Pandora

•Chapter 14•

A juvenile Wyvern was sleeping soundly in the middle of her den. Her pale sunflower yellow scales rose and fell steadily as she lay curled up like a cat, a fluffy blanket draped over her to keep her warm. It was unusually chilly for a night in the warm season, clouds spread across most of the sky.

The Fire Wyverns’ sleep was interrupted at the sound of a loud thunk outside and a blast of frantic wings. Bright’s amber eyes snapped open and she shook her head as she lifted it towards the entrance. She was wide awake in moments as a Wyvern came into her home, straight through the opening as if they lived here and it wasn't the literal middle of the night. Bright caught a glimpse of the moon low in the sky from the wide open entranceway and corrected herself. It was sometime past moonhigh.

As the Wyvern stepped inside and she saw their face she realized who it was. The Wyvern looked like she had just come straight out of a monsoon and hadn't had any sleep in hours. Bright stood up and said her name.

“Bria?”

“Are your parents here?” Bria asked instantly, her head dipped slightly. She had a serious tone to her voice that was rough and low with exhaustion.

“No, they're away, remember?” Bright replied. “What is–”

“Good, let's get the others over here.” Bria said, walking past her. Bright’s gaze followed her in confusion, before she nodded and left the den.

Bright flew first to Ember's home, who was closest to hers’. Ember shot up as Bright called her, knocking away her three blankets with her eyes bright blue flames. “Emergency??” She demanded excitedly. Bright answered with a simple shrug as Ember climbed down from her high ledge to her.

They then went across the lake to Nettles den, which took much longer. Nettle had turned her head away from them in her bed and pretended to be fast asleep, ignoring them till Ember had to throw a bracelet at her.

The three quickly flew back to Bright's home where Bria was waiting patiently, her eyes focused on something that wasn't there.

“What's up?” Ember asked eagerly.

Bright turned to the wall of her den as they walked inside. She opened her mouth and fire came from her throat, lighting the candles lined up on the ledge. The room was cast in a mix of fire and early dawn light.

“A third Pterosaur stampede came by just hours ago,” Bria told them.

Bright exchanged glances with Nettle and Ember, and Ember whispered, “No way.”

“We're all worried about that, but I don't understand. Why wake us all up just to tell us that?” Nettle asked Bria. “You look like you've been awake since sunset. What's going on with you, Bria?”

“Somethings happening,” Bria said without looking at them. She stared at the ground and walked in a circle with her tail lashing left and right. “I don’t know what or when or why–”

Bright listened intently as Bria continued, bringing up her head to finally glance at them. “Remember the night of the festival, when we all walked half of the way home?”

“Yes,” Bright answered. “Pandora had us walk instead of fly, and that was when the second mob came by.”

Bria nodded.

“This has to do with Pandora, doesn't it?” Bright asked.

“She's not telling me something,” Bria said. “I don't understand it. But I'm going to find out.”

“So ominous.” Nettle sighed. “But what are you talking about?”

There was a shuffle of claws. “‘Something’, like what?” Ember asked, furrowing her brow with a cautious look.

Bria looked like her head was aching badly. “There– I–” She groaned. “I found a hole in my den that had never been there before. It led to a tunnel and there was a circular cave at the end. With drawings everywhere, all across its floor and walls.” She explained it so quickly but firmly, her voice low and quiet as she spoke. When she finished the three were staring at her.

“What?” Ember exclaimed.

Bria sat down and sighed heavily. She didn’t seem like she wanted to say any more, but she did anyway. “They were drawings of the mobs. And Wyverns. And something huge was in the middle, like it was scaring them all away.”

“This makes no sense.” Nettle said, baring her teeth slightly at the last word.

“She drew it because she knows,.” Bria whispered. She hissed slightly. “I need to know,” She breathed, closing her eyes tightly.

Bright watched her quietly before feeling claws dig into her wing and tug at her. She was yanked sideways by Ember and the purple-red Wyvern whispered, “If this has to do with Pandora, what does it mean?”

