Dawn's Light

Chapter 51

The city shone just on the other side of the mountain peak as Celia and Xan looked down to the mountainside city below. Strangely, lights still pocketed the city other than the ray of light in the spire, but the lights were smaller and dimmer in comparison to the beauty of the real piece of sunlight. Thankfully the black dragon never appeared while they looped around the city and landed in the mountain range behind it.

"I think we can do this," Celia finally spoke slid back down the slope and pulled the ribbon from the depths of her pocket. When she reached Verbena, she somewhat loosely wrapped the ribbon around the base of the dragon's neck a couple of times. "We can definitely do this," Celia released a breathy exhalation as she tightly knotted and secured the ends of the strip of white fabric together.

'I believe in us,' Verbena raised her wings proudly with a draconic grin across her muzzle. 'This plan is foolproof.'

Irin nervously glanced up to the sky as he thought he saw something briefly fly across the stars. He shifted his wings as he looked up to the two humans from his position lower down on the slope. 'Do you think I should have the ribbon tied around me as well?" The blue dragon glanced to the white ribbon tied around Verbena's arm. "Verbena will fly faster if I carry Xan.'

'I can do it!' Verbena protested with a soft whine and a pout. 'I've gotten a lot better at flying! I can fly fast enough!'

"I think we should go with Irin's suggestion," Xan called down from the mountain peak, "just to be on the safe side."

Celia paused, then fumbled to untie her knot. "I am worried about how much space we will have for our escape." Celia's gloved fingers finally managed to separate a loop, so she tore the entangled ribbon apart. "Irin and Verbena would not fit very well in a tunnel like the ones the Ulven had, and I don't know what to expect out there. We have a rough plan, not a real well-defined one with a map."

"I... I guess...," Xan slowly admitted, "there are a lot of narrow hallways and streets, and I do not know if even Verbena could fit through some of the narrowest alleys." He paused.

"I'll tie half of the ribbon around Irin as well, just in case we need we need him." Celia pulled the ribbon from Verbena's neck. While the young dragoness pouted, Celia drew her knife from its sheath. The human neatly split the ribbon into two nearly identical pieces.

"You will still be my preferred choice." Celia soothed the green dragonet's ego as she tied one half of the ribbon back around the base of Verbena's neck. Once she finished securely knotting the strip of cloth, she scratched behind Verbena's ears. "You are my best friend, don't worry." Celia smiled, then wrapped her arms around the green dragon's neck to further assure her.

'Fine,' Verbena huffed and exhaled a small puff of smoke.

Celia smiled a bit as she released the hug. After she patted Verbena's ice-armored side, the human trudged down the hillside a few feet to Irin. "Here's your half," Celia looped the ribbon around Irin's neck.

However, the cloth strip did not quite reach all the way around the drake's neck as it had with Verbena. "Huh, the ends don't even meet," Celia pulled the ribbon from the blue dragon's shoulders, then stepped back and searched for a new place to fasten the magical fabric.

If she tied the ribbon higher, it may impede with his fire breath by blocking the expansion of the tube in a dragon's throat that carried the fire from the flame sacks in his chest to his mouth. The base of the neck was fine because it was protected by the collar bone and muscles protected the dragon's throat. However, the rest of a dragon's neck was not as protected and was rather sensitive.

Celia looked down to Irin's wide paws and his wrists. "I can tie it there," Celia stepped forward and kneeled at his left forepaw. The human female looped the ribbon around the male dragon's wrist above his two thumbs. Thankfully, there was a long stretch of leftover ribbon to tie the knot without tying the knot dangerously tight. Also, there was even a bit if excess cloth on one end.