Cleft Warren #57
08/12/97

Requiems For A Dragonrider

"Itās time my wife?" 

Danki slowly lowered the brush she had been using to fix her graying hair,
and placed it next to the matching mirror in itās place on top of her
dresser, then slowly stood and turned to face her mate.

"I know," she replied. Though her face bore the look of serenity, the quiver
in her voice gave away the sadness of her emotions. The next few hours would
be the hardest sheād ever have to face. But face them she would for the good
of her family. Only later, when she was home alone with her mate would she
give into to the tears she was holding back. 

For now she needed to be strong. She had to be strong for her daughter who
would need her, and Danki would do anything for her children. Even putting
off her own grieving for the grandson who would never grow to be a man.

"Weāve been lucky, you and I," she told her mate as she placed her hand on
the arm he offered her. "Weāve raised five wonderful children to adulthood
and have lived through the fear of the unknown each and every time they were
called out with their dragonās to fight in protection of their Warren."

"Yes my love," Yarik agreed with her as he opened the door leading outside.
"The Gods have blessed us with their safe returns. Myākelās lost will only
make us appreciate what weāve been given even more."

"Or make us worry even more the next time," Danki replied softly as they
went to meet up with the rest of their family.

Lenna
*******
It was almost impossible to keep her mind focused on the events of the
evening and off of the growing fears that were becoming more apart of her
with ever hour. Stupid fears she knew. But no matter what she tried to think
of, they kept creeping back into the back of her mind. 

She needed to stay focused on her family, who would be needing what ever
support she could offer them to help get through the night. Her fears were
nothing compared to the lose the family had suffered. Sheād just have to
deal with them in her own way. Fear was a weakness and sheād be damned if
sheād let them make her weak.

Finished with her shower in record time, she walked across the bedroom she
shared with B`rand and reached for the knob to open her closet. After
by-passing several festive gowns, she selected her best riding suit and
turned to lay it out on the bed.

Yes. The riding suit would be appropriate. Though she knew some might think
it crass, she knew Myākel would have understood the honor she was paying
him. Being from one rider to another.

Sheād hoped B`rand would have shown up to stand by her side during the
services, but Blanchie had informed her that Rookās rider was still trying
to talk some sense into the Nomads. She wished him luck on one hand and on
the other she felt anger. Anger that they had chosen this time to pull their
little stunt.

Why couldnāt they see that the people of the Cleft meant them no harm, but
had come here to protect them? Hadnāt they proven that when the riders had
shown up at their burning camp with medical personal and worked side by side
with their men and women to tend to the injured and sick? Feed them when
they were hungry and brought those who needed better care here to the Warren
were they had been treated with nothing but respect?

Except for not being allowed to carry their long swords and knives, they
were allowed to come and go and move around the Warren of their own free will.  

She just didnāt understand their thinking, but wished B`rand all the luck in
the lands if he could work things out between their two people without any
loss of lives.

Loss of lives·. Yesterday the Warren had lost two lives. Myākelās and his
dragon Voger. Wasnāt that enough?

Pulling on her jacket, she moved to stand in front of the mirror and
adjusted it to make sure the leather fell true. Her eyes caught sight of the
tiny silver dragon hanging on the leather thong around her neck, and thought
of the eggs on the hatching sands. 

Soon there would be new lives born here in the Cleft when the eggs hatched.
New lives and new beginnings for those lucky enough to find and join with
their chosen life mates. It would be a happy time and Lenna knew that Myākel
would be looking down on them from where ever he was and would be cheering
on the hopefuls. A true Dragonman to the end.

<<Ready love?>> she asked the lavender dragon sitting out on the ledge?

<As ready as you are my rider.>

<<Then lets go,> she said moving quickly through the empty apartment when
the walls felt as if they were closing in on her. 

Once outside and mounted on her dragon, the fears went away.

