Энн Маккефри: Ever the Twain

(© 2002 by Anne McCaffrey, from “A Gift of Dragons”)

Ru was tired from helping his father load the fishing nets they had repaired the previous night, so he was lagging a bit behind his sister when a fresh breeze came up and stung him in the face. Immediately he was back on his dragon, at altitude above Ista Island — high enough to see the silvery haze on the horizon that marked the incoming fall of Thread.

That's the leading edge, Nerith, he told his dragon telepathically, as he checked that his safety straps were secure on the broad belt all dragonriders wore during Threadfall. The clump of Thread had been overlooked by the other riders in his Wing and Neru knew no one else would be able to sear it before the silvery Threads fell to the ground and devoured every living thing in their path.

Fly faster, Nerith! Neru urged his lifelong partner, his beloved dragon. We must climb up higher and try to sear it as we draw near.

I will reach it; my wings are strong, Nerith replied, and his wings beat down sending them higher and faster than they'd ever flown before. As they closed in on the leading edge of Thread, Nerith belched a long steady stream of flame, charring the silvery clump to harmless ash.

Scanning the skies around them closely, Neru saw one single long Thread that had escaped Nerith's flame. Wheel and spin, Nerith, we've missed one!

I see it! his dragon replied.

Abruptly, Nerith dropped his right wing to make the turn, and with one powerful stroke, he pivoted into position to flame the lone strand of Thread with a burst of fire. It was a very dangerous maneuver, but nothing Neru and Nerith hadn't done before.

You are the strongest, wisest, and fastest dragon on Pern, Nerith. Good flying, my friend. Well done! Neru said, as he caressed the soft hide of his dragon's neck.

Nerith turned his head toward Neru, his many-faceted eyes whirling blue with pride.

"Here comes the Ninny and her wannabe dragonrider brother," a baritone voice said nearby, cracking in adolescent fashion. Suddenly Neru was back in the present, on the road to the Harper's hall, and out of his daydream. Mostly the kids at Lado Hold on Ista Island called him Ru and his sister Ninny. Neru didn't mind "Ru" but he took extravagant exception whenever he heard people call his twin sister, Nian, by that nickname.

"Flamel, do you want yet another bloody nose?" Neru asked, as he focused on Flamel, son of the Hold's smith. Nian, who was very self-conscious and hated confrontation of any sort, moved slightly behind her twin brother.

"Sure," Flamel said, putting up his hands. But just then Orla, daughter of the Hold's weaver, intervened.

"You really are tiresome, Flamel. Just drop it for the day, huh? Give us all a break," she said in a cajoling tone of voice.

"Why should I? It's fun," Flamel said, raising his fists again. "Let's see how the dragonrider defends himself and his ninny of a sister."

"Oh, that's so old, Flamel. Can't you strive to be just a little creative?" Orla said with a bored sigh.

Just then two adults strode onto the road, talking together in low voices. The taller man glanced at the scene, then paused.

"You all better hurry on to the Harper's now, or you'll be late," he said with a flick of his hand. But as he passed he gave Flamel a hard stare. It was enough for the bully to move on, while Orla took her place beside Nian.

"Thanks, Orla," Neru said with one of his charming smiles. "And you're right. Flamel is boring."

"Just so long as you don't let him get to you again. Master Lado was not best pleased over your last fight with Flamel."

"But he didn't do anything to stop Flamel bullying my sister," Ru commented sourly.

" 'Childish bickering,' he called it," Nian said.

"When Flamel's apprenticed, it'll be knocked out of him," Orla replied tartly. "Oh, if it would only happen soon."

The three friends continued on their way down the road that led to the Harper's Hall and their morning lessons.

"Soon all of us will have to move on," Orla said, kicking a pebble out of the way. Her curly hair bounced with every step she took. "How will you manage being apart?" she asked Nian.

"Nian's tougher than she looks, Orla," Ru said, his twin's champion and supporter.

If only that were true, Nian thought. She was scared of the mere idea of being alone, day in and day out. She knew she would have to stand on her own two feet one day, but the thought of doing it without her other half nearby was frightening.

Being the more reserved twin, she couldn't imagine life without her brother at her side, even if she could always sense him. When her parents had moved Neru to a bedroom in the lean-to, she had spent many wakeful nights without his comforting presence beside her, even though she was well aware that boys and girls were always separated when they got to a certain age. But being in totally different places… She gave herself a mental shake. It would do no good to worry now.

"Has Master Ruart recommended you to the Healer and Harper Halls?" Orla asked. "I get to go to Fort Hold, as apprentice to Master Elaine. But not until the leaves turn. Master Elaine designed that gorgeous brocade pattern our family's working on right now."

"Father wants to marry Nian off to a farmer on the North Shore," Neru said with some perturbation. He glanced at his sister to see her reaction.

She shrugged. Her mother had been making remarks lately about how good it was to start a new life in one's own place, but Nian tried not to listen.

"We're keeping an eye open for fire lizard clutches," she said. "So we can be apart without really being separated." The fire lizards, distant cousins to the much larger dragons, were good companions and useful for delivering messages. It had been Neru's idea that if they both had fire lizards, they would at least be able to communicate with each other over distance, thus making their imminent physical separation more bearable.

"How soon will Clidith's clutch be ready for Impression?" Orla asked. "This could be your big chance, Ru."

"First I have to be Searched, you know," Ru said with a diffident shrug.

"Don't try to fool me, Ru," Orla said firmly. "Not that every lad doesn't hope to be a dragonrider. I think you'd make a good one. Especially since you are so good a brother. And I hear that one of the eggs is a queen egg." She turned excitedly to Nian. "You could become a dragonrider, too, Nian!"

"Who would want a Ninny for a rider?" Nian asked scornfully.

"You shouldn't call yourself that, Ni," Ru said with a fierce scowl. "A ninny you're not. Don't even think it of yourself."

Nian glanced gratefully at her brother.

"You can't let the teasing of a dimwit like Flamel get to you," Orla said with equal severity. "As we used to say, 'Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names can never hurt you.' "

Nian gave a snort and wished she could shake off such jibes as easily, but she didn't have that kind of confidence. No one ever teased Orla. Orla was self-assured and pretty, with very curly black hair that framed her oval face. Her nose was straight and small, her mouth wide and friendly. Orla had all the feminine qualities that Nian did not see in herself. She didn't consider herself even marginally attractive.

While Nian, Neru, and Orla had been strolling in a leisurely way as they talked, the rest of the children of Lado Hold were making their way down the hill toward the Harper's small Hall. Their nemesis, Flamel, tall for his age yet still carrying some baby flab, was visible in the group. He immediately edged closer to the twins to begin teasing.

"You been Searched yet, Ru?" was Flamel's snide query. Singling out her brother was unfair, anyway, Nian thought, because so many of the other boys in the Hold desperately wished to become dragonriders and escape the less glamorous adult occupations waiting for them. But Neru's dream was well known, and she thought that Flamel chose his targets carefully, knowing exactly how to insult and injure.