Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 77: Bonds

-I'm back! For the most part. This chapter and the next chapter will be emotional for a certain duo, who haven't had the "screen time" they deserve... until now. I'm sure some of you have been waiting for this for a while.

Anywho, for the most part, I'm getting back into the groove of writing. It's still tough after what's happened, but I've taken the time to care for myself mentally, and I'm still working on that. So, my update schedule isn't set just yet, but the wait time won't be as long, now that I'm getting better. Thank you for bearing with me, everyone.

Now, enjoy!

-NFD

~~~

"Master's gonna be so mad..."

~Good. That means you're doing the right thing.~

I couldn't believe what I was doing. I had clearly gone insane. Speaking to, let alone cooperating with, a sworn enemy had to be the worst thing I've ever done. Yet, despite the complete wrongness of my actions, I did it anyway.

And I did it all because a voice in my head told me it was the right thing to do.

Head held low, I stared nervously into the next cage, seeing two frightened dragons huddled against the back of their prison. One looked prickly, while the other was skinny and long. I felt like I should know the names of their species, but the words were frustratingly out of reach. It was on the tip of my tongue! I just couldn't remember. 

"...Sorry," I whispered, the word tasting like bile as I tossed a large lump of food into the cage and moved on. 

I listened to the voice for two reasons. First of all, it knew things. It spoke about things I knew nothing about, but its voice hinted that what it said should be common knowledge. The more I listened, the more I noticed... blanks in my head. I hadn't wondered why I didn't have a name. I didn't know what I was. I couldn't remember the names of the species around me; I'd merely called them 'dragons' without a second thought. The voice knew me. Taught me how to be curious. I learned things. Interesting things.

Secondly, it promised something better than killing others. A family. I didn't know what that was, but my chest hurt when I thought about it. It was a longing hurt, a needing hurt. It said that a family was something that lasted forever, while the joy of killing was fleeting. I could only kill so much until there was nothing left to kill. Supposedly, I had a family out there, and they were waiting for me, but...

I couldn't remember them.

That frustrated me the most. I couldn't remember. I felt so insignificant when the voice spoke to me. It talked about things I'd never heard of, making what I thought I knew about the world merely a speck of dust compared to what they knew. It was worse knowing that I was right on the edge of remembering things, but I always fell short.

The next cage had one dragon in it—a fat one. It didn't look afraid of me, only hopeful. "I knew you wouldn't stay bad," it spoke, their voice inexplicably deep. "I knew it."

I tipped my head to the side and furrowed my brows in confusion. "Stay... bad?"

The dragon nodded. "You're a prisoner just like us, right? Don't you remember sparing me?"

There it was, that frustrating feeling again. "I spared you...?"

~Aurora, they're coming.~

I hesitated, uncertain, then tossed the last of the food inside. "Never mind," I whispered before darting to the nearest wall and disappearing from sight.