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Menolly watched from the back of the funeral barge as Petiron was sung to his final rest. While she could play better than anyone else in the Hold she was unable to sing the Deathsong. Without a voice, singing was impossible. She rested a hand on her harp and strummed a mournful cadence, harmony to the Deathsong.The harp was a gift from Petiron. She knew he’d written to the Masterharper about her, and gotten this harp for her. She was able to use music to convey her emotions and used the harp to add tone to what she was saying when using gestures and drum-beats. Her fingers were never still, always playing, and if they weren’t on her harp they were on some other instrument. She could whistle well enough, even producing some ear-piercingly loud ones if she desired, and often simply whistled the tunes everyone else was singing, or else played her pipes, harp, fiddle, guitar, or drum.She also had nothing against writing songs with words.She’d spent the past three days in Petiron’s room composing a new song. ‘Goodbye, My Friend’. She loved writing new songs, and while most people would think she’d stick to composing music without words (and she did write more than a few of those) she really loved making songs with them, to put the words she couldn’t say down into music that others could sing for her. She made sure all the music she wrote was written down and stored in a wooden box in the bottom draw of Petiron’s desk. The box was getting a bit too full now. She wouldn’t be able to fit many more in.When the boat docked she was the first off, harp still strumming and she watched as everyone readied the boats to sail out. The fishing would be good after three days of storm.Menolly went straight to the teaching hall, waving all the children over from where Mavi was trying to organise them into workgroups. They were used to her teaching them now, some even finding her methods ‘super cool’ due to her lack of speech. Menolly’s harp strummed a welcome and the kids all called back. She stood at the front of the room and looked over the sheets in the rack, choosing a new one to teach. She nodded and quickly wrote the name on the board, and with one hand strumming the melody on her harp, she wrote the words too.The kids behind her were repeating the lines over a few times as she wrote them to get used to the wording as Petiron had drilled into them. She then turned and stepped to the side so they could see the words. She strummed a sharp chord they all knew to mean ‘attention’ and they quieted down.Menolly spotted Mavi standing in the doorway and was determined to prove that even without a voice she could still teach. If she really needed words she either tapped out a drum code or wrote it down. By the end of lessons, the class had made great progress on the song and Menolly looked to Mavi who simple scowled and stalked off.Menolly rolled her eyes and moved her hands about, alternating between tapping out words in drum beat or making signals. ‘Lady won’t want me teach. I teach. Lady storm in Hold. Won’t stop me.’ The kids laughed, as they put away the instruments they had out. Menolly stuck her tongue out at the empty doorway.She knew from Petiron that he’d sent word to Harper Hall already to ask for a replacement as well as sending a few of her compositions. If Yanus sent the message, which he won’t until the ships get back, which would be another few days, then it would go by Drum Signals to Harper Hall since the message wasn’t important enough for an Old Timer to send by dragon so they’d be waiting a while. Petiron’s message had a good few weeks head start, but would have to go by runner. A reply should be here soon actually. It would be at least spring either way before a new Harper got here, with the winter weather stopping anyone coming by sea and the constant threat of Thread stopping anyone coming by land.She would be glad for a new Harper. Perhaps they’d bring new songs? Or convince Mavi and Yanus to let her go to Harper Hall. A mute can’t be a Harper they say, but Petiron always said she was the best Harper he’d ever met, to be able to play her feelings and put words she couldn’t speak into a tune. She’d have to wait for the new Harper and see what he thought.Menolly sat on the desk and strummed her harp quietly, contemplating.Mavi came back into the room. “If you’re done here, go make yourself useful somewhere else.”Menolly scowled and strummed an angry note.“Don’t you take that tone with me, girl! And don’t think you’ll be teaching the kids after this. You can’t speak. You can’t teach them the songs!”Menolly scowled and strummed an angrier note, pointing at the board.“Oh, you taught them that one alright enough, but you need a voice to teach! Girls and Mutes cannot be Harpers! A mute girl most definitely can’t! Be thankful we let you hang around Petiron for as long as you have! Now go make yourself useful elsewhere!”Menolly strummed furiously at her harp, her feet kicking an accompanying drum signal against the desk. She hopped down and pushed past her mother, harp still betraying her fury.The next morning Menolly grabbed her sack and headed out to collect greens. She strummed as she walked, a sad tune mixed with a hint of hope. She returned a few hours later with a full sack and her heart a tiny bit lighter. Mavi stood in the doorway.