It is a wonderful summer day at Jerdan Weyr. The sun is shining brightly, but there is a light wind that keeps the air at a perfect temperature. As you spiral down on the blue you are riding, you look on in wonderment at the colorful rainbow of dragons sunning themselves on the countless ledges. You cannot begin to count the hues of green, blue, brown, bronze, white, and gold. You feel a slight bump as you land in the yard near the lake. You get off and thank the rider and her wonderful blue. As soon as you are out of range, the blue takes off with a graceful leap and joins his hue to the rainbow of dragons. You watch until the blue has landed, and then you walk the rest of the way to the lake. You come up behind a young man with dark hair, and you recognize him even before he turns around.
"Hello, D'varan. What are you doing," you ask curiously.
D'varan jumps slightly at the sound of your voice. He turns around. "Oh, it's you," he says relieved. "Please don't come up behind me like that," he says still calming down.
"I'm sorry. I thought you knew I was here," you say explaining your reason for startling him.
"That's okay," he says standing up, and for the first time you see the little bronze that was obscured from your vision by the built figure of D'varan. He is a wonderful shade of bronze that shows he is healthy. He is also well-suited to his rider as far as size. The little hatchling is already past D'varan's waist. You look in awe as the bronze hatchling comes over to you and rubs against your leg. It nearly knocks you over! You are stunned into speechlessness by the magnificence of the hatchling.
"D'varan, who is this nice person," Tonasath asks his rider curiously.
D'varan smiles at his little bronze and replies mentally. "This is my good friend who told me I needed to Impress a dragon to get over all of my problems,"
"Really? Well, your friend was very right," Tonasath tells his rider. Then his certainty changes. "You do need me don't you?"
"Of course I do! I will always need you," D'varan reassures his dragon out loud.
You finally come out of your daze. "D'varan, what is your bronze's name? It is your bronze isn't it," you ask him hopefully.
"Yes, he is. His name is Tonasath, and he is a wonderful companion and friend to me," he says scratching the bronze's eyeridges.
"What are you doing out here," you ask again remembering you didn't get an answer the first time you asked the question.
"Oh, I was just bathing Tonasath. I am done now though," he says rubbing his bronze's hide.
Tonasath looks at his rider happily. "D'varan can I go sun on the ledge,"he asks his rider while his eyes whirl a happy blue.
D'varan chuckles at the pleading look in his bronze's eyes. "Yes, you can go dry yourself in the sun. Just make sure you don't get burnt. Zephyr can go with you," the rider says out loud for your benefit. The little brown fire-lizard comes out of between and lands on the ground near Tonasath.
"Hey! Zephyr, I remember you," you say rubbing the brown's eyeridges. The brown fire-lizard rubs against Tonasath, and then he takes off. He hovers in the air and waits for the bronze. Tonasath takes a run and leaps into the air in an awkward manner. The pair take off toward the ledge with amazing speed. They are there in no time.
"Well, I guess we need to head up to the weyr," D'varan says smiling. "That is if you are going to join me."
"Of course I'll join you," you say indignantly. "I've got a lot of catching up to do."
"Well, okay then. Let's go," the bronze rider says striding off at a breath-taking speed.
Before you know what's happened, you turn and see D'varan is almost at the entrance of the Lower Caverns. "Hey! Wait up," you yell at D'varan. You run to catch up with him. Luckily he has good hearing and heard you yelling at him.
"What is it? Is something wrong," he asks genuinely.
"Yeah, something's wrong," you say gasping for breath as you catch up with him. "You got to remember not everyone is as fast as you are. You got to take it a bit slower, or I'm going to be left behind."
D'varan gives you a minute to catch your breath. "Okay I'll take it slow," he says starting off again slightly slower. But only slightly. You still have to trot to keep up with him as he leads you to his weyr.
You finally reach your destination. You walk in without bothering to look around and collapse on the bed with your chest heaving. "You.......call.........that.........slow,"you manage to gasp.
D'varan turns to you and is amazed at your condition. "I'm sorry about that. I'm still not use to having people following me, so I go at my own pace which is....," he breaks off staring at you.
"a bit fast," you chuckle finishing the sentence for him.
He hurries to a pitcher and pours you a cup of cold fruit juice. "Here you go," he says handing you the cup. "This should make you feel better. I really am very sorry," he says apologizing again.
"It's okay," you say getting the breath back into your lungs. You start to look around the room. It is a tidy weyr with few furnishings. All you can see is the bed you are sitting, a table, and a couple of chairs. There is an enormous stone couch which you know will be able to accomodate Tonasath once he is fully grown.
"Are you okay now," D'varan asks after a moment of silence.
"Yes, I'm fine," you say assuring him. "So, what's been going on here?"
D'varan relates to you the story of Tonasath's hatching, the newest clutch on the Sands, and the newest clutch of fire-lizard eggs. Your eyes glow as you ask him for all the details on the fire-lizard's clutch.
"It's a gold's clutch," he starts out.
"Really, how many eggs," you ask barely pausing to get a breath.
"Calm down," D'varan tells you. You calm yourself down as much as you can. Once you have done this, he continues. "I was just about to tell you. There are twenty-five eggs on the hearth."
"How close are they to hatching," you ask earnestly.
"Actually," he responds after a moment of thinking,"they should hatch very soon. It could even be today."
"Can we go see them," you ask excitedly.
"Yes, we can. I'm sure no one would mind,"he says headed toward the door.
"Hey, D'varan," you call after him. "Go as slow as possible this time okay?"
D'varan laughs as you follow him down to the Lower Caverns.You reach the entrance shortly, and you are greated by the delicious aroma of roasted wherry. "That smells spectacular! Don't you think so," you ask turning to D'varan, but you are surprised to see he is not there. You decide to grab a cup of klah and wait for the bronze rider to show up. Suddenly, everyone begins running toward a far corner. You are actually pushed out of the Lower Caverns. You are about to go back in when it hits you. The fire-lizard eggs are hatching! You stand near the wall and think about your decision. You hear a man shout, and it sounds like D'varan. You decide to go to your room for the night and keep out of the way. You turn around and start down the long hall toward your room.
Name: Devaran
Age: 16 turns
Birthplace: Ista Hold
Parents: Madas and Delan (deceased)
Foster Parents: Southern Hold masterfisherman Ralin and Opala
Job: Journeyman Fisher
Fire-lizard: Brown Zephyr (image from Jerdan Weyr)
Dragon: Bronze Tonasath
Stage: Hatchling
