Wings Of fire: Shadowstalker

Chapter 24: Nightmare

After a large feast, the prince was led to his own private room. Starhunter had been offered one too, but he refused. Shadow assumed this was because of his obligation to guard him, which he thought was nice. The two sat in the room, Starhunter had his own bed, watching Shadow closely.

"So where is he?" Starhunter asked, tilting his head. "Is he coming to find us, or.."

"He's mad, because I'm staying with Viper for the moment. I can see why he would be but.. he needs to understand that we really have nowhere else to go right now. I'll take what I can get." Shadow said as he put the stone tablet down. "He wants me to meet with him."

"Is that a good idea? They might follow you. Moons, they could probably be listening right now through one of the paintings or something." Starhunter huffed. "Let me check the whole room." Shadow watched him stand up and search everything; The paintings, the windows, the floor, beneath the beds and anything else that could possibly allow one to spy on them was inspected.

"All clear?" Shadow asked with a head tilt.

"Yeah, all clear." Starhunter said calmly before sitting by him. "I just don't trust him yet.."

"Hm.." Shadow sighed and began to lie down. "Let's get some sleep, talk about it tomorrow morning. I am exhausted.. and not ready for sunshine instead of moonlight." He curled up on his bed and pulled a blanket over himself. Despite being a nocturnal dragon, he was quite exhausted tonight. Soon enough, he fell into a deep sleep.

• • •

Shadow walked through a foggy forest at a normal size with his tail swaying a bit. It was chilly and cold, and night had fallen over him. As he walked through the trees he started to find old ruins. Stone blocks and bricks lie about in formations of what used to be structures. Getting an uneasy feeling, he tucked his wings close. Ahead he saw a dragon, it was a female Nightwing. She turned to him and once he saw her face, he paused and gasped. "Mother..?"

"Shadowstalker.." Moonglow said soflty. "My son, come home.." She started to walk towards him, slowly. Her eyes were just empty pools of white light. "Come home." Shadow flinched as she paced towards him. Suddenly she grabbed his talon and jerked it towards her. "Shadowstalker come home."

"I can't-" Shadow jerked his talon back, but he couldn't break her grip. "Let me go.."

"Home." She spoke again, but this time her voice was a little distorted. Her scales began to warp and change, and she bulked out a bit before shifting into Darkstalker. His talon wrapped around his wrist, squeezing it tight.

"Shadowstalker.." Darkstalker's voice rumbled. "You cannot run. I will find you. You will help me, or die trying." He hissed while barring his teeth at him. Shadow realized what was happening. His heartrate picked up and he forced himself out of his grasp before backing up.

"Stay away from me!" Shadow yelled and started to run down the other direction of the path. Before him the road crumbled into a dark abyss, vanishing in front of him. He yelped and stopped, spreading his wings and flapping them aggressively. That didn't work, so he ran back only to see a large talon swipe at him. Then everything went black.

• • •

Shadow woke up with a loud scream before he started panting and looking around the room frantically. Starhunter jolted awake and jumped to his feet.

"What!? What happened!?" He yelled and ran to him. "Shadow!"

"He- My Father- he found me-" Shadow said in a panic. "How-" His breathing picked up and he led down slowly, trying to calm himself down.

"Shadow it was just a nightmare, calm down.." Starhunter said as he tried to grab his face. "It's okay, look at me.." He said soothingly and calmly. "Look at me.." Shadow did so, still panicking a little bit. His tail thrashed about as he stared at his friend. "Breathe.. deep breaths.." His tone was reassuring and relaxing, which helped quite a bit. After a few minutes Shadow calmed down and rest his head on the bed.

"Hello?" Someone asked while knocking on the door. "Is everything alright?" It was Viper.

"Yeah, come in." Starhunter said. Viper entered the room and walked to the bed, sitting down.

"What happened?"

"Nightmare.." Shadow mumbled. "My father was in it.." He said with a small whimper.

"Ah. My son Basilisk has those often." Viper said calmly. "What happened?" He asked as he looked up at the prince. Shadow quicky explained it to him, giving him the important bits. Viper then nodded and shrugged. "I wouldn't pay much mind to it then. It doesn't seem like he caused it. You should be fine. If you want I can send you to my largest son and he could help."

"Sure.." Shadow sighed, wondering what that would entail. Viper stood up and began to walk out of the room, so Shadow followed. "What's going to happen if you find Nighthawk?" He asked.

"If I find nighthawk, either he will kill me or I'll kill him. Whatever happens happens. If I die, cactus takes over. If Nighthawk dies, then I'll move on with my life." He shrugged as they walked. "I think you'll like Basilisk, he's a good dragon."

"If you say so." Shadow said as he walked with him. Soon they got to Basilisk's room, which was mostly clean but had some odds and ends on the floor.

"Basilisk, I have a visitor for you." Viper said calmly. "He needs help, do you mind taking him for a walk?" He asked. Basilisk, who was the large sandwing that guarded the door sat up with a smile and yawn.

"Oh, sure! Come on, I'll show you my favorite spot I go to when I need to think and stuff." Basilisk said in his low, rumbly voice. The giant sandwing opened a door and walked outside. Shadow looked at Viper who nodded towards his son.

"Have fun." Viper shrugged and walked back into the hallway. Shadow just followed, staying quiet as he walked with Basilisk. Who knows what would happen out here?