The 'Dragon Goddess'

Literal Monstrous Nightmares

A whole week passes and now that the issue with Alpine resolved, my mind starts to drift to the question of whether I should return to the Morphwing pack at any point. I haven't done so yet, instead I've been busying myself in tending to the sanctuary. I'm very behind schedule.

I've been working twice as hard lately to make up for all my absences. I know that the others are more than capable of sorting it all out themselves, but I'm used to caring for them and making sure it all runs smoothly around here.

The day is close to over, but I've still got my final rounds to make. I morph into dragon form and fly outside, following along with the Night Terror patrol for a minute to make sure it's going smoothly. They seem good, so I make one quick lap of the island before going back inside.

I decide to just sleep in the stables tonight as they're closer, so I collapse into the first available nest. It's surprisingly comfortable in dragon form, so I'm soon asleep.

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Blood. Bodies. Bones.

Death.

I walk through the area littered with dead human bodies. Some instinct in me tells me that I killed them. That as well as the stab wounds lined with oozing with the faintest traces of Slitherwing venom which could only be done wit a sword like mine.

I feel little remorse for any of them. They all hone the symbol of a hunter. I killed them because they were hunters, I believe. Casual work day.

But then they start morphing. Not as Morphwings, but all different kinds of dragons, all of which I recognise. There's Shadow, Volcana, Mercury, Lovelei and her other friends, Harmony, Camo, Vanquish...

I can't stand the sight of them all dead. "No..." I breathe, trying to look around for whoever killed my pack. That's when I realise they have the same wounds the humans had.

I did this.

I killed them.

I killed dragons.

I killed my pack.

I can even see poor little Melanite along with Asher, Selene, Adriana and even Plasma, all dead because of me. The sight of everyone is enough to drop me to my knees and cry, mourning my dead companions.

I then see Stylive, Skyvolt and Alpine, also killed off by me. I let out a scream of anguish and apology, but other than me it falls upon deaf ears.

I pull my sword from its place on my back and, without hesitation, stab the blade through my chest, ashamed beyond words at myself for what I have done. I hear voices calling out to me.

"You're one of us!"

"You're one of us!"

"You're one of us!"

"You're a dragon hunter!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake up in a cold sweat and whimpering. I sit up for a moment, trying to catch my breath, shaking my head slightly as my beating heart slowly but surely calms. The same nightmare had been repeating itself all week. I'm pretty sure I know why, but there's nothing I know that I can do about it.

I hated this nightmare. I like that I hate it. If I enjoyed it it would be even worse, because that would mean I'd enjoy seeing everyone I love killed off by me. It's good that I hate it. But I still hate it.

Some of the others are surrounding me, looking at me worriedly. "Are you okay, Indigo?" Harmony asks gently, nuzzling me. I nuzzle her back, craving the calming gesture like a baby does their mother's milk. The other dragons are quick to catch up on this and join in.

"I'm sorry I disturbed you guys," I apologise. "I didn't mean to wake you up." "I have Solar, Moon and Lily to deal with, I get no sleep anyway!" Volcana insists. "Now what happened? Was it that nightmare again?"

"Yeah," I nod. "I saw you guys dead and I was the one who killed you all... it was horrible..."

I start making a strange whimpering noise that can only be described as a sad donkey bray again. This shows the others that I'm sad and scared, so they huddle in closer.

"You need a mate," Mercury remarks. "They don't mind staying up late if it's for you, not that I mind either. And they can calm you down a lot easier. And I want to see you with someone."

The others all murmur in agreement. I roll my eyes at them all, but can't help smiling toothily. You've got to love these guys, you simply can't help it.

I do my best to wrap my wings around as many of them as possible. To my surprise, my wingspan seems to grow to fit them all underneath.

"Hm... Selene did say that Morphwings could stretch their wings to properly wrap someone up so they can be put to sleep," Stylive says when she sees my shock. "Get one of us completely wrapped up and chances are we'll fall asleep, unless it only works on other Morphwings."

"Anyone want to try it out?" I ask. "I'll have a go, I suppose," Shiron, the pack's Terrible Terror, pipes up, scuttling over. While she sleeps during the day sometimes, she's rarely seen sleeping at night, so I know this won't just be because she was tired.

I nod and lay on my side, one wing flat on the ground and the other raised so she can come inside. Shiron does so, so I close my wings up, leaving enough space in there for her to not be squished.

After a moment or so, a gasp is heard. "Things just got ten times warmer! What did you do, Indigo?" "It's part of my abilities, I guess," I reply. "I find that with Morphwings if there's someone about to sleep in there, the wings feel warmer like a blanket."

"Cool," Shiron says. I can feel her pad around lightly in a circle, then settle down. I'm quick to hear little snores from my wings, so I unfurl them.

Shiron is fast asleep.