Deathbringer's Acceptance

Epilogue

Deathbringer was lucky. After noticing how Deathbringer's potential, but inevitable execution was upsetting Glory, Tsunami begged and pleaded with her mother to spare Deathbringer's life. If Tsunami wasn't Coral's daughter, that request would have been ignored in a heartbeat. But of course, Coral didn't have the heart to say no to her daughter, so Deathbringer was spared. Safe... for now.

Of course, he didn't know that. Nobody had come to tell him that, and for the first week or two of his stay in the Seawing prison, he nervously awaited his fate, waiting for the day his life would be cut short by the very angry queen, only calmed by the thought that he deserved it. But when those weeks turned into months, Deathbringer relaxed, assuming the queen had forgotten about him or something. Soon, he was told by a guard that if he behaved, and there were no incidents, he would be released from prison in seven years. A hefty sentence, but one that Deathbringer was willing to accept. He was moved to the dungeon below the Summer Palace, left all alone in a cell that was quite spacious, meant to house two or more dragons.

Deathbringer, however, would not get a cellmate. The only company being a guard who came by to give him meals, and stayed and talked with him on occasion. If he was lucky. Sometimes, he would be given a pot of ink and a scroll to write with to pass the time. He always wrote little letters to Glory, telling her how much he missed her, and how he would be home before he knew it. There was never a response to any of his letters, Deathbringer would never know that the queen forbids any of these letters from reaching Glory's eyes.

On most days, he was alone in the dank room. He quickly grew used to it, having lived in similar conditions back on the volcano, but he would always miss the sights and sounds of the rainforest, the sun on his wings, and the fruits in his belly. Once you lived in the peaceful rainforest for almost a decade, it would be hard to forget how wonderful it was. But there would be none of that for Deathbringer. No more fruit, no more watching Rainwings do their things, no more sleeping in the sun, nothing. At least, not for a long time.

But it didn't matter, not anymore. Sure, Deathbringer would miss all of that, and he knew he was going to miss out on a lot of things. In fact, who knows if Glory would still be queen when he got out? Life would continue marching onwards while he lay in his cell, counting down the days while he could still keep track of them. It was sad, but Deathbringer accepted it. His mistake had finally caught up to him, but in some ways, he was glad it did. Sure, the guilt would remain for the rest of his life, but he knew that publicly admitting it, and staying in that cell was the only way for himself and others to truly move on past it.

Maybe dragons out there were happy that he was locked away, maybe some of them missed him, maybe by the time he got out, he would have been forgiven, or the murder of Tempest would have been forgotten. Whatever happened, Deathbringer didn't care. He deserved it, he had this coming. Despite the friends he made and the actions he did to make up for everything, he was still a terrible dragon, a horrible monster hidden by that mask of a smile he chose to wear every single day.

Maybe when he got out, he would be a changed dragon, and he would be accepted by his tribes again. All he could do was hope for the best. For now? All he could do was close his eyes, listening to the sounds of waves crashing against the beach, soothing him to sleep. Maybe tomorrow would bring some excitement for the first time in months, or maybe it wouldn't. Deathbringer didn't mind, anyway, for he had the one thing he had been wanting ever since this whole journey had begun: Peace.

The End