The Few, The Proud (1/2)
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Corrin
Date Posted: 14th September 2025
Characters: Sybana
Description: Galgaith’s first clutch has arrived
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 12 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Saibra, Chioneth
Word tore through the Weyr like wildfire. Galgaith had taken to the hatching cavern shortly after dawn, her rider with her-- and there they stayed. Anyone that tried to peer in, man or dragon, was roared away. Breakfast passed, then lunch -- all seatings -- and still there was silence from the cavern. It seemed no one was welcome in. Not the senior goldriders, not the clutchsire pair, not even a drudge with a meal tray. By dinner, speculation was rampant.
---
The hatching cavern was dark, lit only by the glow Sybana had brought in that morning. It was beginning to fade, its basket of phosphorescence dulled to a sickly green, but there was still light enough to see.
Enough to see the hulking mass of Galgaith, a dark mountain sprawled across the heated sands. Enough to see the curve of the eggs beside her. Periodically she shifted in the shadowy gloom, dipping her massive head to nose one mottled egg this way or that. She had never been so delicate.
Sybana sat in the first tier of seats, just barely off the sands. She could still feel their heat, but she’d stopped caring after the third hour. There were bigger issues. “Galgi,” she called softly, unwilling to let the dragon further into her thoughts. “Are you certain? Truly _certain_ there are no more?” It wasn’t the first time she’d asked.
The dragon huffed, a blast of hot breath in the already hot space. }:I am done.:{ she rumbled. }:I was done before, I am done now.:{
“What if you tried walking around again? Don’t you feel the least bit egg-heavy still?”
}:No. I feel fine,:{ Galgaith said with crushing simplicity. She craned her neck to look at her rider, eyes whirling softly as she pressed at the walls of her mind. }:Why won’t you Speak with me? Are you not pleased? The eggs are finally here, the eggs are strong!:{
Sybana tried to look, tried to see the strength her dragon saw, but all she could see was how _few_ of them there were. Fifteen. Fifteen eggs. She’d been over them countless times, hoping she’d missed one in the gloom. She hadn’t. Another humiliation.
After her first mating flight, Sybana hid in her weyr for days, mortified. When she finally emerged it was to delve into archives for any evidence that the upcoming clutch might not be as disastrous as feared. The records she found were not comforting. A practically adolescent gold, a short flight, a brown sire. Nearly everything that could go wrong, had gone wrong. Still, she had tried to hold out hope. Rhalith was in his prime and Galgaith was… very large. Perhaps she was precociously mature. Perhaps things wouldn’t be as bad as everyone feared.
There was no more hoping now.
Fifteen would be the lowest recorded for a Southern weyr since the Pass began.
It took Sybana a long moment to master her turmoil, to quell the rising sensation that felt dangerously like tears. She had to. For Galgi. Carefully, gingerly, she reached through their bond with all the love she could muster. **I’m so _proud_ of you. You’ve never been so patient.** If nothing else, she did not blame Galgaith. The blame for this mess was hers and hers alone. **You’ve done _so_ well.**
Galgaith crooned in return, radiating pleasure at the praise.
Scanning the eggs one last time, the pale shells near luminous in the gloom, Sybana steeled herself to break their cocoon of silence. She couldn’t hide the truth any longer. **Tell your mother the count again, fifteen. Tell her it’s final. Then you can call in Rhalith and L’keri.**
}:I want to show Chioneth too!:{ the gold protested, unbothered by things as trivial and intangible as numbers.
“It’s traditional to show the sires first,” Sybana insisted gently. She wasn’t ready to face Saibra yet. “Besides, you _like_ Rhalith.”
Galgaith rumbled grumpily, but passed on the message to the senior gold -- with enormous pride -- before turning her attention to the brown. }:Rhalith, come! The eggs are here and We are hungry.:{
Last updated on the October 3rd 2025