Part 2
A few minutes later there was a gust of wind as a good sized bronze dragon backwinged and landed on the ledge. The side of its neck and portions of its tail were still bandaged with poultices of numbweed. Elena watched as its rider slid off its neck and landed nimbly on the cavern floor.
"I'm ready to burn some Thread, Weyrleader!" he shouted as he limped over. Elena looked the dragonrider over. He was young, not much older than her, and, she sighed to herself, dashingly handsome. He glanced at her and smiled distractedly, his teeth flashing in the glowlight. "Did Manora change her mind? I told her that I was ready to fight!"
F'lar gestured at him to calm down. "I'm sorry A'gon, you're going to have to sit this one out," he said, laying a friendly hand on his shoulder.
"But Mnementh said we were needed!" the young dragonrider exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yes, you are," F'lar said as he swung himself onto Mnementh's neck. "You're to take this Harper to pick up her teacher. He's been seriously injured by Weoth Hold's guards. Once you do that, head to Harper Hall and stay there until Master Oldive says you can travel between again. And be careful, between isn't good for wounds, I don't want you or Tranth doing anything foolish."
"But the Thread falls-"
F'lar cut him off with a sharp look. A'gon stiffened and saluted. "I will do as you command, Weyrleader."
F'lar softened his rebuke with a smile. "Good lad, don't worry, you'll get your fill of burning Thread soon enough." With that he and Mnementh leapt into the air to join the waiting wings of dragons above Benden Weyr.
A'gon stared after him until the wings disappeared between. He slammed a fist into his palm and cursed loudly. Tranth bugled mournfully from the ledge and flapped his wings dispiritedly.
"Don't worry," A'gon said to him, "we'll burn Thread soon. Let's get this Harper and run this errand." He turned and looked at Elena. "You're the Harper?" he said incredulously.
Elena stiffened and nodded curtly. "Yes, I am," she said.
A'gon looked her over and shrugged. Pretty, he thought, but she'd be prettier if she stopped slouching and got into some better clothes. "Well, let's go," he said, climbing onto Tranth's back.
Elena moved to follow him and stopped hesitantly. "Umm," she said, "how do I-" she stopped, embarrassed.
A'gon rolled his eyes and extended his hand to her. "Put your foot on Tranth's knee there," he said, "and-" he grabbed her arm and hauled her up before him. "There, now hold on."
Elena barely had time to settle herself in front of the dragonrider before Tranth leapt into the air with a strong beat of wings. Her stomach lurched as they rose sharply and leveled off for the shift between. "Where are we going?" A'gon asked, tightening his grip around her waist as Tranth banked and caught a thermal for altitude.
Elena gulped at the feel of the dragonrider's arms steadying her on the dragon's back. While she knew she should be paying attention to the breathtaking sight of a sunset on dragonback, she couldn't help but focus on the young dragonrider holding her. "Well?" he repeated, causing her to flush in embarrassment.
"The rocky barrens just north of Weoth Hold," she finally said.
"Right, I've been over it on patrols," A'gon said. He paused to brush her hair from his face before telling Tranth to go between.
Elena felt A'gon sweeping her hair away to the side of her neck. For a brief thrilling moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but then she realized that her hair was flying free and had been flapping against his face.
She heard A'gon shout a warning to her and then they were between. The void filled her senses with its emptiness, she clutched to the riding straps that she knew were beneath her hands but that she could not feel as she silently counted. Just as suddenly as they had gone between they were out. She shivered violently as the she felt the aftereffect of the cold, behind her she could hear A'gon grunting in discomfort as the cold irritated the Threadscores on his arm and leg.
"There!" she yelled, pointing towards the large boulder with the overhang that sheltered Ardeck.
"Tranth see's him," A'gon said as they descended sharply. He yelled in irritation as Elena's hair flew back to blind him again. "Can't you do something with your hair?" he snapped, more harshly than he intended because of the pain of his Threadscores.
