"Yup," Q’ay said. "/Any/ time now," Teovia smiled at the greenrider.

"Well, let me know, the /moment/ she tells you she’s going to rise, okay, Q’ay?" she warned him, giving him a gentle peck before heading off to mount her Light Blue dragon, Zyreth. Q’ay smiled back. How he had managed to obtain such an intelligent and beautiful woman as his girlfriend, even he was still not sure.

/Q’ay,/ a soft ‘voice’ beckoned him. /I think I’m ready to rise./

"What?" he said out loud. He wasn’t ready... not yet! Teovia, thinking he was speaking to her, looked at him questioningly.

"I said tell me the moment she’s ready to rise," she repeated herself.

/I’m ready to rise now, Q’ay,/ the green also repeated.

"I know," he responded.

/Then why didn’t you answer me?/ Thiuth asked.

"Then why did you say ‘what’?" Teo asked.

Q’ay, not sure who to answer, said, "I’m confused!" Teovia placed her hands on her hips, glaring at Thiuth’s rider.

"There’s nothing to be confused about! It’s just a simple question!" she said. Q’ay shook his head in an attempt to clear it.

"Too many females talking to me at once..." he grumbled.

SLAP! Q’ay rubbed his aching cheek. "How many girls /have/ you been talking to?" she demanded, fuming. "And I was stupid enough to think you loved me! How could you, Q’ay?" Q’ay, still rubbing his cheek, reached out for the bluerider in an attempt to right their relationship before the flight.

"It’s Thiuth! She says she’s going to rise!" he exclaimed hastily. This couldn’t be happening!

Teovia stared at him.

"Right now?"

/Q’AY! WHERE ARE YOU?/

"I’m coming!" Q’ay screamed, jogging up to the weyr he shared with his beautiful green. Teovia took off behind him, while Zyreth shook himself over and took to the air, determined to be the first one at the hatching grounds for the chase that would decide who would be the weyrmate of Thiuth.

Reaching the weyr, Q’ay doubled up, panting. Fortunately, his temporary weyr at Sidra was overlooking the feeding grounds, so Thiuth needed not be alone from her rider. A few other riders had also arrived at the weyr, calling to the urges of their dragons. Q’ay was surprised to see they were all male, except, of course, for Teovia. He had never really considered himself a bisexual, but his impression to Thiuth had caused him an unusual desire for a lover of the same sex. He was never really embarassed to admit that he was a greenrider, for he could always cover it up with the fact that his mate was a female bluerider. The six other riders had Q’ay enclosed in a loose circle, with Teovia standing protectively inside with him, like a watchwher on duty. She glared every time one of the male riders moved forwards an inch.

/Q’ay? I don’t know what to do.../ Thiuth moaned, sitting squarely in the center of a pen of herdbeasts. The herdbeasts, terrified, were all clustered at the far corner of the pen. Zyreth slunk along, taking a seat behind Thiuth for the chase. His whitish wings glistened in the twilight as he prepared to give chase for his mate. Unfortunately for Zyreth, the other eight males had the same idea and were all waiting for Thiuth to begin.

/Thiuth!/ Q’ay called, desperately trying to remember the Weyrling Classes that had taught him about flights. Suddenly, a voice drifted back to him.

/"A gold dragon will usually blood a kill in preparation for her flight. Up to five herdbeasts may be blooded before she is ready. The blood will give her the energy she needs, without weighing her down too much. A queen is always defiant of her rider during a flight, and will usually want to eat the whole beast. The rider must enforce that she is only to blood the creature, or it could be disastrous!"/ Q’ay remembered that part of the lecture. But what about greens? Was it really necessary for small Thiuth to blood five kills for such a short mating flight?

/I think you’re supposed to blood a herdbeast, Thiuth,/ he offered. Thiuth bugled loudly, spreading her wings. Then, the rest of the lecture came back to Q’ay.

/"Greens, who take part in much shorter flights, will sometimes blood one beast or two in preparation, although they can do without."/ The weyrlingmaster’s voice droned on.

/But you don’t have to take one if you don’t think you need it!/ Q’ay yelled. Thiuth snorted.

/I have not the patience for this!/ she yelled back. Her eyes swirled orange, her longing for a mate could not be delayed much longer. With one final look at her competition, she pushed her wings down and shot up from the ground. The males were not far behind.

