That night felt endless. I couldn't sleep for even a second, tormented by an excruciating pain in my neck, a pain that came from the bite — the one I still insisted on believing was part of a dream.
— Agh… What is this pain? — I murmured, massaging the area in a futile attempt to soothe it.
Sweat trickled down my forehead, and an ominous feeling kept me restless. Exhausted, I got up and walked to the crystal mirror in my room, hoping to find an explanation for what I was feeling. As I approached, the reflection revealed something that made me freeze: two medium-sized puncture marks on my neck, surrounded by a faint redness, as if teeth — or needles — had pierced my skin.
— What… is this? — I asked aloud, my voice trembling.
Those marks didn't make sense. No divine creature could pierce a dragon's scales, and no weapon could have gone unnoticed. Yet, as I racked my brain for a logical explanation, a memory flashed through my mind like a lightning bolt, and it was Aurëalis's bite, that I thought, happened only in my dream.
— No… Haha… No, no, no… It was just a dream! — I muttered, desperately trying to convince myself.
But the truth seemed to mock me at every turn.
— Maybe… maybe I'm just exhausted. Yeah, that's it. I haven't been sleeping well for days. It's probably the room… or that cursed alarm clock. Yeah… that has to be it. — I said, grasping at straws to justify the situation.
I tried to convince myself that the marks could have come from some accidental contact while sleeping on the plateaus. An unlikely scenario, of course, but it was the most comfortable lie I could cling to in that moment.
— Sigh… You know what? I'll leave earlier today. I'll sleep in the forest this time; it's been a while since I've been there. Yeah, I'll find some peace there. — I thought.
Though I tried to sound confident, my trembling hands betrayed my unease as I changed clothes and prepared to leave. I stepped out of my room determined, but stopped short when I saw Karix dozing on the couch.
— Karix? — I called, surprised to see him there.
I approached him, and he opened his eyes slowly, visibly exhausted.
— K-Kyrion? Is that really you?! — he asked, startled, now fully awake.
— Of course it's me. Who else would it be? — I asked, confused by his reaction.
— Thank the heavens you're alright! Man, I've been looking for you everywhere! I thought… I thought Aurëalis had killed you! — he exclaimed, breathless.
— What?! Killed me? Karix, what are you talking about? — I asked, puzzled.
— What do you mean, what am I talking about? I'm talking about when that white dragon attacked us earlier today! I thought Aurëalis had sent it, and that it had kidnapped you! — he replied, his voice rising with frustration.
At that moment, the world seemed to spin around me. What I had stubbornly believed to be a dream was now being confirmed by Karix.
— N-No… that… was just a dream… You must be mistaken, Karix. — I said, clinging to the facade I had built for myself.
— A dream? Kyrion, are you okay? That wasn't a dream! — he insisted.
Karix's words felt like knives cutting through my carefully constructed denial. My hands grew clammy, and my heart raced. I didn't want to believe it, but the truth felt inescapable.
— Haha… No, no, Karix… You're probably just tired. You're confused. — I said, trying to dodge the subject as I headed for the door.
— But Kyrion… — he started, but I cut him off.
— I think you need to rest, Karix. Losing sleep over females is driving you crazy, hahaha. Get some sleep, and we'll talk tomorrow. — I said, already stepping out before he could respond.
— O-okay? … — he murmured, perplexed by my behavior, before giving up on trying to convince me otherwise.
I knew running away wouldn't solve anything, but at that moment, facing the truth felt even worse.
Some time passed and I arrived at the open zone with my mind in turmoil, but the cool night breeze began to ease my tense body. Under the starry sky and the gentle light of the moon, I tried to reclaim the peace that had eluded me for so long.
— Sigh… This place… It's exactly what I needed. — I murmured as I transformed and flew toward the forest.
When I arrived, I found my old stone bed exactly as I had left it, so I lay down, adjusting myself until I found the perfect position, and the pain in my neck finally began to subside.
— Sigh… Karix must be losing his mind… None of this makes sense… — I muttered, trying to push away the disturbing thoughts that kept coming back.
But even there, in the silence of the forest, something deep inside me knew he was right. Deep down, I knew that everything had been real.
— Tsk… Enough, Kyrion. Let's sleep. That's the best thing I can do right now. — I thought, closing my eyes as the weight of exhaustion took over me.
As soon as I closed my eyes and stopped thinking about it, sleep came almost immediately. However, before I could dive deeply into the peace I so desperately sought, I felt something strange. An unsettling sensation that was enough to pull me out of my serene state.
At that moment, I felt a bad feeling, as if someone was looking at me with bloodlust. The intensity of that sensation, sent shivers through my body and triggered an automatic defensive instinct.
— ...Hm? That feeling… someone is watching me… — I thought, keeping my eyes closed but remaining completely alert.
— Tsk… I was almost asleep… and yet…
— Is this… bloodlust? — I thought, surprised and uneasy.
After feeling that I prepared myself for an attack. My body was ready, my senses sharpened, and my mind was formulating a way to counter whatever was out there. But suddenly, that oppressive presence began to fade. Slowly at first, then completely, as if it had never been there.
Still, I remained on guard. For some time, I waited, fearing it was a trap to catch me off guard. But nothing happened, so I allowed my muscles to relax, and my body eased back into restfulness.
— Tsk… Whatever that was, it seems to have gone, huh? — I thought as the tingling sensation on my skin faded away.
— Yeah… I think I can go back to sleep now. Yawn… — I mumbled, lying back down and letting sleep finally take me.
This time, I slept deeply, uninterrupted. When morning came, I woke up — not to the sound of my usual alarm, but from my own internal clock, but unlike other days, I decided not to get up.
— Tsk… It's already morning, huh? I never thought I'd get used to waking up this early… agh… Must be that cursed alarm clock. But now that I'm not there, I can sleep peacefully here… Haha… Poor Karix. He's the one who has to deal with it now. — I murmured, smiling before drifting back into sleep.
Time passed without me noticing, and when I finally woke up again, it was already late afternoon. For the first time in a long while, I felt almost completely rested. The pain in my neck was almost totally gone, and my body felt refreshed.
— Ah… This is perfect. I could stay here forever. — I thought, allowing myself to relax again, drifting back into sleep.
But as I fell deeper into slumber, something disturbed me once more. A light pressure on my back, a weight on my tail, and a cool, damp sensation on my neck caused me to open my eyes slowly.
— Yawn… Hm? What… strange sensations are these? — I thought, still groggy.
At that moment, my body felt weak, as it always did upon waking. As I usually did since I was a hatchling, I tried to move my tail to get the blood flowing. But this time, my tail seemed stuck.
— Tsk… My tail… What's happening? — I murmured, straining to move it without success.
— Agh… Am I still that weak? Or is something holding my tail? — I thought, perplexed.
With great effort, as if I were carrying another dragon on my back, I managed to lift myself up and look at my tail. My blurred vision made it hard to make out details, but I could see something white wrapped around it.
— What… is that? — I asked myself, curiosity tinged with alarm.
As my vision gradually returned to normal, understanding dawned on me. When I finally saw clearly what was around my tail, the answer left me speechless.
— B-But… this is… — I began, but my words were interrupted by a soft whisper in my ear that made me blush and sent a shiver through my entire body.
— this is… another tail. — the voice whispered, followed by a quiet, mischievous laugh.
And then, everything clicked. There was indeed another dragon on my back. Not just any dragon, but Aurëalis.
She was there, her tail entwined with mine, her bright eyes gleaming with amusement and something else that made me even more uneasy.
— A-Aurëalis?! What… what are you doing here?! — I stammered, my voice trembling as she leaned closer, seemingly sniffing my neck.