Wings Of Fire (WOF) : A dark family affair

Chapter 3

Nightjar awoke with a start, open-mouthed and gasping for breath. The room was darkened by the night that had fallen, leaving only the faint glow of a single moon, the others hidden in the gloom. She stood still for a moment, trying to find her breath. Her lungs felt as if they had not been filled with air for ages.

Her ears were bombarded by the incessant noise of the rain and wind that had risen, mirroring the mess in her head. She worriedly touched her head, her neck then looked at her body by turning her neck and turned around to better observe her tail. Her body did not answer her any more but she did not resist either. She felt the urgency to make a general statement of her health.

Once she calmed down, Nightjar was still terrified but reassured at the same time. "I'm alive..." she thought with emotion. Her vision blurred and she began to cry in the room, empty of company to comfort her. She unloaded so much of her emotions that she thought she would dry up completely. She was terrified of that nightmare. She had vague memories of it but one thing was clear in her mind. She had faced death, the existential void.

That feeling of losing control of herself, of not being able to do anything about her destiny. Although she was whole, she was consumed by the feeling of her head that had left her body for a moment. She wanted to chase away this sensation, she wanted to lock it up, to crush it but it remained stuck to her, like a gnat that never leaves its victim. Except that the gnat turned out to be a bee. A bee that had already cruelly planted its stinger in the body of the weak dragoness.

Reality quickly caught up with Nightjar's fatal thoughts. Her belly was bringing her back to her senses, demanding its due. She was terribly hungry. "It is true I haven't eaten anything since this morning" she reminded herself. If there was anything the hybrid had in common with mudwings, it was that she had the same appetite as them. Hoping that her family had had a flash of insight (and that eating would comfort her in her misery), she hurried to the kitchen. Even a fresh fish would do.

As Nightjar moved closer to her lust, she heard voices in the distance in the room next door to the two parents, stopping curiously in her tracks. From the loud flow that came from them, she deduced that they were both having a hectic argument, which was rare for them. "Why are they still up ?". She was even more curious when she thought she heard her name. After a moment of reflection, she took the risk of listening at the door.

She moved closer until she heard the two parents clearly: "Please calm down, you'll wake up the children. You already knew how it was going to happen to her, your behavior is ridiculous. said calmly the male voice of Alligator.

- Yes, thank you for reminding me, but it's still hard to lie to her, to act like you're lying to her.

- The only thing you lied to her about was her adoption. You loved her and I loved her like our children.

- But things souldn't have gone that way. She may never know them, do you realize that ?

- Well, tell her the truth then !" the powerful dragon finally said. 

The room suddenly stopped emitting sound. After a few seconds Root resumed the conversation. "I - I can't... I'm too afraid of her reaction. She will hate us for this. We can't go back, do you understand ? complained the mother of the family, It has been too long since the we kept the secret."

If there was one thing Nightjar abhorred, it was low masses, just like her siblings. All of them had sworn never to talk about anyone behind their backs, as the adults had taught them, so as not to create conflict among the dragonets. It was a basic rule of family life. "Secrets only bring unhappiness most likely."