He lives? Canth returned weakly to Mnementh, with as much hope as he could squeeze into the thought. He was weary, and pained, but the salve that had been put on his wounds from the doctors, and the good that the woman had done him had taken the edge off. He would not go, not if F'nor lived.
He reached out to touch his weyrmate, but found only silence in return. And yet...and yet...it was not the silence of death, not anymore. It was...it was sleep. His mind would not answer the dragon, but it was there, and for now, that was all that Canth needed to settle down into the ground near Mnementh and seek sleep of his own.
***
It was early morning before F'nor stirred, coughing a bit and opening his eyes weakly, echoed by a joyous bellow from outside as their minds met again. He blinked, looking around him in confusion. What was this place? Why did nothing look familiar? Whatever this place was, it was certainly not the weyr, or anything he had ever seen on Pern. Had he visualized wrongly when they went between? He had been frantic, to be sure, but how could he have even visualized a place so strange to his mind as this?
Canth?
You wake!
F'nor did not miss the excitement and glee in the dragon's voice. Had his condition been so uncertain?
Where is this place?
I do not know and Mnementh does not know either. It is not Benden or Southern. It is somewhere else.
Mnementh?
He is here.
And F'lar?
He is here too.
Will you tell Mnementh to tell F'lar that I am awake?
There was a short pause as the dragon relayed the message, and F'nor laid his head back on the pillow, closing his eyes to combat the exhaustion.