Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 88: Truth [Part 3]

"What the Hel has gotten into you?!"

I bucked and writhed to get the blood-covered male off of me, screaming the whole time. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't throw him off! Why was there a dying dragon on me? How?

"For fuck's sake!" Caligo roared, bulling into me and sending us rolling. I clumsily kicked her off me and bolted to my paws, swinging my head around to—

"W-Wha...?" The bleeding dragon was gone without a trace. Panting shakily, I twisted and turned, trying to locate the dragon, but I couldn't find even a speck of blood as proof he existed. "Where...?! H-He just...!" Where is he?!

"What were you doing?!" Caligo hissed angrily. "Is this some kind of joke?! If so, it isn't funny!"

It... wasn't real...

Tears came to my eyes and I looked at Caligo, almost pleading. "I-I think I'm going insane," I whimpered.

Caligo seemed to calm down as she stared at me, though her posture was still guarded. "What did you hear?" She asked slowly.

"I saw... I saw a dying dragon on my back," I answered with a shiver. "H-He was bleeding everywhere." I probably sounded crazy, but I knew what I saw!

Caligo studied me carefully for a moment. "It must be the extraction site," she reasoned evenly. "It creates bad dreams sometimes—a side-effect of the magic it uses. I've never heard of it creating hallucinations before, though..." She shook her head. "Can you make it to the lake? The farther we are from it, the weaker its effects become. Usually."

I swallowed thickly, glancing around. "I can try."

"Then let's move quickly," she asserted, taking the lead again. 

I followed, holding my wings close to my body. I never thought I'd be so afraid of seeing things that weren't there—or 'hallucinations.' This was nothing like the fake wall that hid Anari and Caligo back home.

I shook my head. No, not 'home.' He lied to me. There are so many interesting things out here, things he never told me about. He also said there were endless dragons for me to kill out here, but I haven't seen a single one. He hid Caligo and Anari from me. He said I never had a life before this one, never had a family other than him, never had... a kid. 

"DAD! DAAAAD!"

I jolted with a whimper, eyes darting to and fro for the source of the voice. Caligo looked back at me, but, as usual, I couldn't discern anything from her shadowy face. "I heard nothing, by the way," she muttered. "I didn't see anything either. Just in case you were wondering."

I forced a smile. "Th-Thanks." Telling me what was real and not real helped me feel more grounded. Less crazy.

"Mhm. Just stay with me, no matter what you see or hear," she said evenly. "Anari will track us to the lake. Hopefully, the open space will give your mind less... stuff to create hallucinations."

I swallowed and quietly complied, unable to resist trembling in fear of whatever might come next. Was this what it felt like to go insane, or was it something else? Either way, it was terrifying.

The rest of the walk was grueling. I continued to get visions of a dragon bleeding to death, and most times, it took all the willpower I had not to look when I felt something wet on my back. There were other things, too. A voice calling out to their father, flickers of running through the trees sometimes consumed my vision, and choked sobs frequently rang in my ears. The trees felt freakishly familiar, too, even though I didn't recall ever being here, and the farther we walked, the more my head hurt. The voice almost sounded familiar...