Lily of the Shadows

Chapter 13

Aurin awoke to light streaming in through cracks in the shed and the soft sound of hay being thrown about as his new pet eagerly hopped and scurried about. He breathed out a sigh of annoyance and looked down at his chest, confused as to where the pile of feathers that neatly sat there in a heap came from. He sat up, dusted away the feathers, and said, "Well, M'lady, are you excited for the coming apocalypse?"

His "dragon" licked her lips and shook her head, her frill sending a gust of air and straw and feathers towards his face. She then sat down and pushed her dark mottled green and brown face into his, giving him an unintentional shove backwards. Suddenly, Aurin heard a loud door slam and his father yelled for him, in the tone of voice that clearly meant someone was in trouble. His pet circled him like a cat before pouncing into his lap, her paws wet and sticky. The door to the shed burst open, and his father yelled "Aurin! Where are all th' chickens?"

"I don't know, Da! What would make you think I'd run off with a bunch of silly chickens?" Aurin replied defensively, before continuing, "Ack! Dragon! Your paws are all wet and sticky and...red...uh...hmmm."

At that, she let out a triumphant victory snarl, while Aurin gave his father an apologetic glance.

"I'm sorry, Da! She's just an animal! She didn't mean..." Aurin began, as the dragon spoke into his thoughts, "You said chickens were not family. You said we eat not family." with a very self satisfied purr.

"At least we won't have to worry about killing the chickens ourselves?" Aurin squeaked, his father's eyes blazing with anger.

"Make sure it doesn't happen again, or so help me we are selling that creature's hide!" his father growled.

"Come and take it!" was the creature's indignant response, and Aurin was glad that only he could hear her. After the bout with his father, Aurin decided to take a walk to the creek, hoping to clear his head. His creature eagerly followed behind.

"Well, M'lady, it seems like we'll all be dead in a few weeks, so we may as well enjoy the life we've got, unless somebody has other plans. I've trained with weapons, but I'm not enough. And nobody is gonna' miss us when we're gone." Aurin said, as they reached the water's edge. A large bullfrog croaked loudly at their arrival, oblivious to the bleak future ahead. Suddenly the creature dove in a big splash, coming up out of the shallow water with a bloody frog leg sticking out of her mouth. She crossed her eyes and watched as the leg twitched, before gulping it down and licking her chops.

"That's not ladylike, and you're making a mess." Aurin scolded her, after the fifth frog she had gruesomely caught and devoured. She growled and shot him a look before going after another frog. She was full by then, but that didn't stop her from playing with the frog as she tore it to pieces with her claws.

"Aren't you going to eat that?" Aurin asked, as she scanned the creek for more frogs.

"Why? I'm not hungry." She shot back into his thoughts.

"Then why kill it, if there isn't a purpose? Life is a precious thing, and we're each given only one. It isn't right to snuff it out for your own amusement." Aurin said.

"What is death?" She asked, tilting her head and looking into his eyes.

"Well...Death is when we stop living, and...go on from this life into the sky, I guess. But it means that we're gone forever, lost to the stars. And we can never be brought back again." Aurin replied to her question.

She looked down at the mutilated frog corpse and said, "All gone? No more frog?"

"No more frog." Aurin replied solemnly.

She scrunched up her brow and said, "Take it back from the sky."

"I can't. Once it's gone, it's gone. No more frog forever." Aurin replied.