Chap. 146 Rescue

Chap. 146  Rescue

They were on the sweep's last leg before they would return to the Weyr.

This area was heavily vegetated, with thick stands of semi-tropical trees forming an impenetrable canopy that rolled on, like a giant green carpet. K'ndar hadn't spent much time in the jungle, finding it too sultry for his liking—although he had to admit it hosted an amazing diversity of animals and birds. The canopy was broken here and there by clearings created by fallen trees, and pierced by needle like outcroppings of ancient, eroded volcanic rock.

F'mart, on his bronze dragon, Kenth, was leading the way, as he was more familiar with the area than K'ndar. 

There is a human by itself, see it? Kenth said.

F'mart could not.

It is a young one. It's on that rock, see? the bronze pushed the image into F'mart's mind.

Just then, K'ndar saw the person.

"F'mart! On our right! There's someone waving at us from the top of that rock column," he called.

"I see him. No! It's a girl! It's a little girl!" F'mart said.

Then they heard her.

"Help! Dragons! We need help! Can you hear me? Help!"

Drop down to her level K'ndar said to Raventh.

I can't go too close to the treetops. That rock is too small to land on with the girl on it

Let's circle her, just to let her know we see her

"We see you!" F'mart called, "Is there a place we can land?"

"I don't know!  My mum needs a healer right away!" the child called. Then, in response to an unheard voice, she looked downward.

That's when they saw a woman, climbing up the side to the peak to join the girl. She stood up unsteadily. It was obvious she'd been hurt.

"Is there a place we can land?" F'mart repeated, as they circled the pair.

"There's a clearing about two kilometers from here, to the north! But…I can't…I can't walk that far. I'm hurt," the woman called.

I see it Kenth said, It looks big enough for both of us

Does Raventh see it?

There was a pause of two wingbeats.

He does. 

Remember when we picked up the man from the ocean, without landing?

I do. It was easy for me, but this time there are trees.

Can you do it again? Pick up that woman on the rocks?

Kenth looked at the dynamics.

I can-but can she do it? She is bleeding.

F'mart looked across the gap between their two dragons.

"Ever tried rescuing someone from the air?" he called to K'ndar.

"Other than in Weyrling class, no," K'ndar called back.

"I've done it twice, it was hairy but it worked," F'mart called back. "I can't see any other way of getting them off that rock."

K'ndar was suddenly full of doubt. They'd trained for this sort of rescue in class, but it was with other Weyrlings who'd been taught in a classroom on what to do, and performed the actions under the watchful eyes of the Weyrlingmaster, their mentors and dragons, in the safety of the weyr's bowl.

 This wasn't the managed, tightly controlled situation. This was a pair of injured and frightened landsmen, atop a spindly needle of solid rock that just barely poked through a canopy of treetops that could easily snag a dragon's wings. 

"We have to do something!" F'mart cried. 

"K'ndar! I'll try for the woman, and you go for the girl, okay? Kenth has told Raventh what we're planning. Follow my lead!" 

"Lady!" he yelled, "My dragon is going drop down over your head. You have to grab his front feet and hang on, got it? Don't let go! Don't let the wind from his wings knock you over, okay? Then we'll take you to the clearing and let you down. When you're on the ground, move into the into the trees so that we can land. Do you understand?"

The woman nodded, "I understand! I think I can do it, but please, hurry," she called.

"WHAT ABOUT ME????" the little girl cried, grasping the woman.

K'ndar called out, "Little girl! My dragon will pick you up! Watch what the bronze does and then do it to my dragon, understand? Don't let the wind knock you down! I want you to hold on tight to my dragon's feet, okay? Be brave like your mum!!"

"Okay…" she let go of her mother. 

"Here we go! Ma'am, I won't be able to see you when you're underneath my dragon, so you must grab his feet as soon as you can. Can you do it?" F'mart yelled.

"I have to!"

"Little girl! Stay right where you are!"

"K'ndar! Raventh must spot me, then Kenth will spot you!" he called, "you won't be able to see your target."

