C'anik and blue Abarynth

The Road So Far!

It all began at the Harperhall at Kellad Hold, in the protectorate of Madellon Weyr, for Cyanik – a young man of 16 Turns, dreaming of becoming a blue rider.

Cyanik was born the son of two Harpers at the Southern Harperhall, Kellad Hold. Surrounded by music, he was apprenticed to the Craft when he came of age. But he never excelled in any discipline, and it seemed as if an unremarkable career as a mid-level journeyman likely lay ahead for him. And then, in early 102, J'kel – a dragonrider of Madellon Weyr – came to Kellad Hold in search of candidates for the new clutch hardening on the Sands of Madellon Weyr. Cyanik caught the attention of J'kel's blue Hozrath. And a sevenday later, Cyanik arrived at Madellon Weyr, joining the candidate pool for senior queen Shimpath's first clutch by her new mate Muzzanth.

As a candidate, Cyanik was assigned a bunkmate – Soburn, an anxious Weyrbred youth with one failed Hatching already haunting him, who would soon become his closest friend in the Weyr. He also got to know many of his fellow candidates, including the Weyrbred twins Leover and Leoguy; Zielaph, the nephew of a Madellon bronze rider; and Chiliam, a good-natured highborn lad from Kellad.

But he also made an enemy – Rielat, a self-important apprentice Weaver – who took a firm disliking to Cyanik! Backed up by his crony Kestor, Rielat became the thorn in Cyanik's side throughout the sevendays of candidacy.

Hatching Day

The dragons' hum woke Soburn and Cyanik on 102.03.17. Following a brief run-in with Rielat, the pair joined the rest of the candidates for a morning lecture. The Weyrlingmaster, L'stev, gave the whole cohort – increased by three late Searchees to a total of thirty-five – strict instructions about pre-Hatching preparations, including eating, drinking, bathing – and in some cases, getting a decent haircut – and then turned the group loose for the morning. Before Cyanik left, Soburn asked him to find out if H'nar, the young Wingleader of the Betweenless Wing, might currently be seeing someone – or not.

The one-armed green rider and the thieving queen

Immediately on leaving the candidate barracks, Cyanik was flagged down by M'shen – a green rider with one arm, a fire-lizard queen – and a problem. His queen, Squiffy, had stolen several pieces of the Weyrwoman's jewellery, and hidden it around the Weyr. M'shen recruited Cyanik to find it. The quest took Cyanik all over Madellon, from kitchens to lake to infirmary – but in the end he succeeded in reuniting the Weyrwoman's jewellery set, to general acclaim.

Respecting his elders

In the Weyr's kitchen gardens, Cyanik encountered R'hren, a former Weyrleader of Madellon, now peacefully retired to potter among his beloved plants. R'hren asked Cyanik to help him track down the ingredients for a warming salve to help his elderly bronze, Staamath, with his arthritic forepaws. Cyanik duly located the components of R'hren's salve, winning the old bronze rider's approval in the process.

Southern comfort

Cyanik met G'kalte – a brown rider and Wingsecond, not to mention Weyrwoman Valonna's weyrmate – in the Bowl, and was quickly recruited by him to help with a diplomatic matter. G'kalte had been tasked with delivering two gifts from Valonna to her Southern counterpart Weyrwoman Karika – but he'd been summoned away to collect his own grandmother, Lady Coffleby, for the Hatching.

He asked Cyanik to figure out which of the seven Southern dragons visiting Madellon were the correct pair to hand over Karika's gifts. And while G'kalte's brown, Archidath, offered Cyanik some intelligence on the Southern seven, his advice was somewhat garbled! Nonetheless, Cyanik unravelled Archidath's confusing suggestions and got the right packages to the right dragons – without being growled at!

Kitchen diplomacy

Madellon's kitchens – the heart of the Weyr, and domain of Headwoman Crauva – provided Cyanik with the opportunity to show off his work ethic before the Hatching. A round of chores duly pleased Crauva. And the kitchen was also the source of the hotfruit R'hren had sent Cyanik to find for his warming salve.

A blue lady

Coming across T'gala, Pern's only female blue rider, bathing her Heppeth in the lake, Cyanik offered his assistance – which T'gala gladly accepted.

Friend request

Conscious of Soburn's bashfulness, Cyanik approached the object of his affections – H'nar, Wingleader of the Betweenless Wing – with some circumspection. Still, when questioned, H'nar insisted he had to know who was making enquiries of him. And when he learned the identity of his admirer, he told Cyanik that he wasn't interested in Soburn – or any other men, for that matter. But Cyanik's agile pivot in questioning revealed that a close friend of H'nar's – blue rider M'rany – might be a viable alternative. Thus encouraged, Soburn began to think more positively of life as a dragonrider – even if H'nar would end up being his Wingleader!

Hair today

Mindful of the Weyrlingmaster's orders to be smart for the Hatching, Cyanik visited Madellon's resident barber – green rider Z'fell – for a trim. Very conscious of his dignity, Cyanik ensured he came away with a cut he actually liked.

A breath of foul air

Early in the day, Cyanik found out about a secret way into the Hatching Ground via storeroom that might allow him a sneaky peek at the eggs before the Hatching. Successfully entering the combination to the lock on the storeroom door, and suitably equipped with a glowbasket, he crawled into a confusing maze of passages. The route he chose turned out to be thick with choking toxic fumes from Madellon's volcanic foundation, and Cyanik soon found himself struggling for breath.

Undeterred, Cyanik pushed through the discomfort, and emerged shortly onto the Hatching Sands. But he wasn't quiet enough. Shimpath, dozing only very lightly, awoke, and she and Muzzanth chased Cyanik from the Sands!

