Post by guest on Mar 30, 2009 13:23:32 GMT -5
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Amaris Weyr... A pitifully small weyr created by about one hundred dragonriders, as well as their kith and kin, holders and crafters all, deep in the heart of Southern... They had been charged with the task some Turns ago, to come and try and see if they could make the land hospitable once more, to see if dragons could flame the Thread from the skies there and allow humans to once more make Southern their home.
But everything seemed to go wrong. Felines had killed many dragon riders who had been scouting or hunting, odd illnesses taking even more lives with fever... Until only a few embattered souls were left to try and complete their task. All their hopes rested on their Golden Queen Saayleth, who finally Rose one hot summer morn, to be caught by Bronze Mitieth, and went on to lay twenty two eggs on the makeshift sands... Including one brilliant, gleaming Queen egg... Days later, Mitieth's rider caught fever that refused to break, leading to his death days after the clutching... And then Saayleth's rider began to fall ill as well... All held their breath as they watched the hardening eggs and the dying woman, hoping that their leader would survive, hoping that the dragon's would Hatch as children, some too young and others too old, were rounded up for a chance at Impressing...
Finally, the day arrived that the eggs began to rock and shake... Cracking and Hatching left and right and each Impressing to their Chosen few until finally, only three eggs were left... The large Queen Egg, and an oddly black egg that sat right beside it, as well as another egg, gleaming cream, large as well... Of the three, only the Queen egg was shaking, and many worried that the two smaller eggs were dead... And then... Something happened... A young pair, twins, ran forward onto the Sands, the male yelling angrily and the girl, pale faced and sweating, until they fell on their knees before the eggs, the male before the cream and the girl before the black. As people started forward to get them off, and Saayleth hissed and growled weakly, the twins broke their respective eggs with hard blows, spilling out two dragons that caused silence to resound through the crowd...
Two weak hatchlings raised their heads, crawling to their bondeds with tiny creels that silenced once they reached their respective bondeds. The crowd's eyes darted back and forth from male to female, staring at the two dragonets... The one that had crawled to the male was as large as the bronzes that had Hatched previously, yet his hide was nothing like their's... Pale, shimmering silver it was, just a touch of bronze left behind... He was a stunning dragon, though already heated words began to be thrown about, aberration, mutant, should have died... And yet, he had Impressed... D'vian, Mine... You have saved your Sentioth... I knew you would... The Platinum called to His, nuzzling the boy carefully even as he flopped weakly into his arms, before turning to his sister...
Black as the night itself, the other Hatchling's hide appeared nearly black at first, but glimmering with a hint of indigo when the light swept across her, and even as painfully tired as she was, her neck curved with regal grace as she looked to Hers. And you, dear Saiti... You have saved your Reverath. I thank you. With the wake of these two, it almost went unnoticed when the Queen Hatched, her pure golden form crooning to her siblings before she walked forward, finding Her's quickly enough, speaking her name Prosiath. Only moments after that a loud keen went up over the weyr as Saayleth blinked Between, gone to join her beloved who succumbed to the illness that had ravaged her body.
And so the first Platinum and Obsidian were born, growing alongside their normal colored sisters and brothers, haunted by cruel words of those who spoke out against them, calling them hideous malformed creatures that should have died in the Shell, only silenced by the golden Queen who defended her brother and sister... A few sided with D'vian, Saiti, and their dragons, seeing the two as merely odd colors, even when Obsidian Reverath and Platinum Sentioth grew to be nearly the size of bronzes... But nothing could keep the whispers from coming back. Slowly the weyrlings grew, taking their place in the decimated wings, slowly allowing Amaris to grow as the illness seemed to taper off, the hunters finally driving the wild cats away... It seemed everything might be all right once more.
That is, until Gold Prosiath Rose, and Platinum Sentioth Chased... And much to the shock of everyone there, the Platinum male outflew all others who dared to Chase the fierce Golden Queen, winning her favor until they mated in the sky... And the mutters began again, revived by this 'atrocity' of nature... And those mutters only incresed when Reverath Rose the next day, only two males following her, a bronze and a blue, others grounded by their Riders, yet still very few paid mind to the oddly colored large dragoness, imagining her infertile.
That is, until both Gold Prosiath and Obsidian Reverath took to the Sands, hissing at each other all the while as two clutches were laid... 15 for the gold, and 13 to the obsidian, and... Two Queen eggs. Then it was shock that hit the weyr as the call went out once more. But this time, candidates were oddly 'hard' to find, prejudiced weyrfolk not wanting their son or daughter to be chosen by a freak's eggs.
