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Tony shifted on his feet. The heat of the sand hadn’t reached through the soles of his thick leather boots and started scorching his feet yet, but it was only a matter of time. His feet were already sweating along with the rest of him. The sun was beating down, and the cooling breezes didn’t reach down into the Bowl where he was standing.
He was baking between the hot sun and the hot sand, but hopefully not for much longer.
The boy next to Tony wiped the sweat from his brow. There were over two dozen boys, including Tony, on the sand. They were spread out among the ten eggs that sat on the hot sand.
Eggs that were about to hatch, according to the dragonmen.
Well, in truth, according to the dragons themselves, or so Rhodey said. The dragons simply passed along the message so they could get the candidates for that Hatching out onto the sand in time. The mother always knew.
Tony spared a moment to glance at the gold dragon who watched them all with suspicion. She didn’t seem enthused about the humans on her hatching ground, but Hatchings were tradition. Hatchings were when Impressions were made, linking dragon and rider and creating a bond between man and beast that lasted their entire lifetime.
Hatchings created dragonmen.
Or dragonwomen. Closer to the dragon mother, there was a group of six women who stood in a semi-circle around the single golden egg. From the golden egg would hatch a gold dragon, and only women Impressed gold dragons.
It was the gold dragons who rose to mate, and the gold dragons who laid eggs for the next Hatching. The rider of the most senior gold dragon was one of the leaders of the Weyr, the other leader being the rider of the bronze dragon who last caught the gold in mating flight. It was the most recent coupling between the gold and bronze dragons of the Weyrleaders Christine and Justin that had produced this clutch.
The other ten eggs were mottled white, and would contain the fighting dragons - a mix of bronze, brown, blue, and green.
Tony didn’t even care what color he got, as long as he walked off the sand with a dragon. He wasn’t sure what he would do otherwise. Obie would laugh him out of the Guild if he tried to go back. Rhodey said he’d make a good dragon rider though. Or really, Rhodey’s bronze dragon Pytorin said that, and Pytorin had a good sense about these things.
Tony wiped his sweaty palms on his tunic. He could only hope that one of the baby dragons that Hatched today thought the same way.
But there was more than enough competition on the sand with him, all equally hopeful. Most of them had grown up in the Weyr, and Tony figured that had to be some advantage. No one knew what it was that caused a dragon to Impress, but knowing about dragons had to help, right?
An egg rocked, and Tony’s heart leapt into his throat. There were gasps from the crowd above, who sat in the stands etched into the side of the Hatching Bowl. They were all dragon riders themselves, including Rhodey, but Tony kept his focus on the hatching eggs rather than search for him in the crowd.
The dragons of the Weyr lined the lip, their gazes just as watchful. They started to hum, a vibration that seemed to fill the entire Bowl. Aemyer’s gold tail lashed and her eyes whirled. She hummed as well as she watched her clutch start to hatch.
Another egg wobbled, and then another one started to crack. Tony’s gaze darted from egg to egg, watching. Hoping.
Then there was a blue dragon keening as his head broke through the shell. The little dragon, the size of a grown hunting dog, fell onto the sand. His eyes were red and whirling, and his head swung around in search of something, someone.
Tony said nothing, but he cast his hopes out in his mind. Dragons formed a telepathic link with their rider, and maybe that link was established first. Maybe all Tony had to do was think hard enough and the right dragon would hear him.
The blue dragon waddled forward practically fell into a boy, who couldn’t be more than twelve Turns. The boy leaned down and grabbed the head of the dragon, steadying it.
The dragon cooed, and the boy’s face was so rapturous that Tony had to look away.
The crowd cheered as the first Impression was made.
The boy was so young. He would’ve had chances at other Hatchings to Impress, if he hadn’t. But he did. A blue dragon, which was quite respectable. Tony was nineteen Turns. He was the one of the oldest boys on the sand, and he wouldn’t get another shot at this.
A brown dragon crawled his way out of his shell. Then two bronzes. They keened hungry, desperate cries. Tony wanted to take a step forward, wanted to put himself in their paths, but that was not the way Hatching was done. It was the dragon’s choice, and they would move toward their rider. That was the way. Tony did have to move to side step a green’s wings, but the green was headed for someone who wasn’t Tony.
Tony had five chances left. Then three.
There was a keening cry that pierced Tony’s heart, and he looked over. The gold egg had hatched and revealed the gold dragon. The little dragonet stomped around the sand, trying not to foul her wings, but her large head pulled her forward. She fell, face first, in the sand. Several of the women reached out, but no one touched. The Impression hadn’t been made yet.
Tony couldn’t help but smile. Soon enough, the awkward dragonet would grow into that head. And then she would grow larger still, and take the skies with beauty and grace. Tony could imagine flying - Rhodey had brought him to the Weyr on the back of Pytorin - and it seemed the most wondrous thing, to take to the skies with nothing but man and dragon.
That was true freedom.
And with a Weyr of fellow dragons and riders to return to? That would be home.
But only if Tony Impressed a dragon today. He turned back to the eggs, and found them all broken open. All the dragons were hatched, and all the bodies - bronzes and browns and blues and greens - were being cooed at by their humans.
Tony hadn’t Impressed. He would not be a dragon rider.
A sharp trill directed his gaze back to that gold dragon. She was rearing back, screeching an angry cry. Her golden mother chirped in admonishment, and the dragonet returned to all four legs. She dashed forward, only just slow enough to let the women in the semi-circle scramble out of her way. She flopped over the broken shells of her brothers and sisters, and Tony wanted to tell her to be careful so the edges didn’t cut into the delicate membrane of her wings.
But then she was there, safe, and Tony hurriedly stepped to the side to let her pass.
She trilled and turned to Tony again.
“What?” Tony asked, looking up to meet the eyes of the other riders who weren’t chosen.
Everyone had the same shock on their face that Tony felt.
“The riders you want are over there,” Tony said, pointing to the women. He wasn’t sure how to reason with a dragon.
The gold dragonet butted his legs, and the push was more than Tony was prepared for. He fell back onto the sands, and she climbed on top of him. Her claws raked into his chest, deep enough to bleed, but Tony didn’t care.
Their eyes met, and Tony saw the whole world in her eyes. There was the wind and sky, cool rivers and hot sands. There was the break of dawn and the stars of the night, and Tony never wanted to look away from that beautiful gaze.
We will fly together, said a voice in his head. We will have fun.
“You want me?” Tony whispered, and his thoughts returned to the women who were supposed to be the riders for gold dragons.
Tony had never heard of a man Impressing a gold dragon before.
You are mine, she said with feral possession. I am Tala.
“I’m Tony,” Tony whispered.
I know.
He felt Tala’s smugness, but that was quickly overtaken by hunger.
Tony helped Tala off his chest, being careful of her claws, and stood. He promised her that they would find food for her immediately.
Tony looked up and finally understood just how quiet the Bowl was. The other candidates and riders were staring at him in shock.
Men did not Impress gold dragons.
Tony tilted his chin up. He had Impressed a dragon. The bond was there. He could feel it, feel her, in his mind. They were together, dragon and rider, and they couldn’t be separated. Even if Tony hadn’t Impressed the proper color of dragon.
I am the best color dragon, Tala insisted. And also very hungry.
“Her name is Tala,” Tony announced into the quiet, “and she’s very hungry.”
