Night Fury's Venom

Part 46: Downward Spiral

Three days.

Three days was all it took to almost lose everything I had. The madness was progressing much faster than last time, and the heavy emptiness in my chest was very distracting. The subconscious pawing at my missing tail-fin happened more frequently, and no matter what I tried, I just couldn't stop. Another problem was my temper. It seemed to spike far more often than before, leading to me lashing out at Star when she finally returned.

I used to be Hiccup the Useless, a kid who could kick a plank of wood out of frustration, causing it to catapult a chicken into the face of a Viking, which would create a chain of events that ended up sinking a ship in the harbor. Back then, I wished I had a different life, one where I wasn't the village screwup, and I could've finally made my father proud.

I got my wish, partially. I did get a new life, one where I was strong and not as much of a screwup, and I had a dragon mate and family. Unfortunately, it was riddled with misfortune as well, and even now, I was slowly slipping into insanity.

I slapped my tail aside again—annoying little bugger.

Right, I was losing my mind, but not in the way most people say it when they're stressed or annoyed. I meant that literally, my mind was doing whatever it wanted whenever it wanted. Last time I was asleep, I jumped awake and nearly tore out my mother's throat. If I was awake, I could become hostile toward anyone if they so much as spoke to me. Apparently, there have been a few times where Mom or Star had to tackle me when I attempted to leap off this cave's cliff trying to fly. I didn't remember any of that, but they claimed I had.

Mom, as promised, stayed by my side and attempted to keep me sane, and after the first day, Star decided to do the same. Star's reason was something along the lines of wanting Stormfly and me to give her grandkids—much to my discomfort.

Speaking of Stormfly, she was quickly recovering from her illness, looking healthier every day. I still worried about her, she hasn't had food or water for a while, but I didn't know for sure how long dragons could go without them.

I didn't know her as this dragon—which I learned were called 'Light Ones'—, only as a Spine-Tail, but I hoped her personality would be the same. I tried to not look at her most of the time, only feeling guilty whenever I did.

I could only hope I would still be me when she woke up.

(^-^)

The first sensation I was aware of was despair, mercilessly yanking me from my slumber and into the waking world. I cringed from the onset of my depression, taking a deep breath, and letting it out slowly. My body felt like it was covered in heavy rocks, only the voices around me keeping me from going back to sleep.

Curious, I forced my eyelids to open, making them move exceptionally slowly, threatening to close if I let up. My sight was blurry, only showing a dim purple light around me and two blobs moving frantically in front of me. The voices grew louder when my eyes finally opened entirely. I tried to force my sluggish brain to focus on the gibberish I was hearing, my vision following suit.

"...fly, wake up!" I knew that voice.

"You're dehydrated and malnourished! Stormfly, stay awake!" Ah... what does it matter? Sleeping is better than bad feelings. My eyes began to droop again. So much better...

"Oh, no you don't!" A hard whack on my head startled me awake again, eliciting a weak groan. A white head quickly moved in front of my face, her nose very close to mine. "Hey, yeah! Wake up and swallow this!" The dragon stood up and pushed some slushy, white stuff in front of my face. "Open your mouth!" I begrudgingly complied, feeling like I was using my last scraps of energy—it very well might have been.