A Dangerous Rescue (1/2)

Writers: Devin, Estelle, Shawna
Date Posted: 17th April 2025
Series: The Perfect Storm

Characters: K'mai, L'keri, J'hael
Description: K'mai, L'keri, and J'hael venture into a tunnel in the cave system to rescue a holdless family.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 5, day 5 of Turn 12

K'mai

L'keri

When K'mai heard about the holdless in caves, some of them trapped by
rising water, he immediately volunteered. Born at River Bluff between
a river and the sea, K'mai was an excellent swimmer and while he knew
the caves would be a challenge, he was eager to help.

Sebeth landed near the largest entrance, where several people huddled
in the rain and dragonriders were loading passengers to be transported
to the Weyr. K'mai turned to the other riders with him. "We need to
find someone named Gennaran."

L'keri silently thanked his dragon as the brown angled a wing to shelter
them from the rain. It was still coming down hard, drumming against the
stretched wing membrane, and he wondered what it must be like in the
caves. "Do we know what he - or she looks like? Young, old?"

Serolth was grumbling about the rain almost as soon as they came out
from between, but J'hael did his best to ignore the blue, pointedly
reminding him that at least he wasn't stuck in a cave. "Looks like
there's someone over there directing people," he nodded towards a knot
of rain drenched and ragged people. "Probably can point us in the
right direction at least."

K'mai squinted. "I think that might be him." He dismounted, boots
splashing in the mud. Every moment counted so he hurried over to the
man. "Excuse me, sir? Are you Gennaran? Or do you know where I can
find him?"

The middle aged man had a rough look about him and his expression was
a mix of wariness and urgency. "Aye, that's me. What is it,
dragonrider?"

"We were told there's some people trapped farther back, and we were
sent to get them out," K'mai said.

Gennaran's lips pressed together. "There's another entrance over
there, about ten dragonlengths." He pointed. "It goes deep, and
there's a group that lives in the far back."

"Thanks." K'mai turned to go.

The man gripped his arm. "Might be too late for them."

K'mai met his gaze. "We'll try anyway." Holdless were used to being
seen as disposable, but K'mai couldn't leave them to die. There were
thieves and possibly murderers among them, but there were also
_families_ here.

"Let's get going, then." L'keri had jogged after his friend, pulling his
riding jacket tight at the neck in a vain attempt to keep the rain from
trickling down inside his shirt. It showed no sign of letting up, the
water flowing in rivulets through the mud and down towards the dark
mouths of the caves. "I've got a line - if we fix one end at the
entrance, we won't lose our way inside. Has someone got glows?"

"Might make it harder to swim? Unless we can tie them to our belts or
something. Hopefully there's at least some glows still inside. I can
swim pretty well," J'hael offered, peeling off his jacket despite the
rain. "Grew up near a river."

"I brought some glows in my bag." K'mai gestured to the carrisack
slung over his shoulder. "We'll see how it looks inside. If we have to
swim, yeah. I can go first and tie the rope to my belt."

"All right. No time to waste." L'keri spotted a sturdy-looking tree
growing near the entrance, the rain streaming from its blackened
branches. He crouched to fasten the end of the rope to its trunk, then
tossed the other end to K'mai and splashed back through the puddles to
the cave entrance, peering into the gloom. The ground sloped downwards
and the water flowed with it. Did people really live in here, he
wondered briefly. Then he wrapped his fingers loosely around the rope
and followed the others inside.

K'mai pulled out a glowbasket to light the way. The entrance was a
tunnel wide enough for two people to pass but K'mai couldn't see where
it ended. "Hello?" He thought he heard something faintly up ahead.
"Hello?" he called louder and there was a slight echo.

Then, "Is someone there? Help!"

K'mai moved faster, light bouncing off the stone. He came out into a
small cavern with a few glowbaskets casting dim light. A man and child
stood there shivering, their clothes soaked through. "We're from the
Weyr, we're here to help," K'mai told them.

"The rest of my family is back there," the man said. "Please, help
them out. We're the only ones who can swim . . ."

