They arrived at the hold early in the morning and crashed in the stables, all three exhausted. Only when a stablehand had brought practically the whole hold out to see did they awake. Dweezel hurried to explain their situation to the Lord Holder and the two Seachriders. "And he's kept you as captives?" one asked, astonished. "Yes," Hannah sighed. "until now we were afraid to challenge him, he's not aged well." Dweezel looked past the three men to the blue and brown dragons settled outside. He'd never been around dragons before and never realized how big they were.

"Well, it seems that the dragons both agree that you would make a good candidate, Dweezel." K'ral said, "But neither are picking you up, Hannah. I'm sorry, some people just don't make good candidates." The man looked apologetically at her. "She can come with me, right? When you leave that is." Dweezel asked. "Oh yes, we wouldn't leave her here." The brownrider, M'ron stepped forward. "She could either stay on at our weyr, or go to another." "I want to stay with you." Hannah insisted, putting a hand on Dweezel's shoulder. "And can we find a way to get my runner up north?" he asked, satisfied that Hannah was safe. "It might have to be sailed up there, but there are ways."

That night there was a feast, Hannah and Dweezel were more than happy to join in. They had never experienced just rich foods, having only eaten porridges and oatmeal. When they were settled into spare rooms, Dweezel stared up at the ceiling, thinking. "I wish I had killed that fat lout when I had the chance..." he seethed. "He doesn't deserve to take up space when there's a chance that he'll do what he did to Hannah and I to another hopeless kid." "Dweezel?" a soft voice asked from the door. Sitting up, he saw Hannah standing awkwardly. "Hannah? Come in, what's wrong?" She looked terrible as she sat on the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands.

"Oh Dweezel, I thought for sure that I'd get Searched, that I could Impress." she moaned. "Don't cry, K'ral said that some people aren't meant for Impression." he tried, moving next to her. "But, my parents...before Judoc found me, my parents wanted me to be a dragonrider." "So?" Shrugging, Dweezel asked. "What happened to your parents?" Her eyes slid from his to the floor. "They....were killed, by a pack of renegades. I wandered for sevendays until Judoc took me in, of course I thought it was a blessing until all the work began." Sighing, Dweezel hugged her, unused to such and emotional outburst. "Well, maybe it just wasn't meant to be." he said softly. "I certainly never thought I'd be the one Searched, I've never seen a dragon until today." She sighed raggedly. "I'll still get to watch you Impress, right?" she smiled. "Of course." Dweezel grimaced in what might pass for a smile and gently hugged her. "Now go to bed, enjoy you nice warm covers." Hannah stood and kissed his cheek hurriedly before she left, and Dweezel stared after her.

In the morning the dragonriders woke them early. "We have to get going, we've been called back early." M'ron explained as he and K'ral hurriedly loaded up their dragons with cargo and people. "Demon will be shipped?" he called to the Lord Holder as Mrinalth leap powerfully into the sky. "On the first ship to the North!" he called back. Sighing, Dweezel glanced back down at the ground, spying Judoc's accursed hold. "I'll get you back old man..." he vowed "You'll pay for the torture both Hannah and I endured....some day...."