The Hatching

When it came to the Hatching, Cyanik had to wait for every other dragonet to Hatch and choose a rider before the gleaming blue egg Hatched to reveal the bright indigo-blue hatchling who would choose him, naming himself Abarynth.

A friend in me

And Cyanik wasn't the only lucky one. To his delight, Soburn also Impressed, becoming the rider of a slender olive-green hatchling, Aeranth.

Whatever happened to Rielat?

Rielat's victimisation of Cyanik had serious consequences – for Rielat. Not everyone would have tattled on him the way Cyanik did, but his complaints about the other boy, together with L'stev's already thin opinion of Rielat, had the desired effect. Directly before the Hatching, L'stev ejected Rielat from the candidate pool!

After the Hatching

"Abarynth" by Emily Holland

The Weyrlingmaster was the first to congratulate Cyanik on his Impression, but it was J'kel, thrilled that Hozrath had finally found a successful candidate after so long without, who stepped in to help with the immediate matter of Abarynth's first meal. That was Cyanik's first opportunity to speak to Soburn, too, and they introduced each other, with considerable delight, to their respective dragonets, Abarynth and Aeranth. Soburn also told Cyanik that his new name was to be – perhaps unsurprisingly – S'burn.

It wasn't long before Abarynth's personality started to become evident. The big indigo-blue dragonet, the largest of his colour, showed his alert and serious nature from the beginning, demonstrating a high degree of focus for a blue.

With both dragonets full to bursting with fresh meat, the newly minted dragonpairs left the Hatching sands for their new home: the weyrling barracks.

Big brother

Another friend Cyanik made along the way – a young Holdbred candidate, Nichen, whom Cyanik had encountered in a hopelessly dishevelled state directly before the Hatching – hailed Cyanik at the barracks – crediting him with his successful Impression of a moon-blue dragonet, Yooth!

Meeting the Weyrleader

As Cyanik and S'burn wiped the worst of the blood and sand from their tired new dragonets, the Weyrleader, T'gat, came to inspect both boys' dragonets, to ask after their names – and to ask the two new weyrlings how they should now be called. Cyanik was proud to introduce Abarynth to the Weyrleader. And after a brief conference with Abarynth, Cyanik gave the Weyrleader his own new name: C'anik, rider of blue Abarynth!

Following their audience with the Weyrleader, and the application of oily rags to relieve Abarynth's and Aeranth's newborn itchiness, C'anik and S'burn headed into the boys' barracks to claim the billets that would be theirs for the next Turn. Choosing adjacent cots, the two new weyrlings got their dragonets settled on the couches that they would take months to grow into. But there was no time for them to sit and admire their new dragons. The Weyrlingmaster soon came along to give them their new weyrling shoulder-knots, before chivvying them off to the Hatching feast!

The Hatching feast

C'anik and S'burn soon went their separate ways to find family and friends. Many of the riders and Weyrfolk C'anik had helped during the day greeted him with warm congratulations as he hunted through the throng – but, at last, he found his family.

C'anik's Harper parents were absolutely delighted to find themselves the mother and father of a blue rider - even though it meant he would be leaving the Harpercraft for good. And they were even more delighted to drink to C'anik and Abarynth when the Weyrleaders arrived to toast them!

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for C'anik, and it came as a relief when the Weyrlingmaster ordered all the new weyrlings back to the barracks for a good night's sleep. But en route to bed, C'anik was flagged down by a Weyrbrat, Emry, bringing the message that Weyrwoman Second Tarshe wanted to see him in the Archives.

Setting the record straight

Tarshe, tasked by the Weyrwoman with converting candidate documentation into weyrling records, went through C'anik's background with him – including much of what he had got up to on the morning of the Hatching – for good and ill. She offered C'anik some advice about paying attention to his new classmates and surroundings, lest he fall foul of the Weyrlingmaster's penchant for snap quizzes, and made some observations on Abarynth.

A close encounter

On his way back to the barracks , C'anik had two peculiar encounters – first, with Tarshe's queen, Berzunth, who seemed quite agitated by one of the visiting dragons on the Rim; and then with a mysterious hooded figure, smelling strongly of what C'anik would later realise was firestone, who called him by name – and gave him a curious wooden box.

"The Watchful Queen" by Chris S. Baily

Back at the barracks, C'anik decided, on balance, not to tell the Weyrlingmaster about the stranger.

Returning at last to Abarynth – billeted between S'burn's Aeranth and a bright bronze dragonet – C'anik was too tired to examine the strange wooden box very closely, and put it in his clothes' chest for later examination. But even as he went to sleep – a dragonrider at last, his blue beside him – C'anik was struck with a deep sense of foreboding. Who was the mysterious dragonrider in the hooded cloak? And what was the significance of the strange wooden box?

Find out more about Cyanik's Impression here. C'anik and Abarynth's story will continue in Dragonchoice: Weyrling, coming soon!

C'anik's achievements

Achievement Unlocked:
CARRY ON WAYWARD SON

I travelled The Road So Far!

Achievement Unlocked:
OUR ROB, OR ROSS

I received a mysterious box!

Achievement Unlocked:
A HORSE WITH A NAME

I have a name and it's a good name and I don't need to fix my name. Probably.

Achievement Unlocked:
THE YIN TO YOUR YANG

Abarynth and I complement each other!

Achievement Unlocked:
SUGAR AND SPICE

I've been a very nice person (so far)!

Achievement Unlocked:
EBONY AND IVORY

Abarynth and I agreed on something very important!

Achievement Unlocked:
IN TUNE

Abarynth and I agreed on something quite important!