But finally enough candidates were found to stand, the last few being dragged to the sands just as the eggs began to rock... And this time, even more shocks were to come... Most of the eggs hatched normal colors, until about halfway through. Then, Prosiath's gold egg began to rock, eventually hatching out another *mutation*, a brilliant dark red female, glittering metallic as her mother, who quietly left the Sands to find Her's, finding her soon enough in a young male who hovered at the back of the human parade. B'ryden? Mine? Why do you hide amongst all these others? You should not scare your Adelith so... And then from Reverath's Clutch came two more rocking eggs, each one Hatching to dump out two more odd colors... One was a dark, matte black without the glimmer of its mother, while the other was a bright, bloody red... The red dashed forward to leap right into the arms of a young girl, her mind voice giggling madly. Mine! Mine! Your Duveth has Caught you! I shall keep you, methinks! Even as the black slinked forward, silently curling up beside a skinny, almost fragile looking black haired male... Don't think you can hide from me, C'dyn. You're Mine.
After that, the rest of the Hatching went apace, and the biggest shocker came in the form of Obsidian Reverath's Queen Egg Hatching forth a perfect little Queen, a golden beauty who snapped and snarled until she found Hers among the last of the humans. By this time, the elders of the weyr had made their decision... They had seen what allowing these freak colors to live at their caused... Mutations like this that had never been seen before, screwing with the genetics... It could not be allowed to continue... They could not be allowed to stay here and corrupt the rest of the weyr... They would allow Gold Prosiath to stay, they needed a Queen after all, but the freaks had to be driven out of the weyr.
And the announcement was made the next day... Backed by the bronzes and browns, the blues and greens of the weyr, the new colors were shunned and told they had to leave, and while the dragons would not attack others, this did not stop the humans... They were harried with threats and in some cases, beaten... But the new colors, led by Obsidian Reverath, her daughter Gold Stasiieth, and the Ruby Adelith, refused to leave... They had no where to go... Tensions rose and rose, the weyr split into factions over this... Until one day, Gold Stasiieth's rider, weyrling Jaysee, was killed in murderous rage by a fanatic... Instantly the gold went into a rage and betweened with her beloved rider's body, the murderer dead from her claws, and the weyr stunned.
But this only spurned more hatred for the new colors, and it allowed those who fought against the new colors more room... Eventually Reverath and her bonded knew they had to flee... Her daughter was dead, and every day the danger grew... And so, with the new colors, as well as a few of their supporters, Obsidian Reverath and the others ran away, taking little with them and flying as far as they could until they came upon a spot that they could make their home... Near to the warm coast, with mountains guarding their back's, the small group settled down... Finally, they could leave and not fear persecution from the fanatics at Amaris.
They called their new home Libertas, built on the freedom they had longer for... And turns passed, the small Weyr growing quickly and spreading out, a hold building not far away, the dragon's numbers building until they could protect their lands easily enough, the hatred of their old home left behind completly. Life was as close to ideal for the weyr as was possible for nearly two hundred turns, Obsidians and Rubies and Golds flying alongside each other, as did all the other colors.
Now, two hundred turns have passed since the vicious murder of a gold, since the frightened Flight, and Libertas has grown... But something dark stirs... The previous Queen, Gold Harth, has died, her rider seemingly passing away of old age... Though something seemed odd about the whole incident, many have brushed it off. All eyes turned to see who of the remaining Queens would Rise first and become the next weyrwoman among those left behind. With the whispers coming from beyond the mountains, speaking of dark deeds and murder and blood, the weyr waited, meanwhile keeping an eye on the clutch of the Ruby Hresvoth, whose gleaming ten eggs lay out upon the Sands, coming the very day that Harth had died.
But all was not well as five days after the Touching of the eggs, the Rubyrider was found dead of what seemed to be alcohol poisoning by a bronzerider, X’car of Arsayooth and a platinumrider, A’sariel of Platinum Kenaniath. Foul play was suspected and they had only a hazy image of a person to go on. The Ruby, distressed and unable to cope with the loss of her rider, gave the safekeeping and welfare of her eggs to the Platinum Kenaniath. Kenaniath wholeheartedly took up the job, designating himself the new “mother” of the clutch until they hatched. The Hresvoth took her rider and Betweened, effectively committing suicide to join her bonded in death. Gold Valkryth and some of the higher ranked arrived to discuss what happen and to stop everyone else in the Weyr from coming to the scene.
