Early to Fall

Writers: Corrin, Estelle
Date Posted: 13th September 2025

Characters: Sybana, L'keri
Description: Sybana and L'keri navigate the aftermath of Galgaith's first mating flight
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 10, day 12 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: M'kayre, T'mhas, Ki'ben, A'ten, Saibra, Tsaera

Sybana

L'keri

Sybana had been afraid of this.

Of losing control, of being swept away by the violence of her dragon’s emotions.

And her fears had come true. Galgaith’s anger had burned through her chest, the hunger had gnawed through her bones, and now the passion ripped through her like wildfire. All of her holder scruples and careful cautions tore away as easily as her nightdress as she fell into bed with L’keri.

There was no hesitation, no trace of ladylike gentility. She was voracious, draconian in her desire, clawing at him as though she meant to mark him, drag him down, consume him whole. There was a bite to her kisses, a sting to her touch. She moved with an urgency that left all thought behind. Tangled in the furs, in the sky-- in fingers and tail-- her world narrowed to the heat of his lips, the roar of the wind.

Until--

Her world lurched.

Sybana bowed sharply, crying out in shock as a coldness engulfed her, as Galgaith and Rhalith plunged into the Azov and broke apart. The golden lust that had flooded her, buoyed her, dropped and drained as the dragons floundered towards shore, leaving Sybana trembling and breathless in the wreckage of the moment.

L'keri's eyes snapped open as the sensation of being struck by a freezing wave hit him, wrenching his mind from his dragon's and flinging him back to himself. This wasn't the slow, lazy drifting back to consciousness that usually followed a mating flight, and for a moment it was so unfamiliar he couldn't comprehend what had happened. He gasped out a breath, awareness coming in sharp fragments - the dim light of the bedchamber, the burning line of a scratch on his shoulder, a girl beneath him, her loose dark curls spread out in waves on the rumpled sheets...

Half in a panic, he reached for his bond. **Rhalith?**

}:I could not hold her.:{ The brown sounded dazed, awestruck by his own temerity, that he'd dared to catch a queen, mingled with the remnants of his desire. He stumbled up onto the gritty sand at the water's edge, shaking chilly droplets from his aching wings. }:Galgaith...:{

The gold had dragged herself up a few lengths away, keening piteously. She met Rhalith's eyes and sent him her hunger, vast and deep.

}:Don't worry! I'll find you something.:{ Rhalith felt pangs of hunger himself, but they couldn't compare with the sense of tenderness he felt towards Galgaith, and the irresistible urge to help his mate and queen. He looked up towards the distant cliffs of the Weyr. His wing joints ached and his limbs felt leaden - how quickly could he make it to the feeding grounds and return with a catch?

Swinging his head around, he looked to the skies in hope of a wherry - and then his gaze fell on the blue-grey, rippling water below. }:Wait here. I will return.:{ Folding his wings, he waded back out into the deeper water, then dived below the surface.

For a moment L'keri was so relieved the dragons were safe that he almost forgot the rest, but sense quickly returned. Though he'd no experience of a flight turning out this way, the goldrider must surely have felt what he did - worse, if it was her first... He pulled back, collecting his muddled thoughts enough for a name. "Sybana?"

For a moment she could only stare up at him, chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths as the shock slowly ebbed and let reality seep back in. L'keri. She had expected one of the older bronzeriders -- M'kayre perhaps, or T'mhas -- while irrationally hoping for one of the younger, like Ki'ben. She hadn't expected... A'ten's father.

"Is..." Her voice faltered, barely more than a breath. She swallowed and tried again. "Is that supposed to happen? Is that... it?"

"Uh, I don't think so." Of course, he'd never won a gold's flight before, but he was fairly certain _that_ wasn't how it was meant to end, or else he was going to feel a great deal more sympathy towards bronzeriders in future. Shells, this was embarrassing. "Usually it lasts...longer."

It had all been a whirlwind for Sybana, from the moment Galgaith roused and bathed her nerves in fire 'till the moment icy waters closed around her and stunned her back to herself. She wasn't sure how much time had passed. She wasn't sure how much time _should_ have passed. "It felt-- oh!" She felt the pangs as if they were her own and her eyes grew bright with tears. "Oh, she's _starving_! Galgaith's starving!"

L'keri's discomfiture was overtaken by a stab of sheer terror for Galgaith. What would happen if she didn't eat? Could she pass out, or - unthinkable - go /between/? His eyes unfocused as he hastily reached out to Rhalith again, and sensed rippling sunlight filtered through deep water and indistinct, silvery shapes darting and gliding around him. "It's all right." He pulled himself together, remembering how young she was, and reached out to gently touch her arm, offering comfort. "Rhalith will feed her. He's hunting for her."

