Celia stumbled back down the long tunnel to the dungeon, or at least she assumed the dungeon as her destination. Though she was grateful that she did not receive the same treatment as Xan, she still desired to refrain from angering the Ulven any further in case that changed. She took deep, calming breaths under the mask of darkness created by the bag over her head to keep her from further losing her mind to fear.

Her mind raged with uncertainty at what fate held next. She suspected the third lost ray of the sun was here but had no way to get to it. Furthermore, she doubted the Ulven would ever willingly hand it over if their protective and secretive ways offered any clues to their nature.

Celia continued to contain her hyperventilation in calming breaths, just as she had been taught by her mother long ago. The female human missed her family terribly and feared she would never see them again. She would never sleep under the wings of Nami or Chrome or embrace her mother in a hug.

She also wondered what sort of welcome she would receive. Would she be welcomed as a hero, or would she be punished? She left without permission, without training, without guidance. As with the nature of fate, uncertainty wracked her mind and life in both the present and the future.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar snort reach her ears. 'Verbena!' She mentally cheered in the recognition that she would at least be reunited with her draconic friend. Even though she would be thrown into a cell, at Celia sighed in relief that she would be with her friend again.

However, when the Ulven guards removed the bag from over her head, an empty cell stood waiting before her. After the guards removed the chains, one of them roughly shoved her in the back. She stumbled forward, then tripped over her own feet and fell onto her hands an knees and winced as pain spiked through her left knee and stung the palms her hands.

The door closed behind her with a loud clang and the Ulven guards placed a chain to lock the cell and keep it closed.

Celia blinked and looked back to the metal bars, "No!" She called out and staggered to his feet as the Ulven walked away. "This isn't the same one!" She stumbled over to the bars, then grabbed the gently glowing metal in her hands.

An angered growl echoed as the guards passed the cell next to Celia's current containment unit in the curved tunnel. The growl quickly turned into a roar, and something large slammed into the metal bars.

The Ulven guards shouted in unintelligible exclamation, then returned to their stoic silence. Based on the lack of further yells from the Ulven, Celia believed the magic chain remained secure and an angered Verbena was still contained in Celia's original cell. Though magic inhibited the mindlink, between Celia and Verbena, the dragonet did not need to speak for her human rider to understand her anger.

Celia pulled and pushed against the bars in an attempt to force them to budge more than the minuscule amount the chain allowed, but to no avail. Celia emitted a whimper of loneliness, and she desired to be in the comfort of Verbena's presence. She swiftly understood how Xan possibly felt without Irin by his side, and the jealousy he may have had for Celia when she accidentally summoned Verbena to her side.

After a few more moments of panic, Celia remembered how Verbena had gotten into the Ulven tunnels into the first place: the returning ribbon. Celia's heart flared with hope, but she knew she should not teleport Verbena into the cell while the Ulven was possibly within hearing range. They would notice the sudden silence from the still- growling, angry dragonet whom the Ulven had denied the presence of her best friend and rider in the same cell as her.

Celia ignored the pain in her left knee as she paced to pass the time and waited for the footsteps of Ulven to fade out of earshot. The magic in the bars inhibited her mindlink with Verbena, but Celia believed that the returning ribbon still worked despite the magical field.

Once Celia could no longer hear the rhythmic footsteps of the guards, she ceased her pacing and attempted to repeat the accidental event of before her interrogation. After another deep breath to settle her nerves, she set her gaze into the corner of the room and imagined Verbena with her in the cell. Just like before, green dragonet appeared before the human female, much to the relief of the latter.

At first, Verbena continued her growl at the bars, then paused when she once again felt Celia's mindlink and pulled her human into a draconic hug. 'I'm so glad you fine.' Verbena purred and nuzzled the human.

Celia smiled in relief and hugged the now-dry dragonet, 'I'm glad you were not hurt either,' She exhaled her pent-up anxiety. After a moment of peace, Celia looked to Verbena with another sigh, 'I don't know if the Ulven will help us. They didn't say they didn't have the ray of light, but I do not think they will be willing to help us. The Guard Guild Master become angry and irritable when I mentioned Xan and I had come here to ask about the ray of light.'

Verbena blinked, then nuzzled Celia, 'we will be fine,' She promised, 'will complete our quest," she purred softly and held her head high in assured optimism. "Our quest too important!"

A thin smile crept along Celia's face at her friend's enthusiasm, even though the human herself had reservations. 'Thank you Verbena.'

Verbena wagged her tail a bit and nuzzled Celia's uncovered cheek. 'I happy to make you happy.