Valkryth assumed watch over the clutch of ten eggs, joining Kenaniath who had devoted himself to keeping them safe. However, even the vigilant watch of two high-ranking dragons failed to stop a brownrider and his dragon from stealing one of the eggs, the Gin Egg, after drugging the gold to sleep. The brown had Betweened with the egg moments before Valkryth awoke to find the brownrider, K’tos, reaching for another one of the eggs. K’tos was confronted by Akayla, Valkryth’s rider, and decided that death was preferable over being caught alive and killed himself. The Gin Egg made its way into the hands of Amaris riders as Valkryth called the candidates to the Sands as the eggs were starting to hatch…
The remaining nine eggs hatched and all managed to find their bondeds on the Sands that day and as soon as it was completed, the gold queen, Valkryth, Rose in order to become the Senior Weyrwoman. An awesome display in the skies came out of this Flight. Two platinums, a brown, and two bronzes took to the heavens at Valkryth’s beckoning. One of the platinums, by the name of Sveroth, was incredibly weak and emaciated, as if he had been starving for a long time, and was a suprise to all since he seemingly appeared from nowhere after having been missign for a turn. This raised some objections from one of the bronzes and he soon was out of Valkryth’s Flight, the queen unable to tolerate his opinions of outsiders. As soon as she dispatched him, a Red could be seen in the same skies as her. Sveroth turned away, going for his true mate and his bonded who was with her. It seems he had been forced to Chase by Amaris' holding of the Red, Ishtaryth, her bonded, as well as his own bonded. The queen’s Flight continued and the Platinum, Kenaniath and A’sariel were chosen to become the new Weyrleaders.
Meanwhile, the Weyr found out that the Gin Egg had been recovered in the form of the hatchling Ruby, Zaratith, and her bonded Eloru. Eloru had been one of those of Amaris and had come with Ll’lyn of Platinum Sveroth and Ce’dyn of Red Ishtaryth. The two riders had been tortured by those of Amaris and something was unusual about the Red. She refused to let the healers near her until one apprentice Dragonhealer dared to venture close to her. The Red was egg-heavy when Reds were supposed to be sterile. This had been caused by the tampering of Amaris and not one but two clutches would grace the Sands at the same time.
Valkryth was later to discovered to have Rose early due to a drug given to her by K’tos, the one who had stolen Zaratith’s egg. But nothing could be done about it. Akayla and Valkryth were now the Senior Queen and Weyrwoman of Libertas. Twenty-three eggs came from the gold’s clutch and five managed to grace the Sands from the Red’s. Concerns about the eggs whispered in rumors around the Weyr because of Amaris’s tampering could be heard, especially about the unnatural ones of the Red’s. The Touchings took place without too bad of an incident and the whole Weyr waited for the dragonets contained within the eggs to burst forth into the world.
Meanwhile, the first Sand-Crawlers were revealed to the Weyr. The creatures, similar to a gecko of Earth in appearance but with six legs, were brought by an apprentice Dolphineer and eggs were given to those who had come to receive them. They were discovered to be Impressible not only to humans but to dragons, whers, dolphins, and other odd things as well. So the eggs hatched and crawlers became seen around the Weyr.
Twenty one dragons Impressed to their chosen life partners come Hatching Day out of twenty-three eggs. Three chimeras of colors had emerged from the shells of Valkryth’s clutch: a Black-Green, Red-Obsidian, and Red-Bronze. However, the Red-Bronze and his brown brother were not to Impress that day. The Red-Bronze, upon hatching, mauled a recently Impressed green weyrling and murdered his brother, becoming grievously wounded in the process. The Red-Bronze ended his life by releasing his Green-Black sister, who was weak from being inside her shell, into the world before passing into the dark void of death. A great keening went up from the mother and the other dragons before the hatching continued. The hatching finished with another oddity or two coming forth: a hermaphrodite Red prominent amongst them and with Valkryth carrying the bodies of her dead sons Between.
