Chap. 308 A Busy Night

Chap. 308 A Busy Night

“Thank you for the sheepskin, and for dinner,” K’ndar said.

The two dragonriders were tucked in between the forelegs of their recumbent dragons.

“You’re welcome, but I don’t get the credit for anything but the idea.”

“Now that my tum is full, my ears are empty. Talk to me,” K’ndar said.

“We got back to Landing while it was still daylight. Rath said he wanted to go hunting, even though I knew he’d fed yesterday. So he goes off. I had loaded my data into the database-I hope you don’t mind, I went into your quarters to do that. While there, I’m thinking, hey, I should take some food out to you, I hope to make it out there before nightfall. I rummaged around in your quarters, and you have nothing. What are you living on? I think, I’ll have to pick up something from the dining hall, and since it’s in between meal times, it may not be much.

I called Raylan to report that I’d loaded my data, and I was going to take something out for you to eat. He said he knew you were staying out here and was I going to, too? I hadn’t thought of it but I realized I probably would have to, due to it being so late. Just about then, Rath called from the dragon meadow. He has a small wherry, but he’s not eating it. I ask him, what are you doing? He says, this is for Raventh, he’s hungry, please load it on me.

While I’m loading the wherry, my datalink calls again. It’s Francie. She ORDERS me to stand fast, don’t I dare move until SHE releases me. Fifteen minutes later, I’m getting nervous because I don’t have much daylight left. Francie and Raylan come out. He’s carrying a skin of water and has two sheepskins on his back, and Francie’s carrying this latched container of stew for you, it’s still warm. Plus there’s a couple of spoons-she wants this all back, by the way; and here’s some fresh bread just outa the oven, and Raylan, should I send the roasted carrots? She was just like a mother hen, fussing over her chicks. I’m wondering how in the world I can transport all this? I swear, Francie acted as if you were headed for a polar expedition.”

K’ndar laughed, his heart swelling with appreciation for her kindness. It made him feel a little better about Siskin being AWOL. Francie’s stew had filled up corners he didn’t know he had.

“She’s been awfully good to me, B’rost. I’m sure you remember when she was in our weyr?”

“I vaguely remember, but, I didn’t really pay attention. I was sixteen with a dragon and out from under my father’s thumb.”

They looked up at the sky, ablaze with stars.

How kind my friends are. B’rost, for all the times he’s made me pull my hair out, doing something like this. Francie probably sending their own dinner. Even Rath, bringing Raventh a wherry. Is there anything more valuable than these people?

“So, tell me about this cairn? Maybe it will keep my mind off of worrying about Siskin out there somewhere in the cold, dark forest.”

“We landed on the eastern peak of that gap. We need to name it something, I don’t know what. Anyway, the gap goes right through the mountains to the basin beyond. It looks to be about a hundred kilometers across. It’s all steppe in the basin. Risal was right, it’s not watered by winds.”

“Did you tell her she was right?”

“What? And have my bollocks fall off?”

“B’rost….”

B’rost laughed. He snuggled deeper into his sheepskin, grateful for the warmth from Rath’s body.

“When will you learn that I’m never to be taken seriously? Of course I admitted she had been right. I was only teasing her but I think maybe she took it wrong? She’s a very good geologist, K’ndar, she’s much better than me. I just can’t let her know that.”

K’ndar sighed. I understand, more than I want to admit.

“Maybe I’m wrong, but I get the feeling she feels insecure because she’s not a dragonrider. You shouldn’t make it harder for her.”

B’rost shrugged. “Okay. She’s a nice girl. I like her a lot, but..but only as a friend.”

“I know.”

He heard an eerie moaning from the forest.

“I remember the first time I heard the night raptors, it scared the boots off me, ” he said.

B’rost nodded. “They sound so scary, but they’re quite mild, really. We had a pair of them living in our milking sheds. They were death on the snakes. And small mammals-we lost kittens to them every once in a while. They made a mess, but my dad forbid anyone from disturbing them. He believed the cows liked having them in the barn.”

“Anyway, tell me about the cairn.”

“It’s old, K’ndar, weathered. It’s been there a long time. So long that it was completely covered with lichen, and you taught me that that stuff takes forever to grow. In fact, we almost missed it, it blended in with the vegetation on the peak. It looked like just another pile of rocks, until D’mitran noticed its configuration.

I don’t ever remember seeing it in class, and I am sure you remember, we had to memorize so many! I remember B’rant telling us weyrlings that whenever he had trouble sleeping, he began to remember all the cairns and dragonstones he’d memorized and snap! he’d be out.

Risal took pictures of it, and I’m hoping that whoever built it had the presence of mind to record it on a hide. I know that the first thing Aivas did was have everyone who had one bring in every record hide they had to be scanned. So I hope it’s in the database.”

