The mouth of the tower overflowed with radiant light, the rays spilling out and stabbing the cold air.
The four pegasi in the group flitted up and rushed inside, Shining watching intently. The creature was fast—very fast: he needed to be sharp. Suddenly, however, nothing happened. Compete silence. No clashes or clattering, shouting or screaming. Tome stuck his head outside.
"It's—not there!"
"Keep sharp!" Silver called.
Shining lead the way back into the tower, his eyes scanning everything.
There wasn't much to the tower, however, and soon everyone was on the top room. They all stood, looking confused and nervously glancing around.
Shining Armor thought quickly.
"Every single one of you stay alert. I will return to the Empire and get help; I'll be back within the day. And keep that whisky out of your muzzle!"
Silver nodded thoughtfully and began gesturing silent commands. Without a single salute, Shining began galloping down and out, charging up his horn for a quick teleportation.
- - -
Phelora gasped, heavily. But no matter how much air she gulped down, she couldn't get enough. Her limbs were weak and her lungs almost giving up, her heart pounding hard enough to hurt.
Teleportation was not. Fun.
"Vorra help me," she wheezed.
But she did it. It was a risk, but she made it outside and far enough away to hide relatively quickly.
Phelora shakily reached into her side bag and withdrew a small pouch. She haphazardly opened it, reavealing the blue-ish dust inside, and tossed it into her mouth, followed quickly by a gulp from her flask.
Better, but not by much.
Careful not to reveal herself, she looked around. She quickly saw a nearby crag, short as it may have been, and slinked over to it, thankful for the creep-like nearing of the night.
When she got close to it, her eyes widened.
A cave. What a pleasant surprise.
Phelora brushed back her white hair and tightened her silk scarf again, ignoring the burning of her ears. She tossed an opal into the opening in the earth and winced when it clattered a little more than she would have liked.
The stone chased a little bit o the darkness away and no sounds responded, so she crept inside. She retreived the shining opal and slid deeper. It was just a small cave—she could not even stand up straight—but it was deep.
Phelora made sure to hide deep inside, where not even the slightest of her light's rays would reach the surface, and she layed down.
"Sleep? Pah."