Danāyar
**********

They were standing in Brisseās apartment, where they had come so that she
could change and get ready for the funeral. Both were quiet after she had
finished telling Danāyar about his older brothers request to transfer to
Norwall Warren.

She had been somewhat shocked at first that Farrāin hadnāt seen fit to even
tell him family of his plans and told Danāyar so.

"What will your parents think when he just up and disappears?" she asked.
"Or do you think he plans on telling them afterwards just before he leaves
so they canāt try to talk him out of it?"

"I donāt know love," his voice held just a hint of the sadness he was
feeling. "I donāt like to see him going, and feel bad that he feels this is
the only choice he has· but in a way I can understand what heās going
through. When Layla was killed I too thought about going somewhere new and
starting over. But I had the girls to consider. Was it really fair to take
them away from the only home theyād ever known and from their family?"

He didnāt tell her that he had also thought about teleporting into
nothingness to end the pain of her loss. He didnāt think she needed to hear
abut that. Though heād talked about his first mate with her before, there
were still some subjects he didnāt talk about knowing she would be hurt if
he did. So rather than cause her pain, he just didnāt talk about it at all.

If he only knew how much it hurt her because he wouldnāt tell her. Bri knew
he loved her enough to try to protect her, but sometimes she felt a little
left out. Maybe one day he would understand that there was nothing he
couldnāt tell her. Even if it did hurt to know and hear him talk about his
first love, she still wanted the chance to know about that part of his life.
She loved him enough to want to know everything about him, from his fears to
his passion. 

Maybe one day he would realize it.

"Well Farrāin has his family here too and this is his home," She told him.

"And it will always be his home if he chooses to return," Dani reached for
her then and pulled her into his arms, holding her still slender form
against his body. "But for now I really think he needs to do this. Heāll
find his own way to heal. "

"Maybe·" she would have said more but he dropped his lips down to cover hers
in a brief kiss before releasing her and taking her hand in his.

"Ready?"

The Funeral
************
Thina wasn't to surprised, but well pleased to see all the people who had
shown up to honor her son's memory and say their good-byes.

Many of those here she recognized as friends from Telnor before they had
come to this strange dry land. Others had become friends since they had arrived.

Old friends and new, all here to pay homage to a fallen rider.

Thina felt her mate squeeze her hand when her steps began to falter and
turned to give him a warm sad smile before going on. The crowd parted before
them, opening a path in which they followed that led to the final resting
place of the son they both had loved.

Looking around, she saw her whole family standing there ready to help in
anyway she needed then too. Yarik, as head of the family stepped forward and
took his daughters hand from her mate and then led her to a spot just before
the pyre where her son lain. Then he stepped back next to his own mate and
they joined the others in waiting for the boys mother's final words.

Thina turned slowly to take one last look at the son she had born, lifting
her hand up, she drew it softly down the side of the boys cheek in a loving
caress, and then closed her eyes.

In her minds eye, she could see him now as he was during the years he had
grown up. A young laughing boy who would use any excuse he could come up
with to spend time around his three uncle's and the dragon's they rode.

She saw him at five when he had come home covered in oil and proudly told
her about oiling Tergath all by himself...and wasn't Uncle Farr'in going to
be surprised when *he* found out!! 

Farr'in had been surprised all right!! And had taken time the next day to
teach the young boy how to properly oil the great beast, after spending over
two hours wiping away the excess oil from the hide of his dragon.

Many memories past by in her mind, stopping at the day My'kel had stood so
proudly on the sands trying not to look nervous as he waited for his dragon
to find him. It was with a mother's look of pride that she looked on that
day, when her son's dream of being a dragonrider had finally been fulfilled
as he called out his dragon's name.

"His name is Voger!!!

Who could have known then how it would all end.

"Good-bye my son," she whispered softly as she opened her eyes to take one
last look at the son she and Jonash had raised. "May you and your Voger fly
high and proud always!!"

With finally farewells given, she turned back to face the crowd.

