Young Writers Society

Feel free to skip over the description. It's mostly for me and anyone who wants to know more about the character, her powers and appearance.

Description

Nightshade is a tree wing female with dark scales and bright violet eyes with black slitted pupils (When they’re not full of colors that is). She is larger than average due to her mostly meat diet and enjoys polishing her scales with plant oil which keeps them beautiful and shiny to help lure her ‘prey’.

Her body is midnight black with grey, violet swirls from her shoulders to her tail. These swirls also travel down from her face to her eyes and draw other creature’s eyes to hers. The lines on her face travel past her horns and down both sides of the ridge of her back to her tail. Her tail is much longer and thicker compared to her body than most tree wings.

She also has the rare ability to light up the colorful swirls on her body including the tip of her tail. All of which she uses to entrance and draw in unsuspecting prey that believe her eyes are the only danger. Her wings are black on top but have larger swirls underneath. She can spread her wings wide to dowse an unsuspecting victim in an overwhelming display of colors. All the swirls on her wings trail back to her body so the victim ends up gazing into her eyes.

She loves to play with the creatures of the forest as well as other dragons before she was kicked out of the leafwing tribe for hypnotising a dragon into loving her. She now spends her days in a house made by her now unhypnotized lover which sits over a clear freshwater lake just inside the Jungle. He also cleared away any dangerous plants from the area for her, so animals flock there providing Nightshade with a wide selection of tasty morsels to choose from.

Most female tree wings only use their hypnosis only for pleasant reasons or to make lost humans forget they ever met them. Most tree wings also refrain from eating the ‘cute’ jungle animals, but Nightshade does neither.

She loves to entice her prey into eagerly diving into her mouth and although she will still eat the rainforest fruit, she prefers the heavy feeling and taste of meat.

If she particularly enjoys an encounter with one of her victims however, she will most likely let them go. To either enjoy them as a snack later or play with them again. This was exactly the case for two humans she found in the forest one day…

The Story

It had only been a week since Nightshade had been kicked out of the tree wing tribe and she was already getting bored. Normally, Nightshade was a nocturnal dragon like most other tree wing females. But she’d woken up at noon as a result of the hard wooden floor of her unfurnished tree house. So, she was a bit grumpy and sore in addition to being bored, waiting for the sun to set so she could go hunting.

She wished she had a few dragons or even some semi-intelligent prey to play with while she waited, not that she regretted what she’d done. Honestly, she didn’t understand what the big deal was. They banished her from the tribe for the rest of her life. And for what?

Just because she used a little hypnosis on him didn’t make her a bad dragon. She had simply used everything at her disposal to claim him. They must have simply been jealous since he liked her even when no one else did. He was the only dragon who had ever cared about her. The only dragon who made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The other female tree wings had TONS of males infatuated with them. They didn't need him. She simply had to claim him before some other shiny female caught his eye. She had to make sure he liked her just as much as she liked him. To make sure he had eyes only for her.

And the only way to do that, was to use her hypnotic powers on him. Besides, it wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy being under her spell. She smiled at the memory of how he used to beg her just to let him hold her hand. Anything more than that was pure bliss for him. The way his face would light up whenever he saw her. His goofy smile while under her control. His eyes filled with her colors as he…

She shook her head. That was the past. For now, she needed some new playthings. All her old pets were probably released from the spell she’d put them under to keep them docile.

What a waste of fluffy, subservient fur. She thought.

As Nightshade had that thought, she noticed a smell, and when she listened closely she could hear the feint sound of bushes being shoved aside.

She smiled. It seemed like her boredom was about to come to an end. She was a patient dragon who loved sneaking up of dragons and prey. Plus, the sounds seemed to be getting closer anyway, so she decided to wait hidden up in her tree.

Most jungle animals moved as quietly as they could to avoid alerting prey or potential predators to their presence. So, from the sound of it, this had to be a big animal.

Nightshade waited with anticipation. She had already eaten her fill for the day, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t hunt for fun or store it for later. Then the animal came into sight. It wasn’t one animal but two, and scrawny ones at that. She recognised them as human pups. They couldn’t have been more than eight years old.

Nightshade sighed. So much for her meal, but now her curiosity was piqued.

The tree she was in had many thickly leaved branches that kept her tree house hidden and reached almost to the ground.

She quickly and quietly snaked her way down the tree, using her tail and claws to hold her until she sat just above the pair of humans while staying hidden in the leaves. They were just about to come into sight of the lake over which her house was built.

“Come on.” One of the two complained. “How much farther is it? You know we aren’t supposed to enter the forest alone. How great can this lake be anyway?”

“The best. My father and I came here last year, and the water was so great I didn’t want to get out.” The other replied.

It seemed to Nightshade that the one who had spoken second and who lead the pair, was a boy and the other pup being dragged along was a girl.

How cute. Nightshade thought. A little boy pup leading his girl pup to a secret lake.

The silly little romantic scene almost made her miss the other dragons. Almost.

Nightshade decided to wait and watch. She wasn’t hungry and it was entertaining enough to watch them for now. She’d have her fun later.

Then boy came in sight of the lake.

“There it is. See, I told you. Come on Diantha. I’ll race you to the edge.”

“No fair Zephyr. You have a head start,” the girl replied, taking off after him.

Nightshade tucked those names away in her mind. She had always found that using someone’s name helped them trust you a lot more easily. An essential part of using her powers.