“The children refuse to learn from anyone but you. No one who’s not busy with the boats can sing well enough and you’re the only one who knows the songs well enough to teach. You’ll teach them until the new Harper gets here.” She turned and stomped off, the sound of Menolly’s harp strumming a condescending tone following after her.Menolly walked over to the teaching hall and saw the kids playing about inside, one of the Fishermen desperately trying to control them. Menolly picked up Petiron’s guitar from the desk and started strumming the Duty Song. Some of the kids noticed her and began singing along and within moments all the kids had quieted down and were singing. She strummed the last few notes and looked the class over, raising an eyebrow and strumming a questioning tone.The kids all looked sheepish and Menolly shook her head, looking at the board where the song from yesterday was still written. She strummed the first bars and the kids joined in. The fisherman shot Menolly a grateful look and slid out of the room.Menolly didn’t get any more complaints about her teaching the kids. Actually, the only ones who had a problem with it were her parents and sister. Even the old Aunties and Uncles were impressed by her teaching, considering she couldn’t say a word.She was glad for the teaching. It would be a long while before a Harper came, so it was good the keep the kids occupied and learning the songs was better than mending nets or baiting the long lines and in the harsher weather, it kept them from being bored.When she wasn’t teaching she was walking the hills, collecting greens and making new songs. If she made a new song where her father could hear she’d get a lashing but thankfully her father wasn’t able to tell the difference between her harp speak and songwriting.When she wasn’t teaching, Mavi had her doing the worst, smelliest or most tiresome jobs in the Hold. After each Threadfall she went out with the flame-thrower crews, her harp silent as she needed both hands for the flame-thrower. Still, it was good to be out of the Hold and onto the windswept plains above her home.The crowning treat was when F’lar, the Weyrleader of Benden Weyr circled down to talk with Yanus. She stood respectfully with the rest of the flame-thrower crew, fingers quietly strumming her harp, and watched Mnementh, F’lar’s bronze, sitting quietly beside his rider, eyes whirling different colours, conveying his tiredness of the long flight and fight against Thread, his happiness at a successful fight, love for his rider and so many others.He turned his head lazily and looked the crew over, his gaze stopping on Menolly.Her fingers strummed an awed, respectful tone, full of hints of fear and wonder in equal measure.After a moment F’lar turned to look at Mnementh before turning his gaze to her. He said something to Yanus who turned and scowled at Menolly briefly before schooling his face and turning back to the Weyrleader. After a while, the Weyrleader looked back at her and waved before climbing on Mnementh.The dragon looked at her one final time. “I hope to see you again. Your music is good.”She gasped, hearing his voice in her head. “Thank you.” She thought back, not knowing if he could hear her. Her fingers strummed furiously at her harp, a rising cadence of awe as Mnementh leapt from the ground and into the air, his powerful wings beating as he climbed the sky and winked Between.Menolly struck another tune on her harp, her other hand beating away at the drum of the flame-thrower. Yanus scowled at her. “Menolly! Stop tuning!” he aimed a swing at her head, which she ducked under and scowled at him, strumming an angry tone with her Harp before turning and heading back to the Hold. She quickly grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and washed herself down from the stink and mud.Once clean again she headed downstairs to see what Mavi needed of her. She could not believe a dragon had spoken to her, they never talk to anyone but their rider. They don’t even talk to other riders! Her harp trilled her excitement as she practically shook with all the emotions bursting within her. And no way to tell anyone! Fardles why did she have to be mute?!Mavi sent her a scolding look. “You’d best not be still playing that harp when the new Harper gets here, Menolly. We’ll not have you disgracing our Hold.”The First Holder’s wife looked up. “Our Hold would be much revered for a Harper to teach with no voice, Mavi. No Harper before her has taught nearly so well without uttering a word. And she can have all the children sitting nicely and not a word of misbehaviour from any of them the whole time.”Mavi simply scowled at the woman and sent her off to stir the seaweed and sent Menolly off on another job. Menolly’s harp strummed her laughter even as her shoulders shook and no sound passed her lips.That evening Menolly entertained the entire Hall as they sang shanty after shanty, the Threadfall meant good fishing in the morrow and the flame-thrower crew was excited from seeing the Weyrleader himself come down to chat with Yanus. Yanus himself was in a good mood for it too and didn’t spend too much time that evening scowling at Menolly.In fact, Menolly could swear she saw Yanus tapping his feet in time with the music occasionally.When spring finally broke Menolly was sent out to collect greens and yellow-veined grass after a morning’s teaching. She ran across the fields, her harp singing her joy. Finally, she slowed down to a walk and looked around. She froze, looking up at the sky, shielding her eyes with one hand as she watched a group of dragons swarm around in the sky. Did dragons swarm like that?No surely not.Oh! A Queen! There was a queen at the front and the only other ones there were bronzes now, the blues and browns having backed off. A mating flight! And they were so small... they must be firelizards.Menolly walked along the path following the main body of firelizards as the queen led her bronzes much too high for Menolly to see. She strummed a happy, playful tune as she watched them dart about in the sky before seemingly dipping under the