WeyrWoman Kat Stood Out On The Ledge Overlooking The Feeding Grounds. There Were Always Dragons Somewhere. But Kat Was Pre-Occupied. The Young Queen Allaniath Had Laid Her Clutch After Being Flown By The Impetuous Bronze Santorth. 20 Eggs Had Resulted, Including A Queen. But What Worried Kat Was That Allaniath Had Labored So In The Laying Of The Golden Egg. It Wasn't Surprising. The Queen Egg Was Twice The Size Of A Normal Queen Egg. Kat Was Concerned That The Hatchling Inside Would Have Problems Cracking The Abnormally Thick Shell. Peace, Kat. There Is Nothing To Fear, Her Golden Tarenath Soothed Her.

Later In The Day When The Sun Shone Down Extreme Heat, Kat Became Aware Of A Small Humming Noise In The Back Of Her Mind. She Was Having Lunch With Allaniath's Rider, Nat, At The Time.

"Nat?"
"Hmm?"
"Do You Hear That?"
"What?"
"That Humming Noise."
"What Hum -- Oh My Gosh!"
"What?!"
"Allaniath Says Its Time!"
"Oh! I'll Get The Candidates! You Go To Allaniath! She'll Need You There!"

Nat Headed For The Sands, While Kat Ran Towards The Candidate Living Quarters.

"Its Time!!!!" She Shouted Down The Hallway. A Couple Seconds Later, Candidates In Their White Robes Were Running Through The Hallway Down To The Hatching Sands. The Other Dragons Of The Weyr Arrived With Their Riders. The Riders Took Their Places In The Stands, And The Dragons Began To Hum. Even The Senior Queen Tarenath. Kat Smiled As She Took Her Place Next To Nat And Allaniath. Queens Always Forgot They're Differences When Hatchings Occured. Tarenath Cooed, And Continued Humming From Directly Behind Kat.

The Candidates Stiffened As The Eggs Began To Rock. The Humming Increased In Volume, But No One Noticed. The Candidates Formed The Traditional Half-Circle Around The Eggs. Allaniath Hissed, And They Had To Back Up Some To Give The Queen Her Space.

The First Egg Hit The Ground Hard, And Cracked Into Uneven Halves. The Glistening Blue Hatchling Screeched. A Blue Was Not A Good Sign. Kat's Fear Over The Queen Egg Became More Intense. The Blue Screeched Again And Headed For One Of The Boys. Kat Remembered Him As Aron. "His Name Is Othelith!" Aron Shouted. But Attention Was Drawn Away From First Impression As A Large White Egg Fell, Sending The Twin Bronzes Inside Rolling Out Onto The Sand, Creeling. Many Boys Rushed Over, Trying To Be Close Enough To Impress. The Bronze Twins Hissed, And The Boys Backed Away A Little. One Twin Darted Around The Grouping Of Male Candidates, Only To Stumble, And Land Face Down In The Sand. Jaysen Rushed Over To Help The Little Bronze Up. "Oh, My Skorth! Are You Ok?" Jaysen Scratched Skorth's Eye Ridges And The Little Bronze Cooed With Pleasure. The Other Bronze Twin Fought His Way Through The Group Of Candidates, And Butted Alix In The Leg. "His Name Is Froytath!" Alix Shouted, Almost Laughing At The Bronze's Playfulness.

While That Had Happened, Four More Eggs Had Hatched, Revealing Three Greens And Another Blue. The Greens Had Found Their Lifemates Easily Through The Advancing Girls. "Her Name Is Bith!" Syd Shouted, Only To Be Echoed By Dharin Shouting, "Her Name Is Cordith!" The Other Green Started For Jessica Dragontamer, But Changed Her Mind And Went For Jenna. "Her Name Is Leyath!" She Shouted. Jessica Looked Crestfallen.

The Little Blue That Had Hatched Couldn't Find Anyone. The Boys Had Turned Their Attention To A Brown Halfway Out Of His Shell, And Stuck Fast, Screeching Loudly. One Boy, Kit, Started For The Brown, But Tripped Over The Little Blue. The Blue Turned To Kit, Eyes Whirling Concern. "Oh, Marteth, Silly! I'm Fine! And I'd Never Leave You!" The Brown Stuck In His Shell Was Freed By Young Vincent. "His Name Is Waylorth!" Suddenly, All Attention Turned To The Over-Sized Queen Egg, Which Had Begun To Rock. The Female Candidates Edged Forward, Careful Not To Arouse Allaniath's Watchful Eye. A Crack Appeared In The Side Of The Egg. Kat Hoped Nothing Bad Would Happen. The Little Golden Nose Nudged Through The Shell, And The Head Followed. The Little Queen Screeched As Another Golden Nose Pushed Through The Egg. Kat Held Her Breath. And Then, There Was More Commotion As A Third Golden Head Punched Through The Egg.

