Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 22: Eternal Fire [Part 3]

Sweltering heat pressed down from all sides, followed by an annoying ringing in my ears. I coughed hoarsely, ejecting more fluid from my lungs. I hurt everywhere-

Wait, I could feel pain? Didn't I just die? Why was I breathing and feeling pain? Wasn't the point of death to feel nothing at all?

I cracked open my eyes, greeted with a glowing stone wall that wouldn't stop moving. It took me a moment to realize that the wall wasn't actually moving; the scorching heat surrounding me merely made it look like it was. A breathy whine pulled me from my thoughts, reminding me that Nibbler had died before I did. Despite knowing that, when I looked to my left, Nibbler was very much alive, much to my surprise. Her wide, bloodshot eyes stared blankly ahead of her, mouth slightly ajar as she panted and whined. She still looked heavily malnourished, but she was alive!

A small part of me warned me that we wouldn't live for much longer without food or water, pushing aside my joy before I could celebrate. My limbs moved of their own accord, forcing my exhausted body to its paws and slipping under Nibbler's limp frame. I took a deep breath and pushed against the ground, wheezing as my muscles screamed at me. I gritted my teeth and took a step, then another, then another, until I was moving at a snail's pace. 

My brain was too muddled to remember how or why we had another chance at life, but I sure as Hel wasn't going to waste it in this place! All that mattered were the vague directions Nox had told me—one of the few things I could remember at the moment—and the ragged breaths flowing through our lungs.

Strangely, it felt as if I wasn't really living, only being propped up by some invisible thing. I couldn't think very well, my muscles didn't respond to my commands as they should, and I felt—for lack of better words—'hollow.' I had a hunch that we didn't have much time to 'live,' putting a little more urgency in my steps. If my mind wasn't so muddled, I'd probably be confused about how I knew that, but, in my current state, my focus had zeroed in on survival; my questions could wait for another time.

Our surroundings continued to glow softly and waver as intense heat emanated from every surface, though I barely felt it. Where there used to be cages lining the walls, there were now empty spaces and warped fragments of the once sturdy prisons. The dragons that once occupied them were gone without a trace. Did this scalding heat have anything to do with their disappearance? Where had it come from? Where were the Scoots-?

Survival... right. It didn't matter where the heat came from or where everyone was. The Scoots were absent, meaning our eventual escape was easier. The heat couldn't harm us. And we were planning on leaving the prisoners behind anyway, so their whereabouts didn't matter. 

The minutes blurred together until I lost track of how long I've walked. The heat had diminished to near-nothingness, and we still hadn't seen any Scoots or prisoners. They were the least of my concerns, however, when I got a whiff of something I almost didn't recognize.

Wet earth!

I couldn't resist a breathless giggle, pushing myself to go just a little faster, rounding a bend to see faint light far ahead. We were going to make it out! We were going to live! I could see my family again! I could-

"V-Vaskr...?"

I halted in my tracks so suddenly I nearly faceplanted. I slowly turned to see a familiar dragon huddling in the shadows. "Nox?" I rasped, shocked. She camouflaged so well I had completely overlooked her. What was she doing here? Freedom was right over there!

"You're... still alive?" She whispered. "How?"

I blinked, not sure how to answer that. From her tone, I suspected that I should be long dead by now, but I couldn't remember what changed that. I decided to come back to that question later. "Why are you still here?"