ground. It was then that Menolly realised they were over the beaches. She crept slowly after them having to consciously force her hand away from her harp as she crouched low and then onto her belly as she crawled and peered over the edge, down into the cove.She watched them all frolic and play on the sands, saw them sunning themselves on rocks, playing in the waves, swimming and floating on the sea. She spotted a group of them eating rockmites from the fallen boulders. There was a bit of a struggle as two of them started arguing over the same one. They were all disturbed when the queen and her bronze came back and settled wearily in the warm shallow waters. The rest of the flock came back over and some of them came forward, offering the exhausted pair rockmites and fingertails.Eventually, they all dispersed, flying off into little cliff Weyrs and the mated pair gliding off out of sight. Menolly slowly backed away from the edge and when she was far enough away she stood and her hand flew down to her harp, strumming away. She spotted some reeds and grinned rushing over and quickly fashioning a pipe, playing the tune on that instead, which much more suited firelizards than a harp.She played all the while as she walked, tuning her new song easily. She hid the reed pipe in a pocket as she entered the Hold, a bag full of greens and grass at her back. When she got back Mavi stormed up to her. “There’s been sail spotted. The new Harper’s most likely aboard. Hand those greens over to the kitchens and gather your instruments. Put them away and don’t let me catch you tuning. We’ll not have you disgracing our Hall.”Menolly ducked her head and dropped the bag off in the kitchens and hurried up to her room. She pursed her lips together and took the reed pipe from her pocket, stashing it safely in her room. She hid the guitar, drum, fiddle and pipes too.Her hands shook as she grabbed the strap of her harp and shakily lifted it over her head. Her hands shook harder as she forced herself to put it with her other instruments. She’d not been without it since Petiron had given it to her.She managed to force herself out of the room and back down to the kitchens. It was one of the hardest things she’d ever done.She helped in the kitchens to prepare the food for the feast. She mostly washed the greens and helped with the trickier bits that the old Aunties just didn’t have the strength or dexterity for anymore. Once the feast was prepared Menolly was firmly told that she was to stay away from the Hall completely that evening. She was to go to her room immediately and not come out until tomorrow morning.Menolly stormed up to her room and glared at Sella as she was getting dressed. Sella glared right back. “Don’t give me that look. You can’t help yourself sometimes you know? You’ll bring disgrace to our hall someday, you will, girl.”Menolly’s hand flew to her waist to strum her harp only to stop short, realising she wasn’t wearing it. Sella seemed shocked for a moment too before she gathered herself. “Since you’ve been banished from the hall this evening I have to look after Old Uncle. It’s so unfair!”Menolly scowled. ‘Unfair is being banished from the Hall for the evening. Unfair is not getting to eat this evening. Unfair is having my music taken away. You don’t know the half of it.’“Oh don’t give me that look. You think entirely too much of yourself Menolly.” Sella grumbled finishing putting on her gown and gliding out of the room.Menolly scowled and pulled out her harp sighing as her fingers ran across the strings. If she had anywhere to go she’d leave the Hold..oOo.Menolly sighed silently as she helped gut packtails. It had been so long since she’d played music. Even in her room, it was forbidden. Sella caught her and had told Mavi, who told Yanus who had given her a sound thrashing and taken her instruments.She felt her throat vibrate silently and wondered what kind of sound would have come out were she not mute.She sighed silently again and focused on her task. Packtails were tricky and she didn’t want to cut herself. By the time they’d all finished gutting the fish everyone smelt something horrid. Menolly of course was the last in the bathing rooms, as is her place as the Hold Cripple.It was exhausting and she desperately wanted to whistle but if she did Yanus would belt her again. She didn’t think she could take another one, her back was so raw and painful as it was.Menolly quickly finished up and was just getting out when the door opened. “Oh! I’m so sorry!”She turned around sharply, covering herself with her tunic. She glared at the man in the doorway, who had now turned and was in the process of shutting the door behind him on the way out. She didn’t recognise him. He shut the door behind him and she let out a sharp angry whistle and finished getting dressed.Men. Honestly.She opened the door and saw him about to disappear around the corner. She let out a sharp whistle and he turned. She jerked her thumb at the bathing room and turned, heading the other way down the corridor.“Thank you!” he called after her.Honestly, did no one check if a room was occupied?.oOo.It was a few weeks after the bathing room incident and Menolly had yet to see the man again. She assumed he’d come in on one of the ships and left again soon after. She was currently out collecting greens and glared at any of the boys that dared follow her out past a few klicks.She soon found herself wandering all the way over to where she’d seen the firelizards. She grinned, her throat vibrating with some unheard sound and she wondered if perhaps she was humming. She looked at a few of the coves as she passed by them. The tide was higher than it should have been. The water was above the previous high tide markings.
