Curse of the Stars Book 1

Chapter 21

Chapter XXI

Stygian was floating in a dark void. A free-floating dark void that felt so wonderful and relaxing. She didn't ever want to leave this womb. She didn't want to wake up. Didn't want to be born. In fact, this world was all she knew. This darkness...this wonderful rest. This peace...

If someone had told her that a world awaited outside of this darkness she wouldn't have felt inclined to know more about it, or even wonder about it.

The darkness was all she knew and all that she would ever want to know.

But then something icy slithered in the cracks of her and the peace fled like a bird taking flight. So easily chased away it was. By the smallest thing.

The cold was uncomfortable. Stygian curled tighter into a ball to protect herself from whatever it was that was trying to break into her perfect world.

She gasped and the breath was sucked out of her throat as another icy claw rippled through her. Her eyes popped open.

The first thing she noticed was that the trees around her were molting off clumps of snow and that droplets of this slush were hitting her scales.

The second thing she noticed was a clear blue sky with not a cloud in sight. Even the fog had lifted.

The third thing she noticed was that the pain she had forgotten existed, returned. But it was so dull and distant than what she remembered. She swivelled her head towards her wings, suddenly afraid they weren't there anymore when her eyes alighted on a little red fox smearing red pulp all over her wounds.

Now she remembered. He had knocked her out with the pain that had rocketed through her at the time, sent her into a sleep so deep that she couldn't remember who she was, and couldn't even wonder.

But the pain was so much fainter now, like it was leaking into the ground. At first she had thought the fox was trying to poison her with something, but now it seemed that he knew the medicinal properties of this forest. For wherever he spread berry pulp, she felt only numbness sweep through the pain, pushing it further and further away.

Stygian breathed a deep sigh of relief and the fox's ear twitched in her direction as he noticed she was awake again.

"Thank you." She murmured, still wondering how a FOX of all things could be smart enough to know what berries had healing properties. But hey, a tasty looking morsel had turned into a blinding, glorious wishing dragon. So, what did she know about this strange world she was really only just beginning to skim the surface of?

Maybe she really didn't know anything about foxes at all.

This made her feel all the more comforted. Maybe she wasn't actually alone after all. Maybe this fox...as simple as he was...was looking out for her in his strange, simple ways.

"Can you find me some mice too? I'm starving!"

The fox turned his blazing amber eyes towards her and tipped his head.

No. He wouldn't have understood her language; that much was certain. He probably only realized she needed what was obvious. She was bleeding and infected and sick, and any animal could understand that. But couldn't any animal understand hunger? She sighed.

She was afraid to, but she forced her wing to unfold. She winced, expecting a blinding flash of pain to blaze through, but she felt nothing at all. She couldn't even feel the cold dripping onto her wings from the melting treetops.

Her wounds were completely numbed over. Red berry juice oozed down her scales. This meant she could still travel. This meant she still had a chance to find her mother instead of being stranded by her wounds. Thank the First!