Later, that very same day, the hatching of Istrayath’s clutch was to occur. Four of the five eggs sprung forth to reveal their contents but one of the eggs had been dead because of Amaris’s tampering. Two more chimeras, a Platinum-Black and a Green-Red, sprang forth also, bringing a total of four chimeras that had survived out of the five that hatched. Anger towards Amaris had increased greatly because of the deaths of the two brothers and the egg that failed to hatch, not to mention what they had done to poor Ll’lyn and Ce’dyn and their dragons and how they stole Zaratith’s egg.
A hurricane rose up and the Weyr took immense damage. A green wher, Sayask’s, eggs had to be moved and the candidate barracks were flooded. Other more deadly damage also occurred and the Weyr had to be cleaned up from the storm’s effects. Later on, a golden wher, Waikask Ran and was caught by the bronze, Swornsk, whose eggs graced the Sands. Dead eggs occurred and a dead black as well. The Weyr was beginning to have more and more hatchings as Ruby Grath and Obsidian Adeyyth Rose within two days of each other and were both caught by bronzes in turn.
Eighteen eggs came from the Ruby’s and Obsidian’s clutches combined and the hatchings went without too much of an incident or a heartbreak like Valkryth’s had been. Time passed and another Obsidian Rose. Aertath was caught by a brown and eggs were laid. An Obsidian wher also had her clutch and they all hatched as well. Ten eggs hatched to all make their Impressions before quite of a stirring took place amongst the Weyr. Amaris riders had come to Libertas, supposedly for a peace delegation. However, whispers of other intentions ran rapid amongst the Weyr. Amaris riders and dragons couldn’t be trusted after all they had done, couldn’t they?
Not long after this, Valkryth Rose once more, resulting in a much more bloodier and fiercer Flight than before. Her old mate, Kenaniath gave chase along with others; but in the end, it was Bronze Jath of T’sova who won her that day. With a new Weyrleader, a clutch of twenty-one eggs have been laid. A most coveted treasure has been truly found on the Sands as a Queen egg is among those eggs of the Senior Queen. Valkryth is guarding carefully her golden daughter and the council between Amaris and Libertas riders still yet has to come forth and meet. Rumors of them coming to contact hidden spies or start a war between the Weyrs or do something else just as bad are running around the Weyr. Tensions are running high as Valkryth’s clutch is soon to hatch. Who will Impress to Libertas’s next queen? What will happen with the council? All this is yet to be answered. Only time will give them their solutions…
[/align]Amaris Weyr... A pitifully small weyr created by about one hundred dragonriders, as well as their kith and kin, holders and crafters all, deep in the heart of Southern... They had been charged with the task some Turns ago, to come and try and see if they could make the land hospitable once more, to see if dragons could flame the Thread from the skies there and allow humans to once more make Southern their home.
But everything seemed to go wrong. Felines had killed many dragon riders who had been scouting or hunting, odd illnesses taking even more lives with fever... Until only a few embattered souls were left to try and complete their task. All their hopes rested on their Golden Queen Saayleth, who finally Rose one hot summer morn, to be caught by Bronze Mitieth, and went on to lay twenty two eggs on the makeshift sands... Including one brilliant, gleaming Queen egg... Days later, Mitieth's rider caught fever that refused to break, leading to his death days after the clutching... And then Saayleth's rider began to fall ill as well... All held their breath as they watched the hardening eggs and the dying woman, hoping that their leader would survive, hoping that the dragon's would Hatch as children, some too young and others too old, were rounded up for a chance at Impressing...
Finally, the day arrived that the eggs began to rock and shake... Cracking and Hatching left and right and each Impressing to their Chosen few until finally, only three eggs were left... The large Queen Egg, and an oddly black egg that sat right beside it, as well as another egg, gleaming cream, large as well... Of the three, only the Queen egg was shaking, and many worried that the two smaller eggs were dead... And then... Something happened... A young pair, twins, ran forward onto the Sands, the male yelling angrily and the girl, pale faced and sweating, until they fell on their knees before the eggs, the male before the cream and the girl before the black. As people started forward to get them off, and Saayleth hissed and growled weakly, the twins broke their respective eggs with hard blows, spilling out two dragons that caused silence to resound through the crowd...
Two weak hatchlings raised their heads, crawling to their bondeds with tiny creels that silenced once they reached their respective bondeds. The crowd's eyes darted back and forth from male to female, staring at the two dragonets... The one that had crawled to the male was as large as the bronzes that had Hatched previously, yet his hide was nothing like their's... Pale, shimmering silver it was, just a touch of bronze left behind... He was a stunning dragon, though already heated words began to be thrown about, aberration, mutant, should have died... And yet, he had Impressed... D'vian, Mine... You have saved your Sentioth... I knew you would... The Platinum called to His, nuzzling the boy carefully even as he flopped weakly into his arms, before turning to his sister...
