Stigmata - marks corresponding to those left on Jesus' body by the Crucifixion, said to have been impressed by divine favor. Also: the plural of the Greek word stigma, meaning a mark or brand such as might have been used for identification of an animal or slave.

Sam and Dean have always been oddities among the dragonriders; the youngest man to Impress a Bronze dragon in a hundred years and a boy who turned his back on the riders to become a dragon healer instead. But when fate steps in and chooses a far different path for Sam, the brothers and all the Weyrs of Pern will have to come to terms with much greater changes in their traditions.