Dragon’s Time: Dragonriders of Pern

by Anne; Todd J. Mccaffrey Mccaffrey

  Lorana was amazed at their numbers. Could all these have come from my dozen?

  Suddenly she felt a warning from Minith and then the air crackled as a dragon burst from between. The rider grinned and waved at her. Lorana gave the rider a startled look—it was Fiona and her heart leaped with joy as she waved back.

  Talenth says to turn north, toward the camp, Minith told her.

  Let’s go!

  Lorana was surprised to see a large and well-formed camp near the dangerous rocks she’d marked out on her first foray into the Great Isle, but she was glad to land, hopping off Minith to race into Fiona’s arms.

  “I knew it!” Fiona cried, her face wet with tears. “I knew you wouldn’t quit, you’d never give in.”

  “Of course,” Lorana agreed, hugging her fiercely. “I couldn’t let you down.” She glanced around as she added, “Or Kindan.”

  “He’s here,” Fiona told her, grabbing her hand and dragging her along. “He’ll be delighted to see you, he needs to see you.” She raised her voice to a bellow and called, “Kindan!”

  The harper appeared from within a group of drilling weyrlings and his jaw dropped as he spied Lorana. In an instant he had his arms around her, was hugging her tightly and babbling, “Never, never leave me again!”

  “I won’t, I won’t,” Lorana swore just as fervently and just as teary-eyed. When they’d both cried themselves out, Lorana pulled back, glancing from Kindan to Fiona and back again. In a small voice she said, “I lost the baby.”

  Fiona reached out to her and grabbed her tightly. “Yes, dear,” she said, “we know.”

  “We thought of the same thing and came up with the same solution,” T’mar explained when Lorana got to the part in her tale where she mentioned moving the herdbeasts back in time.

  “At least now we know why we were all so muzzy-headed,” Fiona said with relief. “We are not only back in time here, but also back in time at Igen as well.”

  “Knowing why helps, but it doesn’t stop us from feeling the effects,” T’mar said.

  “I’ll be glad when we get to normal,” Fiona agreed. “At least now, though, I don’t have to doubt my sanity.” Fiona explained about how she fainted when she met her future self and how she nearly fainted again when, as her future self, she went back in time to organize the weyrlings for their jump back to this time and place.

  “What about the injured?” Lorana asked, noting the small size of the camp.

  “We decided this time to bring them back when the weyrlings were older and could provide more help,” Fiona said. “That way our young dragonriders don’t have to split their time so much.”

  “So we’ll have two Turns here by ourselves, and then we’ll get the injured back with us to heal,” Kindan said.

  “And then we’ll have another three hundred and forty-one dragons to add to our strength,” Fiona said with pride.

  “That might still not be enough,” T’mar cautioned, in a tone that sounded like he was rehashing an old argument.

  “It’s the best we can do,” Fiona said. T’mar frowned but nodded.

  “What do you need me to do?” Lorana asked.

  “Well, first, if you don’t think you need her, you should probably send Minith back to Tullea,” Fiona said. “She’s nearly desperate without her.”

  Lorana nodded vigorously. “I worried about her,” she said. “I hope she’ll forgive me.” With a frown, remembering the Tullea of the far future, she added, “But I doubt it.”

  “Did you learn anything about the wildlife here?” Kindan asked. “We’ve only been here two days ourselves and we’re still getting sorted out.”

  Lorana shook her head. “I didn’t learn much,” she told them, describing her original survey of the land.

  “Something tried to attack a dragon?” T’mar repeated, in surprise and glancing questioningly at Kindan.

  The harper shook his head. “I don’t recall any Records of that.”

  “Nor I,” Fiona said. She made a face as she added, “We’ve been hearing some noises from the woods, some deep mrreow sound that we’ve never heard before.”

  “I think what I met was different,” Lorana said with a shake of her head. “This creature made no noise. It seemed like a tunnel snake. Large and very fast.”

  Kindan and Fiona exchanged a look. “I suppose if there was nothing hunting tunnel snakes they’d get large,” Fiona said.

  “And the faster ones would survive longest,” Kindan said, “and grow largest.”

  “Large enough to attack a queen?” T’mar asked, his tone dubious.

