Ecanirith's Flight

Written by Twille, who would like to apologize in advance to Ecanirith's most worthy suitors who bore the brunt of the fiesty green variant's wrath. The beginning of this story relates to the Random Chaos discussion in the Tripaldi community. It was the middle of a deep yet restless night when the piercing cry of a female dragon rang out through the stillness. The Watchdragon gave a shrill call in reply, but it went unheeded. For that brief moment, the entirety of Tripaldi Weyr was snapped awake. Something in the night was silently whispering its subtle yet chilling secrets into the recesses of their minds. Most just dismissed it as fragments of a nightmare and fell back into restless dreaming. So who could have known the painful drama that had unfolded as they slept blissfully unaware? Who could have known the bitter betrayal that had tested the undying devotion between dragon and rider? Who could have known how much courage and pain that love required in order to conquer all? Certainly no one saw the shadow gliding across the crescent of Belior, a triumphant dragonpair that had escaped the wrath of the Underworld. Do you think they missed us, Daeleon? With the cold glitter of moonlight reflected in her eyes, Daeleon slowly shook her head, catching the wind in her hair as her green-blue lifemate's wings caught the wind-whipped darkness. A strange whisper cut through the silence, one that pierced the unsettling serenity of the night. "Not a chance, Ecanirith. I doubt they know we were even gone." The once mute Daeleon was silent no longer. Terrified shrieks and roars filled with masculine superiority greeted the pair as they descended close to the wherry pen. No one may have missed them in their absence, but apparently the seven males never forgot about the glittering emerald-sapphire beauty they desired to win. As she lept from Ecanirith's back, Daeleon's gaze regarded her mob of suitors with a patient, curious interest. In complete contrast, Ecanirith glanced at the wild scene before her and hissed, her scarlet eyes whirling at a blur. They repulse me, Daeleon. Their disgusting displays of arrogance, their mindless perverse obsessions. See how they look at me! Curse the day I desired to become a mother! "There's no taking it back now, Ecanirith. Blood your kills and rise! Let the best among them win you, that's your only option!" Oh, there will be another option, Daeleon. I refuse to be caught, and that is final. Ecanirith charged into the wherry pen, sending wherries and dragons scattering in all directions. Striking like a viper for the nearest buck, she cracked its neck in her jaws, giving each of the eager male dragons a hateful glare. You will heed my words, all of you! You pathetic excuses of dragonkind, I ought to snap each of your necks like this wherry! She threw the buck on the scarred ground and gorged herself on its blood, giving the advancing males a warning swipe of her claws as she downed another buck and four does. Finally, she lifted her blood-stained face, cold anger swirling in her now icy green eyes. You have each decided to participate in my pursuit, perhaps expecting the sweet surrender of a pretty variant green. You have erred greatly! I am the soul of this flight, and I will not be won! Her wings slashed repeatedly at the unsettled midnight, and with the aid of a sudden surge of energy, Ecanirith tore into the air, soaring upon the reawakened tempest and incorperating herself into the blast of wind that buffeted her chasers. She gave a victory roar as she rose higher into the starless void, for none would catch her on this glorious night! A chorus of flirtacious calls rang out behind her, and Ecanirith found the smallest and most agile of the pack, white Neysiath and Blueberry Cheesecake Asuquesath, gaining on her burst of speed. With an uncontrollable rage building inside of her, Ecanirith whirled in mid-flight, striking the pair with her foreclaws. None will have me during this flight! I thought I made this clear! But no, you still believe I'm a mere green, won by your pitiful efforts to catch me! Now feel my wrath, sharding pieces of rotten meat! Mirroring the intensity of emotion experienced by all, the gale flared into a raging cyclone as the green-blue dragoness launched herself toward her suitors, slashing at the white and blue-white with sharp, merciless claws. With a cry of fear, Asuquesath immediately ducked out of the conflict and descended to receive condolences from H'tek. But Neysiath refused to give up the battle, continuing to close in on Ecanirith while evading her frenzied attacks. At least until the desperate dragoness repeatedly clawed at his delicate wing membranes, trying to shred them. Creeling in pain, the Starburst white haphazardly spiraled toward the ground as Ecanirith shot skyward to evade the chasers seeking to prove themselves and avenge their fallen companions. Interesting show of valor, Neysiath, but I've still won the victory. Do you hear me, both of you, I have defeated you both! With this outburst, she suddenly disappeared between as metallic wings reached out to entwine with hers. This left the remaining dragons and their riders in a state of panicked confusion, but it was nothing compared with Daeleon's reaction. She had seen the agonized faces of H'tek and D'cal as their wounded dragons finally reached them, and as the defeated pairs left, she was suddenly filled with as much dread about this flight as her lifemate was. As Ecanirith betweened, Daeleon sprinted into the pitch darkness, screaming her lifemate's name repeatedly. I'm right here, Daeleon. I'm not stupid enough to lose myself between like a dumb weyrling. "ECANIRITH! What in the sharding heck are you doing! You could've gotten someone seriously hurt!" That's the entire idea, rider mine. This is my flight, my rules. They decided to join, so they'll have to suffer the consequences. Now while I'm here... The dragoness trailed off, her mindvoice holding a note of pure mischief. Perhaps I should let them see what they've been missing. After all, they never knew we were gone. Before Daeleon