Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 10: Fear and Courage

-Hello, everyone! This chapter will be a bit slow in some spots, but Aurora will be facing her fears—in more than one way—, so it'll pick up speed a little near the middle, slow down again, and regain a lot of speed again near the end. 

Also, remember that rhyme in the first chapter? Well, now it makes its first appearance in the story—half of it, anyway. Enjoy!

-NFD

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But... WE... With... WILL... Our... BE... Last... GODS... Breath... ANEW!

I ripped myself out of my slumber with a scream, my heart pounding loudly, my breaths erratic, and my body trembling uncontrollably from terror. My scream had instantly woken up Dad, who raced to my side and began licking my face with a soothing croon. Splinter was similarly affected, but she kept her distance. Myrkr was missing for some reason.

"T-They h-had me!" I whimpered fearfully. "They w-w-were bleeding me d-dry, they-"

"It's okay," Dad crooned, gently pushing me back down to the ground. "You're safe. None of that will ever happen to you, I promise."

This was the third day in a row that I was plagued with terrifying nightmares. It always happened the same way. There was an image of a black stone with old blood staining it. Then, it flashed to wailing dragons being bled dry, forced to feed an unseen monster with their blood. Then ended with me unwillingly being bled and stripped of everything I had to 'complete the circle.'

Dad sighed solemnly. "I can't bear to see you like this anymore," he whispered. "Open your mind, Aura; I'll keep the nightmares away." I was too emotionally unstable to question him, quickly taking my chance not to relive the same nightmare again. I felt a cool sensation ease into my head, my eyelids drooping from my sudden drowsiness. "Sleep, little one."

I slowly slumped to the ground, my whimpers trailing off as my eyes finally closed.

~Sweet dreams...~

I groaned, curling up tighter into a ball to ignore the annoying poking. I was having such a good dream. Why did he have to ruin it?

"Come on, wake up," Dad urged, poking me again. "You can't sleep forever."

Try me.

"I heard that," Dad hummed, amused. I didn't answer. "Oh, well, you can keep it, Myrkr," he said loudly. "I guess she doesn't want any wolf meat, after all." My eyes snapped open.

I bolted to my paws, wildly searching for the brown fledgling. I spotted him sitting nearby, but there wasn't any meat to be seen. "W-Wha...?" I whined. I noticed that Myrkr's belly was slightly bigger than it should be, telling me where the meat was.

"I wanted to surprise you," he said cheerily. 

I blinked, touched that he remembered my favorite prey. "You... did?" He nodded. "T-Thank you." 

Knowing that I was impatient, he started coughing up chunks of the smelly meat, making me salivate heavily. I slowly walked up to him as he emptied his stomach of food, then nudged the small pile toward me with a smile, blushing. I didn't hesitate to dig into the pile, savoring every mouthful of it. I had such a good friend. Remembering to not be greedy—though it was very tempting—, I forced myself to stop and step back, gesturing for him to take the rest. He did.