Celia looked up to the hole and studied it for a moment and struggled to not imagine Verbena in the space, as that would summon the jade dragoness before the two riders were ready. "I think so."
"I doubt Irin will be able to fit, but if Verbena can I think we have a plan," a large grin spread across Xan's face. "Verbena can swoop down and dive through the hole, grab the ray of light, then flee back to the mountain ridge. Irin can pick us up and carry us over as well. I think if we alert the black dragon it will probably go after Verbena, so she needs all the speed she can muster."
Celia nodded as she stared up to the carvings that lined the sides of the stone tower. "What do we do after we have all four? Will they just combine and go into the sky or something similar?" She remembered the words of the prophet in the dungeon but was unsure about whether or not the crazed man was completely trustworthy.
"I don't know," Xan admitted, "but something good will happen if we have all four rays of light together. It has to be that way."
Celia slowly nodded as she dwelled on the white and black dragons. The black dragon attacked them, so how could it be good? Konrad was definitely not perfectly trustworthy either.
Before the green-cloaked rider could speculate further, a dear and familiar voice rang in Celia's mind. 'CELIA! I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY AGAIN TO CONTACT YOU LATER LIKE IRIN TOLD ME TOO SO PLEASE HEAR ME!!! I WANT YOU TO BE OK!! PLEASE BE ALIVE!'
Celia flinched at the volume of the call but laughed a bit. 'Verbena, I am fine,' she assured, 'the dungeon had some weird magic that blocked our mindlink, but I can hear you now, there is no need to yell.'
'OH THANK THE MOON!' Verbena continued to mentally yell, then quieted a bit. 'I was so worried,' the young dragoness whimpered a bit.
'I am okay,' Celia assured Verbena in a calm mental tone, 'nothing happened that we could not handle.'
Verbena slowly relaxed and lowered her volume, 'I am very glad you are not hurt. What is the city like?'
'Strange,' Celia commented, 'but Xan and I have a plan. You are going to swoop down and steal the ray of light, then get over the mountain as fast as you can fly before the black dragon finds you.' She sent the young dragoness a mental image of the pillar and the hole she was to dive through.
'I can do it!' Verbena trumpeted. 'I will go ahead and go into the sky!' Her voice rang with enthusiasm.
'Not yet!' Celia mentally called. 'We need to wait until more of the town is asleep, it is still too early, and we should make sure Irin is also ready.'
Verbena released a snort that was both mental and physical. 'Fine, but do not make me wait too long.' She huffed slightly.
'It won't be too much longer,' Celia assured her draconic companion, then looked over to Xan. "How long should we wait?"
"I wish we could wait until Orthos arrived, but we have no idea how far behind us they still are right now." Xan glanced around. "They would distract the guards and the black dragon for us, but I think we are still alone for now."
Celia blinked, then slowly nodded in understanding. "So not much longer? How long is that?"
Xan pointed out to the buildings that surround the castle, some of which had lights in the windows. "When more of the lights in the rooms darken, then we can go. That will mean most of the residents are asleep."
Celia nodded and looked out as the temperature continued to drop, but the air was still warmer than the air outside the city. She inhaled and filled her lungs with the damp warmish air, then calmly exhaled as she hoped they would not have to wait too much longer before they finished their quest.
Once more of the lights in the windows dimmed, Xan faced Celia. "Tell Verbena to go ahead and get into the air. I will tell Irin to do the same. Once they are ready, we will grab the ray of light and get out of here as quickly as we can."
Celia nodded to him, then jumped as a distant muffled roar reached her ears from beyond the eastern wall. "I think you got your wish. It sounds like Orthos and the other riders are here." She tilted her head a bit as the distance sounds continued to come in waves as if a fight had broken out.
'Verbena, we are ready, take to the sky, we are ready and we should act fast!' Celia telepathically called to her dragon with urgency ringing in her tone. 'We are going now, so I need you to be ready to be summoned!'
'FINALLY,' Verbena cheered so loudly Celia flinched. After a few brief moments, the jade dragonet's mental voice rang out once again, 'READY!'
