It could be AU I am still new a doing reviews. But, a dragon with no tail? Don;'t know. a very differnet story. :)

Finish the story! I feel like one of the kids listening, and I'm 15!
That's a compliment by the way. If an author can keep his or her readers in suspense, he or she is a good author. I enjoy writing suspensefully too.
Seriously, though. It's a good story, and believable. If humans can damage their children by drinking or smoking while pregnant, why shouldn't going between be harmful to pregnant dragons?
I like the way you wrote this, using a storyteller. It's intriguing. Keep it up!
jrlibrarian

I've never heard of these deformities you speak of (except in the Very early days of the genetic engineering)
And while I know that Between can cause miscarriages in humans, I can't remember if it affected dragons in the same way.
More likely deformities would occur in the early stages of developement, not from the cold of between.
Perhaps you could add to the future plot some disgruntled holdless renegades poisoning the Weyr watersupply, affecting the developing embryos in the "as yet" unlaid eggs.
Please don't flame me for this review, as I quite enjoyed the "Story Telling" the way it was presented and would like a follow up chapter written.

While you can do whatever you want, in Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, Orlith could fly between till she was to egg-heavy to move and had began clucthing.

hmm I wonder if something like this could happen. It's not to far fetched.

I haven't read it yet,
but I bet its so
bizzy.

Keep going please? And please hurry. I want to find out what happens!

Ack, you need an ending! Which dragonets live? Who is Breil? What happened to the Weyrfolk who Impressed the crippled dragons? What happened to Fenalzae? Closure, plz!

Other than the abrupt stop of the whole story, this quite good. It's nice to see that not everyone or everything on Pern is perfect.

Please - continue the story!! Really caught my attention. Thanks!!

to reviwer F'lessan,

I think I know the point Bryndle was trying to make. has anyone read the Dragonriders Guide to Pern? (good book, and I think that's where I noticed it mentioned) it said that names are shortened to 1 or 2 syllable so that a Wingleader, or a Weyrlingmaster can shout them quickly and easily without wasting breath (tense situation, not waste time, ne?)
for example (and everyone try it too, it's actually fun) F'lar, F'nor, R'ul, even F'lessan can be shouted easily (though with F'lessan, it might get a little slurred, but it's still easy)
I think that maybe Bryndle noticed that Z'keiko is a little difficult to shout in a timely fashion.

it's just an observation.

I'd mark it as AU, because dragons' hides are thick enough to protect them from the cold of between, and in Dragonsong, the eggs were given to people from the clutch Menolly found in furred bags to protect their eggs. True that the eggs were only a week from Hatching hardness, but I'm sure that a dragon's internal temperature is sufficent warmth to incubate the eggs against the cold. Dragon's have more bulk, and there would be a layer of fat under the tough hide to further protect them.

Also, while the fetus is developing, a sudden shock of cold isn't likely to malform; it's more likely to cause stillborns. Also, wing buds and tail buds are some of the first things to develop, so I don't think that they would be affected on the far end of their development period. It's more likely that if tails and wings were malformed, it would ne a genetic mutation.

What was that? Rider's names should be practically monosyllabic? Huh?

Well, no-one told *me* my name had to be that short! And it's a good thing G'narish wasn't around to hear you say that. It's one thing slagging off a bronze-rider's name, but a weyr-leader's choice of honorific is quite another, believe me.

[Sorry, I couldn't resist leaving that last review unanswered. I'll leave a genuine, signed, review later this week, I promise - this is a great story, and it deserves my usual mix of adoration and nit-picky concrit...]

Dragons are immune to the effects of Between. the eggs wouldn't have been harmed at all, no matter if it was the first day of gestation or the last.
only pregnant humans would have been adversely affected.

and I noticed Z'keiko is a little too long for a rider name (haven't you noticed that most Dragonrider names are little more than 4, maybe just 5 letters long?) it would have been shortened further to Z'kei

hm...this story seems so...put together somehow. i think i like it better that way, lol. cheers from your beta girl! love the story, send me more, and i will pick it apart until it is the perfection that you see reflected in this chapter. :P

kristin aka kiara alexis klay

That's really good. couldn't find anything to criticize (constuctively, of course) :) When i am allowed to put my own stories on (only just signed up) read mine, won't you?