From Here to Eternity (2/3)

Writers: Draconafin, Estelle, Halyonix, Heather, Iluva, Shawna, Sia, Steel
Date Posted: 11th October 2026

Characters: Agyta, H'kami, I'serin, H'stre, Ki'ben, M'kall, E'kirim, E'kavas, A'brevan, V'karel, S'lahr, X'yior
Description: Valbath rises!
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 4, day 25 of Turn 13
Notes: Mentor Approved (Draconafin parts)

I'serin

There would be no more waiting. Gulping a third beast dry, its futile flail long-ended, it would be _now_. Purple-red eyes took in the males gathered as Valbath’s blooded maw lifted from her kill. She was pleased only with their number and screamed a deafening wall of sound and fury at them.

Her wings spread and Agyta’s will lifted like a valve-- rage and a new, rabid hunger were free to entwine in her veins. Valbath shot away from the ground and dared: }:If you think you are worthy, then come with me and prove it!:{

Daith’s dark, sleek form shot up into the sky after Valbath. }: Let me love you, beautiful one, :{ he purred, even though he knew compliments alone wouldn’t win over a queen in heat. Her size would be her detriment in turns and he was agile enough to gain ground there. She would not outfly him for long!

Bright, light bronze followed the suit of dragons headed upwards. The opening of his wings was so sudden the air cracked around him. They arched to gain as much distance as possible with each strike. Size and stamina were not his strengths. But nothing would shake his efforts, that insatiable _want_ driving him madly towards. Mezanth called after his tormentor }: Valbath, let them talk of our union :{

Now Sanderveth finally rose from his ledge, moving from lounging to soaring in a flash as he leaped upward after Valbath. Not a wordy bronze, the veteran male soared around preening, younger bronzes, his attention completely focused on Valbath alone. He wouldn’t need to woo her with words, he’d outfly these _hatchlings_ and win her the old fashioned way.

Norrianth surged upward with the younger bronzes, wings beating hard, the new bronze’s excitement ringing clear through the air. }:I am here!:{ He declared excitedly. He sprinted past a few of the younger bronzes in his rush to get to Valbath, not a thought about needing to keep some of his energy for later.

Roquath leapt into air after the pack, easily outpacing the younger dragons. He snapped at another brown that got too close, fully intent on bullying one or more out of the sky.

Some of the males were still focused on filling their bellies when Riakerth fixed his attention on the gold, catching the moment when she tossed a beast away and looked towards the sky rather than another, launching himself to the air at almost the same time the gold did. He didn’t make any attempt to close in on her though, not now, so close to the ground, instead trying to match her ascent in a parallel flight. Let the other bronzes fight the churning air of those first few minutes of a flight. The logical thought had the cadence of his rider’s voice, and Riakerth listened, focusing on the gold and not the chaos of bronze and brown just behind her for the moment.

Along with the other experienced bronzes, Novath had been watching her closely for the moment she sprang into the air and he made a fast start, but after that burst of speed he steadied his pace, letting others spend their strength. Valbath was a strong queen and he was certain she was wily, too. She would fly long and far and leave the unworthy ones behind, but he would follow her to the end.

Agyta’s gaze trailed over the men gathered. A sultry heat shone in her gaze. She spent more time considering them than her dragon had their counterparts, and she was not as displeased at who she saw. After only a few months at Dragonsfall, she couldn't say she knew most of them well. Settling on one face in particular, not so much considering as deciding with an electric spike of _want_, then instinctively drifting to another, a sleek eyebrow arching upward, familiarity hardly mattered now. **Very nice,** she thought, though it was possible she said it, too. Then, like a sudden shiver in the air, she was gone, locked in the sky with her gold.

“Beautiful.” H'kami said, half gone to Teyrabth. “Fierce.”

“You know you want this,” one of them said to Agyta. “Choose _us_.”

“Spectacular,” X’yior was hardly able to get the word out. Images of the rider and her gold superimposed over each other as desire forced his mind forwards and upwards with Mezanth..

M’kall cringed, arms crossed over his chest, as he leaned against the wall, trying to ignore the pathetic mumblings of the other men. Like his dragon, the veteran dragonrider wasn’t one to blather on. If his dragon won, then he would show Agyta what his turns of experience had taught him.

To his left he noticed that Saibra’s son Ki’ben was sliding into the room. Like his dragon, there seemed to be an eager enthusiasm brimming inside the boy. He certainly had a reputation among the lower caverns women of the Weyr.

E'kavas fixed M'kall with a deadpan stare. When did the flightrooms start skewing so _young_. Every day, M'kall.

A’brevan slipped into the flight weyr, tense and holding onto his wits by a thread. Here, on the ground, he did work his way closer to the goldrider, and when she turned her gaze slowly around the room, he reached out, his hand touching her arm briefly before he dropped it- not trying to manhandle or grab, just draw some attention to himself. He was not so old as M’kall, but also older and with more sense than some of the youths in the room, better able to keep some division between dragon and man, for now.

V'karel had given himself over to his dragon, sharing the sensations of powerful wingbeats, the rush of the wind over his heated hide, the land falling away below him - and the glittering gold above, leading them on. Desire spiked through him, and suddenly he was aware of the woman, too, her gaze passing over him, lantern-bright. He imagined how it would feel, if he won, to tangle his fingers in the loose, tumbling locks of her hair, to press his mouth to heated skin... **Focus.** He closed his eyes, urging Novath onwards.

Valbath was already higher and faster than a dragon her size should rightly be. The land fell further away, forgotten and irrelevant. She could head toward the Sea of Azov and feel the ocean stretch out beneath her or veer inland and lead her chasers over the dense knit of forests, but the sharp dip of a wing made it clear she was headed for the mountains.