Black as the night itself, the other Hatchling's hide appeared nearly black at first, but glimmering with a hint of indigo when the light swept across her, and even as painfully tired as she was, her neck curved with regal grace as she looked to Hers. And you, dear Saiti... You have saved your Reverath. I thank you. With the wake of these two, it almost went unnoticed when the Queen Hatched, her pure golden form crooning to her siblings before she walked forward, finding Her's quickly enough, speaking her name Prosiath. Only moments after that a loud keen went up over the weyr as Saayleth blinked Between, gone to join her beloved who succumbed to the illness that had ravaged her body.
And so the first Platinum and Obsidian were born, growing alongside their normal colored sisters and brothers, haunted by cruel words of those who spoke out against them, calling them hideous malformed creatures that should have died in the Shell, only silenced by the golden Queen who defended her brother and sister... A few sided with D'vian, Saiti, and their dragons, seeing the two as merely odd colors, even when Obsidian Reverath and Platinum Sentioth grew to be nearly the size of bronzes... But nothing could keep the whispers from coming back. Slowly the weyrlings grew, taking their place in the decimated wings, slowly allowing Amaris to grow as the illness seemed to taper off, the hunters finally driving the wild cats away... It seemed everything might be all right once more.
That is, until Gold Prosiath Rose, and Platinum Sentioth Chased... And much to the shock of everyone there, the Platinum male outflew all others who dared to Chase the fierce Golden Queen, winning her favor until they mated in the sky... And the mutters began again, revived by this 'atrocity' of nature... And those mutters only incresed when Reverath Rose the next day, only two males following her, a bronze and a blue, others grounded by their Riders, yet still very few paid mind to the oddly colored large dragoness, imagining her infertile.
That is, until both Gold Prosiath and Obsidian Reverath took to the Sands, hissing at each other all the while as two clutches were laid... 15 for the gold, and 13 to the obsidian, and... Two Queen eggs. Then it was shock that hit the weyr as the call went out once more. But this time, candidates were oddly 'hard' to find, prejudiced weyrfolk not wanting their son or daughter to be chosen by a freak's eggs.
But finally enough candidates were found to stand, the last few being dragged to the sands just as the eggs began to rock... And this time, even more shocks were to come... Most of the eggs hatched normal colors, until about halfway through. Then, Prosiath's gold egg began to rock, eventually hatching out another *mutation*, a brilliant dark red female, glittering metallic as her mother, who quietly left the Sands to find Her's, finding her soon enough in a young male who hovered at the back of the human parade. B'ryden? Mine? Why do you hide amongst all these others? You should not scare your Adelith so... And then from Reverath's Clutch came two more rocking eggs, each one Hatching to dump out two more odd colors... One was a dark, matte black without the glimmer of its mother, while the other was a bright, bloody red... The red dashed forward to leap right into the arms of a young girl, her mind voice giggling madly. Mine! Mine! Your Duveth has Caught you! I shall keep you, methinks! Even as the black slinked forward, silently curling up beside a skinny, almost fragile looking black haired male... Don't think you can hide from me, C'dyn. You're Mine.
After that, the rest of the Hatching went apace, and the biggest shocker came in the form of Obsidian Reverath's Queen Egg Hatching forth a perfect little Queen, a golden beauty who snapped and snarled until she found Hers among the last of the humans. By this time, the elders of the weyr had made their decision... They had seen what allowing these freak colors to live at their caused... Mutations like this that had never been seen before, screwing with the genetics... It could not be allowed to continue... They could not be allowed to stay here and corrupt the rest of the weyr... They would allow Gold Prosiath to stay, they needed a Queen after all, but the freaks had to be driven out of the weyr.
And the announcement was made the next day... Backed by the bronzes and browns, the blues and greens of the weyr, the new colors were shunned and told they had to leave, and while the dragons would not attack others, this did not stop the humans... They were harried with threats and in some cases, beaten... But the new colors, led by Obsidian Reverath, her daughter Gold Stasiieth, and the Ruby Adelith, refused to leave... They had no where to go... Tensions rose and rose, the weyr split into factions over this... Until one day, Gold Stasiieth's rider, weyrling Jaysee, was killed in murderous rage by a fanatic... Instantly the gold went into a rage and betweened with her beloved rider's body, the murderer dead from her claws, and the weyr stunned.
