Hey. Hi. Just a forewarning, this story contains material not recommended if you aren't into gore, dark themes, profanity, etc. (Discounting sexual content, which I will tolerate none of). If you do wish to proceed, please note that I am not responsible for any of you getting in trouble for reading this.

Enjoy.

-Firetide the Facinorous

HELLOOOOOOOOO HUMANS! I HAVE RETURNED! YES! FINALLY!

And now, for the story you've all been waiting for...

(Drumroll)

DECAYING NIGHTMARES!

(Yay!)

(Also, at the time of posting this, I have family in town so I might not be updating for a week or so, and even then it might only be a chapter a week)

A small, crimson SkyWing with golden speckles watched the aberration of a dragon on the other side of the bars. She drank in the sight of it, her grandmother's champion, her beloved killer of all.

Black stripes on dark grey scales gave the impression of a hellbent tiger. It was a bit smaller than a normal adult dragon, perhaps only eight or nine, serrated claws scraping the stone floor of the cell with a spine-chilling clatter as it paced. The wings were ragged, huge and bat-like, trailing behind the creature like some cloak of shadows, the leading edges silver, sharpened like razors. The head…. Oh, the head. Like a smooth bear's skull, white. Four pupiless, orange eyes, round as the three moons set into the nightmarish face made it look far more alien than dragon. Thick, black spines erupted from the snout up to the back of the skull, where four twisting horns curled up and around like some demonic crown.

The young SkyWing shifted ever so slightly to get a better look at the tail, which suddenly and without warning slammed into the bars with a resonant clatter, sending her scrambling back in terror, screeching like a dragonet. The creature turned to face her and stopped pacing.

It stood there silently, watching her with an unblinking, emotionless gaze.

I never believed they existed, she found herself thinking, heart pounding, but this one's staring right at me.

Then, the corner of its mouth twitched upwards in an almost devilish grin, massive, bony protrusions in the place of teeth glinting in the faint moonlight filtering through the barred window in the ceiling.

The creature's voice was like the roaring tide and tumbling cobblestone.

"I never believed it either," it hissed.

Shadows played across its scales, and it pulled back into the darkness of the cell.