Nightmare

I had been adopted (not legally) by Nyph and Banana, not long after I had tried to kill their actual child, Olive. Now, I imagine if you are a relatively sane creature, you might think that’s a little strange. Well, I assure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for that. Also, I am not a psychopath either, in case you were wondering. I’m just…well, not exactly very good at grasping what a sane dragon should do sometimes, but I’m learning so you don’t have to be afraid of me!

I bet you probably are though. A lot of creatures have been and still are afraid of me. I really didn’t have control over the reason they fear me either. I can’t help it my father is the head of a cult of boneheads…Well, okay, I may have helped my father kill a few new cult members and participated in several hundreds of rituals, but the killing thing only happened fives times, which isn’t that bad...right?

Anywho, I imagine you are probably wondering how the whole killing Olive thing happened and not concerned about anything else I've said thus far. You see, it all started when I my father was serving someone as an offering to Cerva and I was just a hatchling. During the ritual, I saw a pretty butterfly. My father and I lived in the Hellwell Undercloth at the time and butterflies are extremely rare there so I was fascinated by such a beautiful insect. I followed the butterfly once I spotted it. I kept following it too, until I was several miles from home and heard someone shriek. I looked away from the beautiful butterfly and saw something that was even more pretty than a butterfly: a skydancer hatchling named Olive.

At the time, Olive was rolling around on the ground as extra limps that resembled various animal species sprouted from her sides and bright green smoke oozed from her body.

"No-no-n-no-aaagh-aaaaagh!" Olive cried as tears ran down her snout. Then, her body began spasming and twisting in unnatural ways.

I was not scared by what I saw because I often watched dragons die in many ways. I realize now that some dragons find death scary. I don't quite understand why that is because creatures die around us all the time and we ourselves die eventually.

A traveling merchant had told me that my father made me numb to death. That isn't true though. I find watching death occur quite fascinating and exciting. :)

Olive's death was especially intriguing to me because I had never seen a dragon's body become so distorted within a matter of minutes. I had also never seen a dragon cry before when they were dying either. This was because all of the deaths I had seen before happened on my father's alter and were always for the glory of Cerva. When those dragons died, they usually laughed and shouted with glee at the chance to die for their beloved deity. Olive was not was doing any of those things.

For this reason, I decided to ask Olive why she was crying.

"I j-j-aaah-just want it too stop! It hurts so m-much!" Olive screamed.

I stared at her for a minute after that and realized Olive wasn't dying. She was suffering. I hadn't experienced much suffering when I was that young. Well, actually, come to think of it, I was starving a lot because my parents had trouble remembering to feed me, but that's beside the point. I still understood enough about suffering to know that it wasn't right.

Suffering was a problem that plagued the world. Fortunately, my father had taught me what the solution to that plague was: death! I've been told that saying this makes things dark. However, I say death is the solution to problems during the day all the time and it stays sunny outside. I think the dragons who say that are just being silly.

With this in mind, I pulled out a dagger (I always have daggers on me because I like daggers) and preceded to kill Olive. Olive was pretty shocked at first, but she didn't struggle. Olive told me much later after on that she had been hoping to die for a long time and had asked Omnios to send someone who would take her life quickly.

Fortunately for Olive, I was an expert in the art of killing someone quickly. In a matter minutes, I had beheaded Olive, sliced her body just so to drain out most of blood and cut out her heart.

Once Olive was dead, I couldn’t help but marvel at her. Everywhere my blade had touched, more mantis-colored smoke billowed out and her body, goodness, it was so beautifully misshapen that she didn't even look like a dragon. Her blood was probably the most beautiful part of her corpse though. This was because her blood wasn't red. It was a bright lemon hue and it glowed, which was why the drops of blood scattered all over her corpse looked like starlight.

"Wow," I whispered under my breath after I had fully looked her over.

The next thing I remember happening after that was getting tackled by Nyph. Meanwhile, her mate, Banana, was right behind her and shouting. I learned later that Nyph and Banana were Olive's parents. However, at the time, all I knew was that those two dragons were very, very angry with me and I didn't understand why. Looking back, I think I understand now why they were experiencing so much rage. Its because life has value. However, the value can't be measured in coins or gems. Life is too special and sacred to be given tiny price tags. That's why taking a life is so wrong because nothing on this earth could ever match the value of a life that's lost. This makes sense to me now, but it took me a while to fully understand that when I was younger.

I'm pretty sure Nyph and Banana would have killed me eventually because even though they hadn't seen me kill Olive, I was covered in her blood and had a danger in my paw. It was obvious that I had been the one who had taken Olive's life. They didn't actually kill me though, since Olive's body came back together and a new head sprouted back where her old one had been.

