Celia gazed out to the collection of people before her from her position on the stone stage. The faces I the crowd ranged from overjoyed and excited to skeptical and unsure of the four beings brought onto the stage. Though overall the atmosphere was positive, a sense of nervousness and dread still hung over the female dragon rider's head and mind. Guilt tugged at her heart, but she refused to listen to it.

Xan unnoticeably fidgeted from his place to Celia's right and tried to stay focused on the Guild Master. However, most of his nervousness remained hidden beneath his brave facade.

Guild Master Orthos took center stage and addressed the crowd. "Last night brought us the return of Verbena the Green And Celia. While they were lost in the wilderness, they found and brought back a new rider pair, Irin the Blue and his chosen, Xan." The guild master beckoned to someone waiting offstage as he spoke, and a man with five bars on the sleeve of his red cloak stepped onto the stage with a folded blue cloak in his arms.

The man offered the blue cloak to Xan. The outsider blinked for a few moments, then gingerly picked the royal blue cloak up and unfolded it. Thought it the cloak contained no stripes on the sleeve, it was still a symbol of his acceptance into the guild, much as Celia's had been. After a pause to examine the cloak, Xan eagerly slipped his arms through the sleeves and put the clothing item on.

"Please make Xan and Irin feel welcome." As the guild master motioned to Xan and Irin, the Meal Hall erupted into loud celebratory exclamations from humans and dragons alike.

Even the dragons trumpeted in welcome, and a chorus of mental draconic voices reached Celia and Xan's mind. Though she could not hear any words from any singular dragon amongst the background of other voices, they still conveyed a sense of welcoming and camaraderie.

'I never thought I would be accepted into and aaven again,' Irin awed and wags his tail a bit as he released a happy purr. 'It feels wonderful to be accepted again. And by dragons bonded to a human like me!'

Verbena stepped closer to the blue dragon the stage and gently intertwined the tip of her green tail with Irin's tail. She released a quiet purr of her own, 'I always accepted you.'

Irin blinked and glanced to Verbena, then gently wrapped the tip of his tail around Verbena's tail tip in return of the gesture.

Orthos raised a hand to silence the crowd, and the cheers eventually subsided. "A new rider among our ranks is not the only good news," the guild master pulled out a satchel from where it had been hidden beneath his white cloak. He reached inside the bag and retrieved a bundle of black cloth.

Many people watched him with wide, curious eyes as Orthos held the thick black cloth in front of him in a single hand. He carefully held the cloth in one of his large hands while he unwrapped the fabric. He dropped the final section that blocked everyone's view and revealed three crystal spheres.

"They have also returned with two rays of light." He held up the two dull spheres. Though initially, the two smooth objects remained dark, after a few moments, a golden glow appeared in the center and bathed the room in a golden light. "So now, we have three of the rays of light. If the records made by Levi, the First Rider, are correct, only a single ray of light remains."

Once the guild master finished speaking, the room immediately erupted into joyous cheers even louder than the previous outburst of celebratory yells. Even dragons who previously remained silent roared and trilled loudly. Some of the humans in the room stood and clapped their hands. Even those who remained seated stemmed their feet, while other people raised their fingers to their lips and whistled. 

Though initially caught up in the revelry, Celia quickly became a bit distracted. While the rest of the room cheered at the reveal, she looked out to the crowd as glimmers caught her eyes. The pieces of sunlight illuminated the room in a warm golden hue and shimmered against the bits of metal silverware and harness clasps.

After a moment, the walls also caught her eyes. The glow overpowered the bioluminescence of the mosses and mushrooms paled in comparison to the light of the fragment. However, the dark walls beneath the plant coating seemed to sparkle under the influence of the bright sunlight.

To Celia, the walls appeared mystically strange without the glow from the plants and mushrooms, but at the same time, beautiful. The walls and ceilings glittered like stars. She silently admitted to her self that she never really noticed the beauty in what she previously thought of as mundane tunnels.

