Kandar’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the semi-gloom
of his room
after the glare of the bright afternoon sunshine.
There were two beds in the room. He tossed his pack onto
one and sat
down on the other. He’d never had the opportunity to
choose anything,
much less which bed would be his for the foreseeable
future. And he
might have this entire room to himself?
What an amazing week it had been. The scrapes and bruises
he’d
sustained after falling with his horse were almost
healed. Now he
was in a Weyr as a Candidate for Impressing a dragon. A
real, flying, fire breathing dragon!!
He rubbed the drive dust from his face. At dawn, he’d
helped drive a
herd of cattle to the Hold. C’val, blue dragon rider, had
picked him up
and brought him to the Weyr. It had been his first ever
experience on the back of a dragon and had ended far, far too soon. But the few
images he had before they'd gone between
were amazing. How small and different everything looked from the sky! It had
taken him several moments to recognize his brother and uncle riding back to
their cothold, leading his grey horse.
And then…appearing in the sky over the Weyr had been even
more astonishing. The sea! It was so big, so vast, sparkling in the sunshine
and stretching to a horizon he'd never known existed.
C'val had hovered, allowing Kandar to appreciate the
view.
The best part had been the utter joy of being
astride a dragon. It was like riding a powerful stallion,
but
infinitely better, because this one FLEW. The beating of Rastabenths’
wings just behind his head had been the most
exhilarating, after
Kandar realized the pinions wouldn’t hit him in the head.
When they landed, a drudge took him by the hand and led
him to the Weyrlingmaster. His torrent of information had been too much, too
soon.
He was glad that he’d been led to his room, as the weyrling barracks
were a maze. He was used to a small, single storied building with just his
family, a place so small that
one could cross it end to end within fifteen strides. Yet
now he was
in this massive stony fortress with kitchens and
storerooms and a
track and barns and a beach and so many people...and
dragons.
He needed a bath. He needed something to eat. He wasn’t
at all sure
whether he could find the dining hall. Right now, though, he needed time
to sort things out and there was more than he thought he
could process
all at once.
What have I done?
he wondered. Had he made a big mistake? He felt
so vulnerable. It
was all so big, so complex, so strange to a country
boy who’d never lived anywhere but on a tiny ranch. He’d never been
alone like this. He would never remember all the things
he had to
learn, where this was, who that was, when to do
what. It was so
different. So
strange.
So…frightening.
His heart began to pound. He was afraid.
Then he remembered the roll his sister, Glyena, had
pressed into his
hand just as he’d mounted his horse.
“Don’t read it until you get into the Weyr,” she said.
For such a
young girl, she was so self- assured.
He reached into his shirt and pulled it out. It was just
a scrap of
hide. He unrolled it.
On it was a drawing.
It showed a smiling man with the word “Kandar”
over its head. He was perched atop a bulbous dragon. Its'
four short
legs were all on one side and spread wings far larger
than any real
dragon had. A tongue of flame issued from the dragon’s
smiling mouth.
Below it the words, written in a childish hand, read
“Kandar dont
forget give me a ride I love you Glyena.”
He didn’t know
which to do: laugh, cry or press the hide to his
heart…so he did all three.
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