  “Need breeds desperate action,” Fiona said.

  “Well, we’d best keep guard,” T’mar said grimly. “A weyrling is much smaller than a—”

  A sudden mrreow broke through his speech, followed immediately by a dragon’s cry of pain and a chorus of shouts. The group rushed out to see a large furry beast running off, and a group of youngsters gathered around a bellowing dragonet.

  Talenth! Fiona cried.

  It struck before we could spot it, the queen replied.

  Fiona rushed back to the tent for her aid kit. When she returned, Lorana and the others were gathered around the young blue dragon whose left wing was badly mauled. B’carran looked up anxiously, asking, “Will he be all right?”

  It was a nasty wound, Fiona noted as she reached for her gear.

  “Let me,” a young woman said as she knelt next to Fiona. “Jassi, of Ista.”

  “I’ve heard of you,” Fiona said, then leaned closer to murmur for the young woman’s ears alone, “What do you think?”

  “It’s bad,” Jassi said as she examined the wound. She point to the worst spot. “The sail’s completely away from the bone here.”

  “Nasty,” Bekka said as she shouldered her way through the crowd.

  “What did this?”

  “One of the Mrreows,” Fiona said. Bekka pursed her lips tightly.

  “We’ll need to build a large wall,” T’mar said, turning to Kindan. “Let’s organize some crews.”

  “Lorana,” Fiona said, turning toward the taller woman, “would you take Talenth to help? I’m going to be busy here.”

  Lorana gave Fiona a measuring look as thoughts raced through her head, then nodded. Fiona smiled back at her in gratitude for accepting Fiona’s wordlessly delivered plan.

  Lorana moved away from the crowd and called to Minith.

  It’s time you went home, dear, Lorana thought fondly to the queen.

  I do miss my rider, Minith admitted, sounding wistful, but still willing to remain with her.

  She misses you, Lorana agreed. She turned her attention to Talenth. Can you follow us?

  Of course, Talenth said, but Lorana could feel the slight sense of worry from the younger queen.

  “I can fly her,” a voice spoke up from beside Lorana.

  “Bekka?” Lorana said, reaching for the young blonde and giving her a quick hug. “Aren’t you needed with Mayorth?”

  “I think Fiona and Jassi will do fine,” Bekka said. “But I’m worried about Talenth going between by herself.”

  “Very well, if Talenth’s willing, you can fly her with me,” Lorana said after just the slightest of pauses.

  Talenth was happy to carry Bekka and before long the two were airborne. Lorana confirmed coordinates with Talenth, having learned from Bekka when Minith returned to Tullea, and together they went between forward in time.

  They had not quite been between for three coughs when they heard a male voice cry toward them: The Weyrs! The Weyrs must be warned! And another voice, female, cried, Can’t lose the babies, can’t lose the babies!

  Lorana felt a tug on her heart as she tried to fathom the pain of the two voices, but she felt Bekka’s rising panic and, with a surge of will, they broke beyond the cries, forward to Telgar Weyr and back once more into the light.

  Lorana jumped off Minith and raced over to Talenth where Bekka gave her a hand up. They were in the air and between before a
nyone noticed.

  “He’ll survive,” Fiona told B’carran as she finished the last of the bandaging on Mayorth’s injury. “The damage was bad and it’ll take several months to heal, but he’s young and he’ll make a full recovery.”

  B’carran nodded absently, his eyes straying toward the Istan girl, Jassi.

  “The Weyrwoman’s right, B’carran,” Jassi told him, then she shook her head in apology to Fiona.

  “If you say so, Jassi,” the young rider said in relief, reaching down and scratching the young blue’s eye ridges. “You’ll be fine, Mayorth, Jassi says so.”

  “The two of you need to get rest,” Fiona said, motioning for them to move on.

  “Sorry about that, Weyrwoman,” Jassi apologized after the blue dragon and his rider had departed. “They’re used to me at Ista.”

  “And they trust you, with good reason,” Fiona said, gesturing for the other woman to follow her. “I take it you’ve been at Ista for a while, then?”

