A'ros woke cold, even in the thick bedfurs in his weyr. He shook his head and shivered. A nightmare, it was only a nightmare. But one that had actually happened.
Krinoth lifted his head from his bed of stone, eyes whirling with the golden yellow of worry. "A'ros?" The andalusite-celestial dragon questioned his rider.
A'ros sighed, brushing his dark hair away from his damp forehead. "I'm fine, Krinoth. Just a bad dream."
The dragon shifted his body, fluttering his black and gold-patterned wings. "Was it because of the Threadfall yesterday?"
A'ros shuddered. Yesterday had been their first time fighting Thread. Having had bad experiences with the stuff before, A'ros had not been looking forward to it, and in fact, had a certain fear of Thread.
Consequently, the two of them had been almost useless. Luckily, they wouldn't have to go through that experience again, since they had been offered a weyrhealer position at another Weyr.
Thinking about that reminded A'ros of the dream he'd had, which had woken him up. "No, Krinoth, it wasn't about that. It was about...something else."
"Your friends?" Krinoth asked.
A'ros only grunted in reply. Krinoth flicked his tail lazily and looked up at his rider again. "A'ros? If...If you had a chance to go back, to that time...would you? Would you save your friends, if you could?"
A'ros looked up at his dragon sharply. "Yeah, of course I would." He shook his head. "But...that's impossible. You can't change the past, Krinoth."
Krinoth didn't answer, and glanced out of their weyr. The starry night sky had been replaced by the blue-gray of early morning. "Dawn has come, A'ros."
A'ros smiled. "Yeah...Come on, Krinoth, I think it's time we left this Weyr."
"Right." Krinoth agreed. "But, before we go to this...'Darkling Dawn' place, let's make a quick stop first. Trust me." The dragon said secretively.
A'ros stared at his dragon in confusion. "What? Krinoth, I don't think we have time for this..."
Krinoth laughed. "Time, my rider, will not be a problem. Don't worry, we'll have all the time in the world..."