Rain and Night - A Glorybringer Story

Chapter 5

Glory beat her wings, forcing herself to be faster, faster, faster, for Deathbringer's sake. Right now, she was going through a swathe of mountains, heading for Jade Mountain. 

Originally, her plan was to fly straight to the desert, but she figured she would refuel and rest at Jade Mountain before continuing. Plus, she wanted to visit her friends, whom she hadn't seen in so long. They must have missed her. Glory noticed herself slowing down again and regained speed, even though it made her pant even faster. 

Come on, come on, hurry ...

She didn't want Deathbringer to die. She wasn't in love with him or anything ... but, wait, was she? Glory was a bit confused about that herself. Was she in love with Deathbringer? He made it clear enough that he loved her, but what about the other way around? Was she genuinely loving him, or embarassed? Had she been pretending to not care about him because she was a queen? Ever since she became queen, she was always being looked at, always being watched. But, if things were different, would she say that she liked Deathbringer?

She shoved those thoughts out of her head for now. I have to say I like him a bit. He's protective, and trustworthy. But there's no time to sort out my feelings right now. What matters is saving his life. 

In the distance, Glory could just make out the twin peaks of Jade Mountain. Jade Mountain! Her friends! That certainly gave her a speed boost. Soon, she was almost at the entrance to Jade Mountain Academy. It was amazing, and awesome, and shockingly pretty, even though she'd seen it before. 

Quietly, she landed at the entrance, where there was nobody. The students were probably at their classes. She'd have to wait. And give them a huge surprise, Glory thought with a grin, imagining Sunny's face. Then, she remembered Sunny's letter and made a mental note to ask her about the 'very interesting' gossip. 

Later, she noticed that students were finally appearing at least near the entrance. Normally, the teachers would have a meeting in an open-air cave near the top of Jade Mountain around this time. After a bit of searching, Glory found the spot and then camouflaged herself. 

"... well, anything to share, Clay?" Sunny's familiar, bright voice said. 

Clay's voice responded. "Well, Siamang is less shy now. So are a lot of the RainWing students. Pronghorn is really interested in healing."

And, seeing her chance, Glory un-camouflaged , rose up behind Tsunami, and opened her mouth to shout, "Surprise!!"

At first, all of her friends jumped, and then Glory found herself being hugged by Sunny, who was super excited. 

"GLORY!" The tiny SandWing shrieked in happiness, grinning. "Oh, we've missed you so, so much!"

"Why are you here all of a sudden?" Tsunami added, trying not to grin but ultimately failing. "I've heard some concerning news." Glory was not sure what that meant, but probably something about Deathbringer. Sunny sniggered. Alright, it was probably some ridiculous rumor about her and Deathbringer dating or something. 

"Glory?" Starflight asked, as though he couldn't believe she was there. He reached out, his blind eyes closed, as though trying to touch her make sure she was real. 

"Yes, I'm here, Starflight," Glory assured him, catching his arm. "See? My voice."

"Wait, wait, what about my question?" Tsuami demanded. "Why are you here all of a sudden, Glory? Haven't you got a kingdom to take care of?"

"Well, yes, but not right now. I really need to get to the Sand Kingdom to get some brightsting cactys. I'm just stopping by," Glory explained. They looked at her, concerned. 

"Why would you need brighsting cactus?" Clay asked, worried. 

"Unless ..." Starflight said. 

"Oh no, Glory, did someone get stung by a SandWing tail?" Sunny said, her expression changing from overjoyed to deeply worried. "Who is it? What happened?"

"I was attacked," she explained grimly. Starflight isn't going to like this news, Glory thought. "By Fierceteeth, Strongwings and three SandWings." She glanced at Starflight, who looked guiltier than ever. "Deathbringer was stung by the SandWing who ended up escaping."

She looked around for their reactions. All of them looked disappointed, apart from Tsunami, who grimaced. 

"Well, you can rest here for a while, and keep going later," Sunny suggested. "Come on, Glory!"

As they walked in, Glory realized that her momentary relief at seeing her friends had distracted her from the purpose of her trip. The antidote, the brightsting cactus! What was she thinking, stopping at Jade Mountain? A full day had almost passed, and she didn't have much time.

"Wait," Glory said, freezing. All her friends turned to face her. "I have to keep going. There's not that much time. Sorry, I have to go now."

"Okay," Sunny said, faltering. "If you must, then go."

"Good luck," Starflight added.

"See you," Tsunami said as Glory turned and flew away, twice as fast as normal. Clay just waved.

The wind whipped past her as Glory continued to fly. It was nearing sunset, which was good, because it meant that the desert would be cooler. But, she made a note to herself to get camouflaged, because there could be unfriendly dragons around. 

Her scales shifted to match the pale blue and pink of the evening sky. Any dragons below her wouldn't even notice her. 

Come on, I'm so close to the desert now...

In the distance, she could see the dunes of the Sand Kingdom, which meant that she was close to the antidote. However, there were no cactuses in sight, at least yet. She remembered that there was a patch of brightsting cactus near the tunnel on the Sand Kingdom's side, but it would be too hard to find. Her best bet was finding a random cactus in the desert.

So, as the sun went down and the temperature dropped rapidly, Glory began to search all over the desert for these cactuses. Hopefully there weren't too many types of cacti in the desert. 

And, just as she was beginning to think that she may not find one after all, she finally spotted a cluster of round, spiky cactuses at the foot of a tall sand dune. "Oh, finally!" She exclaimed with a hint of relief and exasperation. Steeling herself, she wrested off one of the stubby cactus 'arms' and then another one. The spines were sharp and a few pricked her skin, but she was filled with happiness. Deathbringer would live. Glory allowed a hint of pink and yellow to creep into her colour-changing scales. 

As she picked up the two cactus arms, she felt determination burn inside of her. 

Deathbringer, I'm coming.