"Those of you who grew up with our son My'kle, knew it had always been his
fondest dream to become a dragonrider," her voice rose just a little, though
there was total silence around her. 

"My'kle saw that dream come true not to long ago when he and his Voger found
eachother on the sands of the hatching cave, and though their time together
was short lived; I know in my heart that my son didn't have any regrets. He
died while out on partrol, doing the work he had trained to do."

She paused then to collect her thoughts, knowing what she planned next to do
would be upsetting to her eldest brother, but this was what My'kel would
have wanted.

"I know by now you have all heard how our son's life came to and end,"
looking around she could see the others looking away from her. Some having
trouble meeting her eyes. She just knew they were thinking that she, being
unjoined wouldn't have understood what Cynthia had gone through and the
feelings of deep regret she was feeling over the boy's death. But she hadn't
become a member of this family and not learned a few things. Some may have
forgotten that she too had grown up in the Warrens. She understood better
than they knew.

"And I know many of you here think that I blame the person who's hand
performed the deed. Well It's not so! My'kel grew up loving this woman as if
she were a member of our family. If he were here today he would be telling
you that the Woman he knew could never have done this terrible thing. He
would have known that had she been able to stop this entity from harming our
son... she would have given her life to do so."

Out of the corner of her blue eyes she could see the scowl rapidly growing
on Farr'in's face. So he suspected what was about to happen and didn't like
it for one minute. Well he'd have to learn to deal with it, this was how
My'kel and she herself wanted it, so this was how it was going to be.

"Cynthia!!!" Thina called out, raising her voice to summon the woman who'd
been her long time friend.

There was a shifting of the crown and when it settled once again, the
Warrenlady was standing there. Her eyes brimmed in red from long bouts of
crying. She moved forward when Thina and Jonash both held out their hands to
her. Not a murmur or whisper could be heard as the two women hugged each
other, then turning to take the burning torch from her brother Lonnie's
outstretched hands, Thina held it up high for everyone to see.

"Tonight we all gather to say our last good-byes to a much loved son and
fellow dragonrider. May his memory lived long in all your hearts, and be
there always as a reminder that he lived to see his dreams. If only for a
short time he flew the skies on his winged dragon and *That* was how he
wanted it to be."

"I as his mother now bid farewell to my son, and pray that he and his Voger
will forever fly high and proud." She turned her eyes to look at her friend
and held out her hand. Taking it, Thina moved it up until both of their
hands were wrapped around the base of the torch. 

Then she nodded slightly so that only those closest to them could see and
the torch began to move... it's flame burning brightly as together they
moved it closer to the dry tinder at the edge of My'kel's funeral pyre.

They held it there for a few seconds, each taking the time to make their
last farewells, then slowly they raised up and Cynthia stepped back as Thina
turned to her mate and handed him the burning torch.  

Together, for she refused to let her friend leave her side, they stood there
as one by one the members of their family each took their turn saying their
final good-byes to the boy who had been, nephew, grandson, and brother. When
the last of the family members had finished, Dan'yar took the torch and
called out to the young nomad woman who had tried to save the boy's life
that day.

"For her unselfish act towards another," he shouted out. "I and my family
are forever in her debt. Be it known here and now that for as long as she
lives in this Warren or anywhere we can reach, she falls under the
protection of this family."

"Heard and witnessed!!!!" came the shouts from the crowds, and when the
shouting had died down he held out the torch to the girl and as she took it
he stepped back to give her space.

>From her the torch was pasted to each and every person who stepped up to
make their own good-byes. Only two people where missing that Dan'yar could
see. When D'ren at last moved to take the torch he turned to Dan'yar, making
sure no one else could hear and whispered.

"You've no need to fear that they will be showing up here," he grinned
wickedly. "They suddenly got called to the new lake to start searching the
lowest and dirtiest caves I could find."

Dan'yar gave the man a brief nod and then turned to his love.

