'Do you think we should stop soon?' Irin asked as he glanced away from the mountains rising in the distance. 'At this time, I doubt the other riders will be able to catch up to us. We have a massive head start.'

Verbena looked out to the jagged peaks in the distance. 'If we get to the mountains first, then we can see about finding a cave to sleep in. Hopefully, one that is warm.' She purred at the thought

The blue dragon glanced up to Xan, then gazed forward again. 'That sounds like a good plan. We have been flying for a while, but I think we can make it before the day ends. After we get some rest, we can probably reach Urre before the night is over.' He focused on the faint glow in the distance.

The pair of dragons continued on their path toward the distant illumination, as they had been since they left Rein. The illumination appeared halfway through the night as the dragons flew across the empty expanse.

What had once taken several nights for Celia and Verbena to cross, now only a couple of nights. This time, they had only stopped to rest once on their journey across the vast wasteland.

With the mountains in view, Verbena wanted to prove to herself how much she had improved. Tiredness would not stop her now when a massive landmark was so close. 'I am not too sore,' she promised Irin and flapped her wings a few times, 'I can make it to the mountain.'

"I don't mind stopping," Celia briefly stroked Verbena's neck before she returned her hand to the harness handle. She tapped into Verbena and could feel the soreness beginning to swell into her muscles.

'I don't want to dig another snow cave.' Verbena snorted and flapped her wings a few more times. She burst ahead of Irin, then glided until the other dragon caught back up to her.

Once he was back alongside Verbena, Irin looked over to the determined gaze on the green female. 'I admire your determination, but we can stop here if you want. I will dig out a snow cave for all of us." He gave her a reassuring purr.

Much to the blue dragon's chagrin, Verbena returned his gesture with a snort. 'I still say we can easily make it.' She set her sights on the mountain ridge in the distance ahead of them.

After a little while of flying, Irin noticed strange shapes on the side of the mountain. His eyes widened as he recognized the dark stone structures covered in snow. 'We can't stay there,' urgency reverberated through his tone as he swiftly banked south And almost flew straight into Verbena. Thankfully, the blue dragon noticed her in time and dove beneath the younger dragon as she reacted.

'What's going on?!' Verbena barked at Irin as she frantically flapped her wings to stop and increase her altitude. "Watch where you are flying! I was here first! This air is mine!' She verbally barked a few more times at Irin.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to nearly run into you." Celia stroked down the fur that rose in Verbena's irritation. However, the human's effort was in vain as the hairs simply stood up again.

'Sorry,' Irin leveled out so his rider could readjust his grip, 'but we can't stay there. It is too close to Snouw for us. The patrols will find us and try to kill us.' He continued on his southwesterly path without skipping a beat.

Verbena huffed, then simply followed the cautious dragon. At first, she remained childishly annoyed. However, as she caught up to the elder dragon, she remembered how the people from that town attacked her when she was simply trying to rest.

'Yup, bad place!' Verbena flapped her wings and raced ahead of the other dragon and rider pair.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Xan's voice barely reached Celia's ears as they passed on the backs of their dragons.

'Verbena, I don't think they have noticed us so you can slow back down.' Irin released a reassuring hum towards the female dragonet. 'I know of a cave that should be far enough to be safe. Allow me to lead.'

Verbena hesitated, then silently allowed Irin to lead her to the location he had in mind. Based on his current trajectory, it was a bit out of the way of their journey to the city of light, but Snouw was too dangerous to stay near for any length of time. Verbena did not want to be nearly captured again.

After a few more minutes, Irin descended towards the mountainside with Verbena not far behind him. 'The cave is somewhere near here,' he instructed as he landed on the unblemished white snow.

Verbena backwinged once, then landed near the blue dragon. 'I don't see a cave,' Verbena noted as she looked around the powder expanse.

"I don't see anything either," Celia agreed as she slid off of Verbena's back. The snow crunched under her feet as she landed knee deep in the powder. She looked up and down the mountainside but still could not spot the cave.

While Xan dismounted from Irin to stretch his sore legs, Celia trudged through the snow for a few paces as she searched for any sign of the cave's secret entrance. However, the human female still failed to spot any indentions or strange shadows that typically signaled a snow-covered cave entrance.

Suddenly, Celia's foot sank down to her hip as she took another step. "Huh?" She squeaked, then screamed as the snow below her fell away and took her with it. When the cave entrance opened, the snow deposited Celia in the cave mouth as the rest of the white powder rolled down the slope.

'Celia! Are you okay?' Irin's And Verbena's mental voices muddled together as they both ran to Celia's aid. Thought the human could tell both of them spoke, she struggled to notice who said which phrase.

