A Promising Demonstration

Writers: AL, Estelle
Date Posted: 2nd September 2025

Characters: Lorican, I'lek, Meledei
Description: Lorican and I'lek demonstrate the adapted flamethrower to Meledei
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 27 of Turn 12
Notes: Mentioned: Cyradis, Nidre, T'lin

The location chosen for the first trial of I'lek's flamethrower was a
cleared area behind the weyrling barracks, well out of the way of any
passers-by. Lorican guessed by the old scorch marks on the rock that
this must be where young dragons learned to chew firestone and flame.
The current class wasn't at that stage in their training yet, so it was
free for them to use.

He resisted the temptation to crouch down and check over the
flamethrower one more time, and instead summoned an encouraging smile
for the young greenrider waiting with him. Even the irrepressible I'lek
was quieter than usual, though whether he was anxious about the success
of the demonstration, or having to face one of the goldriders of Dolphin
Cove, Lorican didn't know. He himself hadn't felt this nervous since his
Master's testing.

The green dragon waiting beside them raised her head suddenly, and a
moment later, I'lek did the same. "Elleth is on her way." He managed a
wobbly grin. "Wish me luck?"

"You'll be fine. Remember, firm, steady pressure on the pump. And don't
point it at anyone, especially the goldrider," Lorican added.

The greenrider giggled, relaxing a fraction. "I won't."

A shadow zoomed across the rider and crafter as a gold, pale and almost
silvery in the sunlight angled down toward them. The shadow grew larger
and larger, until finally Elleth settled into the center of its
territory. Swinging her head around, her eyes whirled an emerald green
as the woman upon her back unstrapped herself, then slid down to the
ground. A smile sprang to her lips, and Meledei bobbed her head in
greeting. “Hi there.”

Meledei’s gaze slipped over to the flamethrower, then back up to the
person who was the focus of the day. I’lek recently acquired a
prosthetic arm, and hoped to use a flameflower to participate in
Threadfall. Since she was requested to assist, the young goldrider had
considered the situation and how to adapt to unique needs of the rider
in question. “I’m Meledei.” She offered by way of greeting.

"Oh, hello - I mean, my duty to you, ma'am." Even I'lek's usual
irreverence was restrained by the presence of one of the Weyr's
goldriders. "May I introduce Master Lorican of Sunstone Seahold? He
designed my new arm."

"Pleased to meet you, Goldrider." Lorican bowed his head politely.
"Thank you for coming today. I hope we'll have a successful
demonstration to show you."

Meledei smiled, the made a dismissive gesture. Even though they hadn't
indicated it, she didn't want to think she was forced to be there.
Truthfully, when she heard about the demonstration, she was quite
intrigued. Thread was a terrible foe, and took out many dragonriders
far too soon. Those that survived, like I'lek, were usually marked
irreparably. However, ingenuity could give someone a new purpose,
fighting the very thing they were intended to go against. How could she
miss that? "It's my pleasure, really." Meledei had hoped Cyradis and
Nidre could come, but neither had been available - thus it was
imperative she get as many details as possible so she could share with
them how the demonstration went. "Perhaps you could tell me how you
designed the arm, master Lorican?"

"Of course." Lorican brought out the folder and opened it up to show his
modified design sketches. "The arm attaches like a standard prosthetic,
the same as I'lek was already using, but it has clips here, and here, to
attach to the flamethrower wand, with a safety release in case he needs
to detach quickly. For the first prototype, it was made entirely from
metal, hollow inside so that it wouldn't be too heavy to hold up through
Fall. With that version, it wasn't quite sturdy enough to be accurate,
but another dragonrider - T'lin, rider of Calaroth - suggested adding
these leather cords to strengthen it."

As he spoke, I'lek held up his arm so she could examine it more closely.
"You can touch it if you like."

Nodding her thanks, Meledei reached out and ran a hand along the length
of the arm, fingered the cords, and examined it closely. Her mind was
not the sort to come up with such unique and marvelous ideas, but she
loved that it might allow a dragonrider to keep doing what he was chosen
to do - fight Thread.

