Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 80: Whatever It Takes [Part 2]

-Apologies for the wait. I'm doing my best to get my schedule back to what it used to be. Anywho, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

-NFD

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"AGH!" I jolted awake with a shout, looking around wildly for the object of my terror. Only the dark rock of a cave and musty air greeted me, along with the soft stirring of two imprisoned creatures nearby. My pounding heart gradually slowed, fading just like my nightmare slipped away from recent memory.

I shook my head with a stressed groan. "Just a nightmare," I murmured. I had been getting a lot of those lately, though that might be because of recent events. Due to some... unfortunate circumstances, I'd gone into hiding. The place I once called home now felt sinister and dangerous, and I hadn't returned to my master in a while. He was surely upset with me by now, but knowing what I knew now made me hesitant to trust him.

So, I hid in Caligo's torture chamber. This was likely the last place my master would think to look, as he still believed I didn't know it existed. Probably. Hopefully. Still, I would've expected to see one of his minions enter to check up on Caligo and Anari, at the very least, but that never happened. Was my master distracted? Was he planning something?

"Ugh, quit it with the yelling," Caligo grumbled, the clinking of chains signaling her movements. "I'm trying to sleep here."

"Ya don't need sleep," Anari retorted groggily. "Just be glad you're not being tormented right now."

"I can imitate it to escape into my dreams, stupid mortal," Caligo snapped. "And don't jinx it. I'm not exactly impatient to suffer pointless agony."

Before they could argue more, a low growl filled the silence.

I smiled awkwardly, lowering my wings to hide my protesting stomach. "Eheh..."

"Some food would be nice," Anari stated with a sigh. "Where are those dark things, anyway?"

"Damn mortals," Caligo grumbled. "Such high-maintenance. Those aberrations are busy doing my former master's bidding elsewhere, so I wouldn't count on being fed anytime soon."

I frowned. "How do you know?"

Caligo snorted. "Despite his change of heart for his avatar, I still hear his commands from time to time. He's searching for the clever creatures."

"Clever creatures?" I echoed, bemused. "Why don't I hear it, too?" In fact, I hadn't heard from my master in quite some time. Had he abandoned me as well? And what were the 'clever creatures?'

"I'm blocking all outside influences," Anari replied evenly. "It would be pointless to fix your mind and let the reason for your condition back in."

That was surprising. "You can do that even in your sleep?"

"More or less. It's a bit difficult to preserve my magic reserves at the same time, but I manage."

"Yeah, yeah, enough chit-chat," Caligo huffed. "If we have any hope of getting out of here alive, you two need that stupid food-stuff to survive. And, considering two of us are trapped, that leaves one option."

I blinked, taking an embarrassingly long time to understand what they meant. My ears drooped. "W-Wait, me?"

"'Fraid so," Anari confirmed.

"No, no, no," I denied, shaking my head. "Not happening." My master was surely furious about my absence, and if I was caught taking food to feed myself and a prisoner, especially a prisoner I wasn't supposed to know existed, there was no telling what he'd do to me.