The guild master eventually silenced the room with a raise of his hand. Once most of the noise quieted, he spoke in a loud voice that quelled the remaining noises. "Now, let us enjoy our food and celebrate this moment."

With one final cheer, the servers brought out the meal for the food part of the feast. Though the amount of food on the plate was no more than it would be on a normal day, the dragons at least got a small treat.

Guild Master Orthos turned to the two rider and dragon pairs with him on the stage as he carefully wrapped the black cloth over the rays of light. "You four may go find seats and get some food." He gingerly placed the cloth package and its contents into his satchel as if he was placing a dragon egg inside the bag.

"Thank you Guild Master Orthos," Celia nodded to her leader, then walked off the stage. Xan, Verbena, and Irin followed her down the carved stone steps.

Verbena nudged Irin with her wing, "Let's go get a snack," she flashed a draconic grin and bobbed her head towards the large aaven of dragons, "and introduce you to the rest of the aaven."

Irin looked to the large group as servers gave each dragon a small piece of meat and a green lichen biscuit. He hesitated, but an encouraging coo from Verbena encouraged him enough that he followed her.

A large black female dragon approached Irin and purred in the vocal language of dragons, "welcome, I am Ralfakeen Curriage. My mate, Ralfa Valiant is currently guarding the nesting caves, but I believe you have already met him."

Irin bowed his head and allowed the dominant female access to the scent glands between his ears so she could sniff them. His wings remained pinned to his sides as he tried to contain his trembling. The drake desired to look up to the female, but he knew it would be impolite and could be taken as a sign of cowardice or distrust. All he could do was shut his eyes and wait for the ralfakeen to finish her evaluation.

The alpha queen hummed as she sniffed Irin's head. Ralfakeen regally raised her wings, then lifted a paw and rubbed the scent glands on her paws across his feather crest. "Welcome, Drake Irin, to Aaven Farcana." She removed her paw from Irin's head and allowed him to lift his head.

"May it fly forever!" Irin trumpeted as he raised his head to look at his new Ralfakeen. Though he was still somewhat nervous, some of his fear faded with his acceptance. He gazed to the other dragons as they approached to sniff and greet him, "thank you for welcoming me into your aaven." 

Verbena gently brushed her wing against Irin's wing in an attempt to assure him that he had a familiar friend with him.

Irin purred in gratitude and gently returned the gesture with a wing touch of his own. He gratefully nodded to her, then glanced over to Xan to check on him.

Xan glanced up from his food, grateful that except for the few people who smiled and welcomed him. Though outwardly he appeared calm, nervousness still wracked his mind as he shoveled another stone forkful of food into his mouth.

"So what do you think of Rien?" An unfamiliar person sat on the bench next to Xan and smiled at him. "I hope you aren't too overwhelmed, it's just that we have never heard of a rider from outside of our guild. And I admit it is a bit exciting."

Xan swallowed and looked to the rider and answered as Xan's grey eyes met with the rider's blue-green ones. "It is a bit overwhelming," Xan admitted, "and I am still getting used to the idea that there is a city of dragon riders. There is not anything like it back in the west."

The rider in the cloak the same color as his irises nodded in understanding. "Well, I hope that you like it here." the young blue rider smiled, "by the way, my name is Lucas, Initiate class. Do you know which class you will be entering?"

"It's nice to meet you," Xan expertly hid his anxiousness and flashed a confident smile, "and no, Orthos has not tested Irin and I yet, and I do not understand the ranks well enough to have a guess."

Lucas nodded in understanding, "I will let you finish your meal then, and I hope you enjoy the guild and the town."