The cave sloped farther down to a tunnel, low enough that K'mai would
have to duck to get through it. It was already half-full of flowing
water, slowly rising with every passing second. K'mai started tying
the rope around his waist.

"This is going to be cold and unpleasant," J'hael said, loosening his
boots in case he needed to kick them off to swim properly. Turning to
the man and child, he asked, "Can you tell us who we're looking for?
Adults? More children?"

"My wife, and our . . . an older man." The holdless man's teeth
chattered. "And our two younger ones." The child clung to him tightly,
looking very much like he was trying not to cry.

"We'll get them out, don't you worry." L'keri shrugged out of his jacket
and draped it around the boy's shoulders while the others prepared to
enter the tunnel. "Can you make your way out together? Follow the rope,
and there'll be people on the outside to help you."

K'mai stripped off his riding jacket too and handed it to the man. The
holdless man looked reluctant to leave, but then he looked down at his
son and nodded. "Thank you, dragonriders."

"Ready?" K'mai double checked the rope around his waist and then
stepped into the tunnel. The water came up to his waist and soaked
through his clothes within seconds. It was _cold_ and K'mai grit his
teeth as he plunged through the rising water. He wished he wasn't so
tall. Ducking made it even more difficult to walk and he had no idea
how long the tunnel was. He called out a few times and after what
seemed like a long time but was probably only a few minutes, he heard
voices ahead.

They came out into a much larger cavern, the center of it filled with
water. A group of people huddled together on a higher ledge. "We're
here to get you out," K'mai told them. As he hurried toward them, they
called out a warning. K'mai stepped off into nothing, suddenly
plunging into deeper water. It went over his head, but he was able to
recover quickly and even managed to save the glow basket. Shards, no
wonder they couldn't get out.

"Please..." The holdless woman's voice trembled, her teeth chattering
with fear and the chilly air. "Help my children!" They were both very
young, one clinging to her waist and the other, no more than a toddler,
in her arms.

L'keri came splashing out of the tunnel entrance next, muttering under
his breath. "Shards and shells, it's so shaffing cold, I've lost all
feeling in my - uh, toes. Sorry, ma'am," he added, seeing the woman.
"Never mind, you'll soon be out of here." He sounded cheerful, as if
he'd hardly noticed the rising water, and looked to K'mai in the deeper
section. "If you float them across, J'hael and I can help them out
through the tunnel?"

J'hael was already taking off his loosened boots. They were already
soaked through so his feet weren't going to get any colder, and it
made it easier to track where the drop off was, at least until they
went totally numb. He headed into the deep water, wincing as it got
higher, although he was able to keep his head above water. "The
children first?" He half asked, half suggested, "Can you hand the boys
over to K'mai?" He took up a spot halfway between L'keri and K'mai,
keeping one hand on the rope tied to the other bluerider.

K'mai swam to the edge of the pool of water where he was able to stand
again and took the rope from his waist. As he tied the end to a sturdy
rock, he told the woman, "Pass the children to me, one at a time, and
my friends will get them out." He smiled reassuringly. "Your husband
and son are safe, and they're eager to see you."

She hesitated, clutching the children closer to her, a lifetime's fear
and mistrust of dragonriders in her eyes - but the water continued to
rise and began to lap over the ledge they were stranded on. Still
shivering, she edged closer and handed the younger child down to K'mai.

The bluerider took the child in his arms. "I've got you, you're okay.
Can you hold on to me real tight?" He put the toddler's arms around
his neck, supporting the boy with one arm. With his free hand, he
gripped the rope, using it to help support him and keep both their
heads above water as he moved into the deeper part of the pool. He
reached J'hael and handed the little one over.

J'hael deftly transferred the child back to the shallower water and
level floor, "There we go. We'll have you back with the rest of your
family in just a moment. Why don't you just wait over by my friend
L'keri for a minute?" His teeth were starting to chatter, but he managed
a smile before going back into the deeper water for the other child. "We
should hurry along. It's getting deeper."

Last updated on the April 25th 2025

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