Blackheart

Melancholy

Tourthun stared in absolute terror at the sight before him. His father, mauled and dying, lay on the ground in a heap, the aggressor standing over him.

"Run..." his father pleaded, "...run!"

Tourthun was frozen in place, unable to believe that this was really happening.

"To the victor goes the spoils," the green dragon said with a wicked grin, blue eyes glinting in the darkness. "The honor and glory for cutting you down."

"That is why you have done this? Why you would murder and ruin lives?!" Tamis cried out in disbelief. His eyes were half closed, bloody wounds covering his body.

"Indeed. Say farewell, weakling."

"No!"

Tourthun finally cried out, his voice several octaves higher than normal.

His father had tears in eyes now, as the other dragon brought his claws to the neck of the wounded beast.

"Tourthun...I love you."

Those were his final words, before the green dragon tore his neck open, blood pouring free as his eyes went wide.

He slumped to the ground, life flowing out of him. Though his eyes grew foggy and unfocused, he stared directly at his son, until his final breath.

The other dragon watched him die, the grin on his twisted visage fading. He slowly looked up to Tourthun, his own eyes seeming to widen in some sort of comprehension.

Their eyes met, and just as the terrified young dragon looked at the face of his father's murderer, everything faded away.

His body rose, up from the floor and into a sitting position. His heart raced and chest heaved as he felt the visceral terror begin to wind down.

"Hah! Gah..." the dragon jolted awake, mind racing.

"Tourthun?!"

The dragon, panting, looked down to see Wurie staring back at him, a few other citizens watching from a distance.

"What's wrong?"

Tourthun blinked and shook his head. "I...am fine. I simply...had a bad dream."

"You've been twisting and turning, muttering to yourself since you fell asleep."

The wolfman looked at the dragon with his arms crossed, a look of concern written on his face.

"Just a bad dream," Tourthun whispered.

"Want to talk about it?"

The dragon didn't answer.

"Is...is everything alright?"

Tourthun sighed and shook his head. He wanted to put it all behind him. He just wanted to stop reliving the same moments over and over...but perhaps it was because he couldn't come to terms with it. If he was more open about it...

"I...I am still haunted by what happened."

Wurie raised a brow. "What, the near-death experience?"

"No...my father's murder."

The wolfman's eyes widened. "Ah. Right..."

"I...cannot seem to forget it. Over, and over, I have nightmares. I have watched him die so many times..."

The captain frowned at Tourthun's words. "It, uh...it sounds like that day...affected you more deeply than you might have thought."

"I...I just want it to end. I just want the nightmares to stop."