Raging Skies

Writers: Avery, Devin, Noli
Date Posted: 12th July 2025

Characters: N'vanik, A'kades, R'masu
Description: The terrible conditions of a storm during Threadfall cause several injuries and deaths.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 28 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: R'kehr, A'vel, T'lin

N'vanik

The leading edge of Threadfall hadn’t even reached the shore yet and things were already bad. The wind ahead of the storm was strong enough that even Loseth was having trouble keeping steady. The smaller blues and greens were being blown around and had to keep getting back in formation. N’vanik had called for a windbreak pattern, with the bronzes and browns out front, but that wasn’t helping much.

And then there was the sharding lightning. Bright bolts lit up the sky, the huge booms of thunder getting closer and closer, vibrating through N’vanik’s body.

}:Thread comes,:{ Loseth warned, pulling N’vanik’s attention with his focused intensity.

A’kades pulled his jacket tighter around himself as Volaith hovered in position. If only the storm was heavier and could drown the Thread. He didn’t want to have to fly in this. At least he wasn’t on a smaller dragon, though. He was hearing the reports of the little ones being tossed around, and spared a moment to hope for his family on their blues to all be safe.

Silvery strands fell from the sky over the dark ocean and the Fighting Wings surged forward to meet it where the waves lapped against the shore. Loseth rose to flame a small tangle and satisfaction flowed through their bond. This was their purpose, to destroy that ancient enemy and keep it from ravaging Pern.

The first few minutes of Threadfall went well enough. Volaith successfully flamed the Thread he went against, and kept himself in position via bulk and determination. A’kades wished for a moment that he was just a regular wingrider who only needed to pay attention to what he and Volaith were doing, as well as his trio and nine. But there were too many things to pay attention to for a ranking rider - what he and Volaith needed to be doing in their nine, plus what the Wing was doing as part of a wingrank role, and also in his job as Weyrsecond to judge what other Wings might need that he could get to before N’vanik needed to.

Speaking of predictions, A’kades could see a patch of heavier clouds with lightning illuminating them approaching closely in from over the sea. The cracks of thunder rolled ominously across the landscape, loud enough to drown out some of the shouts and bellows and other noises of Threadfall. That looked to be heavier rain and nasty winds, which meant there might be tired or injured blues and greens. Better to do swaps now in the clear air, before the reserves /betweened/ into the middle of that mess.

A’kades had approved of N’vanik’s plan for the greens and blues in this difficult Fall. Because so much of it was over the water, and the storms had reduced the time for some of the active Fall further, the actual flying duration of this Fall would only be about the length of a half Fall; the length of time that each wave of smaller chromatics normally flew. This provided the leadership with the flexibility to send up the first wave and be able to switch out any dragons that got prematurely exhausted or injured with second wave dragons without needing to worry about depleting the strength of the second wave. It also meant ground any still-recovering dragons who might not be able to handle the intensity of the winds of this Fall.

**How are the wing’s chromatics? What replacements do we need?** he asked Volaith. It was not even halfway through the Fall yet, but the reports from other Wings had let him know there were already changeovers happening.

}:Cerritoth has wrenched a wing. Olobeth is scored lightly. Kireth is exhausted.:{

**Call up Tsogath to swap for Cerritoth, Ahnoth for Olobeth, Calaroth for Kireth,** he ordered, trusting Volaith to keep them safe while he turned to look at the changeover. It went smoothly.

That handled, and with the clouds upon their wing, he refocused on the fighting of Thread. A few minutes of frantic flaming and flying passed. The sky grew darker overhead, the wind stronger, the thunder rumbled. And yet the rain wasn’t falling except in spits and spatters out of these heavy clouds. Not enough to be able to defeat the Thread and let them land safely. No, it was dangerous weather.

One moment, A’kades and Volaith were winging upwards to sear a patch of Thread. The next, lightning flashed out of a heavy cloud and struck the bronze. Stunned by the jolt, the pair were plummeting towards the water below before the clap of thunder even sounded.

