Shattered Dreams

Writers: Leigh M-F.
Date Posted: 18th July 2016

Characters: A'kua, Ilyssia
Description: What does A'kua fear most? Losing everything he's fought for.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 6, day 19 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Jessmyr, Ninaine, Talwynn, Genna, Nokala, Gordionne (NPC).
Notes: Written for Challenge Week Prompt One, "Nightmares."

Ilyssia

The ash was choking him and getting in his eyes. He had to keep wiping them as he staggered through the wreckage of the Weyr. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to walk. Every time he gagged on the ash, he started coughing, which made the broken ribs on his left side grate together. If he didn't stop to properly bind them, one would puncture something it really shouldn't.

But he couldn't stop. There had to be someone left alive. If there was even one person left -his Lys, Ninaine, Genna, Jess, Tal, Nokala, anyone he come to care for- then maybe he would have a reason to get through this. He had always survived because there was always something to cling to: The stupid, blind hope his mother would see reason and they could flee the hold; the growing determination to make something better of himself, even if it was simply because of the tiny voice that whispered **why not?**; the love and support of his friends and loved ones, even in his darkest moments.

But his raspy yells yielded to results. And the more he walked, the more corpses he began to find among the rubble. With each body, A'kua's grief mounted, until he reached a sizable boulder that had crushed a green dragon and her rider. He only had to look once to realize it was his Lys and her Gwynnyth.

He truly was alone now. He didn't even have Zeiranth, because his brave, caring, bubbly, perfect bronze had shielded A'kua with his body when the dormant volcano that was Dragonsfall erupted, protecting his rider at the cost of his life.

A'kua fell to his knees, too numb to even cry or scream. All he could think was **Please, Ancients, just kill me now.**

That was when the whip came down on his back. "Get up, boy!" his grandsire's voice thundered. "Get up and get to work! No-good bastard, there's so much t' do!"

Wracked in two kinds of pain, A'kua slumped to the soil, which was now brown and riddled with weeds, and looked over his shoulder to find his grandsire wielding a bullwhip and standing tall and brawny and powerful, the way he had left him, not the way he had last seen him-

The whip came down, slashing across the dragonless man's left side. "I said get up!" Another lash. "Y' can never escape now! You're gonna be a good boy now like y'always shoulda been. You'll be mindful o' yer elders, and-"

A'kua brought his arm up, letting the whip coil around it, and used the instrument to haul himself to his feet, letting his dead eyes meet the other man's shocked stare. "Y'know.... Always did wanna kill ya," the redheaded bastard whispered in a voice completely devoid of life, of hope, and lashed out himself.

*~*~*~*

}:A'KUA!:{

The scream jerked him into reality and onto the cold floor of his weyr. For a moment, A'kua was terribly confused. "Whatta fardlin' feck-"

}:You were thinking of such terrible things it woke me up,:{ Zeiranth complained, }:and then I almost couldn't wake you u- hey!:{

The weyrling had run and given him a hug, then scrambled onto his neck. "Take me t' Lys' weyr."

}:Wha- Now? But we're not allowed- you're not strapped in- :{ the bronze foundered.

"Sear the straps an' feck the rules! Take me there now!"

Zeiranth paused. }:All right,:{ he finally said, and called ahead to Gwynnyth before very carefully gliding to the appropriate ledge, where a sleepy green made room for them. A'kua barely gave his dragon enough time to settle before he slid off and bolted into the weyr. Ilyssia -his precious Lys, alive and whole and well- was rolling over in her bed, rubbing her eyes. "Wh's wrong, Luka?" she slurred, her voice rising to a yelp when her weyrmate practically dove under the covers with her. "Oh, Ancients, your skin's like ice! Wait, you shouldn't even be here-"

A'kua kissed her, and only drew away when they were both breathless. "Nightmare. Thought I'd lost ya forever. I'll go 'fore ya can get in trouble, but please-"

And Lys, who understood him best of all the humans he knew, snuggled against his chest. "Sometimes I have dreams like that too," she murmured, letting her weyrmate hold her tight under his chin. "But they're just dreams. Nothing's going to happen, I promise."

With her words, her understanding, her warmth, the nightmare started losing its power in moments. A'kua closed his eyes and thanked the Ancients it had only been a dream, then thanked them again that he still had all the people he cared for in the safe, unbroken Weyr.

Last updated on the July 19th 2016

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Shattered Dreams