Dawn's Light

Chapter 40: Interlude

"Two moons," Sabrina muttered under her breath in a depressed sigh as she walked down an empty tunnel, listening to the echoes of her footsteps as she traveled. "that's how long it has been since Celia disappeared, and there is still no sign of neither her or Verbena." She released a gentle groan and stared at the smooth stone floor beneath her feet.

Eventually, the mother looked up from the floor and glanced between the bottles of ryume hug on the walls at regular intervals. As she passed, she mentally counted the bottles as if they marked the passage of time in days. The long tunnel had many lanterns, just like how many days had passed since she had seen their daughter.

Despite the woman's efforts, she still could not comprehend the reasons her daughter might have for her disappearance. Though she hoped Celia's disappearance was an accident, she also knew of the possibility her daughter actively fled from Rien. Sabrina's dilemma was attempting to determine why Celia ran.

"Sixty-eight," Sabrina muttered to herself as she walked past the sixty-eighth lantern since she started counting. Sabrina's daughter disappeared exactly two moons ago, and still, no one has found any signs of them.

With a sigh, Sabrina stared ahead and noted the continuation of the lanterns in the seemingly endless tunnel. "How many more days? How much longer must I wait until I finally get peace? This is worse than when he died. It was days until his body was recovered." She shook her head a bit as she continued to walk down the tunnel. Though she tried to ignore the bottles of fiery ryume on the walls, she found the task near impossible as she mentally counted the lanterns she passed.

She tightened her coat as she stepped into the white expanse of the dark, outside world. She flinched as a brief sudden breeze pressed fresh frigid air against her exposed skin. She briefly shivered, then hurried into a second cave opening. She only returned to a normal walking pace when the temperature of the cave rose.

After she descended even deeper into the cave, she emerged into a large cavernous room and glanced around the area. Two pairs of dragons lounged in nests of blankets and shed feathers in the room dimly illuminated by a few ryume lanterns. The two males intensely watched Sabrina and protectively stood over their mates, and the females rested in a deep sleep.

The left pair consisted of a brown male with black feathers and his mate, a slender golden female with orange spots down her back. However, Sabrina was in the nursery cave for the pair on the right half, silver and grey Chrome and his mate, Nami, who was also bonded to Sabrina.

"Hello Chrome," Sabrina approached the grey and red dragon pair, "How are you?" She pulled out a small, cloth-wrapped piece of meat from her coat pocket and offered it up to the silver dragon.

The dragon blinked and sniffed the offering, then gave a soft purr as he licked up the sliver of meat. 'Thank you,' he swallowed, then gently nuzzled Sabrina in a form of thanks only a dragon could give. When he finished, he moved his head away from the human and looked to her face. He tilted his head to one side and studied the human's expression. 'Are you all right?' Though he was not bonded to Sabrina like Nami, he could still speak to her using his connection with Nami.

"I do not know anymore," the human admitted and reached out to pet Chrome's head. "I am still worried about Celia. I am not ready to let her go and believe that she is dead. I don't want to. She is my only daughter." She released another sigh and squeezed her eyes shut.

In response to both Sabrina's presence and her distress, Nami suddenly stirred and slowly lifted her head. 'Sabrina?' She yawned, then released a worried coo and nuzzled Sabrina in an attempt to make her feel better.

While Nami gave Sabrina a nuzzle in an attempt to improve her mood, Chrome looked to human and attempted to improve her spirits with words. "No one has found her body yet, so she and Verbena could still be very well alive somewhere. Maybe they just got lost while hunting and are trying to find their way home right now."

"I doubt my daughter and a dragonet that barely knows how to fly could survive for two moons out in the wasteland. There are limited food and water out there. I never taught Celia how to survive beyond these stone walls." Sabrina wrapped her arms around Nami's head in a hug.

'I have faith in Verbena and Celia,' Nami assured with a gentle purr, 'Verbena is a smart dragonet knows how to survive, and I have a feeling that they are on their way home right now.'