The Obelisk

-Chapter 82-

All of Nyx’s life, she’d never thought she’d be special.

Which was perfectly fine with her! She had friends and family and a home and a life she loved. Her Father was the chief of the Shadowmanes (at least the ones that fled into Lindbjord,) and her mother was having a baby.

She’d never expected to go to Runhiemr and find four carnivores who were particularly different from everyone else, let alone part of a prophecy everyone had been talking about. To get thrown in prison by Terror Birds and escape with the help of a Prince, and then, after all of that find out she was different too?

‘But I cant be,’ She’d thought. ‘Me, one of them? How? Why?’

Out of everything that happened, it did start to seem like maybe, maybe she was special after all. Chosen to save the world from… Something.

But then the rune, the thing with the power to destroy anything. The thing that kept her away from Forest and the others, who had absolutely no idea what it was capable of. The thing that kept her doubting.

And then the way her new friends looked at her when Moonbeam found out about it. The horrible guilt that sunk into her like a tree falling or a storm billowing in. The way her claws dug into the rocks as if she’d get attacked or thrown out by angry, sharp, betrayed eyes.

The way she felt at that moment, like everything was all wrong.

Nyx opened her eyes.

Red and gold and black colors stretched around her, the shapes of lifeless trees all acrossed what seemed to be a forest. Scorch marks lined the ground and rocks, gray and white ash dusted acrossed the ground. It looked like Lindbjord, only it wasn’t, because everything was burnt and gone. Nyx backed away, scared of how real it all looked. She glanced down at her paws, black with dotted purple scales, perfectly her and perfectly normal. It was so real.

Then she bumped into something, a large lump hitting her back leg as she stepped. She wheeled around to spot, in horror, the dead body of a Shadowmane.

She glanced up, and realized bodies were everywhere.

Charred, broken things scattered throughout the burnt forest, sending that awful smell through the air. Nyx gasped and backed away, closing her eyes.

‘How could this have happened? What could do this?’

“Lost, are you?”

She jumped, snapping towards the noise behind her. A pale tan, purple and pink creature slithered towards her, and Nyx froze.

“Peeri,” she breathed. “I can’t believe—”

“And who would you be?” The Basilisk interrupted her.

“I—” Nyx stuttered as the giant serpent stared into her soul with deep, yellow and black eyes. “Its me, Nyx, the Fifth Carnivore.”

“Nyx?” Peeri asked with a tip of her long neck and snout. “Who?”

Nyx’s excited posture broke completely.

“The Fifth… the fifth…” Nyx couldn’t speak.

“No, no. You’re not her,” Peeri hissed, “You’re not her at all.”

The forest was burning, burning from the darkness behind her, the screams of carnivores all she could hear as the Basilisks eyes went white and soulless, the background exploding like a bomb.

“You’re a monster,” came a voice from Peeri’s mouth. “A fool, and because of you, everything and everyone you know will die!”