Rain and Night - A Glorybringer Story

Chapter 4

Deathbringer lay there, gazing at the hut's wall. 

He felt awful. His whole forearm and talon throbbed with a dull, agonizing ache, and every time he moved his arm he was stopped by waves of agony. Apart from that, he also felt as though he was sick, with no energy to do anything apart from sit up to eat some fruit. Speaking of eating, he had pretty much lost all of his appetite, only managing to consume a few nibbles of dried mango before feeling full. 

But, the main thing that made him feel awful was the fact that Glory was out there, working her wings off to get him the antidote. Unprotected. Alone. In unfamiliar terrain, where any dragon could see and attack her.  

He should be with her. Defending her. Making sure no one ever takes her away. 

A tear slid down his face. Part of the reason was the pain in his forearm, and part of the reason was Glory. Her absence. And it made him realize, more than ever, how much Glory meant to him.

Who am I? Who am I without Glory? He wondered. The answer was clear: nobody.  A lonely, miserable nobody who would never be welcomed back to his tribe, who would always be an outcast. If Glory died on this trip, he would never forgive himself. Never forgive himself for letting the love of his life die all alone. Glory was the one reason he had a sense of identity. And he would protect her with his life. 

A healer slinked over to his bed and told him to eat in a calm, clinical voice, while checking his wound, which was now cleaned and hidden by leaf bandages. Obeying her order, Deathbringer ate an apple but even that made him tired, so he just tried to fall asleep. But it was too hard. His thoughts, each one more anxious than the last, kept him awake for almost an hour. Even when he did finally slip into sleep, it wasn't peaceful. 

He was chasing Glory through the Ice Kingdom. A terrible blizzard was starting, and Deathbringer could barely see her through the thick snow, and no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't catch up to her. 

"Glory!" He shouted desperately, reaching out for her. "Glory!" It was no use. Glory kept on sprinting through the snow, ignoring what he said. His muscles were aching and he was out of breath, but he continued, struggling to keep up. "Why are you running?"

Finally, Glory had stopped. Her scales were their normal colors, but a shade deeper, and she was covered in snow. She had her back turned to him, too. Wheezing and panting, Deathbringer walked until he was right behind her and reached out to gently tap her on the shoulder. Immediately, Glory spun around, fangs bared, and hissed at him before disappearing, swallowed up by the snowstorm. 

It was unsettling. Deathbringer woke up, disturbed, to find that it was midafternoon. He had been poisoned at roughly midnight. That was a pretty long time. 

The dream had not only unsettled him, it had made him think of a good question: Does Glory even like me back?

He was not sure. Sometimes, she acted like she did. Like when she reached through the bars in the volcano for them to press their talons together. Most of the time she tried to hide it, but Deathbringer had learned to read her body language and her scale colours. Sometimes, she'd wear a disdainful expression, but he could always tell by her coloring. Pink on her ruff, ears and wings meant that she was embarrassed or happy or something. However, she almost always acted regally, like a queen, which made him unsure of whether she really did like him. 

Then, nothing much happened that day until a visitor arrived. Deathbringer was surprised to have visitors, but was less surprised to find that it was Jambu, Glory's older brother. He and Deathbringer had become friends after Glory became queen, and Jambu definitely shipped Glory and Deathbringer. 

"Hi!" Jambu said happily, his scales bright pink, like usual. 

"Hello, Jambu," Deathbringer said, mustering a smile. 

"I saw that you got stung by a SandWing, so I figured I'd check on you in the healer's hut after suntime!" The RainWing explained. "I heard that SandWing venom is nasty. Didn't that old SeaWing at Jade Mountain get scratched once?"

"Webs? He was Glory's guardian before."

Jambu sniggered. "The guardian of the dragonets of destiny." He looked around before adding playfully, "My sister's crazy in love with you, by the way. It's funny."

Deathbringer arched his eyebrows. "Really?" He asked, hoping for more information. 

"Yeah. She acts so serious all the time, and you know how you're always making un-subtle confessions of love or her?" Glory's brother said. "It's amusing to see her so embarrassed. So, how do you feel?"

Distracted by the hopeful news, Deathbringer paused a moment before replying. "Oh, I'm fine," he lied. "Just a bit achy."

"Cool!" Jambu said. "Well, I'd better get to tree-gliding practice. See ya later!"

"See you, Jambu."