  “I came when the sickness started,” Jassi said. “I wanted to help the dragonriders; when I was little, it was J’trel who found the fruits during the Plague to nurse me back to health.”

  “You knew J’trel?” Fiona asked in surprise. “Did you ever meet Lorana?”

  “I did, once, before she went aboard the Wind Rider,” Jassi admitted. Shyly she added, “My father’s still got one of her drawings in his tavern.”

  “Come with me!” Fiona said, her eyes twinkling. Talenth had just returned and Fiona picked up her pace, urging the older woman to keep up, so that they met Lorana just as she was helping Bekka down from Talenth’s neck.

  “Lorana?” Jassi asked in surprise.

  “Jassi!” Lorana exclaimed with a wide smile, moving forward to hug the woman tightly. Jassi squeezed her back with equal force.

  “When we heard about the Wind Rider, I cried,” Jassi said, tears starting in her eyes. “And then we heard about you and your queen and”—she broke off, gesturing back toward the weyrlings—“you could have my queen, if you want.”

  “I think Talenth might have something to say about that,” Fiona said, patting her queen’s foreleg possessively. “She’s quite partial to Lorana.”

  Lorana laughed suddenly at some hidden joke, and the others all looked at her in surprise. “Falth”—she said, pointing to Jassi—“and Talenth”—she pointed to Fiona—“both say that while they would happily carry me anywhere, they are quite attached to their riders and would not want to lose them!”

  “I think all dragons are partial to her,” Bekka said. She looked up at the dark-eyed woman and said, “If I ever Impress, I’ll let you ride my dragon.”

  Lorana smiled back at Jassi and shook her head. “As you can see, I’ve got too many dragons to ride already.”

  “But doesn’t it hurt?”

  “It does,” Lorana admitted, her voice catching on a sob. “I miss my Arith every moment of every day.” Fiona grabbed her hand and clenched it comfortingly. Lorana squeezed back as she continued, “But the dragons keep me company and that makes it a bit easier.”

  “I heard,” Jassi began hesitatingly, “when the sickness was the worst that C’rion said you heard every dragon die.”

  Lorana nodded bleakly.

  “How can you survive such pain?”

  “It’s hard,” Lorana said. “But it would be much harder to abandon those who remain, to give in or give up simply because it hurts.”

  Bekka moved toward her, raising a hand to rest on her shoulder. Lorana smiled down at the young woman.

  “I think it’d be harder, not being able to share their pain,” Lorana said. “But I don’t know.”

  “It’s hard,” Bekka said. “Sometimes I go into a corner and just cry and cry after a bad Fall.”

  “You, too?” Jassi asked in wonder. “I thought I was the only one.”

  “I think we all do,” Fiona said. “But mostly they get better, so it’s not too bad.”

  Jassi cast her gaze out to the lush undergrowth that surrounded them. “But these creatures, these—”

  “Mrrreows, I call them,” Bekka said.

  Jassi considered the term, then nodded. “These Mrrreows are nasty.”

  “Now that we know they’ll attack dragons, we can guard against them,” Fiona said.

  “With weyrlings?” Jassi asked.

  “No, our old weyrlings will manage,” Fiona assured her with a smile. “You may recall that I went back to Igen Weyr with Fort’s weyrlings—”

  “I heard about it, and then our weyrlings and injured followed you,” Jassi said. “That’s why I was willing to come here, so my Falth could grow and help with the next Threadfall.”

  Fiona nodded and continued, “Well, the weyrlings who came back with me all suffered from what we called ‘muzzy-headedness’—”

  “Tired all the time? Forgetful?”

  “Exactly,” Fiona agreed. “And now,” she waved a hand at their current location, “that they’re all grown up and ready to watch over our current batch of weyrlings, we know why.”

  “Why?” Jassi asked.

  “Because they’re here now and there in Igen at the same time,” Fiona said.

  “They all came?” Lorana asked, surprised. “All except F’jian,” Bekka said sadly.

  “F’jian?” Lorana repeated, glancing around. “Where is he?”

  “He was lost between,” Fiona told her. “He died saving T’mar.”

  “But then why was he muzzy-headed?” Lorana wondered. Fiona shrugged and shook her head. “And Terin? How is she?”

