Silence. The air had suddenly become heavy around them. "Rejected !" The words echoed like the sound of a drum in Nightjar's mind. She refused to turn in her mother's direction, afraid of the judgment she would face when she looked into her eyes. It was obvious to her that she had disappointed her mother.
Nightjar had never felt the urge to join the military, but she was hurt. Hurt that she had spent time working for nothing. Hurt by the expectations that had been placed on her. The weight on her shoulders had not lightened, but rather had increased. She wanted to show her family that she was worth something, that she could succeed.
She saw out of the corner of her eye her sister, Poplar, who had changed her expression from one of joy to one of compassion for her siblings. She must have felt sad for them. However, Nightjar may have noticed a bit of arrogance and disdain when she met her sister's gaze, looking like she was thinking : "I knew it. The outcome was already known."
Finally, she looked back at Root and was surprised. She was not looking at her children, but instead was staring straight at Toad. Nightjar could not describe whether her mother was angry or disappointed. She stood still, smiling in the same way she had when she entered that dark room, as if Toad's words had not reached her. Denial was the best word Nightjar could think of to describe her. Still, her tail betrayed her as it wagged in frustration.
This silence was finally broken. "Could you repeat that ?" finally asked Root coldly. The contrast between the smile and the question sent shivers down Nightjar's spine, as she had never seen her mother like this before.
"Well," answered Toad with a touch of hesitation, "only Poplar has achieved the result the army expected. It's not that the others didn't succeed, but...
- Then why aren't they all taken ?! she retorted, carrying the thoughts of all her children.
- Madam, you should know that you are addressing an authority figure, that is to say myself, so I am going to ask you to calm down for a moment please. Besides, you are not in a position to negotiate."
Root was about to add to this. However, she stopped and took it in stride, knowing that there was no point in getting upset. When she was in this state of anger, Nightjar had watched her perform the same ritual to keep control of herself. She tended to take a deep breath and then exhale noisily, while closing her eyes and indeed that is what she did.
"Before I explain your denials," Toad continued, "I wish to address Poplar. My congratulations. The army would be willing to take you on as an officer, but with your leadership skills, I'm sure you'll rise in the hierarchy very quickly." The principal thanked him with a big smile. "I will gladly join !" she added emotionally and happily.
Nightjar continued her inspection, turning to her other comrades. Bull was quite perturbed since few large wings are not accepted in this field. Viper, true to form, wore a relaxed face. Like Nightjar, she had to start letting off steam.
Reed, on the other hand, seemed to be hiding his joy, juggling shyly between his two front legs. In his own way, he was not disappointing Root since he had no opportunity to decline the offer. Besides, their mother had probably no illusions about her youngest son. Besides, he knew in advance the results.
She was interrupted in her analysis by Toad's deep voice: "You all have a defect that prevents you from entering the army. Viper you are not careful enough in your actions, you venture too often alone and you do not have the team spirit according to our reports. As for you, Reed, you simply don't have the right build and you are seriously lacking in field skills. Finally Bull, despite your role as a big wing, you relied too much on Popler to know how to act. You don't have the commander's mindset necessary."
He turned back to Nightjar who then straightened up. "Finally Nightjar you had been perfect. However, by order of the Queen you will not be able to join the troops. No reason has been given and I'm sorry I can't tell you more. There is nothing I can do about it."
She was quite surprised by this excuse. It was not like the Queen to refuse someone like that, especially if he was "talented". According to Toad, the hybrid dragoness had all the required talents. Nightjar heard her mother's tail slap the dusty ground, causing a few particles to fly away and a violent echo, like a whip being cracked. "That's enough now", Root said curtly, "Children, we are leaving."
Only Poplar did not follow the group "When can I really start my new task ?" asked Poplar shyly and quickly, in order to go comfort their mother as soon as possible.
- In about a week. A messenger will come and give you an official date. You can go now." Toad concluded.
The group then left the old-fashioned room. Root held the door for her dragonnets before slamming it violently and then stood at the head of the group. The sun was still high in the sky and yet Nightjar wished it were the other way around. She wished she could catch up on the sleep she had lost, but more importantly, not have to put up with her mother's comedies.
The dragonets, although they had done nothing wrong, remained silent, for fear of provoking a heated debate with their mother. Only the flapping of their wings echoed in the air, making the atmosphere heavier. Nightjar was still upset that she couldn't make her mother proud. "I'm missing some things. There must be something I don't know." she thought.
When they were back, Alligator was waiting for them at the entrance, finishing harvesting fish for the evening. "So how did it...". He didn't have time to finish as Root walked back into the house, dragging her companion with her.
