure that this dragon will bring you everything you need. Dulath and I are like ... Almost like she’s an apprentice to me. But then Dulath is remarkably intelligent even for a dragon. Perhaps your dragon will have some special talent, that always makes Weyr leaders happy."

Iriden nodded mutely, and walked away from the Sands with Baeris, though he kept looking back over his shoulder. Dulath carefully moved the egg into the other room, and he hoped very much that it would hatch into ... HIS dragon!

I'riden's story continues with more quality writing from Sara Gray, (c) 2000

A brilliant blue fire lizard perched on the side of Iriden’s bed. He tilted his head, and then emitted a hugely loud chirp.

Not a squawk, but a chirp so loud that it nearly threw Iriden straight into the ceiling!

When his heart finally slowed down, he found the perpretrator of this deed still sitting pretty on the side of the cot.

"You’ve practically killed me, this better be go-" Then he noticed that the flit had a small bit of wherhide tucked into his front paws. "What’s this?" Iriden asked, and the flitter chirped again, this time happily with a bit of a lilt, and far more softly.

When Iridien opened the scroll he read the words but noticed well that there were also simple, almost cartoonish drawings just in case he couldn’t read. What it said, equated to "Outside, Noon, Hatching."

His heart raced again!

When the day’s sun beat down onto the courtyard, Iriden stood looking around like… well, he obviously thought that people were staring at him. Perhaps they were. He was after all standing still in a weyr full of motion. Twice at least, he had to tell a drudge that he did not need something to keep him busy.

Then he saw a glimmer up in the sky, and it flew low and close to the ground. The glimmer turned into a greeny-golden tiny dragon. She had come! It was just after noon, perhaps the Healing Den was on a slightly different time zone. Or perhaps they had to "time it" to get here?

Either way, Baeris wasn’t on the dragon. That made Iriden a little ... scared.

Come on then, Dulath bespoke him. Do not be afraid, boy. Your egg is almost ready to hatch! If you do not come now, it will be too late!

He didn’t try pointing out that perhaps the egg could very well have been brought to him…

He climbed atop the tiny dragon’s shoulder, and found that she was only just wider than a big draft runner on her neck. It was much easier than the climb and ride out to the Den the first time he’d been there, for certain! The big full sized blue was gigantic compared to this delicate beauty!

"Well, let’s go!" Iriden cried and clung on to the small neck ridges when Dulath sprang into the air. His satchel at his side flopped a bit but did not come loose. He hugged down on her neck, and closed his eyes against the wind, but then finally opened them again when he knew they were up high.

It is quiet up here, Dulath bespoke. I like to fly. But I must get you back to the Healing den now. Hang on, and do not panic. I have everything completley under control.

When it appeared that Iridien was settled, Dulath went between.

Finally, just on the edge of fear, she came out from the blackness and soared low over the gigantic slab where the Healing den was situated. Dulath bugled a bit, and Iridien heard other dragons respond, though he could not see them in the surrounding woodland hills.

We are here, my rider!

Dulath apparently got a response from Baeris inside, for she dove directly into the large hallway, not even bothering to land atop the ledge! She was so small, she negotiated two turns in the halls before she finally had to backwing to a stop and let Iridien off.

Breathless, he staggered to the floor and stood shaking for a moment -- more from the abrupt entrance, than even the chill of Between!

Finally Baeris arrived around one corner, and her long face brightened with a brilliant smile. "Come! Come, hurry! It’s been shaking all morning, I sent Striker, I’m so glad he figured out where you were."

Iriden wasn’t entirely sure how the fire lizard had found him! He’d certainly never been inside his weyr! That did not matter. What did was that his egg - HIS EGG! was hatching!

He sprinted behind the long-legged woman, and remembered the hallway from several sevendays before. Into one of the side rooms they went, panting both of them. Baeris looked as if she had been in the room waiting, so she finally nodded deeply and turned to Iridien.

"It’s your egg, young man. Now, you decide how best to handle it. Oh, listen! The others know..." When he listened he did hear it: dozens of humming dragons, fire lizards, all announcing the birth of another dragon into the world! It was faint at first, but then it began to be almost deafening!

It was almost as if the sound was going to break the egg from the outside, helping the dragonet out!

Iridien bowed at the tall woman. "If you don’t mind, I think we should be alone...?" He turned it into a question, unsure of how the mistress Healer of the weyr would take that kind of thing. She smiled, gratified apparently, and tossed his hair with her long fingers.

"Then I shall await you and your special partner soon. It will be soon!"

She danced out of the room, and let the leather door flap slap back down. The room was fairly dark, but Iridien found the glow basket and shook it up a bit, allowing a little more light out but not so much that any sensitive dragon eyes would be hurt by it.

The sound outside wafted in but then was replaced by a tiny ticking sound. Inside the egg? It was! Iriden went to the low cradle of sand where the egg had been resting and getting harder these last couple sevendays. It wobbled, but was stuck in its berth well enough that it did not fall out. That would be very poor, Iridien thought. If this dragon were to be injured on its way into the world!

Then suddenly, part of the egg on the far side, near the wall, began to crack open! Oh, how Iriden’s heart leapt! But oh, how he wished it were on this side! He climbed atop the low sand bar, and straddled himself halfway over the egg. "Come on," he encouraged. "You can come out! It’s nice and warm and dark..."

The cracking of the egg spread over it, webbing it through and through. Iridien stood and didn’t dare move! If he did, it would shatter! Then, part near the “head” of the egg collapsed down, into the dark space past the shelf of sand. A claw emerged, pale. Then, part of a foot! Finger-like talons wrapped around the edge of the shattering shell, pulling it down almost like a blanket from a face.

And what a face! This tiny egg split open slowly and with a sort of quiet peeling noise, to show off a perfect little dragonet! She – Iridien was absolutely certain it was a she – rose from her bed of sand and shards. The wedge-shaped face was wet, but her eyes were open. Huge eyes, with their facets dancing violet and red, then changing to a fine blue-green hue.

You have found me! I am here! Welcome me! She bespoke.

"Oh! Oh!" Iridien simply gasped for air. She was so beautiful! The colors of seafoam and cornsilk, mixed in a mottled dappling all over her skin, and her wings a webbing of darker slate green! When she finally came all the way out of the shell, she shook off the wetness and picked her feet up carefully to rid them of the shell shards.

I am Servezneth, she told him. I like you! I like how you are friendly and always concerned about others… You could have leaned on my egg, but you did not. It would have broken and I would have been in the open before I was ready! You did not do this! I love you! And… I am so hungry!