Dragonsblood A Dragonriders Of Pern Novel

ONE Red Star at night: Firestone, dig, Harness, rig, Dragons take flight. Fort Weyr, at the end of the Second Interval, After Landing (AL) 507 Four men stood in a knot around the Star Stones of Fort Weyr. The sun was just above the horizon, casting the harsh shadows of early dawn at winter's end. Each man wore the prestigious shoulder knots of Weyrleader. Their warm wher-hide jackets proclaimed them the leaders of Benden, Fort, Telgar, and Ista Weyrs. K'lior, Fort's Weyrleader, was host and the youngest present. He was also the newest Weyrleader, having gained his position less than a Turn before. He glanced back to the Star Stonesto the Eye Rock, which bracketed the Finger Rock, which itself was lit by the baleful Red Star. Thread was coming. Soon. The air was made more chilly by the steady breeze blowing across the plateau where Fort's Star Stones were placed. K'lior suppressed a shiver. "Fort is still wing light. We've only had the one clutch" "There's time yet, K'lior," C'rion, Ista's Weyrleader, judged. He pointed at the Red Star and the Eye Rock. "Thread won't fall until after the last frost." "There's no doubt, then, that Thread is coming," K'lior said, wishing the other Weyrleaders would disagree with him. For over two hundred Turns, the planet of Pern had been free of the threat of Thread falling from the sky. Now that peace would end. The Red Star's return would bring the Thread that would try, once more, to devour all life on Pern. For the next fifty Turns, the dragons would rise to the skies, flame Thread into lifeless char, or, failing, watch in horror as it burrowed into the rich soil of Pern to destroy all organic material with mindless voracity. "Telgar's ready, K'lior," D'gan declared. He turned back from the Star Stones and the dawning light to gaze at the others, who were obscured by the sharp shadows of the early morning light. His words were firmly emphasized by the distant rumbling of his bronze, Kaloth. "My wings are at full strength and I've two clutches on the Hatching Grounds" One of the other Weyrleaders cleared his throat loudly, but D'gan's fierce glare could not pierce the shadows to identify the culprit. "Yes, we were lucky," he continued in answer to the unknown heckler, "but the fact remains that Telgar will be wing heavy when Thread falls. And our holders have tithed fully so we've no lack of equipment or firestone." K'lior shifted uneasily, for he had been frank in relaying his difficulties in getting Fort's full tithe. "But you don't agree to pooling resources?" he asked again. He had called this meeting of the Weyrleaders to propose just that. As none of them had ever fought Thread, K'lior felt that his notion of "fly together, learn together" had merit, and would promote communication among the Weyrs. He was shocked when D'vin of High Reaches had refused the invitation and was even further shocked by D'gan's attitude. Telgar's Weyrleader was Igen-bred, after all. K'lior had hoped that D'gan's experience would have made him more amenable to working together, not less. D'gan favored the wiry Fort Weyrleader with a superior look. "If you're still wing light when Thread falls, K'lior, I'm sure I could spare some of my own." "I&McCaffrey, Todd is the author of 'Dragonsblood A Dragonriders Of Pern Novel', published 2005 under ISBN 9780345441249 and ISBN 0345441249.