Dawn's Light

Chapter 11

Verbena paused and glanced back to the human with a draconic smirk, then replied, "I am glad you see things my way." She adjusted her wings to further increase her decent, then landed roughly on her hind paws before her forelimbs hit the ground. The rough touchdown nearly threw Celia off of Verbena's back and onto the snow since the dragonet bucked slightly when her front limbs hit the ground.

Celia let her feet touch the ground and slid the rest of the way to the ground. "Maybe we should work on landing a bit more," she groaned slightly as she stretched out her limbs, "that was a bit of a hard landing, but it was a great first try with weight on your back." She stroked the dragonet's head in affirmation of the praise. "You just need more practice, and then you will be a master of landing. Then you will become the best lander in the guild, I know it!"

'I did tried!' Verbena cheered, 'I will get better! You will see!' She purred as she also pranced around in a circle of happiness, then nudged Celia's hand before nuzzling the human through her warm clothing. The frost and ice accumulating on her fur made it a bit more uncomfortable on Celia's side to be nuzzled, but the rider did not mind too much as long as the dragonet were happy.

Celia smiled, then surveyed the area, only to flinch slightly as a sudden breeze caught her off guard. Though her clothing was made for the wind, the cold air still surprised Celia since her only experience in the outside world was when she was not riding a dragon. Also, the wind would make it hard for Celia to hold the stolen, or as she preferred, borrowed, map in her gloved hands.

Typically the cold air was stagnant, but occasionally the atmosphere stirred like an aerial earthquake. Celia looked to a large hole in the ground. "Can you lower me into there? It should protect us from the wind."

Vebena looked at the shadowed space, then nodded as she spread her wings and launched back into the sky with a singe flap of her wings and scattered the lightweight flakes of snow from where they had been previously settled. The swarm of loose snowflakes briefly blinded Celia, but she managed to see Verbena as she hovered above the human.

When Verbena was in position, Celia reached up and grabbed the dragonet's frosted forelimbs as Verbena also reached down to grab her rider. Once Verbena had a secure grasp, she lifted the human a few feet off of the ground and gently flew towards the sinkhole.

Now that Celia's feet were no longer on the ground, she became nervous and panicked slightly as waves of regret washed over her. "Maybe we shouldn't have done this!" She yelled.

Verbena sensed the rider's nervousness heard her cry and became worried and nervous as well, then cautiously placed her human down on the untouched snow at the bottom of the pit. The dragonet landed beside the human and worriedly looked at her. 'Celia?' Verbena nuzzled Celia's cloth-covered face in concern.

"I'm fine." Celia assured. "I just was not exactly prepared. I had no idea what that was going to feel like until I was already off of the ground." She reached up and stroked Verbea's head in order to further assure the dragon, "I'll be better prepared next time and I do not think I will panic as much next time."

Verbena nuzzled Celia one last time for good measure, 'I'm glad you are alright now.' She purred slightly. 'I was worried about you for a moment there.' She looked up and down Celia as if double-checking the human's word on her health. 'I care about you, you my friend.'

Celia smiled a bit and placed a hand on Verbena's head, "thank you for caring so much about me," she said, then focused her attention on the deep pit surrounding the duo while stroking the monochromatic dragonet's head.

The walls of the pit were steep and rough with piles of rocks at the base piled around the edges and probably covered the bottom of the pit under the layers of frozen water beneath the duo's feet. As with everything in Roahla, the pit and everything in it was covered in densely packed layers of snow and ice that had been there for many cycles. After spending so much time with air rushing past her form, Celia was thankful to be shielded from the strange light breeze.