“This is very impressive.” Meledei stated finally with a smile. “Do you
mind showing how it attaches?”

I'lek demonstrated, showing how the flamethrower wand clipped easily
into place and could be removed, either by undoing the clips with his
good hand, or with a sharp tug to activate the safety release mechanism.
Aware of the master smith's watchful gaze, he made sure to keep the wand
pointed away from Meledei at all times.

As he watched, Lorican noticed the signs of growing excitement in the
young greenrider - a brightness in his eyes, and his words tumbling out
faster as he explained how the equipment fitted together. At least he
seemed to have overcome his nerves with the goldrider, but Lorican
sensed he was eager to start the demonstration.

"Thank you, I'lek. Shall we show what it can do?" he asked.

Meledei stepped back and nodded. She wasn’t sure about the prosthetic
arm in terms of viability and practicality in Threadfall, but she
elected to keep an open mind. “I’m already impressed, but I can’t
communicate whether or not it will be effective until I see it in action.”

Lorican nodded and stepped forward to set up the target, while I'lek
wriggled the fingers of his good hand into a riding glove and then
pulled on a helmet and goggles. He'd borrowed a metal stand from the
Weyr's forge, with a crossbar fixed across the top to make a T-shape.
Over the arms, he draped a tangled armful of the ropes he'd been told
the dragonriders used to simulate Thread in their practice drills.

"All right, let's stand back behind the line, ma'am. " He'd chalked an
arc on the ground that would be well out of range of I'lek's flame in
case of accidents. "Dragons, too." The little green, Lirioth, lowered
her head to nudge her rider and then delicately backed up to stand
beside them while the smith checked the area was clear of wandering
weyrfolk or pets.

[[Elleth, would you be a dear and make sure no one comes near us?]]
Meledei asked her dragon as both she and the gold placed the requested
amount of distance between themselves and the device.

}:Of course.:{ Elleth replied cheerfully, and, situating herself where
she was well beyond the line, she kept one eye on the demonstration, and
one eye on her surroundings. If anyone approached, she’d put her tail
in their way and keep them from passing.

With Elleth on guard, and she behind the line herself, Meledei nodded to
the two men. “You may begin when you’re ready.”

I'lek raised the flamethrower wand and curled his fingers around the
trigger. His palm was damp inside the glove and his skin under the seal
of the goggles prickled. He took a deep breath. It had worked before,
and it would work this time. Even with a goldrider watching.

}:You can do it!:{ Lirioth reassured him.

"Ready to fire?" he called.

"Clear!" He heard the master smith's voice, slightly muffled through the
helmet.

I'lek reminded himself not to close his eyes and focused on the top of
the target, holding his arm steady. "Firing!" He squeezed down on the
trigger. There was a slight hiss and a click, and then a crackling blast
of heat as flame leapt from the wand, engulfing the ropes in a white-hot
jet.

**It worked!** He wanted to yell out in triumph, but instead he slowly
lowered his arm, showing that he could control the angle of the flame
and burn up all of the 'Thread', while Lirioth bugled in delight
instead. When he let go of the trigger, there was nothing left apart
from a few charred strands and a pile of ash below.

Standing from a safe distance, Meledei nodded in approval. The first
demonstration had gone well, but it wasn’t enough to recommend to the
other goldriders. “Could you do it again? Three more times in a row,
without stopping?”

"Of course. We've only got the one stand, but we can try something
different for the others." Lorican checked that I'lek was ready, then
jogged forward to replace the burnt ropes with fresh ones. On the way
back, he stopped to exchange a few words with the greenrider. "Want to
try a moving target?"

"Okay!" I'lek was buoyed up by the success of the first attempt. They'd
only tried this once before and he'd missed, but he figured he knew what
he'd been doing wrong. "Fire ahead of it, right?"