Elena flushed again, this time in anger at the dragonrider's tone, and gathered her hair in a quick knot at the side of her neck. Her anger disappeared as she caught sight of Ardeck's limp body by the boulder. She leapt from Tranth's neck before the dragon had finished landing and rushed to the older Harper's side. He was deathly pale and still as she knelt by him. She reached out to check his pulse and sighed in relief when she felt a weak but steady beat in his neck.
"Is he still alive?" A'gon asked as he quickly limped to her.
"Yes, but only barely, we've got to get him to a healer as soon as possible," Elena replied, her voice tight with anxiety.
"He looks too bad to move, I'll go get Master Oldive and bring him back here-" he stopped as his head snapped up to look back at Tranth. "Tranth says that there's guards coming on riding beast." He stopped again. "They've got bows and weapons." A'gon turned back to Elena. "Stay here, we'll scare them off."
"Be careful, they're not acting rationally."
A'gon flashed her a smile. "They won't be once they see me and Tranth in action." He climbed onto Tranth's neck and was flying in a flash. Tranth's bronze scales caught the last traces of daylight as the sun set over the horizon, his wings pumping as he soared into the air.
From his seat on Tranth's neck, A'gon could see the forms of the guards on riding beasts below. There were six of them, each armed with a rare and valuable bow and quiverfull of arrows. Let's scare them off, he silently told Tranth. The dragon bugled in anticipation as he tucked his wings back and dove towards the guards. A'gon expected the guards to scatter at the first sound of a dragon as their riding beasts panicked. He was surprised to see the guards leap off their stampeding beasts with their bows at the ready. Careful, he thought to Tranth as they dove closer to the ground.
They were just dragonlengths from the guards when arrows were loosed from bows. A'gon ducked his head as an arrow whipped by him, astonished that anyone would dare to attack a dragon. He was about to shout a challenge to the guards when he heard Tranth's roar of pain. The dragonrider craned his head and saw that an arrow had pierced the sensitive membrane of Tranth's wing, leaving a patch of hide dangling and bleeding in the air.
The normally gentle dragon roared in fury and whipped its tail at the guards as he flew overhead. It lashed into one guard, smashing him into the ground with bonebreaking force. A'gon ordered Tranth back up into the air and away from the guards, already nocking new arrows in their bows.
Are you all right? A'gon thought to Tranth. I hurt, the dragon responded, his thoughts full of pain at the betrayal from those whom he was bred to protect.
"Don't worry," A'gon yelled, "let's get back to the girl, we'd better get her and the Harper out of here before those guards can get to her." The bronze dragon flapped hard and wheeled about to fly back to Elena and Ardeck. Neither dragon nor rider saw the fallen guard rise, silvery Thread whipping from his wounds.
Elena looked up at the sound of Tranth roaring. She bit her lower lip nervously, wondering what could have possessed the guards to attack a Harper. Even Lord Fax had never tried to kill one of their number and he had paid for challenging a dragonrider with his life.
She was snapped from her reverie by the beating of dragonwings. Tranth and A'gon had landed next to the boulder with A'gon leaping from his place on the dragon's neck and nearly crumpling because of his injured leg. Elena ran to him and caught him around the neck as he cursed vehemently.
"Those addle brained wherries shot at us!" he yelled, shaking her off to limp towards Ardeck.
"They shot at you? At a dragonrider?" Elena gasped.
"Yes!" The dragonrider slammed his fist into his palm. "We'll need to move your teacher, those guards must be insane and they're not scared of a full grown dragon. If they tried to kill you both once, they'll try again."
"But the cold-"
A'gon shook his head. "We'll have to risk it, you'll both be dead if you stay."
Elena nodded, feeling her heart thumping with worry as she began to carefully wrap Ardeck in blankets to protect him from the worst of the cold between. "Can Tranth carry him?" she asked A'gon.
A'gon drummed his fingers on his thigh before answering. "Yes, but we'll need to secure him, Tranth won't be able to feel him between and might let go accidentally."
They both shuddered at the thought of being lost between. "There's rope in that saddlebag," Elena said, "I've wrapped him in every blanket and bedroll we have. Hopefully the cold won't hurt him too much."