Out by the sea, the brown burst from the waves in a shower of spray, a wingbeat sending him hopping and gliding to shore with his prey struggling in his jaws. He deposited a large whitefish, flopping and wriggling, before Galgaith and backed up, bowing with a graceful curve of his neck. }:For you.:{

She descended upon it ravenously -- tearing into flesh and bone alike -- even as she pressed into the mind of her new brown mate and urged him on. }:More!:{

Slowly the fearsome hunger began to abate and Sybana left out a shaky breath as she dashed the tears from her eyes. "Thank you," she murmured to both man and dragon. "She didn't eat. She didn't-- she didn't Blood." The explanation tumbled from her lips before her mind quite caught up with the murky memories of the morning and an icy horror gripped her as the weight of her own words sank in.

"Oh. Oh no," she breathed, eyes widening as she looked up at brownrider L'keri. "I've ruined it. I've _ruined_ the clutch."

"No, no." L'keri hastened to reassure her, frantically sorting back through his disjointed memories of the flight, and even more distant weyrling classes on gold mating flights which he'd daydreamed through, never imagining they'd have any relevance to him. He focused on what he did know, and met her gaze steadily, hoping he sounded as though he knew what he was talking about. "Sybana, the most important thing - the _most_ important thing is that Galgaith is all right. You flew with her, and brought her safely back. That's what matters. And she mated, so there will be a clutch." He hoped he was right about that, too. "It might not be a large clutch, but every one of her hatchlings will be perfect. I promise."

Somehow a few perfect hatchlings seemed like small consolation, but she tried to cling to his words, to the steadiness in his brown eyes. It brought her back from the edge of panic, but it did little to assuage the shame. “But it’s all my fault,” the words tumbled out, riddled with guilt. “I was so scared she would gorge -- everyone said she mustn’t gorge -- so I stopped her, but I stopped her from _everything_. She flew off ravenous. What kind of clutch can come from a starving queen? Oh, L’keri. What will people _say_?”

"Nothing worth listening to," L'keri reassured her. He shifted to sit beside her, leaning back companionably against the pillow. Of course there would be talk, it could hardly be otherwise in the Weyr, but in the circumstances he felt he owed it to Sybana to shield her from the worst, as much as was in his power. With any luck, the defeated bronzeriders would blame him, which wouldn't be much of a change from the usual.

"Look, I'll tell you something you won't have heard in weyrling class: every dragonrider has a mating-flight disaster story. Everyone, from the humblest wingrider up to the Weyrleaders themselves. Saibra will have one. So will Tsaera, if you dare to ask. I bet even Faranth herself would have a tale or two," he added irreverently. "People wake up with their secret crushes and blurt out something foolish, or realize they've been snoring like a canine. Finding yourself in bed with your Weyrlingmaster is a classic. And there was a legend when I was a weyrling, that a girl in the class above us got carried away when her green was caught, and actually set her clothes on fire." He winked. "You haven't done _that_, at least. What I mean to say is, in a few Turns' time when Galgaith has laid plenty of magnificent clutches, no one is going to remember any of this."

Sybana laughed weakly, as much at the 'legend' as the incorrigible wink. She wasn't sure how much she believed either, but they made her feel less desperately alone. "Those Turns are going to feel like forever," she said, unable to resist a little wallowing still. "But thank you for saying that."

It said something about Sybana's distress that she hadn't really thought of her nakedness or L'keri's until he moved. The morning air was scandalously cool against her skin where his warmth had once been and she hastily pulled up a sheet and finally also noticed-- "Oh, your poor shoulder! Did I-- I'm sorry."

"Ah, it's only a little scratch. I've had worse." L'keri rotated his arm to survey his injury, not neglecting the opportunity to flex the muscle and show off a faded Thread scar. He grinned, a decidedly wicked glint sparking in his eyes. "In certain circumstances, it's quite stimulating."

At the shore, Rhalith waded out of the sea with yet another fish thrashing in his jaws. He was moving more slowly now, his limbs chilled and heavy with exhaustion, but ever-faithful, he laid it down for Galgaith to eat and turned back to brave the waters again.

Only this time Galgaith stopped him. }:Stay.:{ called the gold, flecked with blood and silver scales. Her vigor seemed to have returned somewhat, the worst edge of her wild hunger abated. She devoured his latest offering in a few massive bites and finally stretched and crooned to the brown, }:Rest with me.:{ A golden wing lifted in invitation.