But this only spurned more hatred for the new colors, and it allowed those who fought against the new colors more room... Eventually Reverath and her bonded knew they had to flee... Her daughter was dead, and every day the danger grew... And so, with the new colors, as well as a few of their supporters, Obsidian Reverath and the others ran away, taking little with them and flying as far as they could until they came upon a spot that they could make their home... Near to the warm coast, with mountains guarding their back's, the small group settled down... Finally, they could leave and not fear persecution from the fanatics at Amaris.
They called their new home Libertas, built on the freedom they had longer for... And turns passed, the small Weyr growing quickly and spreading out, a hold building not far away, the dragon's numbers building until they could protect their lands easily enough, the hatred of their old home left behind completly. Life was as close to ideal for the weyr as was possible for nearly two hundred turns, Obsidians and Rubies and Golds flying alongside each other, as did all the other colors.
Now, two hundred turns have passed since the vicious murder of a gold, since the frightened Flight, and Libertas has grown... But something dark stirs... The previous Queen, Gold Harth, has died, her rider seemingly passing away of old age... Though something seemed odd about the whole incident, many have brushed it off. All eyes turned to see who of the remaining Queens would Rise first and become the next weyrwoman among those left behind. With the whispers coming from beyond the mountains, speaking of dark deeds and murder and blood, the weyr waited, meanwhile keeping an eye on the clutch of the Ruby Hresvoth, whose gleaming ten eggs lay out upon the Sands, coming the very day that Harth had died.
But all was not well as five days after the Touching of the eggs, the Rubyrider was found dead of what seemed to be alcohol poisoning by a bronzerider, X’car of Arsayooth and a platinumrider, A’sariel of Platinum Kenaniath. Foul play was suspected and they had only a hazy image of a person to go on. The Ruby, distressed and unable to cope with the loss of her rider, gave the safekeeping and welfare of her eggs to the Platinum Kenaniath. Kenaniath wholeheartedly took up the job, designating himself the new “mother” of the clutch until they hatched. The Hresvoth took her rider and Betweened, effectively committing suicide to join her bonded in death. Gold Valkryth and some of the higher ranked arrived to discuss what happen and to stop everyone else in the Weyr from coming to the scene.
Valkryth assumed watch over the clutch of ten eggs, joining Kenaniath who had devoted himself to keeping them safe. However, even the vigilant watch of two high-ranking dragons failed to stop a brownrider and his dragon from stealing one of the eggs, the Gin Egg, after drugging the gold to sleep. The brown had Betweened with the egg moments before Valkryth awoke to find the brownrider, K’tos, reaching for another one of the eggs. K’tos was confronted by Akayla, Valkryth’s rider, and decided that death was preferable over being caught alive and killed himself. The Gin Egg made its way into the hands of Amaris riders as Valkryth called the candidates to the Sands as the eggs were starting to hatch…
The remaining nine eggs hatched and all managed to find their bondeds on the Sands that day and as soon as it was completed, the gold queen, Valkryth, Rose in order to become the Senior Weyrwoman. An awesome display in the skies came out of this Flight. Two platinums, a brown, and two bronzes took to the heavens at Valkryth’s beckoning. One of the platinums, by the name of Sveroth, was incredibly weak and emaciated, as if he had been starving for a long time, and was a suprise to all since he seemingly appeared from nowhere after having been missign for a turn. This raised some objections from one of the bronzes and he soon was out of Valkryth’s Flight, the queen unable to tolerate his opinions of outsiders. As soon as she dispatched him, a Red could be seen in the same skies as her. Sveroth turned away, going for his true mate and his bonded who was with her. It seems he had been forced to Chase by Amaris' holding of the Red, Ishtaryth, her bonded, as well as his own bonded. The queen’s Flight continued and the Platinum, Kenaniath and A’sariel were chosen to become the new Weyrleaders.
Meanwhile, the Weyr found out that the Gin Egg had been recovered in the form of the hatchling Ruby, Zaratith, and her bonded Eloru. Eloru had been one of those of Amaris and had come with Ll’lyn of Platinum Sveroth and Ce’dyn of Red Ishtaryth. The two riders had been tortured by those of Amaris and something was unusual about the Red. She refused to let the healers near her until one apprentice Dragonhealer dared to venture close to her. The Red was egg-heavy when Reds were supposed to be sterile. This had been caused by the tampering of Amaris and not one but two clutches would grace the Sands at the same time.