"Ready to go to the dining hall love," he asked. "Mother has asked that
there be a small get-to-gather so that the family can personally thank those
who showed up here tonight."

Brisse's turned her sad eyes up to meet his. "You didn't tell her about
My'kel, did you?"

"No love," he replied taking her arm and leading her away. "I see no purpose
in doing so now. It wouldn't help anything and would only cause mother pain.
So it's better left forgotten."

They stopped briefly so that Brisse could check on Tymor and her eggs,
spending a few minutes there before moving on to join the rest in the hall.
When they got there, they looked around for Danki and Yarik and found them
sitting at a back table alone with Farr'in.

>From the tears slipping from his mother eyes he could tell his brother had
just told them about his plans to leave the Cleft. So they moved off in
another direction giving the others a chance to talk.

"But Farr'in this is your home!" Danki cried, she couldn't understand why he
felt he had to leave. "We've always been able to work things out as a family."

"I know that mother," the stocky rider said sadly. "But this time even the
family can help me. I need to get away from here. From the memories of
My'kel that are haunting me. Each and everytime I see her, I'm reminded of
what he could have been if he'd only lived."

"But..."

"My love we have to let him go if this is what he feels he needs to do,"
Yarik reached for his mates hand and held it tightly in his. "We've always
tried to teach them to deal with life in the best way they could. So who are
we now to tell our son that the things we taught them were only words to
fill in the times. We have to let him follow his own path. besides..." he
added. "It's not as though we couldn't get one of our dragonriding children
to give us a lift up to Norwall Warren when we've a mind to see him."

Farr'in
*********
Not long after telling his family of his plans he left the party and slowly
took the walk that would lead him back down the trail to where they had laid
his nephew to rest.

The ember's were still smoldering brightly and here and there little sparks
ignited as they found small pieces of unburned dry wood. 

Farr'in came to a stop just short of the ashen pile and stood there with his
hands clenched into fist. A tear slid from his deep-blue eyes as he began to
speak.

"Well so long kid," his voice was barely audible. "Guess I'll be seeing you
around sometime, but I don't think it'll be any time soon. You and Voger
take care of yourselves until then, you hear?"

*Uncle Farr'in...* the rider heard a voice calling out his name and thinking
it was Shasha, My'kel's younger brother, he turned to look for the his
youngest nephew. What he saw nearly made him think he was losing what little
sanity he had left.

My'kel stood there before him, a strange glow of some kind surrounding his
body as he looked at his uncle. "Uncle Farr'in don't let this eat away at
you. You have to forgive her at some point before you can begin to heal.
It's what I want for you to do. I've forgiven her."

"But how could you forgive her for what she did to you?" the rider's voice
held a note of anger now as he looked back at the boy, for a brief moment
forgetting that he wasn't really there. "How can you stand there and defend
her when she was the one kil....Oh my gods!!" he cried, the space where he
had thought he saw his nephew standing was now empty, and the area around
him filled by the dark cool evening air.

"I must be going crazy," he thought as he retraced his steps down the long
path and turned away from the hall when he'd come to the fork in the road.
Farr'in turned right moving towards the joined riders apartments as he tried
to convince himself that he'd only dreamed up the boy appearance.

It didn't take him long to load up his belonging onto the harness hooked to
Tergath's saddle and then they took to the skies, and after one quick
by-pass over the rocky pass that was Cleft Warren, he gave his dragon the
image of Norwall Warren and gave the order to teleport....In his hand was
the letter Brisse had painstakingly written out approving his transfer...

-------------------------------------------

Well I hope I didn't mess this up to badly...It's the first post of this
kind I've ever tried to do, so forgive me please.

Les: Well I guess Farr'in should be arriving in Norwall sometime soon :)

****Submitted by: *********

Barbara (a.k.a.

Dan'yar & Shinner
Farr'in & Tergath
Yarik
Danki
Lenna & Blanchie
And the late but hardly forgotten....My'kel & Voger

Cleft Warren