The young mudwings were now silent, not knowing what to do. It was finally Viper who ventured to break the sound vacuum. "Well, are we going to stay dead like this for long or not ? Come on, everybody, let's have a little nerve ! It's not THAT bad. Like Mom said before we left, we'll have other opportunities." Even though she tended to be indifferent, Nightjar knew that her sister hated these sad atmospheres. She always tried to motivate her siblings when they needed it, but in her own way.
- It is easy for you to say. You didn't care from the beginning whether you had a place or not, as always. complained Bull.
- Ohhh C'mon, you're not going to sulk the rest of the day, are you ? It's only a small step in your life, tried to comfort Poplar in vain.
- And you're not in the best position to say that either, you little nerd.
- Repeat on more time please. I think i misundestand what you just say, threatened the interested party, smoke starting to come out of her nostrils.
- Wow wow wow... Easy. What I meant was that you were already made for this. You have the makings of a soldier, like our father.
- You as well, and yet you didn't get in.
- You have to admit it's strange, Reed remarked, you were doing just as well as Poplar. Personally I think it's unfair."
This made Nightjar think again, but again, she couldn't think of any logical argument or reasoning. But she had a hunch that her mother knew more than she did.
"You weren't planning on getting involved. You should be happy about that.
- Really ?" asked Bull, revealing his absent-minded side once again.
- That's true. But it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, concluded the hybrid.
- Well. If we're done, I'm going to bed. I want to get some energy back before dinner, declared Viper
- Me too !" the rest of the group said in unison.
Finally, everyone went back into the house. The hybrid could see Reed hurrying into his room. She thought she saw him crying quietly. The last person she saw was Viper, who was also walking casually to her quarters. Nightjar also hurried to her room and threw herself on her soft carpet. She fell asleep almost instantly, without thinking to take the time to put the rolls on the floor as she had promised herself, falling into a deep sleep, despite the sunlight that flooded the room.
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When Nightjar opened her eyes, she was no longer in her room. She found herself facing flames dancing in front of her. At this discovery, she sat up abruptly. She quickly realized that she was surrounded by flames. The sky was cloudy and the three moons shone bright red, illuminating the sandy ground that was not virgin. It was speckled with dark tracks but also with dragon heads, dozens of dragon heads with empty eyes.
The sight of them caused to Nightjar nausea and she tried in vain to vomit. "Am I in... a nightmare ?" she thought in panic when she came to her senses. The heads of the dead were made up of dragons of all clans. From the flashy yellow scales of a waspwing to the blazing red of a skywing to the snowy white of an icewing. This contrasting graveyard caused a morbid rainbow.
In the distance, in the middle of this bloody place, Nightjar could see a scorpion proudly resting on the head of a blue silkwing. "What the hell is a scorpion doing in this bloody nightmare, and PLEASE SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE!" cried Nightjar. She looked around for a dragon that could help her. But nothing. She was alone.
"Help please! Somebody..." she paused in her cry for help. "Am I going crazy or is this thing growing ?" As she turned back to the little beast, it was no longer as small as it appeared. It was getting dangerously close and the more time passed, the more the stranger grew, grew to the point where it had reached the size of the dragoness. Even more.
But what worried her was the simple fact that this mythical creature was looking at her, staring at her. And that meant only one thing, which Nightjar guessed with fear. "He wants me, he wants me dead." She wanted to fly away but in the air, the thing grabbed her tail with its powerful claws, making her feel a crazy pain. She screamed, screamed, screamed so loud that her ears rang with the sound of her own voice. The pressure released on her wound but in the second, she felt a new sharp pain at the level of her chest, forcing her wings to close badly on herself.
The clamp that enclosed her turned her around so she could see the colossus. Nightjar was terrified as she drew closely to the giant scorpion. She felt her strength leave her and she could only feel her upper body, allowing her horrified eyes to stay open to watch her death. She understood then what had happened to those who had gone before her. She understood her sentence at the same moment she felt the second clamp pressed against her neck.
In a last gasp of despair, Nightjar screamed with all her might before feeling her breath violently cut off. She felt her bones crush under the pressure, cutting off the sound of her voice with a dull squeak, and then her head suddendly fell off her body and landed on the bloody floor. With pain she felt her strength leave her. She only wished for one thing at that moment. "Let me die, I just don't want to hurt anymore, I don't want to feel anything. I want peace". This thought was able to draw a small tear from her eyes, which rolled down her scales to the ground.
She wanted to see her family one last time before she left. What was happening to her was unfair.
The last thing she saw was the monster, who seemed to take on the form of a dragon. She heard him say cruelly and with pleasure in his mocking voice words that will remain engraved in Nightjar's mind. "Whose turn is it now! Show me all the wonders of the world. You can try to stop me, but nothing, NOTHING, will be able to the ascendancy of my jubilation."
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Well, well, well, the plot is coming. And what's better than a spooky dream to reveal a bit of it.
See you later for more story.
- Just A Guy Chilling