"Wait for me!" Xan whined a bit as the dragons, whose wide paws allowed them to easily run across the deep snow, left the boy behind. He grumbled a bit as he slowly walked through the deep powder.

"I am fine," Celia promised as she slowly stood at the entrance of the cave, "and I found the entrance to the cave!" Her voice echoed from deeper within the cave and drew her attention into the depths of the cave. The first few feet of the tunnel was coated in powdery snow, but then the coating became a simple dusting of snow before it faded into darkness beyond the limits of moonlight.

Celia looked up and noticed the ceiling hung only a hand length above her head. Thankfully it had no stalagmites this close to the ceiling, but the human knew that both dragons would have to crawl through this tunnel.

'I'm glad you are all right.' Verbena inserted her head into the hole and gently nuzzled the standing human. 'I was so worried when you fell,' the young dragoness then noticed the smells of the cave. 'I think there is fresh water down there,' her nostrils flared as she scented the slightly warm draft rising from the tunnel.

'And some food as well,' Irin released a reassuring purr as he also approached the entrance. 'I will lead the way, and make sure Celia hangs onto your neck. The sloped floor of this cave system is coated in slick ice as you descend. We have claws to grip the ice, but our riders do not.'

'That sounds reasonable,' Verbena moved her head out of the tunnel and allowed others access to the entrance.

Celia exited the cave as well just as Xan moved to take her place. He wrapped one of his arms around Irin's neck, then walked with the dragon as he descended deeper into the tunnel.

"Wait!" Celia suddenly remembered something and rushed over to Verbena and dug into her saddlebags. After a few moments, Celia pulled out a jar with a glowing flame inside. "Here, now you have light." She offered the glowing magical artifact to Xan.

"You can use it," Xan looked back to her as he lifted his free hand and summoned a glowing ball of light, "I was just going to use my magic, but this way we both have a source of light."

Celia blinked, then slowly nodded as she held the container in one hand and wrapped her other arm around Verbena's neck. "I am ready when you are." She held the fire magic before her as Irin and Xan walked through the tunnel entrance and disappeared into the darkness, only illuminated by Xan's magic.

Celia tightened her grip on both the jar and Verbena as they descended into the cave. She could faintly see Irin's snow armor ahead of them, but she could definitely hear the footsteps.

Claws clicked and scraped against ice. Boots stomped and slid across the slick surface. Though at the surface it was silent, a distant dribble of water reverberated through the cave as they continued deeper.

Celia slipped a few times on the ice, but thankfully the ice disappeared once they were deep enough under the mountain. The air temperature slowly increased above freezing. Though not uncomfortable, the air never warmed to the same warmth as some of the caves in Rien, but the underground tunnel as still superior to the frigid winds and snow of the ground above.

'We are here,' Irin rumbled as he moved to the side so Verbena and Celia could emerge into the same room as he and Xan.

When Verbena entered, she raised her head, only to hit it on the low ceiling. She yelped in pain, then lowered her head and shook off the pain. 'Isn't the ceiling supposed to eventually get higher?' The dragonet grumbled both in the dragon language and in her mental voice so everyone heard her in at least one language.

"It doesn't, but it's a warm place to rest. There are even salamanders and fish in here for you to eat if you want." Xan gestured to the small stream that flowed through the cavern at the base of a chasm.

Verbena turned towards the stream and briefly studied it. 'I guess it will do," she lowered her head to the water, then calmly lapped her fill of the clear subterranean water with her tongue. Once she finished, she calmly raised her ears and listened for the sounds of fish swimming in the moving water.

The green dragonet lunged and plunged her head into the cold water, then quickly removed her head from the water. A pale fish flopped in Verbena's now-green jaws as she proudly raised her head. 'This is my fish,' she stated, undeterred by the frantic flailing the fish made in her maw.

However, the proud display of her catch was quickly interrupted by the ceiling. When her head hit the horizontal surface, the green dragonet yelped in surprise and released her catch, which majestically flopped to the ground, bounced off the rocks, and splashed back into the swiftly flowing stream.

'Hey!' Verbena barked down to the water as if it would return her prize to her. Just like before, her ears listened for the fish, as light was too unreliable in the dark cave. The strange light from either Xan's magic or the bottled magic may cause the food to flee beyond the dragons' reach

As she stared into the dark water, Irin approached her. 'I will help you catch a new one, then we can settle down for the night.' He stood beside her and lowered his head into the same hunting position Verbena previously displayed.

At first, Verbena wanted to tell him that she had this but then decided that she did not mind his presence and took on the challenge of catching two water creatures before he could catch one.

Author Notes!

I am so excited! The book is nearing its Climax!

Woo whoo!