Let It Burn (2/2)

Writers: Devin, Curious, Aaron
Date Posted: 9th June 2024

Characters: Oriel, N'vanik, Enval
Description: N'vanik confronts the man who murdered the watchrider.
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 10, day 19 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Enali, Alyena, Corofel
2 of 2, follows "The Punishment Will Fit the Crime". (corrected version)

N'vanik

"Balancing the scales." N'vanik said in a flat voice. "Two people you
cared about died in accidents, and then people were cruel to you about
the loss. That was _all_. Now you're calling us all monsters and
murdering riders who had _nothing_ to do with any of that. The only
one giving the Weyr impossible power is _you_ in _your head_."

"You say that as if I am the only one the Weyrs have hurt. Yes,
Weyrleader, it is _quite_ easy to paint the Weyrs as innocent if we
are meant to focus solely on our own injustices and ignore those done
to others, and your own brutality. Tell me, _N'vanik_..." Enval leans
forward, eyes lighting up with a damning fervor. "What did you do to
Shuvan? To Enali? I know it would not have been merciful, but was it
even _humane_?"

He chuckled, leaning back.

"Your problem is us going after "innocent" riders? Then I'll tell you
what. Apologize for the harm you've inflicted as Weyrleader and take
your bronze between for good. The Shadow is rational, I'm sure he'll
leave your Weyr alone if you pay your pound of flesh. Or do you think
that you're innocent, too?"

"I'm far from innocent." And it would be a warm day /between/ before
N'vanik believed any of these people would leave the Weyr alone if he
killed himself. It would only give them one less person in their way.
"And I'm far from perfect. But Grevan's ma, and little sister, and
little brother are all safe and cared for at the Weyr right now. Your
people tried to kill Alyena and her girl, but my riders went to save
her. Because I don't punish people for things they haven't done."

Enval quirked an eyebrow. "Are you truly so ignorant as to believe
that any rider can be called innocent? There are no innocent men in
the skies, Weyrleader, they all chose their side the instant they
stood to impress. Now they face the consequences of their action."
Enval smiled bitterly. "And so will I. I won't apologize for what I've
done or beg for mercy. But I will say that the first won't be the
last, and I look forward to every dragonman who joins me in oblivion."

N'vanik tilted his head, wondering if there was something like Thread
that could eat people's brains. "You don't even make sense. Now you're
saying dragonriders are terrible just by being dragonriders? A few
people said mean things to you so now we all deserve to die?" There
wasn't even anything that could be addressed here, no real grievance
that N'vanik could fix or prevent going forward.

"You're stupider than you look if you think this is about my
feelings," Enval flatly said. "It's about the people whose deaths were
dismissed as a necessary sacrifice in service of your beasts. It's
about the harm the structure of the Weyr does; to the people whose
lives are deemed worthless compared to those of a rider, purely by
virtue of having a dragon. To the men expected to pay constant
difference to the riders in exchange for a contract that we don't even
get a choice to leave. To the humans whose pain is dismissed when it
benefits a dragon. To your very own riders, who are trapped in an
existence where their entire life and opportunities - everything they
could ever hope to achieve - is dictated by the color of their
dragon's hide. If that is the only way that Pern can live, if _that_
is the best world that we could ever hope for, then the world is not
worth fighting for. And yes, you all deserve to die for making it a
reality."

"Oh?" N'vanik clenched his fists. "So you throw in your lot with
holders instead? Where they treat women like breeding mares and trade
them like pieces of land? Where children are left to scrabble and
suffer and starve while the Lord Holder sits fat at his table? Where
men who like other men are beaten and shunned and shamed? Our world is
a _mess_, but I'd rather do my best in a messy world than give up and
burn it all down."

"Do you believe that two wrongs make a right?" Enval asked. "I am not
acting on behalf of the holds, I am acting _against_ the Weyr. An
inability to correct every injustice in the world does not excuse
ignoring the ones that you can do something about. I am correcting
what I can, not supporting what I can't. And..." Enval looked away,
the first hint of regret showing through. "If, after that injustice is
corrected, there's nothing left, perhaps that is for the better." He
shrugged then, the moment ending as he turned back to N'vanik with a
smirk. "Or maybe the world will find a way to continue without you
dragonmen. Humans are resilient, and it's just like the Weyrs to
upsell their own necessity."

There was a falseness to his voice, a quiet understanding that this
would likely end in death on an untold scale. But there was also a but
of bite, of amusement, a desire to plunge the knife in the wound while
he still could.

N'vanik didn't know why he was arguing with someone so far gone.
"Thread aside, exterminating dragons from Pern would only make it
lesser. Even most non-riders understand that. You've invented a
righteous cause so you can feel good about taking your anger out on
random people. Killing a Dolphin Cove rider doesn't correct anything
that happened to you at Dream's End. It's just death and chaos. At
least Thread is just mindless and wants nothing more than to eat.
You're worse."

"I never said I was trying to be good, only that I'm trying to make it
end," Enval simply said. "Even if no real good comes from it, at least
there won't be another Reyvene. And that's good enough for me."

At least Grevan and Enali had motivations that made some sense. And
even they'd had their strings pulled by others. N'vanik wondered if
all the rest were like Shuvan and this one -- grabbing on to the
flimsiest excuses to hate all dragonriders and justify horrific
crimes. "Guess I'll keep defending Pern while you sharding lot try to
destroy it."

Enval just smiled. "Try."

Oriel departed the adjacent room and joined N’vanik in the corridor.
He was glad he had been content to listen and was even a bit surprised
that the man had been so quick to spill everything to the Weyrleader.
That saved him the trouble of presenting only circumstantial evidence
to Corofel at the trial. But it certainly seemed that N'vanik had
forgotten he was listening in silence nearby-- or maybe that was just
his approach.

“‘Fat at his table,’ was it?” he asked, once they were out of Enval’s earshot.

It surprised a snort of laughter out of N'vanik. "I meant the bad
ones. Corowal was an alright sort." Had Enval killed him too? But then
why wouldn't he have said something, and why kill a Lord Holder
quietly while displaying a mere wingrider's death in such a gruesome
way? The sad fact was that Corowal was probably dead, and they didn't
even have a body, much less a suspect.

Last updated on the June 12th 2024

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Let It Burn (2/2)