The two children rushed to the edge of the lake. Zephyr threw off his upper extra skin, (Something that Nightshade could never understand wearing) and jumped into the water. Luckily for him, any man-eating sized gulper pads had been cleared away. Nightshade had asked the dragon she loved to clear the lake and build this tree house for her. She ‘convinced’ him that they were going to live here together since the other dragons didn’t like her very much. Nightshade enjoyed bathing in the lake so she had kept any dangerous plant life from returning.

Again, most animals would be very cautious when approaching any jungle river or lake. Even newborns rarely jumped strait in without checking first.

Nightshade smiled slyly. If they were this oblivious she might not have to worry about her usual subterfuge and sneaking around. She continued to watch as the pups played for hours.

Finally, the sun began to set and, after some persuading, Diantha convinced Zephyr that it was time to go home. The pair picked up their extra skins and put them back on before heading back the way they had come.

Nightshade knew about the human village just outside the forest and silently glided off in front of them. As the darkness grew it became harder for the pair of pups to find their way. Perhaps if they had left a few hours earlier they would have been out of the forest before dark.

As Zephyr continued to lead Diantha onwards he thought he spotted a light off to his right flickering in the darkness. Maybe it was a clearing or the edge of the forest where the moonlight shone through. If he had stopped to think he might have realised that there was no moon that night.

“Come on. I think I see a way out.” He whispered to Diantha.

She kept looking around nervously as she followed close behind him. The light seemed to be a little pinpoint in the distance but for some reason it was comforting to Zephyr. As they got closer he realised that it was a single dot hanging in the trees.

Sooo pretty. He thought as he continued walking towards the light. It seemed like his whole world had narrowed to just that one pinprick of light.

Diantha kept looking around and didn’t notice the light, but then she heard a soft chuckle from somewhere above them.

“The light is so pretty. Isn’t it? Why don’t you take a closer look?”

Zephyr nodded as a drowsy smile began to form on his face.

“Wait Zephyr. I think there’s someone out here with us,” Diantha whispered nervously. Another slight chuckle.

“Well, what do we have here? A couple lost human pups in the jungle all alone?” She heard the voice say.

She tugged on Zephyr’s arm, but he didn’t stop. Pulling himself out of her grasp. She was about to make another grab for him when a massive head dropped in between them.

“Perhaps I can be of some assistance?” The voice said.

She couldn’t see much of the creature other than its eyes. They glowed and spiraled quite pleasantly. It seemed like someone had taken all the most beautiful colors in the world and put them on vibrant display right before her eyes. For a moment she was too shocked to do anything but stare. Then a moment later she didn’t want to anything else.

Zephyr approached the glowing light as it swayed slowly back and forth before him. When he reached it the tantalising motion made him want to grab it, but his arms seemed too heavy to lift. Then the light disappeared for a moment as whatever it was attached to unwound from the branches above. Zephyr’s face fell as the warm, happy, relaxing feeling started to fade.

Then the light reappeared beside him. He smiled as the light slowly began to circle him. He spun with it as something warm and heavy wrapped around him. The warmth and heaviness made him a bit drowsy and then more of the tail lit up before him. The end of the tail was curled into a spiral with the tip at its center and as he watched those same colors began to pulse slowly towards the tip drawing him farther and farther into his trance. His eyes could barely stay open at this point and were filled with slow spirals themselves.

Diantha wasn’t doing any better as she collapsed into her captor’s arms, eyes half closed and body completely limp.

Nightshade chuckled slightly as she brought Zephyr around in front beside his friend.

Time to send them off to dreamland. She thought.

Then she started singing is a slow, relaxing voice as she re-enforced the commands through her eyes and tail. “Trust in me…just in me. Safe and sound…with me around. Slip into slumber…slip into bliss. Looking deeper and deeper…you can’t resist.” She cooed as the pups heads swayed slowly, falling deeper into her spell.

She slowly wrapped her arms around the girl as her tail wrapped around the boy.

“Now so deep…you fall to sleep.” She sang as she gave them both a comforting squeeze.

Both of their eyes closed as a silly grin formed on their faces.

Nightshade looked down at her now fully entranced toys with a delighted smile.

Intelligent creatures always had the most hilarious expressions when under her charms. Normal dumb animals just looked even more stupid. Cute. But stupid.

Now she had a conundrum. Should she take them back with her or let them go? It was fun enough putting them under her spell. Maybe if they came by again she would play with them more, but for now she was satisfied. And since they’d cured her boredom for the day she decided to do them a favor. Holding the boy securely in her tail and gently hugging the girl in her arms she took off.

A few minutes later she set the human pups at the edge of the jungle. Then after admiring their cute faces for a few moments she decided to add one final touch.

“Listen and hear. Understand and obey. Remember these commands even if you forget all that happened tonight. You will respect the jungle and its dangers. Always checking for dangerous plants in the water and on the path. Staying quiet so monsters and predators don’t hear you. And leaving well before the sun has set. You were lucky tonight…” Nightshade paused. She considered subtly hinting that their relationship grew but discarded it. She shouldn’t force them to love eachother. That was wrong.

“You will wake and return to the human village as soon as you hear the trees shake.” Nightshade finished. Then she leapt off the ground and sprang off the closest jungle tree as she started her journey home.

“Well, that was fun. I wonder what I’ll do tomorrow?"