"Verbena is ready," Celia looked at Xan.
"Irin is too, let's go." Xan nodded.
Celia took a deep breath, then determinedly stared up to the air near the obelisk. She closed her eyes, then decided against it and opened them once more. She imagined Verbena in flight above the tower in the prime position to enter a dive, and the juvenile dragoness appeared.
After a brief moment to orient herself, Verbena spotted the object of her goal. She tucked her wings to her sides and dove straight towards the hole, only slightly opening her wings when she needed to adjust her trajectory.
The distance between Verbena and the opening atop the tower swiftly decreased. For a split second, Celia was nervous that Verbena would not fit through the hole or miss completely. However, Verbena's aim was true and she shot through the gap in the tower with outstretched claws.
Stone shattered as Verbena broke the thin pedestal that held the magical sphere in place, but in the destruction, her paws managed to wrap around the object of her quest. 'I got it!' She trumpeted as she swiftly rose out of her dive with strong flaps oh her wings. She may have lost a few feathers in the destruction, but that did not matter.
"Now get out of here!" Celia yelled to her draconic companion. "Fly over the mountain as fast as you can! We will meet you there!" By the time Celia finished yelling Verbena was already out of her earshot.
"Celia! Irin!" Xan screamed at her as an angered roar echoed through the town, closer than the last.
"Sorry!" As she climbed the railing, Celia imagined Irin beyond Xan, flying towards them perpendicular to the direction she faced.
When Xan noticed Celia as she climbed the railing, he mimicked her actions and scrambled over the short metal fencing.
Irin appeared exactly where Celia planned. Though it took him a second, the blue dragon quickly realized the plan and flew towards the two riders. Xan leaped onto Irin's back as he passed, and Celia jumped on behind the other rider.
"Let's get out of here!" Xan called as he hooked his feet into the harness loops. He glanced eastward as a massive black object blocked out the stars.
'Of course.' Irin swiftly banked around the parameter of the castle, then increased his altitude to fly over the wall.
"Spearmen!" Xan yelled as he noted the guards readying their weapons. "Irin, Pull up!" He reflexively pulled back on the harness.
Irin flapped hard, but when it became clear he would not safely clear the wall out of the range of the spearmen's throwing arm, he breathed a small stream of fire towards them. The fire petered out before it reached the men, but it blinded and stunned them long enough for Irin to escape over the wall.
Celia released a sigh of relief, then realized Verena had probably faced a similar barrier. 'Verbena! Are you okay? Did the guards hit you with their weapons?' She mentally called out to her best friend.
'I am ok, all the guards that threw sticks at me had terrible aim.' Verbena bragged, and Celia sighed in relief. 'I am too fast for them, and I am already over the mountain.' Celia could sense her draconic grin as she continued to fly.
'We are almost to safety,' Celia glanced back as the sounds of large wingbeats swiftly approached from above. She turned her attention to the nearing mountain peak. "You can do it Irin! Almost there!"
The wingbeats above and behind them stop, and Celia's breath caught in her throat. "You can do it Irin," Celia managed as she barely picked out the nearest snow-covered ridge among the snow-covered mountain range.
Irin barely made it over the mountain when the large hunting beast slammed into where they had been moments before in an explosion of snow. The blue drake slightly inhaled as harmless clumps of dry snow rained down on the three.
"Irin! Are you all right!?" Xan yelled over the air rushing past his face with a hint of panic in his voice.
'It just barely nipped my tail,' Irin replied in a slightly pained voice. "I don't think it is bleeding, but we should go back and meet up with Verbena and put all of the rays of light back together. I will be fine.' He promised as he banked and flew parallel to the endless valley. 'My tail does not hurt much anymore. I think he just grabbed and pulled a few strands of air out.'
Xan nodded as Irin descended, then landed where Verbena was already waiting for them to arrive. The non-glowing ray of light was in the snow in front of her.
'We did it!' Verbena trumpeted with an excited roar.