In response, Celia emitted a soft giggle, then blinked in realization and whispered to herself, "I left a lot of my protective wear in the other cell," she paused, then shook her head, "I'll worry about that later." She promised herself.

Verbena blinked but understood and released Celia from the hug. 'So what did they do to you? They didn't hurt you, right?' She sniffed Celia over in search of the smell of blood that signaled a wound.

At the same time, Xan's voice spoke into the echoing abyss, "Celia? Are you okay? I hope you didn't get the same treatment as me."

"I am mostly unhurt," Celia assured, "but what happened to you? It sounded like you were unconscious when they brought you back here and took me. Are you hurt? Will you be all right?"

"Bruised, but fine," Xan assured in a soft voice, then asked her a question: "why weren't you knocked out like I was?"

"I—I do not know," Celia answered, "all I did was tell the truth. They got angry when I told them we were here toast about the rays of the sun, but they did not attack me." She paused them admitted something to herself, "though they were a bit rougher with me when they walked me back down here. They were a bit rough with us when they kidnapped us, but I do not think that it was as bad as this time." She gently rubbed the abrasions on her knees.

"Lucky," Xan huffed.

"What was the process like for you?" Celia asked, then added, "if you don't mind telling me, that is."

Xan remained silent for a moment, then spoke, "I answered their questions honestly, but then they asked me about why I was here, I told them I was your guide and that you wanted to meet the Ulven since you had never met one. The lantern in the room strangely dimmed, and the head guard glared at me as if he knew something I didn't. He made me uncomfortable, then asked about Verbena.

"I told him that your dragon was an ally that gave us assistance in traveling across the frozen land quickly, but I did not know exactly how you obtained her assistance and the lantern returned to its normal brightness.

"Then, the head guard asked what you wanted to accomplish by coming here," he held his breath and hesitated.

"Xan?" Celia spoke after a few moments, "What happened?"

"I told them that we had no goals to accomplish, and the lantern went out. Then, I think a spell hit me from behind and I became unconscious," his voice silenced after the final sentence, and the three of them remained in awkward silence.

"I'm glad you are at least okay—" Celia spoke after a few moments, then froze as footsteps once again echoed down the hall.

These footsteps rang at a swift tempo, and a female Ulven slid into Celia's view. "There you are," she panted, then touched the chains holding the metal bars to the wall with a strange glowing sphere.

The glowing chains dissolved and the Ulven opened the door. "Quickly, you must get out of here." She shoved a small package into Celia's hand along with the small sphere she used to remove the chains. "The guards will soon return to her posts," she dropped both Xan's and Celia's packs from her back.

As she dropped the travel sacks, Celia uncovered the small bundle and looked at the contents. Much to her surprise, she recognized the spherical object and looked up to Hytha with a gaze of shock and gratitude. "A ray of sunlight?" She managed to squeak in her amazement, "than—thank you." A large smile spread across her face, "thank you so much, I don't know how to repay you for this."

After seeing the gift herself, Verbena looked to the Ulven and made a soft sound to her, "ruurr," which Celia also heard as "Thank you, Hytha."

The female Ulven, Hytha, nodded, "I am glad to help those on a noble quest. Now, show your gratitude by returning the sun to the world." She showed them a soft smile, then sprinted back the way she had come.

Celia blinked as the echoes of Hytha's frantic footsteps faded down the tunnel. Once the shock had passed, she sprang into her feet and leaped into action. "We need to get out," she swiftly rewrapped the ray of light in the cloth covering and stuffed it into her sack until it was secure among her supplies, then put the small chain dissolving sphere into the safety of one of her pockets.

After she sealed the bag, she slung it onto her back as she stood, then dragged Xan's bag over to his cell. "Xan," she used the magic ball Hytha previously gave her to remove the cage, "let's get out of here." She left his possessions by the door, then ran to retrieve the clothing from the center cell as Xan gathered his supplies.

"How are we going to get out exactly?" Xan asked skeptically as he situated his pack on his back and Celia returned the rest of her protective gear onto her person. "I have no idea how we were lucky enough to have someone free us, or why that Ulven freed us. It makes no sense."

"I am going to take it as a blessing." Celia finally slid her gloves onto her hands, then ran back to Verbena and vaulted onto the dragonet's back. "Hop on," she instructed Xan as she looked to him.

Xan blinked, but obeyed and climbed onto Verbena's back, "do either of you know the way out of here?"

"No," Celia admitted as Verbena broke into a run.

Author Notes:

Will they make it? 

Find out next week!

See you then!