"Yes, and take your time. Wait until it's falling, and keep your flame
in the same small angle, towards the cliff. Away from me." The smith
felt a little trepidation, and not just because of the watching
goldrider. Still, despite his careless manner, I'lek had used the
flamethrower safely thus far. "Don't worry if you miss, just get it on
the ground. That'll do. If we get approval, you'll have plenty of time
to practice."

I'lek grinned and saluted, then pulled down his goggles again. Lorican
retreated with an armful of ropes, this time off to the side rather than
rejoining Meledei. He pulled a few of the tangled strands out and rolled
them into a rough ball, then repeated the process. "Ready?"

"Ready to fire?"

"Clear!" As the greenrider trained his flame on the static target,
Lorican waited until it was mostly destroyed, then called out
"Incoming!" and tossed the first rope ball in a long, slow arc, aiming
about a dragonlength past I'lek.

I'lek cut off his flame and turned, his gaze following the target, which
unravelled into a clump as it sailed through the air, looking alarmingly
real apart from the lack of silver sheen. He raised the wand, his
fingers twitching on the trigger, but waited until it began to fall to
fire again. His aim was slightly off, but he didn't miss entirely,
managing to set a few trailing ropes on fire, and he quickly adjusted
his angle to flame the rest on the ground.

There was no time to celebrate; he heard Lorican call "Again!" and
another clump was coming his way. I'lek concentrated, remembering how
the last one had tumbled, pointed, and fired. This time, he was rewarded
with a jet of flame that hit the tangle close on the centre, and
followed it down to the ground where it crumbled into ashes.

"Yeah!" He just about had the presence of mind to release the trigger
before waving his good arm in delight. "Take that, rope!"

"Hold fire," Lorican called, giving it a moment before returning to
where Meledei was watching, in case the greenrider got too excited.
"Good. It's safe to approach now."

She did so, Meledei’s face thoughtful as she closed the distance between
them. “That was very impressive.” She stated softly, her eyes moving
from dragonrider, to the modified arm, and then over to the dragon.
“Very impressive indeed.”

"Thank you, Goldrider." The smith glanced at I'lek, who unclipped the
flamethrower and pulled off his protective gear, a wide smile on his
face despite the acrid scent of agenothree and burnt rope that hung in
the air. "Well done, I'lek. How was that? Any issues?"

"None at all. It feels like it's part of my arm already." I'lek's
attention was all on Meledei, though, and his enthusiasm and impatience
overcame him. "What do you think, ma'am? Could Lirioth and I fight Thread?"

Meledei wanted to say yes, but she couldn’t. Even if I’lek was
successful in that test, she knew it wouldn’t be right to give
affirmation. First of all, it wasn’t her call. Second of all, even if
it was, it would be far wiser of her to discuss it with the other
goldriders first. “I don’t know.” She stated, a finger tapping against
her chin. “I see promise. It’s possible, but I can’t say for certain
yet. I need to discuss this with the leadership.

That leadership included some others that the dragonrider likely didn’t
expect, but she’d broach that later. First, she had a plan forming in
her mind, one that she thought could work, but as she thought about it,
she knew it couldn’t just be the goldriders - the Weyrleaders too. And
others.

I'lek looked a little deflated, but although Lorican had hoped to win
approval for the young greenrider today, he wasn't surprised that the
goldriders would need to discuss the matter together. The Weyr seemed to
have a great deal of freedoms that were unknown in his Craft or the
holds, but he'd learned that they had their own traditions and ways of
working, and a greenrider with a prosthetic and a flamethrower was
something new. At least it wasn't an outright 'no'.

"Thank you, Goldrider." He bowed his head in acknowledgement. "If
there's anything you or your fellow dragonriders can suggest to improve
the design, I'd be happy to adjust it. Or, if you have any questions,
I'm posted to Sunstone Seahold, and a message to the watchrider will
find me there."

“I’ll let them know that. And I’m sure one of us will contact you
soon.” How soon, Meledei could not say. For the moment, she kept her
thoughts to herself and would share them with the others. Soon enough,
they would see which way the leadership decided, but she knew she had
her own position, and would defend it as best she could.

Last updated on the September 18th 2025

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A Promising Demonstration