Together they hurriedly tied Ardeck to one of Tranth's foreclaws. The dragon bugled softly in objection to having a person tied to his claw but allowed them to do it. When done, they stood back to check their handiwork. Ardeck lay cocooned in blankets and bedrolls with his wound carefully covered and bandaged.
"We'd better get going, they'll be on us soon if they didn't bother to fetch their riding beasts," A'gon said, climbing onto Tranth's neck.
Elena nodded and gave one last tug on the ropes securing Ardeck before letting A'gon help her climb in front of him. She wasn't even aware this time of him brushing her hair out of his face before giving Tranth the order to fly. The bronze let out a loud breath in complaint as the motion of flying tugged at his wounded wing flap. From where she was seated before him, Elena could see A'gon pat Tranth reassuringly on the neck.
"Get down!" yelled A'gon as a arrow whizzed by them. Elena felt a sting in her upper right arm as another arrow streaked by. She was about to say something when they went between.
The body of Lord Trasden of Weoth Hold sat on the battered control chair salvaged from the wreckage that had crashed nearby only a sevenday ago. The thing occupying his mind idly toyed with the now useless controls. With its other hand it held a glass jar of writhing Thread.
"Archon Cor' Eln, we have diverted the Threadfall and collected twelve a'ghasts of it," Lictor Cor' Siyg said from the body of the Lord's secondman, Yorith. "We are letting it grow together as you have commanded."
"Good, how long until the ship is completed?"
"Half an orbit of this planet."
"Satisfactory, continue to gather Thread when you can."
"Yes, Archon."
"You are dismissed. Send in the human."
Cor' Siyg bowed and retreated from the great hall of Weoth Hold. As he left the hall, he passed a human dressed in noble finery. With a curt gesture, he motioned for the human to enter the hall and closed the door behind him.
"What are you called, human?" Cor' Eln asked, rolling the jar of Thread in his hands.
"I am Ordon of Nabol Hold," the human said, bowing with a flourish.
"What do you want?"
"I wish to serve."
"Why?" Cor' Eln was curious. Humanity had the amusing quality of being willing to hasten their own destruction because of their greed. Apparently the trait was racial, he had found it across the galaxy.
"For power, my lord."
"Power? Over who?"
Ordon looked up, hate blazing in his eyes. "Over F'lar and Lessa of Benden Weyr," he spat. "They humiliated my father, they are jealous of him." Ordon seethed inwardly, how he hated the smug Weyrleader and his bitch, he hated his siblings with only a little less fire, hated them for squabbling and tearing for their inheritance, for knowing no respect for their sire.
"F'lar and Lessa?" Cor' Eln searched the mind of its body. Respected leaders of the only group which could pose a threat to him. "What do you wish to do to them?"
"Grind the his face into the dirt and treat his whore like the slut she is!" Ordon spat, his face flushing an ugly red.
"How do you wish to do this?"
"They brought dragonriders," he spat the word, "from the past. The Oldtimers don't like having F'lar around. If I can get men and weapons, they won't object should F'lar and Lessa meet an untimely accident." Ordon smiled and rubbed at his dagger's handle.
Cor' Eln studied the human's face. "Why do you need me then? Surely you have men loyal to you and weapons for them?"
"I need more powerful weapons, those dragons they ride are fearsome. They can tear a herdbeast apart like a piece of grass. I've heard that you possess bows and more powerful weapons."
Cor' Eln smiled slightly. Weapons, he thought. The wreckage of his craft still had a working spinner. With it, he had been able to restructure the common silicates of the planet's surface into a fiber suitable for production of primitive weapons. He had Cor' Siyg working on assembling the magnetic drivers for a rail cannon when he was not gathering Thread. Even his own sidearm would be more powerful than any weapon on the planet. "Yes, I do possess these weapons. And I will let you use them. For a price, of course."
Ordon's face shone with greed. "Anything, my lord."
"I require your services in several areas and your men must be brought here to be equipped."
"Of course. What would you have me do?"
"Fetch," he paused to search his body's mind, "courtesans. It has been too long since I enjoyed a woman."