could react, a cold, writhing darkness overtook her sense of being. Truly not the Underworld they had experienced, but judging from the frightened cries of the remaining males, Ecanirith had intensified the image to use as a weapon. Daeleon sank to the ground and closed her eyes, filled with sympathy toward the remaining five males. Mostly, she regretted that the flight of her beautiful, emotional lifemate, the first rising female from Aster Weyr, had to turn out like this. Now she refused to witness any more of it. Without warning, Ecanirith shot out of between, giving a mocking call to her remaining suitors, noticing to her delight that one of the blues had dropped out without a fight. Only four remained, all still bold enough to try and catch this dangerous beauty. That's right, Cebaith, you're smart enough to know you can't win. Besides, I wouldn't want you to mess up that pretty face for sweet little Cleitith. That is, if she'll stand being your second choice! With more success this time, a pair of metallic wings gently tangled with her green-blue ones, and Ecanirith didn't need to look up to know Ontiroth was right on top of her, probably using that unnatural timing skill to know exactly where she'd reappear. She didn't hesitate long, however. I wouldn't trust my flight to a computer record, pretty boy. The future you've seen couldn't have lied to you, so why are you still here? Did the idea of being torn apart appeal to you that much? She quickly ascended, but he evaded her claws before she made a move, flashing her a grin. It was as if he knew what was to come. I'm through with playing. Now why don't you and your rider time it back a few years so rejection hurts a little less? Maybe find some parallel reality with a dim-witted gold to chase. Deciding instead to outdistance her chasers, she gathered her strength and divebombed, but she still couldn't shake the metallic or the confident bronze and brown that tried to encircle her as well. Fine then. I surrender, my noble metallic. Twining herself with the astonished Ontiroth, she wrapped her forelimbs around his neck as she extended her wings to glide with him. He crooned softly and nuzzled her, wrapping his tail around hers. Then with a scream that could rival the banshees, Ecanirith tightened her grip around his throat until he began to struggle for breath. You're a fool, Ontiroth! Blue Burkth, completely exhausted and lagging behind the pack, quietly tried to slip out of the chase unnoticed. But nothing escaped Ecanirith's sharp gaze, and she hurled Ontiroth at him. The subdued metallic slammed into a panicked, bewildered Triggerath, knocking them both unconscious. Burkth squealed, quickly descending to avoid a collision. Frustrated and furious, brown Menirth, the last remaining chaser, gave Ecanirith an angry roar. But before he could react or follow Burkth's lead in diving out of the way, Ecanirith was on top of him, snarling viciously. You thought you could win me with your charming words of friendship and compassion. I remember our conversations well. But you had the audacity to startle my rider. I may have forgiven you then, but I surely do not forget! Just as she was about to stike him, he caught her forelimb in his claws, glaring at her with the same rage coursing through herself. With another roar, she slashed at him wildly with her other forelimb, gashing his face with her broken claws. In her frenzied abandon of sanity, she raked at his underbelly with her hindclaws until Menirth tore away from her with an agonized cry, falling from the sky like a dying animal. The skies were then empty. As if she couldn't believe it, Ecanirith glanced around her surroundings with an elated grin on her face, blissfully unaware now of the bloodstains on her forelimbs and the pain she had caused. She gave a tired but happy warble, slowly drifting through the air. It was over, and she had emerged the winner. The first female on Pern to escape a flight! Hear me, Pern! I have outwitted the best you had to offer me. All of them! I have caught and conquered the males that set out to catch and conquer me! The entire Weyrbowl of Tripaldi echoed with the triumphant bugles of the green-blue dragoness and the painful cries of her suitors as their enraged riders tended to their wounds. Daeleon still refused to look at anyone, trying to retreat into her own private haven where no memory of the flight had occured. Hear me, Pern! I am Ecanirith, the mightiest dragoness to ever... A familiar booming laugh tore through her ecstatic fantasy, reverberating like thunder through the sudden calm tranquility. Ecanirith dared to turn her head, seeing a familiar brown dragon flash from the clouds. Her claws had deeply torn his gleaming hide, but she had obviously not broken his spirit. Menirth! How did you... "You're beginning to sound more like the Ecanirith I know, not the lust-driven maniac that tormented us. Do not ask questions, my love. I will forgive you, but only if I may win your heart." All of her panic from the flight left Ecanirith, and with it, the adrenaline that kept her fighting and in the skies. As she struggled to extend her aching wing muscles, Menirth wrapped himself around her, spreading his wings to bring them soaring into the heavens. "It seems you have been caught after all," Menirth said with a soft chuckle. Ecanirith gently extended a wing to stroke Menirth's face, wiping away the blood from the gashes. Only by the finest dragon that Pern had to offer. I love you, Menirth, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I've done... As the first light of dawn encircled the dragon pair and scattered the remaining fragments of midnight, the distraught Daeleon was coaxed back into reality by a hand on her shoulder. It could have been a minute or an eternity since the beginning of the flight, but time didn't seem to matter as she embraced K'risn, bittersweet tears streaming down her face as he held her close. Though it seemed to pause for the lovers' romances under the first light of Rukbat, only time could tell what would result from the hard-fought battles of a midnight flight...