Again she heard the firelizards before she saw them. Their excited chirpings and squeals indicated something was upsetting them. She dropped to a crouch and crept to the edge of the bluff, overlooking the little beach. Only there wasn’t much beach left, and the firelizards were hovering over a spot on the small margin of sand, almost directly below her.
She inched up to the edge, peering down. She could see the queen darting at the incoming waves as if she could stop them with her violently beating wings. Then she’d streak back, out of Menolly’s line of sight, while the rest of the creatures kept milling and swooping, rather like frightened heardbeasts running about aimlessly when wild wherries circled their herd. The queen was shrieking at the top of her shrill little voice, obviously trying to get them to do something. Unable to imagine what the emergency could be, Menolly leaned just a little further over the edge. The whole lip of the cliff gave way.
Clutching wildly at seagrasses, Menolly tried to prevent her fall. But the seagrass slipped cuttingly through her hand and she slid over the edge and down. She hit the beach with a force that sent a shock through her body. But the wet sand absorbed a good deal of the impact. She lay where she’d fallen for a few minutes, trying to get her breath into her lungs and out again. Then she scrambled to her feet and crawled away from an incoming wave.
She looked up at the side of the bluff, rather daunted by the fact that she’d fallen a dragon length or more. And how was she going to climb back up? But, as she examined the cliff face, she could see that it was not so unscalable as she’d first thought. Almost straight up, yes, but pocked by ledges and holds, some fairly large. If she could find enough foot and handholds, she’d be able to make it. She dusted the sand from her hands and started to walk towards one end of the little cove, to begin a systematic search for the easiest way up.
She’d gone only a few paces when something dove at her, screeching in fury. Her hands were up to protect her face as the little queen came diving down at her. Now Menolly recalled the curious behaviour of the firelizards. The little queen acted as if she were protecting something. From Menolly as well as the encroaching sea, and she looked about her. She was within handspans of stepping into a firelizard clutch.
Menolly quickly backpedalled, whistling a piteous tune with a sharp trill, apologising as best she could. To prove her sincerity, Menolly backtracked to the far end of the beach. There she had to duck under a small overhang. She tucked herself into it, her elbows and knees still sticking out slightly. The queen vanished from sight and Menolly sighed. She looked around and started to crawl out from under the ledge. As soon as she tried the queen came flying at her, screaming. Menolly backed back up under the ledge, whistling a soft croon to calm her down. She cursed her muteness and tried as hard as she could to get the little creature to understand that she didn’t want to hurt her nest.There was silence for a moment before a wave came dangerously close to the nest. The queen streaked off of the ledge above Menolly and flew towards the sea, hissing and screaming at it.Menolly bit her lip, as much as she wanted to leave, she couldn’t leave the firelizard nest to be drowned by the waves. She frantically searched for an answer and saw the queen grab and egg and struggle up the cliff face, wings desperately grabbing at the air, before she deposited the egg on a ledge. Menolly glanced at the bottom of the cliff and spotted some broken eggs, the hatchlings were perfectly formed, they must only be days from hatching. It would be such a shame for them to be washed away now when they are so close to hatching.Menolly carefully crept forwards towards the nest.The queen screeched at her but Menolly let out another sharp whistle, pointed at the nest and then up at the ledge. The queen landed in the sand in front of Menolly hissing at her. Menolly whistled a low tune, and the queen stilled briefly.Menolly let out another low whistle as she watched the queens eyes whirr in greens and blues. Menolly whistled a different tune and the queen settled down slightly, eyes whirring more greens.Menially sat up and looked over to where the rest of the fair had settled down not far from the queen. Menolly laughed silently and began whistling a tune of Dragon Riders. The firelizards all sat silently listening, eyes spinning more and more green by the second. When she let the final note die they chirped happily eyes locked on her for another song.Before she could even think of it a larger wave came up and lapped at her feet. She gasped silently and jumped up pointing towards the nest. She and the fair moved forwards as one and the queen grabbed another egg, Menolly grabbed one too and quickly began scaling the cliff, the queen screaming at her the whole time until she got to the ledge and placed the egg there.The queen landed on the ledge and deposited the egg she was carrying on it. She chirped sweetly at Menolly before scolding her and rolling her eggs further into the tunnel. The sound echoed so Menolly thought there must be a cave further inside. She looked the entrance over, it was far too small. They’d only be able to get one egg at a time down there and the water was rising too fast. They wouldn’t have enough time to get the eggs up there one at a time so she’d have to use her bag, but then the ledge would be piled too