"Mom! Dad!" Olive shouted. Both dragons' heads swiveled from their daughter's killer to their daughter. There were tears streaming down Olive's face again. Although, this time she was smiling.

"It doesn't h-hurt anyone." Olive stammered. "I'm h-healed."

In this instant, I was forgotten. Nyph and Banana rushed to Olive, pressed their heads against hers and wrapped their front limps around her. The family started praising someone called Omnios and soon Nyph and Banana were weeping.

I watched at the family as they wept together. Seeing something like this was very foreign to me. I didn't understand who Omnios was or why they were crying. Yet, as watched Banana, Nyph and Olive, I found myself longing to have the kind of connection they shared. I was also a little confused how Olive had grown another head, but Olive's parents didn't seemed shocked so I figured regrowing heads must have been a normal occurrence in their culture.

A while after the family's tears subsided, Nyph and Banana took me back to my father. It was during this short journey to my father's lair that Olive introduced herself to me and we chatted for a bit. I usually had trouble talking to dragons who weren't Cervinous Worshippers or my mother (she isn't apart of the my father's cult). Talking to Olive came naturally though.

Once we had found my father, Olive's parents told my dad what I had done and warned him that I might be a danger to others.

My father smiled and said, "Oh, I'm sure that's just a phase. Children's phases pass, but you know what doesn't pass? Why, the glory of Cerva of course! And you know how you can be a apart of this glory? Sacrifice your eternal soul to Cerva! It'll be so much fun! I'll prepare the--"

My father kept talking, but Nyph and Banana whispered something to each other and slowly started to back away from my father. Then, they grabbed Olive and said that they had to leave for “reasons.”

During this moment, Olive's and my eyes met. The skydancer smiled at me and waved goodbye. I felt as if an insect had come to live my stomach and started flying around. I wanted to say something to Olive, but before I even had the moment to formulate words, her parents had taken off with her and were flying into the horizon.

Six months went by after that and spent most of it wondering about Olive and her parents. They were very strange for a lots of reasons. Olive was especially peculiar.

I wished I could see Olive again and give her old head back (you see, she had left her previous head that I sliced off behind so I stuck it on a spear and put it by my bedroom for safe keeping. which I figured she'd appreciate), but I had a feeling she wouldn't come back. Most dragons who slowly backed away from my father and flew off usually didn’t come back. That's just how things were.

However, one night before I fell asleep, I asked Omnios to bring Olive back to my home one more time. I didn't think asking Omnios would work because my father's righthand dragon, Six, had told me that a lot of the deities that dragons believed in weren't real and were simply made up to help dragons feel safe. The few that were real were jerks. Still, I had never heard Six speak about how Omnios specifically was a hoax or an immortal jerk so I figured that it would probably be best to pray to that deity instead of any of the others I had known.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of several voices. One of them was my father's and others belonged to Nyph and Banana. I was utterly dumbfounded when I recognized Nyph and Banana's voice. I quickly grabbed the spear that had Olive's rotting head on it and ran out of the small cave that functioned as my room because I had to see for myself if they actually were truly were there.

To my disbelief, my father and Olive's parents were standing by each other outside and having a discussion. Olive was lying on the ground close to her mother and her body appeared to be in the same state it had been when I first saw her.

Once again, the insects were fluttering in my stomach. My heart started to pound rapidly. I couldn't believe she was actually here again!

"Olive!" I shouted with a grin and ran towards her. “You forgot your—“

Nyph tackled me before I could finish my sentence. Once again, I was confused why Nyph had tackled me. All I had was the moldy head of their beloved daughter mounted on a spear in my paw and some dried blood on me from the last ritual I helped my father with. There was nothing about my appearance that indicated I was danger, yet they still thought I was. I’ll have to ask Olive about this later because I am still confused about that to this day.

“Don’t come any closer.” Nyph hissed in my ear as she pinned my throat against the ground.

“Mother, pl-please don’t—argh—hurt h-him!” Olive shouted in the background.

My heart warmed at the sound of Olive’s request. No one in my father’s cult usually noticed if I was suddenly attacked, which actually happened quite frequently because there were a lot of dangerous creatures that lived around my home. This typically did not bother me because I knew my father and his boneheads had many important rituals to preform. As for my mother, she had an important, ominous rituals she referred to as “Vacations.” She had warned me that the Vacation was a very dangerous ritual and that I would likely die if I came along. That’s why she always left me behind when she began her crucial Vacations, since she’s a very responsible mom. :)

However, even though I was pretty used to be violently attacked without hearing anyone expressing concern about my health, it was really nice to know Olive seemed at least moderately concerned if I was harmed. It made me feel as if my existence mattered somewhat, which was a nice feeling.

