Chapter 24 Mina #2
Now that Abraxis is safe, I look down into the eyes of the male I once called father.
His gaze is still defiant, but I can see the first flickers of fear there, the realization of his mortality finally dawning.
The abuse, pain, torture, and my death flash before my eyes.
Each memory is a shard of glass cutting through my mind.
I feel the lightning build up in my chest. It’s a growing pressure behind my breastbone, then creeps up my throat, making the scales there tingle and rise.
The taste of ozone fills my mouth, metallic and sharp.
Quickly, I strike, biting where his neck meets his body, my teeth sinking through scale and flesh with sickening ease.
I let loose the biggest lightning strike I can muster; the energy ripping through me like a tidal wave.
I light up the sky as the current moves over my scales, illuminating the darkness in harsh blue-white light.
The lightning flows out of my mouth and into his body.
His scales glow briefly from within, his skeleton visible for one macabre moment before the darkness claims him.
The scent of burnt flesh and ozone fills my nostrils as I draw in a deep breath to strike his corpse again as it falls free from my talons, tumbling through the darkness to the earth below.
The surrounding air is charged, making my scales prickle and stand on end.
In this moment, suspended between heaven and earth, I feel nothing.
I circle back through the ash-laden air to watch Klauth and Thauglor take out the last of the green dragons that swarmed my nest. The dawn light breaks over the horizon, painting the battlefield in hues of crimson and gold that glint off scattered scales and pooling blood.
Each body that falls sends a name bursting into my head in a last goodbye, a whispered death knell that only I can hear.
They followed a madman to the very end. But like most dragons, when you are part of a flight, your allegiance is to the dominant dragon of the flight.
Sadly for them, my mother was collared. If she was free, she would have been stronger than all of them—a truth that tastes both bitter and sweet on my tongue.
I circle the crash site where my father’s body fell, the downdraft from my wings stirring up dust and the acrid scent of charred flesh.
Landing close by, my claws sinking into the soft earth with a satisfying crunch, I remain in my dragon form, staring at the corpse.
The broken body lies twisted and smoking, scales blackened and curled at the edges.
For now, I don’t feel anything—no triumph, no grief, no relief—just a hollow emptiness where my fear once lived.
I defended my territory and my babies within my home.
What’s left of the man before me isn’t the man I remember from before the training began.
Not the man who used to read me stories, his voice soft and melodic against my ear.
Not the man who used to tuck me in at night and sneak me cookies, the scent of vanilla and cinnamon clinging to his fingers.
Something happened around my fifth birthday, and he changed.
He became the boogeyman, the thing that went bump in the night.
My creator and destroyer all in one vicious package.
I stare into his unseeing eyes, once brilliant gold now clouded and dull as tarnished coins.
I’m not sure why I do, but I do. Perhaps seeking some answer that death has stolen, or confirmation that the monster can no longer reach me.
The morning breeze carries the metallic tang of blood and ozone across my tongue, mingling with the earthy scent of the mountains.
Behind me, I feel when Klauth and Thauglor land, the ground trembling beneath their weight.
The air grows thick with their presence, their unique scents—ancient fire and mountain stone—enveloping me like a protective cloak.
The lightning builds in me once more, a tingling pressure that starts in my core and spreads through my limbs, making my scales rise and crackle with energy.
My mouth fills with the sharp, metallic taste of ozone as I strike the corpse again.
The brilliant flash illuminates the clearing, casting harsh shadows across the rocky terrain.
I keep striking until there’s just his skull and ash left behind, each blast sending shockwaves through my body and scorching the ground black.
I chose a different path than my original vision where Klauth killed him.
This way, I know he can’t haunt me anymore.
The certainty of it settles in my bones like a physical weight lifted.
The smell of charred bone and singed hair fills my nostrils as I draw in a deep, shuddering breath.
The last spark of lightning fades from my jaws, leaving behind a tingling sensation on my tongue.
I am finally free, and my mother’s death avenged.
The knowledge spreads through me like warm honey, sweet and soothing, as the first true rays of sunlight break fully over the mountain peaks, bathing me in golden light.
Today the nightmares end.