high and they’d risk one falling.Menolly felt carefully around the edge of the opening, noting the loose sand and dirt surrounding it. There was solid stone behind it so she carefully pulled the looser stuff away, ignoring the angry shrieking from inside. Once all the loose dirt was away the hole was much bigger and Menolly nodded in satisfaction, her throat vibrating slightly with some unheard sound.She climbed back down the cliff and began carefully placing as many eggs as she could in her bag. The queen shrieked at her but Menolly simply let out a shrieking whistle, pointed at the eggs, her bag and then up at the ledge before pointing at the still-rising water.The queen quieted down and Menolly finished filler her sack before climbing back up the cliff. She carefully rolled the eggs out of her bag and as far down the tunnel as she could get them before going and filling her bag up again. The rest of the fair flew into the cave, presumably to keep the eggs warm and arrange them just as the queen ordered.It took three trips to get all of the eggs up. Menolly whistled a low tune to the firelizards and got a sweet chirping melody in return. She grinned and climbed the rest of the way up the cliff, sitting on the top to rest a moment. She grinned excitedly and leant over the edge, looking down the cliff to the firelizard’s ledge.She looked further down and frowned at how high the tide was.She’d have to tell the harbour master about it for sure. She shook her head and looked around the walls of the cove. Perhaps there was a cave here big enough for her? It would give her somewhere to go to get away from Yanus and Mavi as well as meaning she could be close to the firelizards.She nodded decisively, closely examining the holes and dips to see if one could be concealing a cave. She spotted one about halfway round the cove, near the firelizard’s ledge and looked for a way to get down. The entire cliff face was full of jutting and uneven rocks, perfect handholds and footholds.She grinned and ran around the edge, carefully slipping down the side and stopping next to the cave. Just like the one she’d just helped the Queen store her eggs in, the entrance was made of solid rock behind a layer of looser sand and dirt. She pulled the looser ground off and smiled as the entrance opened a fair amount. Crawling in she discovered the inside was a good size, large enough to store all of her instruments and be able to sleep peacefully without being cramped up.There was even a narrow passage on one side with a slightly wider section behind it, making a good storage cupboard.Menolly turned and looked back out the entrance and her mouth opened. The view was incredible! The way the sun hit the water from this angle! The waves covering the whole beach! The Dragon Stones in the sea! It was breathtaking!Menolly nodded decisively. She was going to move into this cave.She carefully climbed out and up to the top of the cliff, pulling herself back up and dusting herself down. She readjusted the pack on her back and set off, back towards Half-Circle, collecting as many greens as possible on the way.She managed to get through the day easily enough and managed to force herself to stay awake that night when everyone else went to sleep.Unfortunately, any plans she had of escape were thwarted by the storm that rolled in during the night.She spent most of the day cleaning out rooms far into the back of the hold, avoiding Mavi as much as possible. She spent the whole time planning her escape. She knew exactly what to take with her. She’d take a glow too, she could recharge it during the day and only really use it at night if she really needed it. Thankfully there was a load of warn out glows in the back rooms that she took towards the front of the hold to be recharged once the storm wore off.She carefully thought about what to take with her, what she’d really need with her. Her instruments were a must. It was the whole reason she was leaving after all.That night when everyone else had gone to bed she silently packed two pairs of trousers, two tunics, a spare belt and her bed furs.She crept down to Yanus’ office. One good thing about the Sea Holder, he went to bed quite early each night, what with having to get up as early as possible the next morning. If it had been any other hold, there was a chance of someone still being up, but in a Sea Hold everyone went to bed much earlier.She quickly collected her Instruments, making sure that they wouldn’t make any noise as she walked. Thankfully they were all in Yanus’ office, rather than anywhere else. He wasn’t expecting her to steal them back.She quickly snuck down to the kitchen. This was the dangerous part as anyone who woke up in the night might come down for something to eat or drink. Thankfully it was empty so Menolly grabbed one of the hide bags; it was much smaller than the cloth sack she had, being limited by the size of the beast it was taken from.Menolly grabbed a cloth and carefully wrapped up a couple of different knives, storing them in the bag, along with a couple of bowls, some empty pots with the smaller ones stored in the larger ones to save room, a pot of numbweed, a few bandages, a spoon and a fork.She quickly slipped into the storeroom at the side where she’d stored the glows yesterday and took one, heading towards the large hold doors. They were barred, as they always were at night, but she was able to lift it easily enough and shove the door open.As she was leaving the Hold grounds she grabbed a small fishing