Xan nodded as the aqua-cloaked rider stood and walked away, then glanced to Celia, who was listening in on the conversation but pretending to be focused on her food. Xan looked to the last bits of food on his plate, then swiftly ate them. Once he finished, he turned to the green rider next to him, "hey Celia, I think I am ready to go back to my room." He subtlely placed emphasis on the word go and spoke in a slightly loud voice. "This is all a bit overwhelming," he fabricated an excuse, "so can you help me find my room since I do not know my way around the tunnels?"

Celia blinked and looked up to Xan, then nodded as realization spread across her face. "Let's take our dishes back, then I will lead you back to your room." She stood and picked up her plate. "I'll tell Verbena that we are leaving, and you tell Irin." She motioned for Xan to follow her to the kitchen access window.

Xan stood and followed her to the carved out access window and placed his plate down on the counter.

"Let's head out," Celia nodded to Xan, then walked to the exit, where Irin and Verbena were already waiting.

'Thy accepted me! I am in an aaven!' Irin purred and nuzzled Xan in his excitement. 'I am part of an aaven!' 

Xan laughed happily and stroked Irin's head, "that's wonderful!" Xan smiled, "I know you want to spend time with them, but thank you for coming with me." Xan attempted to hide what they were actually planning in case anyone overheard them as the four left the meal hall.

Verbena fidgeted in slight excitement as she trotted down the hallway with Celia. 'We can save Roahla!' She bounded a bit and got a bit ahead of the rest of the group, then paused when she reached an intersection. Once the green dragonet determined she did not know which way to go, she allowed Celia to catch up and retake the lead.

Celia smiled at Verbena as they walked to the sapphire tunnel. When they reached Celia's room, the human female ducked into the curtain. She grabbed the saddlebags and dragged them out of the room. "Here we go,' Celia said as she attached the bags to Verbena's harness.

Celia looked to Xan, "all right, let's go." With a quick nod, she vaulted onto Verbena's back.

"Right, it will be faster if the dragons take off as soon as we get out." Xan nodded, then turned to Irin as the dragon kneeled slightly.

'You don't need to kneel anymore, the harness has a loop for Xan to climb on to your back with," Verbena snorted a bit.

'I guess it is a habit,' Irin hummed.

"We can practice the proper stuff later," Xan climbed onto Irin's back. He hesitated for a moment, then used Celia's posture as a guide to where to place his hands an feet. Though it was not perfect he at least had a general idea. "This feels kinda weird. I'm used to sitting upright in front of the wings, not kneeled above them," Xan slowly admitted.

"It takes a bit of time to get used to," Celia nodded, "But it is not too bad when you finally get that far."

Irin shifted and tested the movement of his wings, 'I think it will be nice to not have to worry about my wings brushing Xan's legs,' the blue dragon settled his wings to his sides, 'and my wings do not rest atop his legs either.'

'Let's head out," Xan looked to Celia, "the sooner we leave the better. Fewer riders will be in the tunnels if we leave now."

"Right," Celia nodded, "let's go now. I cannot think anything else we need here." She urged Verbena down the tunnel.

Verbena nodded and trotted forward with Irin followed him. 'Ray of light, here we come," a draconic grin spread across her face.

After a few moments, the temperature noticeably dropped. "Almost there," Celia glanced back to Xan and Irin, then looked forward as they rounded the final corner. She grinned as the exit came into view.

However, a figure stood in the entryway and brought both dragons to a halt. The figure's white cloak partially camouflaged him against the snowy background. "I had a feeling this is what you were planning."

Author Notes!

I am going to guess that you all know who that figure is, but don't let me stop you from saying who you think it is in the comments!

Also, there is only fifteen chapters left until the book is over!

Don't worry, chapters will be more frequently posted once we get to the last ten chapters. I haven't decided between every weekday or Monday, Wednesday, and Friday updates. I will take your feedback on what you guys think, but it also comes down to how many chapters are finished ahead of time when the time comes.

It kinda makes me sad that the story is almost over, but at the same time I have had so much fun writing this story. One day, I may even publish it for real. Though I know a lot of work needs to be done first. This is just a rough draft.