Panther's Curse

Chapter 1

River had never been a very sound sleeper, but tonight was worse than usual.
Her dreams were infested with nightmares. Most were battles she'd been in, but there was one that particularly bothered her.
She was on one of the islands in the Kingdom of the Sea. The trees grew high over her head and blocked out the moons. In the distance, she heard waves crashing against the shore. Leaves crunched to her left. Footsteps. River whirled toward the sound and crouched. If only she could get to the ocean, she'd have a decent chance of getting away, unless her attacker was another SeaWing.
The footsteps continued to get closer. She made a thunderous growl, and they fell silent. River froze. She debated whether or not she should run or attack. Before she could decide, the creature leaped over the bushes and attacked her. It crashed into her side and pinned her wings underneath her. She lashed out with her back talons, but her claws glanced painfully off hard, armored scales. Her attacker roared, and River saw the outline of a NightWing's head with glowing red eyes. She roared back and tried to wiggle away, but he had her pinned. His jaws clamped down on her neck, then the dream changed.
She was a dragonet again, swimming in the ocean to the same island. "Void!" her dream-self called. A NightWing dragonet her age poked his head warily out of a cave hidden in the rocks. His eyes narrowed as River pulled herself onto the beach.
"What are you doing here? It's the middle of the day! What about your parents?" he snarled.
"I gave them the slip. They don't care, as long as I stay in the Kingdom of the Sea." She shook her wings to dry them. "I figured I could come visit."
The NightWing dragonet scanned the sky, then slipped out of the cave and padded over. "Still, you shouldn't risk it, not when I can't hide."
River rolled her eyes. "You worry too much, Voidwalker." She tackled him playfully, shoving him into the sand.
Voidwalker laid still, stunned. Suddenly, his tail wrapped around her back ankle and pulled her off. She landed next to him in a whirlwind of sand.
"Okay, ow." She stood up and shook her head.
"You whine too much." Void smiled smugly as he shook his wings. River glared at him, which only made him laugh. She attacked again, but Void was ready for her. The two wrestled in the sunlight for hours. The happy dream faded with the sound of Void's laughter echoing in her head.
River lay still on her soft, mossy bed in her underwater cave, thinking about both the nightmare and the dream. She hadn't seen or dreamt of Voidwalker in years. She never even thought about him. He had been her best friend. He knew almost everything about her, and she knew him just as well.
Voidwalker had escaped the secret NightWing island when he was only a couple years old. River found him alone on one of the outer islands while she was on one of her exploration swims. He'd been sick and in desperate need of food. She snuck out of her cave every night to care for him. As he grew stronger, the two became good friends. Then one day he just vanished into thin air. She never saw him again.
River was startled out of her thinking when a young dragonet flashed his glowing stripes at her. Hey! Wake up! He glared at her like he'd been swimming at the entrance for a while.
Oh, sorry. Uh, does Shark want me for something? River's stripes flashed back in the underwater SeaWing language of Aquatic.
Just to get up! the dragonet flashed back, clearly irritated. You were supposed to be ready for patrol a half hour ago! They're waiting!
Oh, relax. I'm up now. You go on.
Can't. They said to make sure you got there. His tail lashed, making him shoot upwards. He made a muffled yelp and swam back down to her.
River inhaled the ocean water through her gills. Fine. Just let me have a moment.
The dragonet sat on the cave floor and turned his back to her, staring off into the darkness. River swam to the back of the cave and looked herself over in a shiny rock surface. She always thought the natural mirror was odd, but she liked it. When she was satisfied with her appearance, River went back to her dragonet guide.
He turned to look at her, then launched forward into the open water. She swam after him, not really following him. She knew where they were going.
River stared at the fish, sharks, and underwater plants as she went by, but her mind was elsewhere. Voidwalker completely filled her thoughts. Thinking about the dream made her chest hurt. She missed Voidwalker, the one dragon she could be herself around and talk to, no matter what happened.
The dragonet suddenly waved his glowing talon in front of her nose. River blinked with surprise and shook her head. The dragonet gave her a concerned look then pointed to the surface. River hadn't noticed they were back at the SeaWings' Summer Palace. She flapped her wings and rose to the surface, with the young dragon following.
As River dragged herself onto shore, she noticed a group of four other SeaWings sitting by the ocean, glaring at her. Her guide roughly nudged her elbow and trotted to the group. River followed more slowly.
She knew all of the SeaWings in the patrol group. One of them, a bluish-green, was her semi-best friend, Mako. Mako couldn't stay mad at RIver for long. She couldn't stay mad at anyone for more than a few minutes. There was also Typhoon, a male SeaWing that River had seen several times before. Typhoon's tail lashed behind his wings. Another SeaWing sat close to Typhoon. River knew her as Starfish. She was a little shy, but a very brave fighter. The last dragon scared River the most. It was the old general, Shark. He was also the Queen's brother. Shark bared his teeth at her and growled.
River bowed her head with respect as she approached, eyeing Shark and Typhoon. Shark's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Thanks, Hudson. You can go." Starfish glanced at the dragonet trying to hide from Shark behind RIver's wings.
