Dragonflight

Lessa travelled back to Ruatha with every intent on making the deadly jump. From Ruatha she could lessen the strain of the event on her mind: making the jump between just time, rather than between time and space, should be less taxing. Lessa had studied the depiction of ancient Ruatha on the tapestry so she could picture it clearly in her mind, using it as the reference point for Ramoth on the leap between. Lessa almost goes mad in the long coldness of between, but Ramoth assures her that she is not alone.

Meanwhile, in the present, Robinton tries to comfort an inconsolable F’lar. Together, they travel to Ruatha.

Four hundred years in the past, Lessa regains consciousness on the brink of death and insanity. It is weeks before she recovers enough to speak to her saviors: Mardra and T’ton of Fort Weyr. Lessa brings them up to speed on the situation and begs them to take their dragonriders forward with her in time to save the future.

Mardra and T’ton realize Lessa must be telling the truth. The Ruathan tapestry she describes in detail was only just commissioned by Mardra’s father, the Lord of Ruatha—it does not even exist yet. However, there is a chilling concern: “The Weyrs had been left vacant, but Lessa had no way of proving that the five Weyrs reappeared in her time” (267). There is no guarantee the plan will be successful. The inhabitants of all five Weyrs might die in the attempt to travel back to the future.

Still, when T’ton calls a Council of the Weyrs, there is little opposition to the venture, as long as they can find a way to make the jump in lesser intervals to minimize the danger of time-shock. Many of the dragonriders grew up in wartime and are used to action. With the Threads gone now for at least 200 years, they lack purpose.

Arrangements are made. Benden Weyr alone will persist in the past, as it must remain intact for Lessa’s time. Lessa consults with the Masterharper to compose the eerie tune that tripped her crucial realization in the future: “Only be sure […] that it is a Teaching tune. It must not be forgotten, for it poses questions that I have to answer” (268). The reference point for their smaller time jumps will be the Red Star itself, as its orbit is easy to plot and imagine in the night sky. Lessa and the dragonriders begin the dangerous journey into the future.

On their 11th jump between, the time-travelers take stock of their situation. Only four riders have been lost, and they are now only 12 years back from the present day. Lessa is powerfully woozy again—she realizes she was in Ruatha at this moment in the past, and they must leave quickly to prevent further damage to her psyche. The group makes the final leap forward in time.

In the present day, F’lar continues to grieve. He knows that tomorrow he must send someone back in time to fetch Kylara and F’nor from the past, as they need even their scant troop of dragons for the upcoming battle. He knows that doing so will tacitly admit that Lessa’s plan has failed.

Lessa lands in the present in Ruatha Hold—two days too far in the future. She meets an excited Lytol, who tells her to go just two days back in the past. F’lar will be waiting. There, F’lar and Lessa joyfully reunite, and Lessa introduces F’lar to the reinforcements from the five old Weyrs.

F’lar and Lessa convince a reluctant R’gul—who has been kept in the dark about this entire plan—to consider taking over in the Southern Reaches, where Kylara will remain Weyrwoman. They triumphantly reveal the reinforcements to Benden Weyr. All agree that despite his youth and inexperience, F’lar should remain Weyrleader.

Fandarel and the other craftsmen are thrilled that the dragonmen from the past have brought their machines along for them to study. The men from the past are equally impressed with F’lar’s charts predicting Thread attacks, which they never had. They also reveal that in their time, the Weyrwomen led a queens’ wing in battle. F’lar is shocked that this great risk to the queens was allowed, to which one dragonrider responds “Allow? […] You can’t stop them. Don’t you know your ballads?” (283). Lessa is thrilled that she can fly on Ramoth and take active part in battle. Though F’lar worries for her, he is proud.

A few hours after dawn, 216 dragons are ready for battle against the Threads. F’lar inspects the ranks. A cohort of beautiful golden dragons appears: the queens’ wing, led by Lessa.

The battle begins. F’lar vaunts to the Red Star: “One day, we will not sit tamely here, awaiting your fall. We will fall on you, where you spin, and sear you on your own ground” (287). He revels in his role as a dragonrider of Pern.