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Bronze and brown and blue and green,

Rise the dragonmen of Peru,

Aloft, on wing, seen, then unseen

F’LAR, ON BRONZE Mnereat neck, appeared first in the skies above the chief Hold of Fax, so-called Lord of the High Reaches Behind hiht F’lar checked the formation automatically; it was as precise as on the moment of their entry to between

As Mne them to the perimeter of the Hold, consonant with the friendly nature of this visitation, F’lar surveyed with e defenses The firestone pits were ereen-tinged with a rowth

Was there even one Lord in Pern who maintained his Hold rocky in observance of the ancient Laws? F’lar’s lips tightened to a thinner line When this Search was over and the Impression made, there would have to be a soleolden shell of the queen, he, F’lar, y with industry He would scour the green and dangerous scurass blades from its stoneworks No verdant skirt would be condoned in any farly presented, would, under pain of firestoning, floith decent generosity into the Dragonweyr

Mnehtly on the grass-etched flagstones of Fax’s Hold The bronze dragon furled his great wings, and F’lar heard the warning claxon in the Hold’s Great Tower Mnementh dropped to his knees as F’lar indicated he wished to dise-shaped head, politely awaiting the arrival of the Hold Lord F’lar idly gazed down the valley, hazy arnored the furtive heads that peered at the dragonman from the parapet slits and the cliff s

F’lar did not turn as the rush of air past hi He kneever, when F’nor, the brown rider as coincidentally his half brother, took the custoth to the rear Fro to death with his boot heel the grass that crowded up between the stones

An order, reat Court, beyond the open gates Alht, led by a heavy-set ht

Mne his head so that his chin rested on the ground Mnementh’s many-faceted eyes, on a level with F’lar’s head, fastened with disconcerting interest on the approaching party The dragons could never understand why they generated such abject fear in coon attack a hunorance F’lar could not explain to the dragon the politics behind the necessity of inspiring awe in the holders, Lord and craftsman alike He could only observe that the fear and apprehension showing in the faces of the advancing squad which troubled Mne to him, F’lar

“Welcoh Reaches He is at your service,” and the man made an adequately respectful salute

The use of the third person pronoun could be construed by the meticulous to be a veiled insult This fit in with the infornored it His inforreedy man It showed in the restless eyes that flicked at every detail of F’lar’s clothing, at the slight frohen the intricately etched sword hilt was noticed

F’lar noticed, in his own turn, the several rich rings that flashed on Fax’s left hand The overlord’s right hand rehtly cocked after the habit of the professional swordsman His tunic, of rich fabric, was stained and none too fresh The man’s feet, in heavy wher-hide boots, were solidly planted, weight balanced forward on his toes A man to be treated cautiously, F’lar decided, as one should the conqueror of five neighboring Holds Such greedy audacity was in itself a revelation Fax had ally inherited, however unusual the circumstances, the seventh He was a lecherous man by reputation Within these seven Holds, F’lar anticipated a profitable Search Let R’gul go southerly to pursue Search a the indolent if lovely wo woman this time; Jora had been worse than useless with Nemorth Adversity, uncertainty: those were the conditions that bred the qualities F’lar wanted in a Weyrwoman

“We ride in Search,” F’lar drawled softly, “and request the hospitality of your Hold, Lord Fax”

Fax’s eyes widened imperceptibly at mention of a Search

“I had heard Jora was dead,” Fax replied, dropping the third person abruptly as if F’lar had passed so it “So Ne across the rank of the wing, noting the disciplined stance of the riders, the healthy color of the dragons

F’lar did not dignify the obvious with an answer

“And, htly toward the dragonman

For a pulse beat, F’lar wondered if thehim with such subtle insults The nahout Pern as the naon queen and her Weyrwoman F’lar kept his face composed, his eyes on Fax’s

Leisurely, with the proper touch of arrogance, F’nor stepped forward, stopping slightly behind Mnee of the huge beast

“The bronze rider of Mnementh, Lord F’lar, will require quarters for hied with the wingmen We are, in number, twelve”

F’lar liked that touch of F’nor’s, totting up the wing strength, as if Fax were incapable of counting F’nor had phrased it so adroitly as to make it impossible for Fax to prote

st the return insult

“Lord F’lar,” Fax said through teeth fixed in a sh Reaches are honored with your Search”

“It will be to the credit of the High Reaches,” F’lar replied smoothly, “if one of its own supplies the Weyr”

“To our everlasting credit,” Fax replied as suavely “In the old days many notable Weyrwomen came from my Holds”

“Your Holds?” asked F’lar, politely s as he emphasized the plural “Ah, yes, you are now overlord of Ruatha, are you not? There have been many from that Hold”

A strange, tense look crossed Fax’s face, quickly supplanted by a deter F’lar to enter the Hold

Fax’s troop leader barked a hasty order, and thesparks from the stones

At unspoken orders, all the dragons rose with a great churning of air and dust F’lar strode nonchalantly past the welco their eyes in alarlided above to the inner courts Sohtened yelp as Mnes drove phosphoric-scented air across the inner court as hespace

Outwardly oblivious to the consternation, fear, and awe the dragons inspired, F’lar was secretly amused and rather pleased by the effect Lords of the Holds needed this reons, not just with riders, ere ononkind must be reinstilled in modern breasts

“The Hold has just risen froested His voice trailed off at F’lar’s s refusal