A Dragon's torture

A clans new member

Dreams are the way a creature's subconscious speaks to them, sometimes the message is loud and clear, other's will only be revealed through time, when one dreams, often enough they are being told something they missed.

Chapter 7

woke in an impressive room, the dream still vivid in my mind. A much larger dragon covered in scales of dark brown and deep orange, her belly the color of wood tended to my side. She hadn't noticed I was awake yet; she was preoccupied with bandaging the gashes where Draconus shredded my wing.

I should be dead.

I wasn't dead, but the void in my chest left from my loss of flight might be death in its own rite.

"Good, you're awake," came the dragon's soft voice.

I tried to muster the strength to respond, but found I had none. I couldn't even lift my head. Nothing.

Panic enveloped me in a rush of waves.

"Calm down. You're okay," she soothes. "Nothing here can hurt you. Relax."

What if Draconus didn't just take my ability to fly? What if he took my ability to move, to walk? Please--that can't be.

"Calm down! Your heart is beating far too fast for your condition. You must calm your heart. Your internal organs are bruised and battered. If your blood rises too quickly, it will reverse all the work we've done on you."

I don't care. I need to move. I need to--I need to know!

She walked over in front of me, drawing my gaze toward hers with her presence alone. As quickly as the panic rose in my chest,

"We administered medicine that inhibits your ability to move. This ensures that your wing heals properly. Any movement at all can reopen your wounds."

My wing? You mean it's healed? I'll be able to fly?

Hope flared inside my heart, a fire bursting to life.

"You are afraid of never being able to fly. I can tell you now: those fears are misplaced. You will be able to fly, but you must not move. You must keep your heart rate low, or the veins in your wing could burst. Blink twice if you understand me."

I promptly blinked twice, though I wasn't sure what veins were, or why I had to keep my heart rate low, but if it meant I could fly again, I'd do anything.

She moved to my right eye. She and the room were drenched in the same shade of yellow.

"I will be back later. Get some rest. Your body was nearing its limit when you got here. And from your eyes, I'm sure you feel as exhausted as you look."

Without another word, she walked out of the room. I to admit sleep sounded like a great

***

When the shadow had nearly won, when the creatures of light had nearly vanished a light appeared in the sky like a beacon of hope.

A family of large birds, forced to walk instead of fly as nature intended, saw the beacon in the sky and headed for it. When they arrived, they found light in abundance, casting the shadows away. Here, creatures of all species were thriving, free from the hold of darkness.

When the mother bird asked what the cause was, a large form flew down and landed in front of them. Its scaled form radiated light, its red and white scales seeming to be the very cause of the light they saw in the sky--so bright they had to turn away or be blinded.