“Take us to Kadith!”
They went between and emerged above a rough valley just as a mass of Thread split across the nearest ridge.
Tapeth follows!
The green dragon, her wings flat against her dorsal ridge, fell toward the point of impact, her flaming breath searing the crest. Just when it looked as if the dragon would collide with the ridge, she unfolded her wings and swerved off.
Take us there! Moreta glanced down at the tank gauge. She’d need more to flood the ridge. No ground crew could get into the blind
valley.
Then they were above the sooted stone. Obedient to her rider’s mental directions, Oriith hovered so that Moreta could flame the far side of the ridge. Tendrils of Thread hissed and writhed into black ash. Methodically she pumped flame into the area, widening the arc to be sure that not a finger-length of the parasite escaped.
“We’ll land a bit away, Oriith. I’ll need another tank now.”
It comes! Oriith landed easily.
“I want to check that ridge. I couldn’t see if it was shelf, sheet, or
shale.”
Moreta released her fighting straps and slid down. Her feet, sore from the long ride and slightly numb despite the thick lining of her boots, were jarred by the impact of her jump. She slowly clambered on insensitive soles toward the blackened area, her finger ready on the flamethrower’s ignition button. She began to sense the residual heat of the two flame attacks on the rock and moved forward more slowly as much to revive her cold feet as to be cautious. She never liked to rush in on a Thread site, not on foot. However, it had to be done and the sooner the better. Thread burrowed into any crevice or
cranny.
The eastern side of the ridge was sheer rock, unmarred by a split or crack to harbor Thread. The western face was also a solid mass. Tapeth’s flame must have caught the stuff on landing.
Her feet were beginning to warm up as she made her way back to Oriith. Just then a blue weyrling emerged. His claws were no more than a finger-length from the top of the protruding rock thrust. The
Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern 125
next instant the blue backfanned his wings to land. Oriith rumbled and the blue shuddered at the queen’s reprimand. The rider’s expression altered abruptly from delight to apprehension.
“Don’t be clever T’ragel! Be safe!” Moreta shouted at him. “You could have come out in the ridge, not on it! You’ve never been here before. Hasn’t F’neldril drilled it in your skull to have air space landing as well as taking off?”
The young rider fumbled with the straps holding the tank to his blue dragon’s side as Moreta stormed over to him, still seething with the fright he had given her. “Caution pleases me much more than agility.”
She almost wrenched the tank from his hand.
“Get down. To make up for your error in judgment, stay until the ridge cools. Check for infestation. There’s moss just below. You know how to use a flamethrower? Good. What’s left in my tank should suffice. But have your dragon call if you see anything moving on that ridge. Anything!”
An hour or so’s cold watch with fear as his companion would cool the young rider’s ardor for fancy landings. No matter how often they were cautioned by the Weyriingmaster and Weyrieader, weyriings inexplicably disappeared and the older dragons grieved. The casualties were such a waste of the Weyr’s resources.
She remounted Oriith, aware that the boy had taken a sentry’s stance, but as close to the comfort of his blue dragon as possible. They looked shaken and forlorn.
Kadith calls!
“We must be nearing the end of Fall!” Moreta clipped back her fighting straps, remembering to tug them secure. Her harangue would lose its force if she came adrift on takeoff.
B’lerion rides!
Moreta smiled as she told Oriith to get them airbound, to take them between to join the wings. She wondered, in the blackest of cold, just how B’lerion had fared with Oklina.
Then they were on the western side of the Nabol Range with Thread falling thick and fast. Moreta had no time to express gratitude for the presence of the fresh dragons and their riders. Moreta and Oriith had just dispatched a low snarl of Thread when Oriith announced abruptly. The Fall is over!