“Are sure that is one who healed you, Ol?” Banana anxiously spoke.

“Yes, father. Please l-let him do it again. It hurts so m-much.” Olive gasped.

I couldn’t see all of Banana’s face, since my head was smooshed against the ground and one of Nyph’s colorful wings obscured my view. However, I could see one of Banana’s eyes though and the deep melancholy that glinted in that eye when his daughter spoke.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to spend some time binding your souls to the eternal glory of Cerva first?” My father chimed in.

Nyph and Banana ignored my father and looked to each other.

“We have to, Banana” Nyph said.

“Ah, yes, saying you have to sacrifice yourself is the first step—“ My father cheerfully explained until Banana cut him off.

“Excuse me, Sevens, do you mind if we have a moment alone with your son?”

At this point, I began to feel frightened because I thought that a Nyph and Banana wanted to unleash their wraith on me for offending them in some way. I wanted to ask my father not to leave me alone with them, but Nyph was crushing my wind pipe so I couldn’t speak.

“Why that’s completely fine! I’ll go back inside my cave and leave you to chat, but do make sure to consider my offer!” My father said with a giant grin and then, he began walking away.

My heart sank a little as I heard my father’s words.

“I can’t believe that dragon is okay with this.” Nyph told Banana.

“Me neither,” Banana agreed. “However, I am actually grateful he’s okay with killing in this case.”

My heart started pounding in my chest. Had Banana and Nyph asked my father if they could kill me and he had agreed? My chest felt very heavy and stomach felt queasy. Also, black dots were beginning to dance in the corners of my vision because Nyph hadn’t allowed me to breath yet.

My father had never been very interested in whether I stayed alive, but I had always thought and hoped that if someone had asked to kill me, he would have asked if I was okay with that.

I guess I was wrong, I thought bitterly as I started to lose consciousness.

“Nyph, you’re going to make him pass out!” Someone yelled from a place far away.

I returned to consciousness as I started to violently gasp for air. At first, when I opened my eyes, my vision was a little blurry. Then, I blinked and saw Banana and Nyph sitting in front of me.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re awake!” Banana said with a sigh of relief. “We’re, um, sorry for suffocating you, Nightmare.”

“I’m not.” Nyph snarled and gave me a soul piercing glare, which made me feel very small.

“Ah…um, what my mate means to say is that we really could use your help. You’re the only one who’s managed to relieve our daughter’s pain so if you could please do…um, what you did her again, we would greatly appreciate it. We may even be able to compensate you for—“

“I’d love to kill your daughter again!!” I shouted with glee and quickly stood up.

For some reason, Nyph and Banana started looking at me with the same expression that outsiders usually looked my father with when he asked them if they would like to be sacrificed in the name of Cerva.

“Do you think we should try to report these dragons to someone?” Nyph quietly so I wouldn’t hear her, but I still did.

“I’m afraid Sevens is the only authority to report to in this territory.” Banana quickly whispered back.

“When can I start?” I asked as excitement bubbled inside of me and I promptly ignored whatever Nyph and Banana were talking about because it sounded boring.

Since that day, I started killing Olive routinely every three months and I was so happy! Life was so much easier when I knew I was going to see Olive. Even when I was starving or a wild beast had attacked me, I wasn’t sad because I could always count the days till I would see Olive next, which would make me smile. Also, killing her obviously was a joy, but hanging out with her was fun too, especially if she spent the night because then, we would have what she called “slumber parties.” During these slumber parties we’d stay up late, have pillow fights and share juicy secrets!

In time, I also came to enjoy being around Olive’s parents…well, after Nyph stopped tackling me. Nyph and Banana also shared things with me like candy, these weird things called binoculars and meat. The candy they gave me was especially nice because I had never had candy before. Banana also taught me how to do cool things like write my name draconic and play catch with a ball.

Oh, and, I started collecting Olive’s heads and putting them all on spears in my room, since Olive said she didn’t want them back. Olive’s heads always grew back differently after I decapitated her so every head of hers is very unique and special to me. Olive’s parents thought they were so cool that their eyes bulged out of their skulls and their jaw muscles gave out when they saw my collection. Then, Banana smiled at me as if he was in pain, which shows how happy he was, and said, “um, that's um-that’s nice, Nightmare.” Also, Nyph started whispering something about seriously considering finding someone to report these dragons too. Not sure what that was about.