Valkryth was later to discovered to have Rose early due to a drug given to her by K’tos, the one who had stolen Zaratith’s egg. But nothing could be done about it. Akayla and Valkryth were now the Senior Queen and Weyrwoman of Libertas. Twenty-three eggs came from the gold’s clutch and five managed to grace the Sands from the Red’s. Concerns about the eggs whispered in rumors around the Weyr because of Amaris’s tampering could be heard, especially about the unnatural ones of the Red’s. The Touchings took place without too bad of an incident and the whole Weyr waited for the dragonets contained within the eggs to burst forth into the world.
Meanwhile, the first Sand-Crawlers were revealed to the Weyr. The creatures, similar to a gecko of Earth in appearance but with six legs, were brought by an apprentice Dolphineer and eggs were given to those who had come to receive them. They were discovered to be Impressible not only to humans but to dragons, whers, dolphins, and other odd things as well. So the eggs hatched and crawlers became seen around the Weyr.
Twenty one dragons Impressed to their chosen life partners come Hatching Day out of twenty-three eggs. Three chimeras of colors had emerged from the shells of Valkryth’s clutch: a Black-Green, Red-Obsidian, and Red-Bronze. However, the Red-Bronze and his brown brother were not to Impress that day. The Red-Bronze, upon hatching, mauled a recently Impressed green weyrling and murdered his brother, becoming grievously wounded in the process. The Red-Bronze ended his life by releasing his Green-Black sister, who was weak from being inside her shell, into the world before passing into the dark void of death. A great keening went up from the mother and the other dragons before the hatching continued. The hatching finished with another oddity or two coming forth: a hermaphrodite Red prominent amongst them and with Valkryth carrying the bodies of her dead sons Between.
Later, that very same day, the hatching of Istrayath’s clutch was to occur. Four of the five eggs sprung forth to reveal their contents but one of the eggs had been dead because of Amaris’s tampering. Two more chimeras, a Platinum-Black and a Green-Red, sprang forth also, bringing a total of four chimeras that had survived out of the five that hatched. Anger towards Amaris had increased greatly because of the deaths of the two brothers and the egg that failed to hatch, not to mention what they had done to poor Ll’lyn and Ce’dyn and their dragons and how they stole Zaratith’s egg.
A hurricane rose up and the Weyr took immense damage. A green wher, Sayask’s, eggs had to be moved and the candidate barracks were flooded. Other more deadly damage also occurred and the Weyr had to be cleaned up from the storm’s effects. Later on, a golden wher, Waikask Ran and was caught by the bronze, Swornsk, whose eggs graced the Sands. Dead eggs occurred and a dead black as well. The Weyr was beginning to have more and more hatchings as Ruby Grath and Obsidian Adeyyth Rose within two days of each other and were both caught by bronzes in turn.
Eighteen eggs came from the Ruby’s and Obsidian’s clutches combined and the hatchings went without too much of an incident or a heartbreak like Valkryth’s had been. Time passed and another Obsidian Rose. Aertath was caught by a brown and eggs were laid. An Obsidian wher also had her clutch and they all hatched as well. Ten eggs hatched to all make their Impressions before quite of a stirring took place amongst the Weyr. Amaris riders had come to Libertas, supposedly for a peace delegation. However, whispers of other intentions ran rapid amongst the Weyr. Amaris riders and dragons couldn’t be trusted after all they had done, couldn’t they?
Not long after this, Valkryth Rose once more, resulting in a much more bloodier and fiercer Flight than before. Her old mate, Kenaniath gave chase along with others; but in the end, it was Bronze Jath of T’sova who won her that day. With a new Weyrleader, a clutch of twenty-one eggs have been laid. A most coveted treasure has been truly found on the Sands as a Queen egg is among those eggs of the Senior Queen. Valkryth is guarding carefully her golden daughter and the council between Amaris and Libertas riders still yet has to come forth and meet. Rumors of them coming to contact hidden spies or start a war between the Weyrs or do something else just as bad are running around the Weyr. Tensions are running high as Valkryth’s clutch is soon to hatch. Who will Impress to Libertas’s next queen? What will happen with the council? All this is yet to be answered. Only time will give them their solutions…