The pale scar of her chest flaked with crystallizing blood as the air began to cool. The light brightened, reflecting off the white snowscape and pouring like water off her hide. }:Show me what you can do!:{

Aluneth maneuvered his way around Isaoth, using his size to his advantage. If Valbath glittered like molten gold, he shone like brilliant copper, healthy enough to promise a strong clutch but not so young as to burn through the stamina needed to court a queen.

Close on Aluneth’s flank was the dark Daith, sliding past one of the browns like rushing water. Soon those browns would falter, dropping away to let the bronzes have their time. Daith had plenty of strength to wait until the competition was less.

Teyrabth powered onwards, outpacing one or two of the smaller bronzes pursuing. Wings beat steadily, neither giving an inch nor accelerating, his eyes locked on the glowing golden figure ahead. **Beautiful**, he thought again, H'kami wholly with him, united. }:I will follow!!:{ Teyrabth called back to the queen. }:Only watch me, as I do you!!:{

Mezanth took no direct lead. In fact in the chase he was very squarely middle of the pack; his opening wing strikes keeping pace with larger browns, like the smaller bronze he was. His bright hide twisted away from the main group, looking to cut corners, trying to predict the Queen’s changes in direction by the lashing movement of her tail. ** Mesmerizing ** The thought between dragon and rider spurred him on, closing what gaps he could. Close enough to hear the breathing of the other dragons locked into this flight.

Setoth used his smaller size to his advantage, dodging larger bronzes who didn’t make space for one another and instead jostled, shoulder-to-shoulder into the skies. The eager young male knew he was using up his energy on fancy flying, but surely Valbath would appreciate that and take notice? }:I’ll follow you anywhere,:{ he crooned to the lovely queen.

Riakerth felt something akin to smugness as the gold headed towards the mountains. The winds there could be treacherous, but he’d hatched at Dragonsfall, had flown in these winds since he first took to the sky. The bronze hugged the mountains, where the sun on the snow made the air a little warmer, and went higher, angling for the sky above the gold.

Novath felt the temptation to rise to the queen's challenge. Though he'd been away for a time, this landscape was familiar at a deeper, instinctual level. This was where he'd learned to fly, and his northern home was now a fading memory. He caught an air current, letting it lift him, and tilted to curve neatly around a tiring rival while showing off the wide spread and gleaming golden-bronze shade of his wings. Only his rider's caution in the back of his mind warned him not to waste his strength. Not yet…

The mountains were too much for Norrianth. With a huff, he angled away from the slopes and the quickly retreating pack of bronze and brown hides, making the slow and exhausted trek homeward.

Dragonsfall's skies were not unfamiliar-- two months of Threadfall had taught her every formation line, every rally point over the Weyr. But she had never been _loose_ here, never had cause to break formation and simply fly. She didn't rely on memory to navigate now. She had instinct, skill, and a love of surprise up here. And her chasers were fast, clever, persistent. And, to her surprise and immediate outrage, closer than she expected. As a brown lunged in from the left, Valbath veered up towards the dense cloud cover. }:Pathetic,:{ she snarled-- though her voice was one of airy delight and laughter.

The sun was almost at its zenith now, and she was just as high, just as bright. Cold air pushing up from the snowy mountains filled her sails, and she was finally at an altitude to assess. She threw herself into a sharp dive, showing off a little. A lot. Watching them scramble after her-- free and wild and at their best. She scanned each one, though it was too early to want them, to entertain the notion of any single dragon when none of them had been able to satisfy her so far.

}:You’ll all have to do much better than that!:{ Valbath punctuated the words with a haughty call that rang disorientingly off the cliffs, angling high again.

If a dragon could laugh in delight at a challenge, Daith would have. What a merry chase indeed! What a worthy queen! }: Beautiful one, let me be the one to claim you, :{ he called. He would be a _very_ good mate to her if she so allowed.

Teyrabth bugled again, and spent some of his needed stamina in a surge forward, outpacing another chaser to establish himself towards the front of the pack. }:Beautiful Valbath, stunning Valbath, fly high and far, and I will _still_ be here!:{

Mezanth cried out in frustration as Valbath dropped through the skies the first time. Trapped as he was behind the wings of others that didn’t quite bend or fold on instantaneous command. He was behind _achingly_ so. As soon as he cleared the mess he tried burning some of his stamina to reach forwards again. He finally issued his challenge against the cliffs in answer to Valbath }: I will follow my Queen! :{

As the gold veered towards the clouds, Riakerth suddenly banked sharply. He’d chosen a good altitude, but too far to the left, and the gold saw him before he could close the distance, veering away from him, and he steadied himself, finally seeming to join the chase in earnest, now that the pack of bronzes and browns had spread out some.

Isaoth tried to outmaneuver one of the larger browns but found himself blocked. He snapped angrily. }: Move! :{ Why did these lesser dragons insist upon trying to fly a queen?!

Roquath roared in answer and angled his bulk to shove the bronze further.

Want. Need. They burned like an inferno, equally as real as the rage. Maybe more. She was growing interested in them now that their numbers had thinned a little, eager to see which of them were as worthy, as strong, as they were clever and determined. She needed to be sure. Valbath tore along the snow-capped mountains, into the northern winds that gusted and howled and shrieked along with her. Heading over the glisten of sparkling white ridges, she was cresting, cresting, a plan suddenly forming, and nearly clipped the snow as she dove over the north face of a cliff. Gone.

Last updated on the October 28th 2026

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

From Here to Eternity (2/3)