“I want to go see it tomorrow, too. I hope the skull is clean enough to collect.”

“What about Siskin?”

For a few moments, he’d had respite from his worry. It was dashed.

“I can’t expect him to show up tonight. Dragons are diurnal, but I’m not so sure about fire lizards. Still, he’s afraid of night raptors. Wherever he is, he’s probably holed up for the night.”

“Raventh hasn’t heard him?”

No.

“No.”

The depths of his worry touched B’rost’s heart.

“I’m sorry, K’ndar. I know how much he means to you. He’s proven to be a real asset in a lot of ways. He’s a lot of fun, isn’t he! He’s often made me wonder if I shouldn’t get one,” B’rost said, wanting to soothe the pain in K’ndar’s voice.

“Until they do something like this, then it makes you think twice. I’m not mad at him, but this is killing me.”

“What if he doesn’t show up tomorrow?”

I didn’t want to think of that. I don’t want to think of that. He sighed.

“I can’t sit out here forever. I’m grateful you are here, again, thank you for thinking of me. And Raventh. But if he doesn’t show up by tomorrow, say, by noon, then I’m going to have to return to Landing, and just hope that if he’s alive, he’ll come home.”

“Will he suicide, like dragons, if he never finds you?”

“Shards, I hope not. But I don’t think so, at least, Roany didn’t, you remember Roany?”

“Yes. Roany was Greta’s fire lizard.”

K’ndar had struck a nerve.

“Greta,” B’rost sighed. “Every time I think of her, what sticks in my mind is what she did to that poor lizard. We’d been nomading for weeks and weeks. We ended up at Western. She spent hours at the telescope. She wasn’t caring for herself, or for Earth. I told her, look, I’m tired of this feckless wandering, can’t you settle somewhere? Aren’t you tired of this, not eating? Sleeping rough? She laughed and said she had this idea, but she didn’t elaborate. We had a big fight, she said she didn’t care whether I stayed or left. So I left. I bet you remember how thin I was, how bad Rath looked?”

“Oh, yes, I do remember,” K’ndar said. “I thought you were irresponsible to let either of you to get in that condition.”

“You were right. But she had this grip on me, I can’t explain it. I went back to Western after a month. She was still there, she said, I’ve got it all figured out. It’s going to work. Let’s do it together, I can use your help. I told her, if you’re thinking of going to the Yokohama, don’t. It’s a crazy idea and I’m not doing it.

She sneered and said, “I’m done with you, you coward, you’d be too afraid, anyway.” Then she flew off, laughing. I hung around all day, then, the next morning, I’m harnessing Rath and Roany showed up, crying. He was crying, K’ndar, that’s the only term I can find that describes it. Rath said he’d been hunting when Greta left and he had no idea where she’d gone. I figured she’d come back, I told him she’d be back soon. Then I left. Do you know if she returned to Western? Was I wrong?” B’rost said.

“Not too wrong, B’rost. This fills in a few blanks. I transported Rahman, the astronomer, to the Observatory some time after you’d left Western. We found Roany there in dreadful condition. He was skin and bones, his wings all tattered. He’d been there all that time, waiting for Greta.

The staff said that Greta had been gone for a month, maybe longer? and that Roany was still hanging around, no one could approach him. He came to Raventh, though. He convinced him to come back to Landing with us. He stayed with us for awhile as he regained condition, but he started going off on his own for longer and longer periods of time. I had to go to Ista Weyr, where Greta was from, and Roany came with us. That’s the last time I saw him. He never really warmed up to us, but that’s okay. I think he just went back to being a wild fire lizard.”

“Hmm. I hope you’re right. It makes me more optimistic about Siskin.”

“Me, too.”

“I don’t want to admit this but, I wonder whatever happened to Greta,” B’rost said. “How could she just abandon a bonded fire lizard? How heartless is that?

“You don’t know?”

“No.”

“Um, she was killed flying in the Strait. Probably by smashing into the sides of the cliff.”

“Flying? In the Strait? You must be joking.”

“I’m not. She knew the stories the dolphins told about something manmade lying on the seabed of the Strait. We theorize now that she was fixated on going to the Yokohama in order to access the ships big lidar to see what it was. When she finally accepted that she couldn’t do that, she decided her handheld lidar would have to do. I think she trusted Earth’s flying abilities enough to attempt a run down the Strait, recording with her lidar.”

B’rost let his astonishment drain. “By the egg, yep, that was her ‘idea’. If it were any other rider we were talking about I’d say you’re nuts. But knowing her, I have to say, yeah, she would have done it. She was crazy enough. That’s what she must have meant when she said I’d be too afraid. She was right. Even I wouldn’t have tried that.”

