Calm darkness, warm and peaceful. The silence rang in his ears as he slumbered.
Voices shattered the silence. Most of the voices were harsh and hating, another jeering. Another was empty of emotions and cruel, like a drone of hell.
He awoke with a start, feeling suddenly devoid of warmth. He glanced around, groggily, and wiped his eyes with a little black claw. As his hypnotizing green eyes adjusted to the darkness, flecks of gold reflecting within the green pools, he glanced at his bed.
A soft nest of curious black hair and ebony feathers surrounded him. The nest itself, a massive tangle of hair and feathers, seemed to invite sleep. Though, he refused to listen at the moment, no matter how much it irritated him.
He sat up and glanced around. His small body, very catlike in appearance, bore two large draconic wings at his shoulders and two smaller ones just below the first, and a long tail. Horns jutted out from his head, near his cat-like ears. A puff of fur sat upon his head, dangling over his deep emerald eyes. He cast his cat-like head about, glancing around the nest. The walls were of old brick, aged beyond their years. Skulls decorated the lair, though he didn't know what the skulls had belonged once upon a time. Not that it mattered. The far wall was littered with small entrances. He glanced at the floor, the decorated sand colored stone staring up at him. It looked cold to the touch. He shivered, having no desire to leave the nest. He sat back on his haunches, snapping his tail irritably. He snorted.
"Papa!" he shouted. "Tell those people to shush! I wanna sleep!" he whined. He sulked, waiting impatiently for his father's voice.
None came.
His eyes widened and he glanced around, feeling an edge of concern creep under his downy fur. A sharp pain surged through his stomach, causing him to cringe. He blinked, then glanced about.
"Something's wrong..." he whined. "Papa?"
Silence greeted him.
"Papa? This isn't funny!" he said, hesitantly. His ears pricked as the voices grew heated. A horrible, mournful song suddenly drifted from outside the lair. It made his skin bristle and feel as cold as ice. He cried out and tried to shake the feeling, though he soon found his body going numb. His eyes widened to that of saucers when he heard a familiar roar. "PAPA!" he cried. "Papa, what's going on!?"
No response.
The sounds of battle reached his ears. Horrible roars and the sound of flesh against metal. His eyes widened even farther. Just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. The voices grew even louder, more piercing and hateful. The despairing music issued loudly, piercing him. He tried to move but found only pain or a numbed sensation. Suddenly, a delightful music poured in to his ears. He felt his body begin to regain some feeling, slowly at first. But just as he could move again, the lair lit up by a variety of colors. He reared back and screamed, then burying himself in to the nest. Feathers and fur puffed upwards as he dug in to the nest. The battle sounds began again. He shivered, fearful. Everything was going so fast...
He heard his father roar, again. It sounded hollow, almost as if his father himself were empty. He leaped up, forgetting his fears, and ran towards the doors.
"PAPA-!" he cried. He skidded to a halt just as he saw a monstrous black dragon fly overhead. Upon his father's back was a man dressed in black armor, hideous and fearful, and a beautiful girl who seemed to look just as the goddess Althena. He stared in horror, his voice suddenly escaping him. He didn't even notice the other 'visitors', who hurried away from his father's lair.
His father was gone!
"Nightstar...?" a soft, pained voice whispered.
The small cat-like creature leaped up from the nest, kicking feathers and fur up in a panicked frenzy.
"PAPA!" Nightstar cried as he ran towards the entrances to the lair. He skidded to a stop within his father's lair. It was huge, like a giant coliseum, and decorated with the same skulls as his own lair. Curled up in the middle of the giant lair was his massive father, a giant black dragon with long fuzzy hair and curled horns. Nightstar scrambled to his father, his legs working extra hard to cover the distance. He leaped and wrapped his paws around his father's muzzle, licking and nuzzling him. Only then did he notice a coppery taste. Nightstar stared at his father, for the first time noticing traces of blood. He stared in stunned silence, not even uttering a word when his father began to groom him with his harsh tongue. "Papa... what happened to you?" he asked, quietly.
"...Much," his father whispered. "Far too much."
"Who was that man I saw on you when you flew away?" Nightstar asked, his ears pressing back.
"...Magic Emperor Ghaleon," his father replied, then continued to groom him. Nightstar pondered the name, then nuzzled his father.
"Why did he take you?" he asked, hesitantly.
"He... took all the dragons, son," his father sighed, tickling Nightstar in the ribs with his snout. "He took us all... stole our souls from our body... and used us as living power sources for his Grindery."
"But... but... if he took away your soul...!" Nightstar began, his eyes suddenly wide.
"No... I'm not dead, my Nightstar... our souls escaped into the Dragonmaster..." his father sighed.
"...And?" Nightstar asked, quietly.
"And... after the Dragonmaster faced Althena... he surrendered his powers, and our souls, which flew back to our bodies...," his father continued. "And, now that our souls were free, we forced our way out of our prison, the Grindery, and... I came home to you..." he added, tenderly. Nightstar looked up at his father.
"The Dragonmaster... didn't come to help you?" Nightstar asked. His father shook his head. "He... forgot?" Nightstar pressed. His father slowly nodded.
"He did," his father whispered. Nightstar lashed his tail, then looked at the floor.
"Is... everyone okay? My auntie and my uncles?" he asked. He felt his father stiffen, causing a sense of dread to fill him. "...Papa?" Nightstar looked up at his father, pleading for him to tell him that everything was okay. His father looked down at him, quietly. Neither spoke.
Finally, his father closed his eyes.
"...Your uncle Quark... was the first taken. And had the most energy stolen from him," he said, choosing his words carefully. "He... is with the heavens now," he whispered. Nightstar felt tears form in his eyes, stinging the emerald pools with sorrow and despair.
"Uncle Q-Quark..." he whimpered, a single tear breaking loose from the puddles that threatened to flow. He looked up, sharply. "Wh... what about everyone else...?" he asked, trying to control his tears.
"...The Blue Dragon is fine... and will live on. The Red Dragon... your aunt..." his father broke off. He took a deep breath. "Your aunt was seriously drained... and with her to give birth to another... she... she is not dead. But her time may have been shortened drastically," he whispered. Nightstar felt the tears pour down his fluffy cheeks, drenching the fur so that it clung to his face.
"P-P-Papa..." he whimpered. His father wrapped a paw about Nightstar and held him close to his chest, wrapping his head around to nuzzle him.
"My Nightstar..." his father sighed.
"...Papa?"
"Yes?"
"Why didn't the Dragonmaster care about the dragons?"
"...I don't know, son. I don't know."