"Roger that," K'ndar said, not noticing that F'mart had taken command of the situation, despite the fact that K'ndar was supposedly sweep leader.

With amazing dexterity for his size, the massive bronze Kenth hovered over the woman, dropping gently, his head down almost between his legs to see where the woman was.The girl crouched, cowering beneath the dragon's bulk.

K'ndar, on Raventh, was directly behind the bronze.

I'll tell Kenth when she's in reach Raventh said

The bronze lowered, lowered, his front legs dangling. Raventh coached him.

The woman reached up, forcing herself to stand despite the buffeting of Kenth's wings. She grabbed his massive feet, her hands slipping in between the talons.

Got her. She's got me Kenth said. 

"I've got him!" the woman called.

"Hang on!" F'mart yelled. Kenth tucked her closer to his chest to break the force of the wind from his wings.  

"I can't hold for long!" she cried.

"You MUST! Don't let go!" F'mart yelled.

"Maamaaaaaaaa don’t leave me!" the girl cried.

Kenth gained altitude, allowing Raventh to take his position over the girl, then dropped behind to watch.

Watch between your legs. K'ndar cannot see her he told Raventh.

I see her Raventh responded. It's just like we trained.

"Little girl, LISTEN! Do EXACTLY what your mum did," K'ndar cried.

Raventh?

I can do it. Kenth will spot me. Lets go

Without urging, Raventh dropped over the little girl. 

"Don't let the wind blow you over!" K'ndar cried.

"I'm afraid!" the girl cried.

"DEENA! Grab the dragon's feet! Do it! It's okay!" the woman cried while hanging from Kenth's feet.

Raventh hovered over the girl. His target was much smaller, and thus, harder to extract.

K'ndar was flying blind now. 

Yes. Yes. Lower?

Raventh was hearing Kenth's directions.

"Lower, K'ndar!"

"I can't see her!"

"It's okay. You're doing great! Little girl! Reach up! Grab the dragon's feet!" F'mart cried

For what seemed hours, they hovered, then,

Got her! Raventh exalted.

"HOLD ON, girl! Don't let go!" K'ndar yelled.

"Go! To the clearing, now!" F'mart yelled. 

It was the longest two kilometers K'ndar had ever experienced.

Kenth reached the clearing just ahead of Raventh. 

He immediately began to hover again, this time it would be more difficult as he had no idea when the woman's feet would touch in the knee deep vegetation.

"Ma'am! I can't see you! Tell me when your feet touch the ground!"

"I will!"

Lower. Gently, gently, Raventh said to Kenth, then Good!

"OKAY!" she shouted, at the same time, Kenth said, She's down and let go. Raventh, your turn! I will spot you.

The woman fell down, then struggled to all fours and scrambled to the tree line.

Kenth immediately flew ahead to hover over the treetops, turned and coached Raventh.

The little girl was crying, but had Raventh's toes in a death grip.

Raventh hovered, concentrating so hard that K'ndar could almost feel it.

Lower. Softly, Raventh, lower, lower…almost there. I can't see her feet now

"She's down! K'ndar!

She let go Raventh said, and immediately climbed to a safer altitude.

Oh, my toes. She squozed them.

Squeezed.

Squeezed. 

The girl stumbled and ran to her mother. 

Once they were in amidst the trees, Kenth landed in the clearing and shuffled from the center to allow Raventh room.

This isn't a clearing, it's a spot not much bigger than my couch Raventh groused.

"But you DID IT! Raventh!!! Best dragon in the world!" K'ndar whooped, pounding his dragon's neck.

I am!

 

He looked at F'mart. 

"I can't believe we did that," he said.

"You did, mate, you did. Well done!" F'mart returned, grinning, "Told you it was going to be hairy!"

_________________________________________________________________________

F'mart leaped off Kenth to check on the woman and the girl.

Siskin hissed in sudden fury. He took off from his perch on Raventh's neck and arrowed into the forest.

"SISKIN!" K'ndar yelled.