Fed, with the rising sun beginning to warm her hide and the company of the bold male that flew her, Galgaith was neither shy nor concerned about ephemeral matters like clutch sizes and distribution.

Rhalith's head lifted and he looked back hopefully over his shoulder. The sight was encouraging, and although usually it would be he who sheltered a green under his wing, he didn't hesitate. He bounded over to Galgaith and curled up alongside her, basking in the warmth of her body. Stretching out his neck, he gently nuzzled the underside of her jaw.

Back in the flightroom, Sybana blushed fiercely as L'keri's words sank in and the memory of how exactly he had gotten those marks pressed unbidden to the forefront of her mind. It _had_ been stimulating, it had been-- she gave an incredulous little laugh. "I can't believe it. Does nothing bother you? I jeopardize your weyr's next hatching and you comfort me. I lose my mind and claw you bloody and you flirt. You should be furious with me."

"Would you like me to be?" L'keri turned over and rested on his elbow, the better to eye her with bold appreciation. Rhalith's contentment was flowing through to him now, and he opened himself up to their bond, enjoying the pleasurable sensations as the brown caressed his mate. He shook a finger, making a pretense of disapproval. "Bad goldrider. Naughty goldrider. You're in so much trouble."

She gaped at him. No one had ever talked to her like that, especially not while looking at her like that. Through the despair and fatigue she felt a confused stab of heat that wasn’t entirely embarrassment, she felt Galgaith wrapping around Rhalith’s bulk in an echo of their mating-glide. “Don’t-- don’t tease me,” she begged, still holding the sheet, still clinging to the one thing she was sure of: “I really feel awfully about all of this.”

"Please don't feel bad on my account." His grin widened, and the interest in his eyes was now entirely shameless. "My only regret about this flight is that it came to such an abrupt end. I'd hate for you to leave this room thinking that all mating flights are like that."

Sybana bit her lip, her thoughts in turmoil, her body in revolt. The fractured memories of their coupling were just a breath away. She knew now the taste of his lips and the delicious weight of his body. But just as near, or nearer still, was her shame and guilt over the flight itself and her part in it. She wanted to run, to flee-- but where and in what? Through the weyr in her nightgown? To her room to drown alone in her fears? She wasn't ready to face Saibra and Tsaera and she certainly wasn't ready to face the Weyr. She didn't even want to leave this room.

And then there was L'keri, brown when he should be bronze -- yet another failure -- but he offered her only sweetness and understanding. Not a whisper of reproach. All he seemed to want was her. She shuddered, a tremor of need tangled with dread. "I just can't stop thinking about it, about everything I should have done."

"Oh, Sybana." He abandoned his teasing, leaned closer and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as their embracing dragons, his fingers stroking those soft dark curls. "It's going to be all right. Galgaith is safe and well, and I'll be here for you, all the way." He'd made more than enough mistakes in his own life to know how impossible it was to keep from agonizing over them afterwards, but the unquestioning support of a friend could make all the difference.

Well - not entirely impossible. If you had a distraction...

Gently, he lifted away a loose curl from her cheek. "I could help you forget, for a little while." His lips lightly brushed the exposed skin, tracing a path down to the smooth line of her neck, the delicate hollow at the base of her throat. Distantly he sensed the heat of the dragons' entwined bodies, Rhalith's drowsy pleasure as he rubbed his head against a sensitive patch on the golden queen's neck, and his other hand grew bolder, caressing the bare skin of her back uncovered by the sheet. "But only if it's what you want. This isn't the flight now. You can tell me to stop."

"L'keri--" Her breath caught as his lips grazed her throat, his offer a seduction in itself. She wanted nothing more than to forget, to deny reality for a moment more. Amid the banked embers of their flight, he made it so tantalizing easy.

She swayed into his touch, lifting her chin to allow him better access, a warmth slowly blossoming where moments ago there had only been cold foreboding. Every kiss, every caress, smoothed back another wave of guilt and undid another knot of her resolve. Why not stay, when leaving was so hard and staying could feel so good?

Sybana let the sheet fall in silent surrender and reached for L'keri, her fingers tangling in his hair as she pulled him closer. The full golden lust of the dawn was gone, but what remained was more than enough. She melted into the strength of his embrace, craving the oblivion he promised. "Don't stop," she whispered. "Please... Help me."

Last updated on the October 3rd 2025

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Early to Fall