Dawn's Light

Chapter 47

The cold day air raced past Celia. However, thanks to the amulet tucked beneath her clothes, she remained warm and unfazed by the frigid wind. She inhaled some of the frozen breezes through her cloth face covering, then exhaled.

"We are back where we started," Celia gazed out into the wasteland, "but at the same time, we are closer to the finish than ever before." A grin spread across her face, "The return of light is nigh. It has to be. There is no turning back now," she released an excited laugh into the air. "We can do this."

Verbena purred and shuttered in excitement, 'our goal is so close!' She flapped her wings a few times to release the burst of energy that accompanied her excitement. She rocketed forward in the resulting burst of speed. After she released a declaratory roar into the air, the green dragonet slowed to a glide.

When Irin finally caught back up, Verbena gently brushed the tips of the feathers on her wings with the tips of his wing feathers. The green dragonet looked to her blue companion and friendlily purred.

Irin looked over to Verbena, then released a gentle purr in return of the friendly gesture. He slowly admitted that he had become fond of the young dragons and was thankful for the presence of another dragon, even if she was childish and rambunctious. Any friendly company was still friendly company.

Irin then looked out to vast white expanse that surrounded the four beings. 'It's strange to know that after finding a real home where we belong, we are flying back across the wasteland.' He released a small wisp of fire that futility glowed for a brief moment before it flittered out.

Xan patted Irin's shoulder, "it is just temporary. We will return." His voice couldn't reach Celia's ears over the sounds of the air, but she had an idea what he said based upon his reassuring gesture to Irin. "Our new lives as official dragon riders will come with the dawn."

Celia gazed out to the flat horizon and seemingly endless white expanse in all directions. "Somewhere out there," she spoke in a hushed voice as if her voice could summon the creature to them, "is the hole where that monster nearly killed us at the very beginning of our adventure."

'I would like to see it try to eat us now!' Verbena barked and released a small plume of fire below her to avoid hurting the rider in her back. 'I will give that thing a face full of fire! I am a lot better at fire breathing now!" She weaved in her glide as a result of her excitement.

Irin slowed to avoid the young dragoness's wavering path. "And I will help you defeat it.' He swiftly regained his previous position. "Then, we will fill our stomachs and finish traveling the wasteland without the need of more food."

"We have come a long way since then," Celia smiled and closed her eyes. To her, it seemed as if their first excursion through the wasteland was cycles instead of moons ago. "We went through some mishaps along the way, but we conjured them. Together. And we are here now, about to finish what we started."

After another pause, Celia reached a hand back and wedged her hand into one of the saddlebags. She just wanted to check the bag and assure herself that this was, not, in fact, a dream.

Her gloved hand blindly grasped objects until she located the desired object. "It's still there," she sighed in relief as she slowly withdrew her hand. She was careful not to catch her glove on the flap and leave the glove inside the bag itself.

As they continued to fly, Celia closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander. At first, her thoughts traversed her mental map of her home tunnels. However, when her mental map stumbled across the moss-covered passage to the hidden lake, her mind focused.

Celia traversed the mist-laden passageway with her mind's eye. The low ceiling did not impede her since she was not actually there, but the memory of barely clearing the passage atop Verbena's back resurfaced into her foremost thoughts. She continued down the tunnel until the walkway dropped into the white abyss of the steam-filled room.

For several moments the white mist clouded her view. The mist swirled in even the slightest disturbance in the air. Soon enough, the mist cleared and revealed the hot spring in all of its glory.

Glowing mosses coated much of the rocks, and tiny unknown creatures buzzed above her head among the lights that shimmered from the ceiling. Waster tricked from a hole in the wall, and fish swam in the resting body of water The glow from the pool no longer existed inside the room, since the ray of light that previously resided at the pool's bottom was now in her bag.

Verbena, Celia thought, was the only reason they found that piece of sunlight. Without her, none of this adventure would have happened. She had been the one who insisted that they continue down the tunnel despite its low ceilings. Where Celia doubted, Verbena remained confident.

The young dragoness, thought still boisterous and immature at times, had grown through their journey. Despite the limited food and resources in the wild, the green-coated female was larger and stronger than when they first left the safety of their home. Though a bit thin, she was larger and more muscular. Also, she could fly farther and faster than when they first left Rien.

Celia proudly smiled and patted the side of Verbena's neck, which the dragonet returned with a soft purr. Celia was glad and thankful to have a companion and friend such as the green dragonet. The female human had no idea what she would do without her draconic companion.

Celia then realized that Verbena also aided with the second glowing sphere. She had been the one to talk to Hytha and somehow convinced her to help them. Then, when they needed a swift getaway, the dragonet ran and flew beyond her limits at the time. The green dragonet deserved all of the credit for the second ray of light. 

Hytha. She had helped them in a dire situation where hope seemed lost. The ulven risked everything to give them the ray of light. She even risked her own people's livelihood to aid the quest for light.

Celia wondered how the ulven were doing without their ray of light. She did not know what they used it for, but she had a feeling they used the piece of sunlight for something important. And now, they did not have their light anymore one action probably changed their entire culture.

A twinge of guilt made the human female briefly flinch, but she quickly shook the feeling away and replaced it with confidence. There was no time for regrets at present, as she needed to focus on the final ray of light.

Celia took a deep breath and wondered what she had done to deserve such boundless assistance. Everywhere they had gone, someone helped them advance, even if their only role was to sell goods or provide a warm place to sleep. Even Ahsa willingly gave her ray of light.

Ahsa, the name of the siglya ran through Celia's head as she remembered the woman. She saved Irin's life from the nomadic tribe, then took them to her home so she could heal the blue dragon's wound. Ahsa was a hero when they needed one the most, almost if she had known where they were going to be.

The female human turned her head to Xan and knew she could not forget about everything he had done as well. Without them, Celia had no idea how she and Verbena would have found the rays of light in the first place.

Xan's knowledge of the western landscape had been vital to the task as well. Without him, they would not have thought to go into the Ulven Lands to search for the light. Though their initial meeting was a bit rocky, Celia felt that she and Xan had grown close over the course of their adventure.

Celia took a deep breath of the cold night air and came to an ultimatum. The quest could not fail. Too many people had sacrificed something for her to get this far, and Celia could not bear to think of what would happen to them if the two dragon riders and their dragons failed.

Light would return to Roahla.

Author Notes:

I still can't believe that this story is almost over. I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey of writing this, and I hope you, my readers, have enjoyed reading this story.

Thank you for reading this far!

See you next week!