For two years my life was like this, until Banana and Nyph discovered I wasn’t being fed and that my father was allowing me to participate in his cult’s rituals. They asked me if this was true and I said yes. After that, they got really mad.

They must hate me. I thought.

Banana and Nyph then told me that they needed a moment alone. I was really anxious when I watched the two adult dragons walk off. Olive had told me that whenever Nyph and Banana “needed a moment” something serious was going on.

“We should sneak up on them and see if we can hear what there saying,” Olive suggested so we both quietly followed the mated dragons.

We only heard the end of their discussion and during it, Nyph insisted that she they couldn’t keep coming back to my father’s clan and doing this. Banana agreed. Hearing Nyph say that was the only thing Olive and I needed to conclude what we feared the most: Nyph, Banana and Olive by extension wouldn’t be returning to my father’s cult again.

It was on that day that Olive and I spent almost all our whole slumber party crying and hugging each other. Olive gave me her favorite bookworm plushie that night so I would have something to hug once she was gone. I wanted to tell Olive about the butterflies that appeared in my stomach whenever I saw her that night because I felt like there was something significant about those feelings, but I just wasn’t sure what. However, I was deeply afraid that of telling Olive the truth because I wasn’t sure how she’d react and thought she might hate me too like her parents. If she hated me, I would have to live with knowing that the one dragon I cared about most abhorred me.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to bare that so I kept quiet.

“Nightmare, you have to get up,” Banana whispered as he gently shook me.

“Seven more minutes.” I mumbled in a half-asleep state.

“Please, Nightmare, this is important.”

Memories of the previous day rushed in my head when Banana said that matter was important. A sense of dread burst inside me. I had a feeling Banana was probably going to tell me that he wasn’t coming back.

“Um, what is it?” I squeaked as I opened my eyes and sat up.

It was then that I realized both Nyph and Banana were in my room. Olive was also awake in her sleeping bag next to me and rubbing one of her eyes.

Nyph and Banana glanced at each other for a brief moment before Banana spoke.

“Nightmare, we’ve been giving it a lot of thought and—“

Before Banana could finish his sentence, I started to violently sob.

“I-I’m sorry! I’m s-sorry I made you a-a-angry! I know you h-h-hate me and you want to l-leave, b-b-but please d-don’t go! I’ll miss you so m-much, even—even if…you won’t m-miss me at all.”

“Oh, Nightmare,” Nyph said softly and reached out to me with her forearms to pull me into a hug. Then, I felt Olive’s slender front limbs wrap around me and Banana’s callused paw gently press against my wings. “No, we don’t hate you. Why did you think that?”

I had never been apart of a group hug before and had been hugged for the first time yesterday by Olive. I felt so warm and loved that I began to cry more. I finally knew why some dragons cried when they were overwhelmed by joy.

“Y-you both seemed so angry yesterday,” I squeaked.

“Nightmare, we weren’t mad at you.” Nyph said calmly and then, began to snarl, “We were mad at that imbecile who can’t go five minutes without talking about some false god and fails to understand the very basics of parenting.”

I did not know what an imbecile was so I was clueless as to what creature Nyph was referring to, but at that moment, I didn’t really care. I was just happy that my assumptions were proven wrong.

However, there was one lingering confusion I had, which seemed pressing enough to bring up then.

“If you aren’t angry with me, will you keep coming back to visit?” I questioned.

“Well,” Nyph began to admit and gently disbanded from the hug so she could look at me. Olive and Banana did the same as well. “We were hoping to leave this place for a long time but, Nightmare, we were only going to do that if you were willing to come with us.”

I felt both of my pairs of eyes widen and my lower jaw went slack.

I had never left my father's clan and never even dreamed of leaving. The thought of getting to explore the kingdom Olive had told me so many stories about sounded so exciting though. And the fact they all wanted me to come with them was so surprising and heartwarming all at once.

“You really want me to come with you?” I asked all three dragons standing before me.

“Yeeeeeeees!” Olive squealed and hugged me once more.

“We most definitely want you to come with us.” Banana agreed as Nyph nodded.

My vision became blurred as another round of hot tears filled my eyes. I hadn’t realized this consciously, but for a long time, I had craved to find creatures who wanted me around. Now, I finally had found them.

“So are you coming with us, Nightmare?” Olive asked gleefully.

“Yes, I’m coming.” I said without a second thought.