Nettle, who had scooted over to them, shrugged with wide eyes. “Weird things are definitely going on, any Wyvern could admit that.”

“We’ll just–” Bright glanced back over at Bria and went quiet as she realized Bria had fallen asleep. Her eyes were closed and the side of her face was resting on her wing in a sitting position that made her look like she could fall over any second. Bright looked back at Ember and Nettle. “We’ll talk about this in the morning, yeah.”

***

The sun was almost close to rising, though darkness still shrouded the land around the lake and sent shadows across the palace. No sounds yet, not even breathing. Staring up at the palace with her ordinary, blank expression was Pandora.

She whispered something under her breath as if promising something, then looked up to notice that the gray clouds were finally diminishing. The shapes reflected in her eyes as she stared with her head craned. Then she turned and walked away, and minutes later the clouds were back and dark again.

***

‘I need to know.’

Bria didn’t know she was in a dream. She stood by herself in a dark room, a lot like the tunnel she’d only recently come out of. She stayed in place, blinking and listening, before stepping forward once. Her talonstep echoed quietly down the cavern. She inhaled quietly and went forward at a slow pace.

There was a small and muffled snapping, cracking noise from somewhere down the tunnel. She continued going, a sense of dread and anticipation filling her veins. She knew she had to see what this was. She had to know and not forget.

The sounds continued. Something like moving, ripping flesh. A few more snaps and a couple indecipherable sounds.

She went faster through the darkness and stopped, just in time as she nearly ran into something small in the middle of the pitch black space. A lump, a moving shape that clicked quietly before looking up at her. Giant glowing eyes pierced into her and a small flash of light let her see what it was. An owl, standing and staring up at her. Bria shifted her head downwards. There was something underneath it, laying limply at its curved claws.

Her breath trembled as she saw it, terror gripping her at the sight of a dead bird with a slit going right down the middle of its frail body, leaving it cut perfectly in half. Feathers and entrails covered the floor around it.

The owl tilted its head at Bria.

She stepped back, before hearing another sound and turning her head. A set of eyes with the same hue as the owls’ gazed at her from the darkness and she looked back to where the owl had once been, but it had disappeared, leaving the mutilated bird laying in a pool of its own blood on the ground.

“Hallo, zusammen,” A voice that she didn’t understand said in an odd, almost song-like pitch, its tone lifting and then falling suddenly.

Bria didn’t reply to it nor know what it was saying. She instead held her ground, digging her claws inward.

The eyes blinked once.

“Bitte erinnere nicht.”

Boom.

A light suddenly burst from nowhere and burned her eyes, making her close them quickly and exclaim in surprise. She fell back and caught herself with her wings, opening her eyes with spots dancing in her vision.

She blinked her narrowed eyes, snarling defensively and standing up to look and face the thing, before outstretched claws appeared and reached for her face, and everything went black again.

Bria woke up slowly and lifted her head. Her eyesight was blurry and her eyes were watering a bunch, causing her to wipe them vigorously with one wing. Her mouth felt dry. For the first time in hours she realized she hadn’t drank any water in a while. She groaned, quickly remembering yesterday and everything she had done. She didn’t remember her dream. But that’s normal.

“Hi there,” Ember said, poking her head over from behind Bria. Bria sat up. “It’s a little past morning now. You wanna get some food and water?”

“Yes, I do,” Bria answered, looking over at her.

“Yay! I’ll go get Nettle and Bright. Nettle’s yelling about stuff right now.”

Bright watched her climb out of the open den and call their names outside. As she did, Bria got to her talons and padded forward. She came into the cool daylight and twisted her neck to see the others climbing down from a ledge above the den. “We’ll catch a bunch of fish and prey, drink some water, and do whatever else we need to do,” Ember insisted, pulling at both Bright and Nettle. Bria made a small toothless smile. “Right? Come on, team!”