A New Dawn

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 17th April 2025

Characters: Thiseta
Description: Imbeth rises and Barrier Lake Weyr has a new Weyrwoman.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 6, day 17 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Aydhan, Teigan
Notes: A huge thank you to Council for the WW promotion! Now Barrier Lake Weyr needs a Weyrleader. I look forward to writing with you. :)

The day broke slowly into cracks of floral pink and cerulean blue. Thiseta stood on Imbeth's ledge with a steaming cup of klah in her hands as she watched the world stir. She hadn't been able to sleep at all.

Imbeth was going to rise.

Her dragon had snarled at the greens she usually adored the evening before. She'd curled into a surly ball as the sun set and gilded her warm, golden hide with fading rays of light. It had been so hard to tell in the evening's glow if Imbeth's hide shone a little more brightly, or if it was just her imagination. She _wanted_ this.

She supposed she should have said something to Teigan, but Thiseta had been wrong about Imbeth rising before. They'd gone to bed as usual and Thiseta had lay still in the dark listening to Teigan's soft snores and vacillated between hope and panic. What if Imbeth wasn't ready? What might a Weyrwoman's knots mean for the two of them, or for Aydhan who had been at Barrier Lake for so much longer? Was she ready for this? What if she was wrong? What if it ruined everything?

Imbeth stirred, then stretched. Irritation rolled off her in waves as she noticed her rider standing beside her.

**Is today the day?** Thiseta asked. She already knew the answer; it was written in the sharp lines of Imbeth's wings and the tension that rolled through her dragon's body.

Imbeth snapped her teeth. }:I am hungry.:{

Thiseta suppressed a grin. **So you are. Let's go to the pens together, my love. Let me go tell Teigan--**

}:You _will_not_ ride me!:{ Imbeth snarled, heading for the ledge and spreading her wings.

Thiseta's will bore down, and the two of them fought as she tried to convince her dragon to wait, that this was important. It was like squeezing shards of broken glass between her fingers or forcing smoke back into the fire. Thiseta's hands shook as she backed toward the door to their weyr and flung it open. "Teigan? Imbeth is rising!"

The mug slipped from her hands and splashed klah against her shoes. Imbeth roared, and Thiseta ran across the ledge and used her impatient dragon's front leg as a springboard onto her neck as Imbeth leapt from the ledge.

Several bronzes were already waiting at the herding pens with bloodied muzzles and hungry eyes. Thiseta forced Imbeth to drop her at the flight cots before hunting, and that was a battle too. The gold dragon snapped at a bronze who got too close as she chased the herds of panicked beasts up and down their pens.

**Stop playing with your food!**

}:I will do as I please!:{ Imbeth roared.

**We will do this _together_!** Thiseta growled. **Hunt, then _blood_!**

Imbeth roared again and her voice shook the stones beneath their feet. She fell from the sky like a golden arrow onto a herdbeast and her sharp, white teeth crushed its skull. She picked up her kill and flew it to the starstones, where she draped its broken body over the edge of the cliff and sunk her teeth deeply into its side.

Thiseta spared a thought for Aydhan and Tymborikath, hoping for all their sakes that the other golden pair were already gone. Imbeth wouldn't take to the skies for a bit longer, and until then her feral self could be managed. Barely. A headache was beginning to throb between Thiseta's eyes and she felt feverish, the morning breeze chilling sweat against her skin. She could keep Imbeth calm for a while longer, but not much.

Imbeth mantled her wings over her kill and hissed. Thiseta's tongue was flooded with the iron taste of blood, and she could feel the crunch of bone beneath her teeth. **Blood only. As much as you want, but only blood.**

Imbeth snarled, but complied as Thiseta sent her images of bronze wings falling far behind in a blue, blue sky. Blood to stay light. Blood to keep the bronzes away. Blood only. **Fly fast and strong, my love.**

Pride and affection soared beneath the bloodlust and feral rage of a rising queen in her prime. }:Together,:{ Imbeth said, raising her head to look at her rider. Blood dripped from her muzzle and her claws in a predatory display.

**Together,** Thiseta echoed. She bared her teeth back.

With a roar, Imbeth took to the skies and flew.

Last updated on the April 25th 2025

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A New Dawn