net, a rod and a basket. She needed them more than the Hold did, they had plenty of spares.She easily made her way up out of the cavern and up onto the cliffs. She tried to jog but the two bags on her back made it difficult and so she had to walk. The sun was just poking up over the horizon by the time she got there. She quickly shimmied down the cliff and pushed her bags into the cave, climbing in after them. She set the sleeping furs out, making a decent bed on the cave floor.She then set everything else in the 'cupboard’ for now, vowing to deal with it all a little later when she had light.She slung the strap for her harp over her shoulder and her fingers began to fly over the strings. It was as if a huge weight suddenly lifted from her shoulders. She sighed silently and relaxed into the cave wall, her fingers strumming away, music filling the air.Eventually, Menolly sat up straight. She gathered up the sack and shimmied out of the cave. She’d fill it with spiderclaws and share with the firelizards. She had just finished when she noticed the utter stillness about her. She stood very still and waited, listening. The waves were lapping at the beach, the wind was still blowing, so what could have been causing such unrest.It was then she realised she couldn’t hear any sea birds or the usual insects that made so much noise all hours of the day and night. She cautiously climbed up the cliff to see what was wrong and spotted a grey cloud in the distance, bursts of orange and red flashing across it.She took a deep breath in, calming herself. There was no need to panic. Thread was all the way over there and she had a cave right below her. No need to panic. She climbed down and poked her head into the firelizard’s cave, noticing a humming from within. She shoved the bag inside and tried to crawl in after it.She got stuck.She backed out and turned around, backing in and this time was able to wriggle right the way in, although she knocked the ledge off as she did so.She turned around and watched the nest, the eggs rocked and wobbled. Finally, a brown firelizard fought free of his egg and looked around crooning desperately, his eyes whirring red. He leapt into the air, tiny wings propelling him and flew out of the cave past Menolly, desperately keening in hunger.Menolly gasped silently as he cleared the cave mouth, only to be met with a stand of Thread.She looked back at the nest where two more eggs were about to hatch. She grabbed at her sack, frantically pulling it open and grabbed a spiderclaw. She scooped up a bronze firelizard as he was trying to escape and plonked him down off to one side of the cave with a spiderclaw. She grabbed another along with a brown and dumped him near the bronze. Soon she was frantically throwing spiderclaws at each of the newly hatched firelizards, having upended the bag the first time one snagged on the sack.She kept a close eye on the queen hatchling. Queens were the most important dragon so it would stand to reason that they’d be the most important firelizards too.Eventually, she ran out of food for them and watched the older fair fly out of the cave, the hatchlings all following them. Thankfully it seemed the fall had passed so she sighed heavily and lay down, too tired to go back to her own cave..oOo.Menolly woke to the feeling of something warm draped over her and a pang of intense, burning hunger. She looked at the whirring red eyes of the firelizards draped over her and smiled gently, letting out a soft, crooning whistle.The firelizards echoed her and she grinned, sitting up and climbing out of the cave, bringing her bag with her. The firelizards that had been lying on her squawked at being displaced but followed her easily enough. She spotted the older queen and her fair with the other hatchlings all diving in and out of the water catching fingertails of scavenging for rockmites.Menolly taught the nine that were following her to catch food for themselves as well as catching some for them. By the time they were no longer hungry Menolly was too tired to do more than catch a flatfish and eat it raw. Thankfully being a seaman’s daughter she was accustomed to fish in any shape, including raw.‘Just in case you’re on the sea and can’t cook what you catch.’ Yanus told her.Menolly climbed up the cliff into her cave, some fish in her bag for later, and curled up on the sleeping furs. The nine hatchlings flew into her cave and curled up with her. She felt her throat vibrate again and wondered if she was trying to hum.The following week established a good routine. Menolly organised her things easily enough and a few good bits of wood with some long grasses weaved around them made some nice shelves on the cupboard in her cave. She folded her furs up every morning and placed them on the floor of her cupboard. This meant that when she cooked she didn’t have to worry about accidentally setting her bed on fire.She’d filled the pots with seabeachplum and marsh berries, edible grass seeds, greens and bits of fish that she’d gutted (the firelizards ate that), de-boned and salted for later. Mostly fingertails since they made for a surprisingly good snack during the day, with their small size and the ease with which she could catch large numbers. There were a lot of spiderclaws, and on a whim, she kept the empty shells after washing them out.One pot held a steadily growing supply of oil from the fish she’d caught which she sweetened with grass seeds and berries. It still stank something awful though.Menolly figured she