"If I don't see you all again," A'rd said to his many female followers, "just keep me in your dreams. I like it there." He winked at one young girl and she nearly fainted. Then Trelerth helped A'rd mount up, and they took off.
They betweened to Blackstone, circled and announced themselves. Then, they lit upon the ground near the entrance to the weyr.
"You've come back! Good!" H'lis said, truly happy to see the white haired man. "Are you ready to join a wing?"
"That depends on Trel here," A'rd said. "He's got his own way of doing things."
"We have no lack of that here," H'lis muttered with a grin. "P'at can help you get settled, right?"
The older rider nodded, his gigantic bronze dragon bellowed to Trelerth to come follow him, while the human partner draped his arm around A'rd's shoulder. "They missed you," he said with a grin.
"They?"
"Telona and her crew. They're going to be in ecstasy when they find out you're back."
"Then let's go tell them, man! Why wait?"
"I can't believe them," he chuckled.
But they like you! Oh! Did you know that the Wing is going to be doing sweeps? We must be there.
"Of course. But I've gotten this," he said, holding up a note which had been gently pinned to his weyr's doorflap. It was a small scroll telling him that he was to report to the weyrleaders.
Moments later, in the cavernous room where H'lis and several others waited, including Shard and Tanis, A'rd came to a halt.
"What's up?" He asked, typically casual even though he was before the most important members of the weyr.
"You are," Shard said, tossing him a shining circlet of metal. "Your dragon has been sniffing at a lot of people lately."
"I'll tell him to stop," A'rd said, rolling his eyes and was about to bespeak Trelerth when Tanis spoke up.
"No, no, he means that Trel has been sniffing out candidates. He's a great search dragon. And I think you would make a perfect search rider, myself."
Momentarily stunned, A'rd stood there speechless for the first time in his life. Then a smile crept across his face, and he pinned the new badge onto his shoulder.
"Search rider, huh? Great! I'm going to go searching, then."
"You're still needed in the wing," Shard pointed out, smiling. "But do your best."
"The dragons know," H'lis added. "The Bent is headed off toward the north today. Go have fun. See if there are any good kids to steal back to us."
***
A'rd and the rest of the Artistic Bent wing flew high over the land, and saw the smallish new weyr called Seasparkul. They watched as M'cel's blue Lakenth dove down, and A'rd asked Trel what was up.
He says there is a rising green, my friend... I have never seen a flight, before.
Well, no time like the present, A'rd bespoke.
So they went to follow M'cel but the dragon was so caught up in getting to the green's area that A'rd nearly had to dive off his dragons' back! They landed, and A'rd waited for poor M'cel to get back to the ground.
Then, Trelerth gave off a roar.
M'cel and A'rd looked at each other and shrugged.
A'rd headed inside, looking for the rider of the green, Satineth was the dragon's name apparently.
"Got a couple roudy dragons looking for a certain green," A'rd said, uncharistically loud. "We're from the Protectorate. Once that wacky blue of mine gets down from the clouds we've a search to run too. So I suppose a front-and-center is necessary, isn't it?"
"As if people won't want to watch the flight?" M'cel added more quietly. "Look at them go. Hey! Trel's fighting for a spot too!? You traitor!"
A'rd grinned, and they turned back to the flight.
Back to the Weyrling Stage
See the results of the Mating Flight!