The beginning, Q’ay knew, was a vital part of the mating flight. The male that was the fastest to take off was often the winner. This time, fortunately, Zyreth was the first male off the ground. As the other riders swarmed around him, he backed into the wall. He couldn’t think straight. It was like one eye was looking at the riders closing in on him, but the other was looking at Thiuth. The other eye won. It wasn’t long before his mind had left his body completely.

Thiuth looked behind her. She could have smiled when she saw Zyreth’s light wings beating in unison with her own, barely two dragonlengths behind. The other males clustered behind him. But the flight was not over yet. Bronze Sfisth, who had been the last one off the ground, was beginning to gain. His enormous wings beat once for every two times Thiuth’s did. His weight may have kept him earthbound longer, but he had a definite advantage once in the air. Thiuth was frightened. What would she do if this strong bronze should catch her? The only male she wanted to win was Zyreth; but what if he just wasn’t fast enough?

She thrust her wings downward in an attempt to pull ahead of Sfisth and the others. It worked. But Zyreth was losing his lead. Brown Ferseth had pulled ahead. Thiuth suddenly turned around to face her pursuers. Ferseth, confused, was forced to stop. Thiuth shot past him in the direction they had come. He was left in midair, lost and confused. /Where did she go?/ he asked himself.

R’flin stepped out of the circle to join his dragon down by the lower caverns. "That’s one down," Teovia noted to herself. Q’ay was backed against the wall, breathing fiercely. His eyes were open, but she knew he wasn’t awake. His mind had left with his dragon, as all riders of a female dragon will during their flight. She still stood protectively over him as the other riders crowded in.

I’ras, however, was as far away from Q’ay as he could be during such an intimate affair. His arms were crossed and he appeared to be sulking. Teo had to chuckle. Blueriders! What attitudes! He was denying his longing for Q’ay for his own "straight" pride.

Thiuth was still elated about having shaken Ferseth off her tail. So elated, it was, that she didn’t notice Sfisth creeping up on her again. Before she knew it, the muscular bronze had taken a hold of her leg and was pulling her into him. She bugled fiercely, trying to get free.

This wasn’t supposed to happen! He grabbed all her claws, drawing them together. She was pulling away and thrusting violently.

/Get off me!/ she screamed, angry and frightened at once. Sfisth was frustrated. Why wasn’t this green happy that she had been caught by such a strong and suitable mate?

/I don’t want to hurt you! Stop squirming!/ he said. Thiuth bared her fangs, biting him swiftly in the shoulder and kicking out at the same time. He thrust backwards in shock. Then she zoomed in, tearing at his wingsail before flying away as fast as possible. Sfisth spiralled to the ground, a large mass of weighty bronze. Krispith swerved away, but he was too slow. With a large ‘CRUNCH!’, Sfisth landed on him and the two males fell from the sky. Thiuth, unaware of the disaster she had caused, continued on her flight with more speed than ever. No dragon but Zyreth was good enough for her! Zyreth flew up beside her.

/Stop, Thiuth! You don’t know what you’re doing!/ he warned. She snarled, leaping at him. She swung at him, leaving scratch marks all along one side of his face. Then she took off again at a rapid pace. Then, she found herself slowing down. She turned to see Zyreth, suspended in mid-air, a look of deep hurting on his injured draconic face.

/Zyreth!/ she called. /What have I done?/ She turned back to her mate, flying with even more enthusiasm. But she had forgotten something. The other chasers. Out of nowhere, a flash of blue was in her face and her claws were bound. Soateth wrapped his tail around hers, entwining their long, sinuous necks. Thiuth was too astonished to fight him. She wanted Zyreth, not this blue!

/Mine.../ Soateth crooned to himself, pressing their bodies tighter together. His wings found a slow, steady beat to keep them aloft for however long he needed to. /You’re mine..../ Thiuth squirmed slightly.

/But no.../ she moaned. /You can’t.../ But she was not strong enough to fight back. Her intense desire overcame that of her pride, and she instead pretended that it had been Zyreth who had captured her.

*** I’ras had led Q’ay into the weyr, but had not yet taken him. "Q’ay..." he said. Q’ay looked at him eagerly. "No..." I’ras corrected himself, "I mustn’t..." but in the end, he really had no choice. Q’ay threw his arms around the bluerider’s neck, kissing him ferociously. I’ras, caught up in his own emotions, submitted to the lust of his dragon, pressing the greenrider onto the bed as the loving continued-- all night.