would just have to get used to the smell.She discovered the firelizards, all of them, loved music. She’d spend many evenings sitting on the cliff tops surrounded by not only her fair but the older ones and the other hatchlings. As she played song after song they all joined in, their tune getting better and better with each song.She couldn’t stop the grin on her face at these times. Here was someone who enjoyed her music. Someone who appreciated what she could do. She didn’t need a hold. She was fine.As she was walking about the cliff top one day, looking for more sweet grasses to fragrance the oil she heard something. She stopped and hushed her fair of lizards listening carefully. She followed the sound and spotted a wherry stuck in a marsh, clearly having gotten stuck while eating from the bush. Silly bird.She crept forward carefully and with a good sharp stab to the back of its neck, the thing died. She looped her belt around the wherry’s neck and began to pull it from the marsh. The firelizards, seeing what she was doing, all grabbed what part of the bird they could and helped her pull. The thing slid out of the mud with a sickly squelch.She sighed, her fingers strumming a triumphant note on her harp and she tied her belt more securely about the large bird, heaving it onto her back.It was a tiring walk back to the caves and she had to bring her pots up to the clifftop to the wherry since she couldn’t carry it down. She set up a fire and a pot, easily melting the fatty layers of meat and collecting the oils that ran off it and the rest of the meat. She passed scraps of the meat as she cut it to her fair and the others when they all turned up.The wherry had a slightly spicy scent, not at all like those that lived off the sea, so clearly, this one had lived further inland. It would explain how it got stuck in the marshes.Soon enough all that was left was bare bones and she had a lovely large pot full of oil and another pot with the cooled fat that she could then spread on pans when cooking to give it a bit of flavour.She carefully stored her pots and climbed back down to her cave and oiled the hides of her fair.It was a few days later that she finally had names for them all.The queen spent a lot of her time grooming herself, preening her wings, licking between her claws and toes and otherwise just making sure she looked beautiful, so Menolly named her Beauty.Of the two bronzes, one spent a lot of his time hunting for rockmites, so Menolly called him Rocky, while the other spent a lot of his time diving in and out of the waves, so he was dubbed Diver.The browns had given her a bit of trouble, one was incredibly lazy and had been dubbed Lazybones even before the other’s had been given names. Eventually, she realised one of the browns would copy anything the others were doing and had been dubbed Mimic, the last brown didn’t really seem to show much in the way of personality so he just named him Brownie.The two greens spent all of their time harping at the poor blue, so reminding her of the old Aunties at the hold that they were dubbed Aunty One and Aunty Two while the blue, who moaned like an Old Uncle was suitably named Uncle.Sometimes, when she and her fair were on the beach and Menolly was oiling them, some of the other hatchlings would come over too. The older ones stayed away though. It didn’t bother Menolly much, since she had her hands full with her nine, though oiling the hides of the other hatchlings wasn’t really a chore.There had been three more Threadfalls since she’d left her hold, each one spent in her cave with her firelizards. Any fear she’d had of Thread before was much diminished now. So long as the Dragon Riders were flying in the sky she had nothing to fear. They wouldn’t let anything happen to her..oOo.Menolly stood on the clifftop and stretched. She’d been feeling cooped up yesterday so she decided to take a walk down the beach today and look for things along the beaches, catch some lunch while she was out, perhaps find some more types of grasses and such. There was a river further south, she might find some fresh watercress there.She walked along with her fair dipping and diving about her and her fingers strumming a joyful tune on her harp. It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed herself quite as much as she was enjoying being holdless. No one to tell her she couldn’t play, or she couldn’t run, or she must attend Old Uncle or gather more greens or check the glows or some other such task. She was free here to do what she wanted when she wanted.Reaching a river Menolly set about setting up a fire and caught a couple of spiderclaws. She set them on the rocks on her fire to cook and went to look for anything in the river to eat with it. She grinned excitedly as she spotted some fresh watercress and plucked it out of the riverbed.She was just eating a mouthful when her fingers struck an ominous tone on her harp. She paused and looked down at her fingers, still plucking a tense, ominous tone. She’d been playing that harp for so long that playing her feelings became so instinctual that she often played something before she realised she was feeling it. She stood up straight, swallowing her mouthful of watercress and looked around, wondering what was causing her to feel so worried.The grey cloud on the horizon with bursts of red and orange was a dead giveaway.She turned and ran, pelting across the ground as fast as her legs would carry her, back towards her cave. Her heart was pounding, her fair flying