Dawn's Light

Chapter 42

Celia awoke with a yawn to the sound of the first bell as the noise rang through the entire town. The human slowly stretched as she opened her eyes. "Good evening...." After she rubbed her eyes, the human slowly rolled out of the sack and stood to her feet. "Ahhh," she took a deep breath and lifted her arms to the sky as she relaxed. "It feels good to sleep in a sack filled with dragon feathers again. This was so much better than everything else I have slept on. Nothing beats home."

Celia looked over to Verbena as the dragonet continued to snooze in her blanket nest. The human smiled a bit, then walked over to the well of water and splashed a double handful of the fresh liquid into her face. Celia took a deep breath and looked to her shimmering reflection in the pool.

Celia fingered her hands through her hair as she noticed its length. While she was on her quest, her red hair had grown a few inches. Celia looked to the green blurs that represented her eyes, then turned back to Verbena.

Celia smiled a bit as she noticed the green dragon had also grown, even if her size was still smaller than average. Verbena even matured a bit over their journey as well. The journey enhanced her strength, and it showed in her muscles. Her smile broadened as she walked over to the dragonet.

"Hey, it's time to get up," Celia gently patted Verbena's side. When the young dragon still did move, Celia gently nudged her side again. "Verbena, time to get up," The human pushed against Verbena's shoulder.

'I wanna sleep...," Verbena finally responded, even if it was a groan. She exhaled, then settled deeper into the blanket. 'I'm comfy,' she curled into a tighter ball and attempted to ignore Celia, 'this is better than the cold snow.'

Celia sighed a bit and rubbed her forehead, 'Verbena, please? We need to go get Xan and talk to Guild Master Orthos.' She attempted to mentally communicate with her draconic companion to see if the results changed.

When Verbena simply snorted in response, Celia sighed. "Will mentioning Valiant make you move? I do not think he will approve of you sleeping when we are a team. A team that needs to finish this quest together." Celia's voice slowly became a mix of determination and emotion.

Verbena lifted her head and looked to Celia, 'you are right,' she nuzzled Celia's uncovered face. 'Let's go,' the dragonet rose to her feet. 'We have a quest to finish because we are the bringers of light! It is our destiny!' She emitted a rather loud roar of declaration that everyone in the town probably heard.

"Thank you for finally deciding to get up," Celia stroked Verbena's head but did not have the heart to tell her that there was no destiny. Xan was probably the only reason they had gotten this far. Furthermore, at least to Celia's eyes, they found the first piece with mere luck, not destiny. "Now, let's go retrieve Xan and Irin so we can all go and talk to the guild master."

Verbena nodded with a bit of excitement, then followed her determined partner. 'Let's return light to the world!' The dragonet held her head high and trumpeted a bit in a display only a dragon could create.

Celia smiled a bit as she pushed aside the curtain that separated the room from the hall. "Good evening, world," a wide grin spread across the human's face as she strolled through the web of tunnels.

Unlike last morning, life filed the town's tunnels as many people from the differing guilds wandered them. Those with the day shift headed to bed while the night shift rose from it. Since everyone in the small town knew each other, several people gave Celia shocked looks, but others simply continued on their way. Surprised whispers followed the dragon rider as she walked down the path, but she ignored them as she continued on her self-imposed mission.

"C-Celia?" A familiar voice spoke from behind Celia just before she was tackled in a hug. "I thought you were dead," Sabrina wiped her tears with her sleeve as she released Celia. "I was scared I would never see you again, what happened? Where did you go? What happened to you?"