  “She seems in good spirits,” Bekka said. “Seems?”

  “She claimed that F’jian came back to her, told her it would be all right, that he’d always be there when she needed him most,” Bekka said, her face in a frown.

  “You don’t think so?”

  “He’s dead,” Bekka said frankly. “I don’t see how he could have come to her.”

  “We’re keeping an eye on her,” Fiona said, turning her head back toward the camp. “Jeriz is with her all the time—”

  “Jeriz?” Lorana asked suddenly. “Tenniz’s son?”

  “Yes,” Fiona said. “He was sent to Telgar, where he was driving Shaneese to distraction until she thought to make him my minder.” Between Fiona and Bekka, Lorana was quickly brought up-to-date with all that had happened since she’d left Telgar Weyr, days ago and Turns in the future.

  “And I was adopted by the Weyrwoman,” a small girl’s voice suddenly piped up. Lorana looked down into dark eyes and a dusky face so like Tenniz’s that she could only be his daughter. “So you’re my sister, too.”

  Lorana gave Fiona a quick look of resignation, then knelt down to the smaller girl and met her eyes, holding out her hand in greeting. “We haven’t met yet, I’m Lorana.”

  “I know, I’m Jirana,” the girl replied. “I was named after you.” She took Lorana’s hand and shook it as she added, “And we have met, maybe you just didn’t do it yet.”

  “You’ve met?” Fiona asked, pouncing on the girl’s words. “When?”

  “If she doesn’t know, I can’t tell you,” Jirana said apologetically.

  “You’re the new traders’ seer?” Lorana asked.

  “My father said I would be the seer when I got old enough,” Jirana said.

  “Is there something I should remember?” Fiona asked the child.

  Jirana nodded solemnly. “Shaneese wants to know if you’ve eaten.”

  “Shaneese is here?” Lorana asked in surprise and delight.

  “I wouldn’t leave her behind,” Fiona said. The older woman gave her a measured look and Fiona explained, “It wouldn’t be fair to her or T’mar.”

  Fiona led them back to a spot just outside the tent and they met Shaneese, who insisted on hugging Lorana and then sat them all down, apologizing for the poor fare she had to offer them.

  “Well, Lorana saw to the herdbeasts,” Fiona said. “So I think it’s only fair that we work out the rest.”r />
  “If we could make some nets, I’ll bet there’s great fishing to be had,” Jassi said, looking out toward the seaward horizon.

  “It’s fruits and vegetables that worry me,” Shaneese said as she deftly served the group.

  “And spices,” a voice piped up.

  “And spices,” Shaneese agreed, nodding toward Javissa who was tending one of the nearby pots.

  “We’ll all have to pitch in,” Fiona said, glancing at Terin with a grin. “I wonder who we’ll find to trade with here.”

  “I thought no one was here,” Jassi said in confusion.

  “You have to be careful with our Weyrwoman and her words,” Shaneese told the well-built blonde. “She tends to talk in plans.”

  “Ah, you’ve figured that out!” Terin said. Shaneese snorted a laugh and nodded.

  “And someone’s got to dig the firestone,” Fiona mused, turning to Lorana. “Unless you’ve managed that already?”

  “Firestone?” Jassi asked.

  “Not for at least two Turns yet,” Terin assured her. “There’s no use doing it before—oh! You mean that firestone mine!”

  “Someone cleared it out and mined it,” Fiona reminded her. “And I think we were the ones who made it happen.”

  “Again,” Terin agreed. Under Lorana’s questioning, Fiona explained about the firestone mine they’d discovered back in time at Igen Weyr, clean and ready for use, with firestone already stacked for them.

  “That reminds me,” Lorana said. “Have you ever heard someone speaking in between?”

  “Speaking in between?” T’mar echoed as he and Kindan wandered back from their latest efforts. He glanced at the harper, but Kindan shook his head.

  “What did you hear?” Kindan asked.

  “I wasn’t sure, it might have been my imagination, but when I came forward to return Minith to Telgar, I heard two voices,” Lorana said. “One a man’s, the other a woman’s.”

  “What did they say?” T’mar asked.

  “Did Bekka hear it, too?” Fiona asked on his heels.