through the air above her creeling in fear, their eyes whirring white and red. Lazy tried to cling to her shoulder but Beauty and their mother shrieked at him and they all flew above her head. Menolly absently wondered when their mother had arrived but was more focused on running.Running was something even a mute could do well, she’d always been the fastest in the hold, it was time to see if she was faster than Thread.She’d gotten her second wind and glanced to her left, to the sea, wondering if she should run closer to the water before shaking that idea out of her head even as she jumped over a small ditch and nearly twisted her ankle. The ground was firmer here. It was too loose nearer the water’s edge, she would risk injury running any closer.Besides, she didn’t know how far underwater Thread had to go before it drowned and she couldn’t stay underwater long enough anyway.Her fair suddenly vanished from around her and a shadow descended. Menolly grit her teeth and hoped she could outrun it when suddenly a great brown dragon landed in front of her.“Hurry up lad, leading-edge is almost upon us!”Menolly leapt forwards and grabbed the rider’s outstretched hand, easily climbing up behind him.“Hold on to me tightly, and don’t be afraid. I’m to take you Between to Benden. It’ll be cold and dark, but I’ll be with you.”Menolly clung tightly to his back and then suddenly everything vanished. There was nothing to see, nothing to feel but the icy cold. She couldn’t feel the rider before her nor the dragon beneath.Black, blacker, blackest
And cold beyond frozen things
Where is Between when there is naught
To life but fragile dragon wings?The world popped back into focus before she’s even recited the second line. She looked around in awe, gasping silently at the sheer size of the weyrboll. You could fit the whole of Half-Circle dock cavern in here twice over and still have room!The dragon circled in to land near the other dragons and Menolly realised they were threadscored and were being treated. Menolly frowned and her fingers struck a sad, soothing tone. The rider glanced over his shoulder at her and frowned slightly. “You can relax your death hold, lad.” Said the brown rider, with tolerant amusement as he unfastened the riding straps from his belt.Menolly relaxed her left arm and removed it from around the rider’s waist.“Whoever let you out of your hold so near to a threadfall?”Menolly strummed a quiet, embarrassed tone on her harp, letting out a short, low whistle and ducking her head. The rider tilted his head for a moment before shaking it.“Down you go lad, I’ve got to rejoin my wing to mop up.” That was the third time he called her lad. She almost had half a mind to open her tunic and show him what a ‘lad’ she was.“You’ve a fine pace on you. Ever think of going for a hold runner?” he swung her down over the brown’s shoulder and she slid down. She gasped silently in agony as soon as her feet hit the ground. She grabbed frantically at the dragon’s foreleg with one arm, the other strumming a sharp pained tone on her harp.The rider swung down beside her. “Branth says you’re hurt?”She pointed to her feet, lifting one slightly.“I’ll tell the world. Here we go!” he swung her up over his shoulder in one practised movement. Her harp strung a sharp, startled tone before morphing into a chastising, embarrassed tune, with overtones of pain. The rider ignored her and made his way to the lower caverns. On the way there he called out for a pot of numbweed. He set her down on a chair. Someone lifted her feet onto a stool as several women converged on her from all sides.The rider smiled. “Hey Manora, Felena.”“Just look at his feet, he’s run them raw.”“T’gran, wherever...”“Saw him trying to outrun thread down Nerat way. Bloody near did!”“Bloody’s quite accurate. Manora, could you spare a moment please?”“Should we wash the feet first, or...?”“No, a cup of weed first,” was T’gran’s suggestion. “You’ll have to cut the boots off.”A cup was held to her lips but Menolly turned her head away. When the cup was repositioned again Beauty burst into being above her head, landing on her shoulder and shrieking at whoever was holding the cup.“Shards, that’s a queen firelizard!”The rest of Menolly’s fair popped in and all settled down on some part of her body. Diver taking her other shoulder, Rocky and Mimic clinging to her shirt, Brownie, lazybones, Aunty One, Aunty Two and Uncle all settle across her lap, arguing for space slightly before settling down and hissing at anyone that got too close.“Nine... shards, where did he get nine! We could have used them around here.”“Still, he has a queen. She’ll have a clutch in a few turns, I’m sure. As long as we know where they are, it’s no problem who has them.”“But nine! Think, nine less Lord Holders asking for firelizards.”Menolly struck a weak, pained tone on her harp. Her fair all crooned anxiously at her. She strummed a reassuring tone, soothing their frazzled nerves. Eventually, they were convinced to move off her and settle on other perches for now, so the women could heal her feet.Rocky popped away briefly before coming back with a knife in his mouth moving over towards her feet. T’gran quickly took the knife away. “I’ll just take that if you don’t mind. I’ll cut them off for you, how about that?” Rocky chirped in agreement and T’gran motioned to someone and the glass of felis juice was pressed to her lips again.This time Menolly didn’t fight, her harp strumming a sleepy sort of melody before she drifted off to sleep.