Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 64: Unleashed Wrath

-Good news! Sorta. I can type! Again, sorta. It's slow-going and painful if I attempt to move my right hand more than a few inches over the keyboard, but at least I can type! This period of no writing has been driving me insane, and I can't describe how relieved I feel now that I can write again, even if only barely. I can't promise that the next chapter will be on time due to my slow typing right now, but it should be within the same week. I still have a lot of physical therapy to go through, but it's getting better.

Now, without further ado, enjoy!

-NFD

~~~

"Hold on, slow down; what are 'Devourers?'" 

Splinter groaned breathlessly as we raced through the placid forest, sounding very impatient and annoyed with my many questions. It wasn't my fault that I was so uninformed, but it still made me wince. "Devourers are a type of aberration from the mad god that pollutes and controls minds," she explained between labored pants. "They are most effective when dragons are asleep and usually target females with fresh eggs."

That was unusual. Why would they take over a fatigued female's mind when they could have a more physically able mind instead? "Why them?"

Even while leaping and sprinting through the underbrush, Splinter's whole demeanor seemed to darken. "To make the mother murder their egg." My heart filled with dread. "The mother is aware that she killed her own hatchling, which... destroys her." 

I fell silent, feeling a dull ache in my chest. I knew what she meant. Losing an egg, especially a recently laid egg, was devastating for a mother. Knowing that she had murdered her own egg could easily drive her to madness due to the immense stress that would cause on her mind. 

"Devourers are a kind of Draugr that turn nightmares into the worst dreams imaginable," Splinter continued sourly. "They're bad enough to cause horrible night-terrors, which lets the Devourer get a better hold on the mind to slaughter the female's egg... and even hatchlings."

I scowled as I wove between two softly illuminated trees. "And you left that thing with my daughter?!"

"I had no choice!" She defended, sparing me a short, pleading glance before bounding over a scraggly bush. "Only Myrkr can safely touch that egg, so he's protecting it from Aurora while I went to get you." 

I saw the logic in that, even if I didn't like it. "Can they be killed?"

"I'm not sure, but I imagine it's very difficult to kill. The Devourer cannot be harmed until it's ejected from Aurora's dreams, but we don't know how. Auroon could look into minds, so I hoped that you might—"

I flattened my ears against my head as a grating shriek ripped through the air, nearly missing a step and faceplanting in disorientation. Splinter, however, wasn't as lucky. "Nnngh," she moaned, extracting herself from a few partially crushed bushes while I slowed to a stop. "I-I think we're close..."

I shook myself and pressed on, albeit slowly and cautiously now. "Luckily for you, I do know how to enter minds," I muttered. "Stay low." It wouldn't do to be noticed before we got close. I could free Aurora's mind from here, but that would let the Devourer escape, and I didn't plan on letting it come back for another shot in the future. Whether or not it could die... Well, I'd find out soon enough.

One thing was for sure; I wouldn't let Aurora lose another egg. Not like this.

 "A-Aurora, please wake up!" If I could hear Myrkr's pleas, we were very close. 

"Your blood will finish the circle. Your body will herald the end times."

My blood ran cold, recognizing that voice. No... It can't be...