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Epilogue illustration by
Faye Upton
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 As
the Weyr quickened with activity in the early hours of an
autumn morning, a single bronze dragon watched from his ledge
in unblinking, unreadable silence.
He watched, but not alone. All around him, dragons emerged
from their weyrs, shaking out glistening, iridescent wings
of blue and brown and green and bronze. By the Star Stones
a lone dragon stood vigil, emerald against the brilliant blue
sky. In the Bowl a tithe caravan trundled to a halt.
"Watching again?"
The dragon did not turn to regard his companion, but moved
his head slightly to allow himself a better view. A golden
form, still graceful in pregnancy, veered towards the Hatching
ground, and vanished.
Epherineth could hardly wait for T'kamen to vault astride.
The bronze sprang from their ledge, letting the air catch
under his wings, riding the wind. A chorus of voices questioned
the urgency of their lead male, but he didn't reply. The entrance
to the Hatching ground loomed, but Epherineth did not check
his speed. The great bronze slipped through with a wingspan
to spare.
On the hot sand below, Shimpath reared up, flaring her wings,
uttering a strange cry somewhere between distress and satisfaction.
Respectfully, Epherineth landed at a distance, taking to notice
of the heat, all his attention fixed on the queen.
Shimpath calmed, settling back to the ground to rest, breathing
in short pants, and rolled the first of her glowing, gleaming,
soft-shelled eggs onto a cushioning pile of sand.
Epherineth roared for joy, the silent bronze finding his
voice at last. He roared as Shimpath drew herself up to lay
a second egg, the second of his progeny, the second egg that
contained his future, the future of Madellon, the future of
Pern. Epherineth roared until his lungs burned and his throat
was sore, and the walls of the Hatching cavern rang with pure
jubilation.
The past was gone, the present would pass, but the future
stretched ahead, and it was his, all his.
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