Hudson. Kind of an odd name. River thought. The dragonet glanced at her, then Shark, then spun around and dove into the waves.
"Where have you been, soldier?" Shark asked.
"I overslept." River answered honestly.
Shark growled again. "Wake on time. Patrols aren't scheduled according to how tired the soldiers are."
"Yes, sir." River had learned a long time ago not to argue with Shark. Any SeaWing who did usually ended up with a few claw marks.
Shark glared at her one last time before taking off towards the Summer Palace. River relaxed when his tail disappeared into one of the caves.
Typhoon watched him go. "So, where to?" He looked at River, like he was expecting her to decide.
River gave him a confused look. "Uh, it doesn't matter to me."
"Are you going to be going off on your own again?" Mako asked. River usually patrolled on her own, so she could think. The dragons she was supposed to be patrolling with never cared, except Mako. She needed some alone time to think about her dream.
"I might." River replied.
Mako looked disappointed. "Okay. Let's go." She took off, with the other three following. River could tell she hurt her feelings. She flew behind the others, keeping a close eye on Mako, who led for a while.
Typhoon eventually forced Mako back and took the lead. Mako fell back to fly next to River. River watched her friend closely. Mako still seemed hurt, but the longer River watched, the more Mako seemed to relax. It wasn't long after Typhoon took the lead that Mako acted like herself again.
The islands passed by quickly. River had explored most of them when she was a dragonet. She knew exactly where they were. Suddenly, she stopped and hovered.
"Hey, guys? I'm gonna head north from here. You can go on."
"Alright," Typhoon said. "Meet us on that island in a couple hours." He nodded at an island with huge cliffs off to their right.
River looked. "Sure." She turned north and flew on, memories of the two dreams occupying her attention. The NightWing attack scared her more than she cared to admit. The only NightWing she'd ever met was Voidwalker, and he would never attack her. Unless he changed, she thought.
The dream about Voidwalker made her a little sad. She missed the days when she could visit him in the middle of the night, if only to talk to him. He was amazingly easy to talk to. Why would I dream about Void when I haven't thought about him in years? she wondered.
She wanted to visit Void's island. Something about the dream with her best friend told her to go there. River's heart raced, but she had no idea why. She stopped and looked around, then dove straight into the ocean. Clouds of tiny bubbles surrounded her. Wihout missing a beat, she shot like a torpedo towards the island.
Even in the water, it took her about an hour to find Voidwalker's Island. River surfaced about a half-mile away and studied it. The rocks and cliffs made the strange formation of a NightWing dragon skeleton. She made out the skull easily. Its mouth was opened in a wide roar. It was the mouth that had once been Voidwalker's cave, but she could never tell if he was there from a distance.
The island looked deserted, as she expected it to be, but it seemed a little more spooky. Maybe it was because she hadn't been there in ten years, or maybe it was because the roaring dragon skull brought back memories of Void.
River swam to shore and trotted onto the beach. The sand on her talons felt the same, but something seemed . . . different. River looked at the rocks. They were even creepier up close.
She cautiously crept up to the dragon's mouth and inhaled through her nose. Something smelled odd. The blue SeaWing gazed into the darkness of the cave. The spines on her back flared. She felt like she was being watched, but there was nothing in the cave, except sand.
River backed away from the cave and headed for the trees that made up the ribcage of the dragon skeleton. The sun was blocked out by the trees, making it darker than River ever remembered. The wind howled around the trees. She still felt as if she was being watched, but the tree branches were deserted. No birds sang. The waves crashing on the beach echoed in the trees.
River's wings shook. She was thoroughly creeped out. As she followed the narrow path, her tail began to lash nervously behind her. Her talon steps weren't as quiet as she hoped they'd be. No matter how hard she tried to be silent, she always made some sort of noise, whether it was stepping on a stick or her tail hitting a bush.
Finally, the narrow path widened into a small clearing. A little sun shone through a break in the leaves, and River crawled into it greatfully. Even with her see-in-the-dark abilities, she didn't like being in almost complete darkness.
A loud crack sounded from behind. River whirled around and glared into the darkness but she saw nothing. Her claws dug into the ground underneath her. She squinted at the open area between two trees. She thought she made out the shape of something, but if it really was there, it melted back into the darkness.
A few tense moments went by. Another snap on the other side of the clearing. River turned, but something heavy landed on her wings and smashed her into the dirt. She snarled and tried to turn over and crush it under her, but whatever it was leaped off. One of her wing arms had a long slash. The thing that had attacked her had claws. Long claws. She also thought she felt fur.
The thing rammed into the side of her neck, and the unmistakable sound of clashing dragon scales rang in the silence. Great. Two things attacking me? River thought.
River's tail smashed into her attacker's wings and the dragon grunted in pain. Before she blink, she was on her back in the soil. Her attacker stood over her, wild red eyes fuming with anger and pain. Wait a moment, River knew those eyes. She knew the shape of the head, the attack movements, the way her opponent moved.
"Void?"