The flash momentarily blinded N’vanik, and the immense boom of the thunder was like a shockwave hitting his body. }:Volaith is hit! He’s falling.:{

N’vanik’s string of curses were drowned out by another crash of thunder. His stomach dropped and his heart clenched as he looked down to see his friend and Weyrsecond falling. But dragons moved to catch Volaith, and Loseth reported that the bronze was still alive.

**Tell Kannoth to take his position.** N’vanik made a few more quick adjustments as Loseth flamed strands and tangles of Thread. The Weyrleader tried to force back his worry. They had more than candlemark of Fall left and the storm was getting worse . . . and there _still_ wasn’t enough sharding rain.

R'masu was reaching into his firestone sack, preparing to grab another hunk to give to Kannoth, when his dragon's voice suddenly filled his head. }:Volaith is injured!:{

Snapping his head around to the Weyrsecond's position in the formation, R'masu saw the great bronze dropping with terrifying speed. No Thread entangled the falling dragon, thank Faranth.

:}Loseth says we are to replace Volaith.:{ Kannoth flashed /between/, reappearing four heartbeats later in their new position of the formation. The brown twisted, flaming at a clump of thread, and reached his head around for the firestone that his rider didn't even realize he was still holding. R'masu hastily obliged, and tried to take stock of the situation. The winds were atrocious, and losing Volaith's shielding bulk meant that the smaller dragons of Hurricane Wing were going to struggle even more. He hoped the lower wings were able to successfully flamed the Thread that he was seeing get through.

The responding dragons bore Volaith back to the Weyrbowl and to the infirmaries there, where responding healers and dragonhealers jumped to treat them both and ensure they stayed alive. There was some frantic minutes, but before the Threadfall ended, the pair was judged stable.

The relief N’vanik felt at A’kades making it back to the Weyr was short lived as the injuries quickly began piling up. Thadath out. Vensath with a shredded wingsail. A green hit with a tangle and the pair gone /between/, never to return. Hurricane had to call up several reserves, and the only good thing was that they had more than usual due to the short Fall.

Loseth narrowly missed a strand that was blown sideways at them. N’vanik’s control was hanging by a thread and he held on by telling himself the Wings _needed_ him to keep his head. If he fell apart . . .

And then, finally, rain. Enough to drown Thread in the sky. Leaving scouts behind, N’vanik called the Wings back home.

Weyrlings and retired riders rushed to bring full sacks of firestone to the exhausted riders. N’vanik checked with the healers and dragonhealers and got a depressing report. So many pairs grounded. A few lost. A’kades and Volaith were still alive, thank Faranth.

But only a few minutes later, the scouts reported the rain had stopped. N’vanik swore sharply and ordered the Wings back into the air.

R'masu felt sick as he eyed the Wings that rose once again to meet Thread. With each instance of a dragon going /between/, never to emerge again, he had felt like a limb was being ripped away from his body. He had applied for this job to help _prevent deaths_, shardit! And now all of the riders would be feeling the effects of the adrenaline dump that would have occurred at the idea of ‘fall being over for the day. R'masu worried this second push may be even worse for injuries than the first.

Still, he had a job to do. As his wing rose together, he checked positions on the dragonpairs, and through Kannoth sent encouragement to those dragons who were struggling to maintain their assigned distances.

There were another few losses before it was all over. Tsogath took a wingtip score, but ducked /between/ and was able to stay in the fight to the end. Other dragons, in Hurricane and other wings, weren’t as lucky. A few more dragonpairs were lost or grounded.

The Weyrleader felt a pang at each loss, but he pushed the emotions away and made the best adjustments he could in the moment. A few fresh pairs helped to keep the Wings’ energy up, but the weather was so sharding rough they couldn’t stay in formation. Dragons, Thread . . . everything was being thrown around by the wind.

The rain picked up again, and this time it wasn’t just steady, it was a full downpour. Heavy drops battered them as the storm truly, finally broke.

Shaking with exhaustion and relief, N’vanik said, **Let’s all go home.**

There would be tragedy to face, but at least it was over for now.

Last updated on the July 29th 2025

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Raging Skies