He sighed. “Greta. What a waste of talent. And a waste of a great dragon.”

“Aye.”

“How did you learn all this?”

“You will think I’m crazy when I tell you. While we were at Western, I flew to the bulwark to see if I could figure out what it was for. While there, the winds turned and dropped to virtually nothing. Siskin flew out into the middle of the Strait, and sent images of bones at the base of the cliff. Dragon bones, human bones-and a backpack. Long story made short, Siskin put a three pronged hook on the backpack, with a rope, and Raventh-with me screaming in terror on his back-swooped down to recover it. It was definitely Greta’s backpack.”

B’rost looked in K’ndar’s direction, unable to see his face for the darkness.

“And you say I’M rash? I take risks? My arse.”

“I won’t do that again, trust me. Ten minutes later, the winds had turned back and up to hurricane speed.”

“Wow, what luck, K’ndar! What was it the D’nis used to say? “Fortune favors the prepared mind?”

“In this case, dumb luck, B’rost. Don’t credit me with foresight, and I have a lot of trust in Raventh. He thought it was fun.”

“What was in the backpack?”

“Mostly just personal stuff….ssshhh. What’s that?” K’ndar said, all his senses suddenly alert.

A cloud of night flyers passed, their wings whuhwhuhing.

“Just night flyers,” B’rost said.

“No. Listen,” he said, all his nerves tingling. “Can’t you hear? Footsteps in the dried leaves. Soft feet.”

Please tell me it’s not lions, he thought.

B’rost cupped his ears and opened his mouth.

“Yes,” he said, “I hear it.”

No. It’s not lions. I can see them. I think it’s the same beasts as the carcass. They are coming out of the trees.Raventh said.

“Rath sees them,” B’rost started, softly.

“I know. Damn, it’s too dark to get a good look,” K’ndar whispered.

“They’re coming right at us! Should we, um, climb this tree?”

“I think we should stay right where we are, B’rost, next to our dragons,” K’ndar said, “We’re safer with them than just on our own.”

I won’t let them hurt you.

He began to see amorphous forms moving towards them, their motion apparent as they blocked the background of stars. He could hear the muffled sound of padded feet moving through the dried leaves. Now and then he heard rumbles, as if from a stomach. One of them gave a high pitched bleat. A form, smaller than the rest, separated from the group and darted to the side. As they approached the forms resolved into several bodies. The small form trotted right at them.

And stopped. For one moment, they saw a beast the size of a pony. It had a long narrow head atop a long, thin neck.

Then it whistled at the sight of the dragons and bolted. Several of the larger beasts bellowed as the entire herd spun and galloped back into the trees.

“Whoa. Did you see them? They were big, except for the little one,” B’rost said.

“I did! It was…”

Somethings are coming. From the north, coming fast. Many.

K’ndar jumped to his feet. “Lions?”

No. I think it’s dogs.

“Rath says he smells dogs,” B’rost said, getting up.

The two dragons stood up and moved out from underneath the tree.

Definitely dogs. I don’t see them yet.

As if on cue, they heard a bay from one of them.

“There can’t be hunters out here. We’d have seen them.”

“No, not a chance, B’rost. Mount up, we might have to launch. We don’t want to be afoot.”

B’rost immediately mounted Rath.

They heard the deep voiced bay again. It sounded joyful, as if hot on the scent of prey.

“What are dogs doing way out here?” B’rost said from atop Rath.

“They’re feral dogs, B’rost, dogs gone wild. Ones that broke loose from the spit, or dug their way out of the pen, got lost, or just ran off. It happens more often than you’d think. The ones that survive gather into packs. We see them sometimes on the steppe. They’re murderous, B’rost, they prey on cattle and horses, and have no fear of humans. They’ve treed more than one hunter in the forest. I bet they’re after those beasts. Maybe they’re what killed it.”

He climbed aboard Raventh, not needing any light to find the straps.

They will be here in a moment. If they come for us, hang on. Rath and I will attack.

“B’rost!”

“Rath told me. I’m ready!”

The pack appeared at a fast trot, their dark forms distinguished only by white toothed jaws.

The lead dog skidded to a halt, astonished at the sight of the dragons.

They pack milled around him, snarling, barking and chopping their jaws. The lead dog bayed at the dragons.

“Get out of here, you mangy curs!” B’rost yelled.

The pack charged.

Rath and Raventh roared and lunged at the dogs. They concentrated on Rath, going for his throat. The blue dragon leaped forward, sweeping with his front talons. He grabbed the lead dog and immediately bit it. The dog screeched. The pack stumbled back and regrouped.

“Get him, Rath!! Get him!” B’rost shrieked.