"Aah!!" Nat Shouted, "Its Triplets!"

The Female Candidates Held Their Breath Along With Kat, As The Golden Egg Finally Broke, Revealing The Three Queens That Had Struggled Out. But Kat Did A Double-Take, And Thought Her Heart Would Stop. It Wasn't Triplets! It Was Quadruplets! Four Queens In The Same Egg! The Fourth Was Slightly Smaller, And Had A Fractured Wing, But Nothing That Couldn't Be Fixed. The Four Queens Shrieked Similatiously, And Headed For The Female Candidates. The Smallest Gold, The One With The Fractured Wing, Stumbled Quickly And Shrieked In Pain. A Young Lady, Alissa, Ran Forward To Help The Little One. "Barisinth Needs Help!" Alissa Cried, Picking Up The Hatchling And Running For Assistance. Kat Ordered To Healer Over To Help The Young Queen, Creeling And In Pain In Her Lifemate's Arms.

Kat's Worry Didn't End. While The Three Remaining Queens Picked Through The Female Candidates, A Young Green Hatched, Rolling Out Of Her Egg Very Fast. Once Righted, The Green Focused On Jessica Dragontamer, And Headed For Her. Right Before The Green Reached Her, One Of The Golds Blocked The Green's Path And Hissed. Another Girl, Reanna, Helped The Little Green Away From The Queen. "It's Alright, Jeth, The Queen Won't Hurt You." The Little Gold, Satisfied That The Green Was Gone, Turned To Jessica, And Creeled. Jessica Knelt Down In The Sand. "I Know You're A Queen, Regalith, But That Wasn't Nice." The Gold Nudged Jessica, And They Left The Sands.

The Third Gold Moved With Her Sister Toward Serenity. The First To Get There Promptly Rejected Serenity, And Headed For Jade. "Her Name Is Acideinith!" Jade Shouted. The Rejected Girl Sighed, Only The Find The Final Gold At Her Feet. Tears Ran Down Her Cheeks As She Yelled, "Her Name Is Daytrith!"

With The Last Gold Off The Sands, More Of The Eggs Hatched, And Faster, Too. A Bronze And Two Greens Headed Toward The Candidates, Followed By A Blue. Stardreamer, A Young Candidate, Watched The Blue Carefully, And Felt A Nudge On His Knee. Stardreamer Suddenly Found Himself Staring At A Tiny Bronze. He Backed Up. "No Way," He Muttered To Himself, "I'm Not Good Enough For A Bronze." The Little Dragon Screeched At Him. "Ok, Ok, Kaytroteth! I Didn't Know You Wanted Me So Much."

The Blue Easily Found A Young Man That Suited Him, Because Kat Soon Heard The Shout, "His Name Is Plath!" The Greens Almost Started Fighting, But Two Girls, Lady Jane And Adera Kept Them Apart. "Now, Noriath, You Shouldn't Fight With Your Sister Like That," Lady Jane Spoke Calmly To One, While Adera Simply Stroked The Other. "Doesn't That Feel Good, Ejarth?"

Kat Shook Her Head. There Weren't Many Browns. Somehow, She Felt That Wasn't Good. But She Quickly Changed Her Mind As Three More Eggs Hatched, Revealing Three Healthy Browns. Kat Smiled As They Found Their Lifemates. "His Name Is Gonrolth!" Tallen Cried, And R'tor Echoed With, "He Says He's Hugoth!" The Third Brown Chose C'kie. Obviously, Because He Shouted, "His Name Is Zorth!"

The Remaining Candidates Became Nervous Because The Number Of Eggs Was Few. Allaniath Looked Very Pleased With Herself, As A Set Of Green Twins, And Another Brown Hatched. Zelia Was Chosen By One Green, And Cried, "Her Name Is Sarth!" The Other Twin Green Found Shiven. "Her Name Is Salith!" The Brown Came In Touch With Young J'tair. "He Says His Name Is Nemth!" The Happy Candidate Shouted.

Two Eggs Remained. One Began To Hatch. It Was Slow, Indicating The Shell Was A Little Harder Than Normal. Most Of The Time, This Was Not A Problem. And To The Amazment Of Everyone, The Egg Hatched A Little White! Tristan Rushed Forward To Meet This Special Little Dragon. The White Peeped. "He Says He's Meeth!" Tristan Shouted. And Then The Final Egg Cracked. The Male Candidates Held Their Breath As The Tiny Bronze Made His Way Over To The Candidates. The Female Candidates Left. "His Name Is Xandith!" Falan Cried, And A Tear Ran Down Kat's Cheek.