He suddenly had images from Siskin, of several men approaching through the trees.

Men coming. They have weapons Raventh reported.

"F'mart! Incoming with weapons!"

"Men? How many?"

The woman cried, "They're after us! We have to get out of here!"

Four. Maybe five

"Four or five men!"

"Ma'am, what happened? You're bleeding," F'mart said.

"They're after me and Deena, they're raiders. They've got my husband and my son. We're holdless."

He thought fast. "Get aboard my dragon, now. Can you climb up?"

"I climbed that bloody rock, didn't I? Thank you, oh thank you! Deena! Get on the dragon!"

"Mama, I'm afraid," the girl protested. 

"Get on the dragon. NOW!"

Men are coming. Siskin is after them, but they will be here soon. I can take both humans  Kenth said.

"K'ndar! Where are they?"

"Coming in due west! Siskin is attacking the men but can't hold them back," K'ndar said, juggling images from both Siskin and Raventh.

"They're raiders!" F'mart cried. He was buckling the two into the harness when a group of men burst from the treeline.

They had swords, crossbows and bows. 

Siskin was harassing them. One of the men was throwing a sack at the fire lizard, trying to catch him.

"Siskin! To me!" K'ndar cried.

The blue obediently returned, his eyes whirling red. 

Something went ffffffft past K'ndar's ear.  An arrow! He saw the next one, just missing Raventh's head.

Shoot at me, will you? he thought

 

He saw them aiming at him. 

Kenth jumped into the air with F'mart not yet buckled in.  Raventh was right behind him. 

Bows twanged and arrows rose towards him. Raventh flew high, up out of range. K'ndar heard the distinctive thwack of a crossbow. And another, and a third.

Kenth shrieked.

My leg! I've been hit in the leg!

Another crossbow bolt pierced the tissue of one of his wings.

"You bastards! I'll kill you all with my bare hands!" F'mart yelled.

"Have at it, dragonman, come on down!" one of the raiders yelled.

Kenth rose high in the air, roaring in pain and fury.

"Kenth's hit, K'ndar, can you see?"

Raventh was alongside the bronze, their wingtips almost touching as they hovered.

"I can, there's a bolt in the meaty part of his thigh, and a hole in his wing," K'ndar yelled, shaking with fury and adrenaline.

I can fly, it hurts but it's not going to kill me Kenth said.

 

They were at a height where the bolts couldn't reach them. K'ndar looked down at the men, continuing to shoot at them.

 It was almost fascinating to see the arrows reach the top of their arc and then fall back. The bolts, though, were still coming straight up. 

"Siskin. Memorize those men."

Siskin hissed again, and pushed images of them into K'ndar's mind.

"Come on down, dragonmen, come on, brave in the air, ain't you!" one of the raiders taunted.

F'mart yelled, "Stay right there, arseholes, I'll be back."

K'ndar wanted badly to do something, anything. Shards, I wish I had some firestone right now, we'd toast them, he thought.

You didn't bring any?

No. I didn't think it necessary.

F'mart said to his passengers, "We're going to go between, I'm taking you to our Weyr."

"I've never…never.." the woman gasped, her daughter clinging tightly to her.

"It's fast, it's painless. It's dark for about three breaths. You need a healer."

"K'ndar! Stay here! Keep an eye on those bastards, I want to know where they're going. Stay out of range!"

"Aye, sir," K'ndar said, without thinking. 

There was another rocky column a few dragonlengths away. 

See that? Is it big enough for you to land?

Raventh gauged it.

Yes. 

I hope it's out of arrow range

So do I. But if it's not there are others, and they have trees at the base. If the raiders leave, Siskin should follow them. I can't see anything below the treetops.

Wise dragon!

"I'm good, F'mart!"

He saw the men begin to make their way towards the column Raventh was perched atop.

"Okay! Stay out of range, I'm taking them to the weyr. I'll be back…IN FORCE!" F'mart yelled from high up, and with that, the bronze dragon vanished.