The pack, howling, surged towards Rath. Raventh, roaring, leaped at them, his wings thundering. He slashed one of the dogs, sending it flying. The pack turned and fled. The dog in Rath’s jaws writhed, trying to bite Rath’s head. He gave it a hard shake and crunched. The dog yelped-and was dead. Rath, in a volcanic fury, dropped the dog and tore at it with his talons.

Silence fell, broke only by Rath’s stentorian breathing.

“I think I can hear my heart pounding,” B’rost said.

Can you stop for a moment? I want to get off.

Okay. It made me angry.

Thank you. You did a good job.

B’rost dismounted, shaking from adrenaline.

“Dogs? Dogs! Feral dogs?”

“Aye,” K’ndar said. “They’re far more dangerous than lions, or even whers. We try to trap them, but they’re smart,” K’ndar said. “It takes two bolts to knock the big ones down, they’re why Lord Dorn allows some cotholders, like my family, to have crossbows. Given a large enough pack, they’ll drive a lion right off its kill-and sometimes kill the lion.”

I am going to eat this, but it has a harness. I don’t want to eat it. Rath said.

A harness? It’s dead, right?

Very. I killed it.

Well done!

B’rost felt for the dog’s body. It was still warm and now very bloody. His hands were shaking. He’d never been aboard a dragon when it killed. The fury in Rath’s mind had been the most intense he’d ever felt.

He felt a thick leather collar on the dog’s neck.

“This one’s got a collar, K’ndar,” he said. “Rath wants to eat it.”

“The dog or the collar?”

“Dolt! The dog! I can’t find the buckle, my hands are slick with blood. I’ll have to cut it off. Why didn’t I bring a torch?” He pulled his dagger.

“Don’t cut your hand off,” K’ndar said, snickering.

“If I do, I sure hope you can tie a tourniquet,” B’rost said. He very carefully sawed the leather til it separated and came free.

K’ndar came over to look at the dog. Even in the dark, he could see it was huge.

“Shards! Look at the size of it! I wish Rath would leave it til morning, I’d like to get a good look at it.”

“Um, I don’t think that’s doable, K’ndar. I’m not going to tell him not to eat it.”

K’ndar looked over his shoulder at Rath. The dragon’s eyes were glowing orange in the darkness. “I think I’ll let him eat it,” he said.

He knelt down and felt the warm body. “Whoa! If this thing were any bigger you could saddle it.” He could feel the massive head. “He’s built like Lizard’s guardian dog. This is no pet, B’rost, it’s not even a spit dog. This dog was bred for guarding-or attacking.”

Rath huffed in impatience.

“If it hadn’t been for the dragons, we’d be up a tree. Or dead.” B’rost said.

He wiped his hands on the leaves. “I have to wash this blood off,” he said.

“Okay, Rath, it’s yours. Leave the head, if you can?”

There’s not enough meat on the head. Rath says you can have it Raventh said.

Please take it a little ways from us? You can be messy, B’rost said. Rath carried the dog to a spot where he could eat in peace. B’rost noted he did NOT offer to share it with Raventh.

They used some of the water to wash their hands. Raventh lay down and K’ndar resumed his spot between his forelegs.

You were brave to attack the dogs.

I didn’t like them. They would have hurt you, they went for Rath’s throat.

He wrapped the sheepskin around his body and leaned back against Raventh’s chest. He could feel the dragon’s great heart beating. Or is that my own? he wondered.

“I have had enough excitement to last me a week,” he said, suddenly feeling tired. “I probably won’t sleep a bit, though.”

“I bet, what with Siskin still out there. Review cairns like B’rant used to do. I have a feeling Siskin will back in the morning, K’ndar. Don’t worry.”

B’rost wrapped himself in his sheepskin and sat, leaning against the tree.

I hope you don’t take too long to eat that dog, he said to Rath, I want to get some sleep.

All Rath sent was gustatory delight.

“So, we were talking about the cairn. It was a configuration I’ve never seen. When do you want to go look at it?” B’rost said, to keep himself awake.

K’ndar’s snore was his only answer.

____________________________________________________________

“Cheedle?”

K’ndar stirred, wondering where he was. He’d slumped to the ground. Raventh’s forelegs were still around him. Somewhere beneath him was a very hard tree root. Oh, yeah. I’m on savannah.

“Cheedle.”

Wake up. He’s here on my foreleg.

K’ndar opened his eyes to see a small form silhouetted against the lightening sky.

Siskin preened, his eyes glowing a bright blue.

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, you naughty lad?”

Siskin chipped. The fire lizard sent him an image of a quorl beneath his forefeet.

He caught a quorl almost as big as he is. He ate the whole thing. He’s been sleeping since then.

“You’re a brat, Siskin. A BRAT.”

Siskin arched his neck in pride.