No More Than This?
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: KC
Date Posted: 19th July 2025
Characters: K'daen
Description: Kaedin reflects after a hard day
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 28 of Turn 12
The infirmary had quieted, mostly. Enough that Kaedin was allowed to return to his quarters when his shift ended. His hands still smelled faintly of numbweed and firestone smoke, even after scrubbing them raw. The echoes of dragons in pain, sharp bellows, cracked moans, lingered in his ears, playing back in phantom bursts every time he closed his eyes.
He lay on his cot, the room around him dim and still. The storm still raged as it moved, thunder low and distant now, like the dying growl of a beast finally retreating. But Kaedin's mind hadn't stilled with the weather.
He turned onto his side, staring at the wall, jaw tight. He’d done everything he could today. Packed wounds. Stitched membrane. Mopped blood from stone floors. He’d whispered to dragons too far gone to fully hear him, promising them they were safe now, even when he didn’t believe it himself.
But it hadn’t felt like enough.
He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the heel of one hand to his chest as though that might still the rising tide inside. So many dragons hurt. So many riders scored, broken, screaming. He should’ve moved faster. Should’ve seen the score on that green’s neck before it bled too much. Should’ve caught that bronze’s shoulder tear before he strained it worse.
The thought that circled back again and again, wrapping tight around his ribs, was the same one that had haunted him since his third time Standing.
**If I never Impress... is this all I’ll ever be? Just another set of hands? Another healer in the background, watching others bond, others soar?**
The air caught in his throat. He sat up sharply, breath short, dragging in half-lungs full that didn’t feel like enough. His chest ached, his vision dimmed at the edges. Panic, sharp and sudden, coiled through him like Thread on a clean sky.
He fumbled blindly toward his nightstand, heart hammering, hands shaking. His fingers scrabbled across the smooth surface until; there.
His pouch.
He clutched the small satchel to his chest and then pulled it open with trembling fingers, thrusting his hand inside. His fingertips met the cold, familiar grit of Hatching sand. Once warm but no longer yet still somehow faintly fragrant with stone and heat. Still real.
Kaedin let out a sharp, shaky breath and curled tighter around the pouch, squeezing the sand between his fingers like a lifeline. Slowly, breath by breath, the storm inside began to break. He wasn’t flying. He wasn’t even sure he ever would. But this, this was his thread to hold onto.
He was still here.
Still trying.
Last updated on the July 29th 2025