It is an ice cold day at Jerdan Weyr. Two feet of snow covers the ground. You wake up frozen from the cold and throw on some wherhide which seems to do little against the biting cold. You are very thankful you arrived here before the storm hit. You walk down to the Lower Caverns hoping klah can take the chill out of your bones. As you enter from the stuffy hall you were walking through, you see your good friend Laurilyn sitting at a table near the hearth by herself. You decide to join her. She catches sight of you and motions for you to take the seat next to her. You close the distance between you and the table in a few strides.
"Hello," you say sitting down. "How are you and Reamith getting along?"
"We are just fine," she says automatically.
"How old is she now? She should be an adult now shouldn't she," you ask conversationally.
"That's the problem," she says bursting into tears. "She is an adult and close to flying, and I don't know what to do. I mean I was trained and everything, but nothing could actually prepare me for this." You try to console her as she cries hysterically into your shoulder, but it seems like nothing you do is helping.
"Laurilyn what is the matter. You shouldn't be crying. Has some one upset you?" Reamith asks her rider concerned.
Suddenly Laurilyn stops crying. "I'm okay. It's just the stress of you about to fly," she replies mentally to her dragon.
"Is there anyting I can do to help you? If not, may be you should rest or you could talk to your friend a little while and relax," Reamith suggests.
"That does sound nice," Laurilyn says aloud. She turns back to you. "I am very sorry for acting like that. It is very hard to keep my emotions under control with Reamith close to flying. She thinks it might help me if I talk to you and relax," Laurilyn says smiling at you. "So what do you think?"
"That sounds like a wonderful idea. I need to catch up on the news here anyway," you say getting up and offering your hand to help her up since she seems exausted.
"Thank you," she says taking your hand greatfully and rising. "You do have a lot to catch up with," she says turning away and leading you to her weyr.
You follow the familiar path to Laurilyn's weyr. When you reach it, she steps aside to let you have a good look at the room. The first thing that catches your eye is the enormous size of the green which you assume is Reamith.
"Oh my! Is that Reamith? It can't be. The last time I saw her she was this high," you exclaim holding your hand to your shoulders.
"That's her," Laurilyn says trying unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle. "She has grown very big for a green don't you think?"
"I should say so! I have only seen a handful get larger," you say matter-of-factly. "So are we going to sit here talking nonsense or are you going to relax and tell me what is wrong?"
"Well, there are so many things right now that are all jumbled up," she says her face falling.
You lead her over to the bed and make her lie down. You take a chair and move it next to the bed. Once you both are comfortable, you start talking. "Well, let's start with the smallest problem and work to the largest," you say encouragingly.
"First of all," she says relaxing, "today is awful because of the weather."
"How can the weather be a problem unless you are traveling," you ask curiously.
"Well, it does become a problem when you can't have any type of outdoor fun on your own birthing day," she says snapping at you with every word.
"Calm down," you order. She relaxes again and apologizes. "That's okay. I can understand why that upsets you. How many turns do you have now?"
"I have twenty," she says totally relaxed again. "But it seems like no one even remembers."
"As you get older, how many turns you have becomes less important," you tell her. "But," you respond quickly as you see her anger rising, "if it is important to you, I can have a good friend of mine make you a cake to celebrate. There is that problem taken care of?" She nods. "Good. What's next?"
"That was the only problem besides the big one," she says frowning. As she says this, her two fire-lizards appear from between and land on her shoulders. She absently scratches their eyeridges, one with each hand. They chirrup for her to continue as if they had been there the whole time. Reamith also encourages her.
"It will do you some good to talk to some one about your problems. I am sorry I do not understand what you are totally feeling," Reamith tells her rider with her eyes whirling with concer for her rider.
"Thank you, Reamith I love you," she responds mentally to her dragon. She turns her attention back to you. "You see, now that Reamith is about to fly, I don't know what to do."
You ponder this for a minute since you have never had to go through this. You finally think of something. "Is there anyone that you like? Your preference can have an influence on the outcome of the flight."
Laurilyn looks up at you totally confused. "I don't know. I like brown Dedith's rider R'don okay. He's nice enough, but Reamith is the one who has to choose, not me."
"Does Reamith like Dedith?"
"I have asked her many times. All she says is that he is a fine dragon," she says dissparingly.
"It's okay. When the time comes, you will know," you say comfortingly."Now, I am going to go talk to Azura about making that cake I was talking about. You stat here," you say rising from the chair. You walk towards the door and then turn back around. "Do you feel any better?"
"Yes, I do. Thank you," she says smiling.
You walk out and down into the Lower Caverns to see if you can find Azura. You find her and ask her the question. She agrees, and you go wait at a table near the hearth for the cake to finish. Once it is done, you take it to Laurilyn's weyr. You and Laurilyn continue talking into the night. You eventually get to bed, and you know you have helped your friend.
Name: Laurilyn
Age: 17 turns
Job: Apprentice Healer
Father: Rath
Mother: Lyra
Birthplace:Rynin Hold near Ista
Dragon: Green Reamith from Green Aldath and Blue Wakith
The picture on this page came from www.fantasyrealm.com/RealmFantasy.
Jerdan Weyr
Dawnsisters Weyr
Read Laurilyn's Candidate Story
The Hatchling Story
The Weyrling Story