Three figures huddled together in a cave, watching with terrified eyes as the beautiful and deadly Thread fell down upon them, writhing and eventually dying on the hard, cold stone roof of the cave. The one nearest the entrance, a terrified, red-haired girl clutching a frantic feline in her arms, leaned back, burying her head against the side of a tall, dark-haired boy. The other red-haired boy, who was obviously the girl's younger brother, watched from behind the two, as the gigantic dragons flamed Thread until it crumpled harmlessly to peices, all in midair.
The dark gray tabby in the girls arms hissed, panicing wildly in it's terror. The girl gasped as the claws dug into her arm. Reflex caused her to automatically release the feline, which raced out of the cave, oblivious to the danger. "Nieto!" The girl gasped, standing up to go after her pet.
"Myriam, no! He'll be okay, we all will. I promise!" The dark-haired boy gazed pleadingly at her, his dark blue eyes gazing into her bright green ones, which were overcast with worry and terror. He grabbed her arm, where Nieto had scratched her, pulling some numbweed out of his pack. "I'm a healer, I'll take care of this." He said.
"But Akeros, there's Thread! Nieto..." Myriam gazed out, thankful she couldn't see Nieto from her position on the floor of the cave.
"That's what the dragons are for. They'll burn away all the Thread before it can do any damage. Nieto will be fine. I promise."
"But you can't expect them to flame every peice of Thread, can you? It's impossible, and considering what a single Thread can do..." The other boy piped up from behind them.
Akeros glared at him. "Iason!" He hissed. "Do you believe everything the old people tell you? It's all exagerated, we'll be fine!"
As soon as he said that, a panicked yowl was heard from outside. Myriam jumped up, running out of the cave before Akeros could stop her. "Nieto!" She screamed, as she dodged the few strands of Thread that escaped from the dragons. Akeros's heart caught in his throat, Iason gasping beside him. "Myriam! Get back in the cave!"
There was a single scream, and they heard no more.
"MYYRIAAAMMM!!!!" Iason shouted, running out of the cave, no longer thinking about the Thread as his mind was focused completely on his sister.
"Iason! You dimglow, GET BACK HERE!!" Akeros yelled after his friend. He stared from the entrance of the cave, glancing up to see a hideous, black mass of Thread that had once been a tree. It cracked from the withered trunk, no longer strong enough to hold itself up under the onslaught of Thread. Akeros followed the path of the falling tree, directly onto Iason.
"Iason! LOOK OUT!!!" Akeros, blindly tried to warn his friend away from the danger. He stepped out from the safety of the cave, running towards his friend. Iason turned, too late...
Akeros turned, as he sensed danger behind him. A large clump of Thread fell onto his face, and he screamed out as he heard a crash from behind him.
Akeros felt a burning pain in the side of his face, and heard the flapping of huge wings, practically on top of him. Then, suddenly, he was somewhere very, very, cold.
Hell's not firey. He thought as he lost consciousness. It's cold...
I lied...
"Myriam, no! He'll be okay, we all will. I promise!"
I promised them we'd be okay...
"Iason! LOOK OUT!!!"
But instead, I killed them...
Akeros heard snippets of conversation as he slowly drifted back into consciousness.
"...he dead?"
"No, ...badly scored...-be blind...right eye..."
"...is he?"
"...know, probably...nearby...poor kid..."
He opened his eyes, wearily blinking against the sudden flood of light. He blinked a few more times, trying to clear away all the blackness, but he couldn't seem to see much on his right side. He sat up, fingering the right side of his face. There was a long, jagged scar, caked with numbweed, running down his face. Directly over his eye. Which was blind...
Akeros felt a strong pair of arms pushing him back down. "Lay down! You've only just woken up. It'll be a while yet before you're completely healed." A kind, though stern, voice said. He looked up to see a tall, tanned man with wavy brown hair and stern, gray eyes.
Behind him was another man. His head was slightly cocked to the side, as if he were listening to someone. He sighed, turning to Akeros. "What's your name, kid?" He asked.
"Akeros."
The man nodded. "Falaath said something about a healer and needed healing, and Impressing a dragon. So basically, Falaath says you should stand for Adityath's clutch."
The brown-haired man frowned. "You can take care of that later. Right now, the boy needs to rest." He said as he led the other man out.
Over the next few days, as Akeros recovered from his Threadscore, he learned that he had been saved by one of the dragonriders, and taken to the nearest weyr. That was Opal Moon Weyr, where he was now at. After the Weyrleaders found out what had happened to him, they offered to let him stand for the clutch. He had not not decided whether to accept yet.
He was walking outside the Weyr, near the beach, when he found the fire lizard eggs. Apparently a green's, for no screeching gold launched out at him as he approached the eggs laying in the sands. There were about ten of them, all a blueish-green color.
Akeros had no interest in Impressing a fire lizard, as he had no real interest to Impress a dragon. The only reason he hadn't left the Weyr already was because he didn't have anywhere to go. He couldn't go back to the Healercrafthall, there were too many memories there.
As Akeros was walking past the fire lizard eggs, he noted that a few of them were rocking. He stopped, seeing no one else around. Well, he guessed they'd either turn wild, like their parents most probably were, or die. It was really a miracle that no tunnelsnakes or other predators had found the clutch already.
He was about to walk away, back to the Weyr, when he heard a piteous creel behind him. He looked back towards the eggs, where a blue and two greens had already hatched. There was another firelizard, huddled behind the broken eggshells.
Akeros looked closer, realizing the flit that was hidden behind the shells was jet black in color. But that wasn't entirely true, for when it stretched out it's wings, they were white. The black-white flit cried, flexing it's wings. Akeros belatedly realized that it's right wing was somehow injured, and twisted under it. He knelt down beside the crying fire lizard, gently fingering the injured wing. He pulled a bag of numbweed out of his pocket, carefully applying it to the fire lizard's wing. As he finished, he stood up, preparing to leave.
The black-white flit clumsily trailed behind him, it's wings dragging on either side. Akeros turned, saw the little black-white following him, and sighed. He couldn't just leave it behind now. He picked up the flit. "I thought you only Impressed if there was food around." He grumbled as he headed back to the Weyr.
Akeros sighed as his black-white flit, which he had named Sidero, curled up on his lap, quickly falling asleep. Her dark ebony hide glowed as she carefully folded her pure white wings over her back.
"Light and dark...You, little one, are neither. Your hide is dark, but your white wings are your redemption. ...Perhaps mine is in dragonflight."
Akeros smiled, deciding to wait until tomorrow to tell the Weyrwoman he would stand.