Ordon seemed surprised by his request. "Surely there are comely women here-"
Yes, there are, thought Cor' Eln. But they do not have the knowledge that I desire. "I desire courtesans, from the Hall."
"It will take a while, they'll have to travel over land from the nearest crafthall."
"Very well, I have time. Go then, and summon your most loyal men to be outfitted here."
"Yes, my lord. Thank you."
Cor' Eln waved the human out of the hall. He called out to the human just as he was reaching the door. "Ordon?"
"Yes?" the man called back.
Cor' Eln threw the jar of Thread towards him. Ordon screamed as the jar shattered on the floor before him and the Thread writhed upwards in a hissing coil.
"Do not seek to betray me, Ordon," Cor' Eln said calmly. "Or-" he flicked his right hand. The Thread darted towards an unlucky rat creeping along the far edge of the hall. It squeaked once, pitifully, before the Thread devoured it, writhing through the unfortunate animal's body before bursting forth again in a bloody shower. Within seconds even the blood of the rat had been absorbed and a pile of gleaming Thread lay in its place. "The process takes much longer if I wish it. For you it could take days."
Ordon gulped and bowed again. Sweat rolled down his face as he watched the Thread slither across the floor to coil around Lord Trasden's neck like a faithful fire lizard. He bowed again and slid out of the room, almost slamming the door in his eagerness to be away from the hall.
Elena had never seen Harper Hall from the air. It was a beautiful sight in the early evening sun, the walls reflecting golden highlights and reddish hues. In their trip between, she, Ardeck, A'gon, and Tranth had traveled almost the length of the continent, catching up to the sun. She sighed and wished she was in a better mood to appreciate it as they spiraled down toward the Hall.
"I'm going to land inside the square," A'gon said.
"Good idea," she answered, "it would be best to move Ardeck as little as possible. Can you tell the watchdragon why we're here? He can alert the Hall."
A'gon nodded and asked Tranth to do so. In a few short moments they had landed in Harper Hall, much to the amusement of those at dinner in the Great Hall.
"What is going on out here?" Elena heard the clear baritone of Master Robinton echo across the square. She looked up and saw him leaning out of his window with journeywoman Menolly and journeyman Sebell on either side of him.
"I'm sorry, sir, but journeyman Ardeck has been hurt!" Elena yelled, feeling tears welling in her eyes.
"What?! Where's Master Oldive? Someone-"
"I'm right here, Robinton," Master Oldive yelled as he hurried from the doors of the Great Hall carrying his bag of medicines. "Quick, get a stretcher!" he snapped at the gawking apprentices and journeymen crowded in the doorway. "What happened?" he asked as he approached the dismounting pair.
"Journeyman Ardeck was shot with an arrow by Weoth Hold's guards!" Elena cried. She brushed her eyes with the back of her sleeve, the horror of what had happened finally catching up to her. She felt A'gon lay a comforting hand on her shoulder as Ardeck was untied from Tranth's carefully raised claw.
Master Oldive clucked his tongue at the sight of the wound, still with the end of the arrow jutting out. "He'll live," he said, "but he won't be playing the gitar anytime soon." He looked up as the stretcher was brought out and Ardeck was loaded into it. As he followed it at a quick walk he looked over his shoulder and yelled, "Get Silvina to look at those wounds, dragonrider!"
"Silvina?" asked A'gon as the crowd began to mill around them.
"She's the headwoman," Elena answered. She was about to say more but was interrupted by a fair of fire lizards flying overhead to greet Tranth. Their noisy greetings and exclamations were soon joined by the shouted questions of apprentice and master alike. Elena felt her head spin, she hadn't had time to eat since morning and had been on riding beast all day. She tried to keep upright, she didn't want to faint in front of the entire Hall, but blackness crowded in on her vision and she felt herself falling.
She heard a distant voice yelling at her as she fell. "Hey! Girl, Harper!" It was A'gon yelling. He doesn't know my name, she thought as strong arms stopped her fall. "She's hurt! Stay with us, girl! Stay with-" was the last she heard.
Continued in Part 3
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