Once I had agreed to accompany Banana, Nyph and Olive back to their kingdom, Alasteria, I began packing my things right away. Nyph said they wanted leave before sunrise so he wouldn’t find out that they were taking me away, until we were far from the Hellwell Undercloth. I wasn’t sure who the “he” Nyph was taking about or why she glared at the cave my father was sleeping in when she said “he,” but I just figured avoiding a mysterious he and glaring at caves just had to do with her religious beliefs.

I didn’t have many things off value, aside from Olive’s skulls so it was pretty easy for me to pack everything within a few minutes. Although it occurred to me that I left the most recent skull that I had gotten from Olive outside so it would rot quicker. I darted out of my cave to grab Olive’s freshly severed head. On the way to get Olive’s head, I passed by the entrance to father’s crave.

My pace slowed to a halt in front of my father’s room as it dawned on me that it would be a long time before I saw this cave, and my father by extension, again. A bit of sadness pulsed inside me.

I knew my father probably wouldn’t notice if I left so I wasn’t worried about getting in trouble, but the thought of not saying good bye made my chest heavy so I quietly walked into my father’s cave. My dad’s room was filled with dried blood and stacks of promotional fliers and posters for his cult. My father himself snoring loudly on a pile of pillows

“Father?” I asked as I nudged him a little.

My father didn’t move so I shook him harder and his eyes slowly opened.

“Unnamed, is that you?” My father mumbled with a yawn.

“Oh, um, actually my name is Nightmare now, Father. I understand that its easy to forget that though, since I only remind you every other day, instead of every day.”

“Oh, that’s nice you got a name.” My Father responded and lifted his head to look at me. “Did you know that there’s a recent survey that came out, which suggest Cerva is one of the most glorious names in existence? I know because I conducted the study and interviewed myself. The study also found—“

“Uh, Father, sorry to interrupt you, but I am actually going to leave soon so I can’t chat for too long.”

“Oooh, that sounds run! Are you going to look at Cerva’s original alter? It was recently declared one of the eighth wonders of the Sornieth in an article I wrote.”

“Um, actually,” I started to say as I glanced down at my claws and I started to grow nervous.

Would he be disappointed in me if I left? I wondered. My father had mentioned that I’d make a great new official member to the Cervinous Worshippers one day or a good sacrifice if I wanted an up close experience on the action. Would he be upset if I no longer intended to become either of those things?

“I’m going to Alasteria with Banana, Nyph and Olive. I don’t think I’ll be back in a while.”

My father’s brow furrowed for a moment and he cocked his head to the side.

“Are Banana and Nyph those two adult dragons who trespass on my property, never speak to me and have a tendency to coax you to come towards them with candy?”

“Yep.” I confirmed.

“They certainly seem like reliable dragons that I can entrust my son’s life with.” My father confidently stated and then, smiled at me.

“Wait, you mean you aren’t sad?” I squeaked.

“Why would I be sad?” My father asked. “I’m living my best life.”

“Oh…well, I figured you’d want to to be a member of your cult one day.”

“Nah, I don’t need any more members. I’ve already got the best team ever! And besides, I knew you were going to leave someday.”

“Wait, you knew I was going to leave? How did you know?” I wondered aloud. Since I hadn’t ever considered leaving my father’s cult, I was very confused why my father of all dragons had seen this coming.

“You’ve got an outsider’s heart, Nighty.” My father said as he poked my chest with his talon for emphasis. “So I knew it would lead you outside of our home.”

I looked up at my father in wonder at what he had said. No one had ever told me I had anything in common with outsiders. This gave me a lot of hope that I could belong with amazing dragons like Olive, Nyph and Banana.

“You really think so?”

“Well, Six told me that and she’s usually right about these things. If you want, I could just cut your heart out and compare it an an outsider’s.”

“Hmmm, I think I might need my heart to be able to travel to Alasteria.”

“Fair point. Well, if you ever change your mind you know where to find me.”

I titled my head towards the exit of my father’s cave. The sky was starting to turn orange and I knew the time to leave was near. Once again, my chest was a little heavy as the realization I had to actually say goodbye hit me.

“It was nice knowing ya, Nighter. I’m not sure if you’ll die before I seen you again, but given the fact you outlived most of your siblings, I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“Thanks, Father. It was nice knowing you too. Goodbye for now or forever possibly.”

“Goodbye, Kiddo.”

With that, I turned around and walked away. However, just before I excited my father’s cave, but dad said:

“Hey Nightly, don’t forget what I taught ya about death, okay?”

I turned around and looked at my father one last time.

“Don’t worry Father, I’ll never forget that death cures 100% of preexisting infections!” I cried with glee.

Then, I spun around once and dove into the vast unknown.